Althouse: Sunrise — 6:59, 7:19, 7:23.

January 29, 2026

Sunrise — 6:59, 7:19, 7:23.

Write about whatever you want in the comments.

154 comments:

Achilles said...: The entire military leadership of the CCP in China has been arrested including their families for trying to kill Xi. They killed a body double instead. This includes one of the last revolutionary soldiers to actually fight for the PLA with Mao.

This has gone almost completely unmentioned and is by far the most important situation in the world right now.; 1/29/26, 6:34 PM
Narr said...: "This has gone completely unmentioned"

You mean here, right? YouTube is full of it--from fact (I assume, somewhere) to sheer speculation. The problem is telling one from the other, as always.; 1/29/26, 6:43 PM
narciso said...: which accounts do you consider reliable on this score,

certainly the major broadsheets are lesuo (compromised) on both sides of the atlantic; 1/29/26, 6:55 PM
narciso said...: chi haotian, hes a figure of some notoriety, that i've mentioned in the past,; 1/29/26, 6:55 PM
narciso said...: https://redstate.com/beccalower/2026/01/29/breaking-president-trump-brokers-last-minute-deal-preventing-partial-government-shutdown-n2198661; 1/29/26, 7:05 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Video: What is DOJ, or whoever looks at this going to find? Supposedly it was audited twice.

Then again if they used the auditors from Minnesota… maybe maybe maybe.; 1/29/26, 7:23 PM
Beasts of England said...: All nice photos! And not sure why I noticed tonight, but is the topography around Madison mostly flat? I get that the lake is flat (hopefully), but the surrounding area?; 1/29/26, 7:25 PM
narciso said...: the last pic is best, personal preference,; 1/29/26, 7:34 PM
Jupiter said...: David Brooks is jumping ship for The Atlantic, where he will "explore the moral, social, and philosophical underpinnings of human decency."
Do you suppose he is getting a new "research assistant" as part of his compensation package?; 1/29/26, 7:40 PM
Kakistocracy said...: Achilles opines: "The entire military leadership of the CCP in China has been arrested including their families for trying to kill Xi."

No credible mainstream sources (e.g., BBC, Reuters, AP, WSJ) confirm the "entire military leadership" being arrested, mass family detentions beyond associates of the two generals, a successful body double killing, or involvement of a Mao-era revolutionary fighter in this specific plot.

In short: There's something to the purges and power struggles at the top of the PLA, but the full claim as stated is not supported by reliable evidence and veers into rumor/disinformation territory.

But then again -- it's coming from Achilles.....🤥; 1/29/26, 7:42 PM
Bill, Republic of Texas said...: Is the shutdown of DHS averted? And if not, what would that look like?; 1/29/26, 7:42 PM
bagoh20 said...: "Tulsi Gabbard Releases Documents that PROVE it Was Barack Obama who Led the Russiagate Conspiracy and Coup Against Donald Trump – Documents Have Been Turned Over to the DOJ"

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/01/tulsi-gabbard-releases-documents-that-prove-it-was/; 1/29/26, 7:43 PM
Jaq said...: I don't know what is going on in China, and figure everything we hear is probably lies, and there is a good chance that the CCP has tracked down some people compromised by the CIA and they are rolling up the networks, probably using harsh methods, that that is just sheer speculation, what really made me laugh was this:

"e.g., BBC, Reuters, AP, WSJ" cited as credible sources. Well they are credible if you want to know the genuine neocon/neoliberal take on any issue, that's where you get the straight poop!; 1/29/26, 7:53 PM
Jaq said...: The communist Chinese have an outlet called "The Global Times" but we are far more sophisticated, we have "The Globalist Times" and it comes under many mastheads.; 1/29/26, 7:55 PM
Dave Begley said...: 50,000 massacred in Iran. Top military guys in China deposed and maybe an assassination attempt on Xi. And we keep hearing about a snow storm.; 1/29/26, 8:03 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: "David Brooks is jumping ship for The Atlantic, where he will "explore the moral, social, and philosophical underpinnings of human decency."

Sad to hear it. He was the only populist voice at the NYT's, the only one who had his fingers on the pulse of the Average American. I'll never forget how he took a Trump supporter to lunch and told him it was OK to eat expensive Italian sausage with Pinot Noir.

Thank the Times has some real conservatives like David French to take up the slack.; 1/29/26, 8:05 PM
Kakistocracy said...: Pizzagate Pundit? That Gateway Pundit?? 🤡

I wasn't aware anyone paid attention to Gateway Pundit.

Trump reposted this from 'The SCIF'
"Maria Zack testified about the stolen 2020 Election operation connected to Obama when he diverted $400 million from the infamous pallets of cash sent to Iran, funneling through the Dubai Embassy to operatives in Italy and Merrill Lynch in Geneva, Switzerland.

In return, Italian officials at Leonardo SpA used military satellites to help hack U.S. voting machines, flipping votes from Trump to Biden using CIA-developed tools like Hammer and Scorecard. Along with numerous other methods of fraud and manipulation.

China reportedly coordinated the whole operation, providing the tech backbone and bribes to corrupt Americans. The CIA oversaw it, the FBI covered it up, all to install Biden as a puppet. This is the global election fraud cartel and the real threat against American democracy and the rest of the world."

All the dumbest subplots from the Season One finale are back.
So my connect the dots here is that there will be some allegation that there was foreign interference in the voting — Hugo Chavez, Italian satellites, etc. — (hence why DNI is involved), making it a National Security issue that they will use to justify doing something crazy/illegal in November.; 1/29/26, 8:07 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: BTW, enjoying the hiking with Kevin Nealon podcasts. The only bad thing? Kevin is 6-4, and its difficult to keep him in frame with his hiking partners, who all seem to be 5-9 or shorter. Maybe he should retitle it, "Marching with Munchkins"; 1/29/26, 8:09 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: Also, assumed Ricky Gervais "after life" TV show would be on DVD. Just learned it stays on Nexflix. Want to watch it? Need to sign up. The Mega corporations want to move away from DVD/Blu-Rays to everything on line. That way they can charge you everytime you want to watch anything.

Trying to find a way to pirate it. Don't want to pay $$ just for a one-time experience.; 1/29/26, 8:12 PM
Jaq said...: "50,000 massacred in Iran."

The world feels more ordered if you accept the lies they tell you and then the news stories all make sense, but they only make sense if you believe the lies that they repeat day in and day out. You get to feel smart because you understand the arguments that they are making, but I am not sure how destroying Iran is going to help Iranians, but look how we helped the Ukrainians! And the Iraqis! I could go on, we helped the Syrians, we helped the Libyans...

Fun for everyone!

A fractured Iran could spiral into civil war as happened after the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, two of the Western diplomats warned, unleashing an influx of refugees, fueling Islamist militancy and disrupting oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, a global energy chokepoint.

The gravest risk, analyst Vatanka warned, is fragmentation into “early-stage Syria,” with rival units and provinces fighting for territory and resources.

