Random News: September 20, 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.

---

Good morning. It’s September 20, 2025, and it’s a Saturday. I’m writing to you live from Antifa Headquarters this morning. It’s overcast in the early morning but otherwise lovely here, and the coffee is good. Of course, any place where fascism is fought and ridiculed is the right place to be, but I still say it’s also important to enjoy the coffee while you’re there.

• Before we get to the news, let’s talk about fear. What is it? And why is it relevant to what’s going on in the world today?
• Fear is an emotion — a generally unpleasant one — that arises in response to perceived dangers or threats.
• You’ve been afraid at some point in your life. I don’t need to describe what it’s like. Fear affects every living creature, from humans down to invertebrates.
• Why? What evolutionary advantage does fear provide?
• Simple. The fear response serves survival. If you’re an early human in your cave and a saber-toothed tiger walks in, you experience fear that you’ll be eaten… a terrible way to die, I assume.
• So the fear you experience triggers fast physiological and psychological changes. It may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat, commonly known as the fight-or-flight response.
• To some degree, most species remain extant primarily due to fear. Otherwise, various predators consume them and that’s that. You learn to fight, or to run away, and you get to stay alive and perhaps procreate, and your species lives on.
• Fear can be rational or irrational. Fear can be helpful, but also very harmful. I don’t have to explain why. Fear can stop you from living your best life, from taking chances that could lead to amazing benefits.
• And probably for the entirety of human existence, fear has been used purposefully to control your actions and behaviors and even your thought processes.
• You’ve probably heard of a guy named Niccolò Machiavelli. He lived in the 1400s/1500s during the Renaissance, and is often referred to as the father of modern political philosophy and political science.
• Machiavelli is perhaps best known for a political treatise he wrote called “The Prince,” in which the overall premise says that rulers who engage in deception, treachery, and violence are more likely to be successful.
• Famously, Machiavelli believed that it was better to be widely feared than to be greatly loved; a loved ruler retains authority by obligation, while a feared leader rules by fear of punishment.
• And now I’ll move us back to the here-and-now and tell you that throughout history, the world’s most detested and despicable rulers are those who’ve followed this Machiavellian mindset.
• Humans are pretty neat, but we haven’t evolved nearly as much as we think we have. So the fact that people are more easily driven by their fears rather than their aspirations for positive higher-level emotions — happiness, love, respect, trust, admiration, serenity, joy, the desire to engage in noble acts of selflessness — is easy to understand.
• To wrap this up, people like Donnie Dump have studied this for a long time. They use fear as the primary basis for what they consider effective rule.
• When’s the last time you heard Dumpy say something positive to inspire people to follow him? Everything he says is about how forces are conspiring to ruin your life. How you should fear and mistrust others.
• And how he, himself, will be happy to ruin your life in myriad ways should you not follow along with his demands.
• There’s nothing new about Dumpy. There have been hundreds of Dumpys, and millions upon millions of lower-level Dumpys, who only have one tool in their bag of tricks… their ability to intimidate those whom they require to participate in order to accomplish their goals.
• And the final note: if you give in to your fear, you have already given the Dumpys of the world exactly what they wanted and planned for.
• The one thing they can’t handle is bravery. Bravery is not the absence of fear… oh no.
• It’s the ability to take action despite your fear.
• This week, when Dumpy said he was declaring Antifa as a “major terrorist organization,” it was intended to inspire fear on a very widespread basis.
• Why? Because — as I’ve told you many times — Antifa doesn’t exist as a group or organization. It’s a concept about being against fascism.
• So now, anyone who opposed anything Dump does can be labelled “Antifa,” and then the path would be in place to horribly persecute those people without any of the rights given to residents of the USA.
• No right to an attorney. No ability to defend yourself. No trial. And the “Antifa” label could go on over half the people in this country… anyone who hasn’t sworn allegiance to Dump.
• Like me. Like most of you. Pretty much any Democrat. But also any other person who does or says something Dumpy doesn’t like. Thrown into jail cells. Tortured. Killed. The thought is pretty horrific.
• So a person driven entirely by fear would react to this news by hiding. Never making their political outlook known. Never saying anything controversial in public. Maybe never voting or even registering to vote. And just doing whatever they’re told to do in order to stay alive.
• It’s happened that way many times in history. And I understand it. I’m a human too.
• But I refuse to live my life — as relatively short as it is in the grand scheme of things — cowering in fear. The mere fact that I write this shit every fucking day probably puts me in the line of fire.
• But I will not live my life in fear or in ignorance. And let me tell you: my ability to not allow fear to be my primary motivating force means I’ve already won.
• Let’s do some news.
• Yesterday, Big Fat Dumpy signed a proclamation that will require a $100,000 annual visa fee for highly-skilled foreign workers. 
• You’re probably aware of these H-1B visas, which require at least a bachelor’s degree. They’re meant for high-skilled jobs that tech companies find difficult to fill.
• Let’s start with the easy part: most H-1B visa holders — often software coders and developers — don’t even make $100,000 per year. It would be impossible for that fee to be paid by nearly any of them.
