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Amid Christmas and New Year’s celebrations, many people stocked up on their favorite drinks.

And what better way to toast on a special occasion than opening a bottle of champagne, one of France’s proudest exports.

As Statista’s Felix Richter shows in the chart below, the United States and the UK are particularly fond of the exclusive sparkling wine from the Champagne region, having imported 26.9 and 25.5 million bottles in 2023, respectively.

You will find more infographics at Statista

As our chart, based on data by the trade association Comité Champagne, shows, five of the eight largest international markets for champagne are located in Europe.

This is not to say that other countries don’t enjoy sparkling wine, but the numbers given here only refer to the higher-priced, regionally-produced drink from the French region of Champagne.

The area was officially designated in 1927 and is home to winemakers like Veuve Clicquot, Moët & Chandon and Krug.

While champagne makes up less than 10 percent of global sparkling wine consumption, it accounts for 35 percent of the market value, generated with only 0.5 percent of the world’s total vineyard area.

Overall, champagne exports from France amounted to roughly $4.4 billion in 2023, with the U.S. alone importing almost $1 billion worth of the prestigious bubbly.

Authored by Joshua Stylman via substack,

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

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

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

This investigation unfolds in three parts: In Part One, we examined the foundational systems of control established in the early 20th century. In Part Two, we explored how these methods evolved through popular culture and counterculture movements. Finally, in Part Three below, we’ll see how these techniques have been automated and perfected through digital systems.

The Algorithmic Age

Having explored the physical and psychological mechanisms of control in Part One, and their deployment through cultural engineering in Part Two, we now turn to their ultimate evolution: the automation of consciousness control through digital systems.

In my research on the tech-industrial complex, I’ve documented how today’s digital giants weren’t simply co-opted by power structures – many were potentially designed from their inception as tools for mass surveillance and social control. From Google’s origins in a DARPA-funded CIA project to Amazon’s founder’s familial ties to ARPA, these weren’t just successful startups that later aligned with government interests

What Tavistock discovered through years of careful study—emotional resonance trumps facts, peer influence outweighs authority, and indirect manipulation succeeds where direct propaganda fails—now forms the foundational logic of social media algorithms. Facebook’s emotion manipulation study and Netflix’s A/B testing of thumbnails (explored in detail later) exemplify the digital automation of these century-old insights, as AI systems perform billions of real-time experiments, continuously refining the art of influence at an unprecedented scale.

Just as Laurel Canyon served as a physical space for steering culture, today’s digital platforms function as virtual laboratories for consciousness control—reaching further and operating with far greater precision. Social media platforms have scaled these principles through ‘influencer’ amplification and engagement metrics. The discovery that indirect influence outperforms direct propaganda now shapes how platforms subtly adjust content visibility. What once required years of meticulous psychological study can now be tested and optimized in real time, with algorithms leveraging billions of interactions to perfect their methods of influence.

The manipulation of music reflects a broader evolution in cultural control: what began with localized programming, like Laurel Canyon’s experiments in counterculture, has now transitioned into global, algorithmically-driven systems. These digital tools automate the same mechanisms, shaping consciousness on an unprecedented scale

Netflix’s approach parallels Bernays’ manipulation principles in digital form – perhaps unsurprisingly, as co-founder Marc Bernays Randolph was Edward Bernays’ great-nephew and Sigmund Freud’s great-grand-nephew. Where Bernays used focus groups to test messaging, Netflix conducts massive A/B testing of thumbnails and titles, showing different images to different users based on their psychological profiles. Their recommendation algorithm doesn’t just suggest content – it shapes viewing patterns by controlling visibility and context, and context, similar to how Bernays orchestrated comprehensive promotional campaigns that shaped public perception through multiple channels. Just as Bernays understood how to create the perfect environment to sell products – like promoting music rooms in homes to sell pianos – Netflix crafts personalized interfaces that guide viewers toward specific content choices. Their approach to original content production similarly relies on analyzing mass psychological data to craft narratives for specific demographic segments.

More insidiously, Netflix’s content strategy actively shapes social consciousness through selective promotion and burial of content. While films supporting establishment narratives receive prominent placement, documentaries questioning official accounts often find themselves buried in the platform’s least-visible categories or excluded from recommendation algorithms entirely. Even successful films like What Is a Woman? faced systematic suppression across multiple platforms, demonstrating how digital gatekeepers can effectively erase challenging perspectives while maintaining the illusion of open access.

I experienced this censorship firsthand. I was fortunate enough to serve as a producer for Anecdotals, directed by Jennifer Sharp, a film documenting COVID-19 vaccine injuries, including her own. YouTube removed it on day one, claiming individuals couldn’t discuss their own vaccine experiences. Only after Senator Ron Johnson’s intervention was the film reinstated—a telling example of how platform censorship silences personal narratives that challenge official accounts.

This gatekeeping extends across the digital landscape. By controlling which documentaries appear prominently, which foreign films reach American audiences, and which perspectives get highlighted in their original programming, platforms like Netflix act as cultural gatekeepers – just as Bernays managed public perception for his corporate clients. Where earlier systems relied on human gatekeepers to shape culture, streaming platforms use data analytics and recommendation algorithms to automate the steering of consciousness. The platform’s content strategy and promotion systems represent Bernays’ principles of psychological manipulation operating at unprecedented scale.

Reality TV: Engineering the Self

Before social media turned billions into their own content creators, Reality TV perfected the template for self-commodification. The Kardashians exemplified this transition: transforming from reality TV stars into digital-age influencers, they showed how to convert personal authenticity into a marketable brand. Their show didn’t just reshape societal norms around wealth and consumption – it provided a masterclass in abandoning genuine human experience for carefully curated performance. Audiences learned that being oneself was less valuable than becoming a brand, that authentic moments mattered less than engineered content, that real relationships were secondary to networked influence.

This transformation from person to persona would reach its apex with social media, where billions now willingly participate in their own behavioral modification. Users learn to suppress authentic expression in favor of algorithmic rewards, to filter genuine experience through the lens of potential content, to value themselves not by internal measures but through metrics of likes and shares. What Reality TV pioneered – the voluntary surrender of privacy, the replacement of authentic self with marketable image, the transformation of life into content – social media would democratize at global scale. Now anyone could become their own reality show, trading authenticity for engagement.

Instagram epitomizes this transformation, training users to view their lives as content to be curated, their experiences as photo opportunities, their memories as stories to be shared with the public. The platform’s ‘influencer’ economy turns authentic moments into marketing opportunities, teaching users to modify their actual behavior – where they go, what they eat, how they dress – to create content that algorithms will reward. This isn’t just sharing life online – it’s reshaping life itself to serve the digital marketplace.

Even as these systems grow more pervasive, their limits are becoming increasingly visible. The same tools that enable manipulating cultural currents also reveal its fragility, as audiences begin to challenge manipulative narratives.

Cracks in the System

Despite its sophistication, the system of control is beginning to show cracks. Increasingly, the public is pushing back against blatant attempts at cultural engineering, as evidenced by current consumer and electoral rejections.

Recent attempts at obvious cultural exploitation, such as corporate marketing campaigns and celebrity-driven narratives, have begun to fail, signaling a turning point in public tolerance for manipulation. When Bud Light and Target – companies with their own deep establishment connections – faced massive consumer backlash in 2023 over their social messaging campaigns, the speed and scale of the rejection marked a significant shift in consumer behavior. Major investment firms like BlackRock faced unprecedented pushback against ESG initiatives, seeing significant outflows which forced them to recalibrate their approach. Even celebrity influence lost its power to shape public opinion – when dozens of A-list celebrities united behind one candidate in the 2024 election, their coordinated endorsements not only failed to sway voters but may have backfired, suggesting a growing public fatigue with manufactured consensus.

The public is increasingly recognizing these manipulation patterns. When viral videos expose dozens of news anchors reading identical scripts about ‘threats to our democracy,’ the facade of independent journalism crumbles, revealing the continued operation of systematic narrative control. Legacy media’s authority is crumbling, with frequent exposures of staged narratives and misrepresented sources revealing the persistence of centralized messaging systems.

