January’s End Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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Saturday, January 31, 2026
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20 comments
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About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science and former College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored
A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
Follow Steven on
Twitter and/or
BlueSky.
Crazy person demented asshole:
“WaPo Gift”
“JPG”
Gilded, just to be more eye-catching of a monstrosity. Just keeps getting worse as the dementia and decompensation progress.
“JPG”
This our Good Germans voted for.
Thom Tillis wrote this on his Facebook. Many thought his account was hacked but apparently it is real. Yes, he is leaving the Senate. As one commenter asked: So when politicians announce they’re retiring, are they granted a spinal implant surgery free of charge?
We are running low on supplies. Almost out of coffee, eggs and cat food. No maple syrup. Argh! Fresh vegetables, other than some limp celery and one sweet potato, are gone.
The lake has ice bergs.
There are few tracks in the snow, as it’s frozen solid. Sadie runs atop it, not leaving paws marks. A neighbor,who weighs about 300 pounds, didn’t crack the surface when he stepped out to check his mailbox. All for naught, of course, because mail is not being delivered.
We haven’t been outside for a week, so cabin fever has set in.
This weather event is new to us. Even Mr becca, who grew up winter camping, is impressed. Longest extended period of deep freeze we have suffered since ever.
We’re going invest in some chains for the car, unheard of this far south.
@charontwo:
Oh. My. God. A giant golden arch. Is that an homage to McDonald’s, purveyors of his favorite cuisine?
@becca:
I’m really sorry to read that. Can emergency vehicles get through to you, God forbid you should need one?
I entertained myself here in rehab this morn by lolling abed and reading all the hilariously snide reviews of the alleged documentary Melania.
What’s worse than Hell Week?
Stress Week.
Without going into detail, we had to have a certificate from the consumer protection agency stating our scales were properly calibrated. This usually involves filing a request for inspection, paying a fee, and waiting 3 to 5 business days.
This time we filed on the 16th, paid on the 19th, and after 5 business days got an excuse about a large backlog and an audit that slowed things down. We have a good relationship with several people at that agency (we request such inspections twice a year, for five different subsidiaries), so we could call them and beg and pressure to please hurry things along.
Eventually the request for proposals we were expecting published on the 27th, for presentation on the 30th.
We got the certificate on the 29th.
I got a stress rash.
The worst part is last year I suggested we move the dates when we get the certificates from July and January to September and March. This would require either 1) foregoing a current certificate between July and September of 2025, or 2) getting an extra inspection in September (the law mandates two inspections per year). I was overruled on both.
With the episode fresh in everyone’s mind, I got a written commitment from the department manager to approve three scale inspections this year.
ICE claims that immigrant’s skull damage and brain bleed are the result of him voluntarily running into a brick wall.
https://apnews.com/article/immigration-enforcement-minneapolis-hospitals-32cd5ca61d495e155d43b7cfd5e563b9?utm_source=onesignal&utm_medium=push&utm_campaign=2026-01-31-AP+Investigation
@CSK:
“A giant golden arch. Is that an homage to McDonald’s, purveyors of his favorite cuisine?”
More likely he got McD’s to pay him for the free advertising.
@CSK: I am betting big heavy vehicles could get here, but not quickly. We have rolling hills and narrow roads that can’t be plowed because of the thick ice on top of snow. It looks beautiful, but…
Hopefully we get relief on Monday, but Tuesday may be more like it. Then it’s back to the 50’s and above freezing night time temps.
On aviation news, Airbus reportedly will try to move ahead with a stretched version of the A220, capable of a max load of 180 passengers. Meaning it would compete with Boeing’s smaller 737 MAX model, and with the A320neo.
Back when the A220 was still owned by Bombardier and called the C Series, there was much speculation of a stretched version just like this one, and how it might take business away from Boeing and Airbus.
So why would Airbus take business away from itself?
