An excellent read about the possibility of #InsurrectionAct implementation (and if it happens, I'll expect both the border with Mexico AND the border with Canada to be hot-spots. And Maine is a border state...)

What to do if the #InsurrectionAct is invoked

With the Insurrection Act looming, now is the time to learn how it might unfold and the strategic ways to respond — including the power of ridicule.

Daniel Hunter, April 4, 2025

"With President Trump constantly flooding the zone, there’s a chance to think ahead about the possible implementation of the Insurrection Act. One of Trump’s presidential actions calls for the Secretary of Defense and Homeland Security to submit a joint report by April 20. The report will offer 'any recommendations regarding additional actions that may be necessary to obtain complete operational control of the southern border, including whether to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807.'

"President Trump loves direct control and so it strikes me that invoking the Insurrection Act is very likely. This occasionally used provision empowers the president, with few legal limitations, to deploy U.S. military and federalized National Guard troops inside the country.

"Part of Trump’s power resides in constantly growing the myth he can get away with anything. Even when he loses or retreats, he buries the news cycle, with the goal of leaving people feeling more fear than awe. So, when we first hear about the Insurrection Act, it may trigger our alarmism. But better to face it now, before it comes, than learn about it on-the-fly.

"With that in mind, I’m going to walk through some mechanisms of the Insurrection Act, then offer lessons from previously held strategy sessions I took part in that played out various scenarios. I will also offer a few suggestions for activists about what to do about it.

What is the Insurrection Act?

"The Insurrection Act is a dusty law that has gone without updates for 200 years. The original text states: 'That in all cases of insurrection, or obstruction to the laws… the president of the United States [can] call forth the militia [or armed forces] for the purpose of suppressing such insurrection.' (Technically, it is now not just one law but a series of statutes in #Title10 of the U.S. code.)

"One might wonder what the law defines as an 'insurrection,' and it’s woefully undefined. Updated modern language merely calls it 'unlawful obstructions, combinations, or assemblages, or rebellions.' While the Supreme Court has upheld that the president alone can decide the meaning of these words, it reserved for itself a chance to review the constitutionality of the military’s actions. But the courts would have to enforce that provision."

[...]

"Humor is key for morale and exposing the vulnerability of the strongman image. When Russia effectively banned protests, activists in the Siberian city of Barnaul organized a 'toy protest.' Lego characters and tiny figurines took to the streets. (The humor only grew as the police clumsily 'arrested' all the figurines.)

"After Milošević accused the nonviolent movement Otpor! of terrorism, they organized 'terrorist fashion shows' — where regular folks stood up in their casual every-day wear. ('Clearly a terrorist — look at his glasses! He must be a reader.') Or after their offices were raided, they made a very public 'reentry' into their building with a moving van full of boxes. Media trailed them. As expected, police stopped the van and took the boxes. This turned to humiliation, as police lifted the boxes … and found them all empty, leaving Otpor! the opportunity to say: 'They are fearful of everything.' "

Read more:
https://wagingnonviolence.org/2025/04/what-to-do-if-the-insurrection-act-is-invoked/

NOT JUST MAINE! #USDA ending local purchasing programs for #Maine #FoodBanks and #schools

#MainePublic | By Nicole Ogrysko
Published March 12, 2025

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture is ending two national programs that help food banks and schools in Maine — and around the country — purchase produce from local farmers.

"USDA told Maine officials and partners late last week that it has terminated the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program. It helped #GoodShepherd Food Bank buy produce from about 100 Maine farmers, which is then distributed to local food banks around the state.

"'That program is incredibly important to the state of Maine, both in food today — food that we source and distribute today — and in food tomorrow, which is the economic viability for those 100 #farmers and for our partner agencies to experience fresh, nutritious produce," said Good Shepherd President Heather Paquette.

"At the same time, Paquette said the food bank recently learned that USDA will stop delivering about 1 million pounds of food through the Emergency Food Assistance Program to Maine. Those deliveries are on hold for Good Shepherd — and food banks around the country — through at least June.

"Paquette said the USDA delivery represented about 20% of food that Good Shepherd moves around the state.

"The cuts — both to government food deliveries and to funds that Good Shepherd used to buy local produce — are concerning, Paquette said, because more Mainers are experiencing #FoodInsecurity.

"Our need is up every year," she said. 'This year we distributed 10% more food cases than we distributed the year before that, and that year was 10% over the [prior] year. So we're experiencing double-digit need increase in the state of Maine.'

"A spokesperson for the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry said the state received about $1.3 million for the Local Food Purchase Assistance program.

"USDA has also terminated the Local Food for Schools program, which provided more than $720,000 last year to Maine schools. Schools used those funds to buy food directly from local farmers to serve in their cafeterias.

"The program provided a big boost to the state's farmers, because more than 100,000 students eat at Maine schools every day, said Anna Korsen of the food security non-profit Full Plates Full Potential.

"'That has a huge impact on local economies, on #SmallFarms, and it's just better for kids," she said. 'The food's healthier, they're getting fresh, local foods in the school cafeteria.'

"A spokesperson for Maine's Department of Education said the state was expected to receive nearly $2.8 million for the Local #FoodForSchools program over the next three years. The funding was supposed to be disbursed later this spring.

"Maine still has a statewide local food purchasing program for schools. But Korsen said the federal program provided more purchasing power for Maine schools. In 2023 before Maine received federal #LFS funding, schools in the Pine Tree State spent just more than $168,000 on local food, Korsen said.

"These USDA programmatic cuts are separate from those that the department is making at the University of Maine System [which were just reversed]. And unlike those impacting UMaine, the termination of USDA's local purchasing programs affects food banks and schools around the country."

https://www.mainepublic.org/business-and-economy/2025-03-12/usda-ending-local-purchasing-programs-for-maine-food-banks-and-schools
#KillThePoor #USPol #MadKingTrump #RESIST! #FoodIsLife #WorkingPoor #SNAP #SaveTheFarms