Authored by Jonathan Miltimore via the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER),

Discover more about the policies that shaped a decade of hardship… and the lessons they hold for today…

In 1940, Victor Records released the Dust Bowl Ballads, an album of songs written and performed by American folk singer Woody Guthrie. In two volumes and a dozen songs, the folk legend sang about the droughts that plagued North America in waves beginning in 1934 and ending in 1940.

“On the 14th day of April of 1935, There struck the worst of dust storms that ever filled the sky. You could see that dust storm comin’, the cloud looked deathlike black, And through our mighty nation, it left a dreadful track. From Oklahoma City to the Arizona line, Dakota and Nebraska to the lazy Rio Grande, It fell across our city like a curtain of black rolled down. We thought it was our judgment, we thought it was our doom.”

The lyrics of these tunes—those above come from “The Great Dust Storm Disaster”—reveal the psychological impact the Dust Bowl had on Americans, in no small part because it corresponded with another historical event: the Great Depression.

In her new explainer “The Economic Consequences of Populism,” historian Amity Shlaes points out that as the Great Depression dragged on, more and more Americans began to feel as if God had abandoned America. At the pulpit, pastors compared Americans to Job and to the Hebrews in the Book of Exodus confronted by locusts and plagues.

Shlaes touches on why so Americans felt as they did, noting that throughout the 1930s joblessness remained above 10 percent, while the stock market saw a 90 percent drop from its 1929 high, a peak it would not reach again until the 1950s.

As Americans endured extended economic plight, many came to believe they were experiencing the wrath of God.

One needn’t be a religious skeptic to doubt that Americans’ suffering was biblical retribution.

Today we know that even the Dust Bowl was a man-made ecological disaster, triggered by government wheat subsidies that encouraged unsustainable plowing under of erosion-resistant native plants.

And historians and economists have written extensively about what triggered the Great Depression: chief among them a lack of liquidity and the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act that restricted free trade.

Shlaes points out that far less attention has been paid to the question that should follow.

“What about the years that followed?

Why did recovery not return after five years, or after seven?

It is not, after all, a deflation shock, however sharp, that converted the initial depression, lower case, into a Great Depression, with capital letters.

It was the duration that made the Depression great.

Whether monetarist or Keynesian, economists respond to commonsense queries about the later years with a single line:

‘That is complicated.’ It is as if a sign has been placed over the period to intimidate the curious: ‘Here Be Dragons.’”

A decade of misery Americans experienced did not stem from an angry God. A careful reading of the facts of the period suggests they stemmed from bad economic policies, ones initially passed by President Hoover that grew worse under President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

In a highly readable Explainer, Shlaes illustrates the economic mistakes of the Great Depression – which famously included government slaughtering and burying 6.5 million pigs to keep prices high while millions of Americans were going hungry – were even more nonsensical than you realized.

Discover more about the policies that shaped a decade of hardship—and the lessons they hold for today.

In her explainer “The Economic Consequences of Populism,” historian Amity Shlaes delves into the Great Depression’s blundering economic policies, illuminating how misguided decisions led to prolonged suffering.

Yet a final thought, especially relevant now, involves the cost of politicizing economics. Any of us can understand that politicians must back silly or profoundly perverse policies to win an election. Many advocates of free markets will vote for candidates who emphasize anti-market concessions during campaign season, consoling themselves with the fact that the same campaigners, in a kind of aside, occasionally pay lip service to the power of markets. The voter, sometimes naively, hopes that once secure in office, the politicians will deliver the free-market policy. Sometimes, they do.

What is truly insidious however is when politicians advertise those subpar policies, from tariffs to, say, child credits or make-work jobs, as optimal economics, a guarantee of prosperity. For then, at least for a while, voters believe them. That is what happened in the 1930s. In such cases, the public, like the long-suffering 1930s electorate, becomes complicit in its own deception and disappointment.

In short, there is a price for placing faith in political leaders as one would in a church, a price for which voters are also responsible. “Have we found our happy valley?” Roosevelt asked when he called for a political license to continue his experimentation from on high in 1936. By reelecting him, even those many voters who did not have New Deal jobs agreed to continue to travel behind Roosevelt in his quest, and to tolerate policy that, at some level, they knew could not deliver. The consequence of this complicity was that second term of Depression.

The Americans who succumbed to political lures and failed to wind down, halt, block, or attenuate the New Deal were our great grandparents, or at the very least, our forerunners. Americans today owe it to them to forgive that error – and remember it. After all, they and we are one people.

It is possible therefore to extend the sage Anderson’s point.

The Great Depression did not endure because God struck America. It endured because our leaders played God. And because we let them.

Read her fascinating full analysis here: “The Economic Consequences of Populism”

*  *  *

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

On X, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a new gun buyback event on Long Island for Saturday. The post was heavily ratio’d, with the usual X users in the reply section bashing the progressive politician and arguing how ineffective gun buybacks are at reducing crime. Meanwhile, it seems like James’ office has learned from previous gun buybacks how not to be exploited by the 3D-printed community.  

“On Saturday, December 14, we’re hosting a gun buyback event in Bohemia at the True North Community Church from 10AM-1PM,” James’ post read, adding, “No ID is needed, and no questions will be asked.” 

