Posted On: Monday - January 26th 2026 9:31AM MST
In Topics: Commies Lefty MegaStupidity Global Climate Stupidity Trump ctrl-left Bible/Religion
These wack-jobs, some of them allegedly men-'o-God, women-'o-God even, were out there blocking traffic in front of the Lindbergh Terminal* (Terminal 1, if you're in a hurry) of Minneapolis-St. Paul airport. I get that you want to have your say, to redress some grievances, but people going to the airport, MOST OF THEM, are in a hurry, and this is surely no way to Win Friends and Influence People.
The online National Catholic Reporter reported online that one Reverend Mariah Furness Tollgaard came from St. Paul to the protest. This clergywoman of the Hamline Church said, per the NCR:
... police ordered them to leave but she and others decided to stay and be arrested to show support for migrants, including members of her congregation who are afraid to leave their homes. She planned to go back to her church after her brief detention to hold a prayer vigil.Harboring
"We cannot abide living under this federal occupation of Minnesota," Tollgaard said.Well, no, I wouldn't feel comfortable with that either were I aiding, abetting, and harboring illegal alien criminals.**
The Rev. Elizabeth Barish Browne traveled from Cheyenne, Wyoming, to participate in the rally in downtown Minneapolis, where the high temperature was minus 9 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 23 degrees Celsius) despite a bright sun.Unitarian! There ya' go! I'd thought we were talking about real clergypersons here. She does puns though, so there's that...
"What's happening here is clearly immoral," the Unitarian Universalist minister said. "It's definitely chilly, but the kind of ice that's dangerous to us is not the weather."
Note the temperature cited. Yeah, the sun was shining that day, but the wind has been blowing too. I have been in the northern regions lately, and I don't like it. It's not so bad when the wind stops. Going from a location with an outside air temperature of -13F to one at 13F felt like setting foot in Florida... well, OK, not south Florida, but how about Destin or Panama City?
I know, people are used to this. Peak Stupidity may even have some readers from places as cold as Minneapolis, Minnesota. WTH is wrong with you?! Anyway, but I do assume all our readers are not Communist agitators. People, we are not just experiencing a fast moving frontal system, per that old White man weathersplainin'! No, this is a NAMED winter storm, called Fern. The Climate Calamity is in full progress, and Fern is one nasty part of it.
Winter month Highs average in the mid-20's F, but it's been a lot colder. Who in his right mind picks Minnesota in January for the date(s) of a protest anyway, or were they counting on Global Boiling? I don't think these Commies are in their right minds. OTOH, they may not all know better, having come from all over the country, supported with money from all over the the world. Was that the case - this external monetary support - with the Communists in Russia 108-109 years back or those in Germany a century ago? (This seems a good question to be answered by Ron Unz in an American Pravda, no make that Russian Pravda article. He likes delving into that kind of history.)
AI tells me it was a normal harsh Russian winter in 1917-'18. The recent average highs for the 3 (Three??) Winter months, all I really got, are very close to Minneapolis highs, though I imagine there's more cloudiness in Moscow, which would explain why the average lows for the 3 months are higher in Moscow. You don't need to protest at night, as ICE and the Czars, respectively, would be resting.
However, the main location of the Russian Revolution was in Petrograd, which we call St. Petersburg.
Finally, I left it out until now for effect, but that Russian Revolution is called the October Revolution. Check out the Highs for October in these locales. It's not a picnic, but October is a much better month during which to hold a revolution in your strongholds, such as St. Petersburg, Moscow, Berlin, or Minneapolis.
In that weather up there, I really doubt people come out to protest based on ideology alone. These people are getting paid. They've likely been told, "No agitation, no renumeration!" ("No, DON'T put that on the signs, people!") The only other explanation is that they are plain retards, like this well-known Minnesoootaaan:
Now, ZeroHedge posted another article today on these protests.
As we go to print here in the midst of Winter Storm Fern, that doesn't sound like a half bad idea, for all of us. Pre-heat to 110F and put in a big fat turkey in there with me, and I'm good.
From the guy with the pink hat:
“I’m not saying they’re Dachau. I’m not saying they’re putting people in ovens — yet — but these are concentration camps. I don’t need to argue with you about that.”History sure does rhyme, if you make it so. These Commies may be stupid or they may be lying. They may or may not understand that last time around, a century ago, the biggest reason the Nazis came to power was that they were the only people doing a good job taking on the Communists. Do we want to let it go that far?
* The other, smaller terminal, where Southwest, Sun Country, and others parked, is named the Humphrey terminal after old Hubert, former Vice President, Senator of Minnesota and Mayor of Minneapolis. I wonder what that guy would think of these people were he alive today...
** Yes, redundancy alert there. It does worry me when Trump & Co. say "illegal alien criminals". All illegal aliens are criminal by definition. Many legalized immigrants are criminals too... take the Somalian Community, please!
*** Since there is no "Normal" climate, a 30 years back to current year average is often used by NOAA.
Comments:
Hail
Wednesday - January 28th 2026 11:23PM MST
PS
(from "Is Donald Trump Playing 27-Dimensional Chess?" discussion)
"A government run by ignorant idiots does lots of strange and stupid things." -- Ron Unz, January 2026, describing Trump-2 at about its one-year mark.
_________
Ron Unz is a contrarian. He plays up his contrarianism in his Unz.com output and engagement with commenters. It's something fun for him, evidently.
As a Californian born in the 1960s (among other personal characteristics), it's possible or likely Mr Unz has long since abandoned a notion of a White America ideal. It's an ideal or default which much of the rest of America HAS had. It's something the rest of the USA could realistically sustain a lot longer than California was able to. In 2019, I got interested in when California's political-demographic tipping point was. There's no definite answer to such a question except that it's clearly MANY decades in the past now.
The White-America ideal, though, fueled the Trump movement over the past ten years. It continues to give the Trump/MAGA brand its magic power, despite all the Trump flaws. The "Orange Man" is actually a bad leader, objectively, in some ways -- and dangerous to world peace, given that Israel controls his foreign policy (as of tonight there is talk of more bombing of Iran; again on a whim without any usual discussion or Congressional debate about war-powers; it's all absurd and saddening, because it didn't have to be this way; the USA's reputation is going to become even worse than Israel's at this rate, if it's not there already). On foreign policy, Trump really is dangerous, I think.
