Jilly_in_VA
Jilly_in_VA's JournalCookies, deodorant, socks. Iran war puts military packages in limbo
Dan F. was alarmed when his daughter, a Marine aboard the USS Tripoli, a warship deployed to fight the Iran war, sent him a photo of a meal served on the ship. A lunch tray, two-thirds empty, carried one small scoop of shredded meat and a single folded tortilla.
A picture of a mid-April dinner on the USS Abraham Lincoln, shared by a service member with his family, was similarly unappetizing – a small handful of boiled carrots, a dry meat patty and a gray slab of processed meat.
Dan and other military family members worried that their loved ones deployed to the Middle East are going hungry are filling boxes with items they hope could help service members ride out prolonged deployments in the Middle East – homemade fudge, Jolly Ranchers, crossword puzzle books, playing cards, toothpaste, Girl Scout cookies and fresh socks. But mail delivery to military ZIP codes across the Middle East has been indefinitely suspended as of April, and packages in transit now hang in limbo.
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The U.S. Postal Service temporarily suspended mail delivery to 27 military ZIP codes after the United States and Israel attacked Iran. The Army said there is no end date in sight for the suspension, despite a ceasefire in the war.
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"We have the strongest military in the world. You shouldn’t be running out of food, and you shouldn’t not be able to get mail on the ship," said Dan, 63, who also served in the Marines.
"The one thing we had over our adversaries [was] we fed our people."
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/04/16/iran-war-mail-packages-middle-east/89609308007/
This is unconscionable! Our sailors going hungry while our fat fuck of a so-called president has Door Dash delivering McDonald's!!!
'Psychological torture': outcry over conditions at ICE desert detention camp
Dust was everywhere, covering people’s blankets and clogging their airways inside Camp East Montana, the huge tent facility for immigration detention in west Texas, said D, a young Venezuelan man who was held there.
The air conditioning blasted constantly, keeping the living areas inside tents the length of two football fields at what felt like near-freezing temperatures despite the balmy weather outside, and rain leaked through the tarps, so people awoke on wet mattresses, he recalled.
“Everyone was coughing a lot – and with the same problem to breathe,” said D, who has since been released and spoke with the Guardian via video interview.
Camp East Montana is the facility with the largest number of immigration-related detainees in the US, with a capacity of 5,000 and an estimated daily average of 2,505 locked up. After just nine months in operation it has become a health and human rights scandal – and also an environmental hazard that affects the inhabitants and the area, while fueling the climate crisis.
Reports of harsh conditions, abuse, sickness and death have accumulated since the camp was erected last summer on the Fort Bliss army base in El Paso. And flying thousands of people often hundreds of miles to be locked up in an encampment run on electricity generators in the desert gobbles energy and produces emissions that are heating the planet.
“I think the environmental impact is pretty apparent,” said Danielle Jefferis, associate professor of law at the University of Nebraska College of Law. “I don’t think it takes an expert to see that if you don’t have a brick-and-mortar building that is properly plumbed and has appropriate medical units and all of the basic infrastructure [relating to] human rights, you’re going to have a serious environmental impact.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/15/ice-desert-detention-camp-east-montana
The cruelty is the point.
California attorney who tried to help overturn 2020 election loses law license
A California attorney who aided President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results has lost his license to practice in the state.
The California Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered John Eastman disbarred and his name stricken from the state roll of attorneys. It caps a yearslong effort by the state bar to strip Eastman of his law license after he developed a legal strategy to have then-Vice President Mike Pence interfere with the certification of Joe Biden’s presidential victory.
A judge for the State Bar Court of California in 2024 recommended that he lose his California law license. Eastman argued he was being punished for simply giving legal advice.
George Cardona, chief trial counsel for the State Bar of California, said Wednesday’s decision follows clear evidence that Eastman “advanced false claims about the 2020 presidential election to mislead courts, public officials, and the American public.”
“The Court’s order underscores that Mr. Eastman’s misconduct was incompatible with the standards of integrity required of every California attorney,” he said.
https://www.ms.now/news/california-attorney-tried-help-overturn-2020-election-loses-law-license
Sounds like some SERIOUS HOA overreach here....
The Belltown Homeowners' Association sent letters to some homeowners demanding that they cease and desist their use of KUB Fiber.
Affected residents received an email from the association on April 9, stating they must provide a written notice within five days of their intent to comply. However, homeowners said they did not get the letter in certified mail until April 14.