However, in small italicized font, James’ office wrote:

“Anyone bringing homemade or 3D-printed guns will be paid a total of $25, regardless of how many are turned in.” 

On Saturday, December 14, we’re hosting a gun buyback event in Bohemia at the True North Community Church from 10AM-1PM.

No ID is needed, and no questions will be asked. pic.twitter.com/PjFGsPD9XV

— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) December 8, 2024

The reason: In 2022, New York’s attorney general had to revise the rules surrounding gun buybacks after an unidentified man from West Virginia exploited a loophole at an event in Utica, New York.

The man reportedly earned $21,000 in gift cards after turning in 60 printed auto sears, which likely cost him $50 in plastic filament. That’s a heck of a return. 

“Are you guys going to get scammed by the ppl bringing in those cheap 3d printed guns? It was like an unlimited money glitch for them,” one X user asked James. 

Someone found another “unlimited money glitch” … 

They have a disclaimer that you can only get $25 for 3D printed guns, and only $25 per person.

Now the glitch is to buy $350 AR’s or cheap used pistols. pic.twitter.com/ZEMaBmpTY6

— Elliott (Elijah) Hope ☦️🇺🇸👍🏿 (@RealElliottHope) December 8, 2024

The 3D printer community has woken up to “unlimited money glitch” over the years:

Man exchanges 62 3D printed guns that cost $186 to print for $3100 in gift cards.

When asked why he scammed the system, he said
“Pay fair prices [at gun buyback events], use private donations rather than tax dollars, and don’t destroy historic guns.” 1/2 pic.twitter.com/SdDiqa9McH

— Jo Jorgensen (@JoForLiberty) August 2, 2022

Turns out printed guns are just free money at buybacks.

Someone maxed out what they could collect in a South Carolina buyback yesterday and took in 750$ for between 25-50$ worth of Harlots. pic.twitter.com/5wkrfLtVFl

— chairmanwon (@chairmanwon) August 3, 2022

Someone turned in 62 3D printed “ghost guns” for $150/ea at a recent Houston “gun buy back” event 🇺🇸

This is the way 🇺🇸

$9300 will get you a lot of nice real guns 😎 pic.twitter.com/Ki00OsGRJM

— Mrgunsngear (@Mrgunsngear) July 31, 2022

James’ office appears to have learned from past mistakes. 

Authored by David Keltz via American Greatness,

“My fellow Americans, our long, national nightmare is over,” the soon-to-be President, Gerald R. Ford, declared on August 9, 1974, upon taking the Oath of Office – following President Nixon’s resignation in the aftermath of Watergate.

Those nine words could not be more appropriate to describe what President Donald J. Trump’s victory means for the United States and the world.

On January 20, 2025, our long national nightmare will indeed be over.

We will no longer have a president in serious cognitive decline—bordering on senility—who was never in charge of running the country and allowed his puppet masters to turn the greatest nation in the world into a Bernie Sandersesque socialist hellscape with our borders thrown wide open, our energy supply vastly diminished, our tax dollars spent on Ukraine and Green New Deal boondoggles, our once mighty military wokeified and weakened with recruitments dropping like flies (thanks Lloyd Austin)—our once mighty arsenal of aircraft and ships depleted—and our Justice Department corrupted and weaponized against the left’s political opponents.

On January 20, 2025, we will no longer have a president who enters his REM cycle soon after sundown while our enemies in Iran, China, Russia, and North Korea plot their next destructive moves—knowing full well that the Ivy League morons in charge of our national security (Blinken & Sullivan) won’t do a damn thing in the way of deterrence.

The stumbling, feet-shuffling, how-do-I-exit-the-stage, gibberish-speaking Manchurian president, who is somehow worth millions, despite working in government for half a century, will be replaced by a man who built luxury skyscrapers and golf courses all over the world and already presided over one of the most successful terms any president has ever had.

On January 20, 2025, we will no longer have a vice president who is as dumb as a doorknob and as incompetent as the New York Giants offense—but would otherwise make a fine president of the giggle club.

Replacing Mrs. Cackles in the second highest office in the land will be another successful businessman and well-respected senator who actually did grow up in poverty and showed us all his intellect, his charm, his cool demeanor, and sound judgment—during his masterful debate performance against one of the creepiest and phoniest individuals ever to seek the vice presidency.

On January 20, 2025, our adversaries will once again fear us and will be put on notice, should they fail to comply with the world’s greatest superpower—as Trump brilliantly laid out on Truth Social this week:

“Everybody is talking about the hostages who are being held so violently, inhumanely, and against the will of the entire world, in the Middle East—but it’s all talk and no action! Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against humanity. Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied history of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!”

In other words, “F*** with us and find out.”

That is the kind of leadership that has desperately been lacking on the world stage for the past four years.

January 20, 2025, will also begin the start of a great U.S. economic boom and a cultural revival that has already begun.

Since Trump’s victory, the stock market has been soaring, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average recently closing at record highs and the value of Bitcoin surpassing $100,000.

Small businesses and large corporations will no longer be kneecapped by ridiculous regulations and excessive taxes and will not be penalized if, God forbid, they fail to show how woke they are.

In fact, the Wall Street Journal recently reported that Walmart, Starbucks, Boeing, and other corporations are already dismantling their DEI programs and will stop promoting anything having to do with “racial equity” or “LGBTQ.”

