BlackHeath

 

Meritocracia

RICO MARTINS 

 

How L.A. Raids Ignited a New Fight Over Immigration

 

 "It was the morning shift at Ambiance Apparel, a clothing wholesaler on the edge of Los Angeles’s fashion district, and along with a crowded showroom of mannequins and women’s skirts was a sprawling warehouse, where immigrant workers were bustling about.

On any other day, the inventory would have flowed smoothly, from folded piles to cardboard boxes stacked on wooden pallets to be loaded onto trucks. But on June 6, as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents swarmed the premises, dozens of employees at the warehouse and at a second facility nearby fled their workstations, ducking between shelves and inside boxes.

They couldn’t hide for long.

One of the workers, Tomas Anastacio, 55, who has three U.S.-born, college-educated children and has lived in Los Angeles for three decades, texted his son Carlos at around 10 a.m.

“Ca,” he wrote, “Immigration is at work.”

Carlos responded, “Oh no, I love you very much.”

When Carlos arrived at the downtown warehouse a few minutes later, Mr. Anastacio was already gone. Carlos stood in disbelief as his father’s co-workers were hauled away and their loved ones screamed, cried and bid them goodbye."

more in the story by Miriam JordanSoumya KarlamanglaShawn HublerEmily Baumgaertner NunnOrlando Mayorquín and Matt Stevens 

How L.A. Raids Ignited a New Fight Over Immigration – DNyuz

SLY & THE FAMILY STONE - DANCE TO THE MUSIC.LIVE (in memoriam)

All we need is a drummer
For people who only need a beat, yeah
I'm gonna add a little guitar
And make it easy to move your feet
I'm gonna add some bottom
So that the dancers just won't hide
You might like to hear my organ
I said ride, Sally, ride, now

DIA DOS NAMORADOS

LAERTE

 

 

 

RICO

GABRIEL RENNER 

 

 

Greenwich

 

The Beach Boys - God Only Knows (in memoriam Brian Wilson)

God only knows what I'd be without you

Sessão da Tarde

KLEBER

 

A deadly mission: how Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira tried to warn the world about the Amazon’s destruction

 

 

 "The Guardian journalist and the Brazilian Indigenous expert were killed while investigating the impact of deforestation. In this extract from the book Phillips was writing at the time of his death, he reflects on his encounters with the rainforest and its people – and why it is so vital to save this precious plac

A deadly mission: how Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira tried to warn the world about the Amazon’s destruction | Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira | The Guardian

Nervoso, eu?

AROEIRA

 

 

NANDO MOTTA

 

 

 

(2) Martial Law & Megalomaniacs: America Held Hostage

 

 "Why the show of force? Because Trump is on a mission to round up brown-skinned “villains” cunningly disguised as college students, farm workers, restaurant staff, and high school volleyball players. The goal is fear and the method is spectacle. The price? Democracy, due process, and any lingering sense that America still recognizes itself.

And now, as if following a script, Stephen Miller is calling the protests an “insurrection.” That word isn’t just a dog whistle, it’s a legal trigger. Say it enough times, and the Insurrection Act becomes justifiable. Say it on Fox News, and suddenly tanks in the streets look like “patriotism.”

read the stack by Mary Geddry 

(2) Martial Law & Megalomaniacs: America Held Hostage

Taking the Trump-Musk War Seriously

 

" This could all go away tomorrow. It is possible that by the time you read this, Musk and Trump will have brokered a peace. Then they say, “Ha-ha, you shitlibs fell for it. We were trolling you for the lulz. That was all kayfabe.”

There are a lot of stakeholders who desperately need Trump and Musk to end hostilities. Their incentives are strong enough to expend resources making it worth both parties’ whiles to sign a ceasefire.1

If it doesn’t go away tomorrow, the Trump-Musk rift creates peril for both Trump’s authoritarian project and the tech oligarchy.

Let’s walk through the strategic implications for all of the players."

read analysis by Jonathan V. Last 

Taking the Trump-Musk War Seriously - by Jonathan V. Last

A new report on sea level rise

 JEFFREY ST. CLAIR

+ A new report on sea level rise published in Nature: Communications warns that millions globally will be forced from their homes by advancing waters and extreme tides even if warming remains below 1.5 °C. “We’re starting to see some of the worst-case scenarios play out almost in front of us. At current warming of 1.2 °C, sea level rise is accelerating at rates that, if they continue, would become almost unmanageable before the end of this century.” But the world is on track for 2.5C-2.9C of global heating, which results in the collapse of the Greenland and west Antarctic ice sheets–a scenario that would lead to a catastrophic 12 metres of sea level rise.

+ Fox Business’s Maria Bartiromo: “Should we really have wind and solar subsidies in this bill? What if it’s not windy? What if it’s not sunny?”

