A Minute to Midnight

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Doomsday Clock – Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

On January 27, 2026, the Doomsday Clock was set at 85 seconds to midnight, the closest the Clock has ever been to midnight in its history. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Science and Security Board (SASB), which sets the Clock, called for urgent action to limit nuclear arsenals, create international guidelines on the use of AI, and form multilateral agreements to address global biological threats.

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73 thoughts on “A Minute to Midnight”

  1. but not to worry
    the epstein files are still there

    Attribution: Epstein Files Are Still There by Christopher Weyant, CagleCartoons.com
    [Chris Weyant draws political cartoons for The Boston Globe, and the New Yorker.]

  2. and the comedians are still with us …. at least for now

    President Trump tried to clean up the mess he made in Minnesota by moving Greg “Little Napoleon” Bovino out and lambasting Homeland Security head Kristi Noem, the president’s body and mind are in pretty rough shape, and the First Lady’s self-titled film is a box office stinker.


  3. Desi Lydic dives into the backlash over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota: GOPers push back against the DHS’s attacks on Alex Pretti for carrying a legal firearm, Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino gets a station reassignment and a screen time limit, and Trump resorts to finding Bovino’s replacement via suggestions from “Fox & Friends” host Brian Kilmeade. Plus, Troy Iwata pitches a new look for Greg Bovino to match his demotion.

  4. and the cartoonists

    Attribution: Let’s All Wear Masks Like ICE by Monte Wolverton, Battle Ground, WA
    [Monte Wolverton is best known as a contributor to MAD Magazine and son of Mad great Basil Wolverton. He is also the editor of The Plain Truth. magazine. He draws two editorial cartoons per week and is syndicated to newspapers around the world by Cagle Cartoons.]

  5. by the way

    THE DOLLAR IS FALLING! THE DOLLAR IS FALLING!

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/28/us-dollar-sinks-lowest-level-four-years

    The US dollar has fallen to its lowest level in four years after Donald Trump brushed off concerns over the currency’s fall, sending investors fleeing to traditional havens including gold and the Swiss franc.

    The dollar dropped by 1.3% against a basket of currencies after the president’s comments on Tuesday, marking its fourth day of declines, then slipped by a further 0.2% on Wednesday morning.

    “No, I think it’s great,” Trump said of the weaker dollar, during a visit to Iowa to promote his record on the economy. Asked if he was concerned about the currency’s slide, he told reporters: “I think the value of the dollar – look at the business we’re doing. The dollar’s doing great.”

    The greenback has tumbled by 10% over the past year, while Tuesday’s fall was the largest one-day drop since last April, when Trump announced his sweeping tariff plans, marking a global market sell-off.

    The dollar has now touched its lowest level since February 2022, after unpredictable US policymaking, including Trump’s recent threats to take over Greenland and impose tariffs on European allies, unleashed fresh geopolitical shocks.

    “A weaker dollar is a two-sided coin,” said Steve Sosnick, a market strategist at Interactive Brokers, adding it was good for multinational companies.

    “If you have operations around the world and foreign currency revenue that will have a conversion advantage when you turn it into US dollars, that will be good. On the other, it makes imported goods more expensive and there might be some inflationary impact from that.”
    [continues]

  8. For some reason ??? this Irving Berlin song from 1941 has suddenly become very popular.

    Liner notes: Many of you have recently discovered our old recording of this forgotten Irving Berlin gem, a powerful protest song he wrote in 1941 as a protest against Hitler. So we wanted to release this live version we just did at the legendary Joe’s Pub in NYC. I think this song just hits different live – and, boy, the band was cooking that night! (By the way, this song and many others was just released on our new album, “Live at Joe’s Pub.”)

    We hope you enjoy it. It’s a song of hope – written during one of the darkest times in our world’s history, reminding us all that someday that evil man will be dead and gone.
    xoxo
    Lizzy

    Lizzy & the Triggermen – Live at Joe’s Pub
    Recorded: Saturday, April 6th, 2024

  9. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/

    MTG to MAGA: You’re being ‘incited into civil war’

    Marjorie Taylor Greene may be out of Congress, but she’s not done weighing in on national politics. In a post on X, Greene warned the MAGA base that they are “being incited into a civil war” over the violence in Minnesota, reports the Hill. The former GOP Georgia congresswoman made clear that she is a strong supporter of border security, deportations, and law enforcement, but that she also defends gun rights and civil liberties. She said 37-year-old Alex Pretti, the man shot over the weekend, was within his rights to be carrying a gun on his person.
    Greene asked MAGA supporters to imagine the same incident occurring under former President Biden, with a conservative supporter filming an FBI raid on a Jan. 6 suspect, and then being beaten, disarmed, and shot. “What would have been our reaction?” she asked. “Both sides need to take off their political blinders. You are all being incited into civil war, yet none of it solves any of the real problems that we all face, and tragically people are dying.”

