In the previous post, we got reviews of the Star Trek: Starfleet Academy show that no one wanted. No on wanted One Tree Hill in Space, or Space: 90210. That is what we got, because as Gary Nerdrotic says, we get Star Trek produced by people who don't understand Star Trek, and don't like Star Trek for people who don't like Star Trek.
This is the Starfleet Dreams AI generated video STARFLEET ACADEMY (1987) - a short Star Trek AI video.
Both Critical Drinker and Nerdrotic called Star Trek: Starfleet Academy a parody of Star Trek. Nerdrotic compared it to The Orville. You will find both reviews below.
There are probably spoilers, but are you really planning on watching this stuff? (If you are, then you can find the pilot episode on YouTube for free.) I put the Critical Drinker's video first, even though I saw Gary's before I watched Drinker's review, because it is shorter. They are both good, but I realize people have stuff to do.
When people, like myself, who once loved Star Trek, and can now only point and laugh, it is a sad day. But at least we can laugh.
Critical Drinker's review of the show is Starfleet Academy - This Show Is Pure Torture.
You know, I remember when Star Trek was a serious show made by serious people with a passion for science and technology and a desire to broaden human horizons. How times have changed. After the indignities of Discovery, Picard, and Strange New Worlds, I honestly thought we'd seen an end of the brain dead, cringe-inducing, hyper-identity-politics-driven garbage wearing the Star Trek brand like a skin suit, but apparently not.
It is 10 minutes long.
This is Nerdrotic's video Starfleet Academy is AWFUL - Star Trek is Dead. It is 24 minutes long.
As I type this, the audience score of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy on Metacritic is 1.9 out of 10.
These are not the only 2 reviews of course. Disparu, Knights Watch, Mr. H Reviews, Marc with a C, Derek Anderson - The D.A., and more have chimed in on this drek. Film Threat has multiple videos on this subject. Lots of chances to watch stuff in the coming days.
Miguel Gonzalez starts us off with Stuff that gives me headaches about an off-duty ICE officer having to defend himself.
Mr. Porter was actively shooting within a residential area with a forbidden weapon in California, but his death was murder because we are now in a rant against ICE?
The Hill - DOJ: Ban on mailing concealable firearms unconstitutional, can’t be enforced
A nearly 100-year-old federal ban on mailing handguns through the U.S. Postal Service is unconstitutional and cannot be enforced, according to an opinion released Thursday by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Clayton Cramer also on the DOJ opinion. Gutsy DOJ Call
Prohibiting mail order shipping of handguns was supposed to make it easier to enforce state laws regulating handgun ownership—of which the focus was apparently blacks.
The Other McCain - Radical Vegan Transgender Cult Update: Three ‘Zizians’ Make Court Appearance
The court should stop wasting time with these psychiatrists and just call me as an expert witness: Crazy People Are Dangerous.
William Teach at Pirate's Cove - Doom Today: Mushrooms Will Kill You When You Least Expect It
I’m actually surprised Jezebel didn’t put some sort of loony tunes 4th wave feminism spin on this
Cold Fury - You keep using that word, law-abiding
I do not think that it means what you think it means.
Second City Cop - Overdose Deaths Drop
And the media mentions every cause they can think of....except one:
Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony - Daily News Stuff 17 January 2026: Kybard Edition
TSMC says AI demand is endless, just like tulip bulbs. (Ars Technica)
But you can eat tulip bulbs.
Wombat-socho - FMJRA 2.0: Suddenly, A Winning Week
It was a good week to be a Senators fan. First, we rose up and defeated the Expos in two games of our three game series, including a 4-run 10th inning rally ...
Meep at STUMP - Dropping Numbers: Drugs ODs, Homicides, Motor Vehicle Accident Deaths
A drop in the supply seems more credible than Narcan availability, given the huge drops in deaths.
Sorry, y’all, but what has often happened was that people were saved from their current OD event by Narcan… but would only have a fatal OD later. The bigger thing that saved them was just not having the fentanyl to kill them.
Again from Wombat-socho - Rule 5 Sunday: But First, Coffee
Thanks to everyone for all the luscious links!