Even the fact-checking industry, designed to bolster official narratives, faces growing skepticism as people discover these ‘independent’ arbiters of truth are often funded by the very power structures they claim to monitor. The supposed guardians of truth serve instead as enforcers of acceptable thought, their funding trails leading directly to the organizations they’re meant to oversee.

The public awakening extends beyond corporate messaging to a broader realization that supposedly organic social changes are often engineered. For example, while most people only became aware of the Tavistock Institute through recent controversies about gender-affirming care, their reaction hints at a deeper realization: that cultural shifts long accepted as natural evolution might instead have institutional authors. Though few still understand Tavistock’s historic role in shaping culture since our grandparents’ time, a growing number of people are questioning whether seemingly spontaneous social transformations may have been, in fact, deliberately orchestrated.

This growing recognition signals a fundamental shift: as audiences become more conscious of manipulation methods, the effectiveness of these control systems begins to diminish. Yet the system is designed to provoke intense emotional responses – the more outrageous the better – precisely to prevent critical analysis. By keeping the public in a constant state of reactionary outrage, whether defending or attacking figures like Trump or Musk, it successfully distracts from examining the underlying power structures these figures operate within. The heightened emotional state serves as a perfect shield against rational inquiry.

Before examining today’s digital control mechanisms in detail, the evolution from Edison’s hardware monopolies to Tavistock’s psychological operations to today’s algorithmic control systems reveals more than a natural historical progression – it shows how each stage intentionally built upon the last to achieve the same goal. Physical control of media distribution evolved into psychological manipulation of content, which has now been automated through digital systems. As AI systems become more sophisticated, they don’t just automate these control mechanisms – they perfect them, learning and adapting in real-time across billions of interactions. We can visualize how distinct domains of power – finance, media, intelligence, and culture – have converged into an integrated grid of social control. While these systems initially operated independently, they now function as a unified network, each reinforcing and amplifying the others. This framework, refined over a century, reaches its ultimate expression in the digital age, where algorithms automate what once required elaborate coordination between human authorities.

The Digital Endgame

Today’s digital platforms represent the culmination of control methods developed over the past century. Where their researchers once had to manually study group dynamics and psychological responses, AI systems now perform billions of real-time experiments, continuously refining their influence techniques through massive data analysis and behavioral tracking. What Thomas Edison achieved through physical control of films, modern tech companies now accomplish through algorithms and automated content moderation.

The convergence of surveillance, algorithms, and financial systems represents not just an evolution in technique but an escalation in scope. This convergence appears by design. Consider that Facebook launched the same day DARPA shut down ‘LifeLog,‘ their project to track a person’s ‘entire existence’ online. Or that major tech platforms now employ numerous former intelligence operatives in their ‘Trust & Safety’ teams, determining what content gets amplified or suppressed.

Social media platforms capture detailed behavioral data, which algorithms analyze to predict and shape user actions. This data increasingly feeds into financial systems through credit scoring, targeted advertising, and emerging Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). Together, these create a closed loop where surveillance refines targeting, shapes economic incentives, and enforces compliance with dominant order norms at the most granular level.

This evolution manifests in concrete ways:

• Edison’s infrastructure monopoly became platform ownership

• Tavistock’s psychology studies became social media algorithms

• Operation Mockingbird’s media infiltration became automated content moderation

• The Hays Code’s moral controls became ‘community guidelines

More specifically, Edison’s original blueprint for control evolved into digital form:

• His control of production equipment became platform ownership and cloud infrastructure

• Theater distribution control became algorithmic visibility

• Patent enforcement became Terms of Service

• Financial blacklisting became demonetization

• His definition of ‘authorized’ content became ‘community standards'”

Edison’s patent monopoly allowed him to dictate which films could be shown and where – just as today’s tech platforms use Terms of Service, IP rights, and algorithmic visibility to determine what content reaches audiences. Where Edison could simply deny theaters access to films, modern platforms can quietly reduce visibility through “shadow banning” or demonetization.

This evolution from manual to algorithmic control reflects a century of refinement. Where the Hays Code explicitly banned content, AI systems now subtly deprioritize it. Where Operation Mockingbird required human editors, recommendation algorithms now automatically shape information flow. The mechanisms haven’t disappeared—they’ve become invisible, automated, and far more effective.

The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated how thoroughly and quickly modern control systems could manufacture consensus and enforce compliance. Within weeks, established scientific principles about natural immunity, outdoor transmission, and focused protection were replaced by a new orthodoxy. Social media algorithms were programmed to amplify fear-based content while suppressing alternative viewpoints, while news outlets coordinated messaging to maintain narrative control, and financial pressures ensured institutional compliance. Just as Rockefeller’s early capture of medical institutions shaped the boundaries of acceptable knowledge a century ago, the pandemic response demonstrated how thoroughly this system could activate in a crisis. The same mechanisms that once defined ‘scientific’ versus ‘alternative’ medicine now determined which public health approaches could be discussed and which would be systematically suppressed.

The Great Barrington Declaration scientists found themselves erased not just through typical censorship, but through the invisible hand of algorithmic suppression – their views buried in search results, their discussions flagged as misinformation, their professional reputations questioned by coordinated media campaigns. This trifecta of suppression rendered dissenting perspectives effectively invisible, demonstrating how modern platforms can converge with state power to erase opposition while maintaining the illusion of independent oversight. Most users never realize what they’re not seeing – the most effective censorship is invisible to its targets.

Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter offered a crack of light, exposing previously hidden practices like shadow banning and algorithmic content suppression through the release of the Twitter Files. These revelations demonstrated how thoroughly platforms had integrated government influence into their moderation policies – whether through direct pressure or voluntary compliance – erasing dissent under the guise of maintaining community standards.’ Yet even Musk acknowledged the limits of free expression within this framework, stating that ‘freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom of reach.’ This admission underscores the enduring reality: even under new leadership, platforms remain bound by the algorithms and incentives that shape visibility, influence, and economic viability.

Perhaps the ultimate expression of this evolution is the proposed introduction of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), which transform social control mechanisms into financial infrastructure. The merger of ESG metrics with digital currency creates unprecedented granular control – every purchase, every transaction, every economic choice becomes subject to automated social compliance scoring. This fusion of financial surveillance with behavioral control represents the ultimate expression of the control systems that began with Edison’s physical monopolies. By embedding surveillance into currency itself, governments and corporations gain the ability to monitor, restrict, and manipulate transactions based on compliance with official criteria – from carbon usage limits to diversity metrics to social credit scores. These systems could render dissent not just punishable, but economically impossible—restricting access to basic necessities like food, housing, and transportation for those who fail to comply with approved behaviors.

What began with Tavistock’s careful study of mass psychology, tested through Facebook’s crude emotion experiments, and perfected through modern algorithmic systems, represents more than a century of evolving social control. Each stage built upon the last: from physical monopolies to psychological manipulation to digital automation. Today’s social media platforms don’t just study human behavior – they shape it algorithmically, automating mass psychological manipulation through billions of daily interactions.

Unplugging from the Matrix: A Path Back to Reality

Understanding these systems is the first step toward liberation. As the machinery of control reaches its peak, so too does the opportunity for resistance. The endgame for centralized power presents a paradox: the same systems designed to limit freedom also expose their own vulnerabilities.

While the evolution from Edison’s physical monopolies to today’s invisible algorithmic controls may feel overwhelming, it reveals a crucial truth: these mechanisms are constructed—and what is constructed can be dismantled or circumvented.

We can already see glimmers of resistance. As I’ve observed in my investigation of Big Tech’s origins, people are increasingly demanding transparency and authenticity – and once they see these control systems, they don’t unsee them. Public backlash against obvious ideological sculpting—from corporate virtue-signaling campaigns to platform censorship—suggests an awakening to these methods of control. The public rejection of corporate news networks in favor of independent journalism, the mass exodus from manipulative social media platforms to decentralized alternatives, and the growing movement toward local community building all demonstrate how awareness leads to action. The rise of platforms committed to free speech, even within centralized systems, shows that alternatives to algorithmic manipulation are possible. By championing transparency, reducing reliance on automated content moderation, and supporting the open exchange of ideas, these platforms challenge the status quo and push back against the dominance of centralized narratives. Building on these principles, truly decentralized networks represent our best hope for resistance: by eliminating gatekeepers entirely, they offer the greatest potential to counter hierarchical control and empower authentic expression.

