Everything is terrifying. One of my personal terrors is losing our ACA health insurance (we're both self-employed). I'm so sorry for your personal terrors. This (everything) is horrifying.
My immigrant wife and I have had this same conversation. She's not leaving the U.S. for any reason until things are safe again, or we get forcibly removed. She's had her green card for more than twelve years now but, that's no longer any guarantee anymore, as we're seeing. She doesn't have any tattoos nor has she ever had any run ins with law enforcement. She plans to keep it that way. She figures that as long as she stays under the radar, she should be safe. Meanwhile, I am preparing for war with ICE.
If they come for her, I will fight. As I mentioned to Mitch in Florida yesterday ( we talk about this stuff all of the time now), I'm ready to join a resistance group to fight against the tyranny. I'm also preparing for power outages, water shutoffs, and other county infrastructure outages that may create difficulties in remaining in place, if the riots break out and Trump declares marshall law.
Read Jessica Wildfire's latest post about a possible Trump coup coming in April. My OP tempo just went into high gear. I would rather be ready, than get caught by surprise.
Stay safe in central Illinois. With all of the storms of all kinds brewing on the horizon, you'll need a little luck to get through it all. If I thought the post office would deliver them intact, I'd send you some shamrocks. Sláinte
My concern is dismantling and defunding agencies while we continue to destruct and assault our environment. I agree we are in for some rough lessons ahead.
That's a fantastic story. Very few Americans are so well-off that they can cover a parents' nursing home bills for long.
I find most people believe Medicare covers nursing home care. It doesn't, except for very short stays for rehabilitation, as after a knee replacement or something like that.
What I hope and pray for is that ordinary American life will be so disrupted by the sheer madness of this regime, that it will have certain people (billionaires, oligarchs, CEO's, etc) lose money. And that is their love language - money in Wall Street, money with shareholders, money to buy new yachts and surgically plumped wives, money to hide in Swiss accounts and in other overseas holdings, etc.
Do I want us to suffer, the regular folks? No. But at this point, the only way to get a narcissist attention is to tank them either socially, reputation wise, whatever they hold their insecurity in- and the PINO's is how he is such "a great businessman." I mean, look at the reality TV show "The Apprentice." That is a screaming neon sign of this man's obsession with looking like he knows how to handle money, business, etc. The only thing he learned was how to be a thug in a suit and tie, how to use mafia style tactics to get what he wanted and he still got "pinched" but not jailed. Now he's the head of the so called "family, "only it's the American government. He wants all threats of him getting taken out by democratic processes gone.
And by the way, let's distinguish which crime family he is NOT like - not even close to a Thomas Shelby from the Peaky Blinders series. Nowhere near that clever, tough, or strategic (and nowhere near as good looking as Cillian Murphy). He is more like a cross between Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas played by Joe Pesci- insecure and prone to lose it when he perceives an insult and Janice Soprano from The Sopranos who uses people and loves to get people to power play against each other for her own gain and amusement. Also Logan Roy in Succession.
He has to lose face, lose perceived power, and the wolves of that world begin to circle when they smell fear and see weakness. We need a thug to know how to get rid of a thug. Let them eat each other and democracy find a way back in somehow.
The attack on aliens is despicable, but it's only a heartless toss of red meat for the true believers and to push the buttons of the rest of us. Musk's real mission has been, and is, the dismantling of any regulatory agency that could potentially restrain the corporations and the very rich from exploiting people without power, the 99% of us!
Good points here. I have a hard time believing that some people are still defending him (as well as the Muskrat), and finding ways to justify their actions. These actions are JUST NOT JUSTIFIABLE OR DEFENSIBLE. Period. I really wonder what those who voted for Trump, and are losing their jobs, Medicaid benefits, (or other aspects of their lives that have been beneficial to them) think now about that vote. They may never be willing to admit how seriously they voted against their own interests… 😣
I was at Kelly Morrison’s Town Hall last night. The mayor was the moderator and asked the first question. Their city just found out earlier that day that all the federal funding for 2 needed water projects is now gone. They have no way to fund this, and it’s a fairly upscale metro city. My own small metro city has lost funding for numerous projects. Our mayor lives in the neighborhood. Yes, it’s big important stuff like NOAA, but it’s also the nuts and bolts of infrastructure that are being eliminated. And don’t get me started on special education. And it won’t be far behind that insures will start capping more and charging more because of lack of federal support and regulation. I just don’t know. Rep.Morrison said we have to find the key wedges that will splinter off members of the GOP to start standing up.
