- DEI & The Death Of Effective Military Command
DEI & The Death Of Effective Military Command
Authored by Cynical Publius via American Greatness,
The U.S. military’s growing DEI policies are creating a climate where fear of unfounded accusations erodes leadership and threatens combat readiness – leaving the nation’s future at risk…
As Pete Hegseth’s nomination for Secretary of Defense moves forward, the matter of “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI) doctrines and practices in America’s military is a hot-button issue of significant importance. Our media is awash with stories of “woke” generals and admirals, critiques of women in combat, awful tales of command selection board manipulations based on race or gender, and a generalized sense of uneasiness in the senior ranks of the Pentagon over perceived massive changes to take place once Trump and Hegseth are in charge. However, this current DEI attention focuses almost exclusively on what is happening inside the five walls of the Pentagon and tends to ignore DEI’s most pernicious effect: the way it is obliterating command authority in tactical units in the field and warships at sea.
First, let me tell you how I figured out what is going on. On X (formerly known as Twitter), I have an active account of about 130,000 followers. I know that number is much smaller than that of many other X influencers, but it’s enough to give me some reach. My account focuses primarily on politics and culture, with a heavy emphasis on matters related to the U.S. military. That’s because I’m a retired Army colonel, and my views on military matters seem to resonate with veterans and active duty alike. It is that community of military followers that has fully revealed to me the DEI cancer that is eating away at U.S. military leadership at all levels.
A few days ago, I read an article from Military.com that truly shocked me. That article stated that in today’s Army, roughly half of the officers who are eligible for battalion command are refusing to even be considered for such command. The article’s author, quoting official Army sources, stated that this was a function of officers being unwilling to take on the extraordinary time demands of being a battalion commander and out of a desire for a more sedate form of service for themselves and their families. The article suggests that a career as a staff officer with retirement at 20 years is more palatable than the constant and powerful peacetime and wartime demands of commanding a battalion of many hundreds or thousands of soldiers, even if that decision prohibits ever reaching high rank.
I was shocked. As I posted on X:
“What is going on here? In the Army I grew up in, it was the almost uniform goal of the entire officer corps to become a battalion commander one day. It was the brass ring. It was the validation of all of your training and efforts, and it was the most rewarding job in your career. The only reason to hold tedious staff positions was so you could aspire to one day command a battalion. So now in 2024, officers are happy to wile away the years making PowerPoint slides and making sure the coffee is fresh, and they lack the desire to lead troops? Dear God. The rot in the culture is far worse than I imagined.”
(As background, in all of the military services, not just the Army, command at the O-5 level is the ultimate leadership experience. In the Army and Marine Corps, it means commanding a battalion as a lieutenant colonel. In the Air Force, it means commanding a squadron as a lieutenant colonel. In the Navy, it means commanding a combat warship at the similar O-5 rank of commander. It truly is the greatest reward for those who wish to lead and command, and it is usually the last time in a successful military career that you are down in the dirt (or the bilge) with the troops that you lead. It’s a special time, once coveted by the best leaders.)
I retired from active duty in 2007, so I was looking at this issue from my old-timer perspective. But that’s when X, as the “new news media,” did its job—suddenly my X comments and private messages were flooded with active duty and recently retired officers explaining to me that this phenomenon was not due to a desire to not be overworked (as suggested by the Army itself and the Pentagon-friendly author at Military.com) but was instead due to fear of DEI. DEI has made O-5-level command a risky proposition where a male or a white officer lives in fear of an unfounded DEI complaint that would destroy not only his or her military career but the officer’s reputation as well. The risk of such destruction is outweighing the desire to lead. This is a tragic result.
So let’s say you are a straight, white male Army battalion commander who has a subordinate who happens to be a racial or ethnic minority, or a female, or LGBTQ+. Let’s also say that the subordinate is a poor performer to whom you give a poor efficiency report or is someone engaged in illegal activity that you prosecute under Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Let’s say that such a poor performer or criminal then goes to the Inspector General (IG) and claims what you have done is motivated solely by racial, ethnic, or gender animus, or homophobia. (Or worse, a female soldier falsely claims you sexually assaulted her.) Back in the day, all such a commander needed to do was show the facts surrounding the issue to the IG, and the IG would go away, satisfied. But not today. Today, such claims tend to result in a presumption of guilt against the commander, which must be conclusively disproven.
As if that is not bad enough, there is a related concept here: so-called “counterproductive leadership.” Basically, counterproductive leadership is the idea that a leader’s actions are so toxic that he or she is not qualified to command. Crazily, “counterproductive leadership” (or “toxic leadership”) can be evidenced merely by such abstract concepts as subordinates refusing to look a leader in the eye or leaders holding poor performers to account for their poor performance. I’m fairly certain that iconic military leaders like George S. Patton and William “Bull” Halsey, Jr. would be considered purveyors of “counterproductive leadership” in today’s military environment, and mythical characters like Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Highway would likely be in the stockade.
“Counterproductive leadership” then gets linked to something else: “loss of confidence” by a commander’s chain of command. This is the idea that a commander’s superiors relieved him or her from command for unspecified reasons—including “counterproductive leadership.” In the past ten years, an unprecedented number of senior leaders (O-5 and above) have been relieved from command for this very “loss of confidence” reason. (Do a simple Google search and you’ll see what I mean.)
So let me please break down for you how this is all connected. Despite the fact that many commanders are, in fact, relieved for legitimately horrific reasons, many others are relieved according to the following, specious chain of events:
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A unit commander disciplines a minority, female, or LGBTQ+ subordinate who legitimately committed some form of wrongdoing or was a poor performer.
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The subordinate then files a race/ethnicity/gender/religion/sexuality discrimination complaint against the unit commander with the IG, claiming the discipline was unwarranted and was actually motivated by racial/ethnic/gender/religious/LGBTQ+ animus.
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The unit commander is presumed guilty until proven innocent.
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The IG then determines the unit commander is innocent.
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Despite the IG’s determination, the unit commander’s higher chain of command determines that “counterproductive leadership” was the cause of the unfounded and disproven IG complaint—a complaint that presumably would never have occurred had the unit commander displayed “productive leadership.”
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“Counterproductive leadership” causes the unit commander’s chain of command to determine it has “lost confidence” in the unit commander.
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The unit commander is then relieved from command duties by his or her higher chain of command due to such loss of confidence.
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Stars and Stripes and Military.com then publicly report the ex-commander’s relief for cause.
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The ex-commander then becomes depressed and starts drinking heavily; the ex-commander cannot find a civilian job because his reputation has been publicly destroyed; the ex-commander’s wife and kids leave him; the now-broke ex-commander moves into a seedy one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district, where he is later arrested for fentanyl distribution.
(OK, I made #9 up—but I’m sure you can see how that fear of reputational destruction is valid and real.)
But that sequence of #1 through #8 that I just told you about? It’s real, without any exaggeration. There are senior folks I know personally who have suffered from this exact phenomenon. However, I’m not just speaking on this subject from personal knowledge (and back to X as the real news purveyor of the modern era), as my X feed has been overwhelmed with expressions of just what I wrote above. I have written some controversial X takes before that have garnered millions of views, but none of those resulted in so many detailed recountings of the exact same tale of woe as my discussion on this command issue did.
I’ll offer two examples out of many presented by my X followers.
My first comes from a current DoD member who is uniquely qualified in their duty position to understand the issue of O-5 command selection and the current related problems (and therefore said person requests anonymity):
“I work in a position where I encounter many of the O-5s and E-9s in that group [for prospective command]. An alarming amount of them seem low-key dreading facing the “weaponized investigation” culture that is currently pervasive. Combine that with the paltry manning (but perception from higher that everything must still get done as if they were 100%), and it is absolutely not surprising to me that the command opt-in is down.”
Then this from a recently retired Army colonel:
“100% accurate about jeopardy for commanders. I spent 75% of my last deployment conducting investigations. Did 78 AR 15-6 investigations in 9 months. The biggest problem are the sharp complaints and the “counterproductive leadership complaints.” Those are used for revenge and get out of jail. The “counterproductive leadership” complaints are virtually impossible to counter and even if you do no one escapes unscathed. Finally the religious exemptions for grooming and uniform standards are an EO trap—no matter how ridiculous the claim you have to be crazy to recommend denial because who are you to say it’s not a “sincerely held religious belief?” Deny it and you are prejudiced. Many of the active component majors and lieutenant colonels I worked with said they had zero interest in battalion command or brigade command because they were terrified of the endless investigations. It’s much less of a problem in the National Guard and USAR… until you mobilize. Then it’s the same problem.”
These are merely two of many such communications I have received. Are you sensing a pattern here?
Let me break it down one more time, as it was news to me when I finally figured it out, and it is probably news to anybody else who has not been in the U.S. military fairly recently. Here it is. Our senior civilian and military leadership in the Department of Defense have created a DEI climate across all military services where leadership at the key level of O-5 command is impossible. As a result, the best-qualified O-5s are running from command out of a legitimate fear of life-destroying lies that will stain their reputations like a scarlet letter.
The most disturbing part of all of this, however, is what the DEI cancer does at the tactical unit level to combat readiness. A military unit or warship cannot function as a combat-effective force when its commander lives in the shadow of the fear of unfounded subordinate retribution. It cannot. It is as if there is constant fear of mutiny or a gnawing sense of uneasiness that the unit you command is populated by an unknown number of zampolit. Leadership and discipline fail, unit cohesion crumbles, and the entire system disintegrates as combat effectiveness evaporates. Worst of all, the service members in such a combat-ineffective unit or ship will suffer—and some will die—as a result.
One more thing: if the best and brightest are running in fear from command, who is taking command? Answer: the “woke,” DEI-compliant officers; and because they are the ones taking command, they will necessarily one day become the officers at the top of the pyramid who make all the key military decisions. Or perhaps they are already there.
All of this leads to a very simple and devastating conclusion: if U.S. military commanders cannot command effectively, how can the U.S. military ever again win a war?
Pete Hegseth, please unwind the tyranny and combat ineffectiveness of this DEI cancer at all levels, from the Joint Chiefs of Staff all the way down to the infantry private walking point. Please. Our nation’s future depends upon it.
***
Cynical Publius is the nom de plume of a retired U.S. Army colonel, veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, and reformed denizen of the Pentagon who is now a practicing corporate law attorney. You can follow Cynical Publius on X at @CynicalPublius.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/23/2024 – 23:25 -
- How Stanford's Garry Nolan Came To Research UFOs
How Stanford’s Garry Nolan Came To Research UFOs
Authored by Ilene Eng via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
Garry Nolan, a prominent Stanford professor and inventor in DNA gene therapy, is also researching something out of this world: UFOs.
He talked to EpochTV’s “Bay Area Innovators” about how he became interested in UFO research and how he became the founder of the Sol Foundation, a premier research center for unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP).
Garry Nolan. The Epoch Times Nolan first set foot in the field when he was given the DNA sequence of a six-inch, human-like mummy that was discovered in Chile’s Atacama Desert in 2003. People started calling it an ‘alien mummy.’ In 2012, he started analyzing its DNA and studied it in his spare time. He brought in a larger team of scientists to look at it as well.
“We basically said, OK, this is human, and here are the mutations that we think might relate to what it looks like. And that was really all we did,” said Nolan. “We published it, and I actually didn’t expect it to be that big of a deal. It went worldwide. I mean, every newspaper. I mean, you think about it in retrospect, what’s a better click bait than ‘Stanford professor sequences alien baby,’ right?”
He became one of the few scientists out there who was willing to talk about unexplained phenomena and apply science to it.
Because of that, the government has asked him to help investigate military and diplomatic personnel who were being harmed in unknown ways, some of whom admitted to hearing buzzing in their ears and claimed to have seen UFOs.
“They started bringing out X-rays and MRIs of the internal scarring that had gone on with some of these individuals. And so I said, OK, well, that’s clear. That’s not imagined, that’s not a hallucination,” he said. “And so I then got involved with three or four years looking at these individuals, and it turned out … the majority of those patients that we had were actually the first of the recognized, or what I would think of as recognized, Havana Syndrome.”
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. government personnel stationed in Havana, Cuba, first reported experiencing anomalous health incidents like hearing noise, headaches, dizziness, cognitive dysfunction, and other symptoms, also known as Havana Syndrome. However, when they underwent an MRI scan, there was no significant evidence of brain injury or biological abnormalities. Researchers found that over 80 U.S. government employees stationed abroad experienced these abnormalities.
“I don’t need to agree that they saw a UFO. I need to just understand that they saw something that they interpreted as a UFO. That doesn’t matter to me. It’s what happened to them and medically is what’s important. And if you have it happening in different people around the country, then you’re entering a realm where it’s reproducible, or at least you’re getting people coming in with reproducible experiences. So it’s kind of starting to become science,” explained Nolan.
Later, he became friends with a well-known venture capitalist and UFO researcher, Jacques Vallée. Together they looked at the molten metal remains after an alleged UFO sighting in Council Bluffs, Iowa, in December 1977. They tried to replicate the substance and see if there was anything new they could learn. After conducting a spatial analysis with one of his instruments called the multiplex, they found that the molten remains were an uneven mixture of metals.
“Now I have three other metals from Australia, from nearby, as it turns out, and other places around the world where the same pattern of events occurs,” said Nolan. “Something is seen. It drops off this metal. The metals are different each time. One of them is like aluminum. Another one is almost pure silicon, and pure to the level that you would need a Silicon Valley foundry to make. But it was dropped in the middle of a beach in Ubatuba, [Brazil] pounds and pounds and pounds of it.”
According to Nolan, since there are many questions surrounding such data, he wants to analyze it and put the information out there for others.
