Politics / Society

The Alien Enemies Act Explained

There has been talk lately about the Alien Enemies Act. Specifically by Trump and in regard to immigrants.

The Brennan Center has a high rating for factual reporting and they break down the history and use of this Alien Enemies Act in the article linked below this excerpt from the Brennan Center’s “The Briefing” email.

In 1798, Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts. These laws criminalized dissent, abused civil liberties, and violated the Constitution. They are among the most notorious laws in history. One is still on the books, the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

The law has only been used three times: During the War of 1812. During World War I. And most notoriously, to imprison tens of thousands of innocent noncitizens of Japanese, German, and Italian descent in internment camps during World War II.

Thomas Jefferson decried the Alien and Sedition Acts as part of a “reign of witches.” Recently, Donald Trump called the last of these laws something else. Let’s call it Project 1798.

This past weekend, Trump pledged to launch “Operation Aurora,” a plan to deploy the military on U.S. soil to seize, detain, and deport immigrants he deems dangerous. “Can you imagine? Those were the old days when they had tough politicians, have to go back that long,” he told a rally on Saturday. “Think of that, 1798. Oh, it’s a powerful act. You couldn’t pass something like that today.”

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/alien-enemies-act-explained

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2024-10-15
Education / General

Ladies in Their Eighties

Some uplifting news: In their 80s, these South Korean women learned reading and rap!

“Wearing an oversized bucket hat, silver chains and a black Miu Miu shirt, 82-year-old Park Jeom-sun gesticulates, her voice rising and falling with staccato lines about growing chili peppers, cucumbers and eggplants.

“Park, nicknamed Suni, was flanked by seven longtime friends who repeated her moves and her lines. Together, they’re Suni and the Seven Princesses, South Korea’s latest octogenarian sensation. With an average age of 85, they’re probably the oldest rap group in the country.

“Born at a time when women were often marginalized in education, Park and her friends were among a group of older adults learning how to read and write the Korean alphabet, hangeul, at a community center in their farming village in South Korea’s rural southeast. They were having so much fun that they started dabbling with poetry. They began writing and performing rap in summer last year.”

Source: https://apnews.com/article/south-korea-rappers-older-literacy-women-education-db7a109b38827e08804e6da20fb9414f

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2024-10-13
Justice / Medical / Politics / Religion / Science / Society

210 Women Faced Criminal Charges Related to Their Pregnancies or Pregnancy Loss During First Year After Dobbs

It’s not theoretical anymore. It’s real.

In the first year after Roe v Wade was overturned (June 2022-June 2023), over 200 women have faced criminal charges for conduct associated with their pregnancy, pregnancy loss, or birth. The majority of these charges are in just six states: Alabama, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas. All run by Republicans and operating under abortion bans.

Trump said in an interview that “there has to be some sort of punishment” for the woman. And it’s already happening.

Researchers have found that pregnancies and pregnancy loss are more highly scrutinized in these states. And it’s more about the ramifications of giving full legal personhood rights to a fetus than it is about actual abortions. Read below:

“Almost none of the prosecutions documented by researchers were brought under state abortion laws. Instead, researchers found that law enforcement most often charged pregnant women with crimes such as child neglect or endangerment, interpreting the definition of “child” to include a fetus. In doing so, authorities relied on a legal concept called fetal personhood — the idea that a fetus, embryo or fertilized egg has the same legal rights as a person who has been born.

“If we focus only on abortion laws, we miss a crucial part of the picture in the fact that pregnant individuals are being criminalized for allegedly endangering their own pregnancies, for pregnancy loss and, in some cases, for conduct related to abortion. What’s driving pregnancy criminalization is the expansion of fetal personhood.’

“Charges of child abuse or endangerment carry stiffer penalties — higher fines and lengthier prison sentences — than the low-level drug charges the women likely would have faced had they not been pregnant.

“‘Pregnancy-related prosecutions don’t generally charge crimes that, on the face of the criminal statute, have anything whatsoever to do with pregnancy,’ said Wendy Bach, a professor at the University of Tennessee College of Law and the report’s principal investigator. ‘Instead, using the idea of fetal personhood, or more specifically the idea that the fetus can be the victim of a crime perpetrated by the pregnant person, they use that theory to charge general crimes.'”

Source: https://stateline.org/2024/10/01/200-women-faced-criminal-charges-over-pregnancy-in-year-after-dobbs-report-finds/

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2024-10-05
Politics / Religion / Society

Oklahoma Now Requires Bibles in Public School Classrooms, and They Have to Be Trump’s

Oklahoma is requiring Bibles in every public school classroom. But the requirements are so narrow and specific that only Trump’s Bibles qualify!

“Oklahoma Education Superintendent Ryan Walters’s (R) office is defending the process for how the state will be selecting newly mandated Bibles in classrooms after a report was released that the criteria is so narrow that essentially no Bibles qualify — besides ones endorsed by former President Trump.

“The Oklahoman reported on Friday that vanishingly view editions match the specific parameters the superintendent calls for in his request for proposal (RFP): a Bible that is bound by leather or material like leather, has the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and is the New King James version of the Old and New Testament.

“‘The RFP on its face seems fair, but with additional scrutiny, we can see there are very few Bibles on the market that would meet these criteria, and all of them have been endorsed by former President Donald Trump,’ Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice Executive Director Colleen McCarty told the news outlet.

“A spokesperson for Walters office told The Hill that “it would be inappropriate to comment while bids are being placed” for who will supply the bibles for Oklahoma classrooms.”

He “found a salesperson at Mardel Christian & Education who said none of the 2,900 Bibles they sell fit the criteria Oklahoma has proposed.

“The two Bibles that Trump has endorsed, We The People Bible and God Bless the U.S.A. Bible, both meet the criteria and are sold for $90 and $60, respectively.

“Walters has asked for $3 million to buy 55,000 copies of the Bible for Oklahoma classrooms.”

Source: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/oklahoma-defends-bibles-in-schools-proposal-after-report-that-only-trump-s-might-qualify/ar-AA1rIbKq

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2024-10-04