Non-Combatants,
Alex Krainer elucidates underlying patterns of global elite conflict. Drug addiction extracts value from a nation: Is Venezuela's fate a warning to Canada?
As bizarre as that sounds, Canada's Globe and Mail editorial board thought so. And with reason. I know, that may sound bizarre, but that was the title of the Globe and Mail Sunday Editorial four days ago. It literally read, “Venezuela’s fate is a warning for Canada.” The article is behind a paywall, but even its title raises a serious question: how much paranoid imagination would it take to think that Trump’s kidnapping of Nicolas Maduro was a warning to Canada? As it turns out, not very much and some people in Canada are rightly feeling very nervous about this.
In the immediate aftermath of Nicolas Maduro’s abduction, State Secretary Rubio said that, “we’re at war with drugs trafficking organizations,” and oligarchs. Trump, in his signature style, said very little of any substance, but did mention that the U.S. is losing 300,000 people a year to drug overdose deaths (in his opinion; the official figure is closer to 100,000) and that “a lot of it is coming from Canada.” ...
..I believe that the British Empire is still alive and kicking and Opium Wars remain available to them as a tool of foreign policy... In the immediate aftermath of Nicolas Maduro’s abduction, State Secretary Rubio said that, “we’re at war with drugs trafficking organizations,” and oligarchs. Trump, in his signature style, said very little of any substance, but did mention that the U.S. is losing 300,000 people a year to drug overdose deaths (in his opinion; the official figure is closer to 100,000) and that “a lot of it is coming from Canada.” ...
..The NSS25 also says, “we want a Hemisphere whose governments cooperate with us against narco-terrorists, cartels, and other transnational criminal organizations…” It may be that we’re watching this aspect of U.S. Security Strategy being put into operation. https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/is-venezuelas-fate-a-warning-to-canada
I read that the computers were the target. What was their function? Venezuela Claims US Bombing Destroyed Key Research and Science Facilities
NYT 1/7/2025: Venezuela’s most important research center, the Venezuelan Institute of Scientific Research, said on Wednesday that its facilities were severely damaged by two U.S. missiles during the raid on Saturday. In a social media post, it said its mathematics department, in Miranda state, “housed servers and essential equipment for our computer networks that were completely devastated,” and its physics, chemistry, ecology and nuclear technology departments were also damaged. “This is an unprecedented act of imperial aggression,” the post said. “There is no justification to attack a sanctuary of science.” Alberto Quintero, the institute’s director, released a video identifying metal fragments as remains of one missile, an AGM-154C-1, a sophisticated, precision-guided glide bomb. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_UkKeI-uu4
The empty oil tanker, Bella-1, was steaming to Venezuela to tank up, with a crew of 28, 20 Ukrainians, 2 Russians and 6 Georgians, when the USsaid it was a stateless vessel and sought to board it. The crew painted Russian flags on it and requested Russian recognition, which Russia provided, but the US did not recognize. Piracy In The Atlantic: The US Launched an Illegal Hunt for the Russian tanker, Mariner https://avia-pro.net/news/piratstvo-v-atlantike-ssha-razvernuli-nezakonnuyu-ohotu-za-rossiyskim-tankerom-marinera
The US Coast Guard steamed to Ireland and Iceland: US forces seize sanctioned, Russia-flagged oil tanker that eluded Venezuela blockade https://nypost.com/2026/01/07/us-news/us-forces-board-sanctioned-russia-flagged-oil-tanker-that-eluded-venezuela-blockade/
Simplicius, Escalation-Mad Trump's Coast Guard Seizes "Russian" Ship 5,500 km From US Coasts
In truth, no one seems to quite know who the ship actually belongs to. It was named the Bella-1 and was “allowed” to re-flag itself under the Russian flag days ago, before it began sailing—apparently—toward Murmansk.....This statement from the US indicates the US does not consider the ship to be Russian:
The USA states that it does not consider the tanker “Marinera” to belong to Russia and that it does not belong to any country. The USA continues to claim that it believes it has the right to seize all tankers involved in transporting Venezuelan oil.
Karoline Leavitt even called it “a Venezuelan shadow fleet ship that was deemed stateless after flying a false flag”. https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/escalation-mad-trumps-coast-guard
The USA states that it does not consider the tanker “Marinera” to belong to Russia and that it does not belong to any country. The USA continues to claim that it believes it has the right to seize all tankers involved in transporting Venezuelan oil.