On domestic policy there are some undeniably good things going on, but I see it as a mixed bag when hype and news-cycle stuff is sifted out. It's disturbing to me that there has often been a lack of seriousness, moral clarity, consistency, and urgency. Too much petty drama and reality-tv, not enough serious push to get Migrants out; to get functional, two-parent White families created; Wokeness turned back.
(The reported arrest today of two dozen hardcore-agitators in the Alex Pretti network is the kind of thing that should've been happening long ago, but no one pushed the matter. Why?)
__________
It's likely Ron Unz dislikes Trump because Trump is a charismatic entertainer who pitches towards an even lower-brow audience than Dubya ever did. This rubs high-IQ Unz, with his Harvard degree, the wrong way.
Charismatic entertainment is a good way to sustain a movement, and the Trump personality cult thrives on it. But what really locks in Trump, for all his so many flaws, is the magic of the notion of White Survival and White Rebirth. Ideas attached at the core to the thing since 2015, but never really happening in the envisioned way.
(I believe most of the central figures involved with Trump-2 in positions of influence themselves don't believe in the White Restoration ideals. Not in a principled way. Even if they are willing to profit from them, they aren't really for them. So the whole thing feels a lot like a fraud at times. Trump will say something as incendiary as wants Somalis gone, but it's unclear towards what end, and there is no definite action taken. It's more "barstool ranter" talk, a term Unz came up with for Trump's whole persona years ago, possibly by or before 2018.)
(from "Is Donald Trump Playing 27-Dimensional Chess?" discussion)
"A government run by ignorant idiots does lots of strange and stupid things." -- Ron Unz, January 2026, describing Trump-2 at about its one-year mark.
_________
Ron Unz is a contrarian. He plays up his contrarianism in his Unz.com output and engagement with commenters. It's something fun for him, evidently.
As a Californian born in the 1960s (among other personal characteristics), it's possible or likely Mr Unz has long since abandoned a notion of a White America ideal. It's an ideal or default which much of the rest of America HAS had. It's something the rest of the USA could realistically sustain a lot longer than California was able to. In 2019, I got interested in when California's political-demographic tipping point was. There's no definite answer to such a question except that it's clearly MANY decades in the past now.
The White-America ideal, though, fueled the Trump movement over the past ten years. It continues to give the Trump/MAGA brand its magic power, despite all the Trump flaws. The "Orange Man" is actually a bad leader, objectively, in some ways -- and dangerous to world peace, given that Israel controls his foreign policy (as of tonight there is talk of more bombing of Iran; again on a whim without any usual discussion or Congressional debate about war-powers; it's all absurd and saddening, because it didn't have to be this way; the USA's reputation is going to become even worse than Israel's at this rate, if it's not there already). On foreign policy, Trump really is dangerous, I think.
On domestic policy there are some undeniably good things going on, but I see it as a mixed bag when hype and news-cycle stuff is sifted out. It's disturbing to me that there has often been a lack of seriousness, moral clarity, consistency, and urgency. Too much petty drama and reality-tv, not enough serious push to get Migrants out; to get functional, two-parent White families created; Wokeness turned back.
(The reported arrest today of two dozen hardcore-agitators in the Alex Pretti network is the kind of thing that should've been happening long ago, but no one pushed the matter. Why?)
__________
It's likely Ron Unz dislikes Trump because Trump is a charismatic entertainer who pitches towards an even lower-brow audience than Dubya ever did. This rubs high-IQ Unz, with his Harvard degree, the wrong way.
Charismatic entertainment is a good way to sustain a movement, and the Trump personality cult thrives on it. But what really locks in Trump, for all his so many flaws, is the magic of the notion of White Survival and White Rebirth. Ideas attached at the core to the thing since 2015, but never really happening in the envisioned way.
(I believe most of the central figures involved with Trump-2 in positions of influence themselves don't believe in the White Restoration ideals. Not in a principled way. Even if they are willing to profit from them, they aren't really for them. So the whole thing feels a lot like a fraud at times. Trump will say something as incendiary as wants Somalis gone, but it's unclear towards what end, and there is no definite action taken. It's more "barstool ranter" talk, a term Unz came up with for Trump's whole persona years ago, possibly by or before 2018.)
Dieter Kief
Wednesday - January 28th 2026 3:39PM MST
PS
Apropos Dr. Unz Mod.: I like the guy - not least bc. of his limitations, hehe - they result of the most rare conditions.
Nice wind-vid from a beautiful plâce Adam - thx.!
Apropos Dr. Unz Mod.: I like the guy - not least bc. of his limitations, hehe - they result of the most rare conditions.
Nice wind-vid from a beautiful plâce Adam - thx.!
Moderator
Wednesday - January 28th 2026 12:50PM MST
PS: Thanks for the comment, Mr. Hail. Again, I’m glad to see you’re back writing. I will start off with only one small thing. I think this endless news and people being swept up to support “Muh Team” started last century, when CNN had been around a while.
That network started out, as I was telling someone yesterday, as just a way to watch the “6:30 News” (PM, for those who have no idea), that is, the “national news” as the local news usually came on just afterwards, any time you wanted, in case you work different hours or just missed it last night. Then, with all that airtime on their hands CNN decided to have more programs, and some of them would get deep into these formerly 2 min/night stories, for hours, with people commenting on every aspect.
My Dad, who was completely Conservative, still watched that CNN after he retired, I guess along with Fox News, also on an endless loop. (Luckily, it didn’t affect his Conservative views one bit… somehow!)
Anyway, I think you’d better explain a thing or two to Ron Unz here -
https://www.unz.com/runz/is-donald-trump-playing-27-dimensional-chess/
Although he was just now very civil to me and more restrained in his views. I now am pretty certain that he’s just an Open Borders Globalist - you read there and tell me if you agree. It’s one thing, as is your thing, to detest Trump because he’s often a blowhard, gets distracted and doesn’t accomplish the job (I disagree a good bit wrt Trump-47), but Ron Unz seems to be against Trump because he IS doing part of the job.
