Category: Death

One Of The Issues I Work On

is abolishing the death penalty at all levels. It’s really a thing I’ve been certain of since I was a child and learned that the death penalty everywhere had been ruled to be unconstitutional by the SCOTUS. Even as a child, I remember being relieved and thankful that had happened. It was back in a matter of years, and I was old enough then to know more about the general system, and also about activism, which at the time, my church supported, even. Below is part of an article about asking the current president to commute all federal capital cases to life in prison, or another appropriate sentence in prison. We started nagging the president about this around a year ago, because he’d said he was going to try to get rid of the death penalty. Now, as he told us today, there are 74 days in which bad things aren’t going to happen. This could be a thing to do to help feel better about things, as it’s as likely to actually happen as it wouldn’t be. Again, as with anytime I bring activism here, I will neither know nor is it my business whether/what a person does. I’m just putting it out here as a thing that can be done. Thanks for your time, and your consideration!

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https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-urged-prevent-trump-death-row-execution-spree-1981920

(Snippet) Abraham Bonowitz, the executive director of Death Penalty Action, told Newsweek that although many death penalty opponents have been critical of Biden on the issue, “the truth is that he did the most pragmatic thing immediately upon taking office.”

He said: “The President appointed an Attorney General who understood the Administration’s position and knew not to set any death warrants. Anything more would have hurt his relationships with Congress, but that’s all over now.”

Biden now has the chance “to take away one of the things Donald Trump loves, which is the power to execute people,” he added.

“If Biden commutes all of those death sentences, Donald Trump will never get to oversee another judicial execution. It would be a great legacy for Biden to live up to his own morals and save dozens of lives while leaving a stinging parting gift for Trump.”

https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/biden-demolish-the-death-chamber

Republicans being republicans.

Republicans love third party candidates and ghost candidates when it helps them.  They get Jill Stein to run in every swing state every presidential election.  And only during the presidential election.    But like all republicans they end up whining when things don’t go their way.  Democrats stood up and admitted their loss and conceded with grace.  I know people will suffer, but I hope the republicans so over play their hand that even their base turn against them … but it could be like the 1930s Germany all over again.   I have a doctor’s appointment today so will not be on the computer until later in the morning.   Hugs

GOP Wisconsin Senate Candidate Refuses To Concede

Republicans would never use a fraudulent candidate for the purpose of siphoning votes.

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Is this the country the maga cult wants?  Yes?  but what about all the rest who wouldn’t vote for a black woman?  Those who claimed that they wouldn’t vote for Harris because she did not say the right words on Gaza?  Well Israel now has no restraints, good choice you made for them, right?  The brownshirts, the people who want to act like kids in gangs, want to have rule by thugs, that believe might makes right are going to find out it take far more than pretend bravado to keep a country this size running.   The movie Idiocracy was not a how to do it show, but a warning.  Right now we have moved a lot closer to the movie.  Hugs

Cultists Launch Nationwide Racist Texting Campaign: “You Have Been Selected To Pick Cotton On Plantation”
https://twitter.com/AudreyCFarley/status/1854585856398409825
Loving Christians Celebrate Trump On Texas Campus: “Types Of Property: Women, Slaves, Animals, Land”
https://twitter.com/WUTangKids/status/1854592465480647078
Fox Hosts: Trump’s Prosecutors Deserve Execution

They always claim to be joking but their intention is to “move the Overton Window” so that when executions do happen, the public is well used to the prospect.

