Some headlines, issues and news that caught our eye.

Minnesota’s Fraud: It’s Way Bigger Than It Looks

FBI Director Says Minnesota Fraud Cases Are ‘Tip of a Very Big Iceberg’ — American Greatness

Somali Empty ‘Day Care Centers’ Suddenly Filled With Rent-a-Kids — Ace Of Spades HQ, roundup

Minnesotans Begged GOP Rep To Stop The Somalis Over A Decade Ago — He Told Them It Was Impossible — Daily Caller

Minnesota: DHS Inspecting Over 30 Sites of Suspected Fraud — Legal Insurrection

Minnesota Fraud Scandal Exposes the Real Crisis Facing the West — The Daily Signal

ICYMI: What Nick Shirley’s Minnesota Fraud Story Says About Legacy Media — Issues & Insights

Is Russia-Ukraine War About To Get Worse — Or To End?

Russia Claims Ukraine Tried to Strike Putin’s Residence — Newsweek

Russia throws wrench in peace negotiations in blaming Ukraine for attack — Defense & National Security Newsletter, via The Hill

Polish prime minister says peace could be achieved in Ukraine within weeks — Reuters

U.S. offers Ukraine 15-year security guarantee as part of peace plan, but Ukraine wants 50: Zelensky — AP

Polish Prime Minister Tusk: US ready to deploy troops to Ukraine to secure peace deal — TVP World

California’s Never-Ending Bounty Of Bad Ideas

From Golden State to Failing State: California’s Stupidest Idea Yet — PJ Media

California’s Ro Khanna faces Silicon Valley backlash after embracing wealth tax — CNBC

Tech Elites Plot To Primary Populist Democrat Who Called For Wealth Tax — Daily Caller News Foundation

USDA Challenges California Over Potential Implementation of Race-Based Farmland Redistribution Plan — Legal Insurrection

Gavin Newsom Sticks It To California Ratepayers — Robert Bryce, Substack

California Screamin’ — Larry Sand, American Greatness

Firefighters Could Have Prevented the L.A. Wildfires, but California Rules Made Them Save Plants Instead — Shawn Regan, City Journal

Will U.S.-EU Relationship Crash And Burn?

‘We are the free world now’ — Europe declares war on free speech in the US — Jonathan Turley, The Hill

EU warns of possible action after the US bars 5 Europeans accused of censorship — AP

It may seem petty to deny entry to EUrocrats, but it’s all they will understand — Quotulatiousness

Free Speech & Denying Visas to Euro Autocrats — Cynical Publius, X

Who Says Economics Is Dull?

Santa The Economic Terrorist — The Daily Economy

Stossel Exposes the Five Biggest Lies of Socialistic Slavery — American Thinker

Immigration, Legal And Illegal, Remains Hot Topic

New data reveals the horrific truth about illegal-immigrant crime — John R. Lott Jr., New York Post

Trump Slammed by Heritage Hardliner Over ‘Fake’ Deportations — Bloomberg, via Archive.today

The Trump administration’s plan to close a ‘huge loophole’ in legal immigration — Politico

America Should Grant Political Asylum to Victims of European, Canadian Tyranny — Kurt Schlichter, Front Page

Say Goodbye To 2025, And Hello To 2026 …

Is Social Security going bankrupt? What you need to know — USA Today

Goodbye 2025 and Predictions for 2026 — Sasha Stone, Substack

The Left’s Top 25 Lies Of 2025 — The Federalist

AI fights to watch next year — The Hill

From climate alarmism to DEI programs, liberal policies failed big time in 2025 — Liz Peek, Fox News