Happy New Year, VIP readers! Thank you for your support this year.
I read Just Mindy's wonderful VIP post earlier, where she summed up the blessings of her year and called herself a "billionaire in blessings." Among other things, it would be a blessing to live in Florida under Gov. Ron DeSantis.
I thought that perhaps I should do the same since it's New Year's Eve, but you don't want to hear about my year. It consisted of work and driving my wife to her many, many doctor's appointments. Instead, I'm going to list some of my gripes.
I did find a cool AI tool today that generates your "2025 Cover Story" from your user avatar and profile.
Try it out!
VIP readers know that I write a lot about the United Kingdom, and none of it's good. My wife was planning a trip to Ireland and Scotland this spring to see her roots, but it all depends on her health.
Somewhere I'm not interested in visiting in 2026 is New York City. I've been there a handful of times and enjoyed it, but that was 20 years ago. I can't imagine what kind of circus it's going to be based on Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani's transition team. A couple of weeks ago, we learned from The New York Post that Mamdani had tapped "a controversial lawyer who defended an al Qaeda terrorist and a radical anti-Israel campus leader at Columbia for a 'high-ranking' position at City Hall."
That radical pro-Hamas campus leader from Columbia seems to be Ramzi Kassem:
NEW: Zohran Mamdani announced the nomination of Ramzi Kassem as Chief Counsel of New York City.
— Wall Street Mav (@WallStreetMav) December 31, 2025
Kassem returned to America from the Middle East in 2001, inspired by 9/11 to defend an Al Qaeda terrorist.
“I found myself pulled in the direction of doing rights work domestically… pic.twitter.com/Duxc04q3b3
The post continues:
… in the United States, representing Guantanamo and Bagram prisoners.”
One of his most recent clients was Mahmoud Khalil, a Syrian-born terrorist sympathizer who Secretary Rubio attempted to have deported for national security concerns.
Kassem convinced a judge to rule in favor of keeping him on American soil.
The city that was terrorized by Islam 24 years ago will now have an Islamist as its Chief Counsel.
That's probably my biggest frustration from 2025. Everyone who was supposed to have been deported, from Khalil to Maryland man Kilmar Abrego Garcia, is still here. As I reported in November, Khalil was a guest at Mamdani's victory party, and as I reported the other day, Garcia is walking around making cringe lip-sync TikToks. We need to get a crowbar to yank these people out of the country.
Not everyone on Mamdani's team is an Islamist, though. She doesn't check as many intersectionality boxes as Karine Jean-Pierre, but the new FDNY commissioner is the first lesbian woman to serve in that capacity. *golf clap*
Zohran Mamdani made a promise to appoint as many LGBTQ people as possible. He has named Lillian Bonsignore as the next Fire Commissioner of the New York City Fire Department, making her the first openly lesbian leader in the history of the nation’s largest fire department. pic.twitter.com/xZKOxY6bYH
— A Man Of Memes (@RickyDoggin) December 24, 2025
🚨 NEW: Zohran Mamdani Appoints Lillian Bonsignore as New FDNY Commissioner
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) December 26, 2025
“Although she never served as a firefighter, she's confident that won't matter … Bonsignore is a trailblazer for the LGBTQ community who will serve as the FDNY's first openly gay commissioner.” pic.twitter.com/2WlzkollmC
Are we allowed to call this DEI, or are people actually arguing a lesbian who has never been a firefighter was actually the most qualified for this job? https://t.co/uORYnHAIFZ
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) December 27, 2025
That reeks of DEI.
Another gripe of mine is Somali fatigue. I know that Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said that "you cannot talk about any achievement the City of Boston has had” without mentioning Somalis. If Joe Biden were still president, he'd be telling us that Somalis built this country, just like all of the illegals whom he was letting charge over the border.
Check out this guy. I don't speak the language so I can't vouch for the subtitles, but they seem legit:
Democrat Rep. Ismail Mohamed of Columbus, Ohio on his goal to get more Somali elected officials at the state and federal level: “Our main objective is to discuss things that concern Somalia. It is our country, our people.Our aim is a united front to lobby for Somalia” pic.twitter.com/8U1gTTNaSD
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) December 29, 2025
This clip isn't new, but it shows Rep. Ilhan Omar saying how her goal is to move back home to Somalia and raise her kids there. By all means, do it now:
BOMBSHELL UNEARTHED CLIP:
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) February 2, 2024
During a 2022 trip to Somalia, Ilhan Omar revealed her true political goal:
To move back to Somalia after she is done using her political position to build up her home country
"To make that move possible, there is a lot we need to work on together… pic.twitter.com/Gjrm7gDSgM
"… to make OUR land more stable and prosperous."
Well, that's enough griping. I'll see you in the new year with plenty more.
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