The six degrees of the Overton Window:

-Unthinkable
-Radical
-Acceptable
-Sensible
-Popular
-Policy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window

Doctor Loses License After Harassing Patient About Jesus When She Said She Had Abortion Decades Ago
Trump: There’s “No Price Tag” On Mass Deportations
https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1854615287686959609
Trump Spox: “Mass Deportations Will Begin On Day 1”

Christian Nationalists: Our Prophecies Are Fulfilled

 Wallnau cures Rush Limbaugh’s terminal cancer in the name of Jesus. Wallnau claims there are “high levels of angelic activity” at Trump’s DC hotel. Wallnau claims the MAGAbomber was possessed by Satan to make Trump look bad. Wallnau claims the Charlottesville Nazis were “paid actors” because right wing white supremacists do not exist. Wallnau declares that God killed Antonin Scalia to “wake up America” on how much they needed Trump. Wallnau “takes authority” over Hurricane Maria in the name of Jesus, orders it not to hit Puerto Rico. Wallnau claims Hurricane Irma bypassed Mar-A-Lago because Trump is under God’s protection. Wallnau releases the “Jezebel spirit” on Robert Mueller. Wallnau prays to protect Trump from “witches, jinxes, and demons that jump into dogs.” Wallnau prays for God to “unleash his holy sword” and smite Trump’s enemies. Wallnau claims angels literally dusted his face with gold flakes as a reward for loving Trump. Wallnau prays away obstruction of justice charges against Trump in the name of Jesus. Wallnau claims a gay bar owner was “cured of homosexuality” after eating a slice of anointed cake.

 
https://twitter.com/letsgomathias/status/1854216261871268285
https://twitter.com/TaylorMatthewD/status/1854136728321138864
https://twitter.com/Mike_Hixenbaugh/status/1854331878729290207
Russian State Media Is Ecstatic Over Trump’s Win
https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1854242025794633923
Former ICE Director: I’m Getting Many Death Threats
MAGA Gloats: Project 2025 Was Always The Agenda
https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1854082770592526445
https://twitter.com/Bo_French_TX/status/1854209779478261990
MA Town Battles “Trump Punisher Skull” Projections
Bannon Vows “Rough Justice” For Anchors And Outlets
Junior: I’ll Keep Smart People Out Of Daddy’s Cabinet
Giuliani Faces Contempt Over Surrendering Assets
ABC News: The Plan To Dismantle Dept Of Education
FL Paper: How DeSantis Illegally Killed Ballot Measures

DeSantis is the first Florida governor to threaten TV broadcasters with criminal charges unless they stopped running ads he didn’t like. He’s the first governor to send his election police to knock on the doors of Amendment 4 supporters and the first to employ a last-ditch “investigation” of signatures gathered to get that amendment on the ballot. And credit, too, DeSantis for hiring just the right kind of election police.

Read the full editorial. As the paper points out, both measures passed with majority support and DeSantis “only had to shave off a few points” from the required 60% margin.

https://twitter.com/SunSentinel/status/1854267681764978934
Trump AG Candidate Calls For Imprisoning Jack Smith
https://twitter.com/SarahSaysWhatev/status/1853114583403069753

True Facts: Parasitoid Wasps

And the threats start already

Bannon Vows “Rough Retribution” For Trump’s Critics
Boebert: “Rally Behind Trump To Secure His Third Term”
Cultist GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna Wins Reelection
Fascist Felon Claims “Massive Cheating In Philadelphia”

Yet the felon won the state … so is the election wrong and need redoing

Cops: Florida Cultist Assaulted Two Pro-Harris Women
Cultists Post Calls To Rape And Execute Trump Critics: “Release The Project 2025 Handmaids Rape Squads”

“There has to be as many traitors executed as he has days in office,” urged another Gab post. “Build the gallows, restore the REPUBLIC.”  “Many many many executions are warranted,” someone wrote on Truth Social.  One viral meme that was shared widely across platforms on Wednesday had the caption “RELEASE THE PROJECT 2025 HANDMAIDS TALE RAPE SQUADS.”

Read the full article. Other posts and memes call for executing Nancy Pelosi, Alejandro Mayorkas, and Kamala Harris. A Proud Boys account depicts Harris as “Whore Of The Year.” Hit the link for more.

Trump AG Candidate: “Drag Their Bodies, Burn Them”

In a follow-up post, Davis said the following: “Here’s my current mood: I want to drag their dead political bodies through the streets, burn them, and throw them off the wall. (Legally, politically, and financially, of course.)”

