CA: ICE fears shut down July Fourth events in multiple cities

Source: SFGate

“Several Southern California cities have discontinued plans for various July Fourth events, citing safety concerns and immigration enforcement in public posts announcing the cancellations. The suburban Los Angeles cities, each overwhelmingly Latino in population, have scuttled planned movie screenings and Independence Day celebrations as fears of ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids continue to ripple through the state. In Cudahy, southeast of downtown Los Angeles, officials ‘decided to postpone’ a planned July 3 Independence Day party, ‘due to recent events and concerns regarding the safety of our residents.’ While parks remain open for use, there has been no announcement of a possible rescheduling for the event, which was supposed to run from 3 to 10:30 p.m. and include fireworks. Like many Southeast LA cities, Cudahy (population nearly 22,000) is a deeply Latino community, with nearly 98% of the city’s residents identifying as Hispanic or Latino according to 2024 census data.” (06/30/25)

https://www.sfgate.com/la/article/ice-raid-california-fear-july-4-cancellation-20397692.php

Trump Tax Cut Magic Wand Kicks Off Vote-a-Rama

Source: The American Prospect
by David Dayen

“All Senate Republicans voted early Monday to pretend that the $3.76 trillion extension of the Trump tax cuts doesn’t cost anything. The vote was perfectly along party lines, with all Democrats voting no. The ‘current policy baseline’ gimmick was not just a rhetorical maneuver so Republicans could claim that a bill that will cost $3.3 trillion over the next decade (not including new interest on the debt) actually saves money. It was fundamental to allowing Republicans to pass the bill under the budget reconciliation rules. … if the Senate used the baseline of current law it has used most commonly (meaning that an extension of a tax cut or spending item actually costs money relative to what the law previously said), then the Senate bill would increase the deficit by more than what the budget resolution accounted for, and that deficits would also increase outside of the ten-year budget window.” (06/30/25)

https://prospect.org/politics/2025-06-30-big-beautiful-bill-tax-cuts-senate/

Trump scores historic win as SCOTUS reins in lower courts’ overreach

Source: Fox News Forum
by John Yoo

“In Trump v. Casa, the United States Supreme Court finally put an end to the universal injunctions that trial judges had invented to block presidents from pushing their agendas nationwide. These orders, which courts applied with special vigor against President Donald Trump, ‘exceed the equitable authority that Congress has granted to federal courts,’ the 6-3 majority declared. Even though Casa resolved a question of technical legal procedure, it struck a balance between the Executive and Judicial branches of government that bore greater constitutional importance.” (06/28/25)

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/john-yoo-trump-scores-historic-win-supreme-court-reins-lower-courts-overreach

Uh-Oh! Political Antisemitism Smears Have Stopped Working!

Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone

“Israel supporters everywhere have been in full blown crisis mode for days because, apparently, antisemitism smears have stopped working. Zohran Mamdani has won the Democratic Party primary in the New York City mayoral race after a frenetic smear campaign to portray him as an antisemite for his pro-Palestinian views, and now all the world’s worst people are freaking out about it. I’m seeing some intensely rabid Islamophobia throughout public discourse in response to Mamdani’s win, the likes of which I haven’t seen since 9/11. All this hatred we’re now seeing directed toward Muslims is going to look pretty weird after the imperial crosshairs shift to Beijing and all these same people start acting super duper concerned about the plight of Muslims in Xinjiang.” (06/29/25)

https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/06/29/uh-oh-political-antisemitism-smears-have-stopped-working/

Zohran Mamdani’s rise should teach NYC’s non-radicals to invest in the long game

Source: New York Post
by staff

“Now that tossing $25 million into last-minute spending to promote Andrew Cuomo failed utterly to stop pro-Intifada, anti-cop socialist Zohran Mamdani from winning the Democratic mayoral primary, perhaps New York business leaders will finally realize that political ‘investment’ requires an eye on the long game, and fostering an entire infrastructure that can produce credible centrists candidates. ‘Crying over Mamdani is, as they say, a bit rich when it comes from the rich,’ snarked The Post’s Charles Gasparino, since the ‘city’s business class sat idly by’ as the local left grew ever more powerful. New York magazine’s Errol Louis was even more on-point: ‘The same people dumping millions into last-minute attack ads should have been investing time and money to recruit, educate, and encourage young leaders.'” (06/28/25)

https://nypost.com/2025/06/28/opinion/zohran-mamdanis-rise-should-teach-nycs-non-radicals-to-invest-in-the-long-game/

