Republic To Empire
Citizen-Subjects,
President Trump emulates Taz, the Tasmanian Devil of cartoon lore in a new American foreign policy to keep friend and foe alike confused, moving fast and breaking things. His purpose is to enlarge and consolidate the American imperial footprint, grabbing big, close, undefended Greenland, while stepping back from expensive operations farther away, with supply lines that would be indefensible in a major war. Meanewhile, his Strategy of Denial, blocking supply lines, markets and payments to rivals, is not-quite-war in itself. He would like to peel Russia away from China, and to get Europe to engage Russia more productively.
His position at this moment of empire, as the republic has fallen to creditor-oligarchs, might be like that of Julius Caesar, but it is a bit early to judge. He sees himself as a great man of history, and has a lot to accomplish in a short time, to cement that position. He has become even more shocking and disruptive in his quest. He might know that time is shorter than the rest of us think before the global financial reset.
Charles Hugh Smith, on exploiting a corrupt system until it breaks: Why Is Everything Such a Hot Mess? Nobody believes that “doing more of what’s failed” will actually fail, because to date it’s only made insiders rich.
Escape Key, Surveillance Capitalism Most people think enforced laws are national. The reality differs: anetworkofinternational bodies— none created by treaty, none subject to democratic oversight —sets the rules determining who can participate economically.
These bodies operate in two stacks — surveillance and capital.Onemonitors the flow of transactions; the othercontrols what assets can be held.
Together, they leave no outside. Two interlocking systems govern who can participate in the global economy. The Financial Action Task Force, Egmont Group, and Wolfsberg Group write the rules defining suspicious activity, share intelligence between national agencies, and coordinate how private banks actually enforce compliance. The Bank for International Settlements, Financial Stability Board, and Basel Committee set the standards determining what assets banks can profitably hold.
Neither system was created by treaty requiring parliamentary ratification, and neither faces electoral accountability. But they form a single machine which monitors the flow of transactions and controls which assets are held.
These systems are converging with environmental and social governance. The same risk weights that make cryptocurrency unprofitable can penalise carbon-intensive assets. The Council for Inclusive Capitalism provides the ideological framework, committing major financial institutions to ESG metrics and climate targets.
Shoshana Zuboff’s influential account of surveillance capitalism described tech platforms harvesting behavioural data to sell predictions to advertisers. But Zuboff’s account stops at the advertising market and never reaches the architecture that determines whether you can transact at all.
Escape Key reviews the book: Zuboff’s Age of Surveillance Capitalism In ‘The Age of Surveillance Capitalism’, Shoshana Zuboff describes big tech extracting behavioural data from users, and transforming it into predictions for financial gain.
Zuboff drapes her diagnosis in dramatic Marxist rhetoric of ‘violated autonomy’ and ‘human dignity‘—
‘Now it is human nature that is scraped, torn, and taken for another century’s market project’. Diving through Zuboff’s books, I genuinely didn’t expect to find what I did. While I did (partially) read ‘The Age of Surveillance Capitalism’ a few years back, I had not yet come to understand the rampant institutional inversionism practised at large. And it was from this erroneous understanding that I drew in her works in past essays.
To say Zuboff aligns strongly with my research is no overstatement. She acts as an agitator, dedicating vast stretches of text to emotional framing. The goal is to provoke a reaction that bypasses critical questioning — a tactic Marx used to great effect... ..Judged through the lens of POSIWID (the Purpose Of a System Is What It Does), Zuboff’s work directs attention toward the commercial layer and away from the financial infrastructure layer, thus providing a villain, while framing the problem as ‘ungoverned’, thus supplying a vocabulary that legitimates integration with the very apparatus it critiques. It produces no friction whatsoever for central bank digital currencies, programmable money, or conditional access to the financial system.
‘Who decides who decides?’ she asks. Her efforts to gate in the question ensures the answer is pre-determined.
Critic of empire, Scott Ritter, finds humself, like Swiss Military Analyst Jacques Baud, De-Banked Today my banking institution of 26 years, Citizens Bank, declared that they were ending their banking relationship with me. My accounts were zeroed out without explanation. Something, or someone, triggered a “de-risking” concern among the corporate heads at Citizens, and they terminated our relationship.
No due process, no possibility of appeal.
One doesn’t begin to comprehend just how dependent we are on the digital economy until it is taken away from you.
All my family’s bills are paid electronically, drawing on funds that used to exist in the accounts that no longer exist.
Dennis Kucinich, for whom I voted when I could: The Shots Heard ‘Round the World: Misuse of State power killed Renee Good and is being used to suppress dissent and condition the public to fear government In this article I lay out the constitutional rights ICE agents routinely violate with impunity; Rights which belong to all persons in the United States: The killing in Minneapolis of Renee Good, by an agent of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, (ICE) marks an inflection point in American history, not unlike the famous “shot heard ‘round the world,” that sparked a revolutionin the American colonies.
