Random News: September 19, 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 19, 2025, and if you can believe it, it’s a Friday once again! once again, we have a lot to discuss today in this crucial moment in history. And I’m going to ask you to look within yourself and realize that you — yes you — have the power to help save the world. Whether you believe me or not, it’s true.

• I know a lot of you are talking about boycotting ABC, their owner Disney, and all the entities that fall under Disney’s large umbrella in the entertainment world, as a result of them bowing to Dump in the cancelation of Jimmy Kimmel Live.
• And I certainly understand that sentiment.
• But let’s take a closer look at the person — beyond the obvious actions of the Evil Yet Stupid Lord Dump — who is actually responsible for this.
• It’s the far-right conservative activist who was named the Chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Brendan Carr.
• Who is he? A typical D.C. lawyer type who got a job with the FCC. In 2022, he was pulled in by the Heritage Foundation to help develop a project intended to push the federal government towards a radical right-wing conservative philosophy.
• That document ended up being called Project 2025, and Carr wrote the chapter on (drum roll)… the FCC, and how it could be used to further move the USA towards a fascist dictatorship.
• His work on Project 2025 included calling for regulating technology companies, imposing transparency rules, and ending Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
• Dump loved it, and named Carr the Chairman of the FCC when his new term began earlier this year.
• So again, yes… you’re mad at ABC/Disney for capitulating to the demands of Dump. I am too.
• But what Brendan Carr threatened was to revoke the entire broadcast license of ABC in the United States. That’s essentially, would cancel every show on the network.
• I’m not saying they had no choice; they could have called Carr’s bluff, or been forced to pay billions in fines that Dump would arbitrarily and illegally impose as ransom in order to stay on the air.
• But if you’re looking for a direction to truly place blame, this is 100% the fault of Carr and his boss Dumpy.
• People in D.C. know what Carr has done.
• Yesterday, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) said, "They're making comedy illegal. Brendan Carr pressured ABC to cancel Jimmy Kimmel, and Disney cancels Jimmy Kimmel. This canceling from an administration that lectured us about cancel culture. That's why today I'm introducing a motion to subpoena Brendan Carr, to bring him in front of this committee to stop the intimidation of private businesses and to stand up for the First Amendment."
• Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) also just called out Brendan Carr. “Get a lawyer and save your documents. In a Dem majority, your ass is going to be in a witness chair for a long time.  It’s ALL coming out.  All of your corrupt deals.”
• Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees the FCC, said, “FCC Chairman Brendan Carr does not have the authority to police speech that he or the President don't personally like. Especially when there is a pending merger with the affected parties in front of the FCC.”
• And House Oversight Ranking Member Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) says he'll be launching an investigation into the Dump administration, ABC, and Sinclair Broadcasting "amid ongoing efforts to censor opposition to the President of the United States."
• But Carr, at least for now, remains belligerent. Yesterday on CNBC, he stated quite clearly, “We’re not done yet.”
• So you can count on them going after Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, and any other show host or actor or comedian or social influencer who doesn’t kiss Dump’s fat, wrinkled ass.
• Another target of Dump and Carr: ABC’s long-sunning, woman-hosted talk show “The View”.
• What’s Dumpy the Unconstitutional Clown saying about this whole situation?
• Yesterday he explained, "When you have a network and you have evening shows and all they do is hit Trump, that's all they do — if you go back, I guess they haven't had a conservative one in years, or something — when you go back and take a look, all they do is hit Trump. They're licensed. They're not allowed to do that."
• Well, let me say it loudly for you, you demented dingbat: YES THEY FUCKING ARE.
• Until you have the First Amendment removed from our Constitution — which I’m sure you’d love to do — the people have the rights to free speech, and the media is not under government control.
• If it was, Obama and/or Biden would have taken Fox News off the air decades ago. But they didn’t try, because they respect free speech and aren’t oversensitive assholes.
• Let me introduce you to a concept called “jawboning”.
• That’s when regulators or government officials pressure private actors — like a social media company or broadcast network —  to stifle speech. It is censorship by proxy.
• And the hypocrisy among Republicans — who screamed about “cancel culture” via the general population, and believed that the Biden administration overly pressured Twitter and Facebook to remove COVID misinformation — is astounding.
• And now the MAGA world is just shitting on the First Amendment… something they may all deeply regret when it’s their turn to experience.
