Tag: Political

I thought this one could be interesting for us to read here.

Also, all of us has a state legislature, and, well, they need our attention.

As Kansas legislators jollily jostle into Statehouse, a low-budget Harry Potter film begins

Clay Wirestone


Members of the Kansas House of Representatives are sworn in

 Members of the Kansas House of Representatives are sworn in on Jan. 13, 2025. (Grace Hills/Kansas Reflector)

Watching senators and representatives traipse merrily into the Statehouse on Monday morning was like watching the beginning of a knockoff Harry Potter movie, one in which lawmakers returned to their majestic chambers full of excitement for the year to come.

Of course, Harry Potter movies feature fewer magical tax cuts for corporations, fantastical abortion messaging bills and terrifying anti-trans legislation.

I felt excitement in the air, as freshly elected supermajority Republicans licked at their lips at the prospect of enacting their agenda without having to pay pesky Democrats the slightest notice. House GOP members were heading out to a caucus meeting across the street — one closed to journalists — and hellos and backslaps echoed throughout the entrance.

It’s going to be a long three months. But don’t worry. I’ll be here writing this weekly roundup to collect bits and bobs that we didn’t get to over the week.

Think of me as Topeka’s own J.K. Rowling, only not transphobic.

House Speaker Dan Hawkins stands before his chamber
 House Speaker Dan Hawkins stands before his chamber on the opening day of session, Jan. 13, 2025. (Grace Hills/Kansas Reflector)

Press restrictions

I’ll have more about this Monday, but despite embarrassed protestations from some Republican House members, leadership indeed banned reporters from the chamber’s floor. Either have the decency to own the fact (it’s spelled out on a document sent to journalists) or voice your opposition, but don’t lie.

In the meantime, word of the new restrictions spread across the state and nation.

The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker covered the situation here: Kansas House bans reporting from floor, mirroring move in Senate. Reflector editor Sherman Smith appeared on KCUR’s Up to Date on Tuesday to talk about the situation. TV stations KSNT out of Topeka and KWCH from Wichita also wrote about the changes.

The Kansas Department of Revenue said state income and sales tax revenue during August surpassed expectations by $11 million to record the 25th consecutive month in which revenue topped the official projection. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)
 Kansas lawmakers will see their base pay double during the 2025 session. Nice work if you can get it. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

Making money moves

Senators and representative have a good reason for the positive attitudes I saw Monday: They’re making a lot more money.

Thanks to a convoluted process involving an independent commission and its binding recommendations, rank-and-file lawmakers’ base pay more than doubled, from $21,000 to $43,000, for the session. If you include per diem reimbursements, that brings the average salary to $57,000. Leadership in both chambers saw their pay increase as well.

I’m on the record praising this idea. Given the aging demographics of our Legislature, these heftier salaries could attract younger talent. Hopefully, they will also cultivate a more professional attitude toward doing the people’s work. We shall see.

Americans for Prosperity lobbyists and enthusiasts, June 17, 2024
 Americans for Prosperity lobbyists and enthusiasts pack a Statehouse hearing room on June 17, 2024 (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

Conservative check-ins

We can’t ignore the various conservative lobbying groups that often have lawmakers’ ears, so today let’s check in with Americans for Prosperity and the National Federation of Independent Business.

AFP this week touted a new campaign calling on legislators in Washington, D.C., to renew former and future President Donald Trump’s signature tax cuts. The group claims in a news release that it will spend $20 million across 50 states to spread the word.

“If Congress fails to renew the TCJA, Kansans will be left paying $2,228 more in taxes,” claimed AFP-Kansas director Elizabeth Patton. “Along with increasing the burden of inflation on working families, the expiration of these tax cuts would cripple local businesses with a $988 tax increase and ultimately cost over 6,760 jobs.”

Meanwhile, the NFIB surveyed Kansas members and revealed the results, which mysteriously track with Topeka Republicans’ priorities.

The group writes in its own news release that more than 88% want state property taxes lowered. It also notes that 86% “believe Kansas should require the disclosure of third parties with financial interest in litigation,” and that 62% “support waiving fines and penalties for first-time regulatory errors.”

Robert Blaemire, author of a book about former U.S. Sen. Birch Bayh of Indiana, moderated a discussion with former U.S. Sen. Nancy Kassebaum at the Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas. (Thad Allton for Kansas Reflector)
 Robert Blaemire, author of a book about former U.S. Sen. Birch Bayh of Indiana, moderated a discussion with former U.S. Sen. Nancy Kassebaum at the Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas in 2022. (Thad Allton for Kansas Reflector)

Kassebaum addendum

In my Monday column about former U.S. Sen. Nancy Kassebaum receiving the Presidential Citizens Medal, I noted that other state news organizations had only skimmed the surface in reporting on the honor.