As a member of Congress, I voted against the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. I understood then, as I understand now, that theexpansion of federal police power inevitably endangers freedom. That danger is no longer theoretical. Federal police power has entered our communities and is a menace.This is no longer a debate about immigration policy.We are in a Constitutional crisis... ..The killing of Renee Good comes at a moment when Americans are already weary of escalating government intrusion into their private life: Mass surveillance, facial recognition, warrantless searches, investigation of journalists, monitoring of protestors, and the expansion of artificial intelligence for domestic law enforcement further erode Americans’ expectation of privacy.
The specter of the National Guard activated by the President, for obvious partisan purposes, was a clear violation of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 which was passed to prevent federal troops from being involved in local law enforcement.
As protests against wars abroad and conflicts at home escalate, the possibility exists that this President will invoke the Insurrection of Act of 1807, placing Posse Comitatus in abeyance, federalizing the National Guard and sending the Guard and the US military to quell civil disorder which the President himself has incited.
Before our eyes America is being transformed from a republic in which the rights of citizens are protected by law into something very dark, an authoritarian order in which individual rights are nullified.
Our government, acting as though unbridled by law, has licensed itself to accost, beat up, drag, kidnap and imprison people within the United States, including American citizens, while abroad it wages war wantonly and kills with abandon. ICE has stormed into American cities, not in a manner consistent with lawful immigration enforcement, but as a show of force, directed at the public itself.
The clear purpose in intimidation. State power is being used to suppress dissent and condition the public to fear its own government.
ICE agent who shot Renee Good gets $10K donation from Bill Ackman https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/01/12/bill-ackman-gofundme-jonathan-ross-minnesota-renee-good/88140638007/
Citizens in their home were resisting and the ICE agent in hot pursuit had to shoot in “self defense”: Second person in a week shot by federal immigration agent in Minneapolis https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/01/14/second-person-in-a-week-shot-by-federal-immigration-agent-in-minneapolis/
Today at 34 & Park in Minneapolis, a woman tried to drive down the street where a protest had broken out in front of a home ICE was raiding, saying she had a doctor apt to get to. ICE agents busted out her windows, cut off her seatbelt, and pulled her out before arresting her.
Ken Klippenstein, Exclusive: Secret ICE Programs Revealed, Leaked documents detail the dizzying scope of ICE operations A Border Patrol official outraged by ICE’s conduct has leaked to me this and other documents providing an unprecedented glimpse into ICE’s undeclared activities across the country. Many of these operations and their codenames have not been previously reported...
..A 15-page long document, marked “LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE,” details 21 different “major” ICE operations resulting, so it says, in 6,852 apprehensions since June. From Operation A, a covert effort to develop informants among immigrants in detention, to Operation Benchwarmer, which alone spans the deployment of 2,000 “intelligence assets” across the country, the document gives a sense of how aggressively ICE is scouring neighborhoods and developing sources to spy on immigrants and Americans alike.The source was spurred to action by the absurd amounts of secrecy surrounding the operations and the utter failure of Congress to make many of them public. The secrecy has concealed ICE’s transformation into a parallel FBI, a DEA and an independent police force whose mission has crept well past the deportations that media tend to focus on.
The media is telling a certain story about ICE, giving the blow by blow on the most public horrors but never quite seeing the bigger picture that it’s part of a larger war. As a military intelligence source told me, the ICE crackdown isn’t just about immigration; it’s about gathering intelligence in support of Trump’s war on cartels — as well as on Antifa, on the radical left, and those who are “anti-American,” and anyone else they consider terrorists. And since the administration has been so quick to label everyone, including Renee Good, terrorists, it’s no wonder they think they’re at war.
ICE’s work is done under a set of task forces, with the agency calling upon other Department of Homeland Security agencies, like the Border Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Protective Service, and even the Secret Service. DHS now constitutes the largest federal law enforcement agency in the country — larger even than the FBI. And that was before ICE had its law enforcement budget nearly tripled last year... ..Things as basic as ICE’s Use of Force Policy — its use of deadly force policy — are almost completely blacked out so the public can’t see them... ..Opposition to ICE’s conduct following Renee Good’s death has spread throughout the Department of Homeland Security, as I previously reported. The discontent is also affecting the Justice Department, with several top federal prosecutors in Minnesota resigning over pressure to investigate Renee Good’s widow.Meanwhile, the FBI is itself increasingly split.
Something decent out of Tim Walz: Gov. Tim Walz encourages Minnesotans to film ICE agents for future prosecutions https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/01/14/gov-tim-walz-encourages-minnesotans-to-film-ice-agents-for-future-prosecutions/
What’s he mean, “insurgent”? Is that like “Palestinian”? Stephen Miller: Feds Have Begun Work Of ‘Identifying, Disrupting And Dismantling The Insurgent Networks’ In Minnesota https://www.zerohedge.com/political/stephen-miller-feds-have-begun-work-identifying-disrupting-and-dismantling-insurgent
House Homeland Democrats launch investigation into Noem with eyes on impeachment Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee said they will begin their own investigation into Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, a process they say could well lead to her impeachment.