The battle for freedom of consciousness is now our most fundamental struggle. Without it, we are not autonomous actors but non-player characters (NPCs) in someone else’s game, making seemingly free choices within carefully constructed parameters. Each time we question an algorithmic recommendation or seek out independent voices, we crack the control matrix. When we build in person local communities and support decentralized platforms, we create spaces beyond algorithmic manipulation. These aren’t just acts of resistance – they’re steps toward reclaiming our autonomy as conscious human actors rather than programmed NPCs.

The choice between authentic consciousness and programmed behavior requires daily discernment. We can passively consume curated content or actively seek diverse perspectives. We can accept algorithmic suggestions or consciously choose our information sources. We can isolate ourselves in digital bubbles or build real-world communities of resistance.

Our liberation begins with recognition: these systems of control, though powerful, are not inevitable. They were constructed, and they can be dismantled. By embracing creativity, fostering authentic connection, and restoring our sovereignty, we don’t just resist the control matrix – we reclaim our fundamental right to author our own destiny. The future belongs to those aware enough to see the system, brave enough to reject it, and creative enough to build something better.

The war in Yemen and the Red Sea continues to intensify, following several ballistic missiles launched on Israel by the Iran-backed Houthis last week and this month. The pattern is that for whatever the Western coalition throws at the Houthis in terms of bombing raids, the militant group only intensifies its assaults.

The Pentagon announced Tuesday that forces under US Central Command (CENTCOM) have launched fresh attacks on Yemen after the Houthi militants targeted American warships and commercial ships earlier the same day.

US Navy ships and aircraft conduced the new attacks, striking Houthi-controlled coastal regions of Yemen, according to the CENTCOM statement.

American warplanes had destroyed “seven cruise missiles and one-way attack UAVs over the Red Sea,” the statement continued. “There were no injuries or damage to U.S. personnel or equipment in either incident,” it said.

Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam denounced the strikes as “an American aggression” and “a blatant violation of the sovereignty of an independent state and a blatant support for Israel.”

CENTCOM has justified the new action as necessary “to degrade Iran-backed Houthi efforts to threaten regional partners and military and merchant vessels in the region.”

Earlier on Tuesday the Houthis had also launched two more missiles at Israel. These direct attacks on Israel out of Yemen are coming almost daily at this point, and Israeli forces have also stepped up aerial attacks on Yemen in coordination with the Western coalition in the Red Sea.

Just days ago, on Thursday, Israel conducted some of the largest attacks on Yemen to date, hitting the international airport in Sanaa and other facilities. 

But the Houthis have clearly remained undeterred. Short of a full-scale ground invasion, these Western coalition aerial attacks are unlikely to do anything but prolong the war, which the Houthis say is a response to the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip.

CENTCOM Forces Strike Multiple Houthi Targets in Yemen

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted multiple precision strikes against Iran-backed Houthi targets in Sana’a and coastal locations within Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen, Dec. 30 and 31.

On Dec. 30 and 31,… pic.twitter.com/XUKtsZM1U7

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) December 31, 2024

But Prime Minister Netanyahu has also said he won’t relent. “We will continue to crush the forces of evil with strength and ingenuity, even if it takes time,” he said this past weekend after a Saturday Houthi attack incident had wounded 16 Israelis.

“We are determined to cut off this terror arm of the Iranian axis of evil. We will persist in this until we complete the job,” the Israeli leader said, strongly suggesting a series of more attacks on Yemen to come.

Authored by Panos Mourdoukoutas via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The health care industry will be at the crossroads of several trends in 2025: demographics, proposed Medicare changes, staffing constraints, AI innovations, and deregulation.

Demographics will determine the demand for health care services, while Medicare changes, staffing constraints, and technology will determine the supply of these services. Together, these trends will determine the quantity and quality of industry growth in the new year.

Ben Johnston, chief operating officer of Kapitus, sees favorable demographics and innovative treatments driving health care industry growth in the new year.

“We continue to be bullish on the health care industry as the macro forces of an aging U.S. population and new treatment innovations make health care an attractive industry in 2025 and beyond,” Johnston told The Epoch Times.

However, he sees proposed changes to Medicare that would give the states more control of the program and proposed work requirements in exchange for coverage limiting the total number of insured, thus constraining demand for health care services.

In addition, Johnston believes staffing shortages across the industry are exacerbated by limits on immigration, constraining the supply of health care services.

“Reducing future legal immigration could pose a significant challenge to the industry and drive both prices and wait times higher,” he said.

Thomas Kluz, the managing director of Venture Lab, is also concerned about staffing constraints in 2025 for different reasons.

“The pandemic, system inefficiencies, and wage cuts continued to be a present burden on health care workers on top of their drained physical and mental health,” Kluz told The Epoch Times.

He thinks AI technology could help ease the situation.

“AI and automation will be key to taking some of this pressure off by reducing administrative burdens,” he said.

For Dr. Ofer Sharon, CEO at OncoHost, the use of AI in health care and life sciences, such as machine learning and advanced image processing, will significantly drive the health care industry’s growth in the new year.

“For instance, in drug discovery, 2025 may see the first AI-discovered or AI-designed therapeutic targets progressing to first-in-human clinical trials,” he told The Epoch Times via email.

“At the same time, AI-powered diagnostic tools are expected to gain wider adoption in clinical settings, contributing to improved diagnostic accuracy and more personalized patient care.”

Pradeep Kumar Jain, senior director of health care at Tredence Inc., sees care shifting to telehealth, home care, and ambulatory care, making it more accessible and focused on patients.

“These models ensure people get timely and convenient care while improving coordination across different settings,” he told The Epoch Times via email. “Value-based care focuses on prevention rather than treatment, addressing health issues earlier.”

Dr. Stacey Lee, a professor of health care and business law at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School and Bloomberg School of Public Health, sees the prospect of changing rules and choices in the health care industry to improve access to services and rein in costs.

“The projected 8 percent rise in health care costs next year will force providers and patients to rethink how care is delivered and paid for,” he told The Epoch Times.

“My work with health care organizations shows that direct primary care isn’t just another payment model—it fundamentally changes how doctors and patients work together. When we strip away layers of billing complexity, we often find that quality and efficiency improve.”

Lee believes that the soaring health care costs will reshape the demand for and supply of health care services, with price transparency becoming a critical factor for the functioning of health care markets.

“My research in health care negotiations shows that when patients can compare prices, it doesn’t just help them make better choices,” he said. “It changes how health care organizations compete and set their prices. The incoming administration’s emphasis on transparency could accelerate these changes.”

If that turns out to be the case, transparency will test how well health care markets balance efficiency with patient protection.

“In my work studying health care law, I’ve seen that successful deregulation requires understanding which rules truly protect patients and which ones just add cost without benefit,” Lee said.

By Alex Kimani of OilPrice.com

Carlos Slim, Latin America’s richest man, boosted his stakes in American energy companies in the current year as the world’s leading tycoons continue betting on fossil fuels.

Slim invested $602 million in Parsippany, New Jersey-based refiner PBF Energy, boosting his stake to 25%, and also bought $326 million worth of shares in Houston-based oil producer Talos Energy.

Last year, the Mexican billionaire’s Grupo Carso SAB agreed to acquire PetroBal SAPI’s stake in two oil fields in Campeche in southern Mexico for $530 million, expanding its bet on energy production. 

Under the deal, Grupo Carso will take a 50% stake in the Ichalkil and Pokoch oil field. According to the company, the fields produce about 16,350 barrels of crude oil equivalent per day. Carso shares jumped to record highs after the deal was announced. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador welcomed the deal despite earlier being critical of energy reforms that opened exploration to private investment,

“Why do I celebrate this? Because it stays in the hands of Mexicans and I’m sure that they’re going to invest to extract crude. I consider that to be good news,” the president said at his daily news conference. 

Obradors’ nationalist policies have seen the Mexican government become increasingly hostile to foreign companies.

Last year, giant oil and commodities trading firm, Trafigura, was forced to scale back its oil trading business in Mexico thanks to shrinking margins.

