I am an older gay guy in a long-term wonderful relationship. My spouse and I are in our 36th year together. I love politics and news. I enjoy civil discussions and have no taboo subjects. My pronouns are he / him / his and my email is Scottiestoybox@gmail.com
The leopards eating faces party won’t eat my face when I join it. They were told they could lose their homes before they voted to make Musk the king of his own town. The right gets so star struck they will vote for things they know will hurt them. Hugs
A view along St. Jude Street at SpaceX’s Starbase at Boca Chica Beach on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald)
The newly incorporated city of Starbase has sent out hundreds letters to property owners and individuals who reside within its city limits notifying them about the possibility that they may lose their property pending the city’s adoption of a zoning ordinance.
A Texas Public Information Act request filed by MyRGV.com has revealed that hundreds of such letters were sent.
The letters, which are dated May 21, invite the recipients to attend a public hearing scheduled for Monday in which the proposed comprehensive zoning ordinance will be discussed and possibly adopted.
Recipients of the letters were informed that they either live or own property that is listed in areas that could be impacted by the zoning ordinance if it is approved.
“Our goal is to ensure that the zoning plan reflects the City’s vision for balanced growth, protecting critical economic drivers, ensuring public safety, and preserving green spaces,” the letters read.
The letters each follow the same format, notifying recipients that the properties in question are listed in areas that the city says will be located in either the “Heavy Industrial District,” the “Open Space District,” or the “Mixed Use District.” They also include proposed zoning maps showing the areas that could be affected.
The city’s intentions with each of the districts are briefly explained in the letters.
“The Heavy Industrial District is intended for large-scale industrial and manufacturing activities that, by their nature, require robust infrastructure, significant space, and larger buffers from non-industrial uses,” one letter explained.
“The Open Space District is designed to preserve and enhance lands for recreation, conservation, environmental protection and ensure public safety from critical operations,” another read.
“The Mixed Use District allows for a blend of residential, office, retail, and small-scale service uses,” read another.
This map illustrates the city of Starbase’s proposed zoning map. The blue is designated for the Mixed Use District. The Open Space District is in green. And in red is the Heavy Industrial District. (Courtesy graphic)
The letters then go on to inform the recipients that the upcoming hearing could result in the loss of property.
“The city of Starbase is holding a hearing that will determine whether you may lose the right to continue using your property for its current use, please read this notice carefully,” the letter reads in all caps and bolded letters.
The letter ends encouraging recipients to contact Starbase City Administrator Kent Myers with any questions or comments for the public hearing, which must be submitted by 3 p.m. on June 22.
The public hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday the city of Starbase temporary city hall, which is located at 39046 L B J Boulevard. The agenda for the meeting has yet to be posted on the city’s website, which according to state law must be posted 72 hours before the scheduled meeting.
The fact is ICE and the DHS want to not have accountability because they are clearly breaking the law. Random people not in uniform or showing identification with masked faces is not detaining or arresting. It is out right kidnapping. And any movement of that person from that point on is trafficking. So this is a lawless government who feels it is above the laws and doesn’t have to answer to any other branch of government. Scary times. Hugs
Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark confronts ICE agents at a demonstration outside an immigrant detention centre in Elizabeth, New Jersey in May 2025. The Mayor arrived at the gates of Delaney Hall to inspect the previously vacant prison that is being converted into an immigrant detention center.
Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images
After a spate of tense encounters involving lawmakers at Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities, the Department of Homeland Security is asking members of Congress to provide 72 hours of notice before visiting detention centers, according to new guidance.
Under the annual appropriations act, lawmakers are allowed to enter any DHS facilities “used to detain or otherwise house aliens” to inspect them as part of their oversight duties. The act outlines that they are not required “to provide prior notice of the intent to enter a facility.”
The agency’s new memo also seeks to differentiate ICE field offices from detention facilities, noting that “ICE Field Offices are not detention facilities” and therefore do not fall under the appropriations act provision.
Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, called the move “unprecedented” and an “affront to the Constitution and Federal law.”
“This unlawful policy is a smokescreen to deny Member visits to ICE offices across the country, which are holding migrants – and sometimes even U.S. citizens – for days at a time. They are therefore detention facilities and are subject to oversight and inspection at any time. DHS pretending otherwise is simply their latest lie,” Thompson said in a statement.
Previous DHS language for lawmaker visitations said “ICE will comply with the law and accommodate Members seeking to visit/tour an ICE detention facility for the purpose of conducting oversight.”
The recent memo now says the department “will make every effort” to comply with the law and accommodate members, while listing circumstances like “operational conditions, security posture, etc,” that could impact the time of entry.
CNN has reached out to DHS for comment and further information.
