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Fiat justitia ruat caelum

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Fiat justitia ruat caelum

				
				
				

				

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					joined 2022 September 05 01:56:25 UTC
				


				
					

					
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				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
More than that, there were screenshots going around with a citation to a law, but it actually was for Illinois, not Minnesota.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
At the time of the solo beginning shot (which itself is weird, they seem to shoot in threes), I cannot for the life of me see who's shooting.  The guy who got his gun out isn't really angled in a good way to shoot at Pretti.  The Uncommanded discharge theory just seems to fill in a lot of gaps.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I thought he looked back, towards Pretti, but also towards where the proposed shot would have gone.  Would you be more likely to look at the gun or the direction it shot?  I think a case could be made for either.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Well, damn. I fell prey to misinformation.  11 states forbid it, but not Minnesota.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
In  the next line I said the opposite of "failure to control this reflex should be an instant kill shot."  But there are plenty of people who are arrested for resisting arrest in basically this way, even if they weren't being charged with any other crime besides resisting arrest.  I don't really agree with this, but it happens and people should be aware of what is expected of them if they're in that situation.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I saw a video where it visibly jumped in the guy's hand, but who knows if it was doctored.  I think the rest of the description still works, just hearing someone say, "GUN!" in the loud chaotic environment could be enough to make some jumpy exhausted people shoot, even if the true statement was, "I grabbed his gun!"


After the shooting they were all looking around asking, "Where is the gun!  Where is the gun!" so they clearly thought the gun was in play at the time.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
My brother posted some weird screed on Facebook about how handsome Pretti was compared to the ICE agent who shot him, how healthy Pretti looked, how educated Pretti was compared to the typical ICE agent.  Basically implying it was dysgenic to shoot Pretti, except I think eugenics is still considered a no-no.  I seriously tried to puzzle out if my brother was in the closet despite having a string of serious girlfriends.


I think it was bad to shoot Pretti.  I also think Pretti did some stupid things and earned a stupid prize, and that was apparent even before this video came out.


For the, "Pretti is not a hero" argument:


He went to a protest while armed, which is apparently illegal in Minnesota.  He wasn't wearing a comfortable weapon that would be typically worn in for a conceal carry.  It was a several thousand dollar handgun that had several accessories making it bulky and likely uncomfortable to wear for extended periods of time.  It's highly unlikely he just forgot that the gun was on him at the time.


If someone is conceal carrying and gets any kind of attention from a law enforcement officer, that person needs to keep their hands visible, clearly state, "I have a conceal carry permit, gun is on my (left/right)," and do exactly what the police officers say.  Pretti had a right to self defense.  So do LEOs.  And they will exercise their right to self defense very quickly and broadly if they feel threatened.


Pretti did not act like someone should when conceal carrying in the presence of LEOs.  He joined in a fracas.  He shoved someone, then wiggled around while being held down by CBP.  Now, the wiggling around is basically a human reflex, but it is one that must be suppressed if you find yourself in the position of being arrested.


On the flip side, no one should be shot for exhibiting a normal human reflex.  Typically that does not happen in most arrests.  My understanding of the situation, from the perspective of the CBP, is:


They were there to arrest a bad guy.  A bunch of screaming people started getting in their way, blowing whistles in their faces.  Again.  They are trying to arrest their third bad guy of the day, after working 10 days in a row.  Somehow, having to arrest child rapists isn't the worst part of their jobs.  They haven't slept well for over a week, because these screaming whistle people are also banging pots and pans together all night outside every hotel they've tried to retreat to.


One of the screaming whistle women gets too close, pings some sort of danger radar, one of the CBP agents pepper spray her.  Guess it's arrest time.  Try to arrest her, a screaming whistle man comes and tries to push you off her.  He just signed up to get arrested for assaulting an officer.  He tries to fight you off, it takes four of you to try to hold him down.


One of your buddies sees a holstered gun.  He reaches in, grabs it and says, "I've got his gun."


Unfortunately, you are still surrounded by the damned whistle people.  You don't hear all that sentence.  You heard the word "gun" because your ears are highly invested in hearing the word "gun."  But the rest of it is drowned out by the drone of invectives being thrown your way.


