Call me "Pollyanna" but I see an upside to the "Ice" immigration raids and attempts at sending in the......

......National Guard to protect them. I love the fact that regular people are confronting the agents and protecting and hiding the immigrants and, maybe even more surprising, some states are fighting back and even passing laws to stop the roundups and police force cooperation. This gives lie to the fiction that Trump encourages that we all want these folks to kicked out as they are all "rapists and murderers".

This video of JFK at a fundraiser to build the "National Cultural Center", that later became The Kennedy Center.......

......adds heartbreak to the travesty that Trump has visited upon this country when he pasted his ugly name above Kennedy's on that beautiful American memorial. Kennedy's words celebrating American culture in the Arts, in music and in dance, and the grace and intelligence with which he spoke, is such a contrast to Trump's America, that we have to dedicate ourselves to restoring this country, not to it's ideals of 2016, but to Kennedy's America of 1962.

Cartoon......

This cartoon about Jordan Peterson kind of nails it.

Interesting take on the psychology of politicians who lie.

The "hell-hole" full of antifa rioters that is Chicago, just turned up on this list of the 20 happiness cities.....

.......in the world. In eighth place no less. If the ICE folks sent there weren't such angry butt-holes, they would probably have a nice time. Maybe a deep dish pizza and get to know the locals.

Did your city make the list? Read on to find out...
The 20 happiest cities in the world in 2025

1. Abu Dhabi, UAE
2. Medellín, Colombia
3. Cape Town, South Africa
4. Mexico City, Mexico
5. Mumbai, India
6. Beijing, China
7. Shanghai, China
8. Chicago, US
9. Seville, Spain
10. Melbourne, Australia
11. Brighton, UK
12. Porto, Portugal
13. Sydney, Australia
14. Chiang Mai, Thailand
15. Marrakech, Morocco
16. Dubai, UAE
17. Hanoi, Vietnam
18. Jakarta, Indonesia
19. Valencia, Spain
20. Glasgow, UK

Just saw a wedding cake where the little "Bride and Groom" figures on top were taking a "selfie" Funny stuff.

Remember Newt Gingrich? Every time his face pops up now, I wince, and when he speaks, I feel pain. Recently.....

......I endured such a moment and was reminded of Newtie's master plans when he engineered the big Repub takeover of Congress in 1992. Part of these plans was to train his evil minions to constantly repeat the same talking points and use the same loaded language to describe and disparage Democrats. Trump has obviously take this to new and extreme levels as we are now deemed rapists and communists. So, it seems almost quaint, but not quite, to look back at his instructions to his minions.

Training materials: In 1990, Gingrich's political action committee, GOPAC, circulated a memo titled "Language: A Key Mechanism of Control" to Republican candidates. It explicitly taught them how to "speak like Newt".
The memo provided a list of "Contrasting Words" for describing opponents (originally Democrats), which included: decay, failure, collapse, crisis, destructive, sick, pathetic, lie, liberal, betray, consequences, traitors, corruption, incompetent, and shame.
It also provided a list of "Optimistic Positive Governing Words" for Republicans to use to describe themselves, such as: change, opportunity, moral, courage, reform, freedom, and vision.

(This from Google's AI analysis)

There is a discussion here today on the impeachment vs expulsion of a member of congress. This because of another.....

......ridiculous statement by Trump. Expulsion is something done according to Congress' own rules. Makes me wonder if the rules of Congress can be appealed in the courts. Is it a question of Separation of Powers? Seems that the Constitution and the Voters of a state decide who they want to sit in Congress, why should they be refused a seat? Maybe the Supreme Court has dabbled in this issue before? Good luck with that today. Maybe I'll look up Adam Clayton Powell just for fun.

If you really have the goods on this question, try not to pontificate too much, as some do here on the underground.

"Botac" just got added to our vocabulary. Just watched a video of Border Patrol agents attacking protestors......

.......outside an ICE processing facility in Chicago. The agents, in full riot gear, were characterized as a "Botac", or "Border Patrol Tactical" quick response unit tasked with, apparently, roughing up non-compliant civilians. A cool new name and the maximum amount of top shelf riot gear really does add to the whole cosplay experience for those folks. Their gas masks were useful as they were deploying clouds of tear gas right from the get-go against the peaceful protestors, Admittedly the protestors were blocking an entry gate because, you know, "civil disobedience", but the rampant testosterone levels were almost as strong as the tear gas. Can you say "brown shirts"?