As the great economist Milton Friedman once said, “There is one and only one social responsibility of business—to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game.”

And thankfully, the era of woke sports also appears to be dead. Instead of athletes kneeling for the National Anthem, now NFL and college football players do the famous Trump YMCA dance after scoring a touchdown—or after defeating an opponent in the UFC ring.

These are all positive developments.

But some things will unfortunately remain the same.

Hollywood will continue to make anti-white, anti-male, and anti-Christian films that routinely mock middle America. They are free to do so, but their box-office numbers will likely suffer.

And the leftist media will continue its crusade against conservatives and spew its regular anti-Trump derangement pieces—full of falsehoods and unverified sources that bear little or no resemblance to reality.

But the good news is, very few people take The New York Times or The Washington Post seriously anymore—with Gallup reporting that just 31 percent of Americans have confidence in the media to fairly and accurately report the news—a new all-time low.

Thanks to Elon Musk, free speech is no longer an antiquated relic controlled by left-wing tyrants—X is where the masses go to get their news now.

And thanks to President Trump, there is a renewed sense of pride and love for the country.

The stars and stripes are back in vogue.

On January 20, 2025, our long national nightmare will finally be over—unburdened by what has been.

While many believe that pain merely disrupts sleep, research at the UQ School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences is challenging this notion by revealing that poor sleep may play a critical role in the onset and worsening of chronic pain.​

“It’s the biggest unresolved health issue of our time,” David Klyne, a scientist at The University of Queensland in Australia (UQ), said in a press release.

Klyne’s work shows that up to 90 percent of people with chronic pain also struggle with sleep problems, underscoring how vital sleep is to managing and potentially preventing ongoing discomfort.

Chronic pain is a debilitating condition for millions around the globe.

However, new insights suggest that the relationship between pain and sleep may be more complex than previously thought. ​

As George Citroner writes at The Epoch Times, Klyne wants to change how health care professionals treat patients with ongoing pain.

He has found that inadequate sleep can lead to chronic pain rather than being solely a consequence of it.

According to the study, up to 90 percent of people with chronic pain also battle sleep problems, underscoring the crucial role that sleep plays in the experience of pain.

Expert Opinions on Sleep-Pain Connection

Between 67 and 88 percent of people with chronic pain experience sleep disruption and insomnia, and approximately 50 percent of people with insomnia report chronic pain, Dr. William Caldwell, medical director of the Center for Pain Management at Stony Brook Medicine, told The Epoch Times.

Caldwell advocates for a greater emphasis on treating both pain and sleep issues, as substantial evidence links chronic pain with poor sleep quality.

“In my practice, I specifically ask if a patient’s pain leads to altered sleep behaviors,” Caldwell said.

“If sleep is altered, a specific focus is made to improve nocturnal pain symptoms that will hopefully lead to more healthy sleep patterns,” he added.

Klyne’s previous research has indicated a strong correlation between sleep and recovery from pain. For example, people recovering from injuries may heal more rapidly with better sleep.

Lack of sleep may put extra strain on the nervous and immune systems, making pain worse and potentially leading to chronic conditions.

Need for Urgent Attention

Worldwide, chronic pain causes more disability than cancer and heart disease combined. Sleep has been overlooked as a treatment for pain, according to Klyne, who said he hopes his research will change.

His team is recruiting participants for clinical trials, targeting people 18 and older who have experienced back pain for at least two days within two weeks.

Klyne and his team plan to explore how sleep affects pain by having participants wear devices that track sleep patterns and collecting blood and saliva samples to study hormonal and immune responses. “Previous research has focused on understanding the development of new acute or chronic back pain, but this study will look at the far more common experience of fluctuating symptoms in people who live with the condition,” Klein said in a statement.

The research will examine how the nervous and immune systems respond to both restorative and disrupted sleep. Participants will be awakened at varying times during the night, allowing researchers to gather comprehensive data on how different sleep stages impact recovery and pain levels.

“This will allow us to examine the most detailed and important information ever collected for this population outside of a laboratory and minimize disruption to participant’s day-to-day activities,” he added.

This research also ties into Klyne’s broader work exploring how lifestyle factors influence pain, which could prove essential in developing effective treatments.

Implications for Chronic Pain Treatment

If Klyne’s findings are confirmed, they could lead to changes in how chronic pain is treated, emphasizing sleep therapy alongside traditional pain management methods.

Recognizing sleep as a critical aspect of treatment might also help prevent the transition from acute pain to potentially debilitating chronic pain.

Patients who struggle with chronic pain and believe their sleep may be affecting their condition should discuss their concerns with their physician, Caldwell said.

“If chronic pain is altering sleep, it needs to be addressed directly,” he added.

“We know that chronic pain and poor sleep are linked, but there are also clear correlations between altered sleep and general overall health.”

A treatment plan focusing on modalities to address chronic pain and sleep “needs to be developed between the patient and physician,” Caldwell noted.

Via The Cradle

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the former Al-Qaeda affiliate that has just assumed control over Syria, has appointed Mohammad Bashir as the head of a new Syrian transitional authority. Bashir was the prime minister of the HTS-led Salvation Government, which was formed in 2017 and ruled Syria’s northern province of Idlib – where HTS was based before the massive Turkish-backed assault against Syria that began late last month. 

