Thursday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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Thursday, January 29, 2026
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36 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).
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BlueSky.
I’m sure it was just a coincidence but three members of my family (including me) recently thought of Sam’s speech at the end of The Two Towers (movie).
So, maybe I’ve just lived too long…..
Public opposition to the Vietnam war really gained momentum when the war was brought (by TV) into the public’s living room.
Public opposition to Trumps child incarceration gained momentum when that tactic was brought (by TV) into the public’s living room.
Public opposition to ICE enforcement tactics is gaining momentum as the tactics of ICE is being brought into the public living room.
IMO, the public reaction to ICE apprehensions would be significantly altered IF ICE actually had a judicial warrant to apprehend specific suspects.
Right now ICE appears to be accosting anyone that “looks like they don’t belong”, that IMO is what has protesters animated.
Of course, the seeming reluctance of immigration enforcement to obtain a judicial warrant, appears to be their ill preparedness to show a federal judge that a person “needs” to have their liberty suspended.
I think Democrats need to be thinking about state laws that prohibit ICE around polling stations. I’m sure they will be deployed to insure that brown people don’t vote … er I mean to apprehend ruthless violent immigrant criminals.
How to win friends and influence people
Flags honoring Danish troops at US embassy reinstalled after outcry
Your tax dollars at work.
Guard deployments to US cities cost $496 million in 2025, CBO says
Rice University students create map exposing ICE raids across the country
Web site is https://www.icemap.dev/
So, about drug-addled CEOs with delusions of grandeur, Texla is discontinuing two car models, and will use the production lines to make, of all things, robots.
Adolf and the company “have emphasized a shift towards AI-driven projects such as Optimus consumer robots and self-driving Robotaxis.”
Which are unproven technologies not widely available. Nevertheless, it allowed Adolf “to claim the company will see unparalleled future growth without much to show for it today.”
TL;DR: Texla is all in on the AI bubble.
Yesterday the FBI arrived at the Fulton County Election Hub with a warrant and seized all of the Fulton County ballots from the 2020 election. So far as anyone seems to know, the ballots will be removed to an FBI facility in Virginia. This short-circuits Fulton County’s efforts to transfer the ballots to the DOJ in an orderly manner that would satisfy Georgia law on ballot chain of custody.
@Michael Cain: This the result of incompetent/corrupt Pam Bondi trying to appease the incompetent/corrupt POTUS by ordering incompetent/corrupt Kash Patel to conduct a publicity-inducing “raid” in furtherance of The Dotard’s refusal to accept his loss to Joe Biden. And the rewriting of history continues apace.
@Scott:
I’m sure I missed it, but where is the explanation of the different colors?
@Bobert: Gathering evidence and going to real courts with judges takes time. They have Miller’s quotas to meet.
I think someone else linked to Masha Gessen’s latest NYT column, State Terror Has Arrived.
@CSK: Not sure. It looks to be an indicator of how compliant facilities are with standards.
For those who haven’t heard it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWKSoxG1K7w
Springsteen’s ode to MPLS
@Scott:
Interesting. My assumption was that the colors were an indicator of how violent the ICE attacks on the local populace had been.
@CSK: That’s a confusing map, with no key. Following the link to the map I find in the top right one can uncheck “Detention Centers” and the circles with numbers disappear. The circles with numbers are map pins at detention center locations, color coded with higher numbers brighter. The number appears to be number of facilities at that pin. Disappearing the pins leaves red clouds indicating number of “cases”. Clicking on the map gives a number of “cases” by county, some in the thousands. It’s not quite clear, but the linked article implies “case” = arrest. As with many such maps, the red cloud approximates population density.
What on earth? ICE will send a detachment to the Winter Olympics in Italy next month.
The administration says it is “to vet and mitigate risks from transnational criminal organizations,” that doesn’t quite pass the smell test. Are they worried that some furriner might talk to our athletes? Particularly one who is a lesbian? I mean everyone knows that the Olympics are a primary recruiting ground for Antifa and the Worldwide Soros Conspiracy.
WTAF?
@gVOR10:
Thanks very much. The creators of the map should have made all this information much more easily accessible.
I predict that a few years from now someone will write a dark comedy (book or script) about the Kennedy Center as a microcosm to explore this administration. Its rich soil perfectly situated.
I predict that a few years from now someone will write a dark comedy (book or script) about the Kennedy Center as a microcosm to explore this administration. Its rich soil perfectly situated.
@Jay L. Gischer:
It looks like the paramilitary force personally loyal to der kleine fuhrer.
@gVOR10:
RE: Time
I had a conversation earlier this year (around the time of the deportation flight to Cecot) with a “friend” , who was arguing about due process. He said “we don’t have time” to worry about due process. So I asked him the obvious question: Explain to me this time deadline. I didn’t get any answer, he just walked away.
Beware of attention grabbing headlines and getting outraged because of things that sound true but are incomplete–that’s how the right went nuts. Per the Associated Press Homeland Security Investigations, a division *within* ICE that focuses on cross-border crimes, has a history of attending overseas events. They are separate from the immigration enforcement goons we’ve been watching, and have been working with other agencies and the Italian government for a while.
https://apnews.com/article/ice-milan-cortina-olympics-immigration-enforcement-us-110fa4b2066e1fb920dba2a71c3a89e0
@Just Another Ex-Republican:
I’m willing to accept that.
