IT ISN’T REALLY ABOUT DENZEL: Washington’s Spending Train Is ‘Unstoppable.’

IT’S COMPLICATED: The H-1B Scam. “I think the $100,000 via application fee should kill most (but not all) the abuses. Another reform could be to set a minimum threshold of a $150,000 salary for an H-1B job, which will probably price Cousin Sanjay out of the market. And more scrutiny from the three agencies involved in the H-1B process (Departments of Labor, Homeland Security and State) should help cut down the chain migration problem.”

Lots of good info at the link.

WAIT, WUT? Illegal Alien Policeman Busted by ICE… Returns to Duty?!

SPACE: Sugars, ‘Gum,’ Stardust Found in NASA’s Asteroid Bennu Samples.

The asteroid Bennu continues to provide new clues to scientists’ biggest questions about the formation of the early solar system and the origins of life. As part of the ongoing study of pristine samples delivered to Earth by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer) spacecraft, three new papers published Tuesday by the journals Nature Geosciences and Nature Astronomy present remarkable discoveries: sugars essential for biology, a gum-like substance not seen before in astromaterials, and an unexpectedly high abundance of dust produced by supernova explosions.

Scientists led by Yoshihiro Furukawa of Tohoku University in Japan found sugars essential for biology on Earth in the Bennu samples, detailing their findings in the journal Nature Geoscience. The five-carbon sugar ribose and, for the first time in an extraterrestrial sample, six-carbon glucose were found. Although these sugars are not evidence of life, their detection, along with previous detections of amino acids, nucleobases, and carboxylic acids in Bennu samples, show building blocks of biological molecules were widespread throughout the solar system.

For life on Earth, the sugars deoxyribose and ribose are key building blocks of DNA and RNA, respectively. DNA is the primary carrier of genetic information in cells. RNA performs numerous functions, and life as we know it could not exist without it. Ribose in RNA is used in the molecule’s sugar-phosphate “backbone” that connects a string of information-carrying nucleobases.

It’s almost as though the solar system was wired to produce life.

GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY:

USPS EV fleet behind schedule with $3B in taxpayer funds spent — and only 612 trucks built https://t.co/0vJI3TJ2DK pic.twitter.com/amrTr3vSO2

— New York Post (@nypost) December 2, 2025

It’s a Biden-era program, so good luck figuring out where the money really went.

I CAN IMAGINE QUITE A BIT: Imagine There’s No Socialists. I Wonder If You Can.

DUCK AND COVER: Scientists discover 53 powerful quasars shooting out jets up to 50 times wider than our Milky Way. “These monster objects, known as Giant Radio Quasars, are part of a clutch of 369 radio quasars recently discovered by Indian astronomers in data collected by the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT), an array of 30 parabolic dishes located near Pune, India, as part of the TIFR GMRT Sky Survey (TGSS). The TGSS covered around 90% of the celestial sphere above Earth, with the telescope’s wide-sky coverage and high sensitivity making it the ideal instrument to spot distant gigantic radio-emitting structures like Giant Radio Quasars.”

BACK TO THAT TENNESSEE SPECIAL ELECTION ONE MORE TIME:

Some will be mad at me for this but I say it out of love for our country… We won the TN special election by less than we should have.

If you’ve been to this area, you know it should have been a blowout. And this isn’t a knock on Matt Van Epps. He had lower name ID to begin with…

— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) December 3, 2025

Key takeaway: “We need to right the ship or voters will sink our ship in 2026. Enthusiasm from 2024 is gone. The blind trust is gone. They want action. The people in Congress need to realize that they aren’t Trump and he isn’t there to carry them on the ballot in 2026. They need to deliver now. And even then we likely have to run ‘26 like a Presidential election with Trump going around the country.”

A special election with a radical and unappealing Dem in an R+10 district should have been a blowout, but Democrats are angry and energized — while the RNC seems largely oblivious. The RNC needs to wake up, because not even Trump can be everywhere and do everything.

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): A friend writes:

You know what I think people are missing about the special election in TN? Not unlike NYC, Nashville is now filled with both 20somethings who really cannot afford to live there and are susceptible to all this affordability nonsense and blue state migrants who are gonna import their politics. Both are more highly motivated to vote in these special elections. As for the former: elite overproduction is a thing. Lots of these 25 yo folks who hit all the marks and got their NYU degree are pissed when they look around and see some dude who went to Alabama or Tennessee and studied accounting or see trades people earning more than they are tending bar. Then I think their impulse is to go into politics and figure out how to expropriate it.

Yes.

I WONDER IF THOSE OLD WEAPONS PIPELINES ARE STILL UP AND RUNNING: Is Ireland About to Erupt Into a Civil War Over ‘Illegal Immigration’?