  11. On the other, it makes imported goods more expensive and there might be some inflationary impact from that.

    I wonder how that interacts with the tariffs – just a pile-on?

    JDipshit – I’m stealing that, Anon. I can think of at least a dozen or so folks who’ll love it and remember it in 3 years.

  12. David Nakamura posted an article at WaPo this morning showing 5 things the CBP assholes did that were deviations from good policing practices in the very few seconds it took them to kill Alex Pretti. It’s a few minute read but worth the time. The five moments he focuses on are:

    – Pushing a bystander;
    – Tackling Pretti;
    – Striking him with a cannister;
    – Removing his gun; and , drumroll please…
    – Using deadly force.

    The article, with input from eight experts on law enforcement training and misconduct (my word) concludes, among other things, that the officers are not properly trained in modern policing techniques, were acting independently of one another, and to the extent they were trained, did not follow that training.

  14. South Cah-linah has F’d Around, and now they Find Out that the kids are once more experiencing MEASLES.

    Thanks, idiots.

    Seen on the internet:
    Replacing Bovino with Homan is like crapping in your pants and then changing shirts.

  15. Pogo – My gun-carrying MAGAt family (who still blame Pretti for carrying a gun to a protest) sent me a still pic of what looks like Pretti pushing a N&zi.

    A) He was NOT at a protest, he just happened to be walking down the street and saw a N&zi pushing a woman to the ground.
    B) If you look at the video of where the still photo was clipped from, N&zis are coming at him, pushing him. In the still pic, it looks like Alex is pushing forward, but he is not – Pretti is leaning forward to keep his balance, because the N&zis were trying to push him over on his ass.
    C) He never pulled his weapon. A N&zi pulled the gun out of Pretti’s holster.
    D) N&zis, police, whomever, do not have the right to kill anybody. Fear for one’s safety might be a defense (video evidence shows it is not, in this instance), but it is never a right to do it, only a defensible act in some cases.

    They don’t like tRUMP anymore (so they say, but still get mad if I report on something he said), but they do like what’s happening & blame anyone making it harder for ICE N&zis.

    The family out West went non-denominational awhile back and turned into end timers/rapture-ists.

  16. BiD, all good points. When it comes to videos of an incident different angles definitely lead to different conclusions, but in this case any angle leads to the same conclusion IMHO. He was killed by a chickenshit motherfucker on a power trip.

  17. I remember the day after Jan 6 I met with a real estate agent who told me as seriously as a SC real estate agent can serious that they had Facial recognition software which proved that the J6 insurrectionists were ALL democrats. I guess by my appearance he assumed I was a Stumper.
    I told him he was fulla crap.
    #%###%%%%

    Rubio says without the USA there is no NATO

    I beg to differ. He, too, is fulla crap.

  19. https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/27/us/alex-pretti-protesters-minneapolis-invs

    A memo sent earlier this month to agents temporarily assigned to the city asked them to “capture all images, license plates, identifications, and general information on hotels, agitators, protestors, etc., so we can capture it all in one consolidated form,” according to correspondence reviewed by CNN.

    Pretti’s previous encounter is another reflection of the aggressive approach federal agents are taking with observers and protesters – a philosophy underscored by the request for agents to collect information about protesters whose activities are broadly protected by the First Amendment.

    It is unclear how Pretti first came to the attention of federal authorities, but sources told CNN that about a week before his death, he suffered a broken rib when a group of federal officers tackled him while he was protesting their attempt to detain other individuals.

  21. Katie, the ICE/CBP/DHS guys/gals (there was one female participating in the Pretti killing) with guns on the street are ASPD, the ones at the microphones are NPD.

  22. https://www.rawstory.com/trump-voter-he-got-stupid/

    “He needs to get his act together, and our representatives here in Iowa need to stop following his lead. I’m not voting Republican again,” she said.