• Let’s move on, though we will be continuing to cover Dump’s attack on the First Amendment for as long as it takes.
• While we were all focused on other topics, as worthwhile as they are, the Senate pulled some major fuckery yesterday.
• They confirmed 48 of Dump’s nominees at once, voting for the first time under new rules to begin clearing a backlog of executive branch positions that had been delayed by Democrats.
• Last week, Senate Republicans moved to make it easier to confirm large groups of lower-level, non-judicial nominations. Democrats had forced multiple votes on almost every one of Trump’s picks, infuriating the president and tying up the Senate floor.
• The new rules allow Senate Republicans to move multiple nominees with a simple majority vote — a process that would have previously been blocked with just one objection. The rules don’t apply to judicial nominations or high-level Cabinet posts.
• Those assholes voted 51-47 to confirm the four dozen nominees in one fell swoop, with no individual consideration going to them as one would expect.
• Who are these people? I’m not going to list all four dozen of them. They include people like Jonathan Morrison, the new administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and Kimberly Guilfoyle as U.S. ambassador to Greece.
• These Senators know they’re cheating the American people, but kissing Dump’s bloated ass is more important to them than the 340 million people who count on them.
• Moving on.
• Yesterday, Judge Timothy Kelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia — who was appointed to the bench by Ol’ Dumpy — blocked the U.S. government from deporting Guatemalan children who don't have orders of deportation or voluntary departure, saying a Dump administration effort to remove them earlier this month was based on a faulty justification.
• Kelly wrote in a 43-page ruling that the administration's argument that it was trying to reunite a group of Guatemalan kids with family members in Guatemala “crumbled like a house of cards.”
• The legal controversy started a few weeks ago, when Dump attempted to expel more than 70 unaccompanied Guatemalan children over Labor Day weekend, prompting lawyers to file an emergency lawsuit in the overnight hours.
• The deportations were blocked by another federal judge as the unaccompanied minors were sitting in airplanes in Texas, ready to depart.
• Dumpy had tried to explain himself by saying he was simply trying to reunite the children with family in Guatemala, at the request of their relatives and the Guatemalan government.
• Guess what?
• Judge Kelly wrote that, "There is no evidence before the Court that the parents of these children sought their return," he said. Kelly cited a Guatemalan government report indicating that officials were unable to find a single parent who affirmatively wanted their children to return to Guatemala.
• They all know their children will be safer here than in that country. At least — under any administration than this one — they always would be.
• In other news…
• Dumpy has a game plan for weaponizing the Justice Department: if they can’t invent crimes for him to persecute his political enemies, he just fires them.
• That’s what’s happening today with Erik Siebert, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Dump told Siebert to find incriminating evidence of mortgage fraud against New York Attorney General Letitia James.
• When Siebert was unable to find that James had done anything wrong, Dump pushed him to nevertheless bring criminal charges against her. When he wouldn’t. Dump fired him. Siebert's last day on the job is expected to be today.
• First off, the decision to fire Siebert could throw into crisis one of the most prominent U.S. attorney's offices, which handles a bulk of the country's espionage and terrorism cases.
• But the even bigger picture aspect is that Dump will keep using the DOJ to target his political adversaries. Dump nominated Siebert for the position in May. He now plans to install a U.S. attorney who would more aggressively investigate James. 
• For no reason at all. That’s the world we live in. That’s the guy who Republicans wanted to lead the USA. Now they’re also subject to this sensitive asshole’s bullshit.
• Moving on.
• Yesterday, dozens of people were arrested at a demonstration opposing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Downtown Manhattan, and among them were New York City and state officials.
• It happened at 26 Federal Plaza, an ICE holding facility that has been a source of controversy over the past several months.
• Protesters chanted during an outside sit-in in front of a driveway of the building, objecting to the treatment of detainees held there, before authorities moved in to make arrests. Another group also moved in on the 10th floor, demanding to see conditions there before they, too, were arrested.
• DHS says that 71 people, including two state senators and nine state Assembly members, were arrested. They also said the building was later placed on lockdown due to a bomb threat, though that sounds like a weak excuse.
• I do not believe them.
• And people being arrested for nonviolent civil disobedience sounds like some major fascist bullshit to me.
• The lawmakers there were trying to conduct oversight of the ICE holding facility to make sure conditions were in compliance with a preliminary injunction ruling handed down by a judge on Wednesday.