The recent changes come as Democratic lawmakers have had run-ins with law enforcement after showing up at the facilities as they push back against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Rep. LaMonica McIver exits the grounds at Delancey Hall ICE detention prison, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Newark, N.J,
Angelina Katsanis/AP/File
Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver was indicted last week on federal charges alleging she impeded and interfered with immigration officers outside a New Jersey detention center as McIver and other Democratic lawmakers, Reps. Robert Menendez Jr. and Bonnie Watson Coleman, tried to visit the Newark facility last month.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested at the scene after attempting to join the three members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation in entering the facility. He was charged with trespassing, which was later dropped.
Other lawmakers have faced similar treatment in recent weeks while protesting President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla was forcefully removed from a news conference in Los Angeles last week and coerced to the ground after attempting to ask Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem a question.
He interrupted Noem as she was giving remarks at the FBI headquarters in Los Angeles on the administration’s response to the anti-ICE protests in the city. He was quickly removed from the room, brought to the ground by law enforcement, and placed in handcuffs during the rapidly unfolding incident.
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is placed under arrest by ICE and FBI agents outside federal immigration court on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in New York.
Olga Fedorova/AP
In another instance, New York City comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested at Manhattan’s immigration court on Tuesday after he tried to escort a migrant whom officers were attempting to arrest.
Multiple videos showed the New York politician standing next to a man and locking arms with him as federal officers approached. The officers asked Lander to step aside so they could arrest the man, and when he and other bystanders tried to block the arrest, a scuffle broke out between them.
CNN’s Holmes Lybrand and Karina Tsui contributed to this report.
Fuerza responds to scenes where alleged ICE enforcement is reported. If officers are indeed with ICE, they hit record and spread the word. They also speak directly with those being detained. They are part of a growing scrappy network of volunteers protecting neighbors from ICE. bit.ly/4lgke5N
Sotomayor points out the similarities between the Skrmetti ruling allowing discrimination against transgender people's medical care to Virginia's argument for its interracial marriage ban in Loving.
It was always a crystal clear 100% certainty that if the orange convicted felon was sent back into the White House instead of being sent to prison that he would bring the United States into war, economic collapse and total chaos. This is on everyone who voted for him.
Bob Bolus refiled a lawsuit to get the pride flag, which is a symbol of support for LGBTQ+ people and inclusivity, removed from Scranton City Hall and barred from display at all government buildings in Lackawanna County.
The city has been flying a rainbow-motif pride flag on a flagpole at the municipal building at 340 N. Washington Ave. since June 1 for the annual commemoration of Pride Month.
Bolus initially filed a lawsuit June 6 in Lackawanna County Court on a pro-se basis, meaning representing himself without an attorney, in a legal attempt to compel the removal of the pride flag from City Hall, as well as having it barred from display there and at all government buildings in the county. Also on June 6, Lackawanna County Judge Terrence Nealon dismissed Bolus’ lawsuit on various procedural errors, including that he did not properly file or serve the action or name defendants. Nealon dismissed the case “without prejudice,” meaning Bolus could try to do it again properly.
The Pride flag outside of City Hall in Scranton on Monday, June 16, 2025. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
On June 9, Bolus filed a new lawsuit in county court, again on a pro-se basis, and again seeking a court order requiring the removal of the pride flag from public display at Scranton City Hall and barring its display there and at “all public buildings within the jurisdiction of Lackawanna County.”
The new lawsuit names as defendants the city, Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti and Scranton City Council members, who are council President Gerald Smurl, Bill King, Mark McAndrew, Jessica Rothchild and Tom Schuster, all individually and in their official capacities as municipal elected officials. The mayor and council members are all Democrats.
Bolus also named as a defendant, individually and in his official capacity, Lackawanna County Commissioner Bill Gaughan, who is a Democrat.
Bolus, who is a Republican, did not name Republican Lackawanna County Commissioner Chris Chermak as a defendant. In a phone interview Monday, Bolus said he named only Gaughan because he is the chairman of the commissioners.
Bob Bolus Sr. (COURTESY OF BOB BOLUS SR.)
Scranton City Solicitor Jessica Eskra declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying the city would respond in court.
Lackawanna County Solicitor Donald Frederickson said in a statement, “Mr. Bolus’ frivolous action has been denied by the court on its own motion,” and thus Frederickson believes Bolus would have to ask the court for reconsideration to refile.
Some of the claims in Bolus’ lawsuit include:
• Scranton City Council, the mayor and Lackawanna County commissioners “are responsible for the decision to raise and display the Pride Flag at Scranton City Hall.”
• Title 16, Chapter 161 Section 27 of state law regarding display of municipal flags on county buildings says: “It shall be lawful to display the flag of any county, city, borough or other municipality in the Commonwealth or the official POW/MIA flag on the public buildings or grounds of any county;” and thus the state does not specifically authorize the display of a pride flag on public grounds.
• The pride flag is a “catalyst” for political and social division; and it is not inclusive “as it does not represent” all citizens of the city or county.
