I say YES. YOU say NO....Numero Tre! Enjoy!

Curtis Mahon

· To my many friends who thought it wouldn't happen, guess what, it has happened! Donald Trump has dropped the environmental destruction nuke of an EO, planning to sunset ALL environmental regulations made in the last 100 years. And I mean ALL. https://www.whitehouse.gov/.../zero-based-regulatory.../The Endangered Species Act. Gone. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Gone. The Marine Mammal Protection Act. Gone. The Anadromous Fish Conservation Act. Gone. The Bald Eagle Protection Act. Gone! You name it, it's gone.To remind those friends why we have these laws, I'm going to try to put them into terms which anyone can understand, money.The Endangered Species Act is literally the founding, central pillar of modern conservation globally. It's hard to list the accomplishments of this act as it is so vast. It directly protects and calls for plans to raise the populations of rare species. It's directly responsible for the comeback of many iconic species, such as the Bald Eagle, the Peregrine Falcon, the California Condor, and a host of others. Talk about return on investment, the amount of money spent vs the amount gained from people wishing to just see iconic rare species is in the billions of dollars. For what would a visit to the grand canyon be without seeing a conder soar over or a visit to Yellowstone without seeing wolves and bison. People do whole drives across the country just for these experiences and that's what the ESA is about. Lots of revenue there.The Migratory Bird Treaty Act was one of the first environmental laws every made, and bans the harm or collection of all non-game birds in America. It was implemented in a time when hunters we shooting everything to turn them into hats, from songbirds to puffins to herons to albatross. The banning of this and subsequent restoration efforts lead to dramatic increases in bird populations and continue to protect them from harm. In just one example, consider a puffin. In Maine, every tourist I talk to wants to see two things, lobster and puffins. They were once hunted to near extinction in the US and are now a central pillar to the economy of an ENTIRE STATE. Thousands of people a DAY take expensive boat trips for puffins and that's at risk without these regulations, not to mention cuts to NOAA.The Marine Mammal Protection Act protects whales from being killed or harmed and lead to the global war on whaling. Now because of it, America watches whales! You can go on a whale watch in nearly every coastal city in America and it generates HUNDREDS of millions of dollars in tourism and employs thousands of people. We hurt whales, we hurt our pockets and jobs. The Anadromous Fish Conservation Act allows the government to enter agreements with states and plan and fund ways to increase the populations of migratory fish. It has direct benefits to anglers across the country, funding 50% of initiatives for things like stocking and habitat restoration in major fisheries such as both Atlantic and Pacific Salmon, Trout, Striped Bass, American Shad, and Sturgeon. And removing the Bald Eagle Protection Act! I thought we loved eagle guys? What's more American than a Bald Eagle, and they want to remove protections for them? Many older Americans can probably remember a time when they never saw Bald Eagles. Now you can see them commonly in nearly every state! That's a direct result of the Endangered Species Act and Bald Eagle Protection Act.These are just a few of the laws the Republican party wishes to remove. All have proven track records of benefiting Americans, both monetarily through supporting major American industries worth billions of dollars and employing hundreds of thousands of Americans and spiritually as corner stones of the country's wilderness. The removal of these protections is peak short term gains over long term profits.If you don't like it, there's a lot you can do. Call your representatives. It feels like yelling to void but we've seen a handful of senators pushed to action by your voices. This matters regardless of the political party of your representatives. Also, get out and protest if you can. The next big one is April 19th. Search for your local 50501 group to see where the protests were at. It's incredibly empowering to get out and be a part of a movement with thousands of people in your town, and millions nationwide. See you in the streets!

An ICE agent grabbed Merwil Gutiérrez and one of his fellow agents said, “No, he’s not the one.” Merwil Gutiérrez is a 19-year-old asylum applicant who lives in the Bronx. He was the “wrong one.” ICE wasn’t there looking for him.

“Take him anyway,” came the reply.

Let’s get it all out of the way:

* Merwil Gutiérrez came to the US legally as an asylum seeker
* In fact, he didn’t cross the border until he had an appointment with an immigration officer
* He has no tattoos (not that it’s illegal to have tattoos)
* He has not been making political speeches (not that it’s illegal to make political speeches)
* He’s not a member of a gang and has never been a member of a gang
* He has no criminal record in the US or overseas
* There is no arrest warrant. There is no charging document. His father can’t get ANY documents from the US government.

And yet, he’s in the infamous El Salvador prison that is supposedly for criminals, terrorists, and gang members… but that appears to be more and more a convenient place for ICE and the US government to stash innocent immigrants.

Merwil, his father Wilmer, and his cousin Luis walked much of the way from Venezuela to the US border in Mexico. They sometimes were able to take a bus. It took them about a month to hike and ride from their home to the Mexican border town of Juárez.

They applied for and received Temporary Protected Status (a legal US immigration status) and then applied for asylum (asylum seeker is also a legal US immigration status). They were sent to Texas, then Denver, and eventually New York, where they managed to find work (again, legal given their status). They got work permits and social security numbers (allowing them to pay taxes but not to receive benefits).

They got their immigration papers that told them their official court date to determine their future status: February 2027.

On March 15 of this year, Merwil was snatched by ICE agents on the front steps of his apartment as he was returning from doing some errands. His cousin Luis saw it from inside, and heard one agent say that Merwil wasn’t who they were looking for, and another say, “Take him anyway.”

Wilmer hasn’t been able to get ahold of his son since a phonecall on March 16. The ICE locator says his son is in Pennsylvania, but no one will confirm this… and his name has appeared on the list of people deported to the prison in El Salvador.

