Terrorist or Political Prisoner?

An edict came on down from high… make them examples!

A federal narrative took hold, and as a result, a trans woman got 50 years in a men’s prison.

So what happened… there was an ICE protest outside the Prairieland Detention Center near Dallas. One protester pulled out a gun and shot a police officer. The other protesters did not know him and had no knowledge of what he was going to do… but they are sitting in prison for decades, and the trans woman, Autumn Hill, got 50 years! The person who fired the shot got 100 years.

As reported by outlets like the Texas Standard, Autumn Hill was sentenced to 50 years in prison after being convicted on charges including rioting, conspiracy, and providing material support—with prosecutors classifying fireworks used at the demonstration as explosives under terrorism enhancements, even though many types of fireworks are legal in Texas.

Word went out that there was going to be a demonstration at ICE, and people showed up that day for a peaceful protest. Yes, there were fireworks, but they were legal fireworks, a staple part of many protests in Texas.

Little did these strangers know that for the rest of their lives they would be tied together from this peaceful protest. Then a stranger shot a police officer and Trump got his wish, he got his terrorist!

The British Guardian reported about that night…

The sentences handed down on Tuesday were unusually long, said Barbara McQuade, a former federal prosecutor who served as the US attorney for the eastern district of Michigan during the Obama administration.

“Most often, judges will sentence defendants for separate counts concurrently. Here, it appears that the judge stacked the sentences for each count consecutively. I would have expected lengthy sentences here, more in the ballpark at 15 to 25 years, but nothing like 50 to 100 years,” she wrote in an email.

The Trump administration praised the sentences.

“The sentences handed down today make clear that Antifa terrorists who attack law enforcement and federal facilities will face swift and uncompromising justice,” Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, said in a statement. “Their violent extremism has no place in our country, and the Department of Justice will continue to aggressively investigate, disrupt, and prosecute those who threaten law enforcement officers or undermine the rule of law.”

In the past, the government had arrested only the violent protesters, but this time they arrested everyone there that fateful night! And it gets worse… the Guardian goes on to report,

The sentences were “absurd”, said Amber Lowrey, Batten’s sister.

“This case has relied on lies and misinformation from the start,” she said. “It is heartbreaking nonetheless. But we will keep fighting to overturn these unjust convictions and to free Savanna and all the Prairieland defendants. We will not rest until they are free!”

The punishment for the protesters exceeds the lengthiest prison sentences given out for the attack on the Capitol on January 6. Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys who was convicted of seditious conspiracy, was sentenced to 22 years in prison. Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the far-right group the Oath Keepers, was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

The sentencing didn’t exceed federal guidelines; it shattered them! For her charges normally it would be a few years to ten years. In the past, she probably wouldn’t even have been arrested.

Then we move on to the courts and the forum where the deck was stacked from the start! CBS News reported that…

Nine men and women are on trial, facing a variety of federal charges, accused of being part of a "North Texas Antifa cell."

Now remember… Antifa is a made-up word… there are no organizations that bear that name, it is a figment of the far-right. DOJ described the Prairieland prosecution as involving an "Amtifa Cell."

The Texas Standard goes on to report,

Federal officials have called this the first domestic terrorism case targeting antifa since President Trump declared the ideology a domestic terrorist threat last year. Experts told KERA News the outcome could determine the playbook for how the Trump administration targets alleged left-wing violence, even though the charge of providing material support to terrorism was not necessarily related to antifa or any set of beliefs.

Similar cases are being tried across the country. Most recently, Minnesota prosecutors alleged 15 people charged in a conspiracy to injure federal officers earlier this month are tied to antifa groups.

“The Trump Administration has made it clear: Antifa terrorists and their networks will be investigated, disrupted, prosecuted, and neutralized with the full force of federal law,” the White House wrote in a press release earlier this month about what it said were arrests of antifa “militants” and “thugs.”

