Today’s News 8th December 2024

• From Marcus Aurelius To Omar Little: A Man's Code Is Vital
  From Marcus Aurelius To Omar Little: A Man’s Code Is Vital

  Authored by Josh Stylman via The Brownstone Institute,

  With Thanksgiving weekend still fresh in our memory, my gratitude centers not on the usual holiday platitudes, but on something that has become increasingly precious in our artificial age: authentic relationships – both family and lifelong friends – that deepen rather than fracture under pressure. What binds these relationships, I’ve come to realize, isn’t shared opinions or circumstances, but a shared code – an unwavering commitment to principles that transcends the shifting sands of politics and social pressure. I’m particularly grateful for my inner circle – friends I’ve known since elementary school and family members whose bonds have only strengthened through the crucible of recent years.

  Like many others who spoke out against Covid tyranny, I watched what I thought were solid relationships dissolve in real time. As the owner of a local brewery and coach of my kids’ sports teams, I had been deeply embedded in my community – a “man about town” whose friendship and counsel others actively sought. Yet suddenly, the same people who had eagerly engaged with me would scurry when they saw me coming down the street. Professional networks and neighborhood connections evaporated at the mere questioning of prevailing narratives. They reacted this way because I broke orthodoxy, choosing to stand for liberal values – the very principles they claimed to champion – by rejecting arbitrary mandates and restrictions.

  In this moment of testing, the difference between those who lived by a consistent code and those who simply followed social currents became starkly clear. Yet in retrospect, this winnowing feels more like clarification than loss. As surface-level relationships fell away, my core relationships – decades-long friendships and family bonds – not only endured but deepened. These trials revealed which bonds were authentic and which were merely situational.

  The friendships that remained, anchored in genuine principles rather than social convenience, proved themselves infinitely more valuable than the broader network of fair-weather friends I lost.

  

  What strikes me most about these enduring friendships is how they’ve defied the typical narrative of relationships destroyed by political divisions. As Marcus Aurelius observed, “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” Despite taking opposite sides of the dialectic on political and cultural issues over the decades, we found ourselves united in opposition to the constitutional transgressions and rising tyranny of the past few years – the lockdowns, mandates, and systematic erosion of basic rights. This unity emerged not from political alignment but from a shared code: a commitment to first principles that transcends partisan divisions.

  In these contemplative moments, I’ve found myself returning to Aurelius’s Meditations – a book I hadn’t opened since college until Joe Rogan and Marc Andreessen’s excellent conversation inspired me to revisit it. Aurelius understood that a personal code – a set of unwavering principles – was essential for navigating a world of chaos and uncertainty. The connection feels particularly apt – like my own friend group, Rogan’s platform exemplifies a code of authentic discourse in our age.

  Critics, particularly on the political left, often talk about needing their “own Joe Rogan,” missing entirely what makes his show work: its genuine authenticity. Despite being historically left-leaning himself, Rogan’s willingness to engage in real-time thinking with guests across the ideological spectrum and across a broad variety of topics, his commitment to open inquiry and truth-seeking, has paradoxically led to his estrangement from traditional liberal circles – much like many of us who’ve found ourselves branded as apostates for maintaining consistent principles.

  This commitment to a code of authentic discourse explains why organizations like Brownstone Institute – despite being routinely smeared as “far right” – have become a crucial platform for independent scholars, policy experts, and truth-seekers. I witnessed this firsthand at a recent Brownstone event, where, unlike most institutions that enforce ideological conformity, diverse thinkers engaged in genuine exploration of ideas without fear of orthodoxy enforcement. When attendees were asked if they considered themselves political liberals ten years ago, nearly 80% raised their hands.

  These are individuals who, like my friends and me, still embrace core liberal values – free speech, open inquiry, rational debate – yet find themselves branded as right-wing or conspiracy theorists merely for questioning prevailing narratives.

  What unites this diverse community is their shared recognition that the reality being presented to us is largely manufactured, as explored in “The Information Factory,” and their commitment to maintaining authentic discourse in an age of enforced consensus.

  In The Wire, Omar Little, a complex character who lived by his own moral code while operating outside conventional society, famously declared, “A man got to have a code.” Though a stick-up man targeting drug dealers, Omar’s rigid adherence to his principles – never harming civilians, never lying, never breaking his word – made him more honorable than many supposedly “legitimate” characters. His unwavering dedication to these principles – even as a gangster operating outside society’s laws – resonates deeply with my experience.

  Like Rogan’s commitment to open dialogue, like Brownstone’s dedication to free inquiry, like RFK Jr.’s determination to expose how pharmaceutical and agricultural interests have corrupted our public institutions: these exemplars of authentic truth-seeking mirror what I’ve found in my own circle. My friends and I may have different political views, but we share a code: a commitment to truth over comfort, to principle over party, to authentic discourse over social approval. This shared foundation has proven more valuable than any superficial agreement could be.

  In these times of manufactured consensus and social control, the importance of this authentic foundation becomes even clearer. The 2012 Smith-Mundt Modernization Act, which made it legal to propagandize American citizens, merely formalized what many had long suspected. It represented the ultimate betrayal of the government’s code with its citizens – the explicit permission to manipulate rather than inform. As anyone not under the spell has come to realize – we’ve all been thoroughly “Smith-Mundt’ed.” This legal framework helps explain much of what we’ve witnessed in recent years, particularly during the pandemic – when those who proclaimed themselves champions of social justice supported policies that created new forms of segregation and devastated the very communities they claimed to protect.

  This disconnect becomes even more apparent in the realm of charitable giving and social causes, where “virtue laundering” has become endemic. The absence of a genuine moral code is nowhere more evident than in our largest charitable institutions. While many charitable organizations do crucial work at the local level, there’s an unmistakable trend among large NGOs toward what a friend aptly calls the “philanthropath class.”

  Consider the Clinton Foundation’s activities in Haiti, where millions in earthquake relief funds resulted in industrial parks that displaced farmers and housing projects that never materialized. Or examine the BLM Global Network Foundation, which purchased luxury properties while local chapters reported receiving minimal support. Even major environmental NGOs often partner with the world’s biggest polluters, creating an illusion of progress while fundamental problems persist.

  This pattern reveals a deeper truth about the professional charitable class – many of these institutions have become purely extractive, profiting from and even amplifying the very issues they purport to solve. At the top, a professional philanthropic class collects fancy titles in their bios and flashes photos from charity galas while avoiding any genuine engagement with the problems they claim to address. Social media has democratized this performance, allowing everyone to participate in virtue theater – from black squares and Ukrainian flag avatars to awareness ribbons and cause-supporting emojis – creating an illusion of activism without the substance of real action or understanding. It’s a system entirely devoid of the moral code that once guided charitable work – the direct connection between benefactor and beneficiary, the genuine commitment to positive change rather than personal aggrandizement.

  The power of a genuine code becomes most evident in contrast with these hollow institutions. While organizations and social networks fracture under pressure, I’m fortunate that my closest friendships and family bonds have only grown stronger. We’ve had fierce debates over the years, but our shared commitment to fundamental principles – to having a code – has allowed us to navigate even the most turbulent waters together. When the pandemic response threatened basic constitutional rights, when social pressure demanded conformity over conscience, these relationships proved their worth not despite our differences, but because of them.

  As we navigate these complex times, the path forward emerges with striking clarity. From Marcus Aurelius to Omar Little, the lesson remains the same: a man gotta have a code. The crisis of authenticity in our discourse, the chasm between proclaimed and lived values, and the failure of global virtue-signaling all point to the same solution: a return to genuine relationships and local engagement. Our strongest bonds – those real relationships that have weathered recent storms – remind us that true virtue manifests in daily choices and personal costs, not in digital badges or distant donations.

  This Thanksgiving, I found myself grateful not for the easy comforts of conformity but for those in my life who demonstrate real virtue – the kind that comes with personal cost and requires genuine conviction. The answer lies not in grand gestures or viral posts, but in the quiet dignity of living according to our principles, engaging with our immediate communities, and maintaining the courage to think independently. As both the emperor-philosopher and the fictional street warrior understood, what matters isn’t the grandeur of our station but the integrity of our code.

  Returning one final time to Meditations, I’m reminded of Aurelius’s timeless challenge: “Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 12/07/2024 – 23:20

• How Populations Have Changed In Asia Since 1990
  How Populations Have Changed In Asia Since 1990

  Since 1990, the world population has grown by 3 billion people. And half of those births occurred in Asia.

  But which countries have seen the most (relative) growth, and have any declined? 

  Visual Capitalist’s Pallavi Rao maps out the changes in population for every Asian country between 1990 and 2023.

  

  Data was sourced from the UN’s World Population Prospects 2024, and all figures are rounded.

  Ranked: Asian Countries by Population Change (1990–2023)

  The Middle East has seen the largest relative population growth in Asia, in some cases up 3-6x as seen in Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia.

  Rank	Country	% Change (1990–2023)	2023 Population (Thousands)
  1	🇶🇦 Qatar	537	2,979
  2	🇦🇪 UAE	398	10,642
  3	🇦🇫 Afghanistan	224	41,455
  4	🇯🇴 Jordan	200	11,439
  5	🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	191	33,264
  6	🇧🇭 Bahrain	188	1,570
  7	🇾🇪 Yemen	184	39,391
  8	🇰🇼 Kuwait	161	4,839
  9	🇴🇲 Oman	156	5,049
  10	🇮🇶 Iraq	140	45,074
  11	🇵🇸 Palestine	137	5,409
  12	🇰🇭 Cambodia	127	17,424
  13	🇲🇻 Maldives	123	526
  14	🇵🇰 Pakistan	102	247,504
  15	🇮🇱 Israel	94	9,256
  16	🇲🇾 Malaysia	90	35,126
  17	🇲🇴 Macao	89	714
  18	🇸🇬 Singapore	85	5,789
  19	🇹🇲 Turkmenistan	85	7,364
  20	🇹🇯 Tajikistan	81	10,390
  21	🇵🇭 Philippines	78	114,891
  22	🇧🇳 Brunei	75	459
  23	🇹🇱 Timor-Leste	74	1,384
  24	🇱🇦 Laos	70	7,665
  25	🇸🇾 Syria	67	23,595
  26	🇨🇾 Cyprus	65	1,345
  27	🇺🇿 Uzbekistan	64	35,652
  28	🇮🇳 India	62	1,438,070
  29	🇱🇧 Lebanon	59	5,773
  30	🇹🇷 Türkiye	54	87,271
  31	🇲🇳 Mongolia	52	3,432
  32	🇮🇷 Iran	50	90,609
  33	🇮🇩 Indonesia	50	281,190
  34	🇻🇳 Vietnam	50	100,352
  35	🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan	49	7,074
  36	🇧🇩 Bangladesh	49	171,467
  37	🇳🇵 Nepal	48	29,695
  38	🇦🇿 Azerbaijan	41	10,318
  39	🇱🇰 Sri Lanka	38	22,972
  40	🇭🇰 Hong Kong	35	7,443
  41	🇲🇲 Myanmar	33	54,134
  42	🇹🇭 Thailand	31	71,702
  43	🇧🇹 Bhutan	31	786
  44	🇰🇵 North Korea	24	26,418
  45	🇨🇳 China	24	1,422,585
  46	🇰🇷 South Korea	18	51,749
  47	🇹🇼 Taiwan	15	23,317
  48	🇰🇿 Kazakhstan	14	20,330
  49	🇯🇵 Japan	2	124,371
  50	🇦🇲 Armenia	-19	2,943
  51	🇬🇪 Georgia	-30	3,807

  On the whole, nearly all Asian countries have added significantly to their people in the last three decades, including some of the world’s most populous countries: India (+62%), China (+24%), Indonesia (+50%), and Pakistan (+102%).

