Manny Moreno Reports Directly From California: Ice Now In Indigenous Homes Areas - Where Most Citizens Live

 

S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has launched a surge of immigration enforcement operations across California’s Central Valley, leading to over 100 to 200 arrests of farmworkers and community members. 

Key Details of the Central Valley ICE Operations

 • Timeline & Scope: 

The surge began in early October 2026, affecting cities and rural areas including Fresno, Madera, Selma, Reedley, Mendota, Kerman, and Bakersfield. 

• Impact on Communities: 

Local leaders, school districts, and community groups report dropped school attendance, closed businesses, and widespread fear among undocumented and immigrant families. 

• Legal and Access Concerns: 

Immigration attorneys and advocates from the UFW Foundation report that detainees have faced delayed or blocked access to legal counsel, difficulties locating individuals in the ICE detainee locator database, and rapid transfers to other facilities—some as far away as Texas. • Official Response: Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE spokespersons have declined to discuss specific operational details, stating that federal law enforcement carries out nationwide immigration laws daily.

~~~~~~

I can use some good thoughts sent for me. I'm not mean to anyone. Just trying to live humbly and to give back. But need help to do that. It's an ongoing need and process to get anything done.

Have a blessed day with much healing.

~~~

FENCE

There's a fence--

With missing boards--

That wraps around

This village

Dividing us from

THEM living on

The other side

Living the American Dream

In modern homes

Two car garages

Pretty lawns in front

Where kids play

Outside

On the streets

Where dogs

Are walked leashed

On clean sidewalks

Where homes

Aren't cluttered with

Cars on blocks and debris

On my side

I can only

IMAGINE

The American Dream

~~~

DOING WHAT THEY GOT TO DO

Four a.m.

The village silence is broken by

Pickup doors slamming

Engines warming up

Mexican neighbors talking

Mariachis on the radio

Heading to work

To jobs that don't

Pay much

But they do

What they

Got to do

A wife

And children

In school

The ticket to what they believe

Will break the shackles

Of their poverty

Dreamers

The rent

Utilities

Food

Gas and the

Unexpected too

Each month takes all their pay

Minimum wage

Is not the way

To pull yourself

Up by the bootstraps

I live alone and

Barely make it

Social Security

Bare necessities

Sometimes I don't

Sometimes I panic

A childhood memory

Southes my wounded

Soul on a rainy night.

~~~~~

Good day...

I woke up when the sun was rising, drank some water, and sent my voice out to give thanks, and for others, and for our world.
Because I choose to.

Are your elders and seniors being helped when they need it? Or do you only help to get noticed and admired? Or not at all?

If you're trying to be a leader of your people, then start by being a good person.

Have a blessed day with much healing

The sound of the first drum beat came from the heart.

https://www.facebook.com/YAQUIME

VOTE

All I want to know is when does somebody stop this insanity?!

Gabby

Poet John Herlihy Visits With "I Have Spent My Entire Life," "At the Heart of Reality," "Things That Matter," And More!

 

I Have Spent My Entire Life

by John Herlihy

I have spent my entire life,

Preparing to write these words.

I have lived my entire life,

In the shadow of beautiful birds.

I have walked a lonely way,

In the valley of mountain peaks.

I seek a message to convey,

By the side of lonesome creeks.

I am not afraid to be alone,

Content to keep my own company.

My life pared to the bone,

Attempting to unveil life’s mystery.

A journey on distant roads,

Making efforts some future to avail.

To carry my own loads,

To purposefully into the future sail.

In the course of a lifetime,

There is still more time to come

A life I claim as mine

A tapestry I myself have spun

- - - - -

Copyright © John Herlihy

Saturday 24 January 2026

At the Heart of Reality

by John Herlihy

________________________________________

Ah, how I wish to find the right words—  

words that can strike at the heart of reality,  

an unquestioned reality that draws us in  

under the merciful folds of its soft blanket.