    “First time around and he did a good job, but then he got stupid,” she said.

    The voter described her dissatisfaction with Trump and what she really thought of him.

    “It’s all about him. He thinks he’s God and he’s going to take over the world,” she added.

    *I mean, she kinda gets it & that’s the most to be expected from Iowa. This is a joke about Iowa from surrounding states:

    Idiots
    Out
    Walking
    Around

  25. The DOJ is moving at a 1% pace on the Epstein files while the “Elite Shield” protects the powerful—and we’re still arguing over whether a Tater Tot Hot Dish is actually a casserole. From the glacial release of government secrets to Prince’s secret Target runs, today’s ELEVEN TO NOON is a masterclass in chaos and contrast.

    On The Menu:
    00:00 Intro
    00:15 Epstein Files DOJ Delay Analysis
    02:10 The Elite Shield Narrative & MAGA Turnout
    04:45 Cold Weather and Idaho True Crime
    08:20 Embassy Immunity and ICE Jurisdiction
    12:30 Iowa Politics and Literary Rates
    16:15 Immigration Reform History: Reagan to Trump
    21:40 Sunday Serendipity: Mozart and Hall & Oates
    25:00 Prince Stories: Purple Shirts at Target
    29:30 Narcissism and Presidential Psychology
    33:15 Cornish Hen Rotisserie Prep

    We dive deep into why the Epstein “cover-up” is stalling MAGA turnout and swap stories about the legendary kindness of Prince in a Minnesota Target.

    Watch the full stream:

  29. OK, a little gloat time. NYT

    The Department of Homeland Security agents involved in the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday have been placed on leave as part of the department’s protocol, an official with the department said on Wednesday.

    It was not immediately clear how many agents had been placed on leave, but the announcement was a shift for Trump administration. On Sunday, Gregory Bovino, who was then overseeing President Trump’s Border Patrol operations in the city, told CNN that the agents involved in the shooting of the 37-year-old nurse had been moved to other cities and would “more than likely be on administrative duty.”

    Feeling a little heat, perhaps?

  30. I told him he was fulla crap.

    Keeping this line handy, Sturge. Short & simple, and I can use it even when children are present.

  31. Even with no further DOJ investigation, we already have more evidence than what is needed for frontier justice.

  32. And a shoutout to Ilhan Omar.

    The immediate reaction of Representative Ilhan Omar when she was squirted with a liquid at a town hall last night is getting attention. Instead of rushing to aides or fleeing, as one might expect, she moved toward the man with her right fist raised, before he was tackled by security officers. Seconds later, she told aides and a security guard that she wanted to keep speaking at the event, even as they advised her to get evaluated. Defiant, Omar told them, “We will continue.”

    Bigger balls that Dumbass.

  35. Women scare them. Women of color terrify them.

    The day POTUS Joe announced he was dropping (forced) out of the race, MAGA here confronted me. “They’re running Michelle Obama, aren’t they? They’re running Michelle Obama.” They sounded extremely worried.

    They got that idea from FB, or a group on FB.

    Immediately after Orange Adolf was ~pewpewed~ in PA, I was told it was done by a Chinese national. Their phone went off, that’s what they read, they believed it and spread it to me (and who knows else).

  40. wow what a scam in my email

    “(x company) has detected change to your account, call immediately if you did not make this change”

    beware

    i know you’re thinking “that scam is well-known”, but this method was particularly sophisticated

  42. https://apnews.com/article/ilhan-omar-attack-sprayed-town-hall-attack-c785b49b2c770b7aed1cdbb75df0a35f

    The man accused of squirting an unknown substance on Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar at a town hall in Minneapolis has a criminal history and has made online posts supportive of President Donald Trump.

    Anthony Kazmierczak, 55, was convicted of felony auto theft in 1989, has been arrested multiple times for driving under the influence and has had numerous traffic citations, Minnesota court records show. There are also indications he has had significant financial problems, including two bankruptcy filings.

    Police say Kazmierczak used a syringe to squirt liquid on Omar during Tuesday’s event after she called for the abolishment of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the firing or impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem following the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Officers immediately tackled and arrested Kazmierczak, who was jailed on a preliminary third-degree assault charge, police spokesperson Trevor Folke said.

