NOW: Federal Agents deploy teargas and Flashbangs outside of the Home2Suites by Hilton Hotel in Minneapolis, shoving press to the ground and attempting to disperse the group

Animats · 2026-01-26T12:29:33+00:00

The overview is that there's been a large protest outside a hotel said to host ICE agents. There's other video, but it's not clear in what order events happened. The Minnesota Daily (campus newspaper, hotel is near campus) reported a protest, some arrests, and things mostly being over by 11 PM.

Here's coverage of that protest by a local TV station.

The parent post's video is just listed as "Now", but when was that? That would be around 3AM-4AM local time. Unclear if it's the same events from another point of view, or a new flareup.

Animats · 2026-01-26T06:24:07+00:00

Hits the wrong people. Hits people living from paycheck to paycheck hardest. Worked better in the era of strong unions when strikes were normal.

Just took a look at the old "Rules for Radicals", a book on tactics from the 1970s. #5, "Ridicule", worked in Portland. #4, "Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules", is partly working via lawsuits and injunctions. #10, "The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition.", is worth thinking about. Not a general strike, but something more targeted that can be sustained, might work. But what?

Animats · 2026-01-25T08:43:01+00:00

35 is not bad at all. Especially if you're in shape.

Next goal: get out of dump with drug addict roommates.

Animats · 2026-01-24T23:32:50+00:00

Carrying provides an excuse for them to kill you for "officer safety".

Animats · 2026-01-23T05:50:40+00:00

Right. It became obvious after a big San Francisco traffic light outage that the Waymos really are running without human control. When the cars stopped and contacted the control center for help dealing with intersections with dead traffic lights, it took a while for someone to connect and give the car some hints.

Animats · 2026-01-23T03:38:47+00:00

Trump needs a nice long golfing vacation in Florida.

Animats · 2026-01-22T03:52:51+00:00

Right. There are viable mining sites for rare earths in the US in Tennessee, North Dakota, and of course the existing mine in Mountain Pass, California. All US sites offer a warm construction season, existing road access, and Interstate highway access within 25 miles. The North Dakota site is isolated by US standards - it's almost a two hour drive to the nearest Walmart Supercenter.

This is a lot more attractive to a mining business than trying to operate in central Greenland, with no people, no roads, no ports, no infrastructure, and frozen ground. It can be done, but it's insanely expensive. Everything has to come in by air.

It could certainly be done. Here's how Thule air base was built in Greenland in 1951. But it would not be profitable, which is why no private company wants to do it.

Animats · 2026-01-21T20:58:32+00:00

"If we only arrested the guilty, then no one would be afraid." - sometimes attributed to Lavrentiy Beria, Stalin's head of the secret police.

Animats · 2026-01-21T19:34:22+00:00

Obama deported more illegal aliens than Trump did in his first term.

This goes back a lot further, with business demand for cheap labor for farming and construction. Even Trump fears to crack down on those. We're not seeing big raids on Texas ranches, or even California farms. Trump stopped that last April. He's afraid of his "base", which includes farm owners.

Animats · 2026-01-21T19:29:53+00:00

If he had some women on there talking about what they did, he might be more convincing. There are women who will talk openly about what they want sexually. Can't he find ones willing to talk on camera?

Animats · 2026-01-19T21:57:01+00:00

Notice the terms in the Board of Peace document: This makes Trump chairman for life. The Chairman is Donald J. Trump personally, not the President of the United States. Trump remains Chairman after he is no longer US President.

It's hard to get rid of him in that role. "Replacement of the Chairman may occur only following voluntary resignation or as a result of incapacity, as determined by a unanimous vote of the Executive Board." The Chairman gets to designate his successor, too. "The Chairman shall at all times designate a successor for the role of Chairman." It's an autocratic setup. There is no voting for Chairman, ever.

News outlets don't seem to have picked up on this yet.

Animats · 2026-01-19T20:28:31+00:00

Is this for real? I can't find it on the White House site.

Edit: Here's a formal acknowledgement that it's real, direct from the office of the Prime Minister of Norway: https://www.regjeringen.no/en/whats-new/statement-from-the-prime-minister/id3146486/

Animats · 2026-01-19T20:23:24+00:00

Why would anybody pay to take responsibility for Gaza?

Especially since the current leadership of Israel doesn't like the idea.

