Frugal Shoppers,
Surplus Energy Economics, The class of ‘26 - ON THE EDGE OF CHANGE I’d like to point out that the coming twelve months will mark the 250th anniversary of the most important year in modern history.
In 1776, Adam Smith published The Wealth of Nations, the foundation treatise of classical economics, whilst the United States Declaration of Independence was promulgated. Most important of all, James Watt completed the first truly efficient steam engine.
People had long used coal and other fuels to warm their homes and prepare their food. What was transformative about Watt’s discovery was that it enabled us, for the first time, to convert heat into work. The entirety of the industrial age flowed from that breakthrough...
..Our fundamental problem today is resource depletion, which is driving a wedge between preference and possibility. We want growth to continue; it can’t. We seem to favour wide inequalities between social groups; this is becoming unsustainable
This problem is most acute with fossil fuel energy. In a sense, we’ve been here before, when the economics of coal deteriorated during the inter-war years. Fortunately, oil and natural gas were available to take over from coal, and their superior characteristics gave the global economy its biggest burst of growth in the quarter-century after 1945.People had long used coal and other fuels to warm their homes and prepare their food. What was transformative about Watt’s discovery was that it enabled us, for the first time, to convert heat into work. The entirety of the industrial age flowed from that breakthrough...
..Our fundamental problem today is resource depletion, which is driving a wedge between preference and possibility. We want growth to continue; it can’t. We seem to favour wide inequalities between social groups; this is becoming unsustainable
Our predicament now is that we have failed to find a successor to hydrocarbon energy. Recent reports from Rystad Energy and the IEA have pointed towards a looming decline in the supply of oil and natural gas....
..Energy is not like any other commodity. A shortage of coffee and a rise in its price do not make us poorer, but energy shortages and higher costs do make us less prosperous.
The economy works by using energy to convert other raw materials into products, artefacts and infrastructures, so a decrease in the amount of ex-cost energy available to the system makes the economy smaller...
..The critical measure of the condition of energy supply is the Energy Cost of Energy, a calibration of how much energy, being consumed in the energy access process, is unavailable for any other economic purpose. Driven by the depletion of fossil fuel resources, global trend ECoEs have risen relentlessly, from 2.0% in 1980 to more than 11% today...
Renewables cannot take ECoEs back down to growth-capable levels. In addition to their intermittencies and lesser portability, these renewables depend, for their expansion, maintenance and replacement, on legacy energy from fossil fuels.
This is a material explanation for the financial fact that renewables are reliant on subsidies... Seen in material rather than monetary terms, the whole of the economy is ‘subsidised’ by the energy industries. This subsidy is gradually being withdrawn by rising ECoEs...
..“Secular stagnation” – in essence, a trend inflexion – set in. The real cause, as we know, was rising ECoEs, for which no ‘fix’ exists.
But the response favoured at the time was “credit adventurism”. We can’t reinvigorate a flagging material economy with monetary tools, any more than we can cure an ailing house-plant with a spanner...
..The forces of resource degradation and rising ECoEs cannot be halted by political diktat.
The use of super-rapid liquidity expansion to sustain a semblance of normality will result in a massive financial crisis, part of which will be a wholesale destruction of super-inflated paper asset wealth. The financial recklessness required to maintain a simulacrum of ‘business as usual’ has already put wide swathes of the discretionary economy on life support.
This might not be the most uplifting way to end 2025, but knowledge is always to be preferred over even the most palatable versions of ignorance. https://surplusenergyeconomics.wordpress.com/2025/12/21/316-the-class-of-26/
Echoing the Trump administration’s National Security Strategy, Rubio pulled no punches in highlighting how Europe’s slide toward “civilizational erasure” endangers alliances built on liberty and self-governance...
..“You go to these NATO meetings and you meet with people, what they will tell you our shared history, our shared legacy, our shared values, our shared priorities. That’s what they talk about as the reason for this alliance,” Rubio said. “Well, if you erase your shared history, your shared culture, your shared ideology, your shared priorities, your shared principles, then what – then you just have a straight-up defense agreement. That’s all you have,” he continued. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/rubios-stark-warning-europe-risks-wiping-out-shared-culture-western-civilization
The collapse of Germany’s export driven growth model is forcing a strategic repositioning in which green industrial ambitions are being replaced by military Keynesianism. https://umitak.substack.com/p/germany-after-pax-americana-from
Ursula von der Leyen, Finland has over 50,000 air raid shelters.Their preparedness aims to strengthen their resilience and to deter aggression.
