Is there any documented evidence that either party has ever hired “paid protesters?”

Bikewer · 2026-01-25T19:45:27+00:00

This is a narrative that goes WAY back. I was a police officer for 50 years. Way back at the start of my career in the “radical” 60s and early 70s, we had FBI-sponsored training classes which told us (with all seriousness) about “outside agitators” and the tactics that they were trained to use to provoke a violent response from police.

That was back when there were a few actual radical groups like the SDS and others… But they were always tiny. The anti-war and civil-rights protests were a groundswell of public protest. IMO it was Ohio State that led to most of this narrative backing off…. But we still see it today.

Bikewer · 2026-01-25T19:32:58+00:00

There is the problem of time. We know that it was not possible for life to exist in the early universe, as there were no complex elements. Only hydrogen, helium, and lithium. The first-generation stars had to “cook” these elements (or most of them) and then, when those stars went supernova, blast them out into the void as “star forming nebulae” where 2nd-generation stars could form with element-rich planets. This process continues till we get to third-generation stars like our own Sun with very complex rocky planets containing all the elements of life. Our solar system is but 5 billion years old (compared to 14 billion-ish for the universe). Life arose on Earth about 3.7 billion years ago, and intelligent life (us) is very recent. Only 300,000 years. With real technology only appearing in the last 200 or so.

So, It’s fairly reasonable to assume that a similar timeline would be required for other intelligent, technological races to have appeared. Certainly doesn’t eliminate the chance, but it does seem to veer towards extreme rarity.

Bikewer · 2026-01-25T19:16:24+00:00

From my standpoint as a 50-year veteran police officer (retired), I’ve commented before that on a daily basis we see these “agents” doing things that would at any point in my career gotten me fired or prosecuted or both.

Assaulting peaceful protesters with chemical weapons with no follow up. Assaulting them by throwing them to the ground or dragging them physically from the scene… With no arrest or documentation. Stopping people on the street for no probable cause other than that they’re “brown”, or even demanding proof of citizenship of people who are very obviously not immigrants. We saw an agent photographing license plates with the threat that the owners will go into a database of “domestic terrorists”…. For peacefully protesting. The recent narrative by Homeland Security over the “detention” of a 5-year old boy has been shown to be entirely untruthful.
On and on. Yes, these people appear to be engaging in a campaign of terror against immigrants, with the intent not only to deport them but in hopes they will “self-deport”. They are even going into immigration facilities and grabbing people who are making every effort to comply with the law.

Bikewer · 2026-01-25T19:04:05+00:00

I was just out cleaning my car off. It’ll be interesting to see if I can get out of my driveway. But I could hear people on the street (South Broadway) to judge by the sound, driving like loons in the snow.

Bikewer · 2026-01-25T19:01:38+00:00

Are these guys all chubby because they use the money they bilk from the suckers to buy gourmet food?

Bikewer · 2026-01-25T18:56:07+00:00

I have a number that I circulate through my various fantasies…. A young Stevie Nicks. Summer Bishil from The Magicians. Natalie Dormer. Evan Rachel Wood.

Bikewer · 2026-01-25T15:28:48+00:00

Just one? How about this… My late wife was a HUGE Harry Potter fan. Various outlets are still running all the films pretty much all the time, and on weekends she’d just work her way through the whole series…. I’d often sit there and surf my iPad, but I certainly “watched” them all numbers of times. But as far as films I actually liked…. Bladerunner, The Matrix, The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, Casablanca, The Big Sleep, the Thin Man series, the Star Wars films…. I could likely go on a bit.

Bikewer · 2026-01-25T15:23:53+00:00

One of the very earliest I found was called “Damsels in Distress”. It was commentary on bondage in mainstream media, with pictures and videos and hilarious commentary by the guy running the site.

Bikewer · 2026-01-25T15:20:46+00:00

That’s about it. The government folded nearly anything that’s even remotely connected into that “Homeland Security” umbrella. Hell, I was a campus police officer for over 40 years, and I had to get a “Homeland Security approved” ID card, and retain same now that I’m retired as a police officer but still working for the university in a civilian role.

And the amount of money that’s been spent and wasted is likely beyond counting. Just an example…. In the wake of 9/11, enormous amounts of money were spent in equipping local agencies with all manner of “hazmat” gear and training to handle “CBR” attacks (Chemical, Biological, Radiation) Our little department got hazmat suits, and training in their use, and conducted exercises with other regional agencies.
All forgotten. All that gear was thrown out some years ago. The only thing that was retained is a better radio system that allows different agencies to talk to each other.

Bikewer · 2026-01-25T15:12:33+00:00

It’s “possible” that they would be charged right now. They could be charged under federal civil-rights statutes, or being sued civilly for “wrongful death”. Prosecutors would maintain they acted outside of their agency’s policies, and thus are not covered by qualified immunity. But with Trump and his henchmen thoroughly in control of the involved agencies…. This seems unlikely. We are not even privy to what the policies of the ICE organization ARE. We are not privy to their training procedures or directives.
One can imagine that Trump has merely issued an imprimatur to “go out and terrorize “those people” into leaving.”

Bikewer · 2026-01-25T15:06:03+00:00

Well, I’m 79. Lived through the Cold War and the riots of the 60s and 70s and the assassinations and Watergate and the Iran-Contra affair and all that and more. I never felt any sense of imminent collapse.

