As many here can imagine this was hard for me to post.ย I am shaking and crying but the post is important to get out.ย Children as property was how I was seen.ย I was going to put it on the roundup page, but it just doesn’t belong there; it does belong here.ย Thank you. Hugs
and wondering about the little internet anomalies that happened here after I sent a very nice letter to Sec. Noem about a young woman being detained for protesting, who’s starving to illness because halal food is not provided in her detention facility. You all know me; of course I made it very polite and non-confrontational. I had a few concerns for a bit, then let it go, slept, did yesterday only wondering a bit now and then, but nothing happened. Then this morning, I see this article. sigh I really hate posting this because I’m always encouraging people to write and direct our government, and this is certainly dis-encouraging. And discouraging. But necessary for people to know.
Trumpโs Department of Homeland Security is weaponizing a little-known legal tool to crack down on free speech โ and Big Tech is complying.
n October, a Philadelphia man sent an email to the Department of Homeland Security criticizing a government policy. Hours later, federal agents and local police were banging on his door to interrogate him without a warrant. It feels like something out of a movie, but it’s real.
Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with ACLU attorney Steve Loney, whoโs now representing the man involved, to ask some big questions: How are federal agencies obtaining your private data without a warrant? How are tech giants like Google enabling them? And what should you do if the feds come knocking on your door?
Or read the transcript (as I’m doing.) Part of it below, then the rest on the page.
Following is an automated, unedited transcription of this episode. The text may contain grammatical or spelling errors, especially for proper nouns, or attribute text to the wrong speaker. If you plan to quote any part of this transcript, please first confirm that it is correct by listening to the audio.
[00:00:00] David Sirota: From The Lever’s reader, supported newsroom, it’s Lever Time. I’m David Sirota. The idea of civil liberties can seem abstract. Civil liberties are your basic right to speak out, criticize the government and feel free from state sponsored censorship or intimidation. And it’s easy to take civil liberties for granted as if they just exist.
That is, until they become less abstract and more concrete when the government goes full authoritarian against you. In recent months, we’ve seen the Trump administration deploying immigration enforcement agents to violently invade US cities. Killing people is an obvious violation of their civil liberties, to say the least.
But there’s a quieter assault on civil liberties also happening right now. One that can start with you just sending an innocuous email expressing opposition to a government policy, and then end up with federal agents banging on your door and big tech companies threatening to turn all of your digital data over to federal police.
Now, this may sound like science fiction or something happening in a far away country, but today on Lever Time, you’re gonna hear how it’s happening right here in America at a potentially massive scale, and I have some very big questions for the lawyer right in the middle of this battle.
How can a federal agency subpoena your personal data without a judicial warrant? Why are giant tech companies that once sold themselves as protecting customer’s privacy from government intrusion? Why are they now apparently working with the Trump administration to destroy that privacy? And what can you do if you find one of these subpoena threats in your own email inbox? Coming up, my discussion with ACLU attorney, Steve Loney, who tells the harrowing tale of one man being threatened by the government for sending an email opposing ICE’s policy and what they discovered when pushing back against the Trump administration and Big Tech.
Why don’t we start with, um, just who you are, uh, what you do, and anything you think the audience should know. Uh, for purposes of this conversation.
[00:02:22] Steve Loney: My name is Steve Loney. I’m the senior supervising attorney at the A CLU of Pennsylvania. Um, the senior attorney in the Alus Philadelphia office. I am a civil rights attorney, um, one of the last of the generalists.
So if, uh, people’s civil rights are being violated in Pennsylvania, then um, I may be on the case. I have a pretty significant First Amendment docket, which is how I got involved in cases involving people. Having their data subpoenaed by the federal government, and a couple of the most significant or high profile cases have come out of Pennsylvania and activists, uh, in suburban Philadelphia.
[00:02:58] David Sirota: So the story that we’re talking about today starts with a Washington Post article, and I want you to tell me about this article published in late October. Of 2025 detailing how the Trump administration decided to deport a man, a father of two to Afghanistan, where he expected the Taliban to kill him.
Just set the scene here with this article coming out.