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/trump-weighs-iran-strikes-inspire-renewed-protests-sources-say-2026-01-29/; 1/29/26, 8:17 PM
Kakistocracy said...: "Tulsi Gabbard Releases Documents that PROVE it Was Barack Obama who Led the Russiagate Conspiracy and Coup Against Donald Trump – Documents Have Been Turned Over to the DOJ"

The EO was based on a Power Point presentation by "information warfare expert" Phil Waldron, who made allegations of foreign interference in the voting systems of several states. So probably doing a refresher, because now these theories appear to be operationalized. Absolutely nuts that this is coming back around. It was already very stupid the first time.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/16/us/politics/phil-waldron-jan-6.html
"The PowerPoint — titled “Election Fraud, Foreign Interference & Options for 6 JAN” — recommended that Mr. Trump declare a national emergency to cling to power and included the false claim that China and Venezuela had obtained control over the voting infrastructure in a majority of states." ~ NYT; 1/29/26, 8:17 PM
Big Mike said...: Back in 2020 a pack of BLM rioters and their Antifa allies carved out an area of downtown they called the Capital Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ). A black teenager named Antonio Mays, Jr., was shot — by whom is still unknown — and Seattle first responder, apparently intimidated by the rhetoric of the CHAZ occupiers, refused to enter the area. Mays died, and today Seattle was ordered by a jury to pay $30 million to the teenager’s father and to his estate.; 1/29/26, 8:18 PM
Beasts of England said...: ’Italian officials at Leonardo SpA used military satellites to help hack U.S. voting machines…’

There’s nothing worse than Italian military satellites hacking our voting machines. I didn’t even know their satellites could speak English, but I’ll do some follow-up.; 1/29/26, 8:18 PM
Jaq said...: Nothing Israel would like better if one of the word's oldest civilizations was sent back tot he Stone Age and divided up into warring factions ruled over by warlords, who can be bribed and controlled. Just like Syria, just like Libya, it's obviously a strategy.; 1/29/26, 8:19 PM
Big Mike said...: Sorry, downtown Seattle.; 1/29/26, 8:19 PM
Jaq said...: Let's say you were Iran, and you are facing an adversary who views any show of restraint as proof of weakness, and reason to press on and escalate. What do you do in a case like this? Be reasonable? Be restrained? If they are, they will be removed.

Straits of Hormuz has about five dredged channels capable of handling supertankers, so you scuttle five ships, and fire on anybody trying to clear the passage, and 35% of the world's oil is bottled up.

Would you not use such a weapon if you had an enemy relentlessly determined to kill you or at a minimum, sweep you from power and destroy your thousands of years old country?; 1/29/26, 8:24 PM
Jaq said...: The reason Iran has to be destroyed is because they sit at the choke point of Western energy supplies, and we feel like we can't live with that sword of Damocles having over it. Deaths of demonstrators, uranium enrichment, none of this has anything to do with the real reason that we feel like we need to destroy Iran's civilization turn it into another Syria, or Libya.; 1/29/26, 8:28 PM
Inga said...: “I wasn't aware anyone paid attention to Gateway Pundit.”

A majority of conservatives commenters here do, they even link to it.😵‍💫; 1/29/26, 8:32 PM
Meade said...: “A majority of conservatives commenters here do, they even link to it“

Hey grok, do more than 50% of conservative commenters here pay attention to Gateway Pundit?; 1/29/26, 8:37 PM
Iman said...: Things are being said and done by people on the Left that can’t be taken back. They seem to be spoiling for a fight and they just might get one… which would be the end of them.; 1/29/26, 8:37 PM
Inga said...: https://electionlawblog.org/

“Donald Trump lost his bid for reelection in 2020. But for more than five years, he’s been trying to convince Americans the opposite is true by falsely saying the election was marred by widespread fraud.

Now that he’s president again, Trump is pushing the federal government to back up those bogus claims.

“The man has obsessions, as do a fair number of people, but he’s the only one who has the full power of the United States behind him,” said Rick Hasen, a UCLA law professor….

Hasen and many others noted that Trump’s use of the FBI to pursue his obsession with the 2020 election is part of a pattern of the president transforming the federal government into his personal tool of vengeance…

“So much this administration has done is to make claims in social media rather than go to court,” Becker said. “I suspect this is more about poisoning the well for 2026.”…

Well, who coulda guessed he’d do something like this?🤨; 1/29/26, 8:42 PM
Beasts of England said...: I’m trying to remember when and why I punted on Gateway. Seems like it’s been about a decade ago when they went way off the rails about something…; 1/29/26, 8:46 PM
Beasts of England said...: ’Hey grok, do more than 50% of conservative commenters here pay attention to Gateway Pundit?’

Gemini said the correct figure is 42.7%.; 1/29/26, 8:49 PM
Peachy said...: Another taste of the corrupt liar left.
Leftists can riot all they want to.; 1/29/26, 8:50 PM
Inga said...: “Gemini said the correct figure is 42.7%.”

That’s actually a pretty high percentage, more than I seriously expected. So my snarky hyperbolic comment wasn’t that far off.😳; 1/29/26, 8:54 PM
Beasts of England said...: ’That’s actually a pretty high percentage, more than I seriously expected.’

My comment and percentage were satirical.; 1/29/26, 9:00 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: Just read that 4 million Iranians died of starvation during Ww II under UK/USSR occupation. That's not suprising since millions in India also died during ww2. churchill didn't give a damn how many brown people died, all that mattered was killing Hitler.

Throw in the 53 CIA backed Coup, and you can understand why so many Iranians feel the West is their enemy.; 1/29/26, 9:05 PM
Inga said...: “My comment and percentage were satirical.”

Oh darn, I got all excited for nothing.

“Based on available information, there is no specific, quantitative data analyzing the percentage of commenters on the "Althouse" blog (by Ann Althouse) who link to The Gateway Pundit.

While The Gateway Pundit is documented as a heavily shared, far-right, and often unreliable domain, and while the Althouse blog is a venue for diverse, often politically conservative commentary, no public study or data analysis exists to quantify the precise percentage of links to that specific site within its comment sections.”
Gemini; 1/29/26, 9:06 PM
DINKY DAU 45 said...: Handicapping the next Fed chair to replace Powell I will lay 9-2 on Rick Rieder( market likes him, trump likes him and he likes 3% rates even that's high for trump but.$300.00 straight bet to win..I would lay 7-1 on Kevin Warsh $100.000 Place on warsh(an exacta bet for 4-1) 45% chance on Reider NS 25% ON WARSH. They'll both be owned by Trump like DOJ,FBI,DHS etc...Open the gate...; 1/29/26, 9:06 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: Of Churchill at one point ( july 44) wanted to drench Germany in poison gas and anthrax killing millions. How many German "Anne Franks" would've died agonizing deaths if he'd had his way? Oh well, he was a "great man" so - never mind.; 1/29/26, 9:07 PM
Peachy said...: Bashing Churchill - stuff it, Billy.; 1/29/26, 9:10 PM
bagoh20 said...: The Gateway Pundit never told you the Hunter Laptop was Russian disinformation, or that the Covid vaccine stops transmission, or that Trump would never be President, or that ending the Iranian Nuclear program was impossible, or that Trump said Nazis are very fine people, or that ...; 1/29/26, 9:15 PM
Beasts of England said...: ’Oh darn, I got all excited for nothing.’

Even though I don’t use AI, I’m aware that it can perform complex analyses, but I couldn’t figure out how it could complete that task. Although, I think its assessment of this blog and Gateway are fair.; 1/29/26, 9:16 PM
bagoh20 said...: "they went way off the rails about something…"
That never happens anywhere else, like the NYT, or CNN, etc.; 1/29/26, 9:18 PM
Aggie said...: Really fun seeing all of the Die Hard 2020 Election Affirmers coming out with their derision on those who still will not accept the results of that election as being honest ones. Not to mention the shock of the warrants being served up and executed in Fulton County.

