Random News: August 3, 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 August 3, 2025, and it’s a Sunday. Waking up and trying to make my brain function before heading back to LA in a couple of hours.

• Vegas has been fun. I’m glad we did this little trip.
• One note I will impart: if you’re a person who, for whatever reason, has difficulty controlling their base urges — be it food, gambling, sex, drugs/alcohol or anything else — Las Vegas will tempt you in every way imaginable to give in to your most destructive tendencies.
• I’m fortunate in that as I’ve aged, I’ve become much better at stopping things before they get out of control. One example: I had a preset limit for how much I’d gamble, and it worked out fine. I never felt the need to do “just one more spin” once I hit that limit.
• And you have to understand that not everyone is the same in that regard. Vegas preys on those who can’t stop.
• I don’t even mean that in a negative way. Adults are responsible for making their own decisions. Vegas is just great at helping people make bad choices.
• I have more to say — and I will — but that can wait. For the time being, I’ll just make it clear we had a great time and have no regrets about the trip.
• And tomorrow we’ll get back to our news as usual.
• And now, The Weather: “Stars” by Bleary Eyed
• Today in history… Christopher Columbus sets sail from Spain (1492). The first known letter from North America is sent by John Rut while at St. John's, Newfoundland (1527). The La Scala theater in Milan is inaugurated (1778). The first ever American intercollegiate sports event happens when Harvard beats Yale in a yacht race (1852). The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company is founded (1900). Germany declare war on France in WWI (1914). MLB bans eight members of the Chicago “Black Sox” (1921). Jesse Owens wins the 100m at the Berlin Olympics (1936). Niger gains independence form France (1960). Tandy Corporation announces the TRS-80, one of the world's first mass-produced personal computers (1977). Twenty-three people are killed and 22 injured in a mass shooting in El Paso, TX (2019).
• August 3 is the birthday of politician Hamilton Fish (1808), UK prime minister Stanley Baldwin (1867), educator John T. Scopes (1900), NFL coach Marv Levy (1925), singer Tony Bennett (1926), actor Martin Sheen (1940), businesswoman Martha Stewart ((1941), director/producer  John Landis (1950), NHL player Marcel Dionne (1951), bass player Lee Rocker (1961), singer-songwriter/guitarist James Hetfield (1963), guitarist/composer Stephen Carpenter (1970), DJ/producer DJ Spinderella (1971), politician Chris Murphy (1973), NFL player Tom Brady (1977), actress Evangeline Lilly (1979), swimmer Ryan Lochte (1984), model Karlie Kloss (1992), NFL player Todd Gurley (1994), and NFL player Zach Wilson (1999).

Time to start getting packed and so on. Enjoy your day.