Saturday, December 20, 2025

These are troubled times for Jews, but God will not abandon them

"Hunting Jews can no longer be a growing American pastime. Laws can be passed to stiffen the penalties for antisemitic attacks. Most importantly, immigrants who foster it will be deported, regardless of how long they have lived in the United States."

"Chanukah is a magical festival of lights that reaffirms that G-d shows favor to the Jewish people. Theirs is an unbreakable bond. True believers do not question the covenant. They embrace it, accept it, and believe it. (See, at the end of this post, the lyrics to the Jewish version of “Rock of Ages.” This traditional Hanukkah hymn is believed to the 12th or 13th centuries, with music from the 15th century.)

"We must remember this bond today, for Jews live in troubled times. It is doubtful there are more than 16-17 million Jews alive in the world today.

"The population of the United States is 348,114,726 as of December 15, 2025. In March 2025, the Jewish population in the United States was 7,698,840, according to the Jewish Electorate Institute. Jews make up only 2.2% of the total American population. (In 1950, they were 3.3% of the total population.)

"Israel has a total population of 10,179,500, of which approximately 7,208,500 are Jews. The remainder of the population consists of Arabs (21%) and others (Druze, non-Arab Christians, etc.).

"There exist other major international Jewish population centers, but their numbers are small and dropping:

France: 440,000
Canada: 398,000
UK: 312,000
Argentina: 171,000
Russia: 142,000
Germany: 125,000
Austria: 117,200

"And yet despite our minuscule numbers, we live in the heads of millions upon millions of deranged, hateful people who lust to kill Jews. Lots of Jews. Any Jews or a single Jew. Western Europe has abandoned the co-existence it achieved with the Jews after the genocide of WWII. This was foolish. It cannot successfully feed the Islamic beast and long survive." . . .

More...

Lynne Lechter: Experience; Created monthly news bulletin, Bogota Today. Directed all operations from newsgathering and editing to advertising, production and distribution. Worked with United States Embassy and Military personnel and executives at multinational companies.

Another Embarrassing Statistic Eric Swalwell Prefers You Not Know As He Runs for CA Governor

RedState

"As RedState has reported, the Democrat clown car of gubernatorial candidates in California got more crowded recently with the announcement from Rep. Eric Swalwell (CA-14) that he was throwing his hat into the race.

"Swalwell shared the news in a late November appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel show, proclaiming that "Our state, this great state, needs a fighter and a protector. Someone who will bring prices down, lift wages up" while also boasting about his TDS creds.

" 'Our state is under attack," he alleged, while pandering to California's large Hispanic population. "[Trump] is chasing our immigrant friends and neighbors through their workplaces, kids’ schools, and houses of worship."

"While there are many, many reasons California voters should reject Swalwell in the gubernatorial race, another one of particular interest might be how many votes he's missed in Congress this year - and what he was doing while he missed them:

Swalwell, who is facing a federal criminal referral for alleged mortgage and tax fraud, has missed the most floor votes of any active member of the House of Representatives, according to an analysis by The Post.
Many of the absences also appeared to involve hanging out with celebrities.
Swalwell, 45, has missed 95 votes, not including truancy from committee hearings, out of a total of 342 House roll call votes this year." . . . More...

LOOSE LIPS: Eric Swalwell Discusses Capitol Hill Sex Parties, Ivanka Trump's Looks During Lobbyist Dinner – RedState "Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) isn't necessarily known for his intellect or his manners. Not only was he hornswoggled by a putative Chinese spy (Fang Fang) a decade ago (and subsequently denied a spot on the House Intelligence Committee), but there was the unfortunate incident involving an apparent flatulence mishap while giving an on-camera interview.

"Then, just a week ago, Swalwell reportedly was overheard blabbing loudly at a D.C. steakhouse over dinner with lobbyists about cheating on his wife, Capitol Hill orgies, and wanting to subpoena Ivanka Trump to testify (while he still held his spot on the Intel Committee) because she was "[censored] hot." . . .

California lawmakers demand answers after 8-hour traffic jam on I-5

SFGate

"Several California lawmakers are questioning the efficacy of the state’s transportation agencies after a major interstate in Southern California was unexpectedly shut down three times in the last three months.

