YOU’VE BEEN ROBBED (CALIFORNIA EDITION):

Gavin Newsom now has 8 separate agencies officially designated as “high risk for waste, fraud, abuse, or mismanagement” in California

Roughly $76 billion in fraud, improper payments and mismanagement was discovered by the auditor

Let me repeat that, $76 BILLION

“Representative… pic.twitter.com/2DC1tCGnqc

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) January 2, 2026

Meanwhile, in San Francisco: San Fran mayor signs bill that could give black residents $5M each — but admits city is too broke to pay.

Every time I think SF has hit Peak San Francisco, the city goes and does something like this.

Plus: “A state that never allowed slavery wants to make residents who never owned slaves pay reparations to people who never were slaves.”

UPDATE: “A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. — George Bernard Shaw” (Charlie)

ROBERT SPENCER: Does It Matter Which Book an Official Is Sworn In On? “At a cursory glance, swearing in on the Qur’an doesn’t seem to present any problems. One primary reason, however, why many people object to American officials being sworn in on the Qur’an is because the Islamic holy book teaches values that are vastly different from American and Judeo-Christian values, particularly the necessity for Muslims to wage war against non-Muslims and subjugate them under the hegemony of Islamic law.”

WHAT IN THE ACTUAL HELL DID SHE THINK SHE WAS VOTING FOR?

This isn’t a matter of ‘bad speechwriting.’

The problem is that everything actually is as stupid as it seems.

A lot of middle aged pundits like Filipovic can’t or don’t want to come to terms with this and so they resort to denial and dissembling. https://t.co/LCPyjzYNsy

— Coddled Affluent Professional (@feelsdesperate) January 2, 2026

She wanted a young Castro, she got a young Castro — overlong pseudo-intellectual speeches and everything.

METAPHOR ALERT: Zohran Mamdani fans disappointed by disastrous ‘block party’ with no food or bathrooms.

This “block party” was a bust.

Scores of Zohran Mamdani fans who braved freezing temperatures to celebrate the new mayor as he was publicly sworn into office Thursday were left disappointed by the bash the socialist pol had promised.

Around 10,000 supporters stood outside City Hall during the event — billed as an “Inauguration for a New Era Block Party” by Mamdani’s staff — crammed into several barricaded pens without access to bathrooms or any food concession stands.

“It’s definitely not a block party,” said Danny Mahabir, 30, an Astoria resident who told The Post he’d been expecting a mix of food and music at the New Year’s Day festivities.

Get used to disappointment, Danny.

THIS HASN’T BEEN NEWS FOR MORE THAN TWO DECADES, BUT THE REMINDERS REMAIN IMPORTANT:

Their first instinct is always to go after the reporter not to investigate the issue. Because they’re not journalists, they’re gatekeepers. pic.twitter.com/62zCOVORj0

— Megan Basham (@megbasham) January 1, 2026

The internet has undercut the media’s self-appointed gatekeeper role at least since Matt Drudge breaking the Monica Lewinsky story. But rather than reform, the media keep doing the same old, same old — for shrinking audiences.

NICE WORK: Despite 1347% Increase in Assaults, ICE Had a Historic Year.

CHINA IS ASSHOE:

Having depleted fish stocks in its own coastal waters in the early 2000s, Chinese fishing boats are now destroying fishing stock all across the world.

The destruction in South America by the Chinese fishing vessels is unimaginable.

China now accounted for over 80 percent of… pic.twitter.com/Hzcxu6cyLH

— Isabella Anderson (@IsabellaAn67) December 31, 2025

Pirate ships should be taken as prizes or sunk.

EUROPE: Two dead and church gutted by fire in ‘unprecedented’ New Year’s violence in the Netherlands.

In the southeastern city of Nijmegen, a 17-year-old was killed in an incident involving fireworks shortly after midnight but police have given no further details.

And in the town of Aalsmeer south of the capital Amsterdam, a 38-year-old was killed in another incident involving fireworks which is still being investigated.

