Today’s News 31st December 2024

• Celebrating The Death Of Woke And The Resurrection Of Common Sense
  Celebrating The Death Of Woke And The Resurrection Of Common Sense

  Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us,

  Years ago when the woke takeover of government and popular media was hitting a crescendo, I often struggled to put the horrifying development into the proper words. That is to say, woke isn’t just about DEI or blaming the “patriarchy” – These things are tools that leftists use, but the goal of the movement has always been the destruction of the western world.  Woke represented the perverse inversion of every aspect of western society and human morality – To explain such evil requires a concise analysis.

  

  In the movie ‘Platoon’, directed by Oliver Stone, Charlie Sheen’s character is a young soldier cast into the nightmare of the Vietnam War. Regretting his decision to volunteer, he makes a disturbing observation:

  “Hell is the impossibility of reason.  That’s what this place feels like.  Hell.”

  This description perfectly summarizes the core aspirations of the woke movement; to create a world where all reason is impossible. A world where all logic and critical thought are admonished. A world where lies are celebrated and the truth is treated as treason. A society that’s not allowed to claim its own heritage because it has been labeled “racist”. A culture perpetually walking on eggshells as leftist hall monitors loom over us, gatekeeping our every moment. What we witnessed as a society over the past decade has been a calculated nuclear attack on the very fabric of the human soul.

  Some of us saw these developments within the PC movement coming. However, it’s a very different experience to predict a calamity vs living through that calamity. To see a living breathing monster in action can be daunting.

  There was a point, I believe, in 2021-2022 where we came within a razor’s edge of civil war. You could feel it in the air; millions of Americans were fed up and ready to wipe the political left off the face of the Earth (such a conflict might still happen). I don’t think progressives realize how lucky they are that conservatives are patient.

  At bottom, the outcome of the 2024 election represents a total condemnation of the woke religion. Even if you don’t like Donald Trump or the GOP in general, there is no denying that the Democrats lost because they embraced far-left zealotry. Kamala Harris, a DEI candidate, is the ultimate example of Get Woke, Go Broke (her campaign spent over a billion dollars, putting them in the red, only to lose the presidency anyway).

  In light of this great turning point in our cultural history and because 2024 is quickly coming to a close, I just want to relate a few observations on why the woke cult lost and applaud some of the much needed changes that are happening in our nation’s return to normalcy.

  Celebrities And The Media Don’t Matter Anymore

  The worship of corporate icons has ended. Hollywood is dying. Most studios are now scrambling to get rid of their DEI programs and put out content that appeals to conservatives (or at the very least, content that doesn’t piss us off). Actually putting out products that make your customers happy instead of acting like the customers owe you something? Imagine that…

  For generations Hollywood and the media have treated Americans like a captive audience beholden to the establishment. In recent years, though, a new trend developed in which companies simply stopped trying to cater to audiences and began acting as if we are REQUIRED to consume their woke content. Communists despise the free market, not because of wealth inequality, but because the existence of consumer choice forces the elites to serve the public rather than the public serving them.

  This behavior has destroyed the old celebrity edifice and made such people obsolete. So-called “journalists” have also met with a dire fate as their kingdom of spin crumbles. They can’t control the news if no one listens to them anymore. It’s truly a beautiful thing.

  Democrats Realize Abortion Is Not A Winning Issue

  During the election campaign the vast majority of Democrat Party focus was fear mongering over the loss of access to abortion. I’m not sure when killing babies became some kind of sacred liberty for progressive women – For the longest time it was treated as a shameful but convenient way to avoid responsibility for one’s actions; because that’s what it is.

  It’s not “health care”.  It’s not bodily autonomy (because the rights of the baby are ignored). It’s not a safety net to prevent death during childbirth because abortion laws don’t interfere with that option anyway. It’s always been about birth control for irresponsible women who refused to use preventative measures or close their damn legs.

  The sexual revolution and abortion go hand-in-hand. You can’t encourage sexual promiscuity as a social norm without the consequences involved, unless you also allow people to kill those consequences. But I’m getting the sense that newer generations are starting to see the circular destructive nature of this dichotomy. I think they are getting sick from it and they’re looking for a little purity.

  This is why abortion ranked near the bottom of almost every poll of most important issues to Americans during the 2024 election. Leftists claimed there would be a societal uproar over abortion rights once Roe v Wade was overturned. It never happened. They said there would be a massive “blue wave” of Democrat election victories. The opposite occurred. In the end, abortion access just doesn’t matter that much.

  The Transing Of Children Is A Red Line For Most Americans

  Conservatives said it over and over again – Leave the kids alone. The leftists refused to listen. The effort to introduce gender ideology into schools and children’s entertainment was expansive. Not only did they try to confuse children about their basic genetic make-up and biological roles, they also tried to expose kids to sexualized discussions to the point of grooming.

  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the moment the left went after the kids was the moment they lost the culture war. That’s when the mask came off and centrists realized that everything conservatives were warning about when it came to progressives was true. That’s when the Democrats alienated the middle-road voters and the independents.

  It does make sense in a Machiavellian way; a large percentage of woke activists don’t have kids and probably never will. In order to pass on their cultism they have to steal YOUR kids and brainwash them. It’s the only way progressives can perpetuate their species.

  Nobody Cares About Making A Woman President

  Would people vote for a woman for president if she was honest, forthright, intelligent and logical? Probably, but the Democrats don’t have such candidates and the idea of overlooking basic competence and honesty just for the sake of having a woman in the White House is not appealing to the public. They don’t care about identity politics, which is why Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris were both crushed by Donald Trump.

  The political left has long sought to force their own made-up social taboos on the rest of us, from personal identity to race to gender to sexual orientation. What they don’t seem to grasp is that people want candidates with a plan. Nothing else matters and “victim status” is irrelevant.

  Have ancestors that were slaves? No one cares. Are you gay? Irrelevant. Do you think you should win simply because you’re a woman and women are historically less represented in government? Maybe you’re special, maybe you’re not, but there’s nothing special about a career victim.

  Open Borders Ideology Is Dead

  Along with the economy, the border crisis issue was the most important factor on the minds of Americans during the election. Housing expenses are going through the stratosphere.  It’s not surprising that the public doesn’t want a bunch of third world parasites using government subsidies to snake homes out from under native Americans and drive up rental costs.

  Illegals sneaking into the country also work for lower pay, often under the table, driving down wages for citizen workers and craftsman and making industries like construction less enticing. Yes, Americans would do these jobs, just not for a 30% to 50% wage cut. And since tens of millions of migrants have flooded into the US, the fact that they work for less doesn’t help with prices. The massive extra demand actually sucks up supply and inflates prices further.

  The progressive notion of the “American melting pot” no longer holds any magic for the average American.  The “migrant dream of the 1920s is irrelevant today.  We don’t want other cultures flooding the west, and we don’t want millions of people that don’t intend to assimilate. Leftists still don’t understand that their open border narrative has failed.  Nationalism and protectionism are the winning positions.  No foreigner is entitled to American access.  If they get it, they should be thanking their lucky stars instead of acting is if it’s something they’re owed.

  Comedy Is Making A Comeback

  Remember when calling your friends gay or retarded was normal and no one threw a tantrum over it? Remember when comedy equaled tragedy + time and people knew how to laugh in the face of adversity?  Well, we’re bringing that tradition back and there’s nothing the woke pearl clutching losers can do about it.

  It might not sound very important, but anyone familiar with the writings of Erasmus, including his ‘Praise Of Folly’, knows the problems that arise when an ideological movement is incapable of laughing at itself. Humor often requires self examination and a truthful eye, which is something authoritarians greatly fear. If you can laugh at the establishment, then the establishment loses power.

  There have been times when Christianity was incapable of self reflection and humor and it hurt conservatives as a whole. Today, though, most humorless people reside among progressives.  They have dominated our cultural institutions for many years because they used to respect humor.   Finally, thanks to the independence of online content creators, the cultural power has been taken away from leftist elites and is returning to the people.

  I’m noticing, with great relief, that most people are starting to smile again. It’s slow and it’s subtle, but comedians are far less inclined to walk on eggshells these days. It’s a big change from only a few years ago. Never forget, the left tried to take our laughter away and control what we’re allowed to make fun of. Without humor, society crumbles.

  There are many other shifts in America that are making daily life bearable again and I can’t cover them all here. My point is that these wonderful steps away from the woke chasm are worth celebrating. To be sure, there is more work to be done and a lot of damage to be mended. However, take heart in the knowledge that most of the country is finally awake and we are, in one great chorus, opposed to wokeness.

  *  *  *

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  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/30/2024 – 23:25

• What Made The News In America In 2024
  What Made The News In America In 2024

  This chart lists the top nine U.S. news stories of 2024, according to Google’s Year in Search. In addition, Visual Capitalist’s Pallavia Rao visualized the popularity of one developing news story.

  

  ℹ️ Google looks at news searches between December 31st 2023–December 8th, 2024 when defining this list. Popularity peaks in this chart are not normalized across news stories.

  In case this year has felt particularly long, we also did one for 2023. It’s a useful refresher of what had everyone talking exactly 12 months ago.

  Politics and Crime Kept Americans Googling

  Unsurprisingly in an election year three of the top stories for America centered around politics.

  

  The first of course: an assassination attempt on President Donald Trump in July. The second: the big election in November.

  Another story that had Americans googling for context: Project 2025. This conservative plan released by the Heritage Foundation for the next Republican administration went largely unnoticed until Democrats began talking about it.

  It broadly defined four policy aims. One in particular which raised alarm, wanted to place the federal bureaucracy under direct Presidential control. It also proposed withdrawing a popular abortion pill from the market and to enforce a law that stops the drug from crossing state borders.

  But perhaps the biggest news story of all hit in the last week of Google’s Year in Search analysis, when a gunman shot and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

  A 25-year-old, Luigi Mangione, has been arrested in relation to the assassination.

  More importantly, the assassination and the subsequent arrest has spurred conversation around America’s healthcare industry. The data behind denied claims (one-in-five) as well as large medical costs (the leading cause of bankruptcy) has added to the conversation.

  Looking for other related news with the health insurance industry? Check out: America’s Largest Insurers by State for a full breakdown.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/30/2024 – 23:00

• Engineering Reality: A Century Of Cultural Control, Part II – Capturing The Counterculture
  Engineering Reality: A Century Of Cultural Control, Part II – Capturing The Counterculture

  Authored by Joshua Stylman via substack,

  A Century of Cultural Control From Edison’s Monopolies to Algorithmic Manipulation

  Author’s Note: For years, I understood advertising was designed to manipulate behavior. As someone who studied the mechanics of marketing, I considered myself an educated consumer who could navigate rational market choices. What I didn’t grasp was how this same psychological architecture shaped every aspect of our cultural landscape. This investigation began as curiosity about the music industry’s ties to intelligence agencies. It evolved into a comprehensive examination of how power structures systematically mold public consciousness.

  What I discovered showed me that even my most cynical assumptions about manufactured culture barely scratched the surface. This revelation has fundamentally altered not just my worldview, but my relationships with those who either cannot or choose not to examine these mechanisms of control. This piece aims to make visible what many sense but cannot fully articulate – to help others see these hidden systems of influence. Because recognizing manipulation is the first step toward resisting it.

  This investigation unfolds in three parts: First, we’ll examine the foundational systems of control established in the early 20th century. Next, we’ll explore how these methods evolved through popular culture and counterculture movements. Finally, we’ll see how these techniques have been automated and perfected through digital systems.

  

  Capturing the Counterculture

  In Part One, we traced the development of structures of oversight from Edison’s physical monopolies through Tavistock’s psychological operations, witnessing how corporate and banking interests and intelligence agencies converged to shape public consciousness. Now we’ll see how these methods reached new sophistication through popular culture, beginning with the British Invasion of the 1960s, which demonstrated how thoroughly orchestrated music movements could reshape society.

  The Beatles and Rolling Stones weren’t just bands – as researcher Mike Williams has extensively documented in his analysis of the British Invasion, their emergence marked the beginning of a systematic and profound cultural transformation. Williams notes that even the term ‘British Invasion’ itself was telling – a military metaphor for what was ostensibly a cultural phenomenon, perhaps Tavistock telegraphing its operation in plain sight. What seemed like playful marketing language actually described a carefully orchestrated infiltration of American youth culture. Through hundreds of hours of meticulously documented research, Williams builds an overwhelming case that the Beatles served as the spearhead of a broader agenda that used albums like Sgt. Pepper and the Rolling Stones’ Their Satanic Majesties Request to deliberately steer youth culture away from traditional values and family structures. What seems tame by today’s standards represented a calculated assault on social norms, initiating a cultural transformation that would accelerate over the following decades.

  Williams’ research goes further, presenting compelling evidence that the Beatles were essentially the first modern ‘boy band’ – their image carefully crafted, their music largely written and performed by others. This revelation transforms our understanding of the British Invasion: what appeared to be an organic cultural phenomenon was in fact a meticulously orchestrated operation, with professional musicians and songwriters behind the scenes while the Beatles served as appealing frontmen for the massive social engineering project.

