Random News: September 18, 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 18, 2025, and it’s a Thursday for some reason. It's raining here in the Los Angeles area this morning. Normally this would make me happy, but we have some dire news to talk about, with the future of America and democracy itself at stake.

• Let’s start here…
• I’m going to explain some stuff about California’s coming special election for Proposition 50, the congressional map redistricting proposal, and why it affects people in all 50 states.
• As I mentioned earlier, on Tuesday night, I was one of hundreds of thousands of people in attendance on a livestream headed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, but also featuring a slew of senators, congressional reps, journalists, and others.
• The message is very clear. We tried doing it the nice way. It didn’t work. And now, like it or not, we’re forced to fight fire with fire.
• And frankly, I couldn’t be happier. The thing I’ve disliked the most about the Democratic party is the weak response to existential threats to our country and our democracy.
• First thing first: unlike states where the congressional districts are being gerrymandered against the will of the people, California is allowing the people to decide.
• That’s what Proposition 50 is. Now let me tell you — if you’re a Californian — why it’s essential that you vote Yes on 50.
• Using California to shore up against the redistrict cheating plan in Texas, Missouri, and soon Indiana, Ohio, Florida, and elsewhere is crucial for our chances to win back Congress in the 2026 Midterms.
• We are reacting to what Dump is forcing in those states. We were left with no choice than to fight fire with fire. If Dump hadn’t done this, there would be no reason for us to act accordingly.
• And the 2026 midterms are our last chance to check Dump's dangerous agenda and leave him in place to abandon democracy and assume lifelong control of the USA. It’s a matter of life or death for millions, now and in the future.
• We’ll keep talking about the specifics as we get closer to the special election.
• All registered voters in CA will be mailed ballots, as is standard practice in our state. Those are scheduled to go out in just over weeks, in the first week of October,
• Like all California elections, you can vote early by mail or ballot dropbox, or vote in person on Tuesday November 4. I promise, I will be voting the fucking very first day I can.
• And of course, we have our terrific ballot tracking system here that allows us to get the status of our vote in email, text, or both.
• Make sure to check your voter registration now. Right now. That’s true for voters in every other state too. Always be sure ahead of time.
• Yes on 50. More on that later.
• Let’s do some news.
• Last night, ABC pulled the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” late-night show off the air indefinitely because Kimmel upset the Charlie Kirk martyr community.
• What did Jimmy say?
• He suggested that Tyler Robinson, the man accused of fatally shooting Kirk, was aligned with Dumpy’s MAGA movement.
• “The MAGA Gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” is what Kimmel said.
• That’s all it took. His show may never be seen again, for all we know.
• See, in a fascist regime, all of the tools of government are at the disposal of the dictator. So FCC Chair Brendan Carr threatened to remove the broadcast license of ABC and take action against its parent company, Disney.
• That’s how it works. That’s how they can control what people see and hear and, ultimately, think. And the wealthy and powerful media entities are on the side of the authoritarians.
• Also: this isn’t about Charlie Kirk. Dump had been threatening to go after Kimmel and anyone else who didn’t kiss his ass enough, and was waiting to pounce on the first plausible excuse to do so. When the cancelation of Stephen Colbert’s show announced several months ago, Dump wrote that Kimmel was next.
• So Dump has been looking for any excuse to censor our nation’s entertainment for a long time. And in fact, Dumpy chimed in moments later, saying, “Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done.”
• Dump also targeted two other late-night hosts, Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, and said they should be canceled too, calling them “two total losers.”
• Talk show hosts who speak out against fascism will definitely not be the last casualty of Despot Dump’s dictatorship. Wait until you see what they have planned to control what people like you and me are allowed to write and say.
• So good job, MAGA. In your effort for American freedom, you’ve fucked yourselves and the rest of us who all saw this coming long ago and far away.
• And after they finish taking away our First Amendment rights, watch the rest of them fall one by one.
• Which leads us into our next story.
• Yesterday, Dumples the Stalin-like Clown announced that he will designate Antifa as a terrorist organization, and is recommending investigations into people who allegedly fund it.
• His quote…
• "I am pleased to inform our many U.S.A. Patriots that I am designating ANTIFA, A SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER, AS A MAJOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION. I will also be strongly recommending that those funding ANTIFA be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"
• Let’s go full stop there.
• Antifa is not an organization. It’s a concept that means anti-fascism. For example, in WWII, the world came together to fight fascism in Nazi Germany.
• If you want to look at the greatest members of Antifa, look no further than our grandparents’ and great-grandparents’ generation… the people who fought — and in many cases died — to preserve democracy for the world.
• Antifa has no leadership. No infrastructure. No headquarters. No funding. No point of contact. It’s an idea. A concept. It’s like saying that people who like pizza is a terrorist organization.
