Random News: June 1, 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 June 1, 2025, and it’s a Sunday. I’m up somewhat early for a Sunday, but that works well… I have lots of news stuff to give you while wearing a bathrobe and sipping delicious coffee, and now I’m not compelled to hurry through it.

• Rabbit rabbit rabbit.
• Today is the first day of Pride Month.
• For those of you who’ve read this column for a long time, you’re probably aware that we recognize Pride every year.
• You may recall that in 2023, I acknowledged pride by doing daily educational posts about various LGBTQIA+ topics.
• Then last year, in 2024, I saluted specific people with a Gay of the Day spotlight. That was fun.
• This year — due primarily to the openly bigoted outlook and actions of Dumpy and his cult — the peril to the LGBTQIA+ community is greater than it has been in many years, making it all the more crucial to acknowledge Pride.
• What is Pride, and what is its purpose?
• Pride is designated to bring self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other people whose romantic and sexual preferences vary from those of heterosexual people.
• Not very long ago, homosexuality in all its forms was considered either a mental illness or a criminal offense — or both — in most parts of the world, and remains so in some places.
• And it’s a fight that has to continue all the time. Right now, at this very moment here in the USA, there are factions in the Republican world who want to not only make same-sex marriage illegal again, but to go back to criminalizing LGBTQ activity altogether.
• Just ask them. They’ll tell you.
• When announcing my support of Pride, I used to preface my statements with phrases like, “I’m not gay, but…” or sometimes I’d clarify things by describing myself as an “ally” and so on.
• Why do that? I mean, I express my support of environmental and biodiversity efforts without announcing that I’m not a tree. I don’t have to tell people I’m not Black when I fight racial discrimination and injustice.
• The difference is that no one can look at another human being and know with 100% certainty that they are (or aren’t) gay, or trans, or queer, and so on. What does a bisexual look like? Describe one right now.
• So that’s the reason. And if someone wants to speculate about my sexual orientation, guess what? Speculate away! But what I won’t do is confirm or deny your hypothesis. What I am is a human being who cares for others… the only perception of myself that’s important.
• I am proud to have many great friends who do identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ world. Some are new acquaintances; others are people I knew all the way back to early childhood.
• And in all cases, my life is better with them being part of it. How fucking boring life would be if we were all truly the same. Vive la différence!
• And happy Pride to you all. Just FYI… we will be continuing to acknowledge Pride in various ways all month long.
• Let’s do some news.
• Starting with a big item from the International Desk.
• Last night, Ukraine — a country that Dumpy claimed had no chance surviving against the enemy invading its borders — put a fucking beatdown on Russia.
• They conducted a large-scale operation targeting four Russian military airfields, hitting more than 40 military aircraft that Russia has been using to bomb Ukrainian cities every night.
• Ukraine used drones to attack Olenya airbase in Murmansk and Belaya airfield in Irkutsk. Both are home to Russian strategic bomber aircraft, including nuclear-capable bombers.
• Elsewhere, at least seven people were killed and 66 injured when a railway bridge collapsed and a train derailed in Russia's western Bryansk region overnight, following an explosion on the route.
• And, of course, Russia will retaliate. But it doesn’t look to me that, regardless of what Dumpy says, Ukraine is done defending itself.
• Let’s move on.
• There’s a very important project underway in the world of Donnie Dump that — by definition — affects you directly. And I say that with 100% certainty.
• Dump is giving hundreds of millions of dollars to a company that’s expanding the government’s ability to spy on its own citizens.
• All of them.
• Dumpy is awarding contracts to the controversial tech company Palantir to develop a database of Americans’ private information, scraped from various government agencies, to track or persecute them.
• The Palantir product called is called Foundry. It’s pulling from data from at least four federal agencies, including DHS and the Health and Human Services Department. 
• The goal is to create detailed portraits of every person in the country. They’re gathering hundreds of data points on citizens and others through government databases, including their bank account numbers, the amount of their student debt, their medical claims, any disability status, and more.
