Random News: September 27, 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 27, 2025, and it’s a Saturday. I don't have much time to put together this news report today; I’m soon going to go directly participate in some newsworthy action in a little while.

• As I mentioned yesterday, I’m getting out the door somewhat early on this overcast Saturday morning. Kat and I are participating in an action event… “California Strong: Hold the Line.”
• Today from 10am-noon, pro-democracy groups across California are coming together to organize a human chain along the entire coast to protest Dump’s increasingly aggressive attacks on our democracy. 
• Our local part of this protest, in LA’s South Bay area, is massive. For those who know this part of SoCal, the human chain starts in the San Pedro area on Western Avenue, heads all the way to Pacific Coast Highway, and continues northwest through Lomita, Torrance, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, and El Segundo, ending at PCH and Imperial at LAX.
• That’s 15.5 miles of “Fuck This Shit.” I’m making my sign tonight, supporting the “YES ON PROP 50” cause on one side, and condemning Dump’s attacks on immigrants and our democracy itself on the other.
• And the spot I signed up for is straight down the street from my home, which is nice. I’m an activist, but I’m also a slacker who enjoys his weekends.
• Let’s do the news.
• Yesterday, Dump asked the Supreme Court to review the constitutionality of his executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship, pushing the issue back before the justices for the second time this year.
• Despite more than a century of understanding that the 14th Amendment confers citizenship on people born in the United States, the Dump administration told the Supreme Court that notion was “mistaken” and that the view became “pervasive, with destructive consequences.”
• While the Supreme Court handed down an important decision in June that dealt with birthright citizenship, that case was technically focused on a more procedural question of how much power lower courts had to stop a policy implemented by a president.
• That case was decoded by the usual suspects in a 6-3 majority. The court essentially limited – but did not completely rule out – the power of courts to block those policies.
• Due to that decision, states and individuals who were challenging Trump’s birthright order scrambled to file new cases to shut down Dump’s disgusting and unAmerican birthright policy through other means, including class-action lawsuits. The Supreme Court implicitly allowed those other types of nationwide blocks to continue.
• A series of new rulings have continued to keep Trump’s policy on hold, and the administration is now asking the justices to take up those cases to settle the issue once and for all.
• So this is it. It’s the moment when we all find out collectively if the SCOTUS is going to allow for an open dictatorship, and the abandonment of our Constitution and its Amendments.
• In related news…
• Based on another Supreme Court ruling that came down yesterday, I’d say that the Constitution is pretty much doomed, which means America is also soon doomed.
• Yesterday, the far-right SCOTUS allowed Dump to freeze $4 billion in foreign aid payments, handing the White House a significant victory in its monthslong quest to claw back spending that was approved by Congress last year.
• Yes, you read it right. Dump is taking back money that was approved by our Congressional reps.
• At issue is $4 billion in foreign aid, including for global health and HIV programs, that was allocated by Congress but that Dump deemed wasteful.
• And now this court decision gives Dump even more power to cancel more congressionally approved money in the future. And it comes as Congress is barreling toward a deadline Tuesday night to fund the government or risk shuttering federal agencies.
• I probably don’t have to tell you that the court’s three liberal and only sane justices — Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson — dissented from the decision.
• Kagan wrote that “is just the price of living under a Constitution that gives Congress the power to make spending decisions through the enactment of appropriations laws. If those laws require obligation of the money, and if Congress has not by rescission or other action relieved the executive of that duty, then the execu­tive must comply.”
• But no. The executive branch has now taken that power away from Congress, as long as we have a Congress that’s too wimpy — or too beholden — to stand up to Dump.
• Can you see why I’m spending my Saturday morning standing on a busy fucking highway with a sign in my fucking hand? It’s imperative that we flip both the House and Senate in 2026 and end this madness.
• And keep in mind: these SCOTUS rulings are going to set precedent for the next Democratic president we elect, and every one of these decisions will apply in the other direction.
• I relish the days to come when President Newsom (or President Harris or President Pritzker or President Ocasio-Cortez or President Buttigieg or President Whitmer) will make use of these same rulings in ways that — frankly — MAGA folks aren’t capable of understanding yet.
• Moving on with some better news.
• Yesterday, broadcast affiliate owner Sinclair said it is returning "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" to its ABC stations, ending its preemption of the late-night show.
• A few hours later, affiliate owner Nexstar caved as well.
• And sure enough, the show was back on Sinclair- and Nexstar-owned ABC affiliates last night. Sinclair owns 38 ABC stations across the U.S.; Nexstar owns 30.
