Your kid’s holiday toy could be a listening device, report says

Well, there’s another new thing you didn’t know you needed to be worried about. This didn’t happen when I was kid. All we had was a cup and a ball on a string

Santa’s Cookies Cost 31% More This Year Than in 2020

That’s less than ideal. I can see why Santa is dropping off listening devices

I’m sharing some of my fiction writing as a serialized story. Paid subscribers can read the story each week, but free subscribers will be able to follow what’s happening in the story through news reports from the in-universe site “NewsGator”

The Last Four Years Ch. 10: Skeptics of Survival: A Closer Look at Those Who Doubt the Shelter Plan

In The Last Four Years, a comet is four years away from hitting Earth. It’s not enough time to stop it, but long enough to get bored waiting for it. It is a story about what people do with the time they have left. Families trying to stay together, scientists trying to find a way out, and leaders holding civilization together

The Last Four Years Ch. 9 | The Last Four Years Ch. 8 | The Last Four Years Ch. 7 | The Last Four Years Ch. 6 | The Last Four Years Ch. 5 | The Last Four Years Ch. 4 | The Last Four Years Ch. 3 | The Last Four Years Ch. 2 | The Last Four Years Ch. 1

Also Worth A Look…

• White House Unveils ‘Patriot Games’ Youth Contest for 2026, Drawing ‘Hunger Games’ Comparisons - May the odds be ever in your favor

• ‘Alien life will be found by 2075’: UK’s top space scientist claims we are not alone - I, for one, welcome our new future alien overlords

• Pilot reports ‘silver cannister’ UFO feet from his plane during ‘creepy’ air traffic control call: ‘Good luck with the aliens’ - Roy Neary was unavailable for comment

• Private Donors Pledge $1B for CERN’s Future Collider - I feel like maybe we should be a little worried about whatever Bond villain made the donation. Back when they first fired that thing up, there were conspiracy theory types who thought it was going to destroy the world

• Hospital allegedly lost chunk of patient's skull, offered $25 gas card as repayment - Come on guys, at least give them a whole tanks-worth

• Toilet rats? Washington health officials warn of possible rodents in sewer systems after floods - Who had “Toilet Rats” on their Bingo card for December 2025?

• How to spend $5K to $10K/year on travel without going broke - I feel like that one is just simple math

• Shoplifting During Department’s Shop with a Cop Event - Timing is everything

• ‘National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation’ themed decorations face possible $2,500 fine from HOA - I felt bad siding with an HOA last week, so it’s nice to know we’re back on them being completely unreasonable

• ‘Funeral’ held for the penny at Lincoln Memorial after US Mint discontinues coin - RIP. Scrouge McDuck gave the eulogy