I mean, the reason so many ICE guys are up there is that the Sanctimony City of Minneapolis will not (did not, if Tampon Timmah can be trusted… not something I would rely on) turn over illegal aliens based on Fed detainers.
Well, I hope you chime in there before Ron Unz gets on something else. I’ll give him this - he’s honest, even if clueless at times, and he still gives us a forum, even though I was pretty pissed off at him. He also seeks the truth, seemingly day and night.
That network started out, as I was telling someone yesterday, as just a way to watch the “6:30 News” (PM, for those who have no idea), that is, the “national news” as the local news usually came on just afterwards, any time you wanted, in case you work different hours or just missed it last night. Then, with all that airtime on their hands CNN decided to have more programs, and some of them would get deep into these formerly 2 min/night stories, for hours, with people commenting on every aspect.
My Dad, who was completely Conservative, still watched that CNN after he retired, I guess along with Fox News, also on an endless loop. (Luckily, it didn’t affect his Conservative views one bit… somehow!)
Anyway, I think you’d better explain a thing or two to Ron Unz here -
https://www.unz.com/runz/is-donald-trump-playing-27-dimensional-chess/
Although he was just now very civil to me and more restrained in his views. I now am pretty certain that he’s just an Open Borders Globalist - you read there and tell me if you agree. It’s one thing, as is your thing, to detest Trump because he’s often a blowhard, gets distracted and doesn’t accomplish the job (I disagree a good bit wrt Trump-47), but Ron Unz seems to be against Trump because he IS doing part of the job.
I mean, the reason so many ICE guys are up there is that the Sanctimony City of Minneapolis will not (did not, if Tampon Timmah can be trusted… not something I would rely on) turn over illegal aliens based on Fed detainers.
Well, I hope you chime in there before Ron Unz gets on something else. I’ll give him this - he’s honest, even if clueless at times, and he still gives us a forum, even though I was pretty pissed off at him. He also seeks the truth, seemingly day and night.
Hail
Wednesday - January 28th 2026 9:49AM MST
PS
-- The great game of news-cycle hype --
January 2026: a hardcore agitator, acting as part of a network of such people, harasses law enforcement officers and disrupts arrests of criminal suspects. The agitator takes it on himself to "direct traffic" to get cars to further disrupt the scene. The agitator begins fighting with police, but was sloppily carrying a loaded gun in his pocket. The gun drops out of his pocket in the clash he had just inserted himself into, then accidentally discharges. Fearing all of them could be massacred by the belligerent agitator or nearby persons in his network, they shoot in self-defense. All in a chaotic situation with other agitators and histrionic women (and men) placed all around the scene screaming and whistling nonstop.
Okay, this was an interesting little situation that plays right into the agitators' hands.
But, to me, it calls for analysis of why it took over the news-cycle for a week.
NO ONE would've paid much attention to this, in any circumstance EXCEPT that it was an arrest of an illegal convicted criminal. No one would've paid much attention if some riled-up, angry agitator had gotten killed in a confrontation of his own choosing as he tried to interrupt and disrupt some other "law-enforcement operation" for whatever reason. This is, as Steve Sailer has put it, actually a "local police blotter item." ---- So why was it national and international news?
It's not something that would've catapulted to such significance at any time in the 20th century, maybe beyond the deceased agitator's name circulated in hard-leftist political circles a while, at most.
Why are there paramilitary-like organized groups coordinating ICE disruptions in Minnesota? The man shot dead was a hardcore agitator who apparently was active in hard-Left movements and repeatedly harassed and stalked ICE agents and had been in a previous violent altercation with them one week earlier. The same is true of the other woman, the lesbian Woke-ideologue car-rammer of a few weeks earlier.
Why are the local police not doing anything? Well, we know the reason. why are the two demagogic local leaders -- the dual-citizen ideologue mayor of this politicized blue dot, Jacob Frey, and the diagnosably histrionic governor, Tim Walz -- encouraging the disruptors and agitators in every way they can?
Several points can be made about this latest tentacle of Stupidity to break through and steal our attention for a while. But let me return back to the different one I alluded to earlier:
There is a lot that is artificial about the way news-cycles function these days. I have seen no stories at all about Greenland, a major international crisis for a few weeks. The stage-managers of the play pulled out the curtain on that, and we hear nothing more of it. We hear nothing now except about hardcore agitator who was shot dead, with everyone on both sides "spinning."
Few seem to care much about facts, and everyone jumps to try to score points. You certainly saw the anti-White, pro-migrant, anti-borders, re-renergized Woke Left do it, but that's not a surprise. You also saw the Trump-MAGA Right do it, including with government authorities overstepping in initial comments by saying the hardcore agitator had intended to kill ICE agents and was only prevented from doing so because he was shot first. (The now-deceased agitator probably had some kind of mental problem but his real crime was stupidity. Fighting police with a concealed loaded gun is a really bad idea and will end up with your own death in many cases.)
But the way the news-cycle has given saturation coverage to the shooting. I want to ask: Why and How. It's probably true that video plays a direct role in inflaming things. Others in the agitator network were also there filming the melee started by the hardcore agitator Alex Pretti (1988-2026).
(The agitator, Alex Pretti, was apparently not Jewish though he looks very Jewish; some Italians can share the phenotype; he was raised in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and was perhaps inculcated in Wokeness from an early age by the early 2000s, so hard-Left, anti-White activism by the 2020s was simply a default.)
Why was Alex Pretti engaged in this activism? Clearly he thought it was fun and thrilling, and he was Live-Action Role-Playing. He was hyped up on the rhetoric of the Blue media talking about how bad ICE is. He probably remembered the same thrills from 2020 when he very-certainly also participated in the riotous mayhem fun of that year.
But Alex Pretti was also affected by these news-cycle pseudo-reality cycles. None of these raids against illegals with criminal convictions affected him. Even if he did know one, the operations were in effect simply arrests of criminals, not of a different type than any police operations. The only difference is they are "federal" instead of state or local, and are there because of the sanctuary-city policies which came in during the era of peak Wokeness and are being used by the dual-citizen Jacob Frey and such people to nullify national immigration law.
Everyone is caught in this hype cycle. Next week it will be some other hype cycle. The news is not the news, it is more like a political sport in which we are expected to be cheerleaders or fans for one side or the other. In other words, it's all a game.
