Random News: August 28, 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.

---

Good morning. It’s August 28, 2025, and it’s a Thursday for some reason. Here in the USA, we have a holiday weekend coming up. Labor Day is on Monday, which we’ll be talking about over the weekend. For now, just trying to slog through a whole bunch of work before three blissful days off.

• Let's continue our discussion on whether or not the United States is already in the midst of a quiet Civil War… one that may or may not remain quiet as time goes by.
• Unlike the previous U.S. Civil War, where the sides were simply geographical — north versus south, with the southern states having seceded from the USA and formed their own Confederacy. This one would be quite a bit different.
• First, the states aligned to stop the spread of fascism via Dump are not in adjoining locations. That list as of today would definitely include California, Oregon, Washington, New York, Illinois, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and Maryland.
• I base this list on states where the governors and large city mayors have made recent statements and actions where they directly challenge Dump and refuse to enact his cruel policies. I’m not talking about typical political speech.
• A good example is Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, who on Monday told Dump publicly, “Do not come to Chicago. You are neither wanted here nor needed here.”
• Statements like that in U.S. history are rare. The last times they happened were during the run-up to the Civil War, and around the time of federal enforcement of civil rights laws.
• I’d find it likely that these states would potentially be joined by Vermont, New Mexico, Colorado, Hawaii, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, and possibly Virginia.
• Some states, based on their demographics and past patterns, would remain neutral. This would include North Carolina, Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nevada, Arizona, Alaska, and others.
• And the states who would be our Dump-ass kissing opposition/enemies would include Texas, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, North and South Dakota, Montana, Missouri, Louisiana, South Carolina, and others.
• But — to be extra obvious here — not every person in every state feels the same way. There are plenty of conservatives in California. There are many, many liberals in Texas.
• So the type of Civil War that happened in the 1860s would not and could not happen in a similar way today.
• That Civil War officially began when South Carolina seceded from the USA and attacked federal forces at Charleston’s Fort Sumter.
• A little over 100 years later, in 1970, it was Ohio National Guard troops who fired on peaceful students at Kent State University, killing four.
• If something like that happens today, with a mass casualty event started by Dump’s troops… it’s hard to say what the next events would entail. But they wouldn’t be good.
• More thoughts on the potential 21st century Civil War in coming days.
• Let’s do some news.
• As you’re all aware by now, a piece of shit human being killed two children and shot 17 others at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, MN yesterday morning.
• 23-year-old Robin Westman opened fire through the windows of the church, hitting children and worshippers attending Mass inside.
• So if thoughts and prayers were the solution to gun violence, we’d know it, since these innocent people were literally praying while being shot.
• If metal detectors at schools and churches was the solution, then what do you do when the killer never even enters the building and commits murder through the windows, as Westman did here?
• If mental health is the issue, how is it that this happens so extremely rarely in other countries? Is mental health only a problem in the USA?
• And if so, why do Republicans continually deny funding at federal, state, and lo0cal levels for better mental health services?
• The problem is the guns.
• Westman, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, used a rifle, a shotgun, and a pistol to open fire into the pews. She purchased the weapons used in yesterday’s shooting legally. Westman had no extensive criminal history
• I was always told by NRA-type people that our access to high-powered, high-capacity weaponry was intended to let the citizens rise up against a tyrannical government.
• But we have a tyrannical fascist dictator in charge, and no gun owner is doing shit. So just stop with that bullshit.
• The only bright news out of any of this fucking horror show: out of the 19 people who were shot (including 16 children ages 6 to 15 and three adults in their 80s), 17 of those injured are expected to survive.
• But don’t let anyone tell you some other story: the problem is the fucking guns.
• Let’s move on.
• A top Florida official says the state-run concentration camp (or “immigration detention facility” if you’re a Dump supporter) dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” will likely be empty in a matter of days.
• In a message sent to a rabbi who was providing chaplaincy services at the facility, Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie said “we are probably going to be down to 0 individuals within a few days,” implying there would soon be no need for the services.
