Land & Sea Journal

Monthly Edition

January 2026

World

Special ReportGreenland, NATO, Expansionism Questions
Special ReportVenezuela, Maduro Capture by USA

MADURO CAPTURED, January 3, 2026

After midnight sometime, Friday night, US bombed military sites in Caracas (and other cities, it seems). These were small, controlled explosions.

Among Venezuelans on SM, about 95% maybe were in favor. There were some dissenters, but actually most of those seemed to be Americans in America saying they didn't support this ('UN is sleeping').

In the morning, people woke to photos of Maduro wearing blacked out glasses and handcuffed (in front of body), wearing a capturee suit and holding a plastic bottle of water, aboard a US vessel with US soldiers guarding him.

Venezuelans seem to be basically 100% in favor of this. ‘Adelante Venezuela’. This is not surprising, as he has been the direct cause of suffering for many years, well beyond the amount of time you might say he still needed some time to make plans work out. For years, regular Venezuelans I know have hoped for this (or worse).

The attack and arrest was done swiftly. We still don't know the details. (Was the Caribbean attack a few years ago kind of a practice? I'm not sure why that comes to mind.)

But the attack and arrest were done at night, so there was the least disturbance, and little chance for forces to be mustered (and probably more people killed thereby). Americans didn't have time to respond. We don't know if Congress approved this.

The arrest was not done humiliatingly or dirtily. It was done soldierly. It was done publicly. They published appropriate photos right away, and the people everywhere can know what's going on. This is in marked contrast to the US government during Bin Laden, when no one trusted the government and the idea that they just moved Bin Laden to some island or something seems totally possible. Everything was secret, done in secret courts, carried out by secret forces.

I think the main feeling people might feel is jealousy. Trump's doing all the good things. Likely enough, no one even thought it was possible for America to do such a thing, just like it seemed impossible to get a peace deal in Israel.

The only caveat is the precedent. An America that thinks it can simply send it's military into any country and capture it's leader would be bound for misadventure. Trump may have a mind of his own and have no bosses to answer to, but it seems many US presidents aren't that way.

This will cheer the spirits of the miltiary corps. Enlistment will probably go up.

It is arguably a violation of the UN, but what is the UN for if it supports, basically, regimes like Maduro's?

All our law is not the highest law. Almost none of our illegal actions are absolute, such that in some cases they're not the appropriate or favored course.

So there are points on both sides of the ledger, but overall it doesn't seem too bad and will at least make life better for millions of people in Venezuela.

People also commented on how Xi would be taking note of how effective the US was at going into a country and grabbing a leader. But Shanghai is pretty different, and the Chinese are extremely proud of their country and support their government, as much as a citizens are known to do in our era. Some said Xi would be less likely to grab Taiwan but I feel like it's actually more likely. US is already on the way to not needing Taiwan for chips, Russia took it's land and peace talks are in the process of consolidating the annexation.

Nigerian leaders, however, probably aren't going to be sleeping so well.

US said they'd stay in Venezuela for a while to control things. US just had the Nobel prize given to Machado so it seems likely they'll install her.

Looks like Venezuela will have a year of quickly reinstalled facilities for oil and gas production and distribution, and maybe other projects. Will Venezuela stocks go crazy on Monday?

What the US Strike on Venezuela Means for Oil (youtube.com)

Chevron.

Cuba Condemns US Military Strike on Venezuela as "State Terrorism" BRICS News

BRICS News also... 'Brazilian President Lula da Silva has condemned US bombings and the capture of Venezuelan President Maduro as crossing "an unacceptable line" in international relations. ... Calling it a "grave affront to sovereignty," Lula warned that attacking countries is the first step toward a world where "the law of the strongest" prevails over multilateralism. Brazil has activated emergency protocols and convened extraordinary meetings with military representatives as the 2,000+ km border becomes a strategic flashpoint. Mexico and BRICS allies are rallying in condemnation, with many calling this a violation of the UN Charter.'

Many commented that countries like Brazil and Colombia would take away from this that government's ‘must have nuclear to defend themselves.’

‘El fiscal general Tarek William Saab afirmó que el bombardeo de EE.UU. sobre Caracas dejó víctimas mortales y heridos, a quienes describió como “víctimas inocentes mortalmente heridas y otras asesinadas por este criminal ataque terrorista”. Sus declaraciones se produjeron en un contacto televisado tras la noche de explosiones y sobrevuelo de aeronaves militares en la capital venezolana. ’ Vision24

Lots of jokes about people buying the fit Maduro was pictured wearing with fashionable looking dark glasses. It's a grey tracksuit.

Presidente del Perú, José Jerí, sobre Venezuela: "Muchas familias podrán reencontrarse en su país, por eso daremos las facilidades para su regreso inmediato".

President Trump says US action will bring Venezuela President Maduro 'to justice' (youtube.com)

It might be that the fishing boat attacks, real or not, were to trigger Venezuelan military channels, part of planning and identification for this attack.

They captured Maduro's wife also, Cilia Flores. They were airlifted out and then put on the USS Iwo Jima, and they're bound for NY, and then either NY or Miami (for trial). Looks like some of the soldiers walking Maduro out of his building were wearing DEA badges (US law enforcement).

No American soldiers died in the attack. No US military equipment was destroyed. ‘There’s no equipment like we have,' said Trump. Sales might go up?

There will likely be a large remigration of all the Venezuelans in Colombia, Peru, Equador, Brazil, etc.

In his speech on Jan 3 morning, he talked about the Americans who are victims of drugs that come ‘mostly from Venezuela' and mentioned Tren de Aragua and other brutal gangs. ‘They were brutal, but they’re not so brutal now.' Trump said they were ‘sent by Maduro to terrorize America.’

‘The Monroe Doctrine is a big deal, but we’ve superceded it by a lot, by a real lot. They now call it the ‘Donroe Doctrine.’

‘American dominance in the Western hemisphere will never be questioned again.’ Trump

‘We did something about it. We’re late, but we did something about it.' Trump.

Trump said Petro ‘have cocaine mills’, they're making cocaine and sending it into the US, so ‘he does have to watch his ass.’

‘Mr President, did you notify any members of Congress in advance?’ Immeditely, Trump said, ‘Marco, do you want to talk about that, because you were involved,’ and shifted away from the podium. Rubio said, ‘Sure. We called members of Congress, and this is not the kind of mission that you can do congressional notification on, it was a trigger based mission on which conditions had to be met, night after night we watched and monitored. ... Remember, at the end of the day, at its core, this was an arrest of two indicted fugitives of American Justice, and the Department of War supported the Department of Justice in that job...' Trump stepped back to the podium and said, ‘Can I just add one thing to that? Congress has a tendency to leak. This would not be good. ... But Congress will leak. And we don't want leakers.’

He said to Venezuelans, ‘You're gonna have peace. You're gonna have justice. You're gonna have a country. You're gonna have potentially a great country.'

‘I think Cuba is something we’re gonna end up talking about, because Cuba is a failing nation right now. And we want to help the people in Cuba, and also help the people who were forced Cuba and are living in this country.'

US MISSION
Apparently, they cut off power ‘due to an expertise [the US] have’.

Over the course of the night, aircraft (150 total) launched from over 20 bases around the western hemisphere, including fighters, bombers, recon, rotary wing. The extraction fleet included US law enforcement, and they flew 100ft above the water. Spacecom, cybercom and other members of the interagency created a pathway, with cover by the marines, air force, National Guard, and drones. As the extraction team neared Caracas, the joint air component began dismanteling and disabling the air defense in Venezuela. As the extraction team passed the last mountains, they realized they'd 'maintained totally the element of surprise.'

(Later, we were told the pilot of the main helecopter had been shot 3 times in the leg but was alright, which was compared with Abbotabad (Pakistan, bin Laden, 2011, Navy Seals, downed helicopter had to be destroyed to prevent losing intelligence advantage).

The birds landed (receiving fire and returning fire ‘with overwhelming force in self defense’) on Maduro's compound at 1:01 Eastern Standard (2AM Caracas local time), and the extraction force moved with speed to apprehend Maduro. The force remained protected by overhead tactical aviation. Maduro and wife gave up and were taken into custody by the Department of Justice assisted by the US military. Suppressive fire from the US forces shot at multiple Venezuelan engagements during extraction.

Maduro had been trying to make it into a safe place, all steel, but he wasn't able to make it, because the US guys were so fast, Trump said. But they would have had the steel opened nomatter how thick it was in about 47 seconds. ‘He made it to the door. He was unable to close it.’

So a successful mission, but an easy one. Looks good, but unlikely it really demonstrates anything about the US military (except perhaps their information gathering).