Right on time, Marion County Record reporter Finn Hartnett popped up Wednesday with a lovely profile of Kassebaum at home. Read and enjoy.

Keyboard glows purple against a hazy yellow background.
 The Kansas Reflector opinion section is always looking for fresh perspectives and new writers. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

Calling contributors

With a new year and new legislative session comes a new call from yours truly for contributors to the opinion section. We have a page of guidelines about what we’re looking for, but the short version is this: If you want to write about Kansas, and you live in Kansas, please drop me a line.

We don’t run traditional letters to the editor (he said politely, so please don’t send them), but I would love to see pieces in the 650-850 word range about the Sunflower State and its extraordinary residents. Take a look at our opinion section to see more.

Who knows, perhaps you can be the next non-transphobic J.K. Rowling along with me.

Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.

I’ve Got More Work to do on the Health Care Issue Here in my State-

Probably the taxes, too. There is a sense that they’re about to decide to try yet another Brownback ‘grand experiment’ while not addressing their work on funding the state. It’s a thing everyone with a state legislature has to do, though; monitor and lobby.

Kansas lawmakers will debate the taxes you pay and access to trans health care this session

Big fights on issues like transgender health care access will be repeated again this session as Republicans lead with a stronger majority.

Property tax cuts and access to care for young, transgender people are likely to be top issues in the Kansas Statehouse this year.

Top Kansas Republicans said they’ll look at amending the state constitution to put a cap on appraised values used to determine property taxes.

“People see these rapid appraisal increases, which turn into rapid tax increases,” Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson said. “Our hand in that is really giving the people the choice (as) to whether or not they want to have a cap.”

Masterson and Republican House Speaker Dan Hawkins spoke to KCUR’s Up to Date about their priorities heading into the 2025 legislative session. They said they want to eliminate the small chunk of property taxes that go towards the state’s construction and maintenance fund.

There are 21.5 mills levied for statewide property taxes. One-and-a-half mills go to the state; the rest goes to local governments.

Meanwhile, Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is advising caution as the Legislature considers more tax cuts. The state has a budget surplus, but Kelly argues too many cuts at once could negatively impact state infrastructure like schools and roads.

Kelly vetoed several attempts at tax cuts last year that she said would be too costly for the state in the future. She wants to wait a year before pursuing further property tax cuts.

Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, however, said they would be open to some cuts this session, as long as they’re sustainable and benefit low-income Kansans.

“If we’re just talking about homeowners, and not helping our renters, that’s not going to be fair,” Democratic Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes said.

To help renters, they want the state to consider limiting rent increases and reinstating a tax credit for renters that was eliminated under then-Gov. Sam Brownback, a Republican.

Republicans also said they plan to pursue a ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors.

Advocates for gender-affirming care say an early transition can reduce the risk of suicide in transgender teens. But critics say it amounts to mutilation.

Kelly successfully vetoed similar bans in years past. But with Republicans gaining seats in the November election, they have better odds of overriding a potential veto.

“I will tell you with 100% certainty that that will be back,” Hawkins told the Kansas News Service. “And we will have votes on it, and (Kelly will) veto it again, and we’ll override that veto.”

House Minority Leader Brandon Woodard said Democratic leaders are willing to negotiate with Republicans on the topic this session.

“This is a much more complex issue than many of the legislators really understand,” he said.

“I think there is a way to hear the concerns without invading parental rights, without inserting ourselves into physician offices, and I know that we are open to having those discussions with leadership,” Woodard added.

Peace & Justice History for 1/18

An example of actual “cancel culture” within, plus more.

January 18, 1919
The peace conference to negotiate the end of the Great War (now know as World War I) opened in Paris, France. President Woodrow Wilson spent several months in Europe personally negotiating details of what became the Treaty of Versailles with heads of the allied powers or their foreign ministers.
January 18, 1962
The U.S. began spraying herbicides on foliage in Vietnam to eliminate jungle canopy cover for Viet Cong guerrillas (a policy known as “territory denial”).The U.S. ultimately dropped more than 20 million gallons of such defoliants, sparking charges the United States was violating international treaties against using chemical weapons. Many of the herbicides, particularly Agent Orange, manufactured by Dow Chemical, Monsanto and others, were later found to cause birth defects and rare forms of cancer in humans.