Trafigura has recorded margin compression due to fuel subsidies by the Mexican government.

Meanwhile, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has continued growing its oil and gas stakes. Two weeks ago, Berkshire Hathaway bought another 8.9 million shares of Occidental Petroleum with the company now owning 260 million shares of OXY. Berkshire Hathaway’s OXY stake is currently worth $12 billion, making it the company’s sixth largest holding.

Authored by Thomas Buckley via The Point,

Farcical falsehoods have underpinned the Biden administration from the beginning, but it all came crashing down in a TV studio in an Atlanta in late June of this year.

The wings melted – Icarus hit the water

The entire point of the existence of everyone around Joe had been to deny, defray, obfuscate, while simultaneously promising him personally that everything was all right.

The staff was Daedalus to his Icarus, building him wings of wax that they knew would be kept airborne by the press…until they weren’t and he plummeted to earth.

For it to remain in power, the Biden administration, since even before his 2021 inauguration, has required that the nation engage in a mass suspension of disbelief.

As the viewer of a sci-fi movie must, in order for the movie to make sense, simply accept that things like warp drive and transporters exist, that suspension of disbelief gives the viewer the ability to follow the plot, to care about the characters – as long as the events and tech in the movie make internal sense, the movie can be watched, tolerated, or even enjoyed.

But relying on the nation to keep up that suspension of disbelief forever was, obviously, doomed from the start. The administration spun more and more lies to keep up the pretense, developing into the political equivalent – both literally and figuratively – of “Battlefield Earth.”

It was akin the “floating world” of Tokugawa Japan, a concept so beautifully summed up by poet Matsuo Bashō in this haiku:

“Year’s end, all
corners of this
floating world, swept.”

Of course, before the June debate, Biden’s minions had spun lie after lie after lie. In 2020, he didn’t campaign publicly because of covid, nothing else, and the obvious falsehoods kept on from there.

He claimed Russiagate was real, that Donald Trump called neo-Nazis “very fine people,” he said he knew nothing of Hunter’s “business” dealings, the “vaccines” were fine, as was the crushing of personal liberty, the withdrawal from Afghanistan went off as planned despite the videos showing desperate Afghanis falling from planes, and on and on.

Despite their protestations along the lines of “the sky is not blue,” the Biden team knew there were problems, and that, even while flightless, Joe’s wings were melting before their very eyes.

To create one last possible glimmer of hope – and, concurrently, to give them enough time to dump him – his team scheduled the June debate as a test run of his competence; the Democrats put Biden out there just to see if he would make it.

He didn’t and in came – over the frustrations of the people that drove Joe out – Kamala; it was supposed to be an actual astronaut, someone who had soared higher than nearly anyone else, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, but a bitter Joe (Jill) put the kibosh on that ASAMFP after his resignation tweet.

He was dotty, he was un-electable, but PelosObama forgot he was still the president, and a cranky one at that and he would/could/should/did lash out at being couped aside.

From that point on, it has been a year of lying dangerously for the administration, spinning patently absurd tales that endangered the entire the world.

Madison Square Garden rally = nazis.

Biden is totally backing Harris.

An internal coup did not take place – it was just the appropriate discretion of a dozen or so people doing what they could to help the nation.

Yes, Hunter got pardoned but that was Trump’s fault.

There was no censorship program.

Joe’s sharp as a tack.

No, he didn’t have a tendency to wander away – that’s on you.

Choco rations went up ten grams last year.

What drones?

Politicians have been lying since they were invented, but very few have built their entire time in office around them. Before he was elected president, Biden was a typical DC tax and spend liberal looking for a little sumthin’sumthin’ on the side. He had no core beliefs and went pretty much were the wind and the donors took him (even they wouldn’t take him to the White House, though.)

He campaigned on normalcy, but instead brought about massive cultural upheaval and the obliteration of public trust all in the service of wildly woke ideas and proposals and policies he had never even cared about, let alone supported, before.

Again, the entire administration was built on a series of lies from its beginning.

But the shift to Kamala made continuing that impossible. While she essentially ran a cut-and-paste campaign (word search everything and replace “Biden” with “Harris”) when she did venture further afield – “joy,” um, finally talking to the press – on her own she spawned a new series of lies.

The public saw Harris and thought “well, at least Joe has an excuse – he’s senile.”

The lies got faster, more disposable, less credible, even sillier, even more insulting, and were screeched even louder by the media.

The lying became more desperate, more dangerous and then – poof!

The election is over and the truth the world knew all along is now starting to be admitted.

To make sense of the past four years, Biden supporters had to suspend their disbelief, to put aside honest critical thinking in order to go for the ride – that attachment was one of the reasons why the entrenchment was so deep, so personal. Turning on the lights at last call in a bar reveals the truth, the reality of the evening and saying anything they did not want hear to progressives was like turning on the lights in the middle of a movie. Jarring, infuriating, guaranteed to end the suspension of belief.

Well, that movie is now done, belief no longer needs to be suspended, and the year of lying dangerously is now over.

Good riddance.

Authored by Melanie Sun via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

With solar storms causing a geomagnetic storm on Earth, the northern lights or aurora borealis could extend beyond the Arctic Circle down into the northernmost U.S. states this New Year’s Eve, according to a Dec. 31 forecast by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The moderate-strong G2-G3 geomagnetic storm, with a Kp index of 6-7, forecasted for Dec. 31 by NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, means the aurora could be visible in New York and Idaho, and potentially as far south as Illinois and Oregon.

The Kp-index measures geomagnetic activity in the Earth’s atmosphere. “For Kp in the range 6 to 7, the aurora will move even further from the poles and will become quite bright and active,” according to NOAA.

A minor G1-level geomagnetic storm warning is also active from New Year’s Eve into Jan. 1. These storms typically produce auroras visible only from higher latitudes, in locations such as northern Michigan and Maine.

Multiple solar flares—two X-class solar flares and 17 M-class flares—erupted on the Sun within 24 hours on Dec. 29.

Two of the M-class flares released solar storms, or streams of electrically charged particles and plasma called coronal mass ejections (CMEs), toward Earth.

This prompted the Space Weather Prediction Center to issue two geomagnetic storm warnings ahead of the CMEs’ arrival.

Traveling 93 million miles, the CMEs are expected to reach Earth early in the mornings of Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.

This is when the chance of seeing a turbo-charged aurora will be best.

The aurora, known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), occurs when charged particles released by the Sun during flares arrive at Earth. These particles are directed by Earth’s protective magnetosphere toward the poles, where they collide with gases in the atmosphere. This interaction releases excess energy as colorful glows of light, visible as the aurora.

The stronger the solar flare, the more energy arrives at Earth, and the brighter and more widespread the aurora.

When, Where to See the Aurora

Clear, night skies are best for being able to see the aurora.

The geomagnetic storm early New Year’s Eve morning and night (Eastern Time) may bring the colorful aurora to places above 50 degrees geomagnetic latitude, such as Alaska, Washington, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine.

If the geomagnetic storm is strong enough, parts of Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Iowa, and New York may also get a glimpse of the lights early Dec. 31 Eastern Time before the sun rises.

The CME from the first solar flare is forecast to arrive at Earth by midday UTC (7 a.m. ET) on Dec. 31, and the second flare near midday UTC (7 a.m. ET) on Jan. 1.

Those in the upper latitudes in the Eastern Hemisphere will have a chance of seeing a brighter-than-usual aurora on New Year’s Eve.

Updates to the forecast are available on NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center website.

Uptick in Solar Activity

The recent uptick in strong geomagnetic storms, seen as strong auroras, marks a period of increased solar activity on the Sun.

The Sun’s activity has been observed to move through an 11-year solar cycle and has reached its solar maximum period.

In May, the Earth was hit by the strongest geomagnetic storm in 20 years—a G5-level storm associated with an X8.7 solar flare—that saw reports of the aurora being visible as far south as Florida.

October saw an X1.8 solar flare and a resulting G3-level storm. X-class flares are the strongest category of solar flare and are 10 times the intensity of the preceding category, the M-class solar flare. They increase the risk of disturbances to satellite communications, power grids, and navigation systems.

The current solar maxima, which started in 2020, is expected to last at least into 2026.