  As a lifelong music fan and Beatles devotee, confronting this evidence initially felt like sacrilege. Yet the pattern becomes undeniable once you allow yourself to see it. While debate continues over specific details like the Frankfurt School’s Theodor Adorno’s alleged involvement in crafting Beatles songs – a claim that has both passionate proponents and critics – what’s clear is that the operation bore all the hallmarks of Tavistock’s social engineering methodology.

  The deliberate crafting of a “good boys/bad boys” (Beatles/Rolling Stones) dialectic offered controlled choices and allowed “both sides” to advance the exact same desired cultural shifts. Andrew Loog Oldham masterfully crafted the Stones’ ‘bad boy’ image using public relations techniques reminiscent of Edward Bernays’ methods (the ‘father of public relations’ who pioneered mass psychological manipulation) – creating desire through psychological insight and manufacturing cultural rebellion as a marketable commodity. As Oldham himself acknowledged in his autobiography, he wasn’t just selling music but rather ‘rebellion, anarchy, and sex appeal wrapped up in a neat package’ – deliberately creating a myth for people to buy into. His sophisticated understanding of cultural branding and mass psychology reflected the broader methods of influence that were reshaping media and public opinion during the era.

  Behind Mick Jagger’s rebellious persona lay an education at the London School of Economics, suggesting an insider with a deeper understanding of power systems at play. This assiduous development of image extended to the performers’ inner circle – notably Jagger’s girlfriend Marianne Faithfull, herself a successful singer and socialite, whose father was an MI6 officer who interrogated Heinrich Himmler and whose maternal grandfather had Habsburg Dynasty roots. The Stones’ finances were managed by Prince Rupert Loewenstein, a Bavarian aristocrat and private banker whose noble lineage and financial circles intersected with the Rothschild dynasty – another example of establishment figures behind seemingly anti-establishment movements.

  Even the record label itself fit the pattern: EMI (Electric and Musical Industries), which signed both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, began as a military electronics company. During World War II, EMI’s research and development contributed significantly to Britain’s radar program and other military technologies. This fusion of military-industrial interests with cultural production was no coincidence – EMI’s technical expertise in electronics and communications would prove valuable in both warfare and the mass distribution of cultural content.

  These carefully managed British experiments in cultural control would soon find their perfect laboratory in America, where an unlikely convergence would reshape youth culture and the family unit forever. Britain had pioneered these methods of cultural orchestration through music, embedding intelligence ties into the British Invasion, but America would refine and scale these techniques to unprecedented levels.

  The Laurel Canyon Laboratory

  In the hills above Hollywood between 1965-1975, as journalist Dave McGowan first documented, an extraordinary phenomenon: the emergence of a new music scene centered in Laurel Canyon, where an improbable concentration of military and intelligence family connections converged to reshape American youth culture. This convergence was no accident – as anti-war sentiment grew strongest in academic circles, this military-intelligence nexus helped redirect potential resistance into a drug-saturated counterculture focused on ‘dropping out’ rather than organized opposition to the war.

  The military/intelligence connections within Laurel Canyon were striking.

  • Jim Morrison’s father commanded the fleet during the Gulf of Tonkin incident that launched the Vietnam War.

  • Frank Zappa’s father was a chemical warfare specialist at Edgewood Arsenal, a key human experimentation research site.

  • David Crosby, scion of the Van Cortlandts and Van Rensselaers—American royalty—descended from a lineage of political power that included senators, Supreme Court justices, and Revolutionary generals.

  • James Taylor, a descendant of Massachusetts Bay Colony settlers, grew up in a family shaped by academia and military service, including his father’s role in Operation Deep Freeze in Antarctica.

  • Sharon Tate, daughter of Army intelligence officer Lt. Col. Paul Tate, moved through these circles before her death.

  • Dennis Hopper, whose father was OSS, directed Easy Rider with Peter Fonda, packaging counterculture rebellion for mainstream consumption.

  The transformation was systematic – from the post-war optimism and unity embodied by JFK’s New Frontier to the calculated fragmentation that followed his assassination. This mass shared public trauma, perfectly suited to Tavistock’s methods of social engineering through psychological shock, marked the end of genuine optimism. The Boomers, raised with unprecedented prosperity and inspired by Kennedy’s vision of a New Frontier, saw their potential for authentic social and political transformation redirected into carefully crafted cultural movements that would shape subsequent generations. These pervasive connections between military-intelligence figures and countercultural leaders – from Morrison’s admiral father to Zappa’s chemical warfare specialist parent to Crosby’s political dynasty – reveal a clear pattern: the systematic co-opting of youth culture by establishment powers.

  The timing of Laurel Canyon’s emergence as a counterculture hub coincided with the CIA’s MK-Ultra’s mind control program’s peak years of operation. This was no coincidence. The same organizations experimenting with consciousness control through chemical methods, such as LSD, were simultaneously embedding themselves in cultural programming efforts. The convergence of these strategies in Laurel Canyon laid the groundwork for what would soon become the full-scale fusion of music and psychedelics—a calculated effort to thwart organically arising political resistance by channeling it into a movement centered on personal transcendence rather than effective collective action.

  Programming the Revolution

  Building on the psychological and cultural groundwork established in Laurel Canyon, the fusion of music and psychedelics marked the apex of consciousness manipulation. This phase of mass cultural programming strategically redirected genuine political resistance into artificially managed cultural channels, steering dissent away from organized movements and into fragmented, drug-fueled withdrawal.

  Even the Grateful Dead, the quintessential embodiment of California counterculture, which cultivated a devoted following that defined a generation’s search for community and meaning, were intricately tied to mechanisms of societal control. Their manager Alan Trist, was not only the son of Tavistock founder Eric Trist but was also present at the pivotal car accident that killed Jerry Garcia’s childhood friend, Paul Speegle—a tragedy that set Garcia on the path to forming the band. Garcia’s military connection adds another layer of intrigue: after stealing his mother’s car in 1960, he was offered the choice between prison or military service. Despite repeatedly going AWOL from Fort Ord and the Presidio of San Francisco, Garcia received only a general discharge—an unusually lenient outcome that raises questions about potential official connections. Meanwhile, the band’s lyricist, Robert Hunter, participated in government-funded LSD experiments tied to the broader psychedelic research of the era. Serving as the house band for the CIA-connected Merry Pranksters, the Grateful Dead played a key role in steering anti-war sentiment toward psychedelic retreat, aligning the counterculture with state-sponsored agendas in ways that warrant deeper scrutiny.

  This alignment of counterculture and establishment interests proved wildly effective. As anti-war sentiment grew strongest in academic circles – where genuine resistance could threaten structural power – the emergence of the hippie movement effectively redirected opposition into a youth counterculture saturated with drugs and focused on escapism rather than organized resistance. As the war machine escalated operations in Vietnam, young Americans were guided toward cultural dissolution – a perfect formula for neutralizing meaningful peace movements. The same military-intelligence complex that drove the war was simultaneously molding the culture that would prevent effective resistance to it.

  Timothy Leary’s role in this transformation was crucial. Before becoming the psychedelic movement’s most influential voice, he had been a West Point cadet and would later serve as an FBI informant. His advocacy for psychedelics emerged alongside the CIA’s own exploration of substances like LSD during the MK-Ultra era. John Lennon later reflected on this confluence with biting irony: ‘We must always remember to thank the CIA and the Army for LSD. That’s what people forget… They invented LSD to control people and what they did was give us freedom.’ This seeming backfire of the program masked a deeper success – dismantling potential resistance through the promotion of chemical disengagement. By popularizing the mantra “turn on, tune in, drop out,” Leary advanced this agenda. This redirection not only fragmented youth opposition, but weakened their ties to traditional support systems such as families and communities – exactly the kind of social atomization that would make future control easier.

  The overlap between government-funded LSD research and the emerging music scene was far from coincidental. While MK-Ultra explored chemical means of consciousness control, the music industry was simultaneously perfecting cultural methods—with bands like the Grateful Dead bridging both worlds through their ties to government-backed LSD experiments and the rapidly growing counterculture.

  Redirecting Resistance

  Patterns of government leadership connections to musical movements weren’t limited to the psychedelic era. As popular music evolves through new genres and decades, the same underlying relationships continue between establishment power and cultural influence.

  In the hardcore punk scene, figures like Ian MacKaye (Minor Threat, Fugazi) whose father was in the White House Press Corps and present at JFK’s assassination, would ironically become one of the most fiercely independent figures in music, pioneering the DIY ethic through his label Dischord Records. His establishment connections extended back further – his grandfather Milton MacKaye was a magazine writer and executive with the Office of War Information. His autonomous approach seemed to resist the system, yet his establishment connections highlight a broader pattern. Even in alternative rock, Dave Grohl’s father served as special assistant to Senator Robert Taft Jr. during the Reagan administration. Madonna, who became the defining pop star of the 1980s, was the daughter of Tony Ciccone, an engineer who worked on military projects for Chrysler Defense and General Dynamics Land Systems.

  Having parents involved in government, defense, or intelligence work doesn’t imply wrongdoing by these artists, however, these examples represent just a fraction of the documented connections between counterculture figures and power structures. The pattern extends across decades and genres, with hundreds of similar cases suggesting not coincidence but systematic design – from jazz musicians backed by banking families to punk rockers with government connections to mainstream pop stars from defense industry families. These pervasive ties raise fundamental questions about the relationship between ruling class power and cultural influence.

  Perhaps no single family better exemplifies the deliberate fusion of intelligence operations and cultural production than the Copelands. Miles Copeland Jr., who helped found the CIA and orchestrated coups across the Middle East, detailed the psychological strategies behind this integration in his book The Game of Nations. In that revealing text, Copeland explicitly outlined the manipulation methodology that would shape both intelligence operations and popular culture: “In the world of covert operations, nothing is what it appears to be. The key is not just controlling actions, but controlling the perception of actions.”

  His son Miles Copeland III became a key figure in the music industry, managing influential acts like The Police (with brother Stewart as drummer) and founding I.R.S. Records. Through I.R.S., Copeland would shape alternative music’s mainstream emergence, managing acts like R.E.M. fronted by Michael Stipe, another military child. The Copelands represent a crucial bridge between covert operations and cultural production, demonstrating how intelligence methodologies evolved from direct intervention to subtle influence through entertainment. Their success in blending counterculture appeal with commercial viability became a template for future narrative sculpting.

  This pattern of cultural engineering follows historically consistent principles. Artists and movements aligning with intelligence objectives receive overwhelming promotion, while genuine resistance faces suppression or elimination. The tragic ends of figures like Phil Ochs and John Lennon, both under documented FBI surveillance for their direct challenges to state power, contrast notably with the career trajectories of those who presented rebellion within more conventional bounds.

  Manufacturing Gender

  While music proved to be the perfect laboratory for testing mass consciousness control, these methods would soon extend far beyond entertainment.Nowhere was this more evident than in the deliberate reshaping of gender roles and family structures, with the goal of reshaping intimate aspects of human identity and relationships.

  The strategic calibration of feminist narratives emerged as a particularly powerful example, with intelligence agencies actively shaping gender politics through media and organized activism. Gloria Steinem who acknowledged working with CIA-funded organizations like the Independent Research Service during the 1950s and 1960s exemplifies this intersection. Her Ms. Magazine, launched in 1972, merged feminist ideals with carefully curated messaging, while Steinem later admitted to participating in CIA-funded events aimed at influencing feminist movements during the Cold War.

  Nicholas Rockefeller’s candid admission to his friend Aaron Russo underscored how women’s liberation was strategically funded to expand state and corporate control—doubling the tax base through workforce participation, weakening family bonds through increased divorce rates, and increasing state influence over children via state-run childcare.

  During this same period, influential shows like That Girl and The Mary Tyler Moore Show helped normalize these very changes, popularizing the archetype of the independent, career-focused woman in ways that notably aligned with systemic objectives.

  This transformation was systematic. Women’s magazines shifted from primarily domestic content to increasingly career-focused messaging. Cosmopolitan’s dramatic evolution under Helen Gurley Brown’s editorship in the 1960s exemplified this transformation, normalizing not just women’s workforce participation but also promoting sexual liberation outside traditional marriage – a dual agenda that aligned perfectly with corporate interests in expanding both the labor pool and consumer base.

  This deliberate shaping of gender movements extends to the present, with Tavistock Institute continuing to form modern narratives. From shifting women’s magazines toward career messaging in the 1960s to today’s relentless promotion of evolving gender narratives, these movements consistently align with agenda-driven objectives.

  Commodifying Resistance

  The techniques perfected in Laurel Canyon for transforming genuine resistance into profitable cultural products would evolve into increasingly complex frameworks of control. From the Grateful Dead’s pioneering of festival culture to modern corporate music festivals like Coachella, authentic counterculture spaces would be systematically converted into commercial enterprises.

