[DM] Hammer-wielding maniac, 26, arrested over raid on JD Vance's $1.4 mansion
A hammer-wielding maniac who smashed four windows at JD Vance's Cincinnati home has been arrested by the Secret Service after an overnight break-in.
William DeFoor, 26, was charged early Monday morning with one count each of obstructing official business, criminal damaging or endangering, criminal trespass and vandalism.
Secret Service agents heard a loud noise at the home around midnight and spotted DeFoor running from the home, which is the secondary residence for Vance, his wife Usha and their three young children, who were out of town at the time.
DeFoor was detained by Secret Service agents shortly after. When an officer informed the suspect of his rights, he responded: 'I don't know,' the arrest report says.
DeFoor has been accused of trashing property before. He was sentenced to treatment at a mental health facility for two years and was required to pay $5,550 in damages.
He had also allegedly vandalized a Secret Service vehicle on his way up the home's driveway.
No motive has been released.
Vance posted on X: 'I appreciate everyone's well wishes about the attack at our home. As far as I can tell, a crazy person tried to break in by hammering the windows. I'm grateful to the secret service and the Cincinnati police for responding quickly.
'We weren't even home as we had returned already to DC.'
DeFoor has been accused of trashing property before. He pleaded guilty in April to two counts of vandalism after causing more than $2,000 worth of damage to an interior design company, court records show.
He was sentenced to treatment at a mental health facility for two years and was required to pay $5,550 in damages.
DeFoor is set to be arraigned at Hamilton County Municipal Court on Tuesday.
Following the break-in, footage was released showing large holes in the windows of Vance's home as cops patrolled the scene and recorded evidence of the damage.
The luxurious East Walnut Hills property overlooks the Ohio River and spans 2.3 acres. The Vance family purchased the home for $1.4 million.
After taking the vice presidential oath of office in January 2025, Vance and his wife have lived with their three children at the Naval Observatory in Washington, DC.
The couple also own a property on Capitol Hill.
They previously owned a farmhouse in Alexandria, bought shortly after Vance began his term as a Senator for Ohio, which they sold in March last year.
A Secret Service spokesman told the Daily Mail: 'An adult male was taken into custody by the Cincinnati Police Department after being detained by US Secret Service personnel for causing property damage, including breaking windows on the exterior of a personal residence associated with the Vice President.'
They added: 'Shortly after midnight on Monday, January 5, the man was physically detained by Secret Service agents assigned to the Vice President’s home. The residence was unoccupied at the time of the incident, and the Vice President and his family were not in Ohio.'
BREAKING: William DeFoor, 26, has been charged after attempting to break into Vice President JD Vance’s Ohio home, allegedly using a hammer to smash windows. pic.twitter.com/304J0XrM4R
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/05/2026 18:23 Comments ||
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#6
The kid was reasonably bright if he graduated from Summit Country Day School — an expensive and demanding secular private school here. And talented to make the cut for entry to the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music, which I believe is ranked in the Top 10 nationally — entry by audition only, and regular testing for culling thereafter. Trailing daughter #1 was accepted into their voice major chorus for two semesters for the sheer challenge of it, (she was a geology major) and ended up hating it — it was actually the instrument for the conducting students, who presented the singers with four new pieces to learn and perform before the professor every three weeks, and the conducting students picked every pseudo-intellectual, modern piece they could find to demonstrate their cleverness, instead of enjoying glorious things like Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, and Mozart, Bach, Handel, and Beethoven, etc. that she had been accustomed to performing with the May Festival.
[DM] Tragedy strikes again at Disney World as sixth death reported
The happiest place on Earth has once again been struck by tragedy as a sixth person has been found dead at Walt Disney World in recent months.
Orange County Sheriff's Office officials said they received a call about a body just before 9pm on Friday at the Orange Garage of Disney Springs, a shopping and dining district at the theme park, Click Orlando reports.
'This incident is being investigated as a possible suicide,' the sheriff's office said in a statement, adding that no further information will be released over the weekend. "The victim spent 3 hours on the It's a Small World Ride and the earworm caused them to take their own life. Understandable"
Law enforcement officials are now considering a full shutdown of the Disney Springs district to ensure guest safety and to allow for a comprehensive forensic sweep, according to the Inside the Magic blog.
The shocking death marks the sixth death at the theme park over the course of just four months.
The first was reported on October 14, when Disney superfan Summer Equitz, 31, took her own life at the Contemporary Resort Hotel.
Her cause of death was ruled as multiple blunt impact injuries, with the medical examiner providing no further information.
Equitz, who visited Disney World during her honeymoon, had flown out to the resort from Illinois without telling her family before she died.
Just days later, on October 21, an unidentified 60-year-old man died after suffering a medical episode at the Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground.
