Julia Benson-Slaughter

Miami International Airport. 30 minutes to clear TSA on the day Republicans blocked a bill to pay agents, guaranteeing they will miss paychecks.

I asked the TSA agent how many of his people called out. "Not enough," he said. "Nothing changes until people feel pain."

Wait, what??? Catoosa County is in the 14th District. MTG's (former) district. That... makes zero sense

This blog post was bait. I took it. I follow you now, even though I'm 800-ish miles away.

An inspirational message from this morning's silent meditation:

Alt-text: Pink–lavender graphic with sparkly glitter effects. At the top, black text reads: “THE JESTER IN ME RECOGNIZES THE JESTER IN YOU.” Centered behind the foreground figure is a decorative, symmetrical line drawing in purple resembling an ornate heart or crest filled with dangling heart shapes and starbursts, like mystical filigree. In front of it stands a stylized jester in black-and-white harlequin costume: ruffled collar, diamond-pattern shorts, curled shoes, and a floppy two-horn jester hat with bells. The jester strikes a playful pose, one hand on the hip and the other gesturing outward as if greeting a fellow trickster. The overall vibe is whimsical, glittery, and mischievous—campy court-jester energy with a hint of magical recognition between chaos gremlins. Generated with Bluesky AltText, a CustomGPT.

I know, right? And Chip Roy lost his primary as well. Oh, darn </s>

ICE has spun a massive surveillance web. We talked to people caught in it The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE and Border Patrol, is using a broad web of surveillance tools — purchased as its budget has ballooned under this administration — to monitor, ap...

Yes, we are already living in a surveillance state.

I can't see Massie becoming a Democrat -- most of his positions are completely antithetical to theirs. Becoming an independent, though, and refusing to caucus with the Republicans, now, there's a thought.

Doing final cleanup on paperback master copy of Shìzú before sending off for proof copies. I am so proud of myself for working a riff on the "AK-47 -- the very best there is" line from "Jackie Brown" into the book ::snrk::. Apparently, I am also easily amused!

A gentle reminder that DEI was never about hiring and promoting underqualified Black people. It was about preventing underqualified white people from sliding through.

DEI is antidiscrimination law. If you oppose DEI, you want racial discrimination to go unpunished except as applied to white men.

Go with the buttons.

Undaunted in Denouncing Religious Hypocrites A tribute to those who fearlessly call out white Christian nationalists

Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock and the late Congressman John Lewis. Warnock is one of the best in speaking out for the teachings of Jesus Christ and against Christian Nationalism.

"I am somebody"—Jesse Jackson on Sesame Street YouTube video by Daily Kos Media Desk

Rest in Power, Reverend Jackson.

They Want The Machines The specific laws and executive orders invoked by the FBI and Tulsi Gabbard to raid Fulton County's election documents are part of a bigger plan. We need to get ready now.

open.substack.com/pub/theatlan...

Connecting the dots.

Loudermilk won’t seek reelection, opening fourth U.S. House seat in Georgia U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk joins three other Republicans who are leaving or have already left their House seats.

::screams in absolute glee!::
I have HATED having him as my Congressperson!

Tennessee to test Stephen Miller’s plan of enlisting states for immigration enforcement Bills mandate ICE cooperation, school status checks and criminalize information release, testing constitutional lines

The trucking thing might be the most interesting, and I'm working on more reporting about it. A state strategy could cut the country in half for undocumented drivers going cross country.

I suspect I am going to have to compile a list next week of all the times ICE agents went into churches without a warrant over the last 12 months, with Pam Bondi's quote about people being free to worship safely at the top of the story.

Reasonable people are not the audience for their bullshit.

Standing ovation for Bad Bunny at Grammys: “I want to say ICE out. We're not savage, we're not animals, we're not aliens, we are humans, and we are Americans."

A resignation and call to conscience at company owned by Maga billionaires Uline employee says she can no longer work for people who helped ‘America descend into fascism’

Good for her. I've never bought anything from ULine and I never will. I sometimes get their catalogs and they go straight into the recycle bin!

Anyone filming their actions, stay safe. You could get shot if you try to leave the scene and they are blocking you and trying to force you out of your vehicle.

If you are brown, you probably need to beware whether or not you are here legally, because it’s quite clear they don’t care. They have a quota to make.

Now ICE is swarming Atlanta with apparently 75 black Chevy Tahoes. They have been seen in Newnan, Cherokee County, College Park, North Fulton (Mansell Rd), and Smyrna near Pat Mell so far.

even though the election was reviewed and certified several times by Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger.

The FBI has also taken over the elections building in Fulton County and are searching for the 2020 ballots (again!). Looks they want to work a little Epstein Files type review on the counts so they can post their revisionist version--

Copied and pasted from a friend:

Now that Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger has refused to provide the voter rolls to Trump‘s administration, they have decided that they will roll ICE into Atlanta, apparently as punishment.

Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio) YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen

We must also remember the names of the others who died in ICE custody so far in 2026 -- Luis Gustavo Núñez Cáceres, Geraldo Lunas Campos, Víctor Manuel Díaz, Parady La, Luis Beltrán Yáñez–Cruz, and Heber Sánchez Domínguez.

Why, for Too Many, Alex Pretti’s Murder Counted More We must find sympathy for those unlike ourselves

This shouldn't be the case, but, clearly, it is.

Trump’s FBI has raided election office in Fulton County Georgia. You’re not gonna “find the votes.” Release the files and stop with the distractions!

A federal search warrant is being executed at the same address as the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections, *right now.* If you know what's going on with that, or are an elected official, ping me.

Yesterday, I asked Steven Bansbach, spokesman for DHS, if reports that CBP were pulling out of Minneapolis were accurate. Rather than answer that question, at 11:05 a.m. today he sent me a note reposting Tricia McLaughlin's X post: "Chief Gregory Bovino has NOT been relieved of his duties."

A lie.