  By the 1990s, these methods had evolved into systematic co-option of authentic resistance. While the Boomers experienced the shift from optimism to disillusionment, Generation X faced a more highly refined mechanism that commodified alienation itself. Kurt Cobain’s trajectory from authentic voice of generational discontent to MTV commodity demonstrated how the apparatus of influence had evolved – no longer just redirecting resistance but transforming it into profitable cultural products. This commodification extended beyond music – brands like Nike transformed anti-establishment street culture into global marketing campaigns through figures like Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley. The era’s “alternative” culture became so thoroughly commercialized that mall retailers like Hot Topic emerged to sell pre-packaged “rebellion” to suburban teens, turning counter-cultural symbols into standardized retail offerings.

  The comprehensive hijack of underground music scenes demonstrates how thoroughly the power structure perfected cultural manipulation.Just as intelligence agencies had redirected 60s counterculture, corporations developed advanced methods for capturing and commodifying organic dissidence. The Vans Warped Tour transformed punk rock – once a genuine expression of youth rebellion – into a traveling corporate marketing platform, complete with sponsored stages and branded merchandise. Red Bull’s music academy program went further, creating what amounts to an early warning system for potentially disruptive cultural movements. By identifying emerging underground genres and artists early, they could redirect authentic cultural expression into commercial channels before it developed genuine revolutionary potential.

  Even the most fiercely independent scenes proved vulnerable to this system. Major labels created fake indie imprints to maintain underground credibility while controlling distribution. Tobacco companies specifically targeted underground clubs and raves, understanding that subcultural credibility could be converted into market share. The pattern established in Laurel Canyon – of transforming authentic resistance into profitable products – had evolved into a science of cultural capture.

  Just as the Grateful Dead’s government connections helped establish templates for controlled cultural spaces, modern music festivals serve as data collection points and behavioral laboratories. The evolution from Acid Tests to algorithmically-curated festival lineups demonstrates how thoroughly the framework of influence has digitized.

  The Celebrity Machine

  The approach perfected through Gloria Steinem – channeling authentic social movements through carefully managed spokespersons – would evolve into today’s meticulously crafted model of celebrity activism.

  This algorithmic management extends beyond content to talent itself, with platforms increasingly determining not just what succeeds but which voices rise to prominence. The strategic positioning of celebrity activists demonstrates how thoroughly institutional interests have penetrated entertainment. George Clooney’s involvement with the Council on Foreign Relations, continuing a multigenerational family connection to power that began with his father Nick Clooney’s Cold War era journalism, exemplifies how these entertainment-establishment ties often span generations. Angelina Jolie’s evolution from Hollywood rebel to UNHCR Special Envoy exemplifies how countercultural appeal can be redirected toward state objectives. Similarly, Leonardo DiCaprio’s environmental advocacy – promoted through WEF platforms while maintaining a private jet lifestyle – shows how even legitimate concerns are shaped to align with elite frameworks. Similarly, Sean Penn’s pattern of high-profile crisis interventions – from Hurricane Katrina to Haiti, Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez, and most recently Ukraine – raises questions about selective platform access. While establishment-aligned celebrities receive endless amplification, those questioning official narratives often find themselves swiftly marginalized or silenced.

  Like Steinem’s CIA-backed feminist organizing, modern celebrity activism often aligns remarkably well with ruling class objectives. The path from counterculture figure to establishment voice has become a repeatable template.

  Marketing Modern Culture

  Modern equivalents of countercultural programming demonstrate how these systems remain highly effective. From the entertainment industry to luxury fashion houses, today’s cultural engineers craft narratives that align with elite interests under the guise of progress.

  This pattern of coordinated societal restructuring extends across multiple industries and platforms. The fashion industry’s role became explicit through incidents like Balenciaga’s controversial 2022 campaign featuring children with bondage imagery. While public outrage focused on the immediate controversy, the incident revealed how fashion houses increasingly push narratives about gender, sexuality, and social norms.

  Just as the Stones and Beatles channeled rebellion into acceptable forms, today’s cultural architects craft carefully calibrated resistance. Billie Eilish’s themes of alienation provide Gen Z with a commercially viable outlet for discontent, while Lizzo’s challenge to conventional beauty standards align with corporate interests in promoting pharmaceuticals, wellness products, and consumer goods tailored to diverse audiences. Even the most commercially successful artists reflect these establishment connections – Taylor Swift’s family ties to banking dynasties, including her grandfather’s role in the Federal Reserve, demonstrate how thoroughly embedded these relationships remain. As researcher Mike Benz has documented, NATO’s own training materials identify Swift as a key figure for message amplification, revealing how bureaucratic influence operates in the digital age.

  When Health Becomes Ideology

  The promotion of unhealthy lifestyles serves multiple systemic purposes. A population focused on ‘body positivity’ while struggling with obesity and chronic health conditions becomes both more profitable for pharmaceutical companies and more dependent on institutional systems.

  This agenda manifests in how unhealthiness is celebrated as progressive and inclusive. Corporate campaigns and media portray obese body types and unhealthy lifestyles as empowering, normalizing behaviors that in most cases will lead to poor long-term health. For example, Cosmopolitan featured a February 2021 cover proclaiming, “This is Healthy!” alongside imagery of unconventional body types, while Nike introduced plus-size mannequins in their flagship stores, generating significant media buzz. These efforts were celebrated as milestones of inclusivity, solidifying the ‘body positivity’ movement as a cultural touchstone.

  

  At the same time, fitness and working out are increasingly framed as symbols of extremism. Articles and think pieces link workout culture and physical health with dangerous ideologies, painting personal discipline as a marker of political radicalization. This patently absurd narrative subtly reframes exercise not as wellness and personal discipline, but as symbols of far-right extremism.

  

  This deliberate inversion mirrors Orwell’s dystopia: health becomes harmful, while unhealthiness becomes virtuous. By reframing physical well-being and self-improvement as forms of deviance, these narratives distort societal values, aligning them with complacency as a moral ideal.

  The seeds of this shift were planted during the COVID-19 pandemic, where public health policies largely ignored foundational wellness practices. Instead of promoting sunshine, exercise, proper nutrition, or weight loss – despite obesity being the highest risk factor – official messaging emphasized isolation, masking, and compliance.

  In the post-pandemic era, these themes have evolved further, reframing personal health and discipline as not just unnecessary, but as politically dangerous.

  The treatment of health and fitness reveals a calculated agenda – promoting unhealthy lifestyles while demonizing physical discipline serves the same end: creating a more dependent and controllable population. This isn’t contradiction but convergence: both approaches push people away from self-reliance and toward institutional dependence. This isn’t random contradiction but calculated deception: just as Tavistock learned to use psychological vulnerability to reshape consciousness, modern organizations deploy health narratives to create new forms of social control.

  ​​This systematic reshaping of health consciousness parallels an even broader transformation: the redefinition of citizenship and national identity itself. Just as physical fitness was reframed as extremism, traditional notions of patriotism and national pride would be carefully reconstructed to serve power structures. The entertainment industry, having perfected techniques for modifying health narratives, would deploy these same methods to reshape public understanding of loyalty and national purpose.

  Shaping Patriotism

  From the fitness industry to Hollywood, narratives are crafted to ensure compliance with systemic ideals, often echoing tactics first developed to reshape public sentiment during the isolationist era discussed earlier. Just as J.P. Morgan’s acquisition of newspapers in 1917 helped frame America’s reluctant entry into global conflicts as a moral imperative; television series, streaming shows, and films all shape public perceptions of military action by glamorizing its necessity and heroism.

  Modern blockbusters like Top Gun: Maverick demonstrate how studios must submit scripts to the Department of Defense for approval, with military-mandated changes required to access essential equipment and filming locations. The Pentagon’s influence extends deep into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Captain Marvel required extensive script revisions to secure military support, transforming the protagonist from a civilian pilot into an Air Force officer. Similar military oversight shaped Iron Man, with the Pentagon demanding script approval in exchange for access to bases and equipment. These aren’t just product placement deals – they represent systematic narrative control at the heart of modern entertainment. Other films, such as Zero Dark Thirty and Argo, have been produced in direct collaboration with the CIA, promoting narratives aligned with military interests.

  The NFL provides another striking example of how sports leagues function as extensions of the entertainment network, leveraging emotional narratives to shape public sentiment. Military flyovers, player tributes to soldiers, and Super Bowl advertisements are often presented as organic celebrations of national pride. However, these moments frequently stem from paid partnerships with the Department of Defense, blurring the lines between authentic patriotism and orchestrated messaging. Just as blockbuster films glamorize military action, sports leagues normalize the connection between patriotism and military service, reinforcing regimented narratives under the guise of entertainment.

  While it is true that genuine patriotism and respect for service members reflect authentic American values, the entertainment industry’s careful curation of military narratives serves a deeper purpose: normalizing perpetual foreign interventions without encouraging deeper understanding of these conflicts and their terrible consequences. By conflating support for troops with unquestioning acceptance of military action, these cultural products manufacture consent for engagements most citizens neither understand nor meaningfully debate. The transformation of complex geopolitical realities into simplified hero narratives helps ensure public compliance without public comprehension.

  Even ostensibly critical films like The Bourne Films and Charlie Wilson’s War blend fact and fiction in ways that subtly glorify intelligence work and interventionist policies. This narrative crafting ensures that skepticism of these organizations remains constrained, reinforcing a sense of patriotism tied to state ideals and policies.

  Alongside these cinematic examples, the video game industry has become a powerful tool for behavioral influence strategies. Franchises like Call of Duty have embedded pro-military narratives in their immersive gameplay, serving as advanced recruitment tools for the armed forces.

  While Hollywood and gaming recruit audiences into the machinery of war, contemporary music has been weaponized in a way similar to the examples of jazz diplomacy in the 1950s, the “British Invasion”, and Laurel Canyon musicians discussed before. Nowhere is this more striking than in hip-hop, where the genre’s transformation from protest music to ‘gangsta rap’ illuminates how power brokers co-opt authentic voices to align with the very corporate and political interests that are actively working to subjugate them.

  Prison Profit Pipeline

  Hip-hop’s rise in the 1980s coincided with the crack epidemic, a devastating chapter in American history exacerbated by the CIA’s involvement with Contra rebels in Nicaragua—a link exposed by journalist Gary Webb in his groundbreaking investigation. What began as a genre documenting the effects of systemic oppression and the scourge of drugs in Black communities soon became commodified. The raw narratives of survival and resistance were transformed into glamorized depictions of drug culture, aligning neatly with authority-driven interests that perpetuates profitable cycles of incarceration and control.

  The music industry’s real agenda becomes explicit through figures like hip-hop icon Ice Cube, who revealed how record labels and private prisons deliberately aligned their interests. “It seems really kind of suspicious,” Cube noted, “that the records that come out are really geared to push people towards that prison industry.” His assertion that “the same people who own the [record labels] own the prisons” exposed the strategic development of content to feed incarceration systems.

  As Cube explained, “a lot of dope songs people like are made by a group of people telling rappers what to say,” replacing organic artistic expression with carefully developed narratives. This deliberate shift funneled anger and discontent into self-destructive behaviors, perpetuating cycles of incarceration that aligned neatly with corporate interests. The prison-industrial complex demonstrated how systemic control could merge profit motives with social programming. This fusion of surveillance, behavioral modification, and economic coercion would become the template for digital oversight framework, where algorithms track behavior, shape choices, and enforce compliance through economic penalties – just at global scale

  What record labels achieved manually in hip-hop – identifying, redirecting, and commodifying authentic expression – would become the template for digital control. Just as executives learned to transform street culture into profitable products, algorithms would soon automate this process at global scale. The transformation from protest to profit wasn’t limited to music – it became the blueprint for how all cultural resistance would be managed in the digital age.

  In Part Three, we’ll see how these cultural shaping techniques have been automated and perfected through digital systems. The methods of cultural control evolved from physical to psychological, from local to global, from manual to automated. What began with Edison’s hardware monopolies and reached its analog peak in the manipulation of popular culture would find its ultimate expression in digital systems. The transformation from mechanical to algorithmic control represents not just a technological evolution, but a quantum leap in the capability to shape human consciousness.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/30/2024 – 22:35

• 6'4" Trans Child-Molester Sexually-Abused Female Cellmate In Washington Prison: Suit
  6’4″ Trans Child-Molester Sexually-Abused Female Cellmate In Washington Prison: Suit

  Western trans madness has many shocking manifestations. Woke school counselors and doctors pushing 14-year-olds into double-mastectomies is certainly the worst, but locking real women in prison cells with self-identifying “trans women” ranks way up there too. 

  That general practice is objectionable enough on its face, but a specific example from the Left Coast took it to a disturbing extreme, as Washington prison officials made a female prisoner share a cell with a towering, six-foot-four convicted child molester. The woman, Mozzy Clark, is now suing the state, saying the hulking “trans woman” named Christopher Scott Williams sexually abused and harassed her for months.    

