Jeremy T. Ringfield's Blog, page 96

Mike Dunleavy sizes up OKC Thunder, explains draft philosophy as Warriors enter NBA offseason

SAN FRANCISCO – Mike Dunleavy, while in the thick of his third offseason as the Warriors’ general manager, carefully watched Oklahoma City defeat Indiana in a classic seven-game championship series on Sunday. 

The stars who hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy that Dunleavy’s Warriors are pursuing were fresh-faced, with 26-year-old Shai Gilgeous-Alexander flanked by Jalen Williams (24), Chet Holmgren (23) and a host of other Gen Z players.

Meanwhile, the Warriors are set to bring back the decorated but concretely millennial trio of Steph Curry (37), Jimmy Butler (35) and Draymond Green (35).

At a press conference on Monday at Chase Center, Dunleavy said that finding a way for his aging team of late-30 somethings to compete with OKC’s youthful roster of newly-crowned champs is a top priority, and that he is confident his team’s grizzled core can do just that.

“I think you’ve got to run your own race,” Dunleavy said. “In our case we’ve got three players in their 30s that are really good, and that’s the hand we’re playing.”

While OKC has become a juggernaut, Dunleavy said history shows that it’s not easy to stay at the top. 

“They’ll be the team that we’ve got to knock off for sure,” Dunleavy said. “The good news is, though, there’s been an incredible amount of parity the last six, seven years, multiple different champions, multiple different finalists.”

With the NBA Draft starting on Wednesday, a decision yet to be made on the enigmatic Jonathan Kuminga and a salary cap to be navigated, the Warriors will have several chances to make moves. 

Golden State Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy leaves a press conference after addressing the media at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, June 23, 2025. The NBA draft will be on Wednesday. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

Barring a trade back into the first round, they won’t have a pick until Round 2 (No. 41 overall) on Thursday night.

Though second-round picks are often considered afterthoughts, Dunleavy said his team will not approach Thursday with that mindset.

The Warriors have scooped up rotation front-court players Quinten Post and Trayce Jackson-Davis in each of the past two second rounds, and Green was the 35th pick in 2012.

That said, Dunleavy made it clear that finding an immediate contributor late in the draft is still a long shot. 

“I also think you have to be mindful just in general when you’re picking in the second round and the later you go, you’re almost just trying to pick somebody that’s going to make it, so you have to be a little careful about being too particular,” Dunleavy said.

The Thunder were not the only team that caught Dunleavy’s eye over the past week. He watched other teams orchestrate headline-making trades.

The Grizzlies shipped high-scoring wing Desmond Bane to Orlando for two starting guards and four first-round draft picks, and Houston sent Warriors nemesis Dillon Brooks and NorCal native Jalen Green, plus a lottery pick, for Kevin Durant. 

Is there pressure for Golden State to make a similar blockbuster? Not necessarily.

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“It’s just almost impossible for us to add players in the salary range of guys we were looking at last summer since we’ve added Jimmy,” Dunleavy said. “That would be the only limiter. But in terms of finding talent, improving this team, we’re going to look under every rock to try and do that.”

There is no arguing that the Warriors proved that their current core can be formidable. They were one of the NBA’s hottest teams after the Butler trade and eliminated second-seeded Houston in seven games before falling 4-1 to Minnesota after Steph Curry was lost to a hamstring injury in Game 1.

Pushing past the second round will hinge on building a stronger supporting cast around Curry and the other veterans, and that will start with the draft. 

“I feel really good about our roster,” Dunleavy said. “If you look at guys 10 to 14, 10 to 15, that’s part of having depth. I think we can get better in the middle. I think we can get better and add some depth there, and then we’re really talking.”

Monterey Peninsula Unified chosen for early education grant

MONTEREY — Only 30 organizations throughout California were selected as recipients of a grant targeting early math and science education. Monterey Peninsula Unified School District is one of them.

The $350,000 Count Play Explore Professional Learning and Coaching Grant will provide districts with funding to deepen early mathematics and science education, what are considered to be foundational areas for early childhood. The grant will run through December 2027.

“Count Play Explore is more than a grant,” said Cresta McIntosh, associate superintendent of educational services, in a news release. “It’s a statewide movement to strengthen California’s early education systems through collaborative learning, coaching and shared innovation. MPUSD is honored to be a part of this impactful work.”

The grant is administered by the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools. Monterey Peninsula Unified was chosen from a pool of 185 applicants. The grant award was first distributed in April. Additional disbursements will be every July for the next three years.

