Easyflight -531

“What was that back there?” Character A asked, eyes intent on Character B.

B sighed. “A moment of weakness. It won’t happen again.”

“What if… I want it to happen again?”

B raised an eyebrow. “You want me to almost shoot you again?”

“No! I was talking about our kiss.”

Maybe lines from "Short happy life of Francis Macober."

OR

"Paint your Wagon"

there are several posts going around about how to best help if you witness an ICE raid/arrest as a (white) citizen. many of them are filled with extremely bad, LARP-y advice such as screaming at agents and getting physically close to them. in most cases, this is just going to make things worse for everyone at risk (including yourself). you need to stay calm, and avoid getting someone accused of resisting arrest.

to be clear: most of these fascists dont care about the law. “illegal” is not a magic word you can say to make them stop. and, being a white citizen is not an impenetrable shield. you can still be arrested, so be prepared for that. you are, however, less likely to be arrested, and MUCH less likely to be killed or held extralegally.

here is what you should actually do to help:

record, and make sure your phone auto-backups to a cloud. streaming can be problematic because its best to have lawyers look over the footage first. be aware they might also grab your phone, even without a warrant. if they’re grabbing it out of your hands, try to lock it. make sure you have a pin lock, not pattern or fingerprint. here’s some other ways to protect your phone from cops.

if you are able to film, and have determined it won’t escalate the situation, make it obvious you are doing so, because secretly recording is illegal in several states. narrate any violation of rights you see. here is a Q&A about filming ICE.

stay several feet back from agents, because they can claim you’re impeding them. if you’re recording and they claim this, take several steps back, and announce it as you’re doing so, if you’re filming.

ask if they are free to go, if someone is being approached. if ICE insists on the person asking for themself, and they speak spanish*, tell them “por favor repita: ‘am i free to go?’” (this just means “please repeat”) if the agent says yes, tell them “usted puede dejar”. if not..

calmly inform people of their rights if they are being arrested. they do not have to speak at all to agents, answer any questions without a lawyer, or sign anything. they do have to show their paperwork if they have it, but do NOT have to hand over the paperwork/passport, or consent to a search of themselves/belongings, without a judicial warrant (not administrative! here’s the difference). it is crucial that they give as little information as possible to ICE.

if you speak spanish, list their rights in spanish as well, and translate what the agents are saying. if not, keep the google translate app on your phone – it’s not perfect, but it’s quick/accessible and can download languages for offline use. you can also memorize this sentence: “no tiene que responder/dar su consentimiento” - “you dont have to respond/consent”

get their lawyer’s contact info, if they have one and are being taken away by ICE. many people carry a card with emergency contact info on it, including childcare info and loved ones, so you can offer to call those numbers for them.

call for legal help. do not call the ACLU or other big organizations for immediate help, call your local immigration help center (for New York State, contact IDP at 212-725-6422. for California, call the TRUST hotline at 844-878-7801). United We Dream is an immigrant-lead organization that provides aid nationwide, and can be reached at 844-363-1423. please save these numbers in your phone!

know the ICE rapid response network in your town, and keep their number on hand. if there isn’t one close to you, here’s how to make one.

finally, here are some useful toolkits:

comprehensive ICE response guide

know your rights posters for in-home raid readiness, community flyers, and informative videos

ACLU videos explaining what to do in various situations with ICE

learn how to be thirsty, hungry, and tired with no relief, triaged you way back, you only have hubris in crowds. Alone you're a wuss.

Rule: a given society only gets one chance to rush into socialism because after the initial build and energy usage, no more work will be done. Entropy love to eat multiplex systems.

no one will ever want to do it again. it simply can't maintain itself.

She looked at their retreating backs, disappointment and sadness building up inside. Her eyes, however, spoke of destructive rage. Without a second thought, she grabbed the red string that attached her to the other girls.

“If you don’t need me,” she mumbles as she snapped the thread, “then I certainly don’t need you.”

The red string pitifully fell onto the ground. She swiftly turned into the opposite direction.

“We’re done here.”

"pitiful " ? Maybe, slowly or gently or arched downward or silently fell.

"excuse me" he said to the clerk,

"where do I find the pitiful string?"

hey, you

stop scrolling for a second, please?

in case nobody told you today, thank you

thank you for struggling today; you did your best, and you’re here. you got through it, and you deserve a rest,

I must have the Big Head because I do feel okay, with an occasional, well maybe I screwed that one up.

I know I'm pedantic and scratchy- but I'm usually correct. I have many years of formal training, years of all aspects of many discplined industrial hands on training. I read most subjects fiction to fix your car. Astronomy has never interested me, or shallow interpersonal romances.

So, mix all that with a fighter pilots ego, and you get a general purpose-all weather, feeling okay about himself.

However, I do remenber deep breathing 100% pure oxygen, under 5-7 psi, to clear retching hangovers.

“The Devil! The Devil are within all you sinners! Leave! Leave the house of God!”

“Times have changed. Children of God, you are no longer.”