Agent Orange: An Ongoing Atrocity 
January 18, 1968
Invited to a Women Doers luncheon at the Johnson White House, Eartha Kitt, singer and actor, spoke out about the effect of the Vietnam War on America’s youth. Lady Bird Johnson had convened 50 whites and Negroes to discuss President Lyndon Johnson’s anti-crime proposals.
Ms. Kitt first asked the President, “what do you do about delinquent parents, those who have to work and are too busy to look after their children?” He said that there was Social Security money for day care, and the group should discuss such issues.
Later, she told the women that young Americans were “angry because their parents are angry . . . because there is a war going on that they don’t understand . . . You send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed. They rebel in the street. They will take pot . . . and they will get high. They don’t want to go to school because they’re going to be snatched off from their mothers to be shot in Vietnam.”

Eartha Kitt and Lady Bird Johnson
Eartha Kitt’s career took a severe downturn after this; for years afterward, Kitt performed almost exclusively overseas, while being investigated by several federal agencies.
“The thing that hurts, that became anger, was when I realized that if you tell the truth – in a country that says you’re entitled to tell the truth – you get your face slapped and you get put out of work,” Kitt told Essence magazine two decades later.
January 18, 1971
In a televised speech, Senator George S. McGovern (D-South Dakota) began his anti-war campaign for the 1972 Democratic presidential nomination. He vowed to bring home all U.S. soldiers from Vietnam if elected. McGovern had served in the Army Air Corps during World War II, earning the Silver Star and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

George McGovern
“. . . we must have the courage to admit that however sincere our motives, we made a dreadful mistake in trying to settle the affairs of the Vietnamese people with American troops and bombers . . . .
“ But while our problems are great, certain steps can be taken to recover the confidence of the nation.  The greatness of our nation is not confined to the past, but beckons us to the future. 
January 18, 1985
Though a member of the World Court since 1946, the United States walked out during a case. The Court had charged the U.S. was in violation of international law through its support of paramilitary (Contra) activities against the Nicaraguan government. Efforts to undermine the Sandinista government in Nicaragua had been a keystone of Pres. Reagan’s anti-communist foreign policy from its inception.
Congressman Michael Barnes (D-Maryland) said he was “shocked and saddened that the Reagan Administration had so little confidence in its own policies that it chose not even to defend them [in the World Court].”
The Court still heard Nicaragua’s case and decided against the United States, and ordered it to pay reparations to Nicaragua in June 1986.
January 18, 1996
The Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) and the Mexican government reached an agreement in San Andres to recognize and guarantee the constitutional, political, social, cultural, and economic rights of indigenous peoples in Mexico. Treated as second-class citizens since the first colonial entry into their country, the document guaranteed the autonomy and right to self-determination of native communities within the pluricultural Mexican nation.
The Zapatistas took their name from Emilano Zapata who played a major role in the Mexican Revolution early in the 20th century.When they began their revolt in Chiapas state on New Year’s Day of 1994, They wrote:
“We have nothing to lose, absolutely nothing, no decent roof over our heads, no land, no work, poor health, no food, no education, no right to freely and democratically choose our leaders, no independence from foreign interests, and no justice for ourselves or our children.
But we say enough is enough! We are the descendants of those who truly built this nation, we are millions of dispossessed, and we call upon all our brethren to join our crusade, the only option to avoid dying of starvation!”
The Mexican government, despite their signature on the agreement, refused later to implement it.

More background on the Zapatistas 
January 18, 2003
 
In frigid temperatures, 500,000 converged on Washington, D.C.
There were also joined by many more elsewhere around the world to oppose the threatened U.S. war on Iraq.

Anti-war protesters march past the U.S. Capitol during the start of an anti-war protest that will culminate by a march to the Washington Naval Yard.Egyptian riot police and anti-war demonstrators face off in Cairo, Egypt. Banners at top read, ” Iraq . . . Another war for oil and American supremacy.
“This was the largest U.S. peace demonstration since the Vietnam era. 
 
< Pakistani peace activists hold a rally in Karachi. > Crowds estimated at 80,000 fill the civic center of San Francisco, California

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryjanuary.htm#january18

Friday Links

Last night, it got to be bedtime and I didn’t even realize I’d set nothing up for today, until I got up this morning. Scottie’s posted some important news here already, and I don’t want to knock it off the top, so instead of the posts I thought I’d make, I’m just gonna link ’em, and readers can just read whatever they like and still not miss those posts of Scottie’s.

