Welcome to The Cruelest Day: Tuesday, June 30, 2026, and my sister Susan’s birthday. Happy birthday, Sis! (It’s also my half-birthday as I was born on December 30). Here’s my sibling:
It’s also International Asteroid Day, National Meteor Day, and National Organization for Women Day, founded on this day in 1966 by a group of people. Wikipedia names them:
The National Organization for Women (NOW) was founded in 1966 by 28 women at the Third National Conference of Commissions on the Status of Women in June (the successor to the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women), and another 21 women and men who became founders at the October 1966 NOW Organizing Conference, for a total of 49 founders. Both conferences were held in Washington, D.C.[17] The 28 women who became founders in June were: Ada Allness, Mary Evelyn Benbow, Gene Boyer, Shirley Chisholm, Analoyce Clapp, Kathryn F. Clarenbach, Catherine Conroy, Caroline Davis, Mary Eastwood, Edith Finlayson, Betty Friedan, Dorothy Haener, Anna Roosevelt Halstead, Lorene Harrington, Aileen Hernandez, Mary Lou Hill, Esther Johnson, Nancy Knaak, Min Matheson, Helen Moreland, Pauli Murray, Ruth Murray, Inka O’Hanrahan, Pauline A. Parish, Eve Purvis, Edna Schwartz, Mary-Jane Ryan Snyder, Gretchen Squires, Betty Talkington and Caroline Ware
I have a tee-shirt bearing their symbol:
Click on the Google Doodle below to see the footy scores and upcoming games:
Readers are welcome to mark notable events, births, or deaths on this day by consulting the June 30 Wikipedia page.
Footy news: In the knockout round of 32 yesterday, Brazil beat Japan 2-1, so the South American team goes into the round of 16. This was expected, but Japan came very close. . .
Gabriel Martinelli scored five minutes into stoppage time to seal a 2-1 win for Brazil against Japan in Houston after the five-time FIFA World Cup winners fought back from potential humiliation following Kaishu Sano‘s first-half opening goal. Sano’s 29th minute goal stunned Carlo Ancelotti’s team and raised the prospect of Brazil losing a competitive game against Asian opposition for the first time and leading to one of the World Cup’s biggest-ever shocks. But a Casemiro header on 56 minutes hauled Brazil level and set up a second-half onslaught as the Seleção chased a winning goal. Japan held firm, though, with goalkeeper Zion Suzuki making a series of crucial saves to keep his team on level terms. But Brazil snatched victory and a place in the round of 16 in the final seconds when Arsenal forward Martinelli scored from close range after being released by Bruno Guimarães. Brazil will now face the winners of Tuesday’s tie between Norway and Ivory Coast in New Jersey on Sunday.
Here are the highlights. Japan’s first scoring play is at 3:38 on the tape, and Brazil’s two goals are in plays starting at 8:30 (a header) and 14:00.
President Donald Trump said Monday that Iran had requested a meeting with U.S. counterparts, though one of Iran’s top negotiators said no further talks had been scheduled after attacks across the Persian Gulf over the weekend challenged negotiations to end the war. The U.S. president has tried to preserve a fragile interim deal, but hostilities mounted in recent days in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil had been shipped before war began. After four days of trading strikes, both sides appeared to pause their attacks Monday. Trump said on social media that a meeting with Iran would happen Tuesday in Doha, Qatar. Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, are flying to Qatar for the meeting, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.” But Kazem Gharibabadi, a senior negotiator for Iran, denied any talks had been scheduled. The U.S. and Iran agreed to an interim deal earlier this month that calls for Tehran to dilute its stockpile of enriched uranium. It also waives U.S.-backed sanctions on the country while opening the Strait of Hormuz and giving each side 60 days to hammer out broader agreements. . . . .Pezeshkian offered praise for the interim deal in comments published Monday by the state-run IRNA news agency, calling it “a great victory for the Iranian people.” “Based on the plans made, $6 billion out of the total $12 billion of Iranian resources in Qatar will be released and returned to the country, and necessary follow-ups are being carried out,” he said. He did not elaborate. Pezeshkian, a reformist within Iran’s theocracy, is the highest-ranking official within Iran to reference the release of the funds held by Qatar, a key mediator along with Pakistan in the negotiations. So far, U.S. officials say no frozen Iranian assets have been released. Qatar as well as has not acknowledged any such transfer.
