Saturday: Hili dialogue

Welcome to CaturSaturday, June 27, 2026; it’s shabbos for Jewish cats and Helen Keller Day, celebrating the anniversary of her birth in 1880 (she lived for 88 years). Here’s Anne Sullivan Macy, the woman who supposedly taught Helen to talk with her hands (there are doubters who suggest that Keller’s writings were actually facilitated communication from Sullivan).

It’s also Bartender and Mixologist Day, Great American Picnic Day, International Ragweed Day, National Ice Cream Cake Day, and National Onion Day. (Michael Ruhlman wrote, “If onions were as rare as truffles, chefs would pay dearly for them”.)

Why are some players wearing pink cleats in the World Cup? Click on the new Google Doodle below to see the answer:

Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the June 1 Wikipedia page.

Da Nooz:

Footy news: In another miracle, the team from Cape Verde, a tiny archipelago nation with a population around half a million, reached the knockout stages of the World Cup by tying Saudi Arabia 0-0.

After the full-time whistle Cape Verde’s players formed a huddle around their head coach, Bubista, eyes straining at the tiny moving images on a mobile phone. They sought the certainty that a dream had come true and, when the outcome nearly 1,000 miles away in Guadalajara was confirmed, erupted in unfathomable joy. Dailon Livramento, the centre-forward, leapt on to the back of his teammate “Diney” Borges. Everyone in view grabbed the nearest person to embrace and then came all the flags, the islands represented by their 10 stars made famous during one of the World Cup’s most compelling underdog stories in decades.

One of them was waved in the stands by Ana Cândida Évora, the mother of their remarkable goalkeeper, Vozinha. Others made their way on to the pitch and what a sight it was when the entire squad, visibly buzzing to a man, stayed still for long enough to pose for photographs in front of a disbelieving support. They drummed and sang into the night because never has the most formidable of tasks seemed so glorious. Cape Verde, the country of 530,000, will take on Lionel Messi and Argentina in the last 32.

Respect will need paying to a veteran of barely imaginable global fame. Yes, Argentina will have to acknowledge fully the prowess of Vozinha, the 40-year-old who has become a sensation in real life and online since the display that thwarted Spain. The meeting between Vozinha, who was playing in the São Vicente island league at the age of 29, and the tournament’s highest goalscorer of all time [Lionel Messi] will be one for the history books.

Here are the highlights of the game, but I doubt Cape Verde can beat Argentina.  Still, for a country that small to make it to the knockout round is amazing.

Cape Verde had several great chances, but didn’t manage to score.

*Weakening even more the fragile ceasefire between U.S. and Iran, the Iranians struck a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday. (Article is archived here.) In response, the U.S. attacked Iran.

Iran’s armed forces struck a container ship that was passing through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, according to U.S. and Iranian officials, undermining efforts to restore shipping traffic through the crucial waterway.

The attack came hours after Iran, demonstrating its hold over the strait, had warned ships that the only route through the vital pathway for oil and natural gas was through its waters. Many ships had been using a route on the southern side of the strait, hugging the Omani coast.

The strike halted traffic through the crucial waterway, contradicting President Trump’s claim that Iran did not control the strait and his assurances that it was open once again to shipping. Oil prices jumped after the attack, with the cost of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, rising over 2 percent to about $75 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, also rose over 2 percent, to around $72 a barrel.

A U.S. official, who spoke anonymously in order to share details of the strike, said the vessel had been hit by a drone. The attack prompted the International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency, to suspend its plan to evacuate seafarers from hundreds of ships that had been stranded in the Persian Gulf.

It was not clear how the strike would affect the ongoing negotiations between the United States and Iran over control of the strait and over Iran’s nuclear program. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met on Thursday with Gulf Arab leaders in Bahrain to try to allay their security concerns.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps had warned ships earlier on Thursday that they must coordinate with its navy and that they should not take an alternative route, in an apparent reference to Omani territorial waters. The threats came just as shipping in the waterway was surging this week after months of near-paralysis.

The U.S. retaliation:

The U.S. military said it launched strikes on Iran on Friday in retaliation for an Iranian attack in the Strait of Hormuz a day earlier, hours after President Trump called the Iranian action a “foolish violation” of the fragile cease-fire between the two countries.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement that it had struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations and coastal radar sites as a “powerful response” to the Iranian attack on Thursday.