Gathered next to a photo of Renee Good, the Democrats said her death at the hands of an immigration officer highlights the need for accountability for Noem, who they argue has encouraged agents to act with impunity. https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5689359-house-homeland-democrats-kristi-noem-impeachment/
Trump threatens to invoke the Insurrection Act in response to Minneapolis protests
The 19th-century law allows the president to deploy active-duty service members domestically without congressional approval. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-threatens-invoke-insurrection-act-response-minneapolis-protests-rcna254187
Simplicius, Ukraine’s Power Grid Woes Worsen, + New Oreshnik BDA [Battle Damage Assessment] The lights have still been out in much of Kiev and many other large cities after a long cold snap, and things do not seem to be improving much... ..One of the most noteworthy aspects of the last strike on Kiev was the notable absence of any major air defense action. Video footage of only one “Patriot” missile launching and self-destructing in the sky soon after emerged, but beyond this Ukrainian defenses over Kiev appeared dismal compared to previous strikes, signifying a likely exhaustion of resources...
..Let’s move on to a post-battle damage assessment of the Oreshnik strike, now that we’ve gotten some new information.
The Russian MOD has updated us with the info that the target which was hit was not the big gas plant everyone had assumed, but rather the Lvov Aviation Plant. The full statement from the Russian MOD:
According to information confirmed by several independent sources, a strike launched by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation on the night of 9 January using the Oreshnik mobile ground-based missile system disabled the Lvov State Aviation Repair Plant.
At the plant, aircraft of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including F-16 and MiG-29 aircraft supplied by the Western countries, were repaired and maintained. The plant also produced long-range and medium-range attack UAVs used to hit Russian civilian facilities in the depth of Russian territory.
The Oreshnik system engaged production workshops, warehouses with products (UAVs), as well as the infrastructure of the factory airfield.... ..There is obviously now a huge ongoing scientific debate of the true explosive characteristics of kinetic objects going at Mach 10. The problem is, no one knows how fast the objects are actually going at terminal speed, given that the Mach 10+ number was recorded by Western radars in the atmosphere at the missile’s likely burnout phase (before the boosters even separate with the delivery bus), where it would be going its fastest. And secondly, no one remotely knows what the actual MIRV ‘vehicles’ or submunitions of the Oreshnik even look like: there are various theories of them being anything from tungsten flechettes to regular but “empty” conical warheads. That means estimating true kinetic force is next to impossible and is just an empty exercise in futility.
Simplicius, Fantasy “Loan” for Ukraine Gets Adjusted Again as EU Faces Priorities Reality Check Eurocrats are scrambling for a perceptually ‘sensible’ policy, as their Ukrainian project continues to crumble before their eyes.
The latest information suggests that the much-vaunted €90B “loan” that was the highlight and ‘triumph’ of von der Leyen’s rotten caucus last month—and which itself was actually a miserable downgrade from the now-memory-holed far-larger requested amount—has become another abject lesson in theatrical deception.
Major outlets now report thatthe so called “loan” will only provide Ukraine ~€30B, while the remaining €60B goes directly to European “arms manufacturers”... THE EUROPEAN UNION DECEIVED UKRAINE: Out of the promised 90 billion euros, the EU will allocate only 30 to Kyiv (15 per year), and60 will be kept in the EU for the needs of European defense industryenterprises. Earlier,Kyiv was promised a loan of 90 billion euros in direct credits(45 per year), and the money for weapons was supposed to be provided separately from other sources.... ..Meanwhile, the anti-EU bloc grows with Slovakia’s announcement that it will be ending all aid to Ukraine and will not participate in the EU’s €90B phony-crony “loan”.
EU Commission planners must have read the writing on the wall about how little their pitiful funding games will actually yield for Ukraine in the long term because suddenly they’ve changed their tone. After a top official had urged that the EU must eventually “talk to Putin” it is now being reported that EU is being pressured internally to create an official negotiator role for a kind of EU envoy to Russia on the issue of Ukraine... The talk is about a special representative who will conduct a dialogue with Russia on behalf of the European Union on the Ukrainian conflict. The initiative is being promoted by Macron and Italian Prime Minister Meloni, calling for opening communication channels with Moscow amid the stagnation of negotiations mediated by the US.
In Brussels, they emphasize that such a representative will send signals not only to Russia, but also to Washington, as some issues directly affect Europe’s security...
..Merz broke the news to his discombobulated colleagues that nothing of their cockamamie plan works without “Russia’s consent” because Russia must first agree to a ceasefirebefore Europe can bring troops into Ukraine. The fact they’re “bright” enough to twig that there can be no troops in Ukraine without Russia’s paradoxical consent suggests that their plans to introduce these troops are nothing more than performative theater to keep Ukrainian morale from catastrophically collapsing... ..Bloomberg writes that the Franco-British initiative to send troops will have no real legitimacy unless backed by “US air support”, and that is “if Russia even agrees to a ceasefire”. Not a single Western journalist has asked the most obvious logical question: why would Russia possibly agree to a ceasefire in these given circumstances? ... ..Western nations no longer even have active domestic policies. Virtually everything in their political spheres revolves around foreign issues, and namely foreign military-geopolitical interests. Western leaders have at this point chosen to completely ignore domestic problems because those issues have become unsolvable runaway trains that are simply easier to ignore and conceal with scare tactics about major “imminent threats from abroad”, in particular Russia.....The Russian SMO may go down as the most pivotal geopolitical flashpoint since WWII, because it may very well be the final catalyst which brings the post-war system’s arc to its natural conclusion. I’ve said from the beginning thatthe SMO may very well lead to the collapse of both NATO and the EU, and—particularly with the recent Greenland sagaand contradictions over who will back whom in Ukraine—we can clearly see the trajectory of NATO’s demise now playing out.
