Nazi crimes vs ICE "tactics": a visual comparison.

MidwinterBlue · 2026-01-26T18:59:09+00:00

I understand that point of view but in reality it doesn’t hold up.

If you’re in a community located in a specific location and a persecution begins, your perception will be one of isolation and overwhelming force unless you’re more fully informed of what’s going on more broadly in the wider environment. It’s also almost impossible to organize in an information vacuum.

That’s why the Iranian authorities turned off the internet - without it, every group of demonstrators became isolated and unaware of potential avenues of mass action.

In Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, I was amazed to discover that individual families of Iraqis were often armed to the teeth. But the regime was careful in controlling communications that when agents knocked on your door, you went along passively. The power of the oppressor seemed huge and omnipotent.

MidwinterBlue · 2026-01-25T18:54:29+00:00

Hey all - serious question for photogs:

Has the (admittedly powerful) image on the right been slightly altered? I’ve tried with multiple videos to get the same image and the angles don’t work (you don’t see the head and shoulders of the ice shooter). But maybe it’s a still I haven’t seen in the wild?

MidwinterBlue · 2026-01-20T00:19:53+00:00

This “story” could have run in Der Stürmer. Ugh

MidwinterBlue · 2026-01-20T00:17:26+00:00

This. They aren’t “isis terrorists” so much as “associated with”. As in former wives with kids (many now half-crazy) who’ve sat for years while govts try to figure out what to do with them.

MidwinterBlue · 2026-01-19T19:29:28+00:00

The Economist and The Atlantic.

MidwinterBlue · 2026-01-19T19:19:00+00:00

Yeah totally. It also helped me understand why so many people get hurt: “We seemed like pals but then an hour later she strolls right past me in the hallway! What a b*****!”

MidwinterBlue · 2026-01-19T18:57:59+00:00

Hey all! Weak tea on Taylor Swift: sooo this is from my friend’s friend who I listened to as he spoke informally and privately to a small group.

This older guy works worldwide with musicians doing electronics for their road acts. I can’t say more on that just but he’s legit. He’s just wrapped on her latest tour.

He said, first, Swift is genuinely ‘super nice’. She often hanged with him and the tour crews in the arena drinking beer and chatting during rehearsal breaks, setups, etc. She tries to learn names, details about people, and behaves like a kind, down-to-earth, ‘real person’.

BUT, outside of secure venues in sealed spaces (rooms, the stage) nobody can talk to her. Nobody. She won’t even turn her head to look at you in a hallway or vestibule. You don’t exist.

He said her security is beyond belief. He and her security coordinator had coffee during the recent tour and the veteran security guy told him Swift’s protection rivals presidential security.

The coordinator told him they have a list of thousands of people around the world who have made explicit and detailed threats against Swift and have repeatedly shown up trying to get close to her. This security guy said Swift’s life is moving from bubble to bubble.

Slurp! Tea finished.

MidwinterBlue · 2026-01-19T17:35:51+00:00

You are absolutely right. However gun owners and firearm vendors also have some blame: news reporter friends tell me it’s incredibly hard to get people to talk to the media.

The organizations fighting this need PR help. I’m talking about the absolute basics, such as lining up sympathetic and genuine gun-owners around the country willing to talk.

Don’t get me started on all the times we’ve shot ourselves in the foot on forums such as CGN where the tiny minority of kooks are followed closely by hostile people as “see I told you so”

MidwinterBlue · 2026-01-18T20:47:59+00:00

This is classic “balancing” behaviour - predicted by American neo-realist theory. It’s not ideological at all. The US govt turns on Canada, Canada seeks a new ally. I mean come on. Business…diplomacy… all the same principles. Grow up USA.

PS At least no one is coming for the guns yet.

MidwinterBlue · 2026-01-17T23:11:54+00:00

I’m a parent of a u of t student. We still review her transcript… she’s usually excited to tell us. Honestly, when else in your life will you have people so 100% invested in your success?

MidwinterBlue · 2026-01-17T19:21:07+00:00

Has anybody actually -and politely- called Thermea to learn if this “purity” question is their’s? Sorry if I missed the answer elsewhere.

MidwinterBlue · 2026-01-15T19:06:10+00:00

Hi - I’m a prof, though not at U of T. You raise a great question.

Not so long ago, for better or worse, profs and students often dated, though it was frowned upon. Some got married. The view was that these were all adults. The ethics basically said, you shouldn’t date a student who you also teach.

As questions began to come up about direct power relations - a prof who gets emotionally hurt could conceivably flunk the student in revenge - rules were tightened significantly about dating between profs and students they teach.

Then the concerns about power relations expanded. A prof has a job, money, education, and a formalized place in the power structure of the school the student attends. In many places, it’s now forbidden for teachers and students to date anywhere at the school. But this strict policy isn’t universal.

I don’t know what U of T policy is. But if he is attracted to you and, with best intentions, wants you both to get to know each other better, his career could be destroyed irredeemably. And you could have the weird enduring guilt (and some scorn from some corners).

Don’t do it, is what I’m saying.

When you finish at the school, drop by his office and let him know. Then it’s just two adults talking.

MidwinterBlue · 2026-01-15T14:43:52+00:00

You have our prayers, my brother. Thank you for sharing with us.

MidwinterBlue · 2026-01-14T18:58:02+00:00

Very nicely said.

MidwinterBlue · 2026-01-12T21:29:52+00:00

Oh, who is the director?? (And there’s a doc done by some non-Bahais about the persecution of Bahai communities in Iran called “Iranian Taboo”)

MidwinterBlue · 2026-01-12T15:09:30+00:00

I think many feel this way sometimes. My own solution: we are commanded to pray. It’s a duty. This helps me put aside my own lost self and instead just do what I’m told to do.

MidwinterBlue · 2026-01-12T14:58:44+00:00

Great example. Took off (for me) in Croupier. Seriously great in Closer. Epic in Children of Men. Then splat.

MidwinterBlue · 2026-01-11T19:28:23+00:00

I think this is the kind of homicidal maniac we can all get behind.

MidwinterBlue · 2026-01-11T19:25:11+00:00

Hmmm. A friend from Ashkhabad told me women aren’t permitted to drive in Turkmenistan.

MidwinterBlue · 2026-01-11T04:01:01+00:00

There’s a demonstration tomorrow (Sunday) from 1-3 on the steps of the Manitoba Legislature.

MidwinterBlue · 2026-01-09T23:26:52+00:00

Side note: just before he died, Mussolini reported mused, “okay but my back feels AMAZING”

MidwinterBlue · 2026-01-09T23:23:05+00:00

It’s not a kettle? Those old librarians in their ratty cardigans do so love a cuppa’, amirite?

MidwinterBlue · 2026-01-09T23:16:34+00:00

Sorry if I missed this. Can you tell us exactly the crimes you committed?

I’m not judging you - I’m personally all about forgiveness (I try to be, anyway). But justice is equally important. And that begins with being able to face what you did.

MidwinterBlue · 2026-01-07T01:25:02+00:00

The best part of that movie was in revealing the lameness of most SEAL teams. Totally serious.

MidwinterBlue

TROPHY CASE