Random News: June 23, 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 23, 2025, and it’s a Monday. Any day I wake up in the midst of global conflict where you never know who is going to drop a bomb on us, and I’m alive and mostly well, and I look around and things seem relatively normal, is a good day. So good day to you..

• A Pride Note…
• I think our trans friends tend to get slightly marginalized in regard to Pride.
• They are the “T” in LGBTQIA+, I should note.
• I get that Pride started specifically in regard to gay and lesbian people, but an inclusive world should note that Pride is super applicable to transgender people.
• And these days, with how they’ve been under direct attack, perhaps more now than ever.
• I know — in speaking to friends — that being open about being transgender is extraordinarily dangerous. Most of us have heard the stories of people being ridiculed, beaten, or killed when the fact of their gender change is revealed.
• Those who are open about it — a key factor of Pride — have to be incredibly brave. I have a lot of admiration for those folks.
• It’s not easy even for many typical people to be themselves without fear of societal judgement.
• Let’s do some news.
• Yesterday, the world waited to see how Iran would respond after the U.S. attacked key Iranian nuclear sites, joining Israel in the biggest Western military action against the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution.
• By the way, why did that revolution happen? Before then, Iran was much more akin to Western countries, with women receiving similar rights to men, a respected local scene for art and cinema, and more?
• Let’s do a short version of a super long story: it’s our fault. From the “Modern History” Desk…
• In 1953, the CIA backed a coup which overthrew Iran’s democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammad Mossadegh, who had nationalized the country's oil industry.
• That coup reinstated Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as an absolute monarch and significantly increased United States influence over Iran. American firms gained control over Iranian oil production, with US companies taking around 40 percent of the profits.
• With me so far?
• Then in the late ‘60s/early ‘70s, Iran became the USA’s "regional policemen" in the Persian Gulf, with Iran’s defense budget increasing around 800 percent over four to five years, as it purchased advanced weaponry from the US.
• Sigh. Guess where this is going?
• This rapid militarization contributed to severe economic instability, including spiraling inflation, mass migration from rural areas to cities, and widespread social disruption. 
• And that led to mass protests and the replacement of the Imperial State of Iran by the Islamic Republic of Iran, led by Ruhollah Khomeini, an Islamist cleric who had headed one of the rebel factions.
• Were we done meddling in Iran at that point? Of course not.
• In November 1979, after Iranian students stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and took 52 Americans hostage, President Jimmy Carter imposed an arms embargo on Iran.
• But in the ‘80s, during Ronald Reagan’s presidency, there was a scandal involving illegal arms trafficking to Iran, with the US using the proceeds of the arms sale to fund the Contras, an anti-Sandinista rebel group in Nicaragua.
• And that was the “Iran-Contra Affair.”
• Back to today.
• As mentioned previously, Iran has vowed to defend itself after the U.S. dropped 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs onto the mountain above Iran's Fordow nuclear site.
• The DHS warned of a "heightened threat environment" in the USA, citing the possibility of cyber attacks or targeted violence. Law enforcement in major U.S. cities stepped up patrols with a focus on religious, cultural, and diplomatic sites.
• The State Department issued a security alert for all U.S. citizens abroad that warned of the potential for demonstrations against Americans and travel disruptions due to closed airspace across the Middle East.
• While Dump claims the bombing mission was a complete and total success, Iranian sources claim that most of the highly enriched uranium at Fordow had been moved elsewhere before the attack. 
• U.S. officials, many of whom witnessed George W. Bush's popularity collapse following his disastrous intervention in Iraq in 2003, have stressed that they were not working to overthrow Iran's government and this attack had nothing to do with regime change.
• And yesterday, Dump’s defense secretary Pete Hegseth held a press conference where he stated, "This mission was not and has not been about regime change.”
• So what did Dumples the War Clown do?
• Dumpy wrote, "It’s not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change,' but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!"
• I’m serious. This is not a joke. That’s what he posted. MIGA. What a gaping asshole.
• So anyway, yesterday, Iran's parliament approved a measure endorsing the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil transportation route.
• Around 20% of the world's oil and gas flow through the narrow channel connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman. Its closure would likely mean immediate rising fuel costs for global consumers, including Americans.
• Secretary of State Li’l Marco Rubio warned against closing the strait, saying “That would be a suicidal move on their part, because I think the whole world would come against them if they did that.”
• Would they? Or would they just be more mad at us for having caused it with our unprovoked attack?
• You know, think this through.
• We've now bombed Iran. But before we did that, we dismantled our joint terrorism task force and we gutted the National Security Council.
• And a big portion of our other federal agencies — like a third of the FBI — are being used to assist ICE in Dump’s cruel immigration scheme. And a good number of our National Guard and Marines are also busy rounding up brown people in US cities.