Thanks for the summary of this. Morrison is also my Rep and I didn’t make it to her town hall. It’s absolutely frightening how much we’re losing, even in our blue state that will do what it can to protect us. But there are limits to the state’s and city’s abilities.
Even domestic flights are potentially dangerous for immigrants right now. The immigrant wife of that idiot TFG voter was taken by ICE as they returned from a trip to Puerto Rico.
Oh God, it's all awful. So many stories like this. I'm worrying about several members of my family for one reason and another, too. And your insight that it could have been some random mistake in a piece of paperwork years ago is beyond grim.
In the UK, the (2010-2024)Tory government went in with a splash when the Home Cecretary Theresa May created a thing they called the 'Hostile Environment'. In my very multicultural part of northeast London there were literally vans driving around that said "Just go home" on the side. I came out of the tube on my way home from work and found people with clipboards stopping others as they reached the top of the stairs, asking them about their residence status. Of course I knew I wouldn't be stopped. Then there was Brexit, and anti-immigrant violence erupted everywhere that week. Month. Year. Stones through the windows of tapas restaurants. A street where many Germans live: all the tyres slashed. People gently asking you when you might be going home. I'd spent 20 years here before that happened and never really thought much about nationality, or getting citizenship, because I have Indefinite Leave to Remain - right?? But from 2011 I've never felt 100% relaxed.
And I also don't feel safe to go to the US now - going through Immigration is the scariest bit, & though I haven't heard anything specific about Americans who live abroad, I know we're resented... & of course, though not feeling relaxed, I *have* been *writing*...
People are just beginning to realise what some of us have known for ages - that ANYBODY can be at risk. You just feel it earlier if you're in one of the named groups. I hope everybody is waking up to the fact that when Trump says 'criminals' he doesn't mean what we mean when te rest of us mean when we say it!
Everything is terrifying. One of my personal terrors is losing our ACA health insurance (we're both self-employed). I'm so sorry for your personal terrors. This (everything) is horrifying.
My immigrant wife and I have had this same conversation. She's not leaving the U.S. for any reason until things are safe again, or we get forcibly removed. She's had her green card for more than twelve years now but, that's no longer any guarantee anymore, as we're seeing. She doesn't have any tattoos nor has she ever had any run ins with law enforcement. She plans to keep it that way. She figures that as long as she stays under the radar, she should be safe. Meanwhile, I am preparing for war with ICE.
If they come for her, I will fight. As I mentioned to Mitch in Florida yesterday ( we talk about this stuff all of the time now), I'm ready to join a resistance group to fight against the tyranny. I'm also preparing for power outages, water shutoffs, and other county infrastructure outages that may create difficulties in remaining in place, if the riots break out and Trump declares marshall law.
Read Jessica Wildfire's latest post about a possible Trump coup coming in April. My OP tempo just went into high gear. I would rather be ready, than get caught by surprise.
Stay safe in central Illinois. With all of the storms of all kinds brewing on the horizon, you'll need a little luck to get through it all. If I thought the post office would deliver them intact, I'd send you some shamrocks. Sláinte
Thank you.
Fortunately, my husband doesn’t have tattoos … who’d have thought that could be a danger?
My concern is dismantling and defunding agencies while we continue to destruct and assault our environment. I agree we are in for some rough lessons ahead.
The working homeless article was excellent.
The article below from the NYT today caught my eye––Medicaid is a Middle Class Benefit
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/21/your-money/medicaid-trump-long-term-care.html?searchResultPosition=1
That's a fantastic story. Very few Americans are so well-off that they can cover a parents' nursing home bills for long.
I find most people believe Medicare covers nursing home care. It doesn't, except for very short stays for rehabilitation, as after a knee replacement or something like that.
What I hope and pray for is that ordinary American life will be so disrupted by the sheer madness of this regime, that it will have certain people (billionaires, oligarchs, CEO's, etc) lose money. And that is their love language - money in Wall Street, money with shareholders, money to buy new yachts and surgically plumped wives, money to hide in Swiss accounts and in other overseas holdings, etc.
Do I want us to suffer, the regular folks? No. But at this point, the only way to get a narcissist attention is to tank them either socially, reputation wise, whatever they hold their insecurity in- and the PINO's is how he is such "a great businessman." I mean, look at the reality TV show "The Apprentice." That is a screaming neon sign of this man's obsession with looking like he knows how to handle money, business, etc. The only thing he learned was how to be a thug in a suit and tie, how to use mafia style tactics to get what he wanted and he still got "pinched" but not jailed. Now he's the head of the so called "family, "only it's the American government. He wants all threats of him getting taken out by democratic processes gone.
