Random News: June 22, 2025

DISCLAIMER: Zak's Random News is very random and doesn't cover many things, and not everything may be accurate, because I'm just some guy. Go find a real news source.

---

Good morning. It’s June 22, 2025, and it’s a Sunday. "This ain't no party, this ain't no disco / This ain't no fooling around / No time for dancing, or lovey dovey / I ain't got time for that now.” In case you’re wondering, those are lyrics from “Life During Wartime” by Talking Heads, and it seemed appropriate on this deceptively peaceful-seeming Sunday morning.

• A Pride Note…
• This is one for the homophobes out there. Statistically, it’s impossible that at least some of the people who read this news aren’t homophobic in various levels.
• What is it about gay people that scares you? Is it that they’re not like you?
• Well, many people aren’t like you. Half of them are the opposite gender. A huge portion of them have different skin color and hair texture and facial features.
• Many don’t speak your language or take part in your religion.
• Wait a sec… I think we’re on to something.
• Is it possible that your homophobia has similar roots as your xenophobia, your racism, and your other forms of bigotry?
• I mean, the only other possible answer I can think of that explains your feelings is that you are actually gay yourself, and it creates terrible conflict in you which you redirect into hatred for gays, ironically enough.
• So which one is it?
• And now, the news.
• Early today local time, the U.S. military struck three sites in Iran, directly joining Israel’s war allegedly aimed at decapitating the country’s nuclear program.
• As most of you over 30 recall well, the USA used the same justification of alleged “weapons of mass destruction” in Iraq for our military invasion there in the early 2000s.
• In that case, these weapons were said to include nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, as well as advanced missile delivery systems.
• However, despite extensive searches by international inspectors and later by the U.S. military, no stockpiles of WMD were ever found in Iraq.
• And at least George W. Bush had the courtesy of showing us fake pictures and getting congressional buy-in before sending in the bombs and troops.
• Now due to Dump his brigade of idiots, it is nearly certain that we’re going to be involved in yet another pointless war.
• Anyone who thinks Iran won’t retaliate in one (or more) of multiple ways is a fool. To call today’s bombing a risky gambit is putting it way too mildly. Iran had already promised to retaliate if any direct action against them by the U.S. occurred.
• While Dumpy claimed afterwards that Iran’s key nuclear sites were “completely and fully obliterated,” Iran’s nuclear agency confirmed that the attacks hit its Fordo, Isfahan, and Natanz atomic sites, but insisted that its work will not be stopped.
• I will remind you that one of Dump’s key talking points during the election was a promise of keeping America out of costly foreign conflicts, and he often scoffed at the value of American interventionism (as did his MAGA community).
• Now here we are, starting a war that could take generations to resolve. Creating whole new batches of fresh new terrorists who are making immediate plans for revenge.
• How hard did we hit Iran? Reports say that six bunker buster bombs were used on the Fordo facility, dropped by B-2 stealth bombers. Another 30 Tomahawk missiles were fired by U.S. submarines 400 miles away that struck the Iranian nuclear sites of Natanz and Isfahan.
• Pretty hard.
• A bombing fun fact (I’ve never written that exact phrase before)…
• Defense Secretary and inept alcoholic prick Pete Hegseth said today that “our boys in those bombers are on their way home right now.”
• Welp… one of those boys was a girl. A woman was among those piloting the seven B-2 bombers that dropped the powerful bunker-buster bombs on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
• Guess Pete’s DEI-bashing plan hasn’t fully gone through.
• So, are we the good guys or the bad guys here? We’re the good guys, right? Aren’t we always the good guys?
Not according to the rest of the world. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that he was “gravely alarmed” by the “dangerous escalation” of American bombers attacking nuclear sites in Iran.
• “There is a growing risk that this conflict could rapidly get out of control — with catastrophic consequences for civilians, the region, and the world,” he said.
• Seems about right.
• Back in the USA, federal, state, county, and local police forces are cranking up security, especially at religious, cultural, and diplomatic sites.
• At the moment, there have yet to be credible threats, and the actions are being taken out of an abundance of caution. Seems like a good idea to me.
• Counterterrorism units at all levels are definitely on a heightened level of alert.
• So that’s where things stand right now. You might have some questions.
• Can a president unilaterally declare war without the authorization of Congress?
• No. Just to be 100% perfectly clear: bombing Iran without any permission of Congress is completely illegal. Some politicians on both sides of the aisle agree. “This is not Constitutional,” wrote Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY).
• “According to the Constitution we are both sworn to defend, my attention to this matter comes BEFORE bombs fall. Full stop,” stated Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT). 
• Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution explicitly grants Congress the power to "declare War”. That power never lies in the hands of the president alone, despite his title of commander-in-chief of our armed forces.