Here's what: When you conduct an election with so many irregularities, so many outright breaches in procedures, so many infractions against election observers, you've dug your own grave. Getting all shirty about 'no judges' accepted this or that, 'no cases' were proven, so forth - well Bless Your Heart ! And you were so proud of that hole.

The election cheat in 2020 made it impossible to prove fraud by side-stepping the validation processes required by law, so that ballots were shunted over into the 'count' bin before they were vetted and proven authentic - and now the other side of the coin is showing: There were enough documented cases of procedures being flouted, that now it cannot be proven that the election was won, either.

I doubt this latest effort will land anything meaningful, or that anything about 2020 will be reconsidered, but it's lots of fun seeing all the gnashing of teeth, I have to say. What else will they turn up besides those 300,000+ unverified votes, eh?

I'm betting there isn't more than a double handful of conservatives that reads the Gateway Pundit with anything other than deep skepticism. They're too unreliable, to slanted, and wrong way too often. 'Wrong too often'. Reminds me of someone......someone who, I bet, reads the GP more than I do.; 1/29/26, 9:19 PM
Kakistocracy said...: Moviegoers flocked to Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Pretty Woman. So why won’t they go see Melania?; 1/29/26, 9:20 PM
le Douanier said...: Meade seems active in the comments.

Is that why I'm being deleted, again? Bag says he thought it was good that his parents whipped him and Bruce seems to misunderstand math and electromagnetic radiation.

Somehow me restating them gets me deleted.

Sheesh.; 1/29/26, 9:29 PM
Jaq said...: I asked AI if the US still controlled Iraq's oil, and it said no, we. don't, but they I hear that we actually don't control the oil, just the money that Iraq gets for selling its oil, and now Trump is using it to pressure the Iraqis to ignore the democratically expressed will of the people there.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-control-oil-dollars-heaps-pressure-iraq-over-iranian-influence-2026-01-23/; 1/29/26, 9:32 PM
Eva Marie said...: I just answered my first phone political survey in about 25 years. All about ICE.; 1/29/26, 9:45 PM
wildswan said...: A teenager, Antonio Mays, was shot at the autonomous zone, CHAZ, back in 2020. Today the city of Seattle was ordered to pay $30 million to Mays' father. The city was negligent in how it handled the zone. It seems that this boy could have lived though he was seriously injured. But when CHAZ security took him to the zone edge where an ambulance could pick him up, the ambulance crew fled from the CHAZ people. The delay led to the boy's death from lack of oxygen whereas the insertion of a simple breathing tube by the EMT team in the ambulance would have saved him. So the city was negligent in arrangements with the CHAZ zone leaders. The trial is well covered here:
https://thepostmillennial.com/breaking-jury-finds-seattle-negligent-in-2020-chaz-killing-of-16-year-old-antonio-mays-jr-awards-family-30-million?utm_campaign=64470
The first video is inaudible,

But the video in which the father describes his son is very touching. You can really see why the careless arrangements by all the city officials and by CHAZ was a crime. Two real human beings were straining and working toward their dream and a whole group of officials were just playing at being mayor and police chief, playing at being the leader of an autonomous zone. So the fourteen-year-old who wants to join the summer of love and justice dies.
https://x.com/i/status/2006173026929316277
https://x.com/i/status/2006173026929316277; 1/29/26, 9:45 PM
Eva Marie said...: At keast I thought it was a legitimate public opinion survey.; 1/29/26, 9:47 PM
Jim at said...: A majority of conservatives commenters here do, they even link to it.

A majority? Bullshit. Very few do. Know why? Because Jim Hoft is a crackpot. He regularly gets things wrong and never corrects his errors. I haven't bothered with GWP in at least 10 years.

Others can do what they want, but that dude has very little credibility.; 1/29/26, 9:53 PM
Mason G said...: "I just answered my first phone political survey in about 25 years. All about ICE."

Based on how nurses around the country feel about ICE, I don't know that I'd be all that interested in giving my opinion to someone I don't know, who does know who I am.; 1/29/26, 9:53 PM
Jamie said...: I think I've figured out why RJW was ticking me off so much on the Homan thread - of course, it isn't him; it's his whole political side. They continually flog this Hitlerian narrative without any acknowledgement that the Trump administration is at best an interregnum between episodes of (what I have always tried to avoid calling) the uniparty: a brief awakening from the globalist dream that seduced so many of us but from which something like a third of us have awakened, and another fraction - just enough to tip 2024 - dimly perceived for a while last year.

The uniparty, the urban monoculture, the progressive left(-cum-exhausted, emasculated remainder) that dominates the universities and law and the judiciary and corporate hiring and government bureaucracy and medicine and insurance and entertainment and a lot of sports and the military and, obviously, the UN and all that that whitened sepulcher represents: they are what they - and their tools like RJW - go online to say that we are. They're authoritarian. They're unaccountable. They're insidious. They're deceptive. They're self-righteous. And they're stupidly, blindly convinced of their morality, in the same way that people used to call out televangelists: "I am Saved, Elect, and therefore I need not engage in any kind of self-examination, nor conform my behavior to the rules I make for lesser beings."

Their arrogance is infuriating, and I'm tired.; 1/29/26, 9:58 PM
Jim at said...: The Gateway Pundit never told you the Hunter Laptop was Russian disinformation, or that the Covid vaccine stops transmission, or that Trump would never be President, or that ending the Iranian Nuclear program was impossible, or that Trump said Nazis are very fine people, or that ...

I understand - and agree with your underlying message - but saying GWP isn't as bad as the mainstream/leftist media isn't a strong selling point.; 1/29/26, 9:58 PM
wildswan said...: "Sunny with a side of missiles." That what a blogger at the Times of Israel expected from the weather this morning. I have no idea what to expect or even if to expect something. It's a stramge time.; 1/29/26, 10:02 PM
Original Mike said...: "My comment and percentage were satirical."

98.7% of Althouse commenters knew that.; 1/29/26, 10:02 PM
FullMoon said...: LA Metro Caves to Radical Left Vandals, Pulls Buses Promoting Melania Trump’s New Documentary
.; 1/29/26, 10:10 PM
Big Mike said...: There were enough documented cases of procedures being flouted, that now it cannot be proven that the election was won, either.

@Aggie, yes. No one can prove to my satisfaction that after lying to get the Republican observers out of the room in Milwaukee and other key locations, thst the vote counters counted all the legal votes and only legal votes.; 1/29/26, 10:10 PM
bagoh20 said...: "but saying GWP isn't as bad as the mainstream/leftist media isn't a strong selling point."

Agreed, accept they didn't make any of those really dumb mistakes, which were also never apologized for or retracted after repeating them for years, and they had national vote effecting importance. Did GP do something that bad?

GP says Gabbard released a report on Wednesday that's been hidden for 10 years. Did she, was it. Maybe not, but if she did reveal it to reporters as GP says, did the more "reliable" sources report that?; 1/29/26, 10:19 PM
Jupiter said...: For consideration;
1 - Does anyone deserve to be loved?
2 - Does anyone deserve to be hated?; 1/29/26, 10:22 PM
Jupiter said...: Yes, and Yes.
Then;
1 - Is it possible to love anyone as much as they deserve to be loved?
2 - Is it possible to hate anyone as much as they deserve to be hated?; 1/29/26, 10:23 PM
bagoh20 said...: I think I've noticed that some here follow Rick Beato's music channel on Youtube. I just watch him create an artist, and that artist performing a song, all completely fake AI in mere seconds with two simple prompts. Artist with photo, and a style + lyrics + music. It hurt my heart. I don't envy the easy future of our offspring. Easy things are not valued, nor do they inspire, and everything is getting much easier.; 1/29/26, 10:31 PM
bagoh20 said...: What comes first, a need for love, a need for hate, or seeing the target.; 1/29/26, 10:34 PM
Jupiter said...: “I wasn't aware anyone paid attention to Gateway Pundit.”
Really? It's my second stop every morning. After Althouse. Hoft is somewhat credulous on a few topics, but he breaks lots of news.; 1/29/26, 10:38 PM
Jim at said...: Did GP do something that bad?

