Random News: June 9, 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 9, 2025, and it’s a Monday. Greetings from the greater Los Angeles area, where we’ve been living in interesting times.

• A Pride Note…
• Opinion: bisexuals are perhaps the least likely people to be open about their sexuality. Why?
• Because in some ways, they get the worst reactions and treatment of all. Both straight and gay people often make assumptive reasons for their not “picking a side.”
• And there’s a phenomenon called bisexual erasure, which includes the belief that bisexuality itself does not exist, and that individuals who identify as bisexual are either heterosexual or homosexual.
• A lot of them get stereotypically thought of as being promiscuous, constantly wanting to have sex with anyone regardless of gender.
• Not true. At least not always true.
• And — side note — there’s the famous Kinsey scale, used to describe a person's sexual experience or response at a given time, ranging from 0 (meaning exclusively heterosexual) to 6 (meaning exclusively homosexual).
• People who rank anywhere from 2 to 4 are often considered bisexual; they are often not fully one extreme or the other.
• And guess what? Most people are not a 0 or a 6.
• Fun Bi Fact: bisexuals were found to have fewer personal insecurities than heterosexuals and homosexuals. Bisexuals are described in research findings as being self-assured and less likely to have mental instabilities.
• Overall, bisexual men have more sexual activities with women than heterosexual men. I am not surprised by this.
• And studies also say that bisexual women have more orgasms per week — and they described them as stronger — than those of hetero- or homosexual women.
• Sounds like the “B” in LGBTQIA+ is having a pretty good time.
• I suppose we should do the news.
• So, as you’ve seen in your news headlines, things got a little more intense here in the Los Angeles area yesterday as immigration protestors clashed with law enforcement for the third straight day.
• The protest actions happened in a focused zone on the streets of downtown LA and on the nearby 101 freeway, which was shut down for a time.
• There’s a lot to unravel here — frankly, too much for a short synopsis to relate with nuance. I guess we’ll break in down in small chunks.
• Did the crowd remain peaceful? No, but not horribly so. They did plenty of stuff to cause the protest to be ruled an unlawful assembly by the mid-afternoon, and then all of our local law enforcement — from LAPD to LASD to CHP — started corralling and detaining people.
• There were plenty of projectiles thrown and some cars burned. It’s problematic, because those actions will likely be used by Dump and his ilk as alleged justification for the next steps they have planned.
• The National Guard troops deployed by Dump to the area near the federal building downtown have not been involved in the police actions so far.
• An important moment happened in the early evening, when Governor Gavin Newsom officially requested that the U.S. Department of Defense rescind Dump’s order to federalize California’s National Guard.
• Is it legal for the federal government to override the states in this situation? Only if the USA is under attack by a different country.
• The last time the president too command a state’s National Guard against the objections of its governor? 
• That was in 1965, when Lyndon B. Johnson deployed the Alabama National Guard to protect participants in the Selma to Montgomery march, a pivotal event in the Civil Rights Movement.
• This is obviously a far, far different situation.
• I’m going to quote Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) to back me up here…
“This is not a fucking insurrection and we don't need the military to be mobilized to as if there is a foreign army marching into an American city. Nobody should pretend they can't tell the difference between a volatile situation regularly and an invasion. There is literally no reason to have active duty Marines respond to a street protest. Whether or not this takes a terrible turn depends partly on the conduct and the discipline of law enforcement, of community members being peaceful, of media members speaking truth to power, and all of us agreeing that the use of the military for this purpose is the stuff of dictatorships across the planet and throughout history.”
• Preach, good sir.
• Last night, California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis says a lawsuit by the state over Dump’s deployment of the National Guard is likely.
• “I believe that we are likely going to see a lawsuit tomorrow recognizing that he did not have the authority to call in the National Guard for 400 people protesting in a way that local law enforcement could clearly handle,” she said.
• I agree.
• Gov. Gavin Newsom confirmed this later, saying the lawsuit will challenge Dump’s federalizing of the California National Guard without the state’s consent, a move with little precedent in U.S. history.
• And when asked about border czar Tom Homan’s threat to arrest Newsom or Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, he said, “Come after me, arrest me. Let’s just get it over with, tough guy, you know? I don’t give a damn. But I care about my community. I care about this community. The hell are they doing? These guys need to grow up. They need to stop and we need to push back. And I’m sorry to be so clear, but that kind of bloviating is exhausting. So, Tom, arrest me. Let’s go.”
• Good. We need people to punch back.
• But one way or the other, the rest of the country — and the world for that matter — have their eyes on us here in LA.
