Well, This One’s A Thinker, To Me.

Lay Lines by Carol Lay for January 27, 2025

Lay Lines Comic Strip for January 27, 2025

https://www.gocomics.com/lay-lines/2025/01/27

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

Good Stuff!

I can’t get the Mastodon page Tengrain links, but I found two stories about the panels, so have at it! (Click on “two stories”, and on “the panels.”

Reblog of a reblog; a very strong read-go see!

We Get Another Hummingbird This Week: “Border Beauty”

AM Nature Science

I saw this title in a couple of places first thing, and thought it’s a great way to get started! Enjoy. -A

Sunfish that got sick after aquarium closed has recovered — thanks to human cutouts

By  MARI YAMAGUCHI Updated 8:27 AM CST, January 22, 2025

TOKYO (AP) — A solitary sunfish at an aquarium in southwestern Japan lost its appetite, began banging into the side of the fishtank and appeared unwell days after the facility closed last month for renovations. As a last-ditch measure to save the popular fish, its keepers hung their uniforms and set up human cutouts outside the tank.

The next morning, the sunfish ate for the first time in about a week and has been steadily recovering, said Moe Miyazawa, an aquarist at the Kaikyokan aquarium in Shimonoseki.

The large sunfish arrived at the aquarium in February 2024 from the southern coast of Kochi in the Pacific Ocean. The sunfish, a member of the blowfish family known for its unique shape and big eyes, became one of the most popular attractions at the facility.

When the sunfish began looking unwell days after the aquarium closed on Dec. 1 for a six-month renovation, its keepers suspected digestive problems, gave it less food and visited the fish tank to comfort the sunfish when there was construction noise, but to no avail.

Then at a staff meeting, one person suggested that the sunfish might have been affected by the sudden absence of an audience.

“We were skeptical but decided to do anything we could,” Miyazawa said. They hung their uniforms and placed human-shaped cutouts with photos of smiling faces outside the tank to cheer on the fish, Miyazawa said.

“I knew (the sunfish) was looking at us when we were placing them, but I never thought it would start eating the next day,” Miyazawa said, beaming. The staff now visit more often and wave at the sunfish.

The aquarium keepers say they hope many fans will return to see the sunfish when the aquarium reopens in the summer.

Comedians Bill Burr & Jon Stewart Hilariously Dismantle Right-Wing LIES About LA Fires

OK, So There Is Bad News Within,

but the reason I’m posting it is so we can be aware, and be better able to help our own neighbors locally. It may not be ours to start writing letters and calling on ACLU or any of those things, but maybe simply keeping our eyes open for the regular people we know or interact with. So here is this, which came to me from Death Penalty Action. It’s the first 10 EO’s issued today, plus some policy info.

All of the Day 1 executive actions Trump has announced so far

Updated January 20, 20251:50 PM ET By Lexie Schapitl Franco Ordoñez

For updates, context and analysis of Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration, check out NPR’s live blog throughout the day Monday.


President Trump is expected to sign a flurry of executive orders, memorandums and proclamations after his inauguration on Monday, reversing many of his predecessors’ policies and reinstating actions from his first term in office.

The actions are expected to address a range of issues, including campaign priorities like border security and culture war issues like DEI policies.

Here’s what we know so far:

Immigration

Trump is expected to declare a national emergency at the U.S. southern border, designate criminal cartels as terror groups and end birthright citizenship for children born to immigrant parents without legal status, according to incoming White House officials who spoke to reporters on a call on condition of background.

Trump will also reinstate the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which would require some asylum seekers at the southern border to wait in Mexico for their hearings in U.S. immigration court, the officials said.

The moves are some of 10 sweeping executive actions on border security that incoming officials say Trump plans to sign on Monday:

  1. Declare a national emergency at the border: The officials on the call said this action will allow U.S. armed forces to finish the border wall and allow the secretary of defense to deploy members of the armed forces and National Guard to the border.
  2. “Clarify” the military’s role in border security: This action “directs the military to prioritize our borders” and protect territorial integrity “by repelling forms of invasion, including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking and other criminal activities,” the officials said.
  3. End “catch and release,” continue building the wall, and end “Remain in Mexico”
  4. Designate criminal cartels as terrorists: This will allow the U.S. to more easily remove members of groups like Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal organization from Venezuela, and MS-13.
  5. Suspend refugee resettlement: The official said the U.S. would suspend refugee resettlement for at least four months.
  6. End asylum and close the border to those without legal status via proclamation: Officials said they are planning to end asylum entirely and close the border to those without legal status via proclamation, “which creates an immediate removal process without possibility of asylum.”
  7. End birthright citizenship: The officials said the White House plans to end birthright citizenship, which is enshrined in the 14th Amendment. They argued the amendment does not recognize automatic birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to parents without legal status. This action is likely to see immediate legal challenges.
  8. Enhance vetting and screening: The officials said they are going to “enhance vetting and screening of illegal aliens.”
  9. “Protect American citizens against invasion”: Officials said this “equips agents and officers of ICE and CBP with the authorities” they need to deport people from the U.S.
  10. Restore the death penalty: “This action in particular, directs the Attorney General to seek capital punishment for the murder of law enforcement officers and capital crimes committed by illegal aliens. It encourages state agencies and district attorneys to bring capital state charges for these crimes,” the officials said.