• ICE claims federal elected officials don't have access to the 10th floor holding cells because they are temporary facilities, not detention centers.
• See how they try to wiggle around the rules and laws of our country?
• While we’re here at the Immigration Desk…
• Here’s a problem that could only occur in the Smelly Land of Dump: they’ve brought in so many ICE agents that now they have no place to put them.
• The agency, which started the year with about 20,000 people, is looking to hire more than 10,000 new officers by the end of the year.
• Employees at the General Services Administration — the U.S. agency that manages government facilities and procurement — are scrambling to find office space to accommodate this rapid increase of immigration enforcement officers carrying out widespread raids across the country.
• The GSA has created an "ICE surge" team to lease private offices to allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency officers to establish long-term work space in the cities where they are operating.
• Note the phrase “long-term.” It’s important. They’re planning on being in place for long after the 2028 election. Wonder why?
• They’ve posted an ad looking for"as-is, fully-finished and furnished office space in support of administrative operations for law enforcement" in 19 cities across the country. The listing estimates each lease would include workstations for 70 people.
• One of the GSA employees said ICE has urgently requested the agency find around 300 fully furnished properties with private office space to lease by this winter.
• Ironically, this process would happen even more quickly had DOGE not fired a large number of GSA employees and terminated a huge chunk of government leases.
• Way to go, Elon and Big Balls! The other fun fact about DOGE: there's no clear evidence those cuts saved significant amounts of taxpayer money.
• This search for workspace is also happening alongside a government-wide effort to divert resources towards immigration enforcement, from federal leasing efforts to law enforcement expertise from other agencies like the FBI.
• Limited enforcement resources — including a lack of funding to bring on more people to conduct arrests and investigations and litigate cases — have been one of the biggest challenges to scaling up the pace of arrests, detentions, and deportations.
• Again, had it not been for Elon not understanding shit about money or the government, this situation would be far worse by now.
• Let’s move on.
• Since you’ve probably crossed off Florida as a good place to raise a family due to the state getting rid of all vaccine requirements and likely causing the deaths of thousands of children, we thought we’d alert you to some more places to avoid.
• Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s federally-focused campaign against vaccines is entering a new phase with allies intent on rolling back school and health care facility mandates.
• So anti-vaccines advocates are now targeting Louisiana, Texas, and Idaho, where they are pushing red state governors to follow Florida’s lead in removing requirements in schools for students to get certain shots.
• Few of you know this, but at some point every fucking day, I thank all the powers of the universe that I live in California.
• Relevant side note: polling shows Americans — including most Republicans — broadly and strongly support vaccine mandates for schoolchildren.
• Because really, despite evidence to the contrary, most people aren’t fucking idiots. Not even Republicans. Most of them, anyway.
• In news from the Business Desk…
• Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission and state prosecutors filed a joint lawsuit against Live Nation Entertainment and Ticketmaster, accusing the event services of allowing brokers to scoop up event tickets and resell them at inflated prices, costing consumers billions of dollars. 
• The FTC is saying that Live Nation — which owns Ticketmaster — used bait-and-switch pricing tactics by advertising lower ticket prices than what was actually available to customers, and by selling millions of tickets to brokers at a significant markup, despite limits that artists had placed on such sales.
• The agency said Live Nation's and Ticketmaster's business practices violate the Better Online Ticket Sales Act, which was signed into federal law by President Barack Obama on December 14, 2016.
• Joining the FTC suit were attorneys general in Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Nebraska, Tennessee, Utah, and Virginia.
• Again, moving on.
• You know how we feel about political polling here at Zak’s Random News: it’s bullshit.
• But it is one of the only indicators we have of what might end up happening. And I’ll tell ya… based on both polls and recent special elections, we might take over the House and Senate despite all the gerrymandering bullshit.
• Earlier this month, Maine brewery owner and Dan Kleban, 48, announced that he is mounting a Senate bid to unseat Susan Collins (R-ME), whose term ends after 2026.
• The Democratic candidate accurately described Collins as having “been in Washington for 30 years, she stopped looking out for us, she lied about protecting abortion rights, and she refuses to stand up to Donald Trump when it really matters.”
• Well, a new poll of registered voters in Maine has Kleban with a double-digit lead over Collins, 44% to 35%.
• Just saying.
• From the Holy Shit Desk…
• A 95-year-old woman was arrested this week after she beat a fellow Brooklyn nursing home resident to death with a metal wheelchair piece.
