January 23, 2026

NICE: Murders plummeted more than 20% in U.S. in 2025, study shows.

Murders plummeted more than 20% in 2025 from the year before, the single-largest one-year drop on record — and it might be the lowest murder rate in the U.S. since 1900, a study released Thursday by the Council on Criminal Justice found.

The annual crime trends report analyzed data from 40 large cities across the United States for 13 different crime types, including murder, carjacking, theft and drug offenses.

Alongside homicides, which dropped 21% from 2024, carjackings have declined 61% since 2023, while shoplifting is down 10% since 2024. In general, the overall crime rate declined, with violent crimes at or below levels seen in 2019, the analysis found — drug offenses were the only category that rose during this period, while sexual assault remained even.

Researchers pointed toward multiple reasons for the large drop in homicides, but cautioned that “identifying decisive factors with certainty is challenging.”

Did they ignore the obvious factor?

Posted at 10:42 am by Stephen Green

HAHA:

Posted at 9:50 am by Glenn Reynolds

MATTHEW SHOEMAKER: Russia’s 90-Day Warning.

For three years, the world has waited for the Russian economy to implode. Instead, we watched a “Kalashnikov economy” defy gravity, fueled by high oil prices and a “friendship without limits” with Beijing. But as of January 2026, the gravity of basic math has finally caught up with Vladimir Putin.

The catalyst isn’t just the stalemate on the front lines; it’s a legislative “kill shot” from Washington and a quiet betrayal from the East. Between the new Graham-Trump Sanctioning Russia Act and a mounting domestic liquidity crisis, the Kremlin isn’t just running out of options—it’s running out of time.

The most significant development of 2026 isn’t a new missile system; it’s a tariff. The Graham-Trump Bill, greenlit by the White House on January 7, has fundamentally rewritten the rules of economic warfare. By threatening a mandatory 500% tariff on any country—including China and India—that continues to purchase Russian petroleum or uranium, the U.S. has finally weaponized the one thing Russia’s allies value more than cheap crude: access to the American consumer.

The shockwaves were instantaneous. On January 15, reports emerged that China’s largest state banks, including ICBC and Bank of China, began halting Ruble-denominated settlements. They aren’t waiting for the bill to be signed into law; they are pre-emptively cutting Russia loose to save their own export margins. When Beijing chooses its $500 billion trade surplus with the U.S. over its “strategic partner” in Moscow, the Russian war machine loses its primary life support system.

Still, it’s almost impossible to think that Russia won’t find illicit buyers for discounted oil. Their shadow tanker fleet has done just that for years.

This doesn’t look great though: “While the external walls are closing in, the internal floor is rotting. On New Year’s Day, Russia’s VAT officially jumped to 22%. This isn’t a sign of strength; it’s an act of desperation. The Kremlin is cannibalizing its own middle class to plug a federal budget revenue gap that fell 20% short of targets in 2025.”

Ouch.

Posted at 9:40 am by Stephen Green

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Good Week for Trump, Rough Week for Vestigial Eurotrash. “The world leaders who have good relationships with Trump are the ones who aren’t destroying freedom, like Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, who can bring any leftist loudmouth male to tears with just her stare. Meloni’s boldness can save Italy from the kind of fate that the leaders of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom are dooming their people to.”

Posted at 9:09 am by Stephen Green

HMM: Does SR-72 Hypersonic Dark Star Have Technical Challenges?

It’s hard to imagine a stealthy manned or unmanned 6th-gen or above jet capable of reaching hypersonic speeds in flight … could be cancelled. Seems unlikely, given the flurry of attention it received, speculation it inspired and capability it promised … yet the SR-72 Son of Blackbird aircraft seems to have vanished into a mysterious mist of uncertainty. Virtually “no” new information on the aircraft has emerged, and there has been very little speculation or hype about the “star” aircraft featured in the movie “Maverick” for quite some time.

The absence of emerging information could signal one of two opposite possibilities: the SR-72 has either become even more secret than it may have been previously, so Pentagon developers are simply leaving no room for new speculation, or the platform has not performed as promised and is simply cancelled or vanishing from existence. However, an effort to determine if the SR-72 is somewhat paradoxical as one must first affirm and verify that the platform, in fact … exists.

Technical complications?

Certainly the possibility of a highly maneuverable, manned hypersonic fighter jet has both Hollywood appeal and real-world tactical merit, yet establishing and sustaining stable hypersonic flight, in reality, remains challenging.

While very cool in theory, there are budgetary, performance, or necessity reasons could have led to the SR-72 (or whatever it’s called) being cancelled. Still, I’d like to think that the program turned out to be such a success that the Air Force put it under even tighter wraps.

Posted at 8:38 am by Stephen Green

IT’S SPREADING:

Posted at 8:30 am by Glenn Reynolds

PRIORITIES:

Posted at 8:22 am by Stephen Green

GOOD AND HARD:

Posted at 7:47 am by Glenn Reynolds

DANA LOESCH: Michael Fanone Is A Fake Tough Guy. Well, when you consider that Sen. Richard “Stolen Valor” Blumenthal is a Democratic tough guy. . .

Posted at 7:43 am by Glenn Reynolds

WATCH AS MINNESOTA GOES OUT OF THE FRYING PAN AND INTO THE FIRE: Klobuchar files campaign paperwork for Minnesota governor.

She is the first Democratic candidate to form a gubernatorial candidate committee since DFL Gov. Tim Walz announced earlier this month he would not seek reelection, according to Minnesota Campaign Finance Board records.

“This is a preliminary step necessary for any candidate considering a run,” a source close to Klobuchar told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS. “The senator will make an announcement of her plans in the coming days.”

A slew of Republican candidates — including House Speaker Lisa Demuth and Rep. Kristin Robbins, chair of the House fraud prevention committee — had harped on Walz for staggering fraud in state welfare programs during his time in office.

“Harped.”

Posted at 7:36 am by Stephen Green