Read more from NPR’s Ximena Bustillo.

Defining ‘sex’ and ending DEI programs

Trump will sign an executive action on Monday that says it’s the policy of the United States to recognize two biologically distinct sexes — male and female — an incoming White House official speaking on background told reporters Monday.

“These are sexes that are not changeable, and they are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality,” the official said.

The change will require government agencies to use the definitions on documents like passports, visas and employee records the official said. Taxpayer funds will not be allowed to be used for “transition services,” the official said.

A second action will end diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government, the official said, giving as examples environmental justice programs in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as well as diversity training.

National energy emergency and “electric vehicle mandate”

Trump intends to declare a national energy emergency on Monday, aiming to cut red tape and regulations for the energy industry, and a second one specific to Alaskan resources, an incoming White House official told reporters on a background conference call.

“That national energy emergency will unlock a variety of different authorities that will enable our nation to quickly build again, to produce coal and natural resources, to create jobs, to create prosperity and to strengthen our nation’s national security,” the official said. The official said energy prices are too high, but declined on the call to name a lower target price.

The action will end what incoming Trump officials call the “electric vehicle mandate” and will end “efforts to curtail consumer choice on the things that consumers use every single day, whether it be showerheads, whether it be gas stoves, whether it be dishwashers and the like,” the official said.

Trump has long railed against energy efficiency standards on the campaign trail, and specifically taken aim at “electric vehicle mandates,” a term he uses to encompass all policies designed to encourage a transition to battery-powered cars. Rules actually requiring 100% of vehicles to be electric do not exist on the federal level.

Inflation

Trump will sign a presidential memorandum on inflation Monday, an official from the incoming administration said. The official did not provide additional details.

NPR correspondents Tamara Keith, Ximena Bustillo and Camila Domonoske contributed to this report.

A.M. Poetry

MAGAers Mad at Trump for Moving Inauguration Indoors

https://www.newsbreak.com/thedailybeast-513346/3766119248071-magaers-mad-at-trump-for-moving-inauguration-indoors

By Amethyst Martinez,  1 days ago

https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1GWc7u_0yEpkPOJ00The Washington Post via Getty Im

MAGAers are angry after Donald Trump announced his inauguration is to be moved inside, causing many to be left out of the ceremony.

Although the president-elect announced that some attendees can go to the Capital One Arena for a viewing party, many were prepared to brave the cold.

Freezing cold temperatures and strong winds are expected to hit D.C. on Monday. The last time an inauguration was moved inside was for Ronald Reagan in 1985 under similar forecasts.

NBC Washington went out to break the news to Trump supporters who planned to attend the inauguration.

“I don’t like it,” Trump fan Ken Robinson told the outlet. “We came all the way from… Oklahoma and now we’re not getting to see it. We might as well have stayed home watching on TV.”

Jorge Gonzalez, another supporter who traveled from Florida, said that the news “sucks.”

“We’re prepared for the weather, it’s not a problem,” Gonzalez said.

“We have farms,” said Harry Troyer, another Oklahoma resident visiting D.C. “And we don’t get to not feed the cows because it’s cold.”

Others posted to X to express their dismay with the decision as many who were planning to attend having already traveled to D.C. in advance. Thousands of chairs were seen outside the Capitol on Friday, set up before the event was moved inside.

https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=093oxu_0yEpkPOJ00

“We have coats and will wear them. Already bought expensive hotels, rental cars, subway tickets etc etc,” one user wrote on X. “We the people were prepared for the cold. We want to see Trump in person. Rain snow sleet warm cold it don’t matter.”

“Spent thousands of dollars on a hotel room and now they aren’t having an Inauguration for the public,” another wrote. “Wtf.”

On Monday, officials were beginning to give out more than 220,000 tickets. On Friday, they were then told to tell attendees that their tickets are now “commemorative.” The arena only has a capacity of 20,000.