The detainee's gun goes off in the agents hands.  One of the infamous Uncommanded Discharges from a Sig.  The bullet hits the ground next to an agent's foot.  This created an imminent sense they were in deadly danger.  There was a gun, they were being shot at.  They shot the detainee.


Now, the dumb part is they shot the detainee while he was being detained by four of their own people.  They were holding his hands.  He wasn't facing them.  He could not have possibly been the source of the shot.  And shooting him risked the lives of the people trying to restrain him.  This was a really bad shoot.


Legally, I don't know if they should be charged with murder, manslaughter, or just placed on leave and given a desk job.  I think Pretti's family has standing to sue for a good amount of money.  It was a bad shoot.  And Pretty played stupid games and won a fatal prize.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Wellness Wednesday for January 28, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I am a Centrist.  Which is kind of surprising to me because everywhere but here makes me feel like the I'm some weird far right fascist.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
No, it is not readily answered by the linked article.  What did the guy do before the guards attacked him?


In the US, I could imagine a similar one-sided story getting told.  Left out would be the detail of what happened immediately before: the prisoner attacking another prisoner with a shank, an attempted rape, or just giving the guard a funny look.  Not going to say it's always a justified reason.  But things happen from causes.  What happened before is always an important dimension.


I am also very struck that the Biden administration held him for six months while investigating his asylum claims.  The Biden administration CBP, "just looked at [him] and told [him he] was a danger to society."  The reporter takes at face value that he's never had a traffic ticket and this means he never did wrong in his life.  But again, things tend to have causes.  It seems unlikely to me that these awful things just keep being inflicted by several different authorities to a totally innocent person.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I am skeptical of the value of anything that starts with an appeal to authority, but then it's clear that the entity writing the piece does not have the claimed credentials.


Maybe the person posting really is a former Special Forces Warrant Officer, but the words did not originate from a former Special Forces Warrant Officer's brain, they came from a computer without any of that experience and at most a former Special Forces Warrant Officer signed off on them.  The post starts off with an appeal to the author's unique experience, but that person with a unique experience did not generate the thoughts, a computer generated the thoughts.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Pleasantly surprised by the upvote count. I suspect that the people going into the volunteer mod queue are selected for some quality that might not merit the volunteer mod queue.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Think of the five year olds! It is a nice emotional appeal, but what does it actually mean?


My take on children who are not legally present is that they will either have a illegally present parent or their parents are in another country.  It is a pretty weird edge case for one to have a legally present parent but somehow be illegally present themselves.  If that is the case, then I 100% would prefer they become naturalized themselves over deportation.


If their parents are in another country, they were effectively kidnapped.  They should be recovered and sent back to their parents.


If their parents are not legally present and have a final order of removal, then the child should also be deported with their parent.  The fate of staying in the US and going into the foster system is not superior to keeping the child with their parents.


If the child was sent to stay with legally present relatives by their parents in another country, I still think it's better to send them back to their parents.  How do we know that both parents consented to this?  Otherwise we have to investigate a lot of domestic situations in other countries, which each might have their own custody laws, it's simpler and more ethical to send them back to their parents.


Ideally we would have a lot more family detention centers that look more like kindergartens than Alcatraz.  We need a place to put kids and their guardians in a monitored and controlled way while we determine if they are even related to the people bringing them over the border.  That would be my ideal.  But deporting fewer five year olds seems like an odd goal when actually thought through.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
The atheist who says, "I don’t believe your religion is true, but according to your religion you should act this way," is usually cherry picking from one or two single aspects of the religion while ignoring all other concerns.  A religion is a whole worldview, with many different factors held in tension.  Justice AND Mercy, Freedom AND Obedience, Prudence AND Compassion.