“The government has already said UFOs are real in some ways. … At least, the data is real,” said Nolan.
In November, a bipartisan group of lawmakers hosted a congressional hearing on UAP.
Witnesses testified about the threat to national security posed by potential incursions into U.S. airspace, while accusing the Pentagon of shrouding many UAP documents in secrecy.
“Don’t wait for Daddy Government to do something. Disclosure can come from the public. Waiting for the government to make up its mind is like waiting for them to, you know, refund your tax check. Don’t sit around waiting for it. Go out and do it yourself,” said Nolan.
Since the hearing, there have been more reports about drone and UAP sightings across the country, with the most recent reports coming from New Jersey.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/23/2024 – 23:00 - Leftists Hate Santa Claus And It's Not Only Because He's White
Leftists Hate Santa Claus And It’s Not Only Because He’s White
Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us
It happens every year around December, a predictable flurry of pseudo-psychology articles from low-IQ progressives expounding on the negatives of Christmas. On top of that, there’s been a pipeline of anti-Christmas films coming out of Hollywood the past decade, including some real woke bombs depicting Santa as a corporatist, a racist and a woman hater.
It’s been going on so long that in the early 2000s conservatives dubbed the annual practice the “War on Christmas”. However, at that time people on the political right assumed the vitriol was aimed at Christianity in general. What many didn’t realize is that the hatred wasn’t only about religious differences.
Around 70% of atheists identify as Democrats according to surveys, with 15% identifying as Republican and another 15% having no party affiliation. It makes sense that the majority of Christmas critics are on the political left and that their distaste of the holiday season is driven by their anti-Christian views.
After all, the political left is so obsessed with destroying Christianity that they continue to repeat the false narrative that Christmas is a “pagan holiday” and that all the traditions are stolen and repurposed. This claim is debunked every year and yet every year they keep trying to bring it back.
The pagan celebration of “Yule” often associated with Christmas by ignorant academics has always been a completely separate tradition with separate practices. As Christianity became the dominant religion in Europe, pagan groups would meld elements of their previous traditions with newly introduced Christian holidays. Every serious study of Yule admits the distinct separation between the pagan celebration and Christmas.
The Christmas tree is also a purely Christian idea, based on the stories surrounding Saint Boniface. Boniface sought to convert the pagan tribes of Germany in 725 AD and chopped down what was known as “Odin’s Sacred Oak”, a tree used by the pagans as a site for human sacrifice. A small fir tree grew in its place and was dubbed the “Tree of Christ”.
By extension Santa Claus is often wrongly associated with pagan characters; he is in fact based on the very real Saint Nicholas, a monk who traveled the known world around 280 AD, giving away his wealth and helping children in need. His good deeds became legendary and by the Renaissance he was the most popular saint in Europe. His feast day was celebrated on the day of his death (December 6th), and it was common practice to buy large gifts or get married around this time every year.
The name “Santa Claus” comes from the Dutch, who first brought the celebration of Nicholas over to the American colonies in the 1700s. They called him “Sinter Klaas”, short for Saint Nicholas. And, if you look at some of the very old fresco paintings of Saint Nicholas you’ll find he looks rather similar to the modern day folk character version of Santa Claus.
When the claims of pagan co-option failed to yield any results, leftists turned to more woke methods to undermine the Christmas holiday. Going beyond religion, progressives have even sought to take down Santa Claus.
You would think a guy that goes around giving away his wealth and helping the poor would immediately appeal to socialist leftists who claim to be the guardians of the underclass, but that’s not really the case. They say the biggest problem is that Santa is “white” and that he represents the western world’s habit of making white people the “default”. I would argue that this is a smokescreen for other problems the leftists don’t want to fully admit to, but let’s start with race…
Black Santa Claus
The leftist trend in recent years has been to hijack Santa Claus and make him non-white (as they have tried to do with almost every other icon of the west). They pushed hard to make “Black Santa” a thing over the past few years and it’s not working out for them.
This is not to say that black people can’t dress up as Santa Claus; they can do as they please. However, the idea of taking a centuries old western figure based on a real person and then co-opting their image and pretending like this doesn’t matter – Isn’t this the evil practice of cultural appropriation that leftists accuse white people of doing all the time?
Let’s be clear, the default of western culture IS white. White people created it and built it and so most of our celebrated figures are going to be white people also. Leftists are never going to successfully sell Black Santa as a cultural norm, just as it would be impossible to steal African folk heroes and turn them white.
Santa Takes Credit Away From Parents?
Another common argument I hear against the idea of Santa Claus is that parents are pressured to purchase gifts for their children on Christmas while telling them that those toys are coming from a fantasy figure (and a white fantasy figure, too! Oh, the horror!). Progressives want their children to give THEM credit for the money spend on gifts, not a magical white guy in a red suit.
Not surprisingly, these people have missed the point of gift giving on Christmas, though it is funny to see leftists essentially arguing in favor of meritocracy and individual recognition.
I see the idea of Santa Claus as very useful, not only as a way to bring a little wonder into the tradition for children, but also as a way to keep adult egos in check. Giving Santa credit for a gift is a valuable exercise in humility that every parent needs. The gift should not be about you, it’s about the happiness that the gift inspires.
Gift giving is not a trade for adoration, but that’s exactly how narcissists see it. And since the political left is absolutely infected with narcissism these days it’s not surprising that they hate Santa Claus for taking attention away from them at Christmastime.
Santa Has A Naughty List, But What If You’re A Moral Relativist?
Keep in mind that a lot of progressive academics that write criticisms of the holidays don’t have any kids. They are childless cat ladies and beta males with no experience in creating and caring for a family. Their opinions are worthless when it comes to child rearing (and most other things). That said, this doesn’t seem to stop them from giving advice on the trappings of teaching kids the value of morality and the consequences of their actions.
It might be a fading tradition but for the longest time parents have told children to be on their best behavior around Christmas because if they don’t they could end up on Santa’s naughty list and get coal in their stockings. Leftists argue that this punishment and rewards system should not be a part of Christmas.
Firstly, people without kids don’t understand that when the youngsters are on a school break for two weeks straight and everyone is stuck together in close quarters in a house in winter there is a need sometimes for extra policing. You use whatever tools are at your disposal because reasoning with children only works half the time. Their brains aren’t fully formed yet (like woke activists), and they tend to act out wildly based on impulse and emotion.
I really don’t think that lefties are particularly upset by the idea of Santa having a naughty list (I’ve never met a well adjusted parent that went beyond the threat and didn’t have presents for their sons and daughters on Christmas). I think they are upset by the idea of moral compass and discipline. They seem to think that children simply raise themselves and that the parents never need to do anything to mold them into proper adults.
This is exactly why our society is in a death spiral today; because progressives have convinced so many parents to stop parenting.
Santa (Like Christ) Represents Individual And Voluntary Charity
Leftists are socialists (or communists) – It’s the foundation of almost all their beliefs, and the root of socialism is the sacrifice of the individual for the sake of the collective. Meaning, the government in the name of the majority must intervene in the affairs of individuals in order to force them to serve the interests of the group.
In other words, leftists believe that the environment determines everything and people will not do good for society unless they are extorted into it by the system. In a way they fulfill their own prophecy by making it almost impossible through the legal environment to do good for others unless you have permission from the authorities.
Over the years I have noticed that one highly destructive side effect of socialism is the exponential decline in personal charity. If the government handles everything, why should the average person take action to help others? Why even care? And if you do still care, it doesn’t matter because the system will punish you for acting on your own accord.
There’s a reason why socialist and communist regimes are mostly atheist and seek to eliminate Christianity through history; the government must become god and they can’t allow any alternatives to exist. When you see progressive governments ban private charity activities or prosecute people who go out on their own to help the homeless, you might be confused and wonder what the motivation could possibly be?
It makes perfect sense when you realize that leftists see voluntary charity as competition with their own god (government). In the past they have even tried to misrepresent Jesus as an early socialist figure, when in fact Jesus promoted individual acts of compassion, not deferring to a government authority.
The underlying impetus for socialism is forced wealth redistribution, but in a world of voluntary charity there is no need for governments to control wealth or property. That is to say, socialists exploit the existence of poverty as an excuse to take control of all personal wealth (and thus control the population). They can’t do that when Christianity, Christmas and symbols like Santa Claus show people there’s a better way.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/23/2024 – 22:35 - China's GDP Growth Is Now Lagging The Rest Of Asia
China’s GDP Growth Is Now Lagging The Rest Of Asia
China’s economy is facing a series of significant challenges, including a property crisis and high youth unemployment.
After decades of rapid growth, the country is now expected to experience less economic growth than other Asian nations.
This graphic, via Visual Capitalist’s Bruno Venditti, illustrates the projected growth of per-capita GDP for selected Asian nations between 2023 and 2026, based on data compiled by HSBC as of November 2024.
Chinese Economy Lagging
India and Southeast Asian nations are projected to achieve an average per-capita GDP growth of 6.5% over the 2023–2026 period.
Most of these economies are expected to thrive, bolstered by youthful demographics, a rising middle class, strong foreign and domestic private investment flows, and a booming technology sector.
China, however, is forecasted to experience an average per-capita GDP growth of just 3.9%. To address these economic challenges, China’s top leaders have signaled plans for stronger stimulus measures to help fill gaps in consumer demand.
Senior Chinese officials have also indicated plans for increased government spending and further interest rate cuts.
The ruling Communist Party faces a “long, long battle” to reflate the economy, according to Robin Xing, chief China economist at Morgan Stanley, who told Bloomberg Television that 2025 will “be the year of trying.”
“Maybe by 2026, they will finally find the right dose of policies — a combination of consumption-centric stimulus plus social safety net reform,” Xing added.
If you enjoyed this graphic, make sure check out The G7 is Looking More and More American, that shows the U.S. alone accounts for more than half of the combined G7 output in PPP-adjusted terms.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/23/2024 – 22:10 - Chris Wright Is Perfect Pick To Lead Trump's Department Of Energy
Chris Wright Is Perfect Pick To Lead Trump’s Department Of Energy
Authored by James Taylor via RealClearPolicy,
How do you restore a bloated and misdirected U.S. Department of Energy to its originally intended purpose of assuring affordable and reliable American energy? The answer is to appoint a highly knowledgeable and successful energy producer to the position of Energy Secretary. Donald Trump made the perfect pick in Chris Wright.
A mechanical and electrical engineer by training, Chris Wright is one of the people most responsible for the fracking revolution that freed America from the whims of hostile oil producers like Iran and Venezuela. He is currently the CEO of Liberty Energy, an oil and natural gas servicing company at the forefront of American oil and natural gas production. He also sits on the board of directors of Oklo Inc., an advanced nuclear technology company.
In other words, Wright possesses impressive knowledge and experience regarding a broad array of energy sources and technologies, and he has a track record of successfully bringing those energy options into the marketplace.
Perhaps most appealing about Wright is his refusal to give in to pressure tactics from leftist climate and environment activist groups. “There is no climate crisis, and we’re not in the midst of an energy transition, either,” said Wright on his LinkedIn page. Countering leftist fearmongering, Wright has visually illustrated that fracking fluid is not dangerous by drinking it in public.
What Chris Wright affirmatively stands for is an America that dictates energy policy to the rest of the world rather than being held captive by it. America has more oil, coal, and natural gas resources than any other nation on Earth, but we rarely act like it. Under presidents Obama and Biden, government policy was to restrict American energy production under climate change rationale and then beg nations like Venezuela and Saudi Arabia to export more oil to us. Under Trump and Chris Wright, American energy policy will return to holding our energy destiny in our own hands.
The beauty of abundant domestic energy production is that if there is a Middle East crisis, or if OPEC decides to tighten its oil production, America is the nation that most benefits from the rising prices, rather than Russia, Iran, and Venezuela. More American energy production means prices are likely to return to Trump-era lows – but any foreign events that put pressure on energy markets will benefit America rather than other nations.
Under Chris Wright, the U.S. Department of Energy will focus on spurring affordable and reliable American energy, not creating massive and ineffective boondoggles for climate change virtue-signaling. This is in stark contrast to the Department of Energy under the Biden administration and current Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.
Granholm is a career politician and a partisan Democrat best known for giving overcaffeinated speeches at the 2012 and 2016 Democratic National Conventions. The Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate in 2021 approved Granholm as Energy Secretary despite Granholm having absolutely no specialized experience or knowledge regarding energy issues. The result was predictable.
The Biden-Granholm DOE website lists climate change as a “top priority” of the DOE and boasts about all the DOE programs and DOE money being spent on climate change – instead of assuring affordable and reliable American energy. Yes, the percentage of wind and solar power in the American electricity mix rose from 11 percent in 2020 to 15 percent in 2024. The result of adding such expensive and unreliable energy to our electricity mix is that electricity prices rose a staggering 23 percent under Biden-Granholm, after rising less than 1 percent per year in the decade before Biden-Granholm.
Biden-Granholm’s effect on gasoline prices is even worse. Gasoline prices averaged just $2.48 under the Trump administration. They are averaging $3.45 under Biden-Granholm, which is 39 percent higher than under Trump.
Americans gave Donald Trump a mandate to halt runaway energy inflation. Americans want affordable and reliable energy rather than climate change virtue signaling. With a Department of Energy under the vision and leadership of Chris Wright, America will once again return to energy affordability and energy dominance. Wright is the perfect man for the job.
James Taylor (JTaylor@heartland.org) is President of The Heartland Institute.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/23/2024 – 21:45 - Washington D.C. Has The Highest Share Of Single-Mom Households In America
Washington D.C. Has The Highest Share Of Single-Mom Households In America
Nearly 17% of all American households with children under the age of 18 are run by a single mom.