For one, he doesn't have the same amount of reach. But wrong is wrong.

Personally - back when I'd visit (and I was a regular when he had his serious health issues ... including going blind) - he would get basic facts wrong. In the headlines. In the lead 'graph. Not out of context, but flat-out wrong.

On numerous occasions, I'd message him explaining the errors. To my knowledge, he never corrected a single one.

If one is going to be out there sharing information - and being a source of same - that person has a duty to be as accurate as possible. He consistently failed, and I stopping going there. He's not a reliable source.; 1/29/26, 10:41 PM
Howard said...: Reports indicate significant military activity and troop deployments in Beijing as of late January 2026, coinciding with a high-level purge of China's military leadership.
Reported Military Activity in Beijing
Convoy Movements: Large military convoys, including tanks, armored vehicles, and heavy transporters, have been seen moving toward Beijing, specifically from the Tongzhou direction on the capital's eastern outskirts.
Security Lockdown: Security has been visibly heightened around sensitive locations such as Zhongnanhai (the central government compound) and Tiananmen Square, with reports of black-clad personnel and camouflage-uniformed soldiers stationed at key gates.
Internal Controls: Some reports suggest parts of Beijing are under effective military rule, with senior military residential compounds sealed off and subway capacity reduced. There are also unconfirmed claims that People's Liberation Army (PLA) bases nationwide have been ordered into lockdown.; 1/29/26, 10:50 PM
Howard said...: I wonder if the Chinese people are aware of what's going on in Iran right now?; 1/29/26, 10:51 PM
Eva Marie said...: The “Hitlerian narrative serves 2 purposes.
1. It provides targets for the left’s more unbalanced members.
2. it’s an attempt to keep members of their own party cowed and less likely to leave the Democrat Party. It’s a demonstration of how they will treat defectors.; 1/29/26, 10:52 PM
Iman said...: Jeff Bridges narrated 'Little Feat: The Documentary,' a new film that includes never-before-seen footage and interviews with Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Emmylou Harris, members of the Grateful Dead, Phish + more.

Here is how to see the film ...
https://x.com/i/status/2016916447151136774; 1/29/26, 11:36 PM
Eva Marie said...: How is ICE doing?
Pretti Good; 1/29/26, 11:49 PM
buwaya said...: That "worlds oldest civilization" has often been chopped up into warring factions led by warlords. Theres nothing new in that.; 1/30/26, 12:03 AM
gadfly said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/30/26, 12:09 AM
gadfly said...: Real Clear Politics isn't being very clear in attempting to name ICE Barbie's replacement. Noem isn't going anywhere and even if she steps down, live-in assistant, Corey Lewandowski will take over. Lewandowski is a regular visitor to Noem's $3,750 per month, two-bed condo in the Navy Yard that enjoys breathtaking panoramic views of Southeast Washington and the Anacostia River.; 1/30/26, 12:14 AM
buwaya said...: WW2 created huge problems in world trade. Not just by grabbing, blocking and eliminating so much shipping, but in cutting off sources of materials, notably food. Millions had grown used to living off imports over the previous 50 years of booming world trade.
In Asia Thailand and Indochina and Burma were huge food (rice) exporters. The Japanese cut it all off with their southern offensive. There were no easy substitutes with which to backfill these. Much the same when the Japanese disrupted internal trade in China. Ditto Indonesia and the Philippines.
The same happened when the Germans took the Ukraine, Russia and Eastern Europe were starving. The US prioritized its food surpluses to feed the USSR. Much of that flowed through Iran.; 1/30/26, 12:21 AM
Saint Croix said...: I am making tiny bets on Kalshi for the Best Picture winner. The overwhelming favorite is One Battle After Another. I haven’t bothered to watch it. I am so sick of riots and revolutions, I have no patience for ideological fantasies masquerading as art. So I’m hoping sanity will prevail and some other film will win.

I’m making small bets on 7 other contenders.

Marty Supreme, 33 to 1
Train Dreams 99 to 1
Sentimental Value 99 to 1
F1 99 to 1
Frankenstein 99 to 1
Hamnet 20 to 1
Sinners 17 to 1

The odds on Sinners has dramatically shifted, after they got 16 nominations. Now it’s 4 to 1. Overall, my bets are way up, thanks to Sinners. These are tiny bets, maybe $60 all together. If any of these movies win, nice profits for me. $1000 for Train Dreams and $500 for Sentimental Value.

I’ve only seen three of these movies. Marty Supreme and Train Dreams are fantastic. F1 is pretty good. I think there’s a good chance an upset might happen. We’ll see.; 1/30/26, 1:37 AM
gadfly said...: So the Trump autocracy is meeting with the Alberta separatists to encourage Ablbrt to take their muddy crude and leave Canada.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, a leading Michigan Democratic consultant wants Michigan to ditch the United States of America to join the country’s neighbor to the north.; 1/30/26, 3:03 AM
buwaya said...: Trading Michigan for Alberta might work. Alberta's GDP is 1/2 Michigans, but a lot of that can be made up by currency adjustments and overcoming Canadian regulatory problems.
On the other side of this, I doubt most of Michigan, by land area or GDP, will agree to leaving the US. Most of the bits of Michigan that would want to leave are the non-economically viable parts of the urban population of Minneapolis.
The US can come out way ahead here.; 1/30/26, 3:28 AM
Jim at said...: Meanwhile, back at the ranch, a leading Michigan Democratic consultant wants Michigan to ditch the United States of America to join the country’s neighbor to the north.

