SPACE: This supermassive black hole flung out matter at 134 million mph: ‘On a scale almost too big to imagine.’

Astronomers using XRISM first spotted a brief but intense burst of X-ray radiation erupting from the area around the black hole. A few hours later, XRISM picked up the blast of wind unleashed from the same area racing outward at 134 million miles (216 million kilometers) per hour. XRISM’s instruments measured the speed and structure of the wind and pinpointed its source, while instruments on the XMM-Newton X-ray telescope helped measure the extent of the cosmic storm. Space Research Organization Netherlands astrophysicist Liyi Gu, who is another author of the study, and colleagues say the process that spawned the storm is not much different from the process that causes solar flares and coronal mass ejections from our own sun — just on a gargantuan scale.

“The winds around this black hole seem to have been created as the active galactic nucleus’s tangled magnetic field suddenly ‘untwisted,'” said Guainazzi.

The magnetic field around our sun is a restless thing. It’s constantly in motion, and sometimes its magnetic field lines snap and then reconnect. That violent severing and rejoining kicks off a solar flare, a short burst of radiation from the sun’s surface. The same process often flings a massive glob of plasma (electrically-charged gas particles) out into space.

But the supermassive black hole lurking at the core of NGC 3783 is 30 million times the mass of our humble sun, and the magnetic field writhing around is millions of times stronger, so when its lines snap and reconnect, the resulting flare is an eruption of almost unfathomable power.

Attempt no landings there.

GAVIN MORTIMER: Yes, Europe’s civilization is being erased.

Last week the Trump administration expressed its fear that Europe faces “civilizational erasure.” Its concern was articulated in a 33-page National Security Strategy that outlined Donald Trump’s world view and how America will respond economically and militarily.

The sentence that caused the most reaction on the other side of the pond was the assertion that, if current trends continue, Europe will be “unrecognizable in 20 years or less.” Those trends are mass immigration and what conservative French commentators call the “Islamification” of Europe. If Europe doesn’t address these trends, the Trump administration predicts the continent’s “civilizational erasure.”

Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul issued a tetchy response to the Security Strategy report, claiming his country does not need “outside advice.” Is he sure about that? Last year the chief of police in Berlin, Barbara Slowik, warned Jews and gays to hide their identity in the city’s “Arab neighborhoods.” In France, Jews have been leaving the country in large numbers: 60,000 between 2000 and 2020, which is more than ten percent of the French Jewish community. Since 2023, acts of anti-Semitism have soared by 300 percent, including the burning of synagogues and the beatings of rabbis.

The “civilizational erasure” is also to a large extent self-inflicted, and it is particularly noticeable at this time of year.

Read the whole thing.

DEFINE “SMARTER”: Spending on AI Infrastructure Could Top $1 Trillion in 2026. Will All This Cash Make AI ‘Smarter’?

IT SEEMS LIKE MOST PEOPLE ARE, EXCEPT FOR A MAJORITY OF NYC VOTERS: NYC Mayor Adams Dubious of Mamdani ‘Idealism’ on Homeless.

GOOD: Hopeful Update on Guardsman Andrew Wolfe’s Recovery.

CORN, POPPED:

I look forward to discovery — especially the CAIR finances. Should be illuminating! https://t.co/2ONFTrVnDh

— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) December 9, 2025

WINNING: UK Nurse Scores Court Win After Saying ‘Trans’ Doc Shouldn’t Share Facilities With Her.

THAT WOULD EXPLAIN A LOT: Is Nick Fuentes A Foreign Op? New Evidence Suggests Maybe. “The study analyzed Fuentes’ social media activity. It found engagement patterns the researchers say are consistent with bot-farm amplification rather than genuine audience support. The Network Contagion Research Institute released the report Monday in partnership with Rutgers University’s Social Perception Lab.”

TURNS OUT, THERE’S A LOT OF OPPORTUNITY CREATED WHEN ILLEGAL LABOR IS REMOVED OR DISINCENTIVIZED*:

"Unexpectedly".

They really don't see the booming economy expanding under their feet. It's a great time to make money as most people believe the doomers in the media and aren't prepared for what is happening and what will happen. The smart ones are hiring now before they… https://t.co/eJBjJZby61

— unseen1 (@unseen1_unseen) December 9, 2025

*Who knew?

