Random News: August 4, 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 4, 2025, and it’s a Monday. I’m waking up to the happy feeling of having slept in my own bed in my own home, and the horrifying realization that it’s Monday and I’m back at work after my vacation. Such is the duality of life.

• And to that end, we arrived back safe and sound from Las Vegas exactly as planned.
• I have to say, any travel situation where you have no flight delays, no airport drama, no miscues with luggage and cabs or shuttles and everything goes smoothly should not be taken for granted.
• Let’s see what’s going on with the world.
• Some big news out of Texas yesterday, where Democrats in the state’s legislature put on some big boy and girls pants and left the whole-ass state to block a horrific redistricting plan backed by Dumpy.
• The gerrymandered plan is aimed at preserving the GOP’s slim House majority. And now we’re going to see congressional district lines updated around the country in a tit-for-tat battle.
• Texas Democrats have twice deployed the same tactic to combat legislation in the 22 years since Republicans have controlled all of state government, but their efforts ultimately failed.
• This time, Democrats plan to stay away for two weeks to run out the clock on a special legislative session called by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to draw a ridiculous map that would give Republicans five more House seats.
• Between this fight in Texas and a looming GOP-led redistricting effort in Ohio, Democratic-led states are going to have to take the nuclear option, with Democrats in California, Illinois, and New York threatening to retaliate by tilting their states’ congressional districts further blue.
• Look, Democrats spent years backing plans to strip politics from the map-drawing process to ensure voters have fair, competitive districts.
• But if Texas wants to play, we’re all fucking in. And it’s one more reason that across the country, you do everything in your power to unseat every Republican/MAGA member of Congress in fall 2026.
• And of you want to do some gerrymandering math, here you go.
• California (52 seats) plus New York (26 seats) plus Illinois (17 seats) is 95.
• Texas (38 seats) plus Florida (28 seats) is 66.
• Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. So don’t fuck around unless you want to find out.
• Moving on.
• The U.S. Department of Justice is ramping up their efforts to get voter data and other election information from the states.
• This should be very concerning to all of you.
• Over the past three months, the DOJ’s voting section has requested copies of voter registration lists from state election administrators in at least 15 states. Of those, nine are Democrats, five are Republicans, and one is a bipartisan commission.
• In Colorado, the department demanded “all records” relating to the 2024 election and any records the state retained from the 2020 election.
• Justice Department lawyers have contacted officials in at least seven states to propose a meeting about forging an information-sharing agreement related to instances of voting or election fraud. 
• They claim that the idea is for states to help the department enforce the law.
• But state election officials are alarmed because states have the constitutional authority to run elections, and federal law protects the sharing of individual data with the government.
• This is all part of Dumpy’s plan to take over elections in the USA and continue his path toward an authoritarian dictatorship, and away from the American path of freedom and democracy.
• Election offices in Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, Utah, and Wisconsin confirmed that they received letters from the DOJ requesting their statewide voter registration lists.
• We’ll be keeping a close eye on that.
• Let’s move on.
• Some news from the International Desk.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Hamas of not wanting a ceasefire deal and requested that the International Red Cross bring food and medical care to hostages held in Gaza.
• Excuse me… what? Of course we have sympathy for Israeli hostages. But maybe stop shooting and bombing Palestinians at aid stations while you’re at it?
• There are thousands and thousands of people starving to death in the region.
• And tens of thousands of protestors joined a rally in Tel Aviv over the weekend, some holding placards reading “Stop the war” and “Leave no one behind.” They called for Netanyahu to strike a deal that would free the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza.
• I hope that most people can agree on two things: first, that Hamas should have no role in Gaza’s future. And second that famine is fully preventable in the modern age if we only allowed people to eat.
• These are not the actions of a civilized world. None of them.
• A polling statistic that should concern Netanyahu: Americans’ approval of Israel’s military action in Gaza has fallen 10 percentage points since the prior measurement in September.
• It’s now at just 32%, the lowest reading since Gallup first asked the question in November 2023. Disapproval of the military action has now reached 60%.
• This will not end well for Israel unless the people of Gaza — not the Hamas terrorist fucks — are given a chance to survive.
• Moving on.
• What’s been important to Dumpy over the weekend?
• Ah, I see. He’s upset with Charlamagne Tha God. Figures.
• Yesterday, Dumpy lashed out him, saying in a social media post that the popular broadcaster “knows nothing about me or what I have done.”
• Actually, since Dump has done nothing good of note, there’s not a whole lot to know.
