Friday Homestead Dispatch
Week Number Fifty-Eight
1.
No one in their right mind should give a shit about *rump’s speechifying this week. Why? Because we’ve been force-fed his horseshit for nine plus insufferable years. The same horseshit over and over. The point is, there are enough weak-minded politicians a on board with this rapist’s agenda that the folks who feel that rape and racism is not cool have little recourse—politically.
21-year-old Austin T Martin of Cameron, North Carolina gave it a go earlier this week, but damn, *rump must’ve been on the golf course. Hopefully, a nice statue will be erected in his hometown for giving it his most sincere effort.
And we know those ‘missing’ files that alleges *rump sexually abused a minor will never show up. According to a source who has viewed the unredacted documents, a woman interviewed by the FBI in July 2019 about her Epstein allegations is the same woman who alleged that Trump forced her to perform oral sex on him 35 years ago, when she was 13 or 14 years old, and subsequently hit her. That allegation appears in a 2025 PowerPoint presentation detailing each of the FBI’s Epstein-related investigations and a spreadsheet of unconfirmed tips called into the bureau’s National Threat Operations Center reviewed by MS NOW. MS NOW has found that of at least four interviews the FBI conducted with the woman related to the Epstein investigations, only one memo — and no handwritten notes — reflecting such an interview is included on the DOJ site.
But we all know this about this man. And also about a large number of other very wealthy and powerful men who also seem to derive some sort of ‘pleasure’ from the abuse of girls. Girls. Your teenage daughter.
As John Pavlovitz writes, he is a walking moral cesspool; a lumbering, empty, loveless husk of a human being, but he has never been anything else. He has existed so long in a cloistered, gold-plated palace of privilege where no accountability has ever truly come that his mind has become so corroded that the question of right or wrong no longer exists. His only impulse is self-preservation.
House Oversight Committee’s ranking member, Rep. Robert Garcia, D-CA, is doing an admirable job of poking the bear. He spoke at a press conference before *rump’s utterings; “I want to remind the president and the attorney general that they are in violation of the law, and that when the president makes his speech tonight, he’s going to know that looking back at him will be numerous survivors or Epstein’s abuse, and that he is facilitating the single largest cover-up in modern American history.”
Also, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), co-sponsor of the Epstein Transparency Act, said in an interview on PBS, first of all, anyone who’s in the Epstein files saying that they planned to or were going to or did visit Epstein’s island needs to be investigated under oath. They need to be asked some basic questions. What did you see? What did you know? Did you rape underage girls or see other people rape underage girls?
How can you show up to a convicted pedophile’s island or ranch or home where you know that young girls are being abused and then not have an investigation or not have someone ask you questions? And yet that’s what’s gone on in America for decades. It is one of the biggest cover-ups and scandals in our country’s history to see so many people in finance, in tech, in real estate, in politics go to this pedophile’s island and face no consequences.
But it’s not just the wealthy and powerful. Whether it’s girls under 18 or women over 18, rape is rape. It’s not to be tolerated. It’s about a culture of patriarchy, men’s feeling of entitlement and dominance. And in many cases, a woman doesn’t know who will be ‘one of those men.’
As Kara Post-Kennedy writes in her Substack, The Good Men Project, there were many, many, many women who “thought” they were dealing with a nice guy, right up until the moment he assaulted them. Sad but true. We don’t deliberately put ourselves in harm’s way—we find ourselves in harm’s way when that “nice guy” turns out to be the kind of man who will not get out of your car when you ask him to.
This is not just about individual abusers and their victims. This is about a systemic problem so widespread that it has been normalized, even by victims. Sexual abuse does not just happen on private islands and elite compounds. It is an every day, everywhere problem. And sexual abuse offenses have increased, not decreased since the #MeToo movement.
And Celeste Davis in her Substack Matriarchal Blessing writes about patriarchy every week. In this week’s post she asks the question what exactly is the seed that was planted in these average men that would make them want to rape a woman when an opportunity presented itself? (Referring to the 90+ men who raped Gisele Pelicot) She says it’s the same seed that was planted in Epstein. In Bill Clinton, P. Diddy, Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby and so very many others.
