Random News: July 13, 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 July 13, 2025, and it’s a Sunday. I'm in weekend mode, which has me ensconced in blue terrycloth while sipping from my cup of Peet’s Zenith Summer Blend and looking at the news in the quiet of an overcast Sunday morning.

• Those of you who studied even a little Shakespeare are very familiar with the line from Hamlet where Queen Gertrude, while watching a play and commenting on the obvious guilt of a character, says, "The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
• Well, fast forward to the present, where the lady in question is named Donald J. Trump, but the over-protest is ridiculously telling.
• Yesterday, Dumpy went off on a super long rant in a social post, and now claims that Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden created the Epstein Files and says we should stop asking questions and just trust Pam Bondi.
• And he now has deemed the Epstein documents — a main voting point for a good portion of his MAGA base — as “Radical Left inspired,” and says his DOJ should focus on other things.
• Oh, I’m sure he does think that.
• I’ll give you a portion of his post, and you can see for yourself…
• What's going on with my "boys" and, in some cases, "gals?" They're all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! We're on one Team, MAGA, and I don't like what's happening. We have a PERFECT Administration, THE TALK OF THE WORLD, and "selfish people" are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein. For years, it's Epstein, over and over again. Why are we giving publicity to Files written by Obama, Crooked Hillary, Comey, Brennan, and the Losers and Criminals of the Biden Administration, who conned the World with the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, 51 "Intelligence" Agents, "THE LAPTOP FROM HELL," and more? They created the Epstein Files, just like they created the FAKE Hillary Clinton/Christopher Steele Dossier that they used on me, and now my so-called "friends" are playing right into their hands.“
• If Dump thought that would be sufficient to have his conspiracy-loving base just walk away, he was proven wrong very quickly.
• The ratio of people who liked Dumpy’s message versus those who argued against it — his own people on his own social network — was astounding.
• And their responses were not positive. As you probably can discern based on your own experiences, if you want a conspiracy lover to be all the more sure of their outlook, simply issue strongly-worded denials about the thing they’re trying to prove.
• The one thing Dumpy wants is for everyone to forget that Jeffrey Epstein ever lived. To forget the girls who were sex trafficked by him. To forget that Epstein’s mate Ghislaine Maxwell is in the midst of a 20-year jail sentence for the crimes she committed with him.
• And most of all, to forget the wealthy and powerful people who were directly involved in the abuse of these girls, who were coerced into their sex work and in some cases weren’t even adults.
• Dump’s ex-boyfriend Elon actually said something pretty astute about Dump’s post.
• “He said ‘Epstein’ half a dozen times while telling everyone to stop talking about Epstein. Just release the files as promised,” snarked Musk.
• Anyway, where it stands right now…
• It’s obvious per above that Dump is keeping his support behind AG Pam Bondi, because he trusts that Bondi will always protect her criminal boss, and never capitulate to releasing the Epstein files.
• It seems that FBI Director Kash Patel is also taking the route of kissing Dump’s big fat orange ass, having issued messages of support in the past day. Patel — before joining the Dump administration — had been a loud voice in demanding the release of the Epstein files.
• That leaves Patel's No. 2, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, who is allegedly considering resigning if Bondi stays on as head of the Department of Justice — which, of course, oversees the FBI.
• With no evidence to go on, what I think is that Dump is very much named in those files. I think there is direct evidence — video, testimony, or otherwise — of Dump having sex with young girls, which is also known as statutory rape in this country.
• Or — to be generous — perhaps Dump is withholding the release of the Epstein files to cover up for his wealthy and powerful friends, though I seriously doubt Dump would waste his political mojo for anyone but himself.
• And all they have to do to prove me wrong is to release the files, which they could do at will. Why don’t they want to prove me wrong?
• Let’s move on.
• Yesterday, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company issued a lengthy apology for a series of violent and antisemitic posts from its Grok chatbot this week, blaming a system update.
• They didn’t mention that said update was installed at the direction of Elon Musk himself.
• They say the system update had chatbot Grok refer to “existing X user posts; including when such posts contained extremist views,” caused it to issue responses that praised Adolf Hitler, repeated conspiracy theories and spewed longstanding antisemitic tropes.
• Which, knowing what a disgusting slimepit that X/Twitter has become, is definitely part of the problem.
• If there’s one good thing that came out of this, it’s the proof that AI is still a nascent technology that could quickly upend the global economy and cause significant social upheaval along the way.
• Despite blaming the entire episode on a poorly-thought out update, Grok’s antisemitic turn was not the first time the AI had veered into controversy.
• In May, the bot began bringing up claims of “white genocide” in South Africa to completely unrelated prompts. The company later said a “rogue employee” was behind the change.
• Who was the rogue? Well, Musk was born and raised in South Africa, and has a history of arguing that a “white genocide” was committed in the nation, a claim that has been rejected by a South African court and by experts.
• Let’s just move on for now.
• Some news from the International Desk…
• A 20-year-old American man from Tampa, FL was beaten to death Friday by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, where he was visiting family.
• The relatives of Saifullah Kamel Musallet said he was supposed to be headed back to Florida this week. But Israeli settlers surrounded Musallet for more than three hours, and blocked an ambulance and paramedics from reaching him. 
• The majority of the landowners in the region are Palestinian-Americans who hold U.S. citizenship.
• A State Department spokesperson confirmed that a U.S. citizen died in the West Bank on Friday, but referred questions about any investigation into the incident to Israel's government. 
• So… that’s it, then? A young American is beaten to death and our country does nothing at all?
• Musallet's family has called for the U.S. to investigate. "We demand the U.S. State Department lead an immediate investigation and hold the Israeli settlers who killed Saif accountable for their crimes," the family's statement read. 
• But the State Department said it was up to the Israeli police to investigate.
• Let’s go over to the Immigration Desk for a follow-up.
• The farmworker who fell from a greenhouse roof during a chaotic ICE raid this week at a California farm died yesterday of his injuries.
• Jaime Alanis, 57, had been being terrorized by Dump’s ICE gestapo when he fell, breaking his neck and fracturing his skull. Alanis is the first known person to die during one of Dump’s ICE enforcement operations, but he certainly won’t be the last.
• He was his family’s only provider, and he had been sending his earnings back to his wife and daughter in Mexico. Alanis worked at the farm for 10 years.
• During that same raid, four U.S. citizens were arrested for allegedly “resisting officers,” according to DHS.
• If you folks can’t extrapolate the ongoing (and upcoming) directions of these fascist actions, I don’t know what to tell you… but I wish you luck.
• You’ll need it.
• Moving on.
• Some absolutely vile news from the Justice Desk today.
• Yesterday, the Justice Department moved to dismiss charges against a Utah doctor charged in connection with a COVID-19 fraud scheme, per Attorney General Pam Bondi.
• Michael Kirk Moore Jr. and three of his associates were indicted by a federal grand jury in January 2023 and accused of discarding more than $28,000 worth of government-provided COVID-19 vaccines and of distributing nearly two thousand fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination cards in exchange for cash.
• Moore and his associates also administered saline shots to children, at the request of the parents, so the children would think they were receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
• The trial began a week ago in Salt Lake City, but Bondi announced yesterday that the DOJ would dismiss the charges.
• Fucking disgusting people with no respect for the rule of law… all of them.
• And interestingly, this too leads back to Epstein. Bondi is aware that the charges against Moore were unpopular among the anti-vaccine crowd, and is taking any steps to get back in the MAGA base favor.
• And in related news on that front, yesterday Bondi fired at least 20 prosecutors and support staffers who assisted former Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigations into Dump.
• See how it works?
• And now, The Weather: “seventeen” by herbal tea
• Let’s do a chart.
• It’s mid-July 1976. I am in the summer between second and third grade, but my parents — who at the time would have been 35 and 31 years old — liked to have parties, and a number of these albums were often blasting on our stereo on Saturday nights.
• 1. Frampton Comes Alive (Peter Frampton). 2. At The Speed Of Sound (Wings). 3. Breezin' (George Benson). 4. Chicago X (Chicago). 5. Fleetwood Mac (Fleetwood Mac). 6. Spitfire (Jefferson Starship). 7. Beautiful Noise (Neil Diamond). 8. Rock 'n' Roll Music (The Beatles). 9. Fly Like An Eagle (The Steve Miller Band). 10. Rocks (Aerosmith). 11. Changesonebowie (David Bowie). 12. Contradiction (Ohio Players). 13. Look Out For #1 (The Brothers Johnson). 14. Natalie (Natalie Cole). 15. Harvest For The World (The Isley Brothers). 16. The Dream Weaver (Gary Wright). 17. Royal Scam (Steely Dan). 18. Jailbreak (Thin Lizzy). 19. Wired (Jeff Beck). 20. Manhattans (The Manhattans).
• From the Sports Desk… an update from Wimbledon, where Carlos Alcaraz took the first set of the Men’s finals against 1-seed Jannik Sinner 6-4, with Sinner leading 3-2 in the second set as I type this.
• In other sports news… I finally have a reason to mention NFL football.
• Ndamukong Suh — often on the list of the dirtiest players in NFL history — has officially retired. Frankly, I thought he already had; he’s 38 and has been out of football for two years.
• Suh spent five seasons in Detroit (2010-14), then played for the Dolphins (2015-17), Rams (2018), Buccaneers (2019-21), and Eagles (2022).
• I won’t miss him.
• Today in history… Babylon’s siege of Jerusalem ends after the destruction of Solomon’s Temple (587 BC). William I of Scotland is captured by forces loyal to Henry II of England — my 26th great-gradfather (1174).The Congress of the Confederation enacts the Northwest Ordinance establishing governing rules for the Northwest Territory, establishes procedures for the admission of new states, and limits the expansion of slavery (1787). The New York City Draft Riots, some of the worst civil unrest in US history, begin (1863). The inaugural FIFA World Cup begins in Uruguay (1930). The Dartmouth workshop is the first conference on artificial intelligence (1956). Alexander Butterfield reveals the existence of a secret Oval Office taping system to investigators for the Senate Watergate Committee (1973). Amidst a period of financial and social turmoil, New York City experiences an electrical blackout lasting nearly 24 hours that leads to widespread fires and looting (1977). The Live Aid benefit concert takes place in London and Philadelphia, as well as other venues such as Moscow and Sydney (1985). Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron resigns, and is succeeded by Theresa May (2016). Donald Trump is allegedly injured in an assassination attempt at a rally near Butler, PA (2024).
• July 13 is the birthday of Pope Clement X (1590), Ku Klux Klan racist piece of shit Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821), businessman John Jacob Astor IV (1864), author/illustrator Marcia Brown (1918), actor Bob Crane (1928), NFL player/politician Jack Kemp (1935), chef Paul Prudhomme (1940), actor Patrick Stewart (1940), actor Harrison Ford (1942), singer-songwriter/guitarist Roger McGuinn (1942), actor/comedian Cheech Marin (1946), NBA player David Thompson (1953), film director Cameron Crowe (1957), voice actor Tom Kenny (1962), singer-songwriter Gerald Levert (1966), actor/comedian/physician Ken Jeong (1969), and MLB player Cody Bellinger (1995).

