I'm not sure Xi is exceptionally paranoid. The Chinese Communist Party has always been concerned about alternate loyalties, in business as well as in the military. Although the party may worry a bit more about the military, given how many founders of the PRC were generals.
The age of the guys being replaced at least gives a bit of plausible deniability to speculation about an ideological purge.** And it might be a matter, as suggested, of just wanting younger guys who are more up on the changing military technology. Seeing how inflexible Russian generals have been in Ukraine, and how that has played out, would be a motivator there.
** Mass corruption charges, even if warranted, could be a bad look. When Xi first came in, a "new broom" story might have played. But to have a bunch of cases only now? That could look like he wasn't on top of things.
Maybe not moral insanity just brazen bull (I propose the unit of 1 Ph* for this kind of thing, subdivision to be determined)
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-gateway-federal-funds-rename-dulles-penn-station
Now he also wants to rename the already renamed Gulf of Mexico after himself. But will he do after renaming Greenland? How will he call America?
If he was still alive, this guy instead of Kim Jong Un would probably be his role model (although he'd be unable to poperly pronounce the name): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saparmurat_Niyazov
*after Phalaris whose main claim to fame was a brazen bull.
This is David French in today's NYT on fairly simple measures that can be taken to protect the midterms, given Trump's "nationalise the election" rhetoric:
W.r.t. renewables vs. fossil, I urge anyone interested to check out the first YouTube clip in cleek's recent post. If you keep watching past the first, fake sign-off, you'll hear a rousing finale, full of words and music, clarifying the difference between politicis and partisanship.
--TP
Badger: In summation, I think you just got to not do it, man. That's all.
Mr. Fox: I understand what you're saying, and your comments are valuable, but I'm gonna ignore your advice.
Badger: The cuss you are.
Mr. Fox: The cuss am I? Are you cussing with me?
Badger: No, you cussing with me?
Mr. Fox: Don't cussing point at me!
Badger: If you're gonna cuss with somebody, you're not gonna cuss with me, you little cuss!
Mr. Fox: You're not gonna cuss with me!
[Both start snarling at each other, and then settle down]
Mr. Fox: Just buy the tree.
Badger: Okay.
And yeah, these people are farging iceholes. I'm kinda looking forward to the Epstein stuff clearing the decks - send them all to jail. If that includes Bill Clinton, I'm OK with it.
I gotta go play some music now so I don't lose my mind.
How did the local cops get that person in jail in the first place? They got a warrant and went and took physical custody of them. In many cases, they went to their house and arrested them.
Without an MRAP.
So I think ICE is capable of doing the same.
I beg leave to doubt that ICS is capable of doing the same. It would require a level of competence that they show no sign of possessing.
"We're prioritizing the types of people we're arresting. We're going after the worst of the worst. And we're not just going out there willy-nilly picking up people."
Is bullshit.
Miller has set a quota for deportations that is orders of magnitude greater than the number of criminal undocumented people. ICE and CBP folks are getting bonuses for making their quotas. So they grab anyone who is brown or has an accent.
Immigration enforcement is not the job of local police. We don't ask ICE or CBP to enforce traffic violations etc., and we should not ask local cops to do immigration work. For all the reasons discussed in the piece.
You don't need 6 or 8 guys to arrest a criminal undocumented alien. You don't need an MRAP, or a sound cannon, or "less lethal" ordinance to arrest a criminal undocumented alien.
ICE has to go to somebody's house to arrest someone? OMFG, what a burden.
How did the local cops get that person in jail in the first place? They got a warrant and went and took physical custody of them. In many cases, they went to their house and arrested them.
Without an MRAP.
So I think ICE is capable of doing the same.
These guys have killed people, blinded people, shot people, rammed into people's cars, beaten the shit out of people, threatened people with guns drawn. It's an exercise in dominance. Aimed in particular at blue cities in blue states.
Fuck that.
Want co-operation? Stop terrorizing people. Short of that, get the fuck out.
And I appreciate that Homan is a kinder gentler version of Bovino, but we have the man on tape taking a $50K bribe.
That's the best Trump and Miller can come up with?
These guys have a long history of killing and abusing people and coloring outside the legal lines. The only difference now is they're killing white people.
