POLITICS

Corruption

| ERA

follow the money

The country that was built by immigrants is now being sold to oligarchs.

IT’S A PAY TO PLAY GOVERNMENT

If you pay dearly, you may have your status as a US resident fast-tracked. 

Trump signed an Executive Order in September 2025 which created a GOLD CARD and PLATINUM CARD visa program.

Any foreign national who makes a $1 million gift to the Commerce Department you will be fast-tracked for residency here. In the case of a corporations $2 million does the trick.

There is a Platinum visa program as well where a $5 million contribution allows you extended stays without US tax liability on foreign income. 

Sweet sweet deal. As of June 2025 more than 70,000 people have joined the list for this program. 

What you get for your money:

  • Unlimited right of residence in the U.S., similar to a green card
  • A possible path to U.S. citizenship, what Trump calls “privileges plus”
  • Legal residency without the need to invest in specific businesses or projects, as is the case with the existing EB-5 program
  • Faster and more direct path to residency compared to other immigration programs
  • Opportunity for oligarchs and other wealthy foreigners to immigrate to the U.S. more easily
  • Potential attractiveness for companies looking to bring highly skilled workers to the U.S.
  • Tax exemption for up to 270 days with the Trump Platinum Card

Wonder what type of vetting is being done. We accept oligarchs but not immigrants or those fleeing violence. The country that was built by immigrants is now being sold to oligarchs.

PLEASE ALLOW ME TO introduce myself

| ERA

Trump has introduced himself to us many times and the lyrics of Sympathy for the Devil present his actions to us. For all the evil in the world, this man has brought us new evil and new shame.

I am a devout left catholic who takes my freedom seriously and I can attach myself to many freedom songs from the 60’s era, but the Rolling Stones lyrics stand apart from other songwriters of that time period.

In the first verse, Trump describes himself — “Please allow me to introduce myself ….

I’m a man of wealth and taste
I’ve been around for a long, long year
Stole many a man’s soul and faith”

That is all you need to know about this man, his purpose is to steal souls and your faith. He has succeeded in turning a party with conservative values into a soulless group of men and women who have sided with the devil and his evil policies.

If you are not afraid, you should be. If you are not paying attention, you should be. If you are not doing anything, you should be. I cannot cure your fear, because I am as afraid as you.

The devil is a powerful defender of all that is wrong with America. Those who believe immigrants do not belong here, those who have abandoned the science that has healed us, those who think that abuse of women is OK as long as you don’t get caught. Fraud and dishonesty are values to be promoted in this administration as many who are serving as department heads have committed crimes of abuse and fraud.

If you are not paying attention, I might be able to help you. I can talk to you in the street, I can write you letters. And if you are not doing anything, and think “oh, I just can’t, its too depressing, I’m too young, I’m too old, I have too many things to do–then I feel sorry for you–because when the shit goes down, your conscience will be bugging you.

Trump is now pushing the buttons to start a revolution. He is causing chaos beyond anything I have seen to many families in Chicago and other cities. In order for him to declare an insurrection, he needs to cause chaos–and that he is. The GOP has turned their backs on you and me. They have decided that power is more important to them, then representation and legislation. They have bought into

I am a man of wealth and taste

Are you OK with masked men with large guns stopping children walking home on suburban streets of Chicago.

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name, …
But what’s puzzlin’ you
Is the nature of my game …

The nature of the game is not puzzling. The game of separation of families, military in the streets of American cities, denying healthcare to millions is the game. The cruelty is the game.

GOP must wake up and know that they have joined ranks with the devil

So if you meet me, have some courtesy
Have some sympathy, and some taste
Use all your well-learned politeness
Or I’ll lay your soul to waste …

I hope they wake up before their souls are laid to waste for right now they are soulless sycophants to the devil in the White House.

Crickets!

| ERA

Nicole Malliotakis refuses to answer questions

I have been making videos for a few months to ask Rep. Malliotakis questions because there are so few issues that I know where she stands. Let me say before I went public with the videos I tried making an appointment to meet with her, wrote to her, called her office, protested in front of her office and now, made many videos.