• So obviously, Dump claiming that half the country are terrorists is concerning. Before you freak out entirely, Dump said the same in 2020 during the George Floyd/BLM protests.
• Furthermore, there is no legal mechanism for a president to declare a domestic organization a terrorist organization… and once again, there is no organization called Antifa. It. Does. Not. Exist.
• But the fact that Dump has now designated the entire liberal half of the USA as terrorists, we could potentially be treated on par with ISIS and Al Qaeda. If you ever said anything that was critical of the Orange Anus, congrats: you’re now a terrorist.
• Look… we told you this guy was a fascist asshole. I personally told this to you almost daily for years and years.
• Maybe you’ll start to do something now. Maybe not. Maybe you’ll wait until Dump’s goons are rounding you and your family up. Guess we’ll see.
• But for now, let me be very clear: we’re running out of time. Do something now. Encourage Californians to vote Yes on 50. Participate in organized protests. Call your congressional and senate reps.
• DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT.
• Moving on.
• A quick note from the ongoing hearings regarding FBI Director Kash Patel. I enjoyed this short exchange between Patel and my Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA) in regard to sex trafficker and Dump’s close friend Jeffrey Epstein…
• PATEL: The estate of Epstein has a voluminous amount of information that they have not released.
• LIEU: Wouldn't it be great if the FBI subpoenaed the estate?
• PATEL: The estate is under no obligation to provide that information.
• LIEU: That's just false. You're the frickin' FBI! You can subpoena information.
• Fact check: true. If Dump’s government wanted the truth about Epstein and the powerful men who used their relationship with him to have sex with children, they’d get it.
• They choose not to.
• Let’s move on to another well-known and beloved person who weighed in on the death of Charlie Kirk. You know him. His name is Barack Obama.
• The former President condemned what he called the “horrific” killing of Kirk, but makes it clear that he was in broad disagreement with the founder of Turning Point USA — and Americans should be free to criticize his political views.
• Which is exactly what I’ve been saying form my own perspective.
• Obama made it clear that Dump and his allies are now using the killing to heighten polarization by stifling debate about what Kirk advocated in his podcast and appearances on college campuses.
• He said, “I didn’t know Charlie Kirk. I was generally aware of some of his ideas. I think those ideas were wrong, but that doesn’t negate the fact that what happened was a tragedy and that I mourn for him and his family. We can also, at the same time, say that I disagree with the idea that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a mistake. I can say that I disagree with the suggestion that my wife or Justice Jackson does not have adequate brain processing power. I can say that I disagree that Martin Luther King was awful.”
• Obama continued, “When I hear not just our current president, but his aides, who have a history of calling political opponents vermin, enemies who need to be targeted, that speaks to a broader problem that we have right now. When we have the weight of the United States government behind extremist views, we’ve got a problem.”
• He’s right. 
• Let’s move on.
• Remember Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia grad student who they tried to deport for his involvement in pro-Palestinian protests? The one who missed the birth of his first child while being held in detention for no reason?
• Judge Jamee Comans has now ordered Khalil to be deported to either Algeria or Syria.
• The ruling was issued last Friday, but it first came to light in court papers filed by Khalil's lawyers yesterday as part of his lawsuit against the government. A green card holder, Khalil was detained for months by the Dump administration detained him for months and sought to deport him as part of a wider policy of punishing foreign students for protesting Israel's conduct in its war against Hamas.
• Khalil now has 30 days to appeal Comans' ruling to a Justice Department body called the Board of Immigration Appeals, and if his appeal is rejected, he will lose his green card status and be ordered to leave the country.
• These are dark days, friends, and they’re going to keep getting darker.
• They’re counting on you being afraid and not fighting back, and not standing up for your friends and neighbors.
• Let’s prove them fucking wrong.
• Let’s move on.
• In the first big acknowledgement of a stalling labor market and slower economic growth, yesterday the Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points — its first cut since December. 
• The Fed cut reduces the federal funds rate — what banks charge each other for short-term loans — to between 4% and 4.25%, down from its prior range of 4.25% to 4.5%. The last time the central bank eased borrowing costs was in December 2024, when it also trimmed rates by a quarter of a percentage point.
• Federal Reserve officials are also penciling in two more rate cuts in 2025, but only one in 2026, according to the central bank's summary of economic projections. That may disappoint Wall Street, with investors before the meeting projecting a total of five cuts over the rest of the year and 2026.
• With their projections, Fed officials expect the nation's unemployment rate — currently 4.3% — to reach 4.5% by year-end before hopefully ticking down to 4.4% in 2026 and 4.3% the following year.
• The move comes as the Fed contends with a two-fold economic challenge: curbing inflation, which has flared in recent months, while supporting job growth, which has slumped. 
• None of this is good news.
