Happy New Year, everyone!

See you in 2026.

The Jussie Smollett-ing has begun

NY Post: "Minn. Somali-run day care bizarrely reports all their important documents about child care were stolen in mysterious break-in."

He said the alleged prowler stole “important documentation” including children’s enrollment information, employee documentation and checkbooks.

What are the odds that the prowler stole nothing of value but did take the very documentation needed for a federal audit?

Somebody - correctly - predicted that these daycares would be hit with fake "hate crimes" like rocks through the windows and there would be zero CCTV evidence.  Accurate. 

They write the same story every year

Associated Press: "A rough year for journalists in 2025, with a little hope for things to turn around."

If you think there might be some self-reflection in the mainstream media about its obvious bias and America's plummeting trust in its mission, you'd be wrong.  If, however, you imagined this piece might chew over the enduring trauma of one reporter being called "piggy" by Trump, you win a cigar.

This story pops up every year and it always seeks to paint these clowns as glorious revolutionaries, printing out their "truth" on hand-cranked mimeographs.  Or coloring their faces blue, a la William Wallace, and screaming "press freedom!"

This made me chuckle, emphasis added:

Long angry about a perceived bias against conservatives on PBS and NPR newscasts, Trump and his allies in Congress successfully cut funding for public broadcasting as a whole.

Keep it up.  You'll all be working for Bari Weiss and Nick Shirley soon.

We're over the target

Twitchy: "Republicans pounce! The Hill 'Zeroes In' on the REAL Problem in Minnesota (Take One Guess)."

There we go again, noticing stuff. 

The math isn't adding up

Newsbusters: "New York Magazine Already Fearing Mamdani Could Flop as Mayor."

Seems like some of these questions should have been asked during the campaign. 

The kids are learing

NY Post: "Misspelled Minnesota day care Quality ‘Learing’ trucks in children after viral fraud video: ‘Never seen kids go in there until today’." 

Who could have done this stabbing on the Paris Metro?

I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count: "Illegal African migrant with deportation order suspected in Paris Metro mass stabbing."

He was imprisoned last year for - wait for it! - sexual assault.  But then he was released in July with a deportation order and - you'll never believe it! - he didn't leave. 

The tolerant French are getting sick of this merde:

Unsurprisingly, there is widespread appetite in France for a reform of the status quo. A survey taken earlier this year found that nearly nine in ten French voters would support a system in which those issued with deportation orders were remanded in jail until they are removed from the country.

That is a step in the right direction.

This is a new one

PJ Media: "Illegal Aliens Busted for $14 Million Gift Card Fraud."

These Latvians would steal unactivated gift cards, steal the ID on the back, then reseal the card and return it to the store kiosk.  When somebody activates the cards with funds, they would track it online using the security ID and then drain the funds before the card could be used. 

Today's lesson: check gift card packaging before buying.

Switching off the BBC

Echoes of American late night television here: "The BBC’s Christmas collapse is nothing short of catastrophic."

What makes this failure more serious is that it comes after years in which the BBC has insulated itself from almost every form of accountability. Complaints about bias are filtered through systems designed to reject them. Regulators defer to process rather than outcome. Governments hesitate to frame vital reform. Critics are marginalised. The one judgement that cannot be procedurally neutralised is audience behaviour.

And that judgement is now devastating. People are not marching in protest, though millions are refusing to pay the licence fee. They are doing something far more damaging. They are ignoring the BBC, even at the moment when it is trying hardest to matter.

We had the same problem in America with NPR and PBS, paying for something we didn't want.  Had.

In which I say something nice about a Democrat

The incoming governor of Virginia Abigail Spanberger has an article on Fox News: "I’m the new Virginia governor and affordability is what everyone needs - New administration plans to address housing, healthcare and energy to boost economic competitiveness."

This piece is remarkably straightforward, clear-eyed, and absent the partisan rancor that seems to attend every one of these political statements.  She says a kind word for Governor Glenn Youngkin and only mentions Trump a single time (I checked) and the context was she's "ready to work with anyone" that would help Virginia.

Kudos.

He's a sad, sorry man

Sasha Stone: "No Jimmy Kimmel, You Didn't "Win" - Except in your own mind." 

The mainstream media avoided this story

Fox News: "Walz slammed in wake of viral video that raises daycare funding questions: 'Needs to be held accountable' - YouTuber's video shows seemingly inactive Minneapolis center that allegedly received $4M in state funding."