[00:03:26] Steve Loney: It started with a man who ended up being our client sitting in the suburbs of Philadelphia reading. This post article in October about the government sort of stripping status for an asylum seeker, somebody who was trying to stay in the United States legally.
Um, so to the extent that all of this debate around immigration is about, you know, trying to find a path to be here illegally, this individual apparently was seeking a path to be here illegally. He had a live asylum application. His asylum claim was based on his legitimate fear that if he returned. To Afghanistan after having helped the United States while he was there.
Then he would suffer retribution, maybe even be killed by the Taliban. So the post published an article about his case where the government was essentially revoking his status and attempting to deport him imminently. And the men ended up being our client. John, and I’ll avoid using his last name because part of the First Amendment issue here is DHS piercing the bail of anonymity for people who are trying to express their abuse anonymously.
John is a naturalized citizen in Pennsylvania who is very politically interested, very upset about what’s happening. Right now, especially as it pertains to immigration. As somebody who was born in another country and worked to become a United States citizen, he read this article and was appalled by the position the government was taking.
In that article, a government lawyer, a United States lawyer from the DOJ was identified as the lawyer identified by name. It’s this is a public servant doing the business of the government in public. So this is not a doxing situation, however people might try to use that term. This is somebody who publicly signed the papers in the Afghanistan refugees case and was identified by the Post.
Our client did a quick Google search, found the government lawyer’s email address listed publicly. Again, I think he found it on his state bar’s website, so he decided to send an email to the government lawyer. It was a very innocuous, non-threatening, just plea for. The government to do the right thing and not let this individual from Afghanistan go home to face torture and death.
[00:05:38] David Sirota: So at this point in, in this story, the Washington Post publishes a story that’s, uh, a pretty tragic story of the Trump administration deporting a guy potentially sending him back to a country where he could get killed. Somebody else reads this story. Sees the, uh, public official quoted emails, the public official, a plea for a different, a different decision.
[00:06:04] Steve Loney: I believe his words were a plea for decency. Apply human decency. That was this. This was the guy’s crime, was to ask a government official to be decent,
[00:06:12] David Sirota: and that gets to this next part, which is a crime, right? That apparently in doing this, the response was to treat the. Guy who sent the email almost as a criminal, what happened next?
[00:06:28] Steve Loney: What happened next was that the government investigated him or started to investigate him as a criminal. Within hours of hitting send on the email, he used his Gmail account to send this email to the government official, and within hours he received a notice on his Gmail account sort of form. Notice from Google saying that we’re waiting to notify you that your data has been requested by a government agency and you have seven days to seek a court order stopping this or else we’re gonna comply and hand over your data to the government.
[00:06:56] David Sirota: This is hours later.
[00:06:57] Steve Loney: Hours
[00:06:57] David Sirota: later, like not, not a few days later, not caught in the spam filter. It’s like sends the email, maybe goes out, does some errands, comes back, checks his email, and he gets this email in his Gmail precisely saying. The government is like knocking down our door. Google’s door demanding your data,
[00:07:13] Steve Loney: right?
And Google’s not gonna step up and try to resist this. Google’s not gonna look into whether this is a legitimate government inquiry. Google is putting the onus on this individual who all he did was send a two line email to navigate federal courts and figure out what motion to file on his own dime. To stop this train or else Google’s gonna comply with the subpoena.
[00:07:34] David Sirota: This subpoena, to be clear, is known as an administrative subpoena. So just for people who hear this term, it’s not like the government went to a judge, got a judge to sign off on a warrant, like in a couple of hours, and then sent something to Google. This is something. Different. And I think it’s important for people to understand what an administrative subpoena is as distinct from a, a judicial warrant,
[00:08:00] Steve Loney: right?
And, and a judicial warrant is what you would normally expect to be sought by a prosecutorial entity trying to prosecute or investigate a crime. So, as I said before, they treated him like a criminal, but they didn’t follow the procedures and the guardrails that are in place to protect our rights. In the event that.
A prosecutor wants a warrant to search your stuff. So what they’re doing instead is trying to shoehorn these kinds of requests into administrative subpoenas. So administrative subpoenas are authorized to some extent by statute. So DHS has statutory authority to investigate, essentially, I’m gonna oversimplify, but essentially violations of immigration law or interference with immigration functions.