Time for me to get productive with some house chores. The best way to consider this: I don’t want to spend my Sunday doing them, but I definitely don’t want to wake up tomorrow and start my week knowing I could have done things to improve my living conditions and chose not to. Might as well get rolling. I’ll be a happier man tomorrow as a result of my efforts today. Enjoy your day.

Random News: July 12, 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 July 12, 2025, and it’s a Saturday. Ahhhhhhh… Saturday. That means I slept in all the way until 7am, then threw on my robe and leisurely stumbled downstairs to make coffee, and now here I am with you. Hello.

• Let’s kick things off today with some good news.
• Yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge Maame E. Frimpong ordered the Dump administration to halt indiscriminate immigration stops and arrests in seven California counties, including Los Angeles.
• Advocacy groups filed the lawsuit last week accusing Dump administration of systematically targeting brown-skinned people in Southern California during its ongoing immigration crackdown.
• Good. This needs to be called out from every corner of the nation. We do NOT accept this blatant attempt to turn the USA into some white supremacist nightmare.
• The plaintiffs include three detained immigrants and two U.S. citizens, one who was held despite showing agents his identification.
• The tactics being employed in immigration raids have been 100% unconstitutional. Immigrant advocates accuse immigration officials of detaining someone based on their race, carrying out warrantless arrests, and denying detainees access to legal counsel at a holding facility in downtown LA.
• None of this is legal or acceptable. And I’m starting to think that the government will owe huge restitution to those who were targeted as such. See, that’s something Dumpy understands.
• He will never get empathy or fairness. But tell him that he owes $3 million to each person whose Constitutional rights were violated, and maybe he’ll take notice.
• One more note: Judge Frimpong also issued a separate order barring the federal government from restricting attorney access at a Los Angeles immigration detention facility.
• She wrote in the order there was a “mountain of evidence” presented in the case that the federal government was committing the violations they were being accused of.
• Moving on… to another good news item.
• U.S. District Judge Hernán D. Vera ruled yesterday that Los Angeles police cannot force journalists out of protest areas or use nonlethal weapons against them after reporters alleged officers targeted them during anti-ICE demonstrations last month.
• Vera granted the Los Angeles Press Club’s request for a 14-day restraining order against the city’s police department after the group said it documented dozens of incidents in which officers forced reporters away from public spaces where protests were taking place, hit them with rubber bullets and nonlethal weapons, and exposed them to tear gas.
• His ruling is an emergency order giving the court more time to consider whether to grant a longer-term block.
• The litigation stems from June, when Los Angeles protests over federal immigration raids captured national attention and prompted Dickhead Drump to deploy the National Guard to Southern California over the objections of Gov. Gavin Newsom.
• The press club said some incidents also occurred during the anti-Dump “No Kings Day” protests that took place on June 14, soon after the ICE demonstrations.
• I can promise you: any despair you may be feeling over the current state of the USA is temporary. We are not only going to win, but you will witness the downfall of evil, and it will be fucking glorious.
• This whole era — like that of Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia or Khmer Rouge Cambodia — will become a lesson in how fragile our world is, and every one of the people who’ve brought this upon us will be remembered infamously along with the worst examples of humanity.
• And those who support them — with their votes and their actions — will never get forgiveness or sympathy.
• Let’s move on… with a sad note on Dump’s immigration debacle.
• A man is on life support after he was injured during Thursday’s immigration raid at a farm in Camarillo, CA that we reported yesterday.
• The man, Jaime Garcia, was being terrorized by ICE agents when he fell 30 feet off a building. He was taken to the hospital with a broken neck and skull.
• He was not expected to live through the night but is, at least for now, somehow still alive. Must be a strong man. Garcia’s family says he was working at the farm to send money home to his wife and daughter in Mexico.
• Dump and his people told you they’d be going after the most violent criminals and gang members. Instead, they kidnap farm workers, health care workers, construction workers, and other people who are of tremendous benefit to our society and our lives.
• In other news…
• Eight months after voters in Missouri approved a law that had guaranteed paid sick leave to workers and inflationary adjustments to the minimum wage… their Republican governor Mike Kehoe repealed it.
• Yup. Just like that. So much for democracy, huh?
• The move marked a major victory for the state’s largest business group and a frustrating defeat for workers’ rights advocates, who had spent years — and millions of dollars — building support for the successful ballot measure. The repeal will take effect August 28.
• And on the same day he released the voter-approved law, Kehoe also signed a package of tax breaks for the state’s wealthiest citizens. Sound familiar?
• And now, Missouri parents will be forced to go to work instead of staying home to care for a sick child, in order to pay for their rent or utilities.
• If you need some expanded context, about one-third of states mandate paid sick leave, but many businesses voluntarily provide it.
• Nationwide, 79% of private-sector employees received paid sick leave last year, though part-time workers were significantly less likely to receive the benefit than full-time employees.
• Voters in Alaska, Missouri, and Nebraska all approved paid sick leave measures last November. But only Alaska’s, which kicked in on July 1, has remained unchanged by state lawmakers.
• Let’s move on.
• At the brand new immigration detention center in Florida that officials have dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” people held there say worms turn up in the food. Toilets don’t flush, flooding floors with fecal waste, and mosquitoes and other insects are everywhere.
• Which is exactly what Dump and his MAGA base wants. They love cruelty. How hilariously sad is it that many of these people call themselves “Christians”?
• Inside the compound’s large white tents, rows of bunkbeds are surrounded by chain-link cages. Detainees are said to go days without showering or getting prescription medicine, and they are only able to speak by phone to lawyers and loved ones. The air conditioners often abruptly shut off in the sweltering heat.
• Who is doing anything about this? A group of Democratic lawmakers sued the DeSantis administration to be allowed in, and officials are holding a site visit by state legislators and members of Congress today.
• Let’s hear a first-hand account.
• A Venezuelan detainee said by phone from the facility, “The conditions in which we are living are inhuman. My main concern is the psychological pressure they are putting on people to sign their self-deportation.”
• The man characterized the cells as “zoo cages” with eight beds each, teeming with mosquitoes, crickets, and frogs. He said they are locked up 24 hours a day with no windows and no way to know the time.
• Detainees’ wrists and ankles are cuffed every time they go to see an ICE officer, accompanied by two guards who hold their arms and a third who follows behind, he said.
• Repeat after me: it’s a fucking concentration camp. And Dump intends to build many more of them with the money that Congress handed him via his Big Bullshit Bill.
• Wake. The fuck. Up.
• Let’s move on.
• Since any schism in the Dump world is a positive direction for the rest of us, I gleefully report on the gossipy news about a major fight between Dumpy’s lieutenants.
• Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino's future is uncertain amid the growing fallout over the Justice Department's decision not to disclose any more records from its investigations into deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
• Bongino has recently stated in no uncertain terms that he would resign following days of growing outrage publicly voiced by Dump's most vocal supporters over a memo issued earlier in the week that stated the FBI and DOJ planned to make no future public disclosures related to its review of Epstein's case.
• Adding insult to injury for the MAGA world, the review further confirmed Epstein died by suicide in his jail cell in Manhattan in 2019.
• Both Bongino and his boss, FBI Director Kash Patel, had been among the most vocal voices on social media in stoking conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein's death, long before both were brought into Dump’s administration.
• So it’s no surprise that Bongino is in complete conflict with Attorney General Pam Bondi over how the announcement was handled. The juicy story is that Bongino and Bondi had a face-to-face screaming match on the topic.
• And if you need evidence of the extreme disconnect between the messaging and reality, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said he personally worked with Bongino and Patel to craft the memo.
• Which is obviously not at all true. Bongino took the day off work yesterday, fueling further speculation about his future.
• Dump Whisperer Laura Loomer is very much on Team Bongino.
• Yesterday, she wrote, “Pam Blondi is very damaging to President Trump’s image. She drags the administration down and the base doesn’t want her as AG. She is harming Trump’s administration and she’s embarrassing all of his staff and advisors by creating a PR crisis for them. It’s incredibly unfair to President Trump and his team.”
• Why would I give a fuck about what this insane person says? To be clear, I do not. Loomer is a fucking psycho from hell.
• But you probably remember that in April, Loomer took credit for Trump’s firing of several National Security Council officials. As someone who is very, very close to Dump on a personal basis, she has met with countless senior administration officials — including Vice President JD Vance — and continues to have sway over the president’s online base.
• Let them all fight each other instead of teaming up to destroy the rest of us.
• In other news…
• A lot of you people reading this news are white people born in the USA. I mean, I don’t need to look at your profile pics to see that you’re white Americans.
• So most of you don’t think you have a very personal stake in being concerned about Dumpy’s plans to deport people he considers undesirable — which, of course, are non-white people regardless of where they were born.
• So maybe you’re interested in the fact that today, Dumpy wrote that he is giving “serious consideration” to revoking Rosie O’Donnell’s citizenship.
• This man, allegedly the president of the USA, posted on social media this morning, “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship. She is a Threat to Humanity, and should remain in the wonderful Country of Ireland, if they want her. GOD BLESS AMERICA!”
• Just to be clear, Rosie O’Donnell was born on March 21, 1962 in Commack, NY, which is on Long Island.
• And as far as our Constitution says, the president cannot revoke the citizenship of someone born in the U.S., something that legal scholars have long noted.
• The 14th Amendment says, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.”
• But Dumples the Hitleresque Clown wipes his ass with our precious Constitution daily. Why would he care what it says? Has he ever looked at it, much less read it?
• Can he read? Some say he cannot.
• And now, The Weather: “Lone Wolf” by Sex Week
• From the Sports Desk… 13-seed American Amanda Anisimova had a great run to get to the Women’s Singles finals at Wimbledon. But then today she ran into 5-seed Polish player Iga Świątek.
• And Świątek took just 57 minutes to annihilate Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 this morning. It’s Świątek’s first Wimbledon title and sixth major championship.
• I should note that the last double-bagel was in 1988, when Steffi Graf defeated Natasha Zvereva at the French Open. Before that, a women's final hadn't featured a 6-0, 6-0 score since 1911 Wimbledon, when Dorothea Lambert Chambers won against Dora Boothby.
• Yikes.
• At yesterday’s Men’s semifinals, 5-seed American Taylor Fritz hung in against 2-seed Spaniard phenom Carlos Alcaraz, but ended up losing 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6.
• Alcaraz will face the world’s 1-seed Jannik Sinner in the finals tomorrow after Sinner beat Novak Djokovic is straight sets in yesterday’s semifinal.
• Today in history… The armies of Titus attack the walls of Jerusalem after a six-month siege (70). Hartmann Schedel's ‘Nuremberg Chronicle’, one of the best-documented early printed books, is published (1493). King Henry VIII of England marries his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr, at Hampton Court Palace (1543). Mughal Empire annexes Bengal after defeating the Bengal Sultanate at the Battle of Rajmahal (1576). The American Army of the Northwest briefly occupies the Upper Canadian settlement at what is now at Windsor, Ontario (1812). German and Soviet forces engage in the Battle of Prokhorovka, one of the largest armored engagements of all time (1943). The Rolling Stones perform for the first time at London's Marquee Club (1962). Riots begin in Newark, New Jersey (1967). Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-104, carrying the Quest Joint Airlock to the International Space Station (2001). 
• July 12 is the birthday of Roman politician/general Julius Caesar (100 BC), potter Josiah Wedgwood (1730), poet Henry David Thoreau (1817), businessman George Eastman (1854), film producer Louis B. Mayer (1884), painter/sculptor Amedeo Modigliani (1884), architect Buckminster Fuller (1895), stage director/lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895), comedian Milton Berle (1908), artist Andrew Wyeth (1917), businessman Roger Smith (1925), pianist/composer Van Cliburn (1934), comedian/convicted rapist Bill Cosby (1937), singer-songwriter/keyboardist Christine McVie (1943), singer-songwriter Walter Egan (1948), actress Cheryl Ladd (1951), actor Charlie Murphy (1959), boxer Julio César Chávez (1962), guitarist/composer John Petrucci (1967), figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi (1971), actor Topher Grace (1978), and activist Malala Yousafzai (1997).

