WELL, THIS IS THE 21ST CENTURY, YOU KNOW: This Hypercar Brain Could Change How Even Affordable Cars Are Built.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Despite What You See on Social Media, Not Everything Sucks.

ROGER KIMBALL: The Somali Fraud Scandal is a Turning Point.

What made Shirley’s video the tipping point, the tocsin that finally shook the world awake? The legacy media has largely avoided covering the issue. Indeed, it has savaged reporters such as James O’Keefe who exposed elements of the fraud in 2020, and did the same to activist Christopher Rufo who has done so more recently.

But for reasons that are not entirely clear, those earlier exposés, while hard-hitting, failed to generate the near-universal outrage that Shirley’s matter-of-fact reporting has.

I say “near-universal” because there are dissenters. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, for example, pulled out the “white supremacist,” “racist” and “Islamophobic” cards in response to Shirley’s video. The accusations fell completely flat. Why? Egregious overuse. People are no longer frightened by those content-free, rhetorical boogeymen. Such accusations are merely epithets designed to end conversation, not acknowledge the truth.

Confronted with the fact that Somalis have systematically pilfered billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money in order to enrich themselves, bribe politicians and fund terrorist activities in Somalia, the public are outraged – and rightly. They see now how Democrats coddle illegal immigrants, lavish them with taxpayers’ money and then cultivate them as Democratic voters. And speaking of voters, did you know that Minnesota has same-day voter registration and that one registered voter can “vouch” for 8 others in his precinct who do not have ID?

Musk cut to the chase: “The Democrats are so upset about the situation because they’re losing – you know if we turn off this gigantic money magnet for illegal immigrants, then they will leave and they’ll lose voters.” Bingo. There are some 80,000-100,000 Somalis in Minneapolis alone. How is it that they live so well?

The canny chap who writes under the name Cynical Publius may well be correct that “in large swathes of humanity, there is no actual concept of ‘fraud,’ particularly fraud against the government.” Instead, there is a categorical imperative to get away with whatever you can “to help yourself and your tribe.” The problem is, notes Publius, that “introducing a fraud-based culture based on tribalism into America is like introducing some sort of lethal virus into a population that has no natural immunity. The virus will spread and grow, unchecked, because it is so alien to the host.”

The virus must be neutralized or it will destroy the host. . . . And as much of the “Somali community” as possible should be repatriated to where it belongs: Somalia. That is why God made Tom Homan.

Indeed.

UPDATE: From the comments: “If the Left truly cared about social programs helping people, then the Left should be the most upset about fraud. Every dollar going to fraud is a dollar not going to someone who legitimately needs help. The fact that the Left is always excusing fraud is telling.”

VINDICATION: Real-life experiment shows Niels Bohr was right in a theoretical debate with Einstein.

SCIENCE: Cardiovascular risk score identifies risk for ocular disease.

WE’VE ALL BEEN THERE: Looking for friends, lobsters may stumble into an ecological trap.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Flu on the rise: Here’s how to treat it and when antivirals work best.

LET’S ALL GET OUT AND DANCE TO A SONG THAT WAS A HIT BEFORE YOUR MOTHER WAS BORN:

Even top Putin ally Kirill Dmitriev, who is CEO of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, is dunking on Zohran Mamdani 😂 pic.twitter.com/sM3U9bN5Zp

— Ryan Saavedra (@RyanSaavedra) January 2, 2026

The “warmth of collectivism” is best understood as an HOA with guns and gulags.

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Amherst erupts after student reporter exposes sex skits thrust upon freshmen at orientation.

SCRATCHING THE SURFACE: 5 times conservative clubs were discriminated against in 2025: Conservative students have faced uphill battles on many campuses as they attempt to organize with their like-minded peers.

21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: AI sex bots can fuel your kinks and freaky fantasies faster than a human partner: new study.

My forthcoming book, Seductive AI, looks at this phenomenon and its implications.

THE JUDICIARY’S SELF-DELEGITIMIZATION IS ONGOING: The Judicial Coup in Utah Is a Warning to the Nation.

CDR SALAMANDER: “What is one of the fundamentals that we keep returning to here? If you want to know what will be important in and needed for the next large war, look closely at the most advanced small and medium sized wars happening now.”

A METAPHOR FOR BLUE STATE INSTITUTIONS IN GENERAL:

JUST IN: NewsNation's Rich McHugh finds more apparent fraud in Minnesota, finds one building with *60* "healthcare" businesses registered to it.

