A friend of mine co-wrote this insightful article about the economic impact of ICE in Florida.
The price of ICE: The hidden cost of Trumpian anti-sanctuary city measures in Florida
Excerpt:
As something of a middle ground, some point to the H-2A work visa as a legal means for filling the labor-intensive positions few Americans are willing to take. But the time-consuming and expensive process of securing the visas can deter growers with limited resources. Labor rights advocates also maintain that the program, which stipulates that workers stay tied to the same employer throughout the duration of their visa, leaves workers vulnerable to exploitation since it would be difficult to seek another employer in cases of abuse.
Regardless of status, migrant workers are sweating the inflammatory rhetoric painting them as criminals. Fried says the slurs propagated by Trump and his supporters are scaring undocumented workers into the shadows. “What used to be extreme has become mainstream,” Fried said. “That’s what’s so scary.”
http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/trump-drops-the-mother-of-all-bombs-on-afghanistan
Yesterday the U.S. government dropped its largest non-nuclear bomb on Afghanistan. This was a deliberate terrorist attack, targeting “one of the smallest militias [the U.S.] faces anywhere in the world”. The MoAB weighs ~22000 lbs, produces a mushroom cloud visible for a ~20 mile radius, and is capable of such substantial damage that when first tested in 2003 “the Pentagon ordered a legal review to insure that the device wouldn’t be deemed an indiscriminate killer under the Law of Armed Conflict, the body of law that regulates behavior during wartime.” The Pentagon report included the telling comment that “It is expected that the weapon will have a substantial psychological effect on those who witness its use.”
On a positive note, here is a link to a blog post / article about a black female physicist (Dr. Green) using lasers to kill cancer: [link]
Activist Bookshelf 