<[link removed]>

Marshall Worth

January 23, 2026


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Here's today's roundup.


 

The Latest


EPA Commits to Ending Testing on Mammals



Do you want to pay taxes to a government that conducts experiments on dogs? If
the answer is no, we’re glad to report some good news.

The Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency has committed to
ending testing on mammals within the decade, reversing Joe Biden’s decision to
cancel the phase-out deadlines. The EPA originally set the goal during Donald
Trump’s first term.

“This historic goal… got ditched almost instantly after [the president] first
left office,” department headLee Zeldin wrote on X
<[link removed]>. “We are now BACK ON
TRACK and already reducing animal testing across the agency, getting the
agency’s animals adopted, validating new non-animal methods, and recommitting
to the 2035 deadline.”

The Biden administration subjected animals to inhumane experiments like
“forcing lab mice to breathe handgun emissions, making obese rats inhale
wildfire smoke, and poisoning puppies with pesticides,” according to the White
Coat Waste Project. None of that aligns with “American values.”Read more
<[link removed]>
.


 

Congressional Candidate Sleeps Through Campaign Event



We’re not sure if Joe Biden still follows politics. If he does, he’s surely
feeling proud of Illinois congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh. She’s
keeping his tradition of sleeping on the job alive.

Abughazaleh planned to attend a candidate forum hosted by a George
Soros-backed group earlier this week, but missed the event because she slept
through it. She said her narcolepsy, a condition that causes daytime
sleepiness, made her slumber through her alarm.

"I ended up sleeping through alarms, calls, and even my campaign manager
knocking on my door repeatedly,” the 26-year-old Democratsaid in a statement
<[link removed]>.

We would never criticize someone for having a disease, and we respect
Abughazaleh for putting herself out there as a candidate. Politics is a mean
business, and entering it takes bravery. At the same time, it’s fair to wonder
whether someone who can’t be trusted to stay awake should hold a seat in
Congress. What if she’s unconscious during key votes or hearings? If we were
Democrats, we wouldn’t love the idea.Read more
<[link removed]>
.


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Former DEA Agent Sentenced for Aiding Drug Traffickers



The Drug Enforcement Administration’s mission
<[link removed]> is to “enforce the controlled substances
laws and regulations of the United States.” In other words, it exists to stop
illegal drugs. One former agent seems to have missed the memo.

A New York judge on Wednesday sentenced retired DEA special agent Joseph
Bongiovanni to five years in prison for protecting drug traffickers. A jury in
2024 convicted him on counts of obstruction of justice, conspiracy to defraud
the United States, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, and making
false statements to law enforcement. He allegedly used his badge to aid his
childhood friends who became prolific drug traffickers.

Although the jury acquitted Bongiovanni of his most serious charges,
including an allegation that he pocketed $250,000 in bribes from the Mafia, his
punishment is still less than the 15-year sentence prosecutors sought.

The convict also allegedly authored bogus reports, stole sensitive files,
covered for a sex-trafficking strip club, and helped a high school teacher with
his marijuana-growing side hustle.Read more
<[link removed]>
.


 

2.2 Million Illegal Immigrants Self-Deported in Trump’s First Year



The Trump administration’s offer to pay illegal immigrants $1,000 to
self-deport has worked.

2.2 million undocumented foreigners have “voluntarily self-deported” since
January of last year, the Department of Homeland Security announced on
Thursday. The figure brings the administration’s estimated total deportation
count to nearly 3 million, as roughly 675,000 deportations have occurred
through more aggressive means like ICE.

Kristi Noem announced the news on X
<[link removed]>, adding that the government
is increasing the $1,000 self-deportation reward to $2,600 “to celebrate one
year of this administration.”

“Illegal aliens should take advantage of this gift and self-deport,” she
wrote. “Because if they don’t, we will find them, we will arrest them, and they
will never return.”Read more
<[link removed]>
.


 

Zelensky Attacks “Weak And Indecisive” European Leaders


Ukraine would probably not exist without the West’s over-the-top philanthropy.
Volodymyr Zelensky does not seem grateful.

The unelected Ukrainian president blasted European leaders as “weak and
indecisive” on Thursday, criticizing their disorganization in attempting to
manage Russia, China, and Donald Trump.

“Instead of taking the lead in defending freedom worldwide, especially ‍when
America’s focus shifts elsewhere, Europe looks lost trying ‌to ‍convince the
U.S. president to change,” Zelensky said in Davos. “What message does that send
to Putin, to China – and even more importantly, what message does that send to
Denmark, your close ally?” he added.

Zelensky’s assessment of European leadership’s disheveled state is obviously
correct, but it’s awfully bold coming from him. Ukraine’s president publicly
criticizing his funders is like a homeless man getting angry at a good
Samaritan who gifted him a sandwich because he wanted a different flavor.Read
more
<[link removed]>
.


<[link removed]>

Marco Rubio Receives Yet Another Job


Secretary of State/National Security Advisor/USAID Administrator/National
Archivist Marco Rubio’s responsibilities greweven larger on Thursday.