Maybe this is why many men vote MAGA, as they want a wife who is submissive, stays home to cook, clean, feed the kids. This is one of the premises of Christian Fundamentalism and Nationalism. Have you been marked safe from Christian Fundamentalism and Nationalism?
2.
In *rump’s overly long and gaseous speech, as Talking Points Memo points out, he yammered on about a non-existent issue and a favorite GOP myth: non-citizen voting and the need for the SAVE America Act, a voter suppression bill that would, among other things, mandate documentary proof of citizenship for voter registration in federal elections.
“I’m asking you to approve the SAVE America Act,” he said. “It’s very simple. All voters must show voter ID. All voters must show proof of citizenship. No more crooked mail-in ballots, except for illness, disability, military or travel.”
This is all a charade to prevent citizens from voting AGAINST Republicans. The Brennan Center reports that the first effort to pass the SAVE Act last year failed in the face of nationwide public opposition. These new bills are yet another effort to undermine Americans’ freedom to vote and make this unpopular policy the law of the land.
In every form, the SAVE Act would require American citizens to show documents like a passport or birth certificate to register to vote. Our research shows that more than 21 million Americans lack ready access to those documents. Roughly half of Americans don’t even have a passport. Millions lack access to a paper copy of their birth certificate. The SAVE Act would disenfranchise Americans of all ages and races, but younger voters and voters of color would suffer disproportionately. Likewise, millions of women whose married names aren’t on their birth certificates or passports would face extra steps just to make their voices heard.
Just like the SAVE Act of 2025, the new SAVE Act proposals would inject chaos into election administration. They would place a massive unfunded burden on state and local election officials. And they would expose those officials to significant legal risk. The bills would leave it up to local officials to decide whether a voter who lacks one of the specified documents has done enough to prove citizenship. Officials who make an honest mistake could face civil and criminal penalties. An election official could even be punished for registering an eligible American citizen, just for failing to collect all the right paperwork at the right time.
If passed, this bill would prohibit universal mail voting, requiring all mail voters to submit an application in order to receive a mail ballot. This would end the longstanding principal method of voting in eight states and Washington, DC.
According to CNN, Republican Sen. John Cornyn, who faces a contentious primary next week and has so far been unable to secure the president’s endorsement, refused to say if he opposes gutting the filibuster in order to pass the bill in the Senate.
Nevertheless, here’s where you can send a message to Congress to VOTE NO on this act.
3.
If you have the time, listen to a real leader. Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger delivered Democrats’ official response to President Trump’s State of the Union address while Sen. Alex Padilla of California gave the Spanish language reply.
4.
Kansas has gone topsy-turvy this week. Erin Reed reports that transgender people across Kansas are reporting receiving letters from the Kansas Division of Vehicles stating that they must surrender their driver’s licenses and that their current credentials will be considered invalid upon the law’s publication in the Kansas Register on Thursday. Should any transgender person be caught driving without a valid license, they could face a class B misdemeanor carrying up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
As a result of this extreme anti-transgender law, the state of Kansas has seen its status deteriorate to a “Do Not Travel” warning in the EITM Trans Risk Map. Transgender people should exercise extreme caution when traveling through the state, and those already living there should take immediate steps to legally protect themselves in the face of laws that could strip their driving privileges, expose them to criminal penalties, and subject them to thousand-dollar bounties simply for using a restroom. For most transgender people who do not already live in Kansas, the risk is now too great to travel there at all.
Today, two transgender residents of Kansas have filed a lawsuit in state court challenging a new state law that immediately invalidated their driver’s licenses, and which authorizes anyone to sue anybody they suspect of being transgender for using the “wrong” restroom in government buildings.
The lawsuit, challenging SB 244, was filed in the District Court of Douglas County (LFK!) on behalf of anonymous Plaintiffs Daniel Doe and Matthew Moe by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Kansas, and Ballard Spahr LLP. The lawsuit charges that SB 244 violates the Kansas Constitution’s protections for personal autonomy, privacy, equality under the law, due process, and freedom of speech.
