Month: January 2025

Trump’s Extreme ICE Plan Hit With Lawsuit—From the Quakers

After Trump removed a key restriction on where ICE agents can make arrests, the Quakers are fighting back.

The Quakers are suing Trump’s Department of Homeland Security for allowing ICE raids in places of worship.

The lawsuit, filed in Maryland on Monday by multiple different Quaker groups from across the country, states that “the very threat of [immigration] enforcement deters congregants from attending services, especially members of immigrant communities,” and notes that the raids infringe on religious freedom.

“A week ago today, President Trump swore an oath to defend the Constitution and yet today religious institutions that have existed since the 1600s in our country are having to go to court to challenge what is a violation of every individual’s constitutional right to worship and associate freely,” said Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, which is representing the Quaker groups in court. “The troubling nature of the policy goes beyond just houses of worship with sanctuary programs—it is that ICE could enter religious and sacred spaces whenever it wants.” (snip-MORE)

https://newrepublic.com/post/190756/trump-ice-lawsuit-quakers

A Brain Cleanser from Lit Hub

Snippets from my this week’s newsletter, with links.

Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” is published in The Evening Mirror.
In January 1845, the greatest goth in literary history published what would swiftly become his most famous poem: “The Raven.”

Poe first sold the poem (for $9, the equivalent of about $375 today) to the American Review, where it would appear—under the pen name “Quarles”—in the February 1845 issue. It was published concurrently in the January 29 edition of The Evening Mirror, prefaced by a note from editor Nathaniel Parker Willis, who called it “the most effective single example of ‘fugitive poetry’ ever published in this country, and unsurpassed in English poetry for subtle conception, masterly ingenuity of versification, and consistent sustaining of imaginative lift and ‘pokerishness.’” Well, sure.
 
“The Raven,” if for some reason you don’t know it, is a narrative poem about a young scholar who, sitting alone on a bleak December night, mourning his lost love Lenore, is visited by a raven, who torments him by speaking, over and over again, a single word. Poe later wrote that he knew he wanted this word—“nevermore”—to be repeated throughout the poem, but finding the idea of a person uttering it too implausible, he struck upon “the idea of a non-reasoning creature capable of speech; and, very naturally, a parrot, in the first instance, suggested itself, but was superseded forthwith by a Raven, as equally capable of speech, and infinitely more in keeping with the intended tone.”
 
Well, it worked pretty well, you might say. The poem, writes Poe biographer Arthur Hobson Quinn, “made an impression probably not surpassed by that of any single piece of American poetry. It was widely copied, parodied, and one humorist even took over a page of the Mirror to suggest five alternatives as to the relation of Lenore to the poet.”
 
One-hundred-eighty years later, it may be still unsurpassed, though contenders abound. Either way, as you have probably noticed, the parodies and tributes have never stopped. We shall be quoting it forevermore.

MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM

In Search of the Rarest Book in American Literature: Edgar Allan Poe’s Tamerlane

A Brief and Incomplete Survey of Edgar Allan Poes in Pop Culture

The Greatest Goths in Literary History

YEP, STILL SLAPS
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—            
Only this and nothing more.”
–EDGAR ALLAN POE, “THE RAVEN”
 
 In other (old)news this week
Benjamin Franklin writes a letter to his daughter, pooh-poohing the bald eagle as the symbol of America, and instead championing the great and noble turkey (January 26, 1784) • John Millington Synge’s play The Playboy of the Western World premieres at The Abbey Theatre in Dublin and causes a riot (January 26, 1907) • The first part of Henry James’s novella The Turn of the Screw is published in Collier’s Weekly magazine (January 27, 1898) • Franz Kafka begins work on his novel The Castle at the mountain resort of Spindermühle (January 27, 1922) • Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is published anonymously in London (January 28, 1813) • Thomas Jefferson sells his library to the government after the Library of Congress burns down (January 30, 1815) • Anton Chekhov’s The Three Sisters premieres at the Moscow Art Theater (January 31, 1901) • The first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary is published (February 1, 1884) • Great American Iconoclast Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is published (February 1, 1962) • David Foster Wallace’s eerily prescient Infinite Jest is published (February 1, 1996).
(snip-More)

I hope you enjoyed it! These newsletters are free, and are great for brain/heart health breaks.

Peace & Justice History for 1/28

January 28, 1992
Nuclear production at the Rocky Flats Nuclear Arsenal – a complex used for both power plants and nuclear weapon munition manufacture – was permanently closed after repeated revelations of environmental contamination in the surrounding land and water supply, 25 miles northwest of Denver. Following closure, the facilities were completely dismantled and the site cleared.
 