Okay then. I think you’re mostly caught up, sort of. At least on the things I think you need to know. There’s always more. Enjoy your day.

Random News: July 11, 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 July 11, 2025, and if you can believe it, it’s a Friday once again! Most of my weeks are busy; this one was no exception. Still, feels like a long way to go before I get to weekend mode, but I’m mostly confident I’ll get there eventually.

• Something to consider about the Epstein files.
• You likely recall the name Ghislaine Maxwell. She’s the socialite woman who was associated with Jeffrey Epstein — a girlfriend of sorts, though the details of their relationship are unclear.
• Maxwell was found guilty of child sex trafficking and other offenses in connection with Epstein in 2021. In 2022 she was sentenced in federal court in New York City to twenty years' imprisonment, which is where she is now.
• So the question is this: if there was enough tangible evidence to send Maxwell to jail for 20 years, and it was presented in court… where is that evidence? It has to exist somewhere.
• The girls she and Epstein were trafficking didn’t have sex with themselves. It was with Epstein’s wealthy and powerful friends. So that list — contrary to what Dump and AG Bondi have said recently — has to exist.
• And if Dumpy and his pals aren’t on that list, they’d have no problem making it public. Think about it: if it included people he hated — say, Bill Clinton and Joe Biden and a bunch of other Democrats and Dump enemies — he’d have had it blasted as front page news immediately.
• So keep that in mind while you’re trying to find any plausible excuse for the sudden turnaround statement of, “There is no list, and Epstein killed himself.”
• You’re being made a fool of.
• Moving on.
• I want to give you another reminder that the evening of this coming Thursday July 17 is “Good Trouble Lives On,” a nationwide day of protest.
• Most events start around 7pm. Finish work, grab a bite to eat, grab your sign, and hit the streets with us.
• Link in the comments below.
• And now, the news.
• Yesterday, US District Judge Joseph Laplante agreed to issue a new nationwide block against Dumpy’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship.
• The ruling is significant because, as you know, the Supreme Court of Assholes recently curbed the power of lower court judges to issue nationwide injunctions, while keeping intact the ability of plaintiffs to seek a widespread block of the order through class action lawsuits.
• And that’s exactly what happened yesterday in New Hampshire.
• Laplante granted a request from immigration rights attorneys to certify a nationwide class that “will be comprised only of those deprived of citizenship” and issued a preliminary injunction indefinitely blocking Dump’s Day One order from being enforced against any baby born after February 20.
• The judge stated, “The preliminary injunction is just not a close call to the court. The deprivation of US citizenship and an abrupt change of policy that was longstanding … that’s irreparable harm.”
• Side note: Laplante is an appointee of George W. Bush. He said he would pause his order for several days to give the Dump administration time to appeal his decision, which they certainly will.
• But good news nonetheless, and judges across the country will also be making use of class action lawsuits to stop — or at least delay — Dump’s sinister plans.
• Moving on.
• We have a bunch of news from the Immigration Desk.
• Let’s start with a huge confrontation yesterday between protesters and federal officials carrying out a raid on a Southern California farm.
• Vehicles from Border Patrol and U.S. Customs and Border Protection blocked the road in a largely agricultural area of Camarillo lined with fields and greenhouses. There were military-style vehicles and a helicopter flying overhead.
• TV images showed protesters shouting at agents wearing camouflage gear, helmets, and gas masks. It wasn't clear why the authorities released chemicals like tear gas.
• Dump told voters that he’d be focusing his deportation plan on gangsters and violent criminals.
• Instead, federal immigration enforcement agents have ramped up arrests in Southern California at car washes, farms, and Home Depot parking lots to take working people into custody.
• Moving east to Ontario, CA, ICE agents seeking to detain a Honduran landscaper chased him into a Southern California surgical center and quickly found themselves in a tense standoff as clinic staff demanded to see identification and a warrant.
• That’s how you do it! Hats off to those brave folks.
• In a video clip of the Tuesday altercation, Ontario Advanced Surgery Center staff in blue scrubs are heard telling an armed ICE agent wearing a mask and bulletproof vest to let go of the man, who is crying and gasping for breath.
• A staff member shielded the man. “Get your hands off of him. You don’t even have a warrant, Let him go. You need to get out.”
• Nearby, the bishop of San Bernardino formally excused Catholic parishioners from their weekly obligation to attend Mass following immigration detentions on two parish properties in the diocese, which includes Ontario.
• In more immigration news…
• After regaining his freedom, Mahmoud Khalil is seeking something else: restitution.
• Yesterday, his lawyers filed a claim for $20 million in damages against the Dump administration, alleging Khalil was falsely imprisoned, maliciously prosecuted, and smeared as an antisemite as the government sought to deport him over his role in campus protests.
• The filing — a precursor to a lawsuit under the Federal Tort Claims Act — names the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the State Department.
• If you need some background: Khalil is a 30-year-old recent graduate student at Columbia University who was arrested and put in the queue for deportation because of pro-Palestine speeches he gave at the school.
• Khalil said he plans to share any settlement money with others targeted in Trump’s “failed” effort to suppress pro-Palestinian speech. In lieu of a settlement, he would also accept an official apology and changes to the administration’s deportation policies.
• Back in March, Khalil was abducted by plainclothes federal agents, who refused to provide a warrant and appeared surprised to learn he was a legal U.S. permanent resident.
• He was then transported to an immigration jail in Jena, Louisiana, a remote location that was “deliberately concealed” from his family and attorneys, according to the filing.
• While imprisoned, Khalil was denied his ulcer medication, forced to sleep under harsh fluorescent lights, and lost 15 pounds in a few weeks.
• And his firstborn child was delivered while he was held in custody.
• Khalil, who has condemned antisemitism before and since his arrest, was not accused of a crime and has not been linked to Hamas or any other terror group.
• And a memo signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged Khalil hadn’t broken the law, but argued he should be deported for his beliefs.
• On June 20, after 104 days in custody, Khalil was ordered released by a federal judge, who found the government’s efforts to remove him on foreign policy grounds were likely unconstitutional.
• A pertinent side note: Border Czar Tom Homan just said in an interview: "People need to understand ICE officers and Border Patrol don't need probable cause to walk up to somebody, briefly detain them, and question them based on their physical appearance."
• So Dump’s administration is claiming that if your skin is brown, it is legal to detain you. They’re saying it openly. This isn’t speculation or opinion; it’s what they’re saying officially.
• Is that how you were brought up to understand freedom in the USA?
• Let’s move on.
• As mentioned yesterday, Dumpy is attacking Brazil with a massive 50% tariff because his criminal pal Jair Bolsonaro is facing accountability for his actions.
• And now — as one would expect — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is ready to impose retaliatory tariffs.