  Only two transcontinental countries—Armenia and Georgia—have seen population declines. War is a primary reason for both, leading to economic repercussions, in turn fuelling an exodus of people.

  Chasing Demographic Dividends

  This explosion in people has also fueled Asia’s economic growth, particularly in China and India, from surging demand for goods and services.

  In fact, Asia now has the highest share of world GDP (36%), eclipsing North America (31%) by five percentage points.

  At the same time, many parts of the continent are still struggling with food insecurity, poverty, and civil strife. And for many of its advanced economies, the demographic dividend is ending. As birth rates fall, and the population ages, social security nets may not be able to keep up with increasing demands.

  Wondering what this map looks like for other regions in the world? Check out Mapped: Population Change in the Americas (1990–2023) for a similar breakdown.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 12/07/2024 – 22:45

• Preparing For The Unexpected: The Bug-Out Bag
  Preparing For The Unexpected: The Bug-Out Bag

  Authored by Emma Suttie D.Ac, AP via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  It’s the middle of the night. You wake from a deep sleep and smell smoke. When you come to, you see flames in the next room and realize your house is on fire.

  

  This is just one of many scenarios that can happen—at any time—to anyone. You may need to act in an instant, and having a bug-out bag prepared can help you mitigate the challenges emergencies present and ensure you have what you need to survive during—and after—the emergency.

  Bug-Out Bags Defined

  Bug-out bags go by many different names:

  • Go bag
  • 72-hour bag
  • Evacuation bag
  • Disaster survival kit
  • Emergency kit

  These kits equip you with essential tools and supplies to handle a variety of emergencies and disasters. Backpacks are typically used for portability, which becomes crucial if you need to evacuate your home quickly or travel long distances on foot.

  Creek Stewart is a survival expert, instructor, and author who incorporates practical survival skills, resilience, and personal growth in his teaching. In a previous interview with The Epoch Times, he spoke about emergency preparedness.

  Stewart, author of “Build the Perfect Bug-Out Bag,” said he’s learned from survival that the darkest times can provide our greatest resources—physical and psychological.

  “All the good resources in life that build character and integrity and resilience, they’re all found in the worst places of life. God uses hard times to build character and integrity, and those are built in the dark times and tested on the mountain peaks,” he added.

  Your bug-out bag should not be too heavy to carry long distances during an emergency. For example, if your car breaks down, or you need to flee on foot because of a forest fire or other natural disaster.

  Preparing in advance allows you the time to decide what you’ll need to survive in various worst-case scenarios. Without this preparation, you could be scrambling to gather supplies as a storm approaches or during an emergency—when you’re likely to be stressed and overwhelmed.

  Stewart says there’s no need to make it complicated, and having a bug-out bag tucked away can give you peace of mind.

  “It doesn’t have to cost thousands of dollars—it can be really simple, and you get to touch on a lot of different elements of survival,” he said.

  A well-thought-out bug-out bag can mean the difference between being afraid and overwhelmed and calm and collected—enabling you to better handle the challenges ahead.

  Example Situations

  Having one bag packed with essentials and ready to go is crucial in a wide variety of situations. Some examples include:

  • An evacuation is ordered due to a coming storm—you grab your bag and leave quickly.
  • You wake up to a house fire or a wildfire headed your way.
  • A robber breaks into your house, and you need to get out fast.
  • A family member is critically injured in an accident, and you need to get to the hospital as soon as possible.
  • A natural disaster forces you from your home, and you and your family spend weeks in a shelter.
  • Your city is attacked by bombing or a bioweapon.
  • A dam breaks near your community, and you need to leave before your home floods.
  • One of your children falls out of a tree in your yard, and you grab your bag (which contains medical supplies) to help them.
  • Riots break out near your home, and you want to leave to avoid potential problems.

  Contents

  Although it may initially seem overwhelming when planning what you may need in an emergency, Stewart says there are five main categories to consider when putting together your bug-out bag:

  1. Shelter
  2. Water
  3. Fire
  4. Food
  5. First-aid

  

  Don’t forget supplies for your pets.

  Resources such as Ready.gov and the American Red Cross have lists of supplies to include in your emergency preparedness kit. Some examples are:

  • Water (one gallon per person per day)
  • Non-perishable food (several days worth)
  • Flashlight and extra batteries
  • Battery-powered or hand-crank radio
  • First-aid-kit
  • Lighters, matches, and candles kept in containers or resealable bags to keep them dry
  • Medications (at least a 7-day supply)
  • Whistle (to signal for help)
  • Multi-purpose tool, wrench, pliers (to turn off utilities if needed)
  • Tarps or plastic sheeting, scissors, and duct tape (for shelter)
  • Personal sanitation/hygiene items (wet wipes, toilet paper, pads/tampons, garbage bags, plastic ties)
  • Can opener
  • Cell phones and chargers
  • Maps
  • Copies of important documents like driver’s licenses, passports, birth certificates, insurance policies, and medical records/medication lists, sealed in a waterproof, resealable bag (in case of rain or flooding)
  • Blankets
  • A clean change of clothing, including an outer layer, like a rain jacket (in winter, have gloves, hat, scarf, and heavy socks)
  • Comfortable running shoes or hiking boots (as you may need to walk long distances)

  

  Stewart recommends additional items in his book “Disaster Survival 101” that include:

  • Backpacking tent big enough for everyone in your household
  • Sleeping bags and sleeping pads
  • Rain gear/poncho
  • Emergency survival blanket (these are pocket-sized)
  • Camping water filter
  • 1-liter metal canteen filled with fresh drinking water
  • 1–2 collapsible plastic water containers
  • Sillcock key (for accessing commercial water spigots)
  • Ferrocerium rod fire starter, disposable lighter, fire tinder
  • Open-and-eat meals (tuna packs, Spam, power bars, beef jerky, and dried snacks)
  • Small camp stove
  • Utensils and serving bowls
  • Bar of soap in a resealable bag
  • Toothbrush and toothpaste
  • Fixed-blade knife
  • Small folding saw
  • Rechargeable headlamp
  • Personal firearms, pepper spray for self-defense
  • Permanent marker
  • Duct tape
  • Entertainment items like a deck of cards or portable games, which are great for kids

  

  Each capable adult should have a bug-out bag, and some of the above items don’t need to be included for each person (for example, you only need one tent). Children should only carry lightweight essentials.

  Because you don’t know where you will be when an emergency strikes, it is advisable to have bug-out bags in different locations, like home, work, and in your car.

  Bug-out bags should be reviewed every few months to ensure foods haven’t expired and to swap out clothing for the appropriate season. Stewart suggests taking your fully loaded bag and hiking for several miles to ensure it’s comfortable and not too heavy.

  According to The Prepared, a highly regarded resource for practical survival skills, the optimal weight of your bag is about 20 percent of your body weight or 45 pounds (whichever is less) if you don’t exercise regularly. Those who are physically fit can go up to 30 percent of their body weight (or 60 pounds, whichever is less).

  

  Personal Safety

  Self-defense is also something to think about when planning your bug-out bag. Stewart says that crime spikes are inevitable during natural disasters and that looting and home invasions are common. Self-defense items are a personal choice, with multiple options—both lethal and non-lethal. These include, but are not limited to:

  • Firearms
  • Pepper spray
  • Tasers (shoots two metal prongs into attackers’ skin to deliver an electric charge)
  • Stun guns (require direct contact and deliver a high-voltage shock)

  Know your state’s gun laws and licensing requirements when considering self-defense options. States also have laws and regulations regarding tasers and stun guns. Additionally, consider that weapons in untrained hands can be more dangerous to the user than the intended target.

  If you include firearms, take a training course (or several), have the relevant paperwork, and know the laws in your state for carrying and using firearms. Stewart advises adding a self-defense tool you are comfortable with to your emergency preparedness plan. This measure enhances your safety and your family’s security in a crisis.

  

  Common Mistakes

  There is much to think about when preparing for an emergency, and there are common mistakes people make when packing their bug-out bags—which can be costly in an emergency. Some examples, according to The Prepared, are:

  • Making bags too heavy—Be sure to test your bag with all its contents to ensure you can carry it comfortably.
  • Forgetting water—remember, you can only survive three days without it.
  • Not testing your gear—An emergency is not the time you want to be figuring out how to use your camping stove or water filter, so test your gear beforehand.
  • Packing contents for specific scenarios—It’s important to pack for a variety of potential disasters.
  • Having too many of one type of item—Have a well-rounded bag of items for more resiliency, for instance, don’t pack more weapons than food.
  • Overlooking your feet—You may have to do a lot of walking with a heavy pack in a worst-case scenario, so comfortable shoes and a few pairs of socks are critical.
  • Buying cheap gear—It’s better to buy fewer quality items that you can depend on rather than cheap gear that could fail in an emergency.
  • Taking things out of your bag to use when camping or hiking—Keep your bug-out bag intact at all times. Borrowing from it for other events could compromise your bag and, ultimately, your resilience in an emergency.

  

  Final Thoughts

  Planning for emergencies and worst-case scenarios can feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. Preparing in advance allows you the time to think logically and make thoughtful decisions—before a crisis hits. In the middle of an emergency, when chaos reigns and clear thinking is difficult, having a plan in place can make all the difference.

  Go through any supplies you already have on hand for your bug-out bag, and keep it simple. Anything you can do preemptively will increase your resilience.

  Communicate with those in your household about what you would do in an emergency, know the location of your bug-out bags, and where you would meet if you got separated and had to leave your home.

  The time and effort you invest in planning and building your bug-out bag will pay dividends in an emergency—and could even save your life. As Stewart said in a Ted Talk, when it comes to sudden and unexpected survival scenarios, it’s not a matter of if they happen but when.

  Resources

  • Ready.gov
  • American Red Cross
  • Creek Stewart (author of “Build the Perfect Bug-Out Bag”)
  • The Prepared
  • Bug-Out Bag Academy

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 12/07/2024 – 22:10

• Damascus Has Fallen: Assad Has Reportedly Left The Capital
  Damascus Has Fallen: Assad Has Reportedly Left The Capital

  Update(2200ET): Damascus has fallen. Unverified reports say President Assad and top officials have fled to Dubai or elsewhere but the situation overnight is fluid and anything but clear in terms of the location of top leadership. They may be in Latakia on the coast, or headed there. What is clear, however, is that the jihadists have entered the heart of the capital.