The principal product of Rocky Flats was the fissionable plutonium trigger or “pit” at the core of every nuclear warhead in the U.S. arsenal. Since its construction in 1951 it was managed at different times by Dow Chemical, Rockwell International and EG&G. Dow and Rockwell paid fines in the tens of millions of dollars and were ordered to pay damages in the hundreds of millions to local residents for the environmental damage.
Despite the residual plutonium contamination on the 6500-acre site, it has been transferred by the Department of Energy to the Fish and Wildlife Service (Interior) as the Rocky Flats Wildlife Refuge.
Rocky Flats Right to Know
January 28, 1995

Soldiers’ Mothers Committee members
Over 100 members of the Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers of Russia went to a Red Army training camp to reclaim their sons. Since its founding in 1989 the Soldiers’ Mothers Committee had worked to expose human rights violations within the Russian military and has consistently supported a true alternative service option for conscientious objectors.
The Mothers Committee earned the 1996 Right Livelihood Award 
This link takes us to the Right Livelihood Award main page. Apparently 1996 is too far back, or I didn’t search it correctly. P&J’s link goes to an error page on the site. -A.

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryjanuary.htm#january28

Some News Stories About FL’s Legislators Fighting the Gov. We’ll See If The Law Wins…

Florida lawmakers rebuke DeSantis, convene own immigration special session

Gray Rohrer Ana Goñi-Lessan USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida

Florida Republicans defy DeSantis to push their own immigration bill

By  STEPHANY MATAT and KATE PAYNE Updated 5:28 PM CST, January 27, 2025

A ‘blatant lie’: Fight escalates between DeSantis, Florida Legislature over immigration

Republican legislative leaders on Monday accused DeSantis of lying about their bill to beef up enforcement of immigration laws.

Gray Rohrer USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida

Republican legislative leaders on Monday accused Gov. Ron DeSantis of “not reading” and lying about their bill to beef up enforcement of immigration laws.

After Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Daniel Perez rejected his immigration proposals earlier in the day and put forward one of their own, DeSantis slammed their plan as “weak” and claimed they were “gutting” his proposal to require all law enforcement officials in the state to work with federal immigration enforcement officials. (snip-this was the newest update at 8 PM when I set this up. There could be more by now!)

More Resources.

I think we need a category for “Resources.” Anyway, our friend and fellow blogger Annie Asks You gave a couple of resources for us to pass along and use to help our neighbors, earlier in a comment on another blog. I put together a Substack about it, so here it is. It’s short.

Some Useful Resources by Alison Redford

We all can do all we can, and these can help. Read on Substack

These sites have information people need so they are prepared in case authorities believe they have reason to question or detain you. The sites are run by experts, with clear advice for preparation and dealing with authorities. -A.

Know Your Rights

ICE and CBP might not respect our rights, but they cannot take away our POWER. Use these resources to learn about your rights and express them in case you have an encounter with an immigration official. (snip)

The National Immigration Law Center

Know Your Rights

Know Your Rights: What to Do if You Are Arrested or Detained by Immigration

Jan 15, 2025 This Know Your Rights resource provides general information on what to do if you are stopped, arrested, or detained by immigration or other law enforcement. Originally published in December 2015. (snip)

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Thanks for doing whatever you can do!

MSNBC: Opinion | The Black middle class is under attack from Donald Trump

Opinion | The Black middle class is under attack from Donald Trump
As the Center for American Progress has noted, “the federal government has hired Black Americans at higher rates than the private sector going back a century or more.”

Read in MSNBC: https://apple.news/As0Ti_rgQRtSkqdY-z8A7Ew

Shared from Apple News

Best Wishes and Hugs,Scottie

TIME: The Implications of Trump’s Executive Order on Sex

The Implications of Trump’s Executive Order on Sex
With Trump proclaiming the U.S. will recognize two sexes, male and female, there are a host of implications for trans and nonbinary people.

Read in TIME: https://apple.news/AJAnifpxrSFqVTy8jWeE7Ng

Shared from Apple News

Best Wishes and Hugs,Scottie

USA TODAY: Trump’s DEI order strips Air Force curriculum of 1st Black pilots, female WWII pilots

Trump’s DEI order strips Air Force curriculum of 1st Black pilots, female WWII pilots
Trump’s executive order halting DEI means the Air Force no longer teaches recruits about WWII’s Tuskegee Airmen and the Women Airforce Service Pilots.

Read in USA TODAY: https://apple.news/AYoVQzWMXQMOGTZJmIFaYsw

Shared from Apple News

Best Wishes and Hugs,Scottie

DAILY MAIL: Colombia caves to Trump’s threats after canceling deportation flights

Colombia caves to Trump’s threats after canceling deportation flights
Colombia is already caving to Donald Trump after he threatened steep economic and diplomatic sanctions when they refused to accept flights of migrants being deported from the U.S.

Read in Daily Mail: https://apple.news/AR4dECEz-SniEOREEKd3L7w

Shared from Apple News

Best Wishes and Hugs,Scottie

I Bet Lots of Public Schools Are Supporting Their Classmates and Students

Bridgeport Public Schools Defends Immigrant Students