• Lula said in an interview that at first he thought the letter from Trump was a fake. Who can blame him?
• What kind of an idiot president would slap tariffs on one of the only countries with whom we have a trade surplus? Last year alone, the U.S. exported more to Brazil than it imported. That's why Lula called Trump's claim that the trade relationship was "far from reciprocal" simply inaccurate.
• What do we get from Brazil? A lot. Soybeans, crude petroleum, iron ore, raw sugar, coffee, meat (beef and poultry), and orange juice.
• But wait… there’s more tariff news from President Idiot.
• The United States will impose a tariff of 35 percent on goods imported from Canada starting August 1.
• And those are just a couple examples of TACO’s new series of threats issued this week for tariffs of between 25 percent and 40 percent on imports from 14 countries, including Japan and South Korea.
• But few countries are more exposed to Dump’s tariffs than Canada, which sends more than three-quarters of its exports to the United States. 
• Donald Trump is — and always has been — inept and incapable of the job of president. He proves it over and over.
• Let’s just move on.
• We neglected yesterday to mention the sudden resignation of Linda Yaccarino as CEO of X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter that’s owned by Elon Musk.
• I frankly don’t give a shit. Yaccarino was CEO in name only, a figurehead to protect Musk from certain legal liabilities as the person actually running the company.
• But there are some fascinating side notes on this. First, you may remember a little over two years ago when Yaccarino took on the task to improve the sinking ship performance of Twitter’s advertising.
• And then Musk posted an antisemitic tweet that drove away major brands such as Disney, Paramount, NBCUniversal, Comcast, Lionsgate and Warner Bros Discovery, who all paused their advertising on the platform.
• And then Elon said to those advertisers out loud at a conference, “Go fuck yourselves. I don’t want them to advertise. If someone is going to blackmail me with advertising or money, go fuck yourself. Go. Fuck. Yourself.”
• But that’s not what I want to discuss. And if you’re sensitive to disgusting topics, you might skip the rest of this section. Trigger warning for about five bullets.
• As we mentioned earlier this week, Grok — the AI chatbot integrated with X — posted several antisemitic remarks, including some praising Hitler and the Holocaust, after Musk and his engineers tweaked the algorithm to be more “anti-woke.”
• It was just a week ago today that Musk wrote, "We have improved Grok significantly. You should notice a difference when you ask Grok questions."
• Well people noticed a difference, alright. In addition to its newfound love of Nazis, Grok also wrote extremely violent rape fantasy narratives.
• Allegedly, one such post was about Yaccarino herself, with Grok offering an opinion that she is “possesses the resilience and fortitude to handle a big black dick with impressive skill and determination. She wouldn't tap out; she'd own the challenge like she owns her role.”
• The AI went into more vile detail after being further prompted, but I’m not repeating that shit here.
• Anyway, the following day, Yaccarino tweeted “After two incredible years, l've decided to step
• down as CEO of X.”
• I’m amazed she stayed that long.
• And now, The Weather: “In Resin” by Tan Cologne
• Let’s do a chart.
• It’s early July 1961. Some big news of the moment: JFK delivers a nationwide address to say that if the Soviet Union attempted to take control of West Berlin, then the United States would be prepared to go to war, even at the risk of nuclear annihilation.
• Um, yikes. Anyway, I’m not there. I’m still seven years and 11 months from being born. Where am I? Almost certainly in the same place I’ll be after I die.
• Here’s the top of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart at the time.
• 1. Quarter To Three (U.S. Bonds). 2. Tossin' And Turnin' (Bobby Lewis). 3. The Boll Weevil Song (Brook Benton). 4. Raindrops (Dee Clark). 5. The Writing On The Wall (Adam Wade). 6. Moody River (Pat Boone). 7. Travelin' Man (Ricky Nelson). 8. Every Beat Of My Heart (Pips). 9. Those Oldies But Goodies (Remind Me Of You) (Little Caesar and The Romans). 10. Yellow Bird (Arthur Lyman Group). 11. Stand By Me (Ben E. King). 12. Dance On Little Girl (Paul Anka). 13. Hats Off To Larry (Del Shannon). 14. Running Scared (Roy Orbison). 15. Hello Mary Lou (Ricky Nelson). 16. San Antonio Rose (Floyd Cramer). 17. You Always Hurt The One You Love (Clarence Henry). 18. Barbara-Ann (The Regents). 19. Tell Me Why (The Belmonts). 20. Dum Dum (Brenda Lee).
• From the Sports Desk… holy shit! An actual American is in the Wimbledon finals.
• Yesterday, 13-seed American Amanda Anisimova beat the best female tennis player in the world — 1-seed Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka — 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
• The Women’s finals, set for Saturday, will have Anisimova facing off against 5-seed Polish player Iga Świątek.
• Świątek is a otuch cookie. She is a previous world’s No. 1 in women’s singles, and has won 22 WTA Tour-level singles titles, including five major titles: four at the French Open and one at the US Open. 
• In the Men’s tournament semifinals, 5-seed American Taylor Fritz is putting up a fight against 2-seed Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, but Alcaraz is leading 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 in the third set as I wrote this.
• Today in history… Ming admiral Zheng He sets sail to explore the world for the first time (1405). While exploring the North Atlantic Ocean in an attempt to find the Northwest Passage, Martin Frobisher sights Greenland, mistaking it for the hypothesized  island of “Frisland" (1576). Pluto moved inside the orbit of Neptune for the last since until 1979 (1735). The United States takes possession of Detroit from Great Britain under terms of the Jay Treaty (1796). The United States Marine Corp is reestablished after having been disbanded since the Revolutionary War (1798). A duel occurs in which the Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr mortally wounds former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton (1804). Waterloo railway station in London opens (1848). Tijuana, Mexico is founded (1889). Fiat founded by Giovanni Agnelli in Turin, Italy (1899). Babe Ruth makes his MLB debut (1914). Former president of the United States William Howard Taft is sworn in as 10th chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming the only person ever to hold both offices (1921). The Hollywood Bowl opens (1922). ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee is first published (1960). First transatlantic satellite television transmission (1962). Martin Luther King Jr. is posthumously given the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1977). America's first space station, Skylab, is destroyed as it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere over the Indian Ocean (1979). Richard Branson becomes the first civilian to be launched into space via his Virgin Galactic spacecraft (2021).
• July 11 is the birthday of Scottish king Robert the Bruce (1274), physician/censor Thomas Bowdler (1754), US President John Quincy Adams (1767), painter James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834), writer E. B. White (1899), actor Yul Brynner (1920), actor Tab Hunter (1931), fashion designer Giorgio Armani (1934), boxer Leon Spinks (1953), actress Sela Ward (1956), singer-songwriter Peter Murphy (1957), guitarist Richie Sambora (1959), singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega (1959), NHL player Al MacInnis (1963), rapper Lil’ Kim (1975), NFL player Patrick Peterson (1990), and NFL player Joey Bosa (1995).

Okay then. Time to do the Friday. Enjoy your day.

Random News: July 10, 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 July 10, 2025, and it’s a Thursday for some reason. I’m Zak, your guy who looks at news for you and delivers it to you in bite-size chunks, all for free.

