Random News: June 15, 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 15, 2025, and it’s a Sunday. I awoke a short while ago this morning, recalling a dream where I’d been a part of one of the biggest days of protest in U.S. history. Then as I gradually became more awake, I realized that was no dream. We’ll talk about that and much more.

• But first, a Pride Note…
• I've seen posts from a lot of crying MAGA men about Pride Month.
• “Why do they get a whole month? When is straight pride month?” and so on.
• But don't worry, sad/mad MAGA men. If you're upset that there's a whole month to celebrate Pride... there's also a whole month for you in October.
• It’s called Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
• And on a more serious note, there are also entire months dedicated to stuff you allegedly care about.
• Veterans & Military Families Month is recognized in November. The military also get National Military Appreciation Month in May.
• September is National Suicide Prevention Month. And coming up in a couple of weeks or so, July is National Hot Dog Month and National Ice Cream Month, you fat fuck.
• Let’s do some news, but before we get to that…
• Happy Father’s Day to you dads out there. It was almost 26 years ago that I became a dad. It’s still my most important role in life.
• Nothing I’ve ever done was close to the level of importance and massive responsibility as when I brought a new human being into the world.
• And I have zero doubts: I became a far better person as a result of being a father. Less self-centered, less ego-driven.
• And in fact, while I was certainly politically aware before the birth of my son, it was only due to my newfound concern about the state of the world in which he’d live that I became politically active.
• In other words, there news bullets that some of you folks read daily would have never existed had I not developed a more caring outlook on the world as a father.
• Lest I forget, let me also send my greetings to every stepdad, grandpa, or other person who helped fill a paternal role in a child’s life. All of you are of tremendous importance in making the world a better place in which to live.
• Okay. Now the news.
• The biggest story of the moment — having nothing to do with my personal involvement in it — was yesterday’s “No Kings” protests across the USA and around the globe.
• I know I’ve been pestering you all to check it out an get involved for weeks. I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be a typical run-of-the-mill activism event.
• Turns out I was correct. According to some sources, No Kings Day was the largest protest against a president in US history. I can’t think of any example of protest that would be larger.
• The final numbers are still being discussed. I can tell you that the final tally for No Kings events worldwide was 2,189, per the organizers, with more than 2,000 of those happening in the USA, in all 50 states.
• The numbers of participants is eye-opening. The very lowest estimates I saw — that likely were made long before many events had even happened — was 5 million people.
• The upper estimates? 
• Around 9-11 million. And it actually may be more than that. I mean, shit, there were over a million in Boston alone.
• If those numbers are close to accurate, the No Kings protest crossed a notable threshold called the 3.5% rule.
• It’s a sociopolitical formula that suggests that a movement can be successful if at least 3.5% of a population actively participates in sustained nonviolent protest. It’s a significant predictor of success in achieving political or social change.
• I’ll tell you a note about my local event, since it’s the one that I experienced personally.
• Over the past decade, I’ve done dozens of protest actions. Some have been pretty big, like a few thousand people who participated in the “March for Our Lives” event in 2018. Others have been relatively tiny; I did one that was maybe 50 people here in Redondo Beach.
• But I was proud to do them regardless.
• Yesterday’s event for the folks in the South Bay area of greater Los Angeles was by far the largest one ever for this area. It had crossed 10,000 attendees with minutes of the start, and surpassed 20,000 before the end.
• The mood was ebullient and defiant. It was joyous and cathartic. And I will tell you: I didn’t see one instances of violence, and not even a hint of counterprotest. I didn’t even see a single motherfucker drive by in a MAGA hat to give us the finger.
• Not one.
• The crowd itself was the brunt of event, though we had some very good speakers as well, including LA County Board of Supervisors member Janice Hahn, Congressional Rep. Nanette Barragán (CA-44), and others.
• A quick funny note from yesterday: I was walking through the crowd, checking out signs and participating in chants. I glanced up and saw a guy in what looked to be a familiar red MAGA hat walking toward me.
• And then I noticed the hat actually read, “I Am A Fucking Moron,” which made me giggle. I didn't bother looking to see who was under the cap, other than noting a bearded dude with sunglasses who was about my age.
• It wasn’t until after I got home and looked at pics that I realized it was TV host Jimmy Kimmel.
• Who else did I see at my No Kings event?
• A wide cross-section of America. Old people. Young people (including kids, which made me super happy). Rich people, poor people. People of every racial makeup. Quiet, introverted people. Boisterously loud people — oh wait, that was me.
• Much like the previous “Hands Off” and “May Day” events in April and May, what most impressed and heartened me about No Kings was seeing the hundreds and hundreds of successful events not in big, liberal cities, but in small towns and across red states and conservative areas.
• There’s a place called Pentland, Michigan, that reported a No Kings attendance of 400… in a town of 800.
• As I said above, 99% of the events were peaceful. There were some exceptions.
• Some 15 miles north of me in Downtown LA — the epicenter of the current anti-ICE protest movement — cops had to declare it an illegal assembly after some folks started attacking the federal building where the National Guard and Marines are staged.
• Some asshole shot someone during the event in Salt Lake City, UT. And some 21-year-old little prick intentionally drove an SUV into a crowd of protesters in Culpeper, VA.