  This brings to an end the last secular and Baathist state in the Middle East, and 50+ years of Assad family rule. Journalist Danny Makki, who is currently in Damascus, observes:

  Literally Syrian military/security around Damascus just fled, ran away, changed into civilian clothes escaped, there was no battle for Damascus, it was abandoned and by tommorow it will be all under opposition control.

  Abassiyeen Square in Central Damascus, soldiers/military abandoning positions, changing into civilian clothes. pic.twitter.com/vJzvdaUeVb

  — Danny Makki (@danny_makki) December 8, 2024

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  And Al Jazeera reports:

  Videos from the Syrian capital, verified by Al Jazeera, appears to show soldiers leaving the city. The sound of gunfire could also be heard.

  The footage was taken moments before opposition forces claimed entering Damascus. There’s been no confirmation or denial from government forces.

  

  “Syrian rebel sources tell Al Jazeera Arabic that government forces have withdrawn from the Defence Ministry headquarters in Damascus,” the report further indicates. State TV channels are in the hands of the anti-Assad factions.

  ⚡️The building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Damascus came under the control of the “rebels”. Video from half an hour ago. pic.twitter.com/oQkMKiursg

  — War Monitor (@WarMonitors) December 8, 2024

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  Damascus International Airport:

  “Stamp my passport by myself”#Damascus International Airport is completely empty of all staff and security. pic.twitter.com/ESkMtW91Mt

  — Warfare Analysis (@warfareanalysis) December 8, 2024

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  Abandoned tanks and equipment in the middle of central intersections…

  ⚡️Scenes from Umayyad Square in central Damascus moments ago, SAA left a T-72 in the middle of the road

  pic.twitter.com/hd7SUPiwY0

  — War Monitor (@WarMonitors) December 8, 2024

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  Widespread rumors begin…

  Unconfirmed reports that an Ilyushin transport plane supposedly carrying #Assad has crashed. Again, unconfirmed is the key word here.

  — Nabih (@nabihbulos) December 8, 2024

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  * * * 

  There are widespread reports that jihadist forces under Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and which are backed by Turkey have entered key districts of Homs in central Syria, and other convoys have already reached the outskirts of Damascus.

  Very little fighting has actually taken place, with the Syrian Army peeling back from position after position, and with heavy equipment including tanks seen being transported to the capital or in other instances to the coast. ZeroHedge’s contacts in Damascus strongly suggest a transition of power deal has already been made.

  

  External discussions are centered in Doha, and some premature and unverified reports have claimed President Bashar al-Assad has already flown out of the country; however, Syrian state SANA on Saturday sought to refute these reports, saying he is still in Damascus.

  Iranian advisers and IRGC officers have departed Damascus. This also partly explains why Syrian national forces have not put up much of a fight.

  Unverified social media reports further say that anti-Assad forces have essentially been able to walk into suburban or countryside areas of the capital with no resistance. Again, what points to the likely reality of a secret deal which allows Assad’s safe exit and that of his top officials is the fact that all of this is happening without much bloodshed.

  Below is the latest on the jihadist convoy locations according to The Guardian:

  Syrian insurgents have reached the suburbs of Damascus, opposition activists and a rebel commander said on Saturday, as a rapidly moving offensive in which they have taken over some of Syria’s largest cities continued.

  Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said insurgents were active in the Damascus suburbs of Maadamiyah, Jaramana and Daraya.

  He said opposition fighters were also marching from eastern Syria towards the Damascus suburb of Harasta.

  Hassan Abdul-Ghani, an insurgent commander, posted on Telegram that opposition forces had started to encircle Damascus in the “final stage” of their offensive. He said fighters were heading from southern Syria towards Damascus.

  Map: The collapse of Syria over the last 10 days

  

  Whatever happens next, it is becoming clear that the Baathist Syrian state under the Assad family, which goes back to 1970 when Hafez Assad first emerged in power, will never be the same again – and is coming to a fast end.

  Many Christian, Alawite, and Sunni ruling families in the capital area are fleeing to the Lebanese border, not waiting around to take their chances under Taliban-style rule, despite dubious claims that HTS plans to respect ‘diversity’ and pluralism.

  Footage from a key suburbs outside the capital [note: cannot be independently verified]…

  SYRIA: Anti-Assad protestors bring down Hafez Assad statue in middle of Jarmana (20 min from Damascus). The protests and rebel offensive are only spreading, gradually approaching capital… pic.twitter.com/kkBhGsOlj2

  — Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) December 7, 2024

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  BREAKING — Damascus outskirts Al Moademyeh is free of Assad forces. This is right next to Mezzeh Air Base pic.twitter.com/ACLcRaTU1E

  — Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) December 7, 2024

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  Contradictory reporting over Assad’s whereabouts and political transition plans:

  Embassy Statement: Denial of Allegations Made in Wall Street Journal Article pic.twitter.com/IEE8JmbQbt

  — Jordan Embassy in Washington D.C. (@JorEmbUS) December 6, 2024

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  Regional war correspondent Elijah Magnier observes, “It looks like what will remain of the old Syria will be limited to Homs, for now, and on longer term Latakia – Tartous only. Lebanon should think about defended its borders. People in Damascus should think of their future in the next 24-48 hours.”

  The latest from the Syrian presidency’s office:

  Presidency of the #Syrian Arab Republic affirms that President Bashar al-Assad is assuming his work, national and constitutional tasks from the capital, Damascushttps://t.co/v4ko1Nfiek pic.twitter.com/Sj8CGjaE0C

  — SANAEnglishOfficial (@SANAEnOfficial) December 7, 2024

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  Meanwhile the Syrian Interior Minister Major General Al-Rahmon vows that “there is a very strong security cordon on the outskirts of Damascus and no one can break it.”

  Military commanders are still vowing to fight, and to mount a ‘fortress Damascus’ defense as the insurgent armies outside the capital are vowing to besiege it.

  Syrian military commanders makes a video statement:

  “Our valiant army continues to carry out its operations against terrorist gatherings at high rates in the directions of the Hama and Homs countrysides and the northern Daraa countryside, inflicting hundreds of deaths and… pic.twitter.com/K8BFTtx0cC

  — Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) December 7, 2024

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  developing…

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 12/07/2024 – 22:00

• Introducing The New ZeroHedge Store!
  Introducing The New ZeroHedge Store!

  Since launching ZeroHedge in 2009, our mission has been to cut through the bullshit and provide you with an authentic, unfiltered platform for news and conversation from all over the world. Having earned your trust over the past 15 years, curating the world’s incessant newsflow – while battling the censorship industrial complex through subscriptions and partnerships – we have decided to create our own store to showcase the best products and services to help you avoid “buying shit you don’t need”.

  

  Here’s what you can find:

  Supplements

  We’re proud to carry a full line of supplements from IQ Biologix, including nootropics, protein, creatine, colostrum, sleep aids, weight loss, coffee and much more. Enjoy 5% off for 2 of the same item, or 10% off for three or more – plus subscribe & save an additional 10%.

  

  Coffee

  In addition to IQ Biologix infused Smart Blend, check out our new ZeroHedge coffee! Organic and GMO-free, we’ve got both medium and dark roast. Discounts of up to 10% for multiple bags, and another 10% for Subscribe & Save.

  

  Preparedness

  After searching long and hard, we’ve found two excellent brands of emergency food – Prepper All Naturals, which offers upscale, clean, hormone-free beef, and ReadyWise, a longtime player in the emergency food business.

  

  We’ve also got water filters, go-bags, generators & more!

  SiPhox Blood Testing

  IQ Biologix has partnered with SiPhox Health for the ultimate at-home blood testing suite. Buy one, or subscribe to track your health throughout the year – then log into the IQ / SiPhox dashboard to monitor your results. You can also upgrade your kit for specific needs – including a hormone panel, a metabolic panel, and a thyroid panel.

  

  Anza Knives

  Made in Santee, California, Anza hand-made knives start life as heavy-duty high carbon steel files, which are meticulously crafted into masterpieces that fit well in the hand and have never let us down.

  

  ZeroHedge Multitool

  Solid in the hand, the ZeroHedge multitool is perfect for any situation. Includes pliers, knife, saw, screwdrivers, wire cutter, bottle opener and more.

  

  ZeroHedge Gear

  How could we possibly launch a store without gear? Check out our waxed-canvas hats, shirts, sweatshirts, tumblers, water bottle, and more!

  

  Whether you’re looking to optimize your health, ensure you’re ready for whatever comes next, or express your unique worldview, our store is your one-stop destination.

  Dive in, gear up, and embrace a lifestyle of readiness, resilience, and individuality with ZeroHedge. And thank you for your support!

  International shipping available soon…

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 12/07/2024 – 21:40

• Asia-Pacific Struggling To Regain Tourism Momentum
  Asia-Pacific Struggling To Regain Tourism Momentum

  Data from the UN Tourism dashboard shows that 1.3 billion international tourist arrivals were recorded worldwide for 2023, roughly 160 million short of 2019 levels.

  Tourism receipts, however, surpassed pre-pandemic levels by around $40 million. This potentially traces back to price increases rather than increased tourist activity.

  As Statista’s Florian Zandt details below, with 707 million international arrivals, Europe remained the region with the highest tourist volume this past year. While some world regions have already surpassed their 2019 levels, one area in particular hasn’t regained momentum.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  African countries are short 2.6 million of the 69 million international arrivals recorded in 2019, while the Americas are behind 19 million inbound tourists.

  The Middle East surpassed its 2019 levels by 22 million, which underlines the importance of airports like Dubai International Airport and Hamad International Airport as travel hubs and the attractiveness of the Arabian Peninsula as a tourism destination.

  Asia and the Pacific is only at 65 percent of the 2019 figure for international arrivals, which translates to 237 million for 2023.

  Looking at total passenger throughput, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) recorded 4.4 billion scheduled passengers across 36 million flights for 2023, slightly below 2019 levels, in their most recent factsheet.

  By 2025, the combined revenues of all IATA members are expected to cross the one trillion dollar threshold, while passenger levels are estimated to rise above five billion.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 12/07/2024 – 21:35

• The Hunt For The Best Christmas Tree Ever
  The Hunt For The Best Christmas Tree Ever

  Authored by John Haughey via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  Americans will buy at least 25 million fresh-cut Christmas trees this year but the best one of them—the pinnacle in pine perfection—is the 8-foot Fraser Fir from Laurel Springs, North Carolina, that sold for $145 about 12:30 p.m. Nov. 30 on a church lawn in Lakeland, Florida.

  

  So decreed yule arborists Mason Hayes, 14, and his brother, Jackson, 11—the specialists who found their perfect Christmas tree after an hour of foraging through Booger Mountain’s trees at Ardella Baptist Church on a sunny Saturday in central Florida.

  “It has to be fat—no gaps at the top or the bottom,” Mason said, rejecting one tree after another.

  “It has to be skinny and have no gaps anywhere,” Jackson said, tugging gently on branches to assess tree needle quality.

  Following her sons in the shifting sun-speckled shade of live oaks, Amy Hayes could only wait until the experts agreed on what tree would exude Christmas cheer through their living room windows for all the world to see.

  When they found it—a fat and skinny fir without gaps but with tenaciously anchored needles—they agreed it was “The One.”

