The Hili dialogue will be truncated today, and posting will be light, for the Heterodox Academy Meeting is going on all day, leaving me little time to write. Bear with me; I do my best. Please excuse any infelicities of writing (or typos) as I’m banging this out fast, like a journalist on deadline.
Welcome to The Cruelest Day: Tuesday, June 24, 2025, and National Pralines Day, celebrating one candy that is almost too sweet for me. But I’ll eat ’em!
Here are some from Wikipedia captioned, “American pralines cooling on a marble slab. Unlike European pralines, American pralines are made with cream.”
It’s also World UFO Day, explained this way:
June 24 marks the anniversary of one of the first UFO sightings in the United States, when Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine high-speed crescent-shaped objects near Mt. Rainier in Washington, in 1947. July 2 marks the anniversary of the Roswell UFO incident, which also happened in 1947.
You can see a copyrighted photo of “Eight objects similar to those reported by Arnold photographed over Tulsa, Oklahoma, July 12, 1947 (from Tulsa Daily World)” at this site. Skeptics believe that Arnold saw either jet planes or a mirage.
Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the June 25 Wikipedia page.
Da Nooz:
A quick scan of the news reveals a few items of interest:
*The U.S.+ Israel apparently arrived at a truce and ceasefire with Iran, but one that was quickly broken (Israel accuses Iran of breaking it).
The fate of a truce announced by President Trump that went into effect early Tuesday hung in the balance, as the Israeli military said Iran had fired another missile barrage and vowed to retaliate.
The claim from Israel’s military came just hours after the country had joined Iran in agreeing to the truce, spurring cautious hopes for an end to 12 days of unprecedented warfare between the adversaries, and as both sides seemingly claimed victory in the conflict. Iran’s military denied firing missiles after the cease-fire went into effect, according to Iranian state news outlets — adding to the uncertainty.
Mr. Trump’s announcement, on the eve of the NATO summit, could give the president a chance to take a victory lap at the gathering — if the truce holds. The timing of it had caught some of his own officials by surprise, and both sides continued to trade fire in the last moments before confirming a truce was in effect.
The Israeli military said it had struck missile launchers in western Iran that were poised to fire at Israel. Iran launched at least four barrages of ballistic missiles at Israel, setting off sirens that sent millions of Israelis rushing in and out of shelters. At least four people were killed when a missile hit an apartment building in the southern city of Beersheba.
But by around 7.30 a.m. in Israel, a tentative calm appeared to have taken hold as the military issued an all-clear, allowing people to exit bomb shelters. Soon after, President Trump announced the truce was in force. “PLEASE DO NOT VIOLATE IT!” he added.
There was initially silence from the Israeli government, which has in the past often waited in the first, delicate hours to see whether quiet is being answered with quiet before declaring conflicts over. Just after 9 a.m. local time, Israel’s government issued a statement saying it had agreed to a mutual cease-fire, having achieved its goals in its campaign in Iran, “and in full coordination with President Trump.” Iran, similarly, cast the truce as a sign its military had prevailed.
But underscoring the fragility of the situation, more sirens wailed in northern Israel nearly two hours later, warning of missiles launched from Iran. The Israeli military accused Iran of breaking the cease-fire — saying in a statement that it would “respond with force.”
This kind of back and forth will, I predict, keep happening in the next few weeks as these countries sort out how they are supposed to act in the face of world opinion (which favors a truce). And Trump is mad at both sides:
President Trump lashed out at Israel and Iran on Tuesday over concerns that both sides had violated an hours-old cease-fire, intensifying the uncertainty over the fragile deal that he had helped broker to end the deadly conflict.
In expletive-laced remarks to reporters, Mr. Trump accused both sides of launching attacks, pledging to “see if I can stop it.” In a Truth Social post, the president warned Israel not to “drop those bombs” and demanded the country “bring your pilots home now.”
*The Free Press claims “The Democrats go AWOL on Iran,” remaining remarkably silent on the war. Well, I know that the “Squad,” including Ocasio-Cortez and Tlaib, have spoken out in opposition, so let’s see what the FP says:
By last weekend, Israel’s Operation Rising Lion had already changed the Middle East profoundly. And America’s oldest political party was AWOL. Normally, Democrats would stake out a position on such a consequential issue. Instead, in the lead-up to Operation Midnight Hammer, they were more interested in ICE raids and performative civil disobedience than in the future of nonproliferation. They had plenty to say about Medicaid work requirements and Juneteenth celebrations. On Iran? Silence.