Time to burn it down and start over from a clean slate.
wj - Made worse by the detail, for those with a clue about the difference, by the fact the Border Patrol’s remit only runs within 100 miles of the border, which Minneapolis isn’t.
True, but the CBP agents and the BOP personnel who are there in MN are there not as part of their departments' actions, but on assignment to ICE to make up for not having enough agents to make the surge sustainable any other way.
And then there are the bounty hunters and other contractors who are doing the legwork to find enough immigrant-y looking folks to round up and keep those quotas met. Doesn't matter if they have to release them later on, all the bonuses are tied to the front end.
anyone who is talking about this on the various programs from the dem side rails on ICE and makes no mention of Border Patrol.
I suspect that, for most people, ICE and Border Patrol are indistinguishable. The difference is just too inside baseball for most of us. Made worse by the detail, for those with a clue about the difference, by the fact the Border Patrol's remit only runs within 100 miles of the border, which Minneapolis isn't. Not that those sorts of niggling legal details make any difference to the Orange Nero.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.
On “Separated by a common language”
The Raving Monster Loony Party will finally get a PM!
On “Xi and China’s military: an off the wall theory”
I'm not sure Xi is exceptionally paranoid. The Chinese Communist Party has always been concerned about alternate loyalties, in business as well as in the military. Although the party may worry a bit more about the military, given how many founders of the PRC were generals.
The age of the guys being replaced at least gives a bit of plausible deniability to speculation about an ideological purge.** And it might be a matter, as suggested, of just wanting younger guys who are more up on the changing military technology. Seeing how inflexible Russian generals have been in Ukraine, and how that has played out, would be a motivator there.
** Mass corruption charges, even if warranted, could be a bad look. When Xi first came in, a "new broom" story might have played. But to have a bunch of cases only now? That could look like he wasn't on top of things.
"
If it's only a handful of military brass, then Xi isn't going full Stalin.
Never go full Stalin.
"
It is one thing for a leader to show no mercy to his enemies; it is quite another for him to be so pitiless with his friends.
Civilian authoritarian leaders have no friends in the military.
"
Apparently some big officer guy in Germany is forcing all the men under him to view Melania. We need to do some purging here of wackos and nutcases.
"
Yeah, there is that. But imagine if Xi is splitting the difference between those three and Marshall.
"
Hitler, Mao, and Stalin employed similar, albeit a bit more drastic approach to reforming their officer corps. Results vary.
On “Moral insanity”
Please add a 'what' (without tf) after But and before will.
"
Maybe not moral insanity just brazen bull (I propose the unit of 1 Ph* for this kind of thing, subdivision to be determined)
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-gateway-federal-funds-rename-dulles-penn-station
Now he also wants to rename the already renamed Gulf of Mexico after himself. But will he do after renaming Greenland? How will he call America?
If he was still alive, this guy instead of Kim Jong Un would probably be his role model (although he'd be unable to poperly pronounce the name): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saparmurat_Niyazov
*after Phalaris whose main claim to fame was a brazen bull.
"
This is David French in today's NYT on fairly simple measures that can be taken to protect the midterms, given Trump's "nationalise the election" rhetoric:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/opinion/trump-nationalize-elections-midterms.html?unlocked_article_code=1.J1A.41j0.KnVRs-ShXqZm&smid=url-share
On “Bingeing on schadenfreude”
You are dead
cody rudland<████████>
to <jeeproject@yahoo.com>
Aug 13, 2019 6:48 AM
Lol good riddance
"
Wow, when starting to read the post, I was thinking that it was some sort of alternative to gmail that was the subject.
...but then it ALL BECAME CLEAR.
So, not as big as gmail, but much less evil? Please proceed.
On “Moral insanity”
This, from Jamelle Bouie in today's NYT, seems a pretty succinct summing up of the governing idea behind the Trump presidency:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/opinion/trump-presidential-power-comments.html?unlocked_article_code=1.J1A.ZFRC.nNClfSmkgGZn&smid=url-share
On “Adam Tooze”
W.r.t. renewables vs. fossil, I urge anyone interested to check out the first YouTube clip in cleek's recent post. If you keep watching past the first, fake sign-off, you'll hear a rousing finale, full of words and music, clarifying the difference between politicis and partisanship.