Nine Kooiman, the head of the Dutch Police Union, reported an “unprecedented amount of violence against police and emergency services” across the country on New Year’s Eve.
…
Meanwhile, a massive inferno gutted a 19th-century church in Amsterdam. The blaze broke out in the early hours of Thursday at the Vondelkerk, a tourist attraction overlooking one of the city’s top parks since 1872.

The 50-metre-high tower collapsed,and the roof was severely damaged, but the structure was expected to remain intact, Amsterdam authorities said.

The cause of the blaze was not immediately apparent.

Developing…

MORE:

Let me get this straight

– In 1913, zero American families paid income tax.

– In 2025, every family paid income tax, and about 2/3rds of it just covered fraud.

We have become a tax-farm for politicians to enrich themselves and anyone who they can import to vote for them https://t.co/eq7JNFxxN1 pic.twitter.com/XGd46U2pJ2

— Arthur MacWaters (@ArthurMacwaters) January 1, 2026

I’ve written here and at PJ Media for longer than I can remember, that when the middle class finally realizes how badly they’ve been ripped off, anything could happen.

Maybe now they’re starting to wake up.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: WOW — This Year Is Really Flying By. “Today’s flashback episode is from New Year’s Day, 2021. I wanted to see where I was coming out of the Wuhan Chinese Bat Flu pandemic year. It was a bit weirder than I’d remembered. Also, this classic episode features some old Morning Briefing formatting, which I hope brings back fond memories. If anything is triggered, please consult your local electric shock therapist.”

THE MIND REELS:

This is staggering:

– the US collects more income tax than the *entire national budget* of every county except China

– and we lose more in fraud than the entire budget of all but four

So, money is clearly not the issue

Politicians raise taxes not because it’s needed, but… https://t.co/eq7JNFxxN1 pic.twitter.com/MlwJO6vUE1

— Arthur MacWaters (@ArthurMacwaters) January 1, 2026

Reminder: We have a spending problem, not a revenue problem — and a fraud & theft problem equal to a significant fraction of global GDP.

CHANGE: New Trump-ordered immigration restrictions go into effect Jan. 1.

Individuals from seven countries will not be able to travel to the United States starting Thursday, according to updated CBP guidance obtained by ABC News.

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed executive orders limiting travel from Burkina Faso, Laos, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Syria — with those restrictions now going into effect Jan. 1.

This applies to both immigrants and nonimmigrants, according to the CBO document dated Dec. 29.

The White House says the restrictions are for national security and public safety reasons, while immigrant advocates say the ban targets African and Muslim countries.

Both of those things are not only true, they’re inextricably intertwined.

THIS SEEMS CORRECT:

I think the answer to this is 1) class resentment (the haves are enraged by the have-mores) and 2) it’s becoming increasingly difficult for downwardly mobile urban elites to patch together recognizably adult lives.

‘Socialism’ is a both a false promise and a political… https://t.co/oawPJNgJ3S

— Coddled Affluent Professional (@feelsdesperate) January 2, 2026

The Education Apocalypse created all kinds of damage downstream, all of which politically benefitted the same side that created the Education Apocalypse.

ICYMI [VIP]: A Very VodkaPundit Look Back at 2025.

HOW TIMES CHANGE: Illinois’ compact fluorescent bulb ban begins to take effect.

State Rep. Nicholas Smith, D-Chicago, introduced House Bill 2363 in February 2023. Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the measure in August 2024.

The law prohibits the sale and distribution of screw-base and bayonet-base compact fluorescent lamps. Restrictions on pin-base compact fluorescent and linear fluorescent lamps are set to begin in 2027.

HB 2363’s Senate sponsor, state Sen. Adriane Johnson, D-Buffalo Grove, said toxic pollutants in fluorescent bulbs pose a health risk.
…
When “An Inconvenient Truth” documentary was released in 2006, former Vice President Al Gore encouraged Americans to replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents. Many environmental groups also promoted CFLs.

They also produce terrible light, require a warmup to come to full brightness, and the dimmable models are a joke.

Not sure there’s still a market left for them big enough worth banning.

But governments do love banning things, so there’s that.