The extent of damage from the new U.S. strikes was not immediately clear. A U.S. defense official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly, described the strikes as a retaliatory measure and not a restart of major combat operations.

The strikes on Friday concluded after about 90 minutes, a U.S. official said, and included strikes by American fighter jets against four Iranian sites along the Strait of Hormuz and on Qeshm Island, a U.S. official said.

Iran’s security forces claimed that in response to the American attacks on Friday, Tehran had struck U.S. Army positions in the region. There was no immediate confirmation from the U.S. military of such strikes.

It looks as if Iran really is trying to control the Strait of Hormuz. If it specifies that ships cannot transit in international waters, or in waters controlled by Oman if Oman permits it, then, yes, Iran is controlling—or trying to control—the Strait.  What gives them the right to say that ships must go through Iranian territorial waters?  It’s starting to look as if the vaunted cease-fire deal is not going to happen any time soon, for the 60-days specified to iron out the remaining differences will slip by quickly.

And though each side is striking the other (and each retaliates for a strike in a never-ending cycle), they have “not resumed combat operations.”  Well, we’re told it will all be settled in two months.

*The WSJ title tells the tale: “Ukraine’s growing drone armada is overwhelming Russia’s air defenses.”

. . .Ukraine is swamping Russia’s air defenses with a growing armada of long-range drones that target refineries, port infrastructure, military industries and those air defenses themselves.

The escalating campaign is leading to restrictions on fuel sales in Russia, surging gasoline prices and regular images of black smoke clouds over parts of the country that thought the war in Ukraine was far away.

On Thursday, Ukraine hit two oil refineries in Ufa, a city in Russia that is over 930 miles from the front line, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a social-media post.

Ukraine’s cities have been under fire from Russian missiles and drones since the fall of 2022. When Moscow began its strategic bombing campaign, it aimed at breaking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, military-related industries and will to continue the country’s defense. Since last year, the Russian barrages have inflicted a rising toll of civilian deaths and injuries in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.

Ukraine has been trying to hit back for over two years, targeting primarily Russia’s oil infrastructure to hurt its economy, government finances and military logistics. But a lack of long-range firepower has limited Kyiv’s efforts.

This year, Ukraine is producing more and better long-range drones, and is adding domestically made cruise missiles to the mix—inflicting growing damage deep inside Russia. Since March, more than two dozen strikes on Russian oil refineries have knocked out some 20% of the country’s refining capacity, analysts estimate.

“The strikes have become more effective because the technology is better and Ukraine has the ability to put together more large strikes than they could before,” said Michael Kofman, a military analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington-based think tank.

Here’s a plot from the article showing the increase since January of Ukrainian long-term drone strikes on Russia. They’re gone up at least eighfold.

I doubt that these strikes will turn the tide against Russia, but we can hope that they’ll eventually tire out the Russian people by hurting the economy.  But remember that Putin is still in charge.

*Over at It’s Noon in Israel, a “senior insider”  (presumably in Israel)explains why the ceasefire deal isn’t all that bad. The premise is that Trump can’t afford to lose the House of Representatives, for if he does he’ll spend the rest of his term being investigated and impeached. And if the price of oil skyrockets, that (as the narrative goes) is what will happen.

. . . So Trump is, in fact, fighting the Iranians with one hand tied—without the Kurdish invasion, without a ground operation, and without striking the energy infrastructure, at least until the elections.

And so the deal was born. This is not a nuclear agreement but a deal about Hormuz. And here, says the senior Israeli source, one must pay attention to something very significant regarding the clause that goes beyond Hormuz matters and into money: it’s a temporary easing of the sanctions on Iran, not their permanent removal.

What this means is that from the moment of signing, one hundred percent of the economic pressure on the United States comes off, but only a few percent of the economic pressure on Iran. There’s disagreement over what damage Iran suffered in the war—those who minimize it estimate three hundred billion dollars, those who maximize it, a trillion. Either way, the benefit to Iran is like filling an empty pool one cup at a time.

Senior figures in the Mossad expressed deep pessimism after the signing of the agreement about the chances of an uprising in Iran while the wind blows at the regime’s back. The senior source is more optimistic: “It’s worth remembering that even before this enormous damage, the masses went out into the streets with nothing to lose. What will Iran’s citizens do in another six months when they understand the harsh economic situation is here to stay? What will the regime do?”