According to reports on Monday, Bashir has been chosen as the new prime minister of Syria, and is coordinating with outgoing Syrian premier Mohammad al-Jalali, who announced on Sunday that he is ready for a “smooth transition” and will cooperate with “any leadership chosen by the Syrian people.”

HTS – formerly known as Al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria, the Nusra Front – has been implicated in numerous atrocities, including kidnapping, public executions, indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas, and other war crimes. 

In 2016, the Nusra Front was rebranded and expanded into Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, a coalition of armed factions with support from Qatar. The following year, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham became HTS in another Qatari-sponsored rebranding initiative aimed at legitimizing the group. 

HTS has been a proscribed terrorist organization by the UN, US, UK, and EU. Despite a large US bounty on the head of HTS leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani, the extremist leader sat with CNN for an interview last week. 

Officials in Washington are considering removing HTS from the US terror list, The Washington Post reported on 9 December. “US officials are in contact with all the groups involved in fighting in Syria, including the main group that ousted Assad, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which was once affiliated with Al-Qaeda and remains on a US terrorist list,” the newspaper wrote. 

No female reporter was required to wear a headscarf when interviewing Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s former secular leader. This is NOT progress: pic.twitter.com/x7Add6q3Rx

— Robin Monotti (@robinmonotti) December 9, 2024

A US official told the outlet that the US government has not ruled out removing the terror designation from HTS to enable deeper US contact and cooperation with the group.

“We have to be smart … and also very mindful and pragmatic about the realities on the ground,” the official said.

Another US official said the White House is in the process of conducting a “real-time assessment” about HTS, which took control of Damascus on Saturday after a lightning two-week offensive launched from its stronghold in Syria’s northwest Idlib governorate. 

Meanwhile Syrian embassies around the world are hoisting a new flag:

BREAKING — New Syrian flag has been raised to Syrian Embassy in Moscow.

Diplomats chanted “free Syria” and “Syria belongs to all Syrians” pic.twitter.com/dCQTyQTEgF

— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) December 9, 2024

The UK government is also considering removing HTS from the list of banned terrorist groups.

By Jesse Colombo of The Bubble Bubble Report

CME Group Inc., the parent company of COMEX, the leading U.S. exchange for gold and silver futures, will introduce a one-ounce gold futures contract in January. This move comes in response to soaring demand from retail investors, spurred by gold’s record-breaking rally this year from $2,000 to $2,630—a respectable 32% gain. Smaller-sized gold products have grown increasingly popular among retail investors seeking exposure to precious metals and greater diversification in their portfolios.

Jin Hennig, CME’s Global Head of Metals, described the one-ounce gold contract as “a great way to lower the barrier to entry in our market.” She also noted, “Our clientele is also getting younger. That’s a lot more doable.”

The one-ounce gold futures contract is set to launch on January 13, 2025, pending regulatory approval. This new offering complements CME’s existing retail-focused products, including 10-ounce micro gold and 1,000-ounce micro silver futures, which represent smaller fractions of the standard benchmark contracts. According to CME, these micro contracts have been among the fastest-growing products in their metals derivatives lineup, achieving record trading volumes this year.

CME anticipates strong demand for the new contract from retail investors in Asia, where gold is deeply ingrained in the culture as both a store of value and a hedge against economic uncertainties. Hennig emphasized that the contract provides “a meaningful way” for individual traders in the region to “manage their own wealth creations.”

While the introduction of this new futures product is intriguing and reflects growing interest in precious metals and financial innovation—something I wholeheartedly support as a proponent of free markets—I do have some concerns. Chief among them is the fact that this is a cash-settled futures contract rather than a physically-settled one. This means that upon expiration of the futures contract, traders cannot take physical delivery of a 1-ounce bullion bar or coin, which is a drawback for those seeking tangible ownership of gold.

This also implies that these contracts are unlikely to be backstopped (even unofficially) by actual physical gold, making them yet another form of “paper” gold in a market already saturated with such instruments that include futures, options, forwards, swaps, CFDs, and exchange-traded funds. Currently, it is estimated that there are an astonishing 133 ounces of paper gold for every ounce of physical gold, as illustrated in the chart below. This imbalance poses several concerns, chief among them the heightened risk of a future run on physical gold. Such a scenario could see the price of scarce physical gold soar while the value of paper gold plummets, creating a significant market shock.

Paper gold—especially when it vastly exceeds the supply of actual physical gold—undermines some of the core advantages of owning physical gold, such as its simplicity, and its freedom from counterparty and default risk. This concept is well illustrated by Exter’s Pyramid, where rare physical gold (not paper gold) occupies the base of the inverted pyramid as the most secure and reliable form of collateral. In contrast, paper gold falls into the far riskier and more abundant derivatives category near the top of the pyramid. This starkly contrasts with physical gold’s role as the ultimate foundation of financial stability at the bottom of the pyramid.

Another significant concern is that the proliferation of paper gold products tends to divert and diminish demand that would otherwise flow into physical bullion. Many analysts argue this is a key factor keeping gold prices lower than they might otherwise be. While the new 1-ounce futures contract makes gold more accessible to investors with moderate means—allowing them to control the equivalent of a $2,700 ounce of gold with only a few hundred dollars in margin—it raises concerns. This easier access may further shift demand away from physical bullion, which represents the true, tangible market for gold.