This means there are over 6 million single moms in the U.S., but, as Visual Capitalist’s Pallavi Rao details in the graphic below, that share varies depending on the state, as this map shows.
Data for this graphic and article is sourced from the Badger Institute published 2024. Their figures are based off the latest American Community Survey findings.
ℹ️ Figures for D.C. were excluded from the graphic, but are included for reference in the table below.
Ranked: States With the Highest Share Single Moms
Poorer states in the South – Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia – have some of the highest rates of single mom households.
Rank State State Code Share of Single Mom Households 1 Washington D.C.* DC 29% 2 Mississippi MS 24% 3 Louisiana LA 23% 4 Alabama AL 20% 5 Georgia GA 20% 6 South Carolina SC 20% 7 Arkansas AR 19% 8 Delaware DE 19% 9 North Carolina NC 19% 10 New Mexico NM 19% 11 Ohio OH 19% 12 Rhode Island RI 19% 13 Connecticut CT 18% 14 Florida FL 18% 15 Maryland MD 18% 16 New York NY 18% 17 Tennessee TN 18% 18 Illinois IL 17% 19 Indiana IN 17% 20 Massachusetts MA 17% 21 Michigan MI 17% 22 Missouri MO 17% 23 Nevada NV 17% 24 Oklahoma OK 17% 25 Pennsylvania PA 17% 26 Texas TX 17% 27 Arizona AZ 16% 28 Kentucky KY 16% 29 Virginia VA 16% 30 Wisconsin WI 16% 31 Iowa IA 15% 32 New Jersey NJ 15% 33 West Virginia WV 15% 34 California CA 14% 35 Kansas KS 14% 36 Minnesota MN 14% 37 Nebraska NE 14% 38 Oregon OR 14% 39 South Dakota SD 14% 40 Vermont VT 14% 41 Alaska AK 13% 42 Colorado CO 13% 43 Maine ME 13% 44 Montana MT 13% 45 North Dakota ND 13% 46 Washington WA 13% 47 New Hampshire NH 12% 48 Wyoming WY 12% 49 Hawaii HI 11% 50 Idaho ID 11% 51 Utah UT 9% N/A National Average USA 17% Note: *U.S. federal district. Figures rounded.
For context, the same region has the highest share of single dad households as well. This indicates that economic pressures of raising children as a single parent are high.
In fact, per statistics from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, nearly one-third of all single parent households were below the poverty threshold in 2021.
The share is far higher for single mothers (35%) than for single dads (17%), but both are much higher than the rate for two-parent households (9.5%).
Zooming out from that bit of analysis, Utah has the lowest share of single mom households in the country. Utah has a large segment of the population that is Mormon, and the religion discourages children outside marriage.
Finally, Pew Research found that nearly a quarter of all American children below 18 lived in a single parent household, the highest share across the world.
Check out Mapped: Poverty Rates by State to see the correlations mentioned in this article visualized.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/23/2024 – 21:20 - The Cure For Vaccine Skepticism
The Cure For Vaccine Skepticism
Authored by Martin Kulldorff via RealClearPolitics.com,
The only way to restore public trust in vaccination – which has taken a big hit since the lies attending the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine – is to put a well-known vaccine skeptic in charge of the vaccine research agenda. The ideal person for this is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has been nominated to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
At the same time, we must put rigorous scientists with a proven track record of evidence-based medicine in charge of determining the type of study designs to use. Two ideal scientists for this are Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and Dr. Marty Makary, who have been nominated to lead the NIH and FDA, respectively.
Vaccines are – along with antibiotics, anesthesia, and sanitation – one of the most significant health inventions in history. First conceived in 1774 by Benjamin Jesty, a farmer in Dorsetshire, England, the smallpox vaccine alone has saved millions of lives. Operation Warp Speed, which rapidly developed the COVID vaccines, saved many older Americans. Despite this, we have seen a sharp increase in general vaccine hesitancy. Vaccine scientists and public health officials who did not conduct properly randomized trials made false claims about vaccine efficacy and safety and established vaccine mandates for people who did not need the vaccines, sowing suspicion and damaging public trust in vaccination.
What went wrong? The purpose of the COVID vaccines was to reduce mortality and hospitalization, but the randomized trials were only designed to demonstrate short-term reduction in COVID symptoms, which is not of great public health importance. Since the placebo groups were promptly vaccinated after the emergency approval, they also failed to provide reliable information about adverse reactions. Despite these flaws, it was falsely claimed that vaccine-induced immunity is superior to natural infection-acquired immunity and that the vaccines would prevent infection and transmission.
Governments and universities then mandated the vaccines for people with superior natural immunity and for young people with very low mortality risk. These mandates were not only unscientific but with a limited vaccine supply, it was unethical to vaccinate low-mortality-risk people when the vaccines were needed by older high-risk people around the world.
Since government and pharmaceutical companies lied about the COVID vaccine, are they also lying about other vaccines? Skepticism has now spread to tried-and-true vaccines that are proven to work.
And there are real, unanswered vaccine safety questions. Seminal work from Denmark has shown that vaccines can have both positive and negative non-specific effects on non-targeted diseases, and that is something that must be explored in greater depth. Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) scientists studying asthma and aluminum-containing vaccines concluded that while their “findings do not constitute strong evidence for questioning the safety of aluminum in vaccines … additional examination of this hypothesis appears warranted.”
While VSD and other scientists should continue to do observational studies, we should also conduct randomized placebo-controlled vaccine trials, as RFK has advocated. Since we have herd immunity for many diseases, such as measles, trials can be ethically conducted by randomizing the age of vaccination to, for example, one versus three years old, while spreading the trial over a large geographical area so that the unvaccinated are not all living close to each other.
I am confident that most vaccines will continue to be found safe and effective. While some problems may be found, that is more likely to increase rather than decrease vaccine confidence. For instance, it was found that the measles-mumps-rubella-varicella (MMRV) vaccine causes excess febrile seizures in 12- to 23-month-old children. MMRV is now only given as a second dose to older children, while the younger kids get separate MMR and varicella vaccines, resulting in fewer vaccine-induced seizures that scare parents. Although safety studies were inconclusive, it was also wise to remove mercury from vaccines. Even if we end up with fewer vaccines in the recommended vaccine schedule, that’s not necessarily a terrible thing. Scandinavia has a very healthy population with fewer vaccines in their schedules.
We won’t restore vaccine confidence by preaching to the choir.
After the COVID debacle, Kennedy’s stated goal is to return to evidence-based medicine free from conflicts of interest. Letting him do that is the only way that skeptics will trust vaccines again, and those of us who trust vaccines have no reason to be afraid of that.
Attempts by the public health and pharma establishments to derail the nominations of RFK, Bhattacharya, and Makary are the surest way to further increase vaccine hesitancy in America.
The choice is stark.
We cannot let lopsided “pro-vaccine scientists” who clamp their hands over their ears at the mildest questions do any more harm to vaccine confidence. As a pro-vaccine scientist, and in fact, the only person ever being fired by the CDC for being too pro-vaccine, the choice is clear in my mind.
To restore vaccine confidence to previous levels, we must support the nominations of Kennedy, Bhattacharya, and Makary.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/23/2024 – 20:55 - These Are America's Top Health Insurance Companies By State
These Are America’s Top Health Insurance Companies By State
The U.S. health insurance industry is highly concentrated, with a single insurer having at least a 50% market share in 13 U.S. states.
This trend has intensified over the last 10 years due to industry consolidation, leaving consumers with limited options for health insurance. Going further, in markets dominated by a few insurers, healthcare costs and spending tend to be higher as insurers are less likely to reimburse hospitals for patient care.
This graphic, via Visual Capitalist’s Dorothy Neufeld, shows America’s largest health insurance companies by state, based on data from the American Medical Association.
The Market Concentration of Health Insurers in 2023
Below, we show the top health insurance company in each U.S. state, measured by their share of total enrollments in 2023:
Last year, Blue Cross Blue Shield covered 86% of all enrollments in Alabama, making it the most concentrated health insurance market nationwide.
Ranking in second is Kentucky, where Elevance Health makes up 67% of the market share. Overall, six of the most concentrated states are located in the South. Going further, the region has higher levels of uninsured rates compared to other regions driven by states opposing the expansion of Medicaid.
In comparison, the Northwestern states of Washington and Oregon have the least concentrated health insurance markets, each with one company controlling a 21% share.
Overall, Blue Cross Blue Shield was the top health insurance company in 14 states, followed by Elevance Health in 10 states. While UnitedHealth Group is America’s largest insurer on a national level, it is comparatively less concentrated state-wide, being the top provider in states such as New York and Arizona.
Shifting Business Models
Beyond having significant market concentration across states, many health insurance companies are diversifying into other noninsurance healthcare services.
For instance, Cigna, the top health insurance company in Wyoming, generated roughly 75% of its revenues from noninsurance services in Q3 2023. For Elevance Health, noninsurance business activities made up 25% of revenues, spanning from pharmacy services to primary care.
In many ways, health insurers are becoming increasingly vertically integrated, which has also been shown to raise prices and reduce competition in healthcare systems.
To learn more about this topic from a national perspective, check out this graphic on the largest health insurance companies in America.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/23/2024 – 20:30 - Under Trump, Will Keystone XL Remain A Pipe Dream?
Under Trump, Will Keystone XL Remain A Pipe Dream?
Authored by John Haughey via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to issue a day-one executive order to restore federal approvals for the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline, similar to his January 2017 directive overturning the Obama administration’s 2015 rejection of the same project.
Trump’s first-term Keystone restoration was reversed by President Joe Biden in a January 2021 executive order, again halting development of the 1,180-mile pipeline between Alberta, Canada, and Steele City, Nebraska.
Illustration by The Epoch Times, Getty Images While Trump 2.0 could nullify Biden’s directive in a pen stroke on Jan. 20, 2025, he won’t be able to resurrect Keystone XL because the project no longer exists.
“My understanding is the company has pulled the steel out of the ground and shipped it elsewhere and found alternative routes to get its product to market,” said Brett Hartl, government affairs director for the Center for Biological Diversity.
“That would make it hard for Trump to approve an application that doesn’t exist,” he told The Epoch Times.
“Like most black-and-white stories, it’s a bit more complicated than that,” senior market analyst Phil Flynn with Chicago-based Price Futures Group told The Epoch Times.
But a simple straight line between supply and demand illustrates why XL was—and is—needed, he said.
“Whether or not this pipeline gets built, there will be another pipeline along the same route, just it’s not called ‘Keystone,’” Flynn said.
Toronto commodity analyst Rory Johnston, founder of CommodityContext.com, said a lot of things had changed since 2021 when “they had all the pipes in place in many places, like on-site, waiting to be installed.”
“Now it’s a zombie pipeline. What is dead can never die,” he told The Epoch Times.
TransCanada’s Keystone pipeline facilities, where oilsands crude was to have begun its journey along Keystone XL, in Hardisty, Alberta. The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh Calgary-based TC Energy’s Keystone XL Pipeline 2008 proposal sought to add a 30-inch diameter line traversing 1,179 miles from Hardisty, Alberta, to Steele City, Nebraska, to its existing 3,000-mile Keystone pipeline network.
The XL pipeline would add 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) to TC Energy’s existing Keystone network, including up to 730,000 bpd of tar sand crude oil from Canada and 100,000 bpd from North Dakota’s Bakken Formation.
Crossing the border at Morgan, Montana, XL would run 875 miles to Steele City, where it would split, sending oil east to an Illinois refinery and south to Cushing, Oklahoma, a trans-shipment hub with 90 million barrels of storage space and access to its Marketlink common-carrier pipeline, which is linked to Texas refiners.
The proposed pipeline drew heated opposition from an array of groups, including environmental nonprofits, climate change lobbyists, Native American organizations, land owners, and local governments, particularly in Nebraska.
Although preliminary approvals were secured by 2014, President Barack Obama in 2015 vetoed XL as unnecessary for the nation’s energy security, locking it in limbo.
Following his Jan. 20, 2017, inauguration, Trump restored XL’s approvals. Four years to the day later, Biden revoked Trump’s restoration.
After failing to regain momentum during Trump’s short-lived reprieve and facing at least four years of assured Biden sanctions, TC Energy withdrew its application in June 2021.
In July 2021, TC Energy filed a $15 million claim against the U.S. government for Biden’s “unfair and inequitable” revocation of its XL permit, claiming the 13-year “regulatory rollercoaster” caused significant financial harm.
People walk past Indian teepees that are on the National Mall as part of a protest against the Keystone pipeline, in Washington on April 23, 2014. Mark Wilson/Getty Images “TC Energy, they did everything right and had spent a whole bunch of money, had it approved, and they pulled the rug from under them,” said Flynn, who also produces The Energy Report.
In October 2024, TC Energy announced it will “spin off” its pipeline business to a subsidiary, South Bow. Since then, portions of the pipeline have been dug up and sold, easements have lapsed or been transferred, and investors have shied away.
In November, water company Cadiz bought 180 miles of steel originally purchased for the pipeline to transport water through the Mojave Desert.
Some speculate Trump’s Dec. 10 pledge to expedite permitting and trim environmental reviews for projects worth at least $1 billion could spur interest in reviving XL.
South Bow “is noncommittal,” Flynn said, noting he’s curious if Trump’s fast-track pledge could spur Keystone’s exhumation.
“When you have the power of the presidency behind you, that might entice them,” he said. “I think this could be fast-tracked. If South Bow wants to do this, it could entice them to do it.”
South Bow isn’t saying much one way or another.
“South Bow supports efforts to transport more Canadian crude oil to meet U.S. demand,” South Bow spokesperson Solomiya Lyaskovska said in an emailed response to The Epoch Times’ queries. “South Bow’s long-term strategy is to safely and efficiently grow our business.”
