Home to my mother’s door. Push back the lock,
She will not open it___no use to knock.
A weight is on my breast; oh! never yet
Daughter at mother’s door such welcome met!No kiss upon my lips; no word, no sound,
No loving arms reach out to clasp me round,
I cross the threshold to a solemn room,
Peopled with shadows, silent as the tomb.The heavy air is chill___no fire, no light;
Only pale sunshine, streaming thin and white
Through the bare panes upon the naked floor.
I shrink and shiver___do not shut the door!Tread lightly on the creaking boards, speak low;
Start not the hollow echoes; well I know
They sleep in every corner. Do not call,
Lest they should answer loudly, one and all.Her voice is still. ‘Twas here I heard it last___
Here by the door. The tears fell thick and fast
From both our eyes; to-day the drops run o’er
From only mine; and she___she weeps no more.This was her bedroom; it was here, you say,
She laid in silence all that summer day.
With roses (how she loved them!) at her head,
Wreathed on the wall and strewn upon her bed.Now she lies yonder, and a somber pall
The dead leaves weave above her as they fall;
The rains that beat, the autmn winds that blow,
Are making ready shrouds of snow.Whatever covers her she still sleeps well
But oh! these silent rooms; I can not tell
Why their cold emptiness should move me so;
I can not bear it longer___let us go.
Everyday Normal Guy
by Jon Lajoie
ID fines for “mistakes”
The UK is trying to pass a law that would issue a £1,000 fine for IDs with inaccurate information
Women who change their name after marriage could face fines of up to £1,000 if they fail to tell the government, under new proposals.
Anyone with a biometric passport or ID card will be required to notify the National Identity Register of changes to the personal data it holds.
On the other hand, clearly there are situations where a single card may not be able to reflect concrete information:
And people undergoing a sex change will be entitled to two ID cards.
Can a person with two homes get two cards? You might laugh, but there are cases being considered where “moving around” is acceptable for a home address:
Homeless people wanting ID cards may be able to give their home address as a bench, bus stop or park where they are often found.
A whole park? What if they just list the neighborhood or city? I am often found in Washington DC…
US Kosher Meat Shortage
Israel National News reports that a shortage of kosher meat is turning US Jews into vegetarians:
The bankruptcy of the kosher meatpacking plant Agriprocessors, the largest American kosher meat operation, has forced many Jews to go vegetarian amid kosher-food shortages and soaring prices.
[…]
Agriprocessors, operating under bankruptcy laws, still is producing at a limited rate. This too may cease, however, because hundreds of the plant’s workers are unable to pay their electricity bills and may have to leave their homes soon. The local energy company has agreed to a week’s delay before cutting off power to the workers’ homes but employees will not be able to stay in their houses without power as the winter approaches.
ICE agents raided the meat plant in May and arrested almost 400 workers on charges of being illegal immigrants. The company now faces millions of dollars in fines. Risk management at Agriprocessors was clearly askew.
The detainees included 290 who claimed to be Guatemalans, 93 Mexicans, three Israelis and four Ukrainians. Among the detained were 12 juveniles, six of whom have been released.
[…]
Inside the meatpacking plant on Monday morning, workers heard the agents before they saw them. The woman said a call came over the loudspeaker, announcing that ICE was in the plant. Many in the plant tried to hide. Some ran.
“No one had a clue” a raid was coming, she said in Spanish, despite rumors during the weekend that were discussed at an immigration-rights advocates’ meeting in Waterloo. “Everyone scampered, everyone tried to get away.”
ICE agents with pistols called for those hiding to come out. “Once they knew they couldn’t get away, they came down from their hiding places,” she said.
The agents grouped those with identification from those without it, then put the second group in single-file lines. They were frisked, told to remove any sweaters or heavy garments and shackled – handcuffs were placed on their wrists and attached to their waists, and their feet were cuffed as well.
“There was no mistreatment,” she said. “They told us to sit. We sat.”
Interesting to now see the larger/macro-economic impact of these raids. Although it is understandable how some want strict controls like cuffs and immediate deportation, the reality now shows many may find the domestic welfare actually hurting instead of benefiting from harsh tactics.