"California state Sen. Catherine Blakespear led an inquiry and wrote a letter Monday to the California Department of Transportation, the California Highway Patrol and the San Diego Police Department, questioning the three abrupt freeway closures on Interstate 5. The interstate is a major route connecting San Diego to Orange County and Los Angeles. Blakespear led the charge, along with seven other lawmakers.

“ 'When a major transportation artery is closed, it has profound negative rippling effects across our society. With that being the case, it’s crucial that we limit freeway closures as much as possible and we manage them thoughtfully, when they do occur,” lawmakers wrote in the letter." . . . More at the link above.

Judge Hannah Dugan Found Guilty of Obstructing Immigration Agents, Faces Prison Time

Legal Insurrection

“We weren’t trying to make an example out of anyone. This was necessary to hold Judge Dugan accountable because of the actions she took”

"As you may know, we have been closely following the case of Judge Hannah Dugan of Wisconsin. Last spring, the judge was arrested after she helped an illegal immigrant escape her courthouse.

"Now a jury has found her guilty of obstructing federal immigration officials.

"The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:

Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan found guilty of felony obstruction
Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan was found guilty of a felony count of obstructing federal agents seeking to make an immigration arrest outside her courtroom, a precedent-setting case that has been closely watched nationally and drawn passionate protests.
A jury of seven men and five women deliberated more than six hours before delivering a split verdict. They found the judge not guilty on a lesser misdemeanor charge of concealing a wanted person.
The case thrust Dugan, a judge for nine years, into the center of the clash between the judiciary and the Trump administration over its crackdown on illegal immigration.
“We weren’t trying to make an example out of anyone. This was necessary to hold Judge Dugan accountable because of the actions she took,” Interim U.S. Attorney Brad Schimel said. “There’s not a political aspect to it.”
Dugan attorney Steve Biskupic highlighted that the jury delivered a split verdict and the elements between the two counts are the same.
Dugan, 66, showed no emotion as the verdict was read.
“The case is a long way from over,” Biskupic said.
Biskupic said the team would be filing a motion asking Adelman to set aside the conviction, especially based on the split verdict. No sentencing hearing was set.

FOX News has more details:

Following the verdict, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Dugan “betrayed her oath and the people she served.” . . . More... Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan Found Guilty of Obstruction: Jonathan Turley . . .
"Dozens of judges signed statements in support of Dugan, including Judge Michael Luttig, U.S. Circuit Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (Ret.).I strongly disagreed with those views, excusing the clearly injudicious and unlawful conduct of Judge Dugan.Ultimately, Judge Lynn Adelman, a liberal long-standing jurist on the court, rejected half-baked arguments of judicial immunity in such actions. Twelve jurors in Milwaukee then rejected all of the atmospherics and bluster in ruling according to the law. They did what Dugan did not: they followed the rule of law rather than any personal or political impulse.Dugan’s conviction of a felony only reinforces the outrage over the Biden Administration dropping charges against Massachusetts Judge Shelley Joseph who, in November, was given simply a mere reprimand by the bar in a similar case.Dugan could now face up to five years in prison, though such a sentence is highly unlikely in her case.

The Eco-Zealots Were Wrong Again

Issues & Insights

"Eco-zealots, meanwhile, live in another world, where their narrow minds and their perpetual, feral anger have made them not just wrong but dangerous, too"

New Greta On The Shelf Doll Will Track Your Climate Sins

Babylon Bee

"Remember the bratty but fabulously worshipped Greta Thunberg thundering “How dare you” in front of the United Nations, in a screeching speech in which she claimed “We are in the beginning of a mass extinction”? The adults swooned at her feet, not just at the U.N. but at every stop she has made on her never-ending, neurotic speaking tour. But did anyone fact-check her? They should have. She was wrong.

"Then 16, several years before she caught the next trend and became a Palestinian justice warrior, Thunberg told the General Assembly in 2019 that “People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!”

"And then there are the forever-aggrieved vandals who named themselves Extinction Rebellion, because, they say, they are on “the right side of history” by trying to stop the Anthropocene extinction. But the name also gives these hysterics license to disrupt, destroy, nag, bully, assemble mobs, and act without regard for human life, because who wouldn’t go to those lengths to stop a mass extinction?

"But a mass extinction is not what we’re experiencing, according to a University of Arizona study published earlier this fall.

“ 'Over the last 500 years, extinctions in plants, arthropods, and land vertebrates peaked about 100 years ago and have declined since then,” says the University of Arizona news.

