News + Politics
We the people, by the people.
I Like to Watch
I like to watch. The workers are scurrying around, like little ants. The crew manager is shouting voicelessly to the others, his arms waving like he is attempting to land a plane. I would have tried to get closer to the action. To hear. From here, I can only watch through the windows of my car. But I want to hear what the manager is shouting. He is pointing at the ditch, his hand jutting forward in sharp motions as his elbow seems to twitch. It causes the green, plaid shirt he’s wears to yank tight on his elbow so much that I think it might rip. Since I can only watch, I like to imagine what he is saying. Something like “Shit! Call the cops this one … She ain’t movin’.” Yes, see, and now that one in the blue shirt and black pants is searching his pockets. I bet it is for a phone. Yup, he’s found it. And now he’s dropped it. I chuckle. This must be his first dead body on the job. The crew manager for this stretch of road is on at least his fourth, only two of those (now three) have been mine. Blue shirt will get used to it; this one will not be his last. I have been busy, and so have the others.
F. H. MorganPublished 6 minutes ago in Criminal
Electoral Politics are so 2020
If you’ve seen it once you’ve seen it a million times. Bernie Sanders, sitting at the inauguration, dressed in a casual parka and giant mittens. The only politician there who looked both the most comfortable and anxious to leave. No worries Bernie, bored constituents stuck at home because of the virus are ready to teleport you across movies, major pop culture events, and beyond. This, the meme that has spawned a million ice cold feminist takes, is yet another meme-fication of politicians that I desperately hoped we could leave in the year that brought us a pandemic.
Andie NgelekaPublished 13 minutes ago in The Swamp
The Bottom of the Ninth
Something has worked in the past, until - well, it unexpectedly no longer does, and what we have learned from the past turns out to be at best irrelevant or false, at worst viciously misleading. - Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Save the Hedgehog of Democracy!
On Sunday night the fascist British National Party (BNP) got in — the next morning I rescued a hedgehog as it cowered at my door. Coincidence? I think not. We need to save the hedgehog of Democracy!
James GarsidePublished about an hour ago in The Swamp
Drowning in Grief
There's only one thing in the world I'm afraid of, losing my mother. The mere thought of losing her always gave me goosebumps, a shiver just ran down my spine. I’ve always been quite emotionally dependent on my mom, I simply cannot imagine a world without her. I never wanted to share my grief, I’ve heard it comes like a rhythm. I feel no rhythm in my grief from the death of my father when I was just 13, and now finding out my mother has lung cancer. I had always felt like I lived inside a bubble in which I see my reformed world. Outside the bubble is a world of clatter, inside is the stillness and a silent chime.
Samrah AhtshamPublished about an hour ago in CriminalContemplating the Painful Questions That Haunt Me
The Wind Down in Mexico The warm wind is magic to the soul on these long night walks along the border wall. The international street is deserted except for an occasional border patrol truck parked along the side of the road. The ten- o- clock siren blares down in Mexico creating a symphony with the slow-moving night train.
VNessa ErlenePublished about 15 hours ago in CriminalNot a Karen
Yeah, I'm not calling them Karens anymore. I know too many decent people named Karen to lump them all together like that, even (gasp!) a Republican or two. The same goes for the term Republican, honestly; just because the GOP as a party has gone off the rails entirely doesn't mean individual people who still identify as Republicans are awful humans.
Jenn KirklandPublished about 16 hours ago in The Swamp
When will being a gang banger stop being cool?????
The neighborhood I grew up in always had gangs around. I have family that use to be down with there gang. Still have some that associate with some of those gangs today. But my family took a look at there lives and asked themselves"what the Fuck am I doing' These so called members claim they are your family and they got your back till the day they die???? Yeah that's why when shit would hit the fan, they are the first to snitch you out, throw you under the bus and get you caught up in jail or prison . Does that still sound cool? Then if you get caught up and get locked away, where them homies that said they would look out for your familia, put money on your commissary icomaccount so you can eat? Shit there long they don't know you. Sadly it be like that. You dont need to be a thug to be a real person. To be a cool person. All these gang bangers nowadays are young ass kids that will not even think twice about pulling up on you and your children while walking home from the store(happened to m)I live in a diverse community in michigan, I grew up in the 90s where it was ok to walk home from school, to walk to the store without needing an adult, to hang out at the park without having to worry if there are gang members out there that are jumping(beating up) some innocent kid. Now that I am an adult and have kids of my own, I worry about my kids just being outside in the front yard because you don't know if something will happen to them so I never let them out of my sight! Its sad and makes me angry. Most these kids that wanna join a gang are having problems at home, whether its a absent parent, its abuse physical or mental. Its peer pressure from friends or older relatives telling them to join . I've seen this happen a bunch of times. I almost lost my spouse to gang violence. Thankfully he survived the stabbing.
Alyssa ZunigaPublished about 16 hours ago in Criminal