• The facility was rapidly constructed two months ago with the goal of holding up to 3,000 detainees as part of Dumpy’s push to deport people who are allegedly in the U.S. illegally.
• At one point, it held almost 1,000 detainees. Three lawsuits challenging practices at the detention center have been filed, including one that estimated at least 100 detainees who had been at the facility have been deported. Others have been transferred to other immigration detention centers.
• Let’s move on with another story about people being held unjustly by the state.
• Kristal Rios Esquivel was arrested August 20. She was allegedly trying to enter a restricted staff entrance at a birdhouse at the National Zoo in Northwest Washington, D.C..
• And even though the Justice Department had decided not to seek pretrial detention, Rios Esquivel was mistakenly held in jail for a week.
• U.S. District Judge Zia Faruqui said Rios Esquivel should have appeared before a federal magistrate judge on August 22, but "federal authorities did not bring Rios Esquivel to court until August 25, 2025."
• On Tuesday, Rios Esquivel's defense lawyer filed a motion claiming she had not been released and was being illegally detained. A defense attorney at one point filed a court document that read, "HELP!!!!"
• Judge Faruqui diagnosed the problem, writing, "The Department of Corrections informed defense counsel that it could not comply with this Court's order because there was a 'hit' on Esquivel Rios in the warrant system. However, that warrant was the very warrant for which she appeared on August 25."
• The judge called this an incident of "false imprisonment" and noted it was not the first time it had happened this year. One former Justice Department attorney said the handling of the arrest and detention of Kristal Rios Esquivel is creating a sense of "foreboding."
• That foreboding is via the actions of a fascist government who jails people without allowing them the chance to defend themselves as our laws require.
• Let’s be honest: Rios Esquivel was held in jail for a week — for no reason — because she’s not white. That’s how things are in Dump’s Fascist States of America.
• And speaking of people who aren’t white…
• In Shelton, WA, a team of firefighters was stopped and interrogated by ICE. These people put their own lives at risk, standing on the frontlines of dangerous wildfires to protect lives and homes.
• But instead of being treated as heroes, they were rounded up as suspects. Among them were members of the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla tribes. These are Indigenous peoples whose ancestors have lived on this land for thousands of years before the United States ever existed. Yet they were interrogated about their immigration status.
• These Native firefighters, rooted in the deepest history of this land, were running toward danger for the sake of others, but were stopped and questioned as if they did not belong.
• And on a bigger picture, it’s worth noting: how can any person be “illegal” when the land they’re standing on was stolen in the first place?
• Moving on.
• The director of the nation’s top public health agency is out after less than one month in the job. HHS officials did not explain why Susan Monarez is no longer with the agency.
• And now there’s a standoff. Monarez is refusing to depart her role unless Dumpy himself removes her. An infectious disease specialist who was confirmed as CDC chief just a month ago, Monarez claims that as a presidential appointee, Senate-confirmed officer, only the president himself can fire her.
• Let’s cut to the real issue. Monarez believes in the value of vaccines; her boss, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., does not.
• In somewhat related news…
• Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook has sued Dump in an effort to overturn his attempt to fire her, launching an unprecedented legal battle that could significantly reshape the Fed’s longstanding political independence.
• Some background: no president has sought to fire a Fed governor in the institution’s 112-year history until Dump fired Cook via a social post on Monday.
• The Supreme Court has signaled that the president can’t fire Fed officials over policy differences, but he can do so “for cause,” typically meaning misconduct or neglect of duty.
• There has been no such accusation or evidence of this.
• Note that both of the recent controversial firings were women… one Hispanic, one Black.
• Let’s move on.
• Did you think we forgot about the Epstein files and the proof of Donnie Dump’s history of raping children?
• We did not, and neither have most Americans. A recent Quinnipiac poll shows that 67% of voters disapprove of the way the Dump administration is handling the Epstein files. Just 19% approve.
• And 73% think the Justice Department is not being transparent in the way it's handling the Epstein investigation. That number of people includes Republicans, Democrats, and independents.
