Random News: September 16, 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 September 16, 2025, and it’s a Tuesday. I'm just a small town girl, living in a lonely world… wait, no. I’m your news dude, here with information that may have some impact on your lives and that of those around you. By the way, get yourself a beverage… we have a LOT of news today — some of it good, most of it bad. Just FYI.

• A reminder…
• Tonight (Tuesday September 16) at 7:30PM ET/4:30PM PT, there’s a political livestream that I’d like you to check out if you’re interested in democracy and stopping the spread of fascism.
• Just go here: FAFO50.com.
• Yes, it’s primarily about the coming special election in California, but the livestream event is to help rally thousands of Americans behind Governor Gavin Newsom's plan to counter Texas redistricting maps.
• And how to stop Dump from rigging the entire 2026 Midterm election.
• The list of presenters for this livestream is awesome. Here’s a short list of just some that I’m looking forward to seeing…
• Rep. Pete Aguilar, Pete Buttigieg, Jo Carducci, Brian Tyler Cohen, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Rep. Maxwell Frost, Leslie Jones, Olivia Julianna, Gov. Gavin Newsom, Beto O’Rourke, Sen. Alex Padilla, Aaron Parnas, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Martin Sheen, Harry Sisson, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
• That’s tonight. You don’t have to stay for the whole thing. Just tune in and see if it’s helpful or inspiring to you. I’ll be there.
• Before we get to the news…
• Yesterday morning, I ran into my first personal connection to the Charlie Kirk assassination. Not in any direct way, as shall soon be apparent.
• But it was bothersome just the same.
• My marketing firm acts as a public relations resource for a number of my clients. We do their press releases, we handle their social networks, and often interact with their customers in various ways.
• So I get up on Monday morning and — as I do daily — I do a brief scan over my clients’ web and social communications. It’s usually pretty innocuous stuff, with occasional people complaining about a product or service.
• But yesterday, I got a message from a random guy who threatened my client’s company because one of its employees — on his own personal social media — posted something unkind about Kirk’s assassination.
• And of course, as they tend to do… the guy got doxxed, and “reported” to the employer via a private message. And yes, immediately thereafter made a threat against the company itself unless we "do something” about the employee.
• The thing that bothered me wasn’t the threat, and it wasn’t the original post that the reporting party screencapped and sent with the message.
• It was that I was obligated — on behalf of my client — to deal with it. Which I did very minimally. No reply to the threatening party. But out of an abundance of caution, I had to forward the threatening message to the client.
• And now I have to worry that some poor fucking guy — a low-level employee — could potentially lose his job over expressing his personal views because of their effect on the company.
• Just yesterday, the mass doxxing effort against anyone perceived not to have sufficiently mourned the killing of the rightwing activist was directly endorsed by the vice president of the USA, JD Vance.
• And I quote, “Hell, call their employer. We don’t believe in political violence, but we do believe in civility, and there is no civility in the celebration of political assassination.”
• I hope nothing happens to the employee at my client’s company. But now I have to think about this stuff. And like I said recently, it’s pervasive in every aspect of life. Your work, your school, your family dynamics, your friendships.
• There’s no way to seal yourself off or just walk away. There’s nowhere to go.
• It all, in a word, sucks.
• Alright, now let’s do some news.
• And let’s start with some breaking news from this morning.
• The judge overseeing the New York state case against Luigi Mangione dismissed terrorism charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, but allowed other charges, including murder, to stand.
• Mangione, 27, had been facing state charges of first-degree murder, terrorism, stalking, and multiple firearms offenses. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges. He is also facing federal murder charges, including terrorism, as well as additional state charges in Pennsylvania.
• This morning, Justice Gregory Carro ruled that evidence presented to the grand jury wasn't sufficient to warrant the terrorism charge. It was Mangione's first appearance in state court since February.
• Moving on.
• From the “Bad News for Dump is Good News for Us” Desk…
• Yesterday, an appeals court ruled that Lisa Cook can remain a Federal Reserve governor, rebuffing Dump’s efforts to remove her just ahead of a key vote on interest rates.
• Ha ha. Now go run to the Supreme Court and tell Mommy and Daddy, you whiny ass fat fuck.
• So yes, while Dumpy tries for an emergency SCOTUS ruling, Cook’s lawsuit seeking to permanently block her firing must still make its way through the courts.
• Of note: the Fed’s seven-member governing board was designed to be largely independent from day-to-day politics.