Bob Coleman, founder of Idaho Armored Vaults, highlighted that a 1-ounce gold futures contract could have been an excellent innovation if it were physically settled. Such a product would have helped reduce spreads and transaction costs in the physical bullion market while enhancing market transparency and liquidity. However, Coleman lamented that CME Group opted to make this contract cash-settled instead, missing an opportunity to provide these benefits:

Vince Lanci, publisher of the GoldFix newsletter, humorously suggested in a post on X that CME Group’s new 1-ounce gold futures contract could drive down premiums on small gold bullion products. While this development would benefit consumers, it would also erode bullion dealers’ profit margins.

The introduction of CME Group’s 1-ounce gold futures contract seeks to address growing retail investor demand and expand access to the gold market, but it also underscores critical challenges tied to the dominance and proliferation of “paper” gold. With its cash-settled structure and lack of physical backing, the new contract raises concerns about transparency, reduced demand for physical bullion, and the broader stability of the gold market. While it lowers barriers for younger and global retail investors, its potential to divert interest from physical gold risks deepening the disconnect between paper and physical markets. As the market evolves, balancing financial innovation with the enduring value of tangible, secure, and stable assets like physical gold is crucial.

If you enjoyed this article, consider subscribing to this newsletter.

Authored by Victor Davis Hanson,

Pardoner-in-Chief

Joe Biden has now established two precedents in presidential history.

First, he “pardoned” his own son Hunter.

No prior president has ever tried that shameless act, which is an affront to the entire hallowed notion of “equality under the law.”.

Second, he did so in a way that no president has rarely, if ever, pardoned anyone.

Hunter, a convicted federal felon awaiting sentencing, was gifted by his father a blanket exemption from federal prosecution over the entire past decade (2014-2024).

Biden thus exempted Hunter from a series of much-discussed past criminal activities and provided further pardons for any federal criminal exposure occurring over the last ten years—yet to turn up.

Given the Biden suppression of the justice system and the media’s complicity in hiding the Biden family’s criminality, it is quite possible that in the next few years, disinterested prosecutors might finally expose Hunter Biden’s long-suppressed, sordid career. And that could mean possible criminal exposure for three generations of Bidens.

Third, in the remaining waning 40 days of his now nonperforming presidency, Biden threatens to establish yet another presidential precedent. He contemplates issuing pardons to a variety of controversial cronies, bureaucrats, and officers—even though none of them have yet been indicted or even are under federal investigation.

Worse, Biden completed his shameless trifecta by breaking his serial pledge, voiced at least six times, and most prominently as a 2024 campaign plug, unequivocally not to pardon Hunter Biden.

That performance-art braggadocio was serially greeted—by design—with glee in the media.

On spec, the vow supposedly contrasted Biden’s “reverence for the rule of law” with a purportedly legally insubordinate Trump.

Biden would put the law above family. Trump, in contrast, was supposedly chronically questioning the morality, fairness, and legality of his own five criminal and civil indictments over the campaign cycle—some of them (i.e., Bragg, Smith, Willis) demonstrably with the full knowledge of, if not coordinated by, the Biden White House.

The Biden Family’s Known Unknowns

Yet, why would Biden go out with such brazen, precedent-setting pardons when his own administration, Department of Justice, and the obsequious media for nearly four years have all bragged that the left is the party of principled democracy (e.g., “democracy is on the ballot”), forced into an existential fight against a supposedly “dictator,” “fascist,” and “Hitlerian” Donald Trump?

Obviously, Hunter Biden might have faced some jail time for deliberate and callous federal tax evasion of millions of dollars of income. Such a conviction would certainly earn the average American incarceration and a crippling fine.

The Biden family’s plea that Hunter was “addicted” is a pathetic excuse.

The president expects the American people to believe his lie that a supposedly temporarily non compos mentis Hunter was too drug-addled to remember to pay his taxes but clear enough to shake down millions of dollars in largess for generations of the Biden family syndicate.

We are told no one is ever jailed for feloniously lying on a federal affidavit to buy a handgun, and thus Hunter is a victim of a right-wing witch hunt.

That too is another absurd assertion when the Biden Department of Justice oversaw the prosecution. And it only fulfilled its proper nonpartisan role when an intervening federal judge nullified an unprecedented DOJ sweetheart tax evasion deal, one designed specifically for the presidential son.

Plenty of average Joes also go to jail for knowingly committing federal perjury or deliberately and fraudulently completing a required federal background check.

But the real agenda behind the Hunter pardon, and possible future Biden family pardons to come, involved the current president of the United States.

Hunter’s ten-year window of exemption dates back to the last two years of Joe Biden’s vice presidency, when his sloppy shakedowns of foreign governments even bothered an embarrassed Obama administration.

By pardoning Hunter, and de facto other Bidens to come, Joe believes that there will be no subpoenaed witness who can testify about the source of the family’s some $20 million grift: where the money came from, what it was for, where it went, and whether anyone fully paid federal and state income taxes on these foreign cash infusions.

In fairness to Joe, he has legitimate worries.

The sheer audacity of the Biden operation was evident—as, for example, when Joe boasted publicly that he got a special Ukrainian prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, fired for looking too closely into corruption involving Hunter Biden—by withholding U.S. congressionally approved aid.

