Touching the real pain of all is at the heart of the movement toward emancipation. But it can’t stop there. There is a second component to this journey toward freedom: fight! Too often we think of fighting as “fighting against.” I have learned that when you “fight against” someone or some policy, that person or policy may actually be reinforced. Rather, in this spiritual journey toward emancipation, we are called to fight for a vision that can be shared. We fight for a world that is inclusive of all creation. We fight for an economy of inclusion….

It is my experience that we realize emancipation when we combine radical acceptance with fighting for a vision. Embracing all with care and fighting for an economy that benefits the 100% will liberate us from the shackles of polarization and division. In my experience, these events become like a communal fire. There is a flaming-up of community dedicated to the good of all. It is fire in the warmth of the care we share with each other and in the commitment to make a difference. It is a fire that frees us from fear, judgment, and isolation, and opens us to the freedom of an abundant universe….

In our time of being shackled by income and wealth disparity, we are called to let God flame up in our lives. Emancipation happens when our contemplative journey takes us beyond ourselves into care for all and fighting for a vision that benefits the 100%.... The emancipation proclamation of our day is that together we must end the shackles of income and wealth disparity in our nation and around the world. This one body of creation is in a single great struggle….

Concentration camps are sites of tempting slave labor. Among many other aims, the Soviets used concentration camp labor to build canals and work mines. The Nazi German concentration camp system followed a capitalist version of the same logic: it drew in businesses with the prospect of inexpensive labor.

[snip…]

What happens next in the U.S.? Workers who are presented as "undocumented" will be taken to the camps. Perhaps they will work in the camps themselves, as slaves to government projects. But more likely they will be offered to American companies on special terms: a one-time payment to the government, for example, with no need for wages or benefits. In the simplest version, and perhaps the most likely, detained people will be offered back to the companies for which they were just working. Their stay in the concentration camp will be presented as a purge or a legalization for which companies should be grateful. Trump has already said that this is the idea, calling it "owner responsibility."

[snip…]

The government is putting before us the temptation to cooperate in fascist dehumanization on a grand scale. But that does not mean we must do so. This is an area where actions by individuals, by civil society, by the professions, and by companies can be decisive.

The first action is simple. CEOs should now, this summer, this month, next week, sign a pledge not to use labor from concentration camps. It could be as simple as that: "On behalf of my firm I promise not to use labor from concentration camps nor to cooperate with any firm that does."

… all 2,000 National Guard troops deployed to Los Angeles came from the single unit California depends on to fight wildfires. Many of these troops serve in Taskforce Rattlesnake — a specialised, embedded wildfire crew trained in fire mitigation, prevention, and direct suppression.

The crews of Taskforce Rattlesnake are not general-purpose fire crews. According to the Department of Defense, these are specialised units within the California National Guard, built to address the increasing scale and intensity of the state’s wildfires. They are fully embedded within California’s firefighting system. They train, deploy, and operate alongside Cal Fire, and work year-round.

That 1 in 54 selection doesn't look random. It’s statistically unlikely to be accidental, especially when other units were locally available that had no connection to the state’s wildfire response. He could have drawn from the 40th Infantry Division headquarters, the 1st Battalion of the 144th Field Artillery Regiment, the Combat Aviation Brigade, the Sustainment Brigade, or even military police units.

When I wrote — less than a week ago — about how the Trump administration is using wildfire policy to redraw American federalism, I said the next phase would move quickly. It looks now like it already had.

From the TEA Party to the Democratic Party, all in the past 15 years. What a wild, crazy, .unprecedented political journey it’s been. My constant thread on this journey, my lodestar, has always been my reverence for freedom, democracy, and the rule of law. Along the way, I’ve rediscovered my reverence for decency and tolerance, for pluralism. Only one of America’s two major political parties today is squarely on the side of decency, tolerance, pluralism, freedom, democracy, and the rule of law—the Democratic Party. So I join that party. I proudly and humbly join the Democratic Party.

Now let’s fight! Let’s fight like we’ve never fought before.