We have so much to learn from the Finns. This is the change of mindset I want to help bring during my second mandate. https://x.com/vonderleyen_epp/status/1797929474283159897
The move prompted Denmark's Foreign Minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, to summon the U.S. ambassador, saying the appointment suggests continued American interest in the resource-rich island. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/denmark-furious-after-trump-names-special-envoy-greenland
'This new aircraft carrier will be an illustration of the power of our nation,' French president says
"We must be strong in order to be feared, and in particular strong at sea. That is why, in accordance with the last two military programming laws and after a full and thorough review, I have decided to equip France with a new aircraft carrier," Macron said. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/macron-says-france-to-build-new-aircraft-carrier/3777108
Steve Witkoff and Kyiv’s Rustem Umerov used identical language, saying Ukraine “highly values” U.S. support. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/21/ukraine-russia-miami-florida-talks-00702453
Throw Freddy Merz under the bus, Emmanuel ! Macron Seeks New Talks With Putin, Forcing 'Alternative' Path To Stalled US Negotiations https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/macron-seeks-new-talks-putin-forces-alternative-path-stalled-us-negotiations
Vladimir Putin says he's ready to talk to French President Emmanuel Macron about the war in Ukraine. The Russian declaration came in response to Macron's statement following the European summit that it would “again be useful” for “Europe” to speak to Russia rather than leave the United States to maneuver alone, as bilateral talks between Ukraine and the United States continue in Florida.
It hardly needs pointing out, however, that Putin agreed not to speak to “Europe” but rather to Macron, and he did so after the European summit put paid to Friedrich Merz's attempt to unite his EU partners around a stronger stance vis-à-vis Moscow.
Merz wanted to use Russian funds frozen in European banks to finance Ukraine's war effort. The ECB counseled against this move, which could have left member state governments on the hook for hundreds of billions of euros if the war were to be ended behind their backs by a treaty imposed on Ukraine by the US and Russia. https://arthurgoldhammer356783.substack.com/p/macrons-gambit-accepted
It hardly needs pointing out, however, that Putin agreed not to speak to “Europe” but rather to Macron, and he did so after the European summit put paid to Friedrich Merz's attempt to unite his EU partners around a stronger stance vis-à-vis Moscow.
Merz wanted to use Russian funds frozen in European banks to finance Ukraine's war effort. The ECB counseled against this move, which could have left member state governments on the hook for hundreds of billions of euros if the war were to be ended behind their backs by a treaty imposed on Ukraine by the US and Russia. https://arthurgoldhammer356783.substack.com/p/macrons-gambit-accepted
Thomas Kolbe, Germany's Debt-Fueled Illusions: Merz Humiliated, Economy In Freefall
After the failed raid on Russian assets at Euroclear, Berlin now turns its gaze to the hoped-for comeback of the German economy. Yet here too awaits the next bitter realization for naïve statisticians: wealth cannot be printed with debt... It reads like a naive comedy: the CDU and SPD camouflage reform policies, only to steer the central plan of transforming society and the economy into a green command economy with a military-industrial complex through increasingly rough seas to a safe harbor. https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/germanys-debt-fueled-illusions-merz-humiliated-economy-freefallBrussels needs Ukraine to win on the battlefield for the bloc to ever see its money again, according to the Hungarian prime minister https://www.rt.com/news/629827-eu-loan-ukraine-war-orban/
Russian Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov head of the Operational Training Directorate at the General Staff has been killed in a car bomb explosion in southern Moscow on December 22,...
..According to the Myrotvorets Centre, a Kyiv-based intelligence website, the Russian official was a target of Kyiv for several years.
The website, which calls itself “Non-government Centre for Research of Elements of Crimes against the National Security of Ukraine, Peace, Humanity, and the International Law," had his name listed before he died in Moscow.