(Note well: Donald Trump was impeached and tried in the Senate for merely suspending but eventually sending aid to Ukraine, out of legitimate worry that the Bidens had once unduly leveraged taxpayer money to have ensured their then steady revenue streams from Ukraine.)

Proof of the Bidens’ shake-down success was apparent in the lavish lifestyles of Joe and Hunter, otherwise inexplicable in light of Joe’s federal salary or any legal or consulting expertise evident in Hunter’s mostly grimy and grubby career.

Canary-bird Hunter?

But more worrisome might be the thought of an unplugged, unpardoned, and underappreciated Hunter.

As an ordinary citizen facing jail time after January 20, 2025, Hunter would be either one relapse, one plea bargain, or one fit of resentment away from turning state’s evidence to avoid years in federal prison—by disclosing the various roles of an apparently insufficiently appreciative Biden family.

Hunter certainly was capable of flipping.

In his laptop texts and email logs, he often voiced resentment of his father, variously and cynically dubbed “the Big Guy” and recipient of “ten percent”—monikers not usually associated with filial affection.

The gist of Hunter’s referents was that Joe got his utility bills paid and was subsidized by Hunter, who in return felt he was privately underappreciated and overcharged by the supposedly legit members of the family as their wayward and embarrassing, though hard-working, bagman.

That pique was no fiction.

Hunter’s plea-bargaining attorneys once threatened to call President Joe Biden into court to testify on Hunter’s behalf. The veiled subtext was a threat to put the president on record in a federal trial as vouching for his son and thus likely denying when cross-examined by the judge whether Joe himself had ever received foreign cash (i.e., Joe’s checks labeled as “loan repayments” or seen as “gifts” or undisclosed but routed through Hunter or a Biden sibling).

What was Hunter’s brief career as a straw-snorting “artist” about in the earlier days of the Biden presidency—if not to bring down to earth the haughty first couple?

Why would the profligate son, now under global scrutiny, seemingly shake down would-be quid pro quo Biden donors to buy his teenaged, paint-by-the-numbers “art”—sometimes painted by blowing paint via a straw, as perhaps a not-so-subtle reminder to the family of his earlier snorting antics?

Joe Biden was only two months into his presidency when Hunter published his tell-all book. It graphically recalled his drug- and sex-filled escapades and was met with great fanfare by obsequious liberal critics who noted his supposed “raw” honesty. Yet if a son will seduce his own deceased brother’s widow and mother of his own nephew and niece, and then cajole her to indulge in his own addictive crack cocaine use, then he has demonstrated that family fealty is a mere abstraction if not a bad joke.

Pardoning such a miscreant for ten years of yet uncovered misadventures is a veritable insurance policy that Hunter—who knows all the Biden family business secrets—would not plea-bargain away his family’s so-far successful avoidance of criminal accountability.

Just the Latest Assault on Democracy

How do we locate this latest assault on democracy in the left’s wider narrative that Biden and company ‘saved’ democracy from a tyrannical Donald Trump?

The answer is not difficult.

This unprecedented pardon is not aberrant. It is characteristic of the left’s recent contempt for the rule of law. And it is consistent with its own brazen violation of constitutional customs and norms that it so often projects onto its opponents.

The left’s warped modus operandi, remember, is to brand Trump such a menace that his intellectual and moral superiors are entitled to trample on any law or custom necessary to eliminate such an existential ‘threat to democracy.’

So, at the end of the Biden presidency, what is the Biden-Obama-era “democracy dies in darkness” legacy?

Just ponder the following questions.

Who soiled the FBI and the DOJ to fabricate Russian collusion to undermine a 2016 oppositional presidential opponent?

Who hired a has-been British spy to fabricate a smear dossier and leak it to the media to destroy a candidate?

Who rounded up “51 intelligence authorities” to lie on the eve of an election about the authenticity of Hunter’s laptop, then already verified and in the possession of the FBI?

Who tasked the FBI to partner with social media to censure and suppress verified news stories about the laptop’s authenticity deemed incriminating to the Biden campaign?

Who impeached a president over a phone call as soon as it recaptured the House of Representatives?

Who envisioned removing a major-party candidate from sixteen state ballots to undermine the election of an opponent?

Who orchestrated a SWAT raid on the home of an ex-president and presidential candidate over an ongoing archival dispute concerning the proper storage of presidential papers?

Who coordinated the lawfare to empower a special counsel to indict Donald Trump, to consult with a partisan Georgia prosecutor to indict Donald Trump, and to dispatch a federal prosecutor to join a local Manhattan prosecutor to indict Donald Trump, previously on the staff of yet another New York state attorney general who indicted Donald Trump?

Who advocated packing the Supreme Court?

Who sought to end the Electoral College?

Who wanted to create two new blue states to win four new senators?

Who wanted to demolish the filibuster—depending on whether it held a Senate majority?

Who radically changed American balloting, rendering, in most states, the historic Election Day to a mere construct of as little as 30 percent of the electorate voting?

Pardons as Incrimination

The final irony?

Biden may well pardon a variety of cronies who will not be indicted by the Trump Department of Justice, but who, by acceptance of such exemption, will remind the American people of their culpability if not criminality.