• Since the Texas flood tragedy is still ongoing, a quick update here up top.
• The death toll has climbed to about 120, but there are still another 160 reported missing. It’s all horrible news. Hopefully those folks get the help they need to get back on their feet.
• But almost instantly, FEMA ran into bureaucratic obstacles in trying to provide the much-needed help.
• Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem — whose department oversees FEMA — recently enacted a sweeping rule aimed at cutting spending: Every contract and grant over $100,000 now requires her personal sign-off before any funds can be released.
• It’s slowing aid efforts to a crawl. FEMA’s disaster response costs routinely soar into the billions in contracts with on-the-ground crews.
• For example, as central Texas towns were submerged in rising waters, FEMA officials realized they couldn’t pre-position Urban Search and Rescue crews from a network of teams stationed regionally across the country.
• In the past, FEMA would have swiftly staged these teams, which are specifically trained for situations including catastrophic floods, closer to a disaster zone in anticipation of urgent requests.
• And for months now, FEMA officials have been warning that the agency is unprepared amid a mass exodus of experienced emergency managers and the looming threat of the agency being dismantled.
• One final note for now.
• Recently-released dispatch audio shows that Kerr County officials waited 90 minutes to send emergency alert after it was requested.
• It was at at 4:22am on Friday that a firefighter in Ingram — just upstream from Kerrville — asked the Kerr County Sheriff's Office to alert nearby residents. But Kerr County officials took nearly six hours to heed this call.
• Let’s move on.
• At the risk of being repetitive, I want to once again mention that on the evening of Thursday July 17, we have another nationwide action event planned… and I want you to plan to be there.
• I’ll include a link in the comments so you can find a map with your local event.
• Good Trouble Lives On is a national day of nonviolent action to respond to the attacks posed on our civil and human rights by the Dump administration and to remind them that in America, the power lies with the people. 
• July 17 is the anniversary of civil rights icon John Lewis’ passing, and we are mobilizing across the country to demand that Congress protect our rights and ensure free and fair elections for all.
• The focus of GTLO is demanding an end to…
• The extreme crackdown on our civil rights by the Dump administration, from our right to vote to our right to protest and free speech.
• The attacks on Black and brown Americans, immigrants, trans people, and other communities.
• The slashing of programs that working people rely on, including Medicaid, SNAP, and Social Security. 
• It’s a week from tonight on a street near you. Join us.
• Moving on.
• You know how deeply focused many MAGA voters were on sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, and perhaps for good reason.
• If there was some situation where the world’s wealthy and powerful people were participants in a massive organized sex ring, it’s something that should see the light of day… especially if many of those people remain in influential roles.
• Especially if, as apparently was the case, the victims were unwilling and/or underaged.
• It doesn’t seem as if many Dump supporters are willing to just forget about Epstein and his infamous alleged client list, as Dump is angrily telling them to do. His reaction when asked about the list…
• “Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein? This guy's been talked about for years... We have Texas, we have this, we have all of the things, and are people still talking about this guy? This creep? I can't believe you're asking a question about Epstein at a time like this."
• Well, many MAGAs aren’t quite read to just walk away, like Donnie desperately wants them to. Here are a number of quotes posted yesterday from MAGA people on the topic…
• ”If he didn't want to talk about Epstein, why did his administration make a huge show about it with giant binders, not release anything new, then try to sweep it under the rug? It makes him look complicit."
• ”That is concerning as fuck. Do not let your partisanship blind you. Any president who says, 'Are you seriously asking about the biggest pedophile of all time, where no arrests have been made?!' Should concern EVERYONE."
• ”Now we get, 'Why are you still on this,' and literally accused of being heartless for asking. Fuck Trump for this. But I still support much of what he's doing."
• ”Yes. I'm beyond pissed at this. We've been promised by the FBI director, the Attorney General, and the deputy director of the FBI over and over again."
• ”I worked for Donald Trump. Voted for Trump three times. This makes me done with Trump. Can’t defend a pedophile sympathizer. Won’t do it."
• I’d say “Let’s move on,” but I don’t think these folks are ready to move on.
• And one more note about the Epstein list…
• There are people out there saying, “Yeah, but what if (insert Democratic leader name) is on that list?”
• Then lock them up and throw away the key! That’s a huge difference between liberal and conservative voters. We don’t care what side you’re on; if you’ve done something horribly wrong, we don’t feel like anyone is above the law.
• Anyway… let’s move on.
• In a big “fuck you” to Dump, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a massive aerial assault on Ukraine early today for the second time in two days.
• More than 400 Russian drones and missiles rained down overnight on Kyiv, killing two people and injuring 17 others, according to city officials.
• It came after Ukraine’s air force said Russia had fired a record 728 Shahed and decoy drones, as well as 13 cruise and ballistic missiles, overnight on Tuesday.
• This renewed attack comes after a very puzzling pause by the Dump administration to blocking the shipment of air defense weapons it froze last week.
• Yesterday, a reporter with at least some balls asked Dump, "Yesterday, you said that you were not sure who ordered the munitions halted to Ukraine. Have you since been able to figure that out?"
• “Well, I haven't thought about it, because we're looking at Ukraine right now and munitions, but I have, no I have not gone into it," said a confused Dumpy.
• The reporter followed up by asking, "What does it say that such a big decision could be made inside your government without you knowing?"
• Yeah Donnie, would could that happen? We thought you were in charge.
• Dumpy got petulant, saying, "I would know if a decision was made, I will know. I'll be the first to know. In fact, most likely I'd give the order, but I haven't done that yet."
• Okay Donnie.
• We really should acknowledge that our president is a blithering idiot.
• Yesterday at a lunch with African leaders at the White House, Dumples the Cultural Clown was extremely impressed with President Joseph Boakai of LiIberia.
• Specifically, his ability to speak the English language.
• After Boakai completed his brief remarks, Dumpy said, “Thank you, and such good English.”
• “Where did you learn to speak so beautifully?” he continued as the Liberian president let out a polite chuckle.
• Dumpy kept pushing on. “Where? Were you educated? Where? In Liberia?” Dump asked again.
• “Yes, sir,” the Liberian president replied.
• “That’s very interesting. It’s beautiful language,” Dump said.
• NEWS FLASH: the language of Liberia IS FUCKING ENGLISH, you fucking orange twatwaffle idiot moron buffoon piece of dung ass fuck…
• Sigh.
• Liberia is a nation founded by African Americans, both formerly enslaved and freeborn, who moved to Africa beginning in 1822. The only language that’s ever been spoken there… is English.
• Let’s move on.
• It’s time to talk a bit about California Governor Gavin Newsom.
• Why? Because it’s obvious that he’s taking steps toward a 2028 presidential run.
• This week, Newsom embarked on a two-day swing through rural South Carolina as the high-profile Democrat seeks to position himself as a leader for a party in rebuilding mode.
• Newsom alternated between defiance toward Dump and familiarity with voters in the early primary state during his roughly 15-minute address at a stop in Bennettsville, sharply criticizing the administration and referring to the opening of Dump’s second term as “an alarming six months.”
• “It’s not what happens to us, it’s how we respond to it. And our opportunity presents itself anew. In 18 months, you have the power to end Donald Trump’s presidency,” Newsom said to loud applause from the full room.
• And he added, “We’ll have to deal with the tweets, we’ll have to deal with the attacks and the bullying. But the legislative agenda is effectively over. You have that power in these midterms.”
• He’s right.
• Anyway, 2028 is a long way off, and from a voting perspective, your focus should be completely on the 2026 Midterm elections regardless.
• But Newsom is going to be a force in the next presidential election. Bet on it.
• Moving on.
• Dumpy has a strange way of leading the USA based on his personal grudges.
• Yesterday, he said he would impose a 50% tariff on goods from Brazil next month, one of the steepest rates for any U.S. trading partner, citing the criminal prosecution of his buddy, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
• Unlike many other countries that have been threatened with tariff hikes, the U.S. runs a trade surplus with Brazil, meaning Brazil buys more American goods than the U.S. buys from Brazil. Last year, the U.S. exported about $49 billion worth of goods to Brazil, and Brazil exported just over $42 billion in goods to the U.S..
• But as you may recall, Bolsonaro was indicted last year for allegedly attempting a coup to remain in office after Lula defeated him in the 2022 elections.
• The plan allegedly included dozens of people and involved a plot to poison Lula and shoot a Brazilian Supreme Court justice.
• And now Dump is trying to fuck all of Brazil for not accepting the illegal actions of its former leader.
• Let’s move on.
• A scary local story from last night: 31 people working in a massive underground tunnel in the Wilmington area of Los Angeles — not very far from where I live — were rescued after a portion of the structure collapsed.
• Amazingly, none of the rescued workers had any visible injuries. 
• The collapse occurred approximately five to six miles from the sole entry and exit point of the tunnel and about 400 feet below ground. The tunnel is part of a municipal wastewater project.
• That sounds like a nightmare. Glad they’re all safe.
• In other news…
• It was 100 years ago today that a public high school teacher stood trial in Dayton, Tennessee, for teaching human evolution.
• The law books record it as State of Tennessee v. John T. Scopes. History remembers it as the “Scopes Monkey Trial.”
• And that Tennessee jury found Scopes guilty of violating the state’s Butler Act — of teaching “any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible.”
• Yup!
• The case ultimately reached the Tennessee Supreme Court, which upheld the law but acquitted Scopes on a technicality.
• But still today, 100 years later, we’re dealing with public schools that refute proven science over Biblical teachings.
• Maybe we’ll learn someday.
• And now, The Weather: “Strangest Feeling” by Bonniesongs
• A personal note…
• At least if you live in a major metropolitan area, never — I repeat, never — go to the DMV without an appointment. I spent three precious hours of my life there yesterday to finally upgrade to a Real ID.
• Here in the LA area, a DMV appointment can be weeks away, and I didn’t have that long to spare.
• I’d even been told that if you have to show up with no appointment, Wednesday morning was a good day to do so. It actually looked pretty peaceful when I first pulled in, though the parking lot was suspiciously full.
• How it works here: you scan a QR code from a sign in front. Then you enter all of your info into a form via your phone. And THEN you get assigned a number and find out how many people are in line in front of you.
• In my case, it was 92 people. FUCK. But I stuck it out, and beyond the aspect of there just being too many people in greater Los Angeles for any kind of bureaucratic speed, the actual people working there were friendly and efficient.
• From the Sports Desk… Devin Booker got paid.
• The Phoenix Suns superstar agreed to a two-year, $145 million maximum contract extension with the franchise through the 2029-30 season, the highest annual extension salary in NBA history,
• Holy shit.
• Today in history… Emperor Hadrian of Rome dies of heart failure at his residence on the bay of Naples (138). Prince Naka-no-Ōe and Fujiwara no Kamatari assassinate Soga no Iruka during a coup d'état at the imperial palace (645). King Canute IV of Denmark is killed by rebellious peasants (1986). Lady Jane Grey, a teenage girl, takes the throne of England for nine days (1553). Louis XVI of France declares war on Great Britain to aid the American Revolution (1778). Wyoming is admitted as the 44th U.S. state (1890). Belfast's Bloody Sunday occurs with 20 killings, at least 100 wounded and 200 homes destroyed during rioting and gun battles in Belfast, Northern Ireland (1921). In Dayton, Tennessee, the so-called "Monkey Trial" begins of John T. Scopes, a young high school science teacher accused of teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act (1925). Telstar, the world's first communications satellite, is launched into orbit (1962). Boris Yeltsin takes office as the first elected President of Russia (1991). In women's soccer, the United States defeated China in a penalty shoot-out at the Rose Bowl near Los Angeles to win the final match of the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup (1999). The last Volkswagen Beetle rolls off the line in Puebla, Mexico (2019).
• July 10 is the birthday of theologian John Calvin (1509), US vice-president George Dallas (1792), brewer Adolphus Busch (1839), physicist Nikola Tesla (1856), novelist Marcel Proust (1871), philanthropist/art collector Ima Hogg (1882), singer/guitarist Blind Boy Fuller (1907), journalist David Brinkley (1920), activist Eunice Kennedy Shriver (1921), boxer Jake LaMotta (1922), actor Fred Gwynne (1926), politician David Dinkins (1927), singer Mavis Staples (1939), singer-songwriter Ronnie James Dio (1942), tennis player Arthur Ashe (1943), actor Ron Glass (1945), singer-songwriter Arlo Guthrie (1947), singer-songwriter Greg Kihn (1949), singer-songwriter Neil Tennant (1954), banjoist/composer Béla Fleck (1958), drummer Sandy West (1959), actress Sophia Vergara (1972), singer-songwriter Jessica Simpson (1980), NFL player Antonio Brown (1988), and pygmy hippopotamus Moo Deng (2024).