President Donald Trump holds up one of the executive orders he signed to revive the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and another pipeline crossing North Dakota, in the Oval Office at the White House on Jan. 24, 2017. Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images Shifting Landscape
TC Energy’s primary reason for building XL was to boost its capacity to ship Alberta tar sands crude to refineries and shipping terminals for export.
In May 2023, Trans Mountain Pipeline completed the expansion of its existing 610-mile TransMountain Pipeline between Edmonton and Burnaby, British Columbia, from 300,000 bpd to 890,000 bpd capacity.
The expanded pipeline gave Canadian exporters the port access they needed, defusing the urgency for XL, but the Gulf is still the prized destination, Flynn said.
Canadian producers “love access to the Gulf. That’s where all the refineries are and where the ships are already geared to export everywhere in the world,” he said.
Many say market conditions indicate there’s no need for another cross-border oil pipeline. U.S. production is at an all-time high, and Canada is exporting at record levels. OPEC has at least 5 million bpd of spare capacity.
Meanwhile, economic forecasters mostly project growth in global oil demand will slow, making investors wary of long-term infrastructure commitments.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects demand for oil will increase between 0.9 percent and 1.3 percent annually the next few years, below pre-2020 annual averages of 1.5 percent growth. In October, it lowered its 2025 world oil demand by 20,000 bpd.
“Declining demand … is central” to opponents’ arguments, Hartl said.
“The reality with drilling is it’s always contingent on price points, on profitability,” he said. “The company would have to want it, to commit resources to drill and, right now, there’s little motivation. The market itself doesn’t bear it.”
Pipes for the Trans Mountain Pipeline project sit in a storage lot outside of Hope, British Columbia, Canada, on June 6, 2021. The Trans Mountain Pipeline System conveys crude and refined oil from Alberta to the coast of British Columbia, Canada. Cole Burston/AFP via Getty Images Shrinking Market
This gradual demand downturn has a subsidiary influence across related industries. According to a 2024 IBISWorld analysis, for instance, the U.S. pipeline construction industry includes 1,870 businesses and 184,000 workers and annually generates $47 billion in revenues. However, those revenues have been declining an average of 7 percent each year since 2019.
Johnston said such forecasts temper investment, noting that the project still languished, even after Trump approved XL.
“They had four years, and over those four years, [TC Energy] barely got 10 percent of the pipeline constructed,” he said.
The “weird inherent tension in trying to drive [energy prices] down but keep it profitable” is unsustainable, Hartl said.
The growth in oil consumption has declined for about 15 years and will continue to slow, Texas Tech University Department of Economics Professor Michael Noel told The Epoch Times.
“All of that is true,” he said, buttressing XL opponents’ arguments.
“So, the argument is we won’t need this infrastructure, so we’re going to put up with higher prices now because we’ll get lower prices later,” Noel said. “That’s great, but that argument historically means that you’re going to end up with higher and higher and higher prices while you keep on waiting for the lower thing to come.”
The “better idea” is “always build the infrastructure you need when you need it, then you’ll have cheaper prices now, and then at some point when you don’t need it, it gets decommissioned,” he said.
Even if renewable energies power the grid, “it takes time to build these things,” Noel said. “So the question is, what do you do in the meantime?”
Read the rest here…
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/23/2024 – 20:05 - India: It's Worse Than You Think
India: It’s Worse Than You Think
Authored by Jayant Bhandari via American Renaissance,
Most Westerners know nothing about India beyond vague ideas about Hinduism, yoga, gurus, and maybe a dash of Bollywood. To such people, this article will be a rude awakening…
I grew up in Bhopal in central India. Since as early as I can remember, I worked in my father’s printing press. I studied engineering in the nearby city in Indore and went to Manchester Business School in Britain to do an MBA. I returned to India to set up a subsidiary of a British company, which was a huge success. When I lived in Delhi, I wrote for the mainstream Indian media. I traveled widely in India and around the world.
I had first returned to India with the idea of improving it, but after 11 years, I realized that India was a sinking ship, with worsening and increasingly shameless corruption, degraded people, and a society that was falling apart. I had never met an honest bureaucrat or politician. I applied to emigrate to Canada and my application was approved in a record three weeks.
I now advise East Asian and Western corporations on investing in India. Most of what I tell them sounds to them exaggerated, unrealistic, and unbelievable. After much dance, drama, and a great deal of lost money, they begin to believe what I tell them. However, this learning is never institutionalized because of a refusal to understand India. This is a form of political correctness, a poison eating away the innards of Western values.
When I was a child growing up in India, I learned that “might makes right.” Power was often abused, with those in control acting as if they had a God-given right to exploit and dominate others. The display of authority could be so extreme that questioning it or expecting those in power to do their duty might lead to retribution. Those in authority seemed to believe that their positions were not for serving others but for personal gain.
People who showed respect appeared to have meekly accepted a lower, subservient position. Kind people had to hide their compassion, for being nice was seen as a weakness.
In India, I have rarely seen someone in authority take the initiative to solve a problem he was responsible for. When I was at university, an underaged boy who worked in the kitchen was raped and sodomized by the janitors. I reported the matter, but not only did no one in authority do what was right — something well within their power — the authorities and fellow students threatened me with severe consequences if I pursued the matter further. Devoid of empathy, they also made fun of the boy and me.
Yes, there is an element of sadism here. There is some degree of pleasure that Indians take in the pain suffered by others. The attitude of the authorities was like that of the high-placed Delhi bureaucrat who told me that his Black Label whiskey tastes so much better because he knows that most Indians can’t afford to drink it.
This confuses Westerners. If they had power, even if they were corrupt, in a situation where there was nothing to gain or lose — no bribes to receive since both parties were poor, and no risk of offending someone well-connected — they would do the right thing and book the alleged rapist. These Indians would do nothing, not even lift a finger, unless there was a reward: money or sex. Their apathy was bottomless.
Doing your job may be seen as effeminate by those above you. If you can shirk your responsibilities, you’re considered macho. In that culture, there is rarely any pride or honor in doing what is right. If you call a plumber for repairs, he will see it as beneath him to leave without creating a mess. He may deliberately do a shoddy job, even if doing it well wouldn’t take more time. A complex web of arrogance, egotism, servility, casteism, tribalism, and magical thinking drives this behavior. He shows his contempt for you and gets the better of you by leaving a mess. His customer, as the other side of the same coin, might well look down on and exploit someone who did his job well.
If you do a bad job, does that mean you do not get called back? That doesn’t matter to people who have no standards to begin with and who do not think ahead. There is little positive feedback to those who want to do better, be fair, or make better products.
Fairness, justice, trust, empathy, and impartiality are alien to many Indians. They have a hard time telling the difference between right and wrong. They are indifferent even when no cost is associated with being fair. Moreover, if they could do good without any personal cost, they would still prefer not to, because that can be seen as a sign of weakness.
Indians are indoctrinated to be submissive. The indoctrination is so profound that Indians address those even slightly above them in authority as “sir.” They tend to be servile, sycophantic, and ingratiating. This should not be mistaken for respect, because respect is foreign to Indians. When they call you “sir,” it reflects their view of you only as the stronger figure in the interaction, consistent with their view that might makes right. They will demean you the moment you are in a weaker position.
You are either higher or lower — therefore, you are either abuser or abused. Equality is impossible. A visitor learns very quickly that saying “please” and “thank you” is seen as a sign of weakness and is reserved for those who wish to demean themselves.
Indians cannot maintain the institutions established by the British. These institutions have been hollowed out and corrupted, becoming predatory. The constitution and laws hold little value. The only forces driving these institutions are bribes and connections. Whether you approach the highest political leaders or the pettiest bureaucrats, they openly and unashamedly demand bribes.
Activists burning an effigy of Congress MP Dhiraj Sahu in protest against corruption and recovering of cash on December 10, 2023 in Patna, India. Photo by Santosh Kumar/Hindustan Times Bihar Politics And Governance (Credit Image: © Imago via ZUMA Press)
Street smarts are highly valued, and criminals who evade justice are celebrated. A relative of mine, brimming with pride, once told me that he would never pay rent for the house he had rented. He had bribed the local authorities to make it impossible for his landlord to throw him out.
When someone in a society without trust is cheated, he rarely seeks justice against the cheater. Instead, he cheats others. Men abuse women, women abuse children, and children abuse animals. Animals attack whatever they can. Higher-caste Indians abuse those in lower castes, while lower-caste people fight with other lower-caste people to determine who is superior. It is a perpetual cycle of mistrust and arbitrariness.
People in the West talk about a system of four or five castes that was formalized by the British. This confuses the issue, for this gives an exaggerated sense of structure. In reality, there are 1.4 billion castes in India. All interactions are about sizing you up. You end up either oppressing others or being oppressed. The so-called lower caste people are more caste conscious than the higher caste people.
Most caste problems in India are described in the news in passive tense. So-and-so was oppressed and abused. Yes, the sufferer is a lower caste person but the oppressor is often of a similarly low caste. When a lower caste person rises in power, he loves showing it off to those from higher castes. What better way to show off power than by abusing others and getting away with it or — if you are a plumber — by leaving a mess? Different people show off power according to what they can get away with.
Many people lie openly. Everyone knows everyone lies, but everyone lies anyway. Many Indians convince themselves of their lies so that they can no longer differentiate between fact and fiction. Even if you don’t have to or want to, you have to exaggerate and lie, for you know your listener will calibrate to what you say. Conversations are often driven by personal material gain. Every transaction is a zero-sum game — or perhaps a negative-sum game, for sadism may be a part of the equation.
You may think you will be safe if you work with family members, but they may turn out to be your biggest enemies, for even they will betray you. Honor is not a part of the social code. Indians are atomized people and do not know loyalty. Indians across the board hide gold in their own houses and do not tell even family members about it.
I have never (I am using the word advisedly) had a contract honored in India. When you bribe, you must do so skillfully. If you have an opposing side in a legal fight, the judge and the police will take bribes from both sides. Your lawyer will collude with the opposing side and with the judge right in front of you to maximize bribes. This might sound unbelievable, but that does not change reality.
The words for most virtues come from Persian, Turkish, or English, not native Indian languages. But just because the words came into the language does not mean Indians accept those virtues; they were perverted and became a façade for the old ways.
Everyone builds solid, high fences around his property. Everyone does this the day he buys a property, because his neighbors will encroach on his land if they can. It took me years after I had moved to the West to understand why people don’t build fences.
When I first traveled to the UK, I was amused to find that animals weren’t fearful of or aggressive toward people. I was surprised that those in power didn’t expect servility or reverence. For years, I felt uneasy, as if I wasn’t fulfilling my part of the transaction unless I paid bribes.
My grandparents and father were honest in financial matters and held themselves to a high standard of self-respect — an anomaly in India. There are good, sane, moral, rational people in India, but I have more fingers than the total number of such Indians I have known; I can find that many honest Americans in one morning. By Indian standards, our family was decent and well-connected. This shielded me from much depravity and made it possible to ignore the stories that I heard.
Among ordinary Indians, conversations revolve around backbiting, gossiping about friends, discussing celebrities, exchanging superstitions, and animosity toward other groups. Hindus hate Muslims, Muslims hate Hindus, and Sikhs hate Hindus. These groups fight among themselves, leaving everyone atomized, but their hatred of other groups superficially unites them.
Demonstrators protest against the sudden “anti-encroachment” drive carried out by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation in Kolkata, India. The NDMC demolished several pavement structures such as shops, shortly after a period of Muslim-Hindu violence. (Credit Image: © Sukhomoy_ Sen/eyepix via ZUMA Press Wire)
I doubt I understood the concepts of honor and loyalty until I had lived in Britain for a year. During that time, someone told me not to exaggerate when promoting the organization I worked for. For the first time, I began to see that people wanted to speak the truth simply for the sake of truth. I had always known the word “truth,” but for the first time, I began to grasp its essence.
The foundational principle to understanding India is that it is an amoral, irrational society devoid of values. Any values you try to instill will slip off, like water off a duck’s back.
I have seen a continual worsening of Indian society. Whatever grace and civility Christian missionaries and European colonizers instilled in Indians has been slowly eroding.
I distinctly recall my first day outside of India. On a train trip from Heathrow Airport to Manchester, I saw what I initially thought were dull-looking houses and clean, unremarkable waterways and air. The lack of hustle and bustle and the calmness of the train ride left me feeling disoriented and gloomy. I didn’t know how to cope with a situation where there was no constant assault on my senses.
With time, I realized that for most Indian immigrants, this led to a compulsive need to recreate India in the ghettos they moved into. They sought the familiar smells, noise, and constant hustle and bustle. They recreated never-ending emotionalism, fruitless conflicts, chaos, and intellectual inbreeding.
When we were granted unhindered access to the school in Manchester and later to the office where I worked, my fellow immigrants and I often wondered if the British were so naïve as to trust us so readily. What was to stop us from stealing everything in sight? Most immigrants never truly grasp the significance of “trust” and “gratitude.” Worse, they discover that complaining often leads to benefits — the only thing they genuinely care about in the multicultural West. Humanistic, civilizational values never touch their hearts.
Once, a friend and I went for a drive in Manchester. Having had a few drinks, he ran a red light and was pulled over by the police. I was stunned by the respect with which the officer treated him. In India, the police would have humiliated and exploited even the passengers. My friend was taken to the police station, and as I was driven there by an officer, I explained how we would have been treated if this had happened in India.
At that time, I was living in a high-crime area of Manchester, and the police sometimes followed me when I walked home. I asked the officer why they never stopped or questioned me. He told me they followed me to ensure my safety and had no authority to stop me without legitimate cause. For the first time, I began to understand the British respect for personal space, another value that was also starting to take root in my mind.