Sarvarov's personal data appeared on the site on May 28, 2022. His profile described him as a "Russian war criminal," with December 22 marked as his "liquidation date." https://www.intellinews.com/russia-s-lieutenant-general-killed-in-moscow-car-bomb-417837/?source=russia
..According to the Myrotvorets Centre, a Kyiv-based intelligence website, the Russian official was a target of Kyiv for several years.
The website, which calls itself “Non-government Centre for Research of Elements of Crimes against the National Security of Ukraine, Peace, Humanity, and the International Law," had his name listed before he died in Moscow.
Sarvarov's personal data appeared on the site on May 28, 2022. His profile described him as a "Russian war criminal," with December 22 marked as his "liquidation date." https://www.intellinews.com/russia-s-lieutenant-general-killed-in-moscow-car-bomb-417837/?source=russia
Caitlin Johnstone, If You're Not Free To Oppose A Genocide, Your Society Is Not Free https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/if-youre-not-free-to-oppose-a-genocide
Escape Key, A Conditional Existence
By 2029, the terminal checks a second balance — carbon, social, compliance — before the transaction clears. Fail the check, payment denied. It’s a permission system.
We covered the EU implementation in How Europe is Building a Carbon Currency — Digital Product Passports, Digital ID Wallets, and the Digital Euro. But Europe is just one implementation. The architecture is global. https://escapekey.substack.com/p/conditional-existence
When Oregon Music teacher Susan Lewis logged onto a Zoom meeting with her boss one afternoon in August 2024, she thought she would be preparing for a sixth year teaching at Valley Catholic School. Instead, she lost her job.
Lewis was shocked, she recalled in an interview with The Intercept, as were her colleagues and students. The school did not give any explanation for why they did not renew her contract. Unbeknownst to Lewis, the pro-Israel blacklist organization StopAntisemitism had recently launched an online campaign against her, framing her social media posts about the genocide in Gaza as “using her platform to spread vile antisemitic hate online.”
Lewis is one of at least 400 people StopAntisemitism has taken credit for getting ousted from their jobs in its online crusade. https://theintercept.com/2025/12/20/stopantisemitism-israel-blacklist-teacher-job-firings/?
Lewis was shocked, she recalled in an interview with The Intercept, as were her colleagues and students. The school did not give any explanation for why they did not renew her contract. Unbeknownst to Lewis, the pro-Israel blacklist organization StopAntisemitism had recently launched an online campaign against her, framing her social media posts about the genocide in Gaza as “using her platform to spread vile antisemitic hate online.”
Lewis is one of at least 400 people StopAntisemitism has taken credit for getting ousted from their jobs in its online crusade. https://theintercept.com/2025/12/20/stopantisemitism-israel-blacklist-teacher-job-firings/?
Caitlin Johnstone, Notes On Bondi Beach And Free Speech
The dumbest thing we are being asked to believe today is that pro-Palestinian protests caused the Bondi shooting. It’s self-evidently moronic. No one sincerely believes it. They’re just pretending to believe it to get protests banned and criticism of Israel outlawed.
Nobody actually believes pro-Palestine protests caused the Bondi shooting. They’re just pretending to believe that to promote the interests of a genocidal apartheid state. Nobody actually believes “globalize the intifada” means “kill all Jews”. They’re just pretending to believe that to promote the interests of a genocidal apartheid state.
Nobody actually believes pro-Palestine demonstrations are “hate marches” or that pro-Palestine speech is “hate speech”. They’re just pretending to believe that to promote the interests of a genocidal apartheid state. https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/notes-on-bondi-beach-and-free-speech
Sasha Latypova, on Substack bending the knee: Please read and share this message from a digitally caged Australian author.
..Many Australian authors are locked out of Substack due to Australian ‘age assurance’ laws. Of course, we know this is not about assuring age to ‘protect the children,’ but is a Maoist-like identification and purge of the creators and dissidents who flocked to Substack during covid Emergency powers. Our content is still up for children to see - this is about demoralising and silencing those who create dissent and critique of governments.