And Trump got his wish! This was nothing more than a political trial!

What Does This Tell You?

Minnesota wants an ICE agent... who shot a woman and lied it! But Governor Abbott is protecting him.

Minnesota attorney general sues Texas governor to compel extradition of ICE agent for trial

AP News

By  MARK VANCLEAVE and RUSS BYNUM

August 18, 2026

Minnesota’s attorney general sued the governor of Texas on Tuesday, seeking to compel the extradition of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent charged with wounding a man and then lying to justify the shooting during the agency’s crackdown in Minneapolis.

Attorney General Keith Ellison is asking a federal judge to bar the sheriff in Cameron County, Texas, from releasing ICE agent Christian Castro, and to order Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to sign his extradition warrant so that Minnesota officers can take custody.

Castro was arrested in Texas in May on Minnesota charges of assault and falsely reporting a crime in the Jan. 14 wounding of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis. Castro, 52, is accused of firing a gun through the front door of a Minneapolis home, striking Sosa-Celis in the leg with a bullet that lodged in a child’s bedroom wall. Prosecutors say Castro then falsely accused Sosa-Celis and another man of attacking an ICE officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel.

What does it say about Texas and ICE that they are protecting a possible criminal? 

The lawsuit Ellison filed in U.S. District Court in Texas cites a 1987 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that compliance with the Constitution’s extradition clause is mandatory, affording no discretion to the governor or courts of a state where a defendant is being held.

Is the governor stooping low that he will shied a person just to spite the governor?

Hmm... I Wonder About Seniors

With children they have found screen time can be beneficial!

Scientists tracked kids for 8 years — the screen time result was unexpected

Science Digest

Date: August 17, 2026

Source: University of Jyväskylä - Jyväskylän yliopisto

Summary: An eight-year Finnish study found that children who spent more time on screens tended to show better cognitive processing as teenagers, challenging common assumptions about screen use. Researchers say the key may be balancing physical activity with screen activities that encourage learning, creativity, and active thinking.

A Finnish study has found an unexpected association between screen use and cognitive performance. Children who accumulated more screen time as they grew up tended to show better cognitive processing during adolescence. One of the researchers cautions against viewing screen time as entirely harmful and says the goal should be to balance physical activity with screen use that encourages active thinking.

I wonder how the internet effects seniors... does it keep us young?

The Trickle Down Theory

In this case, the trickle-down theory is that hate is passed down from our leaders. When schools go after after-school programs, the courts in the past have had their say, or, in this case, what is good for the goose is good for the gander.

This is from a right-wing legal group, Alliance Defending Freedom...

Good News Club v. Milford Central School District

The school district had a policy governing the use of its facilities that stated “School premises shall not be used by any individual or organization for religious purposes.” Based on this policy, the school district denied the Good News Club, an after-school Bible club for students, from using space in the school after hours for weekly meetings, claiming that granting access would unconstitutionally permit religious worship and instruction in a public facility. Good News Club filed a lawsuit challenging the validity of the policy.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that allowing the Good News Club to meet in the school after hours on the same basis as other community groups does not violate the Establishment Clause and a refusal to allow the group to meet on the basis of the religious content was unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination. The school’s policy was struck down.

Okay now consider this...

Emails reveal Virginia school officials approved an LGBTQ+ club — until conservative backlash hit

A King George Middle School eighth-grader is asking a federal judge to intervene immediately after records show the district rewrote its policy to deny the GSA's existence.

The Advocate

Christopher Wiggins

Aug 18, 2026

The new school year in King George County, Virginia, was one day old when a 13-year-old student asked a federal judge to order their middle school to allow an LGBTQ+ student organization to meet immediately.

The student, identified in court records as Z.J.W., is beginning eighth grade — their final year at King George Middle School. They spent much of the previous school year trying to form a Gay-Straight Alliance, only to watch administrators halt it after public opposition and the school board rewrite its policy governing student organizations.