Conflicting word on the negotiations, conflicting word on the release of Iranian assets: who can we believe—Trump or Iran? That’s like asking whether you believe Satan or the Devil?
*By a 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court gave Trump another blow, preventing bim from firing Lisa Cook, the governor of the Federal Reserve. But in a separate decision, it did allow him to fire officials in other government agencies, so on the whole they increased his power (and that of future Presidents).
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected President Trump’s bid to fire Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook with little legal scrutiny. In a second decision, the court gave Trump free rein to fire officials at other independent agencies for any reason. The pair of rulings effectively delivers a split verdict on Trump’s second-term effort to exert maximal control over the executive branch. By a vote of 5-4, the court in the Cook case dealt a stinging blow to Trump’s mission to remake the Fed, which he has repeatedly criticized for not lowering interest rates more aggressively. In a separate case involving the Federal Trade Commission, the court in a 6-3 ruling gave the president broad latitude to oust leaders of regulatory agencies that Congress sought to insulate from political pressure. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote both decisions. The court had repeatedly made clear in recent months that it was poised to expand presidential sway over the agencies that regulate areas like consumer protection, collective bargaining and nuclear reactors. At the same time, some justices had signaled that they believed the Fed was entitled to special protections from political interference. “Under our precedents, Cook was entitled to notice and some opportunity to respond prior to her termination,” Roberts wrote. Accepting Trump’s position “would allow the president to remove a member of the Federal Reserve at any time, for any reason, without any notice before, and without any judicial check after,” the chief justice said. “That would turn for-cause protection into little more than at-will employment.” Roberts was explicit that something larger than Cook’s job was at stake. Allowing a president to fire governors at will would threaten the central bank’s ability to set policy free from political pressure, the core reason Congress made the Fed independent in the first place, he wrote.
Here we see the separation of powers at work in that the judiciary ruled what the executive branch can do. My only question—and I have not read the decisions, is whether appointing heads of agencies must have Congressional approval. I suspect it does not, for in that case the Supreme court would not have given Trump the power to unilaterally name them.
*Our miscreant Democratic candidate for Senator in Maine is polling slightly ahead of Republican Susan Collins. This race has the possibility to “flip” the Senate to majority Democratic.
Senator Susan Collins and Graham Platner are locked in a neck-and-neck Senate contest in Maine, according to a New York Times/Portland Press Herald/Siena poll, as voters weigh a desire for Democratic control of the Senate against Ms. Collins’s record and controversy around Mr. Platner’s past conduct. Mr. Platner leads the race by two percentage points among likely voters, capturing the support of 49 percent, compared to 47 percent for Ms. Collins. It is a slight advantage, but one that is considered too small for polls to measure reliably, and which could easily grow or shrink as campaigning ramps up. An oysterman who has never held elected office, Mr. Platner, 41, rode a populist message to the Democratic nomination despite reports about offensive online posts, a tattoo that resembled a Nazi symbol and his treatment of women. But the poll found that he is failing to attract some voters who otherwise want to see Democrats take power in Washington. Fifty-four percent of voters said they would like to see Democrats control the Senate next year, a notably higher percentage than the percent of respondents who said they supported Mr. Platner. In fact, Ms. Collins, the Republican, is winning 10 percent of voters who prefer Democratic control.
