COLOR ME SKEPTICAL: Man allegedly broke windows at JD Vance home due to mental health issues, not politics, lawyer says.

ABSOLUTELY. NO AMOUNT OF ONLINE YAMMERING ABOUT ISRAEL, OR INTERNAL CHANGES AT HERITAGE AND OTHER THINK TANKS, WILL DECIDE THE ELECTION. Results will.

This is correct. There is a very big difference between the "very online right" and the people who decide elections. It is something I have been shouting in the wind on X for over a decade about the very online left when they dominated this site. https://t.co/bWrXfe5kzB

— ZitoSalena (@ZitoSalena) January 7, 2026

COMMIES USED TO BE TOUGHER, DIDN’T THEY? Zohran Mamdani’s woke, privileged tenant advocate Cea Weaver breaks down crying when asked about hypocritical gentrification comments.

UPDATE:

I swear at least 75% of left-wing politics is just rich white nepo babies rebelling against their parents https://t.co/6XxrTVbzwh

— Samantha Smith (@SamanthaTaghoy) January 7, 2026

🤷‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/KaguSM5hwW

— Coddled Affluent Professional (@feelsdesperate) January 7, 2026

I don't understand this reaction. she believes private homes should be seized, and white people specifically should be targeted. this was not a private group chat, this was all public. she is now in a position of considerable power. how did she think people would react? https://t.co/kVm3hPd593

— Mike Solana (@micsolana) January 7, 2026

pic.twitter.com/YdCSZDG3Ra

— jimtreacher.substack.com (@jtLOL) January 7, 2026

VICTORY AT SEA: US seizes Russian-flagged oil tanker in North Atlantic and 2nd tanker. “The U.S. on Wednesday seized two oil tankers linked to Venezuela, including the Russian-flagged Marinera oil tanker formerly known as the Bella-1 that had evaded a U.S. blockade back in December. The Marinera was transiting in the North Atlantic, according to three sources familiar with the operation. The operation was being carried out by the U.S. Coast Guard and other military assets, according to one source. Russian military vessels were in the area as the situation unfolded.”

UPDATE:

‼️‼️🇬🇧🇺🇸🇷🇺 BIG | The British Ministry of Defence confirmed that the British Navy and Air Force participated in the interception of the Bella 1/Marinera today by providing naval and air support.

Defence Minister Healey emphasized that the interception was within complete… pic.twitter.com/F8goyobCcE

— Visioner (@visionergeo) January 7, 2026

Plus, from the comments: “I’m looking for President Trump to issue ‘letters of marque’. We can all be pirates of the Carribean and Gulf of America.” Caribbean? I believe you mean the “Monroe Sea.”

CHANGE: ‘Embolden Christ followers’: Counteract USA launches faith-based student ‘cells’ on colleges nationwide.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Big Ten universities promote ‘trans studies symposium’ with funding incentives.

WTF IS WRONG WITH THE AGGIES? Plato Too Triggering For Texas A&M. “I’m going to pause here just to review: an institution that purports to be a university has told a philosophy professor he is forbidden from teaching Plato.”

IF I WERE MEHDI HASAN, I WOULDN’T BE ENCOURAGING CRIMINAL PROSECUTIONS IN GENERAL: Mehdi Hasan’s Demand for Prosecutions.

Here is Mehdi Hasan. He starts with: “I am only half joking when … say[ing] this,” and then he goes on to advocate that “the next Democratic President should run on a plan to prosecute Elon Musk.” (at 00:45ff). But he does not identify even any one crime. What does it mean to advocate a prosecution when you fail to identify any crime? What does he mean by a “plan”? Does it mean that the President should direct the AG and DOJ in regard to a particular prosecution against a named individual? That is what some call the unitary executive—something usually opposed by liberals in U.S. academia.

I should point out that Hasan’s aspiration regarding a future Musk prosecution is hardly a new thing. It is also the ambition of Ireland’s Fintan O’Toole and other elite editorialists in Europe.

They can’t answer their opposition, so they want to jail them. To them, opposition is the only real crime.

PRIORITIES: With law taking effect, California strengthens plastic bag ban.

