IN ADDITION TO “HOW NOT TO BE SEEN,” THAT IS: What the Chinese learned from America’s raid on Venezuela.

To be sure, what happened Jan. 3 in Caracas was important to the Western Hemisphere. I don’t want to minimize the importance of knocking over a neighborhood bully in Venezuela, but the most important part of the story may be that the U.S. military, as it usually does, demonstrated that it is superior in weaponry and skill to any other force on the planet. Communist China’s weapons systems had a real-world test, and it was a disaster.

That has to be giving the crew in Beijing, which would like to be global bullies, nightmares.

The simple reality is that the communists in China have not been involved in a legitimate shooting war in 75 years. They have had no real way to test and improve their weapons under battlefield conditions. Every single one of their weapons systems is essentially undergoing a beta test the first time they are used in combat.

Anything that erodes Beijing’s confidence in its own weapons and soldiers and increases its sense of discomfort about invading Taiwan (or anywhere, really) is a good thing. In the big scheme of things, the attack in Caracas may have saved Taiwan and potentially the thousands (or millions) of lives that would have been lost in the course of a war in the Pacific.

Whatever else you might think of President Trump’s adventure in Venezuela, you should consider the very real possibility that it deterred or delayed the very worst impulses of the communists in Beijing.

“Peace through strength” requires the occasional demonstration.

RABBI MICHAEL BARCLAY: Hollywood Leftists Invent a New Crime Against Humanity. “We now have an entirely new term coming out of the Hollywood left: medicide.'”

UGH: Vengeful Ayatollah preparing first executions of seized Iranian demonstrators as protests gain momentum & deaths mount.

Erfan Soltani, 26, was held on Saturday in a brutal crackdown by the teetering regime which has seen more than 500 protesters killed and 10,000 arrested.

t is thought he was charged with ‘waging war against God’, which is punishable by death in Iran, following his arrest in the city of Fardis, near Tehran.

Supporters say he has not been allowed legal advice and had no chance to defend himself before a verdict of death by hanging was delivered.

This is just one awful fate protestors face. They protest regardless.

MAYBE BEIJING KNOWS CHANGE IS COMING:

I24: “China has scaled back the use of bots and coordinated messaging to push anti-Israel narratives. Beijing appears to be easing its rhetoric as it seeks to position itself between both sides” – Carice Witte pic.twitter.com/8nHUiIcsCC

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) January 12, 2026

WINNING: US-Taiwan near trade deal to lower tariff, boost TSMC facilities. “The Trump administration is nearing a trade deal with Taiwan to reduce its tariff rate to 15% and commit Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation, opens new tab to building at least five more facilities in Arizona, the New York Times reported on Monday, citing three people familiar with the matter.”

VICTORIA TAFT: Strategy for Democrats Losing the ICE Information War: Lie Harder.

“FOLLOW THE SCIENCE,” THEY TOLD ME…:

This explains a lot about the current state of academia https://t.co/QkqoVSWo7k pic.twitter.com/JHHNITnFtm

— skepticalifornia (@skepticaliblog) January 12, 2026

…but the scientists wouldn’t let me.

TO BE FAIR, THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY SUCKS: ‘Iranians don’t want Islamic Republic: Int’l community should be calling for democratic transition.’

CORN, POPPED: A New Nick Shirley Video Shows Graft That Is ‘Ten Times Worse’ and Will Cause ‘World War III.’

WHAT AN AIRFRAME: The F-22 Raptor Stealth Fighter Is Getting So Many Upgrades It Will Now Fly Until 2060.

I mean, it’s no B-52, but still…

MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: America’s Political Parties Are Dying — What’s Next?

At a Tea Party-era CPAC conference in Washington, my PJTV colleague Bill Whittle joked at an event he hosted, “It’s nice to see so many young faces at a conservative event. The average age at these things is usually ‘deceased.'”

Jokes aside, attendance at youth-oriented CPAC is down significantly since 2009, but if you want to see just how badly both parties do with younger voters these days, look no further than Gallup’s new Political Party Identification numbers.

Much more at the link.

WELL, THIS IS THE 21ST CENTURY, YOU KNOW: Navy F-35 pilots train to wield drones with touchscreen tablets. “The tactical exercise saw the F-35 pilots use the tablets to control multiple Collaborative Combat Aircraft at once. These autonomous unmanned systems, operating with artificial intelligence, can be used as ‘loyal wingmen’ by aviators.”

HE’S BUSY: Trump’s Latest Deal? ‘We’re Talking to Cuba, and You’ll Find Out Pretty Soon.’

In the meantime, the memes go on.

Marco Rubio learns he'll run Cuba. pic.twitter.com/ebfz3ibT5D

— Stephen Green (@VodkaPundit) January 12, 2026

Earlier: Trump Says ‘You’ll Find Out Pretty Soon’ What He’ll Do for Iranian Protestors.

DISPATCHES FROM THE BLUE ZONES:

He randomly attacked a man with a pipe in the Loop.

The victim suffered facial fractures, lost teeth, and required multiple reconstructive surgeries.

It was his 57th arrest.

But his plea deal will not require him to spend a single day in prison.https://t.co/0JZ1ME8aCi

— CWBChicago (@CWBChicago) January 12, 2026

Three strikes is plenty.

SO THIS IS WHERE THE NATION IS TODAY: Liberals Think Antifa Isn’t Real. But It Is — and It Knows How to Win. “Despite these constant distortions, the truth about antifa—what it actually is, where it comes from, what it’s accomplished—is still spectacular. ‘Antifa,’ a shortening of the word ‘antifascist,’ refers to a decentralized, underground network of radical leftists dedicated to destroying the far right. Its activists are mostly anarchists, communists, and socialists, and, though they might differ in ideology, they all subscribe to a specific militant tradition of antifascism holding that fascists need to be fought ‘by any means necessary.'”

