Obesity takes a front row seat in Brookings

Hot off my Brookings bingo card, Earth hating Representatives Mellissa Heermann, Roger Degroot and Senator Tim Reed, all representing District 7 in the South Dakota's deranged and demented legislature addressed a gaggle of white people some of whom can't even see their own genitals without a mirror.

Shad Olson noticed it, too.

Fred Deutsch and Katie Hoffmann are a grotesque love coupling. These are losers. Stupid people. Ugly people. Katie Hoffmann is an inarticulate untalented advocate for the continuation of state prohibition loopholes to allow baby death. Because in her family, with a man who is pint sized and acquiescent, she wears the oversized pants. And she invokes the one sister who is the only member of her family who will still speak with her after she falsely accused her stepbrother of rape, as a confirmation for her stupidity. Fred Deutsch is a neoconservative pussy who passed a bill specifically criminalizing anything that can be characterized as antismetic [sic] speech. Both idiots. Easily dismissed. I'm sure Lee Schoenbeck and Pat Powers both reached climax. Possibly in the same room.

Brookings County screwing taxpayers, shitting in their own water supplies

There was a time when settlers could make a living clamming on the James, Big Sioux and Vermillion rivers but the industry dwindled in the 1940s due to over-harvesting, watershed depletion and environmental degradation. Since then the number of acres in agroecosystems tripled but poor ag practices like tiling have made soils unable to absorb rainfall creating toxic runoff and flooding. 

In 2024 nine of eleven sites below Watertown tested positive for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances including a hot spot in Falls Park in Sioux Falls but researchers found thirty two samples with nine types of PFAS compounds all the way to the Iowa border. None of that is lost on the Brookings County Commission so that same year Brookings provided rain catchment barrels with hopes to reduce stormwater runoff. Tiling by farmers increases water flow into the Big Sioux and more hard surfaces, such as roads, parking lots and driveways are increasing stream bed scouring in the river. 

Now, after spending some $70 million granted by federal and state governments on a water treatment plant Brookings officials have admitted the system fails at removing all the PFAS created mostly by 3M. Contaminated stormwater often overwhelms the collection pond on Solventum (3M) property then spreads the contaminants into aquifer recharges, to soils under George S. Mickelson Middle School and to the already polluted Big Sioux River because the State Senators and Representatives of Brookings County and the Mayor of Brookings are all Earth hating Republicans.

Media should investigate the collusion between the state and polluters instead of pandering to the South Dakota Republican Party as it destroys watersheds by deconstructing the Waters of the United States rule protected under the 1972 Clean Water Act because South Dakota will flout WOTUS until the cows come home.

Yes, the grassland fire danger index will reach the extreme, very high, high and moderate categories again Monday for parts of the horrible red state even in Brookings County.

Learn more at the Brookings Register.

SD Earth haters hate education, love wage slavery

Just caught this on Faceberg in the early hours of this morning, sleepily scrolling and it woke me up with a start. It's a scary tale to begin my day posted at the Pennington County Earth haters' page.

Did you know in South Dakota that public school employers are allowed to use your tax dollars to support labor organizations? 

On Monday, a bill to end this, HB 1217, is being heard in the House Education Committee. This bill, sponsored by John Hughes for District 13 House would: 

~ Stop payroll deduction of union dues from employee paychecks  

~ Prohibit using compensation increases intended to route money to union dues 

~ Restrict sharing employee personal information without written authorization 

 ~ Prohibit coercing employees to meet or interact with a labor organization 

 ~ Prohibit distributing union communications through school channels 

~ Prohibit endorsing/favoring any labor organization 

 ~ Prevent spending public school funds on behalf of a labor organization 

 ~Limit paid leave for labor organization activities (with exceptions in the bill) 

Taxpayer money in our public schools should be centered on instruction, student outcomes and neutrality. 

This graphic was posted on the South Dakota Democratic Party Facebook page in opposition to this bill. Does the symbolism (clenched fist against a red background) remind you of anything? 

 Please contact your Representatives and Senators and ask them to vote YES ✅ on HB 1217! --Beth Hughes

Republicans want a police state, Libertarians want anarchy and Democrats just want a good ol’ fashioned representative democracy with all the warts of a constitutional republic so police unions in South Dakota are showered with cash while teachers' unions get the shaft. 

Yes, socialized agriculture, socialized dairies, socialized cheese, socialized livestock production, a socialized timber industry, socialized air service, socialized freight rail, a socialized nursing home industry, socialized water systems and now a socialized internet are all fine with Earth haters in South Dakota but then they insist teachers' union membership is socialism.