• I probably don’t have to tell you the potential results of such an invasive action.
• Earlier this year, Palantir CEO Alex Karp gave investors a grim summary of what the company’s full slate of work for the Dump administration entails.
• Karp said, “Palantir is here to disrupt. And, when it’s necessary, to scare our enemies and, on occasion, kill them.”
• And who are “our enemies” from the perspective of Donnie Dump? Obviously, it’s people like me. And perhaps you.
• Meanwhile, you’ve already been told about Dump’s major support of AI. This is one big reason why. The use of AI models to assemble those data points would drastically speed up the process.
• This is why I encourage all of you to resist, now, while you still can.
• Moving on.
• How is Dumpy doing, anyway? Feeling pretty stable?
• This morning, Dumples the Sad Clown — more detached from reality than ever — shared an unhinged QAnon-type social post saying that former President Joe Biden had been executed in 2020 and was replaced by clones.
• That’s your president, folks.
• In other news…
• Both conservative and liberal officials are blasting the Dump administration’s widely anticipated list of “sanctuary” jurisdictions that are deemed uncooperative with federal immigration enforcement.
• The list is not only hilarious because its riddled with misspellings and other obvious errors.
• It’s mostly laughable because it includes some of the most enthusiastic supporters of the White House, including sparsely populated counties that have little interaction with immigration authorities, and that overwhelmingly voted for Dump.
• Hahahahahahaha!
• Case in point: Huntington Beach, CA. Everyone around here knows that the Orange County city is very MAGA. The city even filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s immigration sanctuary law, and passed a resolution this year declaring the community a “non-sanctuary city.”
• That’s why Huntington Beach mayor Pat Burns was rightfully astounded to have his city included on the list. He said, “At first when I heard it I was like, accidents happen.”
• But after seeing so many other cities lumped in like his, he called it negligent. “You don’t have that many mistakes on such an important federal document — somebody’s got to answer to that.”
• The list came out as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced major leadership changes, and after Dumpy said the administration wanted to increase daily immigration arrests.
• Let’s move on.
• Back to the International Desk for a moment.
• Poles began voting today in a decisive presidential runoff that could set the course for the nation’s political future and its relations with the European Union.
• The candidates are Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski — a liberal pro-EU figure — and Karol Nawrocki — a conservative historian backed by the right-wing Law and Justice party.
• And like many places in the world, this election will determine whether Poland continues along a nationalist path, or pivots more decisively toward liberal democratic norms. The new president will have significant influence over whether Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s centrist government can fulfill its centrist agenda, given the presidential power to veto laws.
• Final results are likely to be announced tomorrow. The runoff follows a tightly contested first round, in which Trzaskowski won just over 31% and Nawrocki nearly 30%, eliminating eleven other candidates.
• See if this sounds familiar: Trzaskowski has promised to restore judicial independence, ease abortion restrictions, and promote constructive ties with European partners.
• Nawrocki has positioned himself as a defender of traditional Polish values, skeptical of the EU, and aligned with U.S. conservatives, including Dumpy. And his candidacy has been clouded by allegations of past connections to criminal figures and participation in a violent street battle.
• One thing they can agree on: both candidates support aid to Kyiv, because Russia will take Poland next if allowed to annex Ukraine.
• Moving on with some news from the Space Desk.
• Auroras are fucking horrifying. The pretty celestial colors you see when you look up in the night sky are caused by our planet’s magnetic shield stopping what would otherwise be a horrible death for all life on this rock.
• And that bombardment of solar radiation is underway right now. A severe solar storm — rated a level 4 out of 5 — arrived on Earth earlier than NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center had forecast on Saturday. Aurora — known colloquially as northern lights — were visible last night as far south as New Mexico.
• The storm may peak during the daylight hours today over North America and ease by tonight, which might reduce the chance of seeing the aurora in many places after dark.