This is one of the reasons that complaints about Russian losses and sacrifices in the war are misguided:the war is about far bigger overarching consequences than simply the capture of some hard-to-pronounce mining towns in dusty Donbass.This is a climactic civilizational clash that is the result of nearly a century of build-ups, and stands to resolve major global dilemmas.
With that 60 billion euros: EXCLUSIVE: EU to become ‘military powerhouse,’ von der Leyen told MEPs The Commission president told her centre-right allies that the EU will have its own security strategy this year https://www.euractiv.com/news/eu-to-become-military-powerhouse-von-der-leyen-told-meps/
Now Is Europe’s Opportunity to Reach Out to Russia The ongoing deterioration of transatlantic ties due to President Donald Trump’s desire to take Greenland along with the US seizure of a Russian-flagged vessel in international waters has accidentally aligned European and Russian skeptical views of American unilateralism. Rather than letting this be a fleeting moment, deft European diplomacy should seek to convert this into a chance for direct and renewed reengagement... ..Instead of doubling down on a failed approach to antagonize Russia on the one hand while futilely appeasing the United States on the other all the while promising Ukraine unrealistic promises for the future, the European Union ought to listen to India’s former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal. “Europe has the opportunity to carve out an independent role for itself by reaching out to Russia constructively but seems bent on digging its own hole.”... ..As long as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas continue to oversee the bloc’s foreign policy, the best path forward in the short term is for national governments to pursue constructive reengagement. So far, the only EU member states that have done this are Hungary and Slovakia however this has come at the expense of being ostracized within the EU.
Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy, and Malta are all well positioned to initiate a new rapprochement given their opposition to central bank asset seizures. Continued commercial ties between Russia and Austria combined with a history of neutrality also enables Vienna to test the waters for a new diplomatic phase in Europe-Russia relations.
While fighting between Russia and Ukraine rages and sanctions remain in place, major changes are unlikely due to mutual mistrust. However, this still leaves the possibility of pursuing smaller, confidence-building steps that can set the stage for a later establishment of a new, truly European security architecture. The reopening of airspace to each other’s flights, for example, can reduce flight time and expenses without forcing either side to compromise on any core interests.
He’d rather buy it with borrowed money: Denmark Says It’s Clear Trump “Has A Desire To Conquer Greenland” After WH Meeting RASMUSSEN: IN US-GREENLANDIC TALKS`WE AGREE TO DISAGREE’
RASMUSSEN:EXPERT GROUP WILL MEET IN MATTER OF WEEKS
Greenland’s Foreign Ministrysays they will strengthen cooperation with the US but that doesn’t mean we want to be owned by the US.
Denmark/Greenland: Hard to find a way forward when we’re “waking up to threats every morning” and that “It is clear” that Donald Trump “has a desire to conquer Greenland”... ..Hours ahead of the meeting, a report in NBC finally put a firm dollar figure to a potential purchase:
The United States could have to pay as much as $700 billion if it were to achieve President Donald Trump’s goal of buying Greenland, according to three people familiar with the cost estimate.
The estimate was generated by scholars and former U.S. officials as part of planning around Trump’s aspiration to acquire the 800,000-square-mile island as a strategic buffer in the Arctic against America’s top adversaries, these people said. https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/anything-less-us-control-greenland-unacceptable-trump-ministers-hosted-wh
Thanks Christine, Trump Gang Theft of Greenland: View from China “If the United States succeeds in “owning” Greenland, it will trigger a catastrophic chain reaction”--Zheng Ge. A somewhat long read. The Trump administration’s Greenland strategy is essentially a crude transplant of the business negotiation logic described in “The Art of Dealing” into the field of international politics, and its core is to reshape the existing rules and norms of the game byactively creating crises and exercising extreme pressure.This strategy wasfirst manifested as a high-impact agenda-setting operation: by publicly talking about “buying” Greenland, Trump succeeded in instantly detonating this long-standing geopolitical issue into global focus.
This “real exaggeration” has forced Denmark, which originally had sovereignty, and Greenland, which enjoys autonomy, to become passive in the field of public opinion, andfrom territorial managers to asset holders who seem to be waiting for a price, thus suffering from moral and psychological pressure. This move clearly conveys thatthe United States has regarded Greenland as an open issue on its national security agenda and requires relevant parties to respond in accordance with the framework and rhythm set by the United States.
Andrew Korybko gives a broad geostrategic view, not just Greenland, which is a huge “asset”, Greenland Is The Crown Jewel Of “Fortress America” Greenland is basically Trump’s for the taking if he really wants it since neither NATO nor the locals can stop it, the latter of whom have no realistic way to block it from extracting resources or building more military bases there.
Therein lies the goals that the US would advance since more facilities to complement Pituffik Space Base would further the US’ “Golden Dome” missile defense plans for obtaining a strategic edge over Russia while extracting more critical minerals would reduce dependence on vulnerable Chinese supply chains. Moreover, annexing Greenland would help build “Fortress America”, which is the “Trump Doctrine’s” plan as enshrined in the National Security Strategy for restoring US hegemony over the hemisphere.