How US Captured The Venezuelan President? (youtube.com)

A later explainer video. The US warships parked off the coast of Venezuela for a month were a sort of diversion. The 150 aircraft created a sonic shield for the helicopters, flying low over buildings to avoid radar coverage, to drop Delta forces. 2AM Venezuela time the attack of missiles, destabilizing Venezuela air support, happened along with a blackout of Caracas. Communications blackout. Some helicopters layed cover fire (they were being shot at) while one/some landed on the compound building. Delta breached the building (how?) from the roof and went though the building. Assumed that CIA had spies in the compound for some time, and Delta had built a version of the compound they ran through until they knew it well. They used a blowtorch to open the doors. The helicopters went to the US warship parked offshore. The several large US warships plus 150 planes formed a command center that countered Venezuela's modern air defense. Venezuela only has like 20 or 30 Russian jets from 2008 plus 5 F16s, upgraded with Israeli parts since the repair parts are part of US sanctions.

Venezuela protects its land with Russian S300 missile systems, Chinese radar networks, integrated Russian air defenses and Shahid drones. Older F16s find this challenging (BUKs). F35s were used. From Puerto Rico, F35s flying at supersonic speeds can reach Venezuela in 1.5 hours. Puerto Rico is close enough to reach anywhere in Venezuela, but there are air fuel supply planes to support them in the Caribbean. From the US warships, F35s are 10 or 15 minutes away from Venezuelan targets.

'AOC Slams Operation To Capture Maduro: 'It's About Oil And Regime Change' | "It's not about drugs. If it was, Trump wouldn't have pardoned one of the largest narco traffickers in the world last month," AOC claimed'
AOC Slams Operation To Capture Maduro:

Where will ‘run Venezuela’ money come from? 'Well back in 2004, anyone who didn't agree with the blank check for Iraq reconstruction was an America-hating terrorist and possibly even French.'

OC: Trump says the U.S. will

'CIA: Wait, we don't need the whole charade stuff?!'

Trump said it'd be easy to keep helping Venezuela (occupying and running it) because a lot of money will come out of the ground.

Greenland says 'no more fantasies about annexation' after Trump remarks • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)

“I was captured,” Maduro said (in Spanish) before being cut off by the judge. Asked later for his plea to the charges, he stated: “I’m innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the president of my country.”

‘The stakes were made clear from the outset as Maduro, who took copious notes throughout the proceedings and wished a Happy New Year to reporters in court, repeatedly pressed his case that he had been unlawfully abducted.’ AP news

“I am here kidnapped,” Maduro said. “I was captured at my home in Caracas.”

Maduro says 'I was captured' as he pleads not guilty to drug trafficking charges (apnews.com)

As a head of state, is Maduro immune from prosecution? Was his capture a ‘military abduction’?

US government doesn't recognize Maduro as the legitimate head of state of Venezuela.

Maduro was indicted on working with cartels to facilitate shipping thousands of tons of cocaine to the US. Also of ordering kidnapping, beatings and murders in relation to the alleged drug trade.

‘Secretary of State Marco Rubio had tried to strike a more cautious tone on Sunday morning talk shows, saying the U.S. would not govern the country day-to-day other than enforcing an existing ” oil quarantine.”’ AP

Oil rose slightly Monday. Venezuelan oil ‘doesn’t matter,' many concluded.

“If we normalize the kidnapping of a head of state, no country is safe. Today it’s Venezuela. Tomorrow it could be any nation that refuses to submit. This is not a regional problem. It is a direct threat to global political stability,” Maduro Guerra, Maduro's son, stated.

Venezuelan immigrant speaks out following Maduro's capture; says hope has been restored (youtube.com)

‘I don’t care if you have a Masters Degree, or whatever, unless you've lived it in your own skin, and I think it's terribly disrespectful to the people...' The Americans who are against this, because it was because of oil, are not speaking from experience of Venezuela for 26 years of famine and oppression.

‘We are not free yet. We need America to stay in Venezuela until all of the other bad guys are out, but without America this wouldn’t be fathomable.'

In Venezuela, there's a ‘good amount of happiness and fear,’ panilazo, but the people who are moving into leadership are as bad as Maduro, and they are threatening people, so no one can show support for the Americans.

‘I think America is being smart about the way they are doing things, but to us, although it’s great, we are like 'Just don't hold back. Just send it all!' You've just stepped on the snake, and if you remove your foot from the head it's going to come back mad biting.

Prof. Jeffrey Sachs : Venezuela and the Collapse of International Law (youtube.com)

‘Cannot be justified' under international or US law or the American Constitution.

‘This is a war, US has launched a war, to run Venezuela.'

‘Even kings of the past had more control and scrutiny than the US president.’

US is still part of the UN Charter. No country can use force or the threat of force. Gross violation.

‘A breakdown in our Constitutional order,' long in coming. ‘There are no checks on the president. The US has bombed 7 countries in the past year’, not one of these authorized by Congress. In the past few days, Trump has threatened with force at least 6 countries. Iran, Nigeria, Mexico, Denmark and Greenland, Colombia, Cuba.

‘A rogue state that will use brute force to achieve to achieve its hegemony and acquire riches’ probably near universal view in world. A few countries applaud this, like Israel. And there are some vassal states (most of Europe) who don't dare go against it. States that have US bases in them.

‘They view the United States as lawless.’

Contempt for Congress and the Constitution. ‘Almost sneering.’

‘How much can the US steal from Venezuela?’

Ray McGovern : When “Foreign Policy” Crosses into Kidnapping (youtube.com)

US can't longer create agreements or contracts of any kind, because other parties don't trust it.

‘Let’s see if Trump is still completely captive to the CIA.'

Showed Trump's many past statements against regime change and nation building.

‘The media is the fly in the ointment.’ Puchin is more credible than the CIA, and certainly more credible than those that have won Pulitzer prizes for the New York Times.'

COLOMBIA | Gustavo PETRO “Trump me dijo que estaba pensando hacer cosas MALAS en Colombia” | EL PAÍS (youtube.com)

‘Una construccion mentirosa.’

In these periods, do leaders question their actions? and think they should have done more for their people, for all the groups of people, for all the people wanted, especially in terms of protections and rights, liberty, so that in such periods they would have the absolute support and protection of the people?

Comments. ‘Este pobre diablo le tiene miedo a Donal Trump, porque su nivel de brutalidad es abismal’

President Claudia Sheinbaum: we have an agreement for joint work (youtube.com)

Seems like Americans might have to give up the idea they believe in or stand for anything like liberty, democracy, civil rights, law and order, checks and balances. They seem to have almost no qualms about executive actions here. I mean in general. The commenters show there is a lot of intelligent dissent and counter points, but the public seems unconcerned.

If that ever really was the project, maybe it isn't now.

A WEEK LATER
Full Breakdown of Maduro Raid - NEW Satellite Imagery Revealing Extent of Damage (youtube.com)

Politics

Reporter Asks Trump: 'What Does Cuba Have To Do To Avoid The Same Fate As Venezuela?' (youtube.com)

Is Trump a neocon now? Jcal raised that. All-In's 2026 Predictions (youtube.com)

xAI, the startup behind Grok, said on Thursday it was Indonesia temporarily blocks access to Grok over sexualised images. Reuters

"The government views the practice of non-consensual sexual deepfakes as a serious violation of human rights, dignity, and the security of citizens in the digital space," Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid said in a statement.

'xAI replied to Reuters' email seeking comment with what seemed to be an automated response: "Legacy Media Lies". X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.'
Trump signs order protect venezuelan oil revenue held us accounts (reuters.com)
‘Aimed at blocking courts or creditors from impounding revenue tied to the sale of Venezuelan oil held in U.S. Treasury accounts, the White House said on Saturday.’ AP

Nicaragua’s government says it’s freeing detainees after pressure from the US (apnews.com)

‘In recent years, the government has released hundreds of imprisoned political opponents, critics and activists. It stripped them of Nicaraguan citizenship and sent them to other countries like the U.S. and Guatemala.’

The end of Fed independence: Fed Chair Powell says he’s under criminal investigation, won’t bow to Trump intimidation
The end of Fed independence: Fed Chair Powell says he’s under criminal investigation, won’t bow to Trump intimidation

Commenter. ‘A weak USD is how you get manufacturing back to the US. If our products are more affordable to global markets then other countries buy more goods from us. Unfortunately this has huge implications for the rest of the US, really the world since the USD is so prevalent in global markets (petrodollar). There was a reason manufacturing was offshored and the US moved towards niche/specialized manufacturing and tech jobs. His base is just to fucking stupid to understand this. ’

'A second thing is, theoretically is promotes exporting rather than importing. With trump's previous rants about "trade deficit" it seems like he thinks the us should export more and import less. The new chAyna'

Adam Carolla on California’s Collapse: Fires, Failed Leadership, and Gyno-Fascism (youtube.com)

‘Gynofacism.' Looks like this might be how it happens. It's about 30 years, maybe 20, since feminism became seriously toxic (but caused problems for a decade or so before that on a lesser scale). Some people identified parts of this over the past decade or two. Looks like it might be going mainstream under this term.

'Everything they do is under the umbrella of safety. And they get a lot of applause and acolades for making things safer, but what they don't realize is they grind things to a halt.' Shutting schools down for Covid. Churchs, small businesses, too. Mostly Barbara Ferrer and other female city council. ‘They hide behind the shield of safety because it makes them sound noble.’ ‘It’s mostly women who buy into it, just like we scared all the moms durinc Covid, and then they make all the rules, and the rules are always more and it's always safer, and people sort of go along with it.'

