THE BASICS MATTER: Where in the world is … Greenland? Gaza? Ukraine? Iran?

American students should learn geography, writes Rick Hess. Where’s Greenland? Why would anyone want to control it? “It’s impossible to talk sensibly about immigration, border enforcement, foreign policy, or tariffs absent a clear sense of physical geography.” Furthermore, “a failure to teach bedrock knowledge leaves students adrift in a world of deepfakes and misinformation.”

When he taught a world geography class, his students started class by drilling on capitals, states, nations, continents, oceans and so on as a confidence-building warm-up before discussions, debates and projects. “We’d explore how the Rio Grande, English Channel, oil deposits, or access to fresh water helped to shape history and culture,” he writes. “But this learning rested on a foundation of geographic mastery — of knowing where the Rio Grande or English Channel was and why that mattered.”

The belief that “knowing stuff just isn’t that important” has gotten worse in recent years, says Hess. Some think knowledge prevents “critical thinking.”

Good Lord.

HARDLY SPORTING BUT VERY ENTERTAINING: Gutfeld Returns to ‘The Five,’ Promptly Humiliates Jessica Tarlov Again.

READER FAVORITE: Wrangler Authentics Mens Relaxed Fit Stretch Cargo Pant. #CommissionEarned

BLUE STATE BLUES: Stalled population growth a sign of Colorado in decline.

Something strange is happening in Colorado — strange enough that the political class should notice.

People are leaving Colorado.

After years of being one of the fastest-growing states in the nation, net in-migration has stopped and may be reversing.

According to Federal Reserve Bank data, the last time Colorado’s population took a dip was 1945. Congrats to our policy makers, who finally achieved something historic no one asked for. The Broncos haven’t won a championship in a decade, but what you’re achieving hasn’t happened in 80 years.

For the first time in 16 years, rents in metro Denver are actually going down. Not “slowing their increase.” Not “rising less quickly.” Going down.

Metro-wide rents are down nearly 5% over the last year. This should set off alarm bells under the Gold Dome. But it won’t.

Before the Democrats took complete control, Colorado was almost always in the top ten states for in-migration. Now it’s in the bottom ten.

BIGOTRY: Chicago schools refuse to hire Christian college student teachers despite lawsuit.

YES:

Woke programs are not about helping poor Africans, but 'helping' Western bureaucrats who are supposedly 'helping' poor asylum seekers. Everybody gets helped to a serving of tax dollars.

Follow the money. Once you walk through the door of the Learing Center you're in the…

— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) January 28, 2026

STAY SAFE: Etekcity Camping Lanterns for Power Outages 4 Pack. #CommissionEarned

DIVERSITY PROBLEM: Yale dies by committee: I took 36 courses during my four years at Yale and came across just a single conservative professor.

OH: Chicago schools refuse to hire Christian college student teachers despite lawsuit.

A Christian college, The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, continues to be excluded from the Chicago Public Schools student teacher program after suing for religious discrimination, the college’s lawyer told The College Fix.

In an exclusive interview, senior counsel on the case Jeremiah Galus said that as of Jan. 7, Chicago Public Schools still wasn’t allowing Moody’s student teachers to work in its schools.

“Excluding Moody from a public student-teaching program solely because of its religious beliefs violates the First Amendment and serves no one — especially students and families who need more well-prepared teachers,” Galus, an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom, told The Fix recently.

However, he also said that Moody’s elementary education program, which is at the center of the lawsuit, is still active.

Chicago Public Schools’ Office of Communications refuses to comment.

YES, IT’S HARD TO STRIKE SUCCESSFULLY WHEN YOU PRODUCE NOTHING OF VALUE:

I think what all these “strikes” are missing is that none of these people produce or contribute anything. We are not talking useful people like steelworkers or coal miners.

Like if these types just walk off forever, or the institutions were shuttered, we’d just be better off. https://t.co/C40VelpFrb

— Kevin DeAnna (@VDAREJamesK) January 29, 2026

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: OH NO! Dem Slacker Mobs Schedule Another Day of Protest Cosplay. “When you see the way the protest mobs are behaving right now — or anytime, really — it’s difficult to believe that any of them have ever held a grown-up job or functioned in polite society. As I wrote in yesterday’s Briefing, they’re ‘feral, reactive beasts’ now. Again, there are worse things I could say there.”

SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SURPRISE: New Video of Alex Pretti Could Change Everything.

THE RENDERS ARE WILD: A New Challenger Emerges in the F/A-XX Race With Mach 4 Fighter Concept. “Dubbed SM-39 Razor, the aircraft features a low-observable triple-fuselage layout, a configuration intended to help limit wave drag during sustained supersonic flight.”

F/A-XX is late and over budget, of course.

GRIFT AND GROW RICH:

The craziest thing about Ilhan Omar getting sprayed with apple cider vinegar is how her net worth increased by 3,500% since getting elected.

— Bad Hombre (@Badhombre) January 28, 2026

THEY SHOULD TEACH THIS IN SCHOOLS, BUT IT DOESN’T FIT THE NARRATIVE:

The uncomfortable truth they don't teach:

Britain abolished slavery in 1833. The Ottoman Empire didn't officially end it until 1924 – 91 years later.

The Arab slave trade ran for 1,300 years. Barbary pirates enslaved 1.25 million Europeans into the 19th century.

Britain didn't… pic.twitter.com/OVY3FU554U

— Amelia (@AmeliajakSolana) January 29, 2026

EVERYTHING THEY DO IS PERFORMATIVE: The Left’s Performative Outrage: They’re always looking for their chance to do a Selma bridge moment.

70/30 NATION:

"The memo notes that the view that 'immigrants living in the U.S. illegally should not be deported' receives no more than 30 percent support among Democrats and young people, and even less among other groups."

And yet Democrats still won't take the hint. https://t.co/fM9mHrGvm2

— Varad Mehta (@varadmehta) January 28, 2026

IT’S MY THURSDAY ESSAY FOR VIP SUBSCRIBERS: So How’s That Russo-Ukraine Oil War Going? “Not as well as hoped — if Kyiv would only focus. Alas.”

CULTURE OF HATE: Palestinian Authority Promised Terrorists More Than $200 Million in ‘Pay-To-Slay’ Payments After it ‘Scrapped’ Program, State Department Tells Congress.

AND AGAIN:

If you were wondering why there’s a sudden pressure campaign to kick ICE out of Maine, this is why 👇 https://t.co/1pZa3gqKq6

— Matt Whitlock (@MattWhitlock) January 28, 2026

THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME (NYC EDITION): Mamdani Presses for Tax Hike on New York’s Wealthiest as Budget Deficit Looms.

“We must raise taxes on the wealthiest few in New York City so that we can invest in the many,” the newly elected Democratic socialist mayor of the country’s largest city said in an interview Tuesday.

During the campaign, Mamdani pledged to raise taxes on millionaires and corporations to help fund his ambitious affordability agenda. But the plan drew swift rebuke from the city’s elite, who said a tax hike would drive the wealthiest out of New York. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who would have to sign off on the increases, has said she opposes income-tax hikes but has previously been more open to a potential corporate-tax increase. “I don’t believe in raising taxes for the sake of raising taxes,” she said earlier this month.

Mamdani said in the interview the tax increases were now urgently needed to meet the moment. “New York City has not seen a gap of this scale since the Great Recession,” he said, referring to the 2008-09 financial crisis. He added that his administration has already begun conversations with state officials.

And when the wealthy few move to Miami?

LIMITED TIME DEAL: DREO Humidifiers for Bedroom, 4L Top Fill for Large Room. #CommissionEarned

THEY’VE PATCHED THINGS A BIT, BUT THEY STILL NEED HEAT THEY CAN RELY ON:  Help the Gregorys with home repairs!

And rest assured they are working multiple jobs already.

ICYMI:

If you are surprised to see such a large volume of professional class leftists acting in psychotic fashion in response to routine immigration enforcement, remember the conduct of this same group during covid: masking babies, terrifying children, boycotting family, shuttering…

— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) January 18, 2026

WHEN POLITICS BECOMES RELIGION:

I keep telling you this weird commie nonsense is their religion https://t.co/wQ7sTsYx5a

— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) January 28, 2026

As Tom Wolfe wrote in his epochal 1976 article, “The ‘Me’ Decade and the Third Great Awakening:” “It is entirely possible that in the long run historians will regard the entire New Left experience as not so much a political as a religious episode wrapped in semi military gear and guerrilla talk.” (That line was written with early ‘70s radical chic in mind, but reverberates quite nicely today, given Antifa’s current love of paramilitary cosplay.)