The officer made my friend sit for an hour or two to sober up, and then let him go without booking him. I began to realize that those in power in Britain could apply the law flexibly, considering the spirit behind it; in India, laws were excuses for predation.
Of course, Britain is no longer what it once was. Over the years, policing has evolved to accommodate the challenges presented by the lowest common denominator introduced by immigrants from the Third World.
Statistics fail to resonate in the Indian psyche. There is no sense of a grey area; everything is black or white, with no appreciation for nuance. This lack of proportionality leads to indecisiveness and an inability to value things. In the end, unrestrained emotions drive life. I carried a part of this same mindset with me. Realigning my thinking with reason, morality, and Western values was a difficult task.
I attended one of the best engineering colleges in India and believed myself to be creative, decisive, and well-grounded. However, as I started witnessing social interactions and behavior in Britain, I found I lacked confidence. Even the grocery store owner appeared more confident and decisive. I realized my mind was clouded with confused thinking and conflicting motivations
Even my privileged upbringing in India had ingrained into me layers upon layers of confused worldviews, and dishonest, scheming behavior. Despite my best intentions, shaking them off and rewiring my thinking took decades. Any erroneous belief I became aware of and tried to change clashed with other deeply ingrained beliefs and mental patterns. It was like trying to replace a broken brick in the castle of my cognitive constructs without destabilizing the entire structure. At times, I had to get drunk just to find a fleeting sense of sanity.
With time, I noticed that I began to sleep better and felt mentally freer. Even my body started to change, and the mental cloud that had clogged my thoughts began to lift. A reassuring sense that those around me had my back was immensely helpful. The confusing and contradictory thoughts that had caused chronic stress started to fade.
My grandmother often said two things I once considered backward-looking, but I agree with them today. She believed that some people needed to stay on the edge of starvation because if given more, they would make problems. Despite being one of the most egalitarian people I knew — befriending her chauffeur and tailor — she would remind me that not everyone deserved a seat at the table unless he was fit for it.
“Human Rights” is a Western concept that is incomprehensible to most Indians. They fail to understand respect for the individual. Speaking to them about “rights” only leads to confusion. They fail to differentiate between “negative” and “positive” rights. For instance, when taught about property rights, they learn to protect their property but fail to recognize the rights of others. Women, when taught that rape is a violation, might begin to see it in every situation and use it as a tool to exploit men. As they are introduced to the concept of rights, they shift from accepting their wretched lives to adopting a resentful, victim mentality.
You cannot teach people anything good until they have the foundations of morality, rationality, causality, and other Western values. Without these foundations, the fruits of Western civilization serve only to turn people’s often-hidden hedonic tendencies into something more malevolent. Every civilizational fruit — education, Western clothing, prosperity, Western institutions — has been perverted in India.
The institutions left behind by the British have been hollowed out, becoming purely predatory and sadistic. This occurred because, in post-British India, those in power prize expediency and acquiring wealth as life’s sole purposes. Today’s India lacks even the vague rule of law that existed before the arrival of the Europeans. This is why it will be an improvement when India eventually collapses and the Taliban-like authoritarian system that existed before the British reemerges from the ashes.
The High Court of Bombay, designed by British engineer Col. James A. Fuller. Credit: benbeiske via Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
Without Western missionaries at the helm, Christianity has been “nourished” by Indian superstitions and magical thinking and has become voodoo. Grammar has fallen by the wayside, and English has often become pidgin.
Education and Western clothing have been adopted with a cargo-cult mentality. The focus is on obtaining certificates and wearing suits, as if these outward symbols alone confer status and material benefits. Similarly, education is not viewed as a means to foster intellectual growth or evolve into better human beings. Instead, driven by animalistic desires, expediency, and the unethical pursuit of resources, most Indians scorn the idea of self-improvement.
Education applied to an irrational mind that processes information through magical thinking becomes burdensome, making such people worse than their uneducated counterparts.
The Indian mind should have been made moral and rational and imbued with honor, discipline, respect, and integrity, before being formally educated and provided with the fruits of Western civilization. Alas, this would have been, at best, a millennia-long process.
In economics, there is a concept of the “middle-income trap.” I prefer to call India’s situation the “low-income trap.” Contrary to the beliefs of professional economists, these traps have cultural underpinnings; it is virtually impossible to escape.
Prosperity has led to neither social peace nor intellectual and spiritual growth. Indians do not understand the concept of comfort. Most rich Indians build garish houses not for comfort but to display wealth and control those weaker than themselves. Worse, the easy prosperity of recent decades, which is essentially a result of Western technological advancements, has derailed the pursuit of rationality and morality. Social media are a platform for exchanging myths, superstitions, and pornography. The IT revolution does not bring enlightenment to the poorest parts of the world!
Today, India is more entrenched in magical thinking and superstition than in the past. Hedonism is rampant, and families are falling apart.
When elevated to high positions, most Indians become arrogant and sadistic. This is less from a desire to mask their incompetence and psychological weaknesses and more from a genuine belief that arrogance and sadism define power and class. This also serves as a way to cope with the deep-seated inferiority complex instilled by their culture. Whatever grace and civility had once been imbued in Indians by colonizers has eroded.
The wealth created by the West hypnotizes Indians. However, they fail to understand the underpinnings of that wealth. They equate the West with Hollywood stereotypes: girls in short skirts, promiscuity, drinking and drugs, flaunting wealth, working in plush offices, and controlling others. This is the true soul, once obscured by Victorian morals and Islamic constraints. It is a return to a pre-colonial, pre-Victorian, hedonistic culture.
The British were a godsend. Without them, the situation has continued to worsen. India will eventually nullify all the benefits it got from the West and revert to its pre-colonial ways. It will fall apart, and I wouldn’t be surprised if much of its population falls prey to war and famine and declines to the level it was before the arrival of Europeans.
Most Indians cannot think beyond money, sex, and survival — just what you would expect of a society with an average IQ of 77. Every Western value given to them has been caricatured and corrupted for these ends. Indians have no Ten Commandments. They are so unaware of these values that they remain oblivious even if they are forcefully presented to them. There is nothing you can do about this, except to try to understand what immigration from India and the rest of Third World will do to the West.
* * *
This article has been adapted from a recent speech given at the Property and Freedom Society conference in Bodrum, Turkey.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/23/2024 – 19:40 - China Behind Super Highway That Targets US With Mass Migration, Economic Warfare
China Behind Super Highway That Targets US With Mass Migration, Economic Warfare
Authored by Darlene McCormick Sanchez via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
DARIÉN GAP, Panama—The grind of heavy machinery breaks the silence of the Darién jungle, where the Pan-American Highway ends at Yaviza, Panama.
Construction workers have cleared towering trees to make way for a steel and concrete bridge mighty enough to withstand flooding from the Chucunaque River.
Illustration by The Epoch Times, Getty Images, Shutterstock An onsite worker for the construction company Cusa told The Epoch Times that the construction project will cut four miles into the Darién jungle at a cost of $42 million and includes a second bridge crossing the Tuira River.
That would leave some 55 miles to finish the Pan-American Highway, also known as Highway 1, through the mountainous rainforest to connect it to Turbo, Colombia.
If it’s ever completed, the Pan-American Highway will stretch about 18,000 miles from Alaska to Argentina, opening up a land corridor the length of the Americas.
It has gone unfinished for decades because of American and Panamanian concerns over the environment, crime, and disease—and more recently, mass migration. The dangerous, rugged terrain acts as a natural barrier to travel from South to Central America.
The bridge and road expansion will end near the town of Bocas de Cupé in the Darién Gap. However, bridging the rivers has been considered one of the major obstacles blocking the completion of the highway.
The new project has worried some who fear that completing the road into the Darién Gap will be a win for China and a loss for the United States.
Michael Yon, a former war correspondent, has been covering mass migration through Panama for several years and has used social media to bring attention to the bridge’s construction and its implications.
China would benefit through an alternate trade route around the Panama Canal, which is essential to global trade. But for the United States, it could open the floodgates to migrants from South America, he told The Epoch Times.
U.S. leaders have grown increasingly wary of the military implications of Chinese infrastructure projects being built in America’s backyard as part of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), particularly around the Panama Canal.
In 2018, Panama signed on to China’s ambitious BRI project, dubbed a modern Silk Road, after publicly recognizing Taiwan as part of China, much to the surprise and concern of the United States.
Workers prepare abutments for a bridge spanning the Chucunaque River at Yaviza, Panama, on Feb. 20, 2024. An onsite worker for the construction company Cusa said the project will cut four miles into the Darién jungle at a cost of $42 million and includes a second bridge crossing the Tuira River. Bobby Sanchez for The Epoch Times The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to utilize the BRI “to amass power and influence at the expense of the world’s democracies,” U.S. Southern Command Commander Army Gen. Laura Richardson warned in March.
She and other commanders in recent years have been sounding the alarm about China’s incursion into the Western Hemisphere.
“[China] seeks to supplant the United States as the world’s leading economic and military power,” Gen. Richardson noted in a written statement to the House Armed Services Committee.
Closing the Gap
Last year alone, a record 500,000 migrants traveled through the Darién Gap on their way to the U.S. southern border, documents show.
Mike Howell, director of The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project, believes that China’s economic development in the region threatens U.S. influence and security.
“If China displaces the U.S. in the Western hemisphere as the dominant economic power, then we lose our leverage,” Mr. Howell, formerly an attorney with the Department of Homeland Security, told The Epoch Times.
China is encircling the United States with infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean, he said.
“It’s like a boa constrictor that’s tightening and tightening around the United States,” Mr. Howell said.
In the 2019 book “China’s Belt and Road and Panama: A Strategic and Prospective Scenario Between the Americas and China,” author Eddie Tapiero touted the rise of China’s BRI in utopian terms.
Mr. Tapiero, a Panamanian professor and international economist who wrote his book after a BRI meeting in China, called the initiative a catalyst for “global public good,” envisioning a world where “borders no longer exist, nor do countries.”
Migrants walk by the jungle near Bajo Chiquito village, the first border control of the Darien Province in Panama, on Sept. 22, 2023. Luis Acosta/AFP via Getty Images The book includes a BRI scenario, with a map titled “Globalized Belt and Road” showing Panama and its canal connected to Colombia by rail through the Darién Gap.
On the Colombian side of the Darién Gap, Chinese companies are working to build highways and ports.
Roadwork near the Pan-American Highway in Turbo is part of the “Autopistas al Mar 2” highway project.
The project will connect Colombia’s second-largest city of Medellín to ports in Urabá, including Turbo, where the Pan-American Highway ends.
China’s state-owned China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), along with four local companies, won the 2015 bid to build the Autopistas al Mar 2, according to the nonprofit Colombia Reports website.
The project was delayed until late 2019, when the Chinese-led consortium obtained the necessary loans from the China Development Bank.
Mr. Tapiero sees Panama, bookended by Colombia and Costa Rica, as a central hub in Latin America for the BRI. He suggested that the United States could “reduce geopolitical uncertainty” if it, too, joins the BRI.
His globalized BRI map also shows rail routes slicing through the United States to significant markets on America’s east and west coasts.
Infrastructure “connectivity” through air, land, and sea is a central theme of the book, which is playing out in Panama.
The bridges into the Darién are part of a contract for the rehabilitation, improvement, and maintenance of the East Pan-American Highway.
(Top) A ship is guided through the locks in the Panama Canal on Feb. 21, 2024. (Bottom) Traffic crosses the Bridge of The Americas on the Pan-American Highway as an eastbound ship enters the Panama Canal on Feb. 21, 2024. Bobby Sanchez for The Epoch Times It was awarded to Intervial Chile S.A. under a public-private partnership with the government of Panama, according to government documents.
The investment for the project stands at more than $262 million as part of Panama’s Performance Standards Maintenance Program, which aims to promote agricultural, commercial, and tourist development.
Funding for the project is through the International Finance Corp. (IFC), a part of the World Bank Group. China has ties with both banking establishments. In 2009, China pledged $1.5 billion to the IFC to boost global trade and has more recently intensified collaboration with the IFC on climate-friendly bonds.
Global Choke Points
A highway through the Darién Gap stands to diminish the importance of the Panama Canal, which the United States still protects under a neutrality treaty.
The canal was returned to Panama in 1999 under a treaty brokered in the 1970s with President Jimmy Carter.
The Darién Gap by land is similar to the Panama Canal by sea as a choke point, which holds military and economic value.
China’s attempt to minimize or control the canal’s strategic importance to the United States could be significant should a conflict break out over Taiwan in terms of China’s ability to shut down sea lanes, according to Andrés Martínez-Fernández, The Heritage Foundation’s senior policy analyst for Latin America.
Read the rest here…
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/23/2024 – 19:15 - Syria's Jolani Vows To Disarm The Pentagon-Backed Kurds
Syria’s Jolani Vows To Disarm The Pentagon-Backed Kurds
The career jihadist and leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Damascus on Sunday, in a first since the overthrow of Assad earlier this month.
Jolani, who now goes by his birth name of Ahmed al-Sharaa, was sporting a suit and tie for the first time as the PR effort to convince the world of his supposed ‘moderation’ continues. One of the more interesting moments from Sunday’s presser came when Jolani put the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on notice.
Two important things from Turkey’s Fidan, HTS leader Jolani presser:
Jolani says they won’t allow any armed groups or factions in Syria, that includes US-backed SDF.
• Fidan also said HTS is ready to take over ISIS prisoner camps and guard them
— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) December 22, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Jolani emphasized that all weapons in Syria will come under state control. He declared that all armed “factions will begin to announce their dissolution and enter the army.” Given that Assad’s former Syrian Arab Army (SAA) is no longer in existence, this means HTS is working on establishing a national military under its command.
