Good morning, and happy Monday! Today is Monday, Jan 5, 2026. Let's dig in.
Today in History:
1886: Robert Lewis Stephenson releases Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
1904: It was a cold year. -34°F (-36.7°C), River Vale, N.J., and -42°F (-41.1°C), Smethport, Pa. Both state records.
1919: The German Worker’s Party is formed, the precursor to the National Socialist Worker’s Party.
1921: The Black Sox Trial begins.
1940: Armstrong demonstrates FM radio to the FCC.
1945: Pepe LePew debuts.
1952: Churchill visits America, speaks to a joint session of Congress for a second time.
1957: Jackie Robinson retires.
1996: Don Shula retires.
2020: Iran pulls out of the 2015 nuclear deal.
Birthdays today include: King C. Gillette, who invented the safety razor; Psychic Jean Dixon; George Reeves of the ’50 Superman TV series; Jane Wyman, Robert Bernstein of Random House Publishing; Walter Mondale; Robert Duvall; Producer Phil Ramone, and Diane Keaton.
* * *
An interesting note I ran across while listening to the Bills game last night: According to this story, Russia put around six billion dollars’ worth of military aid into Venezuela. I mean, air defense systems, hardware, the whole shebang. According to several reports, those defenses never fired a shot.
It puts a different light on putting Maduro in cuffs in around three hours, doesn’t it? It also, in my mind, shows how desperately Putin wants a more solid foothold on our hemisphere. Those defenses were installed only a few months ago. Purpose? To protect Maduro, of course.
Add to this that the apparent ease of capture, the smoothness of this operation, I'm guessing, just guessing, mind you, that making sure we make sure our troops are lethal instead of allowing them to pretend to be women is actually the way the Military should have been going. I dunno about you, but I think Pete Hegseth deserves kudos and an apology, huh? Yeah, I know he won't get one, but still.
Seems to me it also should be causing the Kremlin some concern. The reasons for the lack of response and the total lack of retaliation after Maduro was taken seem to raise some questions. The support the socialists thought Maduro had wasn't there, obviously. Our administration of the place for a while is a plus from several angles. It'll give our folks the chance to examine the latest Russian hardware and software. But perhaps of greater import, maybe the support Maduro had among the people was not nearly as good as some made it.
Who was it that under-estimated how much Maduro was hated? Russia, Cuba, and Iran, and the leftists here in the states who are looking for an uprising against our being there. I'm seeing people who are supposedly American say that should happen. I see the same text under different names, as is usual with these things, trying to stir up an anti-American rebellion. Fox is reporting that Marxist cells here in the States are trying to incite riots in Venezuela.
The newest overnight campaign to support Maduro will likely send foot soldiers into the streets to support Maduro and his wife during any trials they face, not just as an expression of protest but as a continued campaign of information warfare on the domestic front.
Experts say the network that spent decades legitimizing and defending communist regimes abroad and now functions as a rapid-response influence force inside the United States is a new threat matrix that amounts to something the FBI and intelligence agencies investigate as malign foreign influence.
Its members operate as ideological foot soldiers, advancing a foreign-aligned narrative during moments of conflict, seeking to fracture public consensus, delegitimize U.S. action and apply pressure from within.
I suspect they're going to be disappointed, given the dancing in the streets we saw yesterday. The article mentions non-profit orgs driving their actions. Might be worth it to investigate how much of their funding comes from OUR tax dollars because of the Democrats here in the States, via, among other paths, the now shut-down USAID.
Then there’s the question of Putin’s lack of wisdom, funding such defenses. Seems to me he’s got enough problems with another failed bit of expansionism in his own backyard. It should also cause some problems for those still trying so desperately to sell us on the laughable idea that Trump is a Putin puppet.
More than passing strange, Venezuela is now freer than New York City.
Be that as it may, the whole thing will go down in that rotting apple, where the Southern District of New York will be doing the prosecuting. Jay Clayton is running the show there. He has been in that role since last August, and apparently has some serious chops with corporate law. Not so much with the kind of criminal case he finds on his desk this morning. I imagine there will be a small mountain of people from SDNY working on this one, but I’ve not found who will be leading the team yet. Given the kind of thing we have seen out of SDNY in the past, I'm not confident we'll get a good prosecution.
From my understanding, Judge Alvin K Hellerstein is the judge assigned to the case. This is the same judge who was dealing with the Harvey Weinstein lawsuit.
One interesting tidbit: Judge Hellerstein is 92 years old. Obviously, he's the senior judge. I'd say by rather a lot, actually. At the risk of sounding harsh, this case has a smell about it that tells me it’s going to be a long, dragged-out affair. It seems logical to ask: Is this judge going to be around for the end of the proceedings?
According to a release from his office,
11-CR-205, USA v. Maduro Moros
A proceeding for the above-mentioned case will take place tomorrow, 1/5/26, at 12PM. It will be held in front of United States District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein at 500 Pearl Street, Courtroom 26A.Seating will be on a first come first seated basis. Overflow courtrooms will also be available.
Obviously, this release came out yesterday.
I gather Maduro is being held at the Brooklyn MDC. Essentially, the place is in the old Navy yard, on a dead-end street ending in the bay, and a literal stone's throw from I-278, with a VERY secure-looking entrance off Second Ave near 38th street. I know the area well, having been at delivery points in the area many times. It’s among the most secure places in New York. I'm guessing they'll be doing this by video from the holding cell. As a casual observation, I would say Maduro has a better chance of surviving incarceration in New York City than Epstein ever did.
Stay tuned, kids, and watch the other authors here at PJ Media for updates throughout the day. I'm aware Sarah Anderson is going to be monitoring the court today, so you might watch to start with her.
Thought for today: You don't need perfection to reach your goal. You need desire.
I'll see you tomorrow, if not sooner.
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