Read the full article.

In August 2024, Davis appeared here when he threatened to sue any publication or social media user who referred to Trump as a “convicted felon.”

In April 2024, he appeared here when he vowed to imprison Trump’s critics and prosecute Barack Obama for murder.

In February 2024, we heard from him when he declared, “What’s so bad about Christian nationalism?”

His first appearance here came last year when he threatened to “arrest and deport” journalist Mehdi Hasan and throw gay reporter Tim Miller in a women’s prison.

And he could be the nation’s next Attorney General.

https://twitter.com/SarahSaysWhatev/status/1853114583403069753

LGBT voters, a larger share of the electorate than ever, shift away from Trump

https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/lgbt-voters-away-from-trump-2024-election-record-change-rcna178939

As I said yesterday, today is the day we start to figure out how to fight back against what is coming.  From what I read yesterday a lot of men still won’t vote for a woman, especially Latino heritage men.  Plus people said things cost less under tRump in 2019 and felt he could bring prices down to those levels.   But that is stupid, he won’t and can’t because to him and the wealthy profit is king.  But what could happen is that their incomes will be cut, their safety nets will be cut.  One guy was heard saying tRump had the economy and immigration and Harris only had women’s rights and Democracy.   Think on it, hating others was more important than others rights and Democracy.   But we will learn more.  Arab voters who claim they warned Harris she needed to change on Gaza will notice that already Israel has increased its take over of Gaza, saying that Palestinians will NOT be allowed to return to the north and all that are still there will be killed.  Knowing that tRump will back him.  So they sure made a difference didn’t they.  Hugs.

Vice President Kamala Harris led President-elect Donald Trump 86% to 12% among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender voters, according to the NBC News Exit Poll Desk.

By Patrick J. Egan, NBC News Exit Poll Desk
 

Former President Donald Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris to become the next U.S. president, NBC News projected, but he didn’t do so with the help of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender voters.

LGBT voters shifted even more solidly into the Democratic camp this year, according to the NBC News Exit Poll. Harris led President-elect Trump 86% to 12% among LGBT voters, the poll found. That’s a 15-point change from 2020, when Trump won 27% of the LGBT vote against Biden.

Harris’ performance among LGBT voters was stronger than that of any Democratic candidate in the last five presidential elections.

Although Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance predicted that he and Trump would win the “normal gay guy vote,” the GOP presidential ticket captured fewer than 1 in 5 LGBT male voters, though that figure could also include bisexual and transgender men. Trump’s support among LGBT female voters was even more tepid, at 8%. White LGBT people went solidly for Harris over Trump by 82% to 16%, though Harris’ margin was even bigger among LGBT voters of color at 91% to 5%.

 

Most LGBT voters said they’d be either “excited” (39%) or “optimistic” (43%) if Harris were elected president. By contrast, 62% of LGBT respondents said they’d be “scared” if Trump won.

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According to the exit poll, 8% of American voters identified as LGBT in 2024. That’s the highest share on record. The percentage of the electorate identifying as LGBT has doubled since Barack Obama was elected president in 2008, when it was 4%.

As in previous elections, LGBT voters stood out as one of the most left-leaning voter blocs in the electorate. Among LGBT voters, Democrats vastly outnumber Republicans, 56% to 5%, and liberals surpass conservatives, 61% to 5%. LGBT voters are staunchly pro-choice: 59% say abortion should be legal in all cases, a much higher level of support for abortion rights than among non-LGBTs, at 31%.

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Related stories:

Patrick J. Egan, NBC News Exit Poll Desk

Patrick Egan is a professor of politics and public policy at New York University and a contributor to the NBC News Exit Poll Desk. 

