YOU CAN’T GET IT HERE: First Drive: Toyota’s $10,000 Pickup Truck Is Perfect. So, Why Are We Sad? This Toyota Land Cruiser 70 Series lookalike is a no-frills, cost-reduced Hilux flatbed/pickup optimized for lower-GDP markets.

THERE WAS A TIME WHEN THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN ABSURDLY UNBELIEVABLE: Evidence Mounts That the Government Planted Pipe Bombs at Capitol on January 6. Today is not that time.

SPACE SOLAR POWER: The first-ever space solar power tests are finished after a year in orbit: The Solar Space Power Demonstrator satellite ran three experiments to begin assessing the tech’s feasibility.

NEVER FULLY TRUST ENCRYPTION: How a 27-year-old busted the myth of Bitcoin’s anonymity.

What part of “distributed ledger” sounds like anonymity?

THIS DOES NOT INSPIRE CONFIDENCE: Who is most efficient in health care? Study finds, surprisingly, it’s the VA.

DON’T GO COLD TURKEY: Quitting antidepressants may lead to emotional, social struggles.

SHOCKER: Pro Bono Supreme Court Amicus Briefs Provide Additional Evidence That BigLaw Skews Liberal. Hey, just look at how many represented Al Qaeda terrorists for free, as opposed to J6 defendants.

NEITHER WORKS AS ADVERTISED, AND THEIR FAILURES ARE BLAMED, UNCONVINCINGLY, ON “DISINFORMATION.” Electric Vehicles and the Administrative State. “‘Total Breakdown’ is the common denominator.”

Related: The Electric-Vehicle Cheating Scandal: A government rule makes them look nearly seven times as efficient as they are.

It’s not disinformation when the dogs just don’t like the dog food.

WELL: Fulton County Audit Chair Demands Answers from Fani Willis. “Fulton County Commissioner Bob Ellis, the chairman of the county’s audit committee, sent a letter to Willis Friday evening asking whether she engaged in a ‘romantic relationship’ with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, ‘misused’ county funds, and ‘accepted valuable gifts and personal benefits from a contractor/recipient of County funds.'”

LOL:

🚨NEW: This is a clip of Fani Willis from 2020 where she says she would fire any employee who sleeps with a co-worker, promises to not date “anybody that works under me,” and said it would be “unfortunate” if taxpayers had to fund sex misconduct lawsuits
pic.twitter.com/tEUTM8DVEJ

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 19, 2024

JOEL KOTKIN: Goodbye to Davos — and good riddance: The world envisioned by the WEF has collapsed.

I GUESS THE TRANS SWIMSUIT COVER DIDN’T PULL IN THE AUDIENCE THEY’D HOPED FOR: Sports Illustrated publisher misses payment, will lay off staff.

A MIXTURE OF THE DISPENSIBLE AND THE CONTEMPTIBLE FOR THE MOST PART: What Do College Administrators Do?

OPEN THREAD: Enjoy yourselves.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: China’s Landspace conducts first VTVL test for reusable stainless steel rocket.

It looks . . . familiar.

BUILD MORE NUCLEAR PLANTS: If Red Sea Shipping Doesn’t Open Soon, They’ll Have to Rename It Great BRRRRritain.

Also, the Royal Navy has centuries of experience burning out nests of pirates. Perhaps this will provide sufficient motivation to exercise those skills.

THE AMAZON ISN’T SOME SPECIAL GREEN GARDEN OF GAIA. IT’S A POST-COLLAPSE FOREST THAT GREW OVER FORMERLY SETTLED LAND. Cluster of Ancient Lost Cities in The Amazon Is The Largest Ever Found. “This amazing discovery, the oldest and largest of its kind in the region, includes a vast system of farmland and roads, revealing that Ecuador’s Upano Valley was densely populated from about 500 BCE to between 300 and 600 CE. . . . Evidence of a vast, pre-Hispanic human influence in the Amazon continues to grow, with the current coverage of LIDAR data suggesting more than 90 percent of the human history in the Amazon is yet to be uncovered. . . . The organization of the cities reveals the sophistication and engineering capabilities of these ancient cultures, according to the researchers, who concluded that the ‘garden urbanism’ of the Upano Valley provides further proof that Amazonia is not the pristine forest once depicted.”

YET ANOTHER REASON THEY SHOULD BE TARRED AND FEATHERED AFTER BEING REMOVED FROM POWER: Survey: America’s Elites Say There’s Too Much Freedom. “Know your place, peasants!”

But there are too many for tarring and feathering. At the very least, though, they need to be put in their place, socially and politically.

POPCORN: Woman Scorned Strikes Back: My Husband Paid Fani’s Way — And I Have Bank Records to Prove It.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Solar panels on Japan’s SLIM lunar lander fail to create electricity as needed.

HMM: Revolutionizing Heart Health: Scientists Develop Game-Changing New Cholesterol Vaccine. Call me back in 5-10 years and tell me how it’s going.

PROBATION? REALLY? What Does a Gender Studies Degree From the University of IL Get You? Probation After Being Held At Gunpoint by CCW Holder During Hot Burglary.

I guess a gender studies degree identifies you as a friend of the regime.

PYREX isn’t what it used to be. But it’s better for the environment!

CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: Pennsylvania Young Adult Gun-Carry Ban During Emergencies Found Unconstitutional. “The ruling adds to a growing body of federal court decisions casting doubt on age-based gun restrictions.”

WELL, THAT SEEMS REASONABLE: Alec Baldwin indicted by grand jury on involuntary manslaughter over ‘Rust’ shooting. ” A grand jury has indicted Alec Baldwin on an involuntary manslaughter charge in the deadly shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the New Mexico set of ‘Rust,’ months after prosecutors dropped their case against the actor over her death. The indictment charges Baldwin, 65, with involuntary manslaughter (negligent use of a firearm) or, in the alternative, involuntary manslaughter (without due caution or circumspection), both fourth-degree felonies.”