Because there’s so much going on–personally, locally, and globally–I’ve been scarce around these parts. Whenever this blog and community popped in my head, I’d gently chastise myself for my absence and make a vague vow to post soon. This isn’t the “Hello again, WordPress!” post I’d envisioned (think high-interest personal story or gorgeous nature photography), but this latest development in the fascist playbook must be documented.

I just learned that while millions go hungry and people live in their cars (if they’re lucky), the Department of Homeland Security wants to spend up to $20 million to equip ICE agents with electric shock gloves. The so-called G.L.O.V.E. is manufactured by Compliant Technologies in Lexington, Kentucky, and is already used by some jails and police departments. (If you’ve been wondering if there’s a better alternative to ongoing state violence, I highly recommend Derecka Purnell’s book “Becoming Abolitionists,” which you can sample here.) These electric-shock gloves can be turned on or off with a button, and deliver a shock similar to a Taser (another horrific tool of violence employed by police). The only “positive” around Tasers is they’re higher profile, meaning bystanders can clearly see when a person is being “tased.” These tools of torture look like regular work gloves and throw the door wide open to already violence-prone agents to mete out additional horrific abuse.

Don’t worry, though. Per the linked AP article, Compliant Technologies offers a stern warning with the gloves:

• they should not be used as punishment
• they should not be used against people merely exhibiting “verbal defiance or belligerence”
• they should not be used against high-risk populations such as children, pregnant women or elderly or disabled people

I feel all better, don’t you? We know, for instance, how easy it is to identify a pregnant woman no matter how far along she is in her pregnancy.

Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, deputy project director on policing at the American Civil Liberties Union, summed it up: “ICE spent the last year showing this country they are too quick to use force. Now they will be able to deploy electric shocks with the slight push of a button that maybe nobody else can see them do. Introducing gloves that can so easily be used to deliver terrible pain in encounters is a recipe for harm to the public.”

Every single day, another violent and depraved action on the part of this fascist regime. To quote Dorothy Parker: What fresh hell is this?