Tag: demonstrations

Sundaz Theme Music

Sunda. October 19, 2025. Rain hissed on the roof. The house heater added a rush of air. 49 F, rain is expected all day, with a temperature that peaks at 61 F. Fog has sunk its teeth into the surrounding mountains. Leafy golds, yellows, oranges, and reds glow. Papi galloped in, threw himself down and vigorously applied his tongue to his orange fur to rid himself of that accursed wet. Then it was on to food, nom nom nom.

The No Kings II protest went well. We made it an hour late. Finding parking was a Lewis & Clark expedition. Was great being out there yesterday with other protestors, waving our signs, protesting the GOP eagerness to let Trump be king, protesting Trump’s arrogance that he should be king, protesting the general shit show Trump, Project 2025, and the GOP are putting on. Felt good to know others like us are out there, and they’re standing up. Even more satisfying and validating were the cars going by, horns blowing, giving us thumbs up, holding up peace signs, shouting, “Right on.” Only heard one “Fuck you,” and one “Sieg heil.” The latter came from a woman. Both of these disapprovers were in huge pickemups.

My greatest disappointment was that most of the protesters were old folks like us. The young were in short supply. My wife reminded me that they probably have to work and to cut them some slack. Anyway, thinking about the young provoked The Neurons to bring up a Eurythmics song, “All the Young (People of Today)”. Came out in 1981. Odd vibe to it. I thought, wow, that’s a weird one to come up with. I know it from listening to Euythmics CDs. Don’t think any radio station ever sent it to my ears.

Mom’s new habitat enclosure at sis’s house is getting developed fast. Small dorm frig has been added. A microwave. Hope Mom will be happy there, along with warm and safe. There was a whole late-night misadventure on Friday night. Mom thought she heard someone trying to get into her house and knocking on the door, calling her name. She was there alone. Hiding in her bathroom, she texted her daughters and grandchildren to call the police for her. Why she didn’t do that for herself is one aspect of the mystery. As it was after midnight, most were asleep or away from their phones. Mom’s texts went unnoticed until a grandson, Michael, saw it. Then 911 was called, etc. Police showed up, knocking on Mom’s front door. She wouldn’t answer. She was hiding in the bathroom. The police reported deer were on the small stoop outside of Mom’s room, eating off a tree by the house. 911 had to call my sister, who called Mom to tell her what was going on.

Coffee is singing to The Neurons once again. The day has grown brighter. The temperature has climbed to 50 and if you lean forward and squint at just the right angle, there’s a small blue patch struggling to break out of the cloud eggs containing it. Which reminds me. Hope peace and grace break out of their shells soon and bless us with some visiting. Here we go, on into another day, another week, another…well, you know. Cheers

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Who We Are

Does This Describe You?

Nan has a post in which a letter writer reflects about who they are, which is an important component of what’s happening in the United States. It’s an important reminder. We are not terrorists; we are citizens exercising our freedom of speech and our freedom to assemble.

Donald Trump is against freedom of speech. He’s against us exercising our rights. He has explicitly said this.

As more “No Kings” protests are planned in the United States for October 18, 2025, to answer back to our servant, the POTUS known as Donald Trump, he and his people are busy slandering who we are, as noted in Annie’s post.

A Week Before the Biggest Public Protest Ever, the Regime Reveals Their Fear of US

Donald Trump’s House surrogate, Speaker Mike Johnson, said:

“The Antifa crowd and the pro-Hamas crowd and the Marxists, they’re all going to gather on the [Washington] Mall [in a] Hate America rally.”

He’s deliberately and falsely conflating threats and groups in order to stir fear in others. That is not who I am. I am not a Marxist. I am not ‘pro-Hamas’. I am a registered Democrat, a United States citizen, and a United States military veteran who served my country, the United States, for more than twenty years.

I detest the lies and slander Speaker keeps making about who I am.

An Independent article headline states,

Trump says ‘we took the freedom of speech away’ as officials compare Antifa to Hamas in White House roundtable

As United States citizens, we know that the President of the United States is not a king or ruler. We know the freedom of speech is one of the fundamental rights established by the United States Constitution. Donald Trump, no matter what office he holds, does not have the power to take freedom of speech away.

Speaking at the same meeting, Donald Trump said members of the group “have been very threatening to people, but we’re going to be very threatening to them, far more threatening to them than they ever were with us.”

“We’re going to be very threatening to them, far more threatening to them than they ever were with us.”