SARAH ANDERSON: Regime Meltdown: Another High-Ranking Maduro Insider Provides Trump with a Shocking Tell-All.

ROUTINE BUT NEVER BORING: SpaceX launches Starlink satellites on record 32nd re-flight of Falcon 9 rocket.

The company’s Booster 1067 lifted off on Monday (Dec. 8), accelerating an upper stage and 29 broadband internet satellites skyward. The 5:26 p.m. EST (2226 GMT Dec. 8) launch from Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida proceeded as planned after a one-day stand down due to poor weather conditions.

The first stage climbed towards space for about two and a half minutes before separating from the upper stage and then making a propulsive return to Earth. It landed on the autonomous droneship “Just Read the Instructions”, which as stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

The 32nd reuse is another step towards SpaceX’s goal of flying its Falcon 9 first stages 40 times.

I’m so old, I remember when rocket re-use was thought to be nearly impossible, or at least too uneconomic to pursue.

ATHENA THORNE HAS AN EXCELLENT CHRISTMAS LIST: All I Want for Christmas From Team Trump.

ASKING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS: Welfare Fraud In Blue Cities: How Pervasive Is The Kleptocracy?

The Times piece appears to have given the cue to the rest of the liberal establishment that it was now OK to break the omertà previously in effect against covering the Minnesota scandal. Suddenly the story is everywhere.

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the Minnesota story has been the revelation of total abdication by the state’s Governor (Tim Walz) and Attorney General (Keith Ellison) of any role in catching or prosecuting the fraudsters. The frauds occurred in programs largely funded by the federal government, but administered by the State of Minnesota. The State is the one that actually paid the checks to the crooks. Yet all of the investigations and prosecutions have been done by the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s office. It appears that Walz and Ellison could not have been less interested in prosecuting.

One might ask whether allowing fraud like this to fester is actually part of the business model of Walz and Ellison, and of the Democrat-Farmer-Labor Party (as the Democratic Party is known in Minnesota). Somalis are a key voting bloc for Minnesota’s DFL. Of the billion plus dollars of government money going to the fraudsters, might any of it have been diverted to fund DFL electoral activities? Although I haven’t seen specific reporting on this aspect, it is hard to imagine that none of it did.

One hand washes the other.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: JB Pritzker Should Think About Resisting Sandwiches Rather Than Trump. “The Democrats can only demonize ICE by ignoring the preponderance of dangerous people who’ve entered the United States via clinically insane open borders policies. It is, once again, the modern Dem alternative reality approach to, um, governing. It’s mentally unbalanced and it’s getting people hurt and killed.”

JOURNALISM: 100 schoolchildren abducted in Nigeria are released but more are still held.

A total of 100 of the schoolchildren abducted from a Nigerian Catholic school last month and released over the weekend were hosted at a government-organized ceremony on Monday, many of them looking lost but relieved.

Details surrounding their release were not made public and the government has not said if any ransom — common in such abductions — was paid.

At least 303 schoolchildren were seized in Niger state together with 12 of their teachers when gunmen attacked St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri community on Nov. 21. Fifty escaped in the hours that followed and at least 150 are still held, together with the teachers.

The freed schoolchildren arrived at the Niger Government House in the state capital of Minna in several buses accompanied by military trucks. They were then received by officials who hugged and shook hands with some, before posing with them in front of cameras.

Readers might want to know what kind of “gunmen,” but Reuters failed to use the words “Muslim” or “Islamic” in the report.

WOKIFICATION OF EVERYTHING IS MY CONCERN ABOUT NETFLIX CONTROLLING THE ENTIRE WARNER BROS. LIBRARY: Netflix’s New Movie Is Its Wokest and Craziest Yet. “Netflix describes its new movie, Queen of Coal, this way: ‘A trans woman dreams of working the coal mines — but in a town steeped in superstition and patriarchy, Carlita must fight to earn her place underground.’ Yes, this is real. It stars Lux Pascal, who used to be known as Lucas Pascal until he decided that he was really the woman of his dreams. That is a quick path to stardom in Hollywood these days, and so whatever else Lucas/Lux is, he has a good head for business.”

