Steve: for some reason, the dream I had last night was attending Ronald Reagan's funeral service at the National Cathedral. No idea why.

By F Michael Miller (Fmm) on Wednesday, January 28, 2026 - 09:47 am: Edit

A few data points:
Electricity production in Iowa:
MidAmerican (my provider) supplies electricity to 42% of Iowa customers (source = Google)

Their generation mix (from the MA website)
Wind: 62%
Coal: 22%
Natural Gas: 11%
Nuclear: 4%
Solar: 1%

By Eddie E Crutchfield (Librarian101) on Wednesday, January 28, 2026 - 10:45 am: Edit

Michael, is there a breakdown anywhere you have seen what the cost per KWH is for each?

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Wednesday, January 28, 2026 - 02:35 pm: Edit

And be sure to note if the cost is before or after subsidies.

By Eddie E Crutchfield (Librarian101) on Wednesday, January 28, 2026 - 03:26 pm: Edit

Jeff, just to expand your comments on Governor Walz:
Tim Walz
Education :
B.S., Chadron State College, Chadron, Nebr., 1989
Walz studied at Minnesota State Mankato. There, he graduated with a Master of Science in educational leadership, focusing on Holocaust and genocide education. Walz's thesis was titled "Improving Human Rights and Genocide Studies in the American High School Classroom

Teaching:
Walz spent 1989-1990 teaching high school in China as a part of the first government sanctioned groups of American educators to teach in China through a program at Harvard University.
• Alliance, Nebraska (Alliance High School: Taught geography and introduced students to GIS technology. Mankato West High School: Taught social studies and geography from 1996 to 2006

While in Congress:
Committees: Veterans' Affairs Committee and the Agriculture Committee.

Awards
Awards from AMVETS, the National Association of County Veterans Service Officers, the American Cancer Society, the National Association of Development Organizations, the National Farmers Union and the Matthew Shepard Foundation.

Political:
6 terms in the House of Representatives
2 terms as Governor of Minneasota.

None mentioned whether he taught Drivers Ed, but as I remember my high school had several instructors that were certified to teach drivers Ed in addition to their other duties.

By F Michael Miller (Fmm) on Thursday, January 29, 2026 - 01:29 pm: Edit

electricity costs & subsidies:
Difficult to determine without using AI, which, as an IT professional, I do not trust.

Also, my wife is recovering from knee replacement surgery and I'm spending a lot of band width taking care of her (and cooking for a professional chef is a daunting endeavor).

So no update in the immediate future.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, January 29, 2026 - 02:24 pm: Edit

A bit of context and update on the Pretti shooting…

Two officers fired. Both are on administrative leave while a review happens. Given the reasonable fear standard it is unlikely they will be found guilty of anything.

Anyone using the terms murder or execution is inflammatory. You will be deleted. You lost the argument when you used those terms. Remember that the next time this happens. Given the intent of the protestors to force confrontation that is inevitable.

You have the right to video law enforcement, at least in most states. (I vaguely remember some incident in which someone stopped for speeding was prosecuted for filming the incident. I don’t remember if courts back that up.) you do NOT have the right to enter a law enforcement operation. You do NOT have the right to get in an officer’s face and you do NOT have the right to get between an officer and someone he is trying to arrest. If you do that you are subject to arrest and prosecution. If you make an officer feel threatened you are potentially going to get shot and it will be YOUR fault.

Pretti had a gun permit. Minnesota specifically requires anyone carrying a gun with a permit to retreat from any argument. Anyone carrying a licensed firearm is required by state law to stay away from or leave any kind of demonstration or confrontation. Anyone carrying a licensed firearm is prohibited from confronting or arguing with a law enforcement officer without specifically declaring has a firearm. If you are carrying a firearm and try to get in an officer’s face or get between an officer and someone he is trying to arrest, then under Minnesota law you are already guilty of a serious crime and under that law on YOUR head fall any blame for anything that happens.

This isn’t political, this is what real laws and real lawyers say.

And I did warn you all post-Pretti that leaving home with the intent of going to any kind of demonstration while carrying a gun is incredibly stupid and dangerous.

I don’t want any of YOU dead from stupidity.

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Thursday, January 29, 2026 - 03:15 pm: Edit

There are more than a dozen U.S. states with laws prohibiting the open or concealed carry of firearms at a protest or similar event; Minnesota is not one of them (despite the statement by FBI Director Patel). The governing statute here is MN Statute 624.714.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, January 29, 2026 - 04:46 pm: Edit

Minnesota has the overall requirement to retreat and to avoid, which covers demonstrations. Even if you want to claim that lack of the specific word demonstration, what Pretti did (walking into the situation, getting within inches of a law enforcement officer, and trying to get between a law enforcement officer and someone being arrested) still violates the law. He may not have consciously thought so, but he was asking to get arrested at least and risking death.

Even a real journalist cannot do what Pretti did. NO ONE has any legal right (not to mention any business) doing what Pretti did.

By Chuck Strong (Raider) on Thursday, January 29, 2026 - 05:47 pm: Edit

FAFO applies here.

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Thursday, January 29, 2026 - 06:33 pm: Edit

Minnesota is indeed a duty-to-retreat state. That being said, it's important to understand to what that refers.

