One thing that was not mentioned is the reason Cuba has such poverty is all the US sanctions over 60 years. When Obama lifted sanctions things got much better for Cuba. The Cuban government is not the problem and when there was less sanctions the people were happy with the government. We are the bad guys in this. We, the US government is refusing to let any other country send any supplies because we demand they have a capitalist oligarchy system of government mimicking the US one. How is that working out for us? Cuba has free universal medical. Free education. Do we? But that is the old guy mentality that every country should / must do and be as the US and profit must be king. All this reparation for what was nationalized? Why? US corporations and wealthy land owners were raping the land and hogging the profit and goods. They had a better system if left alone. But again the old red scare from the USSR days. Remember “better off dead than red”? The US must push democracy and oligarchy. Venezuela was the same thing, we did not like that they had a government for the people, a socialist / communist one and they nationalized the oil systems because the profits were not going to the Venezuelan people but to western corporations. Other countries have a right to their own resources. But remember tRump demanding that Ukraine give up half of its mineral rights to the US / tRump family? Hugs
Tag: Human Rights
Banned Books
It’s a blog entry by Jenny Lawson, about one of her books. I haven’t been able to open her WP blog for a few weeks, now; I get the page that says it’s an unsafe connection. I either don’t know how, or can’t get a whole post in the WP Reader, but I did get this whole post in email, so I’ll copy & paste it here. Jenny is funny, but this is not good news about Texas and literacy.
 The BloggessRead on blog or Reader Today they banned my book. It was not the first. It won’t be the last. Here’s what I want you to know .  By thebloggess on March 25, 2026 |
| This is not what I wanted to write. I wanted to write about how I’m about to go on book tour for my new book in a few days. Instead I am writing about the fact that I was just informed that my first book Let’s Pretend This Never Happened was banned from the high school library of a nearby town I love and visit often. Honestly, I’m not that upset about my book being banned. I’ve had so many letters from young people who felt they’d been helped by my books but it does have some profanity and so I can understand the reasoning even if I disagree with it. What I am upset about is the stories about how New Braunfels ISD has pulled more that 1,500 books from their school library shelves after the Texas’ Republican-backed book banning law (senate bill 13) passed. The bill ordered all public school libraries to review books for “profane” and “indecent” content and I guess Let’s Pretend This Never Happened was deemed too dangerous for high schoolers. Weirdly, my book was not on the original list of the 1,500 books triggered for review on March 13 but a week ago it was added to the New Braunfels ISD website as being removed for being “non-compliant”. (I’ve been called worse.) I guess 1,500 books weren’t enough. But then, it’s never enough for book banners.This is going to happen more and more. It used to be a rarer thing…almost a badge of courage to have a book banned. Now? It’s everywhere…this war against books and ideas and people. Reading is how you fall in love with people different from you, and how you develop compassion for them…because if you love them, you want to protect them. But there are some people who don’t want you to love others. They need you to fear them. Books save lives. They have saved mine. Books are safety nets for so many of us, and right now those nets are being cut.The list of banned books is incredible in length and includes so many that I adore. Equally upsetting is the fact that so many classics that shaped me have been pulled from the shelves and placed into restricted sections where they can only be accessed by students enrolled in Advanced Placement Literature, because God forbid a normal high school student would want to read the works of dangerous writers like *checks the list* Jane Austen and Emily Brontë (whose name they misspelled). Sometimes it feels like we’re living in A Brave New World (restricted) and that the book burning of Fahrenheit 451 (restricted) is closer than ever, with no Sense and Sensibility (restricted) about what this will cost. It feels like we’re going through The Crucible (restricted) and are caught in a Catch-22 (restricted) where we can’t convince people how terrible it is to ban books because they either don’t know the power of books or they absolutely know it and fear it. It’s An Absolutely Remarkable Thing (banned) how book banners go out on some kind of A Discovery of Witches (banned) and fight against Acceptance (banned) and of diversity, while we are losing All The Beauty in the World (banned). America is a Beautiful Country (banned) in so many ways, but we will lose so much of that beauty if we don’t make Changes (banned) to cherish and embrace and grow what makes us Educated (banned) and compassionate. The diversity of voices is necessary…it is a reflection of who we are and who we want to be. A plethora of ideas and voices and experiences…This Is What America Looks Like (banned). We can’t just pretend that Everything’s Fine (banned) and that this is just an overreaction of Anxious People (banned). Do you think