Peace & Justice History for 1/17

The Way of Water: On the Quiet Power of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Activism

Explore the Newly-Launched Public Domain Image Archive with 10,000+ Free Historical Images

SCOTUS Takes Up Case Challenging the ACA’s No-Cost Coverage of PrEP

Peace & Justice History for 1/16

January 16, 1966

Joan Baez
Folksinger Joan Baez was sentenced to 10 days in jail for participating in a protest which blocked the entrance to the Armed Forces Induction Center in Oakland, California. She was part of an action to impede the drafting of young men for the U.S. war in Vietnam.
Joan Baez Press Conference On Vietnam War (1966) 
Read more about Joan Baez 
January 16, 1979
Faced with strikes, violent demonstrations, an army mutiny and clerical opposition to his repressive rule, the Shah of Iran, its hereditary monarch since 1941, was forced to flee the country. He had been installed in a CIA- and British-engineered 1953 coup which overthrew elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadeq. Mossadeq’s government had voted to nationalize Iran’s oil industry, displacing the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company.The U.S. gave substantial and continuous military and intelligence support to the Shah throughout his regime. Despite having imposed martial law the previous October, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi fled the Peacock Throne for Egypt and, later, the U.S. for medical care. Following the subsequent revolutionary overthrow, an Islamist state under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was established.

The Shah and family
Chronology of Iran in the 20th century:  
More on the Shah 
January 16, 1987
Eight members of the Nanoose Conversion Campaign were acquitted of trespassing on Canadian Department of National Defence property.
The group had picnicked on Winchelsea Island, part of the Canadian Forces Maritime Experimental and Test Ranges, where both Canadian and U.S. weapons are tested, in the Georgia Strait along the British Columbia coast.
January 16, 1992
The government of El Salvador and rebel leaders signed a pact in Mexico City ending 12 years of civil war that had killed at least 75,000 people.
January 16, 2001
Eight Greenpeace activists were arrested by Gibraltar police as they boarded a damaged British nuclear submarine. The HMS Tireless was considered a radioactivity hazard because of a cracked pipe in its reactor’s cooling system. Those living near Gibraltar Harbour and in Spain were concerned for their safety as the ship had been docked for more than six months awaiting repair.
The problem was serious enough that Great Britain removed twelve comparable subs from service until they could be checked for similar problems. Greenpeace unfurled a banner just before the arrests reading Mares Libres del Peligro Nuclear, or “For a Nuclear-Free Sea.”

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryjanuary.htm#january16

A Good Example, from Barry’s Blog

with my thanks.

Submission to Justice Committee (1)

Peace & Justice History for 1/14

January 14, 1601
Roman Catholic church authorities burned sacred Hebrew books in Rome during the papacy of Clement VIII. He had forbidden Jews from reading the Talmud (a collection of centuries of interpretation of Jewish law). He had confirmed Pope Paul III’s relegation of Jews to a Roman ghetto (a walled-in portion of the city), and their banning from residence in papal-controlled states by Pope Pius V.
Other papal enemies of Jewish books included Innocent IV (1243-1254), Clement IV (1256-1268), John XXII (1316-1334), Paul IV (1555-1559), and Pius V (1566-1572).
January 14, 1784
The Confederation Congress, meeting in Annapolis, Maryland, ratified the Treaty of Paris with England, ending the Revolutionary War
.
Signing the Treaty of Paris
By its terms, “His Britannic Majesty” was bound to withdraw his armies without “carrying away any Negroes or other property of American inhabitants.”
The treaty was negotiated by John Adams, John Jay and Benjamin Franklin for the colonies, and David Hartley representing the King of England, George III.
January 14, 1918
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the selective service law, affirming all criminal charges arising from non-compliance with the draft during World War I. In Arver v. United States, the Court found that a draft does not violate the 13th Amendment’s prohibition of involuntary servitude.
January 14, 1941
A. Philip Randolph, president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters union, and widely considered de facto chief spokesperson for the African-American working class, called for a march on Washington, demanding racial integration of the military and equal access to defense-industry jobs.