So if DHS is legitimately. Investigating a violation of the immigration laws. It can issue its own subpoena. It doesn’t have to go to to a judge because it’s not, that is not a criminal process. That or it’s not yet a criminal process, right? So the agency can do agency things through an administrative subpoena, but there are still guardrails and, and a bygone, quaint era of Trump won.
We might’ve expected the tech companies who are under no obligation. This is, this is a big distinction between a criminal search warrant signed by a judge and an administrative subpoena. The recipient of the administrative subpoena, the tech company can actually say no. They can say thanks. No thanks.
And in that past era when tech companies seemed to be more interested in kind of marketing how good of a job they were doing at protecting their users’, privacy would kind of tout that we will push back on these subpoenas. And they did. And there were some cases like this, that back and forth, the administrative subpoena goes to Google or any tech company, they look at it, they realize it’s not a judicially signed warrant.
They say, no thanks. Then the onus is on the government to go to court and they know how to file things in federal court. The onus is on the government to go to court and justify why their investigation is tied to that statutory authority. Right. And it’s so then it’s not on the end user. But things have shifted now in a couple of different ways.
One is we’ve learned that. DHS is overusing these administrative subpoenas.
[00:10:16] David Sirota: How much, like what are we talking about overusing?
(snip-more)
I finally made a comic strip about fall (but without any references to pumpkin spice lattes).
This is me during high school in a nutshell btw
I have been here.ย No means no, stop means don’t argue just stop and change activites, consent can be withdrawn at any time during sex.ย Hugs
โOur flag is red, white, and blue, but our nation is a rainbowโred, yellow, brown, black, and whiteโand we are all precious in Godโs sight.โ
Many people have requested such wearable designs lately, so I was happy to oblige. Just a bunch of funny, silly, lighthearted designs, yes, such as:
-โSorry babe, I canโt make it to the function tonight, I have fascists to punchโ (my personal favorite);
-โAbolish ICEโ but in a beautiful gradient from the future;
-โNerds against ICEโ with a natural 20 (they are messing with the wrong DnD party);
-โI thought we agreed that concentration camps were BADโ;
-โICE OUTโ but in trans colors for added conservative nightmares.
Thereโs also a few variants and other new stuff! Check them out here.
U.S. news, too; scroll past what you’ve seen. I like to know what’s happening outside the U.S. as well as here; I loved to read newspapers when they were big and full of news from everywhere. I don’t make time to read this often enough.
Everything Briefing
Good morning, everyone!
https://substack.com/embedjs/embed.js“>(snip-embedded note on the page; click this or the title above)
Four years later, he placed second for the nomination, winning 11 cโฆ
Today, we will look at a series of U.S. political developments, Ukrainian peace talks, and U.S.-Iranian nuclear talks.
Letโs get to it.
โป๏ธ Help this post reach more readers: like, repost, and share ๐ฌ
United States
-Congressional negotiations on a spending bill to reopen the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have stalled, as Democratic and Republican leaders remain divided on changes to immigration enforcement practices.
DHS, which houses the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, entered a partial shutdown on Saturday after Congress failed to pass a funding bill amid the standoff.
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer agreed to a compromise bill to fund all government agencies except for DHS through September as they negotiated changes to immigration enforcement tactics.
Ahead of the funding lapse, congressional Democrats called the White Houseโs counterproposals insufficient.
-Americansโ approval of Trumpโs immigration policies has fallen to a new low, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
-Stephen Colbert said that CBS forced him to not air an interview with Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico on his late-night show, saying that executives were fearful that the appearance could draw ire from the Federal Communications Commission.
The interview was posted to The Late Showโs YouTube page. View it here:
Earlier this month, the FCC opened an investigation into ABCโs The View after an appearance by Talarico.
The latest move came just as early voting began in Texas, where Talarico, a State Representative, is facing off against Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic primary.
The election will be held on March 3.
-Arizona Senator Mark Kelly said he will โseriously considerโ a bid for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination.