There are fabrication cost issues with the A220, plus some engine issues (it uses a variant of the Pratt & Whitney engine the A320neo uses, slightly smaller). These need to be solved somehow. Beyond that, of the A320neo family, the most popular model is the larger A321neo. The A319neo and A320neo have not sold as well. So, an A220-500 that reduced demand for the A320neo would free up production line slots for the A321neo. Therefore it all makes sense if the issues noted above can be fixed.
Would airlines want it? Maybe. It would have less range than the A320neo, but better fuel economy. On the other hand, it lacks type commonality with the A320 family, which would require pilots and maintenance personnel to retrain for it.
What about passengers? As if they had a say, right? But passengers do like the A220 for one reason: the seats are on a 2-3 configuration, meaning it has half as many middle seats as other passenger jets (except the Embraer E Jet line, with a 2-2 configuration, which has 100% fewer middle seats).
So, it seems like a good idea overall, if it can get enough interest and, more important, serious commitments, from airlines.
The Independent’s review of the Melania Trump bribe-thinly-disguised-as-a-documentary is savage.
https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/melania-trump-movie-review-documentary-b2911108.html
@Kingdaddy:
This reminds me of the scene in Blazing Saddles in which the Harvey Korman character puts out a call for the worst bad guys of all.
That’s what ICE is now: a collection of psychotic thugs who were hired precisely because they are psychotic thugs.
@CSK: Speaking of which, a commenter on Facebook said Melania reminded him of Lilly von Shtupp doing, “I’m Tired”.
Local law enforcement apparently starting to understand who pays their bills.
St. Peter police chief intervenes, prevents federal agents from arresting resident
MPR News has learned that the police chief in the small southern Minnesota city of St. Peter intervened Thursday afternoon to prevent federal immigration agents from arresting a local resident.
The resident, a woman, had been observing and recording video of immigration enforcement actions from her car when agents removed her from her car and took her into custody.
It’s believed to be the first time a local police department in Minnesota intervened in a federal law enforcement action since the surge in immigration enforcement began two months ago.
Via Balloon Juice one Ari Drennen, quoting Adam Serwer at Atlantic posted on Bluesky,
Minnesota N(o)ICE
Further down the same Balloon Juice post, Chris Rufo, quoted by Zack Beauchamp, sees Minneapolis differently,
Or it could just be that Dem cities aren’t delusional, like Rufo. Also, being of whiter than white Norwegian extraction I’ve never worried about personally being a target of racism, but Rufo may go even there.
So…asked about Canada and China making trade deals, Fatso said something stupid.
Canada’s not going to be allowed to play hockey??? WTF?
Last week the fat f’er said that the professional wrestling people are going to build a stadium for 100,000 people for Trump’s birthday party.
100,000 people would make this one of the 10 biggest stadiums. Like almost exactly the same as Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. On the White House lawn?!?
The president is such a f’ing idiot it’s hard to even comprehend. If someone came into the local bar and said such stupid shit he’d be laughed out of the joint, not put in charge of anything.
@gVOR10:
Except Lily von Schtupp had the good taste to tell Hedley Lamarr to get lost. 🙂
@Daryl:
I sincerely hope this was a Trump attempt at a joke.
@charontwo:
Bloody hell!
He really is getting his Napoleon on, isn’t he?
Which is really a bit unfair on Napoleon, who would have regarded Trump with utter contempt.
It’s really difficult to think of any leader of a major state in modern history who’s more utterly ludicrous than Trump.
Tsar Nicholas II and Kaiser Wilhelm II may be in the running, but at least they did not apply for the job.
And seem to have had some concept of honour, however misguided and arrogant.
@becca:
Sending best wishes, for what it’s worth.
Wish I could send a Fiat Panda 4wd with actual stuff.
” this far south”
Where do you live? I recall you saying, but have forgot.
This winter seems hellish cold in much of the nothern hemisphere.
Ukraine is currently at -15C.
The UK has been lucky: we’re in an odd bubble of relatively mild air.
https://zoom.earth/maps/temperature/#view=49,-46,4z/model=icon
Long video about renewable, mostly solar, energy, with a strong political rant starting at around 60:02 in.