    *He’ll probably be working for ICE next month. I saw a still of the giant, plastic syringe in his hand and the remaining contents look yellow, so maybe his pee.

  45. The Protection Racket: They get the shield, you get the bill.

    We dig into the “Enthusiasm Gap.” It turns out the Trump base isn’t so fired up anymore—they’re just tired of watching the elites get legal immunity (Epstein) while they get crushed by the economy. It’s a “Motivation Tax” that is keeping voters home.

    Read the Brief here:

    MAGA Motivation Killers: Epstein and Inflation

  47. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/31/ice-recruitment-media-campaign

    US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has reportedly planned a $100m, one-year media blitz for what it’s calling “wartime recruitment”, targeting conservative radio show listeners, gun rights aficionados, military affairs followers and men’s interests enthusiasts – among others in the Maga-verse – for jobs in the Trump administration’s next phase of its mass deportation campaign.

    *The Super Bowl ad should be wild. Hell, I’m not sure I can even watch since tRUMPsky will make an appearance (as do all POTUSes), but it’ll just give him a really big audience to lie to.

    Somebody with too much money buy air time that cleverly works in EPSTEIN that will go unnoticed until Zaprudering it the next day, please.

    Will Bad Bunny be safe from this administration who don’t understand Puerto Ricans are US citizens?

  50. About those Obama numbers. Didnt he count border turnarounds as “deportations” to get higher stats? They previously were “returns” not counted as deportations.

  51. BeBop, welcome.

    Trump kept that same trick—counting border turnarounds as removals—but added a new layer of fuzz by tacking on unverified estimates of ‘self-deportations’ to his total. When you strip away that fantasy math and look at verified interior enforcement, Obama still holds the record for actual removals. The comparison stands because he hit those numbers without needing to pad the stats with voluntary exits no one really knows for sure how to measure..

  52. https://www.scrippsnews.com/us-news/ice-agents-blocked-from-entering-ecuadorian-consulate-in-minneapolis

    Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers attempted to enter the Ecuadorian Consulate in Minneapolis on Tuesday.

    In a video posted online, a person at the consulate is heard telling the agents, “This is the Ecuadorian consulate. You’re not allowed to enter.”

    The brief but tense exchange occurs before the man shuts the door on the agents.

    Foreign consulates are typically off-limits to law enforcement without permission, which is why Ecuador issued a “note of protest” to the U.S. Embassy in Ecuador to prevent future visits by ICE.

    The Trump administration has not publicly commented on the incident.

  54. This is the patch the Midwest battalion of the ICE N&zis. The extra level of racism to put a bow & arrow on it is telling. They will be going after Indigenous People.

    ps – Our tax dollars paid for these patches and mission coins for these cosplaying monsters.

  55. i watched ONE youtube of socio-political content and now my algorithm is filled with tactical gear ads

    Big Tech drove us mad to sell us nonsense

    imagine how fried kid’s brains are by it, they all use youtube

  56. https://vt.co/news/us/alex-pretti-ice-shooting-video-ai

    When the AI evaluated the Minneapolis footage on its own terms, it described a federal immigration enforcement operation that “turns lethal almost immediately” and emphasised that how the situation unfolded mattered more than official explanations.

    The model noted agents arrived in tactical gear and “close distance aggressively in a public space,” arguing that this posture suggested force was the priority.

    The AI said the visual record indicated escalation initiated by federal agents and that “there are moments that strongly suggest he is disarmed before the shots are fired,” adding that once agents had physical control on the ground, continued use of lethal force was avoidable.

  59. MUDCAT in the house tomorrow…

    Special guest 11am ET. Hop in via Cam, Mic or Keyboard

    The legendary—and infamous—Democratic strategist David “Mudcat” Saunders is in the house.

    Known as the architect of the “Bubba Strategy” and advisor to campaigns like Mark Warner and John Edwards, Mudcat has spent decades warning Democrats that they are losing the cultural connection to rural America.

    Tomorrow, he sits down at the ELEVEN TO NOON Digital Diner to tell us if the bridge is burned for good, or if there’s a road back for the party in the heartland.

    Unfiltered, unscripted, and live.

  60. Bruce Springsteen releases anti-ICE protest song ‘Streets of Minneapolis’

    On Wednesday Bruce Springsteen released a protest song condemning the violence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minneapolis. The song memorializes the lives of Renee Macklin Good and Alex Pretti, who were fatally shot by federal agents this month.