Australian authors were under the impression we would be automatically ‘age verified’ through Stripe or credit card but this is not the case for all. Substack is not even on the official list of government-restricted platforms. https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-us/industry-regulation/social-media-age-restrictions/which-platforms-are-age-restricted
The technology deployed (persona) cannot be circumvented with the use of VPN or Tor and the biometrics cannot be fooled as others have done around the world. This appears to be much more sophisticated than the technology that was deployed in the UK and our individual accounts appear to be flagged. https://sashalatypova.substack.com/p/urgent-please-read-and-share-this
Australian authors were under the impression we would be automatically ‘age verified’ through Stripe or credit card but this is not the case for all. Substack is not even on the official list of government-restricted platforms. https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-us/industry-regulation/social-media-age-restrictions/which-platforms-are-age-restricted
The technology deployed (persona) cannot be circumvented with the use of VPN or Tor and the biometrics cannot be fooled as others have done around the world. This appears to be much more sophisticated than the technology that was deployed in the UK and our individual accounts appear to be flagged. https://sashalatypova.substack.com/p/urgent-please-read-and-share-this
Google has slammed the UK for threatening to stifle free speech through its aggressive online regulations. This from the company infamous for its own censorship crusades against conservative voices and inconvenient truths. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/irony-alert-google-suddenly-champions-free-speech-uk-crushes-online-expression
The ADF is evaluating an Israeli-made AI precision targeting system ‘proven in combat’ in Gaza. https://declassifiedaus.org/2025/12/22/australia-trials-weapon-battle-tested-in-gaza/
Kamran Ahmed and Amu Gib have been hospitalised as a protest that began 50 days ago raises alarm. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/22/two-palestine-action-hunger-strikers-in-uk-prisons-admitted-to-hospital
Patrick Lawrence, “After the first 70,669 deaths, there is no other.” - Bondi Beach reconsidered.
These were senseless murders by any conceivable judgment—so senseless I am stating the obvious by saying so. But I cannot enter into the responses officials and the media serving them have urged incessantly since last weekend. Out of the question for any number of reasons, chief among them the dishonesty at the core of what I may as well call “official grief.”
Read in the larger context of these awful events, the obsessive humanization of the Bondi Beach victims is an upside-down exercise in dehumanization. This is first, straight off the top. Jewish lives count, white lives count, names, faces, generous smiles—all this counts. But the names, faces, and lives of those the Zionist regime has terrorized and brutalized for the past two years or eight decades, depending on how you reckon history: No, no need for any of this because they do not count. https://thefloutist.substack.com/p/after-the-first-70669-deaths-there
Read in the larger context of these awful events, the obsessive humanization of the Bondi Beach victims is an upside-down exercise in dehumanization. This is first, straight off the top. Jewish lives count, white lives count, names, faces, generous smiles—all this counts. But the names, faces, and lives of those the Zionist regime has terrorized and brutalized for the past two years or eight decades, depending on how you reckon history: No, no need for any of this because they do not count. https://thefloutist.substack.com/p/after-the-first-70669-deaths-there
Israeli forces shot and killed two young Palestinians in the West Bank on Saturday, shooting one a mere metres away from him.
One of those killed was 16-year-old Rayyan Mohammad Abu Mualla, who was gunned down at close range by an Israeli soldier in Qabatiya, south of Jenin, as he was heading home from school.
Footage circulated by Al Jazeera and other outlets shows two Israeli soldiers lying in wait as the teenager walks down a narrow alley. One soldier crouches while the other stands behind him, both watching Abu Mualla approach.
Seconds later, the soldier opens fire from just a few metres away, shooting the child four or five times. Abu Mualla is then left bleeding on the ground as Israeli forces block Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances from reaching him. He later died from his wounds.
The Israeli army claimed the teenager had thrown a brick, a justification it has repeatedly used over decades to excuse the killing of Palestinians, including children. https://www.newarab.com/news/jenin-israeli-army-kills-palestinian-schoolboy-point-blank Footage circulated by Al Jazeera and other outlets shows two Israeli soldiers lying in wait as the teenager walks down a narrow alley. One soldier crouches while the other stands behind him, both watching Abu Mualla approach.
Seconds later, the soldier opens fire from just a few metres away, shooting the child four or five times. Abu Mualla is then left bleeding on the ground as Israeli forces block Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances from reaching him. He later died from his wounds.