The local educational agencies (including districts, charter schools and county offices of education) chosen for the grant are dedicated to providing “professional development, coaching and technical assistance to the early care and education workforce,” according to the release.

“Early childhood education lays the groundwork for lifelong learning,” said McIntosh. “Being selected for the Count Play Explore Cohort underscores MPUSD’s commitment to high-quality early learning and our efforts to equip educators with the tools and training needed to spark curiosity, problem-solving and critical thinking in our youngest students.”

The grant offers support for preschool through third grade classrooms to integrate STEM into lesson plans as well as a way to involve the community in their kids’ education. Monterey Peninsula Unified will focus on deepening early learning coaches and facilitators’ expertise and training in STEM subjects as well as leveraging community resources to support in-class and at-home learning.

The focus on early childhood is strategic, since math and science tend to be the biggest struggles for students, according to Tia Robinson, coordinator of elementary and early childhood education.

“We all know math is a hard subject for most people and science is too,” said Robinson, “so we just want to expose them as early as possible, so that they’re successful throughout their educational career.”

A group of educators participating in the grant attended a week-long professional development session in Fresno recently to learn how to implement new STEM-related activities in their communities.

Monterey Peninsula Unified educators left the training with ideas for hosting STEM nights and workshops for families that will show them activities they can do at home with their students. Schools will also provide materials and support for families to be able to continue learning at home, according to Robinson.

“We’re trying to leverage our community resources and just implement and plan to support our earliest learners,” said Robinson. “We just want to expose them as early as possible to math, science, art (and) computer science, and this grant gives a lot of strategies and a lot of tools to work on those areas.”

FORTAG through Del Rey Oaks transforming streets, parks

DEL REY OAKS – The project bringing the first segment of the Fort Ord Regional Trail and Greenway to life in Del Rey Oaks is currently focusing on Carlton Drive’s transformation as well as changes to two parks.

The 1.5-mile Canyon Del Rey segment runs from the intersection of North Fremont and Canyon Del Rey boulevards in Del Rey Oaks through Work Memorial and Del Rey parks, under Highway 218 — via a new roadway bridge constructed to carry vehicles using the highway — and into the corner of the Frog Pond Wetland Preserve, back up to Highway 218 at Carlton Drive and on to Plumas Avenue, where it ends at Del Rey Woods Elementary School in Seaside.

The newly-built bridge on Highway 218 — Canyon Del Rey Boulevard — will enable hikers, cyclists and pedestrians to move freely under the highway through a 10.5-foot-high passageway connecting the parks to the preserve.

This week, work on the FORTAG trail will include excavating, laying and backfilling conduit for trail lighting in Work Memorial Park Area, continued forming, installing rebar, pouring concrete, removing forms and backfilling for sidewalks, curb ramps, stamped concrete, retaining walls and seat walls along Carlton Drive, and continued forming, installing rebar, pouring concrete and removing forms for curb ramps in the Del Rey Park area.

Carlton Drive is closed between Highway 218 and Work Avenue through mid-October. Emergency vehicles and residents of the south end of Carlton Drive will have access to their residences via Quendale Avenue or Highland Street.

Access to Work Memorial Park, the Butterfly Garden and tennis courts will be restricted during construction. The Frog Pond Wetland Preserve is closed for the remainder of stage one construction and is expected to reopen in October.

Construction of the Canyon Del Rey segment of the FORTAG project is being done in phases and different areas of the project will be affected at different times. As the project moves forward, residents and businesses will be provided additional notifications in advance of work that restricts driveway access. Construction is expected to last through August 2026.

Work hours are 7 a.m.-7 p.m., Monday through Friday. The contractor’s plan is to limit the majority of work between 7 a.m.-5 p.m. When needed, night work hours are from 9 p.m.-6 a.m., Sunday through Thursday, unless authorized for specific operations with advance notice.

The Transportation Agency for Monterey County, the lead agency on the project, is working with Caltrans District 5, the cities of Del Rey Oaks and Seaside and the Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District to complete the project.

The Fort Ord Regional Trail and Greenway is proposed as an approximately 28-mile continuous 12-foot-wide paved bicycle and pedestrian trail with an open-space buffer on both sides. FORTAG will connect to the existing Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail and will provide connections to unpaved trails in the Fort Ord National Monument.

