Notices by Mary Nelson (marynelson8@mstdn.social)

Let's be clear about one thing:

Killing people exercising their Constitutional rights to peacefully protest and to observe, and even film, ICE activities is not "law enforcement".

It is state-sponsored terrorism. It's ignoring the foundational documents of our government ensuring individual rights.

And trying to blame victims shows how averse to accountability this administration has become.

#USpol #USpolitics #Trump #TrumpAdministration #ICE

It's so hard to believe that ICE and DHS are actually doing "immigration enforcement" when U.S. citizens are dragged nearly naked into the cold after a shower and five-year-old kids in animal hats are accosted after school. It hardly seems like "detention" when a man's death in custody is deemed a homicide by a coroner.

There are better ways to handle protests than shooting women in the head, too.

All this government brutality looks a lot like domestic terrorism.

#USpol #USpolitics #ICE

"FACT FOCUS: Trump says he’s ended eight wars. His numbers are off"

https://apnews.com/article/trump-wars-fact-focus-a75eca5184bd45acbf9f46ff9822514f

#USpol #USpolitics #Trump

The idea that the President doesn't *need* advise and consent for Trump's "military action" in Venezuela is absurd.

The United States has a government of, by, and for its people. When the people do not give consent, then the President acts on his own, *outside* our government yet using our resources.

That was the point of the War Powers Act of 1973.

#USpol #USpolitics #WarPowers

https://www.britannica.com/topic/War-Powers-Act

Trump claimed they were going after "the worst of the worst" in their immigration raids. But these targeted sweeps against specific cities and states have caught citizens and mostly non-criminal immigrants, terrorizing the nation.

"Most Immigrants Arrested in City Crackdowns Have No Criminal Record"

#GiftLink #USpol #USpolitics #Immigration #ICE

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/12/04/us/ice-arrests-criminal-records-data.html?unlocked_article_code=1.6U8.ikvt.WXqUM96zfYY3&smid=url-share

"Top ICE Official Says Protesters Can Be Arrested for Simply Criticizing Mass Deportation Campaign: Court Filing"

#USpol #USpolitics #FirstAmendment #ICE #DHS

https://www.commondreams.org/news/gregory-bovino-chicago-testimony

"The luxury gap: Trump builds his palace as Americans face going hungry"

"Schmoozing the super-rich to fund a $300m ballroom while cutting food aid for those on low incomes threw the president’s architectural folly into sharp relief"

#USpol #USpolitics #Trump

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/02/trump-cost-ballroom-government-shutdown

"Exclusive: Federal drug prosecutions fall to lowest level in decades as Trump shifts focus to deportations"

#USpol #USpolitics #TrumpAdministration #DrugProsecutions

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/federal-drug-prosecutions-fall-lowest-level-decades-trump-shifts-focus-2025-09-29/

Once again Bouie brings rational argument to the idea often asserted by Trump and his apologists: that the Presidency embodies the -> entire will <- of the people. Excerpt below. Gift link for full essay.

"Trump’s Dream of Infinite Presidential Power" by Jamelle Bouie

#GiftLink #USpol #USpolitics #Trump #Presidency

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/opinion/lisa-cook-trump-presidential-power.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ok8.Snxx.rq5ly8i3GCVx&smid=url-share

"Why 1 in 6 U.S. parents are rejecting vaccine recommendations"

"A wide-ranging Washington Post-KFF poll details who tends to reject vaccine recommendations and their reasoning."

#VaccineHesitancy #Vaccines

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/09/15/childhood-vaccines-parents-post-kff-poll/

"Long-term unemployment at post-pandemic high, straining workers and economy"

"More Americans are experiencing joblessness for six months or more, a sign of labor market’s weakness ahead of the Federal Reserve’s highly anticipated meeting this week."

#GiftLink #Economy #EmploymentStatistics #USpol #USpolitics
https://wapo.st/4pngd2f

Recent mixed-media painting by me, called The Blue Pitcher.

Image appears a little degraded here, so you can also view it on my Pixelfed site, if you like.

https://pixelfed.social/p/marynelson8/872115864133393573

#MastoArt #MixedMedia #Flowers #Bloomscrolling

"From Firings to the Threat of Deportation: Commenters Deemed Offensive After Charlie Kirk’s Death Face Consequences"

"People across the U.S. are facing disciplinary consequences for expressing views deemed offensive after the killing of conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk, who has been described by supporters as a model proponent of free speech."

#USpol #Uspolitics #Censorship

https://time.com/7316628/charlie-kirk-death-celebrations-social-media-consequences-fired-immigrants-deport/

@GottaLaff Exactly. Our governor seems to be quite ready for this contest of wills, and encouraged people to go out and show their opposition to having troops on Illinois streets.

Pilsen (a Chicago neighborhood) held its Mexican Independence Day celebration in spite of Trump's threats. And thousands marched past Trump Tower in downtown, expressing their irritation at Trump's threats of "war".

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/chicago-protesters-defiant-face-trumps-deportation-threats-2025-09-06/

Food for thought, on the upcoming budget fight and Democrats' "strategies".

Ezra Klein: "Stop Acting Like This Is Normal"

#GiftLink #USpol #USpolitics #Democrats

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/07/opinion/trump-senate-democrats-shutdown.html?unlocked_article_code=1.kE8.e6AL.toDOfMKpQSIE&smid=url-share

In case you've never been to the Midwest in the late summer, this is what it looks like to drive down a rural back road--one of those roads that has no name, just coordinates--in Illinois: Walls of corn on either side of a road too narrow for two vehicles (but well-mown shoulders).

If you drive down one, be prepared to slow down at every intersection. The corn's far too tall to see cross traffic, and people die every year in those intersections.

#Summer #Midwest #Illinois #Corn

Just a little rainbow for you, from rural central Illinois after a little rain yesterday.

(And, yes, those are beans growing in the foreground with rain between the rows, and that is a silo under clouds in the distance.)

Photo by me, in the late afternoon (iPhone 16 Pro).

#Photography #Illinois

Another recent mixed-media painting by me.

#MastoArt #Painting #Bloomscrolling

"Senate parliamentarian blocks Medicaid changes in "big, beautiful bill" "

#USpol #USpolitics #Congress #Medicaid

https://www.axios.com/2025/06/26/senate-medicaid-provider-tax-trump-thune

"Americans voted for deportations. They didn’t necessarily vote for this."

#USpol #USpolitics #MassDeportations

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/11/politics/deportations-trump-polling-analysis