  At $145, it’s expensive, Amy said, but The One is worth it.

  “We’ve been coming here for five, six years,” she said, noting she believes Booger Mountain’s trees are better quality than those sold in parking lots by Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe’s, and grocery chains.

  Booger’s trees “last longer, smell better,” Amy said. “And I like to support local small business when I can.”

  That’s small business with a big ‘B,’ according to the National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA), which projects 100,000 seasonal workers will sell between 25 million and 30 million trees for a cumulative $1.38 billion in the United States during the 2024 holiday season.

  When including artificial trees, wreaths, lighting, and other accessories, the 2024 Christmas tree market projections top $5.6 billion, according to Market Research Pulse and the American Christmas Tree Association (ACTA), which primarily represents artificial tree retailers.

  

  NCTA spokesperson Jill Sidebottom said 2024 is shaping up “like a pretty normal season” with a healthy tree crop ready for trimming.

  “The 2024 harvest across the country, in different places … there are issues,” she told The Epoch Times. “It was very wet in the spring and it was a dry summer in the Northeast. That affected [trees] in Pennsylvania and Maine. In North Carolina, we had this storm and a lot of young trees died. But for the most part, the taller trees were not damaged.”

  North Carolina is second only to Oregon in Christmas tree production, according to the NCTA, followed by Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Washington.

  NCTA, which represents about 15,000 tree farms, 38 state and regional associations, and more than 4,000 businesses, selected a North Carolina Fraser Fir from a farm damaged by Hurricane Helene as the “national tree” for the White House, Sidebottom said.

  “The great news is [North Carolina] trees came through, in most cases, in really great shape,” Real Christmas Tree Board Executive Director Marsha Gray told The Epoch Times.

  “Several farms in low-lying areas did receive a lot of damage,” she said. “The majority are grown on the sides of mountains so the water was below them. [Growers] had some issues and concerns with infrastructure” but roads and railways recovered rapidly.

  The Real Christmas Tree Board, which represents the industry before the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), surveys growers nationwide every September to forecast supply for the coming season.

  “They gave us a very positive response,” Gray said, noting that these growers sell two-thirds of Christmas trees bought across the United States. “The quality was good, no concerns with shipping, and 60 percent said they did not plan to raise wholesale prices this year.

  “We are ready,” she added, “and we are excited.”

  

  Industry in Transition

  The biggest issue with the 2024 holiday season is the calendar, Sidebottom said. “The oddest thing about this season is Thanksgiving is so late this year. A lot more places opened the weekend before Thanksgiving.”

  The future of the industry faces potential disruption from tariffs if President-elect Donald Trump follows through with proposed levies on imported goods, including from Canada, which produces nearly 30 percent of Christmas trees sold in the United States, and from the same corporate pressures that are driving independents and family-run farms out of the agriculture industry.

  “Oh gosh, I have no idea” how tariffs could affect tree prices next year, Sidebottom said. “We have a group from Canada that is part of our association and are represented on the [USDA] board. They’ve been shipping trees since the 1950s.”

  Gray said the board is “not allowed to comment on public policy” but noted that Trump’s tariffs are on growers’ minds. “We’re all going to watch and see what happens,” she said.

  Rocco Malanga, owner of Cedar Grove Christmas Trees, a South Florida tree wholesale distributor and retailer, had no such reservations.

  “We fully support President Trump’s proposal to shift toward a tariff-based economic system, which we believe will be transformative for the Christmas tree industry and countless other sectors,” he told The Epoch Times.

  For years, he said, Canadian imports benefitted from the weaker Canadian dollar, allowing them to undercut U.S.-grown trees in price.

  “A tariff on imported Christmas trees would help level the playing field, redirecting demand toward American growers and empowering local farms and businesses,” Malanga said.

  Cedar Grove Christmas Trees has longstanding relationships with growers in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, who have “faced some of their toughest years recently” and would benefit from Trump’s tariffs, he predicted.

  It will likely take more than tariffs for independent, family-owned growers to survive in a market increasingly dominated by corporations.

  Read the rest here…

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 12/07/2024 – 21:00

• IRS Expands Its Armed Wing To Highest Level In Nearly A Decade
  IRS Expands Its Armed Wing To Highest Level In Nearly A Decade

  The Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) division, the armed enforcement wing of the IRS tasked with combating financial crimes, has expanded its workforce by nearly 11 percent, bringing staffing levels to their highest in nearly a decade and boosting the division’s conviction rate to 90 percent, according to the IRS-CI’s latest annual report.

  

  As Tom Ozimek reports, via The Epoch Times, the fiscal year 2024 report, released on Dec. 5, outlines a year of intensified enforcement for the IRS-CI, which serves as the tax agency’s law enforcement branch that focuses on tax violations that cross into criminal territory.

  The report shows that the division achieved several firsts over the past year, including the first sentencing for syndicated conservation easement schemes, the first cryptocurrency tax fraud indictment, and a record-setting financial settlement with Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, for anti-money laundering violations.

  IRS-CI special agents, who are authorized to carry guns and use lethal force, now number 2,290 after a hiring spree added 146 employees to its ranks over the fiscal year. The division’s overall workforce expansion is the largest in nearly a decade, bringing total headcount to 3,474 employees. Between 2010 and 2020, the division’s staffing numbers fell from 4,017 to 2,858.

  IRS-CI Chief Guy Ficco said in the report that the demands on the division’s workforce have increased as “criminals utilize new venues, revise their techniques, and use emerging technologies to facilitate financial crimes.”

  A turnaround in hiring in recent years across both the criminal investigations unit and the IRS more broadly has been fueled by the $80 billion funding boost under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, around $20 billion of which was later clawed back. Roughly $46 billion of the funding boost was designated for enforcement, a contentious part of the package that drew opposition from some Republican lawmakers, who argued it could lead to increased tax audits on lower- and middle-income Americans.

  According to the fiscal year 2024 report, the IRS-CI launched 2,667 criminal investigations, leading to 1,571 convictions. The division raised its conviction rate from 88.4 percent in the 2023 fiscal year to 90 percent in 2024, which ended Sept. 30.

  The division also uncovered $9.1 billion in fraud from tax and financial crimes, obtained $1.7 billion in court-ordered restitution, and seized approximately $1.2 billion in criminal assets.

  The IRS-CI also expanded its international footprint by launching a new attaché post in Nassau, Bahamas, and a cyber attaché post in Singapore.

  Ficco said in the report that the division’s focus heading into 2025 is to leverage its expanded resources and expertise to pursue financial crimes and protect the integrity of the U.S. tax system.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 12/07/2024 – 20:25

• "Next Few Weeks": FDA On Verge Of Possible Toxic Red Dye Ban Across America's Food Supply Chain 
  “Next Few Weeks”: FDA On Verge Of Possible Toxic Red Dye Ban Across America’s Food Supply Chain 

  The Food and Drug Administration is considering a potential ban on a carcinogenic food dye derived from petroleum, commonly found in beverages, snacks, cereals, and candies, according to NBC News.

  On Thursday, FDA Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods Jim Jones stated at the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing that his agency will finalize the decision to eliminate food dye FD&C Red No. 3, known as Red 3, from America’s food supply chain. 

  “So, (In) Red 3, we have a petition in front of us to revoke the authorization for it, and we are hopeful that within the next few weeks, we will be acting on that petition, and a decision should be forthcoming,” Jones said. 

  The FDA has stated that it has reviewed the safety of Red 3 in snacks, beverages, candy, and other foods – multiple times since its initial approval in 1969. However, the current petition calls for the additive to be reviewed again. 

  Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville stated: “Let me say this: Red 3 has been known to cause cancer in cosmetics, but we still allow it to be put in our food. . . I don’t understand that.”

  According to Food Safety News, Connecticut Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro and 22 Congress members asked the FDA to ban Red Dye No. 3. 

  “A ban on Red 3 is not only statutorily required, but it is also feasible – alternatives are widely available,” the lawmakers wrote, adding, “Thirty-four years of inaction is far too long. We are calling on the FDA to use its regulatory authority to ban Red 3 from our nation’s food supply before the end of this Congress.”

  The letter noted that the carcinogenicity of Red 3 is very clear. The National Toxicology Program, the European Commission’s Scientific Committee for Food, and the World Health Organization have all stated that petroleum-based food dye causes cancer in animals. Even California has said Red 3 causes neurobehavioral issues in children. 

  

  Now that President-elect Donald J. Trump has nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services – his ability to rid the food supply chain of toxic dyes and highly processed food could soon become a reality.

  Recall RFK Jr. spotlighted food manufacturer Kellogg’s Fruitloops cereal for children, which has “18 or 19 ingredients” in the US formula but only “2 or 3” ingredients in Canada. 

  RFK JR: “The nutrition department of the FDA has to go. They’re not protecting our kids.”

  “Why do we have Fruit Loops in this country that have 18 or 19 ingredients and you go to Canada and it’s got 2 or 3?” pic.twitter.com/UQSgC1GU7i

  — Breaking911 (@Breaking911) November 6, 2024

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  Americans are just now realizing that mega-corporations have been selling them poisonous foods containing petroleum-based dyes and other harmful additives, contributing to the obesity crisis and early death. 

  Our readers know our stance on the urgent need to eliminate toxic processed foods from diets and return to basics by sourcing from small mom-and-pop farms. Better yet, liberate yourself and become ungovernable by taking control of your food supply chain by reviving a small farm. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 12/07/2024 – 19:15

• Paul Krugman Rides Into The Sunset
  Paul Krugman Rides Into The Sunset

  Authored by William Andersen via The Mises Institute,

  After spending 25 years as a columnist for the New York Times, Paul Krugman is finally retiring from that position – 25 years too late, if one wishes to be honest. It is hard to measure the influence he had from that perch, but his columns surely were the deciding factor in his winning the Nobel in economics in 2008 after eight years of lambasting the George W. Bush administration.

  

  [ZH: Yes, we know that isn’t a picture of Krugman, but it always makes us laugh…]

  (His Nobel Prize was given, ostensibly, for “his work in economic geography and in identifying international trade patterns,” but one should have no doubt that, without having the power and influence of the New York Times behind him, it is doubtful that the Nobel Committee would even have known of his existence. I weighed in on the Nobel selection in a column in Forbes, hastily-written during a short break between classes I was teaching at Frostburg State University.)

  Not surprisingly, the response from his peers is hagiographic. Kathleen Kingsbury, quoting from Krugman’s first column, declares:

  That lede and the column were signature Krugman: The authoritative voice. The lively writing. The direct style. The clear hand guiding readers through a thicket of policy, data and trade-offs. The big ideas — in that column, they were about the First Global Economy and the Second Global Economy and how the interplay of political and economic questions would shape life worldwide in the 21st century. In little time, Paul became an essential read in Opinion, helping countless readers become more fluent in and mindful of how trade, taxes, technology, the markets, labor and capital intersected with political leadership, ideology and partisanship to shape the lives of people across America and the world.

  Indeed, Krugman has been influential, but his influence hasn’t been a good thing. He is a disciple of John Maynard Keynes and has played an important role in legitimizing the application of Keynesian schemes by governments to “stimulate” their economies. Those governments were unsuccessful, Krugman claimed, because they had failed to inflate their economies enough to break out of the Keynesian “liquidity trap,” an imaginary state of affairs that Murray N. Rothbard fully debunked.

