It’s hard to make satire around a week that saw:
a bloodbath during a Hannakuh celebration in Australia (15 dead, including a 10-year-old girl, and 40 wounded);
the mass shooting in Rhode Island at Brown University with 2 killed and 9 wounded;
the ambush in Syria that killed 2 American service members, killed a civilian interpreter, and wounded 3 more;
the double homicide of Meathead Rob Weiner and his wife, with their own son apprehended and charged;
and the murder in his home of an MIT nuclear scientist, the Director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center. (Assailant remains at large.)
Not to mention the 3 killed and 11 wounded by gunfire in Chicago over Thanksgiving… but violence in that city is so common it rarely rates comment.
The Aussie incident was clearly anti-Semitic, and the Brown University attack may have had similar motivation (or perhaps anti-Republican, or anti-Christian, or both). That will be unclear until the perpetrator is apprehended… still on the run at this writing.
I expect all the perpetrators believed in the righteousness of their cause. (Except that at this time we have no idea what motivated the MIT thing... although there is late-breaking speculation that it may be linked to the Brown University attack.) Which gives particular poignancy to words of the Proverb: There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
So yes, it’s a downer. Nevertheless, the news is not completely devoid of entertaining tidbits, bittersweet as that may be. We’ll try to put the best face on it. Here we go.
RedState. Woman discovers "creepy surprise” in her Waymo ride.
The most obvious thing about an unoccupied taxi service is that the car ought to be unoccupied.
When a Los Angeles woman and her daughter summoned a Waymo ride last week, the passenger compartment was indeed empty. But when they opened the hatchback to deposit parcels, they found a man there.
The stowaway, who had apparently been locked in the boot, was a little disoriented. When challenged as to what he was doing there, he reportedly said, “I’m trying to figure that out.”
The rider went on to complain (expletives deleted): “This [thing] won’t let me out!”
And here I thought all the newer vehicles were supposed to be equipped with emergency kidnap releases. Maybe the guy had not seen the video.
Bill Whittle’s recent Right Angle podcast pointed out that passengers riding in self-driving cars are far less likely to be injured or killed in traffic accidents than those riding in cars piloted by humans. It is useful to consider, however, that “safer” is not the same thing as “safe.”
(For example, see Sylvester Stallone’s Tulsa King’s experience. If you click the link, be warned: Language.)
For another example, this article points out a recent disturbing Waymo encounter, also in Los Angeles. Police had detained a suspect in the street. The accused was lying on the pavement; officers were pointing guns at him.
Into the scene entered a Waymo driverless car, which carefully threaded itself through the armed standoff. The innocent passenger in the back seat observed passively as his ride moved on past.
Waymo has helpfully referred to the man-in-the-trunk incident as “unacceptable,” and indicated they are reviewing… software, or something… to hopefully ensure this does not happen again.
That would be a plus. With 2,500 cars already in service, and plans to enter more U.S. cities in the near future, driverless robotaxis are probably here to stay.
With the current blindingly fast march of technology, it seems a logical progression. And once again, I am left with the thought: There is a way which seemeth right unto a man…
These are the times in which we live.
And thanks for joining The Alligator News Roundup for Friday, December 19, 2025. Only 6 shopping days left… if we even speak in terms of shopping days anymore. With the advent of online ordering, EVERY day is a shopping day. That may be how we measure quality of life now… I can order anything I want, anytime I want.
Right now, I want to finish my coffee. In light of this week’s news, take extra thought to your personal safety. Maybe go to the range and practice your draw and presentation skills. Remember: “Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.”
Have a good weekend!
