Thursday, January 23, 2025
Friend or Foe?
The conversation with Tipper this morning, as she got ready to leave for school, was one that I never imagined needing to have. “If you see anyone coming into your classroom or anywhere else at the school and removing students, I want you to text me immediately.” I didn’t have to tell her why. She’s already well aware of the ICE raids going on around town. She and her classmates have been discussing them and sharing their fears with each other all week.
“It’s more likely to happen on the bus than at school, I think,” Tipper said. “They’ve already been doing that. My friends have seen it. I’ll call you if I see anything.”
“No, text me, don’t call. Don’t do anything that would draw attention to yourself,” I warned her. “Putting your phone up to your ear could be seen as an aggressive action.”
The fact is, she’s concerned. Sure, she’s trying to blow it off and knows that she’s not likely to be at the top of anyone’s list, but there’s that lingering doubt. Tipper knows she can no longer trust some authority figures. She wants to be defiant and protect her friends but she also knows she can’t really fight back against armed adults.
Why the concern? Tipper wasn’t born in the US. Kat and her bio-dad were stationed at the Marine base in Okinawa when she was born. Both US and Japanese birth certificates were issued. Both of her parents are US citizens. Yet, as Felonious Punk wages war against the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, there’s room to question whether she might potentially be caught up in the new detention of immigrants. I’ve tried easing her concerns, she knows her risks are slim, but she’s also aware that situations like these are unpredictable and that innocent people can be caught up.
Making matters worse is the knowledge that the DOJ is investigating any local police who don’t go along with the immigration round-up. This page, straight out of the Waffen SS playbook, makes it impossible to know which police officers can be trusted to uphold the Constitution and which can’t. Crime never stops, but if you can’t trust local police to do the right thing, what happens next? Is it still safe to call 911 if you only speak Spanish? What if you have an ‘accent’ of some kind? Are 911 operators going to send ICE along with emergency services if they think the caller might be an immigrant?
I’m watching to see if there are any mass resignations from the Department of Justice in light of these new presidential orders. I’m not expecting it, at least not yet, but that is what needs to happen. One of the most critical things coming out of the Nuremberg Trials is the legal concept that ‘following orders’ is not an excuse for actions that violate human rights. Nazi soldiers who served as guards at concentration camps were imprisoned and some were put to death for carrying out orders that resulted in the deaths of millions of Jews and other imprisoned people. Officials with the FBI, CIA, ICE, and Homeland Security could potentially be prosecuted in the same way if they carry out Punk’s orders. Better for them that they find jobs in the private sector rather than be found complicit with evil.
There is a lot of evil in this administration. Felonious Punk set us back 60 years yesterday when his orders rescinded the Civil Rights Act of 1965 and other long-standing civil rights protections. So far, only COSTCO is standing up and defying the administration. Publicly traded companies are running scared of potential legal costs if white, straight men start claiming that DEI or EEOC policies discriminate against them. You and I both know that such a claim is absolute bullshit, but the legal costs of being involved in such a suit could dramatically affect a company’s bottom line regardless of the outcome. The fact is that anyone who’s not a straight, white male is likely in for a rough time in the employment arena, especially if they work for a publicly traded company. The rights you thought you had have been eliminated.
Congress is complicit in this evil and they’re actively preparing to bring more hardship to your door. Republicans in the House are passing around a proposed list of ways to pay for the Punk’s tax cut and immigration crackdown. Click the link and you can read the whole thing for free. Some of the more aggregious items on the list include but are not limited to the following:
- Limit Federal Health Program Eligibility Based on Citizenship Status. This policy would remove specified categories of non-citizens from eligibility for federal health care programs.
- Repeal Title I of IRA (Excluding: 45Q Carbon Sequestration, 45U Nuclear Power, 45Z Clean Fuels, and EV Tax Credit).
- Repeal Green Energy Tax Credits.
- End Employee Retention Tax Credit
- Repeal SALT Deduction. This option would eliminate both the individual and business State and Local Tax deduction.
- Eliminate Nonprofit Status for Hospitals. Because healthcare isn’t expensive enough already.