The video (below) follows independent YouTuber Nick Shirley doing the kind of work the mainstream media used to do.  But the MSM is beholden to the narrative of anti-racism, open immigration, and protecting Democrats/demonizing Trump at all costs.  This story was first broken by City Journal, scooping all the major "news" sources, and Nick Shirley takes up the baton.  His video is both shocking and at times mordantly funny as he visits a series of Somali-run daycare centers in Minnesota, all the time asking "where are the children?"

Spoiler alert: not a single kid was found,

Extra - Twitchy: "Minnesota Star Tribune's Year in Review Ignores Massive Fraud Scandal: Protecting Dems at All Costs" 

It's Harrison Bergeron IRL

Post Millennial: "Mamdani's new lesbian FDNY fire chief never worked as a firefighter - "There are some young LGBTQ members that maybe don’t see this as a possibility for them and I want them to know that there’s nothing that can stop them from finding success."

Sometimes I wonder what year we'll just start handing out certificates saying "you're a surgeon!"

This soy boy wants attention

Townhall: "Adam Kinzinger Took Revenge on CBS Over 60 Minutes Drama. There's Just One Problem."

This stunt reeks of low testosterone and bad journalism. 

What happened to Australia, part 2

Twitchy: "Premier of New South Wales Says They Don't Have Free Speech Like America Because of Multiculturalism." 

For unto us, a Child is born

Merry Christmas

Mark Steyn called it

Don Surber: "America Alone updated."

Mark Steyn's book came out in 2006 and, boy, was it prophetic.  Europe needs workers to fund their lavish government spending but, without enough native workers on hand due to plunging birth rates, the continent imported from the Muslim world.  How's that working out?

Meanwhile in Japan, it's resembling the fiction book "The Children of Men."  NY Times: "Dogs in Kimonos: Japan Reinvents a Children’s Holiday for Pets - A traditional Japanese festival is being adapted for poodles and Pomeranians, amid a booming pet industry and a dearth of children." 

Sad.

Surprise

CNBC: "U.S. economy grows by 4.3% in third quarter, much more than expected, delayed report shows."

So far the market is shrugging this off, probably because it will push off federal rate cuts.

What happened to Australia?

Hot Air: "Saying the Quiet Part Out Loud: You Must Give Up Your Freedom for Multiculturalism."

The Land of Convicts used to be known for rugged self-reliance but now it's copying the British model of cultural suicide.

Not one lie was spoken

Fox News: "Media ‘complicity’ blamed as feds say Minnesota fraud crisis could reach $9B: 'Shown their true colors' - Federal prosecutors said last week the fraud in Minnesota could be as high as $9 billion"

The media faced a dilemma and did what it always does: protect Democrats.  They didn't want to be called "racist" or "anti-immigrant" and they certainly didn't want to do anything to damage the reputation of the then-VP nominee in the 2024 election, Tim Walz.

Every time.

Toughen up, buttercup

Sasha Stone: "No, Words are Not Violence - A bad social media post is not a shot in the neck."

Let's check in on Seattle's good intentions

Reason: "Seattle's Delivery Minimum Wage Failed Drivers and Raised Costs - Increased hourly rates corresponded with lower tips and fewer orders to share between drivers, leaving gig workers no better off than they were before the law passed." 

Wrong President

The Left clamored for the release of the Epstein files in its insane witch hunt against Trump.  Instead, it looks like we're going to see a lot of pictures of Bill Clinton.  

Why would Trump do this?

Twitchy: "'PANIC MODE'! Tim Walz Says Trump's Weaponizing Federal Gov't Against MN Just Because of MASSIVE Fraud."

This is the last refuge of a scoundrel: invoking Trump to drum up sympathy for your crimes. 

Dark times at MSNOW

PJ Media: "Inflation Drops 'Unexpectedly' to 2.7% for November. Media Hardest Hit." 

OMG srsly?

Hot Air: "Kamala: We Didn't Release the Epstein Files Because Our DoJ Was Soooo Independent."

She's really committed to insulting the American intelligence. 

A sign of the times

The Corner: "Oscars Ceremony to Get Dumped on YouTube"

In a different era, the Oscars were one of the premier events on broadcast television, a sort of entertainment equivalent of the Super Bowl.

Even as the shows became boring for most Americans because of insufferable political speeches, there were still enough people who cared about movies and celebrities to tune in each year.

I used to be the annoying guy at work who would poll office mates who they thought would win Best Actor.  Now I could not care less.  Not one of those people on stage have ever turned down a private flight but they insist you should use a paper straw to save the environment.