In the past week people have been comparing Trump’s deal to Obama’s agreement. The former president even needled the current one, saying it’s worse. “It’s not just that Israel has poor messaging—the Americans do too,” the source replied. “The most important part is that the Iranians have now signed a commitment to freeze the nuclear program. That’s dramatic. In a situation of ‘no deal and no war,’ as, for example, after Operation ‘Lion’s Roar’ in June 2025, they kept advancing their nuclear program. Under Obama’s deal they could continue, with permission and authority, with many elements of the nuclear program.”

And as for Hormuz? For now everyone is finding workarounds. The weapon of closing the strait will only work for the Iranians if they use it and Trump does nothing. But what would happen, for example, if they closed the strait a month before the elections? One can only imagine the president’s reaction. Here is the fundamental clash of interests between Trump and Netanyahu: both face elections in the fall. The first needs an agreement to keep his chances of winning; the second needs to avoid an agreement for that very same purpose. Trump, unsurprisingly, chose himself.

. . .The Lebanon issue remains. The main difference now compared to the situation twenty years ago, at the end of the Second Lebanon War, and a year and a half ago, at the end of the previous round, is that the IDF is deep inside the country. “Quiet will be answered with quiet” is not Israel’s desired conclusion for the long term, but it is for the short term, because of Hezbollah’s difficult condition and the complex situation of the US president.

“The Israelis have to understand that there is no scenario in which Israel alone dismantles Hezbollah without conquering all of Lebanon or Iran collapsing, and therefore, until further notice, the story is deterrence. You can create a situation in the coming months in which you’ve preserved the relationship with the US, let the agreement with Iran collapse on its own without giving an excuse, locked in the reality that no one fires into your territory, and the soldiers keep operating against military buildup in the new security zone. You need to wisely secure the American green light to act—not act nonstop and get cast as the neighborhood bully who has to be reined in.

There’s no good news, though, but Segal’s source recommends that Israel sit tight and take no initiatives save self-defense, saying this:

“Here’s one piece of advice for Israel: what would happen if, for once, we stayed silent? True, this week Trump also attacked Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and she replied sharply. But Italy doesn’t have a two-front war on its head, and it can also count on the support of America’s Democrats. For us it’s nothing but a loss. Stay quiet, breathe, give it time. That’s what needs to be done.”

In other words, the Israel Dude should abide.

*Sadly, this week’s TGIF column is written not by Nellie Bowles but by Will Rahn, who isn’t nearly as snarky. However, I’ll still steal a few items from his column, “TGIF: This is why I can’t have friends.”

First, on the anti-Israel mishigass that’s going on in NYC:

—>You don’t need to be Bibi Netanyahu’s number-one fan to conclude that this has all become totally deranged. Criticize the Israeli government all you want. Stand against the settlements. Plenty of Israelis certainly do so. But why was the Sunrise Movement—a supposedly environmentalist organization—gleefully posting photos this week of some poor woman who apparently elected to get a “FUCK AIPAC” tattoo on her forehead?

Call me old-fashioned, but I associate face tattoos with meth, mental illness, and Mike Tyson. Not. . . anti-Israel political posturing?

And what’s this lady going to do when the left inevitably moves onto its next cause du jour? I’m not a big fan of Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, the two Weather Underground leaders who had plum seats at the opening of Barack Obama’s ugly-as-hell presidential center last week. Yes, they were communists who carried out a bombing campaign against the government. Yes, Dohrn was a big fan of the Manson Family’s murder spree. But at least they had the good sense not to get “VICTORY FOR THE VIETCONG” tattooed on their foreheads. Such a thing might well have cost them their post-terrorism posts in snobby academia.

→ Checking in on P-Hustle: The Graham Platner scandals just keep on coming, this week in the form of a Reddit joke he told that is too vulgar and too unfunny to repeat in this family newsletter. The only funny thing about this guy is that he sexted with “up to six” women right after he got married in 2023, which is just perfect. Up to six. Like he’s placing a bulk toilet paper order at Costco. His whole schtick is that he’s a working-class guy (not really) who’s a different and better person than he was, what, six months ago?

