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LIFE AND NEWS NOTES FROM A CHILDLESS CAT LADY WORKING AWAY BUSILY IN ONE OF THE SUB-BASEMENTS OF THE MINISTRY OF SNARK
19 JUNE 2025
UKRAINE (Telegraph Podcast, Ukraine the Latest, 6/19/26)
· Ukraine has taken the momentum after attacks on Moscow last night.
· Internet video shows Muscovites filming themselves and expressing shock. There are several airports closed. Russian land defenses are missing Ukrainian drones, even though drones are low and slow. Nobody knows why. It is possible that the Russians are using less capable forces in central Moscow or older munitions?
· There is a cooling of rhetoric between Belarus and Ukraine. There is speculation that this may be Moscow getting message out that Russia is ready to negotiate.
· Russians are claiming that a Ukrainian drone hit a bus. Ukraine is denying it.
· Britain is devoting additional funding to Ukraine.
· Laura Loomer (right-wing podcaster) admits falling for Russian propaganda about the war against Ukraine.
· Slava Ukraini (Battle cry for Ukraine)
SHORTS:
· Medication abortion will be available in Missouri for the first time since 2018. A judge determined most of the state’s challenged abortion regulations are unconstitutional (Missouri Independent)
· The Qatari 747 jumbo jet converted to serve as Air Force One, would deliver, says Trump “a level of luxury that nobody’s ever seen before.” “Qatar was so nice,” Trump told service members. “See, a normal president wouldn’t do this.” No, that’s certainly correct. (Washington Post)
· (ABC News). Two companies received no-bid contracts to repaint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The cost has now ballooned to more than $14.65 million. In addition to repainting the National Park Service paid $1.74 million to install a system to kill algae, using a similar no-bid contract. (Note: What is the gd, mf, reason for any no-bid contract?) Two companies that received contracts for resurfacing and filtration systems, the project is set to cost more than $16 million.
· (Reuters, 6/19/26) At least thirty people have died since the beginning of May at one camp for displaced civilians in northeastern Congo. This could indicate that Ebola is spreading fast. Many of the families refused testing the living or the dead at the camp. All had symptoms associated with Ebola.
Shorts: (6/19/26) New York Times
· Despite the cease-fire deal between the U.S. and Iran, it is likely that Netanyahu will continue military action against Hezbollah in Lebanon. (Note: Guest on Chris Hedges argues that it is unlikely that Netanyahu can stay in power if he stops attacking Lebanon).
· Thomas Friedman: “”Trump sold out America’s ally in the war, Israel, and the Arab Gulf states for the swing states of Pennsylvania, Georgia and Michigan….He had to stop the war now to get prices down by November….Do, Trump did what he always does: He abandoned all principle and all allies and put his personal interests above all other considerations.” “I am shocked by the outcome so far – by the sheer cynicism with which Trump and Vance have gone from damning Iran….to praising its leaders, and how this deal has left Iran stronger and all its neighbors more vulnerable to Tehran’s whims.”
· Friedman writes that a) “The deal not only puts off the question of the disposal of Iran’s near bomb-grade uranium to future negotiations – negotiations in which the Trump administration has already given up its military leverage….it clearly leaves open the possibility that Iran will be able to charge a toll in the future….” The agreement reads “no charge for 60 days only.” b) The deal is silent on any commitments by Iran to curb its development of long-range missiles and its support for proxies….it also makes the 60-day negotiation on Iran’s nuclear future contingent on Israel’s halting its military operations in Lebanon against Iran’s mercenary army there, Hezbollah….Trump and Netanyahu inspired Iran to develop a weapon of mass disruption, a chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz….we are cutting and running….” Trump said “missiles aren’t the problem.
Shorts: (Financial Times, 6/19/26)
· Cuba: Cuba has promised urgent reforms in the way it runs its economy under US pressure and the threat of US military intervention. This includes opening the door to private real estate development, “allowing private banks to operate and the sale of stakes in state-owned companies to private investors, including foreigners.” President Diaz-Canel admitted that the country’s economic problems were not all caused by US sanctions. A state Department spokesperson said; “These gradual “economic reforms’ are modest, long overdue and ultimately superficial smoke signals….” “The US pressure has deepened an economic crisis that took hold when the Covid pandemic devastated the island’s tourism industry.