• But at thousands of other events, not a single instance of violence occurred. Pretty proud of you, America. Well done.
• I am going to write a longer and more detailed report on my No Kings event, which I’ll do separately from this so we can talk about other things here.
• So for now, let’s move on. But I have to say, I don’t think No Kings could have possibly been more successful, and the next steps are already underway.
• In Minnesota, a manhunt is continuing for 57-year-old Vance Boelter, the MAGA murderer who killed State Rep. Melissa Hortman — the top Democrat in the Minnesota House — and her husband in a politically motivated assassination.
• Boelter also shot and wounded Minnesota State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, who survived the shooting and have undergone surgery. Yvette Hoffman heroically saved her daughter Hope’s life by throwing herself on top of her as the MAGA gunman fired at her.
• Police found writings in Boelter’s car that included a hit list with nearly 70 names. Those named are mostly Democratic politicians or figures with ties to abortion rights, including Minnesota lawmakers Rep. Ilhan Omar and Sen. Tina Smith.
• Boelter is still at large. Even after he’s caught — and he will be caught — it wouldn’t surprise me at this stage for him to be pardoned by Dump.
• Moving on.
• We’re still hoping that WWIII isn’t about to start.
• Iran has warned the United States, United Kingdom, and France that their bases and ships in the region will be targeted if they help stop Tehran’s strikes on Israel.
• Iran has been firing massive barrages of missiles and drones at Israel since Friday, when the latter launched a shock campaign of strikes on Iranian nuclear and military sites, citing an existential need to prevent the Islamic Republic from obtaining nuclear weapons.
• Most of the Iranian missiles and drones have been intercepted by Israel’s air defenses, though some have slipped through, killing at least 13 people and injuring hundreds as they hit urban areas.
• Meanwhile, our military is busy chasing after brown people and marching in parades instead of defending our country and its allies.
• Oh yeah. The parade.
• That was one of the most humiliating actions by a sitting U.S. president that I can recall.
• While millions and millions of us took to the streets in a direct rebuke of Donnie Dump, he had his little birthday party in D.C., and… lordy, it was pathetic.
• The crowds at his party were sparse. The soldiers who marched past him looked lackadaisical and out of sync. And Dumpy himself looked terrible. On camera, he often seemed like he was morose to the point of holding back tears.
• It’s too bad, because the Army could have had a proud moment to celebrate their 250th anniversary. It was ruined by its attachment to Dumpy.
• And now, The Weather: “Coach” by Sex Week
• From the Sports Desk… the Florida Panthers are now just a win away from the 2025 NHL championship.
• They neat the Edmonton Oilers last night 5-2, and now have a 3-2 lead in the seven-game Stanley Cup finals.
• Game 6 is Tuesday in Florida.
• Today in history… Assyrians record a solar eclipse that is later used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history (763 BC). King John of England puts his seal to Magna Carta (1215). Margaret Jones is hanged in Boston for witchcraft in the first such execution for the Massachusetts Bay Colony (1648). The first human blood transfusion is administered by Dr. Jean-Baptiste Denys (1667). Benjamin Franklin proves that lightning is electricity (1752). New Hampshire approves the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratifying the document (1804). Charles Goodyear receives a patent for vulcanization, a process to strengthen rubber (1844). The Oregon Treaty extends the border between the United States and British North America, established by the Treaty of 1818, westward to the Pacific Ocean (1846). Arlington National Cemetery is established when 200 acres of the Arlington estate formerly owned by Confederate General Robert E. Lee are officially set aside as a military cemetery (1864). Eadweard Muybridge takes a series of photographs to prove that all four feet of a horse leave the ground when it runs, and the study becomes the basis of motion pictures (1878). Bessie Coleman earns her pilot's license, becoming the first female pilot of African-American descent (1921). In the Philippines, Mount Pinatubo erupts in the second largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, killing over 800 people (1991). Charles Manson goes on trial for the Sharon Tate murders (1970). Microsoft retires Internet Explorer after 26 years in favor of its new browser, Microsoft Edge (2022).
• June 15 is the birthday of Mona Lisa model Lisa del Giocondo (1479), chocolatier Charles-Amédée Kohler (1790), composer Edvard Grieg (1843), psychologist Erik Erikson (1902), Russian politician Yuri Andropov (1914), pianist/composer Erroll Garner (1921), politician Mario Cuomo (1932), singer-songwriter/guitarist Waylon Jennings (1937), singer/actor Johnny Hallyday (1943), singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson (1941), NFL coach Mike Holmgren (1948), MLB player/manager Dusty Baker (1949), singer-songwriter Steve Walsh (1951), actor Jim Belushi (1954), actress Courteney Cox (1964), rapper/actor Ice Cube (1969), actress Leah Remini (1970), actor Neil Patrick Harris (1973), MLB player Tim Lincecum (1984), MLB player Trevor Plouffe (1986), and NFL player Cooper Kupp (1993).

So, I’m going to get in the shower and get dressed, and then I'm going to attempt to have brunch with my son and Christina. It’s both Father’s Day and he graduated from college on Friday, so we wanted to do something to mark the occasions. That being said, if the local restaurants are insanely crowded, we may go with a yet-to-be-determined Plan B. I’m going to stay flexible and haver a nice Sunday regardless. I wish the same to you. Enjoy your day.