Maybe you should let Ronchuck break that news.; 1/30/26, 3:29 AM
buwaya said...: In other words, get all of Alberta and hang on to the economically viable parts of Michigan.
Oh, I wrongly inserted Minneapolis. That also, frankly, is mostly a waste population that the US is well rid of, if you can trade it to Canada.; 1/30/26, 3:32 AM
Thom said...: I clicked back on this site an hour or so ago. Looking at posts about Gahrie (my brother) and the other man who passed 1 year and 10 days after Gahrie did. I am pleased to see how this community grieves its own and most put the politics aside to say goodbye. Gahrie loved to read and then to comment and discuss, debate just about every topic you could imagine - and I am sure he did that here. It has been 838 days since Gahrie passed and I miss him more then ever. A.B. Miller (the school where he taught) has held two awards events and given out scholarships in his name. I still havent gone to them - but I did show up to his school one day and the receptionist broke down when she saw me. While no one will mistake us - we have many of the same mannerisms as I, the younger by 16 months mimic'ed as much of him as I could. I handed her a check and after a couple of hugs to and from teachers there I left... It was good to see how he was such an impact in peoples lives. Jamie - I dont know if you will ever read this... But I think my brother always loved you. He never married, never really had a girlfriend - certainly none of any length. I wonder if one of the reasons he stayed here on Althouse was to stay in contact with you. To the rest of you - I warn you again to have your house in order... As I type this I see a neat little folder on my web browser titled "If I die". It contains the accounts and links people will need to process my life... All the accounts that I can have peoples names on in the event that I die do... and secondary ones if the primary dies before me or at the same time... 838 days after his death I am just now in the final stages of his probate... Get a will, trust... whatever - just dont leave everything blank. Oh, and go and hug the ones you love. Have grace for those you are mad at - and even grace for those who you oppose. Life is short. Perhaps one day I will go back through all Gahries comments here... over 2000 shouldnt take too long!! I miss my North Star so much. Love and respect to you all.; 1/30/26, 4:39 AM
Humperdink said...: I see my governor Josh Shapiro took Philly DA Larry Krastner to the woodshed over his comments about hunting down ICE agents. Krastner is a Commie crackpot who needs “hunted” down and jailed over his malfeasance in office. Notice no other leading Democrat has denounced Krastner’s rhetoric. They have in fact endorsed it. Such is the state of the opposition.; 1/30/26, 4:47 AM
Humperdink said...: I thoroughly enjoy Gateway Pundit. It is my third stop in my early morning news roundup. The generally have numerous videos supporting their headlines. Like any newsy site, one needs to weigh what they report for “reasonableness”.; 1/30/26, 4:59 AM
gadfly said...: From George Will yesterday: “Assume this loutocracy is lying about ICE until proven otherwise”

Loutocracy, as defined by Will: Government of, by and for louts.; 1/30/26, 5:17 AM
Humperdink said...: gadfly has breaking news: George Will is still alive. Who knew?; 1/30/26, 5:23 AM
Jaq said...: If you are getting your "news" on international events from Instapundit, you are just being primed for endless war.

Onward globalist soldiers.

I am pretty sure that Tiananmen Square was a regime change operation by the US, and if it didn't accomplish its goal, it was a gold mine of propaganda. The funny thing is that people pretend that they are against globalism, but they are so easily swept up by the globalists' propaganda.

We placed harsh economic sanctions on Iran, we attacked their currency, cutting it's value in half, heavily damaging its economy, then when people go on the streets to demonstrate their frustration with economic conditions, we paint it as anger at the government, when really they are angry about the stuff that we are doing to them. Then we send in agent provocateurs, to make sure the protests get violent.

We have seen the same techniques of using agent provocateurs in Minnesota, then when one or two get killed, well it's a propaganda gold mine. Rinse, repeat, anywhere you want to change the government.; 1/30/26, 5:23 AM
Jaq said...: Did you know that Europeans have to apply and get approval to visit the US? And that Europe is going to start forcing Americans to apply and be approved to visit Europe?

Did you know that the US refuses entry to anybody who visits Cuba to go to the beach, or whatever, and this has gutted the Cuban tourism industry, and deprived Cuba of a source of hard currency?

They are turning us into serfs, taking away our freedoms one by one, if you thik that Cuba will be. the last example of this coercive use of travel approval, you don't understand how they think.

But sure, cheer on the wars by which they are turning us into serfs.; 1/30/26, 5:31 AM
Dave Begley said...: Aggie:

Chris Hayes had a piece last night on the Atlanta raid and seizure. He was highly disgusted and upset like he always is. Tulsi was there! Not her job!

One guest, however, raised a good point. Maudoro is in custody and he might be singing. They did have a warrant.; 1/30/26, 5:40 AM
Jaq said...: "They did have a warrant."

A better descriptor would be a letter of marque, but all taxonomy is political.; 1/30/26, 5:52 AM
Eva Marie said...: Thom, what a lovely remembrance of your brother.; 1/30/26, 6:21 AM
Jamie said...: Thom, Gahrie was a blessing to me! You remember what it was like to be a military brat - the need to find your people when you only have a couple of years to do so drastically compresses the progress of friendship. Gahrie was pretty much immediately "my people." I instantly developed a crush on him, that evolved into a friendship that I was so happy to see last for decades. And if I ever make a good argument now, I need to credit him for making me better back then. I miss him too.

Love to you and your family! Maybe one of these days we can see each other again IRL.; 1/30/26, 6:29 AM
Ann Althouse said...: @Thom Thanks for coming by again.

@Jamie Wow!; 1/30/26, 6:44 AM
narciso said...: So says the pla bot; 1/30/26, 7:21 AM
narciso said...: Lemon pinched according to his mouthpiece; 1/30/26, 7:32 AM
wendybar said...: Thank you Thom @4:39 am. We miss Gahrie. Some commenters will always be in our hearts!; 1/30/26, 7:33 AM
narciso said...: Fired CNN Star Don Lemon Taken Into Custody After Anti-ICE Church Protest | The New York Sun https://share.google/AyVlQVeQ5WoOCijLZ; 1/30/26, 7:51 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: Gateway Pundit plays the same role in MAGA-world that Kaa does in The Jungle Book.; 1/30/26, 7:52 AM
narciso said...: As opposed to the Times legacy of villainy; 1/30/26, 7:59 AM
narciso said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/30/26, 7:59 AM
narciso said...: In the case of duranty matthews hersh et al; 1/30/26, 8:03 AM
Saint Croix said...: I hope they charge Lemon with a violation of the Ku Klux Klan act.; 1/30/26, 8:09 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Thom, Gahrie will always be missed here as long as the blog continues.; 1/30/26, 8:32 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: So, ICE agents received new orders. They are no longer allowed to "engage" with "agitators," and activity must be limited to immigrants with criminal charges or convictions.

Maybe it’s just me but if ICE agents are receiving NEW orders to do what we were told they were originally supposed to be doing, then doesn't that mean the original orders were to terrorize Minnesotans and violate their rights?; 1/30/26, 8:34 AM
Yancey Ward said...: "and activity must be limited to immigrants with criminal charges or convictions."

Which includes everyone with a deportation order on file, Ronald.; 1/30/26, 8:43 AM
Original Mike said...: "Did you know that Europeans have to apply and get approval to visit the US?"

We will soon travel to New Zealand and Australia. We had to apply and get approval to enter both countries. What's your point?; 1/30/26, 8:44 AM
Yancey Ward said...: And ICE agents weren't initiating interactions with protestors- they have been actively fending off people trying to engage with them which will continue to be dealt with if Minnesota's law enforcement backs away from the deal with Homan. I know you are struggling with this but Walz backed down in this confrontation- he may have been lying to buy a respite but it is still obvious he was the one who blinked.; 1/30/26, 8:46 AM
narciso said...: Venkman is getting tedious; 1/30/26, 8:47 AM
narciso said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/30/26, 8:47 AM
narciso said...: They couldnt arrest the twit because the vehicle was full it would have saved his life for a while; 1/30/26, 8:50 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: Yancey Ward said...
"and activity must be limited to immigrants with criminal charges or convictions."

“Which includes everyone with a deportation order on file, Ronald.“

Which elevates the question of why were they intimidating and bullying people on the streets instead of pursuing precisely that.

This is where things get blurry. If they know who they are looking for, it doesn’t make sense to comb neighborhoods in militia fashion in hopes they accidentally stumble across that person. And it’s illegal to storm an entire apartment complex, kick down doors, kidnap people, and then spend hours sorting through them in hopes of a blind squirrel finding a nut.; 1/30/26, 9:03 AM
narciso said...: If you follow michael byrd rules keep firing till they scatter; 1/30/26, 9:08 AM
Yancey Ward said...: "Which elevates the question of why were they intimidating and bullying people on the streets instead of pursuing precisely that."