I mostly call the Representative out on the lies she tells us about legislation on conservative news channels and sometimes on CNN where they call her out as well.

I am unsure whether she ever sees the videos, but at least a lot of her constituents do. Sometimes when I meet people in Staten Island, they say I saw your video and then want to discuss it.

In a way I know that someone in her office listens otherwise they would be remiss in their job. After all if you work for a politician you need to know what her constituents think. They also know that some of them trend and this is a very small island.

Anyway, I just wanted you all to know the questions I want answers to because I am only getting

Crickets!

Maybe some of you know the answers or have other questions, and if you do, please comment to this post. These questions are the most important questions facing this country right now and if I have a representative who cannot tell me where she stands on these items, there is a problem.

Here they are:

  • How do you feel about Trump pardoning the convicted January 6th terrorists?
  • How do you feel that some of those convicted felons now work in the Department of Justice?
  • How do you feel that the man running our Department of Health and Human Services is an extreme conspiracy theorist who has cancelled so much important research and fired the entire vaccine commission?
  • How do you feel about a third-rate Fox News Saturday host running the Department of Defense [now called the Dept. of War]?
  • How do you feel about Trump demanding the Department of Justice to go after his political enemies?
  • How do you feel about the military or the National Guard coming to New York to police us?
  • How do you feel about Trump eliminating many exhibits from the Smithsonian because he doesn’t want to acknowledge our history?
  • How do you feel about those who invaded a private lunch with Mr. Mamdani who is running for mayor?
  • How do you feel about Trump calling Gov. Abbott in Texas to say “please redistrict” I might need three seats?
  • How do you feel about this administration eliminating the Department of Education and of course the banning of books?
  • Do you believe children should be separated from their parents?
  • Do you believe that Trump should eliminate the history of his impeachment from the Smithsonian?
  • Do you believe that Trump should take money from foreign governments for personal use?
  • How do you feel about Trump intimidating law firms, universities, corporations and others to bend to his wishes on DEI initiatives and other items?
  • How do you feel about Laura Loomer having a say about who works in the White House?
  • How do you feel about renaming of universities and forts with names of Confederate generals who were treasonous and killed many?
  • How do you feel about Trump sending a Justice Department lawyer [once his lawyer] to interview convicted child abuser, Ghislaine Maxwell, who abused so many teens witih Jeffrey Epstein. She refused to speak at her trial so why should she have a voice now.
  • How do you feel about Kristi Noem’s statement of dismantling FEMA and putting the onus on the states to fix emergencies?
  • How do you feel about defunding NPR and PBS?
  • How do you feel about Trump wanting to designate left organizations and transfolks as terrorists?

This is not all of them and maybe I will start a “Crickets” column.

The reason Nicole cannot escape these questions is because Trump says the quiet part out loud now so we all know where he stands. There is nothing obscure about his statements. We just don’t know where Nicole stands.

Like, I said Crickets.

charlie kirk

| ERA

WORDS AND ACTIONS MAKE SAINTS OR SINNERS

Ever since Charlie Kirk was shot I have been in that state of “what do I really think about this?” As usual putting it down on paper helps me sort through the phases of

  • Killing someone should never be an option
  • I didn’t agree with him on most things
  • Freedom of Speech is the right of every American even hurtful and offensive speech.
  • Inflammatory speech such as threats of physical violence, harassment, defamation and certainly speech that incites imminent violence are not protected; but as we all know this is a cloudy concept and has been debated throughout our history.

Charlie Kirk believed in the right of free speech for his ilk, but he denied others that right. He spent his time at universities in open dialogue but his actions targeting professors with a “Professor Watchlist” belied his own belief. When a woman came to the microphone, he would often cut them off with scripture or patronize them. He was a Christian nationalist and believed that liberty was only possible with a Christian population. He also thought women should not look for careers but should look to have children.

Charlie Kirk aligned himself with Nick Fuentes who is characterized as a white supremacist who holds misogynistic, homophobic, antisemitic and other hate ideologies near and dear. You can tell a lot about a person by who they align themselves with.

