Happy New Year

Worlds LARGEST firework set off over Japan.pic.twitter.com/1gGmpqj3Kf

— DramaAlert (@DramaAlert) January 1, 2026

Hollywood in 2025

People have different takes, and Critical Drinker took some time to highlight the good movies in 2025, such as F1: The Movie, but what sticks with me the most is the list of bad movies. There were quite a few in 2025

In particular the universal reaction to Snow White and the Seven CGI Abominations marked the low point of 2025. I think the Drinker said it best, when he gave the movie a lifetime Achievement Award for Biggest Lolcow Movie of the Year..

Let's begin with The Critical Drinker's video is The Best And Worst Of 2025 (20 minutes)

This is the Nerdrotic video Top 5 Hollywood DISASTERS of 2025. (35 minutes) And of course, since it is Nerdrotic, the "Top 5" include 6 movies that stank up the place last year.

Despot of Antrim was one of the first out of the gate, and I covered his take with The Horrible Movies of 2025

It seems to be the consensus that the movie theater is on its way out. People are not going to the theater. I think they could revive the theater experience if they went back to 90 minute movies, shown for a reasonable price. 3 hours is too long to sit in a theater. 3 hours needs to be in your own home, with a pause button, steps away from the fridge. 3 hour movies are also too long for dinner and a movie. That was the standard date for a couple of generations. These extra long movies make that impossible, or at least impractical.

More Self-Defense in California

It really is catching on. Woman shoots attacker in self-defense in Stockton, police say

When [police] arrived at the scene, they found a 41-year-old female victim who had been beaten up by the suspect, and then she shot him in self-defense.

He will live to face charges.

SPD reported that officers arrested [the bad guy] for torture, assault with a deadly weapon, and child abuse.

So first he got shot, and then he was arrested. I'm guessing that is not how he planned his afternoon.

This sounds like a domestic-violence attack to me, but that isn't specified anywhere in the article.

Self-defense is a human right. Good Guys 1, Bad Guys 0.

Is The Mainstream Media Hoping Nick Shirley Gets Killed?

He is doing what the MSM refuses to do. Namely, investigative journalism. Reporter launches thinly veiled threat against journalist Nick Shirley who exposed Somali daycare fraud * WorldNetDaily * by Harold Hutchison, Daily Caller News Foundation

Politico senior legal affairs reporter Josh Gerstein claimed in a Monday post on X that citizen journalists investigating Somali scammers could be shot under "stand your ground" laws, which some commenters viewed as a threat.

Well that proves 2 things. One is that Political senior legal affairs reporter has absolutely no clue what "Stand Your Ground" laws actually say, and the other is that he's a no-class hack.

Minnesota is not a "stand your ground" state, according to the United States Concealed Carry Association, but instead has imposed a "duty to retreat" before using force.

OK, 3 things. Gerstein also has shown his complete lack of ability to do a simple web search on Stand Your Ground laws.

Hat tip to MaddMedic at Freedom Is Just Another Word...

Because he is doing what your puppet master’s won’t allow you to do? Actual reporting?

The Minnesota Judges Who Side With Somali Fraud

Are we shocked? Liberals don't believe in Law and Order. They believe in identity politics and social justice, which has nothing to do with real Justice. Come meet the Minnesota judges who have dismissed and overturned recent Somali fraud cases | Not the Bee

Meet three AWFL (Affluent, white, female, liberal) Minnesota judges who are making headlines for the most predictable reasons imaginable.

These ladies have recently dismissed cases against Somali fraudsters in Minnesota, even overturning jury verdicts, allowing the immigrants stealing millions from Americans and Minnesotans to walk free.

Read the whole thing.

Wednesday Link Roundup - New Year's Eve Edition

William Teach at Pirate's Cove is up first with Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

Theo Spark has Democrat cupcakes.
This ain’t Hell… has your feel good stories. And Boomer’s Sunday.

Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 12.30.25 (Afternoon Edition)

Dr. Mauser: Whose Safety?
The Bugscuffle Gazette: When you import the Third World

EBL - Brigitte Bardot : RIP

Instapundit: No Pasaran: Brigette Bardot, RIP
“Women get more unhappy the more they try to liberate themselves.” Brigitte Bardot

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 29 December 2025: Unflow Edition

As AI gobbles up chips, prices for devices may rise. (NPR)
Thanks NPR. Always with the timely news of things that happened two months ago.

