Random News: October 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.

---

Good morning. It’s October 19, 2025, and it’s a Sunday. For obvious reasons, I’m enjoying a much more leisurely morning than I was able to yesterday. Slept in a little bit (which for me means 7:30am), and currently enjoying a fresh cup of Peet’s Brazil while ensconced in my bathrobe. That’s a Sunday vibe, man.

• Before we even start to talk about the details, I want to thank everyone who reads this little collection of news chunks every day and who took part in any way in yesterday’s No Kings day of national defiance.
• And by “in any way,” I mean that. Whether you got out in the streets, or helped spread the word, or drove by honking and waving, you were part of what made it so successful.
• And I want to give the biggest kudos of all to the ones who protested for the first time in their lives. I’ve seen hundreds of posts from such people, and the best part is that I knew how energized and enthused and heart-warmed they’d be once they got out there.
• And then they were.
• I’m going to write a whole-ass report on the No Kings event I attended for Los Angeles’ South Bay area in Torrance, CA, and I’ll do give the details there of my personal experiences.
• But it was easily the largest local protest action I’ve seen by miles and miles, and I’ve been to a bunch. According to the Beach Cities Democrats organization, we had 40,000 people at No Kings in my “sleepy” area of LA. Doesn’t seem too sleepy now, does it?
• But let’s instead look at No Kings as a whole.
• It was — according to multiple sources — the largest day of protest against a U.S. president in history, with more than seven million people out in the streets.
• Let’s point out that each of the mass anti-Dump, anti-fascism mobilizations has grown massively, starting with Hands Off on April 5 which had some three million participants, and then the first No Kings on June 14 which had over five million.
• But with well over 7,000,000 at yesterday’s events, the No Kings of October 18 was collectively one of the largest demonstrations in the history of the USA.
• The huge majority of the nearly 3,000 individual events were completely peaceful. NYPD issued a statement that with well over 100,000 people participating, they didn’t have to make a single arrest.
• Keep in mind that the Republicans were spinning the events beforehand as “hate America rallies” — something they could relate to, I suppose — the vibe at nearly every one of the events was extraordinarily positive and peaceful.
• You see, Republicans understand hatred and violence. They know how to react to that and use it for their own goals. But joy and positivity? That scares the fuck out of them.
• As does the trie patriotic American people reclaiming what is rightfully theirs.
• At every rally I saw, there were a huge number of U.S. flags. I’m pretty sure these were all “love America” events. The hate comes from the Republicans who are becoming aware that we’re taking this country back from them.
• And we’re just getting started.
• Katie Bethell, the executive director of MoveOn, said it well. "The millions of people protesting are centered around a fierce love for our country. A country that we believe is worth fighting for.”
• Many news services compared the events to festive street parties, and that’s accurate.
• I want to quickly acknowledge some of the absolutely massive demonstrations in places like Chicago, Boston, D.C., Seattle, New York, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and other large cities.
• This seemed extremely well run considering how huge they were. Some of them individually hosted a quarter million people.
• But the even more impressive (to me) No Kings events were those in red states, and in small towns scattered across the country.
• There were huge No Kings events in Florida. In Texas. In Idaho. In North Carolina. And not just in the big cities of those red states. There were reports of town with a population of a thousand people, and hundreds of them showing up for the event.
• One sentiment I read over and over was that people had no idea that they weren’t alone in their feelings about Dump and his horror show government.
• These folks live in places that are assumed to be 100% MAGA. And then yesterday morning, they were to their local park or town center and found dozens — even hundreds — of people who felt that same way they do.
• For many, it was a very emotional moment. And all over the country in areas both red and blue, when the first-timers arrived and then saw and felt the overwhelming wave of support from the huge crowds and the surrounding community… I’ve seen many posts about people tearing up.
• So here’s something I want you to consider: for each of the 7+ million people physically in the streets, how many were there who were 100% supportive, but were unable to be out there?
• The list is long. People who had to work. People who had childcare and other responsibilities. Those physically unable to stand and/or march. People unable to get transportation to attend an event in person. Those who have fears about being in public or in large crowds. There are many.
• And most of all, people — immigrants, brown people, Black people, gay people, people living in violently MAGA areas, people who could lose jobs by being seen there — who felt they might be in danger by participating directly, but support the message of No Kings with every ounce of their soul.
• So no matter how big No Kings felt, the actual impact is far larger. And here’s what’s going to happen.
• We’re going to take that same festive energy and the newfound confidence of many of you, and we’re going to turn it into all manner of tangible action.
• There are crucial elections happening in a few parts of the country in less than a month. And in barely over a year, we’re going to make the 2026 Midterm national election the largest non-presidential election in the history of the country.
• We’re going to register voters. We’re going to take this level of excitement and positivity to the voting booth. We’re going to flip the House and maybe even the Senate to being under Democratic control.
• And by doing so, we’re going to neuter Donnie Dump. He will have no budget to pay for his ICE goons or his concentration camps. He will get zero legislation passed, and nominees approved. And he and his team will be under immediate congressional investigation for the illegal acts of cruelty committed thus far.