Achieving this grand strategic goal would eventually help subsidize Trump’s proposed 50% increase in the defense budget to $1.5 trillion next year (and whatever more after), thus enabling the US to more muscularly contain China, and ensure that the US survives and even thrives in the (for now far-off) scenario that it’s expelled from the Eastern Hemisphere or withdraws from there. Greenland is the crown jewel of “Fortress America” for the aforesaid reasons so its annexation is imperative for the US.
A couple of dozen all together: Canada and France have also said they plan to open consulates in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, in the coming weeks.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that a French military team was “already on the ground” and would be reinforced in the coming days with “air, sea and land components.” Finland’s defense ministry confirmed it would send two military liaison officers to the territory... ..In a statement Wednesday, the German Defense Ministry said it was sending a “reconnaissance team” of 13 military personnel to Greenland Thursday for “an exploration mission” alongside other partner nations, at Denmark’s invitation.
Sweden also sent an unspecified number of troops to Greenland Wednesday at Denmark’s request, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced on X. https://edition.cnn.com/2026/01/15/world/europe-troops-greenland-trump-nato-intl-hnk
“What Will They Do?! Nuke the US?”: Russia Mocks Emasculated Europe As Trump Eyes Greenland Germany’s Defense Ministry has agreed that a European NATO mission is needed to bolster security “in light of Russian and Chinese threats in the Arctic.”
This has angered Moscow, which expressed “serious concern” and charged the West with “militarizing” Greenland, and that Europe is ready to seize the moment “solely to advance an anti-Russian and anti-Chinese agenda.”
“NATO has embarked on a course of accelerated militarization of the Arctic, increasing its military presence there under the fabricated pretext of a growing threat from Moscow and Beijing,” the Russian embassy in Belgium said late Wednesday.
It added that European officials were already discussing plans to encircle the island and deploy a large-scale collective landing force, accusing them of invoking “mythical threats that they themselves have created.” Meanwhile, ‘big talk’ from Von der Leyen. VON DER LEYEN: GREENLAND CAN COUNT ON EU
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has further made clear the Kremlin believes the Arctic should remain “a region of peace, dialogue and equal cooperation.” https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/what-will-they-do-nuke-us-russia-mocks-emasculated-europe-trump-eyes-greenland
Narrative shift ahead of a deal? Danish Intelligence Confirms The Russia-China Threat To Greenland https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/danish-intelligence-russia-china-threat-greenland
From Alex Krainer, Appeasement: the SHOCKING truth about the 1938 Munich Agreement (part 1 of 3) To avoid sleepwalking into another great war, it is essential that we understand what really happened in 1938 – and it’s nothing like they taught us in school.
Free, but it’s totally blocked: Musk Offers Free Starlink As Iran Protests Endure Internet, Comms Blackout https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/musk-offers-free-starlink-iran-protests-endure-internet-comms-blackout
Gold & Geopolitics points out that China buys Iran’s oil and can’t be tarriffed or will withhold rare-earths: Maximum pressure meets maximum distraction Sanctions, regime change or just political theater?
As above: Trump Invokes Section 232 To Seek Foreign Supplies Of Processed Critical Minerals, Avoids Tariffs For Now https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/trump-invokes-section-232-seek-foreign-supplies-processed-critical-minerals-avoids
Mossad shooting Iranian protesters and police?:Maidan massacre in Ukraine déjà vu in NYT, Guardian & other reports from Iran with no evidence needed & no questions asked: “Witnesses spoke of seeing snipers positioned on rooftops in downtown Tehran and firing into crowds; of peaceful protests turning abruptly into scenes of carnage and panic as bullets pierced through people’s heads and torsos, sending bodies toppling to the ground; and of an emergency room treating 19 gunshot patients in a single hour.” NYT
“We were just chanting Javid Shah [Long live the king] and plainclothes killers infiltrated the people a few lines ahead and shot point blank, from behind, with guns directly at their head.” Guardian
Larry Johnson, US Ramping Up to Attack Iran… But The chess pieces are moving and the US appears to be making final preparations to attack Iran. But there are reports that Trump wants a guaranteed victory before he gives the order to launch. When I woke up this morning I was greeted with the news that the US is evacuating some personnel from Al Udeid Air Force Base in Qatar. In addition, the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt has arrived in the Red Sea, along with three missile destroyers and one missile-carrying submarine of the US Navy that are currently in the region. But wait, there is more.
The American Embassy in Kuwait has temporarily suspended the movement of staff at some military bases... ..There is concern that the U.S. may not have enough assets currenrly present in the region to defend against what administration officials expect would be an ‘aggressive’ Iranian response.
Tehran, meanwhile, set social media ablaze late on Wednesday (early Thursday morning in Iran) when it issued a NOTAM (i.e. Notice to Airmen) closing Iranian airspace to all commercial aircraft for a few hours. I do not know if this was because they expected an imminent attack or if Iranian authorities were conducting a military operation to test their alert and air defense systems.