Gates of Vienna - News Feed 12/28/2025

With New Year’s Eve just days away, a newly released U.S. government threat assessment cited by New York local outlet ABC 7 NY warns that lone wolves and small terror cells may seek to target special events in Times Square

Small Dead Animals - Saturday On Turtle Island

The Democratic Party’s America: Victor Davis Hanson – The war on white men. The New Yorker is upset. A takeover of Christmas. Islamic Caliphate of Minnesota.
Conman Carney’s Canada: Alberta parental rights. School board spin. Carney’s daughter.

Don Surber - HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK

ITEM 14: Breitbart reported, “Justice Department Ends Clinton Rule Giving Welfare to Migrants.”
It always go back to Jeff Epstein’s buddy.

Vlad Tepes - Hi Ho Silver, Saudis on Qatar, Daily rage videos, Helen Grus video and more: Links 1 for December 29th, 2025

3. Just a few fast rage-bait headlines showing illegal (I don’t care what piece of paper they have. Paper citizenship is a derivative and a narrative attack on the people of a nation state) Muslim migrants in the West.

Again from Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 12.30.25 (Evening Edition)

Shark Tank: Byron Donalds Rips Tampon Timmy Over Day Care Fraud Allegations
Shot In The Dark: Civics

The Glibertarians - Monday Morning Links

California presses wealth tax despite national unpopularity, billionaires threats to flee
California Drops Suit Against Trump Administration for Pulling Funding for High-Speed Train

Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog - Russia vs. NATO Video Roundup

First up: Cappy Army on NATO beefing up it’s defensive line against Russia:
“NATO is racing to build a multi-billion dollar 2,000 mile long defensive line that stretches across the entire European continent.”

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 29 December 2025: Unflow Edition

Memory prices are expected to increase another 45% in 2026. (Notebook Check)
Laptop prices are expected to increase by 20% to account for this - or I should say predicted to increase by 20%, because I expect far worse.

Cafe Hayek - Some Links

Andrew Stuttaford warns of how nanny-staters, intoxicated with their own supposed moral superiority, are tendentiously using the concept of “externalities” to justify policies to restrict Americans’ access to alcohol.

A View from the Beach - Flotsam and Jetsam - 'Simoleans for Somalians' is Still the Story

From Da Caller, Kash Patel Says FBI Investigation Into Alleged Minnesota Fraud Will Broaden As New Details Emerge. At PM, FBI threatens to denaturalize, deport Somali scammers in Minnesota.

J.J. Sefton at Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report — 12/29/25

Kurt Schlichter: And also to Canada, which is becoming a maple-flavored dictatorship.
America Should Grant Political Asylum to Victims of European Tyranny

Doug Ross - Larwyn’s Linx: Why is Ilhan Omar's Husband's Investment Firm Removing Names From Their Website?

• The EU just had its battle of Adrianople, expect some change - Carl Deconinck • EU leaders pledge unfaltering support for Ukraine before Trump talks Sonya - CIESNIK

Anonymous Conservative - News Briefs – 12/30/2025

Another Somalia Immigrant scam uncovered – Somalians are creating fake transportation companies. They pretend to take people to and from appointments, but not a single one ever has a passenger.

I leave you with Monday Memes … from MaddMedic, Sunday Funnies from Flopping Aces, Monday Memes from Granite Grok, Quick Hits Of Wisdom, Knowledge And Snark #3264 from 90 Miles from Tyranny, and Fucking Mondays..... gifdump from Wirecutter.

2025 Self-Defense Shootings in the News

At least Fox News is presenting self-defense in a positive light. 2025 self-defense shootings: Americans fight back against attackers

Church security guard, donut shop owner, homeowners among those who used guns to stop would-be attackers

They only highlight a handful of cases, but it is better than ignoring them completely, as most of the media does.

The most famous incident from the year, that they include in the list, was from June.

