Who's ICE? Nobody Knows
Somebody's gonna get hurt
June Twentieth is the longest day of this year; the Northern Hemisphere tilts the most toward the sun. Conversely, our neighbors in the Southern half of the planet have their shortest day on or around the same date. And people close to the equator mostly just don’t give a shit about such things because they’re too busy making pina coladas for whatever class of snowbirds is overwhelming their social systems.
Now that I’ve finished with today’s important stuff, let me make some predictions. Today’s words are merely conjecture on my part, based on whatever information passed through my eyes, and a sense of history based on being an old fucker. Do not try this at home. And definitely don’t wager on what’s being said.
First up…
Some time in the near future, a person operating as part of an immigration enforcement team will shoot a bystander.
(To be clear, I am not advocating harm to any persons. I am extrapolating a prediction based on perceptions of abusive or illegal conduct.)
When you put a lot of people on the street in masks (or in disguises) and allow them to override the fifth and fourteenth amendments to the Constitution based on an unprovable claim of imminent danger to the general population, it’s inevitable that guns will be fired in pursuit of that effort. It’s only a matter of time until some wannabe hero decides to “stand their ground” and gets shot because law enforcement types have gone through some sort of firearms training and thus are better shots.
Let me count the ways the federal government’s immigration enforcers are taunting ordinary citizens.
They can’t be readily identified as being part of law enforcement. No badges, external identification, or legal paperwork have already triggered violent responses.
People with criminal intentions are already buying generic replications of law enforcement/military garb to rob and/or rape ordinary citizens. Amazon’s best sellers include a $29.95 fake ICE jacket, available in black or blue. ICE teeshirts, depending on quality, could be had for $14.95 to $18.95. (That page has been disappeared)
Are militia members or bounty hunters or Jan 6 defendants are part of ICE teams? Authorities have consistently denied rumors about non-law enforcement persons operating as part of immigration enforcement teams. The idea of paying bounty hunters has been broached in Mississippi, Arizona, and Tennessee, but so far not enacted. Regardless, it’s widely held that ICE military style operations have civilian participants.
People are being disappeared. Mostly for a day or two as relatives and lawyers frantically search for family members and/or clients. In some cases they are being immediately transported hundreds of miles away for the express purpose of denying them access to outside contact.
Some disappeared humans can’t even be found by authorities. The names of persons deported to El Salvador’s notorious prison simply disappeared from federal records. Via the Washington Post:
For Albornoz Quintero’s family, the search for information has been anguishing. His wife, Nays Ñaupari Rosila, is nine months pregnant. She said she has repeatedly called Salvadoran authorities but has not been able to get through to anyone. When she went to the Dallas ICE office looking for answers, she said she was told to leave or risk arrest.
“I’m so scared for my baby,” Ñaupari Rosila, 22, said, sobbing. “Unfortunately, we came to a country where basically we don’t have a right to anything.”
Targeting civilians. Men dressed in camouflage participating in immigration raids are regularly pointing guns at people filming them.
Arresting US citizens. Forget having ID; if a suspect is brown enough they face arrest.
Not Arresting Criminals. The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse - a project from Syracuse University that compiles immigration figures - estimates that of the 51,302 people in ICE detention facilities as of 1 June, about 44% had no criminal record aside from entering the US without permission (a misdemeanor).
Blocking oversight of detention facilities. Members of Congress attempting to enter detention sites have been turned away in recent days. Federal law says members of Congress can make unannounced oversight visits to immigration facilities that “detain or otherwise house aliens.” Now, Homeland Security says they need a week’s notice to ensure no intrusion on the president’s constitutional authority.
You can add to this list the Big Beautiful Budget Bill, which vastly expands immigration enforcement agencies and proposes building detention facilities holding nearly the same number of people than were kept via Japanese-American internment in WWII.
A 165 page report on ICE detention facilities in California issued earlier this year found that six locations were deficient in providing mental health care for detainees, along with excessive force and solitary confinement incidents in some locations. Last week, five Democratic congressional members issued a call for improved conditions for detainees, calling out “cruel” and “inhumane,” conditions,
I’ll add to the above prediction about probable harm coming to immigration enforcement team members, that such an incident will be used as justification for additional federal government encroachments on the constitutional rights of citizens. It’s kinda hard not to notice that the Trump administration’s policy about questionable acts is “fuck it, let them sue us.”