SCHLICHTER EXPLAINS IT ALL:

Long explainer:

Let’s examine the emerging “scapegoat” narrative, because it demonstrates the true objective of the Democrat/Regime Media/Fredocon axis – to hurt Trump politically and to stop the changing of the Pentagon from a leftist-supporting social pathology Petri dish back…

— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) December 2, 2025

A bit more:

Let’s examine the emerging “scapegoat” narrative, because it demonstrates the true objective of the Democrat/Regime Media/Fredocon axis – to hurt Trump politically and to stop the changing of the Pentagon from a leftist-supporting social pathology Petri dish back into a patriotic war-fighting force that can effectively prevent the eventual color revolution they are working toward.

At the threshold, let’s understand that there was nothing illegal here. Even under the facts as alleged, which change as they keep shifting the goalposts, there was no violation of the law of war. There was no violation of any Geneva Convention, not least because no Geneva Convention applies here. So, everything I say here is simply taking their story du jour and testing it to see if it makes internal sense. It does not, because it’s all baloney. They don’t care. It’s the lie that’s important.

So, just last week, we had a bunch of Democrats claiming they were just helpfully explaining to our troops that our troops cannot follow illegal orders. The whole basis is that you were going to be issued an illegal order by some Trump higher-up, and that you should disobey it because it’s illegal. This was part of a narrative to tee-up the current fake scandal.

Read the whole thing.

SHE IS TRULY AWFL:

This is going to shock you, but after she lost, Aftyn Behn called up Van Epps and nagged him.

This may be the most AWFL thing I’ve ever seen. And I saw that clip from Jennifer Welch’s podcast yesterday. https://t.co/HpEsvrU9iU

— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) December 3, 2025

“Hey, I know the people chose you, but do what I would have done if they’d have chosen me.”

Related:

Dem candidate: I hate Nashville!

Nashville: pic.twitter.com/i0kTbRF5ha

— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) December 3, 2025

And what’s with her shirt? Was she trying to disguise herself as someone who doesn’t hate Nashville? Nashville Dems voted for her regardless, so I suppose they hate Nashville, too.

Previously: Crazy Tennessee Dem Has Meltdown, Runs for Congress, Won’t Win, Will Blame Patriarchy.

DANCING WITH TEARS IN HIS EYES: This Dude Does a Lot of Dancing for Someone With a $50 Million Bounty on His Head.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Chinese reusable booster explodes during first orbital test, in failed bid to catch SpaceX.

A private Chinese space firm successfully sent its Zhuque-3 rocket to orbit but failed in its historic attempt to re-land the rocket booster Wednesday – the first such trial by a Chinese firm as the country’s growing commercial space sector races to catch up with American rivals like SpaceX.

Beijing-based LandSpace, one of the sector’s leading firms, launched its Zhuque-3 rocket into space from a remote, desert launch site in northwestern China.

The rocket entered orbit as planned, but its first stage – the portion of the vehicle that propels it at liftoff – did not successfully return to a landing site, instead crashing down, the company said in a statement.

“An anomaly occurred after the first-stage engine ignited during the landing phase, preventing a soft landing on the designated recovery pad,” the statement said. “The debris landed at the edge of the recovery area, resulting in a failed recovery test.”

Space is hard. Recovery is harder.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: There’s a Lot of Entertainment Value in Mark Kelly’s Implosion. “I have been watching Kelly closely for five years now, and I’m still surprised at the fact that a former fighter pilot and astronaut can be such a mediocrity. His two Senate campaigns consisted mostly of ‘I’M AN ASTRONAUT!’ and some blather about how much his parents loved him. His time in office hasn’t exactly made him stand out. He fits the standard modern Dem mold, which values grandstanding and publicity stunts over crafting coherent policy. “

DRILL, BABY, DRILL: Responding to pressure from US, International Energy Agency forecast sees no end to oil demand.

The International Energy Agency appears to have bowed to threats from the U.S. to pull its funding if the agency didn’t realign its forecasting toward unbiased, policy-neutral projections.

In the middle of the COP30 United Nations Climate Change Conference last month, the agency released its annual “World Energy Outlook.” Unlike previous iterations, the report doesn’t base its forecasts of future oil demand on scenarios that assume nations’ commitments to net-zero emissions by 2050 will be met.

As a result of the change in forecasting, the agency no longer predicts “peak oil,” a century-old theory that the world will stop using petroleum because either it runs out or transitions to other technologies.

Cool. Now do nuclear power.

ICYMI: Just When You Thought Tom Nichols Couldn’t Possibly Go Fuller Tom Nichols. “This is where your Friendly Neighborhood VodkaPundit blinked harder than Marty Feldman during a gnat infestation.”

“SAFETY”: India tells smartphone makers to put state-run cyber safety app on new devices.