Karoline Leavitt even called it “a Venezuelan shadow fleet ship that was deemed stateless after flying a false flag”. https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/escalation-mad-trumps-coast-guard
The colorful Scott Ritter: It's time for Russia to punch the camel in the nose after tanker seizure
If the US gets away with this voiding of any meaningful Russian response, then it will feel free to escalate up to and including directly confronting Russia on the ground in Ukraine, he writes. https://trendsinthenews.substack.com/p/ritter-its-time-for-russia-to-punch Chevron is still active in Venezuela, but Exxon and Conoco got stiffed for billions, hence Trump's "Venezuela stole our oil": Big Oil doesn’t share Trump’s dream of making Venezuelan oil great again https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/05/business/venezuela-trump-oil-chevron
A small armada of ships booked by Chevron Corp is sailing to Venezuela as the company emerges as the only exporter of the country’s oil following the ouster of President Nicolas Maduro by US forces. https://financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/chevron-lines-up-11-oil-ships-as-venezuelas-dark-fleet-vanishes
A strategic military expenditure: US May Subsidize Oil Giants To Rebuild Venezuela’s Energy Sector, Trump Says
Trump said US firms could have expanded operations in the country “up and running” in less than 18 months — a timeline that sharply conflicts with expert estimates that reconstruction could take a decade and cost more than $100 billion. “I think we can do it in less time than that, but it’ll be a lot of money,” Trump said. “A tremendous amount of money will have to be spent and the oil companies will spend it, and then they’ll get reimbursed by us or through revenue.” https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/us-may-subsidize-oil-giants-rebuild-venezuelas-energy-sector-trump-says
Oil producer Chevron is reportedly in talks with the US government to expand in Venezuela, and Trump claimed Venezuela will only purchase American-made products with oil money.
"We control the energy resources, and we tell the regime, you're allowed to sell the oil so long as you serve America's national interest, you're not allowed to sell it if you can't serve America's national interest," Vance said. https://www.jpost.com/international/article-882693
Venezuela’s interior minister said more than 100 people were killed in the U.S. raid.
The Pentagon said seven U.S. troops were injured in the Venezuela operation; five have recovered. https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/07/us-venezuela-military-operation-maduro-injuries-casualties.html
The Pentagon said seven U.S. troops were injured in the Venezuela operation; five have recovered. https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/07/us-venezuela-military-operation-maduro-injuries-casualties.html
The Venezuelan army has everything it needs to defend its territory, but it failed to respond to the American invasion. Lieutenant Colonel Edgar Alejandro Lugo Pereira, a member of the active army reserve, explained the reason for this. The Venezuelan army could have repelled the US attack, but chose not to, fearing a more serious invasion. https://en.topwar.ru/276032-nazvana-prichina-otsutstvija-reakcii-armii-venesujely-na-vtorzhenie-ssha.html
President Trump pushed for a 50% increase in defense spending by 2027.
"After long and difficult negotiations with Senators, Congressmen, Secretaries, and other political representatives, I have determined that, for the good of our country, especially in these very troubled and dangerous times, our military budget for the year 2027 should not be $1 trillion, but rather $1.5 trillion," Trump wrote. https://www.zerohedge.com/military/defense-stocks-blast-trump-seeks-budget-boost-defend-western-hemisphere
"After long and difficult negotiations with Senators, Congressmen, Secretaries, and other political representatives, I have determined that, for the good of our country, especially in these very troubled and dangerous times, our military budget for the year 2027 should not be $1 trillion, but rather $1.5 trillion," Trump wrote. https://www.zerohedge.com/military/defense-stocks-blast-trump-seeks-budget-boost-defend-western-hemisphere
The US observed, but did not sign: Ukraine’s allies sign declaration on troop deployment after ceasefire https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20260106-watch-live-leaders-of-ukraine-s-coalition-of-the-willing-speak-from-paris