• Moving on, and following up on our previous story…
• Yesterday, Mississippi police awaited autopsy results for a Black student found hanging from a tree at Delta State University, in a case that has ignited strong emotions in a state with a long and horrible history of racist violence.
• The 21-year-old student, Demartravion “Trey” Reed, was found near the campus pickleball courts early Monday. While police have said they saw no evidence of foul play, his family is demanding answers and has hired prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump.
• Campus police Chief Michael Peeler called the death an "isolated incident.”
• Peeler said the evidence includes video footage, but he would not say what it shows and where it came from, citing the ongoing investigation.
• Hmm.
• Let’s move back to more news about the descent of the US into fascism.
• Yesterday, a resolution to censure Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) failed. What was it about? Her comments and a social media repost she made regarding — you guessed it — Charlie Kirk’s death.
• The resolution was introduced under special rules by a horrible human being, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), fast-tracking it to a floor vote. House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) introduced a motion to table — essentially, to dismiss — the resolution yesterday.
• The motion to table succeeded by a vote of 214-213, with four Republicans — Reps. Mike Flood (R-NE), Jeff Hurd (R-CO), Tom McClintock (R-CA) and Cory Mills (R-FL) — voting with Democrats.
• Interesting.
• And as if all that wasn’t enough, we have another piece of evidence that fascism has arrived in the USA.
• Yesterday, the Education Department said that it is partnering with conservative organizations to present educational programming about patriotism, liberty and what it described as American values.
• The initiative is led by the America First Policy Institute, a right-leaning group founded by people from Dump’s first term. It convened 40 other conservative organizations yesterday, including Turning Point USA, Hillsdale College, the Heritage Foundation, and Moms for Liberty, to begin planning.
• Christian evangelical groups, such as the Faith and Freedom Coalition, are also participating.
• The department provided few details about what the programming would entail and how it would reach students or schools.
• Do I have to tell you what’s going to happen?
• They’re going to whitewash (or eliminate) education about slavery or any other injustice the U.S. has committed in its nearly 250 years of existence.
• We’re going to need to combat this erasure of historical fact. Fortunately, we have many ways to do so… and we will.
• Moving on.
• We have an entry for today’s AOTDWID (Asshole of the Day who Isn’t Dump).
• Remember Dylann Roof, the mass murderer, white supremacist, and neo-Nazi who in 2015 shot and killed nine Black people at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC?
• When Roof had his bond hearing, Judge James "Skip" Gosnell Jr. caused controversy with his statement that, alongside the dead victims and their families, said that Roof’s family were also victims. Gosnell has also been reprimanded for his frequent use of the N-word slur.
• Well, guess what? Gosnell, 68, now faces charges of possession of child sexual abuse material.
• Investigators with the DHS said the charge stems from a tip they received from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about several financial transactions with a distributor of child sexual abuse material.
• The payments came from an online money transfer account associated with Gosnell’s phone number, address, and email account. Federal authorities executed a search warrant at Gosnell’s home and arrested him after the search was complete.
• They’d found a flash drive containing numerous videos and images depicting child sexual abuse, which include videos and images of minors, infants, and toddlers engaged in sexually explicit conduct.
• Happy to say that Gosnell wore a prisoner’s jumpsuit and shackles in federal court for yesterday’s hearing. His lawyer is concerned for his safety, considering that as a judge, Gosnell handled warrants and charges against current inmates.
• Tough shit, you kiddie porn asshole. I hear they don’t like scum like you in jail. I’d wish him good luck, but I really don’t at all.
• A note from the Entertainment Desk that’s not about Jimmy Kimmel being taken off the air because Dump is a fragile snowflake…
• A short while ago, when talking about the updated cast of Saturday Night Live, I made an offhand remarks that more of you probably watch the show on Sundays morning via YouTube than late on Saturday night.
• Turns out I was correct than I’ve realized. SNL reaches more unique people in the US than any other YouTube channel.
• While some YouTube channels might have more subscribers and pure views than SNL, some of those watches might not come from humans, and some are repeats — the stereotypical 12-year-olds shuffling through Mr. Beast playlists in the background while powering through Minecraft or Roblox.
• SNL reaches 38.6 million unique people via YouTube, more than any other channel. And in fact, despite the concept of new media being the hot thing, the top 10 is mostly traditional media outlets.
• That includes ABC News (33.3 million), NBC News (30.7), IGN (30.0), CNN (29.7), ESPN (29.0), and Forbes (28.4). The top 10 is rounded out by YouTube Movies at no. 2 (35.4), Netflix at no. 9 (27.8), and the NFL at 10 (27.7).
• It’s worth pointing out that YouTube’s demographic skews younger, which explains the absence of cable juggernauts like Fox News.
• And now, The Weather: “Portsmouth Raceway” by villagerrr
• Let’s do a chart.
