Is Ice Trump’s Gestapo?

“Renee sparkled. She literally sparkled. I mean, she didn’t wear glitter but I swear she had sparkles coming out of her pores. All the time. You might think it was just my love talking but her family said the same thing. Renee was made of sunshine.”

The words are those of Renee Good’s wife Becca. They cut to our heart – our humanity. She was shot in the face by an ICE agent, who then muttered: “Fuckin’ bitch.” The murder of this 37-year-old mom as she tried to drive around the ICE guys who stopped her is national news, of course. Almost everyone has seen at least one of the many videos of the incident and, you might say, the national dialogue about virtually anything else has been put on hold.

Free Press is committed to documenting the people taken by ICE

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested, detained, deported, and/or imprisoned many people that it has unilaterally determined to be undesirables.  At first, they claimed they would deport only criminals, but it has already gone beyond that.  We at the Free Press consider every person who has been sent to the Tecoluca (El Salvador prison), Guantanamo naval base, or detained in other prisons throughout the country to be innocent until proven guilty. We will include students who have been expelled for protesting genocide.  It appears the government will revoke Visa's to get rid of undesirable students.  This article will be updated as long as is necessary.

Familiar tale gracefully blends feminism and fantasy

Feminism has a crucial role to play in modern life, but I sometimes wish it would leave our fairy tales alone. The results of its revisionist meddling are too often unconvincing and unsatisfying.

Remember last year’s Maleficent? It turned an age-old story on its head by revealing that the fairy (Angelina Jolie) who turned a princess into a “Sleeping Beauty” was not evil at all. No, she was merely wronged and misunderstood. Worst of all, we learned that the somnambulant princess could not be awakened by a kiss from the handsome prince, but only by a motherly peck from that same fairy.

How heartwarming. And how utterly unromantic.

Thank goodness Disney’s new live-action version of Cinderella doesn’t wear its feminism on its sleeve. It has nods to modern sensibilities, to be sure, but they’re handled with a lighter touch.

Another Week of Aiding Israel and Assorted Corruption

One’s morning ritual has become something unpleasant over the past year. Opening up the computer homepage after breakfast invariably brings up the image of the Orangeman who unfortunately is otherwise known as the president of the United States of America. The person in question, who goes by the name Donald J Trump, is invariably scowling, radiating hatred, and raising his tiny fist to express his willingness to pummel anyone who has offended him in thought, word or deed. The accompanying article usually describes how he is ready to fire someone in the government or punish a journalist for failure to bow and scrape when they are dealing with the imperial presence of the self-described “Man of Peace.” Occasionally, when on a roll, Trump threatens to kill either an “enemy” or even an entire group or nation full of people if they offend him. He justifies his savagery by his assertion that he possesses some kind of high level but indiscernible personal “morality” which permits him to claim that “I can do whatever I want!”

Fear of Sharia Law is unfounded

A group of House Republicans has formed the Sharia Free America Caucus to address the influence of Islamic Sharia law in the United States. They argue that Sharia is not simply a religious code; they see it as a political and legal system that conflicts with the U.S. Constitution. The caucus intends to advance legislation. One key proposal is the No Sharia Legislation.

Those who are advocating that 3.5 million Muslims in America want to impose Sharia law on the rest of America are either ignorant, liars, or both. Most polls show that American people are not truly concerned by the potential spread of Islamic Sharia.

Sharia is to Islam what Halachah is to Judaism and Canon law is to the Catholic church. So why single out Muslims? The Republican Party preys on people's fears and depicts Muslim Americans as if they are evil or snakes hiding in the grass waiting for the next move and as such constitute a threat to our homeland security.

Power as Piety: The Sanctification of Political Authority in Iran

Analyses of Iran’s political system often emphasize overt coercion: imprisonment, torture, executions, and episodic violence against widespread protests. These instruments are real and consequential. Yet an exclusive focus on repression obscures a more pervasive and durable mechanism of rule: the sanctification of political authority. The Iranian regime does not govern by force alone. It has cultivated a political environment in which obedience is experienced as moral intuition rather than contingent political choice. Through a dense network of religious institutions, ritual practices, and managed historical memory, political power is rendered sacred, dissent morally suspect, and compliance endowed with spiritual significance. 

One Battle After Another and the Seduction of Violence

After sweeping the Golden Globes and other awards, One Battle After Another has 13 Oscar nominations. Given the film’s clear relevance, if it does end up a winner, those who created it will probably do more than thank their agents, publicists, partners, and pets. They’ll likely talk about the times we’re living in, as every creative artist or public figure should, given the stakes. We hope they’ll present the film as a cautionary tale, not an endorsement of violent resistance.

It’s easy to see why One Battle has been so successful. It’s gripping, funny, and wonderfully acted. It’s a satire of political madness, left and right. But parts of it also feel real in ways that most movie satires or political thrillers don’t. Although it was completed before Donald Trump’s reelection, its images of vicious immigration raids and out-of-control police now echo America’s daily reality.

Bus Style Activities: R.A. The Ruggedman, Sage Francis and Atmosphere

Atmosphere

“ICE is a bunch of pussy motherfuckers who wanna beat their wives. White supremacists aren’t taking over shit. Fuck ‘em. If you support ICE get the fuck out of this show, pussy.

This is a Hip Hop show, pussy.”

R.A. The Ruggedman - Columbus, Ohio January 26, 2026

The 2026 blizzard and ICE slowed Columbus for the week leading up into Atmosphere’s Columbus, Ohio’s Winter Carnival. Atmosphere is from Minneapolis. ICE invaded Minneapolis. ICE abducted people into for profit internment camps. ICE murdered US citizens. ICE harassed anyone attempting to speak English in Columbus.

I looked at Instagram. Atmosphere’s Columbus concert didn’t announce a canceling. I took the number 1. I walked from Nationwide into Promowest. Downtown Columbus pays someone for shoveling the sidewalks.

I walked into a room full of people who wanted a dope rap show, and someone yelling Fuck ICE. I missed Kool Keith and Mr. Dibbs because my neighborhood sidewalks weren’t plowed during my walk to the bus.

Solar News This Week-January 26, 2026

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Solar surpasses wind as largest renewable source

Solar and storage accounted for 72 percent of new electrical generating capacity on the U.S. grid for the first 10 months of 2025, according to a review of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) data. Solar photovoltaics (PV) has held this position for 26 months in a row and has now edged out wind power as the largest source of renewable energy capacity on the U.S. grid.

Solar, wind, hydropower and biomass accounted for 87.2 percent of all new generating capacity while natural gas added 12.4 percent, with the remainder being oil and waste heat. Taken together, wind and solar constitute nearly one-fourth (23.79 percent) of the United States' total available installed utility-scale generating capacity. More than 25 percent of U.S. solar capacity is in the form of small-scale (rooftop) systems that are not reflected in FERC's data.

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