• Why did they cave so quickly? Because people raised fucking hell about it, and the idea of losing a ton of fucking money — with potential boycotts of their advertisers in the works — was worth more to them than standing on their high horses.
• Of note: despite being blocked on both Sinclair and Nexstar — representing about a quarter of the network's affiliates — Kimmel’s shows after his brief suspension have had the highest ratings of anything on late night, and have generated tens of millions of views on online platforms like YouTube.
• By the way, Nexstar is in the middle of a $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna, a rival broadcaster. If allowed to go through, the deal would make Nexstar by far the largest owner of local TV stations in the U.S.
• That deal requires FCC approval. Hmm.
• It’s high time we strengthened and enforced our monopoly laws so just a handful (or less) of companies with their billionaire CEOs don’t end up controlling all of our media. The Nexstar/Tegna merger must be stopped.
• Moving on.
• Dumpy is out there just openly being a fascist now. As per above, he probably figures all he has to do is go to the Supreme Court with every case, and he’ll always win.
• Why bother even thinking about the Constitution anymore? Not that he ever did, or knows what it is.
• Yesterday, Dump admitted that he’s going after other political opponents via criminal prosecution after the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey.
• Dumpy slimed, “It’s not a list, but I think there will be others. These were corrupt, radical left Democrats. … No, there will be others. That’s my opinion. What they’ve done is terrible, I hope, frankly, there are others because you can’t let this happen to a country.”
• I did have to laugh when some stable genius MAGAs were celebrating the indictment of a liberal Democrat like Comey.
• Welp.
• Comey is a lifelong Republican. He was appointed the U.S. Attorney for SDNY by George W. Bush in 2002. And Comey helped get Dump elected in 2016.
• His comments in regard to an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails were a tipping point in that election.
• So if you think I give a single shit about James Comey, you’re dead wrong., But I do care about a fascist dictator asshole using our justice system to punish anyone he doesn’t like.
• Let’s move on.
• From the Immigration Desk…
• Yesterday, ICE arrested the superintendent of the Des Moines public school system — Iowa’s largest — saying he is in the country illegally from Guyana and has an outstanding immigration removal order.
• Ian Roberts, who has led the 31,000-student system since 2023, was detained after Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers approached him in a vehicle.
• According to ICE, Roberts entered the United States in 1999 on a student visa. He attended Coppin State University in Baltimore and earned a master’s degree from St. John’s University in Queens.
• He also represented Guyana in the 800-meter track race at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
• Back in 2014, it was noted that a troubled public high school had undergone significant changes under Roberts’s leadership. More students were getting accepted into college, attendance rates improved, and student discipline issues decreased.
• But Roberts is also not white, so it’s understandable why ICE went after him. Remember, the Supreme Court recently said it’s fine to hunt people down based on the color of their skin.
• We have another story from the Immigration Desk. This one is about a U.S. citizen.
• Rafie Ollah Shouhed is a 79-year-old owner of a Los Angeles-area car wash who is seeking $50 million in damages from the federal government after U.S. immigration authorities attacked him, causing severe bodily injury.
• After ICE beat him and slammed him to the ground, Shouhed suffered broken ribs and a traumatic brain injury.
• His lawyer stated, “These masked agents’ conduct was lawless, reckless and cruel. If this can happen in broad daylight to an American senior citizen who committed no crime, it can happen to anyone. This was not law enforcement, it was an assault on civil rights and our democracy cannot survive if federal agents operate above the law.”
• It was on September 9 that masked ICE goons entered Shouhed’s car wash in Van Nuys. Video captured one ICE gestapo member push the owner down as he entered the building. 
• And in fact, the only reason Shouhed went outside was to provide proof that his employees were authorized to work, but the agents swore at him, pushed him, and violently body-slammed him onto the pavement.
• And even afterward, instead of providing him with medical care, ICE detained the senior citizen — a fucking United States citizen, for God’s sake — for almost 12 hours.
• He’s not the only one suing. The mother of a 15-year-old U.S. citizen who federal agents detained at gunpoint is seeking $1 million in damages and is accusing the Trump administration of false imprisonment and unconstitutional racial profiling.
• Moving on.
• In news from the International Desk, despite being repeatedly condemned as a war criminal by other world leaders during the United Nations General Assembly's current meeting in New York, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had his turn to speak on the world stage yesterday.
• Representatives from dozens of countries walked out as Netanyahu approached the podium, where he delivered a frankly disgusting address.