"One Battle After Another" will sweep the Oscars this year because it's the perfect reflection of Hollywood sanctimony. 

Comedy gold

Red State: "Hoo Boy: Fani Willis Has an Epic Meltdown When Grilled by GA Senate Committee About Trump Case."

These videos are a hoot, especially when Fani tries to explain how her lover worked 160 billable hours/week.

White men need not apply

Hot Air: "Hey Boomers and Gen X, if You Think DEI Has Been Bad for You, Ask a Millennial or Gen Z Guy"

The source essay for this post is long but worth it.

A conservative is a liberal...bitten by a dog?

Of course it used to be "who has been mugged" but in the case of writer David Sedaris, he's aghast at toxic tolerance on the Left: "Liberal Comedian Pens Piece Explaining Why Liberals Are Impossible to Talk To."

This story totally mirrors Ana Kasparian's "Road to Damascus" moment. 

Let's see: David Sedaris, Ana Kasparian, soon...Bill Maher.  

Read the room, Trump

The Hill: "Massie blasts Trump’s ‘disrespectful’ Reiner post: ‘I challenge anyone to defend it’."

This is Trump at his worst, endlessly nursing his malevolence against anybody who said a discouraging word about the Donald.  The political right had to endure the ugliness of the Left after Charlie Kirk's murder with the implication that we're better people.  Most are but Trump can't help himself, dragging everybody down into the gutter.

Chicago is descending into Thunderdome

Washington Post: "Chicago has lost its mind - The city’s fiscal situation is dire, and Mayor Brandon Johnson is determined to make things worse."

They've run out of funding gimmicks and the slightest hiccup leads to chaos:

Springfield recently passed a sweetener bill for police and firefighter pensions, which already had less than a quarter of the assets needed to ensure that beneficiaries get paid what they’re owed. The funding ratio will now drop to less than 18 percent. The situation is so bad that when a computer glitch delayed property tax collections earmarked for the pensions, the firefighter’s fund didn’t have enough cash to mail its checks out, forcing the city to step in with an emergency loan.

The Chicago Teachers Union is the Master Blaster of Chicago Thunderdome.  They whole government will be fighting over the scraps soon.  

Evil spreading

Quillette: "Bondi Was Not a Surprise - The massacre at Bondi Beach was shocking—but after years of denial and equivocation about antisemitism, it was inevitable."

RIP Rob Reiner

Sheesh, he didn't have to go out like this.  Fox News: "Hollywood director Rob Reiner and wife Michele found dead - LAFD said the bodies of a 78-year-old man and 68-year-old woman were found inside the home"

Spinal Tap is one of my favorite movies.  Terrible tragedy. 

A staggering display of incompetence

NY Post: "Person of interest in Brown University shooting released as investigation ‘now points in different direction’."

So they let that Benjamin Erickson kid go and it seems they have absolutely no idea what they're doing next.  There are hundreds of cameras on the Brown campus but they can't find a single one that might show the killer's face.  All we have is a single long-distance shot of a guy all in black.

Total clown show.  Imagine spending $88K to send your kid to Brown and they can't offer the protection you have on a Ring camera. 

Then there's the madness in Australia

Fox News: "Australia terror attack: 16 dead, including gunman, after father-son duo opens fire on Jewish community - At least 16 dead, including one alleged suspect, and 40 injured in mass shooting on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia." 

Looks like they globalized the intifada. 

Extra - Red State: "Death Toll Climbs in Sydney Terror Attack; Shooters Identified as Father/Son Duo."  At least one guy says the cops at Bondi Beach pulled a Uvalde. 

Infuriating waste of a press conference

The authorities at Brown just wrapped up a press conference that revealed almost no new information, other than the shooter is in his twenties.  What was the point?  Why are we not allowed to know anything about the identity of the alleged shooter? 

Update: Benjamin Erickson

The person of interest authorities took into custody in connection with the shooting at Brown University is Benjamin Erickson, a 24-year-old originally from Wisconsin, two people briefed on the investigation told The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity.

He drove 17 hours to Brown?  What.

The absolute balls on this guy

Daily Mail: "Bondi Beach terror attack: Video shows hero creeping up behind the gunman and disarming him."

Damn, that guy is an bona fide hero.  Did it with his own two hands.  Video at link.

I always tell my kids: carry a knife.

Transactional President learns his worth

PJ Media: "Joe Biden Is Getting a Brutal Lesson on How Irrelevant He Is."

Maybe Hunter can help fund Joe's library by selling some paintings. 

Brown University shooting

Breaking: a person of interest is in custody. 