He raised the example that if you have a boy who's going to pitch and which of his parents would make a fairer umpire for the game? He posits that the mother would be more likely to call a few balls and strikes in favor of her son, be a bit more protective of her son. More likely to pick a side, team up, and then root for.

Most of the staff on the NYT, the presidents of colleges, are women now.

More of an emotional process. That's also why they're better at being moms.

It's a fact that the marketing campaigns around vaccines and other things are all targeted at the moms, because that's who's going drive the action in the house, added Friedburg.

‘Race hustlers' who pretend it's the 60s and ignore that top figures include blacks, like Obama, Oprah, almost all kids including whites wanted to be Jordan in the 90s.

‘Self segregation' of responsible people moving away and leaving the people who want DEI.

...

Trump calls on Tehran to show protesters humanity amid reports of rising death toll in crackdown (apnews.com)

'"Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING - TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!... HELP IS ON ITS WAY," Trump said in a post on Truth Social, without saying what that help might be.'

'Russia on Tuesday condemned what it described as "subversive external interference" in Iran's internal politics, saying any repeat of last year's U.S. strikes would have "disastrous consequences" for the Middle East and international security.'

'Iran's authorities have taken a dual approach, cracking down while also calling protests over economic problems legitimate.' No sign of fracture in the clerical establishment, Reuters reported.

16k Iranians detained. 2 weeks of protest.

"Argentina Moved BUCKETS!" - Milei SHOCKS Critics With $2.5B Loan Payback (youtube.com)

US banks didn't want to do it, asked for taxpayers to fund a stoploss for them. US government under Trump did it with the IMF. Milei only needed $2.5b of the $20b loan, it seems, and he paid it back already, and the taxpayer got millions back in interest payment from Milei. ‘This is intervention that works. It worked for Argentina, it worked for Milei, and it worked for the American taxpayer.'

Argentina had taken loans for decades and never paid it back. Everyone looked at them as that. Milei is a different politician, it seems.

It's the difference between taking out a loan where you need it to do something productive versus just taking a loan and you don't even know what to use it for, they said.

...

Massive Somali Fraud in Minnesota with Nick Shirley, California Asset Seizure, $20B Groq-Nvidia Deal (youtube.com)

Coherent, closed communities (like Somali) can be used for votes, particularly Muslims, Shirley says, because they go to mosques and when there's a government vote the leader says Ok let's go vote for whoever. He notes that because of their faith you might expect them to vote conservative, but they usually vote democrat because that's who gives them more money.

The tax money is used by government to give to fake charity and social welfare programs (so no tax is paid by those who receive it). The communities behind these programs give those politicians exemption from their political use of racism claims (which is their immediate response to critics like Shirley), which protects them from lawyers and politicians and everyone else, because no one wants to fight against racism charges and it's just not worth it. Those communities send that money in cash to Somalia or wherever, sometimes from Dubai through money transfer. Some of that money, it seems, might fund terrorist groups, and some of it might make it back through campaign donations for the original politicians.

Another point Shirley raised was that Muslims can have 4 wives, so 3 could claim welfare.

Three (white female) liberal judges dismissed Somali fraud cases after juries convicted the Somalis.

‘Votes are being stolen. I believe elections are being stolen.’ Sacks said. He said there's way more fraud in California, and listed failed government projects that used tax money.

Elon's estimate was 20% of government spending is fraud, ‘essentially theft.’

‘Democrats denouncing waste is like Don Corlione denouncing the mafia.’ David Sacks

‘Fraudsters are doners, too. It’s all just political patronage.'

...

Five takeaways reuters interview president trump (reuters.com)

The president suggested that he follows his own compass. “A lot of times, you can't convince a voter,” he said. “You have to just do what's right. And then a lot of the things I did were not really politically popular. They turned out to be when it worked out so well.”

Trump said he didn't care about polls. He has a binder of his accomplishments.

'The president expressed frustration that his Republican Party could lose control of the U.S. House of Representatives or the Senate in this year’s midterm elections, citing historical trends that have seen the party in power lose seats in the second year of a presidency. “It's some deep psychological thing, but when you win the presidency, you don't win the midterms,” Trump said. He boasted that he had accomplished so much that “when you think of it, we shouldn't even have an election.”'

...

Did Trump Cross a Red Line on Greenland? (youtube.com)

Once the delicate holding of relationships and benefits that can be taken away from relationship particpants (countries) is removed by cancelling them all to try to force shortterm gains, all that remains would be military force and some economic market participation.

What the EU's 'trade bazooka' is and how it works (apnews.com)

‘The measures could include curtailing the export and import of goods and services, barring countries or companies from EU public tenders, or limiting foreign direct investment. In its most severe form, the bazooka would essentially close off access to the EU’s 450-million customer market.’ Takes 6 months to activate.

Fcc says us late night daytime talk shows must offer equal time candidate (reuters.com)

'Until now, talk shows have qualified for the equal opportunities exemption as genuine news interviews, ever since the FCC's Media Bureau granted an exemption to the interview portion of Jay Leno’s "Tonight Show" in 2006. Networks have relied on the ruling as a precedent for recent interviews with political candidates.' FCC says they haven't shown any reason their interview portions of their shows qualify for an exemption.

Who's on Trump's Board of Peace and who has said no (apnews.com)

‘A White House official has said about 30 countries were expected to join the board, without providing details, while about 50 had been invited.’

Countries that say they will join the board:

— Argentina

— Albania

— Armenia

— Azerbaijan

— Bahrain

— Belarus

— Bulgaria

— Egypt

— Hungary

— Indonesia

— Jordan

— Kazakhstan

— Kosovo

— Morocco

— Mongolia

— Pakistan

— Qatar

— Saudi Arabia

— Turkey

— United Arab Emirates

— Uzbekistan

— Vietnam

Countries that will not join the board, at least for now:

— France

— Norway

— Slovenia

— Sweden

— The United Kingdom

Countries that have been invited but remain noncommittal:

— Cambodia

— China

— Croatia

— Cyprus

— Germany

— Greece

— India

— Italy

— The European Union’s executive arm

— Paraguay

— Russia

— Singapore

— Thailand

— Ukraine

...

In Norway, more voices, better solutions (csmonitor.com)

‘To help patch up public faith in democracy, 40,000 people were picked at random from all walks of life, and then 66 were chosen to deliberate together over four months on a “citizens’ assembly,” ... called the Future Panel. ... This type of well-informed, civil, and participatory decision-making – across party lines and across age groups...’

“The idea was that we were different people from different parts of the country. My experience is that we had all the same fundamental values.”

Memphis’ different take on a federal surge (csmonitor.com)

‘A federal-local split over immigration policies, not to mention which branch of law enforcement should investigate the violent acts.’

'Should Minneapolis police, for example, always protect immigration agents from civilians who try to block enforcement? Should the FBI allow the state of Minnesota to join the investigation into shootings by federal law enforcement? A lack of mutual trust driven by policy differences can exacerbate such issues.'

Memphis D mayor allowed the 1500 ICE officers plus 1000 national guards in, partially due to a recent state law passed by a R led legislature mandating local government support the federal efforts. But mayor Young directed this force towards Memphis' gang crime, integrating them into police, required to report abuses. And National Guard can't intervene in crime, only notify police. The mayor later announced that ‘serious crimes’ were at a 25 year low.

Rebuilding two-way trust, city by city (csmonitor.com)

‘Participatory budgeting’ (1980s idea from Porto Alegre, Brazil). A group of citizens gets to decide/vote on where a chunk of the budget gets spent. Paris does $118m per year participatory budget, but receiving 21k ideas from the public each year, checking them for feasability, presenting 260 to the group, and the group chose 104. NYC does $30m decided by citizens (ages 10 and up).

Grassroots engagement, transparency, reduces bias against politicians decisions.

The dangerous rise of Buddhist extremism: ‘Attaining nirvana can wait’ (theguardian.com)

'In countries such as Sri Lanka and Myanmar, where the conservative Theravada strain predominates, monks have emerged as central figures in movements that promote sectarian hatred, abandoning the teachings of the Buddha in favour of a more common and earthly goal: political power.' ‘... At the expense of minorities.’

‘These monks also illuminate a lesser-known dimension of Buddhism: its patriarchal structure.’

‘I don’t feel sad when bad people do bad things. I feel sad when good people don’t do anything.’ Geshe Lhakdor

'Seattle provides each adult resident with four $25 vouchers they can donate to local political candidates of their choice.' The Year in Cheer (reasonstobecheerful.world)

‘In Kansas City, the largest U.S. city to adopt a zero-fare transit policy, bus ridership is about 24 percent higher than in other similar cities.’

‘There are over 2,600 community-led seed libraries in the U.S., where people can “borrow” seeds, plant them, and later “return” them from their own crop in the next growing cycle.’

Trump issues executive order assuming control of Los Angeles wildfire rebuilding efforts (youtube.com)

What percentage of Trump's support is thugs now? You generally see politicians that outrage their citizens start with broad support, because that's how they got elected, there was a need for change and no better options. But then their flaws result in actions that alienate the more centrist, moderate, and scholarly parts of who voted for them, and then it slides further and further. So what point is it at now?