• And a completely unqualified and inept weekend news host who has a major alcohol problem is in charge at the Pentagon. And we’ve ruined relationships with our intelligence allies whom our president has belittled and insulted, and now they may not be as willing to share key intel with us as they would have under literally any previous president.
• But hey, at least you don’t have a woman in the White House, right?
• Good job, you deplorable cousin-fucking troglodytes. Way to fucking go. Slow clap.
• Let’s move on. Hopefully gas isn’t $8/gallon later this week.
• Actually… one more note.
• Russia says that they’re standing by and ready to help Iran in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, but Tehran first needs to articulate its requests, a Kremlin spokesperson said today.
• Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters at a briefing that the assistance “all depends on what Iran needs.”
• Peskov noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi today, and the two plan to discuss options for assistance.
• We’re all gonna die.
• From the Immigration Desk That I Wish We Didn’t Have to Have…
• Yesterday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes ordered the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia — the Maryland father who was deported mistakenly — while he awaits a federal trial on human smuggling charges. But he is not expected to be allowed to go free.
• These motherfuckers.
• Abrego Garcia is going to be released pending trial on his criminal charges, but ICE is going to take him into custody, and they may deport him — again — before he even has a chance to stand trial.
• Is that the American way? It is under the Dump regime.
• There’s a hearing on Wednesday to discuss the conditions of his release. The U.S. government has already filed a motion to appeal the judge’s release order.
• And Holmes herself acknowledged in her ruling yesterday that determining whether Abrego Garcia should be released is “little more than an academic exercise” because ICE will likely detain him.
• She wrote that the government failed to prove that Abrego Garcia was a flight risk, that he posed a danger to the community, or that he would interfere with proceedings if released. But she also said that If he is released into ICE custody, that is “above my pay grade.”
• Sigh.
• Let’s continue on with another immigration story.
• Marine Corps veteran Adrian Clouatre doesn’t know how to tell his children where their mother went after ICE grabbed her and took her away last month.
• It’s hard enough to explain to his nearly 2-year-old son Noah, much less his 3-month-old, still-breastfeeding daughter Lyn.
• And the federal agency originally tasked with helping military family members gain legal status now refers them for deportation because of Donnie Dump’s quotas.
• Nice fucking way to treat people who put their lives on the line for our country.
• After they married in 2024, Paola Clouatre sought a green card to legally live and work in the U.S., and then had a follow-up appointment in May.
• The immigration staffer asked her and her husband to wait in the lobby for paperwork, but instead, ICE officers arrived and handcuffed Paola, who handed her wedding ring to her husband for safekeeping.
• Now, Adrian says, “I’m all for ‘get the criminals out of the country,’ right? But the people that are here working hard, especially the ones married to Americans — I mean, that’s always been a way to secure a green card.”
• Fascinatingly, Marine Corps recruiters continue to promote enlistment as protection for families lacking legal status. They post ads on social media, geared toward Latinos, promoting enlistment as a way to gain “protection from deportation” for family members.
• But as of June 12, the military agency that was supposed to help these families said it has referred upward of 26,000 cases to ICE for deportation.
• And yet MAGA “supports the troops,” right? Fucking hypocritical pieces of shit.
• I need to add another immigration note so we don’t start Monday completely depressed.
• A phenomenon has been underway here in the greater Los Angeles area.
• Allegedly, rival gangs in rough areas — Maywood, Bell, Watts, South LA, East LA, Compton and more — have called a truce so that they can work together with the common goal of protecting people targeted by ICE.
• And reports say that the reason ICE generally stays out of those neighborhoods — despite their alleged priority of capturing and deporting criminals — is that they are scared little boys who don’t want to take on actual criminals.
• That’s why they’re focused on bashing the heads of gardeners and day laborers trying to earn a living.
• Let’s move on.
• It’s been a little while since we mentioned the fact that many women in the USA are not allowed to have autonomy over their own reproductive choices.
• Enter Kat Cammack, a Florida Republican congresswoman who went to the emergency room, where it was estimated she was five weeks into an ectopic pregnancy. The fetus had no heartbeat and her life was at risk.
• Doctors determined she needed a shot of methotrexate to help expel her pregnancy but since Florida’s six-week abortion ban had just taken effect at the time, medical staff were worried about losing their licenses or going to jail if they did.
• Because that’s exactly what Republicans had threatened them with.
• Who does Cammack —  who opposes abortion and co-chairs the House pro-life caucus — blame for the horrifying incident? The left. She says that “fearmongering” from pro-choice groups are what caused the doctors to be reluctant to treat her.