He denied systemic racism but consistently made racist comments. His views on the Civil Rights Act, Martin Luther King and DEI policies are abhorrent to me. Kirk’s agenda was attached to whiteness in all cases.

Charlie Kirk was a master manipulator of words. If someone quoted the passages of the Bible that urge compassion and aid for the poor, homeless, and immigrants, he would insist that he loved America so much that he didn’t want anyone who hated it to come here. I am sure Kirk was aware that the vast majority of immigrants who wish to enter the country, come here for a better life.

Charlie would cherry pick and recite passages of the Bible to agree with his opinion of the LGBTQ community but scoffed or passed over passages that preach love of others. While he quoted passages about “stoning” he failed or refused to be wise enough to know that if you are an influencer you influence people. Some people take things literally. Charlie Kirk was absolutely wise enough and understood exactly that his speech spoken in the most flowery manner targeted the most vulnerable of our society. He preached consistenly against the gay community and put many transgender people in physical danger by his rhetoric. As a wordsmith he was always able to parse his words to eliminate any directives.

Charlie Kirk believed that people will be assassinated and no matter how many, we should never abandon the Second Amendment.

This man was not a saint and I will not judge whether he was a sinner. He preached hate and division in various ways and his organization Turning Point USA consistently told their followers that they were under attack. Charlie Kirk was a man who had a large following and could have made the world a better place if he showed compassion for others and valued the truth. He did not.

BTW I am free to say anything I want about Charlie Kirk and I will continue to do so. After all I live in a free country [though not sure Kimmel will agree with me today].

Authoritarianism creeps up on you

| ERA

Trump sends National Guard to clean up crime in Washington DC

There is crime in Washington DC, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Baltimore, etc etc. Those are all Democratically-governed cities. But there is crime in every other major city in America.

Crime in all those cities are at record lows. We have mentally ill people living in the streets of every major city. Homeless people are not criminals, they are homeless. I don’t believe those words are defined the same.

A Republican strategist on CNN just mentioned that he sees men and women peeing near the Union Station in DC–and he is afraid. [shaking head emoji here]. Because one of Musk’s DOGE kids was mugged [sorry about that] and took great photos of how beat up he was, Trump has decided that he is going to send the National Guard to take over DC and clean up all the crime.

Scenario: man pees in the street. National Guards does what exactly? If the man has no where to pee, the problem will continue to exist. Trump has no idea what is needed to fix what is wrong with the cities.

If people are hungry,

if mental illness is not addressed,

if people have no where to pee,

the problem continues.

Trump needs distractions to avert people’s attention from the Epstein files. Every day the distraction moves us closer to authoritarianism. Today Trump declares “Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged out maniacs and homeless people,”  The police will have authority to do “whatever the hell they want,” says Trump in a press conference. The National Guard will be taking over the policing of the District of Columbia.

The irony of this: the people who committed crimes on January 6th were pardoned by the man who wants to clean up crime in DC. Seems like peeing is a crime but attacking the capitol is not.

AI defines authoritarianism as a political system where power is concentrated in a leader or a small group, and individual freedoms are limited in favor of state control. It’s characterized by a lack of checks and balances on those in power, with little to no accountability to the people. 

#thisiswhereweare #theauthoritariancreep #beloud

Is there no end to the cruelty?

| ERA

NOPE, I DON’T THINK SO

As your GOP reps flaunt the Big Beautiful [BS] Bill, they would like to pass before the 4th of July, they tout that it will increase the budget of ICE by $8million. That is the money they will use to put masked armed men in the streets to disappear people. Yes, that is exactly what they have been doing. The undocumented father of 3 marines in Los Angeles was detained and beaten. There have been mothers dragged from the safety of their homes.

Here are the stats on this as of June 15:  

  • 56,397 immigrants in detention.
  • 72% have no criminal record
  • Many of the 30%’s crime were minor offenses such as traffic violations
  • 80% of the immigrant population are no threat to the population
  • 7% of the detained population are violent criminals

And now Alligator Alcatraz.

