by the way guys, this deployment of ice to minnesota is largest ever. more agents than chicago. we are a much less dense state. we are being inundated.
It is the largest Department of Homeland Security operation in history. And yet Minnesota’s Somali population (this operation’s primary target) is upwards of 90% naturalized American citizens. It’s even more of a manufactured crisis than most DHS operations. Genuinely living in Minnesota now feels like we’re a small country on the brink of invasion.
I saw two ICE trucks yesterday on my way to give my friends back their house keys from when I was looking after their cats. I got home today and I heard whistles and honking from people chasing ICE, but by the time I got Matilda in the house they were gone so I couldn’t join in the chase. I know there was a major attempt to steal my neighbors from just a few blocks away this morning while I was at work.
It doesn’t feel like we’re on the brink of invasion. It feels like we’re being newly occupied by an invading force. Except that the invading force doesn’t just want our total submission; they also want to rip half our neighbors out of our arms. They came for Hmong Minnesotans next, and they are also more than 90% citizens. We have a lot of minority populations who settled here because Minnesota prides itself on welcoming refugees; both populations have been here for more than thirty years.
Fuck this shit. It is terrorism.
Not just feels like, is. Feels like because is.
And for all the rest of us US occupants not in Minnesota, it’s coming to us, too. Ohio is getting door-to-door ICE today, for instance, and I’ve seen multiple friends in other states posting photos of big ol’ trucks, beds packed with ICE vehicles, rolling in to town.
We’re still not quite two weeks into 2026. Get ready to plant your feet.
My favouritest sport fact ever is that in 1990s 2 cardiac surgeons watched an f1 race to save the lives of countless kids. The Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH) kept losing the lives of patients after successful heart surgeries. Specifically the 10-15 minutes after a bonefide clinically successful surgery patients would die:
And so the two surgeons filmed a handover after heart surgery and sent it to the Ferrari pitcrew who were told to critique and improve handover process
And from this:
we got this:
The error rate during patien handovers dropped from 30% to 10% with the F1 informed protocol.
I literally love this fact so much because being an pitcrew member is such a thankless job because theyre underpaid and overworked mechanics and they literally saved lives in this instance.
The doctors went to the race tracks to watch the car changes and the pit crews went to the hospitals and watched a live transfer and offered suggestions and they kept working with them to improve.
After there was a successful improvement of the most vital metrics of a handover of a patient from surgery to ICU, the pit crews also worked with other hospitals for other procedures and it’s now a whole thing of trying to apply the specialized, streamlined and speedy teamwork and nonverbal coordination of pit crews to other high-risk fields.
This is a perfect example of how two very different fields of knowledge meeting can make a huge leap forward in progress.
LATERAL THINKING AND CONSULTING EXPERTS OUTSIDE YOUR FIELD SAVES LIVES
This is actually such a crucial part of healing from neglect and abuse and I have to add to this.
Because indeed, people who like you will not roll their eyes and sigh at the idea of accommodating your needs, they will value your voice and be upset with you about injustice done to you, not at you for “being difficult”. They will be happy when you find a way to live a better life, and help you to get there. If you are struggling, someone who loves you wants to see you smile, not tell you to smile because “you have it so good”.
“This is a tapestry I made myself! I just finished it!”
“…. this is…. big.”
“Eighty feet long, ten high, in forty panels! It was originally going to be sixty feet, but then the Thomas Malory Arthuriana got big and I had to put more stuff in.”
“… Malory published in the fifteenth century.”
“Do you have any idea how long it takes one person to embroider eight thousand square feet of tapestry?”
“You’ve had a lot of free time in the last eight hundred years, haven’t you?”
I feel like portrayals of autism mostly always default to “don’t understand social norms/boundaries and so cross them” rather than “don’t understand social norms/boundaries and so overcorrect in the other direction to avoid the possibility of crossing them.”
Like I don’t understand social norms or people’s boundaries around casual friendly/familial touch–so I don’t touch my friends ever to avoid crossing a potential boundary or violating a potential norm.
And obviously the whole spectrum happens, but I feel like when I see “don’t understand social norms” portrayed, it’s really just in the direction of “so violates them and doesn’t notice and/or care.”
Most non-Minnesotans have no idea what this means, but to put it plainly: we’re raised with not just the expectation but essentially -programming- to assist others who get stuck during the winter. We’ll help people we’d otherwise punch on sight if they’re stuck in the snow and ice, for zero reward.
This is the level of rage we’re at with ICE. I’m not joking to say it’s almost physically painful to not help someone stuck like that, and it’s worth it because the people stuck are ICE.
The only way we have to express how mad we are above this is channeling the First Minnesota all over again.
The Scandinavians who settled in Minnesota brought with them their Norse understanding of the laws of hospitality: you do not fuck around with winter, that if someone needs help in the winter, you help them as long as they don’t actively try to hurt you or your neighbors. Food, shelter, labour, whatever, if you can help in winter, you do.
ICE has violated the “actively try to hurt you or your neighbors” bit of the laws of hospitality, and thus the hospitality has been revoked. They are free to feel winter’s wrath against those who would bring harm to the community.
I like to think that Lady Skaði would be proud of her distant children.
this reminds me of the mud wizard who walked through everything without any problems while the police officers kept sliding and falling and getting stuck, you can watch it right here.
for context, this was during anti-coal protests in lützerath which went on for days and included people being forcibly removed, injured, or otherwise violated by the police. they showed up in riot gear against people simply sitting and camping and wanting to protect their forests. it was a really big deal here.
can non natives stop acting surprised and performatively jokey “uhh what lol!” about ice going after native americans. theyve been doing this for years and it ramped up last year and i had to hear all the stupid “uhhhh where will u deport them to 😜 silly republicans!” comments as if its not always been about detaining torturing murdering using as slave labor scattering communities through fear and intimidation etc. be an adult and act with maturity please. its not quirky or confusing its directly in line with americas racism and white supremacy to make sure native americans are eradicated
Apparently ICE now has agents posing as utility workers to get into people’s homes. The electric and gas companies have posted information on how to tell if it’s one of their workers, and numbers to call to confirm whether they’ve sent someone to do utility work on your house.
Some people have shared stories of suspicious “sales representatives” knocking on homes, asking about the home owners and who lives there, fishing for phone numbers, but do not provide business cards, company id, company phone numbers, etc when asked.
They come in pairs, never one person though one may hag back a bit. They have been seen using cars with significantly tinted windows, no business logos anywhere on the vehicle, or parking close to the home they walked up to only to drive away right after without visiting other homes, almost as if they’re not real sales people.
True door to door salespeople need a sort of peddler’s license, subject to city and county law, to solicit at your door. You can ask to see this permit. If they don’t provide one or make an excuse, they are likely bogus.
They wear a jacket with a company logo but likely don’t wear name tags and the Don’t provide id.
Tell them you’ll call the company about a noncompliant representative. Make them leave. Better yet not to open the door to them, and tell them nothing.
Actual sales reps also generally do follow “no soliciting” signs. Be aware, be safe, don’t give out your information or that of others under duplicitous means.