The statute here is 609.065, which states as follows:

The intentional taking of the life of another is not authorized by section 609.06, except when necessary in resisting or preventing an offense which the actor reasonably believes exposes the actor or another to great bodily harm or death, or preventing the commission of a felony in the actor's place of abode.

I.e., it is the firearm bearer's duty to retreat from a threat before using the firearm in defense. It is not a requirement that the firearm bearer retreat from any/all potential threats; it is only a requirement to do so preliminary to using the firearm in a justifiable manner.

In this instance, Mr. Pretti was not advancing on the federal agents; he was approaching a woman who had just been shoved to the ground by one of them, asking if she was alright. He was then approached by the federal agents, sprayed with a chemical agent by same, forced to the ground by same, disarmed by same, and shot by same. At no point did Mr. Pretti draw or attempt to draw his firearm.

Mr. Pretti was not in violation of MN Stat. 609.06.

By Ryan Opel (Ryan) on Thursday, January 29, 2026 - 06:49 pm: Edit

He committed a felony at the previous event.

Destruction of federal property in excess of $1000. 18 U.S.C. § 1361 Damage > \(\$100\): Up to 10 years in prison and a \(\$250,000\) fine.

18 U.S.C. § 924(c) (Use or carrying of a firearm during a crime of violence)

By A David Merritt (Adm) on Thursday, January 29, 2026 - 07:11 pm: Edit

Curiosity question, not trying to argue.

Was he known to have had the SIG P320 at the previous event?

By A David Merritt (Adm) on Thursday, January 29, 2026 - 07:15 pm: Edit

I find the choice of a SIG P320 to be an odd one, given the reported firing without a finger on the trigger incidents that this pistol has. It is not an inexpensive gun, and other SIG products are cheaper, and more reputedly reliable.

By Ryan Opel (Ryan) on Thursday, January 29, 2026 - 07:46 pm: Edit

David,

You can clearly see the gun in the video from the orginal encounter.

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Thursday, January 29, 2026 - 08:06 pm: Edit

None of which, Ryan, warranted his death at the following encounter. I care not one whit whether his previous history was that of a saint or a scoundrel; his actions on the day of his death in no way justified said death at the hands of federal agents.

(Mind, it would be interesting to see a tail light cover that cost $1,000 to replace that isn't mounted on something along the lines of a Corvette.)

By Ryan Opel (Ryan) on Thursday, January 29, 2026 - 08:10 pm: Edit

See the bill 2000+ to replace the tail light I smashed on someone car when I clipped it.

By A David Merritt (Adm) on Thursday, January 29, 2026 - 08:27 pm: Edit

Thank you Ryan. I hadn't seen it.

I agree with Jessica, though, nothing I've seen justifies his being shot and killed, just arrested and charged.

$1,000 for a dealer replacement light cluster isn't that hard too do on a new car.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, January 29, 2026 - 09:43 pm: Edit

Whether it was justified that he got shot or not, interfering with Federal agents (which Mr Pretti did) is a felony. Not retreating from the confrontation is a state crime.

What supposedly justified his getting shot is and always was the officers reasonably felt there was a threat. Proving that they could not have had such a feeling is going to be a heck of a mountain to climb. Proving there was no threat isn't enough. You have to prove that a cop reasonably could not have seen a threat.

People are just ignoring what they don't want to see.

Frankly, anyone who cannot admit that this is all about importing voters for one party to skew the electorate and win future elections has no credibility and isn't contributing anything of merit to the conversation.

NO MORE ABOUT MR PRETTI until there is an official result, and THEN the ONLY post will be by myself or Jean reporting what the review says.

By Carl-Magnus Carlsson (Hardcore) on Friday, January 30, 2026 - 02:56 am: Edit

If might be of interest to curious people to watch the YouTube video "The Documented Strategy Behind Minneapolis Protest Responses" by Ryan Mcbeth, an intel analyst.

Svc, i can post a link if you want.

Here is the link but I really cannot makes heads or tails of it.—-SVC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLU0y-FA8ZI

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Friday, January 30, 2026 - 07:51 am: Edit

By A David Merritt (Adm) on Friday, January 30, 2026 - 12:04 pm: Edit

Question SVC;
Given that Minnesota since WW II has only opted for the GOP presidential candidate three times, twice for Eisenhower and for Nixon's second term, are you stating that the GOP are using ICE to try and shift the population of Minnesota from their tradition of voting for Democratic candidates, to voting for Republican candidates?

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Friday, January 30, 2026 - 01:04 pm: Edit

ADM, fun conspiracy theory (fantasy) you have there. All evidence shows the current administration is trying to let the US electorate evolve on its own in whatever direction it chooses while the previous one was deliberately trying to warp that evolution to secure permanent power.

Jessica, I consider you a friend but that post was unworthy of you.

By A David Merritt (Adm) on Friday, January 30, 2026 - 01:23 pm: Edit

SVC, this fantasy was based on your comment.

---

Quote:

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, January 29, 2026 - 09:43 pm: Edit

...

Frankly, anyone who cannot admit that this is all about importing voters for one party to skew the electorate and win future elections has no credibility and isn't contributing anything of merit to the conversation.

...

---

By Carl-Magnus Carlsson (Hardcore) on Friday, January 30, 2026 - 01:57 pm: Edit

Merritt, I think SVC talked about directing the arrivals of immigrants and/or refugees to certain areas to change the voting patterns. In this case is suppose it's the Somalis in Minnesota.