this is what the founding fathers like Alexander Hamilton (banned) envisioned? I’m going to stop here because I’m sure you can see that this dumb paragraph is WAY TOO EASY TO WRITE because there are so many books they have issues with and you probably get the picture already but y’all….Jane Eyre? The Color Purple? The Odyssey? Crime and Punishment?? THIS IS WHAT WE’RE SAVING TEENAGERS FROM? So what can you do? You can buy books that are being targeted, especially those written by the LGBTQ+ authors or authors of color because they are being targeted the most. Supporting those authors tells publishing to keep producing those books because they are needed. Publishers will lose money if libraries become afraid to purchase books and so we need to make sure that they know the audience is there and greedy for diverse voices. Get a library card and start checking out those books and more, to prove to the government that libraries need funding and that people care about reading. Read to your children. Read in front of your children. Talk online about the books that you love so that your passion ignites others. If you’re a parent you can get involved with your school to make sure this doesn’t happen in your school and you can protest it if it happens. You can vote out the people who seem to be obsessed with freedom, but mainly when it’s their freedom to take away yours and your children’s. You can run against school board members who are book banners and show up at the meetings. You can keep updated by following organizations like PEN AMERICA, or the Texas Freedom to Read Project or Authors Against Book Bans. *deep breath* This is probably filled with typos and is not really the sort of thing that I should be writing the day before I leave to start my book tour but it’s important. When books and thoughts and people are suppressed, we all lose. Keep fighting the good fight, friends. It’s worth it. Comment |
Tracking Anti-Trans Bills | Erin Reed | TMR
Snips And Bits
(Just under an hour, so more than a snip or a bit, but it’s not only necessary, it’s fascinating. Or else I’m just that big a geek.)
How Angela Davis Predicted The Modern Face Of Fascism in 1971
Fifty years prior to rumors of fascism circling President Trump, activist and philosopher Angela Davis made a spooky prediction about dictatorship in the U.S.
President Donald Trump’s administration continues to stand on shaky ground amid bombshell resignations and rumors of a dictatorship brewing. But in the midst of these unprecedented times, one Black political activist’s warning could offer a shocking reality for Americans… even if the message came 55 years earlier.
Trump’s return to the White House was met with fierce criticism from leaders like former Vice President Kamala Harris and his own former chief of staff, John Kelly, who explicitly declared that Trump fits “into the general definition of fascist.” But while terms like “fascist” and “dictator” have found a comfortable place in American politics today, activists like Angela Davis were among the loudest opponents of fascism nearly six decades ago.
By the 1970s, the Cold War against the Soviet Union revamped fears of a possible fascist regime in the States– notably from many Black Panthers. While awaiting trial for murder, Davis spoke with filmmaker Peter Davis about the likelihood that America would be ruled by a dictator.
“We are closer to fascism than we’ve ever been before,” Davis said from a California prison in 1971. But while the political activist stopped short of declaring fascism had officially made its mark in the U.S. then, her scary prediction has arguably taken a new light in 2026. (SNIP-click the title to read the rest; it’s not at all long)
Interesting How Things Work Out…
Despite state bans and restrictions, the number of abortions in the U.S. holds steady
March 24, 202612:01 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition
Since the reversal of Roe v. Wade in 2022, anti-abortion rights advocates have continuously pursued laws and court cases to make access to abortion more difficult.
A report published Tuesday finds those efforts haven’t worked in one basic way: The number of abortions in the country hasn’t budged.
“There were an estimated 1,126,000 abortions provided by clinicians in the U.S. in 2025 — that’s pretty much unchanged from 2024,” says Isaac Maddow-Zimet, data scientist at the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit research organization that supports abortion access.
A key way that abortions are now happening despite all of the state restrictions is through telemedicine. In 2023, the Food and Drug Administration under President Biden allowed mifepristone — one of the medications used for abortion — to be prescribed without an in-person appointment.
At the same time, states that support abortion access have passed shield laws, which protect health care providers from legal risks when they prescribe to patients in states with bans.
What that meant last year is that more people in states with restrictions had abortions through telemedicine, and fewer people traveled across state lines for abortion, according to the Guttmacher report.
“It makes sense that we’d see a decline in travel because people accessing abortion care through telehealth in general then no longer need to travel for care,” Maddow-Zimet says.
Medication by mail
When Viv found out she was pregnant last January, she was three days past Georgia’s ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.
