Unbalanced.mn

11/03/2022

THIS PAGE IS NOT MAINTAINED OR MONITORED! Hit us up on Twitter, though! We check that almost weekly, whether we need to or not.

26/09/2020

What is this absolute nonsense? If you're putting in the time to design a Lego set based off the 1994 Jim Carry film The Mask, you do the Coco Cabana Club. It's basic math.

On a tangent, is still early stages but I'm talking to several collaborators about a new season of the podcast. We have high expectations: higher production values, a cohost, and fewer "umm"s. Tentatively called "Fascism: What is it? What isn't it? Who does it? Is it a problem? Let's find out!" I'll keep y'all updated on developments if/as plans solidify.

https://ideas.lego.com/content/project/link/00c9cbfb-6241-4af4-8344-f2db7e64a734

Released in 1994, "THE MASK" traces the journey of Stanley IPKISS (Jim CARREY), a common bank employee passionate about the world of cartoons and Tex Avery. One evening, he finds a mask endowed with supernatural powers...

09/09/2020

Me: Ugh. All this BS about face mask mandates being tyrannical. We're in the middle of a global pandemic. You literally could not think of a regulation that makes a stupider emblem of government overrea...

The right wing: THE GUBERMENT WANTS TO TAKE AWAY YOUR INCANDESCENT LIGHT BULBS!

https://web.archive.org/web/20191018155036/https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/article/its-light-bulb-liberation-day

The government's intervention could have killed the light bulb, what will be the next thing it seeks to control?

03/09/2020

LOOKING FOR A COLLABORATOR, PLEASE SHARE!

Hello! The last several months have brought a lot of changes to my career, I'm really appreciative of the support I've received from so many people; emotional, financial, and professional. I might be the one doing the hands-on work, but everything I write is the product of my community.

Recently, I've decided to shift into journalism full time. Along with this, I'm sre-tarting the unbalanced.mn podcast.

To make this work, I'm going to need a partner, a co-host. Please help me get the word out. I have a few ideas about what this new season will look like, but I don't want to get ahead of myself. I'm really looking for someone who can collaborate from brainstorming to posting the last episode of the season.

The ideal candidate will have experience in journalism, historical/sociological research, audio production, and/or fundraising.

Personal political beliefs don't matter, but this is news, not talking heads. I'm not looking for someone to argue with on air, though behind the scenes argument is encouraged. You must have a respect for people of all backgrounds and identities and be deeply committed to factuality and accuracy.

I'm flexible about level of commitment, but it will require about five hours a week at a minimum. This is not a paid staff position, but one of the goals of this first season is to develop a sustainable financial model, including compensation.

If this is you, dm me with a brief bio/qualifications. If it's not you, please help me get the word out!

01/09/2020

My latest for the Minnesota Reformer , about some of the online content that motivated the recent threat on Gov. Walz's life.

Shawn Simonson, who threatened to kill Gov. Tim Walz, has frequently shared Facebook posts from the group Right Now MN, which is funded by prominent Minnesota men.

30/08/2020

Woot! What a mention. You know, I frequently describe myself to friends as "obsessed" with right wing media, so no notes for this post.

25/08/2020

Over at the Minnesota Reformer twitter post for my recent article about Bronze Age Pervert's book, I've been engaging with Pervert's fans.

Did a race realist post an "IQ v. Skin Tone" map? You betcha. Is there a physical threat involving an army of m**h heads? Is there ever! Is there pseudo intellectual nonsense that collapses into personal attacks at the slightest challenge? Hells to the yeah there is, brah.

One of the thing missing from the article was the voice of the people who read Bronze Age Mindset. This Twitter thread is a garbage heap of racism etc., but if you want to get a complete picture of what this book is, you can't do better than reading what it's fans have to say:

https://twitter.com/MNReformer/status/1297897663392882689

“Bronze Age Mindset is a popular neo-fascist book whose fans include .... Minn. state Sen. Roger Chamberlain. https://t.co/bamqlJx1GP”

31/07/2020

I'm reading the best boring book I've ever read: "Fascism in Action," a 1947 congressional report.

It's a minutely detailed description of everyday life and government under fascist Germany, Italy, Spain, and other countries.

The word fascism gets overused to the point that the actual meaning of the word is lost. But this is an excruciatingly detailed definition written by scientists who studied fascism while it was still happening.

