THE NEW SPACE RACE: Astronauts face unique visual challenges at lunar south pole.

WELL, GOOD: TNF inhibitors might help prevent serious complications in kids with Crohn’s Disease.

HMM: China’s Xi orders a stop to a spree of mass killings known as ‘revenge on society crimes.’ I thought these were a product of “late capitalism.”

CHANGE:

🚨Florida Democratic State Representative Hillary Cassel has switched her party affiliation to Republican, making her the second to do so. pic.twitter.com/ZP8UfV4Nv9

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) December 27, 2024

CALL THEM TO ACCOUNT: UVA alumni group accuses university of ignoring rampant campus antisemitism.

CHANGE: University of Iowa drops Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies department.

MONEY LAUNDRY FOR LEFTISTS AND THEIR TOOLS: How the International Community Funds the Hamas War Machine.

FAFO: Shawn Fain’s luck goes from bad to worse after Trump victory. “United Auto Workers union head Shawn Fain has experienced a series of misfortunes since his gamble to go all-in with Vice President Kamala Harris failed.”

THEY HAVE LEARNED NOTHING AND FORGOTTEN NOTHING: “CNN’s stubbornly leftist journalists think they know why their viewers are abandoning ship in record numbers – they’re not going hard enough against Donald Trump anymore.”

HMM: We May Finally See the End of PBS and NPR.

If you really want to defund PBS and NPR, you need to work at the state level. Most of NPR’s funding doesn’t come from the federal government, it comes from fees paid by the affiliates for its programming. That money usually either comes from state governments, or donations to institutions controlled by state governments, as most NPR affiliates (and I’m not sure but I think this may be true for PBS) are affiliated with state universities. Stop that flow of funds, perhaps simply by requiring state-controlled stations to produce their own programming, and you’ll really choke off the funding.

If nobody’s talking about doing that, then nobody is serious about defunding.

JOEL KOTKIN: Democrats Need to Get Over Their Delusions. “The traditional Democratic focus on class mobility would be far more effective than their current approach, which is largely shaped by their own ideological and sociological bubbles rather than the concerns of regular Americans. As long-time Democratic operative Van Jones has observed, once voters choose wrongly, they’re dismissed as racists and fascists. It goes without saying that this kind of selective scapegoating is not a workable political strategy. Democrats are already sharpening knives to keep anyone from thinning out the bloated bureaucracy, which, as Rep. Ro Khanna suggests, also places them out of touch with the majority of voters.”

PUNCH BACK TWICE AS HARD:

MUST WATCH: Rep. Mike Lawler gives a masterclass on the evidence against the Biden crime family, after CNN Host Abby Phillip claims there's no proof of Joe Biden enriching himself.

She then ends the segment as soon as possible. pic.twitter.com/wfO74pzWP3

— Media Research Center (@theMRC) December 27, 2024

GIRD YOUR LOINS, ELON: “I suspect we haven’t yet seen the depths of personal attacks on Musk that will be coming in the next year.”

INCENTIVES MATTER:

Manatee County, Florida Sheriff Rick Wells on home invasion:

“I praise this husband for doing what he needed to do to protect his home and protect his family. If you’re gonna be that brazen to come into my home… you should expect that you’re gonna be shot.”

🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/HoxFIMtF9F

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 27, 2024

SO I JUST FINISHED JON GABRIEL’S NOVEL, Sink the Rising Sun, and it’s excellent. It’s a WWII submarine warfare novel, along the lines of Scott Cook or P.T. Deutermann’s work. Comparing them is high praise for Gabriel, but his book is every bit as good. Highly recommended.

OPEN THREAD: Ring in the weekend.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: China suffers commercial rocket failure but sets record for annual launches.

WHO WOULD HAVE SEEN THAT COMING, BESIDES ALL THE PEOPLE WHO SAW IT COMING AND WERE CALLED RACISTS? Germany Opened Its Doors to Migrants. Now It’s Struggling to Cope.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: ‘Keep it quiet:’ Here’s what to know and do if you win the Mega Millions jackpot.

If you do win, please hit the tipjar, and hit it hard!

MAKE THEM PAY:

🚨BREAKING: Over 100 January 6 defendants are filing a $50 billion class action lawsuit against the Department of Justice. pic.twitter.com/Z9daZidv2b

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) December 27, 2024

COLOR ME UNSURPRISED: Lifelong singles differ in personality traits and life satisfaction compared to partnered people, study reveals.

FLASHBACK: When Rulers Despise the Ruled.

THIS IS A MIXED BAG: Expected Decline in Carry Permits Continues as Constitutional Carry Grows: As constitutional carry grows, the perceived need for a permit falls. In a way that’s good. But on the other hand, permitholders are a coherent interest group in a way citizens as a whole aren’t.

CAN WE SUE THEM IF THEY LIE TO US? Should chatbots have rights – and should we care? I mean, rights generally go with responsibilities.

HMM: Should you trust an AI-assisted doctor? I visited one to see.