  

  Williams’ dedication to his trans identity apparently stops short of bothering to take a female name, but does extend as far as wanting to have a woman locked in the same room with him every night. Williams had previously been convicted of sexually assaulting his own sister when he was 16 and she was only nine years old. His father said he’d first abused his sister three years earlier, but he avoided charges for that incident.

  He was later convicted in 2009 and 2010 on felony charges for failing to register as a sex offender where he lived. At the time of his government-facilitated cohabitation with Clark, Williams was doing time for hitting his girlfriend in the head with a pipe.

  Williams was originally sent to a male prison — where he reportedly beat a male prison guard unconscious, necessitating reconstructive surgery — but then declared himself female and petitioned for a transfer to a woman’s prison, according to Clark’s complaint. The Washington Department of Corrections obliged, sending him to the Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW). He then accused his roommate of bullying him, and asked to be locked up with Clark.  

  

  Clark says that, as a child, she was raped by an uncle and sold by her mother for drug money. Now her life at WCCW became a new living hell, which, according to the complaint, started with lewd comments and displays of Wiliams’ genitals: 

  “In their cell, Ms. Clark was on the bottom bunk. Mr. Williams … would hover menacingly over Ms. Clark’s bunk with an erection while touching himself. He would also display his erection to Ms. Clark against her will, and gesture towards it, saying how much he wanted her.”

  “I’d be sitting on my bunk and he’d lean over me and he’d be like, ‘I hate it when it fills up with blood’,” Clark told National Review. On multiple occasions, Clark woke up to find Williams on her bed. “When I startled awake, I felt . . . Christopher jerk his hand out from in my pants, and underneath my blankets. I was in shock. It took me back to my childhood.” In another incident, Clark says Williams returned to the cell with a homemade, strap-on dildo and asked Clark to use it on him. Her complaints to prison authorities prompted threats of physical violence from the giant in the bunk above her. 

  Other female inmates have complained about Williams and other biological men placed in the women’s prison. Some of those grievances include showers that don’t afford privacy from male leering. As an anonymous female inmate told National Review: 

  “Our shower stalls don’t go up to our heads. And the bathroom stalls, same thing. A bunch of women, when they’re in the showers, these people are just standing there. They don’t have to stand on their tippy toes and they look over and see everything. People were so uncomfortable. You feel kind of like you’ve been violated.”

  Williams is now reportedly living alone a single cell. “They moved him out of the room, and they found literally a bag of dicks,” a female prisoner said. “A bunch of homemade dildos that this dude made.”

  

  Fittingly, the Washington Department of Corrections is led by a woman named Cheryl Strange. An Evergreen State College product and progressive who was appointed by the Biden administration to a federal corrections advisory board, Strange has overseen the implementation of taxpayer-funded “gender-affirming care” for Washington inmates, along with a host of other trans-catering policies. For example, male prisoners who say they are actually women can demand that pat-downs and physical inspections are performed on them by female prison guards.  

  “Dostoevsky said that a society can be judged by its prisons,” National Review said in an August editorial. “Ours are in the grip of the same irrational ideology as so many other American institutions.” 

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/30/2024 – 22:10

• Six Scenarios For Syria
  Six Scenarios For Syria

  Authored by  As`ad AbuKhalil via Consortium News,

  The situation of Syria is like the chaos of Libya but there are many more actors (local and external) operating, making it difficult to foresee what will happen…

  

  It is naive to assume that the current regime in Syria will remain in place – as it is – going forward…

  Syria is now in a state of uneasy transition and the political-military situation will remain in flux as long as the conflicts between the various armed and civic groups are not resolved.

  We have seen during the age of the Arab uprisings that the collapse of a regime does not necessarily produce a stable or a democratic government. In Tunisia, the democratic transition was concluded when the current president decided to exclude the Islamists from power and to rule as a despot.

  In Egypt, the UAE and Saudi regimes helped install a military government headed by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi  to end the elected rule of the Muslim brotherhood. The conflicts in these countries are not purely the outcome of internal developments, but often reflect regional conflicts, conspiracies and competition.

  Turkey and Qatar support the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood, while Saudi Arabia and UAE support their ouster and exclusion from government. This will be central in understanding what comes next in Syria.

  Israel and the U.S. are close to the Saudi-UAE camps but are also close to Qatar; and the Muslim Brotherhood seems to work well with the U.S. and even avoid pushing a radical line against Israel.

  

  June 16, 2012: Street in Cairo during second round of presidential elections, which Muslim Brother’s candidate Mohamed Morsi won. (Jonathan Rashad, Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

  President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt did not attempt to abrogate the peace treaty with Israel and even allowed the continuation of the military-intelligence coordination with Israel.

  Furthermore, after a meeting at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) in Washington, Rashid Ghanoushi, head of the Islamists of Tunisia, complied with U.S. wishes and froze a push in the Tunisian parliament to criminalize normalization with Israel.

  Syria is a more complex political and military situation for several reasons.

  The U.S. maintains an occupation of sizable territory in Syria. Whenever the U.S. keeps troops in a country that operates outside the control of the local government, that the country (or a chunk of it at least) is under U.S. occupation.

  In Iraq, the U.S. maintains a few thousand troops, but it continues to wield tremendous influence over the government and rejects parliamentary calls for the withdrawal of those troops.

  We learned in recent weeks that the size of the U.S. military force in Syria is double what the public has been told, and the presence even of a small military contingent requires a sizable military suppor force in the region.

  The U.S. is not only fighting ISIS (while the U.S. does not give a timetable or a roadmap for its unending fight against ISIS) but it also provides support for militias that are under its control in Syria.

  The U.S. preaches state monopoly of the use of force in the Middle East except where U.S. surrogate militias operate in a country.

  Turkish & Israeli Roles

  Turkey has a strong military presence in Syria and — like the U.S. — can easily influence developments on the ground, making things easier or more difficult for whatever government that may arise in Syria. Turkey’s military and intelligence intervention was key to the ouster of Bashar Al-Assad.

  Israel has expanded its occupation of Syrian territory and has been conducting hundreds of bombing raids inside the country after the collapse of the regime. Like the other actors, Israel wants to shape the orientation and policy of the future government and seeks to prevent a radical or democratic regime from emerging.

  The regional conflict has not been decisively resolved yet.

  So far, the Turkish-Qatari-Israeli-U.S. axis has scored major successes in Syria (thanks to their support or indulgence of the former Al-Qa`idah militia which now runs the country) but Russia and Iran may still try to either take revenge or enhance their regional power status.

  Russia lost a major strategic military presence inside the country, while Iran lost the direct link to Hizbullah, which passed through Syria.

  More than in the cases of Tunisia and Egypt, there are many militias operating in Syria, and they all have external sponsors. Outside powers will be involved in the formation of the new government in Syria.

  The situation of Syria is like the chaos of Libya but there are many more actors (local and external) operating there.

  

  Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan in September 2023. (Sergey Guneev, RIA Novosti, President of Russia)

  The Six Scenarios

  While it is not clear how the local and regional conflicts will affect the emergence of a new and potentially stable government in Syria, it is possible to consider these scenarios.

  1. Libyan Model

  Syria may very well follow the example of Libya. Like Libya, the regional conflicts between those who support the Islamists and those who abhor them may play out for many years to come.

  The Obama administration promised with great excitement a new democracy in Libya and an end to tyrannical rule after the NATO assault in 2011.

  In Syria, the various Islamist militias have a history of bloodshed that may not end just because Hay’at Tahrir Sham (HTS) has taken control of the central government — at least formally.

  The size of the new government’s militia is not large and it may face military challenges from various fronts. If Syria were to follow the scenario of Libya, it would mean that Russia, Turkey, Qatar, UAE and the U.S. will all be involved. It would also bring in Israel, which harbors keen interest in establishing a client regime in Damascus.

  The massive Israeli bombing of Syria since Assad’s fall was intended to demolish Syria’s military infrastructure and intimidate the new government. HTS quickly signaled it has no agenda against Israel, and does not concern itself—not even verbally—with the aim of liberating Syrian territory from Israeli occupation.

  The potential for disintegration and fragmentation is particularly high because Syria is far less homogeneous (ethnically and religiously) than Libya. The crackdown by the new government against Alawites has triggered outrage and calls for self-defense in the Alawite region.

  2. Military Coup

  The UAE and Saudi Arabia may very well arrange for a military coup to install a client military despot, like Sisi in Egypt.

  The UAE was instrumental in the Egyptian coup of 2013 and its media have been alone in expressing alarm regarding the new regime in Damascus. After all, the UAE’s ruler was in close contact with Assad to the very end and was steering him away from Iran and the “axis of resistance.”

  In fact, since Assad’s rapprochement with the UAE began he had been restricting the movement and activities of Iranian and Hizbullah military officers. This coup scenario would work to establish a regional alliance of republican despotic regimes tied to the Saudis and the Emiratis.

  Of the two, the UAE has thus far been more successful in imposing its political and military will in Somalia, Yemen (south), Libya, Sudan (with the RSF) and Egypt.

  An installed military regime could easily be integrated into the Abraham accords once the Saudis reach agreement with Israel on a peace treaty. The problem with this scenario is that the UAE is the chief opponent of the Muslim Brotherhood in the region that wields influence in Syria.

  That would mean imposing brute force against them just like in Egypt, which had been the Brotherhood’s base before and after the fall of Hosni Mubarak.

  3. Democracy

  

  Voting in the 2021 Syrian presidential election. (Habib Kamran/Wikimedia Commons)

  The new government would heed the call of many Syrians and begin a transitional period in which free elections are held and a new constitution is drafted. That would lead to the formation of a democratic government, something that Syria has not experienced since the 1950s when the democratic order was very flawed and subject to outside intervention and manipulation.

  This democratic scenario would alarm both Israel and the U.S. who are keenly aware that people— left to their own devices – -would not necessarily serve Western and Israeli interests. Despotic rule is always preferable to the West and Israel. The U.S. hasn’t yet lifted its cruel sanctions against the Syrian people (though it did lift the $10 million bounty on the HTS leader’s head) because Washington can use it to blackmail any future Syrian government.

  4. HTS Dictatorial Rule

  The HTS would monopolize political power and rule alone disregarding demands for wider representation. Such a scenario would alarm religious minorities and women given the ideological origins of the new rulers. The U.S. and Israel may favor this scenario if the alternative is an uncontrollable democracy near Palestine.

  5. Syria Breaks Up

  Syria could lose its territorial integrity and become a patch of semi-independent, sectarian enclaves where the Druze would govern their own province, and the Alawites and Kurds would do the same ad so on. This scenario would be too alarming for Turkey, which is willing to use military force to crush an independent Kurdish statelet inside Syria.

  The West and Israel would favor such an outcome; after all, Joe Biden and Antony Blinken advocated dividing Iraq into three enclaves after the American invasion of 2003. If this scenario arises, Northern Lebanon (Tripoli and Akkar) may ask to join the Sunni enclave.

  6. Restoration

  The least likely scenario entails the restoration of the old regime with the assistance of Iran and Hizbullah. Members of the “axis of resistance” are furious at Assad for abandoning power so quickly; they are also outraged over revelations of his close coordination with the UAE to distance Syria from Iran.

  Iran and Hizbullah have been weakened and won’t risk their forces to defend the ousted regime if Assad indicated he wanted to return. Their intervention in Syria on his behalf would trigger Israel targeting them.

  It is most difficult to predict the political future of Syria. It has never been an easy country to govern and the nightmarish experience of living under the Assad regime for decades embittered many Syrians.

  But the ideology the new rulers of Syria brings is too alien to a society that is diverse and has a history of secularist tendencies. There are many claimants to power inside the country, and a multiplicity of outside powers who want a piece of Syria (figuratively or literally).

  Whatever happens, the next phase will not be peaceful.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/30/2024 – 21:45

• The Shifting Politics Of Nationwide EV Charging
  The Shifting Politics Of Nationwide EV Charging

  The state of EV charging across the nation is likely to take a drastic shift with the incoming Trump administration taking over. The only question is shift in which direction? 

  After all, the Biden administration was well known for getting precisely nothing done on the charging front, led by Secretary of Transportation Mayor Pete. And so, is the only way to go…up? That’s what Wired explored in a new feature out last week. 

  Three years ago, the U.S. government allocated $7.5 billion under the Biden administration to build public EV charging stations, aiming to support a shift to electric vehicles and achieve 40% zero-emission car sales by 2030.

  However, the incoming Trump team reportedly plans to redirect these funds to priorities like domestic battery-mineral processing, arguing EV charging isn’t a “national defense” issue, according to a new feature from Wired.

  The question then whether the states will have more pull than the federal government. Some companies seem to think so.

  Revel, an electric vehicle charging and ride-hail company, is expanding strategically to areas supportive of EV growth. Already operating in NYC and planning a Los Angeles site, Revel announced eight new Bay Area locations set to open by 2025.

  

  The company focuses on cities with strong EV policies, like New York’s push to electrify taxis by 2030 and California’s ride-hail EV mandates.