A church security officer gunned down a Michigan man in June, successfully stopping him from opening fire on dozens of worshippers celebrating Sunday services.

Brian Browning, 31, was armed with an AR-15-style rifle and 500 rounds of ammunition when he arrived at CrossPointe Community Church for Sunday morning services in Wayne, Michigan, on June 22, 2025, according to FOX 2.

Click thru for the complete list.

Chicago Mayor's Policies Harm Black Residents of the City

It is funny how when you concentrate on "doing something" that "sounds good," you often end up with policies that don't ACTUALLY do Good. From the Chicago Contrarian we get a hard look at crime, and other issues, in Chicago. Chicago Mayor’s Anti-Black Agenda

Mayor Johnson has consistently minimized Chicago’s crime and violence crisis. Although murders and shootings have declined since the peak of the COVID pandemic, Chicago still reported over 28,000 violent crimes in 2024, with aggravated assaults reaching a 20-year high. Chicago once again will lead the nation in the number of murders, shootings, school age youth murdered and shot, and mass shootings.

Black Chicagoans shoulder most of the burden of violent crime, as 75 percent of murder victims and shooting victims are Black, and Black women, who make up just over 15 percent of the city’s population, comprise over 30 percent of violent crime victims.

The linked article isn't only a look at crime of course, though there is plenty of crime in Chicago. The transit system, is basically not safe today, picking one example, not at random.

But the educational system in that city is deteriorating. It wasn't that good to start with, but it is getting worse.

Then there are the fees, fines, and taxes that routinely hit the poorer residents of the city harder than other parts of the city.

And then there is basic health of the city.

Contaminated drinking water is a slow-moving epidemic in Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods.

And there is still more. Click thru for the details.

Here Come All The Memories

Sicksense is an American nu metal band out of Phoenix. I found them during the lockdowns, mostly because Alissa White-Gluz, who is now lead singer for Arch Enemy, had been lead singer for that band. I haven't heard enough of Sicksense to know if I'm going to like them, but I do like this song. They are listed as Nu Metal, which a lot of people don't like; it can be a bit on the commercial side - also known as bland, as metal goes.

This is "Here Come All The Memories" by Sicksense from their March 2025 album Cross Me Twice. And while they are a Metal band, we are not on Monday with Metal for Mondays, because this song is more on lacking in screaming guitars and thundering drums. I'm sure we will listen to one of their harder songs eventually.

New Year's Eve is upon us, and it seems like a time people review the year. So this song seems as appropriate as anything.

Tuesday Links - 30 December

Clayton Cramer starts things rolling with Ken Burns' American Revolution

Also surprising was his postscript about the Bill of Rights mentions "the right to keep and bear arms." Not in a militia, not as allowed by public safety, and not even ignored. I guess this constitutes progress.

William Teach at Pirate's Cove - Judge Says Hawaii’s Tax On Cruise Ships Is Great

Let’s see what happens to the economy of Hawaii, see if the peasants enjoy the fallout. And, anyhow, if the doomsday cultists in Hawaii hate fossil fuels, why not ban cruise ships, gas powered boats, airplanes, and helicopters?

Impro Guns - Making DIY ammunition from blanks in Germany

Combining 9mm PAK blanks with 9mm big bore airgun pellets for use in 3D Printed guns.

Again from Clayton Cramer - Nothing As Entertaining As Watching Eurocrats Defend Censorship

I suspect many Europeans still support free speech. Their governments not so much.

Andy Ngo from Ngo Comment - Portland’s Most Violent Antifa Rioter Urges More Killings from Prison Blog

Malik Fard Muhammad — now incarcerated ... for multiple counts of attempted murder tied to firebombing attacks — is using a supporter-run blog to praise the assassination of Charlie Kirk and to encourage more politically motivated killings

Again from William Teach - Wacko On Meth Steals Washington State Trooper’s Cruiser

One has to wonder, if a lieutenant operates so poorly, what about the rest? Is she an aberration, someone who just flouts the rules, doesn’t care about them? Did she fail upwards? Do the others operate so poorly?

Doug Ross - Infographic: Tim Walz and the Somalis

What happens if you combine Somalis with good old Democrat Corruption?