Naturally, press coverage dwelled on supposed rifts within the MAGA coalition, not only because prominent Trump supporters opposed American involvement, but because Democrats had rendered themselves irrelevant. Hence an anti-war Democrat, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, received notice only when she agreed with anti-war Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
. . . As the GOP consolidated, the Democrats went from bystanders to hecklers. They called for votes on congressional war powers. They fumed, threatened, and demanded consequences—not against Iran, but against President Trump. The Democrats became louder, for sure. But no more effective.
The Iran crisis doesn’t just reveal the Democrats’ irrelevance. It exposes a fundamental unseriousness that makes their other problems worse. The DNC is a mess. Their party has no leader. It’s deeply unpopular and on the wrong side of illegal immigration, trans activism, and the Green New Deal.
Just when the Democrats need to return to the center, they’re in danger of being captured by antisemitic socialists. Ilhan Omar calls her adopted land one of the worst countries in the world. AOC greets pro-Hamas activist Mahmoud Khalil upon his release from ICE detention. Thirty-three-year-old Zohran Mamdani, who wants the government to run grocery stores, surges ahead in the New York City mayoral primary.
The Democrats have had plenty of time to prepare for this moment. For over 20 years, four presidents of both parties declared they wouldn’t allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons. America tried diplomacy, negotiations, and sanctions. The centrifuges kept spinning.
. . .Jeffries and Schumer may not be for impeachment—yet. But they stand closer to Ocasio-Cortez than to the few Democrats who dared applaud Trump’s command. No surprise that Pennsylvania senator John Fetterman was the most adulatory in his praise. Reps. Ritchie Torres and Josh Gottheimer offered more measured support. And Rep. Steny Hoyer, who once held Jeffries’ job, wrote that Operation Midnight Hammer was “in keeping with our stated position against Iran’s nuclear ambitions.”
These exceptions only prove the rule, however. Single-mindedly devoted to diplomacy and paper treaties, obsessed with Donald Trump, and fearful of crossing a radicalized base, Democrats have cut themselves out of serious foreign-policy discourse at a historic hinge point. By attacking Trump for doing what they once promised, Democrats have marginalized themselves precisely when their voices might matter most.
*I have been struck by the Democrats’ lack of statements about foreign policy (are we supposed to start negotiating with Iran again?) and especially with the lack of leadership of our party. The NYT had an op-ed yesterday by Galen Druke called “Why Democrats need their own Trump,” calling for Democrats to adopt these Trumplike tactics:
Running against your own party from both the left and the right, and more broadly against both parties, allows you to frustrate voters’ perceptions of you. For Mr. Trump, this approach had the long-term effect of not just giving him distance from an unpopular Republican Party. Over time, perceptions of the G.O.P. shifted and allowed the party to win over voters that even 2013-era immigration-reform-supporting Sean Hannity could never have imagined.
In theory, this could work for a Democrat. Democratic primary voters have shown more deference to the party establishment over the past decade, but patience may be wearing thin. In 2024, the party stood by a deeply unpopular president despite clear signs that Democratic voters did not think he was suited to another term. Now only about two-thirds of self-described Democrats have a favorable view of their party.
Likewise, Democrats will need to appeal to voters in states currently written off by the party if they hope to actually legislate while in power. Redefining what it means to be a Democrat will give those voters a chance to reconsider how they vote.
. . . The point is that any ambitious Democrats positioning themselves for 2028 shouldn’t think about picking between moderate and progressive lanes. They should pick both. They should also feel comfortable attacking the Democratic Party for its recent failures.
What’s especially striking about about this op-ed is that Druke doesn’t name one likely Democratic candidate—someone who could fulfill this mission. Why not? Was his a purely theoretical exercise, or do we simply lack candidates who can do this? I’m guessing the latter, and we need credible candidates who can face off in 2028 with the likely candidate Vance. Who can it be? For sure not AOC or any progressive; America rejected that viewpoint when Harris moved farther left in 2024 (she was also incoherent on many issues). Mayor Pete? Not well enough known, and he’s keeping a low profile. Don’t ask me; I’m not a pundit.
Meanwhile, the WaPo weighs in with Karen Tumulty’s op-ed, “There’s turmoil at the DNC—which isn’t a bad thing.” She offers some good news, but no candidate:
None of the intramural turbulence at the DNC should overshadow the fact that there is plenty of promising news these days for Democrats. The party has been consistently overperforming in special elections this year. In April, it delivered a double-digit victory in Wisconsin’s state Supreme Court election, in which billionaire Elon Musk had spent $25 million on the other side, making it a referendum on Trump’s agenda.