• If that fee was paid by the tech companies bringing those workers into their organizations, the consumer price increases for typical services to accommodate the extra expenses would be staggering.
• Dumpy also announced that people wanting moving to this country can now simply buy their citizenship.
• He rolled out a $1 million “gold card” visa as a pathway to U.S. citizenship for wealthy individuals.
• If you can’t see what’s wrong with this — legally, morally, ethically — I don’t know what to tell you. I do know that anyone onboard with this idea cannot possibly call themselves a good American.
• Let’s move on.
• Dump’s own mouth usually is what tells the true story of what he’s up to. He’s really the worst at incriminating himself because he has little to no control over his own emotions and large ego.
• As we mentioned yesterday, U.S. attorney Erik Siebert was forced to resign after Dump told him to find some reason to criminally go after New York's attorney general Letitia James, a frequent foe of Dump whom he considers a political enemy.
• But Dump couldn’t leave well enough alone. Late last night, he wrote that he withdrew Seibert's nomination (note: he did not) when he "was informed that he received the UNUSUALLY STRONG support" of the two Democratic senators from Virginia.
• And then Dump claimed that Siebert didn’t resign, and that Dumpy himself had fired him.
• Siebert, who was also investigating former FBI director James B. Comey on Dump’s orders, was unable to prove with other prosecutors that James committed mortgage fraud when purchasing a home in 2023.
• But Dump is once again setting the stage for his claims that all Democrats are criminals, terrorists, and should face punishment for crimes they never committed.
• See the fear section of this report up top.
• Moving on.
• One other thing that dictators do is to position themselves as being infallible. Never being wrong. Having so much power that it’s useless to go against their will.
• But Dump loses every fucking day.
• Yesterday, in a ruling dripping with derision, US District Court Judge Steven D. Merryday rejected Dump’s $15 billion (hahahahahahah) defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, asserting that the rambling 85-page suit did not follow federal rules for filing civil complaints.
• Merryday, of the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida, said that the suit “stands unmistakably and inexcusably athwart the requirements of Rule 8” of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
• Apparently Dump’s attorneys didn’t know that a complaint must be a “short, plain, direct statement of allegations of fact,” wrote the judge, and that Dump’s broadside against The Times was “decidedly improper and impermissible.”
• A quick note for context: Dump has no case against the Times. When he filed the ridiculous defamation suit earlier this week, numerous respected legal experts said that the suit was meritless, and several argued that it was more of a PR stunt than a serious case.
• What an asshole.
• Let’s move on.
• In another blatant step toward total authoritarianism and fascism, the Pentagon will drastically change its rules for journalists who cover the Department of Defense. The move drew sharp criticism from news organizations, who said it violated the bedrock of a free press.
• Going forward, journalists must sign a pledge not to gather any information, including unclassified reports, that hasn't been authorized for release.
• The new rules for the media says those who fail to obey the new policy will lose their press credentials — cutting off access to the headquarters of the largest department in the U.S. government.
• “Information must be approved for public release by an appropriate authorizing official before it is released, even if it is unclassified,” says the new direction.
• So the press is no longer able to give us unedited, unbiased information. Does that sound like the USA that you know and love?
• Why do you enable this piece of fucking shit? Why are you such a giant pussy that you not only allow him to walk on you but then you lick his boots and thank him afterwards?
• Stand the fuck up, America, Do it while you still can.
• Moving on.
• Yesterday, a 64-year-old Sacramento man, Anibal Hernandez Santana, shot up the local ABC affiliate station.
• The building was occupied at the time, but fortunately no one was struck by the multiple gunshots which were fired from a moving vehicle and struck the window.
• A motive for the shooting is still unclear, but it happened one day after a protest was held outside the station over the network’s suspension of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
• Remember when we were talking about fear and the “fight-or-flight” response? Well, sometimes acts of irrational anger are really just reactions about fear.
• The fear that one’s rights are being quickly stripped away can lead people to do things that they’d normally never consider doing, and often are misdirected toward the undeserving.
• Not that I’m saying that’s what happened here. But it dies add up. Hernandez Santana was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon, shooting into an occupied building, and negligent discharge of a firearm.
• This is not the way to express displeasure. A lot of people never learned how to use their emotions in productive and positive ways. Maybe most folks, I hate to say.
• On a loosely-related note, I’m rather proud of myself.
• On the Threads social platform this week, I wrote a post talking about the origin story of Jimmy Kimmel. Many local folks here in the LA area got to know Jimmy in the mid-1990s as “Jimmy the Sports Guy” on a morning radio show on 106.7 KROQ.
• Anyway, the story apparently resonated with folks, and got over 55,000 views and hundreds of likes.
• Glad to help.
• In other news…
• An example of the different ways that the justice system treats different people.
• Richard Fatherley, a Kansas sheriff's deputy, was charged Thursday with murder in the death of a jail inmate who sustained broken ribs after his back was kneeled on.
• 50-year-old Charles Adair was being held at the county's detention center in Kansas City, KS. Adair had been arrested one day earlier on misdemeanor warrants for traffic violations.