Trumps displays his ignorance about our rights and his role as in our republic. He makes it clear that he has no interest in any peaceful resolutions. He’s going to use strongarm tactics and escalate the violence against anyone who opposes him.

That is why he must be opposed. This is why it’s important that we protest. And the best way to protest is to stand up together and raise our voices as part and exercise our rights and freedoms as United States citizens. Find a protest on October 18, 2025 and join us.

Let them know who we are.



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Satyrdaz Wandering Political Thoughts

Labor Day is arriving in the U.S. soon. It’s a good day to stand up and resist against the Trump Regime.

Scientists’ role in defending democracy

May Day Strong

Medford Oregon #WorkersOverBillionaires Labor Day

About this event

Labor and community are planning more than a barbecue on Labor Day this year because we have to stop the billionaire takeover. They are converting the government into their private slush fund and just passed the largest wealth giveaway in the history of the US. The money they take from working families, they put in billionaires’ pockets and set aside to fund a private army of ICE agents.

Resource Links

I find many of the resources here useful. Resist!

What companies are particularly Trump friendly? The New Republic has an article about the Trump regime rating companies. In a classic pay-to-play move that corrupt governments like to employ, Trump rates companies as strong when they’re willing to support Trump and do his bidding. Some of those companies: Uber, DoorDash, United, Delta, AT&T, Cisco, Airlines for America, and the Steel Manufacturers Association, according to Axios.

Read the whole thing at Trump Has a Bonkers New Way to Make Companies Bend to His Will

And then resist using those companies so eager to undermine democracy in the United States.

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A Poem For The Regime

Paul Vinent Cannon wrote a short poem, “Choices”. I find it perfect for these times and the TACO Regime. I attempted to reblog it but WordPress’s magic fizzled. So I have a link but also lifted the poem and posted it here.

An American Cinquain (2-4-6-8-2)

Choices

Silence
sometimes bidden
sometimes so moralised
well sometimes I just cannot be
silent.
Copyright 2025 ©️Paul Vincent Cannon
All Rights Reserved ®️

Hope you’ll visit his blog and enjoy more of his poems and observations. Cheers

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Thirstda’s Wandering Political Thoughts

Indivisible or someone was politically active in our region this AM. Protesters with banners against standing against ICE, protecting democracy, and defending the Constitution were on overpasses along I5 as we traveled from Ashland to Medford and back.

My wife is disinclined to protest and demonstrate this year. “Those are asking for permission,” she said. “We need active restistance, standing up and refusing to back down.” This is something she’s recently adopted from historian Tad Stoermer.

@tadstoermer

The toughest lesson in resistance history is the one people least want to hear: Institutions won’t save us, opposition isn’t enough, and authoritarianism doesn’t have a stopping point. Be an optimist with friends, but a pessimist in the mirror. There’s no normal to go back to—only what we do now. #ResistanceHistory #HonestHistory #HistoryTime #TikTokLearningCampaign #resistance

♬ original sound – Tad Stoermer – Tad Stoermer

As Mr. Stoermer says, “There’s no normal to return to. There’s only what do we do next.”

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Sunda’s Theme Music

Sunda June 15, 2025 has taken off. It remains chill in Ashlandia, mostly sunny but clouds are clotting. 74 F now, the high will see us ten degrees warmer.

First, a shout out to the anti-King contingency and their nation-wide and world-wide showings. Millions showed for the cause. Meanwhile, PINO TACO and his minions endured a dour, sluggish, pitiful parade. The Army and its members deserve better; little TACO does not. MAGA and its orange chief should understand now that TACO’s attitude and lackadaisical treatment of people and rights is not appreciated. They won’t, of course. TACO lives in a bubble, as do the MAGAts. Trumpettes reinforce the positive and shield him from the negative. His delusional thinking does the rest. TACO and his support nachos will blame the fake news media, AI, etc — anything except the truth — to pretend that it was a fabulous parade, probably the GREATEST AND BIGGEST MOST BEAUTIFUL PARADE EVER!

Anyway…

It’s Father’s Day, a holiday begun when fathers said, “I’m tired of working. I’m taking the day off.” People responded, “How ’bout a tie? You’ll look good with a tie and that’ll make you feel better.” And so a tradition was born.

Called Dad today. He remains hospitalized. Surgery is planned for tomorrow. Although 92, he’s never been through surgery and he’s scared and nervous. I’ve been through a few surgeries and helped reassure him. As we spoke, he began remembering all the injuries I’ve experienced and joked about them.