• But have previous presidents made military strikes of various kinds without getting approval from Congress? Yes, of course.
• This becomes a matter of semantics.
• Presidents have authorized military actions in various conflicts, including Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, and the Balkans, without a formal declaration of war and without the specific authorization of Congress.
• And as of yet, we have not “declared war” on Iran. When was the last time we officially declared war via Congress?
• That would be World War II in 1942. Since then, every American president — Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, Bush II, Obama, Trump, and Biden — has used military force without a declaration of war.
• So stop with the “He must be impeached for this!” shit. Dump is an asshole, but he’s no more an asshole for this reason than he is for myriad others… or any other president, for that matter.
• Will Iran’s allies, formal and informal — such as Russia — make any move to defend them against what looks like an unprovoked U.S. attack?
• Guess we’ll wait and see.
• Most vulnerable are the 40,000 U.S. service members who are spread out across the Middle East at bases in Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. If Iran wants to hit back, they’ll start there.
• And in fact, on Iranian state television after the attacks, an anchor said, “Mr. Trump, you started it, and we will end it,” along with a graphic of American bases in the Middle East within Iran’s reach. 
• Beyond direct attacks, how else could Iran retaliate?
• They could attempt to close off the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping route.
• If oil exports are disrupted, the global oil market will face an existential crisis. The strait links the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, and is a key channel for oil and liquefied natural gas exports from the Middle East to the global market.
• About 20 million barrels of oil flow through the strait each day. If that tap gets suddenly closed, there would be a shock in oil markets, gas prices would skyrocket, and inflation would go through the roof.
• How about Russia and China? They had both condemned Israel’s war on Iran, and are certain to criticize the U.S. strikes too. Russia, however, has been stretched a little thin doing its own invasive war.
• So that’s where it stands for now.
• Let’s move on.
• I want to talk about a topic that seems to be on the mind of most good people of the USA: what will you do when you witness people being hauled off by masked men as they shop, exercise at the gym, go into work, dine out, and otherwise go about their daily lives?
• I’m referring, of course, to Dump’s ICE gestapo and their tactics in terrorizing people who aren’t white.
• What would you do?
• An example: Adam Greenfield was at home when his girlfriend raced in to tell him ICE vehicles were pulling up in their trendy San Diego neighborhood.
• Greenfield grabbed his iPhone and bolted out the door barefoot, joining a handful of neighbors recording masked agents raiding a popular Italian restaurant nearby, as they yelled at the officers to leave.
• He said, “I couldn’t stay silent. It was literally outside of my front door.”
• This terrible situation has many Americans — who rarely, if ever, participated in civil disobedience — now rushing out to record the actions on their phones and launch impromptu protests.
• Vice President Jebediah Dickless Vance whined about it when he visited LA on Friday. He said, “When that Border Patrol agent goes out to do their job, they said within 15 minutes they have protesters, sometimes violent protesters who are in their face obstructing them.”
• Good. That is heartwarming to hear. I hope there’s more of that.
• And there are many stories like Greenfield’s circulating around Southern California right now. We all are keeping our eyes open for ICE pulling up, with many of us ready and willing to jump in and help if needed.
• And especially those of us who are white. It’s less likely that the Hispanic people will be beaten and/or arrested by Dump’s ICE gestapo when we’re there and act as witnesses or human shields, even if we get in trouble in the process.
• In the LA suburb of Downey, Melyssa Rivas heard the frightened screams of young women. She went outside to find the women confronting nearly a dozen masked federal agents who had surrounded a man kneeling on the pavement.
• As Rivas began recording the interaction, a growing group of neighbors shouted at the agents to leave the man alone. They eventually drove off in vehicles, without detaining him, video shows.
• And it’s not just LA. You should expect these masked kidnappers in every city in the USA soon enough.
• In Spokane, WA, hundreds of people rushed to protest outside an ICE building earlier this month after a Venezuelan asylum seeker — had permission to live and work in the U.S.  — went to check in at the ICE building was detained.
• And you all saw how multiple millions of Americans protested — many of the for the first time in their lives — at last weekend’s “No Kings” day of defiance.
• No matter how they spin it — often through lies and blatant, open racism — most people in America are against cruelty, and many are willing to make personal sacrifices to protect other members of their community.
• I know that I am. And to answer my own question from above, if I see ICE operating in my neighborhood in this way, you can bet your ass I will step in. I’ve been keeping my eyes and ears open for them.
• So should you.
• Let’s move on, but not really.
• I want to talk about what happens to the people who do get abducted by ICE.