I doubt that I’d vote for Platner; I’d probably write in another Democrat, but fortunately I’m not a Mainer and don’t have to vote. However, for those who say that Collins talks the talk but doesn’t walk the walk (i.e., doesn’t vote with Democrates in the Senate), well, Grok said this when I asked it if Collins ever votes with the Democrats in the Senate:
Yes, frequently on certain issues—more so than nearly any other current Republican senator. Her moderate profile and low party unity scores mean she regularly supports positions favored by Democrats or bipartisan coalitions, especially on appropriations, some social/moderate issues, and procedural or targeted matters. However, she still votes with Republicans on the large majority of high-stakes party-line votes (nominations, core fiscal/tax priorities, etc.).Notable examples of alignment with Democrats or against GOP majorities: Healthcare/ACA: Voted against the “skinny repeal” of the Affordable Care Act in 2017 (one of only three Republicans to do so). She has supported elements of stabilization and opposed some aggressive repeal efforts, though she backed the 2017 tax bill that repealed the individual mandate. Guns: Supported the 2013 Manchin-Toomey amendment to expand background checks (bipartisan but failed). Student loans/education: Backed some Democratic-backed refinancing proposals. Impeachment and Trump opposition: Voted to convict Trump in the second impeachment (Jan. 6-related). She has opposed certain Trump administration spending priorities and some judicial or policy moves in both terms. Other cross-aisle work: Frequent collaboration on appropriations bills, disaster relief, and targeted legislation (e.g., HAVANA Act, electoral count reform). She has cosponsored or supported bills with Democrats on health, education, and infrastructure-related matters. Recent examples: Occasional breaks on spending, foreign policy (e.g., Iran-related), and specific nominations or amendments where she sided with Democrats. On many close or party-line votes, especially judicial confirmations and major conservative priorities, she aligns with Republicans. Critics on the left argue her breaks are often symbolic or on votes where her side already has the numbers; critics on the right say she is insufficiently conservative.
*This is a horrible story: two parents in Michigan have been charged with murder after their morbidly obsese, autistic, 7-year-old son died.
A Michigan couple have been charged with murder, child abuse and torture in connection with the death last year of their 7-year-old son, who at the time weighed 255 pounds, according to court filings. The boy, Casper O’Brien, died on Nov. 4, 2025, after the authorities responded to a 911 call earlier that day that he was not breathing at the Flint Township home he shared with his parents, Damien and Jessica O’Brien, according to the authorities. An autopsy report from the Genesee County medical examiner concluded that Casper had died of dilated cardiomyopathy — an enlarged and weakened heart — brought on by morbid obesity. Casper was bedridden at the time of his death, and subsisted on little more than snack foods, the Genesee County prosecutor, David S. Leyton, said in an interview on Saturday. The child was not enrolled in school and received little to no medical care despite having a history of nonverbal autism, according to prosecutors and the autopsy report from the medical examiner, John Bechinski. “This was a sad and horrific case involving the wanton and willful neglect by two parents for the care, welfare and medical needs of their son,” Mr. Leyton said in an emailed statement. “Their neglect led to their child suffering severe bed sores, various rashes and other physical health disorders.” Prosecutors charged the parents with second-degree murder and three counts of second-degree child abuse. They were also charged with torture. If convicted of the murder and torture charges, they face the possibility of life in prison. In a statement, Mr. O’Brien’s lawyer, Elias Fanous, said that it would be “premature to comment on the allegations and charges that Mr. O’Brien is facing.” “As in all criminal matters, Mr. O’Brien is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law,” Mr. Fanous said.
Yes, the “presumed innocent” trope, which is true, is what defense attorneys always say when they don’t have a good case. In fact, how did a 7-year-old get to weigh 255 pounds and get no medical care unless his parents neglected him? I’d like to see what tactics the defense uses if the parents plead “not guilty”. It’s this kind of thing that further erodes my faith in humanity; how could somebody act like that, especially knowing that they’d get caught?
*From Williams; a short video about European young folk’s ignorance of the Holocaust. It’s appalling.
*And to palliate that, here’s an astronomy fact you probably didn’t know: there are some huge planets whose density is less than that of cotton candy.