Anthony Fauci likely lied under oath about his role in subsidizing illicit and undeniable gain-of-function virology research in communist China.

Gen. Mark Milley clearly violated his oath of office as an advisor to the president by improperly breaking, and inserting himself into, the chain of command by ordering theater and unit commanders first to report directly to himself in supposed existential crises rather than to the Secretary of Defense.

Most Americans would deem it actionable for a chairman of the Joint Chiefs to stealthily contact his Chinese communist, People’s Liberation Army counterpart in order to warn him about the supposedly unstable nature of his own president and commander-in-chief and thus to assure the Chinese that American officers would nullify any presidential directives that they themselves diagnosed as improper.

What did intelligence and investigative bureaucratic grandees John Brennan, James Clapper, and Andrew McCabe—all current media-paid consultants—all have in common? They admittedly lied either under congressional oath or to federal investigators and did so with complete exemption.

The list of the culpable could be expanded.

But it will not be Donald Trump—who refused to investigate, much less seek to indict, Hillary Clinton for destroying federally subpoenaed communications and devices—who will remind the American people of what past zealots did to their nation.

Instead, it may be Joe Biden himself and any who accept his envisioned self-incriminating pardons.

As part of its ongoing campaign to hit back at US punitive trade actions and sanctions, China is pushing new and extended export restrictions which negatively impacts Ukraine and its war effort.

Drone warfare has long been heavily relied upon by the Ukraine armed forces, but Beijing is now restricting key components vital in the production of unmanned vehicles, Bloomberg reports Monday.

“Manufacturers in China recently began limiting sales to the US and Europe of key components used to build unmanned aerial vehicles, according to multiple people with knowledge of the developments, who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive information,” the report says.

“The moves are a prelude to broader export restrictions on drone parts that western officials expect Beijing to enforce in the new year, the people said,” it continues. “Those rules could take the form of license approvals based on the intended use of the components or softer requirements for Chinese companies to notify the government of their shipment plans, according to one of the people.”

Sources further described that “Chinese producers of motors, batteries and flight controllers have capped the quantities they deliver or stopped shipments altogether” as part of the ratcheting Beijing-Washington tit-for-tat conflict on trade policy.

This comes in the context of recent months of Chinese retaliatory sanctions targeting US firms which supply the Pentagon. Increasingly these firms are seeing access to vital Chinese-produced components.

Russia is able to sit back and benefit from these US-China tensions, after it has been subject of literally hundreds of drone attacks out of Ukraine over the past nearly three years of war.

Ukrainian drones have been quite effective in damaging in some instances oil and energy depots in Russia, naval assets in Sevastopol, as well as airbases in various parts of Russia.

It may look made in someone’s garage, but these Ukrainian volunteers have built a drone capable of carrying different payloads of up to 25 kg. It is recovered by parachute, and can bomb, scout, or surveil. pic.twitter.com/4xZTc8myiH

— Roy🇨🇦 (@GrandpaRoy2) April 7, 2024

There have even been reports that Ukrainian drones were in the hands of the Syrian jihadist insurgents which just took over Syria. Increasingly sophisticated small drones were used over the past months against the Syrian Army, helping to erode its effectiveness and morale, and this contributed to its collapse. 

But without Chinese parts, the West’s drone arsenal could suffer temporary production pauses, and be set back to a degree.

Authored by Mark Mason via BitcoinMagazine.com,

In a world where digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of global finance, the United States stands at a crossroads.

The Trump administration has repeatedly emphasized its dedication to making everyday Americans more prosperous. From pledging to restore economic strength on the campaign trail to appointing forward-thinking advisors, the White House seems poised to usher in a new era of financial freedom. But if President Trump truly wants to supercharge wealth creation for average citizens—and establish the U.S. as the world’s leading “Bitcoin Superpower”—his administration must embrace a bold, transformative policy: eliminate capital gains taxes on Bitcoin.

This global map shows how various countries tax (or don’t tax) Bitcoin after one year. Many green jurisdictions, including those in parts of Europe, the Caribbean, and Asia, have chosen to exempt long-term Bitcoin holdings from capital gains tax.

The Winds of Change: Lessons from Abroad

The Czech Republic recently made headlines when its Parliament overwhelmingly voted to exempt capital gains from Bitcoin and other crypto-asset sales from personal income tax—provided they’re held for more than three years and meet certain income thresholds. This is not an isolated event. Countries like Switzerland, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, El Salvador, Hong Kong, and parts of the Caribbean have long recognized that zero or minimal capital gains taxation on Bitcoin can help spur adoption, financial innovation, and consumer confidence.

As John F. Kennedy famously said, “A rising tide lifts all boats.” If we apply that logic to economic growth through Bitcoin, the tide is global—and it’s rising fast. In a sea awash with global liquidity and debt, America’s economic ship must navigate these digital currents. These nations’ policy choices—and their citizens’ increasing prosperity—send a powerful signal: The U.S. can and should leverage Bitcoin as a tool for growth, not burden it with outdated taxation models.

Trump’s Own Words: A Path to Prosperity

President Trump himself has indicated a willingness to rethink Bitcoin taxation. “They have them paying tax on crypto, and I don’t think that’s right,” he said in a recent interview, echoing the frustrations of millions of Americans who find it absurd to pay capital gains taxes after using Bitcoin to purchase something as small as a cup of coffee. “Bitcoin is money, and you have to pay capital gains tax if you use it to buy a coffee?” he asked rhetorically, highlighting how current laws discourage everyday transactions. He added, “Maybe we get rid of taxes on crypto and replace it with tariffs.”