The letter states, failure to comply could result in the association "filing a lawsuit, seeking an order restraining you from violating the Declaration, and seeking an award of the Association's costs and attorney's fees incurred in connection with such suit."
Homeowner Chris Hill said he and several of his neighbors plan not to comply. He said the document he signed was not part of the original contract and was added at the last minute.
"When we went under contracts, we heard rumblings from the sales folks that there was some kind of big argument that Smithbilt had with KUB. Thought nothing of it, and then when we went to closing, suddenly they demanded that we sign an amendment to the contract at the very last second, or we wouldn't get the house, basically stating that we wouldn't use KUB," he said.
Hill said he doesn't believe the HOA can restrict their usage.
"That's problematic for a couple of different reasons, not the least of which is that the other fiber option, Frontier, is not even in the neighborhood yet, and we've all had issues with Xfinity. But the crux of our argument is that KUB was in here at some point. They laid the full infrastructure," Hill said.
https://www.wbir.com/article/news/local/knoxville/homeowners-question-hoa-power-receiving-cease-and-desist-letter-kub-fiber-use/51-970c38aa-883e-4345-8324-a5ed5b52acb1
KUB is Knoxville Utilities Board, the city utility. Tell me how an HOA can restrict THEM! Not to mention freedom of choice here...
Chicago Theological Seminary stops admitting new students as financial pressure grows
The Chicago Theological Seminary has stopped admitting new students in its degree programs amid mounting financial woes at the 170-year-old institution that participated in the abolitionist movement and the Underground Railroad prior to the Civil War and where civil rights icon the Rev. Jesse Jackson once attended.
Brad Braxton, the school’s president, told the Tribune in a statement Tuesday that the seminary decided to cease admissions while it undergoes a “board-approved strategic planning process” that is focused on ensuring the school is able to continue its mission for “generations to come.”
“CTS has prepared bold, justice-minded leaders for public service, grounded in progressive approaches to theology and ethics,” he said. “That calling has never been more urgent, and our commitment to it has never been stronger.”
He also said the seminary remains committed to ensuring that currently enrolled students have a “clear, supported path” to finishing their degrees.
He declined to go into specifics about what necessitated this process during a brief phone call with the Tribune, saying “at this point, the statement encompasses all that we think is appropriate to say.” He said current students were made aware last month.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/04/15/chicago-theological-seminary-admissions-financial-woes/
My uncle, a Unitarian minister, also went here. This is very sad.
Migration reversal: Why more Americans are now moving to Ireland
Michael Sable is an American stand-up comedian and communications manager who moved from Washington DC to Dublin in 2016.
Sable, who draws on his experience of being an American living in the Republic of Ireland in his stand-up routine, says that, when he first arrived, many Irish people he met were surprised he'd made the move, but now they don't question it.
"I've noticed that, as the years go on, people have been less and less incredulous when hearing that an American moved to Ireland," he says.
Sable is one of a rising number of people who have moved to Ireland from the US, with the latest data showing the figure nearly doubling from 4,900 to 9,600 between 2024 and 2025, exceeding the number of Irish people headed in the opposite direction.
It comes as the US saw more people leave than arrive last year, according to a report from US think tank the Brookings Institution. It said this was the first time that this had been the case "in at least half a century".
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20260414-why-more-americans-are-now-moving-to-ireland
I'd probably go if I could, although the climate is not quite to my liking.
French woman, 86, held by ICE after moving to US to reunite with long-lost love
An 86-year-old French woman who moved to the US last year after rekindling a 1960s romance is being detained at an immigration enforcement centre in Louisiana.
The son of Marie-Thérèse, from the city of Nantes, sounded the alarm after his mother was arrested in Anniston, Alabama, earlier in April.
"They handcuffed her hands and feet like she was a dangerous criminal," he told French outlet Ouest-France.
The US Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), told the BBC that an "illegal alien from France" matching Marie-Thérèse's name had entered the country in June 2025 and overstayed her 90-day visa.
According to her son, however, Marie-Thérèse was awaiting a green card when she was detained.
Marie-Thérèse mother had moved to the US after marrying her long-lost love - an American man named Billy whom she had met in the 1960s, when he was a soldier stationed in the Nato base of Saint-Nazaire, and she a secretary.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd0rre4d9k0o
Obviously the "worst of the worst". Seriously???