Viv is 27 years old and lives in Atlanta. NPR agreed not to use her last name because she fears repercussions for talking about her experience. She went online and looked through posts on Reddit, trying to figure out what to do.
“I found out that I could get an abortion pill shipped to my house,” she says. “I didn’t want to travel. I didn’t want to take time off of work. I am pretty knowledgeable about women’s health, and I know that the abortion pill is a safe and effective way to have an abortion.”
She ended up reaching out to a group called The MAP in Massachusetts, and she says the process was very easy.
“You basically go on their website, you answer questions, and then you pay whatever fee you can afford, which I thought was really, really cool,” she says.
About a week later, she received the two medications in the mail: mifepristone and misoprostol. She says the instructions that came with the medication were very thorough.
“People contact you after to make sure everything’s good,” she says. “They even have people contact you like a month after to make sure that you’re not pregnant anymore.”
Viv says she’s grateful she was able to have an abortion without having to leave Atlanta. She also notes that Georgia has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country.
“If a woman doesn’t want to be pregnant, she should be able to have that right, and I think that should be the end of the story,” she says.
Frustration for ban supporters
Abortion-rights opponents view all of this as a huge problem. There are several legal challenges and a recent congressional bill that all aim to force the FDA to stop allowing mifepristone to be mailed to patients. (Misoprostol is a medication that has been on the market longer and is also used to prevent ulcers; it is harder to restrict.)
One of the court challenges was brought by Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, who told a U.S. Senate committee in January that the FDA rules must be changed.
“Until then, Louisiana’s efforts to protect mothers and their unborn children and to hold out-of-state abortion pill traffickers accountable for the harm they inflict will be all but futile,” she said.
According to Guttmacher’s latest report, there were about 2,500 abortions in Louisiana in 2023, and last year there were more than 9,000. Overall, 91,000 patients in states with bans received telehealth abortions in 2025.
A federal judge is expected to rule in Louisiana v. FDA soon.
Peace & Justice History On Elton John’s Birthday
I made a big production on Elton’s birthday last year, and it sort of fell flat. So just know that March 25th is Elton’s birthday, and he’s still standing. Click the links and enjoy. And now some Peace & Justice History.
| March 25, 1807 Great Britain abolished international trade in slaves. Emancipation of slaves in the country, however, did not occur until 1834, and persisted as unpaid apprenticeship for the technically emancipated for years after that. The story of abolition in England |
| March 25, 1872 Toronto printers went on strike for a 9-hour workday and a 54-hour workweek—the first major strike in Canada. When the editor of the Globe newspaper had thirteen of them arrested, 10,000 turned out to support them. Later that year unions were made legal in Canada. |
| March 25, 1894 In the midst of a depression that had begun the previous year, a millionaire businessman from Massillon, Ohio, Jacob Coxey, organized a march of an “industrial army” from Ohio to Washington, D.C. Congress had done little in response to the economic crisis and Coxey advocated a range of solutions, many considered radical at the time, such as building roads and other public works (known as infrastructure today).  Coxey’s Army passing through Mayland on their way to Washington. Coxey is seated behind the horses looking at the camera. “Coxey’s Army” gathered on the Capitol lawn but they were driven off and Coxey was arrested for trespassing when he tried to deliver his address to the crowd in violation of their first amendment rights “peacably to assemble, and to petition the Government for redress of grievances.” |
| March 25, 1911 The Triangle Shirt Waist Company, occupying the top floors of a ten-story building on New York’s lower east side, was consumed by fire.  147 people, mostly immigrant women and young girls working in sweatshop conditions, lost their lives. Approximately 50 died as they leapt from windows to the street; the others were burned or trampled to death, desperately trying to escape via stairway exits illegally locked to prevent “ the interruption of work.”Company owners were charged with seven counts of manslaughter—but were found not guilty.The incident was a turning point in labor law, especially concerning health and safety. For three days prior, the company, along with other warehouse owners, had grouped together to fight the Fire Commissioner’s order that fire sprinklers be installed.   Protests in the wake of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, button from the struggle Comprehensive collection of materials on the tragedy from Cornell University’s labor school |
| March 25, 1915 The Sisterhood of International Peace was founded in Melbourne, Australia, by Eleanor May Moore and Dr. Charles Strong. |