In the remarks alongside the top Turkish diplomat, Jolani directly called out the Kurdish-dominated SDF, which has for years been trained and armed by the Pentagon:
“We will absolutely not allow there to be weapons in the country outside state control, whether from the revolutionary factions or the factions present in the SDF area,” he added, referring to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
Turkey views the main component of the US-backed force, which controls swathes of north and northeast Syria, as being linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), its outlawed domestic foe.
The “SDF area” of control is in reference to the Deir Ezzor and Hasakeh regions (east of the Euphrates) in the country’s northeast, where the country’s oil and gas fields are located. Currently the SDF is battling a Turkish offensive near the northern border area.
The Turkish FM of course responded favorably to Jolani’s talk of disarming and disbanding the Kurdish factions: “Türkiye’s foreign minister said after meeting Syria’s de facto leader in Damascus on Sunday that there was no room for Kurdish militants in Syria’s future, calling for the YPG militia to disband,” a regional source said.
It was obvious from the start that Turkish intelligence was a main player backing the HTS blitz across Syria which quickly led to the collapse of the Assad government, and now it’s clear that Jolani will in turn do Turkey’s bidding.
A main goal of Erdogan’s policy in Syria has remained to squeeze out US forces, so that Turkey can eventually stomp out the Syrian Kurds in the process.
Jolani’s provocative pledge of disarming the Syrian Kurds while standing next to the Turkish FM sends a clear message of what the agenda is concerning the near future northeast battle theatre.
It is also important to note that the Syrian Kurds (YPG/SDF) have long battled the jihadists of al-Nusra Front/HTS and other hardline Islamic factions throughout the war.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/23/2024 – 18:50 - Health Brief: The Threat From Sugary Drinks, ADHD, And The Cholesterol-Dementia Connection
Health Brief: The Threat From Sugary Drinks, ADHD, And The Cholesterol-Dementia Connection
Authored by Bill Thomas via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
A new study points out that sugary drinks may be more harmful to your health than candy regarding a very important organ in your body—the heart. Meanwhile, if your cholesterol goes up and down for seemingly no reason, you may be at a higher risk of developing a very serious brain condition. And there’s also a new trend happening in the health industry—it has to do with self-diagnosing a common disorder, and we’ll tell you all about it.
Sugary drinks pose numerous health risks, and there are many healthier beverage options to replace them. rawpixel.com/Freepik Also, that second cup of coffee you’re drinking every morning could be affecting your gut health in unexpected ways, and we’ll take a look at how Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to take aim at the American diet and begin a new era of food reform.
We’ll break down each of these stories for you one by one, but we begin with some alarming information regarding sugary beverages that could make even die-hard fans of those 32-ounce sodas think twice about drinking them. Here’s what we know.
Sugary Drinks Like Soda Pose Greater Cardiovascular Risk Than Sweets, New Study Finds
New research from Sweden indicates that sodas and other sweetened drinks are much worse for your heart than other popular treats, including pastries and baked goods because they significantly increase the risk of heart failure, stroke, and other issues.
You should also know that another recent study points out that individuals who drink a lot of sweetened beverages are more likely to be diagnosed with what’s called atrial fibrillation, which is a type of irregular heartbeat.
These findings are in sync with a new Harvard research study, which shows that drinking sweetened beverages every day increases a person’s chances of developing cardiovascular disease by 18 percent—even for those who exercise regularly.
It’s also important to point out that some people often indulge in too many sugary drinks. They’re not as filling as sweet foods, so consuming too much is easy, leading to a sugar overload.
At the end of the day, an occasional sweet drink might not be detrimental to your health, but as with most things in life, moderation is key to good health.
Moving along, we know that blood markers can tell us a lot about our heart health, but one specific measure could give us clues about our risk of developing cognitive decline.
Unexplained Changes in Cholesterol May Point to a Higher Risk of Dementia
A new study presented at the American Heart Association’s annual meeting links significant year-to-year changes in cholesterol levels to an increased risk of dementia by a staggering 60 percent.
The six-year study looked at nearly 10,000 people who were in their 70s, and the results were truly remarkable.
Researchers believe that wild swings in levels of LDL, which is known as “bad” cholesterol, might destabilize plaque buildup in a person’s arteries, which could lead to reduced blood flow to the brain.
It turns out this disruption could potentially trigger a cascade of substantial effects that accelerate cognitive decline, which may, in turn, affect an individual’s memory and how fast they think.
On the other hand, fluctuations in HDL, known as the “good” cholesterol, and triglycerides, which are a type of fat found in your blood, did not correlate to similar cognitive problems.
However, it’s worth noting that some doctors disagree with these new findings. They argue that cholesterol levels fluctuate all the time, and they say that the measurements taken during the study are not enough to reach strong conclusions about accurate cholesterol levels.
But there’s a positive side to all of this—the recommendations for people to maintain stable cholesterol levels are fairly straightforward. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) endorses a lifestyle approach that includes eating a balanced diet, exercising regularly, limiting alcohol, and, last but not least, no smoking.
We continue now with a topic that’s been getting a lot of attention lately regarding a common developmental disorder that even adults are now recognizing in themselves, and here’s more on that story.
ADHD or Something Else? One in 4 Adults Are Self-Diagnosing
A new survey by Ohio State University shows that one in four grownups believe they have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.
This growing self-awareness has led to many people developing an increased focus on the disorder, including both understanding how society views people with ADHD along with effective strategies for managing the condition.
Here’s where it gets even more interesting: According to the CDC, over 15 million adults in the United States are affected by the disorder, and surprisingly, half of them were actually diagnosed after childhood.
Additionally, social media has been a valuable tool for raising awareness about ADHD because it allows people to share their experiences online with a variety of others who have the same condition, and it allows people to identify potential symptoms in themselves.
Over the years, our understanding of ADHD has changed dramatically. Once considered a childhood disorder primarily affecting boys, experts now recognize that symptoms vary widely across race, gender, and age.
Beyond traditional medical approaches, which include prescriptions like Adderall, researchers are now exploring whether or not a number of lifestyle factors, including diet, contribute to the developing symptoms of and being diagnosed with ADHD.
You should know that some experts say that managing ADHD isn’t about forcing a brain to work differently. Instead, they believe that controlling the disorder is more about creating environments and strategies that complement how the brain of a person who’s been diagnosed with ADHD normally operates.
One clinical psychologist who specializes in the treatment of ADHD recommends focusing on six key factors to effectively manage the disorder, including sleep, exercise, nutrition, medication, meditation, and meaningful social interactions. She says that the key to effectively handling life with an ADHD diagnosis is making the treatment personal—what works for one person might not work for another.
We’ll add a jolt to your Health Brief now, and if you love coffee and drink it every day, your daily brew might be doing more than keeping you alert. Here’s what we’ve learned.
New Study Illustrates Coffee’s Unique Influence on Your Gut
A recent international study from both Harvard University and the University of Trento in Italy points out that drinking coffee regularly might affect the balance of bacteria in your digestive system, and scientists are just now beginning to understand what it all means.
The study analyzed data taken from over 77,000 people living in 25 countries, and the authors found that coffee drinkers consistently exhibited up to eight times more of a certain type of gut microbe than non-coffee drinkers.
Their research zeroed in on a particular bacterium, and it found that the growth rate of that specific microorganism increased significantly when it was exposed to coffee, both regular and decaf.
The authors of the study point out that it is still uncertain how this bacterium affects overall health.
Additionally, the study shows that the presence of this particular microorganism varies dramatically throughout different parts of the world. While the bacterium was found to thrive in people living in certain coffee-loving countries like Luxembourg, Denmark, and Sweden, the microbe was barely traceable in places such as China, Argentina, and India.
In the end, researchers think they can apply this new information in a very positive way. They say that one day, using this information, they might even be able to improve our diets with precision simply by understanding how specific foods interact with the bacteria inside our digestive system.
We have just enough time for one more story today, and this one deals with a potential major shake-up regarding our nation’s nutrition policy. It could begin sooner than you think. Here’s what’s going on.RFK Jr.’s Food Fight: Can He Change America’s Diet?
As you may already be aware, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the incoming Trump administration’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, and he is planning to overhaul how the government makes food recommendations to people in the United States.
A number of nutrition experts say that in the past, U.S. food guidelines were based on faulty studies, and if confirmed, RFK Jr. says he’ll develop a new set of food and dietary guidelines.
Additionally, if confirmed, RFK Jr. is planning potential reforms that go beyond simply changing what foods we should eat. He also plans to take aim at what he calls widespread issues with regard to how nutrition policies are formed here in the United States.
RFK Jr. has been vocal about addressing what he describes as the “corporate capture” of federal health agencies, and he promises to remove pervasive conflicts of interest from government panels that deal with food advice and public policy.
You should know that many people involved with creating recommended guidelines reportedly have financial ties to food companies, and critics say this connection raises serious questions about objectivity, public trust, and the integrity of the guideline process.
A number of people say the biggest challenge for RFK Jr., if he’s confirmed, might be confronting the massive influence of ultra-processed foods, which currently make up about 60 percent of the average person’s daily caloric intake.
RFK Jr.’s exact plans are not yet known, but it appears that his approach points to a comprehensive strategy to improve food quality, dietary guidelines, and the health of the U.S. population.
And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’ll call it a wrap for this edition of the Epoch Times Health Brief.
Just a reminder—you can reach out to us anytime via email at audio@epochtimes.com, and you can also leave comments for us on the Epoch Times app, which you can download for free.And don’t forget the Health Brief Motto: We’re portable, affordable, and always on-demand.
And finally, as we do each and every week on this program, we wrap everything up with a very notable quote, and this one is often attributed to Hippocrates, who said: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”
Hippocrates was a Greek physician known as the “father of medicine.”
For all of us here at the Epoch Times Health Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.
The Epoch Times Health Brief program was written today by Hristina Byrnes.
Thank you for making us your one-stop source for a concise, accurate, and unbiased weekly synopsis of the many health stories you should know about.
Enjoy the rest of your day, and we’ll see you right back here next time for another edition of the Epoch Times Health Brief.
For now, let’s all continue to watch out for one another and have an absolutely superb day. Bye for now, and happy holidays!
Meanwhile…
If you’ve read this far, use code NOSUGAR10 for 10% off… Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/23/2024 – 18:25 - The Corruption And Incompetence Of Chicago's Mayor Knows No Bounds
The Corruption And Incompetence Of Chicago’s Mayor Knows No Bounds
Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,
Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson stepped to new lows when his hand-picked board fired Chicago Public Schools (CPS) CEO Pedro Martinez without cause.
Austin Berg at the Illinois Policy Institute Explains on X.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s hand-picked school board just voted unanimously to fire Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez without cause. Johnson and the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) have been pushing for months to oust Martinez following his refusal to back Johnson’s demand for a $300M high-interest loan to pay for a new CTU contract. The CTU is Johnson’s largest campaign funder and former employer.
Aldeman Silvana Tabares made a very important point in public comment before the board vote. CTU takes in more than $30M a year. But it spends just 17 cents of every dollar on teacher representation. The rest goes toward administration, politics and other leadership priorities. The contract with CPS is what fuels their political machine. The bigger the contract, the more money CTU can give to Johnson and his allies.
As background to this story, Johnson’s initial cohort of appointed board members resigned unanimously in November when Johnson told them to fire CPS CEO Pedro Martinez. Johnson sought to terminate Martinez because Martinez didn’t support Johnson’s push to take out a high-interest loan to cover CPS’ $300 million shortfall.
Please note the CTU proposal includes annual raises of 10-12 percent after factoring in cost-of-living adjustments. And the union demands 13,000 new positions despite falling school enrollment.
The CPS leaders say this would push the district’s deficit to $4 billion by 2029. That nearly half of the entire budget.
When Johnson demanded his own appointed board go along with this proposal, they all resigned instead. Johnson’s new handpicked board then voted to fire, without cause, Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez.
When fired without cause, CPS leader Martinez can stay on for 6 months. To get around Martinez in the interim, mayor Johnson proposes a deputy CPS leader, a position that does not even exist.
Q&A With Austin Berg
A national political reporter visiting Chicago to cover preparations for the Democratic National Convention asked Austin Berg “What do you think people outside Chicago don’t understand about Brandon Johnson’s administration?”
Berge gave his 3-Part Answer on X.
1️⃣ The Chicago Teachers Union dictates the mayor’s priorities and allocation of political capital. They are by far the most powerful political actor in city government right now, which means the administration fixates on the demands of a small base of far-left activists. This explains things like the cancellation of ShotSpotter despite community support, the mayor casting the tie-breaking vote on a ceasefire resolution, attacking selective enrollment schools, defending the most radical members of city council despite their horrific behavior, hostility toward ethics reform, and banning schools from hiring cops as security officers. Watch the @illinoispolicy
documentary “Local 1: The Rise of America’s Most Powerful Teachers Union” for the best account of this.2️⃣ Because of No. 1, the administration is staffed by a relatively large number of people with little to no executive experience, including the mayor himself. This explains a wide range of unforced errors: trying to build a migrant tent camp on toxic land, losing the “mansion tax” referendum, announcing an unpopular proposal for a publicly funded Chicago Bears stadium that was immediately dead on arrival in Springfield, ghosting the Sun-Times editorial board after they refused to hold an off the record conversation, and over/underpaying thousands of Chicago government employees due to clerical errors.