'Never been closer': UFO watchers buoyed by Trump and Vance's alien 'obsession'
Like most politicians, Donald Trump did not campaign on the issue of space aliens. But 15 months into his second term, UFO enthusiasts have been buoyed by the Trump administration’s apparent fascination with extraterrestrials, with one expert claiming the human race has “never been closer” to being presented with hard evidence of aliens.
After a largely alien-free first 12 months, the president has committed himself to UFO disclosure in 2026. In February, Trump directed various departments to release “government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life”, and the White House took the unusual step of registering domain “aliens.gov” in March, setting pulses racing among believers online.
UFO watchers have been further buoyed because the president is surrounded by extraterrestrial believers in his professional and personal life.
JD Vance has said he is “obsessed” with UFOs. The vice-president, an enthusiastic Christian, believes they are “demons” rather than aliens – while Donald Trump Jr, the president’s adult son, declared last year that there is “evidence of non-human intelligence out there engaging with our planet”.
With an alien-curious government seemingly in place, some in the UFO-watching community believe the groundwork has been laid for disclosure. The Department of Defense said it plans to release “never-before-seen UAP [unidentified unidentified anomalous phenomenon] information”, and the issue is gaining momentum in Congress too: last week, Tim Burchett, a Republican congressman from Tennessee, used an interview to proclaim “we are not alone”.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/12/trump-vance-aliens-ufo
Anything to distract from Epstein and his other failures.
'This is not serious leadership': Donald Trump and Marco Rubio watch UFC in Miami as Iran talks fail
Donald Trump and US secretary of state Marco Rubio attended a UFC event in Miami night on Saturday night as peace talks with Iran failed on the other side of the world.
Trump entered the Kaseya Center shortly after 9pm alongside several members of his family and UFC chief Dana White, who has been a supporter of the president since his first term. Seated nearby was Rubio as well as the US ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, the rapper Vanilla Ice and former FBI deputy director Dan Bongino.
“The Secretary of State skipped the Iran negotiations in Pakistan to attend a UFC fight. So did the Special Envoy for South and Central Asia, while Pakistan has no confirmed U.S. ambassador,” the House Democrats Foreign Affairs Committee wrote on X. “Tens of thousands of Americans are in harm’s way. Gas prices are rising. This is not serious leadership. It’s amateur hour.”
Despite his falling approval ratings and the unpopularity of the war with Iran among the American public, Trump was given a rousing greeting by the crowd as a Kid Rock song blasted in the background. The president shook hands with fans, smiled for cameras and greeted the UFC broadcast team, which included influential podcaster Joe Rogan.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/apr/12/donald-trump-marco-rubio-ufc-iran-war
Not serious at all.
The sneaky reason Tucker Carlson and other far-right voices are criticizing Trump
President Donald Trump posted an insult-packed screed on Truth Social on Thursday, aimed at a chorus of right-wing critics of his war on Iran. His targets included conspiracy podcasters Alex Jones and Candace Owens; former Fox News host Megyn Kelly; and, most prominently, another former Fox host, Tucker Carlson.
Right-wing attacks on Trump have not only caught the attention of the president, but also of liberals and progressives, who have applauded these blistering criticisms. During the first round of attacks on Iran last June, Jon Stewart marveled at Carlson’s criticisms, saying, “We’re in such a bizarro world, you’ve got me nodding my head to Tucker Carlson videos.” Just this week, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., heaped praise on the right-wing critics of the war, musing that they could be part of “a broad, populist social movement” to save democracy.
Nor is Iran the only issue on which Carlson has won such praise from his left. His criticism of housing prices and stagnant wages won plaudits from affordability advocates, with some contemplating a left-right populist economic alliance. His embrace of Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s, D-Mass., argument in her book, “The Two-Income Trap,” led the Brookings Institute to admit, “Tucker Carlson has a point.”
But progressives do not, under any circumstances, have to hand it to Carlson or other far-right critics of the Iran war. Such praise does not bolster the case for constraining Trump’s lawless presidency. Rather, it amplifies voices who will use their support to further degrade U.S. democracy.
Right-wing media personalities can be divided into two groups: loyalists and opportunists. The first category, which includes many long-time radio and television broadcasters, such as Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck, need Trump and the Republican Party to stay relevant. They can tolerate very little daylight with the administration and will pretzel themselves into any shape to retain that closeness.
https://www.ms.now/opinion/tucker-carlson-trump-iran-war
I did find myself agreeing with Carlson's comments on Shitler's Easter yowl at the Pope, but I figured there was something else behind it. There is.
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