Peace & Justice History for 11/4:

November 4, 1811
A group of men in Bulwell, near Nottingham, England, armed with hammers, axes and pistols in the dark of night, broke into the workshop of a master weaver named Hollingsworth and smashed six weaving machines the men thought threatened their jobs. They and their supporters opposed the industrialization that had turned home-based sustainable textile work into factory work with significant loss of jobs through mechanization (and those at much lower wages), as well as the attendant air and water pollution.
Luddites smashing loom.
They called themselves followers of the probably fictional General Ludd and continued their attacks for months, with over a thousand knitting machines destroyed. In response, thousands of troops were sent to stop the rebellion, and Parliament passed a law making destruction of weaving machines a hanging offense.
Luddites has since become a term used for those who oppose technology.
November 4, 1956
Two hundred thousand Russian troops with 1000 tanks stopped an
anti-Stalinist uprising in Hungary and installed a new pro-Soviet government. Although civilians had set up barricades along all the major roads leading to Budapest, the Soviet air force bombed the capital and troops poured into the city in a massive dawn offensive.
Hungarian Army and National Guard troops participated in the resistance; only Communist Party functionaries and security police fought alongside the Warsaw Pact troops. The help promised from the U.S. to protect and aid the anti-Stalinists never came.
20,000 Hungarians ultimately died as a result (as well as 4000 troops), and ten times that many left the country permanently.
Hungarian ‘freedom fighters’ temporarily forced back Soviet tanks and troops.

Soviet tanks in Budapest.
Pictorial history of the Hungarian Uprising 
November 4, 1984
The first free elections in Nicaraguan history were held. Nicaragua’s ruling Sandinista Front claimed a decisive victory (70%), defeating six other parties, in the country’s first elections since the revolution the Sandanistas had led five years previous. The high-turnout election (83%) was monitored by 400 independent election observers who said the election had been fair.

Read more 
November 4, 1995
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was fatally shot minutes after speaking at a peace rally held in Tel Aviv’s Kings Square in Israel.

The rally in Kings of Israel Square
  Yitzhak Rabin
Read more 
November 4, 2008
The first African American ever nominated by a major political party as candidate for president went before the electorate. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and his Democratic vice-presidential running mate, Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware, faced Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin; independent candidates Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez; Green Party candidates former Representative Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente; and former Repepresentatives Bob Barr and Wayne Allyn Root.

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorynovember.htm#november4

Return the SCOTUS to law and order-

(I don’t know if this is gonna work; I’m not on Instagram, but I went there, and could see, hear, read, and got the embed link. MomsRising is asking for shares, so if anyone cares to share, thank you!)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by MomsRising.org (@momsrising)

hecatedemeter’s Samhain Prayer

This Is a Prayer for Samhain. This Is a Prayer for Resistance.

Peace & Justice History for 10/31:

October 31, 1929
George Henry Evans, an English-born printer and journalist, published the first issue of the Working Man’s Advocate, “edited by a Mechanic” for the “useful and industrious classes” of New York City. Evan covered the Workingmen’s Party (which he helped found) and the early trade union movement.
In his Prospectus, Evans focused on the inequities between the “portion of society living in luxury and idleness” and those “groaning under the oppressions and miseries imposed on them.” He advocated “a system of education which shall be equally open to all, as in a real republic it should be” and opposed “every thing which savors of a union of church and state.”
Evans became a U.S. citizen one week later.
October 31, 1950

Earl Lloyd became the first of three African Americans who began to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA) when he started with the Washington Capitols. He and Jim Tucker went on to become the first African Americans to play on a championship team in 1955 as members of the Syracuse Nationals, which is now the Philadelphia 76ers.