- Eliminate Head of Household Filing Status. The Head of Household filing status provides a larger standard deduction for unmarried individuals who have children.
- Eliminate Credit for Child and Dependent Care.
- Eliminate Deduction of Interest on Student Loans.
I’ll stop there because if I included everything on this list that’s alarming it would be over 100 points long. Read the whole thing, please. Descriptions of Republican’s reasoning for these actions are included with most of the items.
The Punk’s recent actions put almost everyone I know at some form of risk. The administration is hoping that you’ll just roll over and take it. I’m sure that a lot of people will. The truth is, we can and should fight back, loudly, ferociously, and using every option available to us. I don’t think we have time for suits to make their way through the court system, especially then the Punk is pushing the DOJ to support his policies. We have to take a more immediate and physical stand. Yes, that may put some of us at greater risk, but we’re already at severe risk just from all the bullshit that Punk has dumped on us this week. I’d rather go out fighting than whimpering in a ditch.
This is the battle against tyranny and fascism that your grandparents and great-grandparents fought in wars to avoid. They didn’t want you to be subject to this type of government. They believed that the United States is better than this. They would all be severely disappointed, if not downright angry, to see where we are now.
Scream. Shout. Disobey. Resist. Dissent. If a 14-year-old can do it, so can you.
Saturday, January 25, 2025
Some Things Are Satire
There is a lot of ‘stuff’ I could talk about, but it would take me forever to type it and I’m not sure my body is going to give me the grace to sit upright for that long. I’ll do what I can today and we can continue the conversation tomorrow. During my doctor’s visit yesterday, I was given a flu shot and the first half of the shingles vaccine. Kat reminded me last night that I’m older than the last time I received those shots. My body isn’t up to fighting as hard. I know, not everyone thinks vaccines work. There are some pretty nasty side effects if you don’t stay on schedule, though. My stamina is going to take a hit for the next couple of weeks.
Another concern is that Americans are becoming bored with being outraged. Felonious Punk has been in office less than a week and already, the NYTimes is declaring that the era of ‘Hyperpolitics’ is gone, and with it the whole concept of Resistance. Fellow Okie and deep thinker Krista Trippet wrote in this morning’s “On Being” post, “The news that is, as we say ‘breaking,’ is never seeing things whole.” She encourages us to take a deeper look and consider the aspects of deeper time, much as a geologist views the world. She writes, “It is harder for us to train our eyes and imaginations on the beauty and creativity that are so alive in our world, the generative learning and stretching that are underway. These realities of our time are most visible close to home, in the worlds that we can see and touch. They are quiet. They do not trip the fear center of our brains, which inclines us to attend more seriously in every moment to what feels dangerous and destructive. And, in our time, that narrative of danger and destruction comes to us a thousand times, a thousand ways, each day.”
That “narrative of danger and destruction” was a hard slap in the face this morning. It’s bad enough that a drunken serial abuser is now in charge of the Department of Defence. Our new Secretary of State has already been warned by China to watch his step. The pause on foreign aid could threaten the distribution of lifesaving drugs. The ban on gender research puts NIH programs at risk. The shutdown of the federal diversity office at the National Science Foundation breaks the law that created it. In all the places that actually matter to our lives, there is fear, uncertainty, and panic. Should the planet be struck with another pandemic, our lack of international cooperation places us among the most vulnerable, and most likely to die.
There’s also the false narrative being pushed by the White House. The Associated Press is one of the few outlets still fact-checking the lies and misdirection coming from the talking mouths in Washington. There seems to be little regard for what is true or factual. Without anyone doing fact-checking anymore, lies and conspiracies run rampant across all forms of social media and far too many people are believing all the wrong stories.
Meanwhile, 2024 US home sales hit the lowest level in nearly 30 years with ownership increasingly out of reach.
Part of me still wants to scream “FIGHT BACK!” but in the rare moment of sanity, I have to admit that going to war against a well-funded and reasonably trained government is a fool’s game. Even if I gathered all my neighbors together and armed them well, the government has a history of bombing the fuck out of neighborhoods it doesn’t like (think Tulsa and Philadelphia). It would be naive to think such horrors won’t happen again.