Yeah, sorry. Zelensky Complains He Hasn't Received A Clear Security Guarantee, Despite Big Talk From West https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/zelensky-complains-he-hasnt-received-clear-security-guarantee-despite-big-talk-west
May also affect Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia, which also store gas there: Simplicius, Swift Retaliation: Putin Launches Oreshnik Strike on "Largest Gas Storage Site in Europe" in Ukraine's Lvov Region https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/swift-retaliation-putin-launches
PM Orbán: Hungary has decided to stay out of the war economy, we are building a peace economy
“Hungary’s task is clear: We must stay out of war,” he said. Emphasizing neutrality, he added that Hungary would not give money to Ukraine, nor would it participate in any form of war financing. “We will not give our money to Ukraine. We won’t give a war loan either—this is a scam! Everyone knows it won’t be paid back,” Prime Minister Orbán said, firmly rejecting all military aid, including the sending of troops or weapons. He also announced Hungary’s refusal to align with Brussels’ push for a European war economy, stating that such an approach does not serve peace or member states’ interests. “Hungary has decided to stay out of the war economy. We are building a peace economy,” he declared. https://x.com/zoltanspox/status/2008151666973942111
The possible deployment of Bundeswehr troops to Ukraine has become a topic of debate in Germany, the prospect drawing criticism from both the left and the right. https://www.euronews.com/2026/01/07/merzs-ukraine-remarks-spark-german-backlash-over-troop-deployments
He's a banker pushing war-economy: Merz stated that the state of several sectors of the German economy is critical. https://en.topcor.ru/67547-merc-rjad-otraslej-jekonomiki-frg-nahodjatsja-v-ochen-kriticheskom-sostojanii.html
UK North Sea oil and gas endured its toughest year in decades in 2025, with investment pulled back sharply and offshore exploration falling to zero.
The government’s decision to keep the 78% Energy Profits Levy in place until 2030 has deepened industry pessimism.
Facing punitive taxes and shrinking activity, operators are turning to mergers and acquisitions to survive. https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/UK-North-Sea-Oil-Enters-Survival-Mode-as-Investment-Dries-Up.html
The government’s decision to keep the 78% Energy Profits Levy in place until 2030 has deepened industry pessimism.
Facing punitive taxes and shrinking activity, operators are turning to mergers and acquisitions to survive. https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/UK-North-Sea-Oil-Enters-Survival-Mode-as-Investment-Dries-Up.html
US aims to blunt Chinese missiles but Taiwan impact hinges on beating China’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, keeping base access https://asiatimes.com/2026/01/as-china-sharpens-pacific-kill-chain-us-revives-island-airfields/
Recall that "Lavender" isan AI system that picks Palestinian targets to kill: Israel has announced a new system for digitally tracking Palestinians 24/7 without trial. An announcement read:
"Following the directive of the political echelon, and after joint staff work by the IDF, Shin Bet, Israel Police, the Ministry of Justice, and the Legal Advisor for Judea and Samaria, the Commander of Central Command, Major General Avi Blut, signed an order allowing the use of technological means to monitor compliance with restriction orders in Judea and Samaria. The order will enable the installation of technological monitoring means on anyone subject to an administrative order restricting their movement in the Judea and Samaria area, and to monitor violations of the restriction orders accordingly."
"Following the directive of the political echelon, and after joint staff work by the IDF, Shin Bet, Israel Police, the Ministry of Justice, and the Legal Advisor for Judea and Samaria, the Commander of Central Command, Major General Avi Blut, signed an order allowing the use of technological means to monitor compliance with restriction orders in Judea and Samaria. The order will enable the installation of technological monitoring means on anyone subject to an administrative order restricting their movement in the Judea and Samaria area, and to monitor violations of the restriction orders accordingly."