The man had been traveling with his wife, who found him unresponsive.
The Nurse Anesthetists' report, reviewed by People, did not include a cause of death, but noted that he suffered from hypertension and end-stage liver disease.
Aspiring NFL referee Matthew Cohn, 28, also died by suicide at the same hotel as Equitz on October 23. He reportedly jumped from a balcony.
A fourth vacationer died in the early hours of November 2 - a woman in her 40s who was found unresponsive at the Pop Century Resort.
The site is home to a budget hotel themed around 20th-century American pop culture, which is connected to Epcot and Hollywood Studios by the Skyliner, a gondola lift system that links multiple theme parks and resorts to one another.
She was later pronounced dead in hospital, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Office told the Daily Mail at the time. There were no signs of foul play.
Disney superfan Summer Equitz, 31, died by suicide at the Contemporary Resort Hotel on October 14, and aspiring NFL referee Matthew Cohn, 28, died by suicide at the resort on October 23
Then, on November 8, another unidentified traveler passed away at the Saratoga Springs Resort.
A social media account monitoring emergency calls at Walt Disney World said at the time that there was a 'person down' reported at 3.18pm that day, but minutes later, shared an update that the status of the investigation changed to 'dead person.'
Daily Mail has reached out to Disney World for comment.
If you or someone you know needs help, please call or text the confidential 24/7 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US on 988. There is also an online chat available at 988lifeline.org.
[Jpost] Flights across Greece were grounded for several hours on Sunday after a radio-frequency outage crippled air traffic control, stranding thousands of travelers and bringing airport operations to a virtual standstill.
There was little clarity on what caused the disruption, which began early Sunday and quickly escalated, affecting the travel plans of thousands on the busy last weekend of the holiday period.
Some overflights across Greek and regional airspace were still being serviced, but restrictions were imposed on airport operations, Greece's civil aviation authority said.
By Sunday afternoon, limited services had been restored after pilots switched to backup frequencies to maintain contact with ground controllers, authorities said.
Greek authorities were still unsure of the cause of the blackout, which disrupted dozens of flights.
[DM] Flooding in San Francisco has left residents scrambling to keep their homes safe, as roads have become fully submerged following a super moon 'trifecta.'
Heavy winds and high tides swept through the Bay Area on Saturday, with the tide peaking at 2.5 feet higher than usual at around 10.30am.
One resident, 36-year-old Julia Pfahl, told the San Francisco Chronicle that she had arrived at work only to discover the shop was flooded by four inches of water.
'It’s the worst I’ve ever seen it,' she said. 'Everyone is in a panic, no one knows how to drive in it.
'I saw a car by the Holiday Inn with water up to its windows. Did you really think you could drive through that?'
A flood warning was issued across the Bay Area and the Central Coast until 2pm on Sunday, with advisories for San Francisco and San Pablo bays extended until 3pm on Monday.
The high waters submerged streets, including parts of Interstate 80 which saw water levels two feet deep.
Photos of the area saw homes and cars underwater, as well as desperate residents kayaking through the high waters.
[Yahoo] Temperatures in the Yukon Territory are no picnic during the winter months. Home to some of the world's most frigid air, the atmosphere has to put in some effort to break records here.
But that's exactly what's happened over the past couple of weeks amid one of the region's longest and most extreme cold snaps on record.
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several days were below -50F
for those wondering, Fairbank AK has also been cold but temperature did not fall below -50F
in the other hemisphere, Oymyakom in Russia had several days below -50F last week but is warming to near -30F currently
fortunately for the USA, the polar votex has kept the cold bottled up
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
01/05/2026 00:00 ||
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Link ||
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FOCUS. FIGHTING is underway between armed groups and SEPARATIST militias in northern Somalia at the time of writing especially in AWDAL region according to witnesses in the area.
More than 23 separatist MILITIAS from the ISSAQ (secessionist clan in northern Somalia) HAVE been… pic.twitter.com/7HdHen9n2B
FOCUS. FIGHTING is underway between armed groups and SEPARATIST militias in northern Somalia at the time of writing especially in AWDAL region
… westernmost administrative region in Somaliland, bordering Djibouti and Ethiopia…
according to witnesses in the area.
More than 23 separatist MILITIAS from the ISSAQ (secessionist clan in northern Somalia) HAVE been killed since hostilities began, according to local sources.
The situation remains tense, with clashes continuing across the region and troops moving. Stay tuned for more details and the situation develops.
Erdogan said Ankara is prepared to contribute to efforts aimed at bringing Yemen’s competing parties together, amid a sharp escalation in fighting between forces backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
He also noted that Türkiye is closely monitoring developments in both Yemen and Somalia, stressing that preserving the territorial integrity of both countries is vital for regional stability.