-In a Presidentsโ Day message, former President George W. Bush paid tribute to George Washington, saying he โensured America wouldnโt become a monarchy, or worse.โ
Read the full message on Substack here:
George Washington by George W. Bush
2 days ago ยท 1386 likes ยท 291 comments ยท In Pursuit and George W. Bush
-Measles cases in South Carolina have surged.
-Speculation has swirled around whether Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito plans to retire this year.
-Jesse Jackson, the longtime civil rights activist and two-time presidential candidate, died yesterday at the age of 84.
Tributes poured in following the news of his passing.
View them here.
-On this day in 1931, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Toni Morrison was born in Lorain, Ohio.
In 1938, Joseph Kennedy Sr., the father of future President John F. Kennedy, was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James’s in the Oval Office as President Franklin Roosevelt looked on.
In 1967, J. Robert Oppenheimer, the โfather of the atomic bomb,โ died at the age of 62.
In 1988, Anthony Kennedy was seated as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court.
Nominated by President Ronald Reagan, Kennedy would go on to serve as the Courtโs crucial swing vote on issues of abortion, affirmative action, and gay marriage.
In 2010, President Barack Obama signed an executive order establishing the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, tasking Republican Alan Simpson and Democrat Erskine Bowles with identifying strategies to improve the countryโs long-term fiscal outlook.
The body, known as the Simpson-Bowles Commission, issued a report titled โThe Moment of Truth,โ later that year, calling for a combination of spending cuts, tax and entitlement reforms, and other measures to reduce the deficit.
Africa
-Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoฤan scorned Israelโs recent recognition of Somaliland, the breakaway region of Somalia, saying the move did not benefit the Horn of Africa region.
Israel officially recognized the Republic of Somaliland as an independent and sovereign state in December, becoming the first member of the United Nations to do so.
In response, Somalia called the move an โexistential threat,โ with President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud saying that his country would โfight in its capacityโ to prevent an Israeli military presence in the region.
Somaliland declared independence in 1991 following a five-year civil war.
-Nigeriaโs defense ministry said yesterday that 100 more U.S. military personnel had arrived in the country as part of a mission to counter Islamist militant groups in the West African country.
President Trump ordered strikes on Islamic State targets in the country on Christmas Day and has accused the government of failing to protect Christians in its northwestern region, a claim it rejects.
-The new U.S. Ambassador to South Africa, conservative activist and writer Leo Brent Bozell III, arrived in the country yesterday amid strained bilateral ties.
-Unemployment in South Africa declined to 31.4% in the fourth quarter, a five-year low.
The jobless rate in the country has remained above 20% since the mid-1990s and remains one of the highest in the world.
-On this day in 2004, President Bush hosted Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in the Oval Office as Washington sought the North African countryโs cooperation in its war against terrorist organizations.
According to press reports, Bush also urged Ben Ali to adopt democratic reforms.
Ben Ali ruled Tunisia with an iron fist from 1987 until 2011 when he was ousted by a pro-democracy movement that would sweep the region, which would become known as the Arab Spring.
Americas and the Caribbean
-Peruโs Congress voted to remove interim President Joลe Jorรญ from office yesterday over undisclosed meetings he held with Chinese business executives.
Jorรญ had just assumed office in October. His removal comes just ahead of a presidential election in April and as the public expresses outrage over rising crime in the Andean nation.
The country has had seven presidents since 2016.
-Guatemala lifted a state of emergency one month after the killing of 10 police officers by suspected gang members.
-The Colombian government said yesterday it would resume peace talks with the countryโs largest illegal armed group.
-Prison deaths have continued to rise in Ecuador despite President Daniel Noboaโs strategy to rein them in, according to Reuters.
-Qatarโs prime minister arrived in Venezuela yesterday.
The Gulf nation has often acted as an intermediary between the United States and the government in Caracas.
-Canadians have cut their travel to the United States for a second consecutive year, according to new data.
-Annual inflation in Canada slowed to 2.3% in January, according to government data released yesterday. The decline was fueled by a steep drop in gasoline prices, offsetting a rise in food and clothing costs.
