I understand why NPR interviewed retired Vice-Admiral Harward. He grew up in Iran, still has connections, was part of his professional life. But he did give a kind of "we'll be treated as liberators" line that sucked nuanced analysis out at the end. Just marking because we saw the pattern from Bush2

After a long week for both of us I suggested we go out for dinner tonight. My wife usually declines for budgetary reasons, but she was thrilled. "Where would you like to go?" "Suprise me." So I found a relatively new and highly rated Afghani restaurant. It was great! Rumi Kabob House in Manch, NH.

Gonna do a Kalshi on whether more or less than half of the students in my Friday afternoon before spring break class shows up.

Politics reporter Adam Sexton at the end of this says that many of the NH lawmakers he spoke to want DHS to move on from NH and "focus more on Massachusetts." LOL. Anyway, small victories.

@msnowcomms.bsky.social Really not a good look to report on the crimes of ICE and then run advertisements from American Sovereignty. (American Sovereignty is an organization with opaque funding--sounds like something Noem would be behind--that implies undocumented people are violent criminals.)

I can hear my dog making her dream sounds downstairs. Protecting her master from a bear? Letting the Amazon guy know what would happen if he entered our house? Smelled a poo under a foot of snow?

My wife and I finally saw the Japanese hit movie "Kokuhō." Terrific movie about two young men trying to make it the world of kabuki theater. I need to see it again. It was in a megaplex and the rock music from the movie next door bled in annoyingly.

Got a text with just this image from my son. I asked him why. "Went to [south-central NY state city famous for glass] and found it in a record store." Me: "but you don't have a turntable." "My girlfriend does." Well done, my son. Well done.

Wait, it was pancake day today?

Last summer my wife was back in Japan with her mother for six weeks and saw the movie "Kokuhō" 2x. She loved it so much that I reserved tickets down in MA to see it next weekend as a belated Valentines. She was thrilled. But then: "there will be all of those Japanese wives I don't want to meet."

"I wish I was a messenger and all the news was good; I wish I was the full moon shining off a Camaro's hood" I'm not really a Pearl Jam fan, but this is one of my favorite songs. It just makes me feel good and is beautifully constructed.

Vinegar Valentine's: before the introduction of the prepaid "penny post" in 1840, pranksters sent mocking, insulting Valentine's letters to their targets. The extra "vinegar" was the fact that it was "cash on delivery" so the victim had to pay for the insult.

Taizō-in (退蔵院), the oldest of Myōshin-ji’s sub-temples, is on my way to work. I never miss the chance to visit in the snow. 'Yokō-en' (余香苑), the 'Garden of Lingering Fragrance', was created by the famed landscaper Nakane Kinsaku (中根金作 1917-95). #退蔵院 #Taizoin

Did you know that single-spacing after a final punctuation is no longer controversial?

Bad Bunny and Green Day going to form a new group called Bad Hare Day.

I have a feeling this might be a defensive game.

On these "feels like -20F" mornings I have to explain yet again to the dog that it was not my personal decision to bring her from Arkansas to New England.

And a snowplow creeps stealthily into our precinct at night clearing the pathways for our lives to continue uninterrupted in the morning with none of us the wiser sleeping peacefully unaware.

I hate weather.

The kids are alright.

Watching the Westminster Masters Agility Championship with my trusty hound blissfully snoring on the sofa next to me.

Had to explain to the dog that rushing up the stairs and bouncing the bedroom door open then jumping on the bed to lick my face and sit on me at 5am won't change the fact that it will be -20F on the "feels" index tomorrow at that time. She said, "got it. show me yellow snow, I piss on it. Return."

The New Hampshire Senate just passed a bill for open enrollment for public schools. It awaits Gov. Ayotte's signature. Everyone who read that above immediately understands how batshit this is. Public school funding already under threat from our voucher system directing public money to private 1/2

My would-be response to a poster that restricts who can post: "oh, I loved that Undertones' song; it and this were on a mix tape my brother made for me in the '80s. Great stuff.

An ICE surge is expected soon in #Columbus and #Springfield in #Ohio, now that Trump is ending protections for tens of thousands of LEGAL Haitian immigrants religionnews.com/2026/01/26/a... "Just do it the right way" was always a lie

I keep hearing this in my head as a sweet happy temporary antidote to what's going on in Minneapolis.

As Neil Young gives his catalog to Greenland, questions persist: how will it be divvied up? Will one village get "On The Beach" (a great but under-performing album) and another "Harvest"?

Good reporting from NPR in Maine on ICE activities and community response there. Here, the owner of a company trying to protect his fully-vetted, legal workers with the help from the "God Squad."

なかなかいい写真撮れなくて、すみません。昨夜のご飯のメインは赤飯で、今夜はこの豚ミンチ・うどん料理でした。両方とも久しぶりでした。とてもおいしかったです。#青空ご飯部

This morning, I recorded a video on TikTok about why DHS’s arguments for the power to enter homes without judicial warrants in immigration cases are bunk. Nine hours later, TikTok still says my video is “under review,” and can’t be shared. Well, here’s a link: georgetown.box.com/v/Vladeck-IC...

Due to the accuracy of modern weather forecasting, I keep checking various channels about the approaching storm. It can go from 8-10" to double that in a few hours, and then back down.

What I'm listening to: American Music Club

New Lucinda. Gotta get this.

In the next few days across large swaths of America it's going to be

How many of you carry a Bingo card each day?

IU alum who never really cared much about the sports (except used to take kids to the women's basketball games because fun and cheap) hearing "he's a 6th-year senior" and "before coming to IU, he played for Texas and Ohio State" doesn't warm my heart for the team.

Drake Maye is fine and all, but I could do without the "Bo Nix is a great Christian" stuff in the post-game presser.

My interest in pro football can be measured by the fact that I watched the Pats' game tonight and found out for the first time that they changed the kickoff procedure to this "dynamic" thing. Anyway, I'm glad the Pats won because it makes people around here happy.

Personal palate cleanser:

If Prince had written UB-40's "Red Red Wine" it might have started: "purple poo-oo-oop."

I find this darkly funny. Where my kids went to school in NH in a school assembly you'd need a James Webb telescope to spot the non-white kids. It's a bit different in some Manchester and Nashua schools, but the non-white kids often out-perform the white kids. Maybe that's the problem.

My mom died around Xmas a couple of years ago. She was active in my parents' church since she married my dad and lived her faith. Her last minister was only there for a few years but they became close. He wrote about her in a weekly newspaper in a town he has since moved to. 1/

2 million or so active, reserve, and guard service members in America, and they all work for this guy, and they all can see that he is like this

This is the Jade Helm they were so paranoid about. Fine if it's not happening to them.

Saw a bumper sticker today that read: "Please Be Patient--My Mother Took Tylenol"

I'm too old to take an Alcoholiday, but I still adore the song.

Good on PBS News Hour for reporting on how White Supremacy-generated language is increasingly being used in Federal messaging.

It's hard to not feel like someone has hijacked your car and is taking you on a global crime spree. With a police escort.