And then there was the massive turnout this month at the rallies in more than 2,000 cities that were dubbed the “No Kings Nationwide Day of Defiance.” It was unmistakable evidence of how much energy there is to be tapped by Democrats as they prepare for the midterm elections.
None of which, however, is a sure sign that the Democrats have found their footing. The harder job of resurrecting the party must be done by its congressional leadership, which has not been sounding a clear and certain message. And, moving forward, its direction will be set by the presidential candidates who begin to step forward in the midterm elections and in the days after.
Who are the candidates? Can you name some potentially good ones? I can’t.
*More bad news from the WSJ for progressive leftists: “Supreme Court allows Trump administration to swiftly deport migrants to third countries.” As expected, the vote was 6-3:
The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for the Trump administration to swiftly deport certain migrants to countries they aren’t from.
The court’s conservative majority stayed a lower-court order that said individuals set to be deported to third countries must be given meaningful notice of their intended destination, allowing them time to raise objections.
The Trump administration, which asked the Supreme Court to intervene, argued a trial judge had improperly interfered with the president’s authority over foreign affairs.
As is typical in emergency orders from the high court, the majority didn’t explain its reasoning. The court’s three liberals dissented and accused the majority of ignoring due-process requirements for migrants who may be sent to unfamiliar countries.
“Apparently, the Court finds the idea that thousands will suffer violence in far-flung locales more palatable than the remote possibility that a District Court exceeded its remedial powers when it ordered the Government to provide notice and process to which the plaintiffs are constitutionally and statutorily entitled,” wrote Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
The case involved a class of migrants who were facing final orders that allowed them to be removed from the U.S. The Supreme Court’s order doesn’t resolve questions about the Trump administration’s legal obligations to the migrants, which continues to be litigated in the lower courts. But practically speaking, it could have an immediate impact, with the administration signaling it plans to move quickly.
This does not allow proper time for adjudication of migrants’ claims by immigration courts. I can only imagine what someone feels about to be deported a country that they didn’t come from. What do you do? Where do yu go? The Trump administration has shown a notable lack of empathy about these issues; they merely want to get rid of immigrants, and it doesn’t much matter where they go.
A federal judge on Friday indefinitely blocked the Trump administration from revoking Harvard University’s ability to host international students and scholars while legal challenges continue.
The preliminary injunction issued by US District Judge Allison Burroughs extends a temporary block the judge had issued last month against the administration after it revoked the school’s certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which allows it to host foreign students and scholars. International students make up roughly a quarter of the school’s student body.
Harvard’s legal battle against the administration took a turn in recent weeks after President Donald Trump issued a proclamation that suspends international visas for new students. The judge similarly stepped in on an emergency basis to halt that order in early June, and she heard arguments on Monday over whether she should also indefinitely block the edict. She has not yet issued a ruling on Trump’s proclamation.
Friday’s ruling represents a key win for the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university, which Trump targeted earlier this year over allegations that it hadn’t adequately addressed antisemitism on campus. Administration officials also demanded that the private school eliminate what it calls “racist ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ practices.”
Again, this is a temporary order, and in the end Trump may prevail. That would be bad, as Harvard—and other schools—need to consider foreign applicants. Some of our finest students, including many who stay in the U.S. to enrich our culture and bolster America’s reputation for excellence, come from outside America. This is part of Trump’s continuing reprisals against Harvard.
Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili and Andrzej were out on a walk when Hili wants to return home:
Hili: Let’s return home.A: Why? It was you who wanted to go out.Hili: Yes, but now I have to check whether somebody has eaten from my bowl.
Hili: Wracamy do domu.
Ja: Dlaczego, przecież to ty chciałaś wyjść?
Hili: Tak, ale teraz muszę sprawdzić, czy ktoś nie wyjadł karmy z mojej miseczki.
*******************
From The Dodo Pet:
From Stacy:
From Things With Faces: A quesadilla that looks like either a pony or a hedgehog.
From Masih. I worried about Israel’s bombing of Evin Prison, where political prisoners are sequestered, tortured, and killed. Wouldn’t the bombs kill the people Israel wanted to release. I can guess only that the strike was targeted, designed to allow prisoners to escape. That apparently failed.
