AMERICA: ""Their gear represents “the manifestation of decades of war, now in broad daylight in American cities.” One of the most heavily funded militaries in the world is now focused inward." Detroit resident" ... Rashida Tlaib

 Rashida Tlaib

@RashidaTlaib

 

"Their gear represents “the manifestation of decades of war, now in broad daylight in American cities.” One of the most heavily funded militaries in the world is now focused inward." Detroit resident.

 

Many Congress members still don't understand this and are trying to "reform."

 

https://x.com/RashidaTlaib/status/2016932933253107815 

 

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"ICE, which typically receives about $10 billion a year, was provided $30 billion for operations and $45 billion for detention facilities." 

 

PBS: Trump's ICE force is sweeping America. Billions in his tax and spending cuts bill are paying for it

Nation Jan 20, 2026 2:04 PM EST  

 

A ballooning Immigration and Customs Enforcement budget. Hiring bonuses of $50,000. Swelling ranks of ICE officers, to 22,000, in an expanding national force bigger than most police departments in America...

 

Armed and masked law enforcement officers are being witnessed smashing car windows, yanking people from vehicles and chasing and wrestling others to the ground and hauling them away — images playing out in endless loops on TVs and other screens... READ MORE     https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/trumps-ice-force-is-sweeping-america-billions-in-his-tax-and-spending-cuts-bill-are-paying-for-it 

 

 

 AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies]    

 

More than 300 anti-ICE protests planned across US this weekend

‘ICE Out of Everywhere’ demonstrations, including vigils and marches, follow Friday’s national strike 

More than 300 demonstrations are expected to take place across all 50 states and Washington DC, today, in what organizers are calling “ICE Out of Everywhere”.

Organizers, led by the national grassroots organization 50501, say today’s protests are a response to a series of recent deaths involving federal immigration agents, including the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this month, the homicide of Geraldo Campos in an immigration detention facility in Texas and the shooting of Keith Porter Jr by an off-duty Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Los Angeles.

Activists said the killings reflect what they see as a broader pattern of excessive force, detention abuses and the militarization of immigration enforcement.

“The national day of action is about fighting back against the escalations that the Trump administration has taken against the American people over the past year,” said Hunter Dunn, a national press coordinator for 50501 and organizer in southern California. “Reports about the killings of Porter and Campos, the ones not captured on camera, and so many others have pierced the veil for many people who until now were unaware of how bad things had gotten.”

Among the demonstrations are vigils for people killed and detained by ICE... READ MORE 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/31/anti-ice-protests-weekend 

Demonstrators at an ‘ICE Out’ protest in Minneapolis.

Photograph: Tim Evans/Reuters

Dear America- Golden Rule Thinking IS GOOD

PEACE, JUSTICE, AND STRONG INSTITUTIONS: The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16, promotes just, peaceful, and inclusive societies.

 Dear America,

The rule of fair and just laws IS GOOD: Corporate greed and corruption ARE BAD. Criminal acts are bad. 

ICE did not have to be, but right now IS BAD.  

Murder IS BAD.

Home invasions and kidnapping ARE BAD.   BOMBS are BAD and war's toxic pollution IS VERY VERY BAD!!

Military spending for this year is supposed to be an astronomically high ONE TRILLION dollars- but the current administration wants it to be raised to 1.5 trillion, and does not want to spend a single penny on health care for we the people.

Fattening up the already massive military-industrial complex, the ravenous corporations, and the corrupt politicians that profit from funding endless war and state sponsored terrorism IS BAD!!

Today's America is leading a global arms race by aggressively undermining international law, sovereign territorial rights, and respect for human dignity at every turn.

Bully tactics and lies ARE BAD.  VIOLENCE is very VERY BAD!!!

Leading by good example IS GOOD.  Compassion and caring for people in need IS GOOD.  Feeding the hungry IS GOOD.

Golden Rule Thinking IS GOOD.

Funding and arming American OR Israeli bigotry, injustice, tyranny, racist hate and state sponsored terrorism IS BAD.  So are data centers, computer programs, and "security" scams deploying AI to track, target, impoverish and destroy innocent people. 

POVERTY IS BAD. Poverty convinces vulnerable people to do horrible things just to survive.

Our economy needs people and peace based jobs for everyone's sake.  No one should be forced to chose between being overworked & underpaid wage slaves to major corporations and billionaire's whims... or risk bankruptcy by medical bills. 

Furthermore, no one any where in the world should have their home, land, job, and security taken away from them because American or Israeli invaders want more land, resources, and/or reasons to wage more AND MORE WAR.  

And shame on American leadership that decides to sanction and punish those who object to racist Israel's escalating violence and cruelty.

Do you really think Israel cares if America survives the Zionist quest to be the new Uber Alis... We are pawns in their deadly game of take take take.