 

Astrud Gilberto ‎- Maria Quiet

They say God made man first
And made a woman second choice
And so that’s why woman should
Obey her master’s voice
When the man is hungry
She bakes the bread
When man is cold
She warms up the bed
Standing up or laying down
The woman has to work

Oh my Cod!

 

Freedom Flotilla

LATUFF

 

 

GILMAR 

 

 

 

 

NANDO MOTTA

 

 

Octopus - Syd Barrett

So trip to heave and ho
Up down, to and fro'
You have no word
Please, leave us here
Close our eyes to the octopus ride

Brazil’s President Confronts a Changing World

 

 

  

 

 

"The democracy we learned to live with after World War Two, the functioning of multilateralism as an important role in relations between states, the respect for diversity, the sovereignty of each country is now fading,” he said. “What comes next, we don’t know.” The entire post-Second World War order, created largely through the intervention of the United States, seemed on the verge of collapse. “We thought we were creating a more civilized, more solidarity-based, more humane society,” he said. “The result is worse. It’s as if there is a lamp, and when you open the lid the evil people come out.”

READ INTERVIEW WITH LULA
BY JON LEE ANDERSON

Donald Trump, oncologist:

 

JEFFREY ST CLAIR>

+ Donald Trump, oncologist:

I think it’s very sad, actually. I’m surprised that it wasn’t—you know—the public wasn’t notified a long time ago, because to get to stage 9, that’s a long time. I just had my physical. You saw that. You saw the results of that particular test. I think that test is standard to pretty much anybody getting a physical—a good physical. We had the doctors at the White House and over at Walter Reed, which is a fantastic hospital, do it. I did a very complete physical, including a cognitive test. I’m proud to announce I aced it. I got them all right. You proud of me? Your husband would be proud of me for getting them all right. It’s a little risk. If I didn’t get them all right, these people would be after me. It would be not a good situation.

But I think, frankly, anybody running for president should take a cognitive test. They say it’s unconstitutional, but I would say in that particular case, having a cognitive test wouldn’t be so bad.

But when you take tests—medical, as a male—that test is very standard. I don’t know if it’s given to everybody, but it’s given just about. And it takes a long time to get to that situation… to get to a stage 9. I think that if you take a look, it’s the same doctor that said that Joe was cognitively fine, there was nothing wrong with him. If it’s the same doctor, he said there was nothing wrong there. That’s been proven to be a sad situation.

And the autopen is becoming a very big deal. You know, the autopen is becoming a big deal because it seems that maybe it was the president—whoever operated the autopen. But when they say that was not good, they also—you have to look and you have to say that the test was not so good either. In other words, there are things going on that the public wasn’t informed [about], and I think somebody is going to have to speak to his doctor—if it’s the same or even if it’s two separate doctors.

Why wasn’t the cognitive ability—why wasn’t that discussed? And I think the doctor said he’s just fine, and it’s turned out that’s not so. It’s very dangerous… this is dangerous for our country. Look at the mess we are in.

You talk about all these questions on Ukraine and Russia. That would’ve never happened, as an example, if I were president. It would’ve never happened. The other thing—you have to say: Why did it take so long? I mean, this takes a long time. It can take years to get to this level of danger. It’s a very, very sad situation. I feel very badly about it. And I think people should try and find out what happened.

Because I’ll tell you, I don’t know if it had anything to do with the hospital. Walter Reed is really good. They’re some of the best doctors I’ve ever seen. I don’t even know if they were involved. But a doctor was involved in each case. Maybe it was the same doctor. And somebody is not telling the facts. That’s a big problem.

 

A literatura brasileira está morta

 

ALEXANDRE COSLEI

 

Sim, senhores e senhoras. A literatura brasileira está morta. Mas é uma morta bela, com batom nos lábios e vestidinho branco de primeira comunhão. Uma defunta perfumada. Enterrada viva entre os cadernos culturais e os editais públicos, sufocada sob camadas e camadas de autoficção e prêmios em que é preciso pagar para participar.

E ninguém diz nada. Ninguém grita. Ninguém se escandaliza. No velório, todos sorriem — e aplaudem a falecida.

 

* O narcisismo nosso de cada página

 

Há algo de profundamente pornográfico nessa onda de autoficção que tomou conta da nossa pobre e desmilinguida literatura. Não se escreve mais romance. Escreve-se confissão. O autor se despe, se oferece, se esparrama no sobrado, esperando que o leitor o deseje — mas o leitor já não está na rua. Foi embora. Sumiu. Trocaram o livro pela pornografia real e sem metáfora.