Escape Key, Project Sunrise
In September, I analysed Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza and identified the architecture: conditional finance, enforced through external oversight, operationalised via six technical rails. The template employed in Ukraine was visible, but the benchmarks were pending. The blended finance mechanism was implicit — referenced through ‘public-private partnerships’ requirements, but not yet codified. Three months later, Project Sunrise has made explicit what was then inference. The Wall Street Journal’s reporting matters precisely because it contains the numbers, the sequencing, and the monetisation clauses that moves this analysis from pattern-recognition to documentation.
The UN says settlements are expanding at their fastest pace since 2017, with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres describing their development as 'relentless'. https://www.newarab.com/news/israels-security-cabinet-approves-19-new-west-bank-settlements
Israel claimed it targeted two Hezbollah members, hours after Beirut said phase one of disarming the resistance group is nearly complete https://thecradle.co/articles/new-israeli-drone-strikes-hit-south-lebanon-in-latest-ceasefire-breach#google_vignette
While the West and Gulf countries celebrated Assad fleeting the country for Russia in December 2024, with the al-Qaeda linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) taking over Damascus, the new government quickly got to work persecuting, massacring, and disappearing religious minorities.
First Alawites were targeted last spring, then Christians, and more recently Druze - or anyone not acting according to the HTS brand of fanatical Islam and jihad. But CNN and other establishment news outlets have 'moved on' and are turning a blind eye. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/mainstream-media-belatedly-details-syrian-prisons-filling-again-torture-under-jolani Meeting very soon: Netanyahu plans to brief Trump on possible new Iran strikes
Israeli officials believe Iran is expanding its ballistic missile program. They are preparing to make the case during an upcoming meeting with Trump that it poses a new threat. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/netanyahu-plans-brief-trump-possible-new-iran-strikes-rcna250112
Israeli officials believe Iran is expanding its ballistic missile program. They are preparing to make the case during an upcoming meeting with Trump that it poses a new threat. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/netanyahu-plans-brief-trump-possible-new-iran-strikes-rcna250112
Trump's gunboat diplomacy is aimed at the country's autocratic leader, Nicolás Maduro. This ploy could accelerate regime instability in Caracas and materially weaken Cuba.
"Their theory of change involves cutting off all support to Cuba," Juan S. Gonzalez, who was President Joe Biden's top White House aide for Western Hemisphere affairs, recently said. "Under this approach, once Venezuela goes, Cuba will follow."
On Tuesday, Trump ordered a "total and complete blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers going into and out of Venezuela. He further boasted of the country having been "completely surrounded" with the "largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America."
He then warned, "It [the blockade] will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before — Until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us." https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/gunboat-diplomacy-accelerated-us-reportedly-interdicts-seizes-another-oil-tanker
"Their theory of change involves cutting off all support to Cuba," Juan S. Gonzalez, who was President Joe Biden's top White House aide for Western Hemisphere affairs, recently said. "Under this approach, once Venezuela goes, Cuba will follow."
On Tuesday, Trump ordered a "total and complete blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers going into and out of Venezuela. He further boasted of the country having been "completely surrounded" with the "largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America."
He then warned, "It [the blockade] will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before — Until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us." https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/gunboat-diplomacy-accelerated-us-reportedly-interdicts-seizes-another-oil-tanker
Gold & Geopolitics, The US is at war - not a hidden/proxy one this time
At least six career staffers at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency were suspended with pay this summer after organizing a polygraph test that the agency’s acting director, Madhu Gottumukkala, failed...
..The incident this July and the subsequent fallout — which has not been reported before — have angered career staff, alarmed fellow Trump administration appointees and raised questions about Gottumukkala’s leadership of the nearly $3 billion cyber defense agency.
“Instead of taking ownership and saying, ‘Hey, I screwed up,’ he gets other people blamed and potentially ruins their careers,” said a current official, who described Gottumukkala’s tenure at CISA so far as “a nightmare” for the agency...
“Instead of taking ownership and saying, ‘Hey, I screwed up,’ he gets other people blamed and potentially ruins their careers,” said a current official, who described Gottumukkala’s tenure at CISA so far as “a nightmare” for the agency...
..Gottumukkala failed the polygraph test in the last week of July, according to five current officials and one former official.
The test was scheduled that month to determine his eligibility to review one of the most sensitive intelligence programs shared with CISA by another spy agency, three current officials and one former official said.