Later, reflecting on our relationship, I went through how much Dad and I are alike. He’s much different from his father. I had a great relationship with that man, because my grandfather and I both liked building models. Grandpa has been gone fifty years. I still miss him.

Dad conveyed bad news. His younger brother was hospitalized Saturday night, and the brother’s son-in-law died suddenly of a heart attack while on a walk. Meanwhile, Dad’s sister, my aunt, celebrates her 91 birthday today.

Papi surprised me today by showing great delight in playing with a bright pink shoestring. I’d make the string wiggle and Papi would attack, nail it with a paw and then spin and race off. Returning a few seconds later, he’d get down into position for another go. This went on for ten minutes before he dashed away and out of the house.

Thinking about the flopped DC parade, The Neurons pushed forward a past song called “The Soft Parade”. “The Soft Parade” is by the Doors. I enjoyed listening to it but my friends found it strange. Well, yeah, that could be the Doors. My wife also disliked the song, telling me that she didn’t understand why I liked it. It’s another case of the old maxim, different strokes for different folks.

On to coffee, on to other things. On to Sunda. Cheers

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Just A Little Pause to Wonder

The New York Times featured interviews with Trump supporters to see what they said about current events such as ICE tactics, the protests in Los Angeles and deploying the National Guard there. This fellow had me wondering and laughing.

Brian D. Kozlowski, a lawyer who supports Mr. Trump, said on Thursday that the president responded appropriately to the protests in Los Angeles.

“It was necessary, given the riots,” he said.

“If you’re the governor of a state and you’re not cooperating with the law and federal agents, who are then getting attacked by citizens of the state,” he said, “then at that point, the federal government has every right to step in.”

“I don’t know what world you live in where you think you can attack a law enforcement officer,” he added.

The demonstrations in Los Angeles were generally peaceful, but there were pockets of violence, including protesters who kicked and threw objects at law enforcement vehicles, and officers have used tear gas.

Mr. Kozlowski said it appeared to him that Gov. Gavin Newsom of California was playing politics with the protests, allowing them to continue without requesting help from the National Guard so that he could cast himself as a foil to Mr. Trump.

“It certainly seems like there’s a lot of politically motivated decision-making taking place — or lack of decision-making,” he said.

Mr. Kozlowski said Americans should not be surprised that the Trump administration was following through on aggressive immigration enforcement, since Mr. Trump promised during the election campaign to do so.

“How did you not see this coming?” he asked.

So, Brian Kozlowski saw it coming. As the riots seemed to be important to Brian, I wonder how he felt about those Trump-inspired riots on January 6?

You know, the ones where Trump didn’t call out the National Guard when the police were being attacked.

I think you’ve shown your true colors, Brian.

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Frida’s Wandering Political Thoughts

We have violence escalating in the Middle East and the United States as the Ukraine-Russia War burns on. This is the forefront. In the momentary background are tariffs and trade wars, climate change and natural disasters like wildfires. Always thinking ahead *cough cough, yes, that’s very thick snark*, a Florida right wing sheriff is threatening to kill protestors, Gov. DeSantis in Florida beams and tells drivers that it’s okay to hit protestors with their cars (anyone remember Charlottesville, VA?), Gov. Abott in Texas is calling out the National Guard, and so is Gov. Kehoe in Missouri. That First Amendment and its right to assemble really terrifies the right wing. Which, I guess we can infer means that We the People terrify them.

The current situation isn’t triggering joy and optimism in me. I could play whatif games about Trump, Putin, and Netanyahu being more restrained and diplomatic. These games are as pointless as wishes Kamela Harris won the election in 2024. Or Hillary won in 2016. Or Gore in 2000. Or that spineless Republicans like Mitch McConnell stood up, did his job, and impeached Trump in the latter’s first term. Or the Roberts Supreme Court didn’t behave like an overindulgent absent father and ruled to appease the right wing. We’re beyond those things mattering, except the ripples are still going.

That’s the thing. I, we, gotta ride the ripples. Do what I can, what we can, to mitigate their impact. Survive and help others do the same. And seize the opportunity to help change the world — again — when the chance comes.

Stand up this weekend. Stay calm. De-escalate violence but stand for your principles. Be reasonable in the face of absurdity. It can be painful. It will take courage and strength. It can be done.

No kings. No fascism. Not in the United States of America. Not now. Not ever.

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