    “I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis,” The Boss wrote on social media. “It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free.”

    https://www.npr.org/2026/01/28/nx-s1-5691707/bruce-springsteen-minneapolis-protest-song-alex-pretti-renee-good

  65. https://newrepublic.com/post/205779/leaked-memo-department-homeland-security-database-protesters

    Among the likely subjects of this massive surveillance scheme was Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old ICU nurse who was killed by Customs and Border Protection agents in broad daylight. A few days before he was killed, Pretti was beaten by a group of federal agents he was monitoring, and suffered a broken rib. A source told CNN that federal agents knew Pretti’s name, but did not clarify if he was in this database.

    Last week, a masked ICE agent warned a woman filming their activities in Portland, Maine, that her information would be entered into a “nice little database” that would label her a domestic terrorist. This week, federal agents have reportedly started making house calls on volunteer ICE watchers they hope to intimidate.

    *Did they track Pretti after this first altercation? They will definitely use it to try to paint him as, IDK, antifa…because, yeah.

  66. https://hoodline.com/2026/01/congresswoman-escobar-denounces-dhs-bill-on-house-floor-cites-stripped-amendment-protecting-citizens-from-ice-overreach/

    CONGRESSWOMAN ESCOBAR DENOUNCES DHS BILL ON HOUSE FLOOR, CITES STRIPPED AMENDMENT PROTECTING CITIZENS FROM ICE OVERREACH

    Escobar, who serves as a member of the House Homeland Appropriations Subcommittee, did not mince words when she condemned the revisions made to the bill, particularly the removal of her key amendment aimed at safeguarding U.S. citizens from unwarranted ICE detentions and deportations.

    A transcript of her speech, confirming her concerns, was made available on her official congressional website.

    “I stand today in opposition to this Homeland Appropriations bill,” Escobar declared, highlighting her efforts to amend the bill originally to include language intended to protect Americans against aggressive immigration enforcement tactics.

    She revealed that her amendment had been stripped during negotiations, directly implying an endorsement of the action by former President Donald Trump and his advisor, Stephen Miller.

    This means Donald Trump does not want to protect U.S. citizens,” she stated, as reported on her website.

    The substance of Escobar’s grievance reaches deeper than the legislative process; it touches upon widespread reports and testimonies of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) encroaching on the rights and liberties of individuals in American cities.

    The congresswoman referred to ICE’s indiscriminate practices, including racial profiling and other forms of aggressive oversight, which stand to potentially ensnare innocent citizens in an overzealous deportation dragnet.

    *A way to get rid of non-white citizens and white dissidents.

  67. Either there’s another NO KINGS march on March 28th, or it was a spam text tactic to ID anti-fascists.

    A march isn’t enough. Economic pressure will get their attention.

    Deleting streaming services, boycotting big businesses (especially Amazon), calling Congress daily, moving money to credit unions, using cash instead of credit cards to starve big banks of fees, so we make economic noise even if unions don’t strikes.

  70. Just watched the video of Pretti in a scuffle with agents 11 days before they killed him. That makes two encounters where he did not draw his weapon. So we can definitely put aside their big lie that he went there to “assassinate” officers.

  72. https://greens.scot/news/greens-call-for-expulsion-of-us-troops-following-abduction

    Responding to reports that the US ignored a Scottish court order and “abducted two people from Scotland”, the Scottish Greens have called for the expulsion of US troops from their de-facto base at Scottish Government-owned Prestwick airport.

    The party’s co-leader, Ross Greer, said:

    “It very much looks like the US Government has abducted two people from Scotland in the middle of the night, hours after our highest court ordered that they not be removed.

    “This is a grave violation of our sovereignty. Foreign militaries cannot be allowed to kidnap people from Scottish territory.

    “Trump’s US is a rogue state with a contempt for international law. It is not our ally and cannot be trusted.

    “It’s time for John Swinney to evict American troops from their de-facto base at Scottish Government-owned Prestwick airport and block them from using any publicly owned assets in Scotland.”

    *They should impound (or attach) his golf courses, too.

    *Italy should send those ICE N&zis packing (reports some are there already – why?) and refuse to let any more in.

    The mob is running the US. The world needs to shut it down, because we can’t even get white folks who make over $60K to stop buying crap on Amazon for a blackout week, let alone actually have a strike.

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