Eric Sipple
@ericsipple.com
Author of BROKEN MAGIC, MIMESIS. Head of Engineering at Hey Jane. My brain is a beautiful rain of frogs. 🏳️⚧️ (they/them)
https://linktr.ee/saalon
https://linktr.ee/saalon
Pinned
Eric Sipple
@ericsipple.com
· Dec 9
The headline for the experience online that I cultivate is Cloud Yells At Old Man.
AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER, “The Siege of the North” (2005)
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin on "acts of violence" against ICE agents in Minnesota: "Pouring water on the ground so that it would freeze the ground in front of our federal law enforcement vehicles so that they would potentially slide, crash, and potentially kill them"
January 16, 2026 at 12:43 PM
AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER, “The Siege of the North” (2005)
Reposted by Eric Sipple
This is important and, also, not not new. There were reports of this in LA, Portland, and Chicago, at least, as well.
Just so people outside of MN know - a lot of the US citizens getting “arrested” by ICE never get processed at Whipple. They are roughed up during the arrest and then often dropped off miles from where they were picked up. It means we don’t know the true scale of what ICE is doing based on ICE stats
January 15, 2026 at 7:04 PM
This is important and, also, not not new. There were reports of this in LA, Portland, and Chicago, at least, as well.
This is like when you ask an LLM company CEO if their products are brilliant little boys that get everything right.
Kristi Noem was asked today if she's comfortable with ICE agents violating the 4th Amendment of the Constitution by asking people for proof of U.S. citizenship without reasonable suspicion.
"They are doing everything correctly.” www.huffpost.com/entry/kristi...
"They are doing everything correctly.” www.huffpost.com/entry/kristi...
Kristi Noem Says ICE Agents ‘Doing Everything Correctly' In Minneapolis
The DHS secretary dismissed the idea that federal immigration agents may be violating the Constitution by asking for people's IDs without reasonable cause.
www.huffpost.com
January 15, 2026 at 7:55 PM
This is like when you ask an LLM company CEO if their products are brilliant little boys that get everything right.
Reposted by Eric Sipple
This leads me to believe that up until this meeting, Trump absolutely thought it was "hole milk."
Trump: "It's actually a legal definition -- 'whole milk.' And it's whole with a W for those of you that have a problem."
January 15, 2026 at 2:58 PM
This leads me to believe that up until this meeting, Trump absolutely thought it was "hole milk."
*extremely smart political analyst voice* this is what trump wants so he can do the insurrection act
ICE's net approval rating is at -17 points.
51% of Americans say that ICE enforcement is making cities less safe.
Trump's net approval rating on immigration is -16 points.
A 19 point drop in less than a year's time.
51% of Americans say that ICE enforcement is making cities less safe.
Trump's net approval rating on immigration is -16 points.
A 19 point drop in less than a year's time.
January 15, 2026 at 5:16 PM
*extremely smart political analyst voice* this is what trump wants so he can do the insurrection act
Reposted by Eric Sipple
This isn't even what the article says! It's mostly about how nobody can really tell if AI is useful for science or maths, and as ever with every single one of these stories, there's one anecdote of a person saying "yeah it's good but you know, you need to check if it's right"
January 15, 2026 at 4:50 PM
This isn't even what the article says! It's mostly about how nobody can really tell if AI is useful for science or maths, and as ever with every single one of these stories, there's one anecdote of a person saying "yeah it's good but you know, you need to check if it's right"
Reposted by Eric Sipple
the question to ask about this is, okay, he wants to cancel the midterms. how does he get the VA state board of elections to cancel the midterms? how does he get the georgia board of elections to do it? how does he convince republican house members to quit their jobs and give up their paychecks?
Trump says a lot of deranged shit, but, per this Reuters article — and the threats of invoking the Insurrection Act in Minnesota this morning — he is very clearly exploring how to cancel the midterms.
www.reuters.com/world/us/fiv...
www.reuters.com/world/us/fiv...
January 15, 2026 at 4:29 PM
the question to ask about this is, okay, he wants to cancel the midterms. how does he get the VA state board of elections to cancel the midterms? how does he get the georgia board of elections to do it? how does he convince republican house members to quit their jobs and give up their paychecks?
Incredibly frustrating analysis, this whole "it's giving him what he wants" stuff is nonsense. He's been threatening this kind of thing forever, and we've seen *over and over* this term that he needs no pretext to try wild things. He just illegally took over another country! Nonsense!
