December 10, 2025

THE CRITICAL DRINKER: Starfleet Academy — What Is This Garbage? “Is it too much to ask to have a Star Trek that was written by and for adults? Because I have to ask, who in this world or the next was this teen drama of a show made for? I mean, anyone with even a vague understanding of Star Trek is going to be completely and utterly appalled by the weapons-grade retardation on display here. And anyone who’s looking for a high school drama about feelings and relationships is going to be instantly put off by the geeky science fiction backdrop. It really does feel like the worst of both worlds.”

Posted at 4:14 pm by Ed Driscoll

CIVIL RIGHTS UPDATE: ATF Proposes Changes to Make Travel With NFA Items Easier.

Until the National Firearms Act is a relic of the past, every little bit that makes it easier to navigate can surely help. In recent weeks, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives published their intent to do just that in the form of a two-fer.
…
In the notice ATF submitted to the Federal Register, it stated that the plan is to permanently overhaul and digitize the process by revising the information collection method to make the form electronically fillable and allow it to be emailed directly, as well as auto-fill the required second copy. Additionally, the form will be part of its online eForms section on the ATF website for easier access and include more clarifying language on the application of the regulation for travel.

This latest proposal by ATF appears to be part of the ongoing effort announced as a “new era of reform” as posted on the ATF website earlier this year: https://www.atf.gov/rules-and-regulations/atf-launches-new-era-reform. A quick perusal of the ATF Forms and Information Collection site shows multiple recent and similar updates meant to assist in streamlining forms, reducing paperwork, and updating procedures through digitization, all great efforts helping to ultimately reduce wait times and resources that burden both agency and citizen.

It’s almost impossible to even imagine this happening under any other administration.

Posted at 1:46 pm by Stephen Green

JIM GERAGHTY: Wait, You’re Telling Me This Person Is Shifting the Overton Window?

Now I see the New York Times has published a long and mostly positive profile of Jennifer Welch, an interior designer and former Bravo reality TV star, who has co-hosted a podcast since 2022. The Times gushes that Welch is “the rare figure who appeals to the mainstream liberal, angers the Fox News viewer and thrills the dirtbag left. As she challenges Democrats from a more progressive stance, a portrait of Kate Moss in the frame behind her, she provides the sensation of watching the Overton window shift in real time.”

Here’s Welch’s take on Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk:

You are an opportunistic grifter who weaponizes your gender to demean women, and you are a walking, talking, breathing example as to why nobody, number one, wants to be a Christian, and number two, wants to be a female hypocrite such as yourself. . . . This woman should be kicked to the curb.

(The Kirk assassination has really brought out the best in people, huh?)

Welch has argued that Trump voters should be banned from eating at Mexican, Chinese, or Indian restaurants, or using the services of gay hairdressers:

I’ve had it with white people that triple Trumped that have the nerve and the audacity to walk into a Mexican restaurant, a Chinese restaurant, an Indian restaurant, go to a gay hairdresser. . . .  White people that triple Trumped should be boycotted, banned from enjoying the best thing that America has to offer, which is multiculturalism. I don’t think you should be able to enjoy anything but Cracker Barrel.

In an October MSNBC appearance, Welch said that Vice President JD Vance “is married to a woman of Indian descent. He has mixed race children. So to all of the MAGA voters out there, if this man will not defend his wife and will not defend his kids, do you think he gives a crap about you or anything to do with you?”

Last month, the London Telegraph gushed, “This sweary ‘wine mom’ is the Democrats’ answer to Joe Rogan:”

Since starting the I’ve Had It Podcast (IHIP) with her best friend Angie “Pumps” Sullivan, Ms Welch’s expletive-laden rants have seen her gain a loyal following of almost four million and frequent Fox News coverage.

She has attacked Donald Trump, calling him a “teeny weeny mushroom c— piece of s— cankles McTaco t-ts”, said JD Vance is a “smokey eye failed drag queen” and likened Stephen Miller to a “Nazi Jew”.

Ms Welch, 51, and Ms Sullivan, 55, start what they boast is “America’s top DEI podcast” by shouting out “patriots, gaytriots, theytriots, blacktriots and browntriots” and telling those who do not support them to “f— off”.

The so-called “wine moms” have now amassed more than 3.8 million followers across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, interviewing some of the biggest Democrats in the business, including Barack Obama, Kamala Harris and Zohran Mamdani.