3️⃣ You could elect Mother Teresa or Pericles to be mayor of Chicago and they would still have a difficult time fixing the city’s problems. That’s in large part because we’re the only major city among the top 10 in the U.S. lacking a city charter. This means there are no constitutional checks and balances on authority. No thoughtful delegation of power. And little democracy on issues of citywide importance. This explains why the Council and the Mayor can’t agree on who really has authority over the ShotSpotter deal, why the Chicago Police Department is in compliance with just 6% of the federal consent decree and thus lacks community trust, why City Council is not able to provide a meaningful check on the mayor’s budgeting and forecasting, why Chicago alone holds more pension debt than 44 U.S. states, and why the mayor can sign major deals (Lollapalooza, NASCAR) behind closed doors with no oversight. The best account of this is “The New Chicago Way: Lessons from Other Big Cities” which compares Chicago’s governance structure to other major cities and offers a comprehensive solution set. You can buy the book or listen to our podcast mini-series at http://newchicagoway.com. DM me if you can’t afford a copy and I’ll send you one.
The State of the City
Last year the Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago asked Berg to give a talk about the state of the city.
He discussed Chicago history, the city’s problems, solutions, and the main findings in his video “The New Chicago Way.”
CTU History of Anti-Parent Actions
Please note the CTU Has a Long History of Anti-Parent Actions.
The Chicago Teachers Union is the enemy of parents’ rights. It’s efforts to unionize charter schools, push them to the brink of closure and then take them over as typical public schools bears this out.
Step 1: Unionize. In January 2018 – the same year Acero’s unionized employees merged with CTU – former CTU President Jesse Sharkey explicitly admitted his motivation to “undermine further charter expansion,” using tactics such as unionizing and merging charter schools into CTU.
Step 2: Undermine. Later that year, CTU employed its go-to tactic in leading Acero’s teachers out on strike, marking the first charter school strike in the nation and cancelling class for the 7,000 students at the 15 schools.
Step 3: Absorb. After Acero announced schools were closing, current CTU president Stacy Davis Gates claimed she wanted to “save” them by absorbing them into CPS. The school board followed her directive on Dec. 20 and did just that.
Now those charters will no longer exist.
The CPS Budget
The district’s budget is about $10 billion. It’s up nearly 30% increase in five years while serving fewer students.
By 2029 or 2030, the deficit is projected to be $4 billion per year on a $10 billion budget.
The city is broke.
Worst in Class
Johnson is the most corrupt mayor in the nation. And the CTU is the most corrupt union in the nation.
It is a one-two punch with unfortunate kids held hostage for the benefit of leaders who belong in jail.
I can’t help but think Johnson will eventually find jail because history suggests these corrupt politicians eventually get there.
Meanwhile, the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent kids are destroyed in a worst in the nation public school system.
When Do Mayor Brandon Johnson and the City of Chicago Finally Implode?
On November 25, I asked When Do Mayor Brandon Johnson and the City of Chicago Finally Implode?
Chicago slashed 2,103 public safety job but added 184 administrators. The budget deficit is nearly $1 billion.
Openly Rooting for Implosion
I am openly rooting for Chicago and the entire pension system of Illinois to implode.
That sounds harsh bit it isn’t.
There will be no reform until crisis hits, and the sooner the better because those currently collecting unwarranted massive pensions are bleeding the pension funds dry.
The sooner the collapse, the more pension money will be saved for the average Joe.
Meanwhile, please note that In Chicago There’s Under a 50 Percent Chance Police Show Up If You are Shot
Good luck in Chicago getting the police to show up if you are shot, stabbed, a victim of domestic violence, or any number of other serious crimes.
But hey, Chicago hired 179 new community services administrators. How’s that working for you?
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/23/2024 – 18:00 - 103 Things That Higher Ed Declared Racist In 2024
103 Things That Higher Ed Declared Racist In 2024
Racism is the intentional mistreatment of someone on the basis of their race – at least in the normal world. But in academia, racism is anything producing disparities, according to Professor Ibram Kendi.
What follows is a long list of people, places, actions, and other things declared racist this year by higher ed, though a few came from K-12.
If something needs “anti-racist” action or “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” it follows it must be racist, or else it would not need correction.
(A full list of articles can be found here).
Academic disciplines:
- Chemistry
- Classics
- Evolutionary biology
- Engineering
- Immunology
- Math
- STEM in general
- Twenty different departments at Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Actions:
- Accusing a black student of plagiarism
- Banning DEI
- Being Asian but romantically interested in white people
- Course evaluations
- Criticizing a black female reporter
- Criticizing plagiarism
- Marriage/being married
- Mentioning a black female congresswoman has fake eyelashes
- Murder
- Not pronouncing Kamala Harris’ name right
- Not voting for Kamala Harris
- Opioid crisis
- Opposing DEI
- Opposing oil and gas restrictions to fight climate change
- Pollution
- Questioning Kamala Harris’ racial identity
- Romance
- “Traditional grading”
- Voter registration
- Voting for Trump
- White people running in shorts
- White people rapping
Beliefs:
- Being pro-life/pointing out high abortion rates for black women
- Christianity
- Colorblindness
- Nostalgia
Career fields:
- Counseling
- Ecological farming
- Education
- Dentistry
- Disaster response
- Geology
- Law enforcement
- Medicine
- Ocean sciences
- Nursing
- Surgical oncology
Entertainment/culture:
- Dolly Parton’s free book program
- Dressing as a Native American at a Kansas City Chiefs game
- Liking Taylor Swift
- Michaelangelo’s “Creation of Adam”
- Paintings of British countryside
- Porcelain
- Telling a Japanese professor about a good sushi restaurant
Food:
- Fried chicken
- Milk
People:
- Ben Shapiro
- Conservatives
- Donald Trump
- Duke University sports fans
- Nikki Haley
- Rapper Tom MacDonald
- Vivek Ramaswamy
- White people
Places:
- Coeur D’Alene, Idaho
- Columbia University
- Greenhouses
- Israel
- Lake Merritt, California parking lot
- Northern Idaho
- Pennsylvania public universities
- Sex-segregated bathrooms, locker rooms
- Swimming pools
- Thousands of streets that use allegedly offensive terms
- University of Michigan
Words:
- “Anglo-Saxon”
- “Blacklist’
- “DEI hire’
- “Guru’
- “Illegal alien”
- “Minorities”
- “Mob rule”
- “Peanut gallery”
- “Pow wow”
- “Tribal knowledge”
- “Whitelist”
…to name but a few.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/23/2024 – 17:20 - Fixing The Biden Border
Fixing The Biden Border
Authored by Victor Davis Hanson via American Greatness,
Joe Biden, to the degree he was cognizant, has always reflected the Obama-era utopia dream of a borderless world, and thus millions of poor have illegally entered the United States. On numerous occasions, he offered clear warnings of what he would do if he ever had power over immigration policy.
Do we remember this 2020 Biden boast to let in millions and offer blanket amnesties?
“But I will send to the desk immediately a bill that requires the access to citizenship for 11 million undocumented folks, number one. Number two, in the first 100 days of my administration, no one, no one will be deported at all. From that point on, the only deportations that will take place are commissions of felonies in the United States of America.”
In Biden’s world, if no illegal alien is ever to be deported unless a criminal, then there is at last no border.
Earlier Biden had also bragged, “We could afford to take in a heartbeat another two million. The idea that a country of 330 million people cannot absorb people who are in desperate need and who are justifiably fleeing oppression is absolutely bizarre.”
After 2020, we found out what Biden really meant was that a few thousand privileged and rich people in Martha’s Vineyard, Malibu, and Rehoboth, Delaware, certainly could not absorb even a few hundred in “desperate need”—but the millions of poor in inner-city Chicago, in the Rio Grande Valley, and the Central Valley of California most certainly could absorb “another two million” illegal aliens.
Most infamously, in 2019, Biden gave explicit outlines of the very open border that he has now institutionalized: “I would, in fact, make sure that there is, that we immediately surge the border all those people are seeking asylum. They deserve to be heard. That’s who we are. We’re a nation that says if you want to flee, and you’re fleeing oppression, you should come. (emphasis added).”
Again, Biden assumed that “you should come” applied to downtown New York, South Central LA, or El Paso, but under no circumstances to Kalorama, Kailua, or the empty summer dorm rooms of Stanford or Harvard.
All this braggadocio was unfortunately more than the usual empty Biden blather. As president, one of the first things he did really was to “surge the border” by overturning through fiat some 90 Trump executive orders. Despite countless lawsuits, left-wing congressional stonewalling, and internal agency obstruction, these earlier directives had effectively stopped illegal immigration by the fall of 2020.
Upon taking office, Biden, perhaps for the first and only time, made good on his word as he ranted, “There will not be another foot of wall constructed on my administration.”
Biden not only did his best to ensure an unfenced border, but after the election, he sold off piles of idle wall materials for pennies on the dollar. Thereby, in childish fashion, he reminded the American people (who will needlessly pay additional millions for a new wall, given Biden’s auction and his hyperinflation since 2020) that he hated Donald Trump more than he liked the American people.
Why did Biden destroy the border, allowing in 500,000 violent felons and gang members, over 1 million already served with deportation orders, ten million more unvetted—initially at a time of a government COVID quarantine? Why did he appoint the now-impeached prevaricator Alejandro Mayorkas, who repeatedly and disingenuously claimed that “the border is secure,” even as Americans watched thousands of illegal aliens, drug smugglers, and cartel coyotes crossing the border with impunity?
Was Biden pledged to bend to La Raza pressures?
Did he owe allegiance to a Hispanic activist elite that demanded that millions of new constituents ignore the border, oblivious to the concern of Hispanic border communities? The latter, unlike their elite DEI megaphones, had to deal firsthand with the resulting massive border crossings that overwhelmed social services, drove down wages, bankrupted their schools, and spiked crime in their communities.
Or was Biden simply a nihilist who enjoyed the chaos and the furor it evoked among his supposed “semi-fascist” and “ultra-MAGA” foes?
Was he a hard-left waxen effigy who had no idea that his policies empowered the cartels and their fentanyl pipeline that killed up to 100,000 Americans a year, more than the dead of the Vietnam, Korean, Afghan, and Iraq wars combined?
Certainly, President Obrador of Mexico loved Biden for greenlighting more than $120 billion in remittances that poured into Mexico and Central America, the vast majority of the money subsidized by the American taxpayers whose generous subsidies to illegal aliens freed up their cash to be sent home.
Was the culprit Biden’s legendary innate incompetence fueled by his growing senility? In that regard, it might be best to remember what Obama himself in 2020 said about his former Vice President Biden’s un-Midas touch: “Don’t underestimate Joe’s ability to f**k things up,” and his admonition about the non-compos-Biden’s desire to run in 2020, “You don’t have to do this, Joe, you really don’t.”
Whatever his reasons, how does the Trump administration now correct the Biden legacy of an erased border, a new cohort of 12 million illegal aliens atop an existing body of 20 million, half a million dangerous illegal alien felons, 600 neo-Confederate sanctuary city jurisdictions, and the destroyed corpus of federal immigration law?
One, the administration must change the entire current illegal alien dialectic.
Massive illegal immigration is not a humanitarian project. It is a deeply immoral one. It undermines the rule of law. It insults legal immigration applicants by punishing their lawfulness and making them follow hundreds of protocols while exempting and thus rewarding the lawbreaking.
It is a cynical ploy by the governments of Mexico and Central America to provide a Turnerian “safety valve” for their dispossessed to head north rather than to protest at home for reform.
It is a money-making scheme costing the U.S. $120 billion in remittances alone. The arrival of millions of impoverished migrants to the United States involves virtual indentured servants who are sent northward by their home countries in the expectation they will send hundreds of dollars a month back southward to help their families, who in turn are long neglected by supposedly caring Latin American governments.
It is a war on the American poor, whose wages are eroded by millions of the undocumented, and whose social services, from health to housing to education, are swamped by non-citizens in dire need of government support.
It is a long-term effort to import and nurture a new constituency of those in need of more entitlements and bigger government. The aim is to flip more red states to blue, as if Georgia, Arizona, and Texas will follow the demographic metamorphoses of California, Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico.
Two, Trump, within a year, can finish the wall.
A permanent steel/concrete fence of some 2,000 miles will help staunch the influx. So will an immediate executive order ending catch-and-release and requiring application for refugee status before entering the U.S. legally.
Three, Trump can stop the flow of $120 billion in subsidized U.S.-based remittances to Mexico and Latin America.
He can threaten all such cynical recipient nations with tariffs. He can further levy a blanket 20-30 percent tax on all remittances sent to Mexico and Latin America from the United States, regardless of the legal status of the sender. Combined with a wall and new border enforcement, such tariffs and taxes would stop the influx quickly.
Four, either passage of new legislation to overturn or winning court reinterpretation of the supposed “anchor baby” clause of the 14th Amendment could end the entire imbroglio of women and couples entering the US solely to obtain infant citizen status (as well as free health care), in order to anchor legality for an entire family.
Trump can merely say, “We need to follow the humane policies of the sophisticated postmodern European nations, none of whom allow unrestricted and automatic anchor-baby provisions.”
Five, to encourage self-deportation, Trump can seek legislation that would forbid for 20 years any foreign national from receiving a legal visa or green card to enter the United States if, at any time in the past, he had been detained entering the United States illegally.
Six, Trump can begin carefully calibrating deportation iterations, starting first with those whose deportations win widespread public support.
The first to go home should be the half million suspected felons and criminals, both those who were arrested here and those who came with criminal records.
They would be followed by 1.5 million aliens already facing deportation orders but who failed to show up for hearings or ignored their prior deportation orders.
The third cohort would include all those who have had no work record, are able-bodied and are currently on local, state, or federal assistance of any nature.