McHugh says he visited multiple buildings with dozens of "businesses" inside.

When he entered one of the buildings, he found… pic.twitter.com/MGgKjMJmSC

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 1, 2026

FOLLOW THE SCIENCE: “Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Agrees to Pay $15M to Settle Fraud Allegations Related to Scientific Research Grants.” “As part of the settlement, Dana-Farber admitted that its researchers used funds from six NIH grants to conduct research that resulted in 14 publications in scientific journals containing misrepresented and/or duplicated images and data. The publications reused images to represent different experimental conditions; duplicated images to represent different testing conditions, mice, and/or timepoints; or rotated, magnified, or stretched images. Further, Dana-Farber admitted that a supervising researcher failed to exercise sufficient oversight over these researchers, and that Dana-Farber spent funds from those six NIH grants that were unallowable. As part of the settlement, Dana-Farber also admitted that another researcher received four NIH grants after submitting grant applications that discussed a journal article authored by the researcher but did not disclose that certain images and data in that article were misrepresented and/or duplicated. The United States contends that Dana-Farber caused the submission of false claims to NIH by falsely certifying compliance with grant terms and conditions, spending grant funds on unallowable expenses, and obtaining grants through false and misleading statements.”

Note that this is a False Claims Act case, which allows a portion of the recovery to be paid as bounty to a whistleblower: “The civil settlement includes the resolution of claims brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act by Sholto David. Under those provisions, a private party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery. David will receive $2,625,000 under today’s settlement.”

I expect many more such claims against universities in coming years.

#JOURNALISM:

CNN: “Hello it’s CNN, are you committing fraud?”

Somali childcare center: “Hi. No, we are a legitimate business. There’s no fraud here.”

CNN: “We have established that there is no fraud.”

— Taya (@travelingflying) January 1, 2026

YEAH, GO FIGURE:

What’s really notable on the Medicaid fraud stuff is how the Democrats have been wanting to expand the number of IRS agents for years to target middle income Americans and gig economy workers, but want no increase in inspectors for compliance with welfare programs.

— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) January 1, 2026

ICYMI: SHOT:

WOW. Read this carefully.

Over 40 daycare centers reportedly opened in Columbus, Ohio on the same day, all linked to the same inactive shell entity — and together pulled in $14 MILLION in taxpayer-funded subsidies in a single year.

Same paperwork.
Same structure.
Same funding… pic.twitter.com/1PAmycyVG7

— Tony Lane 🇺🇸 (@TonyLaneNV) December 31, 2025

CHASER:

This is 100% not acceptable and any politician who voices this sort of attitude needs to go. https://t.co/fxhUYE1WnK

— Passably Affable (@tbrusletten) January 1, 2026

SIGNS OF PROGRESS: DOJ Made A Search Warrant Affidavit Public That Explains What It Has Uncovered In Minnesota Over the Past Eight Months: If you know where to look — a website — and you understand what you are reading, Search Warrant Affidavits can be very informative. “But the U.S. Attorney here unsealed the Affidavit the same day the search took place. Why? Because the affidavit addresses the largely inaccurate claims now being made about ‘Why hasn’t anything been done?'”

MY LATEST SUBSTACK ESSAY: UBI For Me But Not For Thee? When a nation is colonized from the inside out.

As always, if you like these essays, please take out a paid subscription. I will thank you, and my family will thank you.

OPEN THREAD: Ring in the New Year!

THE NEW SPACE RACE: SpaceX Will Be the Hottest IPO in 2026. Should You Buy?

“HOLISTIC ADMISSIONS” SYSTEMATICALLY FAVORS THE RICH AND WELL-CONNECTED:

It’s fascinating how “fit” functions as both a gatekeeping mechanism and a justification narrative, turning structural exclusion into something framed as neutral evaluation.

— LORD ATU (@atu_lord) August 25, 2025

THE PRESS WILL FAKE ONE FOR THE DEMOCRATS, LIKE THEY DID FOR CLINTON IN ’92: Beware the Democratic ‘pseudo-recession’ that’s destroyed past presidents.

HE’S BEEN ENGAGING IN REPEATED SELF-BECLOWNING LATELY: The Backlash to Rep. Ro Khanna Continues. “Earlier this week I described how Rep. Ro Khanna had embraced a wealth tax on billionaires being promoted by California unions. That led to quite a backlash from some of Khanna’s own constituents in Silicon Valley. That backlash has continued to build with some very well-known names calling for a primary opponent to run against Rep. Khanna.”