Trump reshapes us historical cultural institutions (reuters.com)

Under the pretense or justification of prior installations being ‘anti American’. Slave exhibits, Confederate statues, calling for removal of anti American idiology, allegedly added in recent years, from Smithsonian, which presents ‘a false version of history.’

Separatist Sentiment Resurfaces | Your Morning (youtube.com)

Tom Tillis (R, North Carolina) said that Noem and incompetent people in the White House, in positions of power, have taken an issue that everyone should be united on, that did unite Republicans and got Trump elected on it, that is, border security immigration, she/they have taken that issue and destroyed that for Republicans. Steven Miller on Greenland is doing also, on Greenland, calling people terrorists. ‘To feed a MAGA base that's not going to keep Trump in office' argued Jcal. ICE Chaos in Minneapolis, Clawdbot Takeover, Why the Dollar is Dropping (youtube.com)

Special ReportICE, Minneapolis

Can ice agents be prosecuted minneapolis shootings (reuters.com)

'DHS said Pretti approached with a handgun and violently resisted attempts to disarm him, though bystander videos verified by Reuters show Pretti - whom Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara said carried a handgun lawfully - holding a phone as he tries to help protesters whom agents pushed to the ground.'

‘Minnesota’s use-of-force law permits state police to use deadly force only if reasonable officers would believe doing so was necessary to protect themselves, or others, from death or serious harm. Federal law has a similar standard, permitting use of deadly force when a reasonable officer would have probable cause to believe a person posed an immediate threat of death or serious injury.’

It looks unlikely a lawsuit against ICE or an ICE agent could be successful, even though probably the majority of Americans might support it, illustrating what Americans have complained about for years, police/federal official immunity, or even if they don't have total immunity, a situation where punishing them is basically impossible. ICE in the cases of the past couple weeks can claim they did it to protect their own or others' lives, as a constitutional part of their job. Neither of the two ICE shootings looks like it was necessary or reasonable, and it's be good to get a survey of Americans' perspective on this.

Alex Pretti committed “domestic terrorism” before being killed by federal agent in Minneapolis: DHS (youtube.com)

Les Black Panthers contre ICE aux États-Unis | Rad (youtube.com)

‘We can walk in any hood, any time. They love us.’

‘Tired of that s*** and actually ready to do something about it...’

‘They think they’re above the law, they can do what they want, because of Trump. Come on yall? How you gonna wage war on your own .... country?'

For the Panthers to attack, you have to attac them first, they said.

Under 100 Panthers in Philly.

‘Do you believe in non violent revolution?’ ‘It is possible but the threat of violence has to be there.’ (C'est possible, mais la menace de la violence doit etre la.)

‘If Trump sends like hundreds of ICE agents are you ready for that?’ ‘Yes absolutely. Send them.’

They walk around unbothered, with AKs, on the streets, on the trains, in Philly.

Rights for those who insist on having them?

...

Alex Pretti shooting witness describes being detained by federal agents (youtube.com)

People who witnessed the shooting were then arrested and detained, and questioned. Several USCs (United States Citizen) in custody.

Inciting a riot, impeding, and assault on federal agents and death threats, are the things the guy was arrested for, but he said the only thing he had told the agenst was, ‘How would you like it if somebody killed you like that? That’s f****d up.'

Why not be afraid, be cautious, and comply, after seeing ICE shoot somebody? Because at that point, the guy said, ‘it’s not about me, it's about the cause.'

How do you find a sense of security? ‘By not being scared of them. I’m not going to be intimidated by them. My father always told me, Never be scared of a person that bleeds as much as you do.'

The news agency checked federal records and there are no federal charges against the man.

Commenter. 'Since we obviously don't have the rights we were taught that we have, it's time to renegotiate.'

Commenter. ‘Ground Zero in the fight for freedom.’

Commenter. 'Agents often detain agitators like Javier under "Investigative Detention" (Terry v. Ohio principles). They bring them to the Whipple Building to identify them, run their prints against federal databases, and remove them from the "riot zone" to prevent further incitement. By releasing Javier after a few hours, the DOJ avoids a "wrongful detention" lawsuit tf they held him without an immediate charge. Just because there are no "formal charges" doesn't mean a federal grand jury won’t be looking at him tomorrow for 18 U.S.C. § 111 (Forcible Obstruction): This is a felony. He has essentially handed the DOJ a signed confession of impeding a federal officer.'

...

News Briefs (csmonitor.com)

‘Two former U.S. presidents issued rare rebukes. Former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama posted lengthy condemnations of the Trump administration’s immigration tactics ...’ CS Monitor

FBI's Patel falsely claims Americans 'cannot bring firearms' to protests • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)

'FBI director has been speading falsehoods.'

Local and national gun rights groups are pushing back against Patel. Patel later stated, ‘we fully support the Second Amendment...’

1st assistent attorney for Cali tweeted, ‘If you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high liklihood they will be legally justified in shooting you. Don’t do it!'

Gun groups also clapped back at that statement.

France24 noted this attitude is inconsistent with the Trump/Republican's previous gun rights support.

...

California Democrats have new plans for confronting ICE: Taxes, lawsuits and location bans (apnews.com)

Laws to make it easier to sue ICE, to prohibit ICE wearing masks, to limit their access to hospitals and schools, courthouses without notice, seem difficult to pass.

Other ideas from Cali lawmakers. Prohibit law enforcement from taking a side job as a ICE. Currenty, “While you can’t collaborate with ICE while you are working in your police shift, you can take a second job with the Department of Homeland Security. And I don’t think that that is right.”

“The federal administration has created not just a secret police but a secret military at the expense of health care, social safety nets, and key benefits that the American people need and rely on to make it through the day. All of those resources have been rerouted to the unaccounted militarized force patrolling our streets and literally killing American citizens.”

“The issue is clear cut,” said Gómez Reyes about ICE showing up at courts and just arresting people. “One of the core responsibilities of government is to protect people — not to inflict terror on them. California is not going to let the federal government make political targets out of people trying to be good stewards of the law. Discouraging people from coming to court makes our community less safe.”

One idea was allowing them to attend court remotely.

Another idea was taxing (50%) profits made from detention centers. Almost 6000 people are being held in ICE detention in Cali, in 7 centers.

Another idea is ensuring those who face ICE trials get funds for lawyers.

Palantir/ICE connections draw fire as questions raised about tool tracking Medicaid data to find people to arrest
Palantir/ICE connections draw fire as questions raised about tool tracking Medicaid data to find people to arrest

Former cnn anchor don lemon arrested cbs reports (reuters.com)

‘He is charged with conspiring to deprive others of their civil rights and violating a law that forbids obstructing access to houses of worship, according to a Justice Department official.’

‘FBI and Homeland Security Investigations agents arrested him in Los Angeles, according to his lawyer Abbe Lowell. The move occurred just over a week after a federal magistrate judge declined to issue an arrest warrant for Lemon.’

‘He had been under FBI surveillance for several days leading up to his arrest, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The FBI declined to comment.’

Lemon was fired from CNN in 2023. He was me too ed after comments about women which some powerful women said were sexist.

'Earlier this month, FBI agents with a search warrant seized laptops and other devices from the home of a Washington Post reporter who has extensively covered Trump's firing of hundreds of thousands of federal workers, saying it was an investigation into the leaking of secret government information.'

Journalists in the US get arrested sometimes by local governments (who generally don't understand or don't care about civil rights), but the Lemon arrest may be precedent setting.

How ICE Already Knows Who Minneapolis Protesters Are (nytimes.com)

‘Agents use facial recognition, social media monitoring and other tech tools not only to identify undocumented immigrants but also to track protesters, current and former officials said.’

An ICE agent walked over to a woman in a car near where she worked and addressed her by name. They'd never met before. He said he had facial recognition and his body cam was on. She was one of seven people told by ICE that ICE had facial recognition of them. None had consented.

The facial recogntion tech is made by Clearview AI and Mobile Fortify. They use a database built by Palantir, which ‘combines government and commercial data to identify real-time locations for individuals they are pursuing’.

ICE's budget currently is $28b, the highest funding out of any law enforcement agency in the US.

‘Homeland Security Department awarded Palantir a nearly $30 million contract to build a system backed by artificial intelligence that would help find and track individuals for deportation.’

DHS uses Paragon (Pegasus), reportedly, and Penlink (Nebraska based).

At a protest, ‘Two photos captured fatigue-clad agents using cellphones to scan the faces of protesters in Minneapolis, while in one video, agents could be heard telling people that they were being recorded with facial recognition technology and that their faces would be added to a database.’ This tech was Mobile Fortify, created for Customs and Border Protection.

...

Economics

Trump pushes a 1-year, 10% cap on credit card interest rates and banks balk (apnews.com)

Just re raise an idea I posts about 10 years ago, that credit cards (or some credit cards) should limit interest to one year. In other words, you rack up $1000 on Jan 1, and that figure accumulates interest until New Year's Eve. Everything else is the same. There are no limits necessarily, just that interest is 1 year limited.

Mag7 have all been upward since April. Since the initial tariff announcements.

Gold silver platinum extend recordsetting rally (reuters.com)

India slash tariffs cars 40 trade deal with eu sources say (reuters.com)

‘In North Carolina, the Healthy Opportunities Pilot provides assistance to nearly 30,000 low-income residents with deliveries of food, rides to doctors’ appointments and other services. Early research shows the state is spending about $85 less in medical costs per month for each person participating in the pilot.’ The Year in Cheer (reasonstobecheerful.world)

Langenegg's local currency.

Premodern (pre 19th century) economies used a domestic currency and another currency for foreign trade. National governments transitioned to a single central currency, to stabilize the economy and power.

Langenegg residents often drive past big supermarkets when they drive out of town to work, but they don't shop there as much, because 20% of the residents purposefully subscribe (they receive a set monthly amount) to a local currency as a means of not seeking maximum convenience, but maintaining the value of local businesses, as meeting points, keeping contact, togetherness. It costs 97 Euro to buy 100 Talente, and buying 100 Euro costs 110 Talente.

“I think people are now much more aware that they should spend their money locally, because it’s about more than just shopping.”

‘Far from being a neutral system of exchange, a currency is a tool to achieve certain goals, said Jochum-Müller: “We need different tools for different goals, but our monetary system makes us think that we only have this one tool. And there are many goals we can’t achieve with it.”’

Most national money (97% in UK) is created by banks while issuing loans.

Money is an infrastructure, Baringa theorized, it gives you access, and it's value is more when it is circulated more, the value is the transaction.

Local currency removes the hoarding tendency of ‘perceived inherent value and the interest rates.’

...

‘The ocean conservation nonprofit Force Blue works with more than 40 veterans to tackle everything from shoreline restoration and coral planting to turtle surveys and shipwreck assessments.’

‘The Port of Miami’s $125 million project to let cruise ships plug into onshore power has reduced annual greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to removing 2,470 cars from the road.’

Diplomacy & IR

Hong Kong court hears arguments on sentencing of former publisher Jimmy Lai; no decision yet (apnews.com)

'His conviction raised concerns about the curtailing of press freedom in the former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

'His case could also test Beijing’s diplomatic ties. The verdict drew criticism from foreign governments, including the U.S. and Britain. After the verdict, U.S. President Donald Trump, who had raised Lai’s case with China, said he felt “so badly.”' AP

Lai was convicted of conspiracy to commit collusion with foreign forces to endanger national security and with conspiracy to distribute seditious publications, which he pled not guilty to. The HK court said his actions caused a ‘constant invitation’ to the US to harm the Chinese government.

Six other Apple Daily execs pled guilty to conspiring with Lai for anti government purposes. They are expected to be sentensed to less than 10 years.

...

Law

Colorado's criminal justice system crippled by massive volume of digital evidence (youtube.com)

Like bodycam footage, dash cams, Ring cams, drones.

They do 200k cases per year at their District Attorney's office. They received 67k videos with 43k hours of footage this year, up almost 100% in a few years.

All 14k officers wear bodycams.

The departments have to buy multiple software licences just to view some of the data. Spending $200k a year for this already.

It also complicates discovery evidence (there are fines if it's not all presented in 30 days or something).

Canada's new grocery code of conduct takes effect (youtube.com)

The marketplace had become unpredictable/unfair. Distorted business practices.

This is not an actual law, it is a voluntary code agreed to by grocery stores. It has a dispute resolution formula. ‘If there’s a shortage of a product, there better be a shortage for everybody.'

San Diego family to receive the largest police settlement in US History (youtube.com)

'Ashley MacIsaac recently had their show cancelled because of an error on Google’s part.
'Apparently, a Google AI summary incorrectly said that he had been convicted of sexual assault, among other things. Naturally, when the concert venue saw it, they shut down the show outright.
'However, MacIsaac theorized to the Canadian Press that Google had mistaken him for some other person in Canada with those charges.
'Now that Google has effectively taken a paycheck out of his pocket and potentially sullied his reputation with misinformation, MacIsaac wants to sue. However, in his online statement, he did clarify that the lawyer would need to take the case on for free, all things considered. “If a lawyer wants to take this on (for free) … I would stand up because I’m not the first and I’m sure I won’t be the last.”
“You are being put into a less secure situation because of a media company – that’s what defamation is,” he continued. “I could have been at a border and put in jail. So something has to be figured out as far as what the AI companies are responsible for…and what they can prevent.”
'Ultimately, the stress from all of this has forced MacIsaac to regroup drastically. He hopes to reschedule the concert at some point. But right now, he’s keeping his head low and assessing how he wants to proceed with the AI situation. Additionally, he’s trying to explain the misinformation to his grandmother. “I’m telling you, this is not a nice place to be,” MacIsaac stresses. “I’m sitting outside my grandmother’s going in for Christmas. This isn’t a conversation I want to have today — ‘Oh, yeah, somebody called me a sex offender.’”

Noisy

Judge shuts down horrible Texas age verification law (youtube.com)

To download apps, a law made it through the senate in Texas that you would have to age verify. Even school stuff, calculators, weather apps, could even apply to repos (like Debian). Also updates. Ie not just X rated apps. Under inclusive. Incentivizes over censorship.

‘Once we get into the conversation about Parental controls and Why don’t you just parent your children, it makes me wonder why are we doing this?'

Lawsuit against Surprise for arresting woman at public meeting will move forward (youtube.com)

Uk regulator launches investigation into x over grok sexualised imagery (reuters.com)

Matthew McConaughey trademarks himself to fight AI misuse (youtube.com)

His legal team filed applications with the US Patent and Trademark Office, and they would have defined the scope of goods and services the trademarked persona wants to protect (entertainment, advertising, endorsements, training on AI models, voice cloning, deepfakes, licensing control). In US law you have to file in writing. TM fees are like $250 or $350 in the US.

AI-generated fake evidence is landing people in jail as courts struggle with new technology (youtube.com)

Her ex created a fake text that he used against her in a domestiv violence case. And then another fake one to show she ‘violated her no contact order’.

‘No one could show the metadata. No one could show the text in its original form. Everything was a screenshot.’

Another woman used AI to make a picture of a man she falsely accused of burglarizing and raping her.

AI videos, images, sound, are so real no one can tell, in court. How can judges decide someone's fate based on this? Also, the effect it might have on jurors. But that could go both ways. One, jurors can see something that makes them negatively inclined toward the depicted person, but also jurors could be like ‘I don’t believe any of this.'

AI halucinations also can show up in court. Misunderstanding information. 25% of info sometimes that comes from AI is misinformation.

BC property owner faces $100,000 in bills after discovery of 2 skulls (youtube.com)

Claimed it was a ‘sacred site’, even though the remains seem to be in a pre 2004 dump of sand. Who would ever report anything to the government? All the commenters say you shouldn't report, for fear of what the government will force, and that already people don't report if they can help it. ... DRIPA, property owners responsible for ‘enormous, unpredictable costs.’ BC does keep a database of archeological sites but doesn't make it available to the public.

The property owner abandoned the project, saying it wouldn't be possible to do anything with this ‘legal limbo’ site. The province and the native band didn't respond to the news for comment.

...

Lawyers accuse Mexico of breaking law in sending cartel members to US without extradition order (apnews.com)

‘In a press conference on Monday, lawyers for the cartel members asserted they were denied due process because they were sent to the U.S. without an extradition order, which requires a lengthy legal process in Mexico.’

‘“Mexico is currently under intense pressure from the United States. This forces us to seriously question if these decisions are being used to show political results, even if it comes at the expense of due process or the rule of law.”’

Civil Rights

Protesters clash with border patrol outside ICE facility in Minneapolis (youtube.com)

When the government (agents always) violate the people's rights, it goes smoothly and progresses so long as there is no resistence. When anyone stands up, they're usually hurt or suffer persecution, but everyone who sees their mistreatment has to make a real choice, and many people chose to fight back.

For public figures, it's more immediate. People like podcasters and influencers, as well as politicians, are asked and must come up with their answer about a very specific event, and their choice is between the government (agents) and the people (often protesters or activists, or someone who encountered an agent), generally. If they come out for the government, they will lose half their fans, sometimes. But in any case, it's hard to sit on the fence, which is what many of them try to do.

LA County landscapers say they were almost taken by ICE despite having documentation (youtube.com)

Connecticut legislators plan to ban biometric surveillance (facial recognition) in retail environments
Connecticut legislators plan to ban biometric surveillance (facial recognition) in retail environments

California rolls out the DROP platform... residents can now request data brokers delete their personal info (health data) from a single portal
California rolls out the DROP platform... residents can now request data brokers delete their personal info from a single portal

Plane used in boat strike off Venezuela was painted to look like a civilian aircraft, AP sources say (apnews.com)

US military aircraft disguised as civilian. ‘Appears to be at odds with the Pentagon’s manual on the laws of war.’ Perfidy. ‘...Also was carrying munitions in the fuselage, rather than beneath the aircraft, raising questions about the extent to which the operation was disguised in ways that run contrary to military protocol.’