Now keep the Good News Club's ruling in mind,

They call the district’s actions “textbook viewpoint discrimination” that violates the First Amendment and the federal Equal Access Act, which requires covered public schools that allow at least one noncurricular student organization to provide other groups with equal access, regardless of the content of their speech.

You see, when the conservatives found out about it, all hell broke loose.

In an August 26, 2025, exchange with the school’s Robotics sponsor, Boe wrote that the proposed organization was “an LGBTQ GSA Club,” requested by a student, and that “Casey [Nice] has already approved it.”

You have to wonder, did the school district seek legal advice before they closed the GSA?

Go Magazine reported,

“I’m not interested in the culture wars fueling the King George County School Board’s decision – I’m interested in what’s best for my child,” said plaintiff and parent of A.A.P., Susan Park. “And what’s best for my child is to feel valued and supported at school by participating in a club that follows every rule set out for it. I would expect the school board to be just as interested in that as I am.”

Let's see how far this case goes up the court ladder: will it make it to the Supreme Court, and will they overturn their previous ruling?

The Bogeyman!

[Essay]

The Republicans are falling back on their tried-and-true approach of attacking the bogeyman: trans athletes, immigrants, minorities, and other marginalized groups.

They want to distract voters from their issues and redirect their anger at us! Never mind the war, never mind the economy, never mind the ballooning deficit. We are the real causes of all the woes in the country!

The Republicans know that they can’t win on the issues, so they are like the wizard in The Wizard of Oz, distracting voters to keep them from looking behind the curtain.

But for them, it will be a losing strategy. The voters have seen behind the curtain.

So the Republicans fall back on their second strategy… cheat! Block voters who usually vote liberal, rearrange the voting districts to give themselves an edge, and do away with Black-majority voting districts, while the Supreme Court has started dismantling the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

This November, the fate of the nation hangs in the balance. It will determine whether we go down the road to the “isms”—fascism, authoritarianism, oligarchism—or whether we continue with this great experiment in democracy.

We cannot let the Republicans scare us with their bogeyman.

[/Essay]

Have We Lost A Battle?

Polls show that the public thinks trans athletes should be banned. With the constant lies that the Republicans keep putting out and no one responding to the lies, of course the public thinks that.

As With Many Other Issues, Americans Out of Step With Science on Trans Athletes

On issues like evolution, vaccine requirements, and GMO foods, American public opinion has long been out of step with the scientific community.

Them

By Mathew Rodriguez

August 12, 2026

Most Americans are uncomfortable with two things: transgender athletes and science.

According to polling data shared this week by the Pew Research Center in light of the current debate around the WNBA, a majority of Americans (73%) say that they are uncomfortable with the idea of trans athletes playing on sports teams that do not match their gender as assigned at birth. A smaller majority (66%) say they would support a law or policy that legally bar trans athletes from participating on sports teams that match their gender identity.

The results of the survey were even more skewed when political affiliation was taken into account. Among Republicans, 91% said that they would be uncomfortable with trans athletes, while only a small majority of Democrats (55%) said the same.

[...]

Of course, the results reflect a political world in which right-wing politicians have been demonizing trans youth and trans athletes as wedge issues, despite the majority of Americans supporting trans rights more broadly for several election cycles.

What do we do?

Despite Americans’ distaste for trans athletes playing on their preferred teams, the majority still support protecting trans people from discrimination in employment, housing, and in public accommodations, per a 2025 Pew Research Center report. The same percentage (56%) would like to bar doctors from offering gender-affirming care to youth, once again going against science.

My thinking on this, which I think many trans people might be opposed to, is to refocus our efforts on holding on to what we have! The people are behind us on discrimination, but not on sports.

Let's face it: Trump has the "bully pulpit." He can spout forth all the hate and lies, and we can hope to counter that. Trump has created an image, through his lies, that we cannot win.