The northern loop of FORTAG encircles Marina, following a 13-mile route that includes three miles of the existing Coastal Rec Trail. The southern loop of FORTAG encircles Seaside and bisects Del Rey Oaks, following a 15-mile route that includes 4 miles of the existing coastal trail system. The route includes spurs connecting with existing and planned bike/pedestrian infrastructure.

Several sections of the paved trail will link to nearby unpaved trails.

For information about the FORTAG project or to sign up for updates, visit https://www.tamcmonterey.org/fort-ord-regional-trail-greenway-canyon-del-rey or email 79829@publicinput.com.

Supreme Court allows Trump to restart swift deportation of migrants away from their home countries

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST

WASHINGTON (AP) — A divided Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to restart swift removals of migrants to countries other than their homelands, lifting for now a court order requiring they get a chance to challenge the deportations.

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The high court majority did not detail its reasoning in the brief order, as is typical on its emergency docket. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by the other two liberal justices, issued a scathing dissent.

Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin suggested third-country deportations could restart soon. “Fire up the deportation planes,” she said in a statement, calling the decision “a victory for the safety and security of the American people.”

The court action came after immigration officials put eight people on a plane to South Sudan, though they later diverted to an American naval base in Djibouti after a judge stepped in.

The migrants from countries including Myanmar, Vietnam and Cuba had been convicted of serious crimes in the U.S., and immigration officials have said they were unable to return them quickly to their home countries.

Their attorneys continued to press for a court order blocking their removal to South Sudan until they have a chance to talk with lawyers and raise concerns of “imprisonment, torture and even death there,” attorney Trina Realmuto, executive director of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, wrote.

The case comes amid a sweeping immigration crackdown by Republican President Donald Trump’s administration, which has pledged to deport millions of people who are living in the United States illegally.

“The Constitution and Congress have vested authority in the President to enforce immigration laws and remove dangerous aliens from the homeland,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said. The Supreme Court’s action “reaffirms the President’s authority to remove criminal illegal aliens from our country and Make America Safe Again.”

In her 19-page dissent, Sotomayor wrote that the court’s action exposes “thousands to the risk of torture or death” and gives the Trump administration a win despite earlier violating the lower court’s order.

“The government has made clear in word and deed that it feels itself unconstrained by law, free to deport anyone anywhere without notice or an opportunity to be heard,” she wrote in the dissent, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

South Sudan, the world’s newest and one of its poorest countries, has endured repeated waves of violence since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, and escalating political tensions in the African nation have threatened to devolve into another civil war.

The Justice Department said in court documents that the government is weighing the order to decide its next steps.

The Supreme Court action halts an order from U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy in Boston, who decided in April that people must get a chance to argue deportation to a third country would put them in danger — even if they have otherwise exhausted their legal appeals.

He found that the May deportations to South Sudan violated his order and told immigration authorities to allow people to raise those concerns through their lawyers. Immigration officials housed the migrants in a converted shipping container in Djibouti, where they and the officers guarding them faced rough conditions.

The administration has reached agreements with other countries, including Panama and Costa Rica, to house immigrants because some countries do not accept their citizens deported from the U.S. The migrants sent to South Sudan in May got less than 16 hours’ notice, Sotomayor wrote.

Murphy, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden, didn’t prohibit deportations to third countries. But he found migrants must have a real chance to argue they could be in serious danger of torture if sent to another country.

Another order in the same case resulted in the Trump administration returning a gay Guatemalan man who had been wrongly deported to Mexico, where he says he had been raped and extorted — the first person known to have been returned to U.S. custody after deportation since the start of Trump’s second term.

The justices confronted a similar issue in Trump’s effort to send Venezuelans accused of being gang members to a notorious prison in El Salvador with little chance to challenge the deportations in court.

But in that case, the justices put the brakes on deportations under an 18th century wartime law, saying migrants must get a “reasonable time” to file a court challenge before being removed.

The conservative-majority court has sided with Trump in other immigration cases, however, clearing the way for his administration to end temporary legal protections affecting a total of nearly a million immigrants.

Those victories are among several recent wins the Trump administration has recently racked up before the conservative-majority court as it pushes to move ahead with the president’s sweeping agenda on issues ranging from a ban on transgender troops in the military to the dramatic downsizing of the federal government.

Prunedale man allegedly makes false 911 call about an officer being shot

A Prunedale man was arrested last week for allegedly making a false 911 call about a police officer being shot.