Sincerely,

Anne Selden Annab

NOTES https://anniesnewletters.blogspot.com/search/label/Notes

United Nations experts strongly condemn the large-scale #US military action against #Venezuela & forcible abduction of President Nicolas Maduro & his wife, warning that such actions set a dangerous precedent & risk destabilising the entire region & the world.

ICE’s New-Age Propaganda With its string of “wartime recruitment” ads, often featuring pop songs and familiar meme formats, the agency has weaponized social media against itself. by By Brady Brickner-Wood

Israel pushes ahead with vast illegal settlement in heart of West Bank: Tender posted for construction of 3,401 homes in [ILLEGAL] settlement designed to ‘bury idea of a Palestinian state’... “We said there will be no Palestinian state, and indeed there will be no Palestinian state! This place is ours,” Netanyahu said.

On this day in 1948, the Haganah zionist militia bombed the Semiramis Hotel in Jerusalem at 1 am, killing 26 people & injuring 60. The victims were mostly Palestinian Christians. Entire families were eliminated. The Spanish vice-consul was also among the dead... 77 years later, the pattern remains unchanged: terrorizing indigenous populations to clear land for settlement. From Qatamon in 1948 to Gaza today, zionism operates as what it has always been—a settler-colonial project built on displacement, dispossession, and destruction.

Displaced children from Gaza express the scenes of war they have lived through in an artwork, under the supervision of artist Murad Al-Assar

"This is where things get tricky: I’m not sure what I’m allowed to say about Palestine Action in this column without getting chucked in jail myself. Last July, you see, the British government took the extraordinary, and hugely criticized, step of terming the group a terrorist organization on the same level as the Islamic State militant group. This is despite the fact that Palestine Action has killed nobody; its efforts are focused on trying to shut down weapons manufacturers enabling the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Even the government’s own intelligence assessment, a declassified version of which was obtained by the New York Times, undercut its condemnations of the group, finding that most of their activities “would not be classified as terrorism” under Britain’s legal definition. Still, the British government has been very busy arresting thousands – many of whom are elderly activists – for the “crime” of peacefully holding up a sign saying: “I support Palestine Action.” "

Greta Thunberg came to stay – and my kid may have inadvertently helped her get arrested- Arwa Mahdawi in The Guardian

Military Industrial Complex Infographics

Military spending worldwide hits record $2.7 trillion in 2024 amid intensifying wars and rising geopolitical tensions worldwide... “The world is spending far more on waging war than in building peace,”

“When people’s lives improve, when they have access to education, healthcare, economic opportunities and when they can live lives of dignity and self determination, we will have more peaceful societies and a more peaceful world.”

Nuclear weapons are ‘one-way road to annihilation’ warns Guterres

1940s, Nazareth, Palestine 🇵🇸 Palestinian girl-scouts.

January 2026's supermoon over the Nuseirat area of Gaza Photograph by Anadolu/Getty Images

Families are struggling to survive amid the devastation. Israel’s ban on international NGOs will worsen this disaster: The Guardian view on Gaza’s winter [ISRAEL'S WAR ON PALESTINIANS]... the world must take heed as Palestinian suffering deepens again

"... What other ethnic group would be treated with such indifference or ignorance or bias? Especially a devastated population, with the heaviest casualties among babies and children, by U.S.-made weapons. " Ralph Nader

"The media’s continued indifference to the massive under death count of Palestinians in Gaza at the hands of the genocidal Netanyahu—embraced for the 5th time this year at the White House—by Dictator Trump. The total death count coming from the most intense bombardment and starvation (food, water, medicine and healthcare) of a human population in military history in the tiny enclave is not nearly 70,000. It’s about 600,000—or slightly over a quarter of the civilian population."- Ralph Nader, author of Civic Self-respect

✝️ Hosh Al-Syrian | Bethlehem, Palestine. 🇵🇸 It says in Arabic: “In the month of July, 1883 God is the guardian and the guide, and the house built by the Lord shall not shelter the wicked.”

Israel has banned 37 aid organisations from working in Gaza from January 1, severing access to lifesaving aid for Palestinians, as its genocide continues... & [NOTICE UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) is not on this list- UNRWA was already blocked by Israel earlier last month] UNRWA Commissioner-General on New Anti‑UNRWA Legislation Passed by the Israeli Parliament

[NOTICE  UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) is not on this list- UNRWA was already blocked by Israel earlier last month]

" "Our home is dear to us, the memories are dear to us, the family, the neighbors, and the good people are dear to us," said Motaz Mohor, whose home was set to be destroyed as he watched the bulldozers. "The first time our grandparents were displaced, and this is the second time." His grandparents had moved to Nur Shams after their original displacement from the cities of Jaffa and Haifa during the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation, when some 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes by forces of the nascent state or fled as troops advanced, an event Palestinians call the Nakba, or "catastrophe." "

Palestinians watch as Israeli bulldozers claw down their West Bank homes

"The deregistration of 37 INGOs undermines principled humanitarian action, endangers staff and communities, and compromises effective aid delivery." "Ensuring access to humanitarian aid is a legal obligation, not a discretionary choice.”