• If you people had any concept of how scary the fucking universe actually is, and how many ways it can kill you, and how fragile life itself actually is, you’d all go insane and curl up in fetal positions, expecting your immediate demise.
• It’s honestly a great thing that most people are extraordinarily ignorant and/or total idiots. We’d never be able to function if that wasn’t the case.
• Every moment you’re somehow alive is pure luck. Why do you think I tell you to enjoy your day at the end of each of these silly reports?
• And now, The Weather: “Woman Lake” by snuggle
• From the Sports Desk… we have an NBA finals matchup.
• The Pacers knocked off the Knicks in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals last night, winning 125-108.
• They will face the Thunder for the NBA championship. Game 1 is Thursday June 5 in Oklahoma City.
• We have another note from the Sports Desk. After nearly four decades as a fixture of the league, last night was the final show of“Inside the NBA” on TNT.
• Before you get overly sad, note that the show will move to ESPN and ABC next season — and keep Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, and Charles Barkley together.
• Despite that, last night’s final TNT sign-off was an emotional one. Ernie could barely get the words out.
• “I’m proud to say for the last time, ‘Thanks for watching us. It’s the NBA on TNT,’” he said, before turning his back to the camera, placing his microphone on the desk, and getting up from that set for the final time.
• Today in history… Zhongdu — now called Beijing — is captured by the Mongols under Genghis Khan (1215). A monk, John Cor, records the first known batch of Scotch whisky (1495). The court-martial for malfeasance of Benedict Arnold, a general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, begins (1779). Kentucky is admitted as the 15th state of the United States (1792). Tennessee is admitted as the 16th state of the United States (1796). U.S. President James Madison asks the Congress to declare war on the United Kingdom (1812). James Clark Ross becomes the first European at the North Magnetic Pole (1831). Territorial Governor Alexander Ramsey declared the Territory of Minnesota officially established (1849). The Treaty of Bosque Redondo is signed, allowing the Navajo to return to their lands in Arizona and New Mexico (1868). The United States Census Bureau begins using Herman Hollerith's tabulating machine to count census returns (1890). Louis Brandeis becomes the first Jew appointed to the United States Supreme Court (1916). Kenya becomes a republic with Jomo Kenyatta as its first President (1964). The Heimlich maneuver for rescuing choking victims is published in the journal Emergency Medicine (1974). Cable News Network, aka CNN, begins broadcasting (1980). George H. W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev sign a treaty to end chemical weapon production (1990). Oklahoma City bombing co-conspirator Terry Nichols is sentenced to 161 consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole (2004). A fire on the back lot of Universal Studios breaks out, destroying the attraction King Kong Encounter and a large archive of master tapes for music and film, the full extent of which was not revealed until 2019 (2008). General Motors files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the fourth largest United States bankruptcy in history (2009).
• June 1 is the birthday of painter Frans Post (1612), missionary/explorer Jacques Marquette (1637), religious leader Brigham Young (1801), Confederate general John Bell Hood (1831), chemist William Standish Knowles (1917), bandleader Nelson Riddle (1921), actor Andy Griffith (1926), actress Marilyn Monroe (1926), singer-songwriter Pat Boone (1934), illustrator/animator Gerald Scarfe (1936), actor Morgan Freeman (1937), actor Cleavon Little (1939), actor René Auberjonois (1940), guitarist Ronnie Wood (1947), politician Lucy McBath (1960), bass player Simon Gallup (1960), NHL player Paul Coffey (1961), model Heidi Klum (1973), singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette (1974), singer-songwriter/guitarist Brandi Carlile (1981), actress Amy Schumer (1981), comedian Nikki Glaser (1984), and actor Tom Holland (1996).

So, once again, happy Pride. I’m not just saying that to the LGBTQIA+ people; I’m saying it to all of you. We are all better off in a world where they exist and are welcomed and supported. Now I need to do something important: get some breakfast. Enjoy your day.