Cesar Antonio Zuniga Espinoza, 25, from Prunedale was arrested at a gas station on the 8600-block of Prunedale North Road with the phone deputies say was used to call 911.

According to the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were dispatched around 1:30 p.m. on Friday to the Prunetree Shopping Center on the 17500-block of Vierra Canyon Road. The caller reported seeing an officer get shot during a fight with another person.

Multiple agencies responded, including the Sheriff’s Office, California Highway Patrol and California State Parks. Law enforcement on the scene searched the area, but couldn’t find any victims. They also confirmed that all deputies and officers were accounted for and uninjured.

According to deputies, around the same time they got a call about a family fight on the 17000-block of Highway 156. One of the family members involved in the quarrel reportedly left on foot.

Less than an hour later, deputies found Espinoza at the gas station, and found that he also had multiple outstanding misdemeanor warrants with a total bail of $10,000. Espinoza was booked into the Monterey County Jail for reporting a false emergency, making a false police report and his other outstanding warrants.

Some candidates focus on blocking Cuomo’s path a day before NYC’s mayoral primary

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Their chances of becoming the next mayor of New York City may have dimmed. Their mission now? Stopping former Gov. Andrew Cuomo from getting to City Hall.

In the final day of campaigning before the city’s Democratic primary, candidates who are seen as long shots to win the nomination were urging voters to leave Cuomo off their ballots in the city’s ranked choice election in a last-ditch effort to block the former governor’s comeback from a sexual harassment scandal.

“Let’s make sure Andrew Cuomo gets nowhere near City Hall,” candidate and city Comptroller Brad Lander said Monday on WNYC radio, which interviewed the major candidates ahead of the election.

State Sen. Zellnor Myrie, another candidate, similarly asked voters to not vote for Cuomo, telling the station, “We need fresh leadership, we need to turn the page and we need bold solutions at this moment.”

The pitches came as Cuomo, who has been considered the frontrunner for months, has also been trying to fend off a charge from Zohran Mamdani.

FILE – Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani talks to people after the New York City Democratic Mayoral Primary Debate at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in the Gerald W. Lynch Theater on Thursday, June 12, 2025 in New York City. (Vincent Alban/The New York Times via AP, Pool, file)

Mamdani, a 33-year-old state assemblyman, would be the city’s first Muslim and first Indian-American mayor if elected. A democratic socialist who got elected to the Legislature in 2020, Mamdani started the campaign as a relative unknown but has won support with a energetic campaign centered on improving the cost of living.

The assault on Cuomo from fellow members of the Democratic field comes as he has continued to rack up establishment endorsements. Former President Bill Clinton endorsed Cuomo on Sunday, saying voters should not “underestimate the complexity” for the challenges faced by a mayor. The New York Times didn’t issue an endorsement this year, but wrote an editorial praising Lander and saying Cuomo would be a better choice than Mamdani, who it said was unworthy of being on people’s ballots.

Cuomo and Mamdani have ratcheted up attacks on each other in the campaign’s final days.

“He’s about public relations,” Cuomo said of Mamdani, dismissing his opponent as too focused on looking great on social media, and not skilled enough as an executive to run the city.

Mamdani, meanwhile, exuded confidence, telling WNYC he is “one day from toppling a political dynasty.”

“New Yorkers are done with the cynical politics of the past. They want a future they can afford,” said Mamdani, who was endorsed by U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.

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In a way, Mamdani and Cuomo represent the Democratic Party’s ideological divides, with Cuomo as an older moderate and Mamdani a younger progressive.

Their reactions to the American bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites on Sunday offered more evidence of the party’s internal split.

Cuomo, in a statement, criticized “the way Trump went about this without consulting Congress, without consulting the normal congressional officials” but stressed that “Iran cannot have nuclear capability.”

Mamdani released a statement that slammed Trump but quickly shifted focus back to his key issues, saying “these actions are the result of a political establishment that would rather spend trillions of dollars on weapons than lift millions out of poverty, launch endless wars while silencing calls for peace, and fearmonger about outsiders while billionaires hollow out our democracy from within.”

Cuomo, who won three terms as governor, resigned in 2021 after a report from the state attorney general concluded that he sexually harassed 11 women. He has denied wrongdoing.

New York City is using ranked choice voting in its Democratic mayoral primary election Tuesday, a system that allows voters to rank up to five candidates in order of preference. If one candidate is the first choice of a majority of voters, that person wins the race outright. If nobody hits that threshold, the votes are then tabulated in multiple rounds. After each round, the candidate in last place is eliminated. Votes cast for that person are then redistributed to the candidates ranked next on the voter’s ballot.