• In regard to Palestine, the country in which he is committing genocide, Bibi said, “We're not done yet. The final elements, the final remnants of Hamas, are holed up in Gaza city. They vow to repeat the atrocities of October 7 again and again and again, no matter how diminished their forces. That is why Israel must finish the job, that is why we want to do so as fast as possible.”
• “Finish the job.” Vile.
• Bibi’s actual audience wasn’t the gathering in that room. His address to the U.N. General Assembly was broadcast live on loudspeakers aimed at Gaza from the Israeli side of the border. Netanyahu also said his speech was being streamed live to the cellphones of Gazans.
• And now, The Weather: “Far and Wide” by Alex G
• Let’s do a chart. It’s late September 1967. I am still 21 months away from being born. Where am I?
• Gotta say, with few glaring exceptions, this is a smoking’ good chart. It’s amazing to think of all these albums being hits at the same time, and many of them remaining popular today, 58 years later.
• That’s far less likely with most of today’s hits. It’s not because “new music sucks!” but because the labels don’t cultivate big, longterm catalog artists anymore. The money for recorded music just isn’t there like it used to be. Just saying.
• Here’s was the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart at that time.
• 1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (The Beatles). 2. The Doors (The Doors). 3. Headquarters (The Monkees). 4. Flowers (The Rolling Stones). 5. Surrealistic Pillow (Jefferson Airplane). 6. Groovin' (The Rascals). 7. Release Me (Engelbert Humperdinck). 8. With A Lot O' Soul (The Temptations). 9. Aretha Arrives (Aretha Franklin). 10. Insight Out (The Association). 11. Four Tops Reach Out (Four Tops). 12. I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You (Aretha Franklin). 13. Born Free (Andy Williams). 14. Sounds Like... (Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass). 15. Revenge (Bill Cosby). 16. Doctor Zhivago (Soundtrack). 17. The Sound Of Music. (Soundtrack). 18. Super Hits (Various Artists). 19. More Of The Monkees (The Monkees). 20. A Man And A Woman (Soundtrack).
• From the Sports Desk… another glance at MLB standings with just a few games remaining in the regular season. Here are the current playoff seeds.
• American League: 1- Blue Jays (92-68). 2- Yankees (92-68). 3 - Mariners (90-70). 4 - Red Sox (88-72). 5 - Guardians (86-74). 6 - Tigers (86-74). Still hoping: Astros (85-75).
• National League: 1- Brewers (96-64). 2 - Phillies (95-65). 3 - Dodgers (91-69). 4 - Cubs (90-70). 5 - Padres (88-72). 6 - Reds - (82-78). Right on the verge: Mets (82-78).
• Today in history… William the Conqueror begins the Norman conquest of England (1066). The death of Pope Urban VII, 13 days after being chosen as the Pope, ends the shortest papal reign in history (1590). Lancaster, PA becomes the capital of the United States for one day after Congress evacuates Philadelphia (1777). The world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, the Stockton and Darlington Railway, is ceremonially opened (1825). Production of the Model T automobile begins at the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant in Detroit (1908). The Republic of China is recognized by the United States (1928). USAF Captain Milburn G. Apt becomes the first person to exceed Mach 3 but dies in the attempt shortly after (1956). Rachel Carson's book ‘Silent Spring’ is published, inspiring an environmental movement and the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1962). Over two million people participated in worldwide strikes to protest climate change across 2,400 locations worldwide (2019).
• September 27 is the birthday of Florence ruler Cosimo de' Medici (1389), king Louis XIII of France (1601), philosopher/politician Samuel Adams (1722), chemist Hermann Kolbe (1818), cartoonist Thomas Nast (1840), magician Harry Blackstone, Sr. (1885), pianist/composer Bud Powell (1924), actor Wilford Brimley (1934), sportscaster Dick Schaap (1934), TV host Don Cornelius (1936), singer-songwriter/guitarist Randy Bachman (1943), singer-songwriter/actor Meat Loaf (1947), MLB player Mike Schmidt (1949), musician/songwriter Greg Ham (1953), actor/singer Shaun Cassidy (1958), radio host Marc Maron (1963), NBA player/coach Steve Kerr (1965), politician Debbie Wasserman Schultz (1966), actress Gwyneth Paltrow (1972), singer-songwriter/guitarist/actress Carrie Brownstein (1974), rapper Lil Wayne (1982), singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne (1984), and actress Jenna Ortega (2002).

Okay. I have to get ready and leave. I’m also going to a show tonight up at the Greek Theater. Hopefully everything works out as planned. Enjoy your day.