After retiring as a player, Lloyd was a Detroit Pistons assistant coach for two seasons, and a scout for five.
October 31, 1952
The U.S. successfully detonated “Mike,” the world’s first hydrogen (or fusion) bomb, in the atmosphere at the Eniwetok Proving Grounds on the Elugelab Atoll, part of the Marshall Islands in the southern Pacific.
The 10.4-megaton device was the first thermonuclear device built upon the Teller-Ulam principles of staged radiation implosion.
Mike’s Mushroom cloud

The incredible explosive force of Mike was apparent from the sheer magnitude of its mushroom cloud – within 90 seconds the mushroom cloud climbed to 57,000 feet and entered the stratosphere at a rate of 400 mph. One minute later it reached 108,000 feet, eventually stabilizing at a ceiling of 120,000 feet. Half an hour after the test, the mushroom stretched sixty miles across, with the base of the head joining the stem at 45,000 feet.The explosion wiped Elugelab off the face of the planet, leaving a crater more than 50 meters (175 feet) deep, and destroyed life on the surrounding islands.
The details and the results 
Early U.S.nuclear tests 
October 31, 1958
The U.S., the U.S.S.R. (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics aka Soviet Union) and Great Britain began negotiations in Geneva on whether to let the nuclear testing moratorium become a permanent test ban. General Secretary Nikita Kruschev had unilaterally declared a moratorium on Soviet testing earlier in the year, President Dwight Eisenhower and Prime Minister Harold MacMillan following suit in August.
There had been growing concern over the health effects of radioactive fallout in the atmosphere from the nuclear explosions. Nonetheless, all three nations did further last-minute tests before the moratorium took effect.
October 31, 1972
20-POINT POSITION PAPER

PREAMBLE
AN INDIAN MANIFESTO FOR RESTITUTION, REPARATIONS, RESTORATION OF LANDS FOR A RECONSTRUCTION OF AN INDIAN FUTURE IN AMERICA
THE TRAIL OF BROKEN TREATIES:

“We need not give another recitation of past complaints nor engage in redundant dialogue of discontent.  Our conditions and their cause for being should perhaps be best known by those who have written the record of America’s action against Indian people.  In 1832, Black Hawk correctly observed: You know the cause of our making war. It is known to all white men. They ought to be ashamed of it.
The government of the United States knows the reasons for our going to its capital city.  Unfortunately, they don’t know how to greet us. We go because America has been only too ready to express shame, and suffer none from the expression – while remaining wholly unwilling to change to allow life for Indian people.
We seek a new American majority – a majority that is not content merely to confirm itself by superiority in numbers, but which by conscience is committed toward prevailing upon the public will in ceasing wrongs and in doing right.  For our part, in words and deeds of coming days, we propose to produce a rational, reasoned manifesto for construction of an Indian future in America.  If America has maintained faith with its original spirit, or may recognize it now, we should not be denied.”
October 31, 1978
30,000 Iranian oil workers went on strike against the repressive rule of the U.S.-installed Shah and for democracy, civil and human rights.
Striking Iranian oil workers. Photo: December 1978 issue of Resistance. A publication of the Iranian Students Association in the U.S. (ISAUS)
Read more 
October 31, 1984
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was shot to death by two Sikh members of her own security guard while walking in the garden of her New Delhi home. Gandhi’s son, Rajiv, a member of parliament and a leader in the Congress-I Party, was sworn in as Prime Minister following the assassination.

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryoctober.htm#october31

An Ask for Facebook Users

I’m not on Facebook; never have been. I do order from Penzey’s, and because of that, I get their emails, which are awesome. Here is the body of today’s email with links, and another shout-out to any Facebook users who are called to help out with this. And, I think anyone in a position to share in some fashion is welcome to do so!

(Here should be a photo of a veteran who may be the subject of this. I’m sorry it won’t post.)
 
 This really isn’t a standard email, it’s a Facebook post sent by email. But with one week to go and everything seemingly all tied up, sharing a glimpse of our past that’s at risk of becoming our future seems right. Please read and share.Thanks.

October 25, 2024 George Mullins voted. June 6, 1944 George came ashore in Normandy. He voted by mail. He insisted that the ballot needed to be taken to the post office and handed directly to the postal worker. “Can’t take any chances in these times.”

It was LST #311 that brought him 100 yards from the shore of Utah Beach on D-Day. The water was cold and up to his neck. He kept an eye on the shorter soldiers to make sure their heavy packs would not drag them under. Together they all made it ashore. So many of those George went ashore with never made it home.