"That 100 years coincides with the era in which we have supposedly been overheating our planet by burning fossil fuels. They also contradict the results of “prominent research studies” that “have suggested our planet is currently experiencing another mass extinction,” which is “rapidly accelerating.”

"The authors analyzed “rates and patterns of recent extinctions” over the previous five centuries, and were surprised to find that “past extinctions did not strongly predict current risk among groups.” In fact, “extinctions varied strongly among groups, and were most frequent among mollusks and some tetrapods,” while being “relatively rare in plants and arthropods.”

"As it turns out, “recent extinctions were predominantly on islands” and “were most frequently related to invasive species.” . . . More...

Video: This Obama Martha's Vineyard home is at sea level

So also with this Obama home in Hawaii

What do they know about Greta/ Gore's "rising of the oceans" that the rest of us do not? Greta said we will all die! Oh, wait...

Under God Where’s the ‘Christian’ in Hallmark Christmas Movies?

The American Spectator

"Christian movies should be distinct not because the main characters don’t have sex before marriage or because they read the Bible. Rather, Christian movies should imbue the viewer with a sense of sacramentality, of the transcendent being present in the small concrete details of the production, writing, set design, and interactions between characters."

Wait! You forgot the one adorable child in town!

"As expected, conservative Christians are up in arms over yet another gay Hallmark Christmas film. And as expected, pro-LGBT people and their allies are up in arms over conservative Christians being up in arms over it. Talk about algorithms subsuming the human psyche!

"Many Christians were outraged with Hallmark for giving into “secular culture” upon the release of its first gay Christmas movie, The Christmas House, in 2020. For them, the Hallmark channel was one of the last vestiges of “Christian values.” And what values are those, exactly? Contrived, recycled plotlines? Mediocre writing? D-list acting? No offense to devout Christian actors like Lacey Chabert and Candace Cameron Bure, but the only thing remotely Christian about these films are the fact that they don’t blatantly transgress Christian moral sensibilities.

"As Hans Fiene points out,

In a theological sense, the Hallmark Channel is not a Christian broadcasting network. More to the point, the 6,000 original “Christmas” movies the network airs every December are not genuinely Christian films in content … But, culturally speaking, Hallmark Christmas movies are noticeably Christian. The characters don’t take off their clothes, murder anyone, or use profanity. The hero loves children and defends the poor. The heroine who begins the story loving her self-involved life in the city chooses family and a life of self-sacrifice in her hometown by the end of the tale.

"If you’re a pious Christian mom who wants to escape into a universe where all the cynicism and immorality of modern life aren’t allowed, or if you want to snuggle up with your eight-year-old daughter and watch a silly movie without having to explain inappropriate content you weren’t expecting, the Hallmark Channel is about the only place left that will let you do it.

"Fiene also notes that there’s rarely ever explicit references to religion in the movies (church, Scripture, prayer, etc), unlike the films featured on Pure Flix

"This implies that Christianity is merely about moral rules and rituals. Christianity does have this in common with other religions, but what makes it most distinct from other religions is the belief in an incarnate Deity. God enters the flesh through Jesus. The encounter with him ontologically changes our consciousness of ourselves and of the concrete, carnal details of the world around us." . . .

Australia has long tolerated the proponents of such mayhem and silenced those who raise the alarm.

Douglas Murray

"The problem has been in plain sight all along. It’s shameful that so many people in positions of power decided to metaphorically shoot the messengers, while all the time clearing a path for the real-life shooters to take aim, and fire."

"Do words have any meaning? Most people think so, which is why there is an endless debate about which words should be permitted by law, which should be a matter for the law, and which words should be debated in the realm of manners.

"Where does “Gas the Jews” fit into that? There are contexts where those words could be in the realm of manners. For instance, somebody might use them in a comedy club, doing a routine about forbidden statements. But how about using them immediately after the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust? How about if the words are used on the streets by a mob—not in a spirit of jest, but of intent?

But the main question is why the Australian authorities did not take the concerns of Jewish Australians seriously, and why indeed they spent the last two years pandering to the ever-growing contingent of Muslim immigrants and others who have clearly been on the path to radicalization. It will not be enough for them to say that they did not know.

More...