LOL, CNN: CNN Humiliates Itself With Hilarious Attempt at ‘Investigative Journalism.’

WELL, WHEN YOU PUT IT THAT WAY…:

I got to work in a hard hat so Lisa Murkowski can give $600,000 to her buddy’s coffee shop https://t.co/CJVzLse8FO

— Oilfield Rando (@Oilfield_Rando) December 31, 2025

DAVID IS TOO KIND HERE:

Well, "Marxism Tonight," Woodrow Wilson literally imprisoned Eugene Debs, his Socialist opponent in the 1912 election, under the Alien & Sedition Act for making anti-war speeches in 1918, you illiterate retard https://t.co/HyXkxoIrCz

— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) December 31, 2025

UPDATE (From Ed): The Hater’s Guide to Woodrow Wilson. “I come now not to explain Wilson, but to hate him. A national consensus on hating Wilson is long overdue. It is the patriotic duty of every decent American. While conservatives have particular reasons to detest Wilson, and all his works, and all his empty promises, there is more than enough in his record for moderates, liberals, progressives, libertarians, and socialists to join us in this great and unifying cause.”

FIGHTING TRIM: Navy doubles annual PT test requirement, updates failure guidelines. “The new policy also stipulates that sailors who fail three physical fitness assessments within four years will be processed for administrative separation, whereas the previous policy stated that two or more consecutive PFA failures would lead to the administrative separation process.”

DIMINISHED LEFTY INFLUENCE, GOOD. HAVING THEM COME BACK TO X… YUCK:

Blooosky is coming back to Twitter.

Big cultural defeat. They didn’t have any gravitational pull and they became nearly invisible when they left.

Libs’ cultural power is dramatically diminished and will have to face a new reality that contradicts their bloated self importance. https://t.co/ed2Xl42meI

— Coddled Affluent Professional (@feelsdesperate) December 31, 2025

STEAK, LIKE BEER, IS PROOF THAT GOD LOVES YOU AND WANTS YOU TO BE HAPPY: In Defense of Steak: Listen to Your Body, not the Bug People.

YES. NEXT QUESTION? Is it time for trade school?

Gen Z workers are turning to skilled trades jobs, reports Sophia Hernandez for NBC6 in South Florida. While Gen Z workers are 14 percent of the workforce, they were nearly one in four hires in skilled trades jobs last year, according to Gusto.

Arturo Rodriguez, 20, is apprenticing as an industrial electrician with Horsepower Electric after completing lineman and electrical classes at Miami Dade College North. He takes pride in his work. “If I do something and I, I wired it up or I do it from scratch, I enjoy doing that and knowing that I did that on myself or with the help of somebody,” he said. He’s getting paid while he trains.

Forty-two percent of Gen Zers are working in or pursuing a blue-collar or skilled trade job, including 37% of those with a bachelor’s degree, according to a May survey by Resume Builder. Men are much more likely than women to choose blue-collar careers.

So much of GenZ — and I don’t just say this because both my sons are members — seems to have looked at the changing landscape, adjusted accordingly, and gone to work without much complaint.

THAT WOULD EXPLAIN A LOT, ACTUALLY: Did God Send Islam to PUNISH Mankind?

As I never tire of reminding people, I always learn a lot from Raymond Ibrahim’s video podcasts.

TEXAS: Musk Backs Wilco GOP Chair In Tranny Bathroom Wars. “Via Holly Hansen in The Texan News comes a culture war skirmish that checks off a lot of this blog’s interest boxes: Williamson County GOP Chair Michelle Evans had her phone seized documenting a man using the women’s restroom, and now she has a powerful ally in the war against transsexual madness.”

WHAT DO YOU GET WHEN YOU COMBINE STATE CORRUPTION WITH NEW DEAL WRONG-HEADEDNESS? YOU GET GAVIN NEWSOM’S CALIFORNIA:

I for one am SHOCKED 😱😐 pic.twitter.com/RMdvBFn88q

— CCP IS ASSHOE (@CCPISASSH0E) December 30, 2025