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Senator Bernie Sanders is taking his anti-oligarchy show on the road through Red States this weekend with stops in McAllen, Amarillo, and Fort Worth in Texas, along with Shreveport, Louisiana and Tulsa, Oklahoma.
As polling published in The New Republic indicates, Americans do understand that the concentration of wealth in the country is a problem, with nearly three quarters saying the wealthy have “too much.”
The legal way to address this issue would be increased taxation through a more progressive tax code and closing tax law loopholes. In reality, the legislative bodies in Washington Dc are about to approve tax cuts for the ultra rich amounting to the greatest upward transfer of wealth in history.
Estimates suggest that trillions of dollars will be transferred, with some projections reaching $84 trillion or even $90 trillion. For comparison, the 2024 estimate for federal spending is $6.8 trillion.
Why is it so hard to stop this? You might want to take a look at the New York City mayoral contest, where supporters of a politician drummed out of office for poor behavior have raised $24 million for a PAC opposing a Democratic Socialist candidate whose policy promises would benefit the not-so-rich. (I am aware of the antisemitism accusations involved, but can’t find evidence they have been the cause of billionaire PAC donations to defeat Zohran Mamdani.)
I’ll predict that former NY Gov Andrew Cuomo will win the contest, ending any further discussions about inequities or more taxes for the rich, just as I’ll predict that a slightly modified version of the Big Beautiful Budget Bill will pass by Labor Day.
LA Law Enforcement Agencies Rioted So Hard They Ended Up Shooting Each Other by Tim Cushing at TechDirt
Whether this is God showing his sense of humor or karma being the bitch it is doesn’t really matter. The only thing that matters is that it happened, it’s verifiable, and it’s pretty fucking funny.
“Training and expertise.” After escalating things by firing flashbangs, rubber bullets, and tear gas into crowds of people who were, at best, refusing to immediately respond to a dispersal order (although that’s still a point of dispute), the only people engaging in actual violence mainly managed to hurt each other. (That being said, plenty of protesters were still in the middle of this friendly fire exchange, as it appears the LAPD and LASD were both trying to keep separate groups of protesters from joining forces.)
As amusing as that is, it’s still cops instigating conflict, rather than seeking to de-escalate it. And it still means other horrific things happened, like the deliberate shooting of a NY Post reporter by an LA law enforcement officer.
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I Tried Pre-Ordering the Trump Phone. The Page Failed and It Charged My Credit Card the Wrong Amount by Joseph Cox at 404Media
On Monday the Trump Organization announced its own mobile service plan and the “T1 Phone,” a customized all-gold mobile phone that its creators say will be made in America.
I tried to pre-order the phone and pay the $100 downpayment, hoping to test the phone to see what apps come pre-installed, how secure it really is, and what components it includes when it comes out. The website failed, went to an error page, and then charged my credit card the wrong amount of $64.70. I received a confirmation email saying I’ll receive a confirmation when my order has been shipped, but I haven’t provided a shipping address or paid the full $499 price tag. It is the worst experience I’ve ever faced buying a consumer electronic product and I have no idea whether or how I’ll receive the phone…
…After maybe pre-ordering my T1 Phone, the confirmation email said I could log into TrumpMobile.com to make changes to my account. I did that, changed my password as prompted, and then hit another error page. I have not been able to log into the site.
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Map shows more than 1,200 measles cases across U.S. as outbreak grows by Sara Moniuszko, Taylor Johnston at CBS News
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has a history of making false and misleading claims about vaccines, voiced support for vaccination as the deadly outbreak spread in the Southwest.
"We encourage people to get the measles vaccine," Kennedy told CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook in an interview April 8, marking the first time Kennedy has publicly urged people to get the measles vaccine since becoming HHS secretary.
Asked by LaPook what the federal government's official position on the vaccine is, Kennedy reiterated, "The federal government's position, my position, is that people should get the measles vaccine," but added, "The government should not be mandating those."