Same with conservatism.  There are many different principles that make up a conservative worldview, and trying to mount a logical argument while only considering one of them will not come across as intelligent.  Arguing from a position someone actually holds will create a more convincing argument.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Whistleblowers claim they were retaliated against, see here: https://youtube.com/watch?v=yyqdZT3J4qY


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Yes, I wonder how this was resolved in the South when federal law forbade segregation.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Facial expressions are actually part of sign language.  The sign meaning "late" has no facial expression attached to it, while the same hand movement accompanied by sticking out the tongue means "not yet." Other facial expressions add adverbs.  Still others are the difference between a statement and a question.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Here are a few that I'm thinking of:


    

  • 

    Assaulting, Resisting, or Impeding (18 U.S.C. § 111)

    This statue criminalizes any act to "forcibly assault, resist, oppose, impede, intimidate, or interfere with" a federal officer while they are performing their official duties.  Even without physical contact, acts that "impede" or "intimidate" can be prosecuted as misdemeanors (up to 1 year in prison).  If the harassment involves physical contact or the intent to commit another felony, it becomes a felony (up to 8 years in prison). If a weapon is used or serious injury occurs (like throwing an ice brick at someone), the penalty increases to up to 20 years.
    

     People are definitely trying to impede Federal officers.  They think they're "unarresting" people..  They actually succeed sometimes.  This woman is here on camera saying that she harrassed federal agents in the process of arresting someone until they let the person go.  She says, "dozens more [daily arrests] would be happening if it wasn't for the organized way that my community is showing up to stop these ICE agents. And we're scaring them."

    

     I couldn't have written a better confession to this and the crimes below if I tried.
    

    • 

  • 

    Influencing or Injuring an Officer (18 U.S.C. § 1503)

    This law makes it a crime to "endeavor to influence, intimidate, or impede" any officer of a U.S. court through threats or force.  The key here is the "corrupt intent" to interfere with the due administration of the law. It is generally punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
    

     Typically ICE would not be considered officers of the court.  However, this statue may apply if the harassment is intended to influence a case currently in immigration court.
    

    • 

  • 

    Federal Stalking (18 U.S.C. § 2261A)

     If the harassment involves a "course of conduct" (repeated acts) that places an officer or their family in reasonable fear of death or serious injury, it falls under federal stalking laws if any of these people are coming from out of state.  This is typically a felony carrying up to 5 years, but can be much higher if bodily injury or death results.
    

    • 



A coordinated conspiracy to stalk and harass federal officers significantly escalates the legal consequences. When multiple people work together to interfere with federal law enforcement, the government can move beyond individual harassment charges and use powerful conspiracy and obstruction statutes.


In a conspiracy, every member can be held legally responsible for the actions of their co-conspirators, even if they weren't personally present for every act of harassment.  One could argue that this is overpowered, surely not everyone on the Signal chat is intentionally committing a felony.  Never the less, here's the law:


    

  • 

    Conspiracy to Impede or Injure an Officer (18 U.S.C. § 372)

    This is the most direct statute for the Signal chat. It specifically targets groups (two or more people) who conspire to prevent a federal officer from performing their duties through force, intimidation, or threats.    The penalty is up to 6 years in prison, plus fines.
    

    • 

  • 

    General Conspiracy to Defraud the U.S. (18 U.S.C. § 371)

    While "defraud" sounds like financial crime, the "defraud clause" of this statute is broad. It covers any conspiracy to obstruct, interfere with, or impair the lawful functions of any federal agency. Working together to "defeat the lawful function" of the government (e.g., preventing the ICE or CBP from enforcing laws) carries a penalty of up to 5 years in prison.
    

    • 

  • 

    Obstruction of Justice (18 U.S.C. §§ 1512(d)(3))

     If the harassment is aimed at officers involved in an active investigation or court proceeding, it can be charged as obstruction.
    

    • 



Which leads us to:


    

  • RICO Act (18 U.S.C. §§ 1961–1968)

    If the group is highly organized and engages in a "pattern of racketeering activity" (which can include threats, or obstruction of justice), they could face charges under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. RICO can put people in prison for 20 years per count.
    • 



(Full Disclosure, I used Gemini to get the list together but I checked each statue to make sure there are no hallucinations and that I'm willing to defend the applicability of each one. Then I edited the output so it's mostly my words where it isn't US Code verbatim.)


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Surely the Obama administration occasionally wrongfully detained a legal immigrant




Obama did more than that - he deported four US Citizens.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Firstly, as shown in many videos, ICE takes time out of their day to stop and question, photograph, detain, and arrest people for blowing whistles near them, yelling at them, and generally being annoying.




No, they don't take time out of their day.  They are interrupted from performing their jobs by these people who are interfering with arrests.