We have to take a page out of Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals and fight the battles that we can win!

Our #1 goal should be defeating the Republicans, We follow Alinsky's rules!

The Republicans have "Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it," and it is working—but against us!

So let's step back a moment and ask who is actually doing the targeting. That is our target. An Alinsky organizer would not necessarily treat "conservatives" as the target; that's too broad. They'd ask: Who has the power to make the decision we're trying to change?

Yes, we want to end discrimination in sports and everywhere else. We make up somewhere around 0.8%, according to current estimates. We do not have any political power! I am not saying that we give up on trans athletes but postpone it until after the elections. We can't let the Republicans make it an issue in the elections.

We need to ask the question: Who has the power to make the decision we're trying to change?

• The president
• Congress
• State legislatures
• School boards

Those should be our targets to defeat in the elections. Yes, our ultimate goal is to end discrimination—in all aspects of our lives—but we need to win in November. That is our #1 goal in this election cycle. When we passed the nondiscrimination laws, we had this coalition behind us!

Core Tactical Rules

• Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it: Isolate a specific person or responsibility rather than fighting a vague system.
• Never go outside the expertise of your people: Keep actions grounded in what your group knows and feels secure doing to avoid fear and retreat.
• Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy: Keep the opposition off-balance and anxious by forcing them onto unfamiliar ground.
• Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules: Use their own standards and written policies to expose contradictions and hypocrisy.

We follow Alinsky's rules!

The Republicans have "Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it," and it is working—but against us!

So let's step back a moment and ask who is actually doing the targeting. That is our target. An Alinsky organizer would not necessarily treat "conservatives" as the target; that's too broad. They'd ask: Who has the power to make the decision we're trying to change?

Yes, we want to end discrimination in sports and everywhere else. We make up somewhere around 0.8%, according to current estimates. We do not have any political power!

We need to ask the question: Who has the power to make the decision we're trying to change?

The president

Congress

State legislatures

School boards

Those should be our targets to overthrow in the elections. Yes, our ultimate goal is to end discrimination—in all aspects of our lives—but we need to win in November. That is our #1 goal in this election cycle. When we passed the nondiscrimination laws, we had this coalition behind us!

CT TransAdvocacy Coalition

CT Women's Education and Legal Fund

Planned Parenthood of Southern New England

Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders

CT AFL-CIO

Anti-Defamation League CT

New Haven Pride Center

CT Sexual Assault Crisis Services

Transitioning and Loving Life (TaLL)

True Colors Sexual Minority Youth and Family Services

CT American Civil Liberties Union

CT Outreach Society

NARAL Pro-Choice CT

The Connecticut Alliance for Business Opportunities

UConn Rainbow Center

UConn Women's Center

Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

Unitarian Universalist Society: East

Permanent Commission on the Status of Women

New England Healthcare Employees Union SEIU 1199NE

CT Citizen Action Group

National Council of Jewish Women (CT)

CT Chapter of the National Organization for Women

Triangle Community Center

CT Coalition Against Domestic Violence

CT Clergy for Full Equality

CT Latina/os Achieving Rights & Opportunities

Human Rights Campaign CT

PFLAG Southeastern CT

PFLAG Hartford

City of Hartford Commission on LGBT Issues

National Association of Social Workers (CT Chapter)

City of Norwalk, Human Relations Commission

GLSEN CT

I am not arguing that trans athletes don't matter. I am arguing that political priorities matter, and we have to face the political reality in front of us. We cannot do this alone... we need a coalition! Let us make our immediate goal winning in November.

What do you think?

online polls

Your Papers Please.

[Editorial]

Travel in the U.S. is so simple: you get into your car and drive… drive down the street to the corner grocer or drive across the country. You don’t need travel papers to do it.

But under the Republicans, all that has changed! You want an abortion in a state where it is legal? Well, they’re watching you! Drive to a legal abortion clinic, and the eyes of Texas are on you!