Authored by Lawrence Wilson via The Epoch Times,

President Ronald Reagan once said: “Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But the Marines don’t have that problem.”

The same might be said of 2024, which saw a number of firsts that left a lasting impression on the world.

Here are the defining moments of the year, presented in chronological order.

Harvard President Resigns

Harvard President Claudine Gay resigned on Jan. 2, about two months after she and other university administrators were questioned about anti-Semitism on their campuses.

Under questioning from Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), a Harvard alumna, Gay said that students calling for the genocide of Jews did not necessarily violate Harvard’s code of conduct.

Gay later apologized for the remarks.

The U.S. Department of Education announced an investigation in late November 2023 into Harvard in light of anti-Semitism on its campus.

Nearly 27 percent of Harvard students are Jewish.

The resignation was the third among Ivy League presidents who faced pressure from donors and lawmakers over their handling of campus protests regarding the Israel–Hamas war.

Claudine Gay (L), president of Harvard University, and other university administrators testify at a hearing to investigate anti-Semitism on college campuses, at the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 5, 2023. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

McConnell Steps Down

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced on Feb. 28 that he would step down at the end of the year but remain in the Senate.

McConnell, 82, is the longest-serving party leader in Senate history. He faced persistent opposition from some Republican senators who disagreed with his efforts to continue funding Ukraine in its war with Russia.

McConnell will be succeeded by Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) on Jan. 3, 2025.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) walks toward his office in Washington on Feb. 28, 2024. McConnell announced on this day that he will step down as Republican leader in November. Nathan Howard/Getty Images

Terrorist Attack in Russia Kills 145

A terrorist attack on a concert hall near Moscow killed at least 145 people and injured 180 on March 22.

The ISIS terrorist group claimed responsibility, but Russian President Vladimir Putin alleged in a televised address that the perpetrators had attempted to flee to Ukraine.

On June 23, terrorists attacked two cities in the Russian Republic of Dagestan, striking two synagogues, two churches, and a police post. At least 21 people were killed and 46 were injured.

Mourners stand in a queue to lay flowers at a makeshift memorial after a massacre that killed 145 people, in front of the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk, Russia, on March 24, 2024. Olga Maltseva/AFP via Getty Images

Ship Topples Key Bridge in Baltimore

A cargo ship collided with a supporting pillar of the 47-year-old Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, hurling steel, concrete, and people into the water. Six people died. Two were rescued.

The incident closed Baltimore Harbor for 11 weeks, causing a major disruption to U.S. shipping.

The bridge, which was part of Interstate 695, remains closed, causing some 31,000 vehicles per day to travel alternate routes.

The cargo ship, Dali, sits in the water after colliding into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on March 26, 2024. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Israel, Iran Trade Strikes

Iran launched more than 300 cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and drones in its first direct attack on Israel on April 13.

Israel said that it intercepted 99 percent of the weapons with cooperation from the United States and other allied forces.

A few missiles got through the defenses and caused minor damage to an Israeli military installation.

The attack appeared to be in retaliation for an April 1 airstrike on the Iranian Embassy in Syria that killed two Iranian generals.

After an apparent Israeli airstrike on an Iranian air base on April 19, both sides downplayed the incident, temporarily easing tensions between the two nations.

People gather around the remains of one of the ballistic missiles fired by Iran earlier in the month and intercepted by Israel, that landed in an open area of the Negev desert near the city of Arad, Romania, on April 30, 2024. Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images

Pro-Palestinian Protesters Occupy Campuses

Protesters demanding an end to the war in the Gaza Strip and divestment from Israel staged demonstrations on more than 80 campuses in at least 30 states in April and May.

Some demonstrators occupied buildings, skirmished with counterprotesters, and created encampments in public spaces, resulting in hundreds of arrests.

The protests were the largest display of campus unrest since the anti-apartheid demonstrations of the 1980s.

Pro-Palestinian protesters gather outside of New York University during an ongoing demonstration against their school’s investments and the administration’s views on Israel, in New York City on May 3, 2024. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Trump Convicted

Former President Donald Trump on May 30 became the first former president convicted of a crime.

A New York state jury found Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, a crime normally prosecuted as a misdemeanor.

Trump maintained that this case, along with others against him, was politically motivated.

Shortly after the conviction was announced, he told reporters: “The real verdict is going to be Nov. 5 by the people. And they know what happened here, and everybody knows what happened here.”

Trump was a defendant in three other criminal cases in 2024.

A federal case in Washington related to alleged election interference was dropped after Trump won reelection.

The prosecutor in a federal case in Florida related to Trump’s retention of classified documents withdrew his appeal of an earlier decision by the judge to toss the case.

A state case in Georgia alleging a scheme related to the 2020 election remains in jeopardy after an appeals court ruled in December that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her office were disqualified from prosecuting the case against Trump. A judge had earlier ordered the special prosecutor removed from the case for conduct that created an appearance of impropriety.

The president-elect will be immune from prosecution during his term in office, which begins on Jan. 20.

Former President Donald Trump arrives at Trump Tower in New York City on May 30, 2024. The former president on this day was found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

Trump Survives 2 Assassination Attempts

Trump survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.

A 20-year-old gunman gained access to a roof approximately 400 feet from Trump at an outdoor rally and fired four shots, one striking Trump in the right ear.

One bystander was killed and two others were wounded.

The gunman was killed by the Secret Service.

Trump dropped to the ground but soon rose, surrounded by Secret Service agents.

His ear bloodied and his fist raised, Trump shouted, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

The moment provided one of the most vivid images in presidential history and sparked bipartisan criticism of Kimberly Cheatle, Secret Service director, who resigned 10 days later.

On Sept. 16, another gunman was apprehended in Florida after allegedly lying in wait for the former president with a rifle at the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach.

On Nov. 19, the FBI announced that it had foiled an assassination plot against Trump by the government of Iran.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump raises his fist after being shot, while Secret Service agents surround him, at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., on July 13, 2024. Evan Vucci/AP Photo

Nvidia Becomes Largest US Company

Nvidia surpassed Apple on June 18 to become the world’s most valuable company.

Demand for its artificial intelligence (AI) chips fueled the surge in its stock price.

Lawmakers noted the company’s rise along with investors.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called for an antitrust investigation of Nvidia, which she said controls about 90 percent of the high-end AI chip market and 98 percent of the graphics processing unit market.

The Nvidia headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., on Feb. 5, 2024. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Biden Withdraws From Presidential Race

President Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential campaign on July 21 and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.

Biden made the decision barely three weeks after a poor debate performance with Trump, where he appeared to have difficulty remembering facts and completing sentences.

Following the debate, several prominent Democrats called for Biden to step aside.

The announcement upended what many observers called the most consequential presidential race in recent history just weeks before the election.

Harris was formally declared the replacement nominee on Aug. 2 after a virtual roll call of Democrat delegates. She introduced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate on Aug. 6.

No other presidential candidate has withdrawn from a reelection campaign that far into the race.

Lyndon Johnson ended his campaign on March 31, 1968.

Harry Truman withdrew from his reelection bid on March 29, 1952.

President Joe Biden delivers remarks as Vice President Kamala Harris looks on, at the White House on July 14, 2024. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Israel Kills Top Leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah

Israel claimed responsibility on Aug. 1 for a July airstrike in the Gaza Strip that killed Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif.

The announcement was made a day after the apparent Israeli assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, and not long after Israel’s killing of a Hezbollah commander in Beirut, Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “[We] will exact a heavy price from any aggression against us on any front.”

A woman walks near a billboard displaying portraits of Hamas leader Mohammed Deif (R) and Ismail Haniyeh with the slogan “assassinated” written in Hebrew, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Aug. 2, 2024. Oren Ziv/AFP via Getty Images

Prisoner Exchange Frees Americans in Russia

Evan Gershkovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter sentenced to 16 years in a Russian prison for espionage, was freed on Aug. 1 along with three others in a multinational prisoner exchange with Russia.

The U.S. government said Gershkovich’s trial was politically motivated.

Also freed were U.S. Marine veteran Paul Whelan, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, and Russian British journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza.

