DON SURBER: Questions We Should Ask. “Police showed deference and avoided the criminal harassment of congressmen and a mayor on Christmas. That’s good. I applaud them. The restraint of the officers reflects professionalism and SWAT training. But what about the rest of us? It is not a prank to have gun-toting police officers arrive at your home on a holiday or in the wee hours of the morning.”

LOL. IT’S NOT BECAUSE SHE’S BLACK, IT’S BECAUSE SHE’S AWFUL. Syracuse prof claims critiques of Claudine Gay are rooted in bigotry against black women.

If you’re not allowed to criticize black women in positions of authority, then we shouldn’t have black women in positions of authority.

Also, why is Syracuse such a hotbed of woke dumbassery?

ANALYSIS: TRUE. George Korda: Education isn’t the priority in public schools. Competing agendas are. “If learning were a priority, public education wouldn’t find itself with just 36% of Americans saying they’re satisfied with the system, tying a record low, according to Gallup. Education is frequently cited as the country’s most important issue because (pardon the cliché), children are our future. Candidates for public office are expected to present education platforms. Education frequently ranks high on lists of voter concerns. However, based on dismal-for-decades analyses and assessments of American and Tennessee educational progress, all the talk, platforms and polls aren’t getting us much of anywhere. If that weren’t true, educational achievement wouldn’t be at the same mediocre levels at which it’s been for many years, and Knox County and the nation would be well beyond education’s continuing achievement doldrums.”

There’s a reason people are abandoning public schools. And the reason is the public schools and the people who run them.

THIS MAY NOT HELP HER AS MUCH AS HE THINKS: Obama Defends Harvard’s Genocidal-Jew-Hater-Protecting Serial Plagiarist Prez to Save DEI Regime: If Claudine Gay were to fall, it could topple the entire house of cards the left, led by Barack Obama, helped build.

ANOTHER MEDICAL SHORTAGE: Pyrophosphate imaging agent shortage reported, could last weeks. “The American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) is alerting its provider members of a pyrophosphate shortage, which could potentially last for weeks. The ASNC has received reports of imaging agent 99mTechnetium-pyrophosphate (PYP) being in low supply, citing statements it received from two manufacturers, Curium and Sun Radiopharma, who blame the shortage on supply chain disruptions.”

The lockdowns are years in the past, but supply chain disruptions remain, for some reason.

THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY IS NOT TURNING OUT AS I’D HOPED. Gonorrhea, Then and Now: — And when — if ever — will resistant super-bugs increase the use of condoms?

OPEN THREAD: This thread’s for you.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: China launches new Beidou satellites, rocket booster lands near house. The Chinese have a history of being unconcerned about falling boosters, as do the Russians.

HMM: Intermittent Fasting Seems to Result in Dynamic Changes to The Human Brain.

MARK JUDGE: Christians and Conservatives Have Not Faced It: We are No Longer Living in America.

OUT: DRY JANUARY. IN: “DAMP JANUARY.”

NOBODY NEEDS AN AR-15: Seattle Homeowner Uses Rifle to Fend Off 4 Home Invaders in Early Morning Home Invasion Attempt.

SO I’VE FINISHED THE LAST BOOK (SO FAR) of Tom Burkhalter’s World War II series, and I’ve quite enjoyed it. Highly recommended.

The action in New Guinea reminds me of my 8th grade history teacher, Mr. Rufus Pannell, who was an antiaircraft gunner in New Guinea from 1942-1945. We quickly learned that he could be diverted from the day’s assignments with questions about his time there, and while we thought we were getting away with something, we also learned some things about American history that weren’t in the textbook.

LAWS ARE FOR THE LITTLE PEOPLE: New Mexico’s Two-Tier Criminal Justice System Overlooks Law-Breaking Gun Control Group…So Far. “Last week, we shared the insane story of a gun control group in New Mexico that managed to run afoul of a lot of gun control laws. All of these were laws that the group supports, and even had a hand in helping some of them to pass. Now, we’re seeing that they’ve likely committed a number of felonies and have even admitted to violating some of them. But state and federal authorities have done nothing so far. For some reason.”

David Gregory was not available for comment.

SELFISH GENE: Revealing how an ancient genetic invader inhabits our DNA.

WHO CAN BLAME THEM? Researchers find reindeer sleep while chewing their cud.

HMM: Owning a pet may slow rate of cognitive decline, study suggests.

PREDICTION: Higher Education Stories That Will Dominate Next Year.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Japan’s SLIM successfully enters lunar orbit, gears up for precision moon landing.

IS THAT ALL? 71 things higher ed declared racist in 2023: Actual racism is rare today, but academia continues to find it.

Well, academia.

EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: WSJ: Near Misses and Runway-Traffic Jams: The Risks Your Flight Faces at the Airport: Officials seek solutions after an uptick in serious close calls in 2023. “A rise in narrowly averted airline crashes at U.S. airports this year rattled air-safety and industry officials, spurring investigations on what happened and how to avoid them in the future. The Federal Aviation Administration identified 19 serious runway incursions this year through October, the most since 2016. Officials have traded theories about the near misses, including staffing issues in air-traffic control towers, a lack of experience among newer pilots and a need for better technology.”

DON SURBER: Like Bud Light, Harvard discovers backlash: Claudine Gay shows why you shouldn’t hire a person based solely on sex and race.

EVERYTHING IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: Pro-Hamas graffiti smeared at Lincoln Memorial blamed on police cuts.

RACE-GRIFTING IS THE BUSINESS, AND BUSINESS IS GOOD: The 10 Best Nikole Hannah-Jones Articles of 2023: The hardest-working woman in ‘antiracist’ show business.

WAR, DROUGHT, AND DETOURS: Top ocean shipping stories of 2023.