This sentiment isn’t just rhetorical flourish. Trump, who spoke at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference in Nashville, proclaimed his vision for America to become the world’s “Bitcoin Superpower.” He’s also pledged to “Make Bitcoin in America,” turning the U.S. into a leading hub of Bitcoin innovation. Moreover, he appointed former PayPal Chief Operating Officer David Sacks as his ‘White House A.I. & Crypto Czar’ on December 5—a move widely seen as a step toward implementing forward-looking crypto policies.

The BITCOIN Act of 2024: A Strategic Reserve for the People

The U.S. has already taken monumental steps in this direction. The BITCOIN Act of 2024 mandates that all Bitcoin held by any federal agency be transferred to the Treasury to be held in a strategic Bitcoin reserve. Over five years, the Treasury must purchase one million Bitcoins, holding them in trust for the United States. This government-level accumulation shows a long-term vision for incorporating Bitcoin into national financial strategy. But why stop there? Eliminating capital gains tax on Bitcoin would create a positive feedback loop between national policy and personal prosperity. As the federal government invests and holds Bitcoin, private citizens could do the same without facing punitive tax obligations.

Serving the Everyday American

For everyday Americans, the cost of living and the sting of inflation were focal points of President Trump’s reelection campaign. Traditional strategies—interest rate manipulations, quantitative easing—often amount to rearranging deck chairs on a sinking ship when confronted with truly systemic economic challenges. Bitcoin offers a life raft—dare we say, a digital Noah’s Ark—for Americans trying to preserve and grow their wealth against the erosive forces of inflation. Removing capital gains taxes on Bitcoin would allow citizens to transact, invest, and save in a stable, finite asset without the drain of federal taxes on every incremental gain.

The ripple effect here is clear: More people adopting Bitcoin as a store of value and medium of exchange means stronger demand, which could further buttress the U.S. Treasury’s strategic holdings. It’s a virtuous cycle, a positive feedback loop. As Bitcoin’s value grows, so does the nation’s wealth base—helping pay down national debt, bolstering the dollar’s hegemony in global trade, and genuinely making Americans richer and more secure.

Why America Needs Bitcoin

Bitcoin is no longer a niche experiment reserved for a small band of enthusiasts. It has evolved into a mainstream, urgent priority for everyday Americans—especially the rising generation that will shape our nation’s future economy. This is not some ideological plea; it’s a practical, data-backed reality. According to the Stand With Crypto Alliance, a non-profit dedicated to transparent blockchain policies, more than 52 million Americans now own some form of cryptocurrency. Nearly nine in ten Americans believe the financial system needs updating, and 45% say they would not support candidates who stand in the way of crypto innovation. These numbers represent a sweeping, cross-partisan groundswell: Stand With Crypto’s research shows that 18% of Republicans, 22% of Democrats, and 22% of Independents hold crypto. This cuts through the usual tribal politics and points to a fundamental truth—Bitcoin is now a national policy talking point, not a side note on a fringe agenda.

The demand for America to lead is clear. 53% of Americans want crypto companies to be U.S.-based, ensuring that technological innovation and the wealth it generates remain on home soil. Among Fortune 500 executives, 73% prefer U.S.-based partners for their crypto and Web3 initiatives, signaling a corporate desire to keep America at the forefront of global financial progress.

Failing to act now risks a replay of past mistakes. America once led the world in advanced manufacturing, yet today 92% of the most sophisticated semiconductor production sits in Taiwan and South Korea. We cannot afford to cede the future financial landscape to other regions. Bitcoin isn’t just another investment class; it is the digital backbone of a rapidly evolving monetary system. If the U.S. wants to preserve its economic hegemony, maintain innovation leadership, and ensure everyday Americans have access to a stable, growth-oriented financial future, it must embrace Bitcoin wholeheartedly. In doing so, the nation can secure its place as the global Bitcoin superpower—uplifting our citizens, strengthening our economic base, and safeguarding our strategic interests in the 21st-century digital economy.

America, Charting the Course

By aligning with global best practices and enacting forward-thinking policies, the U.S. can position itself as a beacon of financial liberty and technical innovation. Eliminating capital gains tax on Bitcoin would signal to investors, entrepreneurs, and everyday citizens that America is serious about leading in the 21st century’s digital economy. It’s not just about being “Bitcoin-friendly”; it’s about ensuring that average Americans have the tools they need to navigate turbulent economic waters.

The complexity and inefficiency of taxing every digital transaction is an unnecessary burden on innovation and everyday life. Americans deserve better—they deserve the freedom to transact in a digital world without punitive oversight.

In essence, this is America’s chance to do what it has always done best: innovate, adapt, and lead. Removing capital gains taxes on Bitcoin wouldn’t just fulfill a campaign promise; it would set the stage for long-term prosperity, empower citizens to secure their financial futures, and cement the United States as the world’s foremost Bitcoin champion. A rising tide, indeed, lifts all boats—and what better vessel to embark upon than a Bitcoin Ark, captained by a visionary administration determined to truly Make America Great Again?