Random News: June 17, 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 17, 2025, and it’s a Tuesday. I’m feeling pretty good as I start my day, all things considered. One thing I did find out as my life progressed: you can acknowledge things that need fixing and improving in your life and the world at large without allowing those things to ruin every moment of every day. Otherwise, what kind of life are you leading?

• A Pride Note…
• What is “queer?” Is it the same as gay?
• No. That’s why they get their own letter.
• Queer is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non-cisgender. The word was formerly a pejorative insult, as some of us old enough recall.
• Sometimes around the late ‘80s, activists began to reclaim that word as a more positive self-description.
• “Queer” can refer to not just the people who feel embraced by the term, but also to what they do. They are queer arts, queer cultural groups, and queer political groups, and other modern expressions of queer identities.
• You can be queer and not feel a desire to be in sexual or romantic relationships at all. You can be queer and, separately, identify as gay or lesbian or bisexual.
• Can you be a queer heterosexual and/or cisgender person? Wellll… no. While straight people can — and sometimes do — show nontraditional gender expressions, for example, it’s considered cultural appropriation to identify as such.
• So there’s a saying that goes, "You don't have to identify as queer if you're on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, but you do have to be on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum to identify as queer."
• That’s understandable.
• Let’s do the news.
• Yesterday, Dumpy ran away from the Group of Seven summit in Canada a day early to deal with the conflict between Israel and Iran, telling reporters on Air Force One during the flight back to Washington: “I’m not looking at a ceasefire. We’re looking at better than a ceasefire.”
• That can’t possibly be good, especially combined with cryptic posts that included a message saying, “Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” 
• If you’re unaware, Tehran is a huge city of nearly 10,000,000 people, and close to 17,000,000 in the greater metropolitan area.
• Would it really surprised you if Dumpy dropped a nuke on Tehran, with neither him nor anyone in his Team of Assholes understanding that Russia will retaliate with nukes against us?
• Is this one of the last news reports I’ll write before being incinerated in a nuclear holocaust along with the rest of Los Angeles?
• Guess we’ll see!
• Meanwhile, Israel pounded Iran for a fifth day in an air campaign against its longstanding foe’s military and nuclear program.
• Israel says its sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites, and ballistic missile program is necessary to prevent its adversary from getting any closer to building an atomic weapon.
• The strikes have killed at least 224 people in Iran.
• Let’s move on.
• The MAGA piece of shit who murdered Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, and wounded Minnesota Sen. John Hoffman and his wife separately, has been charged in the shootings.
• The FBI says that Vance Boelter also visited the homes of multiple other elected officials the night he went on his spree of death and mayhem. His next hearing was set for June 27. 
• A sad side note is that we all understand that it’s important that Boelter face state charges as well as federal, since there’s a reasonable possibility that Dump would pardon him for killing Democratic leaders.
• And in fact, today Dump ruled out calling Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz after the targeted shootings of two state lawmakers, saying that to do so would “waste time.”
• Presidents often reach out to other elected officials, including governors and mayors, at times of tragedy, such as after mass killings or natural disasters, to offer condolences and, if needed, federal assistance.
• But when asked if he had called Walz yet, Trump said the Democratic governor is “slick” and “whacked out” and, “I’m not calling him.”
• So there you go.
• Moving on, and back to the G7 meeting that Dumpy ran away from.
• An interesting moment happened when a Canadian Indigenous leader who greeted world heads of state arriving for the summit says he was “filled with rage” and considered leaving before Drumpy arrived — saying the U.S. president has “caused much pain and suffering in the world.”
• Instead, after praying and consulting with his peoples’ leaders, Steven Crowchild opted to stay on the tarmac for a long conversation with Dump that he hopes will call more attention to promoting peace, protecting clean water, and other issues key to Canada’s First Nation peoples.
• Crowchild — who feathered headgear that made him feel strong and showed Trump treaty medals that he told the president were older than Canada itself — said he spoke in his people’s traditional language… which is particularly funny, since Dump doesn’t speak or understand the English language very well, much less others.
• In other news…
• Yesterday, Senate Republicans suggested massive changes to Dump’s Big Bullshit Bill, setting up a potential brawl with the GOP-controlled House by slashing the child tax credit and state and local tax deductions while temporarily preserving some Biden-era climate programs.
• The Senate Finance Committee released its proposals yesterday afternoon, and they are some of the most controversial in the mammoth legislation.
• The panel is responsible for codifying trillions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, and to pay for them largely by slashing Medicaid, the federal health insurance program for low-income individuals.
• Because of the power dynamics between the two chambers — and Republicans’ self-imposed July 4 deadline — the Senate’s version of the bill is more likely to become law.
• Please be aware, MAGA folks who rely on government programs — we genuinely, and kindly, tried to tell you all of this before you voted last November. Whatever transpires as a result is 100% your own fault, and you will have no choice than to live with the consequences.
• I will remind you once again that the majority of people who need Medicare are indeed in red states. And now they’ve fucked themselves, along with everyone else.
• Moving on.
• An immigration note: yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security reversed course on guidance limiting immigration raids at farms, hotels, and restaurants.
• They realized that they’d never meet their quota of arresting 3,000 brown people per day if they couldn’t grab working people form these businesses, along with the many others.
• During a Monday morning field call, ICE officials told leaders representing field offices across the country that they must continue to conduct raids at worksite locations — a reversal from guidance issued days earlier under pressure from certain industries that rely on migrant workers.
• Dump also directed them to focus their efforts on “Democrat” cities.
• Moving on.
• I’m going to remind you — as I’ve done many times before — that making threats to harm or kill any public official is a dumb fucking idea.
• Don’t even joke about it. It’s not worth it.
• And I will also add the old adage that “Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.” Resorting to violence is a sign of failure in other, more effective methods of problem-solving or conflict resolution.