Again from William Teach - Bummer: Wall Street Is Abandoning Climate (scam) Pledges
It’s all fun and games when you think you’re Doing Something for the Earth, both because you want to look good (for insane cultists) and because you are kinda forced to do it by politicians. There comes a point when this makes no financial sense, kinda like how the yutes have realized that ordering delivery every day for most meals is a a Bad Idea, and now they’re on to Hamburger Helper
Chicago Contrarian - Latin School of Chicago Head of School Exit Raises Questions About DEI-First Governance Models
The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) — the nonprofit representing 1,700 private K-12 schools — continues championing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE) programs even as evidence mounts suggesting these initiatives may be producing unintended negative consequences.
Kentucky is not a good place to be a bad guy. Hopkins County homeowner shoots suspect during alleged home invasion
And though the article says "Hopkins County, Indiana" there is no such place. (In an earlier article they got it right.) This took place in Hopkins County, Kentucky, which is about 100 miles southwest of Louisville.
The Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office says deputies received a call about a home invasion in progress on Friday. Investigators say the homeowner got a firearm and shot the suspect after the person allegedly forced entry into the home.
Police didn't have much to say, they didn't even have a condition on the guy who got shot, so the media had to search out neighbors for their reactoins.
They stopped just short of "neighbors were shocked" statements, but they are still convinced that they live on the Magic Dirt™ where crime doesn't happen. There is a bit of cope around this being an "isolated incident." Because crime happens in "other kinds of places" to "other kinds of people." Or something.
No. If you can read these words, you live in the real world, and you are not protected by your zip code.
That doesn't seem like it will be for a very long time. Sicko recorded himself stabbing sleeping train passenger to death on Chicago's Blue Line: prosecutors | New York Post
A maniac allegedly recorded himself fatally stabbing a sleeping train passenger on the same Chicago Transit Authority line 26-year-old where Bethany MaGee was set on fire by a lunatic with a extensive rap sheet just two months ago, according to prosecutors.
Demetrius Thurman, 40, allegedly crept up behind sleeping 37-year-old Dominique Pollion on the Blue Line train with his phone in one hand and a knife in the other and hit record before he stabbed Pollion in the chest and abdomen around 2:15 a.m. Saturday, CBS News reported.
What does this say about the value of a human life in our Blue Cities?
Safety has been an ongoing issue for Chicago’s public transit.
Ya think?
And this guy gets the award for Stupid Criminal of the Month, because he kept the video on his phone. Police were able to retrieve the video after they got a search warrant. He was identified by cameras, and arrested the day after the murder. I have very little hope for Justice in Cook County, however. (It is better than it was a few years back.)
Police got a 911 call of a violent home invasion in process. Georgia men accused of posing as Amazon delivery workers
The husband told police that a man wearing an Amazon-style vest knocked on his door, claiming to have a package requiring a signature. Then, the suspect forced his way inside with a silver gun, according to officers.
A violent attack ensued. His wife was able to call 911, but they interfered with that.
The homeowner was able to activate the home's panic alarm during the incident. Once the alarm sounded, the two suspects ran away.
The cops were able to catch up with them with the aid of a local business owner. The details are interesting, click thru.
Amazon officials said deliveries requiring a signature are almost always pre-arranged. If you're not expecting that type of package, don't open the door.
This took place in Stamford, Connecticut.
I find this song interesting because it is from 1979, it was high enough on the charts to have been on the radio, and yet I don't remember it. Of course Southern Rock was not my thing in that era, but usually can say that sounds familiar.
It isn't bad. I will have to listen to more music from Blackfoot.
This is "Highway Song" by Blackfoot from their 1979 album Strikes.
Social Media isn't bad if you can ignore the insanity. I found this by way of Social media.
Is this song right for Metal for Mondays? Maybe not, but there is a decent guitar solo, and it does increase in energy, and I make the rules, so ...
First he got shot, then he was arrested, and now ... Burglar, shot by homeowner when breaking into Valley Village home, sentenced to prison
The homeowner was inside the home on July 8, 2024 when the men broke into the house on Addison Street near Colfax Avenue. The property owner fired his weapon, injuring one of the burglars, Chuks Chukwudi.
Could it be that they expected a homeowner in Los Angeles to be unarmed?
He was shot, injured, and taken into custody.