-On this day in 1940, President Roosevelt visited the Panama Canal Zone as part of an inspection tour.
Asia/Indo-Pacific
-Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Tarique Rahman was sworn in as prime minister yesterday, capping two years of political instability in the South Asian nation.
The BNP secured a landslide election victory in last weekโs parliamentary voteโthe first since the ouster of authoritarian Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2024.
Hasina resigned her post following massive student-led protests against a job quota system. After a harsh crackdown by her government, protesters marched on her official residence, forcing her to flee to India.
For decades, the BNP acted as the primary opposition to Hasinaโs ruling Awami League, facing persistent targeting by the government.
The country was led by a transitional government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus since Hasinaโs ouster.
-Japanโs lower house of parliament, known as the Diet, will meet today to formally elect Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
Earlier this month, Takaichiโs ruling Liberal Democratic Party secured a landslide election victory following a snap parliamentary vote.
-President Trump said yesterday that Japan plans to invest $36 billion for industrial projects in Georgia, Ohio, and Texas.
Europe
-Negotiators from Ukraine and Russia will meet today for a second round of U.S.-mediated talks as President Trump pushes Kyiv to agree to a settlement to end the nearly four-year-long war.
Just ahead of the talks in Geneva, Switzerland, Russia launched strikes across Ukraine, damaging the power network in the southern port city of Odesa.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the persistent overnight attacks have left tens of thousands of residents without heat and water amid freezing temperatures.
Next week, the war will enter its fifth year. On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale military invasion of the country, seeking to quickly capture the capital, but was met by resistance from Ukrainian forces.
Since then, Russia has captured roughly 20% of Ukraineโs internationally recognized territory, with fighting stalling along the frontlines in recent months.
Meanwhile, an estimated 100,000 to 140,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed, compared with 275,000 to 325,000 Russian troops.
-Russia sentenced a U.S. citizen to four years in prison.
-According to a new poll, one in five Europeans say dictatorship is preferable to democratic rule.
-On this day in 1971, President Richard Nixon hosted Italian Prime Minister Emilio Colombo at the White House.
Colombo, who served as premier from 1970 to 1972, was the last surviving member of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the 1948 Italian Constitution and abolished the countryโs monarchy.
Today, he is regarded as a โfounding fatherโ of what would become the European Union.
Middle East
-The United States and Iran held a second round of talks in Geneva, Switzerland, yesterday, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi saying the two sides agreed to โguiding principles.โ
The talks come as President Trump seeks to get Iran to agree to limit its nuclear program, threatening military action if it does not.
In June, Trump ordered strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities in a bid to disable its nuclear program. Tehran insists the program is for peaceful purposes, which Washington and European capitals reject.
In his first term, Trump withdrew Washington from the pact struck by his predecessor, Barack Obama, that placed curbs on Tehranโs then-nascent nuclear program. The Biden administration sought to bring Iran back into compliance with the terms of the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), but was unsuccessful.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran possesses a substantial stockpile of enriched uranium, the fissile material needed to build a nuclear bomb. The watchdog reports that Iran has over 400 kg of 60% enriched uranium, which is just a short step from 90% weapons-grade.
-Israelโs cabinet has approved a plan that would mandate land registration in the West Bank, a move Palestinians regard as โde facto annexation.โ
-Hezbollah rejected a plan by the government for the terrorist group to disarm.
-On this day in 1952, Turkey joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as the western military allianceโs 12th member state alongside Greece.
Today, the Middle Eastern country contributes the second-largest army in the bloc.
Thatโs all for today. See you tomorrow.