UK: Regime condemns Glastonbury chants aired live on BBC

Source: BBC News [UK State Media]

“The government has ‘strongly condemned’ chants at Glastonbury Festival from rap punk duo Bob Vylan calling for ‘death’ to the Israeli military and broadcast live on the BBC. Rapper Bobby Vylan led chants of ‘free, free Palestine’ and ‘death, death to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]’ during their set, which came just before Belfast rap trio Kneecap. A BBC spokesperson called some of the comments ‘deeply offensive,’ adding it had issued a warning on screen about ‘very strong and discriminatory language.’ The set will not be available to rewatch on BBC iPlayer. Police said they were reviewing videos of comments made by Bob Vylan and Kneecap to decide whether any offences had been committed. The festival said in a statement: ‘Glastonbury Festival does not condone hate speech or incitement to violence of any kind from its performers.'” (06/28/25)

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c33514nryy1o

Mamdani Won the Primary; Now What?

Source: Common Dreams
by Ralph Nader

“Usually, such a great primary win in overwhelmingly Democratic New York City guarantees a smooth path to a November win against a Republican opponent. Not this time. No sooner than Wednesday, a clutch of wealthy Wall Streeters, real estate giants, and supporters of the genocidal Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were meeting to plan the strategy to defeat this 33-year-old three-term state assemblyman in the November general election. 2. Mamdani won with one repeated pledge: ‘affordability’ to live in the nation’s largest city. That meant freezing rent on 1 million rent-stabilized apartments, free bus fares, free, universal childcare, ‘city-owned grocery stores,’ and a higher minimum wage, higher taxes on the super-rich and higher corporate taxes.” (06/28/25)

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/mamdani-won-what-s-next

UK: Starmer says fixing welfare is “a moral imperative”

Source: BBC News [UK State Media]

“Sir Keir Starmer has said the UK’s benefits system is broken and fixing it is a ‘moral imperative’, a day after a backbench Labour revolt saw him forced into a U-turn on welfare cuts. The prime minister told the Welsh Labour Party conference in Llandudno that the government would not take away the welfare ‘safety net that vulnerable people rely on’. But he said he could not let benefits ‘become a snare for those who can and want to work.’ Despite the government’s concession on its plans to reform welfare, some Labour MPs want further changes, while the Unite union has called for the proposal to be dropped altogether ahead of a vote on Tuesday.” (06/28/25)

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20wxq3q1x3o

One Year Ago, Media Lies About Biden Blew Up On Live National Television

Source: The Federalist
by Eddie Scarry

“June 27 really needs to be a national holiday wherein we collectively observe the bottomless depravity of the dying news media. We could call it something like ‘Biden Debate Day.’ The date is significant because it was the start of a 131-day journey that showed just how far the media were willing to go to steal an election. June 27 was the presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, or as I like to recall it, ‘The day the media knew Biden had to go.’ Up until then — it was the one and only time voters got to directly compare Trump and Biden side by side in 2024 — the media were fully prepared to do everything they could to drag Biden across the finish line. That meant a lot of lying about how decrepit Biden was both physically and mentally.” (06/27/25)

https://thefederalist.com/2025/06/27/one-year-ago-media-lies-about-biden-blew-up-on-live-national-television/

Hungary: Around 100,000 march in Budapest Pride in open defiance of ban

Source: SFGate

“Around 100,000 people defied a government ban and police orders Saturday to march in what organizers called the largest LGBTQ+ Pride event in Hungary’s history in an open rebuke of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government. Marchers gambled with potential police intervention and heavy fines to participate in the 30th annual Budapest Pride, which was outlawed in March by Orbán’s right-wing populist governing party. The march began at Budapest City Hall and wound through the city center before crossing the capital’s Erzsébet Bridge over the Danube River. Police diverted the crowd from its planned route to keep it separated from a small group of far-right counterprotesters, while members of Hungary’s LGBTQ+ community and masses of supporters danced to music and waved rainbow and anti-government flags. One marcher, Blanka Molnár, said it was ‘a fantastic feeling’ that more people had attended the Pride march than ever before despite it being outlawed.” (06/29/25)

https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/around-100-000-march-in-budapest-pride-in-20398734.php