Relative Something

*this* John W. Hays' take on things and experiences

Posts Tagged ‘Federal ICE agents

Random Distractions

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Despite the smothering grief we are feeling over the murder by federal ICE agents, and the incendiary rhetoric being spewed from the White House ever since, Cyndie and I trudged through yesterday with faith that those intent on hurting others will never fully extinguish LOVE.

Living in a rural area while choosing to abstain from guzzling at the firehose of news broadcasts tends to leave us feeling disconnected from the rest of the world about how like-minded folks are responding to the extrajudicial killing of Renee Nicole Good.

I struggled to focus on most tasks I attempted, but managed to distract myself for a while with some meditative jigsaw puzzling.

It was above freezing most of the day, and it was fun to see the horses romping in the snow that remained in the hay field. We had removed their blankets for the day to give them a break from the artificial covering. It’s wonderful to see them rolling around on the ground to scratch their itches and feel the direct contact with the ground again.

By their dinnertime, we learned rain was expected, so Cyndie put a rain sheet on Mia. The other three needed to figure out the simple act of staying under the overhang to stay dry. We know Swings does it, but we worry that Mix doesn’t tend to demonstrate those same smarts.

Before we went to bed last night, it was raining like a spring shower again. That’s almost as depressing as having ICE agents destroying citizens’ lives every day.

Cyndie took a picture of Asher with his squeaky/krinkly campfire chew toy in his mouth, standing beyond her red waxed Amaryllis bulb and her wooden roses puzzle, which Elysa helped her assemble the previous weekend.

Red, red, and red!

We find ourselves looking for any distraction in a storm. The likelihood that things will continue to get worse before they get better weighs heavily on both of us.

Cyndie left voice messages on phones at the offices of our representatives, expressing her anguish and dissatisfaction with the illegal activities of the masked immigration agents. We have not ruled out finding a protest that we can attend to offer solidarity with others equally despondent over Renee’s murder.

The days end up being a blur of sadness and frustration, mixed with the contrast of love and hope we are striving to conjure up to feed the world.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love

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Sadly Predictable

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Unfortunately, we all knew there was a high likelihood that the Federal ICE agents’ escalating actions and repeated violations of citizens’ rights would eventually lead to shots being fired. That doesn’t make it any less horrific that they murdered someone in broad daylight while witnesses recorded video of the act yesterday in Minneapolis, MN.

Just to make things even more disgusting, our government quickly released a fabricated cover version of the incident to justify the killing.

It’s heartbreaking and soul-crushing to live through the unraveling of law and order and the grim, methodical destruction of our democracy. Is there any way to reverse this evil plot?

I don’t think all the king’s horses and all the king’s men will ever be able to put our Humpty democracy back together again.

R.I.P Renee Nicole Good

May LOVE save us all.

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Written by johnwhays

January 8, 2026 at 7:00 am