That continues until one candidate gets a majority.

Cuomo’s opponents have urged voters not to rank him at all and therefore deprive him of support in later rounds of counting.

“You do not have to go back to the name of Andrew Cuomo,” said Michael Blake, a former state lawmaker running in the primary. He told voters on WNYC that it was time to move on from the former governor.

Eleven candidates are on the ballot in the Democratic mayoral primary. Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams isn’t one of them. He’s a Democrat but is running as an independent. The Republican Party has already picked its nominee, Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa.

SF Giants option Fitzgerald to Triple-A Sacramento, activate Verlander from paternity list

The Giants have sent Opening Day second baseman Tyler Fitzgerald to Triple-A in hopes of a reset for the slumping 27-year-old infielder.

The team announced Monday afternoon that veteran Justin Verlander was coming off the paternity list to take Fitzgerald’s spot on the roster. They optioned Fitzgerald to Triple-A Sacramento following Sunday’s 9-5 win over the Boston Red Sox.

Verlander will make his next scheduled start on Tuesday.

Fitzgerald appeared in 57 games this season and was the Giants’ starter at second for 25 of their 31 games before suffering a left rib fracture while diving for a ball in a game against the Texas Rangers in late April. Since returning from the injured list in mid-May, Fitzgerald had a slash line of .186/.245/.227 over 32 games with no home runs and 33 strikeouts.

Fitzgerald had acclimated well defensively to second base (eight defensive runs saved), but he had been 65 percent worse than a league average hitter (by wRC+) since coming back from a left rib fracture.

The hope for San Francisco is that Fitzgerald’s stint with Sacramento allows him to find his groove and re-gain the form he exhibited last season.

Fitzgerald was one of the team’s few bright spots last season, emerging to hit 15 home runs with 17 steals over 96 games. Along with the overall numbers, Fitzgerald had a stretch where he was one of the best hitters in baseball. From July 20 to August 5th, Fitzgerald hit 10 home runs with a 1.352 OPS, becoming the first Giant to homer in five straight games since Barry Bonds in 2004.

That combination of power and speed has been absent from Fitzgerald’s game this year. Overall, he is hitting .230/.289/.320 with two homers and nine steals.

In the short-term, the Giants’ second base options are Christian Koss and Brett Wisely. Once third baseman Matt Chapman returns from injury, Casey Schmitt appears set to take over as San Francisco’s starting second baseman.

Schmitt, 26, has played exceptionally well since taking over for Chapman. Over 12 games, Schmitt is hitting .415/.478/.732 with four homers runs and 12 RBIs while playing above-average defense. He’s continued to remain productive even after suffering a left ankle contusion after fouling a ball off himself on the day that the Giants acquired Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox.

San Francisco hasn’t gotten much out of its second basemen this season. Entering Monday, the Giants’ second basemen have accumulated -0.3 WAR with a .570 OPS, which ranks 27th in the league. When Chapman returns, Schmitt stands to help the Giants get more out of that position.

“He’s playing great. I think he’s really coming into his own,” said outfielder Mike Yastrzemski on Sunday. “I think he needed a little bit of maybe pressure applied to him in terms of a little extra motivation. Sometimes, when you get your back pushed against the wall, you come out swinging. That’s what he’s done.

“I don’t think he’s tried to fill Chappy’s role, and I don’t think anyone has expected him to. … He’s played through some stuff. He fouled those balls off his shin. He wasn’t feeling great. He’s been really gritty and he’s taken some really good at-bats. So, it’s been huge to have that production from him, and to see him with that confidence is awesome.”

As Trump floats regime change in Iran, past US attempts to remake the Middle East may offer warnings

By JOSEPH KRAUSS and WILL WEISSERT, Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — As President Donald Trump floats the idea of “regime change” in Tehran, previous U.S. attempts to remake the Middle East by force over the decades offer stark warnings about the possibility of a deepening involvement in the Iran-Israeli conflict.

“If the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn’t there be a Regime change???” Trump posted on his social media site over the weekend. The came after the U.S. bombed Iran’s nuclear sites but before that country retaliated by firing its own missiles at a U.S. base in Qatar.

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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday insisted that Trump, who spent years railing against “forever wars” and pushing an “America first” world view, had not committed a political about-face.