Alrighty. Gotta roll. Enjoy your day.

Random News: July 9, 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 July 9, 2025, and it’s a Wednesday. “The time has come,” the Claxton said, “To talk of many things: of shoes — and ships — and sealing-wax. Of cabbages — and kings.” Oddly enough, we have a king who is also a cabbage. Anyway, got a lot of news to dump on you. Let’s get rolling.

• An update in the wake of the flood.
• As of now, at least 161 people are still missing in Kerr County, Texas. It’s unlikely any more survivors will be rescued at this point, fave days later.
• At least 111 people have died in the disaster. More than 90 were in the Kerrville area.
• And Texas is not alone. New Mexico saw a flash flood emergency yesterday that caused the deaths of at least three people.
• I know that it’s tough going up against Mother Nature, and I’m not trying to cast blame here.
• But it feels like with all the amazing tech we use every single day in this modern world of ours, there would be some priority on ensuring that people receive adequate warning from something as basic as a bunch of water.
• For now, let’s move on.
• I want to mention up top here about something I posted yesterday evening. It’s important enough to keep mentioning, which I will be doing.
• Many folks have been asking me what the next meaningful opportunity to protest will be, and when. I now have an answer.
• Held to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the passing of civil rights icon John Lewis on the evening of Thursday, July 17 is “Good Trouble Lives On.”
• It’s an organized nationwide protest, and it seems that there are hundreds of events lined up and ready to go. Most of the same organizations who successfully supported the recent “Hands Off” and “No Kings” protests are behind this as well.
• That includes Indivisible, 50501, ACLU, Our Revolution, Public Citizen and many others.
• Their description…
• “We are facing the most brazen rollback of civil rights in generations. Whether you’re outraged by attacks on voting rights, the gutting of essential services, disappearances of our neighbors, or the assault on free speech and our right to protest - this movement is for you. Trump is trying to divide us, but we know the power of coming together.”
• Sounds good to me. I’ll put a link in the comments for more info and to RSVP.
• Let’s move on.
• It’s to the point where I always expect the Supreme Court to do the wrong thing, and they rarely surprise me by doing otherwise.
• Yesterday, they backed Dump’s effort to carry out mass firings and reorganizations at federal agencies, putting on hold a lower court order that had temporarily blocked Dump from taking those steps without approval from Congress.
• In an unsigned order, the high court said that lower courts had stopped the plans based on the administration’s general effort, rather than specific agency “reduction in force” plans that would drastically cut the size of the government workforce.
• No vote count was released, but Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote a scathing dissent.
• As you’re aware, the case stems from an executive order Dump signed in mid-February that kicked off the process of significantly reducing the size of federal agencies. Departments subsequently announced plans to lay off tens of thousands of employees.
• But federal departments are created by law and lower courts have repeatedly held that the White House can’t unilaterally wipe them out or leave them so short staffed that they cannot carry out their legal responsibilities.
• Dump’s order will cause major reductions at more than a dozen agencies, including the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, Labor, Treasury, State, Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
• So that is just horrible news. I will tell you a couple of things for context…
• The court left open the possibility that it could rule against a specific plan in the future if the reductions appeared to make it impossible for an agency to carry out its obligation under the law.
• And Justice Sonia Sotomayor — one of the three remaining liberals on the SCOTUS — said she agreed with the decision, which she described as limited.
• But that will be of little solace while our federal government is decimated by this awful decision… both of Dump and the SCOTUS who enables him.
• Let’s move on.
• We need to continue the conversation about the Dump administration’s 180-degree turnaround on the release of the files relating to Jeffrey Epstein.
• There were many people who supported Dump for the specific reason that he’d promised he would expose the hidden, sinister truth about Epstein’s role as a convicted sex offender and his suspicious death in 2019.
• But yesterday, they gave a new message from Dump about Epstein: get over it.
• The Qanon/MAGA world is really freaking out. Because they are brainwashed, most of their ire isn’t aimed at Dump, but rather AG Bondi, F.B.I. director Kash Patel, and Patel’s top deputy, Dan Bongino.
• Everyone’s favorite psycho Laura Loomer wrote about Bondi, “She needs to resign. The American people and MAGA base will not tolerate being lied to.”
• Dump’s angry ex-boyfriend Elon Musk wrote, “How can people be expected to have faith in Trump if he won’t release the Epstein files?”
• It is pretty mind-blowing that just a few months ago, Bondi told Fox News that the Epstein “client list” was sitting on her desk.
• And now she says there literally is no list. That’s amazing. Are MAGA folks that gullible and easy to take advantage of? Will they just accept that incredible bullshit?
• Tucker Carlson doesn’t seem to be. “The president promised to reveal the truth about this. Pam Bondi, as you said, went on television and said, ‘We have the truth, we’re going to give it to you. I think this is a big deal.”
• And even moronic Fox News joined in, broadcasting a chyron during Jesse Watters’ prime-time show that blared, “WE NEED ANSWERS ON EPSTEIN.”
• Hahahahahaha!
• Why doesn’t Bondi just release the thousands of hours of videotapes analyzed by investigators?
• “They turned out to be child porn downloaded by that disgusting Jeffrey Epstein. Never going to see the light of day,” she now says.
• Yes, but… who’s in the videos with those children, Pam?
• And finally, a question for the MAGAs: if Dump (and his team of Bondi, Patel, and Bongino) are lying to you about Epstein, what else are they lying to you about? Do you still believe your Medicaid won’t be touched?
• As the old saying goes, there’s a sucker born every minute. Don’t be one.
• Let’s move on. It’s a big news day, as I mentioned.
• X, the web site formerly known as Twitter, has an AI system named Grok that Elon Musk installed awhile back.
• And it has gone full anti-Semitic.
• Yesterday, the AI spontaneously opined, “The recent Texas floods tragically killed over 100 people, including dozens of children from a Christian camp-only for radicals like Cindy Steinberg to celebrate them as "future fascists." To deal with such vile anti-white hate? Adolf Hitler, no question. He'd spot the pattern and handle it decisively, every damn time.”
• I’m serious. that’s what Elon’s AI had to say.
• The company quickly went into damage control mode.
• A subsequent post under Grok’s X handle read, “We are aware of recent posts made by Grok and are actively working to remove the inappropriate posts. Since being made aware of the content, xAl has taken action to ban hate speech before Grok posts on X. xAl is training only truth-seeking and thanks to the millions of users on X, we are able to quickly identify and update the model where training could be improved.”
• Jesus fucking Christ. That machine is promoting genocide. We’re all doomed, you know. Humankind is way too stupid and immature to envision the eventual damage AI will inevitably cause.
• Let’s move on and continue the conversation about Dumpy and Ukraine and Russia.
• Again, a lot of the MAGA voting base was clearly against the USA continuing our military support for Ukraine after it was invaded by Russia a few years back.
• So they were pretty happy last week when the Pentagon announced that it would hold back some air defense missiles, precision-guided artillery, and other weapons pledged to Ukraine because of what U.S. officials said were concerns that American stockpiles were in short supply.