Geraghty writes that “NPR, the U.K. Daily Telegraph, and the The Guardian have also written positive profiles about Welch.” There’s no doubt that she’s getting massive amounts of hype from her fellow leftists, but nothing in the Telegraph’s profile indicates that the left have figured out how to produce podcasts that appeal to men, unlike Rogan, who was a Bernie-supporting leftist until his party shunned him for not toeing the official line on Covid.

Posted at 1:35 pm by Ed Driscoll

DON’T MESS WITH THE CHOSEN PEOPLE: Tehran may be evacuated as taps run dry due to water crisis.

What plague will strike next? Anything but the frogs. I always thought the plague of frogs was kind of a lame plague. Give me some butter and garlic and it’s not a plague, it’s a feast.

Posted at 1:30 pm by Glenn Reynolds

YES, THAT’S THE IDEA: Charlotte Sheriff Gripes That Iryna’s Law Is Likely to Overcrowd Jails.

Talk about having your priorities completely out of order. The sheriff for the North Carolina city that became infamous for the race-fueled, deadly stabbing of Iryna Zarutska is angry that so many crimes are occurring in his city, but not for the reason you’d think.

Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden complained that Iryna’s Law will overcrowd the jails. He said this days after another train stabbing. So it would seem he has no issue with criminals sticking knives into innocent victims, so long as they don’t fill up his jail. Talk about a sheriff unfit for duty. To make the situation even more shameful, the sheriff whined about how many people saw the video of Iryna getting stabbed and acted as if the judges that social media users criticized were more worthy of pity than Iryna.

Sheriff McFadden acted as if Iryna’s grisly death at the hands of serial criminal Decarlos Brown Jr. — simply because she was white — were somehow a plot to make his life difficult. “And we believe that the only reason that this caught national attention is because it was caught on video and it was displayed across the United States, and our local politicians at that time saw it was a political agenda, or they could highlight her as a refugee and not an immigrant,” he griped at a press conference. “This is why they created Iryna’s Law.”

And boy, is he angry that criminals will be sent to jail instead of being allowed to roam free and commit crimes over and over and over. You see, Iryna’s Law imposes stricter penalties for violent offenders and repeat offenders before pre-trial release, in some cases preventing them from pre-trial release altogether.

Sheriff McFadden is the latest leftist to stumble into the world of Fox Butterfield: “‘The Butterfield Effect’ is named in honor of ace New York Times crime reporter Fox Butterfield, the intrepid analyst responsible for such brilliantly headlined stories as ‘More Inmates, Despite Drop In Crime,’ and ‘Number in Prison Grows Despite Crime Reduction,’ not to mention the poetic 1997 header, ‘Crime Keeps on Falling, but Prisons Keep on Filling.’”

Posted at 1:22 pm by Ed Driscoll

21ST CENTURY HEADLINES: Navy, Palantir Announce $448M ‘Ship OS’ AI Tool for Shipbuilding and Repair.

Announced at an industry day on Tuesday, the Shipbuilding Operating System program, or Ship OS, will collect data from across the new construction and maintenance systems to streamline shipbuilding and the repair of the current fleet, according to the service.

“Every ship builder who partners with us will have AI power tools that optimize their work in real time. Every supplier in the network will be connected through intelligent logistics,” Secretary of the Navy John Phelan said on stage with Palantir CEO Alex Karp. “Every program manager will have unprecedented visibility into schedule, cost and risk. We’re not just building ships faster. We’re rebuilding American maritime industrial capacity for the AI age.”

Faster, please.

Posted at 12:44 pm by Stephen Green

I’ll TAKE HEADLINES FROM 1943 FOR $500, ALEX: Porsches Across Russia Suddenly Stop Working.

Hundreds of Porsche cars have stopped working in Russia due to an issue with a satellite-based security system, according to local reports.

Owners reported various issues with their vehicles, including not being able to start the engine, or it shutting down soon after ignition. Others said that they had been locked out of their cars.

The root cause of the issue is not yet known, though a representative for Russia’s largest dealership group told local media that it could be an act of sabotage.

“It’s possible this was done deliberately,” the Rolf spokesperson told the RBC news website, without providing any evidence.

There is no official support for Russian Porsche owners after the German manufacturer suspended commercial operations in the country following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

To be fair, Porsches have a long history of being surprisingly unreliable in Russia: Elefant Tank Destroyer: Ferdinand Porsche’s Epic Fail That Got Its Butt Kicked at Kursk.

Posted at 12:30 pm by Ed Driscoll

I’VE BEEN WARNING THE GOP ABOUT ITS LACK OF A TURNOUT MACHINE FOR A WHILE. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE ONE:

Posted at 12:28 pm by Glenn Reynolds