Gaia still targeting horrible red state

Update, 7 February: critical fire weather in overwhelmingly Republican counties again.

###

Because of Republican failures Gaia is targeting parts of South Dakota.

Trump's popularity in the shitter

Trump job approval rating by news platform 🟢 Twitter/X: +9 🔴 Facebook: -7 🔴 Cable TV: -10 🔴 Podcasts/YouTube: -14 🔴 Local TV: -17 🔴 Instagram: -21 🔴 Broadcast TV: -28 🔴 TikTok: -28 🔴 Newspapers/news sites: -33 🔴 Reddit: -40 www.theargumentmag.com/p/twitter-is...

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— Poll Tracker 📊 (@polltracker.bsky.social) February 6, 2026 at 6:10 AM

Google AI on Epstein's South Dakota ties

Updated 6 February, 1624 MST. Minutes before he was driven from the White House Herr Trump in 2021 pardoned Maria Butina's lover, Paul Erickson after his conviction for wire fraud and money laundering likely at at Earth hater request. Erickson's indictment, his relationship with Butina, his efforts to establish backchannel communications with the National Rifle Association and MAGA conservatives smothering the Epstein connection. Butina was deported for being a Russian agent.

Recent investigations and a massive Department of Justice (DOJ) document release in February 2026 have provided the most detailed look yet at Jeffrey Epstein’s secretive financial network.

South Dakota’s Role as a Financial Hub

South Dakota served as a critical domestic hub for Epstein due to its unique trust laws that prioritize secrecy and asset protection.  

High Concentration: Investigations revealed Epstein utilized the state to hold 81 different trusts, more than any other U.S. jurisdiction in his network.

Legal Shielding: These "SoDa" trusts allowed for high levels of privacy, no state income tax, and protection from creditors, effectively creating a "secret web" that made it difficult for victims to trace his domestic assets.

Perpetual Secrecy: South Dakota law mandates that court records regarding trusts are sealed forever, preventing public scrutiny.

Asset Protection: The state allows for "self-settled spendthrift trusts," which protect assets from creditors and legal judgments, making it exceptionally difficult for victims to trace or recover funds.

"Quiet" Trust Laws: These laws allow a grantor to withhold all information about a trust from its own beneficiaries, even after the grantor's death.

Tax Shielding: South Dakota has no state income tax, no capital gains tax, and has repealed the "rule against perpetuities," allowing for "dynasty trusts" that never expire.

Current Estate Status (2026)

Fluctuating Value: Initially valued at $630 million, the estate has dropped significantly due to legal fees, taxes, and restitution. As of late 2025, it held approximately $120 million to $131 million in assets, bolstered by a $112 million tax refund from the IRS. 

Victim Compensation: The estate has paid out $121 million to over 135 victims through a compensation fund, plus an additional $49 million in separate settlements.

Distribution Freeze: No funds from the 1953 Trust will be disbursed to beneficiaries until all creditor claims and victim compensation obligations are fully resolved.

The 1953 Trust & New Beneficiary Details

The "1953 Trust," named for Epstein's birth year, was a "pour-over" trust signed just 48 hours before his death to shield his assets from public view and legal claims. Newly unsealed records list 43 beneficiaries:

Karyna Shuliak (Primary Beneficiary): Epstein’s girlfriend at the time, a Belarus-born dentist, was allocated $100 million ($50 million in cash and a $50 million annuity). She was also designated to inherit his real estate holdings, including his private islands and Manhattan mansion, plus a 33-carat diamond ring given "in contemplation of marriage".

Ghislaine Maxwell & Mark Epstein: Both were designated to receive $10 million each.

Darren Indyke & Richard Kahn: His longtime lawyer and accountant, who serve as co-executors, were slated to receive $50 million and $25 million, respectively.

Other Associates: Harvard math professor Martin Nowak was listed for $5 million.

Outlaw obesity in South Dakota

If Republicans really want to end women's health care decisions state government should outlaw obesity and encourage businesses like airlines and taxi services to charge more for obese people. Food stores would have scales at tills that add surcharges according to body mass index, businesses with buffets would have scales, too and anyone with a BMI over 23 will pay an additional $1.00 for every whole number above that. Gas stations would have scales that determine price per gallon according to BMI unless you have documentation in your debit/credit card updated by your physician that you’re on a weight reduction regimen and Mr. Trump's health guru, Mr. Kennedy, apparently concurs.

Groups warn of ag sector collapse

Since at least 2017 Creighton University's Ernie Goss has been warning that the Trump Organization is bad for American agriculture.