Perhaps the best move for any of us is to take a more defensive position. We don’t need to go charging against ICE to be effective, all we have to do is wait for them to come to us and then stonewall. We don’t know any undocumented people. We haven’t seen anyone illegal in the neighborhood. Post “Private Property” signs on every side of your house. Get big dogs that don’t like uniforms (we have two, and the UPS guy is their sworn enemy). ICE can only operate in public areas without a warrant. Reduce the number of ‘public’ areas and we reduce the number of places where they can catch people off guard.
Already, a New Jersey ICE raid has detained a US veteran and citizens, according to the town’s mayor. Such events are only going to grow in size and number. Are any of us safe? Is carrying a driver’s license enough or do we need to carry copies of our birth certificates to prove our citizenship?
What protections do we all need to take? Since my general inclination is to avoid conflict at all costs, I feel ill-prepared to potentially have to confront anyone, especially an authority figure brazen enough to violate the Constitution. If we’re going to ‘stand up’ against the crimes of this administration, then we need to take some precautions to protect ourselves. So, I decided to take a page from those who’ve never trusted the government and look at tactical gear that makes sense for people like you and me.
Let’s start with basic chest protection. Be aware that not all tactical vests are created equal. You want a plate carrier that can handle the right size of protective plates to keep you safe. Looking around, I think this Shellback Tactical Banshee Plate Carrier is probably a good starting point. Click here for more info.
Plate carriers are useless if you don’t have plates in them. The challenge is knowing which plate is best for you. WARNING: DO NOT USE METAL PLATES! METAL PLATES ARE FOR TARGETS, NOT PROTECTION! As far as I can tell, these LTC 26605 Multi Curve Level 4 SAPI Plates are among the best in the business. They should stop almost anything that a DOJ employee (such as ICE) might be carrying. What’s important here is making sure you get the size that fits you. Shop carefully.
Ya’ gotta have a belt and a belt liner to help hold shit together. The DM Mech belt pad and it’s companion inner belt should keep you in good shape and they’re not as expensive as some others. Tactical people I (sort of) trust say these are the best on the market.
Next up: This dump pouch from DM. Why? ‘Cause ya’ gotta hold things like your Gatorade, evidence, gun magazines, etc. This one lies flat and unassuming when empty, hangs nicely on your belt, and won’t rip or tear when you get too excited and catch it on a door frame or something.
If you’re carrying a gun you’re gonna need a mag pouch or two. Which one depends on what kind of weapon you’re carrying. Generally speaking, the Esstac KYWI pouches seem to be top-of-the-line. Ask yourself, though, are you really prepared to get into a firefight with anyone? If you don’t have the training to know when and how to change mags under pressure, then maybe you should ease back on the aggression a little bit, ‘kay?
Finally, because you’re reading this page, I am pretty sure that you’re going to need an Individual First Aid Kit (IFAK) to go with your gear. Again, I’m going with this DM Fast Pouch because if you’re been injured, you need to act quickly to keep yourself from bleeding out all over the place. What do you put in it? North American Rescue has a one-handed tourniquet that is the kind used by military forces. They have plenty of other first aid considerations as well. Some of you are more clumsy than I am so you might want to consider multiple IFAKs.
Yeah, I know that for some people that feels like a lot. For others, it may not be enough. I strongly advise that you not get in over your head here. There’s a damn good reason Kat doesn’t like the idea of me carrying a gun. The Marine is the marksman in the family anyway and there’s little point in carrying a weapon you don’t know how to use accurately. Mishandling weapons will kill you faster than ICE will. At the end of the day, no DOJ or law enforcement official wants to kill anyone because the paperwork alone is suffocating.
There’s still so much more I could write about this morning, but breathing is a challenge at the moment so I need to stop and address that issue. Am I advocating that you arm yourself? Not really. I suggest considering what you can do to protect yourself. You alone know where your comfort level is. All I ask is that you keep yourself sufficiently prepared for whatever level of stupidity comes knocking on your door or your workplace.
And stay caffienated, please. You don’t aim well when your eyes are half shut.
Share this:
Like this: