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EU Globalist Explicitly Threatens To Cancel German Election Result If Right Wing AfD Wins

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EU Globalist Explicitly Threatens To Cancel German Election Result If Right Wing AfD Wins

Former French European Commissioner Thierry Breton has essentially openly confessed that the West stole the Romanian election and stands ready to do it again in Germany if deemed necessary.

“We did it in Romania, and we will do it in Germany if necessary,” a translation from the French of Breton’s recent appearance in European media said. Early last month a top Romanian court simply annulled the first round of the country’s presidential election in order to create what amounted to a ‘do over’ election.

The publication Romania Journal highlighted Breton’s words as follows: “If, on the other hand, the Tesla and X boss breaks the law, especially in Germany, by supporting the ‘extremist’ AfD party, the former European Commissioner believes that it will be necessary for the authorities to act as in Romania, where the presidential elections were canceled, writes the website of the French television BFMTV, which recalls Călin Georgescu’s TikTok campaign.

The court had decided “to annul the entire electoral process for the election of the President of Romania… to ensure the correctness and legality of the electoral process” – in the controversial ruling which was completely unprecedented.

The ‘problem’ was that Calin Georgescu, the widely dubbed ‘far-right’ contender, came out on top in a first round of voting in a ‘shock’ outcome which left political opponents claiming Russian election interference.

Apparently the ‘smoking gun’ is related to mere social media posts on platforms like TikTok. “The Constitutional Court’s unprecedented decision — which is final — came after President Klaus Iohannis declassified intelligence on Wednesday that alleged Russia ran a sprawling campaign comprising thousands of social media accounts to promote Calin Georgescu across platforms like TikTok and Telegram,” The Associated Press noted.

Here’s more from Breton’s words:

Now we are equipped, and we have to enforce this law to protect our democracies in Europe.

For now, let’s keep calm and enforce our laws in Europe, when there is a risk that they will be bypassed and if they are not enforced, they can lead to interference.

We did it in Romania, and if necessary, we will have to do it in Germany as well.

Elon Musk responded by saying this is what a tyrant sounds like…

The segment had discussed Musk and European officials’ allegations of his supposed interference in Europe’s internal affairs.

“Freedom of expression is a fundamental element in Europe,” Breton had claimed in the news segment. “If they don’t, there are fines and the possibility of a ban. We are equipped to enforce these laws to protect our democracies in Europe.”

“Let’s stay calm and enforce the laws in Europe, when they risk being circumvented and if not enforced, could lead to interference,” he had added.

Tyler Durden
Sun, 01/12/2025 – 07:35

Technocracy, Fear-Mongers, & The Conspiracy

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Technocracy, Fear-Mongers, & The Conspiracy

Authored by Bert Olivier via The Brownstone Institute,

The term, ‘conspiracy theory’ became part of common parlance during the ‘Covid era,’ but although all of us know what it refers to – and who are supposed to be the ‘conspiracy theorists’ in question, namely those people who saw through the ‘pandemic’ scam and everything it entailed – the precise nature of the ‘conspiracy’ is probably less clear. When I ask individuals what they understand by it, they usually answer in more or less vague terms. So what is it? 

In his book, HAARP: The Ultimate Weapon of the Conspiracy (2003) – followed in 2006 by Weather Warfare – Jerry Smith indicates the importance he attributes to the concept by capitalising it throughout. Smith relates it to what he regards as a weapon for warfare; to wit, the ‘High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP),’ and uncovers what the powers behind this project would have preferred to remain undisclosed, for obvious reasons, once one is apprised of the reasons for its establishment by the ‘Conspiracy.’ Here I do not wish to delve into the specifics of HAARP, but merely focus on Smith’s illuminating insights as far as the ‘Conspiracy’ is concerned. His answer to the question about its ‘what?’ is scattered throughout the first of the two books mentioned earlier. Here are some excerpts (Smith, 2003, p. 22-24):  

Some people believe that there is one over-arching conspiracy, a cadre of incredibly powerful people who want to rule the world. Most of us dismiss such people as paranoid kooks. Still, there is no denying that for over a hundred years a movement has been developing among the world’s top intellectuals, industrialists and ‘global villagers’ to end war and solve societal problems (like overpopulation, trade imbalances and environmental degradation) through the creation of a single world government. Whether this globalist movement is a diabolic ‘conspiracy’ of the evil few or a broad ‘consensus’ of the well-intentioned many, in fact matters little. It is as real as AIDS and potentially just as deadly, at least to our individual freedom, if not our very lives…

To grasp why Smith employs the term ‘deadly’ with regard to the Conspiracy, one has to read the book, but here it is sufficient to point out that, if nations were to surrender their own sovereign right to deal with overpopulation, environmental problems, and so on, as they see fit – even if this were to be done in cooperation with international agencies – a ‘one solution for all’ system would mean that policies would be imposed on them which are not suitable, or acceptable, for their own needs.

The idea of a ‘League of Nations’ that was floated after World War I was but one embodiment of this movement. Today’s United Nations (UN) was built on the League of Nations concept. The UN was created primarily to end war—by ending nations. The logic is that if there are no nations, then there can be no wars between nations. This was clearly stated in the United Nations’ ‘World Constitution’ with these words: ‘The age of nations must end. The governments of the nations have decided to order their separate sovereignties into one government to which they will surrender their arms.’

While 18th-century thinker Immanuel Kant, would have applauded the aim of terminating wars between nations, he would certainly have been less enamoured of the idea that sovereign nations would have to relinquish their sovereignty in favour of a wholesale assimilation into an encompassing world government. His reasons were clearly stated in the second of the ‘Definitive Articles’ formulated in his essay on ‘Perpetual Peace:’ ‘The law of nations shall be founded on a federation of free states.’ For Kant this is essential for lasting peace, insofar as such a federation, where states would be subject to federal laws, is comparable to a state with a republican constitution, which is governed according to laws that are external to the (often disorderly) will(s) of citizens themselves. 

Unless such a federation of nations (as opposed to a ‘state’ of nations, where all member states would comprise only one ‘nation of states’) were to be established, the rights of every member state would not be guaranteed, parallel to the way citizens’ rights are guaranteed in a republican state. In other words, every member state, together with its citizens, would be at the mercy of what the overall ‘world government’ decides. Particularly the words (in the excerpt, above), ‘to order their separate sovereignties into one government to which they will surrender their arms,’ sound outright ominous.

The New World Order (NWO) is but one name given to this push to create a true world government. Many supporters of the NWO espouse a philosophy called technocracy, which is rule by experts, scientists or technicians. It is not democratic in any sense by which Americans understand the term. One very famous advocate of the New World Order is Zbigniew Brzezinski. He was a National Security Advisor to Jimmy Carter and other presidents. He called his version of technocracy ‘technetronics.’ In his book, ‘Between Two Ages,’ Brzezinski wrote: ‘The technetronic era involves the gradual appearance of a more controlled society. Such a society would be dominated by an elite, unrestrained by traditional values.’

This ‘technetronic’ union of nations would call for the desovereignization of all existing countries. This new ordering would reduce the United States of America to a mere regional government—perhaps the ‘United States of North America.’ The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is widely seen as one stepping stone to the NWO. Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger was quoted by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate in 1993 as saying: ‘NAFTA represents the single most creative step towards a New World Order.’ The Common Market in Europe and the European Union (EU) are similarly seen as bridges to an eventual United States of Europe, which in turn would be just another region of the United Nations’ global state (or ‘global plantation’ as some detractors have called it).

It is an understatement to claim that technocracy is ‘not democratic in any sense by which Americans [or anyone else; B.O.] understand the term.’ Strictly speaking, technocracy would go further than merely using technical means to govern people, such as surveillance equipment, water cannons, or armoured cars for crowd control, or tasers to neutralise resistance; in the true sense of the word technocracy, technical devices, such as AI-robots, would be the means of governance. 

Even this does not go far enough, because it suggests that some other agents, presumably human, would be the true power behind the robots, whereas technocracy in the extreme or ‘pure’ sense would entail the autonomous power to rule of the robots themselves, such as the machines in James Cameron’s Terminator films, or the Cylons in Ronald D. Moore’s Battlestar Galactica. I need not point out that the valorisation of AI by members of the globalist cabal puts them squarely in the company of those who would welcome technocracy; in what capacity it is difficult to say. Would they go as far as to surrender human oversight and control to the machines? Sometimes Noah Juval Harari – Klaus Schwab’s advisor – seems to suggest that they would. 

Seen in this light, it makes complete sense that Brzezinski is quoted as saying that the ‘technetronic era involves the gradual appearance of a more controlled society,’ which ‘would be dominated by an elite, unrestrained by traditional values.’ This is possibly the most important reason for ordinary people to resist the Conspiracy as characterised by Smith. Why? His use of the term ‘unrestrained’ to qualify ‘traditional values’ is symptomatic of an implicit belief that voluntary restraint on the part of people living in society is somehow undesirable, in contrast with which ‘restraint through being controlled’ by others – the so-called elites – is desirable. Keeping in mind that these ‘elites,’ minus any traditional values that function as guardrails within which civilisation develops, could foist just about any whim on people, who would presumably be ‘controlled’ in such a manner that they would have no say in the matter. 

Does that sound familiar? Isn’t that precisely what one witnessed during the Covid era, and could justifiably expect to occur again if another event, not ‘restrained by traditional values,’ should be (ab)used to implement the same kind of controls as before? That this is no idle speculation is evident from a recent warning, issued by the high priest of the supposed ‘elites,’ Klaus Schwab himself, that climate change will be the ‘next big virus,’ accompanied by ‘restrictions worse than Covid.’ From the article one may gather that Smith’s depiction of the ‘Conspiracy’ – although in a different context – rings true where Schwab and the WEF are concerned: they prioritise control of ordinary mortals above everything else. Hence the usual pattern of disruption followed by severe measures of restriction. 

Moreover, again as the article in question avers, Schwab habitually uses ‘veiled threats’ and ‘apocalyptic rhetoric to emphasize the need for global coordination, often promoting the centralization of power under elite institutions including the World Economic Forum.’ Unsurprisingly, the ‘crises’ that the ‘elites’ – that is, the Conspiracy – conjure up, are utilised as openings for them to strengthen and consolidate their control over the rest of us, predictably employing ‘fear-based programming, while reshaping society according to their vision.’  

Another instance of the same old saw is encountered in the recent report of a WEF doctor – yes, they never stop, do they? – warning that avian flu, an outbreak of which is perceived as being imminent, has been estimated as capable of killing ‘52% of the population,’ simultaneously calling on the Biden administration to commence ‘a mass vaccination ‘campaign before President Donald Trump is sworn in next month.’ The most interesting thing here is the estimate, by the WHO, according to the doctor concerned, that ‘the mortality rate is 52%,’ reflecting a precision that boggles the mind, considering that the strain of bird flu regarded as being dangerous to humans has, as far as I can ascertain, not ever killed the number of people that allowed such a judgment to be made. 

This does not mean that avian flu does not hold a significant threat for human beings, as I have argued before, but it is imperative to distinguish between deliberate fear-mongering and the real McCoy, lest one fall for precisely the kind of ruse they need to get lethal needles into arms.

As may be gathered from the above – Smith’s observations about the ‘Conspiracy’ as well as the instances I have adduced to validate these – it is not at all far-fetched to claim that there are persuasive indications of the growth of organisations hellbent on the construction of a one-world government. Calling these, collectively speaking, the ‘Conspiracy’ – while perhaps sounding paranoid – makes sense to the degree that (as some of Smith’s observations show) such a projected government would not be willing to share democratic power with ordinary citizens; on the contrary, it would rule in a totalitarian fashion. This has already been abundantly demonstrated by events over the last five years, as well as ongoing occurrences of the kind I have referred to. 

Tyler Durden
Sat, 01/11/2025 – 23:20

Mainstream Media Ignoring Ethno-Religious Genocide Under Syria’s New Rulers

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Mainstream Media Ignoring Ethno-Religious Genocide Under Syria’s New Rulers

Mainstream Western media previously wrote several puff pieces on Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its US-designated terror leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani in the wake of Assad’s ouster, but now that same media is completely ignoring the atrocities taking place under Jolani’s watch.

Various armed allied groups of HTS are rampaging through the central and northern countryside, attacking Christians and Alawites, in a developing ethno-religious genocide. It has only been one month since Assad was overthrown.

Via AFP/Al-Akhbar

Initially HTS and other factions, which includes foreign groups such as Chechens and Uyghurs, rounded up individuals and tortured or executed them under the guise that they were former “Assad regime agents”.

Now, according to regional reports, the jihadists are dropping even this pretense and are simply taking over Alawite villages. Serious problems and threats are also being reported in the historic ‘Valley of the Christians’ (or Wadi al-Nasara, which lies in Western Syria in Homs governate).

Various locations have seen jihadists seeking to impose public segregation of the sexes, Islamic head-coverings, and blanket bans on alcohol… 

Below is a machine translated report from Lebanon’s major Al-Akhbar newspaper on some of the latest [emphasis ZH]…

* * *

Today, the villages of Hama’s northern and eastern countryside are witnessing liquidation operations based on identity. Local forces are not even using the excuse of saying that they are going after “regime remnants” or people who are “against the revolution” before ordering the killing.

They are terrorizing the residents of the Alawite sect, and pressuring them to evacuate their homes, especially in some eastern villages affiliated with Salamiyah.

This is changing the demographic face of this countryside and will continue so long as chaos continues and the new Syrian administration does not intervene to stop it. In the villages of Al-Zaghba, Mabatan, Maryoud, Al-Fanat and Ma’an in the eastern countryside, there are thefts and looting of property, while armed factions burn houses to ensure that residents do not return.

A resident of Al-Zaghba village confirmed to Al-Akhbar that “the militants present in the village prevent the return of the homeowners, and if the purpose of returning is to check on the house or bring some items and necessities from it, then the residents enter at their own risk.”

The same scenario was repeated in the village of Maryoud, most of whose residents have been displaced. “The militants killed a civilian man from the village who returned to check on his house during the past two days. When we contacted the Commission to find out the affiliation of these killers, it responded that the area was outside the control of its factions.

Tyler Durden
Sat, 01/11/2025 – 22:45

FDA Mandates Nerve Damage Warnings For 2 RSV Vaccines

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FDA Mandates Nerve Damage Warnings For 2 RSV Vaccines

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ordered two respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine manufacturers to include a potentially paralytic side effect warning related to nerve damage on product labels.

A man wearing facemask and shield walks past the Pfizer headquarters in New York, on March 11, 2021. Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images

The manufacturers, GSK and Pfizer, manufacturing Arexvy and Abrysvo vaccines respectively, must now include a warning stating a risk of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) following vaccination, according to a Jan. 7 statement from the agency.

GBS is a rare disorder in which the immune system ends up damaging nerve cells, which leads to weakness in the muscles and potential near-total paralysis, depending on severity.

RSV is a common respiratory virus that infects the throat, nose, and lungs, and typically spreads during fall and winter seasons. Infected people can experience symptoms similar to that of a common cold such as a runny nose, congestion, sneezing, and coughing.

The FDA said the following statement is to be included in the Warnings and Precautions section of the two vaccines: “The results of a postmarketing observational study suggest an increased risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome during the 42 days following vaccination with Abrysvo” or with “Arexvy” for that vaccine.

Arexvy is used by people aged 50 and older to deal with lower respiratory tract disease caused by RSV, while Abrysvo has been approved for use in adults aged 18 and above.

Abrysvo is also used by pregnant women who are at 32 through 36 weeks of gestational age to protect infants from birth through six months of age.

The labeling requirement follows an observational study conducted by the FDA.

In the study, the agency found there was an “increased risk of GBS during the 42 days following vaccination, with an estimated 9 excess cases of GBS per million doses of Abrysvo, and an estimated 7 excess cases of GBS per million doses of Arexvy administered to individuals 65 years of age and older.”

However, despite these results, the FDA determined that “the benefits of vaccination with Abrysvo and Arexvy continue to outweigh their risks.”

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), early symptoms of GBS can include feelings of weakness and tingling.

“People with GBS usually first feel these symptoms in both legs. Then, they might feel these symptoms in their arms and upper body,” it said. “Symptoms can progress over hours, days, or weeks.” The weakness keeps increasing until people are unable to use certain muscles.

“People with GBS need to be hospitalized,” the agency said. “Most people start to recover 2–3 weeks after symptoms start. Recovery may take as little as a few weeks or as long as a few years. Most people recover fully, but some have permanent nerve damage. Some people have died from GBS.”

The Epoch Times reached out to GSK and Pfizer for comment.

RSV Vaccine Usage and Risks

The RSV vaccine label update comes as the overall respiratory illness activity in the United States is deemed to be at a “high” level, with RSV activity being “very high in many areas of the country, particularly in young children,” according to the CDC.

“Emergency department visits and hospitalizations are highest in children and hospitalizations are elevated among older adults in some areas.”

The agency recommends all babies be protected from RSV by either vaccinating mothers or by giving an antibody to the infant.

Even if the mother is not at high risk for severe RSV, the vaccination is important since the pregnant woman will “pass the protection” to her baby, the CDC said. “It takes two weeks to develop protection (antibodies) and for protection to pass on to your baby.”

This protection lasts for the first six months of the infant’s life “while they are at highest risk of severe RSV.”

Pregnant women who have already taken an RSV vaccine during a previous pregnancy are not recommended to take it again. Instead, the baby should get nirsevimab, an antibody.

CDC recommends antibodies to “all babies younger than eight months of age born to mothers who did not receive a maternal RSV vaccine (Pfizer’s Abrysvo) during pregnancy.”

For older adults, the CDC advises vaccination for 60 to 74-year-olds who are at increased risk of severe RSV and for all individuals aged 75 and above.

However, the agency warns that vaccination could result in certain adverse events. “Side effects such as pain, redness, and swelling where the shot is given, fatigue, fever, headache, nausea, diarrhea, and muscle or joint pain may occur after you get an RSV vaccine.”

“These side effects are usually mild. Patients who have experienced these symptoms when getting other vaccines might be more likely to experience them after getting an RSV vaccine,” it said.

Tyler Durden
Sat, 01/11/2025 – 22:10

These Were The Most On-Time Airlines In 2024

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These Were The Most On-Time Airlines In 2024

International air traffic increased steadily in 2024, with global demand growing 7.1% year-on-year as the aviation industry continues to recover post-pandemic.

Amid this steady increase in passenger volume, punctuality has become more important than ever, distinguishing top-performing airlines from the rest.

This graphic, via Visual Capitalist’s Kayla Zhu, shows the 10 airlines with the highest percentage of on-time arrivals in 2024 and their total number of flights. Data comes from Cirium.

Which Airline was the Most Punctual in 2024?

Below, we show the top 10 airlines by on-time arrival rate in 2024, along with their total flights last year.

Aeroméxico tops the list with the highest on-time arrival rate at 86.7%, closely followed by Saudi Arabia’s flag carrier, Saudia, at 86.4%.

Notably, two of Saudia’s most popular routes–Riyadh to Jeddah and Dubai to Riyadh–were among the top revenue-generating routes of 2023, according to OAG data.

Delta Air Lines, one of the largest global carriers, maintains a strong on-time performance of 83.5%, despite operating over 1.7 million flights—one of the highest totals in Cirium’s rankings. The Atlanta-based airline also ranked as America’s most reliable airline in the first quarter of 2024.

United Airlines, the largest airline in the world based on revenue passenger miles and another U.S. giant, achieved an 80.9% on-time arrival rate.

However, United was the only U.S. airline that saw a drop in its American Customer Satisfaction Index rating last year, due to various safety incidents.

To learn more about the international aviation industry, check out this graphic that visualizes the busiest international airports in the world.

Tyler Durden
Sat, 01/11/2025 – 21:35

Lawmakers Propose Amendment To Congressional Term Limits

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Lawmakers Propose Amendment To Congressional Term Limits

Authored by Stacy Robinson via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) have introduced joint resolutions in the Senate and House respectively, calling for congressional term limits.

The U.S. Capitol building grounds before the arrival of former President Jimmy Carter’s casket in Washington on Jan. 7, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

“With the evident abuse of power that has taken place in Congress, the notion of term limits is basic common sense,” Norman said in an emailed statement.

The amendment would limit House members to three terms of two years, and Senate members to two terms of six years.

However, terms that began before the amendment’s ratification are not counted towards the total number. This has relevance for Cruz, who began a third term in the Senate this year.

“The Founding Fathers envisioned a government of citizen legislators who would serve for a few years and return home, not a government run by a small group of special interests and lifelong, permanently entrenched politicians who prey upon the brokenness of Washington to govern in a manner that is totally unaccountable to the American people,” Cruz said.

The action currently has support in both chambers of Congress—11 senators and 29 members of the House—but it is no small feat to amend the U.S. Constitution.

The amendment will require support from two-thirds of the House and of the Senate and agreement by three-fourths of states to be ratified.

Cruz and Norman have repeatedly introduced term limits during their time in Congress.

Cruz’s 2023 version of the bill did not make it out of committee.

Norman’s House version was also voted down 17–19 in the House Judiciary Committee that same year.

The vote was not entirely along party lines.

Four Republicans—Reps. Harriet Hageman (Wyo.), Darrell Issa (Calif.), Tom McClintock (Calif.), and Scott Fitzgerald (Wis.)—sided with Democrats to kill the bill.

At that time, Hageman told Fox News that she felt forcing term limits denied voters a choice.

“We already have term limits, although we call them elections, and in the House, we have them every two years,” she said.

“You only have to look at the seat that I currently hold for the people of Wyoming to see that if voters are dissatisfied, they can always change horses.”

She also said that long-term member experience may prove important during political battles with the other side of the aisle.

The record for longest term in Congress goes to Michigan Democrat John Dingell, who served 59 years in the House of Representatives. Current Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have also held onto their seats for decades. Grassley was elected in 1980 and McConnell in 1985.

McConnell stepped down as leader of the Senate Republicans at the end of 2024 and has not yet publicly ruled out a 2026 run.

Tyler Durden
Sat, 01/11/2025 – 21:00

How Widespread Is Distrust Of Mainstream Media?

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How Widespread Is Distrust Of Mainstream Media?

Distrust of the news is particularly widespread in the United States and France.

As Statista’s Anna Fleck details below, according to a survey by Statista Consumer Insights, one in five respondents in each country said that they do not trust mainstream media.

This is the highest share of the 21 countries polled.

Spanish respondents were similarly skeptical, with 19 percent of respondents answering the same.

As the chart shows, the Swiss are more convinced of their country’s journalistic integrity, with only 13 percent of respondents stating they distrusted Swiss mainstream media.

Infographic: How Widespread Is Distrust of Mainstream Media? | Statista

You will find more infographics at Statista

Under one in ten respondents said they distrusted the news in China.

Tyler Durden
Sat, 01/11/2025 – 20:25

Palisades Fire Crisis Intensifies Ahead Of Windstorm Event Early Next Week

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Palisades Fire Crisis Intensifies Ahead Of Windstorm Event Early Next Week

Update (2005ET):

 LA Times provided the latest on all four fires raging across the LA County area:

Palisades Fire:

Burned 22,660 acres and numerous homes, businesses and landmarks in Pacific Palisades and westward along Pacific Coast Highway, toward Malibu. As of 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning, the fire was 11% contained. Many parts of Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Santa Monica, Calabasas, Brentwood and Encino are under evacuation orders or warnings. More than 12,000 structures remain threatened. Officials estimate that more than 5,300 structures, including many homes, have been damaged or destroyed.

Eaton Fire:

Burned 13,956 acres and many structures in Altadena and Pasadena. Additional evacuation orders were mandated Thursday afternoon when fire climbed toward Mt. Wilson. Other mandatory evacuations were lifted as city officials notified residents in Glenoaks Canyon and Chevy Chase Canyon that it was safe to return to their homes. As of 8 a.m. Saturday morning, the fire was 15 % contained, on Friday, it was only at 3%. Officials say 7,000 structures have been damaged in the fire.

Kenneth Fire:

Burned 1,052 acres near the border of Los Angeles and Ventura counties. As of 8 a.m. Saturday morning, the fire was 80% contained, according to Cal Fire. All evacuation warnings have been lifted for the fire.

Hurst Fire:

Burned 779 acres in the area around Sylmar. Evacuation orders have been lifted. As of 8 a.m. Saturday, the fire was 76% contained, according to Cal Fire.

Here are the latest LA Times headlines regarding the inferno: 

  • All-out aerial assault works to save homes in Brentwood, Encino as Palisades fire approaches

  • LA County Supervisor invites Trump to see fire damage

  • UCLA students on high alert, but not under evacuation orders

  • 1,680 National Guard troops now helping in fire zone

  • LADWP said 20% of fire hydrants sustained a loss of pressure

  • After faulty cell alerts during fire emergency, LA County overhauls its system

  • High winds, low humidity expected to fuel fires through Wednesday: ‘Not looking good’

  • Death toll from LA firestorms rises to 13

Accuweather reported, “Santa Ana winds will pick up Saturday night into Sunday morning in Southern California, but a possibly strong wind event is coming early next week as wildfires continue.” 

He’s not wrong. That’s why local elections matter. We suspect a political shift is on the horizon.

Good point. 

Apocalypse.

Via Daily Mail:

Two men are said to have been caught on camera dumping gasoline and setting it alight immediately before the devastating Palisades fire broke out, DailyMail.com has learned exclusively.

A resident of the ritzy celeb-packed area reported the video to a senior firefighter once the flames had started consuming the area.

About that ‘climate change’ narrative pushed by far-left corporate media. 

AI…

*   *   * 

The Palisades Fire, Eaton Fire, Kenneth Fire, Hurst Fire, and Lidia Fire have scorched over 27,000 acres, destroyed 12,000 structures, claimed at least 11 lives, and evacuated more than 150,000 people. Containment for the two largest fires, the Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire, remains in the mid-to-high single digits. Evacuation orders were issued overnight for Mandeville Canyon as the Palisades Fire advanced toward the Interstate 405 freeway. 

Firefighters continued battling the Palisades, Eaton, and other fires. A red flag warning via the National Weather Service was still in effect in the early morning hours. 

LA Times provides the latest on all five fires raging across the LA County area:

Palisades Fire:

Burned 21,317 acres and numerous homes, businesses and landmarks in Pacific Palisades and westward along Pacific Coast Highway, toward Malibu. As of 5 a.m. Friday morning, the fire was 8% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. On Friday night, officials upgraded an evacuation warning to a mandatory order from Sunset Boulevard north to Encino Reservoir, from the 405 Freeway west to Mandeville Canyon. New evacuation warnings were issued for areas to the east of the 405 Freeway, north of West Sunset Boulevard and south of Mulholland Drive, along with areas south of Ventura Boulevard and east of Louise Avenue in Encino.

Eaton Fire:

Burned 14,117 acres and many structures in Altadena and Pasadena. Additional evacuation orders were mandated Thursday afternoon when fire climbed toward Mt. Wilson. Other mandatory evacuations were lifted as city officials notified residents in Glenoaks Canyon and Chevy Chase Canyon that it was safe to return to their homes. Gov. Gavin Newsom posted on X on Friday morning that the fire was 3% contained as of 7:30 a.m.

Kenneth fire:

Burned 1,052 acres near the border of Los Angeles and Ventura counties. As of 6 a.m. Friday morning, the fire was 50% contained, according to Cal Fire. All evacuation warnings have been lifted for the fire.

Hurst Fire:

Burned 771 acres in the area around Sylmar. Evacuation orders have been lifted. As of 8 p.m. Thursday night, the fire was 70% contained, according to Cal Fire.

Lidia Fire:

Burned 394 acres in Acton and is 98% contained, according to Cal Fire.

Fire Map (LA Times)

The latest concern has been a large flare-up in the Palisades area that prompted new evacuation orders from Sunset Boulevard north to Encino Reservoir, and from the 405 Freeway west to Mandeville Canyon. This area includes Brentwood and the foothills of the San Fernando Valley. 

LA Times warned: “The Palisades fire can now be seen across Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, an unsettling development as officials worried about the fire expanding into neighborhoods in Encino and Brentwood and possibly jumping the 405 freeway into Bel Air.” 

Josh Sautter, president of the Encino Neighborhood Council, told the media outlet that the latest round of evacuation orders sent panic through the community. 

“I don’t think that people here really saw that it was coming,” Sautter said, adding, “We didn’t think that it was something that would really affect us — until it did.”

Here are the latest LA Times headlines regarding the inferno: 

  • Glow of Palisades fire seen across LA’s San Fernando Valley; swaths of Encino, Brentwood told to evacuate

  • Latest Palisades fire evacuation order sends shock wave through Encino

  • LA County declares health emergency due to smoke and ash

  • State to probe why Pacific Palisades reservoir was offline, empty when firestorm exploded

  • Newsom orders investigation into dry fire hydrants that hampered firefighting in LA.

  • Insurance commissioner issues moratorium on home policy cancellations in fire zones

  • ‘We don’t know half of it.’ LA firestorm death toll expected to rise as searchers go door to door

Latest Zero Hedge headlines:

Meanwhile, Gov. Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass find themselves in the hot seat as their own liberal voter base turns against them, blaming the radical politicians for the spread of fire due to their massive mismanagement of budgets. 

A Fox News report found that Newsom slashed funding for wildfire and forest resilience by more than $100 million last year. He signed the budget covering the 2024-25 fiscal year in June. 

Even the left-leaning USA Today reported that new budget documents showed the mayor reduced the Los Angeles Fire Department’s budget from $837 million in fiscal year 2024 to $819 million in fiscal year 2025. 

In December, LAFD sent a report to the mayor and city council warning that ” these budgetary reductions have adversely affected the Department’s ability to maintain core operations.” 

The destruction caused by the wildfires is about twice the size of Manhattan, and growing, and in our view, will be a political disaster for both Newsom and Bass. 

Elon Musk wrote on X the huge loss of mansions across LA has primarily been a failure of Newsom and Bass…

On Friday evening, Newsom was trying to salvage his dumpster fire political career by inviting President-elect Donald Trump to California. 

Newsom also noted on X, “I am calling for an independent investigation into the loss of water pressure to local fire hydrants and the reported unavailability of water supplies from the Santa Ynez Reservoir.” 

Newsom is getting angry. 

Community Noted.

It’s not surprising at all that liberal Californians, including Hollywood elites, voted in Mayor Bass, a Marxist!

Local elections matter—what were you all thinking?

Also, all of this proves that you can not rely on gov’t…. 

Tyler Durden
Sat, 01/11/2025 – 20:05

The Left’s Ignoble Motives

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The Left’s Ignoble Motives

Authored by Thaddeus McCotter via American Greatness,

Having read his January 7th piece in American Greatness, “We Can Handle the Truth,” clearly Christopher Roach did a splendid job of employing a cinematic reference to tie together the U.S. and U.K. establishments’ mutual fear of telling their public the truth about terrorism and other criminal acts when the perpetrators are from a preferred intersectional group.

Specifically, Mr. Roach deftly stated the case how the refusal by the authorities and the corporate media in the United States to call the murders in New Orleans a terrorist attack constitutes a refusal akin to that exhibited by the United Kingdom regarding the Pakistani rape gangs. Per Mr. Roach:

There has been an even more aggressive media blackout in response to the horrifying rape gangs in the United Kingdom. For years, not only the media, but police, politicians, social workers, and other authorities downplayed the reality of these attacks, blamed victims, and did little to stop the rape of young, native British females by Pakistani immigrant gangs.

Regarding such obfuscations and denials by the two nations’ leftist elites, Mr. Roach noted the role allegedly played by their fear of being accused of “racism”: “[I]n the modern West, whether in the United States or the United Kingdom, authorities are more afraid of being accused of racism than stopping terrorism and child rape.”

To bolster this point, Mr. Roach cites British writer Tom Holland, a clear front-runner for the 2025 Walter Duranty Fake News Award:

The true nightmare of #Rotherham is that the motives of those who turned a blind eye, however monstrous the consequences, were indeed noble.

“It wasn’t the indifference that was noble, but the concern not to demonise a minority. Caring for the weak. The Christian thing . . . I think they genuinely didn’t want to give succour to racism against a minority—which was a noble principle.

Yet, as is so often the case in dealing with the left, reality dictates otherwise. The left has ignoble motives—ones rooted in preserving and imposing their power over others and over their own deluded sense of superiority.

As a rational matter, it is far more plausible to believe that the left is politically more concerned with keeping core minority voting blocs intact. Often, their paranoia and patronizing racism involve pushing policies that are detrimental to society, including minorities. Not surprisingly, such policies are unpopular to a great number of voters (such as the increasing number of Hispanic and other American minorities who oppose open borders, illegal immigration, and the politicians behind them).

Consequently, when a member(s) of one of the left’s core minority voting blocs commits a terrorist and/or other criminal act, the governing elite will downplay it, often by obfuscating the perpetrator and their motives and/or covering it with a cloak of muted statements—except, of course, when they are blaming victims and attacking those who demand a more honest and effective response.

Such despicable political tactics are aimed at insulating the governing elite’s solicitous, patronizing, and injurious policies purportedly offered to benefit said group from becoming publicly exposed, debated, and even more disfavored. For, if they are brought to light in the public square, it will doubtless cost them the votes and, ergo, elections. Thus, the governing elites do this not to protect the minority group from “racism.” The governing elites do this to protect themselves from voters. As Mr. Roach trenchantly avers: “This self-serving justification obscures that officials engaged in narrative control are often more concerned with avoiding embarrassment and accountability than any broader social goal.”

Still, for the leftist political elites in both countries, there exists an even more powerful irrational motive for twisting reality to suit their aims. The left must perpetuate their self-delusion of moral and intellectual superiority at all costs—including if it requires obfuscating and minimizing the protection of children who are being raped or pedestrians who are being run down. For the left, there seems to be no price too high to pay for their inflated self-esteem—especially when they’re not the ones paying the tab. Indeed, such evasion of accountability is the genesis of the leftist governing elites’ myth of the “noble lie,” one that has attempted to sanitize recent weaponized deceits ranging from rape gangs to Russia-gate, ad nauseam.

Ultimately, the left is not content with avoiding accountability for the consequences of their harmful policies and injurious ideological follies. They seek to be seen as the virtuous victims of those people demanding accountability. It is but a small step for them to take, considering how little regard the leftist governing elite in both nations have for the great mass of their populations.

Unconscionably, both nations’ leftist governing elites fear the response of their own populations more than the terrorist and/or criminal actors. By projecting its own paranoiac contempt upon the rest of society, the left is perpetuating its self-deceit of superiority by victim-blaming and shaming.

And that victim is you.

In turn, this raises the question above all else that the leftist governing elites fear answering honestly: “Do you believe an oppressed minority is justified in committing a violent act against the racist, misogynistic, imperialist, inequitable, oppressive majority?” If you think the question far outré, remember what is being asked of people who knowingly refused to employ every means at their disposal—starting with the full truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth—to stop children from being raped or people from being murdered.

After all, this is not what Mr. Holland offered but an irrational, ludicrous justification for an almost unimaginable ideological and moral failure, one along the lines that Walter Duranty scrawled when excusing Stalin’s crimes: “You can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs.” The toxic imbecility is staggering, and the verdict is damning. As Mr. Roach concludes:

The leadership class has no respect for the West, its history, or its people. This is evidenced by their consistent desire to hide the truth and subject our most vulnerable citizens to horrific violence, lest we all “get the wrong idea.” They have forfeited their authority to rule because of their repeated refusal to treat us with candor and protect our most vulnerable citizens.