 

We seldom see the true nature of reality,  

To witness the reality that lies unseen  

beneath the shiny surfaces of the day’s unreality,  

waiting to make itself known, waiting to gleam.

 

A reality unseen by the outer senses—  

something to hear without really listening,  

to be touched when no one there touching,  

a fine smell that brings about a fresh awakening.

 

We are surrounded by so‑called realities,  

subtle unknown realities waiting to be known,  

truths that whisper, suggest, unveil themselves—  

a reality that feels comfortable once made known.

 

Why do we allow ourselves to live on the fringe,  

floating on waters that keep us on the surface,  

content with what the five physical senses tell us—  

until suddenly a door opens wide as if unhinged?

 

As if once blind, now seeing for the first time;  

once deaf, now hearing melodies sublime;  

to be touched as if never touched before;  

to taste life’s nectar—and now you want more.

 

We all want secrets in our minds to hold,  

secrets we treasure when we are finally told,  

to be singled out to receive such a valued gift—  

a secret no one else knows, a secret that hearts uplift.

 

A secret that brings forth a bud into bloom,  

a secret that turns a caterpillar into a butterfly,  

a speck of light in the waters of a deep well,  

a soothing resonance echoing from a tolling bell.

 

The next time you awaken, be sure to think again  

of all the hidden wonders that might have been—  

of what lies deep within the heart of life’s mystery,  

truths to be found within the heart of life’s reality.

~~~~~~

Copyright © John Herlihy  

Saturday 1 August 2026

Things That Matter

by John Herlihy

 

When I look around me my eyes feel like wool,

What do I see but many things empty or full.

Things don't exist in my life that could matter, 

Other things exist in my life that do matter.

Not sure where this poem may finally lead,

Let us think carefully before we proceed.

 

First, let me consider a future full of hope,

A future soon to arrive pulled by time's rope.

Hope there in the mind unwilling to depart,

That soon seeps down to nestle in the heart.

Hope may be in doubt but it never truly hides, 

There pulsating in the heart where it resides.

 

Second, let me consider the value of a friend,

A true friend I dare say always there to the end.

A friend who arrives our appointments to keep,

Someone to share my sorrow and with me weep.

Who keep their promises extended on borrow,

A lifetime friend always there as if no tomorrow.

 

Third, let me consider the value of my trust,

Encased in fortified steel that will never rust.

A trust between two people forever to bind,

A covenant that holds people closer and kind. 

Such a treasured commodity exceedingly rare,

In this day and age: who do I trust? Do I dare?

 

Fourth, let me consider prime virtues to uphold, 

Patience one of them that is beautiful I am told.

Generosity for another never to be fully reckoned, 

Sincerity that from recesses in the heart beckoned.

Let us not forget the oft forgotten virtue of kindness, 

That will surely lead us to the state of peacefulness.

 

In addition, let us consider a condition called solitude,

A state of being that offers the serenity of quietude.

A quietude that raps us in its warm embrace,

A return to our natural state that feels like grace.

The beauty of being with oneself, totally alone,

Reduced to bare essence like a sculpted bone.

 

Finally, let me consider the blessing of love, 

With all the purity and innocence of a dove.

A love that captures us and holds us aloft,

The pulse of love with fingers tender and soft.

Love's intimacy takes us to places unknown,

The mystery of love, of shadows and light sewn.

 

These just some of the things that really matter,

Some – not all – of the things that really matter.

Each of us has a duty to carefully think within,

To fill our cup of held values to the very brim.

Let us not race about like some mad hatter,

Uphold and live all the things that truly matter.

- - - - -

Copyright © John Herlihy

Wednesday 21 January 2026

The Wonder of Life’s Mystery

by John Herlihy

 

A story is written

A story for each of us

A story we don’t know

A story we come to know

Shoes for walking that we fill

Choices we make of free will