This is the essential lie at the base of every single one of your posts here on the topic of deportations, Ronald, and it is why you are treated with contempt. If the protestors limited themselves to actual protesting, the ICE agents wouldn't have physically interacted with any of them. Good and Pretti weren't protesting, they were initiating physical altercations- doing things that if they tried it with a state trooper would get them arrested by Minnesota law enforcement.; 1/30/26, 9:19 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Surely, Ronald- you know this. If Good had used her vehicle to block Minneapolis police from proceding down the street, she would have been arrested. If Good had moved her vehicle towards a Minneapolis police officer the way she did at Ross, there is an excellent chance she would have been shot for doing so. If Pretti had approached a state trooper in the manner he did to ICE with a weapon, it is all but certain that he would have been ordered to disarm and would have quite likely have been arrested right on the spot- we can literally know this because there are hundreds to thousands of videos online of people getting arrested just for getting into the personal space of a policeman doing his job of enforcing the law and maintaining order. In short, you don't get to pretend that what Pretti and Good did is just protesting and you don't get to pretend that ICE isn't law enforcement with the same rights to non-physical interference as a city cop or state trooper. Just stop lying, Ronald, if that is possible for you to do.; 1/30/26, 9:26 AM
boatbuilder said...: I am not a fan of Gateway Pundit, but they were the one site that had both Pretti videos up promptly.; 1/30/26, 9:27 AM
Thom said...: Thanks everyone... It is good to see so many that still have Gahrie in their thoughts... Jamie... Biggest thing Jamie ever did for me? Make me stop drinking at the Base Commanders house and force fed me coffee - to which I just complained all you were going to do is make me a wide awake drunk... I believe we were juniors at the time. Jamie and I both graduated in 84... Her top of the class while I was down in the bottoms of the ranking. I guess going through 3 of the 4 years in High School drinking at every avenue you could tended to get your grades stunted. It didn't help that two of my teachers were the parents of Jamie's debate partner who lost to my brother my junior year. I might try to come here from time to time... My brother and I had much the same views - but he was a few levels above me in knowledge and class... Oh, and you know how I tried to be just like my brother and do everything he did? I just deleted a long story - I will make it short... I took myself to the hospital and was admitted 12-19-24 until 12-30-24. on 12-27-24 I had CABGx3 roughly the same age my brother was when he passed.... When I was waking in the ICU i couldnt see but i heard the Drs and nurses talking... Somehow my mind convinced me I was hearing the same conversation repeating... I thought I was dead and it was my brain trying to resolve the last thing I heard as it was shutting down from my death... I was intubated - but apparently they had to sedate me again as I was squirming around... in my head I was shouting - "no I cannot leave them" over and over refering to my wife, two children and my parents. Its been a year now - and I still feel like death is watching me a little to close... Not yet... I have too much still to do. Life is beautiful -; 1/30/26, 9:28 AM
boatbuilder said...: "Pop! goes the Weasel!"; 1/30/26, 9:28 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Thom, I have known several men who have had bypasses like yours and have lived decades afterwards. I will make a note of your name as being Gahrie's brother, so stop by here anytime you wish and shoot the shit as we Hillbillies like to say.; 1/30/26, 9:38 AM
Thom said...: narciso said
"They couldnt arrest the twit because the vehicle was full it would have saved his life for a while"

I think this is a lesson for Law Enforcement across the board... imagine if they had arrested him... taken his gun and because of his actions had his right to carry taken away - atleast while the case ran its course. Spitting at ICE, kicking and damaging their vehicle while open carry seems to be grounds for review at the very least. Would they be able to deny him his gun after he made bail? I am ignorant of the law - but I would imagine the facts of that video would warrent a hold until a judge had atleast had a chance to review it. Now we all know that there would be a good chance that he would just walk as we have seen this in the past - but would the arrest had altered what would transpire about 2 weeks later when he continued to be a part of the signal group and was harassing ICE... They always talk about if we were ever able to travel to the past - that something as small as stepping on a butterfly could alter the future...(yes I get my crazy views from movies!!!) but would he still be alive today? I think the answer is yes... But Good would also still be alive today if Minnesota turned over illegals to ICE at prisons - or if they were there for crowd control while ICE sought out crimminals.... Or if we just ignored crimminal illegal aliens and just let them run wild.; 1/30/26, 9:39 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: Yet, Yancey, they are now receiving different orders for engagement. If their original orders were correct, why the change.

You ignore the reality of the illegal Chicago apartment raid and blanket that with a “lie” accusation of me. You also ignore that the neighborhood combing tactic makes little sense in regards to tracking and arresting a known suspect.

Also, and I get it that Gateway Pundit likely forgot to tell you, but there have been multiple reportings of beatings and arrest under the premise that the protestor originally impeded or assaulted the ICE agent only to later be tossed out of course with contradicting evidence. There have been multiple complaints, interviews, videos, articles, and write ins where ICE instigated tensions and then lied that the protester initiated it. That Bovine and Neom blatantly lied about Pretti gives credence to those claims- that a bullying police force was intentionally provoking American citizens with impunity.

That’s just a reality that the Basket doesn’t want to or cannot confront.; 1/30/26, 9:43 AM
Thom said...: Yancey Ward said...
"Thom, I have known several men who have had bypasses like yours and have lived decades afterwards. I will make a note of your name as being Gahrie's brother, so stop by here anytime you wish and shoot the shit as we Hillbillies like to say."

Thanks Yancey - I know that intellectually - I just need to get that through my thick skull and moving forward more positively. I will try to be here from time to time - go gentle on me - think of me as Igor in Young Frankenstein. Walk this way...; 1/30/26, 9:45 AM
Rustygrommet said...: Howard said...
"I wonder if the Chinese people are aware of what's going on in Iran right now?"
What part of Chinese Communist Party are you having a problem with? The Chinese people know exactly what the CCP wants them to know.
Sort of like your predictable outrage at ICE.; 1/30/26, 9:54 AM
Rustygrommet said...: Sorry to hear about your brother Thom. He was good people.; 1/30/26, 9:57 AM
Yancey Ward said...: "Yet, Yancey, they are now receiving different orders for engagement. If their original orders were correct, why the change."

The orders haven't really changed, Ronald- if the protestors continue to do what Good and Pretti etal did, they will get arrested by ICE/BP agents if local law enforcement doesn't arrest them first. That is part of Homan's speech yesterday you continue to pretend you didn't hear- it is all contingent on Minnesota law enforcement doing their jobs. Walz has agreed to this contingency- whether he follows through on it remains to be seen. As of this morning, however, he is holding up his part of the agreement- the protestors aren't being allowed to get close to or obstruct ICE agents working on the ground in Minnesota.; 1/30/26, 10:25 AM
Jupiter said...: Jim at said...
"If one is going to be out there sharing information - and being a source of same - that person has a duty to be as accurate as possible. He consistently failed, and I stopping going there. He's not a reliable source."

Ah. So, you are careful to get all your information from reliable sources. Which means it's simply not possible for you to be wrong. Why didn't I think of that?; 1/30/26, 10:29 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Really, Ronald, how stupid do you have to be to believe that ICE agents will now do nothing at all to people blocking the street with vehicles or people actively vandalizing their vehicles or attempting to "dearrest" detainees. Do you really think they will just sit there and do nothing if Minnesota law enforcement doesn't act to stop it? It is hilarious to me how you try to grab onto any figleaf at all to avoid having to admit that the deportations are going to continue and that Walz etal have backed down in their attempts to obstruct it.; 1/30/26, 10:30 AM
Narr said...: You were lucky to have such an older brother, Thom, and we were lucky that he commented here.