• Perhaps she should consider that the effort that she herself led to enact restrictive anti-abortion laws is the reason she nearly died.
• Florida’s strict abortion ban, which took effect on 1 May 2024, makes abortions illegal after six weeks, when most people are not even aware yet that they are pregnant. And Florida’s law does not define ectopic pregnancy, which can be difficult to diagnose.
• And now, The Weather: “I Only Feel Love When It's Missing” by Small Forward
• RIP to Fred Smith, the guy who founded FedEx in 1971. He was 80.
• The story I like about Fred is that while at Yale, he did a term paper in a business class with the idea to create a delivery system based on coordinated air cargo flights centered on a main hub, a “hub and spokes” system.
• His professor thought it was interesting but that there was no way it could work profitably in the real world.
• By 1983, FedEx had a billion dollars in revenue, and the company now employs nearly a half-million people and averages 17 million shipments per business day.
• From the Sports Desk… we have an NBA champion.
• Congratulations to the Oklahoma City Thunder on their first NBA championship since the team moved there from Seattle in 2008. The Indiana Pacers — who many excepted to loose in 4 or 5 games, took them all the way to Game 7 last night before getting beaten 103-91.
• And it looked for awhile there that the Pacers had a good shot, and actually pulled ahead for a bit… until superstar Tyrese Haliburton had to exit the game in the first half with an injury.
• In more NBA news from the Sports Desk…
• Before yesterday’s championship game, the Phoenix Suns agreed on a blockbuster trade, sending 15-time NBA All-Star Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets for Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, the No. 10 pick in this year's draft and five second-round picks.
• The trade can be formally completed when the new league year begins July 6.
• I mean, KD is an amazing player and is one of the all-time elites. But he’s also 36. That seems like a really big compensation package for a guy who has maybe a year or two of solid production left in him.
• Today in history… The mutinous crew of Henry Hudson's fourth voyage sets Henry, his son and seven loyal crew members adrift in an open boat in what is now Hudson Bay; they are never heard from again (1611). Empress Catherine II of Russia allows Jews to settle in Kyiv (1794). John Jacob Astor forms the Pacific Fur Company (1810). At Fort Towson in the Oklahoma Territory, Confederate Brigadier General Stand Watie surrenders the last significant Confederate army (1865). Christopher Sholes gets a patent on an invention he calls the Type-Writer (1868). The College Board administers the first SAT exam (1926). Adolf Hitler goes on a three-hour tour of the architecture of Paris with architect Albert Speer and sculptor Arno Breker in his only visit to the city (1940). The United States Senate follows the United States House of Representatives in overriding U.S. President Harry S. Truman's veto of the Taft–Hartley Act (1947). The United States Food and Drug Administration declares Enovid to be the first officially approved combined oral contraceptive pill in the world (1960). The Antarctic Treaty System, which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and limits military activity on the continent, its islands and ice shelves, comes into force (1961). Warren E. Burger is sworn in as Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court by retiring Chief Justice Earl Warren (1969). IBM announces that effective January 1970 it will price its software and services separately from hardware thus creating the modern software industry (1969). U.S. President Richard M. Nixon and White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman are taped talking about illegally using the Central Intelligence Agency to obstruct the Federal Bureau of Investigation's investigation into the Watergate break-ins (1972). Sonic the Hedgehog is released in North America on the Sega Genesis platform (1991). The United Kingdom votes in a referendum to leave the European Union, by 52% to 48% (2016). Twelve boys and an assistant coach from a soccer team in Thailand are trapped in a flooding cave, leading to an 18-day rescue operation (2018).
• June 23 is the birthday of Egyptian king Caesarion (47 BC), sexologist Alfred Kinsey (1894), UK king Edward VIII (1894), computer scientist Alan Turing (1912), businessman Art Modell (1925), choreographer Bob Fosse (1927), singer-songwriter June Carter Cash (1929), novelist Richard Bach (1936), runner Wilma Rudolph (1940), bass player Stuart Sutcliffe (1940), singer-songwriter Robert Hunter (1941), SCOTUS justice Clarence Thomas (1948), singer-songwriter Glenn Danzig (1955), bass player/producer Randy Jackson (1956), actress Frances McDormand (1957), singer-songwriter Chuck Billy (1962), NHL player/coach Félix Potvin (1971), actress Selma Blair (1972), singer-songwriter KT Tunstall (1975), singer-songwriter Jason Mraz (1977), NFL player LaDainian Tomlinson (1979), and MLB player Tim Anderson (1993).

As usual, this isn’t all the news. It’s barely even part of the news. But it’s news that I think matters. Someone else’s news might be different, and I do encourage you to look at multiple sources and outlooks, and then form your own opinions. Enjoy your day.