“My latest meme:”
(From A: I got a big laugh, thinking about how dumb the Republicans are being about such things, especially due to actual human biology at conception.)
Category: Political / Governments / Nations / Countries /
Let’s talk about Trump’s losing streak in court….
A few news stories that I wanted to post but was unable. Read as you wish. Hugs
Here’s An Important Resource!
Peace & Justice History for 2/9
| February 9, 1780 Captain Paul Cuffe, his brother John, two free negroes, and other residents of Massachusetts petitioned the state legislature for the right to vote. A few years earlier, Cuffe and his brother had refused to pay local taxes, reasoning that there was a connection between an obligation to pay taxes to a government and the right to vote for that government.  Captain Paul Cuffe Cuffe’s memoir available Cuffe’s career as ship captain, shipowner, African colonizer and generous citizen |
| February 9, 1950 United States Senator Joseph P. McCarthy (R-Wisconsin) accused more than 200 staff members in the State Department of being Communists, launching his anti-red crusade. He made the allegation in a public speech in Wheeling, West Virginia, saying that state was infested with communists, and brandished a sheet of paper which he said contained the alleged traitors’ names.  “I have here in my hand,” he said, “the names of 205 men that were known to the Secretary of State [Dean Acheson] as being members of the Communist party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping the policy of the State Department.” The number changed repeatedly over the following months. Some years later, he confided the paper was actually just a laundry list. Anti-Communist fear ran high in the U.S. at the time. Federal civil servant and Soviet spy Alger Hiss had been recently convicted, and a communist government had just come into power in China. Those accused by McCarthy and others often lost their jobs, regardless of the validity of the accusation of their connection to the Communist Party. McCarthy’s career of irresponsible accusation Joe McCarthy’s Oversight Abuses (The Levin Center) Released 50 years later, transcripts of closed committee hearings reveal more abuse |
February 9, 1964 The G.I. JOE action figure made its debut as an 11.5 inch “doll” for boys with 21 moving parts, named after the movie, The Story of G.I. JOE.  Puts you in the action! |
| February 9, 1965 President Lyndon Johnson ordered a U.S. Marine Corps Hawk air defense missile battalion deployed to Da Nang, South Vietnam, to provide protection for the key U.S. air base there. American military advisers had been in country since the defeat and withdrawal of the French in 1954, but this was the first commitment of combat troops to South Vietnam.There was considerable reaction around the world to this new level of U.S. involvement. Both the People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Union threatened to intervene if the United States continued its military support of the South Vietnamese government. In Moscow, some 2,000 demonstrators, led by Vietnamese and Chinese students and clearly supported by the authorities, attacked the U.S. Embassy. Britain and Australia supported the U.S. action, but France called for negotiations.  A Marine HAWK missile launcher is in position at the Danang Airfield. |
| February 9, 2002 Ten thousand, organized by Gush Shalom (peace bloc in Hebrew), a coalition of Israeli peace groups, marched in Tel Aviv against the Ariel Sharon government’s increasingly brutal attacks on Palestinian civilians. The harsh tactics were part of Israel’s continuing occupation of the West Bank (of the Jordan River) and the Gaza Strip, territory beyond Israel’s internationally recognized 1967 borders. |
| February 9, 2003 Six weeks before the Iraq War began, Secretary of State Colin Powell on ABC-TV’s “This Week” dismissed the need for U.N. weapons inspectors to continue searching Iraq for weapons of mass destruction. He said the administration saw no further need for ”inspectors to play detectives or Inspector Clouseau running all over Iraq.” Clouseau was the bumbling detective played originally by Peter Sellers (and lately Steve Martin) in the Pink Panther films.  Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau U.N. weapons inspectors, left, and Iraqi National Monitoring Directorate members visit a Baghdad storage facility in this photo taken Feb. 5, 2003, just hours before U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell appeared at the U.N. Security Council to offer evidence of alleged Iraqi attempts to hide banned weapons.  |
https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryfebruary.htm#february9
Not Only KS Legislators On This Ball, But Some Of Them Are
On this issue, at least. The other senator from KS can be read toward the end of the article, and he’s just a maga nut, so read at your own discretion. I’m wondering if he’s beginning dementia, or else how he earned an MD. Anyway, here’s this. Sen. Moran can usually get an R coalition happening, and KS is not the only ag state who stands to not only lose, but to literally watch crops rot waiting to be shipped to people who need to eat. Wasting food is a cardinal sin, IMO.
Kansas’ Moran, Davids sound alarm on delay of USAID food aid to starving people worldwide
Marshall proponent of crackdown on alleged fraud, abuse at humanitarian agency
By: Tim Carpenter – February 7, 2025 1:59 pm
TOPEKA — U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas said a freeze on federal funding and change at the U.S. Agency for International Development left $340 million in lifesaving food grown in the United States sitting at domestic ports awaiting delivery to locations around the world where people were starving.