CANADIAN DEATH PANELS: Where Does Sarah Palin Go for Her Apology? “Palin was called a loon and a crank. Even today, a simple search on Microsoft’s Copilot for the date when the former governor coined the term ‘death panel’ carefully notes that her accusation quickly became a viral talking point despite ‘being widely debunked as a myth.’ Fifteen years after Palin’s remark, disability advocate Krista Carr testified before members of the Canadian parliament that her organization receives weekly reports of medical assistance in dying (MAID) services being suggested unprompted to disabled individuals during routine, non-terminal care visits. . . . Canada, whose lawmakers, celebrities, and influencers often boast about their “free” healthcare and stringent anti-gun laws, recorded an astonishing 16,499 MAID suicides, or legalized doctor-assisted suicides, in 2024. . . . Put another way, a Canadian is nearly three times more likely to die by MAID than an American is to die by a gunshot, whether intentional or not. How’s that for perspective?”

(Emphasis added.)

WTF HAS HAPPENED TO MAINE? Democrat Graham Platner Marched with Somali Activist Tied to Nonprofit Accused of Fraud To Show ‘Solidarity’ With Minnesota’s Scandal-Plagued Somali Community: Tiny Maine’s relatively large Somali community is also coming under scrutiny for Minnesota-style fraud.

OLD HIPPIES AND YOUNG MENTAL CASES:

This is footage from the protest against ICE and Border Patrol here in Asheville NC.

I could not find a single person of color protesting yesterday, not one.

At least 80% of the people at the protest were white and over the age of 50…

Why is it only older white people? pic.twitter.com/ja604raQpw

— Matt Van Swol (@mattvanswol) January 9, 2026

WELL, YES: Trump’s Venezuela Raid Changes the Map: Cuba, China, and Russia Face a New Reality.

As I was saying.

STEVEN CALABRESI: Justice Barrett, Trump v. Slaughter, and Presidential Removal Power from 1881 to 1901. “During the oral argument in Trump v. Slaughter, Justice Amy Coney Barrett asked counsel for respondent Slaughter how long independent agencies had existed for and counsel suggested to her, incorrectly, that they dated back to the last twenty years of the 19th Century. In fact, as I will show in a series of posts on this blog, no truly independent agency ever existed prior to the decision in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States in 1935.”

JOHN LUCAS: The Wall Street Journal Scores Maggie’s Drawers: There is sedition and then there is sedition. And Sen. Mark Kelly’s comments cross the line.

Personally, I think that “raw political retribution” — which in other circumstances the Journal might describe as “consequences” — is entirely merited here.

YEP:

The biggest story of last year, and probably the biggest story of the coming year, is the widespread discovery of the fact that we have never been more accountable to government, which can see into our lives with unprecedented clarity and monitor our utterances to the word, while…

— Walter Kirn (@walterkirn) January 6, 2026

OPEN THREAD: Have a groovy Tuesday.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: China’s next moonshot: Chang’e 7 could search the lunar south pole for water this year.

WHAT ARE THE DEEP SEVENS UP TO NOW? A Mysterious Weak Spot in Earth’s Magnetic Field Has Grown Nearly Half the Size of Europe.

UPDATE: From the comments: “You know what else is a weak spot the size of Europe? Europe.”

GOOD, IT’S A TERRIBLE DEAL: House of Lords Slams the Brakes on Starmer’s Chagos Island Deal.

THIS WAS ALWAYS PLAUSIBLE: Jurassic Park Was Right: Mosquitoes Really Can Carry Libraries of Animal DNA.

JAMES PETHOKOUKIS: The most underrated trend of the 2020s: A quiet acceleration in US productivity is challenging the 2010s Great Stagnation narrative — even before AI fully reshapes American work.

LIFE IN THE 21ST CENTURY: Tested: The 2025 Porsche 911 Carrera S Is an Everyday Supercar.

THIS IS GOING SWIMMINGLY: Welp: NRA is Suing the NRA Foundation Over Use of its Intellectual Property.

PRACTICE: Pigs have been island hopping for 50,000 years.