Cada livro novo parece um prontuário de terapia. Uma infância triste. Um pai bêbado. Uma relação mal resolvida com a avó, um abuso. E tudo isso escrito com um lirismo burocrático, um sentimentalismo de repartição pública. São personagens que não agem. Sofrem. Mastigam mágoas e cospem vírgulas.

Literatura virou necrológio da alma.

 

*Os escritores? 

 

Antigamente os escritores tinham ideias que cheiravam a enxofre, tinham ousadia. Hoje, têm hashtags. São dóceis. Professores de si mesmos. Curadores de sua miséria. O autor brasileiro contemporâneo vive para falar de si, e quer aplausos por isso. Confunde literatura com sessão de desabafo no grupo de apoio.

E, o que é mais grave: escreveram 200 páginas para dizer que sofreram. Mas quem neste país não sofreu?

 

*A crítica? 

 

A crítica — a crítica que deveria ser faca — agora é tapete. Reza, agradece e abençoa qualquer coisa que venha com o selo da diversidade e da dor íntima. E não é que essas vozes novas não sejam necessárias. São. São lindas. São importantes. Mas estão sendo jogadas no liquidificador da moda. Tudo virou uma estética da ferida. Tudo tem que ser denúncia. A literatura virou boletim de ocorrência com capa dura.

E os críticos, em vez de discernir, aplaudem. Ficam constrangidos em criticar. Não querem parecer racistas, homofóbicos, misóginos, elitistas. E com isso, abdicam do seu papel.

 

*O leitor? 

 

O leitor brasileiro desapareceu. Não o vemos mais. Talvez esteja debaixo da cama, lendo escondido um velho clássico com vergonha. Talvez tenha virado youtuber. Talvez tenha morrido mesmo.

Os números são de um velório: quase metade da população não lê. E quem lê, lê pouco. E quem lê muito, deve estar lendo em segredo. A literatura perdeu. Perdeu para o algoritmo, para o streaming, para a estupidez organizada. Ninguém mais quer frases. Querem slogans.

 

*E o mercado? 

 

As editoras todas se comportam como cafetinas bem-vestidas. Publicam apenas quem já tem seguidores, quem vende ou quem quer pagar pela publicação. Livros se tornaram produtos de vitrine — sem cheiro de papel, sem mofo, sem alma. O autor precisa performar antes de escrever. Ter um Instagram bonito. Um discurso palatável. Um trauma que vire marketing.

O autor que ousa escrever um livro onde nada sangra, onde ninguém é minoria, onde há invenção estética e não causa social — esse está condenado ao silêncio. Nem resenha terá.

 

*Conclusão

 

Sim, meus amigos. O Brasil perdeu o ouvido. O ouvido para a grande frase. Para o diálogo que rasga. Para o monólogo que fere. A literatura era o espelho das nossas tragédias. Hoje, é a selfie das nossas ansiedades.

Mas eu digo: ainda há esperança. Em algum lugar, talvez num casebre do subúrbio, há uma criança ou adolescente, lendo um livro velho, sujo, rasgado — e se apaixonando pela palavra. Quando esse leitor precoce escrever, talvez a defunta se levante. E a literatura brasileira volte a andar — meio manca, meio bêbada, mas viva.

Até lá, fiquemos com o cadáver.

 

We are in dangerous, uncharted waters

 

 

BASIL DANNEBOHM

Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff, described Saturday's demonstrations in Los Angeles as an “insurrection.”

“An insurrection against the laws and sovereignty of the United States,” Miller wrote in a Saturday post online. He doubled down on his claims in an X post later Saturday, writing, “This is a violent insurrection.”

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said Saturday on social media the bureau was investigating alleged instances of Los Angeles demonstrators obstructing immigration enforcement operations.

In response to the protests, Trump deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles. Governor Gavin Newsom confirmed that the federal government commandeered the state's national guard and deployed some 2,000 troops to Los Angeles.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said active duty marines at Camp Pendleton will also be mobilized if the unrest continues.

“A message to the LA rioters: you will not stop us or slow us down. @ICEgov will continue to enforce the law,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on the social media platform X Saturday.

“These operations are essential to halting and reversing the invasion of illegal criminals into the United States. In the wake of this violence, California’s feckless Democrat leaders have completely abdicated their responsibility to protect their citizens,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

This is a disturbing development.

The language, specifically the use of the words: "insurrection," "obstructing," and "abdicated," combined with the overall tone and approach toward this situation is the regime's way of preparing to justify and declare martial law. They are almost certainly being coached by the very constitutional lawyers who were the architects of Project 2025.

It is highly unlikely, bordering on impossible, to hold midterm elections in the United States while a federal declaration of martial law is in effect.

We are in dangerous, uncharted waters.

(Photo taken June 7th, 2025 by Eric Thayer/AP.)