I’ve opened my eyes and listened to people who don’t think like me. And by doing so, I gained a greater understanding of and appreciation for LGBTQ issues, structural racism, the need for empathetic immigration reform, the dangers of climate change, and the role government must play to help care for the neediest and most vulnerable among us.
Most importantly, I’ve changed how I behave…I was passionate about my cause—so passionate that I said and did things I regret, so passionate that I became, way more than I’m proud of, a divisive political asshole. That’s no longer who I am.
After Trump’s first election, I woke up. Seven years ago, I came out publicly against Trump. Five years ago, I left the Republican Party. I’m still a conservative, but I’m not a conservative jerk. For the past seven years, I’ve been on a mission to help heal the divide in this country—the divide I helped to create.
Decency, tolerance, understanding, empathy...I now get how vital these all are to our politics, and there’s only one political party these days that values and practices these traits—the Democratic Party. Donald Trump is the worst of us, and, sadly, the rest of the Republican Party emulates his cruelty, dishonesty, and authoritarianism. We’re better than what we’ve seen every day these past four months. America is better than this. As a former Republican, I know that cruelty sells. Well, it’s time for decency to sell.

Nevada Governor and BLM Sign Agreement to Release Federal Lands for Development
They’re literally calling it a “disposal of public lands” as if shared wilderness, sacred ground, and national inheritance are garbage to be cleared and sold.

Snip…

The Great Nevada Land Raid Is Underway

So, the governor stood at a podium without blinking and in full cahoots with the very folks who are supposed to stand in his way stated his intent plainly:

“I’m pleased to announce the State’s joint agreement with the Bureau of Land Management, Nevada today. This agreement will improve our ability to share critical data about public lands in Nevada and help inform future housing and economic development in our communities.”

Data means maps. Maps mean parcels. Parcels mean profit.

Allow and encourage people who deconstructed to be on the right side of history.
Yes, it will take time to fully trust them. No, that doesn’t mean you should judge them and make them feel less than as a result. The worst thing you can do is continually bring up the past with them.
A lot of people who are deconstructing will feel shoved out and return back to the GOP if they feel like they can “never live it down,” so do what you can to limit that kind of speech.
Yes, we know that the tears we’re seeing from them is all about themselves. It burns that they’re only angry when it affects them, but it’s important to focus on what those tears are starting. That can be the first step to finding the empathy they may have lost or never had to begin with.

Snip…
You might be surprised at how many people are just afraid to talk because of the shame they feel. The GOP is banking on the left being intolerant of former right-wingers to keep their death grip on people. Don’t let them win.”

Ok, I owe Chuck Schumer an apology.

If the government had shutdown as I was advocating, the courts would also have been shut down. The same federal courts that today blocked Trump from invoking the Alien Enemies act that was used to intern Japanese Americans in World War 2 and is only meant to be used in a state of emergency. The deportation flights that were literally in the air were forced to turn around.

I have very little faith in the Supreme Court, but I do take some solace when we get decisions on the right side of the law. The third branch hangs by a very flimsy thread but it is hanging. The rest will be up to us. Taking down Elon and 8647 is a We The People project. In the meantime, Chuck was right and he specifically noted the courts in his reasoning. Separately, Elon said Hitler, Stalin, and Mao didn’t kill anyone, it was their “public servants” that did.

Snip…
Whilst politicians puzzle over Trump’s Russian rapprochement, his bullying of traditional allies, and his fascination with Greenland, the Arctic reveals his true purpose. Look north, and his strategy crystallises with unmistakable clarity.

The Arctic holds 30% of undiscovered global gas reserves and 13% of oil. The Arctic Council governs its development, lining up the US, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden – and Russia.

Nordic environmental hand-wringing stands between American energy giants and this frozen treasure trove. A direct deal with Putin would shatter these constraints overnight. The prizes?
• Greenland contains the West’s largest rare earth deposits, the critical minerals powering everything from iPhones to F-35s. China currently holds this supply chain hostage.

Snip…