Wombat-socho - FMJRA 2.0: Stuck In The Ruts

If you’re interested in dipping your toes into Dynasty League Baseball, Pete has a once-a-week league starting with the 1999 season. Let me know in the comments if you’re interested.

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 27 December 2025: Agglomeration Of Suck Edition

Is it a bubble? Let's ask the money men lending billions to build these AI datacenters.

They say yes. (New York Times) (archive site)

9.25% interest rates for commercial construction loans that supposedly have paying customers lined up?

Yeah, they're not convinced.

Holly MathNerd - Everything is Exhausting

The same tool that confidently hallucinates legal citations and invents book titles is, depending on who you ask, either our savior or our extinction event.

This is not a serious position.

It’s an anxiety response with a sci-fi aesthetic.

Again from Wombat-socho - Rule 5 Sunday: Probably Not Mrs. Santa

We’re willing to accept a reasonable facsimile.

The Other McCain - Game of the Year!

If you weren’t watching Sunday night’s game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Chicago Bears, you missed on of the greatest games in NFL history.

Self-Defense Is Legal in Kentucky

Even on a university campus. Grand jury returns no true bill for man charged in fatal KSU shooting

A grand jury declined to indict the man charged in connection to the deadly shooting at Kentucky State University, the Franklin County Circuit Court Clerk's office confirmed Dec. 23.

The leaders of KSU seem distraught that self-defense is a thing in Kentucky.

According to an arrest citation, Bard was involved in "a physical altercation" on campus, during which he "produced a handgun and shot two other individuals." He is the father of two baseball players at the university, and visited the campus Dec. 9 to discuss his children's safety following a previous altercation involving one of his sons, Danks confirmed to The Courier Journal.

Since he was then involved in a self-defense incident, his concern about safety on campus would seem to be justified.

And I'm sure that Mr. Bard's race had absolutely nothing to do with his arrest. It had to do with his having to defend himself on a college campus. It has been law in Kentucky permitting concealed carry on public campuses in Kentucky since a state Supreme Court decision.

Self-defense is a human right. It is your legal right in Kentucky, even on college campuses, though the educational, powers-that-be hate that.

Is the Media Biased in Favor of Democrats?

Since the Mainstream Media seems to be more interested in proving there is nothing really, to the Minnesota fraud, than reporting on it, alternative forms of reporting have to fill the gap. Pulitzer Committee Furious After Guy With Camera Does Journalism By Leaving His House

Minnesota’s latest integrity initiative exploded into the open this week when a Vice Presidential thumbs up for a YouTube exposé replaced the Pulitzer Prize as America’s gold standard for journalism, sources have confirmed.

As the Minnesota Scandal continues to unravel, several Minnesota residents like Nick Shirley have gone out to report what’s really going on, since local media and their local and state government have spent so much time trying to cover it up.

Click thru for some of the insanity. (Hat tip to Madd Medic at Freedom Is Just Another Word…)

The Holiday Weekend in Chicago

From HeyJackass! we get the crime stats from Chicago. X-Mass Shooting Weekend

This year will be more inline with the ghosts of Christmases near-present than the ghosts of Christmases with summer-like numbers and winter-like temperatures.

Final X-Mass Tally: 5 killed, 21 wounded
2024 Christmas tally: 3 killed, 20 wounded*
2023 Christmas tally: 4 killed, 20 wounded
2022 Christmas tally: 5 killed, 17 wounded

While the year of the Lockdowns, and the summer of Floyd (not Pink Floyd) is high, the last truly high year was 2016.

Click thru to links to several stories, including one of Brandon's Bodies, being counted over at CWB Chicago.

The Bee

Amorphis is a Melodeath (Melodic Death Metal), or Heavy Metal band out of Finland. I found them, the way I do so many bands, via one of the streaming services that suggest new music, based on what I have been listening to. Probably Tidal, though maybe a different service.

Here's a link to the lyrics, because Death Metal.

This song is "The Bee" by Amorphis from their 2018 album Queen of Time. And full disclosure: it contains a fair amount of the Death Metal, Death Growl.