• On Friday night, immigration advocates filed a motion that describes the horrifying conditions at detention facilities in Texas.
• How bad is it?
• Adults fighting kids for clean water. Despondent toddlers separated form their parents. Children with acute, chronic, and terminal conditions being denied medical attention.
• And part of Dumpy’s Big Bullshit Bill terminates the Flores Settlement Agreement, a ‘90s-era policy that requires immigrant children detained in federal custody be held in safe and sanitary conditions.
• Dump’s bill also makes the detention time indefinite, while the administration ramps up arrests with no plans to properly care for these children while in detention.
• A 16-year-old girl described a nightmarish scene at the Karnes County Immigration Processing Center.
• “We don’t get enough water. They put out a little case of water, and everyone has to run for it. An adult here even pushed my little sister out of the way to get to the water first.”
• I’m going to tell you know: in the near future, when you are made aware that — call them what they are — concentration camps were being run in the USA with conditions that rival the worst known to history… don’t say you didn’t know.
• You know. You know now.
• Let’s move on, I guess.
• On Friday, we saw evidence that elections have consequences, and some of them are good.
• North Carolina Democratic Gov. Josh Stein vetoed his first bills, blocking — at least for now — Republican legislation that would let adults carry concealed handguns without a permit and make state agencies and local sheriffs more active in the Dump administration’s immigration crackdown.
• Many of us across the country strongly supported Stein in the last election, who ran against that guy Mark Robinson, the former Lt. Governor who called himself a Black Nazi and said he wanted to bring back slavery in comments on porn sites.
• And this is why. Robinson would have gladly rubber-stamped this horrible legislation.
• Interestingly — proving how every election seat matters a lot — the vetoed measures now return to the legislature, where NC Republicans are one House seat shy of holding a veto-proof majority.
• One seat. Think about that next time you assume your vote doesn’t matter, or the election isn’t important.
• Democracy itself — with free and fair elections, where every eligible person is encouraged to vote and never encumbered in their ability to vote — is the most important thing that our country can guarantee to us as citizens.
• And now, The Weather: “grounding” by no phase
• From the Sports Desk… tonight’s Game 7 between the Pacers and Knicks will the end end of the 2024-25 NBA season, but we’ll talk about that tomorrow.
• For now… the batters in MLB batting .300 or better.
• Aaron Judge (NYY) - .367, Jacob Wilson (ATH) - .353, Will Smith (LAD) - .328, Jonathan Aranda (TB) - .326, Jeremy Pena (HOU) - .324, Jose Ramirez (CLE) - .324, Freddie Freeman (LAD) - .322, Maikel Garcia (KC) - .315, Brendan Donovan (STL) - .312, Alejandro Kirk (TOR) - .311, Manny Machado (SD) - .309, Jake Meyers (HOU) - .307, Steven Kwan (CLE) - .305, Ernie Clement (TOR) - .304, Josh Naylor (ARI) - .302, Ryan O’Hearn (BAL) - .300.
• Today in history… Romans defeat Macedonians in the Battle of Pydna (168 BC). The Catholic Church forces Galileo Galilei to recant his view that the Sun, not the Earth, is the center of the universe (1633). The United States Department of Justice is created by the U.S. Congress (1870). George V and Mary of Teck are crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1911). Nazi Germany invades the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa (1941). The Pledge of Allegiance is formally adopted by the US Congress (1942). U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs into law the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill (1944). The Cuyahoga River catches fire in Cleveland, OH, spurring passage of the Clean Water Act and the foundation of the EPA (1969). Charon, the first of Pluto's satellites to be discovered, was first seen at the United States Naval Observatory by James W. Christy (1978). Diego Maradona scores the famous “Hand of God” goal allowing Argentina to defeat England in the World Cup quarterfinals (1986). The United States conducts airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan (2025).
• June 22 is the birthday of explorer George Vancouver (1757), criminal John Dillinger (1903), film director Billy Wilder (1906), fashion designer Bill Blass (1922), actor Ralph Waite (1928), politician Dianne Feinstein (1933), actor/singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson (1936), music producer Chris Blackwell (1937), journalist Ed Bradley (1941), singer-songwriter/musician Howard Kaylan (1947), NBA player Pete Maravich (1947), singer-songwriter/musician Todd Rundgren (1948), actress Meryl Streep (1949), actress Lindsay Wagner (1949), politician Elizabeth Warren (1949), singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper (1953), comedian/actor Freddie Prinze (1954), actor Tim Russ (1956), lawyer/activist Erin Brockovich (1960), NBA player Clyde Drexler (1962), author Dan Brown (1964), NFL player Kurt Warner (1971), TV host Carson Daly (1973), and NFL player Champ Bailey (1978).

Well. It’s definitely an interesting time to be alive. You know what would be nice? A less-interesting time to be alive. Trust me, you’d find plenty of ways to spend your time while NOT constantly being concerned of the world being destroyed or your way of life being decimated. That would be nice for a change. Maybe we’ll get back there someday. Maybe not. Let’s all stay alive and see what happens. Could be good. Enjoy your day.