5.
Will Pattiz of More Than Just Parks writes that the BLM announces a plan to fell Oregon’s last great forests, gutting the management plans governing nearly 2.5 million acres of these forests across 18 counties.
The notice identifies only two alternatives: do nothing, or manage for “maximum productive capacity.” That’s the range. The full spectrum of options being considered runs from the status quo to full industrial logging. There’s no middle ground alternative. No alternative that updates the science while modestly increasing harvest. The BLM has told you where it wants to end up.
The interdisciplinary team listed in the notice is also revealing. Forest management, fuels, GIS, fisheries, and wildlife. No recreation specialist. No hydrologist. No climate scientist. For a plan governing 2.5 million acres that directly impacts drinking water, salmon habitat, carbon storage, and outdoor recreation, that’s a pretty conspicuous set of omissions.
Here is the Notice of Intent.
What you can do:
Submit a comment. You can do it right now:
Online: ePlanning project page — click “Participate Now”
Email: BLM_OR_Revision_Scoping@blm.gov
Mail: Bureau of Land Management Oregon/Washington State Office, 1220 SW 3rd Avenue, Portland, OR 97204, Attn: Elizabeth Burghard, RMP Revision
What to say. You don’t need to be an expert. You don’t need to write a legal brief. A few sentences in your own words carry weight. But if you want to make your comment as effective as possible, here are the points that matter most:
Demand additional alternatives. The BLM has only proposed two: do nothing or maximize logging. Insist they analyze alternatives that increase harvest modestly while maintaining meaningful protections for old-growth, listed species, water quality, and recreation.
Challenge the fire argument. The BLM claims increased logging will reduce wildfire risk. The science says the opposite for industrial clearcutting and plantation management. Say so.
Raise the streamside buffers. Twenty-five-foot buffers are a joke for protecting endangered salmon and steelhead. The agency knows this. Call it out.
Defend the ACECs. The BLM is required to reevaluate all existing Areas of Critical Environmental Concern in the planning area. That’s over 100 designated areas. If you’ve visited any of them, say so. If they matter to you, say so.
Name the places you care about. Valley of the Giants. Mary’s Peak. Alsea Falls. The Sandy River. The North Fork Clackamas. The Upper Molalla. Personal connections to specific places carry real weight in NEPA proceedings.
Demand public meetings. The BLM has said it doesn’t intend to hold any. That’s unacceptable for a decision of this magnitude. Tell them.
6.
In the current time of protests and strikes, the question arises whether they ‘do any good,’ or effect any change. On February 12, India experienced one of the largest days of protest in its recent history: a nationwide general strike called under the slogan “Bharat Bandh” (Shut Down India) by an alliance of unions, peasant organizations, and grassroots groups. Various sectors of workers — from the private sector, public employees, bank employees, and farmers — paralyzed activities across the country, protesting labor reforms, the privatization offensive implemented by Narendra Modi’s government, and the consequences of the new interim trade agreement between India and the United States.
The strike affected banks, government offices, transportation, industries, and services across various states. Demonstrations and road blockades took place in several cities, while in rural areas, farmers organized rallies and protests against what they described as an economic policy serving the interests of large corporations.
On March 28, we, too, can shut it down. NO KINGS is back. There will be many locations stretching along Oracle Road from Tucson to Oro Valley, at at Speedway & Country Club, and at Reid Park. More info soon!
7.
For your listening pleasure, and something totally different than the blues, country, or Americana, check out this piece by Maarten Roels titled Suske en Wiske (Olga & Sonja). I was a hired gun on this one, playing the accordion.
8.
Dropped By Birds’ normal first Tuesday gig at Sonora Moonshine Company has been moved to Thursday, March 5 next week due to scheduling conflicts. We’ll have the usual cast of characters on stage and hopefully the usual cast of characters in the audience.
And now…