  Krugman even resorted to fantasy in his quest to fight the mighty “liquidity trap,” claiming that if the US were to prepare for a never-to-come alien invasion, the burst of government spending would revitalize the economy. That nonsense alone should have discredited him as a serious economist, but instead cemented his status as the great advocate for the Keynesian trope that government spending is the key to economic prosperity.

  To his credit, Krugman did condemn the tariffs proposed by President-elect Donald Trump, but the truth is that he never has truly understood economics from the praxeological vantage point, nor has he ever been interested in seeing economics in that way. An economy, to Krugman, is a series of aggregates—consisting of homogeneous labor, natural resources, and capital—all to be manipulated by government agencies and central banks. The idea that demand springs from what we produce in a market economy was anathema to Krugman, who hated that economic doctrine so much that he referred to Jean-Baptiste Say as a “cockroach.”

  Given Krugman’s inability to understand the basics of economic logic, perhaps it isn’t surprising that he made the wild prediction: “By 2005 or so, it will become clear that the Internet’s impact on the economy has been no greater than the fax machine’s.” Someone who cannot understand how production of goods drives demand for other goods most likely isn’t going to comprehend how improving pathways for information will also improve commerce.

  Krugman was just as uncharitable to the Austrians as he was toward Say—although he never really understood Austrian economics and, to be honest, was happy to remain in blissful ignorance. He referred to the Austrian Business Cycle Theory wrongly as “The Hangover Theory,” turning a well-developed theory that meticulously explains the processes of booms and busts and reducing it to a morality play. He wrote:

  A few weeks ago, a journalist devoted a substantial part of a profile of yours truly to my failure to pay due attention to the “Austrian theory” of the business cycle—a theory that I regard as being about as worthy of serious study as the phlogiston theory of fire. Oh well. But the incident set me thinking—not so much about that particular theory as about the general worldview behind it. Call it the overinvestment theory of recessions, or “liquidationism,” or just call it the “hangover theory.” It is the idea that slumps are the price we pay for booms, that the suffering the economy experiences during a recession is a necessary punishment for the excesses of the previous expansion.

  The hangover theory is perversely seductive—not because it offers an easy way out, but because it doesn’t. It turns the wiggles on our charts into a morality play, a tale of hubris and downfall. And it offers adherents the special pleasure of dispensing painful advice with a clear conscience, secure in the belief that they are not heartless but merely practicing tough love. Powerful as these seductions may be, they must be resisted—for the hangover theory is disastrously wrongheaded. Recessions are not necessary consequences of booms. They can and should be fought, not with austerity but with liberality—with policies that encourage people to spend more, not less.

  In other words, government spending on wars was just as economically useful as spending money on new capital and research that increases crop yields because, after all, someone is spending money. To Krugman, an economy is a purely circular thing in which we produce something to put on the shelves and spending is the process by which we remove the goods from the shelves so we can produce something else to put on the shelves—and so on.

  It is not surprising that regime-minded elites worshiped his every declaration. Governments were not spending too much money; they were spending too little! Those who print money hand-over-fist, who intervene in the markets to direct resources to politically-favored winners are the real public benefactors. Those who question the wisdom of untrammeled government spending are the true enemies of the people.

  At a Southern Economic Association meeting in 2004, I asked Krugman if he was endorsing the 70 percent tax rates that existed before 1981. “No,” he replied emphatically, “Those rates were insane!” When Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called for the return of 70 percent marginal rates in 2019, Krugman said he believed those rates were “reasonable.” No doubt, he would attribute that change of heart to personal “growth” or just an evolutionary change in his thinking.

  In truth, believing in an all-powerful state that can, in Keynes’ own words, turn “stones into bread” through the magic of spending and creation of new credit does not require personal growth or maturity. Instead, it reflects a mind that prefers fantasy over reality, lies over truth. Paul Krugman can retire peacefully, knowing that he has sanitized the use of raw state power in place of mutually-beneficial exchange that characterizes the marketplace.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 12/07/2024 – 18:40

• USDA Orders Raw Milk Testing Under Guise Of Bird Flu Amid War On Small Farms
  USDA Orders Raw Milk Testing Under Guise Of Bird Flu Amid War On Small Farms

  Nationwide demand for raw milk has never been higher, as out-of-control bureaucrats in their ivory towers in Washington, DC, exploit bird flu outbreaks in dairy herds to financially crush small farms while ensuring that large-scale farms owned by mega corporations, which produce questionable/unhealthy food (hence America’s obesity crisis), remain in control of the nation’s food supply chain. 

  The latest overreach in the war on raw milk comes as the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) ordered dairy farmers to work with the federal agency to test for bird flu (H5N1). 

  On Friday, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack wrote in a statement, “This new milk testing strategy will build on those steps to date and will provide a roadmap for states to protect the health of their dairy herds.” 

  “Among many outcomes, this will give farmers and farmworkers better confidence in the safety of their animals and ability to protect themselves, and it will put us on a path to quickly controlling and stopping the virus’ spread nationwide,” Vilsack said. 

  The new testing mandate gives the federal government yet another foothold in controlling the nation’s milk supply and moves one step closer to banning raw milk, all under the guise of combating “bird flu.”

  The FDA is out of control 💯💯💯. They are targeting raw milk and going after RAW Farm in California, even though they have NO evidence of FOODBORNE transmission of bird flu. RAW Farm produces raw milk that exceeds better bacterial standards than pasteurized milk! Yet the govt is… https://t.co/Ie9GcRDXrC pic.twitter.com/zMVHNN0Z3y

  — Sarah Smith NM (@SarahSmithNM) December 4, 2024

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  The federal government’s war on raw milk, small farms, and the Amish is nothing new. However, it has escalated under the Biden-Harris regime as big gov’t raced to put mom-and-pop farms out of business. It’s all about federal agency capture (at the USDA and many other agencies) by the processed foods industrial complex, which views small farms as a competition threat. 

  

  With Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation hearings to lead the Department of Health and Human Services next month, his views on ‘Making America Healthy Again‘ through clean food have put the processed food industrial complex and big pharma on notice. 

  

  Headlines featuring ‘raw milk’ surged in corporate media after bird flu cases were detected at dairy farms earlier this year. However, following former President Trump’s victory and the strong probability of RFK Jr. leading HHS, anti-raw milk rhetoric in corporate media exploded in just the last few weeks. Maybe the headlines are surging on bird flu cases – yet we believe this is more tied to the processed food industrial complex being absolutely terrified of Kennedy.

  

  In addition to the soaring raw milk demand, Americans are waking up to the disturbing reality of how poisonous the nation’s food supply chain has become. People are turning to small farms, including the Amish, for cleaner ag products—a move that has infuriated the bureaucrats and their friends in the processed food industrial complex. 

  The federal government’s all-out war on small farms is pure insanity. However, the motive is not complex to understand when DC bureaucrats and their billionaire friends want to take over the nation’s food supply chain.

  Reject the processed food industrial complex. Source your food locally, start a victory garden, buy a chicken coop, get honey bees, and if you’re really up for the challenge… buy cattle. Become ungovernable – and that starts by controlling your own food supply chain – not DC bureaucrats and their billionaire friends who want to eliminate cow farts with experimental vaccines. 

  Also, isn’t it odd that DC bureaucrats did not push clean food trends and exercise to fix America’s health crisis? Instead, DC elites resorted to their friends in pharma, pushing GLP-1 medications, such as Ozempic. After all, exercise doesn’t make the DC swamp and pharma money; every GLP-1 injection and kickbacks do.  

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 12/07/2024 – 18:05

• The Miserable Cost Of An Open Border
  The Miserable Cost Of An Open Border

  Authored by Seth Barron via RealClearPolitics,

  The Biden-Harris experiment in dissolving the U.S. border has wrought massive changes to American society, most of which will not be understood for years, if not decades. Since 2021, U.S. border officials have had at least 10 million “encounters” with migrants, many of whom were allowed to enter the country. There is no telling how many more aliens entered the country without encountering enforcement agents. The population of the United States may have increased by as much as 15 million people in just a few years.

  

  This massive flow of humanity crosses multiple national borders, involves every mode of transportation, accounts for billions of dollars paid in fees to smugglers, and describes a fantastically complex economy of suffering and hope. In an effort to get a handle on this human tide, noted muckraker James O’Keefe – known for his hidden camera “gotcha” interviews with abortionists, media executives, progressive nonprofit executives, and other degenerate types – traces the migrant onrush from its source, and seeks to trace the machinery of profit and influence that is conducting it from great removes.

  “Line In The Sand,” the resulting documentary, is a remarkable and humane exposition, revealing perspectives and images American audiences have mostly been prevented from seeing. O’Keefe and his intrepid team begin on the U.S. side of the Mexican border, where we witness migrants crossing the border through holes that their guides have cut in a fence that serves as a target as much as a barrier. Infrared cameras show dozens of illegal aliens streaming toward “pick-up” vehicles on the U.S. side while smugglers – presumably cartel members – a few feet away taunt O’Keefe and his group. “What if I were to run up to them right now, what would happen?” O’Keefe asks his guide. “I would highly advise you against that,” he is told, in a classic understatement.

  The fact that coyotes and other human traffickers are paid to assist northbound migrants with their passage is no scandal; we all know what their motivations are and why they are doing what they do. But O’Keefe documents multiple examples of U.S. Border Patrol agents standing idly by while illegal aliens cross, virtually under their noses. “Why aren’t you doing anything?” he asks. “Have a good day, guys,” a border agent desultorily responds before driving off in the general direction of the episode. Later, a migrant stands in front of a Border Patrol truck, clearly trying to alert the agents of his intention to surrender, but is studiously ignored until O’Keefe and his team call their attention to him.

  There is a kind of sad comedy in the operations of U.S. border security, and O’Keefe is not unsympathetic to the absurd position that border agents have been put in. Trained to defend the national border and to serve as the first line of defense of American soil, these agents have been recommissioned as a perverse Welcome Wagon for illegal aliens, charged with making their undocumented and uninvited entrance to the United States as commodious as possible.

  Looking to get deeper into the heart of this migratory avalanche, O’Keefe went deep into Mexico, to the city of Irapuato, about 150 miles northwest of Mexico City. Irapuato is a popular railway junction where thousands of migrants climb aboard “La Bestia,” or “The Beast,” a cargo train that chugs northward toward the United States. In the film’s most remarkable footage, O’Keefe and his team join with migrants, mostly from South and Central America, to ride The Beast, also known as “el Tren del Muerto,” or the Train of Death. O’Keefe talks to the migrants without condescension, asking them their destinations and what they plan to do when they get there, and their concerns about the perilous nature of the journey. We see the film crew race to jump on a moving train and clamber on top to sit in a pile of coal; O’Keefe is shocked at how truly dangerous this small element of the trip is and sympathizes with the migrants’ difficult choices. These scenes are among the film’s most affecting, along with the crew’s random encounter with a little girl who had just crossed the border after journeying from Guatemala by herself. There is a human dimension to illegal immigration, and O’Keefe does not ignore it. 