Chukwudi was sentenced to 12 years in state prison on Jan. 12 after he pleaded no contest to one count of first-degree residential burglary with person present.
This was not his first conviction.
Self-defense seems be catching on in California, even in Los Angeles.
Ellen Glickman is apparently a professor at Kent State University. She called 911 because she "needed to get into her building" on campus. (Her building?) She ended up arrested because she was intending to drive while the officers could smell alcohol on her. Along the way she resisted arrest. It went to court, and even after the court, she wanted to "speak to their supervisor," and when he didn't give her the satisfaction she demanded, she wanted to speak to the chief of the department.
So does the entitlement come from being a typical Karen, or is it special brand of University Professor entitlement?
The 911 call is interesting in itself. The dispatcher (or whoever) tells her REPEATEDLY to call the non-emergency number of Kent State. She repeats, at a louder volume, "I need to get into my building." It goes downhill from there.
She was charged with Disorderly Conduct due to intoxication, but the charges were dismissed after community service and paying court costs. So it turns out she did have some level of entitlment.
This is the Midwest Safety video Entitled College Professor Calls 911 on Herself
In other words, for anybody who had suffered a previous infection or who was otherwise healthy, the vaccine presented more risk of harm than good. Their explanation for choosing to insist that the vaccine was safe and effective for everyone was that they didn't want to present a "mixed message" and that it was easier to communicate a blanket recommendation than a nuanced one.
Except...the vaccine is not entirely benign. It has risks, and imposing those risks on people who didn't need to take it is unethical.
The real question is how much money Fauci made off of the vaccines. I doubt we will ever know.
But it is clear that he and his whole team of non-nuanced communicators need to charged for every vaccine injury that was incurred by people who did not need to take that risk. (Hat tip to Doug Ross - Larwyn’s Linx: Corrupt Minnesota Officials Ask Public To Riot and Hide Criminal Fraud by Public Officials)
The refugees should be tried and the guilty jailed, and then the administrators who came up with this (and then failed to provide security) should also be tried. Students were raped after being forced to live in complex alongside 125 refugees to 'aid integration': Terrified Dutch youngsters 'were subjected to years of sex assaults and violence' | Daily Mail Online
A total of 125 students and 125 refugees would live alongside each other, and were even encouraged to 'buddy up' so the migrants would adapt to life in the Netherlands more quickly.
But students living there told Dutch investigative documentary programme Zembla they faced multiple sexual assaults, harassment, violence, stalking and even claimed a gang rape had taken place.
Rape. Gang rape. Threats with kitchen knives.
You cannot aid someone with integration into your society if they do not want to integrate.
As for the authorities, it seems they were more interested in proclaiming victory, than providing safety.
And they claimed they were ignored despite filing multiple reports to authorities.
Click thru. (Hat tip to Katewerk of Small Dead Animals by way of a re-post from Visegrad 24.)
So Rick Beato has been torturing himself with the Top 10 songs on the Top 50 USA Spotify playlist. You would think people would have better taste, but there you go.
It is interesting to get a glimpse of the world of Pop Music. A glimpse is all I can take.
There were three songs that I did like. Rick only plays about a minute or two of most songs, so I might go back are re-listen.
One was "Golden" from the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack. Which is a good song, but over produced. And even though I am disconnected from Pop music, almost entirely, I've heard it enough to be sick of it.
The second was "So Easy (To Fall In Love)" by Olivia Dean, which has a bit of a Bossa Nova feel. I will listen to this again. Her singing reminds me a bit of Sade. (Sade is better.)
And the third was "The Fate of Ophelia" by Taylor Swift. She can sing, but usually I find the song-writing poor. This one actually sounds like a song. I may have to come back to this one. I hate it when I have to admit I like a popular artist, even a bit. It was like when Lady Gaga proved she could sing. (I still hate most of the music.)
And even in the songs I didn't really care for, Rick pointed out that there was a distinct lack of Auto-Tune. Good. Auto-Tune was probably the worst thing to happen to music in the past 25 years.
And Bruno Mars had another song, that sounded exactly like his last 5 songs. Which is too bad, because the singing is good. The songwriting isn't. But then that song was #1 on the Spotify USA chart, so what do I know? (Though at this point, if a better song was written, it might also be #1, and appeal to more people.)