Late 2025 marked the most severe three-month cost-price gap for U.S. agricultural producers since 2015, driven by soaring production costs and lower commodity returns.  

Key findings from the USDA data and analysis:

• Deepening Deficit: October 2025 was the worst month in over a decade for the cost-price spread.
• Worst 3-Month Period: The final quarter of 2025 saw record-breaking gaps, with October (-34.1), December (-32.2), and November (-27.9) being the most severe.
• Long-term Trend: This is not a new issue; farmers have faced a cost-price deficit in every single month since at least January 2015.
• Production Costs vs. Revenue: In late 2025, production costs reached a point where they were 50% higher than in 2011, while prices received for crops and livestock were only 21% higher.
• Contributing Factors: High input costs (fuel, fertilizer,, labor) combined with reduced commodity prices (e.g., corn falling from $7 to closer to $4 per bushel) are forcing difficult financial decisions for farmers.

So, a cynical observer might suspect bankers provided gloomy outlooks to the Rural Mainstreet Index for the last five months of the Biden administration especially in midwestern swing states to sink Democratic Party prospects in 2024 just as Republicans in congress stalled immigration reform because it makes sense to Earth haters that after he was elected again the Orange Julius would run America into the dirt so banks can foreclose on the whole dealio to massage auction price points. 

Data from December 2024 indicated that the average South Dakota household needed to spend approximately $191 more per month to maintain the same standard of living as the previous year, with cumulative costs since January 2021 being significantly higher, particularly for transportation, shelter, and food. Factors like tariffs have complicated anti-inflation efforts, and some sectors, such as the cattle industry, are experiencing higher costs. South Dakota experienced a 2.8% headline inflation rate in August 2025, with core inflation (excluding food and energy) at 3.0%.

A bipartisan group of former leaders of America's major agricultural commodity associations and biofuels organizations, farmer leaders, and former senior USDA officials sent congressional ag leaders a letter on Tuesday warning about the deteriorating state of the farm economy, stating there is a risk of "widespread collapse of American agriculture." The letter comes as the Purdue University-CME Group Ag Economy Barometer (AEB) Index fell in January. [DTN/Progressive Farmer]

Yes, the grassland fire danger index will reach the very high category again Thursday for much of the horrible red state of South Dakota.

Earth hater Johnson breaks with Trump Organization

South Dakota Republican Party 

20h · 

Rep. Dusty Johnson is spot on with this one. “The reality is we’re $38 trillion in debt,” Johnson said. “We are in the process of going bankrupt. Now is not the time for us to borrow more money from the Chinese so we can send out $2,000 checks to every American.”

Absolutely agree, Congressman. We're already drowning in debt—over $38 trillion and climbing fast—and adding more borrowing (especially from China, our biggest foreign creditor) to fund another round of checks is fiscal insanity.

Tariff revenue should go toward paying down the debt or reducing deficits, not handing out short-term "dividends" that just kick the can further down the road. We need real spending restraint and growth-focused policies, not more stimulus that fuels inflation and piles on interest payments crushing future generations.

Thanks for speaking plain truth on this, Rep. Dusty Johnson. Time to get serious about the debt before it's too late.

Gaia targets Republican ranch country...again

Eastern Fall River-
Including the cities of Oral, Oelrichs, and Smithwick
327 AM MST Sun Feb 1 2026

...HIGH FIRE DANGER...

The grassland fire danger index will reach the high category this
afternoon. Unfavorable weather conditions and low moisture 
content of grasses, and other dry organic material on the ground,
indicate that there is high potential for a fire to spread. 
Outdoor burning should be restricted to early morning 
or evening hours when wind speeds are usually lower and the 
relative humidity is higher.

The outlook for Monday afternoon, The grassland fire danger index
will reach the very high category. 

Public lands management at risk to Trump's Earth haters

In 2002 Tracy Stone-Manning lectured on the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act or NREPA at the University of Montana where she earned her Masters of Science in Environmental Studies. In 2007 she became an aide to Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) then ran the state’s Department of Environmental Quality and in 2014 became chief of staff for Montana Governor Steve Bullock. As Director of the Clark Fork Coalition she guided dam removal and river cleanup and has been co-chair of Missoula's Open Space, Rivers and Farmland. 

After serving as Director of the US Bureau of Land Management she is now president of The Wilderness Society as the Trump Organization ruins the BLM and the US Forest Service faces the collapse of morale and preparedness.