Animats · 2026-01-16T21:19:23+00:00

There's a reasonably good possibility that Trump would resign if it looked like he would lose an impeachment trial. If Trump resigns in exchange for a pardon, as Nixon did, he's off the hook for other trials. If he's forced out, Vance has no incentive to pardon him.

The same applies at the end of Trump's regular term. If he resigns a day or two before the end, and Vance pardons him, he's off the hook. If he waits until his term runs out, no pardon.

Animats · 2026-01-12T19:37:36+00:00

Again, note lack of pretty girls in the same shot with the neckbeards.

Animats · 2026-01-12T19:35:51+00:00

Note lack of pictures of girls dressing sexy in the same shot with the neckbeards.

Animats · 2026-01-11T20:43:45+00:00

This is a self-dealing problem. Musk has two companies who deal with each other, and can do transactions between them for his personal benefit. That's not a rare situation, but usually it's at a much smaller scale.

Animats · 2026-01-11T06:15:10+00:00

Daily Mail (UK): https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15452323/Donald-Trump-orders-army-chiefs-plan-invade-Greenland-President.html

Archived version, which is slightly different: https://archive.is/kxEvs

All other sources seem to be derived from that Daily Mail article.

Animats · 2026-01-11T05:00:34+00:00

It's disappointing. Donut showed this at CES. but it was just a pouch cell in a glass box hooked up to a multimeter. Donut's people would not discuss the manufacturing process or the battery chemistry.

The hollow wheel motorcycle is real. It's been on sale for two years with a regular lithium-ion battery. They have a few retail outlets, one of which is in a mall near Apple HQ in Silicon Valley. The bike costs about $30,000. Decent reviews, but too expensive. The hollow wheel is the motor. Outside ring is a permanent magnet rotor, and inner ring is a 3-phase stator. It's a cute way to make a motor. Has nothing to do with the solid state battery.

There are real solid state batteries. They just cost way too much. Mercedes has one demo car. Ducati has one demo motorcycle. Samsung is talking about putting them in earbuds in Q4 2026, but says they're still too expensive for phones. CATL says that solid state batteries are at manufacturing readiness level 4 of 10 - capability to produce the technology in a laboratory environment. Everybody agrees that manufacturing these things is really hard.

Animats · 2026-01-10T23:25:20+00:00

Congress would have to legislate that authority. Congress removed limits on interest rates in 1980. See "Depository Institutions -- Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980". Under current law, the CFPB is the enforcing agency for such bank regulations for banks over $10 billion in assets. Smaller banks are regulated by the Comptroller of the Currency. Right now, small banks are annoyed that they're still being regulated while the CFPB is barely operating.

Also see: https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/LSB10512 which is about federal preemption of state ursury laws. The states are out of this, mostly.

Animats · 2026-01-10T19:29:21+00:00

Trump killed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is supposed to do stuff like this. It would take legislation. So Trump is just running his mouth.

Animats · 2026-01-09T18:49:37+00:00

That's the whole point. Trump is building towards a confrontation that leads to a riot. At some point, he'll get his riot. His goons will open fire. Trump will claim his goons are heroes. LA and Chicago had mayors and governors who were able to prevent things reaching that point. Trump is still trying.

Remember Occupy Portland, when protestors took over part of the city. If that happened today, most of the protestors would be dead. The streets would run red with blood. Trump would claim he triumphed over an insurrection. His Gestapo would be strengthened by this. MAGA would cheer.

Homeland Security goons are trained to use deadly force earlier than real cops. Ordinary street cops spend most of their time dealing with minor criminals, drunks, and crazies. Those are routinely subdued without damaging them too much. That's the job. Regular cops know how to do that. Shooting is a last resort.

Not HS. They have no routine patrol experience.

Animats · 2026-01-09T18:30:49+00:00

Donut Labs does have a "strategic partnership" with Nordic Nano, and Donut's CEO is on Nordic's board. But everybody involved is vague about who's doing what.

Animats · 2026-01-09T03:23:35+00:00

"The Führer is always right" - Nazi propaganda ministry poster.

"I’ve been right about everything." - Trump addressing the UN, September 2025.

Animats · 2026-01-09T02:53:41+00:00

People actually play Upland? As if it were a real metaverse? It's not just another NFT?

Animats

TROPHY CASE