“The president’s posture and our military posture has not changed,” she said, suggesting that a more aggressive approach might be necessary if Iran ”refuses to give up their nuclear program or engage in talks.”

Leavitt also suggested that a new government in Iran could come about after its people stage a revolt — not necessarily requiring direct U.S. intervention.

“If they refuse to engage in diplomacy moving forward, why shouldn’t the Iranian people rise up,” she asked.

That’s a perilous path that other U.S. administrations have taken. And it’s a long way from Trump’s past dismissal of “stupid, endless wars,” and his scoffing at the idea of nation-building championed by his Republican predecessors — including in Afghanistan and Iraq, where the U.S. helped overthrow governments.

Some lessons learned from previous conflicts:

Initial success is often fleeting

U.S. special forces and Afghan allies drove the Taliban from power and chased Osama bin Laden into Pakistan within months of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. American tanks rolled into Baghdad weeks after the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

But then, both wars went on for years.

FILE – A U.S. Army tank is parked outside the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad on May 6, 2003. (AP Photo/Murad Sezer, File)

The Taliban waged a tenacious, two-decade insurgency and swept back into power as the U.S. beat a chaotic retreat in 2021. The overthrow of Saddam plunged Iraq into chaos, with Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias battling each other and U.S. forces.

Israel has so far largely succeeded in taking out Iran’s air defenses and ballistic missiles and the U.S. strikes on three sites with missiles and 30,000-pound (13,600-kilogram) bunker-buster bombs has wrecked its nuclear program, Trump says. But that still potentially leaves hundreds of thousands in the military, the Revolutionary Guard and forces known as the Basij, who played a key role in quashing waves of anti-government protests in recent years.

Ground forces are key — but don’t guarantee success

Airstrikes have never been enough on their own.

Take, for example, Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi. His forces withstood a seven-month NATO air campaign in 2011 before rebels fighting city by city eventually cornered and killed him.

There are currently no insurgent groups in Iran capable of taking on the Revolutionary Guard, and it’s hard to imagine Israeli or U.S. forces launching a ground invasion of a mountainous country of some 80 million people that is about four times as big as Iraq.

FILE – A member of Iran’s Basij paramilitary force flashes a victory sign during a military parade outside of Tehran, Iran, on Sept. 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

A split in Iran’s own security forces would furnish a ready-made insurgency, but it would also likely tip the country into civil war.

There’s also the question of how ordinary Iranians would respond.

Protests in recent years show that many Iranians believe their government is corrupt and repressive, and would welcome its demise. But the last time a foreign power attacked Iran — the Iraqi invasion of 1980 — people rallied around the flag.

At the moment, many appear to be lying low or leaving the capital.

Be wary of exiled opposition groups

Some of the biggest cheerleaders for the U.S. invasion of Iraq were exiled opposition figures, many of whom had left the country decades before. When they returned, essentially on the back of U.S. tanks, they were marginalized by local armed groups more loyal to Iran.

There are several large Iranian opposition groups based abroad. But they are not united and it’s unclear how much support any of them has inside the country.

FILE – Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s toppled Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, holds a news conference in Paris on June 7, 2006. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon, File)

The closest thing to a unifying opposition figure is Reza Pahlavi, the son of the shah who was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution that brought the theocracy to power. But many Iranians have bitter memories of repression under the shah, and others might reject Pahlavi over his outreach to Israel, especially if he tries to ride to power on the back of a foreign invasion.

Chaos is practically guaranteed

In Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya — and in Syria and Yemen after their 2011 uprisings — a familiar pattern emerged when governments were overthrown or seriously weakened.

FILE – Hundreds of people desperate to escape Afghanistan run alongside a U.S. Air Force plane as it moves down a runway of the international airport in Kabul, Monday, Aug.16. 2021. (AP Photo, File)

Armed groups emerged with competing agendas. Neighboring countries backed local proxies. Weapons flowed in and large numbers of civilians fled. The fighting in some places boiled over into full-blown civil war, and ever more violent extremist groups sprouted from the chaos.

When it was all over, Saddam had been replaced by a corrupt and often dysfunctional government at least as friendly to Iran as it was to the United States. Gadhafi was replaced by myriad militias, many allied with foreign powers. The Taliban were replaced by the Taliban.

Weissert reported from Washington.

Following Rafael Devers trade, how does SF Giants’ rotation depth look going forward?

SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants are a better team with three-time All-Star Rafael Devers than without him. Their offense was a weakness, so they dipped into a strength — their pitching — to acquire one of baseball’s best bats. Now, Buster Posey and San Francisco’s brass has a different question to answer:

After sending Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks to the Boston Red Sox, how does their rotation shake out for the rest of the season?

The Giants’ rotation has been one of baseball’s best up to this point. Through Sunday, that unit — currently featuring Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, Justin Verlander, Landen Roupp and Hayden Birdsong — ranked fifth in WAR. Webb is on his way to a second All-Star appearance, Ray has been fantastic in his first season post-Tommy John surgery and Roupp quietly has a 2.74 ERA since May.

San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Ray Robbie (38) throws against the Cleveland Guardians in the fourth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

But without Harrison and Hicks, the Giants have significantly less major-league quality rotation depth. The Giants demoted Hicks to the bullpen in favor of Birdsong (3.99 ERA over six starts) but he was at least capable of a spot start if needed. San Francisco has already had eight different pitchers start a game this year, and it’s very unlikely they can rely on their current quintet to account for every start until October.

The Giants do have plenty of arms waiting in the wings at Triple-A Sacramento, a list that includes Keaton Winn, Mason Black, Trevor McDonald and the trio of Carsons: Carson Ragsdale, Carson Seymour and Carson Whisenhunt.

That said, this group collectively has very little experience starting in the majors.

Winn’s 17 starts in the majors are the most of the bunch, but he hasn’t pitched since April 15 due to a shoulder injury. Black had a 6.44 ERA over nine games (eight starts) last season with the Giants and has 4.57 ERA over 14 appearances with Sacramento this season. McDonald pitched only three innings last year for the Giants; none of the Carsons have pitched in the majors.

Keaton Winn #67 of the San Francisco Giants pitches against the Texas Rangers during the first inning at Globe Life Field on June 9, 2024 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)

Whisenhunt, the Giants’ top pitching prospect, stands out as an option to start at some point for the Giants this season. The 24-year-old left-hander pitched well to begin the season, posting a 3.00 ERA over his first nine starts and twice winning PCL Pitcher of the Week, but he has a 6.11 ERA over his last five starts.

The Giants’ bullpen also currently features Joey Lucchesi, who has made 77 major-league starts in his career, but the left-hander has exclusively pitched as a reliever with both Sacramento and San Francisco this season. Lucchesi could provide a multi-inning spot start in a pinch, but he hasn’t pitched more than two innings in a single outing this season.

For the Giants, it’s when — not if — they’ll have to use another starter. While Webb is on pace for another 200-inning season, San Francisco will have to manage the workloads of other arms.

Roupp, 26, threw 76 2/3 total innings last season between the majors and minors. Following six scoreless frames on Saturday, Roupp is up to 76 innings this year. As a professional, the most that Roupp has thrown in a single year is 107 1/3 innings in ’22.

San Francisco Giants pitcher Landen Roupp (65) pitches against the Sacramento River Cats in the third inning of their exhibition game at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, Calif., on Sunday, March 23, 2025. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

“I’m not worried about it at all. I’m just going to go out there and keep competing,” Roupp said. “Like I said during spring training, I want to start and I feel better when I’m starting. When we get to that point, it’s kind of their decision and we’ll talk about that, but we haven’t talked about anything like that so far.”

Added manager Bob Melvin: “I think still here in the first half, we’ll kind of let it play out a little bit and see how it goes. If we see at some point where the velo is coming down or the stuff’s not as good, but I don’t think we’re there yet.”

Ray is in a different position than Roupp, but San Francisco will have to be cognizant of his innings as well.

The 33-year-old left-hander is in the midst of his first full season since 2022 after undergoing Tommy John surgery in ‘23. He threw 30 2/3 innings last year upon returning and is already up to 92 1/3 innings this season.

The Giants can handle Ray differently than Roupp since the veteran lefty has thrown a high volume of innings in the past. Ray averaged about 163 innings per year from 2015-22, excluding the COVID-19 impacted 2020 season. Still, San Francisco should be mindful given the spike between last year to this year.

“It’s not really something we’ve talked about,” Ray said. “I think it’s going to be predicated on how I feel. They’ll kind of give me a little more leeway than they would somebody else just being over 10 years in baseball.

“There will probably be conversations at some point. We’ve already talked about some games where I don’t reach the 100-pitch plateau or don’t go over it — just trying to limit it that way.”