Eyes with visions that we see

Ears that listen to life’s melody

Actions we pay for in life’s store

Days that crash upon life’s shore

Values we foster at our discretion

Answers we find we never question

A fabric we sew as an earned destiny

Born from the wonder of life’s mystery

- - - - -

Copyright © John Herlihy

Saturday 24 January 2026

 

Poet John Herlihy Presents for Your Pleasure - Poetic Words to Ponder...

 

Some Ideas Take Time by John Herlihy Some ideas need a little time to take root, Like a weary foot settling into an old boot. First they dig deep, then begin to take rest , As if realizing they are at home in their nest. How do all these ideas spring from nowhere, The mind at rest, then suddenly they are there. All those negative ideas that serve as a ploy, Settle in dark hallways with intent to annoy, The mind itself seems to be set up as a maze, Happy thoughts gone wrong as if in a daze. Taking the wrong turn into some dark corner, Lost in the dark maze, ending up like a goner. Oh, give me an idea that can stand on its own, Just a little, innocent, sweet idea fully grown. - - - - Copyright © John Herlihy Friday 9 January 2026 Is Language Innocent? by John Herlihy   Every door has a crack, To let in potential light. Every light has a shadow, A ghost moon in the night.   My honest take Must have a dishonest take. My sincere apology Must have an insincere apology.   Let me speak plainly Suggests you could speak less plainly. If only you knew Raises the specter of what you don’t know.   I call it as it is What about as it is not? I must confess A whole lot you don’t confess.   Under no circumstances Leaves room for certain circumstances. I never assume Until I do assume.   In any case Belies that one certain case. If truth to tell Ya, what about lies that tell.   Tell me a lie And I will infer the truth. Tell me the truth And I will defer the lie.   We think language oh so innocent When in fact, language oh so guilty Every statement has an equivalent The cloth of language feels oh so silky - - - - - Copyright © John Herlihy Thursday 12 March 2026

A Simple Truth

by John Herlihy

All we need is simple truth

To cut through the thick of things;

All we have is knowledge and will—

Spears thrown into the heart of things.

Knowledge shows us the way,

Free will leads us down the path;

Our choices always have their say,

Footprints left behind in the aftermath.

Truth as a fixed reality is simple;

We, as a fluid reality, are complex.

In the smile of life lies a dimple,

As slyly we are put to the test.

Knowledge as a beautiful flower,

Pictures painted as fine art;

Our free will holds unique power

To make a choice, then depart.

Knowledge is well arranged;

Presented to us is a choice.

We choose, and things are changed—

If not to despair, then to rejoice.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood;

The roads have knowledge, we the will—

To see what’s possible, to do what we could,

To make things happen by force of will.

The fabric of destiny made through choice,

Threads woven through life’s tapestry;

Either yes or no given its true voice—

The answer to unveil life’s mystery.

What is it that we finally choose—

What to believe, how to behave?

We choose to live, we choose to lose;

We choose a simple truth that saves.

—

Copyright © John Herlihy

Friday, 26 June 2026

We Never Do Know

by John Herlihy

We never do know what the future might bring,

We only come to know when the future arrives.

To know the future would hearts flutter or sing,

Knowledge that betokens if we are dead or alive.

Then the perennial question of wheres and whens,

Lost chances, unlikely prospects, the never agains.

We never know what may over the horizon arise,

Heaven-sent blessing that may fall from the skies.

They say that it is not the person that seeks luck,

Rather a lucky chance that seeks out the person.

Let your fishing hook fall quietly into the stream,

When you least expect it, a hooked fish will gleam.

Let the future bring with it, come whatever may,

The world but a bauble and we humans are at play.

- - - - -

Copyright © John Herlihy

Wednesday 24 December 2025

John, Me and the Cats thank you for speaking truth in the midst of chaos and lies...

It helps to know others see what we see...

Or is it...just...

No Matter...It's a Wonderful Interlude...

Gabby