| March 25, 1965 Their numbers having swelled to 25,000, the Selma-to-Montgomery marchers arrived at the Alabama state capitol.Organized by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the march was to bring attention to the denial of voting rights to black Americans in the state and elsewhere in the south. Twice the people had been turned back, denied the right to leave Selma peacefully.  Martin Luther King Jr. and wife Coretta lead march into Montgomery, Alabama. Dr. King spoke to the crowd: “Yes, we are on the move and no wave of racism can stop us. (Yes, sir) We are on the move now. The burning of our churches will not deter us. (Yes, sir) The bombing of our homes will not dissuade us. (Yes, sir) We are on the move now. (Yes, sir) The beating and killing of our clergymen and young people will not divert us. We are on the move now.” The Federal Voting Rights Act was passed within two months. The Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail |
March 25, 1965 Viola Liuzzo Viola Gregg Liuzzo, a housewife and mother from Detroit, driving marchers back to Selma from Montgomery, was shot and killed by Ku Klux Klansmen from a passing car. She had driven down to Alabama to join the march after seeing on television the Bloody Sunday attacks at Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge earlier in the month. It was later learned that riding with the Klansmen was an FBI informant, Gary Rowe. More about Viola Liuzzo Viola Gregg Liuzzo |
| March 25, 1967 Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. led an anti-war march for the first time in Chicago, opposing the Vietnam War by saying: “Our arrogance can be our doom. It can bring the curtains down on our national drama . . . Ultimately, a great nation is a compassionate nation The bombs in Vietnam explode at home—they destroy the dream and possibility for a decent America . . . .”  Reverend King addresses rally at the end of the Chicago march photo: Jo Freeman |
| March 25, 1969 The newly wed John Lennon and Yoko Ono-Lennon began their seven-day “bed-in for peace” against the Vietnam War in the presidential suite of the the Amsterdam Hilton in The Netherlands. Their doors were open to the media from 10am to 10pm. They invited all to think about and talk about creating peace. “Yoko and I are quite willing to be the world’s clowns, if by so doing it will do some good”.  The Wedding and “Ballad of John and Yoko” |
| March 25, 1972 30,000 participated in the Children’s March for Survival in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the National Welfare Rights Organization. They were supporting the Family Assistance Program, then pending in Congress (but never passed), which guaranteed a minimum income level for all families. |
| March 25, 1990 A new community, Segundo Montes, was started by campesinos in El Salvador who had lived for nine years as exiles in Honduras following the El Mozote Massacre, when 1000 civilians were killed by the U.S.-trained Salvadoran military. The town was named after a priest who had helped them in the Colomoncagua refugee camp on the border, and who was murdered along with four other Jesuit priests by the Salvadoran military. |
From My DPA Email, Info On Anti-Execution Hunger Striking in Iran
No bombs, no warships, no solid food on Tuesdays before executions on Wednesdays. Even while being bombed and threatened with warships.
113th Week of the “No to Execution Tuesdays” Campaign in 56 Prisons Across Iran
Political prisoners in 56 different prisons across the country continued their hunger strike in the 113th week of the “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign. Members of this campaign, while condemning the widespread and arbitrary executions, particularly the execution of several protesters on the eve of Nowruz, called these actions an attempt by the regime to instill fear and terror in society. The striking prisoners, warning about the dire conditions of the prisons and the risk of execution for recent detainees in the shadow of communication blackouts, called upon the international community and human rights organizations to increase pressure on the Iranian regime to halt these sentences and secure the release of political prisoners.
Please find the full text of the statement by the “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign below:
Continuation of the “No to Execution Tuesdays” Campaign in its 113th Week in 56 Different Prisons
The “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign congratulates the general public of Iran, and especially the families of those who lost their lives in the Dey [January] 1404 uprising and all the executed individuals of the past year who were massacred by the despotic and repressive “Velayat-e Faqih” regime, on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr and Nowruz 1405. We express our utmost thanks and appreciation to all individuals, teachers’ trade syndicates, retirees, workers, and families of those sentenced to death, as well as independent media and all those who served as the voice for death row inmates, and we hope that the year 1405 will be the year of Iran’s freedom—an Iran without torture and executions.
The execution regime has hanged over 2,650 of our compatriots in various parts of the country over the past year. Cruelly, on the eve of Nowruz, it executed three brave youths named Mehdi Ghasemi, Saeed Davoudi, and Saleh Mohammadi, who had been arrested during the Dey [January] protests, in Qom, and hanged another prisoner named Kourosh Keyvani on charges of espionage in Karaj Central Prison.