• Galina Smirnova was cuffed Tuesday afternoon for allegedly striking 89-year-old Nina Kravtsov multiple times in the head when a feud erupted just after 10pm Sunday inside the Seagate Rehabilitation and Nursing Center on Coney Island.
• The nonagenarian has now been hit with murder and criminal possession of weapons charges.
• I guess the moral of the story is don’t fuck with old people who have nothing to lose.
• And now, The Weather: “itssadbutidk” by Qozy
• From the Sports Desk… last night’s NFL game between the Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins was not the blowout that everyone expected.
• The Bills won 31-21, but the game was tight through most of it. As they say, any given Sunday… you really never know.
• In other Sports Desk news, after 18 seasons, three-time Cy Young Award-winning Dodger pitcher Clayton Kershaw will retire at the end of this season. His final regular season start at Dodger Stadium will be today (though obviously we need him during the postseason as well).
• Kershaw was also the 2014 NL MVP and an 11-time All-Star. He’ll be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
• In a quality that more and more rare in any pro sport, Kershaw spent his entire 18 years in Major League Baseball with one team. Congrats on a great career.
• But in related Sports Desk news from the NHL… Los Angeles Kings captain Anze Kopitar will retire after the coming 2025-26 season, his 20th in the NHL.
• Kopitar helped lead the Kings to Stanley Cups in 2012 and 2014. He won two Selke Trophies (2016, 2018) for the best defensive forward, and three Lady Byng Trophies for gentlemanly play (2016, 2023, 2025).
• And he’ll have spent his entire 20-year NHL career with the Kings. Hats off to a great player!
• Today in history… Jamestown is burned to the ground by the forces of Nathaniel Bacon during Bacon's Rebellion (1676). The Continental Congress passes the first United States federal budget (1778). George Washington's Farewell Address is printed across America as an open letter to the public (1796). Union troops under William Rosecrans defeat a Confederate force commanded by Sterling Price (1862). Union troops under Philip Sheridan defeat a Confederate force commanded by Jubal Early (1864). The Electoral Act of 1893 is consented to by the governor, giving all women in New Zealand the right to vote (1893). Witold Pilecki gets captured on purpose, and is sent to Auschwitz concentration camp to gather and smuggle out information for the resistance movement (1940). Tipper Gore and other political wives form the Parents Music Resource Center as musicians testify at U.S. Congressional hearings on obscenity in rock music (1985). Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees surpasses Trevor Hoffman to become Major League Baseball's all-time saves leader with 602 (2011). A drone strike by the United States kills 30 civilian farmers in Afghanistan (2019). The state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom is held at Westminster Abbey, London (2022).
• September 19 is the birthday of Roman emperor Antoninus Pius (86), Liao emperor Mu Zong (931), explorer Thomas Cavendish (1560), lawyer Leon Jaworski (1905), car designer/businessman Ferdinand Porsche (1909), actress Frances Farmer (1913), actor/TV host James Lipton (1926), actor Adam West (1928), music manager Brian Epstein (1934), singer-songwriter Bill Medley (1940), singer-songwriter Paul Williams (1940), singer Cass Elliot (1941), songwriter/musician Lol Creme (1947), actor Jeremy Irons (1948), model/actress Twiggy (1949), journalist Joan Lunden (1950), music producer Daniel Lanois (1951), songwriter/guitarist/producer Nile Rodgers (1952), singer-songwriter/guitarist Lita Ford (1958), chef Mario Batali (1960), actress Cheri Oteri (1962), singer-songwriter Tricia Yearwood (1964), politician Tim Scott (1965), astronaut Sunita Williams (1965), journalist Soledad O’Brien (1966), TV host Jimmy Fallon (1974), actress Alison Sweeney (1976), NBA player Tyreke Evans (1989), and NBA player Trae Young (1998). 

I will once again tell you: all the stuff we wanted you about in regard to Donnie Dump pulling the USA into a fascist dictatorship is happening now. Literally right now. Pulling shows off the air, firing people who won’t prosecute his enemies, enriching his personal wealth while millions suffer… it’s all going on, and it’s happening right in front of you. And it’s going to take a lot of strength for us to collectively stand up and say “no more.” But I believe in you, and I look forward to the day that every one of these pricks get what’s coming to them. It will happen, and we’ll be there to watch it. Enjoy your day.