They just concluded a press conference where the Brown people said virtually nothing.  The person in custody is a man.  That's all they said. 

You can't possibly believe this

PJ Media: "Tim Walz Is So Toast Over Minnesota’s Medicaid Fraud Scandal."

I'll believe it when I see it, brother.  Matt Margolis ridicules Walz's press conference but - let's face it - he hit the critical talking points for any Democrat: race and Trump.  Know why that midwit Elizabeth Warren keeps getting re-elected in Massachusetts?  She just spits out words containing "fight" and "Trump" and Bay Staters ignore her empty record. 

It's OK: I've been reliably told they can't get benefits

This data is mind blowing

“Non-citizens Social Security numbers issued during the Biden Administration

2021: 270,425
2022: 590,193
2023: 964,163
2024: 2,095,247

- The Biden administration gave more non-citizens Social Security cards in 4 years than live in the state of Iowa
-… pic.twitter.com/dAgdNnqGGU

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) December 12, 2025

Experts are smart. S-M-R-T.

Matt Taibbi: "Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's Blunt Call for Government By "Independent" Experts - Independent from what? Dumb voters, of course. On this week's potentially transformative Supreme Court case, and the revival of Woodrow Wilson's vision"

Trump v. Slaughter concerns more than the fate of the Federal Trade Commission. It’s about competing visions for the future of Western democracy, both implicitly recognizing the same problem: the world, and governments the size of America’s, may have become too technical and complex to be managed in the old way. The Trump Administration's argument, also articulated in this case, calls for enhanced presidential power to take on “headless” bureaucracies, seen as the source of problems. The flip side argued by Brown Jackson (and increasingly by former allies in Europe) calls for more “independent” agencies, who need independence from what they see as the real problem: ignorant voters.

This (inevitably) circles back to questions of free speech and online censorship.  The Left loves to say that of course they want free speech but with "guardrails" and "limits" to protect the people.  It's for their own good!  Who shall determine these guardrails and limits?  The "experts."

William F. Buckley had it right: "I am obliged to confess I should sooner live in a society governed by the first two thousand names in the Boston telephone directory than in a society governed by the two thousand faculty members of Harvard University." 

Bring it on, Spartacus

PJ Media: "Dems Would Last Maybe 5 Minutes in the Civil War They Think They Want."

Democrats are tough guys when speaking unchallenged or doing an interview on MS-NOW (pretty much the same thing.)  The most illustrative example of what happens when a Democrat is directly confronted can be found in Hakeem Jeffries' hallway argument with Republican Congressman Mike Lawler.  Jeffries fell back on small insults instead of defending the Democrats shutting down the government.  When he was later confronted by CNBC host Melissa Quick, he had a meltdown.

This was an aberration for the media which usually treats the Left with kid gloves.  Wanna go toe-to-toe?  Let's do it, tough guy.

Living it up in the PR

NY Post: "AOC splurged nearly $50K on pricey hotel stays, dining and renting Puerto Rico concert venue where Bad Bunny performed."

Remember when AOC was too poor to help her suffering grandmother in Puerto Rico so conservative Matt Walsh raised $100,000?  And then they turned down the gift?  I 'member. 

Sorcery!

Ace: "In Astounding Coincidence the "Experts" Cannot Explain, US Oil Production Hits Record Highs as Gasoline Prices, Inexpicably, Fall to Lowest Levels Since the Chinese Engineered Bioweapon."

Caleb Hammer: super-extreme MAGA

I had to share this video exploring the Left's reaction to financial vlogger Caleb Hammer.  His main schtick is to sit down with very irresponsible people and go over their insane finances.  Since the majority of these people are both broke and woke, he's being accused of being a right-winger.  Of course.

Now it can be told

NY Post: "The NY Times suddenly discovers the Biden border crisis — long after it matters."

One interesting tidbit from the Times' reporting is that the Senate was pushing for a bipartisan immigration bill long before the February 2024 vote but the Biden White House "didn't want its fingerprints on the legislation."  Otherwise, it's all stuff we already knew but the New York Times ignored because it would reflect poorly on Democrats. 

Charlie Kirk unavailable for comment

Twitchy: "Arsonist Laments Fire: Elissa Slotkin Wishes We Could All Get Along and Have 'Healthy Conversations'."

AYFKM?  The Left absolutely does not want a dialogue which is why they run away from even Bill Maher's show for the safe haven of MS-DNC.

Here in the People's Republic of Massachusetts

Boston Globe: "1 in 3 voters say they’ve considered leaving Massachusetts — even if they want to stay. ‘Just outrageously expensive.’." 