Trump then could issue immediate deportation orders for additional aliens arriving from countries that support terror or are deemed hostile to the United States. That would entail those with known ties to Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, or arriving from Iran, Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, North Korea, Cuba, Russia, Venezuela, and a host of others,
To separate the Biden influx from earlier illegal entrants, Trump could offer not an amnesty or citizenship but a green card to those who have: 1) resided in the US for five years, 2) have not committed a crime, 3) are not on public assistance, and 4) would pay a fine for their prior illegal entry.
After those rounds of deportations, the administration might have sent home 10-12 million with full public support. Only then would the public back the one-time issuances of green cards to some of the remaining 20 million pre-Biden illegal aliens, who are working, crime-free, not on public assistance, and have resided over five years in the United States.
All these measures might halve the number of illegal aliens and stop all future illegal immigration. They would allow Americanized prior illegal aliens to formalize their status with a green card that would not entail amnesty but simply allow those now here legally to work, and in some cases, if they wish, to begin the lengthy legal process of obtaining citizenship.
The time to act is now.
In an odd way, Biden’s influx has finally resulted in the American Hispanic community’s abandonment of their former support for open borders. Why?
The sheer size of the current immigrant wave posed unprecedented costs, social and demographic disruptions, and dangers to the viability of existing social services for citizens.
Worse in some ways are the asymmetrical burdens that elite open-borders activists have placed on the Hispanic middle and poorer classes, whose communities bear the brunt of massive illegal immigration.
But most cynically and importantly, half the new arrivals are not from the Latin American world and thus have smaller, if any, expatriate apologists or activists in the United States. It seems to be one thing for the open borders advocate to demand illegal entry for an uncle in Mexico and quite another to extend that same exemption and costly support to someone from Russia, Syria, or mainland China.
A final note: those who destroyed the border and immigration law with it will be the first to decry the cost and trouble of undoing their damage – on their theory that because it costs much to arrest, detain, and try a criminal suspect, it is, therefore, cheaper and wiser simply to let him continue to commit crimes with impunity.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/23/2024 – 17:00 - White House Says Pakistan Developing Long-Range Nuke-Capable Missile Which Can Reach US
White House Says Pakistan Developing Long-Range Nuke-Capable Missile Which Can Reach US
Last week the United States imposed rare sanctions on Pakistan while condemning its nuclear-armed long-range ballistic-missile program. This despite Islamabad long being an uneasy ally of Washington.
The fresh sanctions on the missile sector were imposed under an executive order that “targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery,” according to the State Department’s Matthew Miller. The measures specifically punish Pakistan’s National Development Complex and three defense firms.
In follow up this week, the Biden administration is warning that Pakistan is on the verge of achieving a long-range ballistic missile which is capable of striking the US mainland.
AFP According to a Monday report in The Wall Street Journal:
Weeks before it leaves office, the Biden administration said that Pakistan is developing a long-range ballistic missile that could eventually provide nuclear-armed Islamabad with a weapon capable of striking the U.S.
The administration disclosed the intelligence about Pakistan’s secret missile activities and imposed sanctions against a state-owned entity involved in the work after repeated efforts to press its concerns in confidential channels fell short, U.S. officials said.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry has rejected Washington’s allegations, blasting them as “unfounded” and “devoid of rationality”. Islamabad has further warned that this threatens the health of the “overall relationship” with the US.
American officials say that Pakistan’s production of such a long-range ballistic missile is not necessarily imminent, but likely remains years away, or possibly up to a decade.
Still, Washington has launched a pressure campaign against a country which only twenty years ago was considered a ‘major non-NATO ally’.
“We’re trying to build this pressure to get ahead of this problem because we don’t want Pakistan to go down this road so far that we are dealing with something that is more imminent,” a Biden admin official was quoted in WSJ as saying.
Deputy national security adviser Jon Finer said last week “candidly, it is hard for us to see Pakistan’s actions as anything other than an emerging threat to the United States.”
After recent sanctions imposed by the U.S. on #Pakistan’s long-range ballistic missile program.
Social media users have shown overwhelming support for Pakistan’s #nuclear deterrence @OfficialDGISPR #PakistanArmy #Shaheen #ISPR pic.twitter.com/IgOEHI1jVN
— Pakistan Armed Forces News 🇵🇰 (@PakistanFauj) December 23, 2024
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The irony in all of this is that ever since Pakistan achieved status as a nuclear-armed power in the 1980s, Washington’s chief concern has been its political and military stability, for which it has handed out billions in foreign aid to Islamabad over the many years.
But starting in 2018, then President Trump began cutting all military aid to the country. Relations have remained rocky and strained ever since. The Pentagon still says it cooperates with Pakistan’s armed forces on the military level, however.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/23/2024 – 16:40 - Welcome To The Climax Of 'The Great Pretending'
Welcome To The Climax Of ‘The Great Pretending’
Authored by James Howard Kunstler,
A Christmas Prayer
“If it’s time for you to go, leave willingly, as you would to accomplish anything that can be done with grace and honor.”
– Marcus Aurelius
The longest and coldest night of the year is upon us with its portents of endings, the death of things, of people like ourselves, and also bodies of thought, movements of culture and politics. And for all the cold and darkness, you feel the stirrings of things waiting to be born. Christmas is the lovely distraction for a brief spell, and after that, the difficult labor of the nation commences for-real in the long night of the year.
This moment in the cold and dark is also the climax of the Great Pretending. You knew it would come to this for “Joe Biden,” that he would be found-out. That in the waning days of his woebegone term in office, the people around him in the White House would betray him with the truth: that he was mentally unfit for the job from even before the get-go, from those drear days in the fall campaign of 2020 when he hid himself at home in Delaware while the FBI covered-up the massive bribery-and-treason story concealed in Hunter’s laptop.
And that for four years since then those people around “Joe Biden” have pretended to the world that he was doing his job, that he was okay, when he was absolutely not okay, as they well knew.
It was only one big lie among the thousands of lies put over by the conspiracy between that gang in the White House and the perfidious organs of the news, especially The New York Times. If you want to see how stupendously dishonest the employees of that newspaper are, read this “roundtable” column of several Times pundits attempting to chew over the state of their patron, the Democratic party. Forgive me for quoting myself in the comment I posted there a half hour ago:
You’re all quite remarkably clueless and dishonest. Your party is in ruins because your policies are intolerable and often insane: censorship, war, gender lunacy, flooding the country with illegal immigrants – no, not “undocumented” in your parlance, as if it was just some clerical error. And you: Democratic Party aligned journalists are even worse than the politicians, because you’re supposed to make an effort to determine the truth, and you deliberately gaslight the public instead. Shame on you and the Democratic Party. It’s that simple.
It’s hard to know for sure, but it looks an awful lot as though these journalists — in fact, the whole elite intelligentsia across America — are gaslighting themselves, still pretending that they didn’t know what went on, a coup against their own country. Everything they have been saying and publishing is the opposite of reality. And now it is about to all spill out because other people are about to take over the levers of power.
For instance: can the CDC and other agencies of public health continue to lie about disastrous Covid-19 vaccines, about the deaths and disabilities they have caused in millions of people? Under “Joe Biden,” there was no other way for the likes of Rochelle Walensky and Mandy Cohen except to lie. And get this: women were chosen to front for the CDC because you’re not supposed to believe that “Mommy” would lie to you, especially in matters of life and death. There was no other way because the crime was so great and they were all in it so deep — not just Rochelle and Mandy but the hundreds of high-ranking bureaucrats in CDC, FDA, and NIH who went along with all this.
Of course, it’s hard to know whether the Covid-19 affair was just a venal and insane project by Anthony Fauci and his colleagues to play “hero” while making a ton of money. . . or whether it was actually a deliberate effort by the Intel Blob to queer the 2020 election by forcing a change in the voting procedure that would allow for wholesale fraud, in the service of cancelling Donald Trump. Possibly, it was a mash-up of both.
The truth about all this, and a lot more, is going to come out, whether or not Bobby Kennedy, Kash Patel, and other nominees get confirmed in their jobs, because there are many other figures just as capable behind them who would be nominated and eventually confirmed to run these departments. Those New York Times journalists are gaslighting themselves further if they think that blocking a few nominations is going to save their reputations. This populist revolution is bigger than that. It’s about overturning a paradigm of lies.
We really don’t know if our country is too far gone. The wreckage accomplished under the fakery of “Joe Biden” is prodigious. The financial quandaries alone are enough to sink the Republic in penury, and it will be hard to dodge the truth about that, too, because individual citizens and households know when they are hurting. When they hurt enough, they move to action, visibly, loudly, and you will not miss it.
This ought to be a sobering Christmas then. This is the pause at the end of things when we might consider how important it is to tell ourselves the truth. Chew on that with the sugarplums of the season while we wait for that something that is busy being born.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/23/2024 – 16:20 - 'Back To South Africa': Democrats Call For Biden To Deport Elon Musk
‘Back To South Africa’: Democrats Call For Biden To Deport Elon Musk
Authored by Julianna Frieman via Headline USA,
Democrats on social media called for President Joe Biden to deport Elon Musk one month before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration as the billionaire’s influence over the incoming administration became a point of attack.
Despite Biden’s apparent senility for the past four years, reaffirmed Thursday by a bombshell Wall Street Journal report, leftist pundits have attempted to drive a wedge between Trump and Musk with warnings of usurpation.
CNN’s Scott Jennings slammed panelists Sunday for feigning concern over the “unelected” Musk having Trump’s ear, saying, “Unelected people have been running the government for the last four years.”
CNN’s Scott Jennings slams media for feigning concern over the “unelected” Elon Musk while ignoring the WSJ’s Biden bombshell.
“Unelected people have been running the government for the last four years.” https://t.co/GNbVCU3Zxk
— Julianna Frieman (@JuliannaFrieman) December 22, 2024
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Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have commented on Musk’s close relationship with Trump. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, told Face the Nation on Sunday that “it feels as if Elon Musk is our prime minister,” while Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., sarcastically slammed the SpaceX owner as “President Musk after he helped tank a 1,547 page federal spending bill.
“It feels like Elon Musk is our Prime Minister … a large part of that voice is a reflection of the voice of the people.”
This is an astute point. Elon Musk is acting as a populist leader, not an oligarchic one. It is why Trump was re-elected president.pic.twitter.com/qGtpLGpmOL
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) December 22, 2024
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Jayapal is right: Trump isn’t the president to be but rather Elon Musk the illegal alien is. pic.twitter.com/qDjGmdV5EK
— Joey Kulkin (@incrediblekulk) December 20, 2024
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Trump dropped a constitutional truth bomb on the idea of a “President Musk” during his speech Sunday at Turning Point USA’s America Fest Conference in Phoenix, Arizona.
“No, he’s not going to be president, that I can tell you,” Trump told the crowd of the “smart” Department of Government Efficiency head. “And I’m safe, you know why? Because he can’t be—he wasn’t born in this country!”
🚨 TRUMP: “No, Elon Musk is NOT going to be President, that I can tell you. And I’m safe, you know why? Because he can’t be, he wasn’t born in this country. HAHAHA! 🫵😹” lmao pic.twitter.com/dEdEJzwOEm
— Autism Capital 🧩 (@AutismCapital) December 22, 2024
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Leftists on X recently jumped on the fact that Musk was born in South Africa by calling for his deportation—completely ignoring the rampant amount of illegal migrant criminals roaming the U.S.
“He should be deported,” Secular Talk host Kyle Kulinski wrote on the Musk-owned social media site.
Democrats are now calling for Elon to be deported. pic.twitter.com/ScMzIUuU5g
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 23, 2024
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While Kulinski faced backlash for his call for Musk’s deportation, similar posts appeared on X since Trump’s historic victory.
He’s a legal immigrant, genius.
— God bless the USA! 🇺🇸🙏 (@re88465915) December 20, 2024
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Only a fuckstick would deport the most successful innovator of our lifetime and keep pedophile legislators who keep us poor.
We should deport you.
— 𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐧 ~🎙️🇺🇸 (@RogueLou18) December 20, 2024
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Yes let’s deport the guy with national security level technology.
Does that really make sense to you?— JapaRican (@JapaRican1989) December 19, 2024
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“I don’t remember going to the polls and seeing Elon Musk as being a candidate on anything. So why is he meeting with Congress about the government budget? Please deport this oligarchy back to South Africa. Elon Musk thinks he’s the president, because he bought Trump,” X user @OliviaHoney11 raged Thursday.
I don’t remember going to the polls and seeing Elon Musk as being a candidate on anything. So why is he meeting with Congress about the government budget? Please deport this oligarchy back to South Africa. Elon Musk thinks he’s the president, because he bought Trump.
— ✨Olivia A.✨ (@OliviaHoney11) December 18, 2024
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Deport Musk! https://t.co/xpu2w71HP5
— Otter@DitchMoscowMitch (@DitchMoscowMtch) December 23, 2024
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Another user, @badbadtzlevi143, expressed hate toward legal immigrants like Musk and said, “Let’s DRAIN THE SWAMP and make this non us native GO BACK TO WHERE HE CAME FROM.”
i’m calling for the deportation of elon musk. let’s DRAIN THE SWAMP and make this non us native GO BACK TO WHERE HE CAME FROM https://t.co/pZei60MQKu
— 🎄jingle bElios 🩶LEVI MONTH🩶 (@badbadtzlevi143) December 22, 2024
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Defund & deport lying POS Prez Musk! https://t.co/R7jSjZGR8b
— Michelle P (@Arrogate2013) December 20, 2024
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“BIDEN, DEPORT ELON MUSK AND MY LIFE IS YOURS!!” https://t.co/PadeAyWP2D pic.twitter.com/P0A6LQlE7g
— leon fr (@leonrealone) December 22, 2024
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“BIDEN, DEPORT ELON MUSK AND MY LIFE IS YOURS!!” X user @leonrealone added Sunday.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/23/2024 – 15:45
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