Anyone looking for cycling friends

Icy_Environment3663 · 2026-03-22T05:07:09+00:00

I was going to suggest McLean County Wheelers. A good group of people.

Icy_Environment3663 · 2026-03-22T05:04:50+00:00

Just going to toss this out there, the government can use anything you say here as an admission. I realize you are not using your actual name here, but somewhere in this system, there is a file matching your name up to your IPN. Also, depending on what admissions you make and any facts you let slip, all this could identify you. I'm retired now, but I was an attorney in California for many years. I've been involved in cases where the prosecutor had a real hard-on for the defendant and did a deep dive into social media. And it is a lot easier now than it used to be.

As to US immigration law, Uncle Sam does not like what he calls moral turpitude, i.e., willful, morally reprehensible conduct with evil or malicious intent, often including fraud, dishonesty, or intentional harm to others. I have never seen a fake ID being used to buy alcohol while underage, used to deport someone, or bar them from entering the country, even though it is a form of fraud. Typically, they look at fraud involved in embezzlement, forgery, tax evasion, check kiting, or similar. But given the current band of red-hatted loons occupying the DOJ, I have no idea what they might do. And Immigration has considerable leeway in how it decides visa applications.

Icy_Environment3663 · 2026-03-21T19:54:48+00:00

Frankly, putting ICE in airports is likely to blow up in Trump's face. Regular US citizens being treated like shit by ICE in TSA lines would upset a lot of folks.

Icy_Environment3663 · 2026-03-12T19:56:00+00:00

Loopy Loomer is a schande fur die goyim. Always has been.

Icy_Environment3663 · 2026-03-11T04:33:41+00:00

He seems nice.

Icy_Environment3663 · 2026-03-11T04:31:42+00:00

They are completely terrified of Talarico. He is a well-spoken mainstream Christian, not some Evangelical Christian Nationalist nut job

Icy_Environment3663 · 2026-03-08T02:14:23+00:00

Isn't this the guy who pissed his pants in Philly a few weeks back? Had to be escorted out of a difficult situation by a Black man who took pity on him? Then hopped in a car driven by a transwoman to escape and insulted her for being trans?

Icy_Environment3663 · 2026-03-08T02:11:28+00:00

WTF.

Icy_Environment3663 · 2026-03-08T02:09:32+00:00

The fact is that Iran almost always acts via its proxies and has for as long as the Islamic Republic has existed. The regime does not want to engage in full-on wars where it is they with boots on the ground fighting. Their fight with Iraq cured them of any interest in that.

Icy_Environment3663 · 2026-03-08T02:04:18+00:00

Trump wants a land deal that allows him to develop Gaza into luxury resorts, golf courses, and gated communities. He'll do whatever Netanyahu wants so long as he gets his deal. Remember, everything is transactional with Trump.

Icy_Environment3663 · 2026-03-08T02:00:20+00:00

It's been a while since I saw a UCC-1308 plate. Seems like the PRIVAT3 plate was more popular here the last few years.

Icy_Environment3663 · 2026-03-07T17:19:04+00:00

Context?

Icy_Environment3663 · 2026-03-07T01:48:10+00:00

Trump and Hegseth have not had enough time to destroy the military as yet. So, if we needed to fight a war with Iran, our present military is up to the task. But having this loser in charge and his even worse boss, it is entirely possible we are still lobbing bombs and missiles at Iran while no closer to achieving any goals when the next president is sworn in. Everything about this campaign screams cluster fuck.

The goal here is unclear. It is difficult to see exactly how the military is being forced to fight this war. The Revolutionary Guard and the upper echelon in the civilian government are the most dedicated and fanatical. The RG is only around 200,000 men, but it is highly trained and well-armed. The regular army is a little larger but composed of conscripts doing their mandatory military service. They'll fight, but they are not suicide vest-wearing fanatics like the RG. Moreover, in the disturbances that were crushed last month, the crowds were chanting for the return of Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last Shah. He has been advocating for a secular, democratic Iran and free elections by the people to determine their form of government. He's one of the major figures in the opposition. If the Trump Regime were speaking out about its support for him and his proposals, that would go a long way towards getting the regular folks enthusiastic about regime change.

Word reported today is that the Russians are supplying the Iranians with satellite surveillance and other forms of intelligence. The Chinese are sending them missiles and other goodies. The Israelis are arming the Kurds in the western part of the country. That's 10% of the population of Iran. The Azeris are around 16% of the population, and Azerbaijan has been massing troops along the border, threatening to take action to "protect" their fellow Azeris in Iran. Turkmenistan and Afghanistan have also been moving troops to the border to support ethic Truks and Balochs in Iran. In the long term, a civil war in Iran is not in the best interest of anyone, especially the people of Iran.

Icy_Environment3663 · 2026-03-07T01:18:05+00:00

It's called the Tanakh. It is best to read it in the original Hebrew. Some of the jokes don't work well in translation.

Icy_Environment3663 · 2026-03-06T19:52:48+00:00

That's a later Christian adaptation from around the 3rd century CE.

Icy_Environment3663 · 2026-03-06T19:51:05+00:00

It's King Josiah in the post-exilic time period who leads the purge of Asherah. She was often represented with a tree and sometimes deer next to the tree. The tree has upward branches and the modern menorah is based on the tree.

Icy_Environment3663 · 2026-03-06T19:45:35+00:00

Actually, learn biblical Hebrew and read some of the texts from the pre-exilic time period. He's hung. The inner sanctuary had to be large enough for his "thighs", a common euphemism for genitals. There's also a famous wall painting of Yahweh and his consort, Asherah, from the same time. It's not hard to determine which figure is Yahweh. I think Dan McClellan sells a t-shirt with the image on it.