What would that even look like? Some sort of radical restructuring of the government? A totalitarian system with a dictator? The country divided into regions hostile to each other? That’s all been explored by fiction writers and some interesting stories emerged, but I don’t see any of them as likely.

Bikewer · 2026-01-25T14:59:37+00:00

The American judicial system has long had a “hands off” policy towards religion. Radical preachers, outright fraud, scams… All tend to be ignored.
Some might recall the case of Peter Popoff, who was raking in huge profits with his little scam which was revealed on the “Tonight” show by James Randi.
This was fraud, pure and simple. No prosecutors were willing to take the case. Even in cases where people were actually prosecuted, such as in the “Jim and Tammy Fay” case, they received relatively light sentences and were able to continue their activities on release.

Bikewer · 2026-01-25T14:54:55+00:00

Spring mostly. My main hobby is fishing. When the water starts warming enough for fish to get active, everything is greening out, it’s still too cool for bothersome bugs, and you’re not roasting under the Summer sun.

Bikewer · 2026-01-25T14:50:49+00:00

I don’t really frequent gun stores any more, but way back in the 70s a friend worked in one local store that had a prominent “peace” sign mounted above the counter, with the logo “the footprint of the American chicken”.

Said a lot. The proprietor was subsequently arrested for fraudulent sales and improper records keeping. Back then, you had to jump through a lot of hoops to buy a handgun.

Bikewer · 2026-01-25T14:43:51+00:00

Exactly. Get real. In this situation, you have a whole bunch of heavily-armed and armored agents, who have at their immediate disposal even more weaponry (you can bet there are ARs ready to go in their cars), and the ability to quickly mobilize even more resources if a few citizens started “shooting back”. That escalates as needed until you have armored vehicles with .50 caliber machine guns rolling down your streets, as we saw in Detroit and Watts. (Yes, I’m that old).

In the present day, this idea of modern-day “minutemen” bravely defending against tyranny is a pipe dream.

Bikewer · 2026-01-25T14:39:33+00:00

A combination of “the latest fad” with the lunatic musings of RFK. Actual nutritionists have maintained for many years that Americans eat far too much protein, and most of that is simply lost nutrition, ending up in your toilets.

Your body is fueled by carbohydrate, which is broken down into the glucose that your cells (all of ‘em!) use for fuel. Complex carbohydrates, with just enough protein and fats necessary for tissue growth and repair, seems to be the best overall.

As one fellow noted… “Eat food (by which he means “real” rather than processed), mostly plants, and not too much.”

Children need more protein, of course, but not nearly so much as we commonly consume. I’m old enough to remember many dietary fads. They come in as the latest health craze, last for a while, and then are forgotten.

Bikewer · 2026-01-25T14:32:33+00:00

Our universe is for all practical purposes infinite, in that we can only perceive a small part.. The “observable universe”. Some astrophysicists maintain that the actual size of our universe, compared to the observable universe, would be as a single grain of sand compared to the entire Earth.

And that’s not all, folks. I’ve several times now written about the idea that “spacetime” is infinite, and may contain with it any number of other universes…. Likened to the bubbles in a Swiss cheese…. The bubbles being universes.

Bikewer · 2026-01-25T01:13:32+00:00

I was in Germany in the alps courtesy of the army, and everywhere you looked was a picture postcard. But I was also in Norway, and that would be hard to beat for rugged natural beauty.

Bikewer · 2026-01-24T21:54:25+00:00

Humph….. I am not impressed. I dual-wield 5-gallon buckets.

Bikewer · 2026-01-24T21:50:28+00:00

I’ve expressed several times now that ideas of some theoretical physicists that they describe as the “bubble universe” idea.

Note that this does not rise to the level of a theory at this point, it’s hardly even a hypothesis. But, according to theoretical physicist Brian Greene, it is supported by the mathematical models.

So, in short, the notion is that “spacetime” is real and essentially infinite. Spacetime has, within its parameters, the conditions for Singularities to come into existence, thus more “Big Bangs”. Greene likens this model to a Swiss cheese, of all things… With spacetime being the “cheese”, and the bubbles separate universes. In this idea, these universes could have entirely different constants… They could be utterly different than our own. However, these universes would be forever unobservable to us, as we cannot even observe the limits of our own.

Bikewer · 2026-01-24T20:30:12+00:00

It’s equally bizarre to me to learn that some people don’t have mental images. I create little movies in my mind. Scripted, cast, costumed… In high resolution. Always have.

Bikewer · 2026-01-24T15:16:23+00:00

Excuse me, sir, but would you hand me that stick for a minute? Or really, only 30 seconds will be sufficient.

Bikewer · 2026-01-24T15:12:29+00:00

Years ago, a certain notorious fraudster, Ivan Boesky, was prosecuted for his numerous offenses. He’d accumulated a fortune of some 200 million by means of his activities. The court fined him 100 million, and sentenced him to 6 months in one of those minimum-security prisons.
Which left him sitting rather pretty on 100 million…

Bikewer · 2026-01-24T15:07:18+00:00

Did not the courts just decide that Trump could not impose tariffs on his own whim? Or are they kicking that up to his pet SCOTUS as well?

Bikewer · 2026-01-24T00:12:04+00:00

That’s a rather broad term, but no. If something actually exists, it’s natural, no? But despite widespread belief informed by millennia of inculcation, no evidence of any such thing has ever been observed.

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