We, the members of the “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign, while condemning the arbitrary and brutal executions carried out with the aim of creating fear and terror in society, call upon the United Nations, various countries, and human rights organizations to exert pressure on the Iranian regime so that the minimum rights of prisoners are respected. This is particularly crucial for those prisoners who have been arrested in recent months and are enduring torture in the midst of media silence and internet blackouts, facing the risk of death sentences; we also demand the release of political prisoners. Especially under the conditions of bombardments, the lives of prisoners are exposed to a double threat, and many prisoners are suffering from a lack of food and medical care. In the past week, dozens of prisoners in Chabahar Prison were killed and wounded by prison guards due to their protests against the lack of food supplies.
It should be noted that over the past two weeks, the statement of this campaign (Weeks 111 and 112) was not published due to communication blackouts.
The “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign in its 113th week is on hunger strike in the following 56 prisons:
Evin Prison (Women’s and Men’s Wards), Ghezel Hesar Prison (Units 2, 3, and 4), Karaj Central Prison, Karaj Fardis Prison, Greater Tehran Prison, Qarchak Prison, Khorin Prison of Varamin, Choubindar Prison of Qazvin, Ahar Prison, Arak Prison, Langarud Prison of Qom, Khorramabad Prison, Borujerd Prison, Yasuj Prison, Asadabad Prison of Isfahan, Dastgerd Prison of Isfahan, Sheiban Prison of Ahvaz, Sepidar Prison of Ahvaz (Women’s and Men’s Wards), Nezam Prison of Shiraz, Adelabad Prison of Shiraz (Women’s and Men’s Wards), Firuzabad Prison of Fars, Dehdasht Prison, Zahedan Prison (Women’s and Men’s Wards), Borazjan Prison, Ramhormoz Prison, Behbahan Prison, Bam Prison, Yazd Prison (Women’s and Men’s Wards), Kahnuj Prison, Tabas Prison, Birjand Central Prison, Mashhad Prison, Gorgan Prison, Sabzevar Prison, Gonbad-e Kavus Prison, Qaemshahr Prison, Rasht Prison (Men’s and Women’s Wards), Rudsar Prison, Haviq Prison of Talesh, Azbaram Prison of Lahijan, Dizelabad Prison of Kermanshah, Ardabil Prison, Tabriz Prison, Urmia Prison, Salmas Prison, Khoy Prison, Naqadeh Prison, Miandoab Prison, Mahabad Prison, Bukan Prison, Saqqez Prison, Baneh Prison, Marivan Prison, Sanandaj Prison, Kamyaran Prison, and Ilam Prison.
Week 113
Tuesday, 4 Farvardin 1404
#No_to_Execution_Tuesdays_Campaign
A Letter From God
Tuesday Mix
(Remember Clay Jones writes a blog entry under his comics on Substack, and they’re Gold. Just click through right there on the title.)
Mewling About Mueller
Prez POS strikes again
https://www.gocomics.com/heathcliff/2026/03/23
It’s our friend Bee!
Josh Johnson11 hours agoProbably my most requested topic ever. Do your thing for the algo so everyone knows new set will be live premiering Tuesday at 9pm eastern Friends ❤️
(Don’t forget!)
Josh Johnson 7 hours agoH i Friends, good news! I am hosting @TheDailyShow this week Tuesday – Thursday. Do your thing for the algo so more people see it. Guests this week are Sterling K. Brown, Mero, and Eiza González. March 24-26 on Comedy Central and Paramount
Toons And Stuff
I save the best for first. So, you all should know that Josh Johnson is hosting The Daily Show Tuesday night, along with Wed. and Thurs. nights. Thank you for your attention to this vital matter!
Next, and almost as good: maybe this has been seen, but here it is, for your enjoyment.
School Bus Stranger Danger
Parents, do you know who your children are sitting next to?
Trump celebrates Robert Mueller’s death
Melania, you must be very proud.
The French General had it right
A French General told Drumpf to go EFF HIMSELF
The French general did the right thing
“Fuckez-you!” he did happily sing
“Vous est a dicque
Et vous makez me sicque!
Mange a bite of my low-hanging thingue!”
“The only thing we really have to work at in this life is how to manifest love.”
George Harrison
Scottie's Playtime 