Drop in any time.; 1/30/26, 10:36 AM
Jupiter said...: Well, I guess it's not reliable information, since it's the Gateway Pundit. We know about him. But it's interesting information. So that's how the Democrats are bypassing the campaign finance laws they worked to hard to impose on the rest of us. McCain-Feingold - remember those two assholes?; 1/30/26, 10:48 AM
FullMoon said...: @Jupiter
Jim hasn't been to GP in 10 years, but he knows they are not a reliable source. lol.
Some GP headlines are humorously misleading, and some of the stories are simple re-writes of other sources news.
But, as said above, GP had all the vids of Good and of Pretti hours before numerous commenters here were still asking if any were available.; 1/30/26, 10:58 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: Yancey, so, uh, the rules have changed but really haven’t changed? Or, something?

And ICE agents have been the victim in every single case as confirmed by Gateway Pundit, Kristi Noem, and Greg Bovine. And that 70% of arrest having no criminal record of all? Fake news because, well, CNN reported it.

And to top it all off, I’m the one being called stupid?; 1/30/26, 11:25 AM
Meade said...: “ And to top it all off, I’m the one being called stupid?”

Not just stupid but willfully, intentionally stupid, Chuck, which is far worse than just plain “stupid.”; 1/30/26, 11:43 AM
Meade said...: Matt said…
“You were lucky to have such an older brother, Thom, and we were lucky that he commented here.

Drop in any time.”

Second!; 1/30/26, 11:56 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: Meade, “intentionally stupid” meaning a refusal to drink from the Trump bitch cup?; 1/30/26, 12:02 PM
Meade said...: Sure, Chuck. Let your imagination take you wherever makes you feel superior, paid attention to, and happy.; 1/30/26, 12:14 PM
Narr said...: Narr@1036, not Matt.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Make Althouse Great Again!; 1/30/26, 12:30 PM
Meade said...: Oops… beg your pardon/commutation, Narr.; 1/30/26, 12:33 PM
Yancey Ward said...: "Yancey, so, uh, the rules have changed but really haven’t changed? Or, something."

No, you intentionally ignorant slut- the ICE agents still get to arrest protestors who obstruct their operations if the local law enforcement won't enforce their own damned laws against obstruction. That hasn't changed and it can't change unless ICE literally pulls out of operating in Minnesota which isn't happening.

Also, for the last time, ICE is detaining and deporting people who have deportation orders filed against them by immigration judges. The very fact that one is still here with such an order on file makes one a criminal by U.S. law. You aren't going to win this argument, Ronald- people here illegally are breaking the law and they will be deported if found because they are criminals.; 1/30/26, 12:34 PM
narciso said...: Now hes gone full otto; 1/30/26, 12:41 PM
Jupiter said...: When Meade calls you "Chuck", it means he doesn't like you.; 1/30/26, 12:46 PM
Narr said...: OK, but it if it happens again it goes on your permanent record.

(NTTAWWM); 1/30/26, 1:31 PM
Jaq said...: "What's your point?"

That the US is using the application and approval process to punish Europeans who travel to Cuba, denying them entry into the US. Taking away people's freedom of travel in order to choke Cuba's economy. Europe will probably be looking at your social media history.

Is that really hard to understand?; 1/30/26, 1:32 PM
Jaq said...: "So says the pla bot"

lol.; 1/30/26, 1:34 PM
Jaq said...: Somebody seems to be suggesting that the plan to bomb Iran is for Israel's benefit, and not really about deaths of demonstrators. Well, he said it, I didn't.; 1/30/26, 1:44 PM
Original Mike said...: "Is that really hard to understand?"

It'd be easier to understand if you wrote more clearly. Getting a visa to enter a country is ubiquitous. Your point, I guess, was the tie in with Cuba.; 1/30/26, 2:39 PM
Ronald J. Ward said...: Yancey @ 12:34 “Also, for the last time, ICE is detaining and deporting people who have deportation orders filed against them by immigration judges.”

Which circles us back why are they on the streets snatching up day workers at Home Depot who they have no idea of their identity?

What you are saying is not what we’re seeing. We’re seeing half naked U.S. citizens dragged from their homes. Mistakes happen and I get that but beating a U.S. citizen, dropping him off in a parking lot across town and driving off as if this were a gangster movie exceeds that. These aren’t isolated incidents.

Also, many of these people with deportation orders are not the people who Trump describe as criminals. In fact, millions were here legally and are law abiding but that changed when Trump removed their legal status- not because of a crime but because who they were.

And finally, grow a pair and confront the fact that ICE has played the victim game time and again, bullying and beating and then claim they were assaulted. What we heard from Bovine and Neom after the Pretti shooting confirmed that was the protocol.; 1/30/26, 3:06 PM
DINKY DAU 45 said...: Cashed on Warch for $100.00 at 7-1 as FED CHAIR but missed my win bet(on Reider) and exacta bet null and void.As I state both would do as trump tells them so not much of a surprise.My saver pick covers my wager. Heck with inflation drop them rates 2% by years end that should make all happy. These were the only two reall contenders both MAGAS.(IM SURE); 1/30/26, 3:31 PM
Jim at said...: Jim hasn't been to GP in 10 years, but he knows they are not a reliable source. lol.

Instead of throwing snark, maybe you should read why I haven't been there for more than 10 years.

If someone gets things consistently wrong, I'm not going back there to find the few things he gets correct.

But then again, I'm arguing with a Truther so it's going to fall on deaf ears.; 1/30/26, 5:28 PM
Yancey Ward said...: "Which circles us back why are they on the streets snatching up day workers at Home Depot who they have no idea of their identity?"

Prove it, Ronald. Prove that ICE is randomly rounding up people for detention with no idea who they are. You say you are seeing it, so fucking prove it, dumbass.; 1/30/26, 5:32 PM
Yancey Ward said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/30/26, 5:33 PM
Yancey Ward said...: And don't pull a Fredo and disappear without offering this proof.; 1/30/26, 5:34 PM
Thom said...: Ronald J. Ward Says -

"Also, many of these people with deportation orders are not the people who Trump describe as criminals. In fact, millions were here legally and are law abiding but that changed when Trump removed their legal status- not because of a crime but because who they were."

It is interesting how you mention that millions were here legally - and Trump changed their status. can you say it with me? What was their status called? was it "Temporary Protected Status"? If you take the time to look you have to ask yourself why these programs just kept running. Nepal started their TPS because of an earthquake in 2015... at what point do we end the temporary status? Honduras - TPS from 1999 because of an earthquake... Trump trying to end it but having to fight in the courts... TPS ends when the administration determines it ends... Or should we stop lying to the American people and say they will never end? That we do have a national interest to intervene in foreign lands to stablize them so we do not get their refugees? When should we invade Haiti and install new leadership and kill a lot of bad guys? While it can be argued that Haiti is in worse shape now then when the earthquake happened in 2010 - but it is not ever going to get better without an outside force installing a government and protecting it from gangs and riding the nation of those gangs. They have added 2 million people since 2010... are we just the relief valve for them? Keep sending them to us under TPS?