Douglas Murray is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a contributing editor of City Journal, and the bestselling author of seven books, including On Democracies and Death Cults (2025) and The War on the West (2022).

Friday, December 19, 2025

The Dave Barry 2025 Holiday Gift Guide

Dave Barry... 2025...Gift Guide

. . . "Do you have somebody on your holiday gift list who enjoys reading intellectually sophisticated, thought-provoking literature? This is not the gift for that person. This is for the person who would be amused by a can labeled FISH BALLS." . . .

"Today we officially enter the holiday season, a very special time of year when we pause amid the frantic hustle and bustle of the “daily grind” to incur large amounts of consumer debt because we have to buy gifts for our loved ones to reciprocate for the gifts that they have to buy for us to reciprocate for the gifts that we are buying for them.

"This is a tradition that dates back more than 2,000 years, to the time when the Three Wise Men traveled to an inn in Bethlehem to see the baby Jesus, who was staying with Mary and Joseph in the stable because Housekeeping was still working on their room. The New Testament tells us that Mary placed Jesus in a “manger,” which I always thought was just another word for “stable,” but I recently looked it up and it’s actually a feeding trough for livestock, which means — the New Testament does not state this explicitly, but it’s clearly implied — that the baby Jesus could have been accidentally eaten by a cow. So it had to have been an anxious time for Mary, a new mom exhausted from childbirth, having to fend off livestock, not to mention the annoying little boy who, according to the popular 347-minute Christmas song, showed up wanting to serenade her newborn infant by pounding on a drum." . . .

"Thousands of years later, we’re still dealing with the stress of holiday gift-giving — the constant nagging worry that we won’t have enough gifts to retaliate against everybody who will be giving gifts to us. Wouldn’t it be great if you could drop out of this insane holiday competition? Well you can! The trick is to stop trying to give your loved ones thoughtful and appropriate gifts. Instead, you want to give them gifts that are so stupid or inappropriate that they will never want to exchange gifts with you again, and in fact may enter the Federal Witness Protection Program to avoid running that risk.

..."Where can you find gifts that bad? Right here, that’s where, in my annual Holiday Gift Guide. This is a carefully curated selection of real products that you can actually buy; in fact these products are all 100 percent tax-deductible if you write about them for business purposes in your professional humor Substack. So grab your credit card and prepare to be underwhelmed, because here comes this year’s lineup of gift candidates, starting with:"

But wait! There's More!

A murder spree from hell

Power Line Blog

"[DHS Secretary Kristi Noem] relates that she has been instructed by the president to suspend the program. Noem’s is a voice of sanity in this enraging case with more to come."

"The man suspected of carrying out two murderous attacks — one at Brown University that killed two students and wounded nine more, and another that killed the MIT professor in his Brookline home — was found dead in a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire last night. The murderer apparently took the coward’s way out.

"Listening to the Providence press conference last night — it was followed by one featuring United States Attorney Leah Foley speaking about the murder of MIT Professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro — we learned that a witness who had confronted the murderer on the Brown campus provided the key to the breaking of the case by law enforcement. His information “blew this case right open,” according to Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha at the news conference. The witness is only identified as “John” in a police affidavit. We need to hear more about that man while we mourn the dead. What a tragic loss. Our condolences go out to the families of all the victims.

"Claudio Manuel Neves Valente has now been identified as the murderer. He attended the same academic program in Portugal as Professor Loureiro from 1995-2000 and also attended Brown in the 2000-2001 school year. Just about all the rest that we want to know remains shrouded in mystery at this time.

"Under other circumstances, the press conference with the Rhode Island authorities last night — the mayor, the police chief, the Rhode Island governor and attorney general, the president of Brown — might have been played for comedy. The politicians celebrated Providence and Rhode Island. Long on happy talk and self-congratulation, they seemed to me short on the facts of the case. Like comic buffoons, they are full of themselves. Boston FBI Special Agent in Charge Ted Docks provided a striking contrast." . . .

Disturbing noises Brown University shooter made as he gunned down students

Did Brown University shooter yell "allahu akbar" before firing? What we know - Newsweek "Authorities are continuing to search for the gunman who killed two students at Brown University in Rhode Island, amid speculation over whether he shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he carried out his shooting spree.

"The claim that the Arabic cry of "God is great" accompanied the shooting was posted on X by far-right political activist Laura Loomer.