Games are not reality, although they may symbolize reality imperfectly at times.
The "game" part of this is true for the agitator and his fellows, including the several hysterical women blowing loud whistlers and shouting obscenities all day at the ICE agents they had been stalking through the day. But it's also true of the Right, who get caught cheerleading for the limited-scale ICE operations and forced to play an assigned part in the drama that the news-cycle forces upon us.
News cycles being not true accounts of events but a big game became true in the 2010s although it may predate the 2010s in important ways. By the 2020s, it had become worse. The Covid Panic of 2020-2022, but especially the way it played out around mid-February 2020 to around late-May 2020, was a great example. We can all agree that Covid was an artificial controversy, the hysteria and nuclear-war-like reactions not merited at all, but people did believe it at the time. You can get people riled up easily. And then, in the confusion, bad actors slip in and hijack things.
The death of one hardcore agitator who fought police, etc., is a much-smaller scale thing than the Covid Panic of 2020 at its cruelest and stupidest height. The news-cycle treats them in similar ways, and gets reactions that are similar. People's reactions are across a broad range, but low-info people can always be relied on to just follow whatever they're told.
The side that favors deporting migrants and reversing White demographic decline gets sucked into the game demanded by that the way these news-cycles work. And the Fox News-type Right, in this game, also participates along similar (if inverse) logic as the other side. They're all drum-beating for their own team and outrage is the way to do it. But we're all arguing over an artificial (or at best symbolic) issue, which is a distraction.
If it's true that the Trump people have retreated even from the highly modest aims of deporting x number of criminally convicted illegals, that's bad news but the worse news is how little progress they've made overall, and the many other troubling things they're up to near and far (and the rainbowization of MAGA, represented by smooth-talking mini-demagogues like Vivek Ramaswamy; and JD Vance's wife and sons, all Hindus; to name a few).
It's been reported the Trump people in 2025 deported 675,000 and claim 2,200,000 "self-deported" (the latter of which I previously have written is dubious because people come and go all the time and what number are they saying exactly).
The important number is net population change. The full-White population is now shrinking every year (deaths over births threshold crossed in 2016), so any net increase in total population is a net increase in Nonwhites.
We don't yet have numbers for the full-year 2025, but there is no indication the full population has declined. In other words, for every 10 illegals deported or "self-deported," there have been around 15 new foreigners coming in, by whatever means.
I concluded some time ago these Trump-2 people are not quite as serious about immigration-restriction as everyone seems to think they are. "It's better than Kamala" is not good enough. And I'm not even convinced it's true, except in terms of the way it looks to cameras and on TV.
The Census released an estimate for July 1, 2025, putting US population at:
--- 341.8 million TOTAL
That includes the 50 states, DC, and Puerto Rico.
The July 1, 2025 estimate is +1.8m over the July 1, 2024 figure of 340.0 million. So the +1.8m net change covers July 2024 to June 2025. The Mayorkas/Biden border had largely been shored up by July 2024, in fear of the impending election. A mass-exodus of illegals in the fist six months of Trump-2 SHOULD have meant a likely net decrease in total population, not an increase of 1.8 million.
Meanwhile, the full-White population of European-Christian origin might be estimated at:
--- 185 million Whites (but soon to be contracting at -1m/year).
The white figure stands today at 54% of the big, all-population number.
Even having a net outflow of 35 million recent-arriving migrants would only shore things up to 60% White, and THAT with net-contraction by Whites apparently locked in place due to 50+ years of fertility trends and ideology.
Inducing or forcing (even) 35 million nonwhites to leave and closing the door to new ones is, I think, beyond the imagination of the Trump-2 people. Although it is what most voted for.
The idealistic days of 2015-16, when many really thought it possible, yielded to the currents days of news-cycle reaction-cycles, of the giant distraction game amounting to the spinning of wheels in the attention economy. We are not even TALKING about serious, major immigration restriction on the lines of the 1921/24 laws. You still today hear Trump and others nod to how great "legal immigration" is.
There are signs the Trump people are into delusional hubris territory, especially lately with the talk of invading Greenland (an EU/Denmark territory), but they never got around to their actual mission of deporting migrants and turning things around for White America. (I include the strange character JD Vance, presumable 2028 candidate and possible president before then if Trump dies. He was a Woke anti-racist a decade ago and has spoken of being proudly the father of "brown" children, his word; this man may try on new religions and ideologies for reasons other than committed belief or principle, which is in line with all we know of his current boss.)
Power may be too intoxicating to bother with committed principle for most people. This is the real danger of many populists, and certainly of social-media personalities who've spent years as the dog chasing the bumper of a car and finally catching the car. "What do I with this thing? It sure was easier to be yapping away as I was chasing it. What great fun it was. And look at all the attention I got in the chase."
-- The great game of news-cycle hype --
January 2026: a hardcore agitator, acting as part of a network of such people, harasses law enforcement officers and disrupts arrests of criminal suspects. The agitator takes it on himself to "direct traffic" to get cars to further disrupt the scene. The agitator begins fighting with police, but was sloppily carrying a loaded gun in his pocket. The gun drops out of his pocket in the clash he had just inserted himself into, then accidentally discharges. Fearing all of them could be massacred by the belligerent agitator or nearby persons in his network, they shoot in self-defense. All in a chaotic situation with other agitators and histrionic women (and men) placed all around the scene screaming and whistling nonstop.
Okay, this was an interesting little situation that plays right into the agitators' hands.
But, to me, it calls for analysis of why it took over the news-cycle for a week.
NO ONE would've paid much attention to this, in any circumstance EXCEPT that it was an arrest of an illegal convicted criminal. No one would've paid much attention if some riled-up, angry agitator had gotten killed in a confrontation of his own choosing as he tried to interrupt and disrupt some other "law-enforcement operation" for whatever reason. This is, as Steve Sailer has put it, actually a "local police blotter item." ---- So why was it national and international news?
It's not something that would've catapulted to such significance at any time in the 20th century, maybe beyond the deceased agitator's name circulated in hard-leftist political circles a while, at most.