Platner is just an exhausting figure. And we’re going to spend the next several months learning more and more unpleasant things about him. And then, God willing, Susan Collins, the long-serving moderate Republican he’s facing in November, will add him to her throne of skulls.

→ Leave Caitlin Clark alone: Caitlin Clark isn’t just the biggest star of the WNBA, she is the WNBA. She’s the reason they’re now making the medium bucks. And fans say the league isn’t giving her the star treatment she deserves.

Clark was knocked to the floor during a game this week and roughed up in a way that does look pretty intentional. One player, Alyssa Thomas, pressed her fist against Clark’s throat, but no foul was called. Clark exited the game early with a reported back injury. Clark’s supporters say the league allows her to be attacked without calling any fouls, but Caitlin would be fouled if she hit back. What’s going on here?

Meanwhile the NBA’s biggest star, Victor Wembanyama, gets to flail his limbs around Gumby-slapping everyone up and down the court, and isn’t fouled, either. The guy throws the shorter, better, cooler Jalen Brunson to the ground and the refs just shrug it off. Why is basketball like this? Though to its partial credit, a day after the photo of Thomas’s fist going into Clark’s neck made its way all over the media, the WNBA did suspend Thomas for one game and gave her a flagrant foul penalty.

Here’s a video of Caitlin getting roughed up. I have no idea why Clark, a player who doesn’t rough up others, is the target of so much physical violence. She’s very good; are they trying to get her off her game?

Rahn is getting better at writing TGIF, though.

*Also at The Free Press, Olivia Reingold introduces us to New York’s (likely) new Democratic Socialist congresspeople.

On Tuesday, the Democratic establishment suffered a crushing defeat when nine out of 10 candidates endorsed by the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) coasted to victory in their primaries. In some instances, long-serving progressives were caught in the crosshairs, including Representative Adriano Espaillat, a five-term House member who lost the Democratic nomination to a 32-year-old socialist. A House staffer for a New York Democrat told me that in progressive cities like New York, the DSA is “the new establishment.”

Hasan Piker, the far-left Twitch streamer, squealed with excitement at an East Williamsburg watch party when he saw yet another Democratic Socialist clinch the Democratic nomination.

“Brother,” he said, “the Democratic Party machine in the blue stronghold of New York City was thoroughly defeated tonight.”

The night was a major test for Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who pulled off his own upset almost a year ago against Democratic Party giant Andrew Cuomo. The mayor, a long-standing DSA member, worked overtime to appear at countless campaign events for a trio of candidates he dubbed “the Team”: Claire Valdez, Brad Lander, and Darializa Avila Chevalier. Meet the Mamdani-backed candidates who soared to victory last night.

A bit on each of the three primary winners for Democratic House seats:

Claire Valdez
Age: 36
Seat: New York, District 7

With about 92 percent of the results in, Valdez, a first-time state legislator, trounced Representative Nydia Velázquez’s preferred successor, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, by a margin of more than 20 points. When the news broke at Valdez’s watch party in East Williamsburg, “DSA!” chants erupted.

“Solidarity forever,” she told her supporters last night. “Abolish ICE. Free Palestine. Organize your union, and join DSA.”

Brad Lander
Age: 56
Seat: New York, District 10

Brad Lander is the quintessential anti-Zionist Jew. At his son Marek’s bris, Lander gave a speech lambasting Israel.

“We pray fervently that by the time you read this, the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, the settlements, the house demolitions, the violence will be history,” he said in the speech, which was later reprinted in a 2003 book titled Wrestling with Zion. “But even then, we hope you will appreciate this absence of nationalist privilege in your inscribed identity.”

. . . Although many New York City races on Tuesday centered around Israel, none became more of a de facto referendum on the Jewish nation than the showdown between Goldman and Lander, a self-described “progressive Zionist” who has accused Israel of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and “forced starvation.” Only a few years ago, Goldman would’ve been considered a safe seat as a progressive center-left legislator in a deep-blue district—and yet, with about 90 percent of the results in, Lander is poised to win the Democratic nomination by more than 30 points.

An “anti-Zionist Jew” is about a credible a label as “a segregationist black person.”

And one we’ve met already:

Darializa Avila Chevalier
Age: 32
Seat: New York, District 13

Darializa Avila Chevalier, a 32-year-old PhD candidate with no prior experience in office, toppled Representative Adriano Espaillat, a five-term incumbent.