• No president has fired a sitting Fed governor in the agency’s 112-year history. The ruling comes just before the Fed’s interest rate-setting committee begins a two-day meeting today. 
• Dump sought to fire Cook August 25, but a federal judge ruled last week that the removal was illegal and reinstated her to the Fed’s board. The case threatens to erode the Fed’s longtime political independence.
• Economists prefer independent central banks for obvious reasons. They can do unpopular things like lifting interest rates to combat inflation more easily than elected officials, who will just do whatever gets them elected while fucking the economy for the long term.
• Let’s move on.
• Per a letter sent yesterday to the Republican Women's Caucus, a group of Jeffrey Epstein survivors is urging members of to stand up against abuse of power and to take action to end the silence and speculation surrounding the notorious sex offender.
• The letter, sent to Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL) and Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL), begs the Republican politicians to "Remind us that America is the country that we thought it was when we were little girls, before we were let down repeatedly by our own government.”
• More than 20 Epstein survivors signed the letter, including several who were part of a high-profile visit to the nation's capital earlier this month, which included public events and a private meeting with lawmakers.
• ”We are mothers, daughters, sisters, friends, and wives," the survivors' letter says. "We have sought justice for decades to no avail. We have been denied the basic rights that should be afforded to every American citizen time and time again. The fact that it took this long for anyone to care about us is a true American tragedy."
• The survivors' letter comes as the GOP-led House Oversight Committee is scheduled to conduct a closed-door interview on Friday with R. Alexander Acosta, the former U.S. Attorney in Miami.
• Acosta was the guy who, in 2007, approved a non-prosecution agreement that ended a federal probe into Epstein's alleged sexual exploitation of dozens of minor girls at his Palm Beach home.
• And then Acosta was named Secretary of Labor during the first Trump administration.
• Let’s move on.
• Issuing their report this morning, a team of independent experts commissioned by the United Nations’ Human Rights Council has concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
• They are calling on the international community to end the genocide, and to take steps to punish those responsible for it.
• While neither the commission nor the 47-member-country council that it works for within the U.N. system can take action against a country, the findings could be used by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court or the U.N.'s International Court of Justice.
• Here’s hoping. Netanyahu will have to face accountability for what’s happening there, or it will just keep happening over and over again.
• But until then, the genocide continues.
• The Israeli military launched the early stages of a ground offensive to seize Gaza City overnight.
• An Israeli official said that two divisions were maneuvering toward the center of Gaza City — once the enclave’s largest population center — and that additional divisions will be joining in the coming days.
• “Gaza is burning,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a gleeful social media post.
• In recent days, there has been a dramatic rise in heavy bombardment In Gaza City. This included a campaign to bring down several high-rise residential buildings — an Israeli tactic to intimidate civilians into leaving to clear the path for troops. That appeared to accelerate last night.
• Sigh.
• In other news…
• I’ll bet that despite the extreme heat and humidity, the hurricanes, the insects, the lack of vaccine mandates, and people running around insane on meth and bath salts and alcohol, you still needed one more reason to not visit Florida.
• I’ve got a good one for you.
• Yesterday, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said open carry of firearms is now "the law of the state," after the 1st District Court of Appeal last week struck down a longstanding ban as unconstitutional.
• Uthmeier issued guidance to prosecutors and law enforcement agencies, noting that some had already stopped enforcing the ban following the September 10 ruling.
• Yes, that gun ruling was one of the many things we missed on September 10 while talking about (checks notes) Charlie Kirk getting assassinated via gun violence.
• Florida first enacted the open-carry prohibition in 1987, making it a misdemeanor to visibly display firearms. But Uthmeier instructed prosecutors and police not to arrest or prosecute "law-abiding citizens carrying a firearm in a manner that is visible to others," saying Florida courts could not convict under the overturned law.
• I’m not sure that Black people qualify as "law-abiding citizens” in Florida, but let’s not worry about that now.
• The Tallahassee court wrote, “That is not to say that open carry is absolute or immune from reasonable regulation. But what the state may not do is extinguish the right altogether for ordinary, law-abiding, adult citizens."
• Again, I have to wonder if a young Black or Hispanic man walking along with his AR-15 is considered an “ordinary, law-abiding, adult citizen” in the Sunshine State. Guess we’ll see.
• And stay the fuck away from Florida for any one of 50 great reasons.
• And while you’re avoiding Florida, maybe stay out of Mississippi too.
• Authorities in that state are investigating two separate incidents involving men found hanging within 24 hours, raising alarm and prompting calls for transparency as communities grapple with shock and grief.