Why are there paramilitary-like organized groups coordinating ICE disruptions in Minnesota? The man shot dead was a hardcore agitator who apparently was active in hard-Left movements and repeatedly harassed and stalked ICE agents and had been in a previous violent altercation with them one week earlier. The same is true of the other woman, the lesbian Woke-ideologue car-rammer of a few weeks earlier.
Why are the local police not doing anything? Well, we know the reason. why are the two demagogic local leaders -- the dual-citizen ideologue mayor of this politicized blue dot, Jacob Frey, and the diagnosably histrionic governor, Tim Walz -- encouraging the disruptors and agitators in every way they can?
Several points can be made about this latest tentacle of Stupidity to break through and steal our attention for a while. But let me return back to the different one I alluded to earlier:
There is a lot that is artificial about the way news-cycles function these days. I have seen no stories at all about Greenland, a major international crisis for a few weeks. The stage-managers of the play pulled out the curtain on that, and we hear nothing more of it. We hear nothing now except about hardcore agitator who was shot dead, with everyone on both sides "spinning."
Few seem to care much about facts, and everyone jumps to try to score points. You certainly saw the anti-White, pro-migrant, anti-borders, re-renergized Woke Left do it, but that's not a surprise. You also saw the Trump-MAGA Right do it, including with government authorities overstepping in initial comments by saying the hardcore agitator had intended to kill ICE agents and was only prevented from doing so because he was shot first. (The now-deceased agitator probably had some kind of mental problem but his real crime was stupidity. Fighting police with a concealed loaded gun is a really bad idea and will end up with your own death in many cases.)
But the way the news-cycle has given saturation coverage to the shooting. I want to ask: Why and How. It's probably true that video plays a direct role in inflaming things. Others in the agitator network were also there filming the melee started by the hardcore agitator Alex Pretti (1988-2026).
(The agitator, Alex Pretti, was apparently not Jewish though he looks very Jewish; some Italians can share the phenotype; he was raised in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and was perhaps inculcated in Wokeness from an early age by the early 2000s, so hard-Left, anti-White activism by the 2020s was simply a default.)
Why was Alex Pretti engaged in this activism? Clearly he thought it was fun and thrilling, and he was Live-Action Role-Playing. He was hyped up on the rhetoric of the Blue media talking about how bad ICE is. He probably remembered the same thrills from 2020 when he very-certainly also participated in the riotous mayhem fun of that year.
But Alex Pretti was also affected by these news-cycle pseudo-reality cycles. None of these raids against illegals with criminal convictions affected him. Even if he did know one, the operations were in effect simply arrests of criminals, not of a different type than any police operations. The only difference is they are "federal" instead of state or local, and are there because of the sanctuary-city policies which came in during the era of peak Wokeness and are being used by the dual-citizen Jacob Frey and such people to nullify national immigration law.
Everyone is caught in this hype cycle. Next week it will be some other hype cycle. The news is not the news, it is more like a political sport in which we are expected to be cheerleaders or fans for one side or the other. In other words, it's all a game.
Games are not reality, although they may symbolize reality imperfectly at times.
The "game" part of this is true for the agitator and his fellows, including the several hysterical women blowing loud whistlers and shouting obscenities all day at the ICE agents they had been stalking through the day. But it's also true of the Right, who get caught cheerleading for the limited-scale ICE operations and forced to play an assigned part in the drama that the news-cycle forces upon us.
News cycles being not true accounts of events but a big game became true in the 2010s although it may predate the 2010s in important ways. By the 2020s, it had become worse. The Covid Panic of 2020-2022, but especially the way it played out around mid-February 2020 to around late-May 2020, was a great example. We can all agree that Covid was an artificial controversy, the hysteria and nuclear-war-like reactions not merited at all, but people did believe it at the time. You can get people riled up easily. And then, in the confusion, bad actors slip in and hijack things.
The death of one hardcore agitator who fought police, etc., is a much-smaller scale thing than the Covid Panic of 2020 at its cruelest and stupidest height. The news-cycle treats them in similar ways, and gets reactions that are similar. People's reactions are across a broad range, but low-info people can always be relied on to just follow whatever they're told.
The side that favors deporting migrants and reversing White demographic decline gets sucked into the game demanded by that the way these news-cycles work. And the Fox News-type Right, in this game, also participates along similar (if inverse) logic as the other side. They're all drum-beating for their own team and outrage is the way to do it. But we're all arguing over an artificial (or at best symbolic) issue, which is a distraction.
If it's true that the Trump people have retreated even from the highly modest aims of deporting x number of criminally convicted illegals, that's bad news but the worse news is how little progress they've made overall, and the many other troubling things they're up to near and far (and the rainbowization of MAGA, represented by smooth-talking mini-demagogues like Vivek Ramaswamy; and JD Vance's wife and sons, all Hindus; to name a few).
It's been reported the Trump people in 2025 deported 675,000 and claim 2,200,000 "self-deported" (the latter of which I previously have written is dubious because people come and go all the time and what number are they saying exactly).
The important number is net population change. The full-White population is now shrinking every year (deaths over births threshold crossed in 2016), so any net increase in total population is a net increase in Nonwhites.
We don't yet have numbers for the full-year 2025, but there is no indication the full population has declined. In other words, for every 10 illegals deported or "self-deported," there have been around 15 new foreigners coming in, by whatever means.
I concluded some time ago these Trump-2 people are not quite as serious about immigration-restriction as everyone seems to think they are. "It's better than Kamala" is not good enough. And I'm not even convinced it's true, except in terms of the way it looks to cameras and on TV.
The Census released an estimate for July 1, 2025, putting US population at:
--- 341.8 million TOTAL
That includes the 50 states, DC, and Puerto Rico.
The July 1, 2025 estimate is +1.8m over the July 1, 2024 figure of 340.0 million. So the +1.8m net change covers July 2024 to June 2025. The Mayorkas/Biden border had largely been shored up by July 2024, in fear of the impending election. A mass-exodus of illegals in the fist six months of Trump-2 SHOULD have meant a likely net decrease in total population, not an increase of 1.8 million.
Meanwhile, the full-White population of European-Christian origin might be estimated at:
--- 185 million Whites (but soon to be contracting at -1m/year).