And by the way, let's distinguish which crime family he is NOT like - not even close to a Thomas Shelby from the Peaky Blinders series. Nowhere near that clever, tough, or strategic (and nowhere near as good looking as Cillian Murphy). He is more like a cross between Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas played by Joe Pesci- insecure and prone to lose it when he perceives an insult and Janice Soprano from The Sopranos who uses people and loves to get people to power play against each other for her own gain and amusement. Also Logan Roy in Succession.
He has to lose face, lose perceived power, and the wolves of that world begin to circle when they smell fear and see weakness. We need a thug to know how to get rid of a thug. Let them eat each other and democracy find a way back in somehow.
The attack on aliens is despicable, but it's only a heartless toss of red meat for the true believers and to push the buttons of the rest of us. Musk's real mission has been, and is, the dismantling of any regulatory agency that could potentially restrain the corporations and the very rich from exploiting people without power, the 99% of us!
Good points here. I have a hard time believing that some people are still defending him (as well as the Muskrat), and finding ways to justify their actions. These actions are JUST NOT JUSTIFIABLE OR DEFENSIBLE. Period. I really wonder what those who voted for Trump, and are losing their jobs, Medicaid benefits, (or other aspects of their lives that have been beneficial to them) think now about that vote. They may never be willing to admit how seriously they voted against their own interests… 😣
I was at Kelly Morrison’s Town Hall last night. The mayor was the moderator and asked the first question. Their city just found out earlier that day that all the federal funding for 2 needed water projects is now gone. They have no way to fund this, and it’s a fairly upscale metro city. My own small metro city has lost funding for numerous projects. Our mayor lives in the neighborhood. Yes, it’s big important stuff like NOAA, but it’s also the nuts and bolts of infrastructure that are being eliminated. And don’t get me started on special education. And it won’t be far behind that insures will start capping more and charging more because of lack of federal support and regulation. I just don’t know. Rep.Morrison said we have to find the key wedges that will splinter off members of the GOP to start standing up.
Thanks for the summary of this. Morrison is also my Rep and I didn’t make it to her town hall. It’s absolutely frightening how much we’re losing, even in our blue state that will do what it can to protect us. But there are limits to the state’s and city’s abilities.
Shutting down NOAA is not good. I have not heard anything about the folks in Missouri who were hit earlier this week by the F4 tornado.
We need those early warnings in the Midwest; the funnels are bigger and stronger.
Be safe.
Even domestic flights are potentially dangerous for immigrants right now. The immigrant wife of that idiot TFG voter was taken by ICE as they returned from a trip to Puerto Rico.
We weren’t planning any trips but now we are absolutely keeping our asses home until Trump is out. Hoping the country will recover but if not idk.
Oh God, it's all awful. So many stories like this. I'm worrying about several members of my family for one reason and another, too. And your insight that it could have been some random mistake in a piece of paperwork years ago is beyond grim.
In the UK, the (2010-2024)Tory government went in with a splash when the Home Cecretary Theresa May created a thing they called the 'Hostile Environment'. In my very multicultural part of northeast London there were literally vans driving around that said "Just go home" on the side. I came out of the tube on my way home from work and found people with clipboards stopping others as they reached the top of the stairs, asking them about their residence status. Of course I knew I wouldn't be stopped. Then there was Brexit, and anti-immigrant violence erupted everywhere that week. Month. Year. Stones through the windows of tapas restaurants. A street where many Germans live: all the tyres slashed. People gently asking you when you might be going home. I'd spent 20 years here before that happened and never really thought much about nationality, or getting citizenship, because I have Indefinite Leave to Remain - right?? But from 2011 I've never felt 100% relaxed.
And I also don't feel safe to go to the US now - going through Immigration is the scariest bit, & though I haven't heard anything specific about Americans who live abroad, I know we're resented... & of course, though not feeling relaxed, I *have* been *writing*...
People are just beginning to realise what some of us have known for ages - that ANYBODY can be at risk. You just feel it earlier if you're in one of the named groups. I hope everybody is waking up to the fact that when Trump says 'criminals' he doesn't mean what we mean when te rest of us mean when we say it!
It’s so ironic that he is himself a convicted criminal.
Though of course, HE'D say WE are the 'criminals' - just for existing.
Poverty is the issue for millions that crosses color, immigration and age, lines including the arts for so many of us miserables,