• Show us the files, you fat rapist piece of shit pedophile.
• And now, The Weather: “Jobber To The Stars Pt. 1” by Jobber
• Let’s do a chart.
• It’s the end of August 1976, and I am just about to start third grade at Ladera Linda Elementary School in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA. Note: in my list of Facebook friends, I can count probably 8-10 people from that third grade class who I still know, and most seem like very nice grown-up people in their mid/late 50s now.
• This is a shockingly good chart, and I’m not just saying that for nostalgia’s sake. The top of the Billboard Hot 100 singles at the time had the better aspects of disco/funk, cool pop-rock tunes, some iconic soft rock, and more. I can sing nearly every one of these tunes even today.
• 1. Don't Go Breaking My Heart (Elton John & Kiki Dee). 2. You Should Be Dancing (Bee Gees). 3. Let 'em In (Wings). 4. You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine (Lou Rawls). 5. I'd Really Love To See You Tonight (England Dan & John Ford Coley). 6. (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty (KC And The Sunshine Band). 7. Play That Funky Music (Wild Cherry). 8. A Fifth Of Beethoven (Walter Murphy & The Big Apple Band). 9. Get Closer (Seals & Crofts Featuring Carolyn Willis). 10. This Masquerade (George Benson). 11. Kiss And Say Goodbye (The Manhattans). 12. Baby, I Love Your Way (Peter Frampton). 13. Summer (War). 14. Say You Love Me (Fleetwood Mac). 15. Love Is Alive (Gary Wright). 16. Lowdown (Boz Scaggs). 17. Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel (part 1) (Tavares). 18. Rock And Roll Music (The Beach Boys). 19. With Your Love (Jefferson Starship). 20. Devil Woman (Cliff Richard).
• From the Sports Desk… a deja vu moment in the NFL while teams complete their rosters for the upcoming season.
• Four veteran players (all wide receivers) — Amari Cooper, Adam Thielen, Keenan Allen, and Brandin Cooks — just got traded back to the teams where they all respectively started their careers.
• So once again, Cooper is a Raider, Thielen is a Viking, Allen is a Charger, and Cooks is a Saint. That’s weird, man. That’s some time machine shit.
• Today in history… The Roman general Orestes forces western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos to flee his capital city, Ravenna (475). Fatimah, daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, dies (632). Pedro Menéndez de Avilés founds the oldest continuously European-occupied city in the continental United States near St. Augustine, Florida (1565). William Herschel discovers Saturn’s moon Enceladus (1789). The US takes possession of then-unoccupied Midway Atoll (1867). Caleb Bradham's beverage "Brad's Drink" gets a better brand name, being changed to “Pepsi-Cola" (1898). Italy declares war on Germany in WWI (1914). Nazi Germany begins its mass arrests of Jehovah's Witnesses, who are interned in concentration camps (1936). Toyota Motors becomes an independent company spun off from Toyota Industries (1937). Black teenager Emmett Till is brutally murdered in Mississippi, kicking off the civil rights movement (1955). Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gives his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech (1963). Cops and protestors clash at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago (1968). 
• August 28 is the birthday of writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749), physician George Whipple (1878), conductor Karl Böhm (1894), writer/illustrator Jack Kirby (1917), actor Donald O’Connor (1925), actress Roxie Roker (1929), MLB player/manager Lou Piniella (1943), drummer Danny Seraphine (1948), MLB player Ron Guidry (1950), actor Luis Guzmán (1956), actor Daniel Stern (1957), singer-songwriter Shania Twain (1965), actor Billy Boyd (1968), actor/singer-songwriter Jack Black (1969), actor Jason Priestly (1969), NHL player Pierre Turgeon (1969), singer LeAnn Rimes (1982), singer-songwriter Florence Welch (1986), and singer-songwriter Cassadee Pope (1989).

That’s all I’ve got. Try and be nice to each other. Except for Nazis and fascists. Hit those fuckers right in the face. But be nice to everyone else. Enjoy your day.