THE CURRENT INTERGLACIAL PERIOD IS NEAR ITS END, OR AT LEAST WOULD BE WITHOUT MANKIND’S CARBON EMISSIONS: Arctic Siberia summers were up to 10°C warmer than today during the Last Interglacial, study finds.

Yes, that’s the Fallen Angels plot device, but I think it’s quite plausible.

LAST MINUTE GIFT: Gifts for Men, Survival Kit and Equipment. #CommissionEarned

GOOD NEWS FOR FATTIES, AND DIABETICS: FDA says shortage of GLP-1 drug tirzepatide is over.

DETAILS: Saudi Suspect Plows Car Into German Christmas Market; U.S. Media Blames the Car.

THE 21ST CENTURY IS NOT TURNING OUT AS I’D HOPED: ‘Gooner 9/11’ averted as Zenless Zone Zero’s butt-obfuscation technology is rolled back in the face of horny outrage.

HAVING SOLVED ALL THE CITY’S OTHER PROBLEMS: ‘No One Has To Be Healthy’: San Fran Taps Fat Activist As ‘Weight Stigma’ Czar.

Tovar is against so-called diet culture for the obese, rejects Ozempic, and believes that “no one has to be healthy.”

“No one has to be healthy,” she said on a podcast. “Nobody owes anybody that.”

“No matter what size you are, you don’t owe anybody else your health.”

What does that even mean?

WELL, HE’S RIGHT:

You don’t hate the lying legacy media enough https://t.co/gMtjbp2EMG

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 20, 2024

FLORIDA MAN FRIDAY [VIP]: Just Ban All the Cars Already. “It’s time for your much-needed break from the serious news, and this week, it’s an (almost) All Vehicular Madness/All the Time edition.”

READER FAVORITE: New Balance Men’s 608 V5 Casual Comfort Cross Trainer. #CommissionEarned

MYSTERY DRONES: Can’t Live With ’Em, Can’t Shoot ’Em.

OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY: Appellate Court Allows Joe Biden to Open Obamacare to DACA Illegal Aliens.

IT’S TIME FOR VICTORIA TAFT’S West Coast, Messed Coast™ — Be a Shame If Y’all Got Caught in a Snowstorm.

READER FAVORITE: LEATHERMAN, Wave+, 18-in-1 Full-Size, Versatile Multi-tool. #CommissionEarned

IT’S HARDER THAN IT LOOKS: We’re about to fly a spacecraft into the Sun for the first time.

Almost no one ever writes about the Parker Solar Probe anymore.

Sure, the spacecraft got some attention when it launched. It is, after all, the fastest moving object that humans have ever built. At its maximum speed, goosed by the gravitational pull of the Sun, the probe reaches a velocity of 430,000 miles per hour, or more than one-sixth of 1 percent the speed of light. That kind of speed would get you from New York City to Tokyo in less than a minute.

And the Parker Solar Probe also has the distinction of being the first NASA spacecraft named after a living person. At the time of its launch, in August 2018, physicist Eugene Parker was 91 years old.

But in the six years since the probe has been zipping through outer space and flying by the Sun? Not so much. Let’s face it, the astrophysical properties of the Sun and its complicated structure are not something that most people think about on a daily basis.

However, the smallish probe—it masses less than a metric ton, and its scientific payload is only about 110 pounds (50 kg)—is about to make its star turn. Quite literally. On Christmas Eve, the Parker Solar Probe will make its closest approach yet to the Sun. It will come within just 3.8 million miles (6.1 million km) of the solar surface, flying into the solar atmosphere for the first time.

Yeah, it’s going to get pretty hot. Scientists estimate that the probe’s heat shield will endure temperatures in excess of 2,500° Fahrenheit (1,371° C) on Christmas Eve, which is pretty much the polar opposite of the North Pole.

Merry Christmas, Parker.

THE 21ST CENTURY ISN’T TURNING OUT AS I’D HOPED, BUT I’M OKAY WITH THIS:

From a friend of mine:

'AI holding Congressmen and Senators accountable to the voters for pork spending & stealth legislating in real time, before the vote, by READING THE <BLEEPING> 1000 PAGE BILL was not on my 2024 bingo card, but here we are.'

— John Ringo SF Author (@Jringo1508) December 20, 2024

#JOURNALISM:

Why are you leaving out the fact that it passed as a stand alone bill last March but was never brought up for a vote in nine months in Chuck Schumer's Senate? pic.twitter.com/GexJ9kJImu

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) December 20, 2024

And why didn’t these “cancer research advocates” know that their bill had passed the House ages ago and was now languishing in the Democratic Senate so that it could be used as a hostage against Republicans?

And why didn’t journalist Sam Stein know that, or choose to share it with his readers?

Oh, wait, the answer to that is in his bio:

WE’RE MOVING TOWARD FIRING-SQUAD TERRITORY HERE, AREN’T WE? House Weaponization panel releases 17,000-page report exposing ‘two-tiered system of government.’

Tarring and feathering at least. This is literally making war against the American people for selfish ends.

SUGAR ISN’T JUST BAD FOR YOU, IT’S BAD FOR GERMS, TOO: Sugar solution matches antibiotics in treating cow infections.

WATCH: Scott Jennings Drops the Mother of All Truth Bombs on CNN.

MICROBIOME NEWS: How a newly examined gut microbe drives the gut-lung axis.

BIDENFLATION HIT DISCOUNT RETAIL THE HARDEST: Another brick and mortar goes belly up under Biden: Big Lots. “Other major companies have also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this year, including 99 Cents Only stores, Sam Ash Music, and Rue 21.”

MOST ANIMALS WILL EAT MEAT IF THEY CAN GET IT: ‘Shocking’ report casts light on meat-eating habits of California ground squirrels.

IT WAS ALWAYS A MISSION STATEMENT: Democracy Really Did Die in Darkness.

HEH:

Why is a Hogwarts gender studies professor addressing Congress?

— Clarque Kent (@ClarqueKent) December 20, 2024

It’s amazing how many Democratic leaders look like Disney villains.

GET YOUR SLEEP: Sleep apnea might change brain, speed aging. A friend told me a while back about the middle-aged single lifestyle: “Taking a CPAP with you on a booty call.”