• It’s mid-September 1981, and I’ve recently started 8th grade. In my school system, that’s the last year of middle school before high school, so 8th graders are the big kids on campus.
• I was definitely growing up some at this point. I had a couple of actual girlfriends around that time, with actual kissing and stuff. I was also deep into playing guitar, and was surfing.
• This was the top of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart at the time.
• 1. Endless Love (Diana Ross & Lionel Richie). 2. Queen Of Hearts (Juice Newton). 3. Stop Draggin' My Heart Around (Stevie Nicks With Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers). 4. Urgent (Foreigner). 5.(There's) No Gettin' Over Me (Ronnie Milsap). 6. .Who's Crying Now (Journey). 7. Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do) (Christopher Cross). 8. Step By Step (Eddie Rabbitt). 9. Lady (You Bring Me Up) (Commodores). 10. Start Me Up (The Rolling Stones). 11. Hold On Tight (Electric Light Orchestra). 12. Slow Hand (The Pointer Sisters). 13. The Beach Boys Medley (The Beach Boys). 14. For Your Eyes Only (Sheena Easton). 15. Jessie's Girl (Rick Springfield). 16. The Voice (The Moody Blues). 17. The Night Owls (Little River Band). 18. Private Eyes (Daryl Hall John Oates). 19. Share Your Love With Me (Kenny Rogers). 20. In Your Letter (REO Speedwagon).
• From the Sports Desk… as we mentioned recently, the WNBA playoffs are in full swing.
• In round one, the 1-seed Minnesota Lynx have eliminated the 8-seed Golden State Valkyries, shutting them out 2-0 in the best-of-3 series. The 4-seed Phoenix Mercury are tied 1-1 against the 5-seed New York Liberty.
• The 2-seed Las Vegas Aces are also wrapped up 1-1 against the 7-seed Seattle Storm, as are the 3-seed Atlanta Dream and 6-seed Indiana Fever
• Also, Week 3 of the NFL season starts tonight, with the Dolphins visiting the Bills. This is the most lopsided matchup of the season thus far, with Buffalo being a -12.5 favorite over the struggling Miami.
• And in fact, for the first time ever, the betting arena Polymarket has given the Dolphins a 0% chance of beating the Bills. Zero. Percent.
• Lordy.
• Today in history… Nerva is proclaimed Roman emperor after Domitian is assassinated (96). Norwegian king Harald Hardrada lands with Tostig Godwinson at the mouth of the Humber River and begins his invasion of England (1066). The first cornerstone of the United States Capitol is laid by George Washington (1793). Tiffany & Co. (first named Tiffany & Young) is founded by Charles Lewis Tiffany and Teddy Young in New York City (1837). First publication of The New-York Daily Times, which later becomes The New York Times (1851). Fritz Pollard becomes the first African American to play professional football for a major team, the Akron Pros (1919). The Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) goes on the air (1927). General Douglas MacArthur moves his general headquarters from Manila to Tokyo (1945). Fidel Castro arrives in New York City as the head of the Cuban delegation to the United Nations (1960). Voyager I takes the first distant photograph of the Earth and the Moon together (1977). First mailing of anthrax letters from Trenton, New Jersey in the 2001 anthrax attacks (2001). Scotland votes against independence from the United Kingdom, by 55% to 45% (2014). 
• September 18 is the birthday of Roman emperor Trajan (53), singer-songwriter/lute player Francesca Caccini (1587), lexicographer Samuel Johnson (1709), actress Greta Garbo (1905), actor Jack Warden (1920), director/producer Bud Greenspan (1926), actor Robert Blake (1933), actor Fred Willard (1933), singer Frankie Avalon (1940), singer-songwriter Michael Franks (1944), computer businessman John McAfee (1945), guitarist/songwriter Kerry Livgren (1949), singer-songwriter/bass player Dee Dee Ramone (1951), basketball coach Rick Pitino (1952), football coach/politician Tommy Tuberville (1954), actor James Gandolfini (1961), NBA player Toni Kukoč (1968), actress Jada Pinkett Smith (1971), cyclist Lance Armstrong (1971), rapper Xzibit (1974), soccer player Ronaldo (1976), actor/comedian Billy Eichner (1976), and NBA player Serge Ibaka (1989).

Like I said… it’s a crucial moment not just in U.S. history but that of the whole world. We don’t have the luxury of time to wait and see what happens. We can already see that. Protect yourself and those you love by being aware, awake, and involved. Contact me privately if you want so I can tell you about some organizations who are part of the fight. If this is what they want, we’re going to give it to them. And a reminder: bullies don’t care about your reasoning and attempts to resolve shit peacefully. They keep hitting you until you hit back. Get ready to fucking fight back. You do not have the choice of sitting on the sidelines or hiding anymore. Let’s go. Stand up and put up your fists. Enjoy your day.