Detail from painting by Betsy G. Reyneau, Asa Philip Randolph
“On to Washington, ten thousand black Americans!” Randolph urged. He said in the fight to “stop discrimination in National Defense . . . While conferences have merit, they won’t get desired results by themselves.”
January 14, 1942
President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Presidential Proclamation No. 2537, which required aliens from World War II enemy countries – Italy, Germany and Japan – to register with the United States Department of Justice.
Registered persons received a “Certificate of Identification for Aliens of Enemy Nationality.” This proclamation facilitated the beginning of large-scale internment of Japanese Americans the following month.
January 14, 1963
George Wallace was sworn in as Governor of Alabama. In his inaugural address he called for “segregation now; segregation tomorrow; segregation forever!”
“The true brotherhood of America, of respecting the separateness of others — and uniting in effort — has been so twisted and distorted from its original concept that there is a small wonder that communism is winning the world.
We invite the negro citizens of Alabama to work with us from his separate racial station — as we will work with him — to develop, to grow in individual freedom and enrichment. We want jobs and a good future for BOTH races — the tubercular and the infirm. This is the basic heritage of my religion, of which I make full practice — for we are all the handiwork of God.”
The entire speech: 
January 14, 1966

A march in Atlanta was held to protest the ouster of Julian Bond, an African American, from the Georgia House of Representatives. Members of the General Assembly considered him unfit to serve after he endorsed a statement critical of U.S. involvement in Vietnam issued by the Student Non-Violent
Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
January 14, 1994
An agreement was signed for Russia and the U.S. to assist newly independent Ukraine in ridding itself of nuclear weapons.Following the break-up of the Soviet Union, Ukraine’s leader Leonid Kravchuk found his country with the world’s third largest nuclear arsenal, including multiple-warhead long-range missiles and bombers, and 3000 tactical (battlefield or short-range) nuclear weapons.

former Ukranian missile silo

Leonid Kravchuk
Kravchuk and his government had decided to eliminate all nuclear weapons from Ukrainian territory. Ukraine was the first country to go non-nuclear.
January 14, 1996
Sixteen protesters were arrested in a winter blockade of the rural Wisconsin site (in the Chequamegon National Forest) of the U.S. Navy’s ELF (Extremely Low Frequency) transmitter, which communicated (one-way) with deeply submerged U.S. submarines. Nearly 400 were arrested in 24 actions opposing ELF between 1991 and 1996.

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryjanuary.htm#january14

Hayes: The trans population is far smaller than the right would have you believe

“Here is what is true: There are far, far fewer transgender Americans than the far right wants you to think there are,” says Chris Hayes

Turn Left At Greenland

by Clay Jones

This map may not be entirely accurate Read on Substack

It’s weird we’re talking about our nation taking possession of Greenland. It’s even weirder we’re talking about taking it by force. It’s not a joke. Donald Trump is serious. He even sent Donald Trump Jr. there to make a point about taking the territory, unless he hoped Jr. wouldn’t come back. Unfortunately for our nation, he did.

Remember during the campaign when Trump promised “no more wars?” Now, he’s talking about starting three of them. He wants to take Greenland, which is a territory of Denmark.

Today, Sniffy Jr. shared a poll on X/Twitter showing that a high majority of Greenlanders wanted independence. What dumbass Jr. didn’t share is that the poll was conducted in 2019. I’m sure the numbers are close to that today, but if you want to cite a poll for your argument, you need one a little more recent than seven years ago. He also didn’t share that the question was “Can you envision Greenland being independent from Denmark?”. The poll, conducted by the University of Copenhagen, didn’t even ask if they wanted independence, just if they could see it in the future. It should also be noted that the poll didn’t ask if they wanted to become a territory of the United States.

If we’re going to use old polls, one from 2017 showed that 78 percent of Greenlanders oppose independence if it means a lower standard of living. Hey, Greenlanders, look at the standard of living in Puerto Rico.

Denmark is a member of NATO. The treaty is a commitment that every NATO nation will come to the defense of any other member who is attacked. It’s why Putin invaded Ukraine after Trump was defeated by Joe Biden in 2020. Putin believed Trump would destroy NATO. When Trump was ousted, Putin felt NATO was here for good and invaded Ukraine before Ukraine could apply for membership in NATO. That’s why it pisses me off when MAGAts say Putin never invaded while Trump was president. They ignore that Putin couldn’t as it would have been counterproductive to Trump’s attempt to destroy NATO. After Putin did invade Ukraine, two more nations joined the alliance, Finland and Sweden, the latter taking a neutral stance on all wars since 1814.

If Trump invades Greenland, every nation in NATO will be bound to defend Denmark’s territory, even Sweden….hell, even Canada. Trump would start a war with 31 nations, our own allies, by attacking Greenland. Has anyone told Trump this? Trump’s desire to steal Greenland is a new level of stupid that should be named after him. We could call it “Trump Stupid.”