I agree with John Mearsheimer that Iran’s best course of action right now is to warn the US and all Gulf nations that any attack on Iran will lead to a closure of the Strait of Hormuz… Sucha blockade would prevent 45% of the oil produced each day by both OPEC and non-OPEC nations from reaching consumers
Just for now... Iran & Israel Secretly Agreed Not To Attack Each Other Through Russian Backchannel https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/iran-israel-secretly-agreed-not-attack-each-other-through-russian-backchannel-wapo
Airlines Still Avoid Iran, Iraq Airspace Despite Reopening - Trump Assures Tehran No Strikes Imminent https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/airlines-still-avoid-iran-iraq-airspace-despite-reopening-trump-assures-tehran-no
“Praise Allah, There Are Still People Like You”: Jeffrey Epstein Nurtured Israel-Emirates Ties Before Abraham Accords
Epstein leveraged his friendship with the chief of DP World to pitch Israeli logistics infrastructure and cybersecurity investments to the UAE.
Deconstructing Trump’s Gaza ‘Peace’ Plan (w/ Norman Finkelstein) | The Chris Hedges Report
The resolution, Finkelstein points out,annuls decades of precedent established under international law on Palestine — erasing its entire legal history.
Gaza: A ceasefire that still kills children is not enough, says UNICEF https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/01/1166750
Witkoff announces launch of ‘phase two’ of Trump’s Gaza plan
The US envoy says talks are shifting beyond a ceasefire toward disarmament, a technocratic authority and post-war reconstruction in Gaza. According to Witkoff, Phase Two “begins the full demilitarisation and reconstruction of Gaza, primarily the disarmament of all unauthorised personnel.”
“The US expects Hamas to comply fully with its obligations, including the immediate return of the final deceased hostage. Failure to do so will bring serious consequences,” he said.
Witkoff also praised the role of Egypt, Qatar and Turkey in regional and international mediation efforts, saying their involvement had been central to progress made during the first phase of the plan.
According to Witkoff, Phase One resulted in what he described as historic humanitarian aid entering Gaza, the maintenance of the ceasefire, the return of all living captives, and the recovery of the remains of 27 of 28 deceased captives.
Israel has violated the US-brokered ceasefire more than 1,190 times since it came into effect in October, according to the Gaza Government Media Office, killing more than 400 Palestinians and blocking critical humanitarian aid from entering the enclave.
Hamas, which has condemned Israel’s repeated ceasefire violations, did not immediately comment on Witkoff’s announcement. https://www.newarab.com/news/witkoff-announces-launch-phase-two-trumps-gaza-plan
Spreading his seed...Jewish terrorist who killed Palestinian family said allowed conjugal visits
Amiram Ben Uliel, who perpetrated 2015 Duma firebombing that killed 18-month-old Ali Dawabsha and his parents, has been in prison for a decade and is serving three life sentences https://www.timesofisrael.com/jewish-terrorist-who-killed-palestinian-family-said-to-receive-conjugal-visits/
The Egyptian army owns everything important in Egypt. Egyptian army holds billions in secret cash as country misses debt deadline, officials say Exclusive: Egypt’s military accused of rejecting government pleas to solve debt crisis despite holding staggering amounts of reserves that are off-limits to civilian government https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt-army-holds-billions-dollars-secret-cash-country-misses-debt-deadline-sources-say
South Korea Seeks Death Penalty For Ex-President Yoon’s Botched Martial Law Attempt Yoon’s botched attempt in December 2024 to impose martial law in South Korea lasted a mere hours but plunged the country into political turmoil and chaos. He was soon after impeached from office by parliament and was arrested pending trial... ..Seeking the death penalty seems ultra-harsh, but it’s actually in keeping with South Korean criminal code, under which leading a rebellion carries three possible penalties: capital punishment, life imprisonment with hard labor, or life imprisonment without compulsory labor... ..Importantly, South Korea has not carried out an execution since 1997- so if Yoon is eventually executed (though would likely be some kind of drawn out appeals process), it would send a chilling and strong message to current and future leaders.
In 1996, ex-President Chun Doo-hwan, who ruled from 1980 to 1988, was sentenced to death for rebellion, high treason, and corruptionstemming from his role in the 1979 military coup and the violent suppression of the Gwangju uprising in 1980. His sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment by appellate courts, including the Supreme Court. He was ultimately pardoned in 1997 by then-President Kim Young-sam. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/south-korea-seeks-death-penalty-ex-president-yoons-botched-martial-law-attempt
MI-6 has been behind them from the start: US Designates Chapters Of Muslim Brotherhood As Foreign Terrorist Organizations https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-designates-chapters-muslim-brotherhood-foreign-terrorist-organizations
Trump Freezes All Visa Processing For 75 Countries: The Full List Some of these countries have been focus of geopolitical headlines of late - such as Nigeria, Somalia, and Syria - all subject to bombings of military operations by US forces. But it’s unclear why some like the Bahamas, Georgia, or Modolva would make the list. https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trump-freezes-all-visa-processing-75-countries-full-list
Get Taiwan to invest in US production before it falls to China: $500 Billion... US-Taiwan Agree Huge Chip Trade Deal https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/500-billion-us-taiwan-agree-huge-trade-deal
Access-Denial between Iran & Venezuela:US Forces Seize Sixth Tanker In Western Hemisphere As Trump Targets Dark Fleet “The cargo-empty US-sanctioned Aframax tanker VERONICA (9256860) was last seen in Venezuela on 2026-01-03 as she departed Amuay. She has directly exported Iranian oil 10 times, as well as received Iranian oil 5x via STS and Venezuelan 2x.” Tanker Trackers. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-forces-seize-sixth-tanker-western-hemisphere-trump-targets-dark-fleet
Chinese Supertankers Turn Back as US Moves Ahead to Extort Venezuelan Crude Commodities traders Vitol and Trafigura have received licenses to transport Venezuelan crude and have reportedly begun moving it to Caribbean storage hubs ahead of exports to final destinations. According to reports, the two firms have transported a combined 4.8 million barrels of Venezuela’s Merey 16 blend and have offered them to customers in the US, India and China with an $8.50 discount per barrel compared to ICE Brent.