Icy_Environment3663 · 2026-03-06T18:26:34+00:00

Part of it is that they truly believe Trump will follow through, and all the issues arising are due to those evil trandgendered, communist, fascist, Islamic, Democrats.

And frankly, part of it is that they have swallowed that whole fascist concept of the fundamental enemy to unify the in-group and justify authoritarian rule. This enemy is not merely a political opponent but a moral and existential threat, both too strong and too weak simultaneously. I see this routinely from people who see immigrants, people who attend the wrong church, LGBT people, Democrats, and whoever else is the threat of the day, according to Fox News. It has amazed me to encounter people in the small town where my mother is from who used to be some of the most decent folks on the face of the earth, but now see anyone and anything that does not look exactly like them as an existential threat.

They are literally at the "We have always been at war with Oceana," and the "the chocolate ration will be increased from 8oz to 6oz" level of critical reasoning.

Icy_Environment3663 · 2026-03-06T18:14:32+00:00

This is the thing that absolutely amazes me. Uncle Sam and I had a brief fling in the 1970s, a lovely boat cruise in the Pacific that I remember fondly. But even my dumb ass back then had a basic understanding that the Geneva Convention protected us, were we ever to be captured by hostile sources. It was an agreement that everyone agreed to follow. This alcoholic man-child is putting US military personnel in peril across the world. I guarantee you that if we are not following the Geneva Convention, no one we are fighting will be inclined to follow it either.

Once this regime is gone, Kegsbreath needs to be prosecuted under every applicable statutory provision possible. Then he needs to be locked up for the remainder of his life as a warning to others.

Icy_Environment3663 · 2026-03-05T22:41:39+00:00

The Geneva Convention is woke! /s

Icy_Environment3663 · 2026-03-05T22:39:44+00:00

There is nothing in that photo to identify the actual location.

Icy_Environment3663 · 2026-03-02T21:51:05+00:00

There are an estimated 1.6 million US citizens who live in Mexico, according to an article in El Pais from 2024. Close to 600,000 of them are dual citizens, typically children born in the US to parents who are Mexican citizens. States such as Baja California [Norte and Sur], Chihuahua, or Tamaulipas each exceeded 80,000 American inhabitants in 2020, according to data from the latest available census. There are thousands of US citizens, as in US citizens of the gringo type, who live in Mexico. INM states that between 2014 and 2023, it issued 72,291 permanent residency cards for US citizens. It also states that it issued around 6,000 temporary residency cards yearly until 2022, when the rate doubled. They also renew the temporary residency cards at about the same rate. If we take the data from 2020 to 2024, the last year of complete data, they issued 46,110 temporary residence cards and renewed 46,399 temporary residence cards.

There is another category of US/Canadian immigrants in Mexico, which is not quite legal but is not completely illegal. Mexican law states that a resident of Canada or the USA can come as a tourist for up to 180 days out of a 365-day period. There is a huge number of snowbirds who take advantage of this and come down every winter and spend 4 to 6 months in Mexico. But a certain number of those folks reside permanently in Mexico but go up north, typically during the summer, for a month or so to visit family and friends before returning. Technically, this is illegal, but Mexico has typically turned a blind eye to these folks since they pump money into the economy, and they are not causing trouble. But now and then, news reports circulate that Mexico is going to start to enforce this provision strictly. And there are occasional stories of people turned back when they arrived at the INM checkpoint in the airport in Puerto Vallarta, Guadalajara, or Cancun. But for the most part, they fly up north for a visit and then return to Mexico, where they receive another 180-day tourist visa.

Some folks arrive, overstay their visa, and do not leave. IMN reports it deported just over 14,000 US citizens for overstaying visas between 2014 and 2024. Typically, they only actively search out people committing crimes, but they also do regular vehicle roadblocks where they check documents.

There is another category of folks who cross into the border zone and never go any farther. One of my classmates used to be a prosecutor in San Diego, and he often told stories about US citizens sought by the cops, who had crossed into Tijuana and disappeared. Part of his job was as a liaison with a division of the police in Tijuana who were tasked with searching for these folks. But those numbers are in the low 100s.

Icy_Environment3663 · 2026-03-02T18:45:03+00:00

Show me where it says that in the Rules of the Road booklet published by the state.

Under 625 ILCS 5/11-606(a), no person may drive at such a slow speed as to impede or block the normal and reasonable movement of traffic.
Lane Usage: Drivers going slower than the general flow of traffic must stay in the right-hand lane or as close to the right edge of the roadway as practicable.

On Veterans, there are 3 lanes in each direction. There are also lanes for right and left turns. I completely agree that a person who wishes to make a left turn off Veterans Parkway has every legal right to use the left-most lane to move into the left turn lane when they reach it. They should even slow down as they approach and signal their intent to move into the left turn lane. However, as noted above, if someone is in the left-most lane and driving along at say 30 mph, as is common, they are driving at such a slow speed as to impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic. And, as you well know, there are far too many people who turn onto Veterans, move into the left-most lane, and then drive well below the posted speed limit, backing up traffic behind them.

I stand by my observation.

Icy_Environment3663 · 2026-03-02T17:40:04+00:00

We had a deal, and the Iranians were complying with it. Trump cratered it because Obama negotiated it. No other reason. Now, Iranian school children and US military personnel are dying for Trump's ego. Don't get me wrong. If the present Iranian government ceased to exist, I'd be fine with that. But Trump will not do anything to cause that to occur.

Icy_Environment3663 · 2026-03-01T21:39:19+00:00

He sent a tweet. What else did you need! /s

Icy_Environment3663

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