ICE nearly kills another child by mistreatment and ignoring their worsening health and healthcare needs.ย This is so familiar if you remember history.ย Lack of food, no healthcare, no humanity.ย Hugs
Children cry, thinking their parents will be taken if ICE follows them home.ย All because they are brown skinned.ย Is this the USA?ย Hugs
SORRY HATERS MY SMILE IS ICONIC
I went out shopping early this morning.ย Then I came home and after putting the stuff away I did all the dishes.ย It was not a lot but three days worth and last night I cooked a good meal.ย I am washing all the bed linens and all the towels in the chairs / places that Tupac lays on.ย So as I try to do they cartoonย / meme post for tomorrow …. My mind is fractured.ย ย So these songs are in my mind.ย Sorry if this hurts anyone.ย Also remember I am not in danger of self-harm.ย I won’t do that to all of you who I respect so much. Hugs or best wishes to all as you appreciate the gesture.ย ย The songs below are shattering my thoughts.ย ย I walk alone, and I wish for the sound of silence.ย Oh, to have the thoughts in my mind stop! I desperately wish for it. I have not eaten yet today, nor did I after breakfast yesterday and Ron has called me 3 times asking me to eat.ย Even telling me to order something if it is more pleasing to me.ย I just can’t.ย I bought salad stuff today so maybe a salad later.ย I am so confused. I had four more ready to post and suddenly realized it was useless.ย ย Is my life useless?ย I do good things.ย My husband loves me.ย His cat sleeps pressed up against me at night, yet even last night as I struggled to sleep and he moved up onto my pillow I took no comfort from him.ย I am feeling so numb inside when I let myself feel anything at all because the government is forcing my pain doctors to reduce my medications despite the new MRI showing severe and increased damage to my spine.ย My doctors say it my be necessary for me to do surgery to get relief because RFK Jr. has determined that all pain clinics lower their clients morphine equviancy to less than 100.ย Those who do not feel chronic pain or live in long pain because they dont hve to suffer … well illegal drugs all of a sudden get a hollier than though about drugs.ย Seriously, this former drug adic is restricting needed medication from people like me with seriously damaged spines and no contributions to his campaigns.ย ย But drugs from a qualified pain doctor can mean the difference between living a quality life and suffering in even more agony. Hugs
I am sorry.ย I do not not want to worry anyone or cause fear.ย But I feel so… out of sync with the world.ย I just hurt.ย It is part physical and a lot emotional.ย ย The MRIย I had just had showed many parts of my lower spine are showing far more damage than my doctors had thought.ย ย They thought I had a few more years before surgery. I cannot afford surgery.ย ย The MRI moved many of my lower vertebrae from the moderate to severe to extremely severe zone.ย One the report said was in civilian terms destroyed.ย The bone matrrial decaded, the inside soft stuff pushed out and the nerves were caught by the edges of the jagged edges of the bones both being forced out and being pinched and being pinced inside as I moved.ย It is why I cannot sit in my chair very long.ย Ron is going to get me an air seat when he gets home but I doubt it will help. I am sitting here thinking of why when my spine shows ever more damage the government is requiring that my pain doctors reduce everyone’s pain medications.ย Just because the former coke addict RFK Jr dosent feel the crippling pain that people like me do doesn’t mean he gets to stop our pain medication or at least shouldn’t.ย All that does is force us on to illegal drugs to get relief.ย I wonder if that is the point all along.ย Think of it, all theย friends in pain suddenly not able to vote would change the election in plenty of ways.ย Hugs
Sorry, but I keep repeating the songs over and over.ย Hugs
Every body hurts.ย But today I hurt terribly. Sorry.ย ย Now I have to go struggle to make the bed because I washed the bed sheets.ย More pain. Hugs
By: Start TV Staff Posted: January 14, 2026, 1:17PM
Start TV is set to premiere the award-winning documentary, Who in the Hell is Regina Jones?, on Monday, February 16 at 8P | 7C with a special encore immediately after at 10P | 9C.
The stellar production from Weigel Productions Corp. shines a light on legendary journalist Regina Jones. The documentary, which won the Outstanding Documentary Feature Award at the Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival, turns a lens on Jones’ historical journey โ the invisible labor, turmoil, struggle, and joy of a modern-day Black woman, who emerged as publisher and founder of the groundbreaking SOUL newspaper. On this nationwide platform, Black artists could get coverage long before other publications entered the arena.
Pregnant and married at 15, Regina Jones experienced the Watts Rebellion of 1965, raised five children, stepped into places where she was not wanted, and navigated a world that offered her no favors. SOUL was the first publication devoted specifically to Black musicians and perspectives in music, published from 1966 to 1982. During its run, the publication profiled some of the era’s most prominent Black artists, including Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Diana Ross, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder.