On Friday, President Donald Trump said he wanted to shut down USAID, which served as the federal government’s primary provider of development and humanitarian aid worldwide. Much of USAID’s funding has been frozen. Thousands of USAID employees expect to be indefinitely suspended or laid off as the Trump administration, in collaboration with billionaire Elon Musk, worked to gut an agency the president said was operated by “radical lunatics.”
Moran, among farm-state senators on the Senate Agriculture Committee, said he encouraged Marco Rubio, the U.S. secretary of state and acting administrator of USAID, to make certain U.S.-grown commodities were promptly shipped and distributed to people in need.
The World Food Programme estimated $340 million in U.S. food aid was idled at domestic ports by order of the Trump administration. In total, $566 million in U.S.-grown commodities designated for humanitarian purposes was locked down in warehouses throughout the world.
“Time is running out before this lifesaving aid perishes,” Moran said. “Food stability is essential to political stability, and our food aid programs help feed the hungry, bolster our national security and provide an important market for our farmers, especially when commodity prices are low.”
Moran said there was a “moral component to food aid,” but he understood administrative issues with U.S. aid programs had to be addressed. That reform, he said, must go beyond presidential directives so Congress could be “involved in making the decision of what this should look like.”
Rep. Tracey Mann, the Kansas Republican on the House Agriculture Committee, has led relaunch of the bipartisan House Hunger Caucus dedicated to international and domestic hunger and food insecurity. He said in a previous statement that growing up on a Kansas farm taught him the sacred responsibility of feeding people.
“Hunger destabilizes countries, starts wars, eliminates markets and causes human suffering. America benefits on multiple levels from making investments that address it,” Mann said. “America is the leader of the free world, which comes with certain responsibilities. Addressing global hunger is both the morally right and strategically wise thing do to.”
‘Irresponsibility’
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, a Kansas Democrat also on the House Agriculture Committee, said dismantling USAID would have ramifications in terms of world hunger and the future of Kansas agriculture.
“Elon Musk’s reckless and illegal shutdown of USAID isn’t lowering prices as promised — it’s hurting our economy, national security and hardworking Kansans,” Davids said. “My team has heard from many who have lost their jobs, small businesses facing bankruptcy and Kansas farmers struggling to sell their crops. This level of irresponsibility cannot go unchecked.”
USAID’s website said at midnight Friday all USAID direct-hire personnel would be “placed on administrative leave globally, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has facilitated the purchase of U.S. commodities funneled into the USAID pipeline. USAID has been responsible for booking cargo ships to deliver food aid and to coordinate distribution of assistance in various countries.
USDA paused the purchase of food for USAID purposes in response to Trump’s executive order establishing a 90-day freeze on funding. Rubio issued a temporary waiver for food and other lifesaving assistance, but there was confusion about what qualified for the exemption. U.S.-grown agriculture products in domestic ports included wheat, sorghum, rice, lentils, peas as well as vegetable or sunflower oils.
USAID, with a staff of approximately 10,000, also has oversight of U.S. disaster relief and health initiatives in over 100 countries. (snip-MORE. The next graf is our insane senator explaining that he thought he saw awful things happening, meanwhile literal food is actually spoiling while he tells us of his hallucinations. I’d have to take the puter to the carwash to get the stupid off if I copy it to paste here. However, a few of the farmers who grow this food also have cogent commentary, so it’s worth clicking through to finish the article. Everyone but Marshall and Estes are aware of the national security element of this stupidity.)