I was in the midst of preparing a Morning Memo arguing that Minneapolis is shaping up to be the catalyzing moment that Trump was looking for to justify doing what he has wanted to do since his 1st term: invoke the Insurrection Act...when he posted exactly that:
talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo...
talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo...
January 15, 2026 at 4:46 PM
Incredibly frustrating analysis, this whole "it's giving him what he wants" stuff is nonsense. He's been threatening this kind of thing forever, and we've seen *over and over* this term that he needs no pretext to try wild things. He just illegally took over another country! Nonsense!
Reposted by Eric Sipple
I wrote about visiting my grandfather. one of the more fragile pieces I’ve penned of late~
open.substack.com/pub/cchelmet...
open.substack.com/pub/cchelmet...
I Love Lying
for my grandpa, Sam
open.substack.com
January 15, 2026 at 4:13 PM
I wrote about visiting my grandfather. one of the more fragile pieces I’ve penned of late~
open.substack.com/pub/cchelmet...
open.substack.com/pub/cchelmet...
Reposted by Eric Sipple
Yeah. We are in hell.
January 15, 2026 at 11:00 AM
Yeah. We are in hell.
It’s not clear to me if he understands this or someone else, but it’s clear to everyone that the Insurrection Act is his last (legally-based) card to play and that he’s hit maximum escalation with constitutionally granted powers at that point. There’s nowhere else to go if it doesn’t work.
This despite the fact that Top Men are chomping at the bit to invoke it. (Looking at you Steven.) I think it would constitute an admission that he has lost control, and that he does not like that.
January 15, 2026 at 2:41 PM
It’s not clear to me if he understands this or someone else, but it’s clear to everyone that the Insurrection Act is his last (legally-based) card to play and that he’s hit maximum escalation with constitutionally granted powers at that point. There’s nowhere else to go if it doesn’t work.
Reposted by Eric Sipple
trump doesn't want people to be angry about ICE murdering people, he just wants ICE to murder people. being angry about that is what *you* should want. you're a politician, man. you should know that anger over injustice is like, one of the best ways to channel political power into action. grow up
State investigators have been on the scene in North Minneapolis.
I know you’re angry. I’m angry. What Donald Trump wants is violence in the streets.
But Minnesota will remain an island of decency, of justice, of community, and of peace.
Don’t give him what he wants.
I know you’re angry. I’m angry. What Donald Trump wants is violence in the streets.
But Minnesota will remain an island of decency, of justice, of community, and of peace.
Don’t give him what he wants.
January 15, 2026 at 7:21 AM
trump doesn't want people to be angry about ICE murdering people, he just wants ICE to murder people. being angry about that is what *you* should want. you're a politician, man. you should know that anger over injustice is like, one of the best ways to channel political power into action. grow up
Do it, Don. Do it. You were always going to and this is one of the worst moments you could choose. Do it.
President threatens to deploy the Insurrection Act against Minnesota.
January 15, 2026 at 2:22 PM
Do it, Don. Do it. You were always going to and this is one of the worst moments you could choose. Do it.
Reposted by Eric Sipple
this is like the wargames nerd equivalent of an anarchist feeling patriotic while reading about the Union Army during the Civil War
Warhammer Maker Games Workshop Bans Its Staff From Using AI in Its Content or Designs, Says None of Its Senior Managers Are Currently Excited About the Tech - IGN
Warhammer maker Games Workshop has banned the use of AI in its content production and its design process, insisting that none of its senior managers are currently excited about the technology.
www.ign.com
January 14, 2026 at 11:14 PM
this is like the wargames nerd equivalent of an anarchist feeling patriotic while reading about the Union Army during the Civil War
He's woke, the US soldiers won't be able to take the shot.
BREAKING: The UK is sending a single military officer to Greenland at the request of Denmark to participate in a multi-nation exercise
January 14, 2026 at 9:41 PM
He's woke, the US soldiers won't be able to take the shot.
I'd do a Karl Havoc "I don't even want to be around anymore" but with this guy at the head of our health infrastructure, I probably won't be.
RFK Jr: "This is the peacetime president. He's made 8.5 deals ending war and he's also ended the war on saturated fat."
January 14, 2026 at 8:17 PM
I'd do a Karl Havoc "I don't even want to be around anymore" but with this guy at the head of our health infrastructure, I probably won't be.
Cool that the term "terrorism" has become so unmoored from its actual meaning that no one in any kind of elite or political position is calling this what it is: state-sponsored terrorism.
