RATS ON THE WESTSIDE, BEDBUGS UPTOWN: New Bedbug Research Reveals Genetic Secret to Fighting Infestations.

COLOR ME SKEPTICAL: Psychedelic drug therapy may address mental health concerns in people with cancer and addiction. I hope it pans out, but it feels like it’s being oversold.

ALL THESE CAR MAKERS TEASE US WITH THESE CONCEPT CARS: When Is Cadillac Going to Build One of Its Glorious Coupes?

HMM.

🚨BREAKING: Judge has ordered Trump to appear for sentencing in the New York hush money case on Jan. 10, shortly before inauguration. pic.twitter.com/QwkWkX3JxK

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) January 3, 2025

I SHOP THROUGH LUCKYGUNNER.COM: Online Ammo Buyers Beware: That ammo store you see on social media may not be what it seems.

As some may remember, LuckyGunner.com was started, and is still run, by some of my law students.

SHOT AND CHASER:

this you? pic.twitter.com/y4BEBdmBMA

— 🗡️ A-hole Anderson 🗡️ (@bayonetbastard) January 3, 2025

SKYNET CREEPS: Creepy robot toddler can mimic human expressions: ‘Dynamic arousal expression’ treats physicality as waveforms.

I DO NOT TRUST THE INTERNET OF THINGS: Siri “unintentionally” recorded private convos; Apple agrees to pay $95M.

I LOST A BET WITH MYSELF WHEN “CLIMATE CHANGE” WASN’T MENTIONED AS A CAUSE: Cases of ‘rabbit fever’ increase over last decade.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer mission to take macro-measurements of moon’s surface in 2025.

BETTER PUT SOME ICE ON THAT BURN:

Magazine that published a rape hoax story has thoughts on misinformation. https://t.co/aJLLgPoERu

— Amy Curtis 🇮🇱 (@RantyAmyCurtis) January 2, 2025

NUKE THE ATF: ATF Stay Isn’t Talking About its Early Morning No-Knock Raid on a Baltimore Gun Rights Advocate.

I’D SETTLE FOR DECOLONIZING BRITAIN FROM PAKISTANI MUSLIM RAPE GANGS: U.K. progressives look to ‘decolonize’ school science curricula.

HIGHER EDUCATION: 3 reasons to be optimistic for 2025.

PART OF ME WANTS TO SAY “NOW THEY TELL US,” but on the other hand, it’s not like the previous administration would have done anything about it. On His Way Out, IG for Afghanistan Drops Truth Bombs.

I CONFESS I DON’T FULLY UNDERSTAND WHAT’S GOING ON IN SOUTH KOREA, BUT IT’S MESSY: South Korean investigators suspend efforts to detain president after dramatic standoff. “Investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) approached within a couple hundred meters of Yoon’s residence, but were blocked by a ‘human wall’ of around 200 soldiers and members of the presidential security detail, CIO said Friday afternoon. There were also several altercations of ‘varying intensity,’ the office said. . . . Yoon, who was stripped of presidential powers after lawmakers voted to impeach him last month, is wanted for questioning in multiple investigations, including accusations of leading an insurrection – a crime punishable by life imprisonment or even the death penalty.”

I’M SPECULATING, BUT I SUSPECT THAT THE MOTIVES AREN’T JUST ELECTORAL. We’ve seen a lot of high-level Brits at the BBC, etc., implicated in pedophilia. I suspect that a lot of the political class is also involved, and that they acted to shut it down to protect themselves, and also because they were being blackmailed.

Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak both tried to shut social media down.

Now we can see why.

Elon Musk's publicizing of Rotherham makes the scandal impossible to avoid.

It is being shouted from every corner of the digital sphere.

And unlike British broadcasters and their hosts -…

— Alexandra Marshall (@ellymelly) January 2, 2025

If you devote your career to protecting paedophiles, maybe one day you could be prime minister too. #inspiring pic.twitter.com/lN7cPJ0J48

— Andrew Lawrence (@andrewlawrence) January 3, 2025

OPEN THREAD: Happy New Year!

INVESTIGATE THOROUGHLY: FBI should investigate Jan. 6 charges against Liz Cheney: Poll.

COLLUSION: How the Biden Admin Allowed Iran To Rake in Illicit Oil Cash Amid Tehran’s Terror Spree: US officials were briefed on Iran’s oil smuggling scheme—and mostly ignored the intel.

YES: Make the Media Pay for the Largest Cover-Up in US History.

THIS ISN’T EVEN SURPRISING:

A researcher who worked for the UK government tried to whistleblow about the grooming gangs but was sent to diversity training course instead

You cannot make this stuff up. We are beyond parody and satire https://t.co/tqQRDHH3yc pic.twitter.com/29xsc9nuyD

— Melissa Chen (@MsMelChen) January 2, 2025

JAMES PETHOKOUKIS: Is AI really a ‘deal with the devil?’ The medieval story of Faust continues to infect how we think about technology. “Johann Wolfgang von Goethe fiddled with his version for decades, but completed it in 1831 just before his death. This Faust is an aging scholar who also makes a deal with Mephistopheles: The devil will serve him on Earth, but if Faust finds a moment of complete satisfaction, his soul belongs to Hell. Faust pursues various ambitious projects and finally finds satisfaction in a project to reclaim land from the sea. He dies, but his constant striving for betterment and final act of working for humanity’s benefit saves his soul, which ascends to Heaven.”

COLOR ME UNSURPRISED:

Interesting https://t.co/JwnsXHN1EZ

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 3, 2025

OPEN THREAD: Make it special.