Must these people fight among themselves all the time? Can’t they ever take a rest?
[SudanPost] – South Sudan’s main armed opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO) led by suspended First Vice President Riek Machar said on Saturday night its forces captured a strategic South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) garrison in northern Unity State near the Sudanese border.
Speaking to Sudans Post, SPLA-IO Sector Two spokesperson Major Kerbino Yai Pazale said government forces launched a coordinated attack on SPLA-IO positions at Nyuelnyuel, also known as Kubri Jamus, an area where both sides maintain nearby bases roughly three kilometers south of the Sudan border.
Pazale said SSPDF troops attacked from two directions but were repulsed after more than an hour of fighting, forcing government forces to retreat and abandon their position.
“Today, at around 8:30 p.m. local time, the SSPDF attacked our forces stationed in Nyuelnyuel from two directions,” Pazale said. “One force advanced from Kubri Jamus near the Ngol River, while the other came from the direction of Pan Akuach.”
“The fighting lasted for about one and a half hours,” he added.
Pazale said SPLA-IO fighters pushed back both attacking forces, forcing one unit to retreat eastward toward Pan Akuach and the Bentiu–Heglig highway, while the other withdrew west toward Kaikang in Mayom County. More at the link
ETHIOPIA — 🔥 In a one-day battle near Rebu-Gebeya town in Sinan District, Amhara Fano
…originally a youth group/vigilante militia that became active in the 2010s for rampaging against ethnic neighbours on the way to fighting against the then-ruling Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which had ruled Ethiopia until the previous election, then were very unhappy they were no longer in charge. So they revolted, and for a while it looked like they would win...
fighters clashed with forces loyal to the Abiy Ahmed government.
The fighting reportedly resulted in heavy losses for government forces, with significant weapons and ammunition seized. Dozens of government soldiers were killed and many more surrendered.
[StanfordReview] Wendy Mao, Stanford’s Earth Sciences Chair and Deputy Director of Stanford’s Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences at SLAC, has co-authored over 50 publications, trained five employees, and maintained a visiting scholar position at HPSTAR, an “alias” for China's nuclear weapons program.
…all of which was not just fine but considered admirable in the olden days before Donald Trump was sworn in….
In 2020, the Center for High Pressure Science and Technology, or HPSTAR, was added to the U.S. Department of Commerce's Entity List, which identifies organizations that pose a significant risk to national security. Since its 2020 Entity List designation, Professor Mao has co-authored at least 12 peer-reviewed papers with HPSTAR.
The U.S. Entity List describes HPSTAR as an organization “owned by, operated by, or directly affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP), which is the technology complex responsible for the research, development and testing of China's nuclear weapons and has been on the Entity List under the destination of China since June 30, 1997.”
According to Canada's 2024 Named Research Organizations List, HPSTAR is an “alias” for the institution behind China’s nuclear weapons program.
HPSTAR studies how materials behave under extreme pressures and temperatures using diamond-anvil cells, synchrotron beams, and X-ray diffraction. Mao is a leading U.S. researcher in this very field.
In an interview with the Stanford Review, Professor Raymond Jeanloz, a UC Berkeley high-pressure materials researcher and former chair of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on International Security and Arms Control, stated:
"It is true that high-pressure experiments are used by scientists working on the domain of nuclear weapons. If anyone is using the diamond anvil cell or shock waves to study materials relevant to nuclear weapons, that's highly sensitive. If those same methods are then applied to sensitive nuclear materials, the combination of these kinds of experiments with these materials starts raising eyebrows."
Both Mao and HPSTAR extensively use diamond anvil cells and shock waves to study materials.
Over the past two decades, Mao has co-authored at least 50 publications with HPSTAR. Funding acknowledgments show that Wendy Mao and HPSTAR co-authored research financed by the following U.S. government agencies:
Department of Energy (including the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Argonne National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Brookhaven National Laboratory)
Defense Advanced Research Program Agency (DARPA)
Department of Defense (DOD)
National Science Foundation (NSF)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Army Research Office (ARO)
National Aeronautics And Space Administration (NASA)
There’s been a lot of that going on, as we discovered with the Covid research. It sounds like the Deputy Director is being put forward as an awful example of how such things are punished.
TRAINED HPSTAR PHD STUDENTS
Mao has trained at least five HPSTAR employees as PhD students in her Stanford and SLAC labs. At least one HPSTAR postdoctoral researcher simultaneously worked on DOE, NNSA, and DARPA-funded research at SLAC.
For example, one of Mao’s current PhD students worked at HPSTAR for three years, from 2015 to 2018, receiving an M.S. in Condensed Matter Physics before joining Stanford as a PhD student in Mao’s lab.