US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have claimed that US-controlled Venezuelan oil revenues will only be used for imports from US manufacturers, including inputs for the energy sector and the electric grid. https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/chinese-supertankers-turn-back-as-us-moves-ahead-to-extort-venezuelan-crude/
Trump Kicking BRICS Out Of The Americas https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-kicking-brics-out-americas
Trump controls the account in Qatar: US gets first $500 million Venezuelan oil deal, holding some proceeds in Qatar https://www.semafor.com/article/01/14/2026/us-gets-first-500-million-venezuelan-oil-deal-holding-some-proceeds-in-qatar
Russian State Oil Company Confirms Continued Operations and Energy Projects in Venezuela https://orinocotribune.com/russian-state-oil-company-confirms-continued-operations-and-energy-projects-in-venezuela/
Most who would remember the revolution have died. ‘History will tell’: as US pressure grows, Cuba edges closer to collapse amid mass exodus
Disillusioned with the revolution after 68 years of US sanctions and a shattered economy, one in four Cubans have left in four years. Can the regime, and country, survive the engulfing ‘polycrisis’? https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/jan/10/cuba-regime-polycrisis-collapse-exodus-economy-migration-us-sanctions-trump
Trump Endorses Making Marco Rubio the President of Cuba, then Calls Himself the ‘Acting President of Venezuela’ https://people.com/trump-endorses-making-marco-rubio-the-president-of-cuba-then-calls-himself-the-acting-president-of-venezuela-11883495
Rubio announces aid for Cuba: Trump ‘stands with the Cuban people’ Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that the U.S. was sending the “first humanitarian shipment” to Cuba to help residents recovering from Hurricane Melissa. “We are working with the Catholic Church and partners to ensure aid reaches the Cuban people directly – not the illegitimate regime,” Rubio wrote on the social platform X. “The Trump Administration stands with the Cuban people.” https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5689761-rubio-announces-cuba-aid/
Newsom Scrambles To Keep Billionaires In California, Vows To Kill Wealth Tax After a swath of billionaires publicly announced they are leaving the state of California over a proposed wealth tax, Governor Gavin Newsom went into a full blown panic - vowing to stop the proposed tax and “do what I have to do to protect the state.” https://www.zerohedge.com/political/newsom-scrambles-keep-billionaires-california-vows-kill-wealth-tax
“Emergency Intervention”: Trump To Cap Residential Electric Bills By Forcing Tech Giants To Pay For Soaring Power Costs According to Bloomberg, Trump and the governors of several US Northeastern states agreed to push for an emergency wholesale electricity auction that would compel technology companies to effectively fund new power plants, effectively putting a cap for residential power prices at the expense of hyperscalers and data centers. https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/emergency-intervention-trump-cap-residential-electric-bills-forcing-tech-giants-pay-soaring
Protected-pedophiles have to pay Trump political rent these days. That GoFundMe is up to $481k: Ford Worker Suspended For Heckling Trump Raises Over $300K On GoFundMe After being called a “pedophile protector” while touring a Ford plant in Michigan on Tuesday, President Trump lashed back, twice mouthing “f--k you” and then giving the middle finger to the auto worker who made the accusation. That worker has now been suspended, but says he has “no regrets whatsoever” about accusing Trump of helping to conceal information about convicted sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein. https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trump-flips-mouths-f-k-you-ford-worker-who-called-him-pedophile-protector
Clintons Refuse To Testify About Jeffrey Epstein; Comer To Begin Contempt Proceedings https://www.zerohedge.com/political/clintons-refuse-testify-about-jeffrey-epstein-contempt-threat-looms
Do you think you will find a better deal? Insurance companies might not break ranks. President Trump Unveils ‘The Great Healthcare Plan’ “Instead of putting the needs of big corporations and special interests first, our plan finally puts you first and puts more money in your pocket,” Trump said in his announcement. “The government is going to pay the money directly to you. It goes to you, and then you take the money and buy your own healthcare. Nobody’s ever heard of that before, and that’s the way it is.” https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/president-trump-unveils-great-healthcare-plan
Meryl Nass MD, Big Chemical Wants to Prevent EPA From Revising Pollution Rules Based on Latest Science, claiming EPA can only revise a risk assessment once, despite new evidence of harms emerging later Might this also be used to limit EPA rulings on Chemtrails and other hazards? As Big Chem sees Bayer get away with murder, its efforts are becoming more brazen
No cigarette-breaks. Back to your cubicle! Study Finds Coffee May “Cancel Out” the Mortality Risks of Sitting for Long Hours Each Day Among adults sitting more than 6 hours a day, coffee drinkers had ~23% lower all-cause death risk than non-coffee drinkers.