George Mullins lived through the unfathomable violence it took to face down fascism. He made it home but left so much behind. Forever since he has had to carry a hurt and a loss that thankfully most of us have never known.

His experience has left him with thoughts on this election and about those who would once again intentionally unleash the unspeakable horrors he had hoped were forever in the past.

Two weeks ago George posted his thoughts on his Facebook page for the book he wrote of his WWII experience, Foxhole.

Buy his book, I highly recommend it.

As is the nature of Facebook, and social media, and the times we live in, one of the most valuable pieces that will ever be written about this election now sits there with just 72 likes.

George’s daughter and longtime Penzeys customer, Sheila, wrote hinting that maybe I could bring more attention to his words. Yes. A very big Yes. Coincidentally enough (if there are coincidences) his were exactly the words I was then searching for.

Not eight hours before Sheila’s email arrived I had just finished rewatching Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan. I’m convinced it is in the unspeakable sacrifice of so many Americans eighty years ago where the key to understanding just how much is at stake on 11.5.24 lives or dies.

But where to find the words? I looked to Saving Private Ryan because Spielberg has good words, and there are good words there but his, like mine, are of an outsider looking in. Where could I find the words I needed? And as fate would have it they arrived all tied neatly with a bow and accompanied by a breathtaking photo.

And I won’t give away all George Mullins’s words, please read all of them for yourself. But in short, today he is deeply troubled by the direction he sees our country heading.

“I didn’t fight in World War II, standing on the front lines of history, so that we could one day find our country on the brink of dictatorship or authoritarian rule. The freedoms I defended, and believe in, the sacrifices my comrades and I made, were for the preservation of democracy—of freedom, fairness, and the right to live without fear of tyranny.”

There’s so much we take for granted, but all that George and those he fought alongside achieved came at a terrible cost. And as much as we know words like fascism, and Nazi, and even freedom, how much do we really understand this is about the difference between living free and having to live in fear of your government?

By 1944 everyone understood, but today it’s something we’ve forgotten, something we take for granted. George Mullins went ashore shoulder to shoulder with men like him willing to give their lives so that others may live free. Let that sink in.

And now the leaders of the Republican party are not only throwing that sacrifice away, they are forcing our children to relive it. Why? Because they don’t have the strength to stand up to Donald Trump’s never-ending need for ever greater power. We must do better. We must share George Mullins’s warning. (snip; an offer I’m not sure is appropriate to include here, but I can put it in comments if someone’s interested. I’m trying to stay on topic, without appearing to advertise, though advertisement is not the author’s intent. -A)

And two outstanding Steven Spielberg words. I’ve seen Saving Private Ryan several times since its release. Each time I’ve seen something new in it. This time I was struck by Tom Hanks’s Captain Miller’s words to Matt Damon’s Ryan. “Earn this.”

This time against the backdrop of this election it hit home more than before that these two words weren’t between two people but between all those who gave so much and all of us who have lived our lives with the gifts their terrible sacrifice brought. Earn this. We truly do owe them that much.

And I did ask George’s daughter Sheila about what was going through his mind as he cast his vote in this election. She asked him over dinner. He told her this:
“When I voted I felt happy to place my signature on a ballot against the Dictator. I was hoping more people wake up and check the right box.”

That one of those white men struggling ashore on the 6th of June so many years ago should live to vote for America’s first Black woman President is a testament to this country and to all who serve.

And I admit that at first I felt uncomfortable with George’s word Dictator. It felt over the top. But then it set in that he is the one who knows, not me.

He is the one with the knowledge, and the experience, and the words we all must learn if we are to go through what his generation went through and re-emerge once again as America on the other side.

So much to earn. So much at stake. Please help us help George Mullins’s message reach everyone while it can still make a difference.

And please visit George’s Facebook page and share a like, a hug, or even a heart. He has already earned it and so much more. What a life.

Time for us to be worthy,
Bill
bill@penzeys.com