‘The Navy’s manual explains that “attacking enemy forces while posing as a civilian puts all civilians at hazard,” and sailors must use offensive force “within the bounds of military honor, particularly without resort to perfidy.”’

US (Hegseth) also won't release the full unedited video of where he supposedly bombed shipwrecked civilians.

“There’s an ongoing question whether the use of military can be for bringing a person to justice,” Welch said.'

...

Miami Beach woman outraged after police question her over Facebook post criticizing mayor (youtube.com)

The police at her door said ‘We are just trying to prevent somebody else getting agitaged or agreeing with the statement. We’re not saying it's true or not.' The idea was that it was an incitement to violence or something. There was a question of ‘safety implication’ for the police, reportedly.

The video shows the post she made and it was a regular, political, ridiculous post.

She wants to know what led to the officers showing up at her door.

...

ICE Is Using a Terrifying Palantir App to Determine Where to Raid

'Everybody is in privatized geo-located databases now apparently

‘The app’s “Geospatial Lead Sourcing Tab” allows ICE agents to select targets based on a number of criteria, including “Bios & IDs,” “Criminality,” “Location,” and “Operations,” the user guide shows. Using the app, ICE agents can select individual targets or multiple targets at once by drawing a shape around a selected area. During a sworn deposition earlier this month about a “dragnet” raid in Woodburn, Oregon, an officer with ICE’s Fugitive Operations Unit said that agents used the app to find target-rich areas.’

Federal government loses Emergencies Act appeal

and
Federal Court of Appeal to rule on Liberals

‘[470] The most egregious problem with the Economic Order, in our view, is that personal banking information belonging to individuals who were suspected of having committed offences under the Regulations could be shared with the RCMP and CSIS without a warrant or any form of prior authorization, which information could well have provided evidence of offences under the Regulations.’

Commenter. 'The ultimate outcome here will almost certainly be a re-writing of the emergencies act to make it easier to use. While I mostly agree that the court's ruling is probably correct, the people who sued will do nothing but make the act more applicable as the government looks at it ad broadens its language to make it applicable to more situations.'

Commenter. 'I am very thankful that the rule of law prevailed against political will. To be honest, when this whole thing began, I wasn't sure it would.' Reply. ‘People were so burnt out and bloodthirsty two years into the pandemic with an “out group” in their crosshairs. I think the madness has passed and now everyone can look at the situation a bit more clearly.’

Google asks us judge defer order forcing it share data while it appeals (reuters.com)

Manitoba's justice minister says province won't support federal gun buyback program
Manitoba

Starlink updates Privacy Policy to allow AI model training with personal data
Starlink updates Privacy Policy to allow AI model training with personal data
You can opt out Starlink Privacy Policy - Starlink Help Center (starlink.com)

1. Click the Edit Profile button

2. Scroll to the bottom of the page and remove the check next to “Share personal data with Starlink’s trusted collaborators to train AI models.”

3. Click the Save button.

How would they if the data are encrypted E2E? They'll probably just train on what they can - SNI, IP addresses, DNS, etc.

Tesla's FSD (Full Self Driving) feature will be subscription-only from February 14
Tesla

Why are passports of American citizens flagged by the government? (youtube.com)

By error, people's passports are flagged as ‘lost or stolen’ by Interpol. They take off fine, but when they arrive at a new country they're not allowed to enter the country and are detained until they're back on US soil. The guy in the video, his new passport was flagged as lost before he even received it. Technically, the only person who can flag it as lost or stolen is the passport owner, and he didn't do that.

Microsoft will assist the FBI in unlocking your Windows PC data if asked
Microsoft will assist the FBI in unlocking your Windows PC data if asked

Microsoft Starts Sharing Your Location With Your Employer
Microsoft Starts Sharing Your Location With Your Employer

TikTok US venture to collect precise user location data
TikTok US venture to collect precise user location data

Pakistani human rights lawyers jailed for 17 years over social media posts (apnews.com)

Journalism

2. Transparency: Blacklock's Documents (youtube.com)

Canada.

'Blacklock's Reporter has requested 576 pages that will reveal the discussions between the government and the Kamloops Indian Band about the excavations that were paid for with $12.1 million in public funds.'

YouTube Journalist Nick Shirley Drops BOMBSHELL Opening Statements on Minnesota FRAUD (youtube.com)

The most important journalism done in recent years is by a 19 year old with no education, who can barely string sentences together. Probably can't spell. Doesn't really have any understanding of libel law, its seems from his recent interview on All In. Is tied in with Trump White House, it seems, at least he was in the White House at meetings a while ago. Why is this the type of person doing journalism that makes headlines? No fear because no understanding of fear? or because he's aligned or protected by the armed party?

California Post brings brash New York-style tabloid news to the West Coast (apnews.com)

Topics of interest to Californians include ‘homelessness, affordability, technology and law and order, said the editor. It will have a flashy front page, which is the most famous part and calling card of the NY version, and a Page 6 gossip column.

The Cali version, like the NY version, is expected to be unprofitable but useful against political enemies and in getting relationships with Right wing politicians, AP reported.

AP put a little summary of news this year in their article.

'It launches at a volatile moment for the industry

'However bold its intentions, the venture is being launched into a turbulent atmosphere for the news business, particularly print papers. More than 3,200 of them have closed nationwide since 2005, according to figures kept by Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. The online world spawned new information sources and influencers, changed news consumers’ tastes and habits, and upended the advertising market on which newspapers relied.

'California, with a population of nearly 40 million, still has dozens of newspapers, including dailies in and around Los Angeles and other major cities. But the nation’s second-most-populous city hasn’t had a dedicated tabloid focused on regional issues in recent memory. Meanwhile, venerable institutions like the Los Angeles Times have been hit with major layoffs.

'The launch of a paper edition of the Post “defies logic” as news outlets in major metro areas are rapidly shrinking their print footprint, said Ted Johnson, a media and politics editor for Deadline in Washington, D.C., who reported in Los Angeles for 28 years.

‘“But Rupert Murdoch, his first love is print,” Johnson said.’

Commenter. 'They may be surprised at how many people read the new Calif. Post. It will appeal to conservatives and it can't possibly have more fake news than the main stream media.'

...

‘Fresh brewed news’: Community café offers locals a chance to sip with reporters (csmonitor.com)

‘Locals were unsurprised that the newspapers were struggling – and there was little pushback to consolidating the publications into one newspaper.’

“I think a lot of where we are today is due to the perception that there are editors and writers away in this tower who are covering issues, but they’re not fully connected with readers,” Ms. Capetta says. “We’re trying to shift that perspective.”

“I don’t think brewing coffee every morning is necessarily going to solve all of the audience trust issues out there,” she says. “I do think for a local audience, the ability to attach a physical location and names to faces, to personalities, to people who are in their community, they shift the dynamic a little bit.”

There's also a Silent Reading Club.

Positive News launches podcast about people turning ideals into action (positive.news)

“Whether they’re rewilding landscapes, building inclusive communities or reshaping transport, each pioneer is guided by a belief that work can and should be a force for good,” she said. “They’re not focused on growth for its own sake, but on asking better questions about impact, responsibility and the legacy they want to leave behind.”

'At a time when we are constantly told we need to hustle harder and chase growth at all costs, it’s refreshing to hear from leaders who are focused on solving real local, national and global problems. They’ve achieved a version of success that goes far beyond a strong balance sheet.'

‘Not only informs but empowers.’

Information

'We Have Audio Recordings…': Iran Minister Stuns Israel & USA, Demolishes Trump Plan To 'Intervene'? (youtube.com)

‘We have audio recordings’ Iran.

Bill and Hillary Clinton refuse to testify to Congress about Epstein (youtube.com)
‘Rraising new questions about the limits of congressional power to compel testimony.’

Clintons refuse to testify in House Epstein probe as Republicans threaten contempt proceedings (apnews.com)

Free Starlink access for Iran seen as game changer for demonstrators getting their message out (apnews.com)
Or for US to manipulate the SM and information streams shown to Iranians?

Beijing tells chinese firms stop using us israeli cybersecurity software sources (reuters.com)

Chinas customs agents told nvidias h200 chips are not permitted sources say (reuters.com)
‘Chinese government officials also summoned domestic technology companies to meetings on Tuesday where they were explicitly instructed not to purchase the chips unless necessary, two of the people and a third source said.’

Sales of the chips to China were only approved by the US government this week.

Massive Data Breach Hits 750,000 Canadian Investors (youtube.com)
Phishing. Subset of data copied away, they say, collected during compliance reviews.

Full names, dob, phone numbers, SIN numbers, government IDs, annual income, investment ID numbers and account statements.

Banking should involve a government issued fake ID, a security layer between scammers and customers.

...

