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ICE officers stopped by our farm yesterday.

“We need to inspect your property for illegal aliens,” one of them said.

I replied, “Alright, but whatever you do, don’t go into that field over there.”

The officer in charge exploded.

“Mister, I have the authority of the federal government behind me!” he barked, reaching into his back pocket. He yanked out a badge and shoved it in my face.

“See this fucking badge? This badge means I can go wherever I want on ANY land. No questions asked, no answers given. Am I clear? Do you understand?”

I nodded politely and said, “Be my guest.”

Then I went back to my chores.

About ten minutes later, I heard screaming. I looked up and saw six ICE agents running for their lives, being chased by my big, mean, old bull. And with every step, that bull was closing in. Fast.

It looked like they were about to get gored for sure.

So I dropped my tools, ran over to the fence, and shouted at the top of my lungs:

“YOUR BADGE! SHOW HIM YOUR FUCKING BADGE!”

ICE don't show their badges. Farmer is arrested. Bull is shot.

Or bull is arrested and farmer shot, it’s all the same to them.

ICE officers stopped by our farm yesterday.

“We need to inspect your property for illegal aliens,” one of them said.

I replied, “Alright, but whatever you do, don’t go into that field over there.”

The officer in charge exploded.

“Mister, I have the authority of the federal government behind me!” he barked, reaching into his back pocket. He yanked out a badge and shoved it in my face.

“See this fucking badge? This badge means I can go wherever I want on ANY land. No questions asked, no answers given. Am I clear? Do you understand?”

I nodded politely and said, “Be my guest.”

Then I went back to my chores.

About ten minutes later, I heard screaming. I looked up and saw six ICE agents running for their lives, being chased by my big, mean, old bull. And with every step, that bull was closing in. Fast.

It looked like they were about to get gored for sure.

So I dropped my tools, ran over to the fence, and shouted at the top of my lungs:

“YOUR BADGE! SHOW HIM YOUR FUCKING BADGE!”

As I'm sure everyone is aware: this post is humour and is not -in fact- true.

There are two things that should have tipped off alert PBers.

Firstly, I am a city person, and avoid farms like the plague.
Secondly, ICE officers never show identification.

ICE officers stopped by our farm yesterday.

“We need to inspect your property for illegal aliens,” one of them said.

I replied, “Alright, but whatever you do, don’t go into that field over there.”

The officer in charge exploded.

“Mister, I have the authority of the federal government behind me!” he barked, reaching into his back pocket. He yanked out a badge and shoved it in my face.

“See this fucking badge? This badge means I can go wherever I want on ANY land. No questions asked, no answers given. Am I clear? Do you understand?”

I nodded politely and said, “Be my guest.”

Then I went back to my chores.

About ten minutes later, I heard screaming. I looked up and saw six ICE agents running for their lives, being chased by my big, mean, old bull. And with every step, that bull was closing in. Fast.

It looked like they were about to get gored for sure.

So I dropped my tools, ran over to the fence, and shouted at the top of my lungs:

“YOUR BADGE! SHOW HIM YOUR FUCKING BADGE!”

Young Europeans losing faith in democracy, poll finds

Support is lowest in France, Spain and Poland, while 21% back authoritarian rule under certain circumstances

Only half of young people in France and Spain believe that democracy is the best form of government, with support even lower among their Polish counterparts, a study has found.

A majority from Europe’s generation Z – 57% – prefer democracy to any other form of government. Rates of support varied significantly, however, reaching just 48% in Poland and only about 51-52% in Spain and France, with Germany highest at 71%.

More than one in five – 21% – would favour authoritarian rule under certain, unspecified circumstances. This was highest in Italy at 24% and lowest in Germany with 15%. In France, Spain and Poland the figure was 23%.

Nearly one in 10 across the nations said they did not care whether their government was democratic or not, while another 14% did not know or did not answer.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jul/04/young-europeans-losing-faith-in-democracy-poll-finds

The impact of the nihilism and cynicism of the media/industrial complex is clear here. In a way it is a good thing, since it forces the proponents of democracy to make a positive case. However, when we still see lazy nonsense- "Reform will storm the next election"- leading the news agenda, then it should remind us that there are still plenty of headwinds.

Reform will not be able to come close to being the next government and may well even disappear before the next general election even happens. Lib Dems learned the lesson of the Alliance- you have to win seats, not votes. Reform and the Popular People´s front of Judea (Sultana Branch) have yet to show that they understand this. The county elections for Reform may well be like the last European Parliament elections for UKIP- a flash in the pan, but of remarkably little long term significance.

In the meantime, the case for a responsive, inclusive and open democracy still needs to be made and electoral reform is only part of the package.

While like you I want Reform to disappear, and I voted Lib Dem in the Locals partially because they were the best placed candidate to defeat Reform, the idea "Reform will not be able to come close to being the next government" is entirely false I'm afraid.

Will they form the next government? Probably not.
Will they come close to it? Probably not.

Is it possible they are able to? Absolutely.

The threat is real and needs to be defeated. Don't count your chickens. Anyone standing 326+ candidates is able to form the next government if they get enough people to vote for them.