  CEO Frank Reig highlights that incentives often come from local utilities rather than federal programs. For example, NYC’s ConEdison covers half the costs of installed chargers. This urban-centric approach reflects a concern that EV infrastructure could become politically divisive, with federal support potentially dwindling under the incoming administration.

  He said: “The vast majority of incentives, grants, and subsidies for a business like us is really not at the federal level. Oftentimes, it’s not even at the state level.”

  “The next 10 years [in EV charging] is all about the urban environment, cities, middle- and lower-income folks,” he continued. 

  Wired writes that bipartisan support for EV charging remains. Jason Mathers, the associate vice president of the zero-emission truck initiative at the Environmental Defense Fund commented: “There is broad support for electrification amongst a whole bunch of critical stakeholders.”

  States like Texas, Kentucky, and Ohio, alongside California and New York, are advancing charger installations with $3.5 billion in allocated federal funds.

  Advocates argue that expanding EV infrastructure is critical for job creation, economic competitiveness, and reducing reliance on China for battery materials, emphasizing that a nationwide approach is essential.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/30/2024 – 21:20

• Obama's 'Censorship' Office Goes Bankrupt
  Obama’s ‘Censorship’ Office Goes Bankrupt

  Authored by Gabe Kaminsky via RealClearPolitics.com,

  The Global Engagement Center, an office housed within the State Department and aiming to thwart disinformation and misinformation, has been forced by Congress to close up shop. It’s no mystery why; the taxpayer-backed GEC violated its mandate to work only overseas and devolved into a partisan enabler of speech suppression in the United States.

  

  Here’s how…

  Founded in 2016 and technically the product of an Obama-era executive order on counterterrorism, the GEC lapsed in December and lost congressional funding. Over the last two years, my investigative reporting in the Washington Examiner as well as that of Racket News journalist Matt Taibbi pulled back the curtain of the GEC’s ties to foreign and domestic NGOs trying to defund news outlets they say peddle disinformation – including RealClearPolitics. My reporting showed that the GEC and the State Department-funded National Endowment for Democracy combined granted almost $1 million to the British Global Disinformation Index, which created a blacklist of U.S.-based websites that published content it determined to push “adversarial narratives” and then pressured advertisers to shut them down (think the Hunter Biden laptop story and COVID-19 lab leak hypothesis).

  The GEC, moreover, was involved with the Election Integrity Partnership, a consortium of left-wing nonprofit groups, universities, and federal agencies that pressured Twitter and Facebook to remove GOP-aligned content in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election. The GEC also bankrolled New York-based company NewsGuard, a “misinformation” tracker that, along with the Global Disinformation Index, has found itself at the center of a lawsuit brought by the Federalist, the Daily Wire, and the State of Texas against the GEC for allegedly  funding an unconstitutional “censorship scheme” that suppressed voices on the right.

  Taibbi, the former Rolling Stone writer, demonstrated that the GEC pressured social media platforms in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic to moderate extensive content, testifying to Congress in March 2023, “We learned Twitter, Facebook, Google, and other companies developed a formal system for taking in moderation ‘requests’ from every corner of government: the FBI, DHS, HHS, DOD, the Global Engagement Center at State, even the CIA.”

  In turn, these revelations and others culminated in a high-level pressure campaign in December that resulted in the GEC losing out on a one-year lifeline through a congressional spending package. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy joined President-elect Donald Trump in demanding that House Speaker Mike Johnson – who had initially brokered a controversial deal to allow the GEC to continue to receive more of your tax dollars – remove the pro-GEC provision. Once this powerful trio came out against more GEC funding, the nail was squarely in the coffin. It didn’t help Johnson that conservative lawmakers with clout in Trump World such as Dan Bishop, Trump’s pick for a high-ranking role at the Office of Management and Budget, fervently opposed the bill.

  Soon, the bill was dead. And the GEC with it.

  As Taibbi and I investigated the GEC, the taxpayer-funded office even circulated internal guidance with the aim of discrediting our reporting and unfairly linking a congressman whom I interviewed to a Russian state news outlet. The saga, first reported by the New York Post, demonstrated the lengths to which the GEC would go to try to save itself from First Amendment scrutiny.

  The campaign was wildly unsuccessful. It arguably backfired.

  And the congressman who was targeted, Jim Banks, launched a House investigation into the matter – writing in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, “In response to Mr. Kaminsky’s reporting, the State Department sent out press guidance defending its attempted suppression of U.S. news organizations. That guidance misleadingly changes a quote that I sent to Gabe Kaminsky and the Washington Examiner criticizing the GEC.”

  “The intentional misquotation gives the impression that I had been speaking with a Russian propaganda outlet,” the Indiana Republican wrote to Blinken in the recent letter. A watchdog group then filed a Freedom of Information Act request for more details on the internal memo. And Darrell Issa, who had helped lead the charge in investigating the GEC for its ties to apparent censorship, also wrote a letter to Blinken pressing for the GEC to close its doors over “the outright censorship of Americans by the State Department under your tenure.

  “By smearing anyone who disagrees with it as a Russian stooge, this network conflates U.S. citizens with a U.S. adversary, as State Department talking points did to my colleague Representative Jim Banks and the award-winning journalists Gabe Kaminsky and Matt Taibbi in a scheming sleight of hand that ruled out of bounds political opinions and fact-based reporting it opposed but cannot refute,” Issa, a California Republican and senior House Foreign Affairs Committee member, wrote in a letter to Blinken in September.

  While the GEC is no more, the employees who helped lead the office over the years are being reassigned elsewhere in the U.S. government, likely within the State Department, the agency said in a recent court filing.

  The GEC’s failure to win reauthorization is a further vindication of our reporting on its seemingly unlawful activities.

  But make no mistake: We will be watching to see where the federal officials accused in court of facilitating “one of the most egregious government operations to censor the American press in the history of the nation” end up next on the taxpayers’ dime. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/30/2024 – 20:55

• China Orders Largest Military Build-Up Since 1930s Germany; Report
  China Orders Largest Military Build-Up Since 1930s Germany; Report

  According to a report by a national security expert, the People’s Republic of China has ordered the largest military build-up of any nation in the world since Germany in the 1930s, raising concerns about the military threat presented by China.

  

  As Eric Lendrum reports for American Greatness, the claims were made in an article in The Federalist written by Chuck DeVore, the chief national initiatives officer at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. DeVore points out that while the American military has spent over $5.4 trillion on wasted wars such as the “War on Terror” and subsequent attempts at “nation-building,” China has been strengthening its military.

  “China is engaging in an unprecedented military build-up that the world frankly hasn’t seen since Adolf Hitler in the 1930s,” said DeVore in an interview following the publication of his article.

  “They’re massively building up their nuclear arsenal. We expect it to expand to at least 1,000 warheads by 2030, only five years from now. Probably going to be bigger than that,” DeVore explained.

  “The Chinese Navy, not by tonnage, but by numbers is now larger than the U.S. Navy. China has something like 250 times the ship building capacity that America does.”

  Among other expansions, China has increased the arsenal of the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) by 50 new intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), bringing the new total to around 400.

  The Department of Defense (DOD) also reports that 300 more medium-range ballistic missiles and 100 long-range cruise missiles have also been added.

  China currently has over 600 operational nuclear warheads, and is expected to increase that total to over 1,000 by the year 2030.

  Whereas the outgoing Biden Administration has taken a much softer stance on China, President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to crack down on China, both in terms of trade and military ambition.

  The country’s most recent build-up efforts may be in anticipation of the expected challenges of a Trump presidency that will not let China get away with as much as it did under Biden.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/30/2024 – 20:30

• A Progressive Case For A Strategic Bitcoin Reserve: Strengthening America's Social Safety Net
  A Progressive Case For A Strategic Bitcoin Reserve: Strengthening America’s Social Safety Net

  Authored by Trey Walsh, Executive Director of The Progressive Bitcoiner,

  I’ll start off by saying I have many reservations about the United States pursuing a Strategic Bitcoin reserve, with the major plans I’ve observed including legislation proposed by Senator Lummis and a draft Executive order from the Bitcoin Policy Institute (this does not include those proposed state-by-state, which is a different focus and a bit more straight forward given they hold some bitcoin to diversify their assets).

  My reservations include timing, political (polarizing) ramifications, mechanisms/cost of obtaining Bitcoin, why the U.S. would pursue this as a nation already leading as the world reserve currency, government getting more involved with Bitcoin could lead to more involvement/influence with Bitcoin’s development, and ramifications on Bitcoin as money for U.S. citizens (would privacy, medium of exchange, self-custody be at greater risk?).

  

  I think Nic Carter wrote an excellent piece questioning the SBR and advocating against the U.S. pursuing this which I’d highly encourage you to read.

  While I have seen support for the SBR from Bitcoin proponents, mostly GOP politicians and Trump (in fairness Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna has said he’s supportive in theory I believe), there has yet to be any attention paid to this in a positive way from progressives. In fact, really only criticism. While I have my reservations and criticisms as I’ve clearly stated to be transparent here, I’d like to focus on some ways in which a U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve could actually be a positive thing for Americans, from a progressive’s lens and values with an emphasis on social safety net spending. This has yet to be discussed at any scale, and I’d like to offer some thoughts, and some actual social good this could do besides just “strengthen the United States as a global power and strengthen the dollar.” Ok, but what could this do for actual, every day people in America? That’s what I care about, and probably you too.

  

  This overwhelming image was captured today from https://www.usdebtclock.org/. What the U.S. doesn’t have a solid answer for is how we are going to pay for the vital services needed and expected from citizens at this point when facing a debt and spending crises compared to our budget/tax receipts. Depending on who you ask and which economic theories you subscribe to, there are different ways for handling this—but the issue remains: the U.S. is kicking the can down the road regarding debt, spending and refusing to either raise taxes or cut spending dramatically and catastrophically. I wanted to set the stage first, and then offer some strategic use cases of a SBR toward social safety net spending, the budget deficit, and a government by the people, for the people with Bitcoin.

  1. Hedge Against Inflation to Protect Public Programs

  • Stability for Social Spending: Inflation and currency devaluation erode the purchasing power of government budgets, reducing the effectiveness of social safety net programs. A Bitcoin reserve, as a deflationary asset, could serve as a hedge against such economic risks, ensuring stable funding for programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. As things get more expensive in fiat terms (salaries, healthcare bills, vital hospital technology, medications, treatments, etc) they get cheaper in Bitcoin terms.

  • Future-Proofing Benefits: Bitcoin’s limited supply could protect against long-term depreciation of fiat currency, ensuring that entitlement programs maintain their value and benefit recipients in the decades to come.

  

  2. Revenue Generation for Safety Nets

  • Asset Appreciation: Bitcoin has shown significant price appreciation over the long term. A government-held Bitcoin reserve could be leveraged during times of financial need to generate additional revenue for funding social programs. The key here is a long-term view, not short term trading.

  • Controlled Liquidation: Under a progressive framework, the government could design strict protocols for selling portions of the reserve during economic downturns or crises to avoid undermining the reserve’s long-term value while supporting public welfare.

  

  3. Alternative to Taxpayer Burden

  • Reducing Taxpayer Reliance: Traditionally, funding for social safety nets comes from taxes, which can disproportionately impact middle- and lower-income households. A Bitcoin reserve could provide an alternative funding source, reducing the reliance on direct taxation for safety net programs.

  • Reducing deficit spending: One of the leading cases of inflation is deficit spending via money printing mechanisms from the Fed, Treasury and Congress passing legislation well beyond our assets and tax receipts. A SBR could be used to help us rely less on the money printing that is responsible for overwhelming inflation on the lower and middle class that is often use to fund our government and social safety net programs. By including Bitcoin alongside traditional reserves like gold, the government could enhance its fiscal capacity to sustain welfare programs without relying on deficit spending.

  4. Emergency Financial Assistance

  • Crisis Mitigation Fund: During financial crises, the government often struggles to rapidly mobilize resources for safety net expansions. Bitcoin, being highly liquid and accessible globally, could act as an emergency reserve for direct cash transfers or funding unemployment benefits in times of economic distress.

  • Global Remittance Efficiency: Bitcoin’s borderless nature could streamline the delivery of international aid or remittances to support diaspora communities or vulnerable populations abroad, aligning with progressive values of global equity.

  

  5. Promoting Financial Inclusion for Vulnerable Populations

  • Bridging the Wealth Gap: A Strategic Bitcoin Reserve could be paired with policies that encourage public ownership of Bitcoin, offering individuals and communities the ability to participate in a financial system that is less dependent on traditional banking structures. Look to programs such as the Alaska Permanent Fund which pays dividends based on Alaska’s oil reserve and production

  • Direct Redistribution Mechanisms: The government could use gains from Bitcoin reserves to fund Universal Basic Income (UBI) programs or targeted assistance for low-income households. Margot and I discussed this possibility with Scott Santens, a leading expert on UBI on our podcast.

  While not directly connected to the SBR, the acceptance of Bitcoin at this stage could open the door for more possibilities regarding Bitcoin mining and the community.

