Come and Get Me

I saw on Robert Reich’s substack this morning (Saturday):

On September 25, Donald Trump signed a presidential order called NSPM-7, a sweeping attack on free speech that targets progressive organizations and individuals for prosecution for “domestic terrorism.”

And now, the first arrests linked to NSPM-7 have begun, including multiple people attending a peaceful protest outside an ICE detention facility near Chicago.

…

What are these ideas that are so dangerous that they can be directly linked to terrorism?  The list includes such vague concepts as “anti-capitalism,” “anti-Christianity,” “extremism on migration, race, and gender,” and opposition to “traditional American views on family, religion, and morality.”

That could mean practically anything.  And that’s the point.

…

I raise my hand.  I’m sure you know where to find me.

Meals on Wheels

Mike the Mad Biologist has a post up this morning entitled “Republicans, As They Always Do, Want to Cut Meals on Wheels”.

I drove for Meals on Wheels1 very briefly back in ’92 or ’93.  It was their shortest route—maybe ten or twelve stops give or take.  I was filling in for somebody who was taking a vacation; and it was just one day a week for four weeks2.

From my miniscule experience, I can tell you that Meals on Wheels drivers work hard at it; and they might be the only people that the folks they serve see on any given day3.

Cutting funding for Meals on Wheels is about as disgusting as it gets.

1I heard about it through the First Unitarian Church in St. Louis which I was a member of at the time.

2I had arranged with my boss to take a long lunch break on the four days.

3That would be OK with me, but I’m a fairly extreme introvert.  I can’t even imagine how important that small bit of human interaction is for some of the old folks on the route.

Back to the World

One disadvantage of taking long train trips is that I tend to get disconnected from the news outside the FtB bubble; and I’m still about a week behind in my Pharyngula reading.

I knew from a rail-related e-mail list about the NS derailment and fire in Ohio and the fact that pets, livestock and wildlife seem to be dying from the toxic chemicals; but I turned on the TV this morning and found out about yet another school shooting and known Trumpista, Nikki Haley, running for president.  I haven’t been able to process it all yet.