Coffee was for squares. Cocaine was hip: RetroAnalysis: The Coffee Achievers If I told you that there was a publicity event in the 1980s that brought together musical acts like David Bowie, the Electric Light Orchestra and Heart, you’d probably assume that I was talking about Live Aid or USA for Africa, but that’s not the answer. Throw author Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., actress Cicely Tyson, SNL Weekend Update anchor Jane Curtin, and middling NFL quarterback Ken Anderson in with those musicians and the common denominator between them becomes even harder to guess at… unless you’re old enough to remember that those people, and a few others, represented an elite cadre known as The Coffee Achievers. Intrigued? Baffled? This video should begin to explain things. https://marketingsmartaleck.wordpress.com/2014/06/09/retroanalysis-the-coffee-achievers/comment-page-1/
Steve Kirsch, Why can’t anyone show us the study showing vaccines save lives? Where is the study in the US using record-level data showing that kids who are fully vaccinated die less? According to AI, no such study exists. Vaccine mandates are all based on belief, not science.
Steve Kirsch, KCOR results on the Japan record level data shows the same harm pattern as the Czech data The shots increased mortality. No doubt about it anymore. There is no way to explain away this data but my critics are welcome to try.
Jessica Rose Ph.D. DDoS attacks are the old new tactic of censorship/retraction Oncotarget journal and now Brownstone Institute website are the recent victims of digital flash mobs
Not a cure, but initial tumor regression: STUDY: Vitamin C + Grape Seed Extract Outperforms Chemotherapy for Tumor Reduction in Mice Natural combo cut cancerous tumor volume by 76.61%, surpassing the “red devil” doxorubicin (68.82%) in a head-to-head preclinical study.
”Bidness” US FDA requests removal of suicide warnings from weight-loss drugs https://edition.cnn.com/2026/01/13/health/weight-loss-drugs-suicide-risk-warning-removal
Peter McCullough MD, Autistic “Barbie” Doll Celebrates Neuropsychiatric Illness Among Children Can the autism epidemic be worsened by normalization?
The pay of Roman Legions and foundation of empires: Salt: Not Just a Rock We Eat — Part I - A Two-Part Series on the Rock that Shaped the World
Balancing Life (pictured helping Jim prune tree limbs over roof)
Hello my friend.
I ask everyone to repost… cross post… and make this Anti War song No.1
A simple message… NO I WON’T GIVE YOU MY SONS
It simply says No I wont give you mysons or daughters for a war that should never be.
The following song by Reinhard Mey is probably the most powerful anti War song of all the time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q-Ga3myTP4
No to war.
Help to make this song No.1
And send a message.
Not for me… for you
For everyone.
https://fritzfreud.substack.com/p/no-i-wont-give-you-my-sons
It can be done...It has been done before.
DING Dong the Witch is Dead reached No.1 in the UK as part of a musical anti-tribute to Margaret Thatcher.
"Trump and the governors of several US Northeastern states agreed to push for an emergency wholesale electricity auction that would compel technology companies to effectively fund new power plants"
Me thinks that has already been remedied, or there is a trial plan in place. This guy spends fifteen minutes explaining how the residential market will cover it without raising rates too much.
In the bit of transcript below the AI translated FERC as Fork beyond that you get the jist. Can you say rolling blackout?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKPmLuyZs_4
It wasn't a very popular
2:02
bedtime story for for kids on Christmas
2:05
Eve. Here's what FK told PJM. And that's
2:09
the grid operator for 13 states and 67
2:12
million people in case you're not one of
2:14
those. FK told PJM to create three new
2:18
categories of electrical service.
2:21
Category one firm contract demand
2:24
transmission service. That's
2:26
bureaucratic speak for your power
2:28
doesn't get interrupted ever. Grid
2:31
crashes, everyone else goes dark, you
2:34
stay on. That's for data centers with
2:36
their own colllocated generation.
2:40
Category two, non-firm contract demand
2:43
transmission service. Lower priority
2:46
power will be interrupted when things
2:48
get intense. Still important, just not
2:51
macro harder important because what is
2:55
category three, interim non-firm
2:57
transmission service, temporary access
3:00
until they build the infrastructure to
3:02
serve you and I properly. Translation,
3:06
we'll get to you eventually. Maybe if
3:08
there's any power left.
3:11
Now, Fork didn't explicitly say AI gets
3:15
tier one, hospitals get tier 2, your
3:18
house gets whatever's left. That would
3:20
be, you know, too honest. What they said
3:23
is
3:24
if you're a data center with your own
3:26
power generation, you can buy yourself
3:28
out of the public grid entirely.
3:31
Everyone else, well, we're on the grid
3:33
that gets curtailed when demand exceeds
3:36
supply.
3:38
curtailed.