She says ICE agents mocked her: “The ICE agent who had pepper sprayed into the vents of my car said ‘you guys gotta stop obstructing us, that’s why that lesbian b—— is dead,’ verbatim, speaking of Renee Good. Which filled me with absolute rage and shock..."
www.mprnews.org/episode/2026...
www.mprnews.org/episode/2026...
‘I was flooded with fear’: Minnesotans describe their encounters with ICE, being detained
From an Uber driver to a school drop off, MPR News spoke with Minnesotans who were stopped or detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
www.mprnews.org
January 14, 2026 at 7:42 PM
Cool that the term "terrorism" has become so unmoored from its actual meaning that no one in any kind of elite or political position is calling this what it is: state-sponsored terrorism.
Okay, didn't love the show as, like, the execution of the art, but can't not love a show for existing when it has good effects like this.
January 14, 2026 at 7:39 PM
Okay, didn't love the show as, like, the execution of the art, but can't not love a show for existing when it has good effects like this.
Reposted by Eric Sipple
I'm actually not opposed to this because I think just the idea that ICE *could* be unmasked and made not-secret-police will cause a backlash that makes it very very clear what their ideology is.
I am introducing the Quick Recognition (QR) Act, which requires ICE and CBP officers to wear uniforms featuring QR codes. When scanned, the code would generate a digital ID displaying the officer’s name, badge number, and law enforcement agency.
ICE should be unmasked both physically and digitally.
ICE should be unmasked both physically and digitally.
January 14, 2026 at 7:13 PM
I'm actually not opposed to this because I think just the idea that ICE *could* be unmasked and made not-secret-police will cause a backlash that makes it very very clear what their ideology is.
People who look at polls and say, "Yeah but his base will never leave him!" forget that the reason he was able to win hinged on stuff like over-performing with demographics he is now brutally losing.
Trump’s net favorability rating among Hispanics is now at 28 percent, per a recent The Economist/YouGov poll, 13 points lower than it was in February of last year.
www.politico.com/news/2026/01...
www.politico.com/news/2026/01...
Latino voters powered Trump’s comeback. Now they’re turning on his economy.
Hispanic small business owners are souring on the Trump economy, a warning sign to Republicans ahead of this year’s midterms.
www.politico.com
January 14, 2026 at 6:32 PM
People who look at polls and say, "Yeah but his base will never leave him!" forget that the reason he was able to win hinged on stuff like over-performing with demographics he is now brutally losing.
I love that the best scene in NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN is a kind of mirror image to one of the best scenes in TWIN PEAKS and I have no idea if the latter influenced the former but it's Good Stuff.
January 14, 2026 at 3:19 PM
I love that the best scene in NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN is a kind of mirror image to one of the best scenes in TWIN PEAKS and I have no idea if the latter influenced the former but it's Good Stuff.
Reposted by Eric Sipple
this is all to say that should democrats win the house and senate this november, they should hold similarly dramatic — which is to say televised and highly publicized — hearings on the conduct of ICE and CBP, with testimony from victims. we want as much of *this* as possible in the record. (3/?)
ICE detained Arlit Maria Martinez on her way to work. 2 days later, her 15 yo son died of cancer. They wouldn't let her out to say goodbye. The family had planned to move back to Mexico prior to the cancer diagnosis but stayed for his treatment. Now, Mr Martinez has lost his wife to ICE & his son.
Teen dies of cancer days after mother arrested by ICE: ‘She’s never gonna see him’
The mother's family pleaded with federal officers for her release from custody to say her final goodbyes to her son, but their requests went unanswered.
www.wsaz.com
January 14, 2026 at 2:09 AM
this is all to say that should democrats win the house and senate this november, they should hold similarly dramatic — which is to say televised and highly publicized — hearings on the conduct of ICE and CBP, with testimony from victims. we want as much of *this* as possible in the record. (3/?)
Reposted by Eric Sipple
Just for posterity here is the Heathcliff comic the day that Scott Adams died.
January 13, 2026 at 4:02 PM
Just for posterity here is the Heathcliff comic the day that Scott Adams died.
Julia Garner. Obviously.
Jim Rockford is back on the case: NBC has ordered a pilot for a reboot of the classic '70s detective series The Rockford Files.
The Rockford Files Reboot Lands Pilot Order At NBC — Who Would You Cast To Fill James Garner's Shoes? - TVLine
www.tvline.com
January 14, 2026 at 2:02 AM
Julia Garner. Obviously.