The position of the administration, contrary to the law, appears to be that they can just arrest and detain anyone foreign present in the United States, even if they followed the rules. This is utterly lawless.




No, this is actually applying the law as written.  Someone who applies for refugee status still does not have a right to walk freely in the United States.  The law is for them to be detained until their case is processed.  The problem is, we started letting these people out into the US on bond and everyone in the entire world learned that they do not have to follow US Immigration procedures but just had to show up at the border and say the magic words.  Then the number of people applying for asylum got too big for us even consider detaining them all until their cases were evaluated.


Congress gave ICE explicit authority to revoke this bond for any reason, as there is no legal right to wander the United States if they are not citizens or here on one of the official visas.


Acting harshly here is the only way to stop the spurious asylum cases that ballooned under Biden.




If the economic opportunity were much more limited, nobody would jump the border if they couldn't feed themselves after!




In Sanctuary States, these people do not need jobs, they can have a US Citizen child and live on welfare.  I would love for Federal mandated E-verify, but we cannot pretend that would solve every problem here.  There would still be a need for targeted enforcement.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Should we discuss Signalgate?  No, not the time Republican leaders embarrassed themselves by inviting a journalist into their private top secret (almost-literally) group chat.  The new and improved Signalgate in Minnesota.


Many people have noted the coordinated nature of the "I'm-not-touching-you" mostly-non-violent stalking and harassing of ICE in Minnesota. I have also noted that included in their list of targets were just random people in the wrong kind of car.


Some conservative journalists and activists have been able gain access and insight to the method of coordination - a massive Signal chat where people divide into different roles and then join training sessions, read a manual, and then go off into the streets to take part in a coordinated effort to prevent ICE from arresting people and with the long term goal of ICE no longer enforcing bipartisan and popular federal law in the city of Minneapolis.


The roles are as follows:


    

  1. Patrol of various kinds - foot, car, stationary (not sure what a stationary patrol is.)  They look out for suspicious people, activity, or vehicles and then notify dispatch.  Also join in mobbing once a federal official has been located.
    2. 

  2. Dispatch - people who assess the information coming from patrols and decide to send people out to harass what they presume are federal agents enforcing federal law.
    3. 

  3. License plate checker - here is where it gets interesting to me.  They have people who are able to check license plates to identify the driver.  In the case of a rental car, they are able to identify who rented it.  This indicates someone is misusing their access to government databases.
    4. 

  4. Commuters - Their word for people who stalk what they presume are federal officials or hostile journalists with their cars.
    5. 

  5. Medics/aftercare - people who help those who have been injured or pepper sprayed for breaching the peace and trying to impede federal officers from enforcing the law.
    6. 

  6. Donors and others providing material support towards the cause, including providing housing assistance.
    7. 



Here's where it gets speculative: one of the admins on the group has the Username "Flan Southside" which many suspect is Minnesota Lt. Governor Peggy Flannigan.  I'm not sure if there is evidence beyond just the name similarity, but one member of the Signal chat seemed to think (after these rumors became wide spread) that "Flan has been exposed." and the Signal member was going to go to Cuba where they had friends.  Of course, by this point, the entire chat could be filled with Right Wingers trolling.


Also, it seems like Good and Pretti (seriously, good and pretty?  How does this happen?) were members of the Signal chat and were being coordinated by the Signal Dispatch during their fatal encounters with Homeland Security.


At what point is this no longer just people exercising their first amendment rights?  At what point is this a conspiracy to undermine the laws of this country resulting in the deaths of two people ?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 25, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
2016 was the happiest year of my life.  I'm really glad I didn't know all this was coming.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Your comment at a glance reads like the temperature is causing you to doubt the story (because the temperature is unlikely?).  Instead, it seems like you meant the two sentences in your comment to be disconnected from each other.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
According to my weather app, the current "feels like" temperature (in the afternoon in the Midwest US) is -20 degrees Celsius.  And it's not going to get much warmer for at least a week and a half.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I read that as, after the shooting, 200 rioters appeared within a few minutes.  Basically news got out before the scene could be secured and they had to retreat due to it.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
If you do not have a US birth certificate for your adopted child, you will need to make sure they get citizenship before their 18th birthday.  It's relatively easy to do before the 18th birthday, harder after.  It's something many adoption agencies forget to help with for some reason.