The test was scheduled that month to determine his eligibility to review one of the most sensitive intelligence programs shared with CISA by another spy agency, three current officials and one former official said.
That material was designated as a controlled access program — meaning its circulation was supposed to be tightly restricted to those assigned as need-to-know — and the agency that furnished it to CISA further required that any need-to-know employees first pass what is known as a counter-intelligence polygraph, according to four current officials and one former official.
As a civilian agency, the vast majority of CISA employees do not need to view these types of highly sensitive materials, nor do they have to pass such an exam to be hired. But polygraphs are widely used across the Pentagon and U.S. spy community. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/21/cisa-acting-director-madhu-gottumukkala-polygraph-investigation-00701996?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=dlvr.it
As a civilian agency, the vast majority of CISA employees do not need to view these types of highly sensitive materials, nor do they have to pass such an exam to be hired. But polygraphs are widely used across the Pentagon and U.S. spy community. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/21/cisa-acting-director-madhu-gottumukkala-polygraph-investigation-00701996?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=dlvr.it
ICE has secured a deal with surveillance firm BI Incorporated as part of a new program, first reported in October by The Intercept, to use private bounty hunters to determine the locations of immigrants in exchange for monetary bonuses.
BI, which was acquired by the GEO Group in 2011, is one of several firms hired by ICE to provide “skip tracing” services, in which its teams of corporate investigators will use surveillance to track immigrants across the country to their homes and places of work so federal agents can easily swoop in and make arrests. https://theintercept.com/2025/12/19/ice-bounty-hunters-location-surveillance-geo-group/?
BI, which was acquired by the GEO Group in 2011, is one of several firms hired by ICE to provide “skip tracing” services, in which its teams of corporate investigators will use surveillance to track immigrants across the country to their homes and places of work so federal agents can easily swoop in and make arrests. https://theintercept.com/2025/12/19/ice-bounty-hunters-location-surveillance-geo-group/?
CBS News' new editor in chief Bari Weiss pulled a planned "60 Minutes" segment on an El Salvador maximum-security prison where the Trump administration has sent hundreds of Venezuelan migrants - apparently because the journalist behind the piece failed to obtain comment from the Trump administration. https://www.zerohedge.com/political/bari-weiss-spikes-60-minutes-segment-el-salvador-prison
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is offering triple the amount of cash to illegal immigrants who willingly leave the United States through a smartphone app as part of a “holiday deal.” https://www.zerohedge.com/political/dhs-offering-3000-illegal-aliens-self-deport-part-holiday-deal
A perspective to consider next year: The real purpose of ICE raids.
..These are the tools they intend to use soon during elections.
I expect this administration, Secretary Noem and CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott to order federal immigration agents to accost voters as they stand in line on voting day. Those of color, specifically Latinos, will have their citizenship questioned. And judging by how the agencies are grabbing people without even conducting on-site citizenship interviews, then taking them into ICE custody for a day, or two or three before letting them go, I expect this will be used to prevent citizens from voting. I wouldn’t even be surprised if Border Patrol set up checkpoints in areas of high Latino populations.
By the time voters are released, voting booths will be closed. By the time cities and states realize what has happened, declarations of who won will be announced and votes will be certified. This will all be followed by years of court battles like the 2020 election. https://jennbudd.substack.com/p/the-real-purpose-of-ice-raids
I expect this administration, Secretary Noem and CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott to order federal immigration agents to accost voters as they stand in line on voting day. Those of color, specifically Latinos, will have their citizenship questioned. And judging by how the agencies are grabbing people without even conducting on-site citizenship interviews, then taking them into ICE custody for a day, or two or three before letting them go, I expect this will be used to prevent citizens from voting. I wouldn’t even be surprised if Border Patrol set up checkpoints in areas of high Latino populations.