The Islamic Republic’s notorious prison, Evin was bombed by Israel. The regime responded by surrounding the prison with security forces to make sure none of the political prisoners could escape. This is the reality in Iran. At a time of war, political prisoners must be released… pic.twitter.com/xCkBexTZEO
— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) June 23, 2025
From Luana; a tweet relevant to some of the news above:
The Democratic Party is committing suicide. I no longer recognize it. It won’t defend our borders. It won’t protect our cities from crime. And now it appears to oppose efforts to deny nuclear weapons to a murderous death cult. https://t.co/9TXxLMvKrF
— Christina Hoff Sommers (@CHSommers) June 22, 2025
From Michael, two of our favorite animals: cats and capybaras:
Oyen, the cat who was accepted by a herd of capybaras. 🐈
Oyen the capybara cat is believed to have been orphaned as a young kitten, but he’s not without family now. The capybaras happily accepted him, and they’re not the only ones. pic.twitter.com/rxcyLPIvW4
— Wholesome Side of 𝕏 (@itsme_urstruly) June 22, 2025
From Malcolm: Cat (at bottom) introduces her kitten to a friendly d*g:
Cat introduces her kitten to her dog friend.. 😊 pic.twitter.com/t2GRrItiRB
— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) May 4, 2025
From my feed; one that will make you tear up. The thread has other lovely tweets:
Content we want to see everyday 🧵❤️
1. The bride’s father died years ago.
He had promised to come to her wedding,
and his presence was in the form of a butterfly …pic.twitter.com/GGcc8XzErv— Awesome Videos ❤️ (@Awesomevideos07) June 23, 2025
One I reposted from the Auschwitz Memorial:
A French Jewish boy was gassed upon arriving at Auschwitz. He was fifteen.
— Jerry Coyne (@evolutionistrue.bsky.social) 2025-06-24T11:09:42.769Z
Two posts from Matthew. First, superstar Mary Pickford and her moggy:
#OnThisDay, 24 June 1916, Mary Pickford becomes the first Hollywood star to sign a million-dollar contract.#ReclaimTheFrame #HollywoodHistory #WomenInHistory #OTD #History #WomensHistory 🗃️1/2
— Carve Her Name (@carvehername.bsky.social) 2025-06-24T08:00:03.000Z
. . . and the Vera Rubin Observatory is online in Chile. Here’s a great image (note the spiral nebulas):
We're celebrating today with the release of the first images from @vrubinobs.bsky.social. (Image credit: NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory). This one, of part of the Virgo cluster, is my favourite.
— Chris Lintott (@chrislintott.bsky.social) 2025-06-23T06:16:00.939Z
I don’t really understand the context of the butterfly one. We are not saying the butterfly is her father are we? Because it isn’t. Was he a famous lepidopterist or something?
I was going to say that the problem with the Democratic Party is that it has no platform. At the moment it is pure opposition; anything the President does, it’s against. Thinking about it, though, I am not sure the GOP has a platform either. It’s been in reactive mode for a long time. I doubt there are more than a dozen Representatives and Senators that could tell you what they think it means to be a conservative, without mention abortion.
The Dem platform at the last election was effectively (1) open borders, (2) men in women’s sports, (3) oppose Israel and support Hamas and Iran, (4) make taxpayers pay for sex change surgery for illegal aliens in US prisons, (5) defund police and release violent criminals…….have I left anything out? No wonder they lost, and they will keep on losing on such issues. I was a lifelong Dem voter until they went batshite crazy.
You didn’t mention DEI. Effectively, the Democrats rejected merit in favor of skin color.
You’re right, thanks! I left out DEI and basing university admissions (and government jobs) on race and trans rather than merit. More nails in the Dem coffin as far as voters are concerned.
The pictures coming out of the Rubin observatory are awesome. What is more, since they offer views from our southern hemisphere, the images are considerably less familiar. Strange new worlds.
The pictures are indeed awesome, but there have been world-class observatories in the southern hemisphere for a very long time. The European Southern Observatory has operated large telescopes in Chile for half a century, including — since 1998 — the four 8.2-metre telecopes that make up the aptly-named Very Large Telescope.
The Anglo-Australian Observatory has done the same from Australia, whilst the observatories on Mauna Kea in Hawaii, whilst geographically in the northern hemisphere, are close enough to the equator that they can observe most of the southern skies.
These are really NOT strange new skies.
As a kid on a school excursion (“All humans must visit their capital cities!”) I visited the large telescope at Tidbinbilla outside Canberra, Australia. Very cool.
D.A.
NYC
I saw a few bits on TV that they claimed were from that observatory. I saw a large pink colored area, any idea what in space is pink like that?
Thanks for keeping WEIT going these few days. Looks like a very busy and interesting program in addition to your panel. I saw that Marc Edwards is on a panel. He is an engineering prof at Va Tech and was instrumental in addressing the Flint Michigan water disaster, an event where politics had over ridden science, followed I think I recall by Marc and his grad student team being smeared by woke ideology-adjacent groups that further confused the science and engineering facts. It was a decade ago but that is how I recall it….so you might want to attend his talk.