  6. Incentivizing Green Bitcoin Mining for Job Creation

  • Jobs for At-Risk Communities: Bitcoin mining operations, if incentivized to use renewable energy, could create jobs in underserved regions, providing a dual benefit of economic revitalization and environmental progress.

  • Revenue for Local Governments: Tax revenues generated from sustainable Bitcoin mining operations could be redirected to strengthen local safety nets, such as affordable housing or community healthcare initiatives.

  7. Economic Resilience to Fund Long-Term Programs

  • Buffer Against Economic Crises: In times of economic downturns or geopolitical instability, Bitcoin’s independence from fiat currency systems could provide a financial buffer. This could ensure that critical safety net programs continue to operate without disruption.

  • Strengthening the Social Contract: By maintaining a reserve that safeguards national economic security, the government reinforces its commitment to protecting vulnerable populations, which is a core progressive principle.

  

  8. Enhancing Public Trust in Social Programs

  • Transparent Funding Mechanism: Bitcoin’s blockchain technology ensures a transparent ledger. Using a Bitcoin reserve to partially fund social programs could increase public trust in how resources are allocated and managed, reducing skepticism about government waste or corruption. The SBR bitcoin addresses would be made public (like El Salvador does)

  • Public Ownership: Progressives could propose allocating a small portion of Bitcoin gains directly to citizens through rebates or credits tied to social programs, creating a tangible connection between national reserves and public benefit. Again, back to a dividend or UBI approach

  This is just the tip of the iceberg for how progressives might theoretically approach a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. While this is more of an intellectual exercise at this point, and my focus continues to be on grassroots adoption of Bitcoin and how this can transform individual’s lives and communities around the world, it raises an important point — what social good could we imagine Bitcoin providing in our ever evolving, changing, and fiscally challenging world? Beyond just number go up, crypto traders, and wall street getting richer, what role can Bitcoin play in improving the lives of everyday people at a deep, structural level? We’ll continue to explore these questions here at The Progressive Bitcoiner.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/30/2024 – 20:05

• Recent Rash Of Crashes Turns 2024 Into Deadliest Year For Aviation Since 2018
  Recent Rash Of Crashes Turns 2024 Into Deadliest Year For Aviation Since 2018

  The commercial aviation industry faced a turbulent week with four plane crashes, making this one of the deadliest years since 2018. The most shocking mid-air aviation disaster occurred on Sunday when a Jeju Air 737-800 jet crashed at Muan International Airport in South Korea. 

  • December 25: Azerbaijan Airlines Crash

  • December 28: KLM Airlines Plane Skids Off Runway In Norway

  • December 28: PAL Airlines Dash 8-400 Catches Fire in Canada

  • December 29: 179 Dead In South Korea’s Worst-Ever Aviation Disaster

  There have been 4 different plane crashes worldwide in the last week ⁠
  ⁠
  📅 December 25, 📍 Aktau, Kazakhstan ⁠
  🇦🇿 Azerbaijan Airlines, ✈️ Baku-Grozny flight ⁠
  ⁠
  📅 December 28, 📍 Sandefjord, Norway ⁠
  🇳🇱 KLM, ✈️ Oslo-Amsterdam flight ⁠
  ⁠
  📅 December 28, 📍 Halifax,… pic.twitter.com/l4eAP7JVsV

  — Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) December 29, 2024

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  In August, Voepass Flight 2283 crashed near Sao Paulo, killing all 62 people onboard.

  BREAKING: Voepass Flight 2283, a large passenger plane, crashes in Vinhedo, Brazil pic.twitter.com/wmpJLVYbB3

  — BNO News (@BNONews) August 9, 2024

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  In July, 18 people were killed in a fatal take-off accident in Nepal involving a Saurya Airlines jet. 

  Shocking footage of #Saurya #Airlines flight crash today at #TIA, Kathmandu. The flight, bound for Pokhara, experienced a runway excursion, leading to a tragic accident. Nineteen people, including crew members, were on board. As per preliminary media reports, the plane flipped… pic.twitter.com/nDuTwEl4dx

  — Niraj B (@NirajNPL) July 24, 2024

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  Amid the latest mid-air mishaps and several others, onboard passenger fatalities on commercial flights have risen to 318 this year, according to Bloomberg, citing data from Cirium.

  

  This marks the highest death toll since 2018, when 500 lives were lost—a year defined by the first of two fatal Boeing 737 Max crashes.

  

  The data reveals that onboard passenger plane fatalities have decreased over the past 15 years. However, it takes only a few mid-air accidents to abruptly shift a statistically safe year into one of the deadliest.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/30/2024 – 19:40

• Critical Political Choices Will Define Canada's Future In 2025
  Critical Political Choices Will Define Canada’s Future In 2025

  Authored by former senior Mountie Garry Clement via The Bureau, 

  As Canada looks ahead to 2025, it stands at a crucial juncture, facing both unprecedented challenges and emerging opportunities. The nation’s evolving relationship with China, ongoing concerns about money laundering, the upcoming federal election, and its delicate position in U.S.-Canada relations present an intricate web of issues that will shape the country’s future. How Canada navigates these issues in the next year will determine not only its global standing but also its domestic harmony.

  

  The China Challenge

  Since the era of Pierre-Elliott Trudeau, many Canadian politicians have forged what we now recognize as unhealthy relationships with China, enabling the country to interfere in our electoral process at all levels of government. This has provided an opportunity for Triads and Chinese Communist Party sympathizers to infiltrate Canadian society and Canadian politics.

  In the past decade, Canada’s relationship with China has been strained, primarily due to geopolitical tensions and human rights concerns, but this has not resulted in any meaningful restrictions being placed on China by Canada. In 2025, this relationship will remain a balancing act—Canada must tread carefully between maintaining diplomatic and trade ties with a rising global power while aligning with Western allies who increasingly view China as a strategic adversary. Canadian politicians will also need to understand and accept that United Front Groups existing in Chinese diaspora communities across Canada have been shown to be allied with the Chinese government.

  Canada’s foreign policy decisions will likely be influenced by developments in China’s global ambitions, particularly in areas such as the Belt and Road Initiative, the Taiwan issue, and its growing military presence in the South China Sea. The country’s relationship with China is at a crossroads, with growing calls for Canada to take a firmer stance on human rights issues, such as the treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang and Hong Kong’s autonomy. On the other hand, China remains a vital trading partner, especially in the context of Canada’s resource exports. Notwithstanding this, Canada will have a decision to make and hopefully it leans towards protecting Canada’s sovereignty.

  Canada must also be prepared to reassess its foreign policy posture as the global balance of power continues to shift. The 2025 federal election could provide a pivotal moment in shaping public opinion on China and its place in Canada’s future.

  Money Laundering: An Ongoing Domestic and International Concern

  Another pressing issue for Canada in 2025 is the continuing challenge of money laundering, particularly within its real estate and financial sectors. Internationally, Canada’s role in global financial markets means that it cannot afford to be complacent about illicit financial flows. Recent reports have highlighted how foreign actors, including from China, have used Canadian institutions to launder money and hide illicit funds.

  The Cullen Commission highlighted that Canada has failed on so many fronts to ensure an effective and efficient legislative, enforcement, and prosecutorial regime existed for almost two decades, thereby making Canada an attractive venue for transnational organized crime groups. This has resulted in Canada having to prove that as a country we can combat money laundering if we want to shore up our failing international credibility. Failure to address these concerns will damage Canada’s reputation as a stable and transparent financial hub, while also complicating its relationships with other Western countries, including the United States. The government must intensify efforts to strengthen regulatory frameworks and enhance cross-border cooperation in financial crime prevention.

  The Federal Election: A Fork in the Road

  As 2025 approaches, Canada’s political landscape is increasingly polarized. The upcoming federal election promises to be a defining moment for the nation, as Canadians grapple with issues such as climate change, economic recovery post-COVID, affordability, and national unity. Without a doubt, I would argue the silent majority has been awakened and recognizes the past eight years of adopting a strong left-leaning stance has destroyed our reputation, thereby making us an easy target for President-elect Trump’s jibes and eventual pressure policies. The federal government will need to address voter concerns over Canada’s long-term economic health, our failed federal enforcement activity, and our weakened military.

  At the same time, the political environment is also becoming more contentious, with rising populism and discontent in some regions. The election could see significant shifts in power, with both the Liberal and Conservative parties positioning themselves to address key issues such as national security, healthcare, and environmental sustainability. The outcome of this election will set the tone for how Canada navigates both domestic and international relations in the years to come.

  U.S.-Canada Relations: A Symbiotic but Complex Partnership

  Canada’s relationship with the United States remains the cornerstone of its foreign policy. As the world’s largest trading partner, the U.S. is integral to Canada’s economy. However, relations between the two countries are often fraught with tensions, from trade disputes to environmental policies. In 2025, this partnership will be tested further, particularly as both nations contend with the challenges of climate change, security concerns, and evolving trade agreements.

  The U.S. presidential election in 2024 has already caused profound impacts on Canada’s policy decisions and political culture. While Canada and the U.S. share many common interests, the complexities of these issues—ranging from pipeline disputes to defense policy—will require sophisticated diplomacy to ensure the continued strength of this vital partnership.

  Canada will also need to navigate the increasing pressure from the U.S. to align with its foreign policy stance, particularly in relation to China, Russia, and international trade agreements. While maintaining sovereignty is critical, Canada must ensure its policies do not continue to erode relations with its largest neighbor and closest ally.

  A Year of Critical Decisions

  Canada in 2025 faces a year of unprecedented decisions, with geopolitical tensions, financial integrity, and political stability all in play. The global stage is shifting, and Canada’s role within this changing landscape will depend on how effectively it addresses both internal challenges and external pressures. As the nation prepares for an important election and responds to global geopolitical shifts, it will need strong, visionary leadership to steer it through uncertain waters. Whether it is rethinking its relationship with China, confronting the realities of money laundering, or strengthening ties with the U.S., Canada’s future will depend on its ability to navigate this complex and interconnected world.

  Ultimately, 2025 presents Canada with an opportunity to reassert its values, chart a clear course in the face of global uncertainty, and ensure that it remains a respected and influential player on the world stage.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/30/2024 – 19:15

• Lockdown Fanatic Leana Wen Pushing Bird Flu Jabs Before Trump Takes Office
  Lockdown Fanatic Leana Wen Pushing Bird Flu Jabs Before Trump Takes Office

  Leana Wen – the former Baltimore Health Commissioner who burst onto the scene during the Boston Marathon Bombing – only to recommend forcing the unvaccinated to remain indoors during the COVID pandemic – is now pushing the Biden administration to expedite the approval of a bird flu vaccine before Donald Trump’s inauguration.

  

  During a Sunday interview with CBS News‘s “Face the Nation,” Wen said “There are two main things they should be doing in the days that they have left,” adding “The first is to get testing out there… we should have learned out lesson from Covid that just because we are not testing, it doesn’t mean the virus isn’t there.”

  Wen then said that the “second very important thing” is that the Biden administration work to secure FDA authorization for the widespread use of bird flu vaccine, adding that Trump has “people coming in with anti-vaccine stance.”

  Amid concerns about the bird flu, the Biden administration should be making rapid tests available and ask the FDA to authorize the already-existing H5N1 vaccine, says former Baltimore health commissioner @DrLeanaWen.

  “I feel like we should’ve learned our lesson from COVID, that… pic.twitter.com/Hb38r1RWJ7

  — Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) December 29, 2024

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  The H5N1 vaccine is awaiting FDA approval, as several manufacturers have been lined up to crank out almost 5 million doses.

  “There’s research done on it. They could get this authorized now, and also get the vaccine out to farm workers and to vulnerable people,” said Wen.

  Wen’s comments come after a handful of housecats and livestock died of the virus – leading California to declare a state of emergency,  and one man was hospitalized with a severe case that was found to be a mutated version.

  There has been no evidence of human-to-human spread, though we’re sure the Wuhan alumni can fix that.

  More on Wen from Dr. Simon Goddek;

  7/ Last but not least, take a moment to revisit this 2021 interview, where Wen openly admitted that vaccine passports for travel aren’t about safety but are a tool to coerce people into getting the shot. She advocated for a Chinese-style social credit system enforced by the… pic.twitter.com/Jdtu1ruuIV

  — Dr. Simon Goddek (@goddeketal) December 29, 2024

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  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/30/2024 – 18:50

• Listserv Journalism
  Listserv Journalism

  Authored by John Maxwell Hamilton via RealClearPolitics.com,

  Anyone wanting to understand how truth has become a free-for-all need look no further than an idea conceived by Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, owner of the Los Angeles Times.

  

  This month Soon-Shiong announced his daily newspaper would provide readers with a “bias meter” next to each news report. If readers do not like the point of view of a story, they “can press a button and get both sides of that exact same story based on that story, and then give comments.”