By the time voters are released, voting booths will be closed. By the time cities and states realize what has happened, declarations of who won will be announced and votes will be certified. This will all be followed by years of court battles like the 2020 election. https://jennbudd.substack.com/p/the-real-purpose-of-ice-raids
Trump-class battleships. On December 22, 2025 President Trump announced that he had approved a plan for the U.S. Navy to build two new "Trump-class" battleships, with the goal of acquiring 20-25 of these ships in the coming years. In his address, the President noted these 30,000-40,000 ton ships will carry a large quantity of missiles, including hypersonic missiles, and will also be outfitted with electromagnetic rail guns and directed energy lasers. Trump-class battleships will also carry nuclear-armed sea launched cruise missiles (currently under development) adding an additional element of nuclear deterrence to the Navy. Trump-class destroyers appear to be designed as the center of enhanced command and control networks at sea, as the Navy looks to field more autonomous assets and traditional vessels in the coming years. The WSJ has reported that the U.S. Navy will launch a vendor competition, with plans to procure the first hull in 2030. https://www.zerohedge.com/military/huntington-ingalls-industries-jumps-trump-class-warships
The US president says the new vessels will ensure naval dominance and include AI and laser technology.
“We had big battleships. These are bigger. They’ll be 100 times the force, the power [of the old ships], and there’s never been anything like these ships,” Trump said.
He added that the vessels would be “cutting edge” and equipped with the latest technology, including artificial intelligence and directed energy lasers. They will also be armed with hypersonic missiles, nuclear cruise missiles and rail guns – all technologies that are in various stages of development by the US Navy.
“Each one of these will be the largest battleship in the history of our country, the largest battleship in the history of the world,” he said...
He added that the vessels would be “cutting edge” and equipped with the latest technology, including artificial intelligence and directed energy lasers. They will also be armed with hypersonic missiles, nuclear cruise missiles and rail guns – all technologies that are in various stages of development by the US Navy.
“Each one of these will be the largest battleship in the history of our country, the largest battleship in the history of the world,” he said...
..Both Trump and Navy Secretary John Phelan spoke about the new Trump-class warship as a spiritual successor to the battleships of the 20th century, but historically, that term has referred to a very specific type of ship – a large, heavily armoured vessel armed with massive guns designed to bombard other ships or targets ashore...
..According to a newly created website for the Golden Fleet, this new “guided missile battleship” is set to be roughly the same size as Iowa-class battleships, but only weigh about half as much, approximately 35,000 tonnes, and have far smaller crews – between 650 and 850 sailors. Its primary weapons will also be missiles, not large naval guns.....He said he will meet with major defence firms next week to address delays and overruns, and to examine whether executive compensation, stock buybacks and dividends are contributing to missed production targets. “We don’t want to have executives making $50m a year, issuing big dividends to everybody, and also doing buybacks”, while production of F-35s and other jets languishes, Trump said. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/23/trump-unveils-trump-class-battleships-for-naval-golden-fleet
About a third of San Francisco lost electricity throughout the day Saturday after rolling Pacific Gas & Electric Co. blackouts hit some 125,000 homes and businesses. PG&E said at 8:30 p.m. that power should start to be restored “later this evening.”
Traffic lights across the city were down, seemingly confusing the driverless cars — and halting them in their tracks. Riders and pedestrians posted videos of Waymos stuck at intersections, long lines of drivers behind them. https://missionlocal.org/2025/12/sf-waymo-halts-service-blackout/
Traffic lights across the city were down, seemingly confusing the driverless cars — and halting them in their tracks. Riders and pedestrians posted videos of Waymos stuck at intersections, long lines of drivers behind them. https://missionlocal.org/2025/12/sf-waymo-halts-service-blackout/
Escape Key says the system will decide how you are doing for you: The Meaning of 'Well-Being'
The addition of ‘mental’ might have seemed natural enough, since minds can suffer just as bodies can. But ‘social well-being’ introduced something different. Your health now depended on your relationships, your standing, your integration into community. And the word ‘complete’ set a standard that no living person can meet on their own.