How will this work? GPS ankle bracelets feed into "Blue Wolf" (a facial recognition database of millions of Palestinians), "Hebron Smart City" cameras, and AI systems like "Lavender" that predict "suspicious behavior" before it happens. These systems are already deployed, turning algorithms into judges. This serves a 58-year occupation that denies Palestinians basic rights. https://x.com/academic_la/status/2008249587551658351
Settler violence forces Bedouin families from ancestral lands in al-Hathrura. UN reports October was worst month for settler attacks since 2006. https://www.newarab.com/news/israeli-settlers-force-bedouins-west-bank-community
Trump’s Plan for Gaza: Phase‑1 vs. On‑Ground Reality https://www.thepipd.com/content/blog/trumps-plan-for-gaza-phase-1-vs-on-ground-reality/
Israel issues tender to build over 3,400 settler homes in occupied East Jerusalem
Palestinians warn building in E1 area could sever East Jerusalem from West Bank and undermine prospects for two-state solution https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israel-issues-tender-to-build-over-3-400-settler-homes-in-occupied-east-jerusalem/3792249
Israel has detained Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya without charges for a year. Why has the New York Times refused to cover his case? https://israelpalestinenews.org/israel-has-detained-dr-hussam-abu-safiya-without-charges-for-a-year-why-has-the-new-york-times-refused-to-cover-his-case/
Gaza Hospitals ‘Overwhelmed’ with Patients amid Severe Shortage of Medication https://www.palestinechronicle.com/gaza-hospitals-overwhelmed-with-patients-amid-severe-shortage-of-medication/
Shrinking Gaza: Israel moves Yellow Line again – Not a ceasefire Day 88 https://israelpalestinenews.org/shrinking-gaza-israel-moves-yellow-line-again-not-a-ceasefire-day-88/
Israeli Occupation Forces Storm Birzeit University, Injure 11 Students
Russia has transferred Iskander missile systems to Iran, according to Iranian outlets. The Iskander is a short-range ballistic missile system capable of carrying conventional or nuclear warheads, significantly raising concerns about regional escalation. https://x.com/War_Radar2/status/2008393941239169360
Iran Conducts Air Defense Drills as Israeli and US Strike Threat Looms https://www.armyrecognition.com/news/army-news/2026/iran-conducts-air-defense-drills-as-israeli-and-us-strike-threat-looms#google_vignette
Palestinians warn building in E1 area could sever East Jerusalem from West Bank and undermine prospects for two-state solution https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israel-issues-tender-to-build-over-3-400-settler-homes-in-occupied-east-jerusalem/3792249
Israeli occupation forces used live ammunition and tear gas to suppress a student protest at Birzeit University, adding to a wider escalation targeting Palestinian civilians and institutions across the occupied West Bank. https://www.palestinechronicle.com/israeli-occupation-forces-storm-birzeit-university-injure-11-students/
Regime-change effort? Iran's Food Shelves Emptying Out, ATMs Offline, Two Days Into Iran's Internet Blackout https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ayatollah-breaks-silence-blames-us-instigating-vandals-saboteurs-raging-protests
Syrian government and Kurdish-led SDF fail to progress on military merger
A deal penned in March stipulated that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) would integrate with state institutions by the end of the year, but its implementation has since stalled...
American Hegemony by AI: The Role of Israel
The India-Middle East-Europe Corridor (IMEC) plan was introduced at the September 2023 G20 Summit in New Delhi. The network of railroads, ship-to-rail, road transport routes, energy pipelines and high-speed data cables connecting South Asia, the Gulf and Europe was in theory supposed to be some sort of answer to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It never made much sense as a logistics corridor as it involves moving cargo via ships from India to the UAE, putting them onto trains going through the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel, and then back onto ships to go from Israel to Europe.
It looked like IMEC, like so many responses to the BRI, was going to fade into obscurity, but the Trump “America First” administration enthusiastically backed it with Donald calling it calling it the “‘greatest trade routes in all of history.” ...
..Yet the new administration shifted the focus away from trade to more of a digital corridor with compute power flowing outwards from the Persian Gulf...
Dovi Frances, an Israeli-American founding partner of the Los Angeles-based venture capital firm Group 11 and a major Trump backer recently touted Israel’s position thusly:
“We are 0.4% of the world’s population, and we lead 20% of global innovation. We have 350 international R&D centers, and 10% of our workforce in high-tech contributes 18–20% to GDP.” Frances also noted that 15–25% of Fortune 500 CEOs are Jewish or Israeli, and that Israel currently has 46 unicorns—companies valued at over one $ billion —the highest rate in the world relative to its population.”
But much of the country’s tech success is built on the backs of oppressed Palestinians. Israel is at the forefront of using AI to surveil, control, and murder human beings, and it has the “opportunity” that other countries don’t to constantly test and fine tune that technology on a captive population. https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2026/01/american-hegemony-by-ai-the-role-of-israel.html
Open airspace for Israel to attack Iran: Israel and Syria agree on mechanism to share intel, seek economic ties
Pact reached on 2nd day of renewed talks; source in Damascus reportedly claims there are indications Israel may agree to regard violence in Druze area of Sweida as internal matter https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-syria-said-to-agree-to-hasten-progress-for-deal-on-2nd-day-of-renewed-talks/A deal penned in March stipulated that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) would integrate with state institutions by the end of the year, but its implementation has since stalled...