Americans Evan Gershkovich (L), Alsu Kurmasheva (R), Paul Whelan (2nd R), and others aboard a plane following their release from Russian captivity, on Aug. 1, 2024. White House via AP

Ukraine Invades Russia

Two and a half years after Russia invaded Ukraine, Ukrainian armed forces invaded the Kursk Oblast Region of Russia.

The Aug. 6 surprise attack marked a change of momentum in the war, which had become a grinding conflict that produced small territorial gains but significant numbers of casualties.

Ukrainian forces intended to use the attack to draw Russian troops out of the occupied Ukrainian territory of Donetsk. Ukraine claimed to control about 444 square miles of Kursk by Aug. 15.

The offensive raised morale in Ukraine, although Russia counterattacked weeks later and regained much of the territory.

Ukrainian servicemen operate a Soviet-made T-72 tank in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia, on Aug. 12, 2024. Ukraine launched a surprise attack in the Russian border region of Kursk on Aug. 6, 2024. Roman Pilipey/AFP via Getty Images

CCP Agent Arrested in New York State

The FBI arrested a former deputy chief of staff to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Sept. 3 for spying on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Linda Sun and her husband, Christopher Hu, were both charged with multiple crimes.

On Dec. 10, federal agents arrested a Chinese national suspected of flying a drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and taking photos of the SpaceX rocket pads on the day a contractor launched a national reconnaissance payload.

The arrests are the latest in a string of arrests of people suspected of espionage on behalf of the CCP.

Also in 2024, two Chinese nationals and two U.S. citizens pleaded guilty to federal charges related to spying for the CCP in three separate cases.

Linda Sun (R), a former aide to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, and her husband, Chris Hu, exit the federal court in Brooklyn after Sun was charged with acting on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party, in New York City on Sept. 3, 2024. Kent J. Edwards/Reuters

Exploding Pagers Kill, Injure Hezbollah Members

Pagers and walkie-talkies exploded in a series of incidents on Sept. 17 and 18, killing dozens and wounding thousands across Lebanon.

Hezbollah leaders said through an intermediary that members of various Hezbollah-aligned military units and political institutions were injured in the blasts.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said on Sept. 22 that his country was not involved in the attacks.

However, two men who identified themselves as retired Israeli intelligence agents said in a “60 Minutes” interview on Dec. 22 that Israel had undertaken the operation, which was some 10 years in the making.

Smoke billows from a house after a reported explosion of a radio device, in Baalbek, Lebanon, on Sept. 18, 2024. -/AFP via Getty Images

Hurricane Helene Batters Southeast

Hurricane Helene made landfall on Sept. 26 to become the deadliest hurricane in the continental United States since Katrina in 2005.

Helene, a Category 4 hurricane, caused more than 150 direct fatalities, mostly in North Carolina and South Carolina. Helene also created storm surges and flooding in the Florida Gulf Coast and western North Carolina.

The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season brought an above-average number of named storms at 18.

Named storms are organized cyclones with sustained winds of 39 mph or more.

Of the 18 storms, 11 were hurricanes, having sustained winds of at least 73 mph, and five were classified as major hurricanes, having sustained winds of at least 111 mph.

The average number of named storms per season is 14, including seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Damaged buildings in the aftermath of flooding caused by Hurricane Helene, in Bat Cave, N.C., on Oct. 8, 2024. Mario Tama/Getty Images

Settlement Allows College Athletes to Be Paid

A federal judge approved a preliminary legal settlement on Oct. 7 that will allow schools to pay college athletes.

The move is likely to transform college athletics by funneling millions of dollars to elite players.

If finalized in April 2025, the settlement will establish a pool of $21.5 million to be distributed among college athletes in the first year of the arrangement.

NCAA rules were changed in 2021 to allow college athletes to profit from licensing rights to their name, image, and likeness, although restrictions vary among states and universities.

Soccer players of the Dutch national team train in preparation for the 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, at the KNVB Campus in Zeist, the Netherlands, on June 2, 2024. Vincent Jannink/ANP/AFP via Getty Images

SpaceX Catches Rocket

SpaceX caught a giant booster rocket, part of its Starship system, with a pair of mechanical arms as it arrived back at the launchpad in Boca Chica, Texas, after propelling a craft toward space on Oct. 13.

The first-ever such landing was a milestone in the campaign to create a fully reusable rocket.

Starship, when fully tested, is intended for use in landing astronauts on the moon’s south pole, according to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, who sent congratulations.

The most recent American lunar landing was 52 years ago.

Starship’s Super Heavy Booster is grappled at the launch pad in Starbase near Boca Chica, Texas, on Oct.13, 2024. SpaceX successfully “caught” the first-stage booster of its Starship megarocket as it returned to the launch pad after a test flight, a world first in the company’s quest for rapid reusability. Sergio Flores/AFP via Getty Images

Trump Defeats Harris, GOP Captures Senate, Keeps House

Trump defeated Harris in the Nov. 5 presidential election, becoming just the second president to serve a nonconsecutive term.

The victory capped a historic political comeback by Trump after his loss in the 2020 election.

Republicans also gained control of the Senate and maintained a narrow majority in the House of Representatives.

The outcome offers Trump a second chance at implementing his “America First” agenda, which focuses on border security, stimulating the economy by increasing domestic energy production, and increasing U.S. manufacturing through a system of tax incentives for domestic manufacturers and tariffs on imported goods.

President-elect Donald Trump and incoming First Lady Melania Trump during an election night event at the Palm Beach Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Nov. 6, 2024. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

CCP Hacks US Telecom

Chinese regime-sponsored hackers breached several U.S. telecommunication providers and stole customer call records and private communications from people involved in government or political activity, federal officials announced on Nov. 13.

The joint statement by the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency appeared to suggest that the breach may have targeted programs covered by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

The full extent of the breach is not yet known.

One of the hacker groups is believed to have breached AT&T, CenturyLink, Verizon, and other telecom providers and to have targeted Trump and Harris.

The cyberattack has been in progress since at least 2021 and is ongoing.

A contract crew for Verizon conducts update work on a cell tower in Orem, Utah, on Dec. 10, 2019. A Beijing-sponsored hacker group is believed to have breached U.S. telecom providers. George Frey/AFP via Getty Images

Biden Pardons His Son

President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter on Dec. 1, sparing him jail time for tax evasion and firearms charges to which he had pleaded guilty.

The blanket pardon also covers any federal offenses Hunter Biden may have committed from Jan. 1, 2014, through Dec. 1, 2024.

Before Hunter Biden’s conviction, President Biden said he would not grant his son a pardon.

Some Republicans and Democrats criticized Biden for abuse of the pardon power. Yet two other presidents have pardoned relatives or their extended family members.

In 2001 Bill Clinton pardoned his brother, Roger Clinton, for 1985 convictions on drug charges.

Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law Jared Kushner, in 2020.

The elder Kushner was convicted on charges of fraud and retaliation against a witness in 2005.

On Dec. 23, Biden commuted the sentences of all but three federal convicts awaiting execution on death row.

Hunter Biden departs the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building in Wilmington, Del., on June 3, 2024. President Joe Biden pardoned his son on Dec. 1, 2024. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Health Insurance CEO Gunned Down

The CEO of UnitedHealthcare was gunned down on a sidewalk in New York City on Dec. 4.

The killer lay in wait for Brian Thompson, 50, and apparently intended to use the killing to draw attention to perceived abuses in the health insurance industry.

Luigi Mangione, 26, has been arrested and charged with multiple state and federal offenses in connection with the crime.

The murder elicited both outrage over the brazen act of violence and a rash of caustic social media posts expressing contempt for health insurance companies over their perceived unfair treatment of customers.

Police respond as CEO of UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson, was shot as he prepared to enter the New York Hilton in New York City on Dec. 4, 2024. Bryan R. Smith/AFP via Getty Images

Notre Dame Cathedral Reopens

Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, nearly destroyed by fire in 2019, reopened on Dec. 7.

Trump was one of some 50 foreign leaders invited by French President Emmanuel Macron to attend the ceremonies.

Trump and Macron were both in office when Notre Dame burned.

As the symbol of Paris reopened, Trump was poised to complete one of the most remarkable political comebacks in American history as his French counterpart struggled to retain power.

Trump met with Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Paris just before the reopening ceremonies.