TPS implies a end is supposed to happen. But I am sure you will tell me that because they had children here - and some of those kids are now grown adults - they should all be allowed to stay because their American children exist. All of this is just a run around of our immigration laws. TPS should end and no longer be used to give anyone protected status in the US. Then if it is to remain Congress needs to write into law that people on TPS having children in the US do not get birthright citizenship.; 1/30/26, 5:46 PM
FullMoon said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/30/26, 7:00 PM
Ronald J. Ward said...: Thom, yes — the status was TPS. That part isn’t in dispute. What is being glossed over is what TPS actually means in law and in practice.

TPS doesn’t expire on a stopwatch. It ends when conditions in the home country materially improve enough to safely return people at scale. Courts didn’t stop Trump from ending TPS because they believe it should last forever — they stopped him because his administration asserted improvement without evidence, often contradicting its own State Department findings. That’s not politics; that’s administrative law.

More importantly, the people affected didn’t “game” anything. They entered or remained lawfully, registered with the federal government, passed background checks, worked legally and paid taxes, and lived openly under DHS supervision for years or decades.

When their status was terminated, their behavior didn’t change — only the government’s designation did. That’s why it’s inaccurate to lump them in with the criminals Trump describes.

As for why TPS was always renewed: the uncomfortable answer is that some countries never truly recovered — and in several cases, U.S. policy helped destabilize them long before the disasters that triggered TPS. That doesn’t obligate TPS to last forever, but it does undercut the idea that renewals are some kind of hidden scam.

The suggestion that the alternative is invading Haiti, installing a government, and “killing bad guys” actually proves the point. If conditions are so dire that military intervention is being floated, then mass deportation back into those conditions isn’t enforcement — it’s abandonment of reality.

On birthright citizenship: TPS has nothing to do with it. Children born here are citizens because of the 14th Amendment, not because of their parents’ immigration status. Ending TPS wouldn’t change that unless we rewrite the Constitution — which is a far bigger issue than immigration enforcement.

Where I do agree with you is this: Congress has failed. If TPS is meant to be temporary, Congress should have created clear adjustment or transition rules decades ago instead of leaving families in permanent limbo. That failure belongs to lawmakers — not to people who followed the law exactly as it was written.

So yes, TPS implies an end.

But law also implies process, evidence, and consistency — not redefining lawful people as criminals because the politics changed.

It’s unlikely I’ll respond to a follow up this evening but thank you for a constructive rebuttal and I look forward to reviewing this in future discussions should you be inclined.; 1/30/26, 7:23 PM
Thom said...: So your answer is TPS never ends. That if we bring someone into this country under TPS we should just be honest and say we are allowing them to jump the line on immigration because we claim something happened that made them need to come to our country. Haiti - will never ever be a stable country without outside intervention - it does not prove that we should continue to allow Haitians to stay under TPS - it proves that TPS is not the solution. Nepal - why are we not ending its TPS? One of the claims is that there are not enough skilled workers in Nepal... That single elderly persons lives in poor housing.... Are we being serious? How about we send their people back to be that skilled labor... Tourism is thriving and the housing market is recovering - yet we seem to be wanting them to have a Utopia in their land before we have them return.

You claim that they came to the country under TPS and are obeying all the rules - that has not been the case. Many were in the country illegally and were given TPS by the Biden administration. So they were lawbreakers who were given papers after the fact. They jumped the line and Biden said no worries… Here are some work permits.

Now as to when the status changes… and they just ignore it. That is not them just doing the same thing and have no obligation. It is in the very application for TPS that it will end - and when it does their status goes back to what it was prior to the TPS… So when you say they are not doing anything wrong - they are…

When applying for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), applicants are explicitly informed through official forms and federal notices that the status is temporary by design and does not lead to permanent residency.

Birthright citizenship - It is my view the constitution does not grant Birthright to just anyone. If the person is in the country illegally they are operating outside of the jurisdiction of the United States... They should be arrested and deported. It is also the Trump admins position that TPS people are also do not have the right for their children to be us citizens because of their temporary status,

Besides most of the nations in the western hemisphere - just about all other nations in Europe, Asia and Africa look at the parents' citizenship to determine the citizenship of the child… right of blood in contrast to right of soil. So the Supreme court is looking at this - it will be an important case to decide - and I imagine if we succeed in denying birthright citizenship going forward we will have another tool to reduce illegal migration into the country.

So lets be honest You do not believe in borders - I on the other hand believe that the United States must control its borders and deny birthright citizenship to people that are not legally in the US. That we follow the rest of the west and require at least one of the parents to be a US Citizen OR the parents are legally in the US.; 1/30/26, 10:00 PM
Ronald J. Ward said...: Thom, you’re arguing against positions I haven’t taken, so let’s reset this to what I actually said — and what I didn’t.

I never said “TPS never ends.”
I never said TPS should be permanent.
I never said people should be allowed to stay because they had children here.
And I never said I oppose borders.

What I said was very specific: many people Trump publicly described as “criminals” were, in fact, law-abiding people whose legal status changed due to policy decisions — not criminal conduct. That statement stands.

Now, a few important corrections.

First: TPS is not the sole pathway into lawful presence.

You’re treating TPS as if it only applies to people who entered illegally and were later “given papers.” That’s simply false. Many TPS recipients entered legally and overstayed due to conditions back home were already in lawful status when TPS was designated, or remained continuously registered, vetted, and authorized to work.

Yes, some were unlawfully present before TPS designation — and Congress explicitly allowed TPS to cover them. That’s not “jumping the line,” that’s Congress and DHS exercising statutory authority. You may oppose that policy, but calling it lawbreaking after the fact is inaccurate.

Second: compliance doesn’t equal criminality.

When TPS ends, a person reverts to their prior status — agreed. But being out of status is a civil immigration violation, not a crime. That distinction matters, especially when public rhetoric frames these people as violent criminals. Deportable ≠ criminal.

Third: courts didn’t block TPS terminations because they think TPS is forever.

They blocked them because the administration asserted that conditions had improved while its own agencies documented that they hadn’t. That’s procedural law, not ideology.

Fourth: Haiti and Nepal actually undermine your argument, not support it.

If the conditions are so bad that military intervention is being floated, then mass return clearly isn’t safe or realistic. That doesn’t mean TPS is perfect — it means Congress failed to create any transition mechanism besides “renew or rip the rug out.” That’s a legislative failure, not proof of deception.

Fifth: birthright citizenship is a separate issue — and I didn’t argue it the way you claim.

I didn’t say “anyone who has a child here should stay.” I said birthright citizenship exists independently of TPS. That’s not opinion — it’s constitutional doctrine that has stood for over a century.

You’re free to argue that the Supreme Court should overturn or reinterpret the 14th but let’s be honest: that’s not “enforcing immigration law,” that’s changing the Constitution. Those are different debates.

Pointing out that other countries follow jus sanguinis doesn’t change what the U.S. Constitution currently says. Comparative law isn’t controlling law.

Finally — borders.

Saying that people should not be falsely labeled as criminals is not the same as saying “I don’t believe in borders.” That’s a rhetorical shortcut, not a rebuttal.

I believe in borders.

I also believe words matter.

And I believe that if we want a serious immigration system, it should be grounded in law, accuracy, and consistency, not policy whiplash and retroactive moral judgments.

If your argument is that TPS is a flawed tool and Congress needs to fix or replace it — that’s a debate worth having.

If your argument is that people who followed the rules as written are criminals because the rules later changed — that’s where I part company.; 1/31/26, 7:15 AM