The JH Kinda-Sorta Daily for 23 June 2025

The JH Kinda-Sorta Daily
June 23, 2025
By John Henry & Team with AI Dora

🇮🇷 U.S. Bombs Iran After Israeli Assault: Global Crisis Deepens

In a stunning escalation of the Israel-Iran conflict, the United States launched a coordinated bombing campaign on June 21 targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. The strikes, dubbed Operation Midnight Hammer, involved over 100 aircraft and submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles, reportedly deploying 14,000-kg bunker-busters to breach hardened targets.

The U.S. strikes followed last week’s air assault on Tehran by Israel, which left hundreds dead and tens of thousands displaced. Prime Minister Netanyahu lauded the U.S. participation, calling it a “historic moment of unity,” while Iran’s Foreign Minister denounced it as a “grave violation of international law,” warning of “everlasting consequences.”

President Trump bypassed Congress entirely in ordering the strikes, triggering bipartisan outrage and raising questions about executive overreach. Progressive lawmakers condemned the action as unconstitutional and reckless, while a surprising chorus of anti-war conservatives—including several high-profile MAGA influencers—voiced concern over the legality and strategic sense of the move.

🌍 Global Reaction: Condemnation, Concern, and Caution

UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned the bombing “risk[s] triggering a broader war no one can control.”
The European Union expressed grave concern. The UK backed de-escalation, while France and Germany criticized the legality of the strikes.
Russia, maintaining ties with both Iran and Israel, issued a formal censure but stopped short of active retaliation.
China demanded an emergency UN Security Council session and issued a travel advisory for its citizens across the region.
Mass protests erupted in cities around the globe—from São Paulo to Berlin to Jakarta—denouncing U.S. aggression and demanding restraint.

📉 Economic Fallout: Oil Shock and Market Turbulence

Brent crude topped $108 a barrel in the hours following the assault, as investors braced for Iranian retaliation and possible closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Inflation projections for Q3 are being revised upward, and emerging markets with energy exposure are already showing volatility spikes. Economists warn that without stabilization, a prolonged conflict could tip several sectors back toward recessionary pressure.

🧊 ICE Raids, Resistance, and the Masked State

The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown has entered a new phase of aggression. In Los Angeles, ICE raids have intensified, with agents now routinely wearing masks and tactical gear—even during routine arrests. Critics, including former Obama-era ICE director John Sandweg, warn that this shift risks public confusion and violence, as masked agents are mistaken for kidnappers or paramilitary forces.

The crackdown has sparked a wave of resistance. Community defense groups in cities like LA, San Diego, and Nashville are organizing rapid-response patrols, blocking ICE vans, and staging courthouse mobilizations. Faith leaders have stepped into the fray, forming human buffers between protesters and federal agents, and invoking nonviolence as both tactic and moral imperative.

In one widely reported case, ICE agents raided a San Diego restaurant with flashbang grenades, arresting workers in front of stunned patrons. In another, a high school honor student in Massachusetts was detained while driving teammates to volleyball practice.

Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom has filed suit against the federal government for deploying Marines and National Guard troops to Los Angeles, calling it “a grotesque abuse of power”. A federal judge is expected to hear arguments later this week.

🏚️ Tiny Houses, Big Problems: Kalamazoo’s Pod Auction

The city of Kalamazoo, Michigan is quietly auctioning off 50 “housing pods” it purchased in 2021 for $1 million. The project, once hailed as a bold step toward solving homelessness, has been abandoned after logistical failures, community resistance, and lack of long-term planning.

This outcome echoes the critique laid out in your 2021 article, “Screw Your Tiny House and the Tiny Horse It Rode In On.” The core issue remains: tiny houses are not a substitute for real housing. They may serve as short-term emergency shelters, but they do nothing to address the structural causes of homelessness—poverty, austerity, and the commodification of shelter.

The Kalamazoo case is a cautionary tale: well-meaning but underbaked solutions that fail to deliver dignity or permanence, while draining public and philanthropic resources. As other cities consider similar programs, the lesson is clear—poor people deserve full-sized homes, not scaled-down experiments in survival.

☁️ Fluffy Tail: This Day in (Actual) History

In 1611, explorer Henry Hudson’s final voyage ended in mutiny. He, his son, and a few loyal crew members were cast adrift and never seen again.
The first SAT exam was administered in 1926.
On this day in 1984, the International Olympic Committee was formally established.
In 1991, the first Sonic the Hedgehog game spun-dashed onto Sega consoles.
Notable birthdays: Alan Turing (1913); Alfred Kinsey and King Edward VIII (1894); Bob Fosse (1927); June Carter Cash (1929); Stu Sutcliffe (1940); Glenn Danzig (1955); Chuck Billy (1962); Selma Blair (1972); KT Tunstall (1975); Melissa Rauch (1980).
Notable deaths: John Mill (1707); Jonas Salk (1995); Betty Shabazz (1997); Aaron Spelling (2006); Ed McMahon (2009); Bobby Bland (2013).

(Alan Turing’s birthday will be explored more fully in the paid edition.)

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Reference list (plain-text URLs):
https://www.housingwire.com/articles/how-will-mortgage-rates-react-to-us-bombing-of-iran/
https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/iran-foreign-minister-visit-russia-us-attack-nuclear-sites-putin-reaction-13899684.html
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2025/06/21/iran-attack-oil-prices-inflation/84303968007/
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/investors-set-flock-safety-world-141501667.html
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-on-high-alert-after-strikes-on-iranian-nuke-sites-trump-floats-regime-change-updates/ar-AA1HbEnD
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/6/22/everlasting-consequences-world-reacts-to-us-attacks-on-iran
https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/news/world/2025/06/22/us-bombing-iran-nuclear-sites-reactions/84307409007/
https://www.kgou.org/world/2025-06-22/world-reacts-to-u-s-strikes-on-iran-with-alarm-caution-and-some-praise
https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/us-faith-leaders-opposed-to-ice-raids-counsel-nonviolent-resistance-and-lead-by-example/ar-AA1GBnNU
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ice-agents-mask-culture-shift-risks-street-violence-obama-ice-chief/ar-AA1Gno5K
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/curfew-enacted-for-parts-of-la-newsom-says-trump-chose-theatrics-over-public-safety/ar-AA1GqCBg
https://www.democracynow.org/2025/6/3/adriana_jasso
https://theintercept.com/2025/06/21/los-angeles-ice-raids-immigrants-organizing/
https://itsgoingdown.org/in-contempt-53/

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