I suppose that’s as good a definition of domestic terrorism as any, but Antifa — and its supporters like The Nation’s Christopher Mathias, always lie about the group’s intentions.

Antifa might be antifascist, but they’re certainly pro-Communist.

“By any means necessary.”

HOWEVER MUCH YOU DESPISE THE MEDIA…

Two years ago, Hamas falsely claimed Israel bombed a hospital—“500 killed.”
It was a Palestinian rocket, hit a parking lot, and fewer than 20 died.

The media ran with it anyway.

Today: 2,000+ Iranians murdered, on video—Silence.

— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) January 11, 2026

See also: US college campus protests against young people gunned down in the streets of Iran [crickets].

THIS COLORADO RESIDENT FEELS THEIR PAIN: Red State Residents Speak Out on the Blue State Invasion, Sparking Viral Videos.

WHAT HAVE I BEEN SAYING ABOUT THE LEFT TAKING NEUROTIC PEOPLE WHO JUST NEED A LITTLE HELP AND TURNING THEM INTO SHOCK TROOPS?

A mascrosocial cluster B crisis is ripping this nation apart because Leftism has hijacked the minds of progressive females who then LARP out dangerous Gnostic heroic delusions. They are mentally unwell, encapsulating all the behaviors you see here. https://t.co/qXF7PQ05Vx pic.twitter.com/V6Rp1PQ49z

— J.D. Haltigan, PhD 🏒👨‍💻 (@JDHaltigan) January 10, 2026

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Is Orion’s heat shield really safe? New NASA chief conducts final review on eve of flight.

Last week I linked to this Robert Zimmerman piece: Please Take the Crew Off of Artemis II.

But now there’s this from Eric Berger:

After taking the job in Washington, DC, Isaacman asked the engineers who investigated the heat shield issue for NASA, as well as the chair of the independent review team and senior human spaceflight officials, to meet with a handful of outside experts. These included former NASA astronauts Charles Camarda and Danny Olivas, both of whom have expertise in heat shields and had expressed concerns about the agency’s decision-making.

For the sake of transparency, Isaacman also invited two reporters to sit in on the meeting, me and Micah Maidenberg of The Wall Street Journal. We were allowed to report on the discussions without directly quoting participants for the sake of a full and open discussion.

Convened in a ninth-floor conference room at NASA Headquarters known as the Program Review Center, the meeting lasted for more than three hours. Isaacman attended much of it, though he stepped out from time to time to handle an ongoing crisis involving an unwell astronaut on orbit. He was flanked by the agency’s associate administrator, Amit Kshatriya; the agency’s chief of staff, Jackie Jester; and Lori Glaze, the acting associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate. The heat shield experts joined virtually from Houston, along with Orion Program Manager Howard Hu.

Isaacman made it clear at the outset that, after reviewing the data and discussing the matter with NASA engineers, he accepted the agency’s decision to fly Artemis II as planned. The team had his full confidence, and he hoped that by making the same experts available to Camarda and Olivas, it would ease some of their concerns.

Much more at the link.

Isaacman’s transparency — as opposed to those completely redacted documents NASA released under previous management — inspires more confidence in the mission.

SOONER WOULD BE BETTER THAN LATER: Trump Says ‘You’ll Find Out Pretty Soon’ What He’ll Do for Iranian Protestors.

YOU DON’T SAY: Frey says ‘everybody could have done more to prevent fraud’ in Minnesota.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) commented on a recent fraud scandal in his state that has drawn national attention, saying, “You do not hold an entire community, any community, accountable for the actions of individuals.”

“Obviously, everybody could have done more to prevent fraud. And I think that’s a fair point to make. You do more to prevent fraud. And you look what he’s doing right now. He’s setting up a whole bunch of infrastructure to do that. And by the way, look, the fraud’s real. We’ve all got to acknowledge it,” Frey told NBC News’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press,” referencing Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D).

The question is why nobody did something “everybody could have done,” and I’ll just repeat that somebody must have been getting their beaks wet to ignore so much fraud.

HMM: Yes, Renee Good’s Actions Meet the Legal Definition of Domestic Terrorism.

HONESTLY, I REALLY CAN BELIEVE THE BBC:

I really can’t believe the BBC.
They have finally started to talk about Iran, but appear to be looking at it from the Islamic government’s side.
They are quoting President Khamenei’s viewpoint and calling the freedom demonstrators, vandals and saboteurs.
The BBC really are the…

— Mac Wood (@Askrigg_lad) January 9, 2026

NEVER GIVE UP YOUR GUNS: Venezuela’s Brutal Interior Minister Touts the State’s Monopoly on Arms. “Venezuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello runs the colectivos. The US has put a $25 million bounty on his head. Undeterred, he’s bragged on video about the disarmed state of the people in Venezuela, that he says is, ‘contributing to the calm.'”

THE LEFT TOOK NEUROTIC PEOPLE WHO NEEDED A LITTLE HELP AND TURNED THEM INTO SHOCK TROOPS:

“The responsible thing for every Democrat in politics and in the media to do today, right now, is to tell their audiences that it is never okay to assault a cop, it is never okay to impede a federal investigation, and they need to knock it off.” https://t.co/4r7oL2tcAr

— David Marcus (@BlueBoxDave) January 11, 2026

From the replies: “Sadly, @BlueBoxDave they are indirectly recruited and trained. The day Good was shot, a 37 yo woman I know well said, ‘I hope you feel differently when that happens to me.’ She has now joined activist groups and handed her mother an envelope to be opened in the event of death.”