This is Rick Beato's video Why Do I Keep Doing This To Myself…The Spotify Top 10
Geeks + Gamers brings us the funniest pop culture news of the week. Nerdrotic Humiliates Star Trek: Starfleet Academy After Spock Action Figure Livestream Destroys Premiere Numbers
The disastrous debut of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy just got even more embarrassing — and this time, the comparison came from a Nerdrotic livestream of literally nothing happening.
The livestream was funny. Gary Nerdrotic came on at the end, because there were a whole lot of superchats and he wanted to acknowledge them.
I gave up a Kurtzman Trek a long way back. Kurtzman clearly didn't understand Star Trek, and he didn't respect Star Trek, or Star Trek:TNG, Deep Space 9, or Voyager. I never liked Enterprise, but then I generally don't like stories involving time travel. With a very few exceptions, they are cheats. But at least Enterprise didn't try to rewrite and vacate all of the lore of what was produced before it came along.
Some of the Star Trek movies were good, and some not so good. The later ones were mostly made by people who didn't understand Star Trek. Well, the first movie was horrible. "Spectacle" was never what Trek was about. They didn't have the budget for spectacle.
Apparently Gary's livestream is still online, though not active. It is not published, and so I can't find the link. Like a good Martini, it was a creation of the moment.
I haven't seen Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, and I won't. (See comments on Kurtzman Trek above) OK, they admit it is not made for fans of the original material. The marketing screamed Space: 90210, the early reviews from people like Alan Ng of Film Threat were horrible. The general reviews, now that it is released, are no better.
I will list a couple.
That is a part of a panel discussion, just the portion on Star Trek:SA.
Also a section of a panel discussion
Paul Chato had the best line, and it sums up my feelings.
Because this is Kurtzman Trek, I'm expecting this will be trash. I'm not going to pretend to be objective. In fact, you might say I'm planning on hating this. I have long ago made peace with the idea that my Star Trek is dead, and this is not Star Trek.
Except I have no plans to watch it, as Paul did. Star Trek: The Next Generation was a miracle in some ways. They took the essence of Star Trek (the original series) and carried on in the same tradition, though the first season is fairly unwatchable at this remove. That lead to everything that came after. Though they lost their way, as they made more money. (The last couple of movies were awful, but not as awful as the reboot.
Home invaders are still getting shot. Fort Worth Homeowner Shoots Suspected Intruder During Early Morning Confrontation - USA Carry
On the morning of January 12, 2026, a suspected intruder was fatally shot by a homeowner after allegedly attempting to break into a locked garage in the 3400 block of Avenue L. The incident occurred around 6:00 AM, prompting a swift response from Fort Worth Police.
Why would you not assume that every homeowner in Texas is armed? They probably aren't all armed, but once you are outside of Austin, it is probably a better bet to assume they are.
The resident immediately called 911 to report the incident and request medical assistance. He remained at the scene and is cooperating fully with law enforcement. No arrests have been made as the investigation is ongoing.
Because this didn't happen in New York City.
Self-defense is a human right.
US, for 1st time in 50 years, experienced negative net migration in 2025: Report - ABC News
The U.S. experienced negative net migration in 2025 for the first time in at least half a century as a result of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, according to a report released Tuesday by the Brookings Institution.
The range is quite large, somewhere between -295,000 and -10,000. This leads me to believe that their statistics are not very good, since they can't nail it down to within an order of magnitude.
They go on to claim that ICE and Border and Customs Protection haven't deported as many people as they claim, and the slowdown in arrivals is really because the economy under the Republican administration is bad, or something
Hat tip to William Teach at Pirate's Cove. Good News: America Has Negative Migration For 1st Time In 50 Years
I was told by Democrats, their pet media, and Never Trumpers that the only way to accomplish anything close to this was passing a bunch of laws that would really mean legal status for millions of illegals/migrants/fake asylum seekers with a wink wink promise of securing the borders
Though the link to ABC News was broken when I first looked.
From Miguel Gonzalez: "Train like you fight." A sacred cow that needs slaughtering.