A couple of the good bits:

A tight definition: "[Fascism] makes fanaticism a virtue and weaves ideological concepts about the doctrines of race supremacy, the leadership principle, rule by an elite class, government under a single Political party, the acquisition of living space, a totalitarian state, and the use of force as an instrument of national policy."

Fascism in the USA: "There are many strong symptoms of fascism in our own democratic society. True, this movement in the United States masquerades under other names than the discredited one of fascism, but whatever it may be called, its peculiar characteristics are alarmingly evident."

The first goal of N**i foreign policy: "'The foreign policy of National Socialist Germany had several objectives: (1) to fight and eradicate the rival system of communism."

15/07/2020

An essay.

We found that while the (few) left-leaning sites prioritize statewide reporting, right-leaning sites are more focused on local reporting, indicating the potential for these sites to exacerbate polarization in local communities.

08/07/2020

I've been meaning to announce on here:

For the time being, I've shifted my focus away from the podcast to paid work for the Minnesota Reformer (ma baby needs nappies.) I appreciate all the support people have shown this page, and I don't want you to unfollow!

I'll continue to post minimal updates as I can, share my other work, and hopefully someday revive the project when I have the time/resources. I enjoyed the freedom, learned a lot, and told some important stories.

Thanks for following and remember to keep looking up!

08/07/2020

Here my latest for the Reformer.

Documents show Minnesota Fusion Center was giving officers unverified intelligence following the police killing of George Floyd.

16/05/2020

For anyone waiting for evidence of wrongdoing in , well a few days ago, Mystic Joe pulled some tarot. Talk about a confirmation!!1!

https://twitter.com/MysticJoe3/status/1259704062079090688?s=20

“Just pulled some tarot. “Those that have been waiting for justice, will be rewarded.” Talk about a confirmation! ”

15/05/2020

"He seemed now to be also the embodiment of the fully emancipated male, perhaps the only one in America, the man who can do anything he wants, anything, can do it because he has money, the energy, and no apparent guilt." -- Gay Talese, "Frank Sinatra has a Cold"

Comes from a radically different context but, near as I can tell, this is what the anti-lockdown protesters mean when they say "freedom."

Here are someone else's thoughts on the subject:

COVID-19 has shined a light on how shallow people's understanding of freedom is. Without responsibility and sacrifice, it is meaningless.

12/05/2020

This is bu****it on so many levels. To just pick one, Monsanto gave to Republicans over Dems by more than 3:1 in 2016 (most recent data on Open Secrets.) This was posted by an account controlled by mainstream MN Republican donors.

Funny for the times.

05/05/2020

Usually, I'm posting Unbalanced.mn content to my personal page, fun to do it the other way around.

Civil RightsCOVID-19 Lawyers and conservative activists suing Walz administration have been at it for decades By Logan Carroll - May 5, 2020 Facebook Twitter Email Print Lawyer Erick Kaardal questions why some businesses were deemed essential and other not and argues those deemed inessential have ha...

03/05/2020

Floating around certain corners of Facebook. for some context, Walz has been photoshopped into the Joker makeup from the Chris Nolan movie. He's an anarchist villain who threatens the safety of all of Gotham whom Batman can only defeat by violating everyone's civil rights.

So... weird choice.

Tyrant.

01/05/2020

Working on a piece to actually get published, but I'll be back with regular updates again next week.

29/04/2020

The Upper Midwest Legal Center is planning on suing to force an end to Minnesota's shutdown. You might remember all the way back in episode two we learned about the UMLC, which shares an address and a lot of leadership with Center of the American Experiment

Yesterday, they used Alpha News to issue a cattle call for people who "believe they can mount a constitutional claim against Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s COVID-19 related executive orders." They want people who feel that Walz's orders have negatively impacted their "exercise of speech, assembly, governmental petition or religious freedoms."

This isn't the first time they've done this, back in October they called for stories about "left wing violence" during the Trump rally as fodder to sue leftist orgs and politicians in the TC.

That cause has yet to materialize into any concrete legal action, so we'll wait and see if this one goes anywhere. I'll let you know!

(As always, the below link is cached on the Wayback Machine, so click free of the fear that you're boosting their metrics.)

https://web.archive.org/save/https://alphanewsmn.com/law-firm-walz/?fbclid=IwAR2Iz08t-KkZPNM_pGdAYGqJ8x6EtBT_BVhSa7f1FCK7ipLy_kbtIpf41go

A law firm is looking for clients who believe they can mount a constitutional claim against Minnesota Governor Tim Walz's COVID-19 related executive orders.