But you’d think a so-called administration so focused on appearances, from a party that allegedly excels at messaging, would have made such things clear.
I found some small use for LLMs. Not a very big deal. I wrote a short email, and told the bot to suggest improvements. That yielded better results than telling it to write the email from a prompt, but it still made it sound not like me. I guess it would be useful for some mass marketing email campaign, which all seem to be done in the same style. A couple of sentences were a bit clearer than my originals, which I chalk up to my penchant to write succinctly.
Will I do this with further emails? Not likely. maybe if I’m having trouble expressing some complex idea or request. Overall, still not impressed.
On the subject, I remain a bit puzzled at the idea of humanoid robots. the basic notion, as explained by Asimov in The Caves of Steel (c.1955), is that the human form is a successful generalist design. Ok, sure. And tools, from pens to heavy machinery, are made for the human form, too. Fine.
But think of successful industrial robots. They don’t mimic human actions. The robotic arms that can weld cars have a range of motion humans don’t dare dream of. So, even if you want a robot that can handle human tools and work in human spaces, like houses, why not give it four or six arms, 360 degrees of motion for shoulders and wrists, eyes with a 360 degree field of view, maybe four legs so it can support heavier weights, etc.
Michael, are you still in Portugal?
Looks like Portugal was hit hard by Kristin.
Hope you are doing okay.
@Kathy: Robots need to be humanoid so we can sexualize them. Sure, four legs might give a much more stable base and smoother stride, but what good is that unless you’re some kind of monster fucker with a thing for centaurs?
If you look at the Tesla Optimus robot with its bipedal form, sculpted chest, narrow waist and utterly impassive face, can you not see that this is someone’s very specific fetish? That and an utter contempt for human workers and a desire to replace them not in the most efficient way possible, but in the most flagrant way possible.
I actually think that this is one of the critical limitations, and that the people trying to build these humanoid robots are underestimating the purchasing power and cultural influence of wannabe monster fuckers.
(Do you ever read back what you just wrote and have no idea whether you are joking or not? I’m sure it’s a joke, but I’m also sure it’s basically right too)
At least give them tails for balance, and cat ears for aesthetics.
@Bobert:
I think that “friend” has about half of a correct thought somewhere in there, which is unconnected from enough other information to be useful.
Our entire legal immigration system is massively backlogged, both in letting people in and getting people out. The wait for a permanent resident visa thingy is measured in decades rather than years. Deportation can also take several years, with lots of waiting for court dates.
We could have a more efficient system, which would actually let us control which immigrants we let in, and fairly adjudicate the asylum seekers, but we have chosen not to, since an undocumented underclass of workers that have no rights is vital for some industries. But, it also leads to not knowing who is in the country, and a general decline in the rule of law as the law simply cannot be complied with.
ETA: Any system where people are left thinking that you’re a sucker if you follow the rules is going to break down, and America seems to be filled with these systems. I remember when not everything was an obvious grift.
@Gustopher:
Sounds like you’ve been reading The Robots of Dawn. There’s a long stretch about the sexual use of robots, coming with the development of robots that can pass for human in every way and are fully equipped for all contingencies.
Or maybe you saw the Big Bang Theory ep where Howard gets his penis trapped in the grip of a robot hand he developed for NASA.
Or the Futurama ep I Dated a Robot.
Mabe even The Robot Who Looked Like Me by Robert Sheckely fits in.
It’s an old trope.
For this week I’m thinking onion and potato soup. I’d like to add some leek as well, but the ones I usually see at the stores are HUGE. Like enough for six people or something. That’s one reason I’ve never used leek in anything. I just recall it from potato soup as was made at home in the 70s. Instead maybe I’ll slice some green onion stems and add them last.
For the entree, I’m making a variation of chicken milanesas using flour rather than breadcrumbs (maybe I’ll use cornmeal), topped with the second iteration of pepper sauce (more sauce this time, but basically the same ingredients). I tend to repeat new things as I figure them out, then abandon them for years or months….
I may even do a pasta side dish as well, as Monday’s a holiday and we have the day off, So I’ve more time to cook.
Straight from the ass’s mouth:
Now, don’t say we’re living in the dumbest timeline until you hear the rest.
Ok. You can say it now.
For those keeping track, this is the Freedom is Slavery stage.
@Kathy: I’ve got potato soup next on my list, too.
@Jax:
Great minds…
I make mine with two caramelized onions, balsamic vinegar, beef bouillon, white wine, and I add the potatoes at first boil. I then simmer until the potatoes are cooked through. If I want it creamy, I liquefy some milk and cottage cheese in the blender and add it to the soup.
Some years ago I thought with less broth and more liquefied cheese, it would make a good sauce provided I also liquefied the potatoes and onions. I do it now and then for entrees. This time, though, I want soup.
@Kathy: I’ll have to try it with balsamic, I usually use white wine vinegar. Sometimes my grocery store gets these bags of tiny pearl onions, I like to peel them and use them whole. Then heavy cream and handful of cheddar/jack cheese.
@Jax:
Yum.
I’ve used them whole in a mix with peas, carrots, and corn with a little butter.
@Kathy:
I saw this in a cartoon many years ago.
In a diner:
What’s the soup today?
Potato.
Do you have any else?
Yes, we also have Vichyssoise.
What’s Vichyssoise?
Cold potato soup.