Saturday 20 June 2026
SHORTS:
· (Reuters, 6/19/26). Poland is going to strip Zelensky of a top honor for naming an army unit after a nationalist group who massacred Poles during WWII.
· The NYT (6/19/26) is reporting that U.S. intelligence does not expect Israel to stop strikes on Hezbollah. The MOU is “deeply unpopular” in Israel. It fails to address Iran’s missile program, for one. My understanding is that if the Iranians have a highly effective system of missiles there is little Israel can do to attack with without being shot down.
· Sam Clemens, now known as Sam Clemens Cheyanne Johns Duggan has grown at least six inches longer since last night. I can’t believe it. He is going to be a sausage. From the time I get up to the time I open the door, he frets and paces and generally makes himself a nuisance wanting to go outside. He rarely eats his breakfast he’s so excited about going outside.
· (NYT 6/19/26) Trump plans to end AIDS funding for South Africa. The claim is that SA has failed to “repeal a law allowing for the expropriation of land without compensation, to exempt American companies from Black empowerment laws and not to align with US enemies such as Iran.
· There’s an exquisite soft green to te march this morning edged by a soft lime as it reaches the brown streak further out The egrets are up flying about choosing breakfast no doubt.
· The cats, especially Sam, are stir crazy to go out, but it’s only 6:30. We have had a ton of rain in the past week. The water is almost up to the bottoms of the small bridges.
· O.K. Sam is outside. I couldn’t deny him his primary job any longer. It’s amazing. This is a kitten we found screaming his head off in the pouring rain outside by himself, trying to steal our outside feral’s food (Willa). But, he is afraid of nothing, not rain, wind.
· MSNOW The Weekend (6/19/26) Israel was not at the table when this MOU was agreed to.
· There are no squirrels playing this morning in the live oaks. Maybe they know something we don’t.
· I am supposed to go to a Trump rally at 11:00. Wondering if it’s going to be raining by then. Who knows.
· Well, after days of heavy rain, the dock I slippery. I, of course, ignored all the evidence and went prancing down to the floating section. Fell flat on my butt and I couldn’t get up. Had to phone Mike. What are we going to do when he cannot just lean down and pick me up? Lord only knows.
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A group of orange cats lounges in the sun, while two black cats investigate a dark shadow on the ground. The scene is set in a colorful, lush park.
— Read on fineartamerica.com/featured/playful-qcats-in-a-vibrant-park-christina-johns.html -
www.nytimes.com/2026/06/17/us/politics/trump-iran-deal-nuclear-program-strait.htm
Instead, the Iranians emerged from a confrontation with the world’s most powerful military having not only survived, but with much to celebrate.
It starts with the resumption of Tehran’s ability to reap billions of dollars in oil sales, lifting pressure on the struggling regime even as negotiators prepare to begin haggling over a far more lengthy and critical document
the “Memorandum of Understanding” also suggests that, over time, Iran may negotiate some permanent way to exercise sovereignty over the describes a pathway in which Iran could begin receiving billions of dollars in assets that have been frozen for years
But it was Mr. Trump himself who offered what may be the most cleareyed answer about why he needed to end this war so fast. He didn’t want comparisons to Herbert Hoover, he told reporters at the Hotel Royal in Évian-les-Bains, on the shores of Lake Geneva, on Wednesday.
“He was always the one I didn’t want to be,” Mr. Trump said of the 31st president, who presided over the market crash that ushered in the Great Depression. “I didn’t want to see economic catastrophe.” Later he noted that if the war continued, the world would have begun to run out of oil stockpiles.
If, in the next stage of negotiations, he manages to get the Iranians to ship their stockpiles of nuclear fuel out of the country (as President Obama did in 2015) and cease all enrichment activity for nearly two decades (which Mr. Obama failed to accomplish), then he may be able claim some long-term victory.
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Prisoners must file grievances before they can sue in court. Less than 2% of filings are granted.
— Read on www.themarshallproject.org/2026/06/17/health-federal-alabama-prison-complaint -
Many are now heavily involved in the illegal mining of gold, which has become a thriving business as the price of the metal has soared. Experts say there have been cases of drug gangs using the same logistics networks to export cocaine and import the mercury that is used in artisanal mining to extract gold from ore.