  Newspapers have a long history of idiosyncrasies. In line with Christian Scientists’ preference for spiritual healing, their newspaper the Christian Science Monitor did a poor job of covering medical news during much of its otherwise illustrious history. Col. Robert McCormick, publisher of the Chicago Tribune in the mid-20th century, used his paper to promote alternative spellings such as “thru” for “through” and “iland” for “island.” His “sane spelling” crusade fizzled.

  Soon-Shiong’s innovation at the Los Angeles Times, however, is in a class by itself. It is an advertisement not to buy his newspaper. People who subscribe to the Times, the largest newspaper west of the Mississippi River, do so presumably because its reporters make sense of current events. If people don’t believe reporters do that, then why should they buy the newspaper? It is easy to see why many of the newspaper’s accomplished journalists are jumping ship.

  Soon-Shiong has made millions inventing medicines. But his bias meter invention is poison for his paper and, in effect, for newspapers generally. It argues that news should be what you want it to be. Readers are invited to treat the news as a listserv in which liked-minded people gather around mutual interests and don’t challenge each other’s point of view.

  To understand the significance of this, consider what happens when traditional newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times make a mistake. They publish a correction. How many admissions of error do you read on your favorite partisan site?

  The any-news-you-want syndrome has been building momentum for some time. Much of cable news employs the bias meter concept. Press your remote and you get MSNBC or Fox News, depending on what alternative partisan universe you want. Or you can click on social media that have even less interest in facts or fairness – and have large audiences eager to hit the “thumbs up” reply button.

  Elon Musk showed the wreckage that can be caused by this sort of news media when he intervened in the budget negotiations a few days ago. In scores of early-morning tweets on his social media platform X, he badgered Republicans to renege on a bipartisan budget agreement. He passed along misinformation on the bill, for instance, that it included a 40% pay raise for members of Congress. (The proposed increase was actually a 3.8% cost-of-living increase for members whose pay hasn’t been augmented in 15 years). Republican legislators, fearful of a backlash, fell in line.

  This descent into listserv journalism is part of a broader pattern of mediating institutions losing their power. As Musk’s sway over congressional legislation shows, political parties find it difficult to manage their own agenda or their own members. Americans may dislike the idea of presidential candidates being chosen in “smoke-filled” rooms, but the largely unmediated primary system in place today produces candidates who are more extreme and possess less political experience. In the recent presidential election, many voters bemoaned that both candidates were deeply flawed.

  As political scientist Thomas Patterson has noted, “For all of their shortcomings, parties are the best instrument of democratic politics.” The absence of party discipline is a key factor in Congress’ difficulty passing routine measures such as budget appropriations.

  Think tanks, another mediating institution, also have gone off the rails. When they were originally created more than a century ago, think tanks were – in the words of journalist Walter Lippmann – “bureaus of intelligence.”  They were supposed to apply in-depth, objective research to address a wide range of social, economic, and political problems, from diplomacy to health care. Unfortunately, they have become increasingly partisan along the lines of the liberal Center for American Progress or the conservative Heritage Foundation, whose controversial Project 2025 is a blueprint for reshaping the government under a Trump administration.

  “If partisan think tanks did not exist,” political scientist E.J. Fagan has noted, “American politics would be far less polarized.”

  Newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times traditionally have played an important role in keeping the other mediating institutions honest. They were not perfect at this task. But institutional models are rarely a choice between good and bad. They are a choice between better and worse. We are far worse off when the goal of journalism is to make readers, viewers, and listeners happy, rather than challenged.

  Publishers like Patrick Soon-Shiong should be applauded for wanting more conservative voices on their newspaper’s opinion page. Diversity of viewpoint is the principle behind RealClearPolitics, and it serves readers well. There is nothing to applaud, however, in discrediting the idea of tough reporting.

  Nor should we applaud media moguls and cable TV personalities trooping to Mar-a-Lago to kiss the ring of President-elect Trump. Among these is Jeff Bezos, owner of one of the most influential independent newspaper franchises in the country, the Washington Post. He recently dined with Trump and Musk and has declared he is “optimistic” about the upcoming Trump administration.

  Bezos was not such a cheerleader when he and a few top Post executives had an off-the-record dinner with Trump at the start of his first term. Marty Baron, the Post’s top editor at the time, wished they had not dined with Trump at all. “Surely,” Baron wrote in his recent memoir, “he would see the dinner as a favor and expect something in return. … Our job was to report aggressively on the president to hold his administration, like all others, to account.”

  One of the lessons from the rapid turnover of White House staff during Trump’s first term is that his loyalty is conditional. Every figure in Trump’s life is an apprentice, easily discarded, depending on how compliant they are to his wishes. There’s little doubt that Elon Musk will learn this lesson himself in due course. But serious newspaper owners will be banished more quickly from Trump’s good graces. Their objective should be to enhance the credibility of their newspaper by keeping the president at arm’s length.

  Fact-based news, as we knew it a generation ago, is in mortal combat with news that is agenda-driven.

  We live in a world where it is easier than ever to hide from facts that are inconvenient but enlightening.

  The bias meter is not a solution. It is the problem.

  If owners of news media with long traditions of excellence don’t understand that basic fact of life, high quality journalism is doomed.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/30/2024 – 18:25

• The Only Real Winners Are The Trial Lawyers
  The Only Real Winners Are The Trial Lawyers

  Authored by Gordon Gray via RealClearPolicy,

  On Monday, December 2, Delaware Chancery Court Judge Kathleen McCormick delivered her ruling on Tesla’s proposed $56 billion pay package for CEO Elon Musk, striking it down despite shareholders voting twice to approve the deal.

  

  Let’s unpack the absurdity of this ruling: A Tesla shareholder with just nine shares sued over Musk’s proposed compensation, triggering a six-year legal battle. While Tesla argued the case was flawed, the judge sided with the plaintiff, citing transparency issues.

  The plaintiff’s lawyers originally demanded up to $7.74 billion in fees—more than Volvo’s market cap—and ultimately walked away with $345 million in legal fees, one of the largest payouts in securities litigation history.

  The only winners here were the trial lawyers. Our legal system is dysfunctional, increasingly weighed down by opportunistic lawsuits and substantial payouts. The Trump Administration has an opportunity to reverse this trend. Runaway litigation hurts our small businesses, burdens consumers with increased costs, and drives up the price of almost everything for everyone.

  According to a 2024 Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) study, the costs of lawsuits, settlements, and related legal fees — commonly known as tort costs — totaled $529 billion, amounting to “2.1 percent of the U.S. GDP.”  And the costs placed on consumers keep climbing: between 2016 to 2022, “tort costs have grown at an annual rate of 7.1 percent.” If these trends continue, the costs to American businesses will double in eight years, the ILR warns. This is unsustainable.

  Families, small businesses, and the private sector aren’t alone in facing this burden. The Congressional Research Service estimates that the federal government paid out $525.35 million to individual claimants in fiscal year 2022 alone. That’s more than half a billion dollars in taxpayer money to settle claims — a staggering figure.

  As these costs grow, they become embedded in the prices consumers pay. Even if you don’t own a car, exploding auto insurance premiums get embedded in the cost of transportation, much like the cost of medical liability insurance raises the cost of health care for patients. The cost of doing business in the face of the threat of litigation ultimately comes out of consumers’ pockets. The ILR study found that on average, U.S. households paid a $4,207 “tort tax” in 2022. You don’t pay a “tort tax” directly but it’s built into the price of everything you buy everyday.

  The issue of runaway litigation is about much more than Elon Musk – it’s about the broader impact on America’s economy.  In the wake of the ruling, market leaders and investors have raised concerns about the chilling message this massive fee sends. Hedge Fund Manager Bill Ackman called the “payola for lawyers absurd” and predicted a “migration of corporate America from Delaware.” Investor Cathie Wood said the ruling makes “a mockery of the sense of fairness essential to our American judicial system.” Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis noted that the award is “…like throwing sand in America’s economic engine.”

  As the Delaware judgment makes clear, more could be done at the federal level to curb the egregious growth in tort costs. President Trump has vowed to lower costs for American families. One of his first acts as President-elect was to establish “DOGE,” the Department of Government Efficiency, co-led by Elon Musk, to claw back the growth of the administrative state. Tackling these tort taxes should be a key focus of this effort.

  By easing costs on families and dismantling America’s runaway legal system, the Trump administration can unleash the full potential of our economy.

  Gordon Gray leads Pinpoint Policy Institute as Executive Director. Prior to launching Pinpoint, Gordon served as the Vice President for Economic Policy at the American Action Forum, where his portfolio included the federal budget, taxes, the macroeconomic outlook, and general economic policy matters.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/30/2024 – 17:40

• Two Men Freeze To Death Looking For Sasquatch In The Oregon Wilderness On Christmas Eve
  Two Men Freeze To Death Looking For Sasquatch In The Oregon Wilderness On Christmas Eve

  Today in “play stupid games, win stupid prizes” news…

  Two Oregon men searching for the mythical Sasquatch tragically died after going missing in the wilderness on Christmas Eve, according to the NY Post.

  The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office reported that the bodies of the men, aged 37 and 59, were discovered in a remote, forested area of Washington’s Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Authorities believe the pair succumbed to exposure due to severe weather conditions and inadequate preparation for the harsh environment.

  The men had embarked on their quest to find Bigfoot with plans to return home in time for Christmas, but their ill-fated journey ended in tragedy.

  The NY Post writes that a family member reported the men missing to Skamania County police early on Dec. 25, prompting a three-day search involving over 60 volunteers.

  Battling freezing temperatures, snow, rain, and dense forest, search teams utilized canines, drones, helicopters, and ground crews. Seven law enforcement agencies and the Coast Guard also assisted in the effort.

  

  The Sheriff’s office commented: “Their exhaustive search efforts resulted in bringing family members home to their loved ones. The Skamania County Sheriff’s Office extends our deepest sympathies and condolences to the families of the loved ones lost in this tragic incident.”

  The men’s car was spotted via a Flock camera and later found in Willard, Washington.

  The legend of Bigfoot, a mythical creature said to roam the Pacific Northwest, continues to draw adventurers to the forests of Washington and Oregon. The fascination has even inspired local events like Sasquatch hunts in Washington’s Pierce County.

  Bigfoot lore isn’t limited to the Pacific Northwest. In October, residents of Fairfield County, Connecticut, reported eerie 10-minute-long howls, attributed to Bigfoot, coming from a forested area near Monroe, according to the Bigfoot Field Research Organization.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/30/2024 – 17:20

• "It's A Cover-Up And It's Terrifying": CIA Whistleblower Says Foreign Adversary 'Likely' Responsible For Havana Syndrome
  “It’s A Cover-Up And It’s Terrifying”: CIA Whistleblower Says Foreign Adversary ‘Likely’ Responsible For Havana Syndrome

  Authored by Debra Heine via American Greatness,

  A former Intelligence officer is accusing the CIA of gaslighting the victims of a debilitating health phenomenon known as Havana syndrome.

  Investigative journalist Catherine Herridge sat down with the CIA whistleblower to hear about her “career-ending injuries” in an exclusive interview posted on X.

  The House Intelligence Committee recently determined in an interim report that “the Intelligence Community has attempted to thwart congressional efforts to uncover the truth at every turn.”

  “It’s a cover-up and it’s terrifying,” said the former intel officer, who spoke to Herridge using the alias “Alice.  “It should be terrifying for all Americans.”

  COVER UP: CIA whistleblower alleges government cover up with Havana Syndrome victims now suffering from cancer, dementia and Parkinson’s disease.

  Herridge: After so many years of quiet advocacy, why come forward now?

  CIA Whistleblower: Because the CIA is betraying and not just… https://t.co/SHLkaTE79Q pic.twitter.com/KOjMnYosIa

  — Catherine Herridge (@C__Herridge) December 30, 2024

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  Dubbed “Anomalous Health Incidents (AHIs),” the syndrome was first experienced by U.S. government personnel stationed in Havana, Cuba, in 2016.  Those affected reported hearing piercing noises and then suffering head pressure followed by various symptoms, including headache, nausea, fatigue, dizziness, vertigo, ear pain, and cognitive dysfunction.

  Hundreds of cases of the Havana syndrome have since been reported, chiefly among US spies, diplomats and soldiers posted abroad, leading many to believe they were targeted by a hostile country with a high powered microwave system weapon.

  However, the Intelligence Community has consistently resolved that the mysterious illnesses were unlikely the work of a foreign actor, and more likely “attributable to naturally occurring medical conditions, environmental exposures, or psycho-social factors.”

  The Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate came to the same conclusion in a new report released on Friday.

  The House Intelligence Committee however determined in its Dec. 5 report that it is “increasingly likely a foreign adversary is responsible for some portion of reported AHIs.”

  Both committees concluded that the CIA’s handling of the Havana Syndrome cases has been seriously flawed and inconsistent.

  “The conclusions published by the DNI in the unclassified Intelligence Community Assessment on AHI are dubious at best, misleading at worst,” said House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence CIA Subcommittee Chairman Rick Crawford (R-Ark.)

