“The private burial of former President Edgar Lungu in South Africa was halted on Wednesday after the Zambian government succeeded in getting a last-minute court order on the day of the funeral to stop proceedings. Members of Lungu’s family were forced to delay their appearance at a burial service and instead attend a courtroom hearing in the South African capital dressed in black funeral attire to hear the case. The Pretoria High Court ruled that both parties had agreed after consultations that Lungu would not be buried until the case over where his funeral would be held was decided. The judge set an August 4 date for another hearing. The legal challenge by the Zambian government against Lungu’s burial in South Africa was the latest development in a nearly month-long dispute with Lungu’s family over the details of his funeral and final resting place.” (06/25/25)
“So now that Iran’s dream of nuclear weapons has been buried under the mountains (the result of the Trump administration’s Midnight Hammer and massive, 30,000-pound Bunker Buster bombs dropped by U.S warplanes over the last weekend) do you breathe a sigh of relief? Are you pleased that the decrepit old Supreme Leader of Iran doesn’t have his coveted nuclear weapons? Or are you of the bitter ones unable to ignore the demons of your Trump Derangement Syndrome as the latent Democrat inside you licks at your soul? Is that the same internal demon that hushed the Democrats when Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden dropped bombs on the Middle East without seeking Congressional approval?” [editor’s note: I wish that the decrepit old Supreme Leader of MAGA didn’t have his coveted nuclear weapons either! – TLK] (06/25/25)
“RIP, Marge Simpson. Well, sort of. ‘The Simpsons’ Season 36 finale revealed that the Simpson family matriarch died in a flash-forward scene. The episode, titled ‘Estranger Things,’ focuses on the sibling bond between Bart and Lisa, who grow apart after they stop watching the kids’ show ‘The Itchy & Scratchy Show.’ Marge is fearful that her kids will become estranged — which turns out to be a reality 35 years later after Marge has died. In the future, Lisa is the commissioner of the NBA and is paying for her widowed father Homer to live in a retirement home that Bart is running unlicensed. There’s a brief scene from Marge’s funeral where Homer is standing in tears over his wife’s grave while surrounded by family.” (06/25/25)
“A unanimous Wisconsin Supreme Court handed a victory to the Republican-controlled Legislature on Wednesday in a power struggle with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, reining in the governor’s expansive veto powers. The court, in a ruling where the four liberal justices joined with three conservatives, struck down Evers’ partial veto of a Republican bill in a case that tested both the limits of his veto powers and the Legislature’s ability to exert influence by controlling funding. The court also ruled that the Legislature can put money for certain state programs into an emergency fund under the control of its budget committee. Evers had argued such a move was unconstitutional. The ruling will likely result in the Legislature crafting the budget and other spending bills in similar ways to get around Evers'[s] partial vetoes and to have even greater control over spending.” (06/25/25)
“Hours after federal agents arrested New York City Comptroller Brad Lander for attempting to escort a defendant out of immigration court, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York held a hearing across the street to consider extending a temporary restraining order to delay the ‘phased pause’ of Job Corps centers nationwide. Judge Andrew L. Carter Jr., who granted the initial temporary restraining order on June 4, extended the order through today, June 25, preventing the Labor Department from taking steps to kill a program that has ‘help[ed] young adults build a pathway to a better life’ for 60 years. That quote, came from the current Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who initiated the dismantling of the Job Corps.” (06/25/25)
“Outspoken progressive Rep. Jasmine Crockett [D-TX] dropped her bid Tuesday to become the top Democrat on the powerful House Oversight Committee after it became clear she lacked the votes. ‘It was clear by the numbers that my style of leadership is not exactly what they were looking for, and so I didn’t think that it was fair for me to then push forward and try to rebuke that,’ the lefty pol told reporters. Democrats later anointed Rep. Robert Garcia [D-CA] to become their ranking member on the Oversight panel, replacing late Rep. Gerry Connolly [D-VA] who died last month. Crockett, who has a penchant for going viral during committee hearings with her incendiary rhetoric, had touted her ability to go on the offense during the internal party battle to succeed Connolly.” [editor’s note: Another bullet dodged – SAT] [additional editor’s note: Top minority member on a US House committee is hardly a “bullet;” maybe a foam dart – TLK] (06/24/25)
“California Senator Alex Padilla recently crashed [sic] a press conference by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. He deliberately wore no identification. He gave no advance warning that he would disrupt her briefing. Instead, Padilla barged forward to the podium, shouting about the deportation of illegal aliens. Immediately, Padilla got his media moment wish — once Secret Service agents, who had no idea who Padilla was, forcibly removed him. Sen. Cory Booker [D-NJ] recently attempted a pseudo-filibuster, speaking nonstop for 25 hours straight — not to delay legislation, but to fixate on President Donald Trump. South Carolina Democratic state Representative Julie von Haefen just posted on social media an image of a bloody guillotine. It bore the title ‘In these difficult times, some cuts may be necessary’ and was juxtaposed with an image of a hanging, beheaded Trump, who, a year ago, was the target of two failed assassination attempts.” (06/24/25)
“‘Another appalling attack’ on a hospital in Sudan has seen more than 40 people killed, many of them children and medics, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has said. ‘We cannot say this louder,’ wrote Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on X on Tuesday, ‘attacks on health must stop everywhere!’ Al-Mujlad Hospital was struck on Saturday, and is located in West Kordofan state, close to one of the frontlines where Sudan’s warring parties are fighting in the conflict that is now in its third year. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) blames its opponents the Sudanese army for attacking the hospital, as do two prominent civil society groups, but the army itself has yet to comment on the allegation. Since Sudan’s civil war began in April 2023, the scale of suffering is so vast that the UN has labelled it the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.” (06/24/25)
“A new kind of political dialogue opened among the Iranian people during the bombing by Israel and the United States. Social media posts and interviews by journalists indicate that some Iranians welcomed the attacks on security sites of the highly unpopular regime. Others felt a nationalist resentment toward any foreign intervention or a war that might usurp the pro-democracy movement. Many who were struggling to survive simply did not want to speak out at all. Thousands fled the country. Yet some see an opening, even a necessity, for individuals to plan for a transition from an Islamic Republic that was faltering long before the bombing and before the regime’s disastrous support of Hamas’[s] 2023 attack on Israel.” (06/23/25)
“Sometime in the late 1980s, I was talking with a friend on my landline (the only kind of telephone we had then). We were discussing logistics for an upcoming demonstration against the Reagan administration’s support for the Contras fighting the elected government of Nicaragua. We agreed that, when our call was done, I’d call another friend, ‘Mary,’ to update her on the plans. I hung up. But before I could make the call, my phone rang. ‘Hi, this is Mary,’ my friend said. ‘Mary! I was just about to call you.’ ‘But you did call me,’ she said. ‘No, I didn’t. My phone just rang, and you were on the other end.’ It was pretty creepy, but that was how surveillance worked in the days of wired telephone systems.” (06/24/25)