On Tuesday night, Avila Chevalier told the crowd at her watch party at a Puerto Rican restaurant about her fight against the “Democratic machine.”

Avila Chevalier’s social media history is chock-full of offensive content. In 2020, she called Joe Biden a “rapist” and “war criminal” and referred to the U.S. as a “fucking disgrace.” According to CNN, in 2021, she also retweeted posts declaring that the border should be abolished and that “all deportation is wrong.”

Perhaps no other candidate in American history has been so brazenly hostile toward Israel and made it this far. As a student at Columbia University, Avila Chevalier was involved in Students for Justice in Palestine. In 2024, she returned to her alma mater to help organize an anti-Israel encampment that took over the South Lawn and was ultimately disbanded by the police. The day after the October 7 attack, she attended an anti-Israel demonstration in Times Square—a decision she has since defended.

“I can only say I have been advocating for the human rights of Palestinians for my adult life,” she told City & State when asked about her attendance at the rally.

Yes, it was a referendum against Israel, as well as against the mainstreatm Democratic Party (if there still is one). Who woulda thunk that three Israel-hating candidates could be handily elected in New York?

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is contemplating a tipple:

Hili: Amazing.
Andrzej: What’s so amazing?
Hili: Cherry wine. I’ve never seen anything like it before.
Andrzej: Me neither, but it’s actually quite good.

Hili: Zdumiewające.

Ja: Co jest takie zdumiewające?

Hili: Wiśniowe wino, takiego jeszcze nie widziałam.

Ja: Ja też nie, ale jest całkiem dobre.

*******************

From Anna:

From Meow Incorporated:

From Bad Spelling or Grammar on Signs and Notices:

From Masih. I don’t agree with her about World Cup matches (or any sports matches) displaying ideological symbols, but she does make a good point about Islamist hypocrisy.  Read more about the Pride Match between Iran and Egypt here, which includes this information:

This so-called “Pride Match” was planned before the World Cup draw was made back in December. After it took place, though, it quickly became apparent that the match would be played between Egypt and Iran.

Homosexuality is still illegal in Iran and punishable by the death penalty. And while homosexuality isn’t outlawed in Egypt, members of the LGBTQ+ community can be prosecuted for violating public decency laws.

Wow, now Iran’s regime and Egypt have objected to Seattle’s Pride Match and urged FIFA to remove Pride-related symbols.

This is exactly what I’ve been warning about: authoritarian Islamists never stop at asking for tolerance.

First: “Respect our religious practices. Respect our…

— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) June 26, 2026

From Simon; Larry makes a dad joke:

What do cats eat on a hot day?
Mice cream.

— Larry the Cat (@Number10cat) June 26, 2026

From Coel, mentioned in a comment yesterday:

🇨🇦 A woman comes face-to-face with a massive grizzly bear while hiking with her dog in Canada.

Instead of running, she stayed incredibly calm and slowly backed away, allowing both her and her dog to escape unharmed.

Writer: Valpic.twitter.com/2raDGRWSLN

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) June 26, 2026

From Frank: Dubious Building is dubious:

pic.twitter.com/imlAiaInzx

— 路易十兀 (@Kierin53713062) June 19, 2023

Two from my feed. First a heartwarming monkey family reunion:

The reaction of a monkey who was away from his family for weeks recovering from an injury.

[📹 Nigel Wright] pic.twitter.com/yvcBjmdZHw

— Özer Dölekoğlu (@wrzl) June 26, 2026

BIG mistake!

A girl treated a parrot to a cracker.

A few minutes later, she realized she shouldn’t have done that! pic.twitter.com/UbSoRKn6Ep

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) June 26, 2026

One I reposted from The Auschwitz Memorial

This Dutch Jewish girl was gassed to death as soon as she arrived in Auschwitz. She was ten years old. https://t.co/722ZRUQYhx

— Jerry Coyne (@Evolutionistrue) June 27, 2026

And one from Dr. Cobb; Richard the (sheep)dog:

This is Richard. He's sometimes accused of not being a real dog because of his weird paws and inability to bark. Thinks his pack would say otherwise. 12/10 for all (IG: richardandtheguardians)

— WeRateDogs (@weratedogs.com) 2026-06-24T23:01:32.696Z