The other four were trained in Mao’s lab and returned to China to work at HPSTAR. These are only the individuals we were able to identify via web and archival searches.
In an interview with the Review, a high-ranking Trump 45 official with knowledge of the matter stated, “Mao has trained 5 PhD students affiliated with China’s nuclear weapons program. Stanford should not permit its federally funded research labs to become training grounds for entities affiliated with China’s nuclear program. Mao’s continued and extensive academic collaboration with HPSTAR is adequate grounds for termination.”
[FoxNews] American Airlines is continuing to test an AI-powered system designed to delay departing flights, so that passengers have a better chance of making their connections.
The airline announced back in May 2025 the technology would be tested at its Dallas-Fort Worth hub.
It has since expanded the program to additional airports, including Los Angeles International Airport, Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Miami International Airport, Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Philadelphia International Airport and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
For travelers, the changes could mean fewer missed connections in some cases.
The system analyzes real-time data to identify flights that have passengers at risk of missing their next departure — and determines whether holding the flight briefly could help those travelers make their connection.
Passengers are notified by automated text when a flight is held, including details on how long the plane will wait at the gate, American Airlines’ spokesperson Luisa Barrientos Flores told Afar.
The flights will be held, on average, for 10 minutes, Flores said.
Some travelers say they’ve already experienced the system firsthand.
In a Reddit post, one passenger described receiving a notification after the first flight was delayed. The notice said the connecting flight would wait at the gate.
The traveler described feeling especially relieved, as he or she had a tight layover and was worried about missing the connection, particularly since it was the last flight of the night.
The user noted that the text message arrived as soon as the plane landed.
The text detailed how long the connecting flight would be held.
United Airlines has rolled out new technology as well that's aimed at helping passengers make tight connections.
The updates build on technology the airline has been using for several years, according to the company.
In a December 2025 press release, United said it rolled out personalized features that provide step-by-step directions to connecting gates, estimated walking times, real-time flight updates and guidance for longer layovers.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] On January 4, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called on US President Donald Trump to stop threatening to annex Greenland.
"The United States has no right to annex any of the three parts of the Danish Kingdom. Therefore, I strongly urge the United States to stop making threats against a historically close ally and against another country and another people who have clearly stated that they are not for sale," Reuters quotes Frederiksen as saying.
Trump's statements that the US supposedly "needs" to take control of Greenland make no sense, the Danish prime minister added.
Trump previously stated that Washington needed control of Greenland for national security reasons, noting that Greenland is "in the zone of activity" of Russian and Chinese forces.
On January 3, amid the US military's capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, American political consultant Katie Miller, the wife of a US presidential adviser, posted an image of a map of Greenland colored in the colors of the American flag on social media, captioned "Coming Soon." Danish Ambassador to the US Jesper Møller Sørensen responded by stating that Copenhagen expects Washington to fully respect Denmark's territorial integrity.
If we promise to develop their industries and economy instead of suppressing it like the Danes do, we will win the natives over and would not need to annex the island.
The island is on its own path to independence if the natives choose to separate.
[RIA] Following the military operation in Venezuela, US President Donald Trump stated that the US also needs Greenland.
"We absolutely need Greenland," he told the Atlantic magazine, adding that the territory was allegedly "surrounded by Russian and Chinese ships."
Trump has repeatedly stated that Greenland should become part of the United States. He has cited its strategic importance for national security and the defense of the "free world," including allegedly from China and Russia.
Former Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Egede has responded that the island is not for sale and never will be. At the same time, the American leader has refused to pledge not to use military force.
Until 1953, Greenland was a Danish colony. It remains part of the kingdom, but in 2009 it gained autonomy, allowing for self-government and independent choice in domestic policy.
[JustTheNews] "It’s been an incredible year thanks to the leadership and decisiveness of President Trump. It was the honor of a lifetime to work with Director Patel, and to serve you, the American people. See you on the other side," he wrote.
He took on the first steps of identifying and getting rid of the unsuitable in FBI personnel, policies, and procedures, despite the hate as well as love that came his way as a result. Most people are not cut out for that kind of thing, but he made it easier for whoever next fills the role. If he did not accomplish nearly as much as he hoped, at least he made headway, and he honourably stepped down rather than do the job poorly.
#2
Even as FBI deputy director, the deep state proved more powerful than him.
It will be another generation, if at all, before we can defeat them. If they implement digital ID that's it. We may neither buy nor sell without their permission. A kind of mark, if you will.
An AI will sit on our shoulders at all times watching us and immediately punish us for precrime. If others in our situation commit crimes against the state that will be enough. We won't go to jail but will be on no-fly lists and such.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