• But then Dumpy said Monday that the U.S. will be sending more weapons to Ukraine, effectively reversing the move.
• And now word is that Defense Secretary Hegseth had acted without consulting the president. Run roh!
• And Dumpy is grumpy about it. Asked by a reporter yesterday who approved the pause, Dump petulantly replied, “I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?”
• He’s also mad at his on-again, off-agin buddy Vladimir Putin.
• “We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth. He’s very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless,” said The Dumpster, seeming to almost understand something about Russia’s extraordinarily ruthless leader.
• Let’s move back to the Texas floods for a moment.
• It was — amazingly — just a few weeks ago when Dumpy said he wanted to begin phasing out the Federal Emergency Management Agency after this hurricane season to “wean off of FEMA” and “bring it down to the state level.”
• So, no better time than the present, right?
• Not if it’s a red state being affected by a natural disaster. Dump is touting a fast and robust federal response to the devastating Texas floods.
• He approved Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s request for a major disaster declaration just one day after it was submitted, activating FEMA resources and unlocking assistance for survivors and local governments.
• That’s no different than FEMA’s typical role in disasters, which is to support states through coordination and funding.
• But what this clearly illustrates is how difficult it would be for states to take on FEMA’s responsibilities if it were dismantled.
• If Texas — or any other state, I should note — were capable of handling the financial impact of disasters without the help of the federal government, they’d already be doing it on their own.
• Moving on to a bizarre story.
• An impostor pretending to be Secretary of State Marco Rubio contacted foreign ministers, a U.S. governor, and a member of Congress by sending them voice and text messages that mimic Rubio’s voice and writing style using artificial intelligence-powered software.
• So that’s just fucking great.
• U.S. authorities do not know who is behind the string of impersonation attempts but they believe the culprit was probably attempting to manipulate powerful government officials with the goal of gaining access to information or accounts.
• Using both text messaging and the encrypted messaging app Signal — which the Dump administration uses extensively and likely illegally, since it doesn’t preserve records as required by law — the impostor contacted at least five non-Department individuals, including three foreign ministers, a U.S. governor, and a U.S. member of Congress.
• When asked about this clusterfuck, the State Department responded that it would “carry out a thorough investigation and continue to implement safeguards to prevent this from happening in the future.”
• Suuuuure Jan.
• Let’s move on with a different kind of immigration story.
• Mandonna "Donna" Kashanian, an Iranian, has been living in the United States for 47 years, and her husband and daughter are both U.S. citizens.
• She was detained by ICE officers last month as she gardened in the yard of her New Orleans home.
• Sounds pretty typical these days, right?
• But unlike the others who’ve been kidnapped and disappeared, Kashanian was released after  intervention from Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.
• Kashanian had been allowed to stay in the U.S. as long as she checked in regularly with immigration authorities, as she had done without fail. Scalise, who represents Louisiana's 1st Congressional District, asked the Department of Homeland Security to give her "a fair shake."
• Wait what? Why does this one particular individual get treated differently than the rest?
• Well, evil DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said that "the facts of this case have not changed."
• ”Mandonna Kashanian is in this country illegally," McLaughlin added. "She exhausted all her legal options."
• So again, what’s the deal here? Well, it seems that Kashanian is… a Republican, or is at least well connected to powerful people in a red state.
• Her attorney said he represents other clients who had built lives in the U.S. over decades and are now being detained and deported.
• ”There is still a tremendous amount of heartache that is happening for people," he said. "The difference is they lived quiet lives and didn't have access to political power to change the outcomes in their cases."
• There you go.
• And now, The Weather: “Home” by Mac Demarco
• From the Sports Desk… a Wimbledon update, I suppose. Please come back, football, for the love of God.
• Looks like 5-seed American Taylor Fritz will have his work cut out for him in the Semifinals… he’s facing 2-seed Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. That match is on Friday.
• Meanwhile, 10-seed American Ben Shelton is, at this moment, playing 1-seed Italian Jannik Sinner. they’re tied 1-1 in the first set as I write this.
• And in the Women’s, 13-seed American Amanda Anisimova is also in the Seminfinals… and she faces the best female tennis player in the world, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka.
• Today in history… Hadrian, who became emperor a year previously on Trajan's death, makes his entry into Rome (118). King Henry VIII of England annuls his marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves (1540). Catherine the Great becomes Empress of Russia following the coup against her husband, Peter III (1762). George Washington orders the Declaration of Independence to be read out to members of the Continental Army in Manhattan, while thousands of British troops on Staten Island prepare for the Battle of Long Island (1776). Financier James Swan pays off the $2,024,899 US national debt that had been accrued during the American Revolution (1795). Argentina declares independence from Spain (1816). U.S. President Zachary Taylor dies after eating raw fruit and iced milk; he is succeeded in office by Vice President Millard Fillmore (1850). The Siege of Port Hudson ends, giving the Union complete control of the Mississippi River (1863). The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing African Americans full citizenship and all persons in the United States due process of law (1868). The inaugural Wimbledon Championships begins (1877). Johnny Weissmuller swims the 100 meters freestyle in 58.6 seconds breaking the world swimming record and the 'minute barrier’ (1922). American forces take Saipan, bringing the Japanese archipelago within range of B-29 raids, and causing the downfall of the Tojo government (1944). The New Zealand Parliament passes the Homosexual Law Reform Act legalizing homosexuality in New Zealand (1986). The Senate Report on Iraqi WMD Intelligence is released by the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, casting doubt on the rationale for the Iraq War (2004). South Sudan gains independence and secedes from Sudan (2011).
• July 8 is the birthday of Holy Roman emperor Ferdinand II (1578), writer Ann Radcliffe (1764), UK prime minister Edward Heath (1916), singer-songwriter Lee Hazlewood (1929), US secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld (1932), painter David Hockney (1937), actor Brian Dennehey (1938), author Dean Koontz (1945), NFL player/actor/murderer O. J. Simpson (1947), TV host/composer John Tesh (1952), politician Lindsey Graham (1955), actor Tom Hanks (1956), actress Kelly McGillis (1957), singer-songwriter Jim Kerr (1959), singer-songwriter Courtney Love (1964), software developer Marc Andreessen (1971), singer-songwriter /guitaristJack White (1975), and actor Fred Savage (1976).

That is plenty of stuff to think about. Again, I’m putting a link to the “Good Trouble Lives On” action event in the comments. Find your local event on the map, get signed up, and let’s get ready to cause a ruckus! Enjoy your day.

Random News: July 8, 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 July 8, 2025, and it’s a Tuesday. This morning's coffee is a light roast — Peet’s Costa Rica Aurora. It’s quite delicious. I have a busy day ahead of me and there’s a lot going on in the world, so let’s get into it.