Hope you also get some quality personal time with friends and acquaintances who are there.
If it isn’t as boiling as today and yesterday (even for NYC summer) and I have time I might uber or subway over to Brooklyn tomorrow, pay the conference day rate and see PCC(E)’s talk.
We don’t do stuff like that anymore – everything is online, which is great, but we so rarely see things in real life. Might be quite “real” and fun. I haven’t been “to the movies” in a decade and an academic or law conference since…. goodness!
D.A.
NYC
Sounds like an excellent plan D.A….one that I would be excited to do if I lived there. I always thought that Zoom and you tube captures were about 85%-90% of being there, much like recorded chamber music, but being there live adds a very rich final 10%-15%. Plus I am sure that the venue is more than adequately cooled. I vote to do it! And enjoy.
I would be curious to learn about the ideology entering into the Flint water crisis, since I live close to that city. But there could be deep distrust from the people there, directed at anybody connected to the crisis in any way.
Despite all of that, although I am no judge of water quality, the Flint river itself continues to seem pretty healthy to me based on good fish populations, lots of water birds, even ospreys and the occasional bald eagle, and teaming with dragonflies and other invertebrates. This is in contrast to some other area rivers that seem pretty much dead.
“Jesus take the wheel!”
I’m going to use that. Or would it be cultural appropriation?
lol
The phrase comes from a Christian country song that is pure glurge, but I love how it is used in the chicken leg anecdote.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus,_Take_the_Wheel
Ah. Urk. Maybe not then. 🥴🤢
I’ll stick with Lord liftin’ Jesus! Which is what you say in Newfoundland when you come upon a moose on the highway in the dark of the night. (Nancy White)
In the early 1990s I came to America to study Middle East politics, Islamism in Iran and Algeria (it was all the rage then.)
My real life career took a different bent (a job – finance and law) but I retained the interest and have read for decades about this weird fascinating country I’ve never set foot in.
This article is an excellent back story of how Iran became… what we know today.
The best I’ve read in a long time. I wish I could write my own column so succinctly and accurately. (Ruhollah) Khomeini (and inheritors) was undoubtedly one of the most horrible humans of last century along with Stalin, Mao, Hitler, the Kims etc. He was the real deal and the following is a good pracie of his ideology and how this all came about.
(it is long and involved, for Iran/Islam scholars only probably – but factually and analytically on point. Also relevant today given our times.)
https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/06/21/iran-the-cradle-of-islamo-leftism/
D.A.
NYC
I read that the other day and found it very informative.
Andrew Fox analyzes the situation with Iran. Free to read:
https://mrandrewfox.substack.com/p/iran-hit-hard-but-not-broken
Let’s hope Iran has been set back for a while.
Over at the WSJ, Trump fans in the comments are ecstatic. But some of them are cult-like; suggesting Mt Rushmore (!)
The Dems cannot compete against this cult following.
Cult like ? My local LLM responded to the prompt “List the attributes of a typical ‘cult’ that distinguish cults from other religions”:
The shoe fits very well.
Thanks again FK – Andrew Fox is excellent.
D.A.
NYC
I don’t think any of the explosions in the ticktok video were of Evin Prison. The prison is on the side of a mountain in Tarjish, Nth Tehran, all those were in the city proper.
I heard they just blew off the front gate – a spashy but effective symbolic gesture as those gates are famous in Iran and with exiles. Possibly the worst place in the world, Iran’s Room 101.
The Israelis wouldn’t want to endanger the poor people imprisoned within.
I haven’t seen proof of that strike yet.
D.A.
NYC
I can think of many strong potential Democratic candidates for president in 2028. The list includes C. Booker, G. Whitmer, G. Newsom, S. Moulton, W. Moores, A. Beshear, P. Buttigieg, and others. Note that my list does not include T. Walz, K. Harris, J. Pritzker, or A. Cortez. So who will the Democrats nominate in 2028? I have no idea.
”Apparently, the Court finds the idea that thousands will suffer violence in far-flung locales more palatable than the remote possibility that a District Court exceeded its remedial powers when it ordered the Government to provide notice and process to which the plaintiffs are constitutionally and statutorily entitled.”
What weasely writing! First, it’s not the Supreme Court’s job to weigh results. If the law requires thousands to suffer violence, then that’s what the law requires. Second is the use of the words, “remote possibility.” Obviously, the majority thinks the possibility is more than merely remote. Third is the assumption that the plaintiffs are entitled to the notice and process that the district court ordered. Again, obviously the majority thinks otherwise. So this skewed characterization of the majority thinking simply assumes everything the minority believes.