• Adair was being removed from his wheelchair when Fatherley kneeled on his back. In addition to rib fractures, Adair also sustained a sternal fracture. The man was suffocated and crushed to death for traffic tickets.
• Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree is already saying, "We do not believe this was an intentional act.”
• But Fatherley must be in jail now, right?
• Nah. He got a summons to appear in court. That’s all. Dupree said that's customary for officers in the county facing charges.
• ”He was not a flight risk. He was, in fact, cooperative with the investigation" and is expected to continue cooperating.
• That cop will never face any punishment for killing that man.
• And now, The Weather: “I Love People” by Cory Hanson
• It is exactly September 20, 1969… 56 years ago today. I was born in June and I’m about 15 weeks old. Goo goo.
• Pretty sure we were living in a suburb of Cleveland, OH called Brooklyn.
• Here was the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart at the time. Not bad at all. I had good music in my infancy. No wonder I’m so cool.
• 1. Blind Faith (Blind Faith). 2. Johnny Cash At San Quentin (Johnny Cash). 3. Blood, Sweat & Tears (Blood, Sweat & Tears). 4. Hair (Original Cast Recording). 5. Green River (Creedence Clearwater Revival). 6. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (Iron Butterfly). 7. Best Of Cream (Cream). 8. Smash Hits (The Jimi Hendrix Experience). 9. The Soft Parade (The Doors). 10. Through The Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) (The Rolling Stones). 11. Crosby,Stills & Nash (Crosby, Stills & Nash). 12. Bayou Country (Creedence Clearwater Revival). 13. Hot Buttered Soul (Isaac Hayes). 14. Nashville Skyline (Bob Dylan). 15. This Is Tom Jones (Tom Jones). 16. Romeo & Juliet (1969)  (Soundtrack). 17. Best Of Bee Gees (Bee Gees). 18. Dark Shadows (The Score) (Soundtrack). 19. Led Zeppelin (Led Zeppelin). 20. Suitable For Framing (Three Dog Night).
• From the Sports Desk… let’s see how the WNBA playoffs are going.
• In addition to the 1-seed Minnesota Lynx defeating the 8-seed Golden State Valkyries 2-0 in the 3-game first round series, the 2-seed Las Vegas Aces have now beaten the 7-seed Seattle Storm 2-1, the 6-seed Indiana Fever have taken the 3-seed Atlanta Dream 2-1, and the 4-seed Phoenix Mercury beat 5-seed New York Liberty 2-1.
• Round two action starts tomorrow with Indiana at Las Vegas and Phoenix at Minnesota. Round two is a best-of-5 series.
• Today in history… Saladin begins the Siege of Jerusalem (1187). Cardinal Robert of Geneva is elected as Pope Clement VII, beginning the Papal schism (1378). The Nankai tsunami washes away the building housing the Great Buddha at Kōtoku-in, and it’s been outside ever since (1498). Ferdinand Magellan sets sail from Sanlúcar de Barrameda which ultimately culminated in the first circumnavigation the globe (1519). The future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom begins the first visit to North America by a Prince of Wales (1860). U.S. President Chester A. Arthur is sworn in upon the death of James A. Garfield the previous day (1881). British police known as "Black and Tans" burned the town of Balbriggan and killed two local men in revenge for an Irish Republican Army (IRA) assassination (1920). The first Cannes Film Festival is held, having been delayed seven years due to World War II (1946). James Meredith, an African American, is temporarily barred from entering the University of Mississippi (1962). Billie Jean King beats Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes tennis match at the Houston Astrodome (1973). Singer Jim Croce, songwriter and musician Maury Muehleisen and four others die when their light aircraft crashes on takeoff at Natchitoches Regional Airport in Louisiana (1973). American football players in the National Football League begin a 57-day strike (1982). In an address to a joint session of Congress and the American people, U.S. President George W. Bush declares a "War on Terror” (2001). The United States military ends its "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, allowing gay men and women to serve openly for the first time (2011). Hurricane Maria makes landfall in Puerto Rico as a powerful Category 4 hurricane, resulting in 2,975 deaths, $90 billion in damage, and a major humanitarian crisis (2017). Roughly four million people, mostly students, demonstrate across the world to address climate change, and 16-year-old Greta Thunberg from Sweden leads the demonstration in New York City (2019).
• September 20 is the birthday of inventor Frederick Ellsworth Sickels (1819), publisher Herbert Putnam (1861), novelist Upton Sinclair (1878), actor Kenneth More (1914), animator Jay Ward (1920), actress Anne Meara (1929), actress Sophia Loren (1934), guitarist Eric Gale (1938), businessman/politician Pete Coors (1946), novelist George R. R. Martin (1948), bass player Chuck Panozzo (1948), drummer John Panozzo (1948), NHL player Guy Lafleur (1951), singer-songwriter Alannah Currie (1957), singer-songwriter/guitarist Nuno Bettencourt (1966), singer-songwriters/musicians Gunnar and Matthew Nelson (1967),  songwriter/bassist Ben Shepherd (1969), NFL player Dante Hall (1978), and NFL player Trevon Diggs (1998).

So, there you go. Stuff to consider. That’s what I give you. Do with it what you will. Enjoy your day.