Yesterday the Trump administration sank to new depths of cruelty to humans. Trump went to Florida with his sycophant Kristi Noem to look over a tent prison in Florida’s alligator alley that will house undocumented people.

These poor people were landscapers, farmers, bodega owners, waiters, doctors, students, health care workers, professors, and I can go on and on. Some of their crimes were to speak out. Another was to go to the courts to check in on their status [which you are required to do by law]. At that point they are snatched up and their families might never see them again.

Firstly let’s talk about the corruption involved. The two contractors who worked to build what they are referring to as “Alligator Alcatraz” are significant donors to DeSantis and Trump. They have donated over $1 million to both men’s campaigns under various PACs. This is the beginning of privatizing prisons to make Trump’s friends rich.

DeSantis and the Florida state party Republicans tout the deadly alligators and pythons that will pose danger to those detained. The state GOP has a merch shop selling disturbing swamp-themed merchandise. Amazon is selling it as well.

Trump said about the prison ” . . .very soon, this facility will house some of the most menacing migrants, some of the most vicious people on the planet.” He is talking about our neighbors, people who have lived in our neighborhoods for many years, whose children attended school with our children, who go to parent teacher meetings to assure their children are doing well. They are not menacing and they are not vicious.

The one-year cost of running the facility is $450 million, which will come from FEMA’s shelter and services program. So when a horrible storm hits Florida, I’m unsure whether FEMA will have any funds to house those who need temporary housing.

You might be watching a cable show who have hosts who are laughing about detainees trying to escape and being torn to pieces by alligators. The GOP certainly have Senators and Representatives joking about it. This is what has become of America. Cruelty to those less fortunate, cruelty to those who are black and brown, cruelty to those who have stolen food to feed their children; cruelty to those who are here to make a better life for their families–the same reason our families came here.

The cruelty continues as Trump and his authoritarian government takes shape. The GOP are all in on this–there is no doubt about that. When my rep Nicole Malliotakis posts, it is always about the criminal immigrants and how increased funding of ICE will imprison all of them. She is complicit in the cruelty as are the rest of the GOP.

CABINET OF CLOWNS Part I

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WE HAVE BEEN CLOWN-I-FIED

If I look at each of the appointments for Trump’s cabinet I start to fully realize this country is being run by clowns. Each of the appointees [confirmed by Senate GOP] adds a certain amount of clownishness to our government. I write this to detail the chaos of our situation and to familiarize others with the clown car.

Clowns can be defined as many things: funny and scary are the first two that come to mind. There is nothing funny about his article but there is plenty to be frightened about.

THE CLOWN CAR OF APPOINTMENTS

As we started to see and hear the results of the confirmation hearings for Trump’s cabinet positions, I thought I would start to understand what those people have to do with the program that Trump has in mind for our country. I could not.

Fox News host Pete Hegseth was nominated for the Secretary of Defense. Some believe that defense of our country is the most important issue, then I wonder why Trump would select someone with no experience in that position.  He was a TV commentator and now he will run the largest employer in the world. It manages just under 3 million people. In addition to lack of experience which probably is the most disqualifying aspect, he has mis-managed two small veteran groups, allowing one to go bankrupt. He was also accused by many at FOX that he was a drunk. Pete also paid $50,000 to silence a woman he raped. That does not surprise me since the majority of people in Trump’s circle have abused and raped women. But now during this very dangerous time, we have Pete Hegseth in charge. He is a terrifying clown for sure.

Tulsi Gabbard was selected as Director of National Intelligence. Former Representative Gabbard has met and associated with Syrian’s Bashar al-Assad, considered one of the most violent men in the world and Putin who easily manipulates Trump daily. She has no business handling our National Intelligence. We must have someone who cannot be manipulated–as she was with both al-Assad and Putin. Ukraine’s defense will not be forthcoming in a Gabbard world since she has consistently been a Putin advocate. Clowns are intelligent folks, this though was a clown-y appointment without the laughs or the smarts.