Examples of Trump Stupid would be peeing on a car battery, having unprotected sex with one of Trump’s ex-girlfriends, giving Mike Tyson a wedgie, allowing your daughter to date Matt Gaetz, appointing RFK Jr. as director of Health and Human Services, staring into an eclipse, stating publicly that what you and your daughter have in common is sex, or voting for Donald Trump. Note that nearly half our nation is Trump Stupid enough to vote for Trump twice.

Trump is willing to start a war with 31 nations for a piece of property that has fewer people than Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Trump is also looking at Canada becoming our 51st state. Canada is a nation of 33 million people which would make it our second-largest state (replacing Texas and eliminating them from bragging about how big they are, ignoring Alaska since it became a state in 1959) and would add around 50 new seats to the House of Representatives. This would give the Democratic Party control of Congress. Please don’t tell Trump that.

Good luck in making Canadians proud U.S. citizens. There are Quebecers who don’t even like being Canadians. Calling a Quebecer an American is akin to calling a Scot British. I learned about that one for myself.

Trump wants to take back the Panama Canal which is owned by Panama. We returned it to them and there’s a treaty for that. As we learned during the first Trump regime, he doesn’t care about treaties. Panama is not going to return the canal to us, so Trump is talking about taking it by force, making him the second Republican president (sic) to invade that country

Trump is also talking about invading Mexico to destroy drug cartels. That would violate Mexico’s sovereignty. An invasion of Mexico would be like an invasion of Afghanistan in that we’d be there for two decades at minimum. It would be a huge mess for us to clean up, even decades after Trump is gone. Get that smile off your face.

Trump wanting to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America is just him being belligerent. If he wanted it to be representative of the two continents (in case you’re a Republican, North America and South America), he’d propose calling it the Gulf of The Americas.

The Gulf has carried the name Gulf of Mexico since 1607, which is older than the United States. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said North America should be renamed “América Mexicana,” or “Mexican America,” because a founding document dating from 1814 that preceded Mexico’s constitution referred to it that way. Someone tell Trump. I think “Mexican America” has a nice ring to it.

What happens if the United States changes the name of the Gulf through legislation? Only the United States would recognize it and turn into a situation like the Sea of Japan. It’s referred to as the “Sea of Japan” in Japan and the West while it’s referred to as the “Whale Sea” in China. Russia calls it the “Japanese Sea,” South Korea calls it the “East Sea,” and North Korea named it the “East Sea of Korea.” There’s a lot of contention over this as the Koreas claim the name “Sea of Japan” didn’t become accepted internationally until they were under occupation by Japan.

We can change the name of the Gulf of Mexico or any other geographic location we want, but other nations are not required to follow our lead.

If Mexico changes the name of the Gulf to the Gulf of Tiny-Finger Fuhrer, we don’t have to play along but I might anyway.

Fun fact: The Greenland shark can live up to 250-500 years. They don’t become sexually mature until they’re around 150 and their gestation lasts from eight to 18 years. My question is, What do they do with themselves for those first 150 years?

Creative note: I wrote this cartoon yesterday, and then I wrote the polar bear cartoon. I decided to go with the Polar Bear first because I had to finish up the cartoon for the FXBG Advance, and the bear cartoon would be quicker to draw. Drawing all the lettering and spending five hours on this cartoon was the better choice for today’s work assignment.

Drawn in 30 seconds: (snip-More)

Peace & Justice History for 1/11

January 11, 1952
The Peace Pledge Union organized “Operation Gandhi,” which became the first British protest against nuclear weapons. Ten members staged a “sit-down” at the War Office in London.
===================================
January 11, 1998
Twenty-five thousand occupied the site of one of 30 dams to be built on the Narmada River in India.

They objected to a World Bank-funded project to build 30 large, 135 medium and 3000 small dams to harness the waters of the Narmada and its tributaries to provide electrical power and irrigation to Gujarat and Rajasthan provinces.Local residents known as Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save the Narmada movement), organized as they became concerned about their livelihoods, the dams’ environmental impact and a host of other issues.
The largest proposed dam, Sardar Sarovar, would submerge 61 villages and displace more than 320,000 people.
A Brief Introduction to the Narmada Issue 
International Rivers project 
=====================================
January 11, 2002
The first of the detainees/enemy combatants arrived at Guantánamo Bay, the U.S. military base on the southeastern coast of Cuba.

Detainees in a plane on their way to Guantanamo
Detailed report of the status of Guantánamo detainees 

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryjanuary.htm#january11