The choir, clergy, and guests stand during a ceremony to mark the reopening of Notre-Dame of Paris Cathedral in Paris on Dec. 7, 2024. After five years of restoration after a 2019 fire, the cathedral reopens its doors to the world in the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron and around 50 heads of state. Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images for Notre-Dame de Paris

Assad Regime Falls

The Arab Spring, which began with popular protests across the Arab world in the early 2010s, bore fruit on Dec. 7 as Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad fled the country, with rebel groups closing in on Damascus.

Assad’s exit brought his 24 years in power to an end, although various rebel groups now occupy portions of the country.

Thousands gather in the streets after the fall of the Assad regime, in Damascus, Syria. on Dec. 13, 2024. Sami Boudra/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Trump said on Jan. 20 that Turkey, a NATO country, will hold the “key to Syria,” as most of the rebel groups controlling territory in Syria are “controlled by Turkey.”

French judges issued an international arrest warrant for Assad and other Syrian officials in November 2023 for the use of chemical weapons against civilians in the Syrian civil war.

Assad has been given sanctuary in Moscow.

Astrophysicist Adam Frank shared a bold vision of humanity’s future in space during his recent conversation with Lex Fridman, predicting that millions—possibly billions—of humans will one day inhabit the galaxy. This rapid expansion, he warns, will inevitably spark interplanetary conflict across the solar system.

LEX FRIDMAN: Do you think if humans colonize Mars, the dynamic between the civilization on Earth and Mars will be fundamentally different than the dynamic between individual nations on Earth right now? Like, that’s a thing to load into the simulation we’re talking about.

ADAM FRANK: If we settle Mars, it will very quickly want to become its own nation.

LEX FRIDMAN: Well, no, there’s already going to be nations on Mars—that’s guaranteed. Once you have a million people, there’s going to be two tribes and then they’re going to start fighting. Right? And the question is interplanetary fighting—how quickly does that happen and does it have a different nature to it because of the distances?

ADAM FRANK: Are you a fan of The Expanse? Have you watched The Expanse? Great show. Because it’s all about the—I highly recommend it to everybody. It’s based on a series of books that are excellent. It’s on Prime, six seasons, and it’s basically about the settled solar system. It takes place about 300 years from now, and the entire solar system is settled. And it is the best show about interplanetary politics. The first season, actually, Foreign Affairs said the best show on TV about politics that takes place is interplanetary.

I think human beings being human beings, yes, there will be warfare and there will be conflict. And I don’t think it’ll be necessarily all that different, you know, because really I think within a few hundred years we will have lots of people in the solar system, and it doesn’t even have to be on Mars. We did a paper where we looked—based on CU, I wanted to know about whether an idea in The Expanse was really possible. In The Expanse, the asteroid belt, what they’ve done is they’ve colonized the asteroid belt by hollowing out the asteroids and spinning them up and living on the inside because they have the Coriolis force.

And I thought, like, wow, what a cool idea, and when I ran the blog for NPR, I actually talked to the guys and said, ‘Did you guys calculate this, see whether it’s possible?’ Sadly, it’s not possible. The rock is just not strong enough. If you tried to spin it up to the speeds you need to get one-third gravity, which is, I think, the minimum you need for human beings, the rock would just fall apart, it would break.

But we came up with another idea, which was that if you take small asteroids, put a giant bag around them, a nanofiber bag, and spin those up, it would inflate the bag, and then even a small, couple-of-kilometer-wide asteroid would expand out to—you could get like a Manhattan’s worth of material inside. So forget about even colonizing Mars—space stations, right? Or space habitats with millions of people in them. So anyway, the point is that I think, you know, within a few hundred years, it is not unimaginable that there will be millions, if not billions, of people living in the solar system.

LEX FRIDMAN: And you think most of them will be in space habitats versus on Mars and on the planetary surface?

ADAM FRANK: It’s a lot easier on some, on some level, right? It depends on how, like, with nanofabrication and such. But, you know, getting down a gravity well is hard, right? So, you know, there’s a certain way in which it’s a lot easier to build real estate out of the asteroids. But we’ll probably do both. I mean, I think what’ll happen is, you know, the next—should we make it through climate change and nuclear war and all the other things, and AI—the next thousand years of human history is the solar system, right?

 I think we’ll settle every nook and cranny we possibly can, and it’s, you know, it’s a beautiful—what I love about what’s hopeful about it is this idea you’re going to have all of these pockets, and, you know, I’m sure there’s going to be a Mormon space habitat. Like, you know, there’s going to be whatever you want, a Libertarian space habitat. Everybody’s going to be able to kind of create their—there’ll be lots of experiments in human flourishing, and those kinds of experiments will be really useful for us to sort of figure out better ways for us to interact and have maximum flourishing, maximum wellness, maximum democracy, maximum freedom.

Authored by Jim Quinn via The Burning Platform blog,

“The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater.” – Frank Zappa

“Government is the Entertainment division of the military-industrial complex.” ― Frank Zappa

Are you not entertained by the never-ending bullshit, propaganda, false flags, threats, and revelations produced by those running the show and regurgitated by their captured media mouthpiece whores? The absolute tsunami of misinformation and political theatrics spewing over the airwaves is surely designed to distract the public from something more sinister, diabolical, and self-serving to the Deep State renegades who still wield the real power in this world. Nothing is as it seems. If ever there was a time to keep your hands upon the wheel and eyes upon the road, it is now. They have turned up the volume of misinformation and fear mongering to eleven.

Anyone who says they know how the next four years will play out is lying. The level of gaslighting and misleading the public about the true nature of our circumstances has reached historic levels. Half the country thinks everything done to Americans over the last four years in the name of a dementia ridden, child sniffing husk occupying the White House, was done in good faith, with their best interests at heart. The other half are ecstatic their savior will do what he said he’d do, even though he didn’t do what he said he would do the first time. Is it really possible to make America great again at this stage of our empire collapse?

The show will go on until the directors decide it is time to take down the scenery, pull back the curtains, and reveal the prison like walls they have constructed while you were being entertained by their theatrical production of America the Free. There has been no true freedom for Americans since at least the early 20th Century, before the Fed, the income tax, and women voting. And truthfully, probably very limited freedom since Lincoln’s expansion of Federal power during the Civil War.

The Uni-Party is pulling out all the stops to keep the ignorant masses on each side equally ignorant, keeping them: hopeful, fearful, angry, joyful, retribution seeking, denying culpability, utilizing lawfare, and distracted by whatever new plotline is dreamed up by the producers of this dystopian show of shows. Besides the daily venomous attacks on Trump’s cabinet nominees by the Deep State controlled media, the U.S. government now supports the terrorists running Syria and continues to condone the Greater Israel agenda of the murderous head of the Israeli state.

Biden’s controllers are sending tens of billions more to Zelensky, while allowing Americans to freeze in tents in NC and Georgia. In Biden’s waning days, pretending to be president, his controllers are attempting to maximize global chaos and implement traitorous domestic machinations to hurt Trump and the American people as much as humanly possible. He’s the Oprah of pardons and commutations for murderers, rapists, and pedophiles. You get a pardon; you get a pardon.

For two weeks, the latest fear invoking storyline was the mysterious drones swarming the northeastern U.S., while the federal government denied knowing anything, and at the same time leaked rumors about radioactivity being detected in ports on the east coast. Throw in further rumors they were Chinese or Iranian drones or UFOs, and you’ve got an excellent psy-op designed to distract the public from what is really happening. Now they are once again rolling out the discredited murderous plandemic “science experts” (Fauci, Birx, Wen) to hyperventilate about the dreaded bird flu that will kill us all, unless we begin mass testing and vaccinations. Oh, the horror!!!

This production of fear is designed to distract from the real issues. The true economic condition of the country is frighteningly unsustainable and propelling the nation towards a disastrous rendezvous with destiny. The lunatics in control of Biden, along with the supposed GOP fiscal conservatives in the House somehow managed to add $2.3 trillion to the national debt in the last fiscal year. They will add another $400 billion by the time Trump is inaugurated. The national debt stands at $36.1 trillion, up $8.4 trillion (30%) during Biden’s reign of error.