This works to relocate authority: if health includes social factors, it cannot be assessed from the inside alone. Institutions gain a rationale to evaluate your social well-being, measure it against a standard, determine whether it is adequate. Health began its migration from something you possess to something assessed externally. https://escapekey.substack.com/p/the-meaning-of-well-being
Defunding a criminal cabal; there are more: RFK Jr. Cancels Millions in Grants to AAP, as Battle Heats Up Between Health Officials and Pediatric Group
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday announced millions in funding cuts to the AAP — on the same day lawyers for the pediatric trade group defended their lawsuit against Kennedy in a Boston court. The Washington Post said the AAP lost the funding after “criticizing RFK Jr.” HHS said the agency cancelled the grants because they “no longer align with the Department’s mission or priorities.” https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/rfk-jr-cancels-millions-in-grants-to-aap-hhs/ Meryl Nass MD, Strengthening the Biological Weapons Convention: the US returns to the table after essentially a 25 year hiatus
It seems the Trump administration plans to breathe new life into the Biological Weapons Convention. Fingers crossed. https://merylnass.substack.com/p/strengthening-the-biological-weaponsRetired pediatrician Dr. Paul Thomas spoke with CHD.TV Director Polly Tommey about why he broke from mainstream medicine and what he says parents must know about vaccines, childhood illness and medical risk. “Once I saw vaccine injury, I couldn’t unsee it,” Thomas said.Dr. Paul Thomas, a retired pediatrician who practiced for 35 years, spoke with CHD.TV Director Polly Tommey about questions many parents wrestle with: Do unvaccinated children get sick more often? When is hospital care really necessary? How should parents handle disease outbreaks, childhood fevers and family pressure to vaccinate? https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/dr-paul-thomas-why-dont-vaccinate-kids-parents-should-know/
Here, sign this release form: Veterans on Psychiatric Drugs Call for ‘Informed Consent’
The proposed legislation, dubbed the Written Informed Consent Act, was introduced into the House by Gus Bilirakis of Florida in August, with a companion bill introduced into the Senate by Tim Sheehy of Montana on Dec. 3. Both of the sponsors are Republicans; one House Democrat has joined them. https://www.themahareport.com/p/veterans-on-psychiatric-drugs-call
Do you know where yourvitamin-D level is? Nicolas Hulscher, Vitamin D Could Prevent 30,000 Cancer Deaths Per Year in Germany Alone
Over 900 studies show anti-cancer activity of vitamin D across most cancer types, and randomized controlled trials demonstrate a ~13% reduction in cancer mortality. https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/vitamin-d-could-prevent-30000-cancer I don't watch; I read. Peter McCullough MD, Breaking Down the American Health Restoration and Affordability Act (AHRAA) - Small portion of Americans impacted by new bill from the administration https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/breaking-down-the-american-health
Opposing view of Obamacare subsidy ending: ACA Premiums Explode as GOP Obstruction Pushes Millions Toward Health Care Ruin
Republican obstruction transforms ideology into suffering, financial devastation, and preventable deaths. This crisis is not accidental. It is the predictable result of policy choices that prioritize corporate profit and partisan sabotage over human life.
ACA subsidy expiration triggers premium increases of 300–400% for many older Americans.A $479 monthly premium jumps to nearly $2,000 with no improvement in coverage.
Republican proposals, such as one-time HSA deposits, fail to address affordability or premiums.
Red states suffer the most from policies enacted by the politicians they repeatedly elect.
Many working people will forgo insurance entirely, risking medical bankruptcy or death. https://egberto.substack.com/p/aca-premiums-explode-as-gop-obstruction
More GDP is good, right? Q3 GDP Unexpectedly Surges To 2 Year High On Soaring Health Insurance Spending https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/q3-gdp-unexpectedly-surges-2-year-high-soaring-health-insurance-spending
Apparently any number you like can be substantiated: DOGE Delivers Massive $214 Billion In Taxpayer Savings... So Far https://www.zerohedge.com/political/doge-delivers-massive-214-billion-taxpayer-savings-so-far
If I were extraterrestrial I'd have been experimenting with hominid apes for eons. Americans Are Increasingly Convinced That Aliens Have Visited Earth
Polling shows that nearly half of Americans now believe aliens have visited this planet—and that the number who aren't sure has dropped by two-thirds. The reasons why, experts say, are complicated. https://www.wired.com/story/americans-are-increasingly-convinced-that-aliens-have-visited-earth/ I'm not unique in that "Planet of the Apes" perspective: April 15, 2021 Scientists Create Early Embryos That Are Part Human, Part Monkey
The embryos, described Thursday in the journal Cell, were created in part to try to find new ways to produce organs for people who need transplants, said the international team of scientists who collaborated in the work. But the research raises a variety of concerns. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/04/15/987164563/scientists-create-early-embryos-that-are-part-human-part-monkey
Apeman (pictured yesterday with Christmas tomatoes)
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