Wikipedia inks AI deals with Microsoft, Meta and Perplexity as it marks 25th birthday (apnews.com)



Palantir Works for Every President (youtube.com)

45 million French records exposed in massive privacy breach — what we know so far
45 million French records exposed in massive privacy breach — what we know so far

Supreme Court Lets Stand ‘Unreviewable’ Code Fines In New York City (youtube.com)

American TikTok users claim app is censoring 'Epstein' and ICE criticism • FRANCE 24 English (youtube.com)

Rob O’Neill Finally Admits He Lied in the Bin Laden Debrief (youtube.com)
‘once you.lie, everything else becomes suspicious’ Commenter.

Trumps justice department releases new cache jeffrey epstein files (reuters.com)

DOJ says all women besides Ghislaine Maxwell redacted from Epstein files (youtube.com)

Sanibel Police Dept Refuse Open Records Request on Flock Safety Cameras (youtube.com)

Technology

How Israel failed to anticipate Hamas: Intel trusted tech over people (csmonitor.com)

‘A $1.1 billion above-and-below-ground fence along its 40-mile border with Gaza – equipped with radar devices, cameras, surveillance sensors, and remote-controlled weaponry...'

Hamas used cheap drones and tractos to knock out the defenses, and hang gliders to sail over the wall.

'Technology is very tempting... which also relies too much on technology'

‘For strategic assessments, you need more than innovation; you need the basics of the craft, which is ‘Know your enemy.’ So if dealing with Hamas, you should learn the history of the Palestinian people, of Hamas, of Islam.’

‘... AI translation do not convey tone, context, or the emotion...’

‘It’s very easy to fire people, but once those positions are canceled you lose capability, and it takes time to build it again.’

'In 2022, a noncommissioned female officer, referred to in Israeli media reports as V, warned her military intelligence unit that Hamas had plans to execute a broad attack on southern Israel. But her assessment was dismissed. It did not mesh with the assessment made at higher levels that Hamas had been placated, in part by the millions of dollars a month it was receiving from Qatar, reportedly with Mr. Netanyahu’s encouragement.' CSM reported. If there had been a few blacksheep like V, not just one, it might have made a difference.

‘This is a difficult topic to address briefly, but the majority of those engaged in intelligence assessment simply do not truly know or understand the enemy – neither the Arab adversary nor the Iranian one. It is obvious that more individuals proficient in the enemy’s language, religion, and culture are needed.’

‘Within the intelligence community, information obtained through technology tends to be considered more valuable' but 'When you are looking at the information with incorrect lenses, the technology is not going to help.’

...

Taiwan Is a NIGHTMARE for Drones - My Experience (youtube.com)

Triple canopy rolling mountains (distance gauging more difficult), need repeaters ever 2km, mesh networks, difficult to get low enough for a strike. Ukraine is flat farmland. Verdant, 5.8gH drones (5.17cm, microwaves) doesn't go through wet canopy of leaves that are the same size. Typhoons. Drone recovery only within 15m of drone, so need close security team. Drone equipment harder to move into location.

Jammers also can't reach as far, for same reasons. Use more intentional, valleys.

Bombers more likely.

...

'England’s National Health Service has begun transporting urgent blood samples between London hospitals by drone, cutting journey times down from 30 minutes to just two minutes.' The Year in Cheer (reasonstobecheerful.world)

‘In 2005, the Clear Lake Water Authority in southeast Houston bought a former golf course and created five massive detention ponds to hold 100 million gallons of stormwater. This saved 200 houses in the immediate area from flooding when Hurricane Harvey passed through in 2017.’

‘City-supported farms are making St. Louis more absorbent, and have kept nearly 100 million gallons of wastewater out of the Mississippi River.’

How Iran and China Silenced 10,000 Starlink Terminals — Why Russia Launched Zorky (youtube.com)

RF and Microwave Jamming: Iranian security forces utilized high-powered Radio Frequency (RF) and microwave jammers to target the specific frequencies Starlink uses for communication. Packet Loss and Blackouts: These jamming efforts resulted in total packet loss and a complete communication blackout across the network. GPS Desynchronization: The attack also caused GPS desynchronization, which is critical for satellite terminals to maintain a lock on moving low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites. The blackout cost the Iranian government approximately $1.56 million USD per hour to maintain.

Russia is building Rasvet and China is building Guowang, targetting disruption of non national internet signals.


Science

Nature

Witnessing a new ocean forming that will split Africa in two (youtube.com)

‘A school in Houston has planted nearly 20 acres of native prairies and grasses, which can absorb three to four times as much water as manicured grass.’ The Year in Cheer (reasonstobecheerful.world)

‘Yemen now has an estimated 1.3 million beehives, some 100,000 more than three years ago. ’ https://reasonstobecheerful.world/year-in-cheer-2025/

‘A year after a dam in Washington state was removed, the water temperature transformed from 75 degrees — lethal to baby salmon — and returned to what it should be: Mid-50s in fall and spring, and about 62 degrees in the summertime.’

Health

Human Interest

A doctor in Panama’s jungle builds trust among Indigenous groups (csmonitor.com)

“I realized early on that introducing Western medicine into a region where traditional medicine is the preferred method of treatment involved a spiritual and religious component. Instead of focusing on the differences ... I looked for things the two [methods] had in common.”

‘For example, he says he worked to use inclusive language that shows respect for Indigenous traditions, and he never says one approach is “right” or better than the other.’ ‘Dr. Gantes is likely one of the first here “to focus attention on the importance of involving traditional healers, midwives, and artisans in HIV testing and treatment,” she says.’

‘A gang tattoo removal clinic in San Diego serves more than 50 unique clients per year, helping them start fresh, while also training the next generation of dermatology students.’ The Year in Cheer (reasonstobecheerful.world)

...

Crime

Noem says woman killed by ICE was engaging in 'domestic terrorism'

Protesters were following ICE agents around as they were carrying out their work.

Minnisota state officials decided to open an investigation, but then FBI said they will be leading the investigation, Minnisota won't have a role to play and won't have access to scene evidence, case materials, investigative interviews. Noem said Minnisota state officials have no jurisdiction in this investigation, and she also denied the state officials were ‘cut out’ of the investigation.

‘They intentionally took a kill shot. They could have shot a tire’ as she was attempting to drive away, said the civil rights lawyer interviewed.

 

From Title 1, U.S. DOJ Policy on Use of Force:

“Firearms may not be discharged solely to disable moving vehicles. Specifically, firearms may not be discharged at a moving vehicle unless: (1) a person in the vehicle is threatening the officer or another person with deadly force by means other than the vehicle; or (2) the vehicle is operated in a manner that threatens to cause death or serious physical injury, and no other objectively reasonable means of defense appear to exist, which includes moving out of the path of the vehicle.”

Culture


20% of YouTube videos shown to new users are AI, reported.

Matchmaker EXPOSED Why Women From NYC Can't Find Love (youtube.com)

He ghosted you and is being all weird and isn't texting you like he used to? He can't afford you. He saw what you cost, for dates, and said I can't keep doing this after a week. If you want that, you might have to date a higher age range.

The people who more often get to be in long term relationships are those that can distinguish between what is a long term value and what is superficial and nonsense, which you don't actually need to be happy, for example, where they went to school, how they look, height, status and money. Better things to look for are a shared value system, mutual respect, healthy communication, a shared vision, connection and chemistry.

‘Qualifiers are actually disqualifiers.’

Do women love useless things and useless people?
HoeMath talked about that.

M.I.A. Instagram Live 11.09.2025 (youtube.com)

MIA compares the Liberal West (Vancouver) with China where there is no identity politics. In Vancouver, the staff will get to helping you when they feel like it, basically. They'll love you because you're brown, and they'll say ‘Namaste’ and whatever, but you won't get your bag because they don't care about it, she says. They don't want to take orders. What you get is chaos. So even if the Left wins, and there is 100% Left and no more Right, the country's not going to function.

In China, people move out of the way and listen when you speak, they do what you need them to do. You get a service for your money and the service is impecable. And they also know the karmic values of things.

If you join up all of the European peoples, you get a billion people, and can they go up against how organized China is? No, they cannot. Europe has got history, some shared culture. The lifestyle costs so much more and what you get is so much less. The freedom in your mind, and not having hate at your front door, and to have to be subjected to such things, and have to compute and have to explain that to your child, and to reframe who you are within this context, and figure all this out. And to live in it, you almost have to build this box for yourself. And when you leave, you don't have to have this box. ‘And I have to keep reminding my child that this is not reality, and cheer on people, if you want leaders, it's just facts, you cannot have people that are not intelligent running any type of country.'

‘I’m not saying China is paradise. It' just that it's functioning.'

She points to that China doesn't have multiculturalism, so they don't have the many wheels turning at the same time. They have a collective base, where they're starting from.

‘That thing we used to champion as liberal or progressive or tolerant...’

‘They don’t care about feelings.'

‘Overreactions to things is what funnels this entire side of the world.’

SM, requires content creation, but then everyone's talking all the time, and then not everyone's pleased, which leads to we have to talk in a different way. That noise doesn't exist there.

‘Everyone’s triggered about something.'