Interest on the existing debt will exceed $1 trillion this year, as interest rates continue to rise, even though the Fed has cut short-term rates by 1%, with inflation remaining above 3% and the economy supposedly growing strongly. None of this makes logical sense because all reported government figures are fake, manipulated, or massaged to achieve a happy ending. The government is siphoning more than enough in taxes from you and me. It is the insane level of government spending marking the death knell of this empire of debt.

This bloated pig of a government clearly was able to function while spending between $3 trillion and $4 trillion per year until the covid plandemic was rolled out in 2020. “Emergency” spending of $7 trillion to $8 trillion has never been reduced, because the real emergency started in September 2019 when the repo market revealed the gears of the financial system were seizing up, massive doses of new debt were necessary, and magically a global pandemic appeared out of thin air “requiring” an additional $4 trillion of spending and debt creation per year. The Fed is trapped, as the bond markets are ignoring their fruitless efforts at controlling interest rate markets and focusing on the disaster ahead.

The average American, whose retirement savings in 401ks and IRAs are allocated to S&P 500 index funds because stocks “always” rise in the long run, is oblivious to the enormous risk they are currently taking. No one on CNBC or in the financial industry will provide the truth regarding the markets. The top 10 stocks by market value now account for 40% of the S&P 500. These stocks (Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, Google, Tesla, Berkshire, Broadcom) have been manipulated by computer programs utilized by the Wall Street cabal to provide the appearance of a strong stock market, and by association, a strong economy.

It’s all a farce. The other 490 stocks in the S&P 500 aren’t doing so hot. Without $7 trillion of government spending, the economy would be in a deep recession. Anyone denying we are in the midst of the largest bubble of all-time is just denying reality because they are bought off or just plain ignorant of history. The 40% market value of the top 10 stocks is a full 50% higher than the Dotcom bubble in 2001 and 75% higher than the 2008 housing bubble top. Even a minor reversion to the mean would cause a stock market crash.

By every historic metric, the stock market is epically overvalued. The current PE ratio of the S&P 500 is 28, only 65% above the long-term median of 17. Robert Shiller’s CAPE (Cyclically Adjusted PE Ratio) sits at 38, only 135% above the long-term median of 16, and only exceeded once in history during the Dotcom bubble. These measures do not predict what the market will do tomorrow, but they are highly predictive of how the markets will perform over the next several years.

Any financial “advisor”, newsletter publisher, or Wall Street bank telling their customers, stocks will keep rising are lying, in their greedy self-interest to keep fee income rolling in. There is no rational argument for stocks, bitcoin and real estate to keep rising from their all-time highs, achieved through market manipulation and false narratives sold to the masses. The coming financial collapse can be initiated by a trigger event (tariffs, war, political event, terrorist event, another fake pandemic) or just by the weight of overvaluation and the herd coming to their senses one by one.

“Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.” – Charles Mackay

I believe Trump’s Deep State enemies would like nothing more than a financial and stock market collapse during his reign, in an effort to undermine his presidency. This outcome is highly likely, even if it is not purposely engineered by the Deep State. The other potential trigger is the housing market. Again, the narrative sold to the public is this is the best time to buy, because real estate prices always rise. That was the narrative from 2000 until 2006, then home prices fell for six straight years, until the Federal government colluded with Wall Street hedge funds and the Federal Reserve to produce the current property bubble, with existing home sales prices reaching an all-time high of $427,000 in June 2024, up $197,000 from the 2006 bubble high of $230,000 – an 85% increase engineered by the financial interests benefiting from this bubble.

The reality is 2024 existing home sales are the lowest in 29 years (have you heard that fact on any regime media outlet?), as 30-year mortgage rates have soared from 2.75% in 2021 to over 7% today. Sales are lower than during the 2006 – 2012 crash, but prices are near all-time highs. Something has to give, and this foundation, built on sand, is crumbling.

Prices are down 10% in the last six months. Rental vacancy rates bottomed out at an all-time low below 4% in 2022 and have soared to 6.8% today – and rising. Supply and demand are always balanced through prices. Once the avalanche of price decreases begins, with an undeniable recession and rising unemployment, more and more people will be underwater on their mortgages and unable to service their debt.

Reversion to the mean will devastate the delusions of debt propping up this failing empire. Extending and pretending is not a strategy; it is a desperate last-ditch measure to delay the banquet of consequences which must be faced. The popping of this everything bubble will be written about in history books, like the South Sea Bubble, Tulip Mania Bubble, The Mississippi Bubble, 1920s Stock Market Bubble, and Dotcom Bubble.

While the controllers continue to pump the stock and crypto markets, luring more suckers in at all-time highs, in the real-world average Americans are in deep trouble, as the fake pandemic savings have evaporated and trying to sustain themselves, amidst Biden’s 20% to 40% inflation, on credit cards has run its course, with default rates now at fourteen-year highs. Does that happen in a strong economy?

Auto loan delinquencies are now back to pandemic levels and rising. Shocking when the average auto price now exceeding $48,000, average non-prime auto loan rates of 10% to 15%, and six-year loans putting the average car “owner” underwater when they drive off the lot. Mortgage delinquency rates have been steadily rising for three years, tripling from 0.6% to 1.8% during a supposedly strong economy. All indicators point to increased stress on households just trying to survive from month to month.

As self-serving pundits and regime media whores bloviate about our glorious future and Trump making America great again in 2025, the reality of our situation worsens by the day. Adding $5 to $6 billion of debt per day doesn’t just sound unsustainable – it is unsustainable. The bond market sending 10-year rates up 1%, while the Fed cut short term rates by 1%, is a sure sign the smart money is exiting stage left, while pumping up stocks, and leaving the ignorant masses holding the bag when it all implodes.

I do not think 2025 is going to be very enjoyable for anyone, no matter which branch of the Uniparty you support. Of course, my annual prediction for economic disaster has been wrong for the last fourteen years, so don’t go jumping off a bridge just yet.

I like a number of Trump cabinet nominees (RFK Jr., Tulsi, Hegseth, Patel and Ratcliff) and I agree with his positions on the border, war, and government waste. It will be easy for the DOGE boys to come up with a list of $2 trillion in government expenditure cuts, but none of the Trump fanboys will admit cutting that amount of spending and firing hundreds of thousands of government drones will instantaneously produce the recession that has been delayed by the $3 trillion of annual excess government spending over the last four years. Doing the right thing will create the recession/depression which has been delayed for a decade by QE and doubling the national debt.

So, Trump will either balk at actually reducing the size of government, and our debt death spiral will accelerate, or he will prove to have tougher skin than during his first term and accept a deep recession as necessary to try and steer the nation back towards sustainability. The recession would be a trigger for the stock market and housing market collapse. There is nothing Trump and his minions can do to avoid the ultimate failure of financial system created by decades of bad choices, massive corruption, and capture by corporate special interests in the military, pharmaceutical, and banking industries.

At this point, there are no good choices. We will either experience a deflationary depression or a hyperinflationary depression. The powers that be would prefer hyperinflation, where they position themselves to benefit, while allowing the masses to beg the government to save them. You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to decipher the goals of the ruling oligarchs. They want more power, control and wealth, using any means necessary to achieve their diabolical ends.

Their methods are: engineered crisis, invoking fear in the masses, and using their control over media outlets to propagate whatever narrative maximizes their profits. A financial and economic collapse, leaving the masses in dire straits, would be their perfect opportunity to roll out their CBDCs as a means to gain control over every aspect of our lives. Their Great Taking scheme of siphoning the wealth of the masses directly from their bank accounts and 401ks as an “emergency measure” (already done by FDR in 1933 and Cyprus in 2012) to “save” the financial system is already written into legal documents unknown to depositors.

The upcoming confirmation hearings for Trump’s cabinet selections will reveal the true strength of his Deep State enemies and the entrenched DC blob. Will his agenda be de-fanged before it has a chance to take a bite out of this bloated pig of a crumbling empire. We shall see. The road ahead will be rocky, dangerous, and potentially lethal. I don’t pretend to know what portends in 2025 and beyond, but examining the facts and reality of our current situation leaves me uncertain about the future, knowing the end is always near. Good luck to all as this Fourth Turning accelerates towards an unknown climax and resolution.