The management structure itself is a tangle. Interior manages parks, refuges, and BLM lands. The Forest Service sits in Agriculture. Marine sanctuaries fall under Commerce. Energy authority is split across agencies. This fragmentation leaves land managers trying to solve twenty-first century problems with twentieth- and even nineteenth-century machinery. That kind of gridlock still plagues decisions across the West. Layer climate change on top of all this—megafires, water scarcity, shifting wildlife corridors—and the mismatch between current laws and present realities becomes even sharper. When the smoke clears, much of the architecture underpinning public-lands management will be in ruins. [Stone-Manning, What I Learned Running the BLM]

Democratic former South Dakota lawmaker Troy Heinert is currently serving as the Chief of Bison Management at Interior focusing on tribal buffalo restoration, returning the National Mammal to the land and working with tribal leadership and conservation groups who are advancing buffalo stewardship. 

In vindictive retribution and a slap at Native America Trump has nominated New Mexico Earth hater, Steve Pearce to run the BLM but his confirmation is hung up in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee because of bipartisan concern that he's a destructive industry apparatchik.

Rewild the West.

One of the last LawCo Democrats Tom Blair passes

It took the lobbying of Lt. Governor Walter Dale Miller, Democrats Bill Walsh and Tom Blair to bring legal gaming to Deadwood to finance historic preservation; but, Republican greed has turned the gulch into the prostituted cultural wasteland that it is today.

Thomas Mitchell Blair passed away peacefully on Sunday, January 25, 2026, at the Good Samaritan Home in New Underwood, South Dakota. He was 81. Born January 8, 1945, to Lyle and Dawn (Darlington) Blair, Tom grew up in Groton, South Dakota, where he learned to hunt, fish, and work alongside his father at the family service station. He graduated from high school in 1963 and enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving nearly 12 years and attaining the rank of Captain in the Army Medical Corps, with deployment during the Vietnam War. 

In 1966, Tom married the love of his life, Linda Hanson. After living in several states, they settled in Deadwood in 1978, where Tom worked as a nurse anesthetist at Deadwood Hospital. Together, they raised four children. Tom played a significant role in shaping modern Deadwood, serving on the Deadwood — You Bet Committee and also as a city councilman and Mayor of Deadwood. He was also active in numerous civic organizations. After leaving medicine, he became a successful businessman in the gaming and tourism industries and dedicated several decades to growing the community. 

He is survived by his wife, Linda; his children Roberta (Bryan) Arsaga, Christopher (Kim) Blair, Matthew (Sarah) Blair, and Chad (Christine) Blair; many grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and his sisters, Kathy Rosengren and Patsy McCullough. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made in Tom’s name to Northern Hills youth activity organizations. Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Ambrose Catholic Church in Deadwood on Friday, February 20 at 10a.m. Tom will be laid to rest at Black Hills National Cemetery following the service. A celebration of Tom’s life will be held this summer, with details to be announced at a later date.

Larry Rhoden a masher?

Editor's note: not so long ago the Aberdeen American's editorial board pointed fingers at other South Dakota media for lousy coverage of the Republican rape culture in Pierre. "Unsafe. Unacceptable. Hyper-masculine. Sexualized. Dirty." That's how the board and how women have described Earth haters in Pierre. The South Dakota Newspaper Association, teevee stations and local media have known about Pierre's culture of coercion for decades then demure to the twenty Republican donors who run the state. 

The late wife of Rapid City's former mayor and legislator Ed McLaughlin was sexually assaulted by a Republican member of the South Dakota Legislature so what prevents interns and other people concerned for their safety from wearing body cams in Pierre’s predatory environment? Sexual predators in the state's capital have been a feature of South Dakota for its entire history but to Sioux Falls-area Earth hater, Deb Peters it's no big deal. 

It would certainly explain the crowded gubernatorial primary so Shad Olson spills the beans.

A South Dakota elected leader reveals this week that interim Governor and candidate, Larry Rhoden once described his genitals to her and talked at length about nearly zipping his penis into his pants zipper after a trip to a restaurant restroom during a dinner event in Pierre in 2023.

The woman says she was shocked and repulsed by Rhoden's words, but remained fearful to speak out because of the Rhoden's long history as a political bully and his reputation for fierce, vindictive and cruel retaliation and use of the power of elected office to punish critics and opponents.

"We sat at a table with two other lawmakers and Larry told me about a 'close call' during his stop at the men's restroom, where he didn't 'get it all tucked back inside,' and nearly "zipped my weiner into my jeans," the woman recounted.

"It was clear that he wanted me to picture the implied size of his manhood and he wanted to gauge my reaction and receptiveness to that information," the woman said.

