Open thread 6/21/2025
Yesterday was the first day of summer. And in New England, it was also the day it began to feel like summer.
The New Neo
A blog about political change, among other things
Yesterday was the first day of summer. And in New England, it was also the day it began to feel like summer.
I’m glad that summer finally arrived in New England for you. I know it’s short lived.
CNN is apparently trying to show that all is normal in Tehran. Some excerpts:
” Tehran residents have told CNN that although the Iranian capital remains relatively quiet, people are trying to return to normal life ahead of Sunday when the work week will resume.
“Things are fine. Roads are getting busier back into Tehran from other areas because the government has said work begins on Sunday,” one resident who had just returned to the city told CNN on Saturday, asking that their name be withheld.
NetBlocks, a non-governmental organization that monitors internet governance, said Saturday that its telemetry confirmed a “partial restoration of connectivity in Iran after approximately 62 hours of severe disruption.
Another Tehran resident, who had planned to get a haircut Saturday, told CNN: “Yesterday and today Tehran has been quieter. The city is so nice, without traffic and so many people and everything is available in abundance: Gas, food.”
I sometimes think summer is my least favorite season. It’s going to be miserable this weekend in Chicago. Not sure I’ll leave the house.
A few posts back sdferr linked to an interview with David Albright. He certainly seems to have a lot of knowledge about Iran’s nuclear program. He’s interviewed in the WSJ today:
https://archive.md/bJ79C
It was 103 along the Colorado Front Range. Going to cool down to only 95 or so today.
physicsguy:
I guess CNN is implicitly acknowledging that Israelis aren’t targeting civilians, then.
CNN is apparently trying to show that all is normal in Tehran. Some excerpts:
I recently read somewhere an article that said that Iranians were pro-American—loved American movies. So why go to war with them?
Simple answer. The people of Iran are distinct from the government of Iran. No one has had the audacity to claim the government of Iran is pro-American. Movie preferences have nothing to do with enriching uranium to weapons grade.
Several studies have show that ‘liberals’ are generally less-happy than ‘conservatives’. A recent survey shows that this difference is strong across a wide range of demographic slices:
https://chicagoboyz.net/archives/74401.html
On Summer: the local TV forecast takes about 1 minute each day: mid 90s, scattered Tstorms each afternoon which cool things down and water the lawn. It’s been that way for a month and will continue through August. I’m perfectly OK with it. We have a pool, and there’s the beach, along with that one becomes acclimated to the climate. I golfed with a guy this past Thursday and it was about 90, and he said, “this is what I signed up for by moving here.” We do stay indoors more in the summer, but the payback is the fall, winter, and spring. Especially the winter with highs in the 60s to 70, and not a snowflake in sight.
SHIREHOME, I remember those 95+ days in Denver. With the low humidity it’s very easy to get dehydrated quickly, and the sun at 5000ft will burn easily.
We got dumped on yesterday which is good to get a soak before the July 4 “repel the sky aliens with rocket fire” day. Currently drizzle and 51F.
Some world class trolling by vice president Vance. José Padilla could not make it to my press conference. LOL
“Petty and unserious’: Padilla blasts Vance for calling him ‘Jose Padilla’”
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/21/alex-padilla-jd-vance-fight-00416393
David Foster: those persistent polling results always make me feel like such an outlier, as a white childless woman with a postgraduate degree who nevertheless is both content and a conservative. (Not an atheist, however, nor unmarried.) Well, at least I’m following the curve on the connection between robust mental health and conservative politics!
The US has bombed the Iranian nuclear sites of Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. Trump says mission was successful and all American aircraft are now out of Iranian airspace.
https://www.foxnews.com/live-news/israel-iran-conflict-june-21-2025
To make shift of neo’s earlier post: