Even in the slough of despond, it’s possible to find a little cheer. The weather has been unrelentingly cold. My nose always feels frostbitten. At the moment it’s sunny and clear outside, but you know what that means in the dead of winter — it’ll be in the single digits tonight, although the full moon will be pretty for the minute or two you can tolerate being outside looking at it.
Then you’re reminded that you have a ticket for this past Saturday’s “Symphonic PFunk: Celebrating the Music of Parliament Funkadelic” at the Detroit Opera, with the full opera orchestra backing up the current iteration of players. It was a birthday present from my friend Dustin, who was my escort. And a few hours later, you’re sipping a Negroni at the London Chop House bar, having ended Dry January six hours early, and while it’s still cold outside, there is the warmth of George Clinton and Co. just a few People Mover stops away, and friends, it was a barnburner of a show. For the “Atomic Dog” finale, a whole bunch of Omega Psi Phi brothers came dancing down the aisles and up onto the stage. (It’s their anthem and they have a particular dance they do, the Atomic Dog Stomp.)
I love this town so much. It just tickles my fancy in so many ways.
The rest of the weekend I spent working and taking breaks to scan the latest Epstein-file news. Sigh. Some of the conclusions one can draw from them are undoubtedly true, others – like the ones from the FBI tip line – give Rolling-Stone-rape-on-campus/Satanic panic vibes. No one with a functioning brain can deny the close, close ties between Epstein and his bestie over at Mar-a-lago.
I’m still waiting for the RogerEbert.com review of “Melania.” You know, our First Lady? The “hot piece of ass?”
There was other good news this weekend. A Democrat won a state senate seat in Texas by a 14-percent margin, which would be interesting, but the fact it was considered safely Republican, and Trump won it by 17 points? Slam dunk. Let’s hope the momentum can be sustained through November.
One bit of bloggage today: Greg Bovino, Mr. Sensitivity.
Stay warm, comrades.
Suzanne said on February 2, 2026 at 7:58 am
So now Trump is closing the Kennedy Center. He says it’s for “renovations”. Who wants to bet on him having it bulldozed?
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Julie Robinson said on February 2, 2026 at 8:49 am
Orlando has been in the 20’s at night, and it’s true, when you live in heat, you can’t tolerate the cold anymore. I feel like such a wimp. Heating homes uses even more energy than cooling them, apparently, and we are asked to conserve less there be a brown out. To the north, fancy Maitland had a pipe burst at the water plant, and there’s a boil water advisory.
That Bovino character is straight out of central casting in all the worst ways, isn’t he?
Have read only snippets of the latest Epstein files, and if 1/1000th of it’s true, it should be enough to take Trump down, operative word being should.
My mom asked why the Kennedys don’t step in. They have no power, I said. Like Suzanne, I expect it to be razed. Maybe that victory arch will find a new location.
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Jeff Gill said on February 2, 2026 at 10:43 am
Unrelentingly = the key word of 2026.
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Icarus said on February 2, 2026 at 10:45 am
Julie Robinson,
A guy I know from my running days, one of the few conservatives I still keep as friends on the Book of Faces is a staunch supporter of the “lying, petulant, insecure, thrice married, serial wife-cheating, porn star-banging, blue collar-worker-stiffing con artist.”
He’s your typical MAGA: less than 60 friends. He’s either very disciplined about not posting about his wife and kids OR is so far in the closet he can see Narnia.
Nothing, and I mean nothing, the “lying, petulant, insecure, thrice married, serial wife-cheating, porn star-banging, blue collar-worker-stiffing con artist.” does sway him.
He criticized Biden from Day 1 but gives Trump a free pass on the economy, jobs, gas prices, etc.
The thing is, this guy essentially won the Life Lottery. he was a smart software developer and had a lucrative career. He lived in Naperville but built a house in Wisconsin, where he lives now. Other than maybe not having The Sex he craves, he’s had every advantage anyone could ask for
But he’s still anti-immigrant and complains about Chicago as if he lives there. Nothing will ever persuade him that Trump was involved with Epstein.
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Dexter Friend said on February 2, 2026 at 2:03 pm
Best bit: After a 31 point swing as nance writes about above, in Texas, Trump tells a reporter he knows nothing about it… “where? Texas? I don’t know anything…”
The motherfucker posted 3 long rants about it on Truth Social recently.