Astronomers have uncovered a pair of giant planets that are lighter than cotton candy — super-puffs the size of Jupiter. The featherweight pair — orbiting a star 1,110 light-years away — are the biggest exoplanets found to have less density than cotton candy. That makes them the lightest known planets of their size, said the University of Oxford’s George Dransfield. “These two planets have densities comparable to a nice blob of shaving foam, fresh from the can,” Dransfield said in an email. She and her team reported their findings Wednesday in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Dransfield suspects these fluffy, wispy worlds are probably white or blue, depending on whether the skies there are cloudy — no shades of cotton-candy pink. The planets are probably mostly hydrogen and helium, although it will take follow-up observations by NASA’s Webb Space Telescope to confirm their chemical makeup. Detected by NASA’s Tess satellite over the past decade, these two especially puffy-puffs orbit a star in the southern constellation Volans, known as the flying fish. The researchers studied the planets’ orbits using telescopes on Earth to determine their density, from 1,110 light-years away. A light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles (9.7 trillion kilometers).
Grok looked up the density of cotton candy for me and then calculated how much Jupiter would weigh if it were made of cotton candy, compared to what astronomers think it weighs now:
- Real Jupiter: ~1.898 × 10²⁷ kg (~318 Earth masses)
- Cotton-candy Jupiter: ~7.155 × 10²⁵ kg (~12 Earth masses)
- The real Jupiter is about 26.5 times more massive than the cotton-candy version.
- The cotton-candy version would have only about 3.8% of Jupiter’s actual mass.
Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, the editor is not doing her job:
Hili: You were supposed to go shopping, but instead you’re back at the computer again.
Andrzej: I just have to check something real quick.
Hili: Miałeś pojechać na zakupy, a tymczasem znowu siadasz do komputera.
Ja: Muszę szybko coś sprawdzić.
Another great medieval letter from TherionArms:
From Cats Doing Cat Stuff:
Masih is peeved at Trump for the stupid Iran ceasefire deal. This is linked to Masih’s interview with Jake Tapper.
🎙️ Full interview: https://t.co/AqmfZTGeqs — Masih Alinejad (@AlinejadMasih) June 29, 2026
From Luana, who think that Mamdani’s proposed rent controls in NYC will be counterproductive, leaving rent-controlled apartments purchased by rich people largely vacant:
I haven’t studied it in detail, but from what I have seen, the natural experiment that Buenos Aires ran over the past six years seems like yet more clear evidence that rent control limits supply and (ironically) raises rents. pic.twitter.com/CAWAdUFY85 — M. Nolan Gray 🥑 (@mnolangray) June 27, 2026
This is funny, but Rowling should know that jumping spiders are totally harmless. They should be coddled and appreciated.
What kind of maniac lists ‘often watches before it jumps’ as a mitigating circumstance? You think I find it cute that it might be peering at me from a dark hole, calculating the best moment to make its big entrance? pic.twitter.com/Bi8lbfG0hG — J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 28, 2026
One from my feed, a lovely rescue story (my favorite type). Be sure to read the whole tweet.
A baby elephant named Ellie was discovered alone in the wild in South Africa, having been rejected by his herd due to a severe umbilical abscess and hernia. Ellie remained lethargic and deeply depressed, showing no will to live. Recognizing that elephants are intensely social… pic.twitter.com/druq8eWDel — Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) June 29, 2026
One I reposted fro The Auschwitz Memorial:
This Belgian Jewish girl was gassed to death as soon as she arrived in Auschwitz. She was 13 years old. https://t.co/Owcs4Rg6TB — Jerry Coyne (@Evolutionistrue) June 30, 2026
And two from Doctor Cobb. He assures us that the snail below is “not plastic or AI”:
A cute, not-so-little snail face for your feed: meet the Red Giant (Indrella ampulla), a stunning species native to the Western Ghats of India. — iNaturalist (@inaturalist.bsky.social) 2026-06-29T15:07:15.068Z
A mosaic and a fish in the submerged part of the ancient Roman town of Baiae:
For #MosaicMonday this fantastic photo of a mosaic (and a lovely fish 🐟) that was discovered in the submerged ruins of #Roman Baiae.📷 Parco Archeologico Campi Flegrei — Nina Willburger (@drnwillburger.bsky.social) 2026-06-29T08:22:07.131Z
Source: Whyevolutionistrue.com