• He will be powerless for the remainder of his term. It will be glorious. And you — yes, you — are going to be part of that process.
• Don’t let anyone tell you that yesterday’s No Kings didn’t matter. And if they do say so, there’s only one appropriate response.
• Laugh at their sad, frightened asses. Those people are scared as fuck today.
• Okay, let’s move on.
• We briefly mentioned that on Friday, Republican and former national security adviser John Bolton was criminally indicted by Dumpy on federal charges pertaining to the alleged mishandling of classified information.
• While it’s easy to see why this instance of Dump prosecuting one of his political enemies  could be lumped in with the other recent high-profile indictments of James Comey and Leticia James, the situation with Bolton is very different.
• Bolton’s alleged misconduct is both more serious and appears to have occurred over a significant period of time.
• While Dump is absolutely now going after fellow-Republican Bolton for reasons of revenge, the investigation on Bolton was started by the Biden administration.
• During his time as Dump's national security adviser, Bolton put the country at risk by improperly retaining and transmitting classified information to family members using insecure means, including AOL.
• And yes, some of the documents were labeled top secret. So if that shit is true and provable, Bolton needs to answer for it.
• Let’s move on with a note for the International Desk…
• Hey, how’s that Dumpy ceasefire going in the Middle East?
• Not great. Today, Israel carried out several strikes on Gaza after saying its troops came under fire from militants in a violation of the ceasefire, the first major test of the US-brokered truce.
• An Israeli military official said Hamas attacked Israeli forces in Rafah in southern Gaza with rocket-propelled grenades and sniper fire, prompting Israel to carry out strikes in the area.
• Again, according to Israel, Hamas fired towards Israeli forces in three separate incidents today. And then hospitals and witnesses reported at least eight people were killed in Israeli strikes in several other parts of Gaza.
• That supposed truce began nine days ago, and I’m glad that it allowed the release of Israeli hostages as well as Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
• But not a day has gone by that there hasn't been some fighting, and today’s incidents are the most serious yet.
• Sigh.
• One other quick note, this one from the Health Desk…
• Does it seem to you that an extraordinary number of food contamination events have been happening lately?
• In the most recent, frozen meals served to students across the United States as part of federally-funded school breakfast and lunch programs may be contaminated with listeria and have been recalled, officials announced yesterday. 
• The recall applied to approximately 91,585 pounds of prepackaged breakfast burritos and wraps, manufactured by the California company M.C.I. Foods between September 17 and October 14, per the USDA. 
• That food is distributed to low-income students around the country as part of the National School Breakfast and Lunch Programs, which the Department of Agriculture administers. The breakfast program served more than 14 million children in 2016, and close to 30 million children participated in the lunch program in 2019.
• The good news: there are no confirmed reports of illnesses tied to the recalled products. The agency said it recalled those products after the manufacturer discovered listeria while conducting routine testing on egg ingredients from its external suppliers.
• But I’d say overall, be careful what you eat. Multiple listeria outbreaks have been reported just this month.
• One impacted meal kits from the food subscription service HelloFresh and another forced the recall of nearly 245,000 pounds of precooked pasta, which contaminated dozens of different products sold in grocery stores nationwide.
• Ugh. Ain’t no one got time for that.
• And now, The Weather: “The Middle” by Home Star
• From the Sports Desk… yesterday was an uncharacteristically quiet day in the pro sports world as of late. Today will not be.
• In addition to Game 6 of the ALCS between Seattle and Toronto, we have a full slew of NFL Sunday games.
• I’ll note that the NBA season has begun, and my Los Angeles Lakers are (checks notes) in last place in the entire Western Conference at 1-5.
• Maybe we’ll wait until baseball ends to start checking NBA news.
• Today in history… King John of England dies at Newark-on-Trent and is succeeded by his nine-year-old son Henry (1216). Martin Luther becomes a doctor of theology (1512). John Jay is sworn in as the first Chief Justice of the United States (1789). Austria cedes Veneto and Mantua to France, which immediately awards them to Italy in exchange for the earlier Italian acquiescence to the French annexation of Savoy and Nice (1866). Max Planck discovers Planck's law of black-body radiation (1900). Streptomycin, the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosis, is isolated by researchers at Rutgers University (1943). President Nixon rejects an Appeals Court decision that he turn over the Watergate tapes (1973). Black Monday has the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling by 22%, 508 points (1987). Saddam Hussein goes on trial in Baghdad for crimes against humanity (2005). 
• October 19 is the birthday of activist John Woolman (1720), actress LaWanda Page (1920), actor Robert Reed (1932), singer-songwriter/musician Dave Guard (1934), illustrator Peter Max (1937), actor Michael Gambon (1940), singer-songwriter/guitarist Peter Tosh (1944), actor John Lithgow (1945), singer-songwriter/guitarist Patrick Simmons (1948), NBA player Joe Bryant (1954), politician Michael Steele (1958), boxer Evander Holyfield (1962), actor/director John Favreau (1966), animator Trey Parker (1969), actor Chris Kattan (1970), MLB player José Bautista (1980), singer-songwriter/bassist Thundercat (1984), and rapper Lil Durk (1992).

As I mentioned above, I’ll be doing a full report on my No Kings experience here in LA’s South Bay, and I’ll share that when it’s ready. For now, I should bathe and dress myself. Probably the right thing to do. Enjoy your day.