Random News: July 7, 2025

DISCLAIMER: Zak's Random News is very random and doesn't cover many things, and not everything may be accurate, because I'm just some guy. Go find a real news source.

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Good morning. It’s July 7, 2025, and it’s a Monday. As is often the case after a holiday weekend, I’m having to recall who I am and what I do for a living while awakening today. I have a feeling that as soon as I start work, I will be quickly and cruelly reminded of all this pertinent information.

• I’d love to be starting today’s news with just about anything other than misery and death, but the central Texas flood statistics keep coming in, and they’re not good.
• At least 80 people have died in connection with the flash floods that struck early Friday. The toll includes the loss of 27 campers and counselors at Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp for girls perched on the banks of the Guadalupe River which suffered significant damage.
• Another 40 or more people are still missing.
• Flash flooding still poses a danger for parts of Texas, with more rain on the way in several areas.
• Could the toll have been lessened? Records show officials in Kerr County previously considered installing flood warning sirens, but the plan never came to fruition.
• And while the National Weather Service issued a slew of alerts before the storm, for whatever reason, those warnings either didn’t get through to the people who needed them, or weren’t heeded.
• Some folks feel that it’s not the time to discuss the “why” aspect of a tragedy like this, and I’m referring to the bigger picture aspect of global human-accelerated climate change.
• But I can tell you that a warmer atmosphere — caused by more carbon dioxide that’s a result of mankind’s technology — holds more moisture and allows for severe storms to dump even more rain.
• If we don’t acknowledge this connection now, when is the right time?
• I do and try to find the small spots of good news within horrible events such as these. One is the story of Glenn Juenke, a night security guard at Camp Mystic who’s being hailed as a hero for saving the lives of campers.
• Juenke has served as the night watchman at the camp for the past four summers. He was on duty when the floodwaters began to rush in. When the water started to rise, he placed the girls on mattresses to help them ride it out safely.
• There have also been reports of camp counselors — many of them teenagers —  who helped the children escape their cabins through the windows and move to dry land in the middle of the night.
• And I also want to acknowledge Coast Guard rescue swimmer Scott Ruskan, 26, who is being hailed as a hero after his very first mission — helping to save the lives of 165 Texas flash flood victims.
• There’s always hope mixed in with tragedy. There’s always the thought that no matter how bad something is, it could have been worse without people stepping up to help each other.
• Let’s move on.
• You didn’t think that Dumpy would be able to stay silent after his ex-boyfriend Elmo announced the formation of a new political party, did you?
• Yesterday, the Dumpster weighed in, writing, “I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely ‘off the rails,’ essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks. He even wants to start a Third Political Party, despite the fact that they have never succeeded in the United States,” said Sad Donnie.
• Snort.
• Dumpy continued on. 
• “The one thing Third Parties are good for is the creation of Complete and Total DISRUPTION & CHAOS.” 
• I’ll agree with that. Can’t wait!
• Dumpy also noted that the elimination of clean energy tax incentives to purchase electric vehicles is one thing that made Elon really upset, and I’m not going to say otherwise.
• Wall Street didn’t exactly rally to Elon’s defense. Shares in Tesla tanked by as much as 7.6% in premarket trading this morning.
• Turns out that investors don’t like corporate bigwigs who are focused on political parties over than their own businesses. Who knew?
• Moving on.
• A lot of people — especially in the QAnon/MAGA camp — have been waiting for years about details from the list of clients that was kept by notorious deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein.
• The list purportedly included hundreds of associates whom Epstein blackmailed or conspired with to victimize dozens of women, including children.
• But a new memo from a review ordered by Dumpy’s Justice Department and the FBI found no evidence that any such list exists.
• Hmmmm. Very curious.
• And at the same time, Dump’s DOJ says they’ve confirmed that Epstein died by suicide while in custody in his jail cell in Manhattan in 2019.
• Per the FBI and DOJ review, no further charges are expected in connection with their probes into Epstein, as investigators "did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties."
• Uh huh. That’s mighty convenient.
• And it’s especially bizarre considering that Attorney General Pam Bondi had previously promised the public release of scores of records associated with federal probes into Epstein.
• But then she claimed the delay in releasing the records was attributed to "tens of thousands" of videos within the FBI's possession showing potential pornography of minors.
• In late February, Bondi handed out binders with Epstein case files to pro-Dump social media influencers at the White House — files that ultimately contained little new information.
• Keep in mind that just a few weeks back, Elon Musk shared a post in which he claimed the delay in releasing the Epstein files was due to Dump's name appearing in them.
• Elmo wrote at the time, ”Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT."
• And then this morning, Elmo posted an image of “The Official Jeffrey Epstein Pedophile Arrest Counter,” set to “0000.”
• “What’s the time? Oh look, it’s no-one-has-been-arrested-o’clock again …,” Musk captioned the photo.
• Keep in mind that Bondi had recently said that FBI Director Kash Patel was working on providing the DOJ with a timeline for the next document release.
• And as of this morning? Bondi says there is no list and there are no documents and Epstein killed himself.