SUBSIDIZING YOUR DESTROYERS: Family of Somalian ISIS Leader Living in Taxpayer-Funded Flat in Britain.

Mumin, known for his red-dyed beard, who is said to have recently been elevated to the supreme commander of ISIS and who is one of the world’s most wanted terrorists, is currently believed to be hiding out in the remote Cal Miskaad mountains of the Puntland region of Somalia as he seeks to marshal Islamist forces under his banner.

Prior to his ascension, the jihadist lived in London between 2003 to 2010. During this time, Mumin met and married a British Somali woman, Muna Abdule, and fathered three children with her. Abdule is believed to be his second of four wives.

While living in London, Mumin was a reportedly a frequent speaker at the Greenwich Mosque, where he is said to have “crossed paths” with fellow terrorists, including “Jihadi John” Mohammed Emwazi, one of the so-called “ISIS Beatles” who oversaw the execution of Western journalists and others in Iraq and Syria.

Another attendee of the mosque at the time was Michael Adebolajo, who later murdered British soldier Lee Rigby near the Royal Artillery Barracks in 2013. Both would-be terrorists are said to have attempted joining Islamist groups in Somalia.

Additionally, Mumin is alleged to have been a regular at several cafes in London where Somalians recruited militants to fight for the al-Shabaab terror network.

Although the would-be ISIS leader left Britain to join the global jihad movement in 2010, his wife and three children remained in the country and are reportedly living off the taxpayer’s dime in a council flat.

We need a complete and total shutdown of the United Kingdom until we can figure out what’s going on.

HMM: Large Group of Pro-Lifers Arrested Outside Memphis Planned Parenthood.

TO BE FAIR, WHICH GRANNIES WERE WE SUPPOSED TO PULL OUT OF THEIR HOMES?

Charlie was killed almost 3 months ago. No Antifa raids. No major network arrests. No financial takedowns. But we have seen a lot more left-wing violence.

Dems were dragging grannies out of their homes almost immediately after J6 and going full CSI: Capitol Hill on anyone who… https://t.co/b0qqBJAN78

— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) December 8, 2025

Snark aside, the Right does need to punch back — but I’m not sure what role Congress has to play here.

DISPATCHES FROM THE BLUE ZONES: DC squatter takes over woman’s property after refusing to check out of Airbnb—police let them stay. “A homeowner in Washington, DC is now fighting to have her home back after a squatter took over the property she had rented as an Airbnb for 32 days, but has yet to leave after months. The alleged squatter, Shadija Romero, has been living in the home since February and police have said there is nothing they can do. The squatter allegedly tried to push the homeowner off a ladder.”

EVERYTHING IS ABSURD: FIFA ‘Pride Match’ Will Feature Two Countries That Ban Homosexuality.

IAN MCCOLLUM: ‘Why The M7 And 6.8x51mm Are Bad Ideas.’ “I’m not enough of an expert to know whether the new M7 U.S. battle rifle chambered in 6.8x51mm is a good idea or not. But I’m pretty sure Ian McCollum is such an expert, and he says it’s a bad idea.”

TO BE FAIR, THAT’S WHAT COMMIES DO: Commie Mamdani Defies Feds, Lies About Illegal Aliens.

BREAKING: Alina Habba Resigns After Woke Court Campaign.

JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS: GLOCK Announces Three New Gen6 Pistols.

Having never written a review of any of the GLOCK pistols, this is a first for me. Not because I haven’t owned, shot or tried GLOCKs, but because I always considered it pretty much like evaluating a hammer. Whether you wanted a tack hammer, a claw hammer or a heavier framing hammer, they are, after all, hammers. They work if you swing them correctly.

That was always my impression of a GLOCK pistol. It was first, last and foremost, a fighting pistol. Like a Bic pen (Google it), it worked…first time, every time. And like a hammer, it offered functionality, but lacked the appeal that would get me queued up in a media line to get a turn running one of their guns.

After spending a day with the people of GLOCK, including their most senior leadership from the U.S. and Austria, I have a new respect for the company and found their new Gen6 pistols to be, for lack of a better word, appealing.

Heh.

I’ve owned Glocks for years, but “appealing” was a word that never once came to mind.