Robert Kennedy Jr., was nominated for Secretary for Health and Human Services. He is a conspiracist and an anti-vaccine activist. The HHS secretary overseas 11 agencies all concerned with the health and welfare of Americans. If RFK Jr were HHS secretary when the polio vaccine or measles/mumps vaccines were instituted, we would not have them. All our children would still be at risk for these diseases, but the vaccines have eliminated most of the infections in the world. After a widespread vaccination effort polio has been eradicated in most of the world. RFK Jr. insists that vaccines cause autism. This belief has been debunked for years. If RFK Jr. was HHS Secretary during COVID, the vaccine would not have been developed because the Secretary does not believe in vaccines. This alone should disqualify him from this position. In the last four years, RFK Jr. has spoken more than 100 times on the inefficacy of vaccines. But of course there is more. Some personality traits are telltale signs of who a person is. We should know that in the case of RFK Jr. there are many of those signs. To be brief, he stopped on the NYS Thruway and picked up a bear that was hit by a car. He drove to NYC, got busy with something else, and dumped the bear in Central Park. I will leave this link here for those who need to see additional reasons why this man should not be confirmed because the bear incident is certainly not the only telltale sign of his total incompetence to run this agency. [https://theweek.com/2024-presidential-election/1025265/a-running-list-of-rfk-jrs-controversies]

Pam Bondi was nominated as Attorney General. Pam Bondi was the Attorney General for the State of Florida as well as a personal lawyer for Trump. She is a Trump sycophant. She took a $25,000 contribution to her local campaign for AG office in Florida from a Trump PAC and then ruled to end a lawsuit against Trump University for lack of evidence–clearly a conflict of interest here. Pam Bondi then ran the Trump’s Super Pac. As AG she has gone after anyone Trump considers an enemy. She is not an independent AG working for us; she works for Trump alone. Her appearances on FOX news touting all the people she is investigating is against every tenet in the FBI where no one being investigated is named before there is some indictment against that person. And even then, the information is not shared with the press.

There will be a Part 2 Cabinet of Clowns–there are a lot of them.

Respite

| ERA

ITALY COMES THROUGH FOR ME AGAIN

Dedicated to Diane, Laura and Eloise

After joining and working with a new organization called Staten Island Action Coalition I have been involved in street protests, highway visibility events and working with like-minded women and men [not many men if I am honest about this] to change the course of events in this country. It is daunting to say the least. You basically understand you are working with a small group compared to our population to make greatly needed changes in our country. We live in a Trump era where disenchanted people either have to do something or need to step back. I am one who feels it is necessary to do something–march, scream, organize, encourage and basically let it be known that I will not accept the status quo.

After working for a few months I felt it necessary to step away for a bit. I flew away and went to Italy for about two weeks. I am writing this on a flight home after about 15 days in Italy.

I usually travel alone or with a group of women friends but I convinced my husband that he should return with me to Italy. There was a Caravaggio exhibit in Rome and I knew he could not say no to that. There is an entirely different story in me about traveling with your husband after you have been traveling alone, but that is for another time.

We spent 6 days in Rome visiting every museum we could and just eating good food and drinking martinis or good wine. This works for getting your mind away from heavy thoughts. Being political at this time is bearing the responsibility of heavy thoughts. It is impossible to forget those thoughts, but being away makes it possible to analyze them in a fashion that helps understand the awesome responsibility you hold and the consequence of no action.

After a week we left Rome and went to a spa in Tuscany. Adler Thermal spa is in a town called Bagno Vignoni where there are volcanic thermal pools that are advertised to heal both body and spirit. There are a few saunas built into the mountainside that are infused with eucalyptus or a variety of other herbs that burn over the coals. You sit naked [bathing suits or wrap around towels not allowed] and look over the hills of Tuscany. It is a magnificent feeling. The volcanic pools are dress events and you wear your bathing suit–it is not a nudity camp. There is also a spa which includes all sorts of massages, facials and bodily treatments meant to heal and revive.

One day while sitting on a lounge chair in the Tuscan sun, I thought about never coming back and doing this [define “this” as nothing] for the rest of my time–after all, I am 77 years old and every once in a while you think about not being here at all.