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There’s also the matter of Verlander, the oldest active player in baseball. The 42-year-old just missed a month due to right pectoral soreness and threw a career-low 90 1/3 frames last year. How many innings can the Giants depend on Verlander to throw?

Birdsong is a ways away from matching last year’s inning total. The 23-year-old right-hander is only at 52 2/3 innings after beginning the year in the bullpen and likely won’t match last year’s output of 129 1/3 total innings until deep into the season.

The Giants have already swung the big trade to sign Devers, but do they potentially swing a smaller one to add major-league rotation depth? Perhaps look for some waiver candidates? Or, do they roll the dice with their litany of in-house options?

Horoscopes June 23, 2025: Melissa Rauch, set boundaries and budgets this year

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Melissa Rauch, 45; Jason Mraz, 48; Frances McDormand, 68; Randy Jackson, 69.

Happy Birthday: Set boundaries and budgets this year and stick to them. Avoid dealing with authority figures or letting your emotions filter into business affairs. Only by changing what’s affordable will you lower your overhead and ease your stress. You have plenty to gain if you abide by the rules and are true to yourself. Investing your time and talents into personal growth and improvement will pay off. Your numbers are 4, 11, 17, 25, 36, 42, 47.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Choose discipline over temptation. Look out for emotional traps that point you in the wrong direction. Common sense, experience and a good memory will help you dismiss anyone or anything trying to lure you down the wrong path. Say no to excess and indulgence, and yes to positively impacting your life and others. 4 stars

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Keep your eye on your end game. Steer clear of those creating chaos and negativity. Put your energy into expanding your mind and personal growth and enhancing your life and the lives of those you encounter. You can make a difference if you are positive and productive. 3 stars

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Don’t waste time and energy networking in the wrong room. Find your people and build strength and courage through numbers. Your voice, heard by the right people, will make a difference. Pitch in and help where it will make a difference, and you’ll find your comfort zone and personal happiness. Be a leader. 3 stars

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Refrain from exaggeration and gullibility. Stick to the facts and refuse to let your emotional attachments lead you to believing everything you hear. Fact-checking is your best friend if you want to avoid letting someone take advantage of you. Go the distance and trust yourself; everything will fall into place. 3 stars

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Be observant; listen, learn and look for the best possible choice before you leap into action. Time is on your side, and keeping everyone around you guessing will strengthen your position and give you the optimum time to decide what’s best for you. Protect your reputation, position, possessions and your cash from debauchery. 4 stars

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Steady your emotions before you raise issues that can influence your position or advancement. You may seek change, but how you go about it will determine the outcome. Put anger and frustration aside and offer positive alternatives, and you’ll find it easier to navigate your way to a deal that appeases the majority. 2 stars

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Pay attention to what affects you personally. Don’t venture into other people’s business if you want to make the most of your day. Concentrate on what will make your home, family and the choices you make work for you instead of against you. Home improvements, moves, travel and getting your facts straight are favored. 5 stars

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Address money management, investments and spending habits. Keeping your books balanced and staying on course regarding your long-term plans will give you the confidence to make positive changes that enhance your meaningful relationships. Prioritize communication, personal growth and romance, and you’ll gain insight and approval from those who matter most. 3 stars

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Influential people will pull you in different directions. Take a moment to consider what’s important to you and how to protect yourself from being swept up in someone else’s dream. Tame your emotions, offset anger and proceed with a positive attitude and a plan you can do alone if necessary. 3 stars

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Speak up, make suggestions, take control and get things heading in a direction that has a positive impact on you financially and physically. Make fitness, comfort and convenience a priority at home and in public. How others perceive you will influence your success. Volunteer your time, not your money, and you’ll maintain control. 3 stars

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Tally up what things cost before discussing the changes you want to make. Buckle up when facing opposition, and prepare to respond with facts and figures that others cannot deny. Make home and family amendments a priority. Change is in your best interest, and personal growth and self-improvement will not go unnoticed. 5 stars

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Keep the changes you want to implement to yourself until you have things well underway. Take precautions when dealing with the costs and contracts you negotiate. Get what you want in writing before you agree. Protect your home and family from outside influences by being aware of the scams circling in your community. 2 stars

Birthday Baby: You are intelligent, secretive and helpful. You are imaginative and original.

1 star: Avoid conflicts; work behind the scenes.2 stars: You can accomplish, but don’t rely on others.3 stars: Focus and you’ll reach your goals.4 stars: Aim high; start new projects.5 stars: Nothing can stop you; go for gold.

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