• And I don’t care how angry you are, or who the object of your ire is, or what they’ve done to merit your rage. I don’t care if it’s deserved in your mindset. Violence also begets more violence, and it all spirals into a horrific nightmare.
• Yesterday, Peter Stinson — a 33-year veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard — was charged with making threats to kill Dump.
• A 19-page FBI affidavit lists out scores of social media threats by Stinson, who also served as a Federal Emergency Management Agency instructor.
• The social media posts quoted in charging documents include online statements that suggested using a gun, a knife, and poison against Dump. In several cases, Stinson said he didn't have the skills to kill El Dumpo himself, but said he's willing to "serve in a support capacity" or raise money for a "contract hit."
• This is where I also remind you that the innocuous things you post on any social media — including Facebook (assuming you’re reading this there now), or X, or a YouTube comment, a Bluesky or Threads post, and so on — is legally the same as publishing that content.
• You have to be pretty extra naive about how life in the modern era works if you think you can make online threats and never face repercussions.
• Everything you post anywhere is more easily tied to you now more than ever before. They can track you through a multitude of means, whether or not you’re using tools to be “incognito” or to re-route your Internet presence.
• Don’t make threats. You can express displeasure, you can call them names, you can argue, or say whatever it is that you need to say. That’s why you have a First Amendment in the USA.
• But threats are not protected speech. They can and will come get your ass. As I said, even a joke about it isn’t worth it.
• And in the case of a president, just the act of making the threat — even with no intent or ability to see it through — carries a sentence of up to five years in prison if convicted.
• Do not do this.
• In other news…
• Yesterday, a federal jury in Colorado determined that MyPillow founder and former crack addict Mike Lindell defamed a former employee for a leading voting equipment company after the 2020 presidential election.
• The employee, Eric Coomer, was awarded $2.3 million in damages. He had sued after Lindell called him a traitor and accusations about him stealing the election were streamed on Lindell’s online media platform.
• Mike Lindell Fun Fact: he used to be worth about $60 million before he started speaking out about the 2020 election and is now $10 million in debt.
• A reminder: reviews, recounts and audits in the battleground states where Dumpy contested his loss in 2020 all affirmed Democrat Joe Biden’s victory.
• Dump’s own attorney general at the time said there was no evidence of widespread fraud, and Dump and his allies lost dozens of court cases seeking to overturn the result.
• Let’s move on.
• I rarely do local news stories, but this one seemed important to share.
• Last Friday, the California Court of Appeals has upheld a $1 million verdict that found the El Segundo Unified School District negligent in protecting a then-middle school student who was being bullied by her peers.
• The student was the target of bullying and harassment at El Segundo Middle School from 2017 to 2018. When the then-13-year-old reported the issue to a school counselor, the counselor told her, "girls will be girls," or that it was "just girl drama," according to court documents.
• Just girl drama? The student who was bullying the girl created a petition calling for the death of the 13-year-old. Other students at the middle school signed the petition and commented on it, using derogatory words.
• The girl stated that her going through this experience — the trial and appeal — means that her case may now help other kids. I hope so.
• And now, The Weather: “Before It Gets Dark” by Yndling
• From the Sports Desk… tonight is game 6 of the NHL’s Stanley Cup finals. Florida can take home the Cup with a win. If Edmonton hangs on, there will be a Game 7.
• Today in history… Pope Martin I is arrested and taken to Constantinople due to his opposition to monothelitism (653). Sir Francis Drake claims a land he calls Nova Albion — modern California — for England (1579). Mumtaz Mahal dies during childbirth, and her husband spends the next 17 years building her mausoleum, the Taj Mahal (1631). Samuel Wallis, a British sea captain, sights Tahiti and is considered the first European to reach the island (1767). American colonists inflict heavy casualties on British forces while losing the Battle of Bunker Hill (1775). One thousand five hundred Sioux and Cheyenne led by Crazy Horse beat back General George Crook's forces at Rosebud Creek in Montana Territory (1876). The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor (1885). The College Board introduces its first standardized test, the forerunner to the SAT (1901). Iceland declares independence from Denmark and becomes a republic (1944). The United States Supreme Court rules 8–1 in Abington School District v. Schempp against requiring the reciting of Bible verses and the Lord's Prayer in public schools (1963). Five White House operatives are arrested for burgling the offices of the Democratic National Committee during an attempt by members of the administration of President Richard M. Nixon to illegally wiretap the political opposition as part of a broader campaign to subvert the democratic process (1972). Following a televised low-speed highway chase, O. J. Simpson is arrested for the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman (1994). Juneteenth National Independence Day, was signed into law by President Joe Biden to become the first federal holiday established since Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983 (2021).
• June 17 is the birthday of English king Edward I (1239), painter/architect Giovanni Paolo Panini (1691), pianist/composer Igor Stravinsky (1882), illustrator M. C. Escher (1898), actor Ralph Bellamy (1904), guitarist Cliff Gallup (1930), bassist Chuck Rainey (1940), politician Newt Gingrich (1943), singer-songwriter Barry Manilow (1943), singer-songwriter/keyboardist Gregg Rolie (1947), singer-songwriter Paul Young (1947), comedian Joe Piscopo (1951), singer-songwriter Jello Biafra (1958), actor/TV host Greg Kinnear (1963), actor/comedian Will Forte (1970), tennis player Venus Williams (1980), rapper Kendrick Lamar (1987), and NFL player Amari Cooper (1994).

So, here we are. I’ll keep fighting for the future, whether or not there is a future. Doing the right thing is never a futile effort. I sleep well every damn night because I know I’m doing the right thing. And if I lose — which is always possible — I go down swinging and leave the opposition bloodied. Here’s hoping for no war, today or ever. Enjoy your day.