• Dump’s comments came a day after Charlamagne criticized him on a Fox News show hosted by Lara Trump.
• He mentioned that as a wealthy person, he will personally benefit from Dump’s tax breaks for the rich, but said, “There’s going to be so many people that’s hurt by that bill. Anything that takes away Medicaid from people and will put people in a worse financial situation than they were previously in, I’m not for.”
• What really freaked out the Dumpster was when Charlamagne predicted that “traditional conservatives” are going to take back the Republican Party from the MAGAs, citing Dump’s refusal to release files related to convicted sex offender and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
• “I think there’s a political coup going on right now in the Republican Party that people aren’t paying attention to,” Charlamagne said. “I think this Epstein thing is going to be a way for traditional conservatives to take their party back. I really do. I think that they know this is the issue that has gotten the base riled up, the MAGA base isn’t letting this issue go and for the first time they can probably take their party back and not piss off the MAGA base. I think they’re going to do that.”
• It sounds very plausible to me.
• Let’s move on.
• As you likely heard about over the weekend, Dumpy claimed without evidence that the massive revisions to the latest jobs report constituted a “scam.”
• That’s another classic dictator move. Deny any verifiable information that makes his own messaging appear wrong or be perceived negatively.
• Dump accused Dr. Erika McEntarfer — the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and one of the top overseers of government statistics — of cooking the books in a vendetta against his presidency.
• “In my opinion, today’s Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad,” whined the Orange Twat.
• Then he fired McEntarfer for no reason.
• How far off was Dumpy’s claim of people working as opposed to the actual information by the Bureau of Labor Statistics?
• May’s jobs total was revised lower to 19,000, down from an initial estimate of 139,000, a total revision of 120,000 jobs. For the June jobs total, the BLS on Friday said the US economy added just 14,000 jobs, down from a preliminary estimate of 147,000. That’s a difference of 133,000 jobs.
• Dump lies. He always has. He always will. And then he gets upset when he’s called out on his lies. This is because he’s a gaslighting piece of shit.
• But you knew that.
• And now, The Weather: “Mirrorland” by Honeywhip
• RIP going out to actress Loni Anderson, who you probably know from her role on the hit comedy series “WKRP in Cincinnati” from 1978 to 1982. She died yesterday, just days before her 80th birthday.
• People also associate Anderson from her tumultuous marriage to Burt Reynolds and their tabloid-publicized breakup in 1994.
• From the Sports Desk… this is the official start of NFL preseason Week 1.
• On Thursday, you can check out such meaningless games as Colts at Ravens, Bengals at Eagles, and Raiders at Seahawks.
• If your team isn’t playing that day, don’t worry; everyone else plays meaningless games with the potential for players to get injured no no reason at all on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.
• Today in history… Dom Perignon invents champagne (1693). England and the Netherlands capture Gibraltar from Spain (1704). The Revenue Cutter Service is formed, eventually to be renamed the US Coast Guard (1790). The Saturday Evening Post is first published (1821). The Great Fire of Spokane, WA destroys 32 blocks of the city (1889). Anne Frank and her family are arrested by the Gestapo (1944). Jimmy Carter signs off on creation of the US Department of Energy (1977). The FCC rescinds the Fairness Doctrine, probably destroying the world in the process (1987). 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate explodes in Beirut, Lebanon (2020).
• August 4 is the birthday of Austrian Duke Leopold I (1290), noblewoman Lucrezia de' Medici (1470), poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792), fashion designer Louis Vuitton (1821), mathematician John Venn (1834), race car driver/engineer Ernesto Maserati (1898). trumpet player/singer Louis Armstrong (1901), businessman Warren Avis (1915), journalist Helen Thomas (1920), NHL player Maurice Richard (1921), actor Richard Belzer (1944), keyboardist/composer Klaus Schulze (1947), NFL player John Riggins (1949), actor Billy Bob Thornton (1955), runner Mary Decker (1958), US president Barack Obama (1961), MLB player Roger Clemens (1962), politician Keith Ellison (1963), actor Daniel Dae Kim (1968), race car driver Jeff Gordon (1971), race car driver Kurt Busch (1978), actress/royal family member Megan, Duchess of Sussex (1981), and actress/director Greta Gerwig (1983).

That’s plenty for now. Obviously, I’m also catching up on recent big stories that started when I was away and not paying attention. It was nice, being mindless for a short while, but I still find I prefer being awake and aware. Glad to be back. Enjoy your day.