• The pride flag has become a political symbol associated with the Democratic Party; as well as “a symbol of sexual orientation, sexual practices and a sexual lifestyle” that is “abhorrent to a significant number of people due to religious and personal beliefs;” and it is not neutral or appropriate for display on public buildings.
The filing and refiling of the lawsuit comes amid controversy aired at recent city council meetings.
On June 10, Smurl apologized for not stopping derogatory remarks made during public comment at the June 3 weekly council meeting. The apology was a response to comments by Bolus made June 3 opposing having the rainbow flag displayed at City Hall, as well as other remarks that Bolus directed at a pro-LGBTQ+ resident Angela Ramone. Residents also came out to council’s June 10 meeting to express support for LGBTQ+ people and condemn hate speech, while Bolus said, “I make no excuse for last week,” according to an Electric City Television simulcast and video of the weekly meeting posted online.
After reflecting further on Piers Akerman’s recent assertion that my analysis of the situation in the Middle East was “utter bullshit” and not tethered to reality, I realised how angry that made me feel. As a white, elderly, Anglo-Saxon male, I believe I have earned the right to be most distressed by Western privilege and the arrogance which so often distorts reality, much like a fairground mirror. It paints Palestinians as irrational terrorists and Iranians as fanatical mobs, erasing the colonial fingerprints smeared across their histories. That is the real bullshit.
Take Iran: a democracy overthrown in 1953 by Anglo-American operatives for the crime of nationalizing its oil. The CIA’s coup reinstated the Shah—a tyrant whose torture squads (trained by SAVAK and Mossad) disappeared thousands. When Iranians finally revolted in 1979, the West recoiled not at the Shah’s brutality but at the loss of a pliant client. Now, the same powers that strangled Iranian democracy lecture its theocrats on human rights—a grotesque pantomime.
I am sorry to say that Netanyahu embodies this hypocrisy. He rails against Iran’s “aggression” while annexing Palestinian land, arms settlers who burn olive groves, and starves Gaza into submission. His hysteria over Iran’s nuclear program (still unproven after decades of sanctions) mirrors the WMD lies he helped sell in 2003. Remember his cartoon bomb stunt at the UN? Pure theatre. What truly terrifies him isn’t ayatollahs with centrifuges but a regional order where Israel isn’t the unchecked hegemon.
The West has perfected a sinister alchemy of psychological inversion—an Orwellian recalibration of language that transforms resistance into terrorism, domination into peace, and sovereignty into existential threat. When Hamas fires rockets, it’s decried as barbarism, while Israel’s 56-year occupation of Palestinian land vanishes from view like morning mist. Apartheid walls that carve up stolen territory are rebranded as “security measures”, their concrete brutality softened by bureaucratic euphemisms. Iran’s civilian nuclear program sparks apocalyptic warnings, while Israel’s arsenal of 90 thermonuclear warheads—never inspected, never acknowledged—sits quietly in the Negev desert. This linguistic jujitsu doesn’t merely describe reality; it manufactures it, ensuring Western audiences see only mirrors and shadows where power and oppression stand plain as day.
I urge you to consider that none of this emerged in a vacuum. The US and UK engineered the Middle East’s instability—from Sykes-Picot’s arbitrary borders to arming Saddam against Iran, then crying havoc when blowback came. October 7th didn’t erupt from ancient hatreds; it was the predictable eruption of a people caged, humiliated, and drone-struck for generations. To focus solely on Hamas’ atrocities while ignoring Israel’s 56-year occupation is like condemning a burning man for screaming.
There can be no meaningful progress without first confronting uncomfortable truths. The West must reckon with its destructive legacy—the CIA’s 1953 coup in Iran that strangled democracy, the 1967 war that birthed an occupation now in its sixth decade, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq based on fabricated WMD claims. These aren’t ancient histories but open wounds that continue to shape regional dynamics. Pretending otherwise isn’t diplomacy; it’s willful blindness.
Netanyahu’s hysterical warnings about “existential threats” must be exposed for what they are—not genuine security concerns but a naked fear of justice. His real nightmare isn’t Iranian centrifuges but the collapse of the apartheid system that preserves Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean. Every settlement expansion, every Gaza blockade, and every racist nation-state law reveals the true project: not coexistence but permanent domination.
We must fearlessly reject the false symmetry of “both sides” narratives. While Israelis live with the psychological trauma of potential violence, Palestinians endure the daily reality of military checkpoints, land theft, and indiscriminate bombardment. Comparing Hamas rockets to Israel’s occupation is like comparing a slingshot to a tank battalion—technically both weapons, but existing in fundamentally different universes of destructive power. True peace begins when we stop equating the oppressed with their oppressors.
The future demands more than temporary ceasefires. It requires dismantling the myths that let the West play both arsonist and firefighter. Otherwise, we’re just counting the days until the next explosion.
A view along St. Jude Street at SpaceX’s Starbase at Boca Chica Beach on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (Miguel Roberts/The Brownsville Herald)
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