..Ankara sees the presence of Kurdish forces on its border as a security threat and has publicly called for them to be integrated into the state, but not as a single unit.
The SDF insists on a decentralised system of governance that would allow it to maintain its influence in the areas it controls. Tensions between the SDF and the government – which opposes calls for decentralisation – have occasionally led to violence.
In late December, clashes broke out between security forces and SDF fighters in the northern city of Aleppo during a visit to Syria by Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/4/syrian-government-and-kurdish-led-sdf-fail-to-progress-on-military-merger
The SDF insists on a decentralised system of governance that would allow it to maintain its influence in the areas it controls. Tensions between the SDF and the government – which opposes calls for decentralisation – have occasionally led to violence.
In late December, clashes broke out between security forces and SDF fighters in the northern city of Aleppo during a visit to Syria by Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/4/syrian-government-and-kurdish-led-sdf-fail-to-progress-on-military-merger
Helping the cancer spread: UAE plans to build Israeli base near Saudi Arabia https://en.mehrnews.com/news/240525/UAE-plans-to-build-Israeli-base-near-Saudi-Arabia-photo
It looked like IMEC, like so many responses to the BRI, was going to fade into obscurity, but the Trump “America First” administration enthusiastically backed it with Donald calling it calling it the “‘greatest trade routes in all of history.” ...
..Yet the new administration shifted the focus away from trade to more of a digital corridor with compute power flowing outwards from the Persian Gulf...
Dovi Frances, an Israeli-American founding partner of the Los Angeles-based venture capital firm Group 11 and a major Trump backer recently touted Israel’s position thusly:
“We are 0.4% of the world’s population, and we lead 20% of global innovation. We have 350 international R&D centers, and 10% of our workforce in high-tech contributes 18–20% to GDP.” Frances also noted that 15–25% of Fortune 500 CEOs are Jewish or Israeli, and that Israel currently has 46 unicorns—companies valued at over one $ billion —the highest rate in the world relative to its population.”
But much of the country’s tech success is built on the backs of oppressed Palestinians. Israel is at the forefront of using AI to surveil, control, and murder human beings, and it has the “opportunity” that other countries don’t to constantly test and fine tune that technology on a captive population. https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2026/01/american-hegemony-by-ai-the-role-of-israel.html
Greenland, Denmark say they requested talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio
Denmark, along with six NATO countries, issued a joint statement on Greenland, calling for respect for "sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of borders" after renewed calls from the US for an American takeover of Greenland.
"Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland," leaders of Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and the UK said in the statement. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/6-nato-countries-join-denmarks-call-stressing-greenland-belongs-to-its-people/3791316
"Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland," leaders of Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and the UK said in the statement. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/6-nato-countries-join-denmarks-call-stressing-greenland-belongs-to-its-people/3791316
Mette Frederiksen criticises Donald Trump’s ‘unacceptable pressure’ as Greenland counterpart condemns ‘fantasies’ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/05/trump-must-give-up-fantasies-about-annexation-says-greenland-pm
The secretary of state said the White House is using rhetoric to pressure Denmark into negotiations https://archive.is/ie1Kp#selection-537.0-541.99
Hold out for half a million in gold & silver: The Price Of Trump's "Greenland New Deal": $100,000 Per Person https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/price-trumps-greenland-new-deal-100000-person
Court records point to Jonathan E Ross as officer in Renee Nicole Good’s death, amid protests and political fallout https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/08/ice-agent-minneapolis-shooting
A patriot fighting tyranny shed her blood to water the tree of liberty, though others see it differently. Renee Nicole Good was Minneapolis ‘ICE Watch’ ‘warrior’ who trained to resist feds before shooting https://nypost.com/2026/01/08/us-news/renee-nicole-good-was-minneapolis-ice-watch-warrior-who-trained-to-resist-feds-before-shooting/
It's a homocide if a person kills another person. Celia Farber, Minneapolis Crime Tracker Website Shows No Homicides In 2026. That Could Be A Glitch.