  However, there is also an impersonal dimension to this massive population transfer, and O’Keefe determinedly aims to uncover it – to put a face to the institutions and administrators that benefit from the rough injection of millions of people into American society. From government agents to bus companies to nonprofit resettlement groups to private contractors running huge, walled compounds housing thousands of children, O’Keefe doggedly tries to penetrate the mechanics of a system that resolutely hides itself behind a screen of silence, usually in the name of “safety” and “privacy.”

  Some of the film’s more comical moments pertain to these segments, such as when the team follows some just-arrived Chinese migrants in San Diego to an employment agency, where other Chinese aliens, already in the country for several months, complain that it’s much harder to live in the United States than they had imagined. O’Keefe tries to sniff out a connection between the owner of the agency and more powerful actors, but it emerges that there really isn’t much going on; in fact, the owner asks O’Keefe if he knows of a way to apply for government grants.

  Elsewhere, O’Keefe tries to get information about the operations of several huge residential centers for unaccompanied minors and tries to spin their refusal to give him access to the centers or submit to interviews as evidence of the existence of vast, government-funded child sex trafficking networks. But it seems more likely, though no less troubling, that the open borders policy of the last four years has created a tremendous humanitarian crisis of alien children roaming the continent by themselves, and the government is probably trying to keep them from becoming prey to sex traffickers while they sort out where to send them. Though O’Keefe does not uncover a salacious network of child predators, his vigorous pursuit of the truth does reveal the existence of a large, shadowy, government-funded, and lucrative system of child “welfare.”

  So, “Line In The Sand” is correct in the larger sense that billions of dollars are being spent managing this human flow, and many people are getting rich off of it. The last thing these parasitical administrators of the nonprofit industrial complex want is for the border to close. O’Keefe does a great job of capturing in real time the corruption of a local New York City nonprofit called La Jornada, whose leader, Pedro Rodriguez, evidently perpetrates fraud, demanding fees for services that the city provides for free. O’Keefe also sends a Spanish-speaking reporter undercover into the Roosevelt Hotel, New York City’s main processing center for newly-arrived migrants, which offers him free housing, medical care, and even airplane tickets, even though the reporter explains that he has no identification of any sort. How, O’Keefe asks, in our post 9/11 security-obsessed era, are we to make sense of a system that admits millions of unvetted foreigners into the country, and then offers to fly them anywhere they care to go?

  “Line In The Sand” is rough in parts, but intentionally so. Its subject is so sprawling and tangled that a neat and clean representation would be a lie. Even with a nine-figure budget – which this film assuredly did not have – a documentary about the border and the 30 million-footed human swarm that has crossed it would be messy and incomplete. But James O’Keefe and his small team have done something remarkable. They have taken on the decade’s biggest story, given it form, and preserved the humanity of its subjects. It is worth watching.

  Seth Barron is a writer in New York and author of the forthcoming “Weaponized from Humanix.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 12/07/2024 – 17:30

• Gaetz, Hegseth, Gabbard, Then RFK Jr: Megyn Kelly Warns 'Deep State Is Coming For Them All'
  Gaetz, Hegseth, Gabbard, Then RFK Jr: Megyn Kelly Warns ‘Deep State Is Coming For Them All’

  As Pete Hegseth – president-elect Trump’s pick for SecDef – runs the gauntlet of the nomination process, amid a cornucopia of media amplified unsubstantiated accusations against him, Sirius XM host Megyn Kelly has warned that the political establishment, both Democrats and Republicans, are attempting to derail Trump’s second term before it has even begun by targeting his cabinet picks.

  

  As Steve Watson writes at Modernity.news, Kelly pointed to Pete Hegseth, who who is fighting to stay in the running for Secretary of Defense amid a cornucopia of media amplified unsubstantiated accusations against him. 

  Kelly warned that if Hegseth falls like Matt Gaetz did, then RFK Jr., Tulsi Gabbard and anyone else Trump picks will likely be next.

  “If you don’t think they’re going to do this to RFK Jr., you haven’t been paying attention,” Kelly urged.

  “I realize that Pete has his belly exposed. He has not led a perfect life, and there’s plenty if you want to start attacking his character in terms of his marital history and so on,” Kelly noted. 

  “But as he said to me yesterday, he found around 20, I think it was 18 or so, he found his two J’s: his wife, Jen and Jesus, and started changing his life in a profound way,” she further explained.

  The host continued, “Let’s say they get Pete’s scalp like they got Matt Gates’s scalp, Bobby Kennedy’s history makes Pete look like the consummate Boy Scout. He looks like he’s ready to enter the priesthood.”

  “He’s a lot older, with a lot more of a checkered past… It’s not going to be pretty at all. So we are really at a crossroads here about whether we are going to sacrifice these nominees because of checkered personal pasts or not. It’s not going to get easier after Pete,” Kelly emphasized.

  But, as Gery Berntsen writes at American Greatness, when Pete Hegseth is confirmed as Secretary of Defense, he will be a forceful agent of change for the betterment of the United States of America.

  The abridged version of a famous Machiavelli quote, “Nothing is more difficult or dangerous than to attempt to change the order of things,” is in full view as we watch the process of confirming President Trump’s Secretary of Defense. When Pete Hegseth is confirmed as Secretary of Defense, he will be a forceful agent of change for the betterment of the United States of America.

  President-elect Trump’s nominee, retired Army National Guard Major and Fox News host Peter Hegseth, is receiving considerable fire amid allegations of misconduct while CEO of Concerned Veterans for America (CVA).

  I am writing this article because I was one of the founding members of CVA. I am an Air Force veteran and retired senior operations officer and chief of station in the Central Intelligence Agency. While at the CIA, I held major field command positions and was a senior manager in the CIA’s Counter-Terrorism Center (CTC). I led the CIA’s largest paramilitary element on the ground during the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, seizing Kabul, initiating the battle of Tora Bora, and leading teams around the globe in several dangerous crises. I worked hand in glove with the most important elements of the National Security Council, the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice, and the FBI to secure and safeguard American interests. Based on 30 years of this experience and my personal knowledge of Pete Hegseth, I have no doubt that he will excel as Secretary of Defense.

  CVA Backstory

  Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) was created by a small group of veterans and one non-veteran who had all worked together in the failed 2008 presidential campaign of Senator John McCain. In 2011, a member of that team contacted me and told me he had funding to create a nationwide veterans organization focused on addressing veteran needs, educating the public, and building support for those ideas.

  CVA was created as a 501(c)(3), and I was asked to be its first CEO. I did not accept the position, as it would have required me to relocate to the Washington, D.C., area and I had just bought a home in Florida. I was also busy managing a security company in Afghanistan. I was then asked whether I would agree to become the Southeast Coordinator for CVA and work under Pete Hegseth. He was twenty years my junior but had served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and GITMO.

  I read some articles by Hegseth, had seen him interviewed on television, and went to Washington, D.C., to meet him and the team. He was humble, direct, and smart. It was clear to me that he was policy-driven and capable, though only in his mid-30s. He was familiar with my published work and that of many others involved in counterterrorism and the war against Islamic radicalism. And critically, in our earliest discussions, he made it clear that he understood that taking care of our veterans’ medical needs was paramount.

  He made healthcare the immediate focus of CVA. His vision matched the core values of the organization. While I was focusing on building out a solid ground game, Pete was challenging VA shortcomings, holding their feet to the fire on behalf of American veterans. As a concerned veteran, I was impressed.

  Pete recruited other veterans like me who had significant national security backgrounds to build out the national organization. This was the very thing required of his position. He met with policymakers and funding sources who could move our organization forward.

  We held dozens of events together over several years. We drank coffee by the gallon, but I never witnessed any performance impaired by alcohol. In fact, he handled a situation well that involved an employee who did have an alcohol-related incident. That man had a drinking problem and had made a pass at a female coordinator under his supervision. As I addressed the situation, I called Pete. After I described what happened, Pete was decisive. He asked me to place the employee in rehab, reassign him, and counsel him against ever doing that sort of thing again. We placed a letter in the employee’s personnel file and protected the female employee’s privacy and interests. This demonstrates Pete’s decisiveness, concern, and responsibility for CVA and its personnel. These decisions were made in a single day.

  Senators interested in the moral compass of CVA should consult other senior managers from the organization. I will provide any interested senator with the names and contact information of people who conducted dozens of events and worked closely with Pete Hegseth for several years.

  One policy issue addressed by Hegseth garnering much attention is his stated opposition to women in combat. Looking to the Afghan conflict ‘Operation Enduring Freedom’ as a recent example, women made up approximately 10 percent of the force on the ground. They are in theatre and add great value as pilots, medical personnel, and intelligence personnel. Their work is high quality, but using them in combat arms needs to be addressed honestly.

  The reality is very few men are capable of serving in a line infantry and combat arms-oriented unit. The demands on soldiers and Marines in terms of strength and physical endurance are beyond what civilians can comprehend. In college football or NFL practice, participants arrive fresh, work out for three to five hours, then take a shower and go home and sleep. In a line infantry element, significant and exhausting physical efforts go on day after day, hour after hour, with almost no sleep. Soldiers and Marines may be in battle for extended periods of time fighting for their very lives. There surely are a minuscule number of women in the country with the ability and desire to serve in the arduous conditions of battle; however, this number is so small that it makes writing policy on the matter difficult. Pete Hegseth’s view on the matter is formed by recent deployments. It better represents reality than the current Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, the SecDef who helped surrender Afghanistan disgracefully and needlessly to an untrained and unorganized gang. Pete Hegseth would never have allowed such a surrender.

  In 2016, I endorsed candidate Donald J. Trump. I was the fourth and final speaker before Sarasota County GOP Chairman Joseph Grutters would present candidate Trump at his first Florida rally at the Sun Dome in Tampa. Endorsing Trump created a conflict with the 501(c)(3) status of CVA, so I resigned in order to campaign freely for Trump.

  I have held senior positions in the national security apparatus during times of combat and crisis. I have seen what is required of an effective leader, and I know Pete Hegseth will be an effective leader. Though not seeking employment, I would have no hesitation serving under Pete Hegseth if he were the Secretary of Defense. He has sound judgment on policy, management, and national security priorities. When making policy, he will remember the lessons of Armed Forces veterans who recently served in combat zones. Members of the U.S. Senate, I recommend you vote to confirm him.

  Trump reaffirmed support for Hegseth Thursday, issuing a statement defending him.

  “Pete Hegseth is doing very well. His support is strong and deep, much more so than the Fake News would have you believe. He was a great student – Princeton/Harvard educated – with a Military state of mind,” Trump said.

  “He will be a fantastic, high energy, Secretary of Defense, one who leads with charisma and skill. Pete is a WINNER, and there is nothing that can be done to change that!!!” the president-elect further urged.

  Hegseth has committed to staying in contention as the defense secretary.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 12/07/2024 – 16:55

• EPA Ends Shortcut Approvals For So-Called 'Forever Chemicals'
  EPA Ends Shortcut Approvals For So-Called ‘Forever Chemicals’

  Authored by Caden Pearson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) updated regulations on Dec. 3 that will prevent PFAS, often referred to as forever chemicals, from being fast-tracked for approval through an exemption process.