  “Alice,” who now requires the assistance of a service dog, handled top secret national security missions just a few years ago, Herridge noted in her report.

  The whistleblower said she believes her career-ending injuries were caused by a foreign directed energy weapon.

  There is documented evidence to support this claim.

  The National Security Agency (NSA) confirmed in 2014 that the intelligence community was aware that a foreign adversary possessed a high powered microwave system weapon that could “weaken, intimidate or kill an enemy over time without leaving evidence.”

  According to the unclassified NSA report, the intelligence community knew in 2012 that a foreign adversary had designed a weapon “to bathe a target’s living quarters in microwaves, causing numerous physical effects, including a damaged nervous system.”

  AHIs have been reported in the U.S. and in multiple other countries, including Austria, Columbia, China, Georgia, Germany, India, Poland, Russia, and Vietnam.

  Alice said she experienced her AHI one night while serving in Africa.

  “I heard a weird noise—it was a really weird sound, I’ll never forget it,” she said, adding that she also felt a vibration in her feet.

  She described the onset of her symptoms, telling Herridge, “my ear started hurting. I had vertigo, the room started spinning, my head started pulsing. I had a ton of pain in my left ear.”

  The former intel officer added that her ears started ringing and she thought she was going to “pass out.”

  She has since been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury. According to Herridge, Alice needed to take several breaks during the interview and needed to wear sunglasses to reduce the glare of the camera lighting.

  “I never thought I’d be retired in my forties,” she said.

  Alice told Herridge that she suspected that there a multiple weapons capable of causing these symptoms, and they are probably small enough to fit in backpacks.

  A leaked Defense Department letter acknowledges that the injuries and experiences “are real”—not the result of “psycho-social factors.”

  Alice said she blames Russia for the attack.

  “I believe the Russian GRU [military intelligence service] came to my house late at night … and took me off the battlefield,” she said.

  According to Herridge, multiple sources have told her that CIA Director Robert Burns has said privately that he also believes Russia is responsible for some of the attacks.

  But the Intelligence Community officially determined in a 2023 IC assessment that it was “very unlikely” that the AHIs were brought on by a foreign adversary.

  Alice said that had she received the IC report while she was still a CIA official, she would have sent it back to the analysts and told them to “start over again” because it didn’t meet even the agency’s “most basic” standards.

  Herridge asked the former agent if she found the report to be “demoralizing,” humiliating, a “slap in the face,” and a “betrayal” after she had pledged to serve her country.  Alice replied “yes” to all of the above.

  “I miss my colleagues and I miss the work every single day,” she said.

  Alice told Herridge that she believed the CIA has gaslit her and every other agent who has suffered from Havana Syndrome by not taking their injuries seriously.

  Her voice cracking, the whistleblower said she had already gone to the funerals of several of her CIA friends after they had lost their battles with cancer.

  “We’re basically like ticking time bombs,” she said. “I have friends in nursing homes. I have friends with Parkinson’s, dementia.”

  A heavily redacted U.S. government report obtained by Herridge shows how the CIA pulled Alice’s security clearance after she was medically retired, “citing psychological conditions.”

  “It sounds like retaliation,” Herridge said. “Did CIA treat women officers differently? she asked, adding that she had read reports where female officers had been told their issues were possibly hormonal.

  Alice said the chauvinistic attitude seemed like a throwback to the 1950s.

  “They brought up, “could you be pregnant?, are you upset because you’re not pregnant?, is it hormones?, is it menopause?, is it perimenopause?, do you have an anxiety disorder?,” she said.

  In March of 2024, the Department of Defense stated in a letter to colleagues that “we believe your experiences are real and we are unwaveringly committed to continue to provide quality care for you and those that are eligible.”

  Herridge posited that one possible reason for the CIA refuses to admit agents are being targeted with powerful microwave weapons is that it such an admission would devastate the agency’s recruitment efforts.

  Alice agreed and called on the CIA to stop denying “what is happening to us” so there can continue to be opportunities for the U.S. “to collect information that we need to prevent this from happening to more people.”

  She expressed hope that the Trump administration will “drain the swamp” and at a bare minimum, replace the intel analysts behind the fraudulent 2023 IC report.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/30/2024 – 17:00

• US Credit Card Defaults Soar To Crisis Highs As Inflation Storm Crushes Working-Poor
  US Credit Card Defaults Soar To Crisis Highs As Inflation Storm Crushes Working-Poor

  The party is long over for the bottom third of US consumers, as maxed-out credit cards and depleted personal savings have pushed credit card loan defaults to their highest level since the 2008 financial crisis.

  Financial Times cited new data from BankRegData revealing that credit card companies wrote off $46 billion in “seriously delinquent loan” balances in the first nine months of the year—an alarming 50% increase from the same period last year and the highest level in 14 years.

  

  US credit debt recently surpassed $1 trillion and continues to expand rapidly. Making matters worse, annual percentage rates (APRs) on credit card debt have hit record highs, compounding the financial misery for cash-strapped consumers in the era of failed ‘Bidenomics’. 

  Despite the interest rate cut, the average APR on credit card debt reached a new record at the end of the third quarter. 

  

  With the election over, the Biden administration’s Department of Commerce revised personal savings data downward by a staggering $140 billion. In other words, radicals in the Biden administration and far-left Democrats pushed nothing more than economic propaganda. 

  

  The head of Moody’s Analytics, Mark Zandi, noted, “High-income households are fine, but the bottom third of US consumers are tapped out,” adding, “Their savings rate right now is zero.” 

  This collapse in personal savings, combined with insurmountable credit card debt, largely explains why the bottom third of Americans are not only living paycheck to paycheck but also have financially committed suicide with the explosive use of toxic Buy Now, Pay Later services. 

  “Consumer spending power has been diminished,” Odysseas Papadimitriou, head of consumer credit research firm WalletHub, pointed out. 

  WalletHub’s Papadimitriou warned, “Delinquencies are pointing to more pain ahead.” 

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/30/2024 – 16:40

• No, The Truth Is Not Just Another Story
  No, The Truth Is Not Just Another Story

  Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

  “The Democrats are self-immolating on the altar of their own tenuous relationship with common decency.”

  – Tom Luongo

  It must be obvious that the incoming government under Mr. Trump has one primary duty overall: sorting out truth from lies so the nation can reestablish a baseline reality to function upon. America is so punch-drunk from official lying that many intelligent people who ought to know better now proclaim that reality is unknowable, which is just a surrender to nihilism — the rejection of moral principle, a belief that the human project is meaningless.

  

  This awful condition has led to the point where you know for sure that “Joe Biden” cannot possibly discharge his duties as chief executive, and yet nobody cares enough to investigate who is running things behind the front he puts up. That would generally be the job of the news media, which is supposed to function as the public’s auditor. Now, of course, you are persuaded that this was never really their job, that it was a sham, but that is just another lie.

  The news was not flawless, but neither was it presented as nothing more than opinion. The news existed to register what happened day-to-day. It was not so much concerned with why things happened, which was much more difficult to establish, and usually reserved for the pages labeled “opinion,” so that you knew it was somebody’s conjecture. I know this because I worked as a newspaper reporter in the 1970s. I actually found out what was going on about this-and-that, wrote it up, and saw it in print hours later. The facts.

  Journalism had some simple rules for reporting the facts about anything — and it’s hilarious that anyone thought it required a graduate degree from some credentialing mill like the Columbia U. School of Journalism. The news was often meddled-with by interested parties, government and business, but they did not completely overwhelm the ant-like labors of x-thousands of reporters in the field, and the stream of fact they circulated.

  Not all of it was subject to dispute, meddling, or opinion because it was self-evident: Joe Blow got shot. . . a helicopter crashed in Ohio. . . a volcano erupted in Peru. . . .

  Only over time, the past thirty years especially, our government grew and grew and one of the things that grew out of it was the nefarious “blob” dedicated to protecting the self-enlarging perquisites and interests of that government. Blobs will absorb things they encounter, and in a predatory way, the US government blob absorbed the US news media. The blob transformed the news into an engine for suppressing the facts or spinning them narratively when they could not be suppressed, in order to maximize the advantage of the government and to protect the operations of the blob itself.

  It is also a fact that this blob is aligned mostly with Democratic Party, because that party is most avid for the continuing growth of government, and its members overwhelmingly dominate in the officialdom that dwells inside the DC Beltway.

  The numbers speak for themselves on the DC voter rolls.

  So, a new government under Mr. Trump is feared cringingly by the news media.

  For one thing, the incoming government has tasked itself with reducing government substantially, eliminating many of its perquisites, and surgically excising the nefarious blob that is draining the purpose, meaning, and vitality out of our national life. The news media is terrified of being found-out for having acted as the blob’s chamberlain. We may find out exactly how that worked — how, for example, professional liars such as Joy Reid and Rachel Maddow of MSNBC were paid. What accounted for the amazing coordination of talking-points from day-to-day across all networks and newspapers?

  We are about to find out how a whole lot of mystifying things have happened in recent years.

  • For instance, those fantastic vote switcheroos in “Joe Biden’s” favor that occurred visibly right on TV in the wee hours of November 4, 2020?
  • How did William Barr conceal the existence of Hunter Biden’s laptop from Mr. Trump’s defense attorneys in the 2019 impeachment over a phone call to Ukraine?
  • Who really has been making “presidential” decisions behind the false front of “Joe Biden?”
  • Who in White House news reporters’ pool among the Cable News networks, The New York Times, and The Washington Post happened to know which officials were running the White House operation (did they not have sources)?
  • How did the FBI engineer the Jan. 6, 2021, riot and with how many agents and operatives on-site?
  • Who was in charge of the DNC pipe bomb caper?
  • How has George and Alex Soros’s network of money-dispensing NGOs been allowed to buy law enforcement offices all over country?
  • How did Merrick Garland’s errand boys get to New York Attorney General Letitia James and Fulton County DA Fani Willis?
  • What has been done with the billions of dollars sent to Ukraine?
  • Why is the CDC still advertising and promoting mRNA Covid vaccines that they must know have killed and disabled millions of people?
  • Who thought it was a good idea to fill the ranks of the US military with transexuals?
  • How did the order to throw the US-Mexican border wide open move through the chain-of-command, exactly?

  Things like that.

  It is going to be a great shock for many to hear the facts about these things and a lot more and to learn that we don’t just dwell in some matrix of tales told by idiots. The nihilism will eventually dissipate. Many enterprises in the news business won’t survive this, but human beings will insist on being informed, and the news business has been very busy rearranging itself. Even the body politic is capable of self-healing

  Meanwhile, the “Joe Biden” Catering Company, Inc, has been busy preparing a whole lot of shit sandwiches to serve at the Trump inauguration, mostly in the form of financial chaos. The catering staff better be cognizant that their pranks will be found-out, too, along with all the other treasonous business of the wicked times we’ve lived through.

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/30/2024 – 16:20

• Ethereum Long-Term Holders Climbed In 2024 As Bitcoin Holders Fell
  Ethereum Long-Term Holders Climbed In 2024 As Bitcoin Holders Fell

  Authored by Tom Mitchelhill via CoinTelegraph.com,

  The number of long-term Ether holders steadily increased throughout 2024, while the number of Bitcoin holders fell over the last year amid rising confidence in ETH heading into the new year. 

  

  In a Dec. 30 post to X, citing data from its platform, IntoTheBlock shared that the total percentage of Ether who had held their tokens for the long haul had risen from 59% in January to 75% by the end of 2024.

  

  Source: IntoTheBlock

  Meanwhile, the number of long-term Bitcoin holders witnessed a steady decline from about 70% to 62% in the same timeframe. 

  As of Dec. 30, the proportion of long-term Bitcoin holders stood at 62.3% while the proportion of long-term Ethereum holders was at 75.1%.

  IntoTheBlock has previously described long-term holders as those holding an asset for more than a year.

  While this metric is one of many that investors can look at to gauge market sentiment toward major crypto assets, a continued shift toward long-term holding for ETH also suggests growing confidence in the asset heading into 2025. 

  In a Dec. 17 post to X, technical analyst Ger Van Lagen said Bitcoin’s price was “blowing off,” with BTC later dropping from an all-time high of $106,000 to $93,000 between Dec. 16 and Dec. 30. 

  

  Source: Gert Van Lagen

  Van Lagen suggested this move was driven largely by long-term holders cashing out amid a period of euphoria and maintained a distinctly bullish outlook on BTC, predicting the asset was on track to surpass $200,000 in the near future. 

  Meanwhile, in the last month, inflows into spot Ether ETFs have doubled, surging from $1 billion in net inflows in November to $2.1 billion worth of cumulative net inflows in December.

  Several experts from different sectors of the crypto industry said that a Trump administration will prove beneficial to ETH in particular. 

  They cited a swathe of new developments for taking a bullish stance on ETH heading into 2025, ranging from the demise of “financial nihilism,” a complete overhaul of the SEC, the addition of staking to Ether ETFs and increased regulatory oversight from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

  Tyler Durden
  Mon, 12/30/2024 – 15:45

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