But There Are More Unanswered Questions About The Incident In Minneapolis. https://celiafarber.substack.com/p/minneapolis-crime-tracker-websiteEverybody has cameras. Can there be a trial?: Watch: New Footage Shows Federal Agent's Perspective In Minneapolis ICE-Involved Shooting https://www.zerohedge.com/political/watch-new-footage-shows-federal-agents-perspective-minneapolis-ice-involved-shooting
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty on Friday called on members of the public to send any video or other evidence in the fatal shooting of Renee Good directly to her office, challenging the Trump administration's decision to leave the investigation solely to the FBI. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/hennepin-county-prosecutor-asks-the-public-to-share-renee-good-shooting-evidence-with-her-office
Medicaid Will 'Claw Back' Fraud Funds From Minnesota: Agency Head https://www.zerohedge.com/political/medicaid-will-claw-back-fraud-funds-minnesota-agency-head
DOJ Sues Arizona, Connecticut For Failing To Hand Over Voter Rolls
Texas woman with Stage 3 cancer sees her insurance premium rise over 700 percent: ‘I’m going to die’
Johana Scott said her premium spiked from around $200 per month to $1,725 for the same plan after ACA subsidies were allowed to lapse at the start of the year https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/texas-woman-cancer-insurance-premium-aca-b2895658.html
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Jan. 6 that it is suing Arizona and Connecticut for allegedly failing to turn over their full voter registration rolls for federal inspection. https://www.zerohedge.com/political/doj-sues-arizona-connecticut-failing-hand-over-voter-rolls
David Hughes, Interview with Richie Brown, December 11, 2025
What was “Covid-19”?; What was in the shots?; Deagel; totalitarianism; the IoBNT; Charles Lieber; dual-use tech; the Rockefellers; democide; NATO; Tavistock; narrative shifts; BRICS; ecopolitics "It's a frightening prospect. So what I argue in my COVID book is that what the COVID, I call it the COVID operation, because it was a psychological operation, what it really was, was an attack on the psyche of the population. in order to undermine the will to resist, in order to confuse people so they can't see what's going on, in order to demoralize them and disorientate them. This is pretty vicious stuff. Unfortunately, it seems to have worked because in 2025 in particular, we have seen technocracy coming in in quite direct forms, particularly to do with the digital state, which could talk about if you like.
But it's coming for us now. And so is the AI. And the idea is that political decision making will be taken out of the hands of politicians and parliaments and governments and so on. And increasingly it will be placed into the hands of AI and we'll have dictatorship by algorithm." https://dhughes.substack.com/p/interview-with-richie-brown-december
But it's coming for us now. And so is the AI. And the idea is that political decision making will be taken out of the hands of politicians and parliaments and governments and so on. And increasingly it will be placed into the hands of AI and we'll have dictatorship by algorithm." https://dhughes.substack.com/p/interview-with-richie-brown-december
Escape Key, Sovereignty by Latency
The Bank for International Settlements — the central bank of central banks — is building a unified ledger for the global financial system. BIS General Manager Agustín Carstens has described the architecture extensively in speeches and Innovation Hub reports, and one of its core features is conditional execution: payments and contracts that automatically trigger when certain conditions are met.
This perhaps sounds like efficiency, but conditional execution at the wholesale layer creates a major problem that the official documentation treats as out of scope: the end of reversibility.....The Architecture as Designed
The BIS Innovation Hub papers describe this explicitly: programmable payments, smart contracts, atomic settlement, conditional logic executing at machine speed across the wholesale layer.
The BIS Innovation Hub papers describe this explicitly: programmable payments, smart contracts, atomic settlement, conditional logic executing at machine speed across the wholesale layer.
The efficiency gains are real — settlement risk drops, counterparty exposure shrinks, and liquidity moves faster. But risk transfers — it does not disappear. When a cascade based on an invalid transaction cannot be unwound, losses are socialised onto institutions, insurance funds, or taxpayers, while ledger integrity is preserved. Risk reduction becomes risk redistribution: away from system operators and onto the public.
The papers do not meaningfully address what happens when someone contests a transaction after the conditional cascade has fired, because by design that scenario is not supposed to occur. And if it’s contested a month down the line, that single transaction could easily lead to millions of transactions executed which were based on a faulty assumption and now have to be reversed. And that is — in practical reality — virtually impossible.....Traditional sovereignty meant having the final say — the king, the parliament, the court could reverse decisions, override actions, and restore previous states. Political theorists have long understood that the sovereign is whoever can declare the exception to the normal legal order, suspending ordinary rules in extraordinary circumstances.
When a system generates irreversible states faster than any legal body can convene to review them, sovereignty shifts from the entity that declares the exception to the entity that designed the conditions for its automatic production. The exception is no longer declared but manufactured continuously by the architecture itself.