A Miguel Gonzalez Musical Interlude

Miguel has a Musical Interlude every Sunday. Sunday Repose

Click thru for Ian Gillan, Rick Wakeman & Steve Howe performing their cover of "Light My Fire" from Light My Fire: A Classic Rock Salute to the Doors.

This is an album I knew nothing about before Sunday.

[It] is a tribute album dedicated to the Doors. It was produced by Yes member Billy Sherwood and it features Ian Gillan, Todd Rundgren, Steve Hillage and many others. It was released on June 24, 2014, by Purple Pyramid Records.

Billy Sherwood is the current bassist for Yes, Ian Gillan and Rick Wakeman were both members of Yes back in the day. Steve Hillage is a guitarist who has been in several Canterbury progressive and psychedelic rock bands.

I will have to delve into this album.

Terror Plot in Los Angeles

Those mostly peaceful Leftists were at it again. Turtle Island Liberation Front terrorists plotted to detonate weapons of mass destruction across LA: feds | New York Post

Two suspects in a far-left “anti-capitalist, anti-government” extremist group known as the “Turtle Island Liberation Front” were charged Tuesday with plotting to detonate weapons of mass destruction in and around Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve in a bombshell grand jury indictment.

The FBI — with the help of a confidential informant and undercover agent — disrupted the planned attack, which was designed to “completely pulverize” tech companies and logistics firms around LA before targeting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents with a series of shootings and pipe-bomb explosions, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Click thru for the details.

In total, 4 people were charged.

They each face charges related to the terrorist plot and all are being held without bail.

I read yet another article, over the holiday, about how far-right violence is the thing everyone should worry about. Media bias? There's no media bias.

More Guns, Less Crime

The Left wants you to be afraid of guns and crime. Probably others as well. Fear makes it easy to control people. Disarming people makes it easy to control them. Deflating Another Gun Control Bogeyman

First of all, the term "Gun Violence" is in itself a problem.

Violence is violence regardless of the weapon or method used.

Gun violence is a handy bogeyman for gun control and other groups advancing similar agenda. By lumping homicides, suicides, and accidents together, gun grabbers of every stripe can use this family-sized phantasm to alarm the public.

There is a problem of course. "Gun crime" of all kinds has been going down. Even with the recent surge, as Democrats wage war on Police and Law & Order.

FBI statistics for the 65 years from 1960 to 2024 prove this. The decade from 2010 to 2019 had a lower average murder rate than any comparable period going back to the last year of Eisenhower’s term. In fact, the 2010-2019 average was 12% lower than in the previous decade.

COVID-19 and widespread civil unrest in 2020 produced a sharp spike in the rate that peaked in 2021. However, the rate fell in 2022 and has continued to fall.

Click thru for the details. (Hat tip to MaddMedic at Freedom Is Just Another Word…)

Student Loan Debt to be Collected

As in Collections will begin. Student loan borrowers at risk of wage garnishment in January

Five million people are in default on student loans, with the Dept. of Ed saying it may swell to 10 million soon.

The Trump administration will start garnishing the wages of student loan borrowers in default in early January, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Education confirmed to CNBC on Tuesday.

Collections were halted at the start of the pandemic lockdowns. (Hat tip to Don Surber.)

Not a Nice Way to Celebrate Christmas

Also, people need to come to terms with the fact that relationships end. Fowlerville homeowner reportedly shoots, kills armed intruder

An armed guy broke into a home. Both the homeowner and the intruder were shot. While the homeowner had non-life-threatening injured, the intruder didn't survive his wounds.

The intruder was the estranged husband of a woman who was visiting the homeowner at the time of the incident, the sheriff's office said. The ex-husband entered the residence and fired multiple shots at the homeowner, striking him twice, police said. The homeowner returned fire, ultimately striking and killing the shooter.

Fowlerville, in Livingston County, Michigan, is about 22 miles east of Lansing, and about 50 mile northwest of Detroit.

This was not a spur of the moment type of thing, since the shooter had to drive 95 or 100 miles from Lake Orion, near Pontiac, Michigan, to reach Fowlerville.

While the investigation is ongoing, the facts as reported seem to indicate this was self-defense, which is a human right. Self-defense has also been shown to be your legal right in Michigan.