The white figure stands today at 54% of the big, all-population number.
Even having a net outflow of 35 million recent-arriving migrants would only shore things up to 60% White, and THAT with net-contraction by Whites apparently locked in place due to 50+ years of fertility trends and ideology.
Inducing or forcing (even) 35 million nonwhites to leave and closing the door to new ones is, I think, beyond the imagination of the Trump-2 people. Although it is what most voted for.
The idealistic days of 2015-16, when many really thought it possible, yielded to the currents days of news-cycle reaction-cycles, of the giant distraction game amounting to the spinning of wheels in the attention economy. We are not even TALKING about serious, major immigration restriction on the lines of the 1921/24 laws. You still today hear Trump and others nod to how great "legal immigration" is.
There are signs the Trump people are into delusional hubris territory, especially lately with the talk of invading Greenland (an EU/Denmark territory), but they never got around to their actual mission of deporting migrants and turning things around for White America. (I include the strange character JD Vance, presumable 2028 candidate and possible president before then if Trump dies. He was a Woke anti-racist a decade ago and has spoken of being proudly the father of "brown" children, his word; this man may try on new religions and ideologies for reasons other than committed belief or principle, which is in line with all we know of his current boss.)
Power may be too intoxicating to bother with committed principle for most people. This is the real danger of many populists, and certainly of social-media personalities who've spent years as the dog chasing the bumper of a car and finally catching the car. "What do I with this thing? It sure was easier to be yapping away as I was chasing it. What great fun it was. And look at all the attention I got in the chase."
Moderator
Tuesday - January 27th 2026 9:41AM MST
PS: Alarmist, I keep reading that Trump “TACO”d on this. Then again, I have read that he got what ICE wanted to begin with, which is the turning over to them of illegal aliens that are in the local court/jail systems. To me, that’s a win, but then, as you say, if you are seen to be giving in to these Commies, they will go farther next time… Arizona, New York… etc.
The other aspect of it is that the ctrl-left, including the WalzTard, Mayor Frey, the Moslem A/G, the Lt. Governor, all of them cannot be trusted. They will reneg on turning in the illegals or find some paperwork solution or whatever. What then? Does Trump really trust Walz, the same guy he calls “retard” out of his limo outside his house? ;-}
As for your 2nd comment, I agree completely.
The other aspect of it is that the ctrl-left, including the WalzTard, Mayor Frey, the Moslem A/G, the Lt. Governor, all of them cannot be trusted. They will reneg on turning in the illegals or find some paperwork solution or whatever. What then? Does Trump really trust Walz, the same guy he calls “retard” out of his limo outside his house? ;-}
As for your 2nd comment, I agree completely.
Moderator
Tuesday - January 27th 2026 9:36AM MST
PS: I saw your heater unit, Adam, then figured why not one from an old water heater. One could go all the way and just keep 40 gallons in an old water heater, turning it on to a low level when necessary. I have 2 electric water heaters that I got off Craigslist maybe 12 years ago. I have not pressure tested them or checked the heating elements on them, though.
We have to convince our cat to stay inside, at least during these cold days. He’ll pick the hood of the most recently used vehicle, but that only gets him so far. We’ll let him onto the porch then give him about 10 seconds to change his mind. He’s got to learn to be more decisive!
We have to convince our cat to stay inside, at least during these cold days. He’ll pick the hood of the most recently used vehicle, but that only gets him so far. We’ll let him onto the porch then give him about 10 seconds to change his mind. He’s got to learn to be more decisive!
Moderator
Tuesday - January 27th 2026 9:28AM MST
PS: “ I will say that the third explanation is that, at some level, the explanation is “the biological imperative.” That is, a feeling, conscious or unconscious, that one’s opportunities for reproductive activity are enhanced…. Hey were you at the protest? Me too! Can I buy you a (a nice hot) cup of coffee? ”
Yeah, I do remember your point, SafeNow, and I understand you have seen and (hopefully often) experienced this first-hand “last time around”. That explains the guys coming out, I suppose, but what about the AWFUL women? I understand they feeeel so bad for the poor rapists and murderers being dragged out of their homes, but in -15F weather, you still want to come out? I guess, but then, these are AWFUL women. They’ve got to be retarded. I am sure, from pictures and video that the protest hippies of your time were mostly NOT awful!
Yeah, I do remember your point, SafeNow, and I understand you have seen and (hopefully often) experienced this first-hand “last time around”. That explains the guys coming out, I suppose, but what about the AWFUL women? I understand they feeeel so bad for the poor rapists and murderers being dragged out of their homes, but in -15F weather, you still want to come out? I guess, but then, these are AWFUL women. They’ve got to be retarded. I am sure, from pictures and video that the protest hippies of your time were mostly NOT awful!
The Alarmist
Tuesday - January 27th 2026 6:23AM MST
PS
BTW, the left told us Trump would put them in camps if he was re-elected. Where are the damned camps?
There are more than a few leftists telling us Trump supporters will be sent to camps. They I can believe.
BTW, the left told us Trump would put them in camps if he was re-elected. Where are the damned camps?
There are more than a few leftists telling us Trump supporters will be sent to camps. They I can believe.
The Alarmist
Tuesday - January 27th 2026 6:21AM MST
PS
Afternoon all.
Well, TACO … Trump backing down in Minnesota bodes ill for the future. Never give a commie one inch.
Afternoon all.
Well, TACO … Trump backing down in Minnesota bodes ill for the future. Never give a commie one inch.
SafeNow
Tuesday - January 27th 2026 12:42AM MST
PS
Thank you for the windy video, Mr. Adam Smith. I was thinking of you and the kitties recently, and I really appreciated the update, and I appreciate the connection we have.
Mr. Moderator, you state that the only possible explanations for the protesters braving the elements is that they are compensated or that they are crazy. I hate to sound like a broken record, but I will say that the third explanation is that, at some level, the explanation is “the biological imperative.” That is, a feeling, conscious or unconscious, that one’s opportunities for reproductive activity are enhanced…. Hey were you at the protest? Me too! Can I buy you a (a nice hot) cup of coffee? My authority for saying “biological imperative” is being so ancient as to have viewed, firsthand, protesters at New England colleges making the considerable schlep to New Hampshire to campaign for Eugene McCarthy. The usual Disclosure: Yes, I still carry a grudge; me and these Susies never did have have fun.