Contrary to their prejudices, we can handle the truth.

It is the leftist governing elites that cannot.

Tyler Durden
Sat, 01/11/2025 – 19:50

Trump “Wants America To Win”: Zuckerberg Warns Of “Emasculated” Society

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Trump “Wants America To Win”: Zuckerberg Warns Of “Emasculated” Society

Authored by Nathan Worcester via The Epoch Tim,es,

Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg appeared on actor and martial artist Joe Rogan’s podcast on Jan. 10, sparking interest days ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.

The episode on “The Joe Rogan Experience” was aired just days after the tech founder announced his company was changing its moderation policy, replacing fact checkers with a less censorious system modeled on X’s Community Notes. He has also elevated Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White, a Trump and Rogan ally, to Meta’s board of directors.

During the nearly three-hour episode, Zuckerberg and Rogan talked Trump, online censorship, the recent election, television versus. podcasts, and the emasculation of society.

Trump ‘Wants America to Win’: Zuckerberg

Zuckerberg praised Trump on Rogan’s program, drawing a contrast between his prospective leadership and how the Biden administration handled the tech industry.

“I think he just wants America to win,” Zuckerberg said of Trump.

He also voiced regret for complying with requests to censor content on ideological grounds, particularly content related to COVID-19 while the Biden administration was pushing for COVID-19 vaccine uptake. He traced the rise of ideological censorship online to Trump’s election in 2016, which came alongside Brexit, and to the 2020 pandemic.

“We did generally defer to the government on some of these policies that in retrospect I probably wouldn’t, knowing what I know now,” he said.

“These people from the Biden administration would call up our team and like scream at them and curse,” Zuckerberg said.

The Facebook founder said that the United States should do more to defend its tech companies in other countries, citing legal actions by the European Union (EU) against Meta and other tech giants. He said the U.S. government had set the stage for other governments to intervene through its own approach to Meta and other firms.

The Election Made a Mark

Zuckerberg told Rogan that the 2024 election had affected Meta’s approach to content moderation.

“The good thing about doing it after the election is you get to take this cultural pulse,” he said. “We try to have policies that reflect mainstream discourse.”

Yet, he pushed back against claims that there was a particular significance to the timing, which coincides with other moves from Zuckerberg seemingly aimed at gaining support from the incoming administration—for example, Meta’s donation of $1 million to the Trump inaugural fund.

“I try not to change our content rules right in the middle of an election either. There’s not like a good time to do this,” Zuckerberg said.

Zuckerberg Talks Tradeoffs in Content Moderation

The Meta CEO spoke about his company’s decision to shut down its fact-checking program in favor of an X-style system in which users generate notes and vote them up or down.

He also drew attention to a related change—namely, the move to require more confidence from the company’s artificial intelligence-based systems before harmful content is removed.

A Jan. 7 announcement from Meta suggested the current approach is producing too many false positives, leading to “the vast majority of the censorship on our platforms.”

It stated that the systems will concentrate on “illegal and high-severity violations, like terrorism, child sexual exploitation, drugs, fraud, and scams” rather than the political content that was often flagged in the past.

On Rogan’s program, Zuckerberg said that there was a tradeoff between precision and comprehensiveness. A more aggressive system for spotting drug-related content, for example, might catch more of that material while sweeping up many innocent posts in its dragnet. On the other hand, a more precise system might catch less of that targeted content while censoring fewer innocent posts.

“We will maybe take down a smaller amount of the harmful content, but it will also mean that we’ll dramatically reduce the amount of people whose accounts were taken off for a mistake—which is just a terrible experience,” Zuckerberg said.

‘I Hated Doing TV’: Zuckerberg

Zuckerberg discussed his early media appearances after founding Facebook in 2004 while a student at Harvard University. Like Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard.

“I hated doing TV,” he told Rogan. “I’d get super nervous.”

He recalled that, as a college-aged techie, he was “good at coding” but “real bad at kind of like talking to people.”

Zuckerberg said that the media outlets that hosted him would reduce his appearances to unflattering sound bites. He suggested that online podcasts succeed because they operate without those constraints.

“On the Internet, there’s no reason to cut it to a four-minute sound bite,” he said.

Rogan agreed.

“Conversations are like a dance,” he said. “You kind of have to find the rhythm that you’re going to talk with, and then you have to actually be interested in what you’re talking about.”

Zuckerberg Warns of ‘Neutered or Emasculated’ Society

Zuckerberg also discussed his martial arts training. The Meta CEO practices Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

“It definitely takes the edge off things. After a couple of hours doing that in the morning, it’s just like, yeah, it’s like nothing else that day is going to stress you out that much,” he said.

Zuckerberg reflected on society as a whole, saying much of it has become “neutered or emasculated.”

He said martial arts allows him to express himself in a way that isn’t possible as the CEO of a large company, comparing the visuals of him fighting favorably to the brief sound bites he can provide through TV interviews.

“When people see me competing in this sport, they say, ‘Oh, no, that’s the real Mark,’” he said.

Tyler Durden
Sat, 01/11/2025 – 17:30