This does not overthrow the legal order — it inverts it. Law becomes spectral commentary on actions already solidified in a realm it cannot reach. The court still sits, the judges still rule, and the legal system still functions, but in a temporal zone the financial architecture has already evacuated, issuing judgments about states that hardened into permanence before the gavel fell...
The papers do not meaningfully address what happens when someone contests a transaction after the conditional cascade has fired, because by design that scenario is not supposed to occur. And if it’s contested a month down the line, that single transaction could easily lead to millions of transactions executed which were based on a faulty assumption and now have to be reversed. And that is — in practical reality — virtually impossible.....Traditional sovereignty meant having the final say — the king, the parliament, the court could reverse decisions, override actions, and restore previous states. Political theorists have long understood that the sovereign is whoever can declare the exception to the normal legal order, suspending ordinary rules in extraordinary circumstances.
When a system generates irreversible states faster than any legal body can convene to review them, sovereignty shifts from the entity that declares the exception to the entity that designed the conditions for its automatic production. The exception is no longer declared but manufactured continuously by the architecture itself.
This does not overthrow the legal order — it inverts it. Law becomes spectral commentary on actions already solidified in a realm it cannot reach. The court still sits, the judges still rule, and the legal system still functions, but in a temporal zone the financial architecture has already evacuated, issuing judgments about states that hardened into permanence before the gavel fell...
..Structural Sovereignty
An institution operating a system where execution is instant, where transactions trigger conditional cascades, where cascades create combinatorial dependencies, where dependencies make rollback computationally impossible, and where legal review arrives only after dependencies have hardened — that institution is structurally sovereign, regardless of what any law formally states.
Formal authority over an irreversible system is the authority to write opinions about things that cannot be changed. https://escapekey.substack.com/p/sovereignty-by-latency
An institution operating a system where execution is instant, where transactions trigger conditional cascades, where cascades create combinatorial dependencies, where dependencies make rollback computationally impossible, and where legal review arrives only after dependencies have hardened — that institution is structurally sovereign, regardless of what any law formally states.
Formal authority over an irreversible system is the authority to write opinions about things that cannot be changed. https://escapekey.substack.com/p/sovereignty-by-latency
Diplomatic immunity aplies: Somali UN Ambassador Linked To Ohio Health Care Company Sanctioned For Medicaid Fraud, HHS Says
Johana Scott said her premium spiked from around $200 per month to $1,725 for the same plan after ACA subsidies were allowed to lapse at the start of the year https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/texas-woman-cancer-insurance-premium-aca-b2895658.html
No legal immunity for Round-Up yet. John Klar, MAHA Scores Major Congressional 'Win' Against Big Chem. But Will SCOTUS Intervene on Behalf of Pesticide Manufacturers? https://www.themahareport.com/p/will-the-us-supreme-court-create
May the best murderers win... Monsanto Sues COVID-19 Vaccine Manufacturers, Alleging Copyright Infringement
Bayer and its Monsanto division are suing COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers, alleging they used technology Monsanto developed and patented in the 1980s in their vaccines. https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/monsanto-sues-covid-19-vaccine-manufacturers-alleging-copyright-infringement Celia Farber, HHS Secretary RFK Jr. Announces New Dietary Guidelines Elevating The Radical Notion Americans Should Eat Real Food. "Protein And Healthy Fats Are Essential And We're Ending The War On Saturated Fats."
Bad Day For Chemical Corporations, Fake Meat Companies, The Diabetes Industrial Complex, The Statin Swindlers, The Soros Gang, And More. GREAT Day For The Rest Of Us https://celiafarber.substack.com/p/hhs-secretary-rfk-jr-announces-newEvidence continues to mount indicating that the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic was counterproductive and harmful, yet mainstream opinion continues to proclaim that it was a triumph. https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/heart-matter-cardiac-risks-covid-19-vaccines
Gail Tverberg has actuarial spefics and implications for 2026: 2026: Expect a very uneven world economic downturn
Perhaps China will be ahead, the US second, and Europe falling further behind https://gailtverberg.substack.com/p/2026-expect-a-very-uneven-world-economic Envision space, experience time: Jessica Rose, Time as a Manifold; not a dimension - A summary of "The manifold of Time" by Paulo N. Correa & Alexandra N. Correa https://jessicar.substack.com/p/time-as-a-manifold-not-a-dimension
Fleshing Out Time (pictured throwing dead-log off the roof)
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