  

  PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a family of forever chemicals used in a variety of products, are known to resist breaking down and therefore persist in the environment. They have also been linked to serious health problems.

  The new rule ends the eligibility of PFAS for the Low Volume Exemptions process, which allowed certain chemicals to bypass the full review if they were to be produced in limited quantities. This exemption rule has historically applied to more than 600 PFAS compounds.

  The updated rules are designed to ensure that PFAS undergo a comprehensive safety review before they can be manufactured. According to the EPA, this change is designed to protect public health and the environment by subjecting PFAS to the agency’s full risk assessment process.

  Senior EPA official Michael Freedhoff said in a statement that the agency’s review of new chemicals should encourage innovation while ensuring safety before new chemicals “enter commerce.”

  “Today, we’ve modernized our chemical reviews and continued to protect people from unsafe new PFAS,” said Freedhoff, the EPA’s assistant administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.

  PFAS are used in a wide range of products, from cookware to firefighting foam. They have also been linked to health problems, including some cancers, kidney issues, and reduced fertility. PFAS have accumulated in the environment and in human and animal tissue, sparking widespread concern.

  Under the updated rule, manufacturers must provide detailed information about a chemical’s uses, exposure potential, and health effects before approval.

  The rule also expands the EPA’s oversight of chemicals classified as persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic, ensuring stricter controls for substances that pose significant risks.

  The changes are part of broader efforts by the EPA to strengthen its chemical review process following the 2016 amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act. These amendments require the agency to conduct a comprehensive risk assessment for new chemicals before they can enter the market.

  The rule will take effect 30 days after its official publication in the Federal Register.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 12/07/2024 – 16:20

• China Is The World's Manufacturing Superpower
  China Is The World’s Manufacturing Superpower

  According to data published by the United Nations Statistics Division, China accounted for 31 percent of global manufacturing output in 2022.

  As Statista’s Felix Richter shows in the chart below, that puts the country almost 15 percentage points ahead of second-placed United States, which used to have the world’s largest manufacturing sector until China overtook it in 2010.

  

  You will find more infographics at Statista

  With total value added by the Chinese manufacturing sector amounting to more than $5 trillion in 2022, manufacturing accounted for nearly 30 percent of the country’s total economic output.

  The U.S. economy is much less reliant on manufacturing these days: in 2022, the manufacturing sector accounted for just over 10 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

  China’s global manufacturing dominance is so large that the value added in its manufacturing sector roughly matches the combined output of the next seven largest manufacturing countries in the world.

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 12/07/2024 – 15:45

• Now What? A GOP Governing Agenda
  Now What? A GOP Governing Agenda

  Authored by Guy Ciarrocchi via RealClearPennsylvania,

  Trump returns to the White House. The GOP has majorities in the Senate and House. Now what?

  It’s time to make America great again. To fix what “they” broke. To flip the narrative, so that government works for us – not the other way around. Yet, where to begin?

  

  Inflation. Cleaning-up the Justice Department – including directives targeting parents attending school board meetings, “pro-lifers,” and Catholics who like Latin Mass. The hostages held by Hamas, and Israel’s fight with Hamas and other terror groups. Men playing women’s sports. The Ukrainian-Russian war. Securing the border and doing something about our many million illegal immigrants. Closing down the failed Department of Education. Unleashing American energy – oil, natural gas, and nuclear. Holding higher education accountable. Protecting American farmland from the Chinese. Dealing with the insanity of the United Nations. Rebuilding our military and refocusing it on national security. Stopping “climate crisis” madness. Making America healthy. Fighting anti-Semitism. Combating violent crime in our cities.

  The Biden/Harris administration and its counterparts in many cities and states leave behind a mess. They have misused and abused the powers of government.

  For those more focused on governing than campaigning, the bigger thrill is not Election Night celebrations but undoing harmful policies and enacting good ones. Now the heavy lifting starts.

  A smart, effective roadmap has to be a marriage of MAGA and conservative political priorities with “kitchen-table” issues. In short, prioritize the legislative agenda around the coalition that helped Republicans win Pennsylvania and other swing states.

  With a narrow House majority and the inevitable Chuck Schumer-led filibusters in the Senate, this kind of focus will be critical to pushing issues over the finish line. Plus, these policies – and the legislators supporting them – must withstand the inevitable resistance from special interests and the legacy media, many already beginning their assault against the Trump agenda. All the more reason to maintain the diverse but fragile coalition that prevailed on November 5.

  Trying to do everything at once, however, will drain resources and confuse the public, leaving Republicans vulnerable to obstruction from Democrats and their allies. Unifying priorities, effective messages, and well-executed legislative plans are essential to making progress and improving the lives of Americans. Success will offer opportunities to grow public support – and to accomplish even more. And yes, to win future elections, too.

  What unites MAGA, conservative Republicans, first-time voters in rural Pennsylvania, and black and Hispanic voters in Philadelphia, Reading, and elsewhere who supported Trump for the first time? The “kitchen-table issues” that the GOP talked about. The practical things that matter to those of us focused on reality, rather than trying to advance an ideology or seek “revenge.”

  Priority one must be fighting inflation – making life more affordable. As Ronald Reagan explained: “Inflation is the cruelest tax.” It eats away at every paycheck, every week, every day.

  This will take time, but the reversal begins with a few vital steps. Start by clawing back the unspent billions allocated for the so-called Inflation Reduction Act (how Orwellian a name!).

  Next, the United States must be energy-independent. This lowers the cost of everything. Permits for drilling must be approved so that American oil and natural gas can be unleashed to lower prices, raise our quality of life, and improve national security. Additionally, the holds on oil and gas leases must be lifted. Lastly, we should allow Pennsylvanians – and our friends in Ohio and West Virginia – to sell liquified natural gas to our European allies. We will make money and create jobs, while helping Germany, France, Poland and others get out from under Vladimir Putin’s thumb.

  Be prepared to implement as many of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s DOGE recommendations as possible. We must not only stop the growth and reduce the power of the federal government; we must also eliminate wasteful spending, regulations, and even whole agencies that make it harder for businesses to operate.

  Next, secure our borders and address the illegal immigration crisis. Most of these people are being entirely subsidized by taxpayers. Start with the known criminals, then move on to those who have no jobs or host family here. We need to restore our borders and respect for the law – and stop encouraging people to sneak in, live for free, and falsely claim “amnesty.”

  Next, peace. Work to get our hostages home and to stabilize the firefights around the world that drain our resources, divert our energies, and pull American service members into wars. Support Israel in its effort to rescue the hostages and eliminate terrorists, their masterminds, and their funders. Work to bring the Ukraine-Russia war to an end.

  Make life more affordable and strengthen our economy. Secure our border and protect Americans and those respecting the rule of law. Strengthen our resolve with allies, support our military, and build peace through strength.

  These are the goals and promises that unified the Trump coalition and won the election. From here, they can move on to other worthy and important goals – everything from school choice to tax reform, from the mess at the UN to protecting American farmland and rooting out the waste and inefficiencies of our bureaucracies and agencies.

  But first, focus on kitchen-table issues that unite voters. Show voters that you’ve listened. Prove that you share their priorities. Gain their trust, grow the cause, and go on from there. It’s an approach that makes sense not just politically but more importantly, for the good of the nation. 

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 12/07/2024 – 15:10

• 'Not Our Fight!': Trump Weighs In On Syria's Unraveling 
  ‘Not Our Fight!’: Trump Weighs In On Syria’s Unraveling 

  President-elect Donald Trump has weighed in on the rapid-moving events in Syria, where jihadist groups backed by Turkey are entering the outside environs of the capital of Damascus. The embattled President Bashar al-Assad still appears to be in residence, but his future is far from certain.

  “Opposition fighters in Syria, in an unprecedented move, have totally taken over numerous cities, in a highly coordinated offensive, and are now on the outskirts of Damascus, obviously preparing to make a very big move toward taking out Assad,” he began the statement on Truth Social.

  Trump emphasized that Washington should stay completely out, calling the situation a “mess” and that it is “not our fight”. He posted the same message on X.

  

  It alludes to Russia’s inability to continue protecting Syria, given it is bogged down in the nearly three year long Ukraine war, while also blasting former President Obama’s past Syria policies and that he laid down ‘red lines’. 

  Below is the full statement:

  Russia, because they are so tied up in Ukraine, and with the loss there of over 600,000 soldiers, seems incapable of stopping this literal march through Syria, a country they have protected for years. This is where former President Obama refused to honor his commitment of protecting the RED LINE IN THE SAND, and all hell broke out, with Russia stepping in. But now they are, like possibly Assad himself, being forced out, and it may actually be the best thing that can happen to them. There was never much of a benefit in Syria for Russia, other than to make Obama look really stupid.

  Syria is a mess, but is not our friend, & THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!”

  Opposition fighters in Syria, in an unprecedented move, have totally taken over numerous cities, in a highly coordinated offensive, and are now on the outskirts of Damascus, obviously preparing to make a very big move toward taking out Assad. Russia, because they are so tied up…

  — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2024

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  It must be remembered that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the group backed by NATO member Turkey and leading this anti-Assad onslaught, is a US-designated terror organization.

  A big question is: what comes next? While HTS has morphed from Syrian Al-Qaeda, it is trying to present to the West a softer image, claiming that it will protect minorities including Christians. However, its recent past clearly demonstrates that it rules territories under its control with Taliban-style force and brutality.

  Much of the nation’s population until now has stuck with Assad given the alternative is Somalia-style fracturing and rule by competing jihadist warlords. One thing is for sure: Trump will inherent dealing with an absolute tragic mess in Syria, the heartland of the Middle East, upon his opening days in office.

  Except the US has backed these Islamic rebels, for the very purpose of removing Assad who has protected the Christians in Syria and for that purpose, we should remove all support from the rebels. #orthodox https://t.co/eG7dbsYaKb

  — Fr. Michael Lillie (@FrLillie) December 7, 2024

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  Currently, US forces still occupy one-third of Syria, in the oil and gas areas of the northeast. During Trump’s first term he expressed an effort to “bring the troops home” but it’s widely reported he was stymied by his generals and national security officials

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 12/07/2024 – 14:35

• Did The Secret Service Chief Perjure Himself After Screaming Match?
  Did The Secret Service Chief Perjure Himself After Screaming Match?

  Authored by Susan Crabtree via RealClearPolitics,

  After a screaming match between acting Secret Service Director Ron Rowe and Texas Rep. Pat Fallon erupted at a Thursday House hearing on the attempted assassination attempts against President-elect Donald Trump, new details are emerging about the circumstances that sparked the outburst.

  

  Several Secret Service sources question whether Rowe has perjured himself during the explosive exchange.

  The face-off occurred during the final meeting of the House Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Trump when Fallon produced a photo of Rowe standing behind President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at a 9/11 memorial event in New York City in September. Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance appeared on the right side of the photo.