Human trafficking is another growing sideline. In recent years, hundreds of thousands of refugees have tried to reach the US through a remote area along the Colombia-Panama border known as the Darién Gap. Financial times
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Cats outside for their walk. Coffee and propped up in ned doing Spanish. 309 consecutive days of practice
SLAVA UKRAINI
NAVALNY
BUTCHA
OSSOF
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LIFE AND NEWS NOTES FROM A CHILDLESS (CHILD-FREE) CAT LADY WORKING AWAY IN ONE OF THE SUB-BASEMENTS OF THE MINISTRY OF SNARK
Friday 12 June 2026
NEWS NOTES
· Trump has once again canceled Iranian strikes (Thank God.)
· Article by Anne Applebaum, “Ukraine is not losing. Russia is not winning.” The Atlantic.
· Ukraine has hit refineries depots and pipelines, fuel supplies to Crimea, sparking a fuel crisis on the Russian-held Peninsula (AP News). Drone strikes have already disrupted Russian supply routes in Crimea. While isolating Crimea is feasible, analysts say, pushing back Russian forces would need ground offensive. Mid-range strikes inside Russian controlled territory has “cut supplies to its front line- bringing their advance to a near standstill last month. Weakened air defences, opening the way for longer-range strikes that have destroyed oil infrastructure and arms manufacturing deep inside Russia.”
· (Reuters, 6/12/26). Ukraine’s drone commander wants to cut Crimea off from Russia.
· Attorneys for the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk wanted prosecutors punished for making a public statement about findings about bullet fragments found in the body. Defense attorneys had claimed that the preliminary finding by ballistics experts who could not immediately match the bullet fragments with the gun Robinson used, should result in Robinson’s possible exoneration, or at least an agreement not to seek the death penalty. (AP News 6/12/26). Yesterday, there was a report that Robinson plead guilty in exchange for the agreement not to be charged with the death penalty.
· “Task and Purpose” reports that it would take 1,200 troops to take Kharg Island and more to hold it. (Note: Trump has said that he doesn’t think Americans “have the stomach for it.”)
· (NYT, 6/12/26) Calling it the “homelessness industrial complex” officials with HUD immediately suspended funding for an agency the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority which has received almost $1 billion in federal money over the past five years.
NOTES ABOUT THE COMING COUP
· (NYT, 6/12/26) The Justice Department is pushing the limits of its power over state elections. (Note: The Republicans cannot afford to lose the mid-terms and they will do anything, anything to prevent it.)
· (NYT, 6/12/26) The postal service “has proposed a new rule that would allow it to refuse to deliver mail ballots in states that don’t turn over voter rolls to the federal government.”
· (CNN, 6/12/26) $750,000 to ecacuate one woman who had been exposed to the new virus.
· (NYT, 6/12/26) The Culture of Big Law Firms, elite involvement with Jeffrey Epstein. Epstein gave them what they wanted, and they wanted business. Kathy Ruemmler, formerly part of the Obama legal team, ignored Epstein’s 2008 conviction for procuring a minor for prestitution and solicitation of prostitution. “…that tells you everything you need to know about how unreliable and corroded the legal world has become.” Ruemmler evidently thought, after looking into Epstein’s case, that the deal not to prosecute federally and the later lenient treatment Epstein received indicated that the charger against him were not that sound. (Note: But it was in her interests to believe that. She stood to make an enormous among of money for herself and her firm from a deal set upby Epstein with Bill Gates. Epstein got something out of it as well. Ms. Ruemmler’s reputation helped him work his way back into respectability. He told friends she was “an arch feminist who is my great defender.” She also assumed that lawyers like Alan Dershowitz and Kenneth Starr would never work for someone truly guilty of the crimes with which Epstein was charged.
· Three more articles about the Epstein files “How the Elite behave When no One is Watching,” “The Epstein Files Should Never Have Been Released,” and “Now We Know What all those people Got from Epstein.” (NYT, 6/12/26)
LIFE NOTES
It’s almost six in the morning and I’ve been up for three hours. Popsicle Pete shared the bed with me for most of those hours, foiling all plans that Sam had of getting on the day bed and snuggling up. The day bed in the library where I often work, has been designated as the adult cat bed. No gangster babies allowed. But, even Pete has limits. As soon as I turned on the television to find out the details of Trump deciding to spend $750,000 to get some woman off a boat after she had been exposed to this new Ebola virus, he retreated to Chair 3.
Law, Power, and Justice 