I’m not personally sure we can continue to honestly call this prison in El Salvador a “prison” and not a “concentration camp.” The Holocaust Encyclopedia makes this distinction:

”What distinguishes a concentration camp from a prison (in the modern sense) is that it functions outside of a judicial system. The prisoners are not indicted or convicted of any crime by judicial process.”

This is certainly true for Merwil, and it is true of many others on the list.

So we need to face up to the fact that the United States government is funding a concentration camp. The United States government is illegally arresting legal migrants, illegally deporting them, and illegally incarcerating them in a concentration camp.

This is an example of us doing it to a teenager.

We also have the example of Maryland father Kilmer Abrego Garcia, who the US government has admitted was deported to the prison/concentration camp due to “administrative error.”

President Trump said he’d try to get him back if the US Supreme Court said he should be brought back, which they did in a 9-0 decision. But when President Bukele of El Salvador visited the White House today, he said he didn’t have the power to send him back. And President Trump said he didn’t have the power to get him back. Suddenly no one has any power to do anything. It’s just surprising to see the world’s best dealmaker so easily beaten, and two incredibly powerful men who often say they can accomplish impossible things shrugging and saying something to the effect of, “I wish I could help but my hands are tied”… even when the government admits that they sent someone to this concentration camp by mistake.

Of course this is political theater. Bukele could have brought him back on the same plane he flew into D.C. President Trump could make a simple phone call.

Why do we tell these stories?

Not to create fear.

We tell these stories so we can help each other understand what time it is in our culture right now.

We are a nation that is abducting and deporting legal migrants and placing them in US-funded extra-national concentration camps.

That’s important to face, and it’s important to acknowledge.

We tell these stories so we can prepare ourselves for when we will be asked to be a part of these injustices.

We need moral police officers and ICE agents to refuse to participate in illegal arrests instead of wearing masks.

We need the private prisons paid for by our tax dollars to refuse to house those illegally arrested instead of saying “we take whoever is sent to us.”

We need lawyers to refuse to work cases for the US government when they are clearly immoral.

We need airlines like Avelo — which has made a financial deal to operate deportation flights — to make a stand and refuse to be a part of these things. (And people that fly Avelo to let them know those are not our values.)

We need American citizens to vote, to speak up, to protect our neighbors, to reach out to vulnerable populations in our own communities and make sure that whatever comes they know we will be working to make sure they are treated with dignity and respect, that there will be due process, that we will live up to the American values we often claim but are struggling to live out in this moment.

There’s an teenager out there somewhere who came to the United States to follow the American dream. He walked here from Venezuela. He came legally. He did everything we asked him to do. He got snatched up as he walked toward his apartment in the Bronx.

An ICE agent grabbed him, and one of his co-workers said, “No, he’s not the one.”

And another ICE agent said, “Take him anyway.”

His name is Merwil Gutiérrez.

How? It is very clear that there are no or few Republicans willing to oppose the current administration and they hold the reins of power. How long until they suspend the Constitution and declare martial law? I have no faith that normal Democratic procedures and the rule of law means anything to them.

If you want to reach a state of bliss, then go beyond your ego and the internal dialogue.  Make a decision to relinquish the need to control, the need to be approved, and the need to judge. Those are the three things the ego is doing all the time.  It's very important to be aware of them every time they come up.

Deepak Chopra

Trump Comes Undone, Attacks Fox News Reporter In One Of His Rants: ‘Absolutely Terrible’

Another day, another tantrum

by Shay Maz1 hour ago1 hour ago

So what did Heinrich do that was so awful? She asked a fair question.

During a segment, she pointed out that Tesla, owned by Elon Musk, had concerns about Trump’s tariffs. She then asked Senator Bernie Moreno if it was appropriate for Trump to pose with a Tesla in front of the White House while Americans were struggling financially.

That was all it took for Trump to lose his cool.

“Absolutely terrible!” he wrote. “I later found out she’s a fan of the White House Correspondents Association!” That last part was supposed to be an insult.

Trump has a fragile ego. He wants Fox News to be his megaphone, not a news network. When they report anything less than glowing praise, he lashes out.

It’s not the first time. He’s attacked Fox before, especially after they called Arizona for Joe Biden in 2020. He even told his supporters to switch to Newsmax and OANN, networks that act like Trump fan clubs.

But this wasn’t just about Tesla.

Earlier that day, Heinrich asked White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt about a major deportation case. She brought up legal expert Andy McCarthy’s analysis of the case, which the administration didn’t agree with.

Leavitt fired back, saying, “Anybody trying to defend these terrorists who have now been sent off of American soil should talk to the families of the individuals who these heinous monsters have killed and have raped..”

It was a fiery exchange, but Heinrich didn’t back down. That’s what real journalists do. They ask tough questions, even when politicians don’t like it.

For Trump, loyalty matters more than truth. If you don’t praise him, you’re the enemy.

His feud with Fox News has been going on for years, but the truth is, he needs Fox, and Fox needs his viewers. Now that he’s back in the White House, the network has more reason to stay on his good side. While they might occasionally pretend to be independent, the reality is apparent: they know exactly who their audience is, and that audience belongs to Trump.

The big question isn’t whether Fox will stand by Heinrich. It’s how long before they cave to Trump’s tantrum.

In the past, the network has tried to balance the appearance of being a serious news outlet with keeping Trump happy.

Trump’s meltdown over Jacqui Heinrich is another example of his thin skin. He doesn’t want journalism; he wants obedience.  Heinrich did her job. Trump threw a fit. And somewhere at Fox News, executives are deciding how much groveling it’ll take to get back on his good side.

Another one of Trump's little fluffy hangars on, stupid as a pile of rocks, who will go far in history — but the wrong way ending up just as nameless and clueless as she is today.

True.

Just a bit of a reminder about who people voted for and how many are getting highly dis-satisfied that they are NOT getting anything near like what they voted for.