“Turkish police on Sunday detained at least 50 people, including a journalist, during a Gay Pride event in Istanbul that went ahead despite a ban by local authorities and the lockdown of the city’s main gathering point, organisers said. Police stepped up security around Istanbul’s iconic Taksim Square, erecting iron barriers, while local officials banned demonstrations in key rallying areas, including the Asian-side district of Kadikoy. The governor’s office also restricted subway transport in several central locations. … LGBT+ protesters, who gathered in several neighbourhoods across the city, vowed to continue their demonstrations.” (06/28/26)
“Everybody loves local control when they run towns and counties and their opponents hold federal or state offices. It works in reverse, too, with presidents and governors denouncing rebellious officials who won’t follow dictates from the state or federal capital. So it is in Virginia, where Democrats who dominate the state government are upset that local prosecutors and police decline to enforce new restrictive gun laws they justifiably view as unconstitutional and dangerous to their constituents’ liberty. … Unsurprisingly, the politicians who pushed for the restrictive new laws that are set to take effect next month are unhappy that so many local officials disdain their legislative efforts.” (06/29/26)
“On this date in 1969, a rebellion began that unfolded over six days, a landmark in the battle for human freedom and personal autonomy & authenticity. In the wee hours of June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Inn, a Mafia-owned gay bar in the heart of New York City’s Greenwich Village, was raided by police for the umpteenth time. One might say that the mob had a keen business sense in catering to a marginalized population, while paying off the police to turn a blind eye. But on this night, the illegal collusions didn’t seem to matter. The patrons had had enough with routine police brutality. And they fought back.” (06/28/26)
“New York farmers can start submitting applications for up to $25,000 in relief from the state as part of a $30 million aid effort aimed at easing the hit to farmers from Republican U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul said on Monday. Over the last year, Trump has imposed an array of tariffs, including a global 10% tariff and retaliatory tariffs on China, which led Beijing to levy its own tariffs on U.S. soybean exports. … The program, which will be funded by a $30 million allocation in the state budget, will grant direct payments starting at $1,000 to eligible agricultural producers, including dairy farmers and those working with livestock, specialty crops and aquaculture.” (06/29/26)
“For much of the eighty years following the end of the Second World War, there existed a healthy, sometimes fierce competition among Democrats regarding the US and its role in the world: On one side, there were what I call the Rooseveltians; on the other side, the Achesonians. The competition between the two camps shaped US foreign policy throughout the Cold War. It was only with the arrival of the post-Cold War era that the competition dried up—and turned into a rout in which the Achesonians triumphed. The dueling camps take their names from, of course, President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) and Secretary of State Dean Acheson (1893–1971).” (06/28/26)
“This! Dearest motherfuckers! Is the Pride Industrial Complex! A network of once-benevolent LGBTQ+ organizations, operated by rich old white lesbians, spending most of their time and millions of your donation dollars on throwing parades just so they can raise enough money to throw more goddamn parades, all of which serve little other purpose than to offer diabolical corporations and two-timing politicians’ platforms to celebrate themselves celebrating diversity while they murder entire populations behind the rainbow flag. What more can I say without literally smashing things? Big money does hideous things to beautiful people and beautiful things for hideous operations.” (06/28/26)
“After becoming the first in the world to implement a social media ban for those under 16, Australia isn’t doubling down. In a press release, the Australian government announced that it will double the maximum penalty for any social media companies breaking its minimum age law, from 49.5 million to 99 million AUD, or more than $68 million. … Along with the new penalty threshold, the Australian government is granting its eSafety [sic] Commissioner, Julie Grant, more enforcement power. Now, the commissioner can demand social media companies provide evidence of how they’re stopping children under 16 years old from starting an account. Notably, the Australian agency can gather evidence regarding compliance with the ban from third parties, like from age verification or app store providers, according to the press release.” (06/28/26)
