I CAN VOUCH FOR UNIVERSAL HATRED OF 11:  Pinker has been plugging his book on common knowledge lately, and it just collided in my head with another interesting development; the apparently growing revolt against Windows 11 among long-term Microsoft customers. I haven’t read the book yet, but I’m pretty sure that one of the things that Pinker must talk about in it is sudden legitimacy collapses in totalitarian societies.

But as a non-techy, I don’t want Linux. The rest of the family has gone thataway, but for me the computer is a glorified typewriter and I don’t want to fiddle with it.

X-cancel link.

THEY STILL HAVEN’T LEARNED THAT YOU CAN’T STOP THE SIGNAL:  Give Them an Inch and They will Take a Mile.

THE GREATEST EVERYTHING IN HISTORY HAVE BEEN… QUIRKY:  The great military leaders of the past have been … quirky.

MORE ON THE RAPE GANGS:   The evil of the grooming gangs is finally being exposed.

HER IGNORANCE IS ONLY MATCHED BY HER UNPLEASANTNESS:  Ilhan Omar compares Stephen Miller, who is Jewish, to Nazis in Germany as she lashes out against Somali immigrant crackdown.

Once more, Ilhan, the Nazis were so far from throwing the Jewish people out of Germany, they kept them from leaving until they could kill them. Sheesh.

NO. ALSO NO:   Greenpeace Asks a Dutch Court to Reverse an American Verdict. The group wants to use European law as a shield to disrupt American infrastructure projects.

AS ALWAYS I DOUBT THAT GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION CAN MAKE THINGS BETTER:   Trump signs executive order creating food supply chain task forces to address ‘anti-competitive behavior’.

SOME THINGS ARE BAD. THEY JUST ARE:   Tearing Down Chesterson’s Fence — and Putting It Back Up Again?  My week as a “professional” sports gambler.

THE MUPPET THING NOTWITHSTANDING, NEVER FORGET:  Eleven Remain.

SOME GOOD POINTS:  “Affordability”.

SHOCKED, SHOCKED, SHOCKED:  Study: Palestinian Textbooks Continue to Teach Jew Hatred, Promote Jihad Terrorism.

THE EW IS STRONG IN THIS ONE:  DAILY ART FIX: Photos of Epstein’s Home Show Creepy Room Filled With Masks.

FOR THOSE TO BE TRUTHFUL, THEY’D GO ALL THE WAY BACK, AND NEVER END:  Land Conquest and the Absurdity of Land Acknowledgement.

By right of conquest, it’s a thing.

THIS SHOULD EXIST:  Muppet Pearl Harbor.

INDEED:

It was suicide by a group of scientist who wanted to be politicians and celebrities.

— Fusilli Spock (@awstar11) December 8, 2025

CHANGE: Gas Prices Fall Below $3 for the First Time in Years.

JOHN LUCAS: War Crimes in the Caribbean? Selective Memories Enable a Scurrilous Strategy.

OPEN THREAD: Ring out the weekend.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: China to return damaged spacecraft to Earth after sending up replacement for stuck astronauts. A return date has not yet been announced.

THAT’S CRAZY TALK: If Young People Want More Affordability, They Should Get Jobs.

Friends I know, investors who aren’t particular Trumpy, are very bullish on the 2026 economy. If so, the jobs may appear. But, of course, there are the countertrends of AI and downsizing, though set against the loss of illegal-immigrant labor.

COFFEE: IS THERE ANYTHING IT CAN’T DO? This Daily Coffee Habit May Help Slow the Aging Process.

WHY WAS HE USING A FALSE GRIP ON A BENCH PRESS? Dad dies after dropping barbell on chest in freak accident at the gym.

Also, it looks like he was lifting 315lbs, which is too much to bench without a spotter unless you’re Ronnie Coleman.

UPDATE: Link was bad before. Fixed now. Sorry!

UM: Ford Recalls Almost 109,000 Escape SUVs After Ignoring an Issue for Four Years.

OLD AND BUSTED: Is Paris Burning?

The New Hotness? When Isn’t Paris Burning? Paris is a city afraid.

This year what was once the [New Year’s Eve] celebration has been reduced to a simulation. Paris must now film a celebration in advance because it cannot trust itself to manage a real one. The city that staged the Olympics cannot handle a national holiday. Paris, a capital that used to defy threats, can no longer manage its crowds.

In recent years [the Champs Élysées] has become the predictable destination for trouble. Large groups stream in from the suburbs on major nights and the pattern repeats itself. Burning scooters. Smash and grab attacks on luxury shops. Running fights with police. Dozens of arrests. Last year there were more than two hundred in Paris alone. Television networks keep a running tally of the number of cars torched across the country. During the Champions League celebrations this summer there were hundreds.

The French state understands all of this. The problem has only gotten worse with the transport reform which cuts the price of public transport for residents of the suburbs while raising them for travel within central Paris itself. Presented as ‘social justice’, it makes it cheaper than ever for huge numbers to surge into the centre from the suburbs on major nights. Parisians now pay more to move around central Paris, while the journey in from the suburbs has never been more affordable. The consequences are obvious. The city and the police are no longer willing to face them.

France spent billions on Olympic security and deployed an army of police officers. The fireworks will still take place at midnight, but they will rise over a boulevard the authorities no longer consider safe for real celebration. The city knows where the pressure lies. It knows who floods into the avenue on nights like these. It knows how quickly things can turn.

Massive understatement alert: “France’s open-door policies have had consequences.”

WARM UP: Solo Stove Yukon 27 Inch Smokeless Fire Pit with Removable Ash Pan. #CommissionEarned