"There is no independent confirmation of this claim, which has gained traction on social media—as have other theories about the perpetrator— including that he was a disgruntled leftist." ...

"Law enforcement have not revealed any motive behind the shooting and there is no confirmation that these words were uttered nor is there any evidence that the media was suppressing any information about the alleged refrain.

"Loomer’s post said a source had told her about the shooter’s words, without providing further proof, but it sparked a lively thread asking where the claim had come from.

" 'Laura Loomer spreading unverified 'Allahu Akbar’ rumors about Brown shooting with zero evidence from credible sources, classic fearmongering grift,” wrote Richard Angwin.

“Is there a reliable source what was yelled? Post the witness saying it,” wrote the X account Moni, while another account said: “What is your source? It's all just speculation now.”

"Conservative influencers weighed in with their theories. Shaun Maguire, a partner at the firm Sequoia Capital wrote: “To the assassination of Charlie Kirk, and now to the tragic murder of Ella Cook, it’s impossible to shake the feeling that we’re not getting the truth fast enough from law enforcement and our media.” . . .

We must be better than MSNOW!

Man suspected in Brown University shooting and MIT professor’s killing is found dead, officials say

"Investigators believe he is responsible for fatally shooting two students and wounding nine other people in a Brown lecture hall last Saturday, then killing MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro two days later at his home in the Boston suburbs, nearly 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Providence. Perez said as far as investigators know, Neves Valente acted alone." . . .

Walz's Minnesota was such a big playground for fraud it drew 'fraud tourism'

Monica Showalter

"To really make a state "third world" what's needed is a Democrat or a third-world satrap on the other end, dispensing the cash."

"How bad was Minnesota's problem with fraudulently dispensed state funds?

"It was so bad it drew "fraud tourists," according to a CBS News report — eighteen billion dollars' worth.

Federal prosecutors announced new indictments Thursday in the widening Minnesota fraud scandal, this time involving two Philadelphia-based men accused of traveling to Minneapolis after a friend told them the taxpayer-funded programs there presented "a good opportunity to make money."
Anthony Waddel Jefferson and Lester Brown are accused of siphoning millions from federally funded programs administered by Minnesota officials that were meant to help people with disabilities and those suffering from addiction.
Unlike many of the individuals previously caught up in the state's sprawling fraud scandal, they don't appear to have ties to Minnesota's large Somali-American community. Prosecutors say they don't appear to have ties to Minnesota at all.
"Minnesota has become a magnet for fraud, so much so that we have developed a fraud tourism industry — people coming to our state purely to exploit and defraud its programs," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson, who brought the new charges. "This is a deeply unsettling reality that all Minnesotans should understand."

"They defrauded Medicaid, others in this batch of busts defrauded a housing stabilization service for the homeless, still others defrauded child autism programs. They all found Minnesota a tourist's paradise, not for its lakes and scenery, but for every kind of fraud. That's because every agency on Gov. Tim Walz's watch apparently never said 'no' to anyone. Word got around about 'a good opportunity to make money' as one of the accused fraudsters put it, the cash went out like water through a sieve and now the busts are rolling in." . . .Full article....

Rob Reiner took the high road on Charlie Kirk, but James Carville goes for the gutter

Olivia Murray

"Carville doesn’t want to give the right any more ammo, but then tells conservatives and Republicans our martyred hero isn’t even a pimple on an ass, handing us a MOAB of insanity and malice."

"In the wake of Rob Reiner’s brutal murder, allegedly at the hands of his own son, AT’s own J.R. Dunn penned an essay about how Reiner had actually expressed genuine empathy and humanity for Charlie Kirk after Kirk’s own killing. This was news to me, and honestly, quite a surprise—all I knew of Reiner and his politics were his unhinged and maniacal rants against President Trump and conservatives. What I saw was a fat, sputtering, vile old man, who clearly wasn’t a thinking or moral guy—but as Dunn revealed, he did actually have a heart.

"So, despite a history of TDS and conservative hate, Reiner chose compassion and sympathy when one of our own was targeted and gruesomely killed over personal beliefs and convictions.

"James Carville did the exact opposite—while Reiner took the high road, Carville went straight for the gutter. According to a new article at Breitbart, Carville recently denigrated Kirk as not even being a “pimple” on Reiner’s “a**”:" . . . More...