‘Individuality still needs to be placed within a context of just a few basic things, like respect for people, allow discourse, don’t do this to people, don't shoot people because you don't like their opinion. ... Individuality means you need to know yourself, who you are.' But first go ‘heal yourself, have a better purpose, have a purpose to step in ... but in order to do that, do it from a position of a healed good person, because hurt people hurt people, and trauma repeats itself.’

‘And we've stopped asking for proof that [influencers or ‘inspirers’] have had the life that they say they had to warrant them to have that say.

‘Can I say I hate the Chinese government? Yeah, we experimented. We said that. We said that really loud everywhere, and I didn’t get arrested. But I still respect that I'm in China. ... How to behave.

China doesn't have narcotics, weed, which we in the West have.

Stefan fatsis words that defined (reuters.com)

Rage bait, slop, parasocial (imagined relationships with our celebrities), six seven, tradwife, agentic.

'What I am a little surprised about is that they steered away from the chaos and the political tumult that we've experienced in America this past year. There were no words of the year about ICE or immigration or deportations. There were no words of the year about tariffs or the economy. We have seen dictionaries lean into those critical political moments in the last decade. And this year, for some reason, there was a reluctance to go there.'

Venezuela's furious street forces ready to 'fight' after US raid | AFP (youtube.com)

Loyalist collectivos (established under Chavez).

‘Betrayal is everywhere. We cannot point the finger at anyone, until the authorities say how things happened, how they went down. It was impossible that our president could be taken away like that... They would have needed inside help.'

‘No one here is bowing their head. We’re not afraid of anyone.'

Hollywood Isn't Dying For Writers, Here's What's Happening Now - Corey Mandell (youtube.com)

WSJ Opinion: Did DEI Produce a Military Recruitment Recession? (youtube.com)
Biden et all, stressing DEI (which everyone calmly re repeated constantly, as if it was applying to all minorities equally), but an inclusion that really just meant race, sex, and sexuality. He wanted to increase enrollement in the military by appealing to gays and other races. But they didn't increase that type of enrollment after all, and it alienated straight white men in the process, and enrollment is now 30k people lacking.

Also, there were public criticisms of right wing extremists in the military (white nazis, supremicists), or something. This sounded immediately ridiculous and strange to everyone who actually had experience in the military.

It's nice that people can even say the words ‘white male’ on msm (outside of critical, general, basically ignorant statements). That hasn't been possible for years.

Tucker Explains the Purpose Behind White People Being Eliminated (youtube.com)

‘As long as you’re encouraging identity politics, why do Whites not get to have it?'

He speculates the big reason behind politicians going against Whites is ‘emotional rather than a kind of rational calculation.’

Has capitalism only really worked in English speaking countries? Is there a cultural underpinning? Is there a meta network?

The ‘malign influence of the Wall Street Journal editorial page, a whole generation of business people actually believe all this nonsense. It's very hard to get out of their heads cause they're never allowed criticism of immigration on the editorial page.'

Is that the point at which culture can turn? When a new, beurocratic/political/fake idea starts being used in the culture, successfully, people practice it but no one believes in it, it's kind of just expedient, the costs of truth just not worth it on that little point, but once a new generation is raised on it, they believe it so unshakeably, that they don't compensate for it's fakeness while practicing it the way that the former generation did, knowing it was nonsense not to be really acted on or built upon? This generation is weak and ignorant, and that's apparent, even obvious, to the third generation.

The reason the third generation, while raised in the idea just like the second generation was, is able to see it as false and ridiculous, while the second generation can't, is that the second generation lived in a time when the idea was said and superficially practiced but it's harms were not great because people knew it was fake and compensated for this.

...

This Spanish town welcomed migrants. Integrating them is harder. (csmonitor.com)

‘While there are no secret formulas for social cohesion, Dr. Fortes adds, “If we can find a way to recognize the humanity of each person who is living together with us in society, that goes a really long way.”’

Language learning, available accomodation (limited, and then on top of that they don't like renting to blacks), social services burden (wait times), dependence on government subsidies (which may change), and residents can't voice their concerns publicly for fear ‘their small businesses to be affected by negative comments.’ They may speak, but privately and in hushed tones.

‘“It’s nice to say, ‘We are such good people; everyone is welcome. If they want to preserve their customs, they can, but we have ours, too, and we aren’t going to change for them.”’ 130 migrants in a town of 2000 citizens, and most of the 130 haven't found a job. They want to save to bring their families to Spain, too.

One retired teacher in the town gave some of the migrants jobs in her garden, chatted with them about their stories, gave them lunch and taught them to make traditional Galician prawns and fish in her kitchen. This is an uncommon attitude.

...

‘Many Western democracies are worried about far-right parties’ popularity. But some are finding that letting them into government actually brings them back to earth.’ CS Monitor

TikTok Feminism is Not Your Friend (youtube.com)

‘Having a boyfriend is embarassing now?’

‘In Awra Amba, Ethiopia, the community pays for young people to study at universities in cities. The college graduation rate is six times higher than that of the general population in Ethiopia.’

The Year in Cheer (reasonstobecheerful.world)

‘Chattanooga, Tennessee, has transformed empty public school classrooms into 12 child care “micro-centers” for the children of school teachers and other staff.’

‘A mental health peer mentor program in Great Falls, Montana, is responsible for a 95 percent decrease in the number of sixth graders struggling with depression and anxiety that are presenting to the ER.’

‘An immersion center in North Carolina is printing its own books to combat the loss of the 85 symbols that make up the Cherokee syllabary.’

‘82 percent of participants in a program promoting weekly conversations reported feeling less lonely, and 100 percent reported feeling a sense of community. Some said it was the first time they’d felt heard in years.’

‘‘Plastic Cup’ competitions are cleaning up rivers in Hungary. Afloat on boats they built themselves, teams of volunteers have removed over 450 tons of plastic waste from the Danube River and its tributaries.’

‘To give new asylum seekers a meaningful way to spend time and connect with the community, a group of Austrian locals and refugees convinced a municipal government to give them a 2.5-acre plot of land abutting a refugee center for an intercultural garden where folks can cultivate flowers and friendships.’

The Real Reason Beauty Standards Changed — And Why Men Pay the Price (youtube.com)

Most women on dating apps get hundreds of swipes and think they're doing well, and therefore don't work on developing the types of qualities that sustain longterm relationships. Women feel overwhelmed by attention, and post memes about the standards they want. In films, a type of average woman is cast as the heroine, who the superhero man falls for, but she may be not the type men would really fall for. ‘They’ve turned the absense of beauty into some sort of moral achievement.'

When men say what they actually find attractive (Syndey Sweeny), ‘bad for women,’ ‘problematic’, ‘male gaze,’ and ‘racist.’

Women are told that if men don't find the normal typecast attractive, the men are weak, shallow, etc. ‘Most average men are rejected so relentlessly, no wonder they turn to p***... and we bully them... Their lonliness is bound to show up somewhere. At least have the decency to acknowledge the root cause.’

The erotic market has classic female beauty, and the other is a female status market where women reward each other.

‘All this we call unfair beauty standards, for women.’ 150 year long war on male sexuality. 1830s Sarah Grimke female desire is virtue and male desire is vice, a bunch of other people denegrating male sexuality, sometimes as pathology.

People

Trump says he will talk musk about restoring internet iran (reuters.com)

Samo's 2025 Bismarck Brief
7 New Insights From 2025 at Bismarck Brief (substack.com)
AI progress isn't about just compute. It requires scientists with math, computer science, and software. This is why other countries can catch up to US.

Prestige and fashion are seemingly intrinsic but depend on conscious marketing and rituals, and exclusionary practices. Hermes, De Beers, based on imaginations.

Large institutions contain several live players (even if the organization is not or is no longer a live player), not just the founder. Google distributes funds to several disparate project areas.

Space is being militarized. Defense contractors, China trying to match SpaceX, which opened up a new phase. Can a middle power enter?

‘Progressive philanthropy and activism is increasingly shaped by none other than tech billionaires. ’ Personal mission of liberal tech billionaires to oppose Trump, perhaps more an engine for the Democrats than politicians.

‘Judges and bureaucrats are resilient to populist groundswells.’ Hungary. Some politicians in some EU and North American countries enabled by the internet. But these can't overpower the supreme courts.

...

FBI executes search warrant for 2020 election files in Fulton County (apnews.com)

Paris Hilton Helped Pass Legislation in D.C.; Talks 20 Years of "Stars Are Blind" and Motherhood (youtube.com)

Sydney Sweeney could face legal trouble after Hollywood Sign bra stunt (youtube.com)

JUST IN: Trump Asked, 'Do You Feel Like There's A Civil War Brewing?' Amidst Minneapolis Unrest (youtube.com)
Trump presents his case here. Lowest crime rate, enforced in cities by National Guard and soldiers. Removing 2000 criminals from Washington. New Orleans crime down 50%.

2% of the population causes over 90% of the crime, so if you remove that 2%...

He called the protesters in Minneapolis ‘really insurrections and agitators’ and said they were being paid. Professionally made signs, brand new wood, leather handles. ‘These are people that are handed signs'. He said the White House pretty much knows who's paying them.

‘Elections have consequences. The people want law and order.’

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