Comment by AndyKelley

Comment by AndyKelley 2 hours ago

25 replies

The very same day I sat at home writing this devlog like a coward, less than five miles away, armed forces who are in my city against the will of our elected officials shot tear gas, unprovoked, at peaceful protestors, including my wife.

https://www.kptv.com/2026/01/31/live-labor-unions-rally-marc...

This isn't some hypothetical political agenda I'm using my platform to push. There's a nonzero chance I go out there next weekend to peacefully protest, and get shot like Alex Pretti.

Needless to say, if I get shot by ICE, it's not good for the Zig project. And they've brought the battle to my doorstep, almost literally.

Abolish ICE.

xrd an hour ago

My 85 year old mom lives in Portland and she attends rallies frequently. If you know of any way to support you or other local people doing this work, I'm very interested. My email is on my profile page.

I have a friend who is in Minneapolis. He's involved in caravans which are tracking ICE. He wasn't the driver in the last one. But, the ICE vehicle they tailed suddenly started going in a very direct path, instead of randomly driving. The driver figured it out first. They drove to the driver's house and then stood outside of their car for ten minutes staring at his house. Cars in Minnesota have their license plates on both the front and the back.

Is there any justification for that kind of intimidation? Did any of the Trump supporters vote for that? I hear about paid agitators on the left but not that kind of compensated actors. Is his name in a database now once they did the lookup?

[removed] an hour ago
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baggy_trough an hour ago

> against the will of our elected officials

Did you mean your local officials?

  • kstrauser 12 minutes ago

    In the Federal model of US government, state authority overrides centralized government except in the explicit cases enumerated by the Constitution.

    So yes, of course they mean their local officials, because in this case there isn’t an explicit line in the Constitution explaining why the feds are allowed to invade Minnesota.

throwawaypath an hour ago

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  • AndyKelley an hour ago

    The Department of Homeland Security was created in 2003. We didn't need it then and we don't need it now.

    Why waste tax dollars on ineffective, privacy-violating security theater when we could spend it on education and health?

    • throwawaypath an hour ago

      You didn't answer or even address a single question I asked. I'll ask again:

      1. Are you OK with sovereign states enforcing their borders and deporting illegal immigrants?

      2. Is it the awful tactics ICE uses to accomplish its mission, or do you find the mission in and of itself immoral?

      • jcranmer 37 minutes ago

        ICE's current mission isn't to deport illegal immigrants. Its current mission is to antagonize anyone who is not a WASP, and seemingly these days, anybody who stands up for non-WASP citizens in the US. As can be easily ascertained by the sheer number of encounters where the officers insist that they don't actually care to see any papers proving the people they're arresting are legal US citizens (let alone legal US residents).

        So your questions don't matter because you're arguing about a reality that doesn't exist.

      • hypeatei an hour ago

        You'd have a lot stronger argument if ICE wasn't being used as a secret police force. They're Immigration Enforcement in name only. Your average citizen would say it's okay to enforce immigration laws, there is no doubt about that; doing middle-of-the-night raids with a blackhawk helicopter in cities of your political opponents is not reasonable[0]. There are plenty more examples of their abhorrent behavior (like killing two American citizens in the midwest and brutalizing protestors) if you cared to search for it.

        I've noticed that the MAGAs have been adamant about trying to shift the window back to: "but you agree that immigrants should be deported right?" as some sort of attempt to justify what's happening, I guess. Is that talking point coming from some popular right wing show or something as a last ditch effort before midterms?

        0: https://www.propublica.org/article/chicago-venezuela-immigra...

  • xrd an hour ago

    Are you ok with the size of the budget these agencies control? Are you ok with it being headed by a guy who never has denied he took a $50k bribe from the FBI and wasn't even the initial target of an investigation?

    I would bet you $1000 that not one of the immigrants being rounded up were even accused of that kind of corruption and crimes.

    How is this not bald corruption and an insane way to spend tax dollars when people are really struggling in this country?

    And I know plenty of restaurant owners in Portland that are closing because of down tourism. Why can Trump sue the IRS for $10B but Portland can't sue him for disparaging the city because he can't figure out that videos of riots are five years old?

MiltarizdMerica 2 hours ago

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  • pixelpoet 2 hours ago

    These few-minutes-old accounts swooping in on hot button issues to try persuade people are such a goddamn scourge, I wish there were something that could be done about it.

    In the end I probably just need to leave HN for a while because it's really doing a number on what's left of my ability to trust what I read online.

    • thrance an hour ago

      Only thing you can do is flag them. Two strikes and they're gone. Plus usually, moderation give these accounts a perma-ban.

    • MiltarizdMerica an hour ago

      [flagged]

      • metalliqaz an hour ago

        You don't get what the issue is?

        Your account is 27 minutes old, the username is sarcastic at best, you hopped on specifically to defend the indefensible.

        You really don't know?

        • MiltarizdMerica an hour ago

          Correct, I'm still not sure.

          My genuine question has not been answered and I haven't defended anyone or anything in any comment I've made (Besides of course my comments themselves).

          I made a new account solely so I don't have any politic related stuff in my main accounts history. I'm not trying to defend any side or action. I just want to know why CBP doesn't get more hate for their very unnecessary murder.

  • [removed] an hour ago
    [deleted]
SLWW 2 hours ago

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  • AndyKelley an hour ago

    When people like you finally realize what is happening in this country, I'm ready to quickly forgive and move on so that we can work together to preserve what freedoms we have left.

    but please hurry... we really need you to pay attention and understand the reality that is upon us.

    • SLWW an hour ago

      I do know what's happening. I've been around and watching for over a decade. We are bleeding from every orifice from an economic standpoint. The recent moves for deportations is an attempt by the office of the President to save face while not doing anything to fix over-spending, it's also a good vehicle for a surveillance push, and the RNC/old-school dems will be happy so someone like JD can take power afterwards to prop up the current rising oligarchy and further support British assets moving into the middle-east for "oil".

      I'm not ignorant. I just know you aren't going to change anything by getting riled up emotionally and using language that indicates instability (I don't know you, my initial comment is because I don't want to see you get snuffed out). There's nothing you can do to solve these problems at this point and time, and they would prefer you protest so they can get your face, for the purposes of marking. Portland also is full of genuinely nutty people, been there several times and there is a real social contagion. You should be spending your time helping who you can, avoiding the authorities in general (never even speak to them), and understand that this "liberal democracy" is slowly collapsing and there's no stopping what's going to happen. We are being hollowed out entirely.

      Freedoms aren't going to matter much when we are owned by every foreign nation but our own. I thought about 7 years ago that we could fix this with protesting, now I know that we can't. I'm just seeing this from a view of total loss while you see that there is yet still time.

      Quick addendum: this is not me attempting to demoralize. I do think that once people can't pay for bread then maybe something will change. Up until that point the majority will give away every right for even the slightest relief, anything for a little hope of a better future. This has happened many times before. Empires rise and fall, it's nothing unique or out of the ordinary across history. First and foremost look out for yourself and your loved ones, and be willing to be flexible

      • AndyKelley an hour ago

        Don't take the black pill.

        • SLWW 22 minutes ago

          Only white pilling for me sir. I believe in the morning light after a dark night. I just know that the tide comes in and out reliably. If you believe protesting is the way forward then go for it; just don't get shot while doing it.

          Anyway; I like Zig a lot btw.. loving what you guys are doing.