Good morning from the frozen environs of Western New York. Today is Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. I have seven degrees showing on my weather station. Might get to fifteen today. Years ago, weather like this was pretty much standard fare.
1865: Congress passes, by a vote of 121-24, the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution, abolishing slavery in the United States except as punishment for a crime.
1901: Anton Chekhov's play Three Sisters opens at Moscow Art Theater.
1905: The first automobile to exceed 100 mph (161 kph): British daredevil Arthur Macdonald drive a Napier six-cylinder racing car named "Samson" on sands of Daytona Beach, Fla., notching a top speed of 104 mph.
1928: Scotch tape is first marketed by 3-M company.
1929: Leon Trotsky is expelled from Russia to Turkey.
1936: The Green Hornet radio show is first heard on WXYZ Radio in Detroit.
1963: Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers (later known as The Beatles) record "What'd I Say" and "Ruby Baby."
1971: "My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison hits number one on the UK pop chart. The multi-disc set All Things Must Pass, from which that single is taken, also topped the album charts that same week.
1971: Apollo 14 launches.
1975: Barry Manilow's cover of "Mandy" goes gold.
1990: The first McDonalds in the Soviet Union opens in Moscow.
1999: Seth MacFarlane's Family Guy first airs on Fox TV.
Birthdays Today include Robert Morris (who signed the Declaration of Independence); composer Franz Schubert; Zane Grey; Eddie Cantor; bandleader Isham Jones; actress Tallulah Bankhead; Jackie Robinson; Carol Channing; actor John Agar; Norman Mailer; producer and session keyboardist Al De Lory (whose most well-known work includes Glenn Campbell); actor Stuart Margolin; Terry Kath; Nolan Ryan; KC (Harry Wayne Casey) of the Sunshine Band; Johnny Rotten; and Tom Schuman (Spyro Gyra).
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Our own Jamie Wilson brought this to my attention yesterday. I was away from home and hadn't had the chance to look at this with any depth until late last night. This story ended up in my box because I'm a ham radio Operator. I guess my being a ham myself gives me an edge here.
(Shrug) OK, challenge accepted. I'll try to keep this as non-techie as I can.
Now that leftist Signal chat groups that organize anti-ICE protests have been “infiltrated,” progressives are now turning to ham/amatuer radio.
— LetsGoBFLO (@HistorianUSA1) January 29, 2026
Are carrier pigeons in their future? 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/TkPrOWqX6V
The nose ring is a clue to the level of brain power we're dealing with. Along with, of course, the attitude and the insufferable arrogance. All that's missing is the pink hair. I'll tell you the truth: it took me twenty minutes to stop laughing. Past that:
My gut level reaction would be arranging for a few dozen pagers from the Israel Defense Forces. I gather they have a few extra that they're not going to use. OK, perhaps not. The calmer half of me, which usually wins out, comes up with several points, though, that are worth considering.
The reference to the IDF does bring to mind a parallel. Hezbollah tried using the same UV-5R units as she displays on the video. Guess who tapped into the network before the echo died from the first transmission. Anyone who thinks the anti-ICE crowd is going to fare any better is fooling himself.
Let's get specific: The radio she's talking about. and displaying, is, as I say, a fairly common Baofeng UV-5R. It's a dual band unit, able to run on both VHF and UHF frequencies. She's correct, the units are cheap and fairly plentiful.You can pick them up for $30 or $40 on Amazon. I own a few myself.
However... Notice that the one she's holding doesn't have an antenna on it. It's not going to work that way. I wonder if she even knows that. Well, admittedly, it would send a smoke signal (poof!), but that's all. Technology is obviously not a strong point in her bag of tricks.
Which, by the way, presents another roadblock to the plan. While the things can be programmable on the fly from the front panel, it's not a chore for the uninitiated. Indeed, I know a few hams who are above their level trying to program those things without a computer hookup. For the people trying to keep ICE from doing their job? Trust me when I tell ya, it ain't gonna happen.
Notice also, it is illegal to transmit on them unless you have a ham radio license. I suppose that since they're encouraging illegal activity to begin with, breaking the law as regards using the radios won't be considered a big deal. Until they get busted. Here are the Federal regs that apply (and I'm quite sure I'm not listing them all):
47 USC § 301 Unlawful operation of a Radio Transmitter;
47 USC § 501 Criminal penalties for willful operation;
47 CFR § 97.113 Amateur radio may not be used for criminal communications.
Unlike the internet-based Signal chat spaces they were using previously, anyone with a similar radio can hear the traffic. It's not encrypted. And certainly that UV-5R doesn't support encryption at the $30 price point.
It is also illegal to transmit information on law enforcement activities unless you are a part of that operation. That’s both a federal and state law.
So now they not only have to deal with ICE and the FBI, but now the FCC as well? LOL. Believe me, that's not a smart move.
Meanwhile, perhaps a larger threat is that ham operators tend to be very protective of their turf. Within the ham bands, there's a whole host of operators, who will be quite willing to bring their equipment and skills to bear to trace such illegal signals for the feds. As for raw numbers, Minnesota as of today has about 11,000 licensed hams, and a number of ham radio clubs, mostly centered in Minneapolis.
Let's examine how this might be a problem for our Stop ICE mobs:
There are large groups of hams across the country that do something called "Fox Hunting"... which is a ham radio sport of some antiquity. At it's most basic, it's hunting down the source of a weak signal, using specialized equipment. It's an activity I've personally participated in several times. Got rather good at it, too. Won such contests several times, over the years. Probably 95% of licensed ham operators are conservatives. Trust me when I tell you, that's not going to go down well for the rioters. And that's leaving aside the ability of the FCC in signal tracking.
I suspect that even non-techies can see how this is going to work out.
Thought for the day: You cannot push a river. You can only let it flow.
Have a great day, my friends. I'll see you tomorrow.
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