--TP
On “It is never “Simple as that””
You could go the route of Fantastic Mr. Fox:
Badger: In summation, I think you just got to not do it, man. That's all.
Mr. Fox: I understand what you're saying, and your comments are valuable, but I'm gonna ignore your advice.
Badger: The cuss you are.
Mr. Fox: The cuss am I? Are you cussing with me?
Badger: No, you cussing with me?
Mr. Fox: Don't cussing point at me!
Badger: If you're gonna cuss with somebody, you're not gonna cuss with me, you little cuss!
Mr. Fox: You're not gonna cuss with me!
[Both start snarling at each other, and then settle down]
Mr. Fox: Just buy the tree.
Badger: Okay.
"
nous for the win!
"
That's "Farging ICEholes."
"
Maybe I'll go with the Johnny Dangerously lingo.
Farging iceholes! Sonamabatch!!
A little humor with the spice can't be bad.
And yeah, these people are farging iceholes. I'm kinda looking forward to the Epstein stuff clearing the decks - send them all to jail. If that includes Bill Clinton, I'm OK with it.
I gotta go play some music now so I don't lose my mind.
"
What cleek said.
"
FWIW. i like spicy russell. his presence confirms the severity of the situation.
but, breaks are always good, too.
"
I can tell from the increasing frequency of F-bombs in my comments that it's time for me to take a little break from current events.
We are governed by greedheads and sociopathic weirdos. It is what it is, and it is what it's gonna be until we can figure out how to change it.
And, nonetheless, we all still need to live our lives as best we can.
Stay safe and sane out there, keep on keeping on, and don't let the bastards get inside your head. Saying that to myself as much as anything else.
"
I beg leave to doubt that ICS is capable of doing the same. It would require a level of competence that they show no sign of possessing.
Say, rather, that ICE should do the same.
"
Here's the thing. This statement right here:
"We're prioritizing the types of people we're arresting. We're going after the worst of the worst. And we're not just going out there willy-nilly picking up people."
Is bullshit.
Miller has set a quota for deportations that is orders of magnitude greater than the number of criminal undocumented people. ICE and CBP folks are getting bonuses for making their quotas. So they grab anyone who is brown or has an accent.
Immigration enforcement is not the job of local police. We don't ask ICE or CBP to enforce traffic violations etc., and we should not ask local cops to do immigration work. For all the reasons discussed in the piece.
You don't need 6 or 8 guys to arrest a criminal undocumented alien. You don't need an MRAP, or a sound cannon, or "less lethal" ordinance to arrest a criminal undocumented alien.
ICE has to go to somebody's house to arrest someone? OMFG, what a burden.
How did the local cops get that person in jail in the first place? They got a warrant and went and took physical custody of them. In many cases, they went to their house and arrested them.
Without an MRAP.
So I think ICE is capable of doing the same.
These guys have killed people, blinded people, shot people, rammed into people's cars, beaten the shit out of people, threatened people with guns drawn. It's an exercise in dominance. Aimed in particular at blue cities in blue states.
Fuck that.
Want co-operation? Stop terrorizing people. Short of that, get the fuck out.
And I appreciate that Homan is a kinder gentler version of Bovino, but we have the man on tape taking a $50K bribe.
That's the best Trump and Miller can come up with?
These guys have a long history of killing and abusing people and coloring outside the legal lines. The only difference now is they're killing white people.
Time to burn it down and start over from a clean slate.
On “Moral insanity”
wj - Made worse by the detail, for those with a clue about the difference, by the fact the Border Patrol’s remit only runs within 100 miles of the border, which Minneapolis isn’t.
True, but the CBP agents and the BOP personnel who are there in MN are there not as part of their departments' actions, but on assignment to ICE to make up for not having enough agents to make the surge sustainable any other way.
And then there are the bounty hunters and other contractors who are doing the legwork to find enough immigrant-y looking folks to round up and keep those quotas met. Doesn't matter if they have to release them later on, all the bonuses are tied to the front end.
It's a peckerwood banquet.
"
I suspect that, for most people, ICE and Border Patrol are indistinguishable. The difference is just too inside baseball for most of us. Made worse by the detail, for those with a clue about the difference, by the fact the Border Patrol's remit only runs within 100 miles of the border, which Minneapolis isn't. Not that those sorts of niggling legal details make any difference to the Orange Nero.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.