Who in the Hell is Regina Jones? was produced by Weigel Productions Corp and directed by Soraya Sรฉlรจne and Billy Miossi, edited by Nancy Novack A.C.E., co-edited by Alisa Selman, produced by Alissa Shapiro, and executive produced by Academy Award nominee Sam Pollard.
Frightened little kids who are U.S. citizens are running from agents of their own government because their skin color is brown instead of white.ย My childhood was full of fear.ย It is horrifying and in the case of these children it is complete bigotry and racism directed by Nazi wannabe Stephen Miller.ย ย
What is wrong in this country where adults think terrorizing little kids because of their skin color is acceptable?ย I cannot accept this. I cannot accept terrified children running from adults just because of skin color!ย What are we, apartheid South Africa?ย This video is horrific!ย Only racists could like seeing this.ย Hugs
Listen, read, or both; click through to hear it.
Episode 4 of I SPENT THREE DAYS IN MINNEAPOLIS!
In the days after federal agents killed ICU nurse Alex Pretti (only days after other federal agents killed Renee Good), I saw a video of a haggard Minneapolis restaurant owner saying that he was going to give food away until the federal governmentโs occupation of Minnesota ends. His restaurant, Modern Times Cafe, was going to be 100% freeโฆ for everyone. It wasnโt just going to be free for people whoย proved they needed free foodย or for folks whoย asked for free food. It was going to be FREE. FOR. EVERYONE. Dylan Alverson, owner of the now-renamed Post Modern Times Cafe, was mad as hell, and he was not going to charge for pancakes anymore!
(Full Instagram bit on the page; above is a photo)
Actor and singer Mandy Patinkinโs son Gideon had shared Dylanโs video with me.ย Gideon runs Mandyโs verified Instagram account.ย The Patinkinsโ IG page is filled with hopeful political messages, righteous leftist anger, andโmost importantlyโways to help. At some point our Internet paths crossed, and we have tagged each other in posts ever since. Seeing Dylanโs video was yet another battery in my back that gave me the juice to go to Minneapolis. I saw the video on Monday, January 26, and by that Thursday, January 29 I was on a Zoom withย the McKnight Foundationย to figure out how we could work together to get me to the Twin Cities. Once we decided that I would go, I quickly put a visit to Post Modern Times on the agenda. I didnโt go there for McKnight. I went there for me. I really wanted to meet Dylan. He reminded me of people I met in Berkeley, back in the day. True believers who are more than excited to go against the grain. Luckily, Dylan was down to talk. As we discuss in the episode, he is not one for attention. He just wants to help his neighbors. I also found out that since he shared that initial video, he has decided that having a free restaurant feels so good that he wants to keep Post Modern Times Cafe free, even after Trumpโs government leavesย (which they finally announced they are going to do).
(Snip)
Dylan plans to turn his restaurant into a nonprofit organization. This just shows, yet again, that the effect this occupation has had on Minnesota is permanent. It doesnโt matter if the feds leave today, they have:
None of that gets erased, fixed, or healed just because the goons get gone. I truly hope that more people are able to sue the federal government like the teachers union, Education Minnesota, did. The only thing that has stopped the people of the Twin Cities and beyond from folding completely is that there are many, many, MANY people like Dylan Alverson who are committed to community. Like Dylan, they are committed above and beyond their own self-interestโฆ or even their own commonsense.
While Dylanโs free restaurant may seem like a gimmick or a naive idea, Dylan sees it as part of a larger way to fight back against our authoritarian government. Dylan put it best in our interview:
โThe world is watching, and they should. This could be the start of a revolution. We donโt know. But to me, it feels like it. And Iโm willing to go as far as I need to if I can make that happen.โ
Post Modern Times will only be able to keep up its anti-capitalistic โgambleโ (gamble is Dylanโs word for what they are doing) if they also have community support. If you can, donate or spread the word about Post Modern Times Cafeโs bold plan.
(snip-MORE, including a podcast with Mandy Patinkin & Katherine Grody, helping MN teachers, and yet more!)
Scottie's Playtime 