"I was not impressed." the woman said.

"I'm well aware of this governor's long history of intimidation against lawmakers and women," the woman said.

"Larry (Rhoden) has a history of abusive speech and actions against his political opponents and a reputation as a philanderer. But I can't risk my own personal safety by attaching my name to what I know," the woman said.

Earth haters want to protect South Dakota utilities from liability

Hypocrisy is a Republican trait. 

The Legion Lake Fire represents strategic failures by Black Hills Energy, the State of South Dakota, Game, Fish and Plunder and the South Dakota Republican Party. The absence of prescribed burns and the persistence of invasive cheatgrass in the state park named for a war criminal are just two more examples of piss poor planning by GFP. Instead of allowing native aspen to be restored stands of doghair ponderosa pine that grew after the Galena Fire still feed current blazes. Just as the State of South Dakota sued Black Hills Power and Light after the Grizzly Gulch Fire Black Hills Energy should have sued the shit out of South Dakota for the Legion Lake Fire for not letting crews cut ladder fuels in a right of way under a power line.

Since 2013 alone at least 41 fires in the Black Hills region have been caused by trees falling on transmission lines because my home state of South Dakota is a perpetual welfare state and a permanent disaster area. Counties should be able to fine property owners who fail to create defensible space or clear dry fuels. Well-funded local and volunteer fire departments could conduct prescribed fires and burn road ditches to create buffers where contract fire specialists don’t exist; but even government can't always protect you from your own stupidity. Roughly 4 million trees stand close enough to Black Hills Electric Cooperative lines to potentially cause damage and high wind events in the region frequently fell trees so an interim governor can beg DC for bailouts for utilities.

Millions of home insurance contracts have been dropped as companies like State Farm and lobbyists like the American Property Casualty Insurance Association acknowledge humanity's role in a burning planet. Now, as utilities scramble to avoid liability for wildfires, insurance companies are bilking homeowners and denying coverage interfering with mortgages, real estate values and property ownership. 

Earth hater State Senator Steve Kolbeck is the director of business affairs for Xcel Energy and prime sponsor of Senate Bill 36 because utilities are not your friends.

Dick Tieszen identified himself as an attorney with State Farm. He called the bill a “clever shift” in legal burdens. “It transfers the large risk to the public, to the people who are right behind by those fires. I think we should leave strict liability in place. Leave the risk of loss with the party that is best able to prevent the loss in the first place. They knew the risk when they engaged in this business,” Tieszen said. “They accepted it, but today, they come to you and they ask you to change the rules. I suggest that what will really happen here is that’s going to land squarely land in your lap, in my lap and the property owners of places in the Black Hills, whether it’s homes or businesses.” [Bill Janklow's idea of public radio]

Tables turned

I know there are ICE agents who get off on being hated as it’s the only human emotion they’ve been able to conjure amongst anyone unlucky enough to know them. But some did not anticipate the hatred, who never thought it would follow them for the rest of their sad lives like a tribal tattoo. Boo hoo.

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— Jesse Duquette (@jesseduquette.bsky.social) January 24, 2026 at 3:23 PM

American Prairie is the largest rewilding project in the US

Despite Montana's Earth haters and the Trump Organization's war on American Prairie its mission to rewild the West continues.

Greece has the Parthenon. North America had the American Serengeti—a wildlife spectacle so vast it rivaled anything on Earth.

In less than 100 years, it was destroyed. Tens of millions of bison, elk, pronghorn, wolves, and grizzlies were decimated. The Great Plains went from the heartland of biodiversity to fences and wall-to-wall cattle ranching.

But in central Montana, something extraordinary is happening.

American Prairie is building a 3.2-million-acre protected landscape by purchasing ranches and converting them from commodity production to wildlife restoration. They're bringing back bison, restoring natural grazing patterns, and letting ecosystems function the way they're meant to.

In Episode 217, Brooke sits down with Daniel Kinka, PhD, American Prairie's Director of Rewilding, to get the inside story on this historic project. They talk about:

American Prairie's strategy for landscape-scale restoration

The power of ecosystem processes (bison, prairie dogs, fire)

Why the area can’t sustain wolves can't yet—but grizzlies, yes

What this project means for climate, biodiversity, and hope

This is one of the most inspiring conservation stories happening right now.

Episode 217 - The Great Plains Comeback: Inside America's Largest Rewilding Project https://rewildology.com/.../the-great-plains-comeback.../

#AmericanPrairie #Rewildology #Podcast #Rewilding