India has ordered all new smartphones to come pre-loaded with a state-run cybersecurity app, sparking privacy and surveillance concerns.

Under the order – passed last week but made public on Monday – smartphone makers have 90 days to ensure all new devices come with the government’s Sanchar Saathi app, whose “functionalities cannot be disabled or restricted”.

It says this is necessary to help citizens verify the authenticity of a handset and report the suspected misuse of telecom resources.

The move – which comes in one of the world’s largest phone markets, with more than 1.2 billion mobile users – has been criticised by cyber experts, who say it breaches citizens’ right to privacy.

Under the app’s privacy policy, it can make and manage phone calls, send messages, access call and message logs, photos and files as well as the phone’s camera.

“In plain terms, this converts every smartphone sold in India into a vessel for state mandated software that the user cannot meaningfully refuse, control, or remove,” advocacy group Internet Freedom Foundation said in a statement.

That’s bad enough, but then there’s this:

Amid the growing criticism, India’s Minister of Communications Jyotiradtiya Scindia has clarified that mobile phone users will have the option to delete this app if they don’t want to use it.

“This is a completely voluntary and democratic system – users may choose to activate the app and avail its benefits, or if they do not wish to, they can easily delete it from their phone at any time,” he wrote on X.

The minister did not, however, clarify how this would be done if the app’s functions cannot be disabled or restricted.

Simple: He’s lying.

Will Delhi’s mandate crater the market for new phones, or will they figure out how to force the tracking app on existing phones, too?

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU CODDLE MENTAL CONDITIONS INSTEAD OF TREATING THEM: TSA Agent Who Say’s He’s a Woman Claims ‘Civil Right’ to Grope Women.

IT ISN’T JUST THE AIRLINES NICKEL AND DIMING YOU TO DEATH ANYMORE: TSA announces $45 fee for travelers with no REAL ID. “This fee is part of the agency’s next phase of the REAL ID implementation process and will require individuals to verify their identity through a biometric or biographic system if they don’t have a compliant form of identification before they’re permitted to cross through the checkpoint.”

ICYMI: NYT to WaPo: You Lied About Hegseth. “Everything I emphasized contradicts the WaPo’s sensationalist claims from last week. And, in journalistic terms, those three paragraphs amount to the NYT calling WaPo liars. I’d add that ‘sensationalist claims,’ in VodkaPundit terms, amounts to ‘WaPo either lied or was lied to and didn’t care.'”

HERO: ‘High-G maneuvers’ amid enemy missiles earn USAF pilot Silver Star.

An Air Force squadron commander who led a history-making deployment to the Middle East was recently presented with the military’s third-highest combat award for combat heroism that reads like a Blockbuster movie script.

Lt. Col. William “Skate” Parks, who commanded the 480th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron out of Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, until earlier this year, received the Silver Star at the Pentagon on Wednesday in recognition of a high-risk flight on March 27 that helped save the lives of his wingmen as well as his own from the urgent threat of running out of fuel, in addition to incoming enemy missiles.

The 480th EFS was designated in 2010 with one of the Air Force’s rarer and more risky missions: Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses, or SEAD. As the only squadron in Air Forces Europe and Africa performing SEAD, it destroys, spoofs and subverts enemy ground-based air defenses, such as surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft guns.

While Air Force releases and Parks’ award citation do not specify where the squadron was operating in the Middle East at the time, the timeframe aligns with Operation Rough Rider, a series of strikes against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Read the whole thing.

ALWAYS LEAVE’EM LAUGHING:

🚨 LMFAO! President Trump making everyone crack up right now as he DUNKS on the Fake News 🤣

"I sit here and do 4 news conferences, I ask questions from VERY intelligent LUNATICS – you people." 😭

"You always find something new! Like, 'Is he in good health? BIDEN was great,… pic.twitter.com/YBv5If4Qwl

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 2, 2025

ASK A PR PRO: MAGA at the Crossroads: With Record-Low Approval Ratings, How Does Trump Roar Back?

Although to be fair, I’m not sure how much I buy into the record-low ratings.

THE LEFT DOES LOVE ITS VIOLENCE — SELECTIVELY, OF COURSE:

"If you don't want to be the target of violence don't do the thing I oppose" is applied with a selectiveness that curiously tends to whitewash the violent criminals rather than protect and honor the law-abiding.

— Sunny (@sunnyright) December 2, 2025

WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG? Macron proposes ‘labelling’ for ‘reliable’ news outlets. “Speaking to readers of the Ebra press group on November 28, a conglomerate that owns nine regional outlets across France, Macron insisted labelling news organisations amounts to a ‘democratic duty.'”

If government officials don’t tell the people what information is reliable, they might not elect the correct government officials.