Donald Trump is putting Rubio in charge of America’s bid to bring the 2035
World Expo to Miami, stacking a new assignment onto the former senator’s
already flooded schedule. Rubio’s home state of Florida wants to host the
event, the president says, and he views the spectacle as a chance for “the next
big milestone in our new Golden Age of America.”

At this point in the administration, it’s fair to wonder how every piece of
news could affect Rubio’s responsibilities. The U.S. wants to acquire Greenland?
Maybe he’ll lead the way <[link removed]>.
Usha Vance announces her fourth pregnancy?Perhaps the vice president needs a
nanny <[link removed]>, or someone to
deliver the child <[link removed]>. He
really is aSwiss Army Knife
<[link removed]>. Read more
<[link removed]>
.


 

REPORT: Male Super Bowl Halftime Performer Plans to “Honor Queer Icons,” Wear
Dress During Show


The NFL’s decision to name Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny as 2026’s Super Bowl
halftime performer upset untold numbers of football lovers. The Super Bowl is
America’s game, but now its viewers will have to sit through a concert of
Spanish songs.

According to a Thursday report
<[link removed]>
, Bad Bunny’s español could be the least radical part of his show.

The artist reportedly plans to wear a dress as a tribute to queer icons and
drag culture during the performance, and is completely unbothered that his
stunt will turn fans’ stomachs into knots.


"Let them complain,” a source close to Bad Bunny said. “The dress is already
being sewn."

We’ll be curious to learn how drastically NBC’s viewer count decreases during
halftime, then goes back up when the third quarter begins. We knowsome Americans
are into dudes in dresses, but the demographic that’s fired up for the Super
Bowl unquestionably is not.Read more
<[link removed]>
.


<[link removed]>

Commentary


What Is Happening in Florida?


Florida earned a special place in conservatives’ hearts in 2020.

When most Western leaders lost their minds and assaulted civil liberties over
China’s new virus, the state’s government stood strong in defense of personal
autonomy,actual science, and common sense. The results spoke for themselves.
Florida had a lower COVID mortality rate than New York, California, Illinois,
Michigan, Massachusetts, and nearly every other state in the pandemic’s first
year, and its population shot up by over 300,000 between April 2020 and April
2021.

The reason so many people upended their lives to relocate to the Sunshine
State was simple. They sought the freedom all U.S. citizens are supposed to
enjoy, but too many lived without. Things like the ability to worship, travel,
make medical decisions, send their kids to school, and drive their beat-up cars
down the highway without fear of overzealous politicians getting in the way. We
know those sound like bare-minimum asks, but most Americans found them
unattainable five years ago. Florida served as the shining city on the hill.

Fast forward to today, and the state is heading in a darker direction.
Although still a nice place to live with generally above-average leadership,
Florida has become the site of one of America’s most oppressive assaults on
free speech.

You may have seen this video
<[link removed]> from earlier this week. It
shows Miami police questioning a woman in her home over a Facebook message
criticizing the city’s mayor. Did the post call for violence? No. Does the
First Amendment protect it? It certainly appears so. But it didn’t matter. The
city’s government sent its armed enforcers knocking on her door anyway.

For the sake of today’s exercise, let’s give Miami leadership the benefit of
the doubt and pretend theyreally thought the social media post went beyond the
limits of free speech. Even if that were true, the incident is hardly Florida’s
most obscene assault on expression. Not even close.

Did you know that Ron DeSantis signed a hate speech law in 2023, banning the
exact kind of speech the First Amendment exists to protect? Or that Florida’s
State Board of Administration, nonprofit organizations, educational
institutions, and local governments are prohibited from investing in companies
that boycott Israel? What about the fact that, to secure state arts or cultural
grants, applicants must pledge not to engage in such a boycott? Then, there was
earlier this week, when state lawmakers advanced a bill banning the term “West
Bank” in state government and public school materials, requiring the territory
be referred to as “Judea and Samaria” instead.

We know those draconian laws relate to America’s “special ally” in the Middle
East, which will elicit highly emotional responses. But none of this is really
about Israel. It’s about America. How could the state that’s supposed to be the
freest turn around and crack down on the most basic freedom, free speech, to
please a foreign country? Such behavior directly contradicts what Florida and
the United States are supposed to represent. It’s time to reverse course.



 

Video of the Day

<[link removed]>

“Go f*ck yourself”: January 6th cop snaps at congressman during hearing.
<[link removed]>
<[link removed]>


 

This Day in History


January 23, 1968: North Korea captures a U.S. Navy intelligence vessel. DPRK
patrol boats engaged the USS Pueblo during a coast surveillance, allegedly
turning their guns on the lightly armed ship as it navigated international
waters. The North Koreans opened fire as the Americans attempted to escape,
wounding several crew members and the captain. North Korea took the 83-man crew
hostage following its surrender, charging the men with spying within North
Korea’s 12-mile territorial limit. The Americans resisted demands to sign fake
confessions, instead raising their middle fingers at cameras and telling their
captors the gesture was the “Hawaiian good-luck sign.” The stunt resulted in
beatings. The crew remained kidnapped for 11 months until U.S. negotiators
secured its release. The USS Pueblo remains in Pyongyang to this day.


 

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