Thank you for the windy video, Mr. Adam Smith. I was thinking of you and the kitties recently, and I really appreciated the update, and I appreciate the connection we have.
Mr. Moderator, you state that the only possible explanations for the protesters braving the elements is that they are compensated or that they are crazy. I hate to sound like a broken record, but I will say that the third explanation is that, at some level, the explanation is “the biological imperative.” That is, a feeling, conscious or unconscious, that one’s opportunities for reproductive activity are enhanced…. Hey were you at the protest? Me too! Can I buy you a (a nice hot) cup of coffee? My authority for saying “biological imperative” is being so ancient as to have viewed, firsthand, protesters at New England colleges making the considerable schlep to New Hampshire to campaign for Eugene McCarthy. The usual Disclosure: Yes, I still carry a grudge; me and these Susies never did have have fun.
Adam Smith
Monday - January 26th 2026 9:56PM MST
PS: Good evening, Achmed!
𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛’𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒/𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑡 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛...
Nope. You didn't. 🙃 I noticed a set of wind chimes laying in the grass sometime after I took that video clip. (I guess they blew out of the tree before the video, but I don't know.)
𝐴𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑙 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛...
There is about an inch thick slab of ice along the top of the water providing a layer of insulation. (It's a one piece barrel with some of the top trimmed out leaving it mostly open.) When I shake the barrel it is liquid beneath the ice cap. It is ~15°F out there and will be until morning. They say it will be nice and sunny tomorrow (the barrel is on the sunny side of the house, out of the prevailing wind) with a high of ~39°F. I would think there are many variables one must consider when calculating the heat transfer/conduction/convection/latent heat absorption riddle of an old plastic barrel freezing/thawing in the yard.
𝑂𝑇𝑂𝐻, 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑘𝑠 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑒𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑧𝑒𝑛 𝑢𝑝 𝑜𝑟 𝑆𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑.
Seems that way. I'll just keep an eye on it and if it looks like it is getting too frozen I'll break the ice plug and tip it over so it doesn't split.
𝐴 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑙 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛(?)...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/236459165876
𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑖𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑒.
Yeah, me either.
Happy Monday! ☮️
𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛’𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒/𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑡 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛...
Nope. You didn't. 🙃 I noticed a set of wind chimes laying in the grass sometime after I took that video clip. (I guess they blew out of the tree before the video, but I don't know.)
𝐴𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑙 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛...
There is about an inch thick slab of ice along the top of the water providing a layer of insulation. (It's a one piece barrel with some of the top trimmed out leaving it mostly open.) When I shake the barrel it is liquid beneath the ice cap. It is ~15°F out there and will be until morning. They say it will be nice and sunny tomorrow (the barrel is on the sunny side of the house, out of the prevailing wind) with a high of ~39°F. I would think there are many variables one must consider when calculating the heat transfer/conduction/convection/latent heat absorption riddle of an old plastic barrel freezing/thawing in the yard.
𝑂𝑇𝑂𝐻, 𝑏𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑘𝑠 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑒𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑧𝑒𝑛 𝑢𝑝 𝑜𝑟 𝑆𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑.
Seems that way. I'll just keep an eye on it and if it looks like it is getting too frozen I'll break the ice plug and tip it over so it doesn't split.
𝐴 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑙 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛(?)...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/236459165876
𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑖𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑒.
Yeah, me either.
Happy Monday! ☮️
Moderator
Monday - January 26th 2026 8:14PM MST
PS: Ha, that AI can be a lot of fun. Drive-by insults by the POTUS.
That rain barrel freezing question would be a very good mechanical engineering student heat transfer problem. That’s a lot of thermal mass, there’s the conduction through the plastic (I assume) wall and convection that could be calculated pretty accurately but then the phase change with its latent heat absorption. OTOH, by the time one gets all the calculations in and checks his work, the water has either frozen up or Spring has arrived. (The whole idea of doing engineering problem is more to have it all in place for “many such cases”.)
Anyway, I liked your wind and wind-chimes video. I didn’t hear where/when the chimes got blown down, but maybe that was afterwards or a different set.
I hope any readers up north - coulda’ been YOU, but you got smart - don’t take my line as an insult really. That kind of cold is just not for me.
That rain barrel freezing question would be a very good mechanical engineering student heat transfer problem. That’s a lot of thermal mass, there’s the conduction through the plastic (I assume) wall and convection that could be calculated pretty accurately but then the phase change with its latent heat absorption. OTOH, by the time one gets all the calculations in and checks his work, the water has either frozen up or Spring has arrived. (The whole idea of doing engineering problem is more to have it all in place for “many such cases”.)
Anyway, I liked your wind and wind-chimes video. I didn’t hear where/when the chimes got blown down, but maybe that was afterwards or a different set.
I hope any readers up north - coulda’ been YOU, but you got smart - don’t take my line as an insult really. That kind of cold is just not for me.
Adam Smith
Monday - January 26th 2026 7:44PM MST
PS: Good evening, everyone!
(And good evening, Mr. Moderator!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=811WqQgeBjM
𝐺𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 -13°𝐹 𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑡 13°𝐹 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝐹𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑎... 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤, 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠. 𝑃𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑆𝑡𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑠, 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑜𝑡𝑎. 𝑊𝑇𝐻 𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢?!
𝑊𝑇𝐻 𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢?! Indeed.
So... Winter is finally here. And it's cold as hell. (or something?) It's not -13°F (because I don't live in one of 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 kind of places, but they're saying it will be around 13°F tonight. Which is quite believable as it is (allegedly) ~17°F out there right now. (I hope my aloe plants don't freeze.)
Our neighbor gave us a 55 gallon plastic rain barrel last week in case we lost power during the ice storm. We haven't needed it (yet), because we really didn't lose power. Though Amicalola sent enough dirty power through the line during a hard brown out to kill our microwave. (Sigh.)(Better the microwave than the fridge or a computer or something.)
But it's ok. Mrs. Smith wanted one of those microwave/convection oven/air fryer combo things so we have one on order. And I get to take apart a microwave to harvest some capacitors and transformers and such! (For the perpetual free energy generator I keep daydreaming about building, of course.)