Peace & Justice History for 2/7
| February 7, 1926 “Negro History Week” was observed for the first time, conceived by Dr. Carter G. Woodson as an opportunity to study the history and accomplishments of African Americans. Dr. Woodson was the founder, in 1915 Chicago, of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. There he first published the Journal of Negro History, currently known as The Journal of African American History (www.jaah.org). Woodson was a graduate of the University of Chicago, the Sorbonne, and was the second black man ever to receive his doctorate from Harvard. He chose February because it is the birth month of both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass; now it is designated Black History Month.   Top L-R: Frederick Douglass, former slave and abolitionist leader; Muhammad Ali, poet, World Champion, the greatest; Maya Angelou, poet, novelist, voice of wisdom; Malcolm X, strong and clear-eyed brother seeking freedom and honor and dignity ; Harriet Tubman, liberator and conductor on the Underground Railroad. Below: Jimi Hendrix, prolific guitar genius, rock ‘n’ roll writer; Nat “King” Cole, jazz composer, pianist and singer; Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., pastor, scholar and author, leader of a people, inspiration to peacemakers.  Dr. Carter G. Woodson More on Dr. Carter G. Woodson’s life and work |
February 7, 1971 Women in Switzerland were granted the right to vote in national elections and to stand for parliament for the first time in their nation’s history. This happened through a national referendum in which only men could vote, passing 621,403 to 323,596. A previous referendum in 1959 failed 2-1. |
| February 7, 1986 Haitian self-appointed President-for-Life Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier fled his country after being ousted by the military, ending 28 years of authoritarian family rule.Policies begun by his father, Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier, had forced many to flee Haiti (the western portion of the island of Hispaniola), leaving it the poorest and most illiterate nation in the hemisphere. Deforestation (for cooking fuel and heat) eliminated forest cover on 98% of the country, in turn leading to significant annual loss of topsoil, often making agriculture unsustainable.  Jean-Claude `Baby Doc’ Duvalier with his father Francois `Papa Doc’ Duvailer. Some Haitian history |
| February 7, 1991 The Reverend Jean-Bertrand Aristide was sworn in as Haiti’s president after winning the country’s first-ever democratic election. Haiti had achieved its independence from France in 1804 but had a long succession on unstable governments, as well as significant U.S. control in the first half of the 20th century, including military occupation from 1915 to 1934.  Jean-Bertrand Aristide, in exile during the 1991-94 military junta. Archive of Haitian history |
https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryfebruary.htm#february7
Can Bedbugs Live There?
Trump’s looking to building another resort by Ann Telnaes
It certainly won’t be a holiday for the Palestinians Read on Substack
More Better News!
Attorney General Neronha and 14 attorneys general issue joint statement on protecting access to gender-affirming care
Published on Wednesday, February 05, 2025
Attorney General Peter F. Neronha and 14 attorneys general today issued a joint statement to reaffirm their commitment to protecting access to gender-affirming care in response to the Trump Administration’s recent Executive Order. The coalition released the following statement:
“As state attorneys general, we stand firmly in support of healthcare policies that respect the dignity and rights of all people. Health care decisions should be made by patients, families, and doctors, not by a politician trying to use his power to restrict your freedoms. Gender-affirming care is essential, life-saving medical treatment that supports individuals in living as their authentic selves.
“The Trump Administration’s recent Executive Order is wrong on the science and the law. Despite what the Trump Administration has suggested, there is no connection between “female genital mutilation” and gender-affirming care, and no federal law makes gender-affirming care unlawful. President Trump cannot change that by Executive Order.
“Last week, attorneys general secured a critical win from a federal court that directed the federal government to resume funding that had been frozen by the Trump Administration. In response to the Court’s Order, the Department of Justice has sent a notice stating that ‘federal agencies cannot pause, freeze, impede, block, cancel, or terminate any awards or obligations on the basis of the OMB memo, or on the basis of the President’s recently issued Executive Orders.’ This means that federal funding to institutions that provide gender-affirming care continues to be available, irrespective of President Trump’s recent Executive Order. If the federal administration takes additional action to impede this critical funding, we will not hesitate to take further legal action.
“State attorneys general will continue to enforce state laws that provide access to gender-affirming care, in states where such enforcement authority exists, and we will challenge any unlawful effort by the Trump Administration to restrict access to it in our jurisdictions.”
Joining Attorney General Neronha in issuing this statement are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Vermont, and Wisconsin.
Unless Someone Somewhere Changes Their Mind/s Again…
Trump administration agrees to restrict DOGE access to Treasury Department payment systems
The agreement came in response to a lawsuit accusing Treasury of committing an “unlawful action” by giving private info to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
By Daniel Barnes, Dareh Gregorian and Zoë Richards
Attorneys for the Justice Department have agreed to temporarily restrict staffers associated with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from accessing information in the Treasury Department’s payment system.
The agreement comes after a group of union members and retirees sued the Treasury Department alleging that providing DOGE access to the federal government’s massive payment and collections system — and the personal data housed in it — violated federal privacy laws.
The Trump administration filed a motion Wednesday night seeking to enter a proposed order that detailed the agreed-upon terms.
“The Defendants will not provide access to any payment record or payment system of records maintained by or within the Bureau of the Fiscal Service,” the proposed order says.
The order would allow exceptions for two special government employees at the Treasury — Tom Krause and Marko Elez — saying they are permitted access “as needed” to perform their duties, “provided that such access to payment records will be ‘read only.'”
The restricted access would remain in effect pending a subsequent hearing on the lawsuit. The judge still needs to sign off on the proposed order.
The White House and the groups that filed the lawsuit did not immediately respond to requests for comment. (snip)