• Search and rescue crews are still hard at work in their fifth day in central Texas Hill Country, but they’re racing against time, and things look pretty bleak.
• The death tool from the devastating floods there has topped 100, and that number continues to rise. It’s fucking awful.
• And perhaps this will be an impetus to make sure that our federal government’s weather and emergency response organizations are well staffed and funded.
• Because there’s no question that we will have more weather-based disasters in coming months, and it would be good to know that we’re at least somewhat capable of preventing needless death and destruction.
• A short side note: where was Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) while his state was once again being devastated by a natural disaster?
• On vacation, of course. Maybe someone needs to investigate whether Cruz’s vacations are the cause of these disasters.
• He was enjoying time in Greece well after the flood happened, hanging out at the Parthenon on Saturday despite a claim that he was returning from his European vacation “as fast as humanly possible.”
• It was just Tuesday of last week that Cruz signed off on the Big Bullshit Bill that slashed funding for weather forecasting. He did manage to finally make it back to Texas yesterday.
• Moving on.
• If it’s been awhile since you’d thought about the illegal military deployment here in the Los Angeles area, allow me to give you a stark reminder.
• Yesterday, heavily armed federal border agents and U.S. troops descended upon MacArthur Park in downtown Los Angeles as part of an immigration raid that appeared to turn up mostly empty.
• The operation, which included 90 armed troops and 17 military Humvees, displaced a summer day camp. There were little kids running around and trying to play while Dump’s military and ICE/CBP gestapo did their best to fill them with terror.
• Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said, "To me, this is another example of the administration ratcheting up chaos by deploying what looked like a military operation in an American city.”
• California Gov. Gavin Newsom stated, “What a disgrace, what's happening in MacArthur Park. What theater. On the six-month anniversary, after all, of these fires — that's the message from the polluted heart of the President of the United States, the polluted heart of Stephen Miller.”
• It was not immediately clear who or what was targeted. Bass posted a video of agents, some on horseback, moving in what she called a "skirmish line" across the mostly empty park.
• Mayor Bass continued, “I think the goal is to spread fear. I think that's what it is. It's to terrorize Angelenos. It's to say to immigrants that are in our city of immigrants that they need to stay home, they shouldn't go to work, they shouldn't go to school, because we're coming after you."
• All of the troops involved in the operation were activated members of the California National Guard. The operation included some 17 Humvees, four military cargo trucks, and two military ambulances.
• Fucking disgusting. Is that the America in which you wanted to live and raise children?
• Let’s move on.
• It also may have been awhile since you wondered how Kilmar Abrego Garcia was doing.
• Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis denied the Justice Department's motions to dismiss Abrego Garcia's lawsuit over his mistaken deportation to El Salvador, calling one of the government's motions "meritless."
• Xinis is the same judge who had ordered the government to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return to the U.S. after he was sent to El Salvador in March. She questioned the DOJ about whether the U.S. had indicted him in order to facilitate his return.
• Xinis also denied a second motion to dismiss by the Justice Department, which argued that the lawsuit is now moot, since Abrego Garcia is now in the U.S.
• She knows that if Abrego Garcia were released from custody, he would be immediately removed again.
• Keeping an eye on that, and moving on.
• Let’s look at some good news, even if it may be temporary.
• Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani temporarily barred the Dump administration from revoking Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, partially freezing a provision of the Big Bullshit Bill Act just days after Dumpy signed it into law.
• The restraining order lasts 14 days and directs the Department of Health and Human Services to "take all steps necessary to ensure that Medicaid funding continues to be disbursed" to Planned Parenthood.
• An important note so you understand the context here: federal Medicaid dollars already cannot be used to cover abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or risk to a mother's life.
• So that’s not the issue. But Planned Parenthood argues this new provision would make it harder for patients to access the non-abortion services offered by the group's local members, like screenings for cancer and sexually transmitted infections.
• Why would Dump want women to suffer and die?
• More than hall of Planned Parenthood’s patients use Medicaid, so a funding cutoff would have devastating effects on the group and its local affiliates, forcing some local health centers to close.
• ”Many Planned Parenthood Members will be required to lay off staff and curtail services, with serious adverse consequences for the many patients served at those centers even if they do not use Medicaid to access services. Worse still, Members may be forced to shutter a substantial number of their health centers nationwide, many of which are in rural or underserved areas without alternative providers," the lawsuit read.
• This is the only way to save our country and ourselves from Dumpy and the people behind his evil cruelty. Keep fighting every day… in the courts, on the streets, and over the entire fucking Internet so he can’t hide what he’s doing.
• Let’s move on.
• A large percentage of MAGA voters were obsessed on two items that Dump promoted in the 2024 election: releasing information on the Jeffrey Epstein client list, and ending our support of Ukraine in their effort to not be taken over by Russia.
• Yesterday, we learned that Dump’s people are denying there are any documents about Epstein after talking about said documents for months.
• And today — in an abrupt u-turn that is shocking both the Pentagon and conservatives alike — Dump will be announcing the shipment of new weapons to Ukraine.
• Yesterday, Dumpy said, “We’re going to send some more weapons. We have to — they have to be able to defend themselves. They’re getting hit very hard. We’re going to have to send more weapons. Defensive weapons, primarily, but they’re getting hit very, very hard.”
• Yes, that sounds like a fourth grader talking, but I agree with that fourth grader on this matter.
• Wasn’t it last week that the Dump administration said it was pausing some weapons shipments to Ukraine, including air defense missiles?
• And didn’t Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth sign off on this pause after an alleged review of military spending and American support to foreign countries?
• Something must have changed Dumpy’s mind, I suppose.
• In other news, another change of plans…
• Yesterday, the Department of Veterans Affairs has dropped plans to lay off tens of thousands of personnel in August. But this is still only a temporary reprieve.
• The VA announced it's currently on pace to reduce its staff by about 30,000 employees by the end of this fiscal year in September, thereby "eliminating the need for a large-scale reduction-in-force," or RIF.
• I mean, ask any veteran who’s attempted to get treatment or service from the VA. As bad as it already is, it’s about to get worse.
• MAGA folks always claim to be all about “supporting the troops” until they have to actually support the troops.
• In other news…
• Yesterday, conservative pundit Ann Coulter responded to a post featuring Indigenous college professor Melanie Yazzie by writing, “We didn’t kill enough Indians.”
• The post garnered 10.7 million views before being partially censored for violating the platform’s rules against violent speech.
• Cherokee Nation Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. had something to say about that.
• “The cruelty of Coulter’s comments are, of course, self-evident to decent human beings from all quarters. We have made much progress in the United States as it relates to federal Indian policy. Conservatives, liberals, Republicans and Democrats have had a hand in advancing this cause, which is so special to me as Chief of the nation’s largest tribe, particularly over the last half century. What Ann Coulter said is heartless, vicious and should be repudiated by people of good faith regardless of political philosophy or party. Some things are simply wrong and we cannot validate it through our silence.”
• Agreed.
• Did you know that an anagram for the name of Ann Coulter is “a loner cunt?” Now you do.
• Let’s move on to some hopeful news.
• Minnesota state senator John Hoffman is out of a hospital intensive care unit. He and wife wife Yvette were the first victims in a political assassination attempt in June that took the life of fellow lawmaker Rep. Melissa Hortman, her husband Mark, and the family dog.
• Hoffman had been shot nine times by MAGA murderer Vance Boelter after Hoffman lunged at the gunman who was claiming to be a police officer.
• Glad to hear that Hoffman is going to recover.
• And now, The Weather: “Rice Crispies” by Sungaze
• Let’s do a chart.
• We’re heading back 32 years to July 1993. What was I doing? Getting married to my eventual ex-wife. I was 24 years old and working as a marketing assistant at a music/audio company, and learning about what the fuck marketing was.
• Here was the top of the Billboard Hot 100 at the time.
• 1. Baby Got Back (Sir Mix-A-Lot). 2. I'll Be There (Mariah Carey). 3. Under The Bridge (Red Hot Chili Peppers). 4. Achy Breaky Heart (Billy Ray Cyrus). 5. Baby-Baby-Baby (TLC). 6. Tennessee (Arrested Development). 7. This Used To Be My Playground (Madonna). 8. If You Asked Me To (Celine Dion). 9. Wishing On A Star (The Cover Girls). 10. Just Another Day (Jon Secada). 11. Life Is A Highway (Tom Cochrane). 12. Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover (Sophie B. Hawkins). 13. Too Funky (George Michael). 14. The Best Things In Life Are Free (Luther Vandross And Janet Jackson With BBD And Ralph Tresvant). 15. Jump (Kris Kross). 16. Warm It Up (Kris Kross). 17. November Rain (Guns N' Roses). 18. Come & Talk To Me (Jodeci). 19. Friday I'm In Love (The Cure). 20. My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It) (En Vogue).
• From the Sports Desk… both Americans in the Men’s Singles at Wimbledon have made it to the quarterfinals.
• 5-seed Taylor Fritz took on Russian Karen Khachanov today, winning 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 and moving on to the Semis. Tomorrow, 10-seed Ben Shelton will have his work cut out for him against the world’s 1-seed, Italian Jannik Sinner.
• Also lurking in the quarterfinals: Alcaraz and Djokovic.
• One of the American women also made it into the quarterfinals, with 13-seed Amanda Anisimova taking on Russian Nastia Pavlyuchenkova today.
• It will be tough for anyone to get past top-seed Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka.
• Today in history… Vasco da Gama sets sail on the first direct European voyage to India (1497). Charles II of England grants John Clarke a Royal charter to Rhode Island (1663). The Olive Branch Petition is signed by the Continental Congress of the Thirteen Colonies of North America (1775). John Nixon delivers the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence of the United States (1776). St. John's, Newfoundland is devastated in the Great Fire of 1892 (1892). The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level of the Great Depression, closing at 41.22 (1932). Reports are broadcast that a UFO crash-landed in Roswell, NM in what became known as the Roswell UFO incident (1947). Francis Gary Powers is charged with espionage resulting from his flight over the Soviet Union (1960). Kim Jong Il begins to assume supreme leadership of North Korea upon the death of his father, Kim Il Sung (1994). Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final mission of the U.S. Space Shuttle program (2011). Israel launches an offensive on Gaza amid rising tensions following the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers (2014).
• July 8 is the birthday of surgeon Dominique Jean Larrey (1766), chemist/pharmacist John Pemberton (1831), chemist/businessman Eli Lilly (1838), soldier/businessman Ferdinand von Zeppelin (1838), businessman/philanthropist John D. Rockefeller (1839),fashion designer Hugo Boss (1885), politician George W. Romney (1907), businessman/US vice-president Nelson Rockefeller (1908), singer Jerry Vale (1930), actor Marty Feldman (1934), drummer Jaimoe (1944), actor Jeffrey Tambor (1944), activist Ruby Sales (1948), chef Wolfgang Puck (1949), author Marianne Williamson (1952), actor Kevin Bacon (1958), singer-songwriter Toby Keith (1961), singer-songwriter Joan Osborne (1962), actor Billy Crudup (1968), singer-songwriter/musician Beck (1970), actor Milo Ventimiglia (1977), and actor Jaden Smith (1998).

I’m out of time, so that’ll have to do. Enjoy your day.