I'll have more to say here in a bit. (Mostly a couple long overdue late replies about $2500 windshields and some dent wizarding stuff that I have been neglecting to reply to all week.)(I haven't forgotten about you, Mr. SafeNow. Though it may seem that way.)
In the meantime, you can check out this not so amazing video of a mildly windy day here atop the mountain. (A quick video from December 29th.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQcy0H6tYXM
I'm going to go get the kitties some dinner and make the rounds around the yard. I kinda want to check on that water barrel because I don't know how cold it has to get for how long to freeze that thing. (I really don't think we are approaching that point yet, but it didn't get above freezing today and this whole back up water barrel thing is a new to me. Tomorrow is supposed to be ~39° and sunny, so if it makes it though the night I feel confident that we won't have to worry about it freezing for a while.)
Until later...
(Be back soon.)
Cheers! ☮️
(And good evening, Mr. Moderator!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=811WqQgeBjM
𝐺𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 -13°𝐹 𝑡𝑜 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑡 13°𝐹 𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝐹𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑎... 𝐼 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤, 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠. 𝑃𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑆𝑡𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑠, 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑜𝑡𝑎. 𝑊𝑇𝐻 𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢?!
𝑊𝑇𝐻 𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑦𝑜𝑢?! Indeed.
So... Winter is finally here. And it's cold as hell. (or something?) It's not -13°F (because I don't live in one of 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 kind of places, but they're saying it will be around 13°F tonight. Which is quite believable as it is (allegedly) ~17°F out there right now. (I hope my aloe plants don't freeze.)
Our neighbor gave us a 55 gallon plastic rain barrel last week in case we lost power during the ice storm. We haven't needed it (yet), because we really didn't lose power. Though Amicalola sent enough dirty power through the line during a hard brown out to kill our microwave. (Sigh.)(Better the microwave than the fridge or a computer or something.)
But it's ok. Mrs. Smith wanted one of those microwave/convection oven/air fryer combo things so we have one on order. And I get to take apart a microwave to harvest some capacitors and transformers and such! (For the perpetual free energy generator I keep daydreaming about building, of course.)
I'll have more to say here in a bit. (Mostly a couple long overdue late replies about $2500 windshields and some dent wizarding stuff that I have been neglecting to reply to all week.)(I haven't forgotten about you, Mr. SafeNow. Though it may seem that way.)
In the meantime, you can check out this not so amazing video of a mildly windy day here atop the mountain. (A quick video from December 29th.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQcy0H6tYXM
I'm going to go get the kitties some dinner and make the rounds around the yard. I kinda want to check on that water barrel because I don't know how cold it has to get for how long to freeze that thing. (I really don't think we are approaching that point yet, but it didn't get above freezing today and this whole back up water barrel thing is a new to me. Tomorrow is supposed to be ~39° and sunny, so if it makes it though the night I feel confident that we won't have to worry about it freezing for a while.)
Until later...
(Be back soon.)
Cheers! ☮️
Moderator
Monday - January 26th 2026 6:28PM MST
PS: I’d say the latter, Possumman. These people are all about saving the planet. The US of A, not so much.
Possumman
Monday - January 26th 2026 4:23PM MST
PS. So will the ovens be the dirty old gas ovens or new electric ovens powered by the sun and the wind and unicorn farts. Or maybe microwaves!
Let me ask a question to Ron Unz (following from the preceding comment and the "Is Donald Trump Playing 27-Dimensional Chess?" Unz commentary):
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QUESTION FOR RON UNZ (who will very-definitely be reading these comments at Peak Stupidity): ------ Do you, Ron Unz, think the Trump-2 administration is better or worse than a Biden-2 or a Kamala-1 administration on "immigration" and related matters?
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I don't think he'd likely want to answer the question.
.
I saw that Ron Unz endorsed Greg Johnson's January 23 essay "Time to Replace Trump." I, too, agree with Greg Johnson's sentiments and reasoning. I felt the same over the Greenland crisis, which made us look downright villainous and dishonorable. It was actually a disaster from a Western unity perspective, and more. For the first time, I began thinking seriously that Trump may indeed be affected by dementia, and the many sychophants and schemers in his orbit aren't able or willing to do anything about it.
(Getting rid of Trump has many problems. One is: I don't think I trust Vance, the immediate successor if Trump died or was removed. How can a man -- Vance, I mean -- slip in and out of ideologies and personas like he has done? Does no one notice or care? The man has switched religions three times well into adult life, and is raising sons of a still-different religion (Hindu), for which he mocks his wife in public speeches. This is strange, almost sociopathic behavior. He was once a moderate liberal and pro-Wokeness person, that as recently as the late 2010s (in his mid-thirties)! Hearing the things mid-2020s Vance says, in his latest political persona beginning circa late 2021 or 2022, many will say they like what they hear and rah-rah for the team, but on closer inspection he is often just repeating "social-media memes," so who knows what he believes, if anything. Ann Coulter was all for the post-2022 Vance (I think her judgement is not what it used to be). What I mean is: We don't know who Vance "is." It's a lot like Obama was to the Left and much of the Center in 2007-08.)
___________
What probably bothers Ron Unz, and leads him to go overboard in Trump criticism: Trump has for years now had a personality cult, which is deeply locked into that which we call US politics, to a troubling degree. The personality cult which is indistinguishable from Red-Blue political game.
Another way to say it is: we've all been stuck in a Trump cargo cult for years. Few villagers on the island are willing to point out the flaws in the cargo-cult because everyone seems committed to it. And belief in the cargo cult does excite and unite people. And, hey, there are planes dropping cargo now and then after all.
__________
A president is not supposed to be a figure like this, and it's off-putting to some (while thrilling to others). So it's a re-sorting of political coalitions. Ron Unz has basically positioned himself as an immigration restrictionist, but may be willing to break with that view because he sees Trump associated with it!
A president with a serious personality cult (rather than the meek technocrat or aristocratic gentlemen of generations past) has been something of the trend in our time. Trump takes it to a level that is indecent and shocking, and sullies all of our reputations thereby. Many of the best eras of US history, average people don't even remember the presidents. All in all, that's a good thing.