• What transpires here as this situation unwinds is likely indicative of the next steps that will be taken in other cities across the land.
• As of late last night, 500 US Marines were now on “prepared to deploy” status ahead of what would be a stunning and constitutionally dubious escalation if they were to show up in Los Angeles.
• You tell me how an active duty Marine is supposed to tell who to shoot? Are all people in Los Angeles with brown skin “illegal?”
• Over a third of our population — the majority of whom being born and raised here — are of Hispanic lineage.
• Again, I ask: who do you want the Marines to shoot?
• Dumpy is encouraging it either way. He posted this morning, “Looking really bad in L.A. BRING IN THE TROOPS!!!”
• In coming days, we’ll discuss the legal concepts of using the US military against its own citizens and residents. That will include concepts like the Insurrection Act and the Posse Comitatus Act and much more.
• And yes, also we’ll talk about protests versus riots, about non-lethal weapon use by law enforcement, and all the stuff that I wish I didn’t know so much about but have become very familiar over many years involved in activism.
• For the moment, we’ll move on. And yes, as you likely know, it’s still a situation in flux. I’ll keep on telling you things that happen, That’s what I do.
• I have some good news that sounds like bad news.
• Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss declined to block Dump’s removal of three board members of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), ruling the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate a strong likelihood the firings were unlawful, or that they would suffer irreparable harm.
• But CPB officials celebrated the ruling as a win, pointing to part of the ruling that acknowledges that “Congress intended to preclude the President (or any subordinate officials acting at his direction) from directing, supervising, or controlling the Corporation.”
• Boom. Following the ruling, CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison signed a document affirming that the three members — Laura Ross, Diane Kaplan and Thomas Rothman — remain on the board. 
• Ha ha, fuckers.
• The people who founded the CPB were smart, and anticipated asshole like Dumpy when it was created by Congress in 1967, with safeguards designed to be protected from political interference.
• And yes, it is the largest single source of funding for public news outlets, including PBS and NPR.
• Moving on.
• While the White House is denying it, I’d say that Elmo’s acrimonious departure means that DOGE is toast.
• This was something happening long before Dumpy and Elon had their big public spat, the both mean girls calling each other nasty names.
• As Musk departed DOGE, some of his top lieutenants were already streaming out of government. Among those heading for the exits even before the big fight were longtime aide Steve Davis, their general counsel James Burnham, and adviser Katie Miller.
• Little gossipy side note: Katie Miller is the wife of Nosferatu-looking motherfucker and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. Katie Miller is now working for Musk instead of Dump, and perhaps doing other things for Musk as well.
• Meanwhile, cabinet officials who had clashed with Musk are moving to rehire workers who had been pushed out by DOGE.
• Long story short: even if they are indeed bringing in White House budget director Russell Vought to take Musk’s former role, he has neither the support base nor the charisma to make DOGE even as effective as it was under Musk… which wasn’t effective at all.
• Let’s move on.
• Some good news out of Texas.
• Progressive Gina Ortiz Jones, a former Biden administration official, has won a runoff election in San Antonio’s mayoral race, fending off a Republican opponent that the GOP hoped could pull off an upset.
• She defeated former Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos in an officially nonpartisan election that still in practice played out as a partisan election as Jones is a registered Democrat and Pablos is a registered Republican.
• Jones becomes San Antonio’s third female mayor as well as the city’s first openly lesbian mayor.
• Let’s go over to the International Desk for a bizarre story.
• Israeli naval forces boarded and seized a charity vessel carrying Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, which had tried to break the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip today.
• The British-flagged yacht, Madleen had aimed to deliver a symbolic amount of aid to Gaza later today and raise international awareness of the humanitarian crisis there.
• "If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by Israeli occupational forces or forces that support Israel," Thunberg, 22, said in a video before the vessel was captured.
• She added, “I urge all my friends, family and comrades to put pressure on the Swedish government to release me and the others as soon as possible."
• Fucking hell.
• If you need a reminder: on October 7, 2023, Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 hostages, more than half of whom have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
• But in response, Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, with women and children making up most of the dead.
• The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of the territory’s population, leaving people there almost completely dependent on international aid.
• We’ll keep an eye on how things go for Greta.
• A breaking news note from the Business Desk.
• Warner Bros. Discovery will split its cable operations from its streaming service, creating two independent companies.
• HBO and HBO Max, as well as Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, DC Studios, will become part of the streaming and studios company, Warner Bros. said this morning.
• The cable company will include CNN, TNT Sports in the U.S., and Discovery, top free-to-air channels across Europe, and digital products such as the Discovery+ streaming service and Bleacher Report.
• Okay then.
• You may recall that Warner Bros. Discovery was created just three years ago, when AT&T spun off WarnerMedia and it was merged with Discovery Communications in a $43 billion deal.
• What this is all about… the cable industry has been under assault for years from streaming services like Disney, Netflix, Amazon, and Warner Bros. own HBO Max.
• Now they’re all figuring out how to make money in this weird new world.
• And now, The Weather: “CPR” by Wet Leg
• Let’s do a chart. This one is courtesy of Kat Claxton, who requested one from 42 years ago in June 1983.
• Me? I’m wrapping up my freshman year of high school. MTV is a big thing. And I’m so familiar with the list below that not only can I name a song (or two or three) off each album listed; I can actually perform them musically without any reference to lyrics or music.
• Here’s the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart at the time.
• 1. Flashdance (Soundtrack). 2. Thriller (Michael Jackson). 3. Pyromania (Def Leppard). 4. Let's Dance (David Bowie). 5. Cargo (Men At Work). 6. Frontiers (Journey). 7. H2O (Daryl Hall & John Oates). 8. Cuts Like A Knife (Bryan Adams). 9. Kilroy Was Here (Styx). 10. 1999 (Prince). 11. Lionel Richie (Lionel Richie). 12. Living In Oz (Rick Springfield). 13. The Golden Age Of Wireless (Thomas Dolby). 14. Kissing To Be Clever (Culture Club). 15. Killer On The Rampage (Eddy Grant). 16. Eliminator (ZZ Top). 17. War (U2). 18. Jarreau (Jarreau). 19. Outside/Inside (The Tubes). 20. Business As Usual (Men At Work). 
• From the Sports Desk… Game 2 of the NBA Finals had the Thunder beating the Pacers 123-107, tying the series at a game apiece.
• Game 3 is Wednesday in Indiana.
• In the NHL, the Oilers and Panthers meet tonight for the Stanley Cup finals game 3. The series is currently tied 1-1.
• In more Sports Desk news, congrats to defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, who won his second-straight French Open men's title after a thrilling five-set match against Jannik Sinner yesterday.
• Sinner won the first two sets 6-4, 7-6 before Alcaraz claimed the third set 6-4. He was trailing in the fourth set before rallying past his rival, winning a tiebreaker 7-6 and another fifth set 7-6 tiebreaker. Crazy.
• Today in history… Roman emperor Nero marries Claudia Octavia (53). Nero dies by suicide after quoting Vergil's ‘Aeneid' (68). Jacques Cartier is the first European to describe and map the Saint Lawrence River (1534). James Oglethorpe is granted a royal charter for the colony of the future U.S. state of Georgia (1732). Five hundred Mormons leave Iowa City, Iowa for the Mormon Trail (1856). Bulgaria's military takes over the government in a coup (1923). Ninety-nine civilians are hanged from lampposts and balconies during WWII by German troops in Tulle, France (1944). Joseph N. Welch, special counsel for the United States Army, lashes out at Senator Joseph McCarthy, saying, "You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?” (1954). U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a national day of mourning following the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy (1968). Secretariat wins the U.S. Triple Crown (1973). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opens its priesthood to "all worthy men", ending a 148-year-old policy of excluding black men (1978).
• June 9 is the birthday of Russian emperor Peter the Great (1672), engineer/businessman Samuel Slater (1768), physician/politician Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (1836), songwriter/composer Cole Porter (1891), guitarist/songwriter Les Paul (1915), film director George Axelrod (1922), businessman/philanthropist Herman Sarkowsky (1925), comedian Jackie Mason (1931), singer-songwriter Jackie Wilson (1934), basketball coach/broadcaster Dick Vitale (1939), keyboard player Jon Lord (1941), businessman Charles Saatchi (1943), bass player Trevor Bolder (1950), composer James Newton Howard (1951), actor Michael J. Fox (1961), screenwriter/producer Aaron Sorkin (1961), actor Johnny Depp (1963), NFL player Tedy Bruschi (1973), NBA player Peja Stojaković (1977), soccer player Heather Mitts (1978), NBA player Udonis Haslem (1980), actress Natalie Portman (1981), and actress Mae Whitman (1988).

I guess that’s enough news for now. Besides, if I don’t hit the “post” button soon, a bunch of shit might change and make all this less newsworthy. Keep an eye on us here in LA, and do NOT forget to plan for this coming Saturday, June 14, for “No Kings” day of national defiance. It’s more important now than ever. Enjoy your day.