Russian state-owned media is reporting that U.S. Special Forces are currently trying to board and seize the Russian-flagged Iranian-linked sanctioned crude oil tanker, Marinera, in the Northern Atlantic. pic.twitter.com/ehuTFxqXFy

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) January 7, 2026

I hope our boys are very successful.

By the way, Britain refused to help us apprehend these Russian bastards. Now that my X feed has veered to the left, I’m seeing endless imprecations about how Western European countries will never trust America again. These are the same countries that have been funding the Russian war effort with their oil and gas purchases this whole time. The same countries that have been refusing to invest in their own defense because we should pay for it. The same countries that find it completely important to apprehend a Russian tanker that is violating the international law they appeal to constantly.

P.S. And then it got even more fun:

Russian warships were near the tanker when the seizure happened but took no action.

— WarMonitor🇺🇦🇬🇧 (@WarMonitor3) January 7, 2026

X is running some sort of an experiment on me. It removed the Ukrainian accounts from my feed and populated it with Dems. Every time I read a post, I think, “ha ha, this is a great sarcastic post.” And then I realize that the author is serious and feel sad.

I had a long dental procedure today, and when the anesthetic wore off, the pain was unpleasant. I had a full day, though, and had to be able to speak. So I did something I hate to do and took a painkiller. It had zero effect. None. Zilch.

I suffered and suffered.

In utter dismay, I bought an energy drink. And guess what? It removed the pain completely and immediately. I’m now scared of that beverage because what is it that they put into it for such an effect?

Our political life is so schizo because the proponents of free markets think everything should be a free market except for the dating market and the body-alteration market. And the believers in strict governmental control over the market exclude the dating and the body-alteration markets from this project of control. Neither side is aware of the incongruity at the heart of its belief system.

Tucker Carlson believes it’s a “distinct possibility” that the U.S. captured Maduro to *checks notes* “bring gay marriage to Venezuela.”

Yes, he’s serious. pic.twitter.com/TmrrwWYgTH

— Nathan Livingstone (MilkBarTV) (@TheMilkBarTV) January 5, 2026

It wasn’t the goal but it will be the result. There’s no way to proclaim freedom as the greatest value in existence and oppose the enshrinement of every sexual preference and permutation. Or open borders. Or transgenderism. These are all the most natural consequence of pursuing freedom above everything else.

Everything has trade-offs.

A January 2, 2026, Financial Times article reports that O-1B visas for extraordinary artistic ability are increasingly granted to influencers and OnlyFans models, using metrics like follower counts and subscribers as evidence. Approvals rose over 50% from 2014-2024

I sincerely don’t understand why online prostitutes need visas. Isn’t their whole business model that they are online? Plus, don’t we have enough of our own? What’s the point of bringing them over physically?

Is there any way this immigration system can ever be fixed?

One thing that makes my job feel a lot harder than it needs to be is my propensity to forget that there’s a procedure for everything. I keep trying to come up with solutions but that’s not necessary. All I need is to find the relevant procedure. Or a person who knows the procedure.

For example, today one faculty member demanded that I take a course away from another faculty member and give it to him. They have a conflict of some sort, and the last thing I need in my life is arbitrate between the two of them. But I don’t have to because there’s procedure.

I love the blessed procedure.

In the meantime, Zohran Mamdani’s housing advisor says that white people should lose the housing they own.

We’ll transition from treating property as an individual good to a collective good… Whites especially… will be impacted.

Far be it from me to make jokes about anybody’s appearance, so I will simply post the picture she considers to be a good portrayal of herself:

There’s a whole phenomenon of unconventionally looking, let’s put it that way, women flocking to flamboyant gay guys and becoming very subservient to them. This is one of those situations.

Some additional good news:

The Government of Cuba has announced that 32 Cubans were killed in the recent military operation by the United States to capture Venezuelan President President Nicolás Maduro, most of which were likely part of the security team protecting Maduro. Two days of mourning have been… pic.twitter.com/M00xp9qlXx

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) January 5, 2026

Protecting him is a way of speaking. On orders from the Russians, Cubans were preventing Maduro from fleeing. Like he tried to do in April 2019. Had an airplane on the tarmac, all ready to go. Russians had him dragged back, the poor sod.

Cuba is another country I love deeply. I have visited several times. I have personally heard from Cubans in Cuba what the regime is doing to them. It’s a good day when at least a few of the henchmen of the dictatorship get their due.

The removal of Maduro by the US is not unprecedented. A very similar operation was conducted in Panama in 1989 when dictator (and CIA operative) Manuel Noriega was removed in an almost identical way.

The biggest difference is that the 2026 process was a lot more effective, quick, and less destructive. And Black Sabbath music wasn’t used.

Why people keep reaching for clumsy analogies with Iraq and Afghanistan when there’s a clear and meaningful analogy with an identical operation in the same region, I have no idea.

The results of the Panama incursion can be observed by anybody with two eyes. Or even one eye with astigmatism. For a Central American nation, Panama isn’t doing that badly. And all that was needed was to remove this one asshole. Venezolanos and panameños are largely the same people, so the prospects for Venezuela aren’t terrible if we look at the history of the region and not at something completely different in another part of the world.

And yes, Venezuelans can still fuck it up royally. But they are definitely better off today than at any time since 1999. Nobody is going to give them a perfectly functioning country on a silver platter. It’s now all up to them.