• What do you think about that? I know what I think about that.
• Let’s move on.
• A note from the Health Desk…
• The United States has reached its highest annual measles case tally in 33 years, hitting at least 1,277 confirmed cases across 38 states and the District of Columbia.
• We once thought that measles had been defeated until people decided to believe idiotic podcasters and YouTubers that vaccines were more dangerous than the diseases they were intended to prevent. This is entirely false, by the way.
• If you believe otherwise, you’re an idiot too.
• We now have the largest number of measles cases since 1992, when officials recorded more than 2,100 infections.
• At least 155 people have been hospitalized and three people have died of measles-related complications this year. The dead include two otherwise healthy children in Texas and a man in New Mexico, all of who were unvaccinated.
• In contrast, only three measles deaths were reported between 2001 and 2024.
• Way to go, you dumbfucks.
• In other news…
• President TACO is send out a batch of letters today to other nations informing them of new tariff rates, but those tariffs won’t go into effect until August 1.
• If you haven’t figured out Dumpy’s game yet, I can break it down pretty easily.
• He makes some outrageous threat, often one that would be as harmful to his own side as it is to the other. Then he hopes that the threatened party will come back and grovel and beg.
• Then he’ll magnanimously lower the terms of the original threat. But the problem is, that only works if you follow through with some action.
• And Donnie TACO (short for Trump Always Chickens Out) is notorious for delaying and backing off his alleged plans.
• Hence the reason for this current delay. He and his team of the ultra-dumb are hoping that some kind of deals will be made in the next few weeks. The tariff rates had been “paused” for 90 days until July 9.
• Which is now August 1. Which will be delayed again when nothing comes of it.
• And now, The Weather: “Hate Goodbyes” by Teethe
• From the Sports Desk… MLB’s 2025 All-Star rosters are out. Who chooses these players?
• Fan voting determines the starting position players. Players, managers, and coaches vote on the remaining pitchers and reserves.
• And then the Commissioner's Office also makes selections to ensure every team is represented for reasons of… money.
• American League starters: C: Cal Raleigh (SEA), 1B: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (TOR), 2B: Gleyber Torres (DET), 3B: José Ramírez (CLE), SS: Jacob Wilson (ATH), OF: Aaron Judge (NYY), OF: Riley Greene (DET), OF: Javier Báez (DET), DH: Ryan O’Hearn (BAL).
• AL pitchers include Hunter Brown (HOU), Kris Bubic (KC), Aroldis Chapman (BOS), Garrett Crochet (BOS), Jacob deGrom (TEX), Max Fried (NYY), Josh Hader (HOU), Yusei Kikuchi (LAA), Andrés Muñoz (SEA), Tarik Skubal (DET), Shane Smith (CWS), and Bryan Woo (SEA).
• National Leagues starters: C: Will Smith (LAD), 1B: Freddie Freeman (LAD), 2B: Ketel Marte (AZ), 3B: Manny Machado (SD), SS: Francisco Lindor (NYM), OF: Ronald Acuña Jr. (ATL), OF: Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC), OF: Kyle Tucker (CHC), DH: Shohei Ohtani (LAD).
• Yes, there are three Dodgers in the NL starting lineup… and there could have been more.
• NL pitchers include Jason Adam (SD), Matthew Boyd (CHC), Edwin Díaz (NYM), MacKenzie Gore (WSH), Clayton Kershaw (LAD), Freddy Peralta (MIL), Robbie Ray (SF), Randy Rodríguez (SF), Chris Sale (ATL), Paul Skenes (PIT), Logan Webb (SF), Zack Wheeler (PHI), and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (LAD).
• Today in history… A retrial verdict acquits Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after her execution (1456). Jacques Cartier makes his first contact with aboriginal peoples in what is now Canada (1534). As a result of the XYZ Affair, the US Congress rescinds the Treaty of Alliance with France sparking the “Quasi-War" (1798). In New York City, four nights of rioting against abolitionists began (1834). US troops occupy Monterey and Yerba Buena, thus beginning the US conquest of California (1846). The United States begins its first military draft; exemptions cost $300 (1863). Four conspirators in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln are hanged (1865). US President William McKinley signs the Newlands Resolution annexing Hawaii as a territory of the United States (1898). The United States, UK, Japan, and Russia sign the North Pacific Fur Seal Convention of 1911 banning open-water seal hunting, the first international treaty to address wildlife preservation issues (1911). Sliced bread is sold for the first time by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, MO (1928). Industrialist Henry J. Kaiser begins construction of Boulder Dam, now known as Hoover Dam (1930). Howard Hughes nearly dies when his XF-11 reconnaissance aircraft prototype crashes in a Beverly Hills neighborhood (1946). US President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Alaska Statehood Act into law (1958). Institution of sharia law in Iran (1980). Boris Becker becomes the youngest male player ever to win Wimbledon at age 17 (1985). The New York Court of Appeals rules that women have the same right as men to go topless in public (1992). Boris Johnson announces his resignation as leader of the Conservative Party following days of pressure from the Members of Parliament during the July 2022 United Kingdom government crisis (2022).
• July 7 is the birthday of weaver/merchant Joseph Marie Jacquard (1752), composer Gustav Mahler (1860), film director George Cukor (1899), MLB player Satchel Paige (1906), singer/guitarist Mary Ford (1924), trumpet player/bandleader Doc Severinsen (1927), saxophonist/composer Hank Mobley (1930), keyboardist/composer Joe Zawinul (1932), singer-songwriter/drummer Ringo Starr (1940), actress Shelly Duvall (1949), NBA player Ralph Sampson (1960), singer-songwriter Vonda Shepard (1963), comedian Jim Gaffigan (1966), NHL player Joe Sakic (1969), WNBA player Lisa Leslie (1972), figure skater Michelle Kwan (1980), and guitarist Synyster Gates (1981).

Okay, starting to feel more like a Monday. My brain is back. Time to get into my routine for the work week. Enjoy your day.