I am going to tick off followers with this post, but it needs to be said: There is no way in God’s green-and-blue Earth that you will train for any specific fight you may encounter. You do not actually go the the range with a bed and practice waking up butt naked (or in jammies), retrieve the gun and proceed to slaughter cardboard targets while the rest of the attendants look at you and frantically call 911 to report a mad man with a gun.
People ask me why I like revovlers so much. It is because when I wake up in the middle of the night, because I have heard something, my mind is not clear, not even if adrenaline is pumping. I want the simplest firearm I can get for that scenario. If you're wondering what that might be, consider the title to this blog.
Do I hate semiautomaitcs? No. I have a few. I love them. Well, except for the Bersa .380 that took a dip in the saltwater. I still have it in case there is ever a "gun buyback" in my area; it's a paperweight from the rust. (Rust never sleeps. Water always wins.)
Anyway, go click thru, as there is a lot more.
What happened to this country, that it is populated by monsters? Oh yeah, Progressive Politics. Minnesota day care worker accused of fatally suffocating baby days before his first birthday 'to seek attention' | New York Post
A deranged day care worker in Minnesota with a history of making a spectacle of herself suffocated an infant to death mere days before his birthday in a desperate attempt to attract “attention,” police said.
Theah Loudemia Russell, 18, allegedly confessed to “intentionally suffocating” two children at the since-shuttered Rocking Horse Ranch day care in Savage, Minn. last fall, Savage Police Chief Brady Juell said at a press conference Wednesday.
Minnesota, being a dutifully Blue State, probably has no death penalty.
I miss living in a civilized society. Hat tip to Sean Fitzgerald (Actual Justice Warrior) on X. And yes, I stole the title to this post from Sean
The only thing worse than Minnesota daycares with no kids, is the ones that actually have kids https://t.co/vOqCycPc9u
— Sean Fitzgerald (Actual Justice Warrior) (@IamSean90) January 16, 2026
Wombat-socho starts us off with In The Mailbox: 01.14.26 (Afternoon Edition)
Stoic Observations: Superficial – The Game
Jim McCoy: Bowl of Red
The Right Way - Top of the News
Democrats Threaten Government Shutdown Over ICE Funding
Hard to Fund an ’Agency That Is Completely Out of Control’. - Breitbart News
EBL - Bionic Woman
Premires January 14, 1976 Bionic Woman
AoSHQ: Morning Report 01.14.26
Gates of Vienna - News Feed 1/14/2026
As much as $700 million in cash was transported out of Minnesota via commercial flights, often routed through Europe and the Middle East. The operation relied on couriers rather than financial institutions, keeping the transactions largely off official banking records.
Small Dead Animals - Wednesday On Turtle Island
Conman Carney’s Canada: Manitoba supports Tampon Tim (Warning: CBC). Tamara Lich. The Libranos.
The Democratic Party’s America: China Sucks. The Golden Globes cesspit.
Again from Wombat-socho - In The Mailbox: 01.16.26 (Afternoon Edition)
Weird Catholic: The Great Mother of Austria & Her Spectacular Wardrobe
Stoic Observations: How To Survive Outside The Box,
A View from the Beach - Flotsam and Jetsam - Trump Gets Nobel Peace Prize, Threatens MN with Insurrection Act
FBI Looking for Illegal Alien Who Assaulted ICE Agents in Dallas, Beege Welborn reports MN Anarchists Loot ICE Vehicle, Score Weapons Locker and Documents, Dave Strom sees Walz Inching Toward Civil War...
3. Leftists are using bluesky, a leftist only social media platform created as a response to X allowing non-leftist counter narratives, to suggest that federal law enforcement in the US should be murdered on site.
Flopping Aces - The Week in Radicalism, 01/17/2025 – Back to The Economist!
Can anyone stop Europe’s populist right?
Europe’s options are this or become an Islamic caliphate. Choose wisely, Europe
Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog - LinkSwarm For January 16, 2026
Iran news has died down significantly the last few days, but the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier group is moving to Mideast. It takes time to assemble a big stick…
Nick Shirley just released Part II of his look into Somali fraud.