As I watched the clouds move slowly across the sky and sat perfectly still in the lounge chair, I realized this could be everything. Sitting and watching everything around you with a passionate love of all that is nature is something you can embrace–possibly forever. I thought about this for quite a while and the idea of never returning to the US became enticing [more so when you are in a spa in Tuscany].

But really I could think clearly in this place. I thought about the history of Europe, what made it what it is today, what were the effects of two World Wars that engulfed every part of the continent where death and destruction reigned. And I thought of America’s part in those wars–why did we participate, why did we think it was OK to sacrifice lives of young men and women for a far away place. As I did a mental dive into the reasons we joined those wars, I came to the conclusion that I would have to go back to the US if even to assure that we would risk young lives again possibly.

A lot of my friends care deeply about what is going on in the US; but a lot of my friends don’t march. I use the word “march” in the activist sense; it means many things. It means doing the work: some of it simple, contacting your representatives, signing a petition, making a phone call or writing postcards. Some of it harder: organizing people to march, creating events that catch the attention of a few or many, trying to get the media to cover your event, making signs, writing content, being loud, being truthful, being consistent to your beliefs, doing fact checking and being able to convince disbelievers that what you do is righteous. My husband sometimes says to me “don’t be so self-righteous.” I try not to be but I do mean to be righteous. For fighting for democracy is a righteous cause.

I will arrive back in Staten Island after this short but informative respite knowing that I must do this. I must spend time in the streets with women who are as righteous as me and smart and conscious that someone must do this. If there is anything I know, it is that we must do this now and I am also confident we will succeed. America will not lose its democracy to a narcissist bully–at least, not on my watch.

I woke up this morning

| ERA

THE DOWNSIDE TO NOT WATCHING THE NEWS

After Trump’s victory in the 2024 election I tuned out. It was too much, way too much. But this morning I realized that you miss a lot by tuning out. First, who knew of Trump’s plan to make Canada the United States’ 51st state. Obviously not Justin Trudeau who said it will be “a snowball’s chance in hell” before Canada becomes part of the US. I certainly hope the Prime Minister is correct, but if you have been paying attention you have seen many elite institutions and rich powerful men bow down to this grifter. This is out of fear of economic reprisal for their company or just being on the wrong side of Trump. Disney paid Trump $16 million for a statement made by George Stephanopoulos on his news program. It was not Stephanopoulos’ idea; he was repeating a quote from the judge in E. Jean Carroll’s defamation case. The federal judge on the defamation case went to great lengths to explain why Trump was convicted of the rape of E. Jean Carroll. Disney would not have lost the case in court, but bowed down to the grifter and paid a very large sum.

Trump finally realized that being President of the US makes you the most powerful person in the world. [That should scare the bejesus out of you.] He didn’t understand that when he was 45 but as 47 he definitely understands. He believes he can do anything if he sees a benefit to him, and secondary to the United States. No matter the cost to others. I am sure the largest oil resources on the planet in Canada are attractive to him; probably as well as screwing all the people that moved to Canada because he won.

I still have a hard time believing that 77+ million people voted for this man. Most of those people will not be helped by his presidency. His campaign promises, even if met, do not help his voters.

Then to my surprise, Trump was talking about taking back the Panama Canal. It was gifted to the Panamanians by President Carter and they took over possession and operations in 1999. Trump believes that the US is owed the Panama Canal. He has stated unequivocally his territorial and expansionist aspirations. Greenland is the other country Trump thinks should be part of the US. The problem with these aspirations is Trump’s belief that he can use military force to make these expansions happen. This is why Trump has no problem with Russia invading Ukraine: his belief is if you are bigger and more powerful, you can do these things. It is the same way he feels about touching women’s genitalia evident in his statement: “And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything, grab ’em by the pussy.”

All these actions and acquisitions might have an upside to our defense or economy but those countries are self-governing and independent and it is their existential right to stay that way.

So in a day or so I caught up on the news. It is still too much but is probably necessary to understand what might go on in the next 4 years. These particular statements by Trump struck me as his new agenda. He has mentioned all of the above before, but now he means it.

Maybe I’ll watch again next week. Who knows? Maybe I’ll get into Greenland without a passport.