We all know about the harbinger…
I heard that 5 NFL owners were implicated in the Epstein files and all but one are getting a hall pass . https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/47782260/giants-co-owner-steve-tisch-named-latest-epstein-files
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Sherri said on February 2, 2026 at 9:05 pm
Musk has merged xAI into SpaceX, claiming they’re going to build a “sentient sun” of orbital data centers.
-No, he’s not. Nobody’s going to build orbital data centers. There is no advantage of orbital data centers over terrestrial data centers, and many, many disadvantages. Solar power? Sun shines on earth, too. Yeah, but not at night! True, but to put an orbital data center in an orbit where it got near constant sunlight would require a more difficult launch, using more fuel, which takes away from payload capacity. Plus, you also have to launch the solar panels, and the astronauts to assemble everything.
Well, at least it’s really cold in space! Yes, but it’s a vacuum, so there’s only radiative cooling, not conductive cooling. Which means you’ve got to launch big heat fins and have a coolant system to move heat from your data center to the fins. More weight, more launches, more expenses.
Oh, and up in space, there’s no protection from cosmic radiation, which plays hell with computer chips. So, either you use special radiation hardened chips (much more expensive than off the shelf), or you encase the whole thing in protective shielding. More weight, etc.
Now, let’s say you’ve solved all those problems, and you’ve got your orbital data center up and running. Great! How long do those chips last? Currently, companies like Microsoft and Amazon depreciate NVidia chips over 6 years. That doesn’t mean they actually last 6 years, mind you, that just means they spread out the hit to their P&L over 6 years. They’ve been changing that number pretty quickly; a couple of years ago, it was more like 4 years. I don’t think it’s as much about chips lasting longer as it is about postponing the hit to the bottom line in hopes that revenue will catch up. In reality, the chips may only be lasting 1-3 years before failing.
Musk keeps talking about orbital data centers and missions to Mars to distract from how much taxpayer money he’s grifting. None of those things are going to happen, but if he can keep the taxpayer spigot open, then his IPO should pop and who knows, make him a trillionaire.
Just today, Dr Oz said that AI avatars were the solution to rural health care. Of course we can’t afford to provide healthcare for all, we’ve got to funnel money to Musk and Trump!
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Sherri said on February 2, 2026 at 10:13 pm
Republicans are on TV all up in arms about sanctuary cities. I wish just one TV interviewer would ask them what a sanctuary city actually is, and note that they don’t violate federal law. All it means is that the city doesn’t hand over people or information to ICE.
Which, if you live in a jurisdiction with a lot of people born outside the US, is a good thing. You don’t want people who are victims of crime, for example, afraid to call the police because they’re afraid they’ll be handed over to ICE. Unless you’re a monster.
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Mark P said on February 3, 2026 at 8:26 am
If you were a healthcare worker, a nurse, PA, physician, would you like to move to Canada? A lot of Canadian communities are recruiting them. Same with scientists and other fields. If I were a young, upcoming doctor or scientist, I think I would seriously consider it.
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alex said on February 3, 2026 at 8:32 am
Mark @8–
Damn, the arts and humanities have failed me once again.
I would gladly move to Canada at this point.
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Dexter Friend said on February 3, 2026 at 1:47 pm
Sherri, I appreciate your breaking down of this latest Musk fiasco. I heard a condensed explanation only, just an hour ago.
Today this latest Trump proclamation that 15 states, at least, will have nationalized elections has the country on edge.
Look for federal troops not allowing access to polling places, and Ken Blackwell style early closing of polling halls. Blackwell is the Ohio Secretary of State who infamously closed voting places in Cleveland and other blue areas, ensuring a Kerry loss.
Elections are under the domain of states, not Trump goons. If Trump can terrorize states and cities with ICE terrorists under the pretense of immigration enforcement, I am sure as rain Trump will pull this off. Be ready. Do not give up your vote. This is critical.
And Putin always garners like 97% of voters.
Nationalized elections. I pulled that number of the air but you get my drift.
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Kath said on February 3, 2026 at 3:28 pm
If you are seriously considering moving to Canada, Bill C-3 has expanded the citizenship by decent rules to include not just parents or grandparents, but great grandparents and beyond. My Canadian ancester was born in Ontario in 1835 now I’ve just got to gather the documentation to prove it.
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Suzanne said on February 3, 2026 at 10:13 pm
Another Sarah Kendzior home run. Unfortunately, a thoroughly disheartening score…
https://sarahkendzior.substack.com/p/jackhammering-into-the-sewer
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