• Yesterday, Delta State University police confirmed that 21-year-old student Demartravion “Trey” Reed was discovered hanging from a tree near the pickleball courts.
• University Police Chief Michael L. Peeler said, “At this time, there is no evidence of foul play.”
• How the fuck does a Black man get lynched without evidence of foul play? Well, they’re treating it as a suicide because… Mississippi.
• And then just hours after Reed’s death, the Vicksburg Police Department responded to a call about a body found hanging in a wooded area.
• The victim has been identified as Cory Zukatis, a resident of Brandon, MS. There are reports that Zukatis was homeless. 
• I have to say, the associates and followers of Charlie Kirk openly swore immediate vengeance for their martyr’s assassination. It’s difficult not to be suspicious when Black people and homeless people are found swinging from trees in the aftermath of those statements.
• Moving on.
• Yesterday, that Shitbag Blowhard Who Calls Himself the President said he would call a national emergency and federalize Washington, D.C. after Mayor Muriel Bowser said its police would not cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
• And this, folks, is his longterm game plan. Over and over, he is going to create emergencies to bypass our laws and retain power at any cost.
• The comments come after several thousand protesters hit the streets this month over Dump's August deployment of National Guard troops to "re-establish law, order, and public safety.”
• As you know, Dump put D.C.’s metropolitan police department under direct federal control and sent federal law enforcement— including ICE goons — to police the streets. It is unclear when their mission will end.
• As usual, Dump blamed "Radical Left Democrats" for pressuring Bowser to inform the government about the non-cooperation with ICE, adding that if the police halted cooperation with ICE, "Crime would come roaring back."
• Getting to his actual point, he added, "To the people and businesses of Washington, D.C., DON’T WORRY, I AM WITH YOU, AND WON’T ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN. I’ll call a National Emergency, and Federalize, if necessary!!!"
• And this is a preview of the 2026 Midterm elections, when Dump will find some kind of fictitious emergency to postpone or cancel the elections altogether.
• See why I want you to be involved and alert and aware? Please do join us tonight on the FAFO50.com livestream.
• Let’s move on.
• A note from the Constitutional Law Desk…
• Please, I beg of you: stop saying that your freedom of speech means you can say or do anything you want with no repercussions.
• In the past five days, I must have seen 50 instances of people claiming that they can’t be fired (or otherwise disciplined) from a job for posts they make on their personal social media accounts.
• That is not true. That is 100% not true. You can absolutely get fired for writing something on your social media, or elsewhere, that conflicts with your employer’s outlook. There is no legal recourse for you to take.
• Read the First Amendment again. I’ve probably posted the text 20 times.
• “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
• That’s it. That’s the whole thing.
• It’s been interpreted beyond “Congress making laws.” There barely any circumstances where even a local police force could arrest you for something you posted (unless it’s a direct threat and some other specific circumstances).
• But the First Amendment does not apply to private companies. There is no law that stops them from terminating your employment if they want unless there are severe extenuating circumstances.
• Stop saying this. It’s bullshit. What if you’re a federal employee? Still bullshit. What if your job is to report information, like a journalist, and you write a story your employer doesn’t like? Still bullshit. You can get fired for nearly any reason at any time.
• But what about “wrongful termination”? Isn’t that a thing?
• If you were fired in violation of an employment contract, or via discrimination based on protected characteristics like race, gender, or disability, or were fired in retaliation for reporting illegal activity, you might have a case. Maybe.
• But most US employment is “at-will”, which allows for termination without cause. Employers must still adhere to federal and state employment laws, and violations of these laws or of contractual agreements constitute wrongful termination.
• But your freedom of speech isn’t one of them. One last note: hopefully you’re aware that a social post is treated in the same way as any other published work. if you purposefully publish mistruths, you can be liable for what happens as a result.
• Just be fucking smart. Be truthful. Don’t pass along false info out of ignorance. And be ready to deal with the consequences for “speaking your mind,” because they are real.
• Moving on.
• An interesting case from the Justice Desk out of Colombia.
• Colombia’s Constitutional Court on Friday ordered Meta to change its privacy policies after ruling that it trampled the freedom of expression of a porn star by closing her Instagram account.
• Esperanza Gomez, one of Colombia's best-known adult content actresses, said she posted photographs of herself in her underwear as part of her job. She had over five million followers on Instagram.
• She said, understandably, that Meta's decision to close her account affected her ability to work, and said she was given no clear explanation.
• Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram among other online platforms, argued that Gomez violated the platform's rules on nudity. But the court ruled that it acted in an arbitrary fashion in closing her account.
• The court ruled that Meta "applied its policies on nudity and sexual services inconsistently," noting that other accounts with similar content to Gomez's remained active.
• And now, The Weather: “Bellows” by SLEEP CLUB
• A massive RIP going out to actor, Oscar-winning director, liberal activist, and indie filmmaking champion Robert Redford. He died today at 89.
• Redford was one of the biggest stars of the ’70s with such films as “The Candidate,” “All the President’s Men,” and “The Way We Were.” In 1980, he won the best director Oscar for “Ordinary People,” which also won best picture.
• Later no, his Sundance film festival allowed the discovery of previously unknown filmmakers including Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Darren Aronofsky.
• Let’s do a chart.
• We’re going back 26 years to mid-September 1999. Man, that was a tough time for me. I was 30 years old, dealing with a bad marriage, a ton of anxiety and situational depression, and a job that was starting to get shittier by the day.
• Which is too bad, because my son had just been born a few months earlier, and I had a lot of really good stuff going on in my life that was obscured by the bad. Ah well.
• Here was the top of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart at the time. Most of the music, much like my mood, was kinda crappy.
• 1. Unpretty (TLC). 2.  Bailamos (Enrique Iglesias). 3. Summer Girls (LFO). 4. She's All I Ever Had (Ricky Martin). 5. Genie In A Bottle (Christina Aguilera). 6. Lost In You (Garth Brooks as Chris Gaines). 7. Smooth (Santana Featuring Rob Thomas). 8. All Star (Smash Mouth). 9. Where My Girls At? (702). 10. Someday (Sugar Ray). 11. Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit Of...) (Lou Bega). 12. Bills, Bills, Bills (Destiny’s Child). 13. I Want It That Way (Backstreet Boys). 14. Last Kiss (Pearl Jam). 15. Scar Tissue (Red Hot Chili Peppers). 16. If You Had My Love (Jennifer Lopez). 17. She's So High (Tal Bachman). 18. I Do (Cherish You) (98 Degrees). 19. Never Gonna Let You Go (Faith Evans). 20. So Anxious (Ginuwine).
• From the Sports Desk… the Raiders were awful against the Chargers on Monday Night Football, losing 20-9 after blowing many opportunities to turn the game around.
• Today in history… 35 religious dissenters called Pilgrims set sail for Virginia from Plymouth, England in the Mayflower (1620). The Franco-American Siege of Savannah begins in the Revolutionary War (1779). Settlers make a land run for prime land in the Cherokee Strip in Oklahoma (1893). General Motors Corporation is founded (1908). A bomb in a horse wagon explodes in front of the J. P. Morgan building on Wall Street in New York City killing 38 and injuring 400 (1920). The first successful photocopier, the Xerox 914, is introduced (1959). Typhoon Nancy, with possibly the strongest winds ever measured in a tropical cyclone, makes landfall in Osaka, Japan (1961). The Metropolitan Opera House opens at Lincoln Center in New York City (1966). The Montreal Protocol is signed to protect the ozone layer from depletion (1987). Manuel Noriega gets a 40-year sentence for drug trafficking and money laundering (1992). Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on STS-79 to dock with the Russian space station Mir (1996).
• September 16 is the birthday of king Henry V of England (1386), banker Nathan Mayer Rothschild (1777), UK prime minister Bonar Law (1858), businessmanr James Cash Penny (1875), TV producer Allen Funt (1914), actress Lauren Bacall (1924), singer-songwriter/guitarist B.B. King (1925), actor Peter Falk (1927), NBA player Elgin Baylor (1934), drummer Kenney Jones (1948), actor/activist Ed Begley Jr. (1949), historian Henry Louis Gates Jr. (1950), actor Mickey Rourke (1952), guitarist/composer Earl Klugh (1953), MLB player Robin Yount (1955), magician David Copperfield (1956), MLB player Orel Hershiser (1958), actress Jennifer Tilly (1958), singer-songwriter/guitarist Bilinda Butcher (1961), singer-songwriter Richard Marx (1963), actress Molly Shannon (1964), actress Amy Poehler (1971), politician Julian Castro (1974), rapper Flo Rida (1979), singer-songwriter Nick Jonas (1992), and NFL player Sam Howell (2000).

Like I said, that was a lot of news. Please join us tonight for the livestream at FAFO50.com. Your future may depend on it. Enjoy your day.