  The congressman, a Texas Republican, pressed Rowe on why he had positioned himself behind Biden when normal Secret Service protocol would place the most senior member of the president’s detail in that position to provide the best protection to the president. The event took place on Sept. 11, just days before the second assassination attempt against Trump at one of the president-elect’s golf courses in Florida.

  At the time, the outcome of the election was still unknown, and Rowe was trying to prove that he could quickly rehabilitate the agency’s image after the cataclysmic failures during the July 13 Butler rally that nearly led to Trump’s assassination and did result in the death of Corey Comperatore, a retired local fireman.

  Fallon accused Rowe of endangering Biden’s and Harris’ lives by taking their top two agents out of position because he “wanted to be visible because you were auditioning for the job.”

  Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas promoted Rowe from deputy director to interim chief of the agency in the wake of the Butler rally. The previous director, Kimberly Cheatle, had resigned after disastrous testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

  Rowe responded swiftly and angrily to Fallon’s line of questions.

  “Congressman, what you’re seeing is the [Special Agent in Charge of the Detail] out of the picture’s view,” Rowe said. “And that is a day where we remember the more than 3,000 people that died on 9/11,” Rowe added. “I actually responded to Ground Zero. I was there going through the ashes of the World Trade Center. I was there at Fresh Kills,” Rowe added, referencing a Staten Island landfill where debris was taken.

  Fallon quickly interjected: “I’m not asking you that.”

  “I was there, congressman!” Rowe bellowed while pointing aggressively at Fallon before accusing him of acting like a “bully” and politicizing 9/11.

  BREAKING: All h*ll breaks loose as USSS Director Rowe and GOP Rep Fallon get in a shouting match over assass*nation attempts on Trump.

  Fallon was sharing a photo of Biden with Trump at the 9/11 commemoration to criticize Rowe.

  “Do not invoke 9/11 for political purposes!!” pic.twitter.com/RNUfiR5A1a

  — Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 5, 2024

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  Rowe was already on edge from Fallon’s pointed questioning just minutes before. The congressman asked Rowe whether he knew that Trump was facing a threat from a foreign actor while the Secret Service advance team was preparing for the Butler rally, a likely reference to assassination plots by Iran against Trump’s life. If he did know, the congressman asked why he didn’t intervene to provide a counter-surveillance unit or a full Counter Assault Team, top Secret Service security assets, in addition to the counter snipers the agency provided These additional assets, Fallon asserted, could have prevented the assassination attempt from taking place.

  An eyewitness to the 9/11 memorial this year tells RealClearPolitics that Rowe’s decision to take the place of the top two agents in charge of the president’s and vice president’s detail spurred resentment among the ranks. The source said there were toe marks placed on the ground with every attendee’s name and title. Rowe’s original toe mark was three rows back.

  Instead of simply standing where he was designated, Rowe disregarded the arrangement and placed himself behind Biden and Harris. The leaders of those details then had to squeeze in so they could be within arm’s reach of the president and vice president if they faced any threats. The source also noted that Rowe’s wife, a longtime Secret Service employee, was the photographer for the event that day and was snapping “a ton of action shots of Ron standing in his place of prominence.”

  During Thursday’s testy shouting match, Fallon demanded to know whether Rowe had a gun and radio on him during the ceremony, an apparent reference to whether he was operational and equipped to respond to a threat against Biden’s or Harris’ lives if any arose.

  Rowe retorted that he did have a radio and a gun on him at the ceremony and insisted that the protective mission was not compromised by his decision to move to a more prominent position. The Secret Service press office provided a lengthy explanation of his Secret Service roles in New York City after the 9/11 attacks but didn’t respond to a follow-up question from RealClearPolitics on whether he stood by those remarks about having a gun and radio on him during the ceremony.  

  Rank-and-file agents were incensed over Rowe’s screaming match and said they doubted the acting director’s testimony that he had a radio during the 9/11 ceremony this year because he wasn’t wearing an earpiece to hear the intelligence chatter on a radio. They also said top Secret Service officials usually do not wear earpieces or ballistic missile vests to ceremonies like the one on 9/11 because they spend most of their time meeting with other officials, not monitoring radio traffic for threats.

  After the blow-up went viral on social media, the Secret Service provided a statement clarifying Rowe’s work in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.

  “Acting Director Ronald Rowe volunteered to support the U.S. Secret Service’s official response efforts in New York following 9/11,” Guglielmi said in a statement. “He was a part of the second response rotation, which occurred in mid-October 2001. As part of his duties, he worked to support recovery efforts at both Fresh Kills Landfill and Ground Zero.”

  “Acting Director Rowe joined the U.S. Secret Service in 1999 and was working as a shift agent assigned to protect a visiting foreign dignitary in Washington, D.C. on the day of the 9/11 attacks,” Guglielmi added.

  “In reference to your questions about the 9/11 memorial, all detail personnel were present and had complete access to their protectees during the memorial,” he concluded.

  While most of the hearing recycled previous revelations about the agency’s failures during the Butler rally, Rep. Mark Green, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, also expressed outrage in expletive-laced questions over how the agency missed such obvious security vulnerabilities.

  Green said the agency’s conduct during the July shooting seemed “lackadaisical” and slammed the agents in charge of the Butler rally, whom he said showed up to the event and “didn’t give a shit.”

  The Tennessee Republican who previously served as an Army doctor argued that the Secret Service has a “command-climate” problem. “There was apathy and complacency, period, and that’s your mission,” Green told Rowe.

  Rowe provided a vague response to Green’s concerns.

  “So, we are reorganizing, reimagining the organization that includes making sure that we are developing leadership programs,” he said.

  In his opening statement, Rowe said he spent the months since the assassination items focused on implementing reforms to ensure that the failures at Butler never happen again.

  “I have reflected extensively on the agency’s substandard performance during the advance for the Butler rally,” he said. “It has been my singular focus to bring much-needed reform to the Secret Service, to be an agent of change, to challenge previous assumptions – [to ensure that] the brave men and women of the Secret Service have the resources, leadership, and assets that they need to be successful in carrying out our protective mission.”

  Addressing criticism that the agents involved in the poor planning for and execution of the Butler rally, have not been held accountable, Rowe expressed frustration with the length of time it takes to provide “accountability” for the failures.

  “Let me be clear: There will be accountability, and that accountability is occurring,” he said. “It is an extensive review that requires time to ensure due process and the pace of this process, quite frankly, it does frustrate me, but it is essential that we recognize the gravity of our failure.”

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 12/07/2024 – 14:00

• "When That Turns… You Buy Them All" – Key Insights From Oil Strategist Bulls & Bears
  “When That Turns… You Buy Them All” – Key Insights From Oil Strategist Bulls & Bears

  Where is oil headed? Most analysts flipped bearish following the Trump win with promises to “drill baby drill”. But how will tariffs factor in? Sanctions? War? Friday night concluded ZeroHedge’s first live-premium debate with energy analysts Josh Young of Bison Interests (The Bull) and Paul Sankey of Sankey Research (The Bear) who answered these questions and more.

  Expertly moderated by “The Macro Tourist” Kevin Muir, we’ve compiled key moments below but encourage all readers to listen to the full debate (linked at the bottom).

  The Bear Case:

  As Mr. Sankey notes, “US refiners are running at very high levels of absolute throughput… but absolute levels of barrels going through the refineries seem to be really crushing margins.” In essence, the challenge of high volumes but low profitability, especially during seasonal downturns. 

  He adds, “it’s seasonally absolutely normal for this to be a very bad time of year because obviously people are not driving to the beach,” pointing to the predictable lull in demand. Global overcapacity, particularly China’s modernized refining sector and the retirement of inefficient “teapot refineries,” complicates the balance between capacity and demand. Sankey underscores that “the US hasn’t built a new refinery since the seventies,” highlighting the long-term decline in domestic refining capacity.

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  — ZeroHedge Debates (@zerohedgeDebate) December 7, 2024

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  Sankey goes on to argue that while demand is important, “the pricing principle is productivity of supply.” When oil productivity falls, prices rise. In the 60s and 70s, “OPEC cutting supply… productivity fell and the price rocketed.” When non-OPEC supply increased in the 80s and 90s, productivity rose, and prices fell. In the 2000s, China’s demand surged, but “you weren’t getting a supply response, and the price rose.”

  From 2012 onwards, U.S. oil productivity improvements put pressure on prices, as the U.S. added 10-13 million barrels per day of supply. Sankey points out that this “has been the problem for OPEC” as U.S. output has “eaten their lunch.” The crucial turning point will be when U.S. productivity declines: “When the U.S. productivity begins to roll over… we’re looking for it.” Sankey predicts that in two to three years, U.S. production will begin to struggle, which could shift his outlook: “When that turns to decline, then you buy them all.” 

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  — ZeroHedge Debates (@zerohedgeDebate) December 7, 2024

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  The Bull Case:

  On the other side, Chinese demand remains strong, says Mr. Young who challenges a notion put forth by Sankey that we are likely to hit peak global demand. Young emphasizing that despite the growth of electric vehicles (EVs) and LNG-powered trucks, “they still represent the minority of vehicles that are produced in China and sold.” Gasoline-powered vehicles continue to increase, and diesel remains dominant in China’s truck fleet. Clear and ongoing demand for traditional fuels.

  On Chinese refinery capacity, Young suggests that it reflects “revealed preferences” rather than just environmental initiatives. “I struggle to come up with a bearish oil narrative for China growing their refinery capacity significantly in the last few years.” 

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  — ZeroHedge Debates (@zerohedgeDebate) December 7, 2024

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  Compounding strong demand is weak supply, particularly in nat gas, says Young. 

  “We’re starting to see core gas producers come in and pay pretty high prices for assets that are nearly fully developed.” Young reveals that liquored-up energy investment bankers confided in him earlier this week about their concerns of limited inventory, sharing that they “are close to out of these core inventory places.”

  pic.twitter.com/rt2nNuBDP9

  — ZeroHedge Debates (@zerohedgeDebate) December 7, 2024

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  Dark Horse Event To Change The Thesis

  Muir closed by asking Young and Sankey what could change their oil outlooks. Young stated, “If there isn’t some sort of catastrophic tariff on China and there’s further stimulus in China, but Chinese demand materially disappoints and goes negative in 2025, I think that would make a very uncomfortable situation for an oil bull.”

  Sankey focused on supply, emphasizing its outsized impact over the demand side of the price equation. He specifically noted the impact of U.S. shale production. U.S. shale has added 10-13 million barrels per day and if this productivity declines in the next two to three years, Sankey said, his bearish view will shift.

  In short, the bulls should keep an eye out for weakness in Chinese demand. Bears should watch for declining U.S. shale production.

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  — ZeroHedge Debates (@zerohedgeDebate) December 7, 2024

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  To hear the full Bull and Bear discussion that went for over an hour, you must sign up for ZeroHedge Premium or Professional tiers. Pro subs additionally gain access to institutional research from the major banks to help you gain an edge when trading. Sign up before next Friday evening when Michael Pento and Lance Roberts debate as Pento calls for a 50%+ market crash while Roberts remains long S&P, exclusively for paid ZH subs.
   

  Tyler Durden
  Sat, 12/07/2024 – 13:25

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