The cost of empathy, part 2

In a very similar vein to the post below, people are starting to notice that educational performance has plummeted since standardized testing was ditched in the name of "equity."  We don't want to hurt the kids' feelings as they plan for their futures as Tik Tok influencers.

NY Post editorial: "America needs to restore high standards before our schools become completely worthless."

Boston Globe: "Young people are getting dumber. Here’s why. - A precipitous drop in academic achievement demands an urgent response." 

The cost of empathy

Daily Caller: "The Somali Welfare Fraud Scandal Is Even Worse Than You Think" - "We believe the Somali fraud operation in Minnesota is the single greatest theft of taxpayer dollars, through welfare fraud, in American history."

This story is as old as time: a new benefit program is set up and then the slightest cutback is deemed "starving children" or "throwing Grandma off a cliff."  So the program expands with new participants and scamsters but calling out the fraud is heartless and (usually) racist.

That retard Tim Walz is just the kind of squish to let this fraud run out of control. 

They *have* to believe this

Ace: "Here We Go Again: Leftwing Propaganda Media Claims the Anti-Trump, Anti-ICE BLM Supporter Is Akshually MAGA." 

The end State of class warfare

Jonathan Turley: "Welcome to Hotel California: Democrats Push Retroactive Billionaire Tax"

The “2026 Billionaires Tax Act” would impose a one-time 5% tax on individual wealth exceeding $1 billion. While technically using 2026 wealth figures, it would apply to billionaires who resided in California in 2025. So you cannot hope to flee… at least with your wealth intact. It is a penalty for those who stayed too long hoping that rational minds would prevail in California.

The tax is a familiar tactic of many in politics who attack the wealthiest citizens as somehow ripping off the poor. If states can do this for billionaires, it is likely to do it for those in lower tax brackets as they face the choice between financial discipline and tax increases.

When I heard about this my first response was: "Are retroactive taxes legal?"  As Professor Turley explains, the question of legality is complicated.  What is not complicated is unfairness of reaching back in time to pick a man's pocket. 

The Left hates free speech

Federalist: "Democrats Would Like To Suppress Free Speech The Way Britain Does" - "The American left doesn’t look at the United Kingdom and see a cautionary tale, it sees a template to follow." 

This again?

Hot Air: "Boston Judge Steps In to Rescue Planned Parenthood Again."

The Judiciary branch is destroying its credibility.

Media-on-media catfight

PJ Media: "NYT to WaPo: You Lied About Hegseth."

Hot Air: "It Sure Looks Like WaPo Hegseth Story Is Another Hoax."

Townhall: "The New York Times Just Blew WaPo's Hegseth War Crimes Story Out of the Water."

I've said it before and I'll say it again: litigation is the only proper response to this "journalism." 

It is the year 2025, almost 2026.

Our major American media is indistinguishable in terms of accuracy and impartiality from the Soviet Union's Pravda, circa 1970.

Fact.

— Cynical Publius (@CynicalPublius) December 2, 2025

Follow the money

Washington Post: "New York won’t reign forever. Bring on Y’all Street. - As Dallas gets a Nasdaq exchange, Texas looks more like America’s financial center."

The timing could hardly be better. Just as New York prepares to install a radical democratic socialist as mayor, Nasdaq Texas is being launched. It will join NYSE Texas and the Texas Stock Exchange in turning Dallas into a serious financial center. Indeed, the city’s mayor, Eric L. Johnson, confidently predicts that “Y’all Street” will replace Wall Street as the beating heart of American business. And the really interesting possibility is this: That might be an improvement.

It remains to be seen how Zohran Mamdani’s experiment in creating East Berlin on the Hudson works out. One point is clear, however: If he is successful in imposing the higher corporate and income taxes he wants, not everyone will stick around to pay them. Florida would be one potential alternative. But Dallas is starting to look even better. Nasdaq Texas expects to open for business early in the new year, the NYSE announced in February that it would relocate its Chicago operation to Dallas and the new Texas Stock Exchange has backing from big hitters including BlackRock and Citadel. If you want to spend the morning trading Tesla and Nvidia before heading off to your ranch, you won’t be short of options.

The Left is fond of opining that the "rich" will never leave New York City because it's the financial center of the world.  To which I say: impose your socialist policies and call their bluff.

See what happens.

The end of clapter

Hollywood in Toto: "2025: The Year Late-Night TV Collapsed - Colbert canceled, Kimmel benched and Gutfeld stayed the course."