Wombat-socho again - In The Mailbox: 01.16.26 (Evening Edition)
Shark Tank: Uthmeier Announces Arrest of Illegal Aliens In Organized Retail Theft Scheme
Shot In The Dark: Ritual Groveling
Political Hat - Quick Takes – Not Dead Yet: Cash For Rebranded DEI At Harvard; Cornell’s Zombie DEI; Banned Iowa DEI Continues
Apparently zero funding means more funding if you switch sock puppets at Harvard.
Zombie DEI programs can survive even Donald Trump
If no one notices, than it didn’t break any actual ban, right?
The Glibertarians - Thursday Afternoon Links
GERMAN ECO-TERRORISTS RUN AMOK, DELIBERATELY CAUSE WINTER POWER OUTAGE: The authorities have been ignoring these punks for 14 years. Because the previous article is partially paywalled, here’s coverage from another source.
Maggie's Farm - Wednesday morning links
"Disgraced Dilbert creator"?
New scheme revealed: the Somali fraud story just exploded AGAIN…
J.J. Sefton at Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report — 1/15/26
Every bloody confrontation is the foreseeable result of deliberate instruction and escalation. The activist infrastructure behind this effort matters.
The ICE uproar is a conspiracy calculated to fool Americans
Doug Ross - Larwyn’s Linx: Corrupt Minnesota Officials Ask Public To Riot and Hide Criminal Fraud by Public Officials
• Immigrant Secret Service Agent Leaks JD Vance's Travel Details - Ken Silva
• Venezuela raid leaker jailed. WaPo worried. - Don Surber
Anonymous Conservative - News Briefs – 01/16/2026
Texas hospitals incurred more than $1 billion in health care costs for patients not lawfully present in the United States during fiscal year 2025, according to new data obtained from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
I leave you with Food for Thought – 14 January 2026 from Mostly Cajun, Wednesday Memes … from MaddMedic, and Midweek Memes from Granite Grok.
I'm almost surprised that they didn't charge her with a crime. Woman ‘lured’ to Edgemont residence, fought off attacker in ‘self-defence’: police
A woman is recovering after an altercation with a man in Calgary’s northwest that resulted in his death in what police are calling “the most clear-cut case of self-defence.”
Police believe the man, 48-year-old Shahbaz Ahmed, lured the woman in her 30s to the residence in the community of Edgemont under a false pretence of a property showing on Jan. 9.
She did go with her father, but made the mistake of getting separated from him. That is when Shahbaz Ahmed attacked her. It was the last thing he did. She was able to stab him, and flee. He did not survive.
“She did everything right,” [staff Sgt. Scott] Guterson [with Calgary Police Service’s homicide unit] said. “This is a great example of someone who is completely innocent and had to suffer a very traumatic incident at the hands of a perpetrator.”
As an investigation has determined that the woman was acting in self-defence, Ahmed’s death has been deemed a non-culpable homicide and no charges will be laid in the incident.
That last is amazing, because the Prime Minister has all but said you do not have the right to defend yourself from attack.
Hat tip to Small Dead Animals
From George Shay at Chicago Contrarian we get the following. CPS Corruption Exposé Shows Why Chicago Teachers Union’s Reign of Terror Must End — Now
Those who can’t do, teach. And those who can’t teach…govern. This must stop
Chicago did not arrive at this moment by accident. The city did not simply “lose its way.” What we are living through is the predictable outcome of institutional capture, centered on one sprawling bureaucracy that now consumes a staggering share of your property taxes while producing fewer students, worse outcomes, and a governing class increasingly detached from reality: Chicago Public Schools.
Chicago spends $30,000 per student, with little to show in the way of actual education, as measured by test results. They got PPP loans despite being fully funding during the lockdown. They spent money on bus services during the remote-learning fiasco. There were 355 sexual misconduct cases in a single year. Residency rules (teachers are supposed to live in the city) were ignored. And more.
The CTU is now a political machine, one that trains candidates, finances campaigns, writes policy, and enforces ideological discipline.
Its alumni dominate City Hall and exert enormous influence over Cook County and Springfield. Mayor Brandon Johnson is not an outlier; he is the model. His ascent from classroom to union leadership to the fifth floor is the clearest illustration of how CPS culture metastasized into city governance.
Read the whole thing, because it is not only Chicago that is being destroyed.