‘Data is control’: what we learned from a year investigating the Israeli military’s ties to big tech Our reporting revealed a symbiotic relationship between the IDF and Silicon Valley – with implications for the future of warfare By Noa Yachot

Dear America, Our land and resources are being gobbled up for AI data centers for what purpose? Is it for the greater good of tax paying citizens- or is it to feed the greed of corporations and companies that already use our data to charge us as much as they can at every turn.

Real freedom, justice, and democracy are being embezzled by corporate greed and political corruption to empower Israel and war.

"ISRAEL SAYS" is not God talking.

Israel has a right to exist, but Israel has no right to starve and displace the men, women and children of historic Palestine.

The vast majority of Americans are not wealthy & the taxes that We The People pay are being diverted into funding religious bigotry and terror via Israel's cruel war on the native non-Jewish men, women, and children of historic Palestine. HAMAS cruelty and stupidity echoes Zionist cruelty and stupidity and on and on it goes. Neither approach will build peace or security.

The weapons industry and a global war machine- AND INJUSTICE- burgeon with American tax payer funds.

Violence is a problem- not the answer.

STOP THE SIEGE- stop funding crazy cruel Israeli schemes & the forced displacement, imprisonment, starvation, torture, and killing of human beings in Gaza and Palestine

"Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world..."   https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights

Pope Leo XIV says in a statement that he wishes to "entrust to the Lord the victims of the terrorist massacre carried out yesterday in Sydney against the Jewish community". He adds: "Enough with this antisemitic violence! Let us eliminate hatred from our hearts." The pontiff also asks people to pray together for everyone who suffers as a result of war or violence.

Image source, Reuters

Pope Leo XIV says in a statement that he wishes to "entrust to the Lord the victims of the terrorist massacre carried out yesterday in Sydney against the Jewish community".

He adds: "Enough with this antisemitic violence! Let us eliminate hatred from our hearts."

The pontiff also asks people to pray together for everyone who suffers as a result of war or violence.

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/ckgk391yzm7t?post=asset%3Aeb76d7d9-9787-4d9d-8573-8d240ae48450#post 

AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies]

 

Pope Leo XIV holds an audience in the Paul VI Hall with donors of the St. Peter's Square Christmas tree and Nativity scene 

Pope remembers victims of Sydney attack: ‘Enough with antisemitic violence!’

Speaking with the groups that donated this year’s Vatican Christmas Tree and Nativity Scene, Pope Leo highlights God’s closeness to humanity and calls for prayers for those who suffer on account of war and violence, especially the victims of Sunday’s terror attack on the Jewish community in Sydney, Australia.

By Christopher Wells

Nativity scenes and Christmas trees are “signs of faith and hope”, Pope Leo said on Monday, inviting the faithful as they contemplate them to “ask the Lord to renew within us the gift of peace and fraternity”.

The Holy Father went on to ask for prayers for all those suffering due to war and violence, especially victims of the terrorist attack against the Jewish community in Sydney on Sunday, whom he entrusted to the Lord.

“Enough with these forms of antisemitic violence!” Pope Leo said. “We must eliminate hatred from our hearts.”

A mystery of humility and love

Pope Leo’s remarks came during an encounter with representatives of the communities that donated the Christmas Tree and Nativity Scene for Saint Peter’s Square, and the Nativity Scene set up in the Paul VI Hall, where Monday’s audience took place.

The Nativity Scene in St Peter’s Square – from the Diocese of Nocera Inferiore-Sarno outside of Naples – will remind pilgrims from around the world “that God draws near to humanity, becomes one of us, enters into our history with the smallness of a child,” the Pope said.

He recalled that “in the poverty of the stable in Bethlehem, we contemplate a mystery of humility and love” that invites us to “rediscover ourselves and enter into communion with God.”

A sign of life and hope

Greeting representatives of the “beautiful land” of Bolzano in northern Italy, who donated the 25-meter Norway spruce that stands next to the Creche in St Peter’s Square, Pope Leo recalled that the Christmas tree “is a sign of life and evokes the hope that never fails, even in the cold of winter.”

At the same time, the lights on the tree symbolize Jesus Christ, “the light of the world, Who came to dispel the darkness of sin and illuminate our path.”... READ MORE  https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-12/pope-leo-xiv-sydney-attack-enough-of-antisemitic-violence.html

AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies]

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/world/news/2025-12/bondi-beach-shooting-hanukkah-australia-terrorism.html 

At least eleven killed in Australia shooting during Jewish festival

Officials believe two men were involved in a shooting at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, Australia.

... The Muslim Council of Elders, meanwhile, "strongly condemned" the mass shooting, calling for the strengthening of "international efforts to combat hate speech, extremism, and racism, while also addressing the root causes of such reprehensible violence, by promoting dialogue and mutual respect".