May 8, 2025

'JD Vance is wrong,' new Pope Leo XIV once posted on social media

Not exactly a maga fan, pretty sure trumpy is not pleased.....

(The Advocate) Then-Cardinal Robert Prevost has criticized the extreme policies of the Republican administration. Prior to stepping onto the Vatican balcony Thursday as the first American to lead the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV — formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost — was quietly signaling dissent from some of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance's policies, particularly on immigration.

"JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others," the soon-to-be pope's post read. The op-ed argued that such a hierarchy distorts scripture and is incompatible with Jesus’ teachings, which expand love beyond borders and bloodlines.

Another of those posts, dated April 14, was a repost of condemnation by Washington Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjivar, who called out Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele for laughing during an Oval Office meeting about the deportation of a U.S. resident. The tweet linked to Menjivar’s influential essay in the Catholic Standard, where he described the U.S. government’s immigration crackdown as a campaign of “shock and awe,” likened it to Christ’s Passion, and warned Catholics not to remain silent in the face of suffering. “Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?” Menjivar wrote, invoking Saint Óscar Romero and directly challenging Catholics who approve of or ignore the human toll of deportations.

https://www.advocate.com/news/pope-leo-trump-vance-criticism

April 19, 2025

Legal group sues Costa Rica alleging the rights of 81 children deported by Trump were violated

(Associated Press) MEXICO CITY (AP) — A group of human rights lawyers is suing Costa Rica, alleging the Central American nation violated the rights of dozens of migrant children by detaining them in a rural camp for nearly two months after they were deported from the U.S. in February.

The children, some as young as 2, are part of a group of hundreds of migrants from mostly Asian countries — Afghanistan, China, Russia and others — who were deported from the U.S. as part of a wider effort by the Trump administration to ramp up deportations.

Many had hoped to seek asylum in the U.S. and expressed fear over returning to their own countries. Instead, they were dropped in Costa Rica and Panama, where they don’t speak the local language.

Critics described it as a way for the U.S. to export its deportation process, while human rights groups have warned that the two countries were turning into a “black hole” for deportees.


Read More: https://apnews.com/article/costa-rica-us-migrant-children-lawsuit-a05a3a5d0e7813c6431ded08439d9e49

February 18, 2025

Leonard Peltier Begins a New Chapter on Tuesday

(Native News Online) Leonard Peltier will begin a new chapter in his life on Tuesday morning. He will be released from the Federal Correctional Complex Coleman in Florida. He will be flown home to the Turtle Mountain Indian reservation, where he will spend the rest of his life.

Incarcerated for almost 49 of his 80 years on Mother Earth, he was granted a presidential commutation by President Joe Biden. It was not the pardon that many of Peltier’s supporters wanted, but nonetheless, his release from prison into house confinement is a welcome end to a horrific chapter.

Peltier’s chapter of lengthy incarceration unfolded on June 26, 1975, at Jumping Bull Ranch in Oglala, South Dakota, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

It remains one of the most controversial and disputed incidents in modern Native American history. The deadly confrontation between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) resulted in the deaths of two FBI agents and one Native American activist. What followed was a series of judicial proceedings marred by misconduct, leading to the conviction of Leonard Peltier, a member of AIM, in what has widely been considered an unfair trial.

Read more at link: https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/leonard-peltier-begins-a-new-chapter-on-tuesday

February 8, 2025

Thank you for all the lovely hearts!

I feel like a lucky duck!

February 8, 2025

I'm with the banned!

So I went in to get my new library card (my old one was somewhere lost in time) and was thrilled to get one that says "I Read Banned Books" in big letters across the front with red flames that reference historic book burnings! I wonder if governor Ron DeSatan knows that Broward County is giving him the middle finger....

November 5, 2024

My 96 year old dad voted in what will probably be his last presidential election

Kamala, of course!
And for abortion rights along with marijuana legalization (on the FL ballot). We are proud of him and so very grateful.

August 10, 2024

Elon Musk's X just sued a nonprofit advertising group out of existence

CNN - A major ad industry group is shutting down, days after Elon Musk-owned X filed a lawsuit that claimed the group illegally conspired to boycott advertising on his platform.

“GARM is a small, not-for-profit initiative, and recent allegations that unfortunately misconstrue its purpose and activities have caused a distraction and significantly drained its resources and finances,” the group said in a statement Friday. “GARM therefore is making the difficult decision to discontinue its activities.”

The group, Global Alliance for Responsible Media, also known as GARM, is a voluntary ad-industry initiative run by the World Federation of Advertisers that aims to help brands avoid having their advertisements appear alongside illegal or harmful content. GARM confirmed it is still planning to defend itself in court.

snip

The end of GARM could raise concerns for other media watchdogs, though a judge has sided with a nonprofit in a similar suit. X also sued the Center for Countering Digital Hate, alleging the nonprofit group violated its terms of service when it studied, and then wrote about, hate speech on the platform and blamed it for driving away advertisers. (A federal judge tossed the suit in March, blasting it as an attempt to punish CCDH for protected speech.) X also sued the progressive watchdog group Media Matters over its analysis highlighting antisemitic and pro-Nazi content on X — a report that appeared to play a significant role in a massive and damaging brand revolt late last year. The case is set to go to trial next year.

Read More: https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/09/tech/elon-musk-garm-advertisers-lawsuit/index.html

July 4, 2024

Feels like we're living in the Twilight Zone these days

so it seems only right to spend the 4th binge watching the Twilight Zone on SyFy channel all day.....

February 9, 2024

I have been kicked off the voter roll in Broward County, Florida!

UPDATE: I decided not to wait for them to send me new forms in the mail so I just got in my car and drove to the nearest election office (in my case it was at Southwest Regional Library). Good news - they handed me the new forms to fill out and re-entered my name and driver's license back in the system and I will be able to vote in both the primaries and the general after all! Whew!



All my family members have been receiving mail in ballots for years and today everyone got theirs, except me.

I thought maybe it was just lost in the mail so I went on our county website to check (browardvotes.gov) and apparently I no longer exist. I called their phone number (954)357-7055 and was told that the records show that my name was removed because they could not verify that I provided proper identification when I first registered (over 40 years ago) and I must do that now. Whaaat? I informed them that of course I provided proper ID or how else could I have even gotten a voter's registration card in the first place - it's not like I showed up with a Costco card! So now in order to rectify this I must re-register to vote with proper ID but there is no guarantee that this will be rectified in time for me to vote in our local (mayoral) election next month.

I was lucky to catch this in time so that at least in the November elections I will be set to go. Others may not be so lucky and be unexpectedly turned away at the polls or run out of time waiting for their mail in ballot so PLEASE check your voter status NOW before it is too late. And tell your friends and family to do the same.

I live in Broward County - we have over 500,000 registered Democrats (twice as many as repubs) we can not afford to lose one single blue vote especially in a bloody red state that keeps finding more and more ways to oppress us.

February 6, 2024

Thank you so much for the heart, I feel the love!

I haven't been on DU as much as I used to be in past years, but boy oh boy, how nice to find a heart waiting for me when I logged on - it made my day!