In states without strong protections on ALPR data, Texas can request—or, in some systems, directly search—license-plate records showing Texas vehicles at an abortion clinic in another state. (Note: States like Connecticut have passed laws limiting access to ALPR data, but those provisions go into effect on Oct. 1.)

Note: I am using abortion clinics instead of trans clinics because the Trump administration has effectively shut them all down by threatening to withhold Medicaid funding.

But with Texas, they want to control your lives so you grow up to be just like them…

So who can they arrest?

Well, it is tricky, but it basically boils down to anyone who helps facilitate the abortion: You drive them out of state… Bingo! You make the arrangements for them to get an abortion out of state… Bingo!

But if you do it all yourself, they can’t currently do anything to you simply because you obtained a legal abortion in another state.

A caveat: As a lawyer friend likes to say… these are all legal opinions. It’s not final until the last judge bangs their gavel.

Suppose a 25-year-old Texas woman drives to New Mexico, where abortion is legal, gets an abortion, and returns to Texas.

Nope. Under current Texas law, Texas cannot simply prosecute her for having obtained a lawful abortion in New Mexico.

Texas cannot simply say, “You are a Texas resident, therefore Texas law follows you across the New Mexico border and you committed a Texas crime by receiving lawful medical care in New Mexico.”

Now suppose a friend drives a 25-year-old Texas woman to New Mexico, where abortion is legal. She gets an abortion, and they return to Texas. Can Texas do anything to either of them?

Probably not simply because of the trip and the abortion. However, Texas could make their lives miserable by investigating the trip. Prosecutors could examine who paid for the trip, who made the arrangements, and whether anything else occurred that they believe constitutes aiding or abetting an offense under Texas law.

What does all this mean?

Nobody really knows. This is something relatively new. There has never been a way to track people's movements so thoroughly through ALPRs, airport surveillance, and even things like E-Zpass. You can still legally cross the state line—but the government may increasingly be able to know that you did.

[/Editorial]

Socialism!

[Editorial]

The Republicans can’t say it enough times and the Democrats wave it like a banner. SOCIALISM!

So what is socialism? The classic definition is:

socialism

noun

: a way of organizing a society in which major industries are owned and controlled by the government rather than by individual people and companies.

Okay, many Democrats are labeling themselves as socialist, and many more people do not have the foggiest idea what socialism is.

Trump is throwing out the communism and socialism insults because most people don’t know what they mean. However, what the right labels as socialist are programs like the laws used to bust up the monopolies of the 1890s.

We saw “socialism” under the New Deal with programs like the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), the Civil Works Administration (CWA), the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and many other programs. We saw the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the Social Security Administration (SSA), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and many other programs.

Then we had the rash of agencies created under the Johnson administration like HUD, Head Start, and the EEOC, the momentum that even bled over into the Nixon administration with programs and agencies like OSHA, the EPA, WIC, and SNAP (Food Stamps back then).

These are the programs the Republicans are calling “socialist,” but they look the other way when Trump orders the government to buy private businesses, as the Council on Foreign Relations reported…

Washington’s latest and boldest experiment in industrial policy is a renewed willingness to take equity stakes. Since January 2025, the U.S. government has announced investments worth $27.6 billion across thirty-seven deals involving direct ownership, broadening a toolkit that has traditionally focused on grants, loans, and tax incentives. The Department of Commerce leads the way with twenty four announced deals, including taking a 10 percent stake in Intel. The Development Finance Corporation, the United States’ development bank, has pledged six equity transactions in critical minerals, energy, and infrastructure. The Department of Defense has disclosed seven deals, and the Department of Energy has participated in two.

That is the definition of “socialism” see above!

Meanwhile, Trump is cutting the programs created back in the Johnson administration to pay for his tax cuts for the billionaires and his endless war!

So who’s the real “socialist”?

[/Editorial]

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I have company at the cottage this week so I might miss a few posts.