Authored by Joseph Lord and Terri Wu via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election was the result of demographic shifts that benefited Republicans.

Exit polling by Edison showed that Americans were more similar in their voting patterns this cycle than they were divided—the expected wide gaps based on gender, education, age, and race between Republicans and Democrats failed to materialize.

Trump ultimately was able to narrow these gaps vastly compared to 2020, concentrating on economic messaging that was compelling to a broad cross section of American political society.

Currently, the president-elect is projected to have carried all seven of the core swing states, bringing him up to a total of 312 electoral votes to Vice President Kamala Harris’s 226.

These charts show the shifts that gave Trump a second, nonconsecutive term in the White House.

Gender

This campaign season was unusually gendered in each campaign’s strategy.

Harris sought to target female voters, using the issue of abortion as a rallying point. Trump focused more on male voters, particularly young men, and appeared on podcasts popular with the demographic.

Thus, observers expected a substantial gender divergence that, ultimately, didn’t materialize.

In reality, Trump outperformed among both men and women, winning white men, white women, and Hispanic men outright and increasing

Education

Democrats have gained ground among wealthy, white, college-educated voters in recent years, and those trends continued in 2024.

This cycle, Harris gained among white college-educated voters, winning 17.2 percent of total votes cast for the presidential election from the group. President Joe Biden received 16.3 percent of his votes from the group in 2020, a 0.8 point shift. That’s unsurprising, as Harris targeted these voters.

Trump has also made gains for the GOP among non-college educated voters across racial groups.

Technically, Trump also lost a point of support from white non-college educated voters compared to 2020, though that’s within the exit poll’s margin of error.

But where he lost some among white voters, he gained among minority voters, including both those with and without college degrees.

Age

Traditionally, young people tend toward Democrats and older people veer more Republican.

That standard wisdom, however, was flipped on its head in this election: Harris underperformed with young voters, meaning those aged 18 to 29.

While Trump managed to win 18- to 24-year-old voters outright, 25- to 29-year-olds slightly favored Harris, bringing Trump’s total with the group to 43 percent—an increase of 7 percent compared to 2020.

At the same time, Harris made gains with older voters, winning voters aged 65 and older outright. The oldest voters reduced their support for Trump by around 3 percent, with 45 percent supporting the president-elect this cycle.

Race

Likewise, the Democratic coalition has historically relied on minority voters as a counterbalance to Republican-leaning white voters.

In this election, Trump again won among white voters outright, which was crucial to his sweeping victory, as the group made up nearly 71 percent of the electorate. White voters backing Trump accounted for 40.5 percent of the electorate versus Harris’s 29.1 percent.

However, Trump also made crucial inroads with other racial groups.

His vote share among blacks nudged up 1 percent in 2024 versus 2020, driven largely by shifts among black men.

Read the rest here…

Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) have issued a Saturday statement vowing to support Ukraine as long as it takes to defeat Russia, vowing to impose severe costs on Moscow, in line with prior Washington statements vowing to ‘weaken’ Russia.

This comes amid growing Western behind the scenes action to engage Putin on the diplomatic front, in response to President-elect Donald Trump preparing to enter the White House, where a top priority is to negotiate a swift end to the war in Ukraine. This coming Tuesday will mark 1,000 days since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

“Russia remains the sole obstacle to just and lasting peace,” the new joint statement says. It pledges to support more measures “in support of Kyiv as the thousandth day of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine approaches.”

The group major industrial countries consists of the US, France, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the UK. Currently Italy holds to the rotating presidency.

“The G7 confirms its commitment to imposing severe costs on Russia through sanctions, export controls and other effective measures. We stand united with Ukraine,” the statement added.

The European Union is a ‘non-enumerated’ member of the G7. The European Commission’s chief Ursula von der Leyen issued a simultaneous statement on X saying the “G7 reiterates its unflinching support to Ukraine.”

As we are nearing the 1000th day of Russia’s full-blown war, the G7 reiterates its unflinching support to Ukraine.

We’re committed to continue imposing severe costs on Russia through sanctions, export controls & other measures.

G7 partners stand with the brave Ukrainian nation.

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) November 16, 2024

“G7 partners stand with the brave Ukrainian nation,” von der Leyen concluded, at a moment there is widespread recognition that Russia is steadily advancing in the east, and will soon solidify control over the whole of the Donbass.

On the nuclear front, the Pentagon has issued a more measured and somewhat conciliatory statement in a report to Congress:

“The United States will abide by the central limits of the New START Treaty for the duration of the Treaty as long as it assesses that Russia continues to do so,” the Pentagon said in the report on the nuclear weapons employment strategy of the United States.

The US is also committed to future arms control with its nuclear-armed competitors, but any future accords will “need to account for US deterrence requirements and other strategic threats globally,” the report said.

Since Trump’s election the ratcheting nuclear rhetoric and warnings from the Russian side appear to have cooled. A key rationale of Trump’s team in making the case for a necessary and quick winding down of the war is that the West must avoid nuclear confrontation or a WW3 scenario with Russia at all costs.

War-weary populations across Europe and the West are also in favor of peace, all recent polling shows, and Trump has been given a clear mandate by US voters to seek a diplomatic end to the war.

President Zelensky has also admitted this past week that the war will likely end sooner under Trump. He is pressing for a “just peace” – but is unlikely to assent to anything without firm security guarantees from NATO countries. Still, Zelensky is warning allies not to appease Putin by hasty engagement on the diplomatic front. “What is needed are concrete, strong actions that will force him to peace, not persuasion and attempts at appeasement, which he sees as a sign of weakness and uses to his advantage,” a statement from Zelensky’s office said Friday.

Authored by Allen Zeng via The Epoch Times,

The election is finally over, marking a stunning victory for former President Trump, who not only won all swing states but also, for the first time in 20 years, secured the popular vote. This required changing the opinions of 7 percent of all voters—a whopping 10 million people! With the Senate and the House on his side, Trump now has a free hand to implement his policies.

However, the nation remains deeply divided, with no signs of healing. Media platforms like YouTube, cable TV, and TikTok are filled with attacks and counter-attacks. While Republicans have indeed won the majority, they are unable to reach out to the other 48 percent of voters who chose differently. The election still feels like an “I can overpower you” contest.

Does it have to be this way? Is there anything that can pull our nation together after such a bitterly fought election?

I still remember the moment former President Trump announced his presidential campaign at Mar-a-Lago in November 2022, just one week after the midterm election. It was a subdued event, a low point for Trump and his supporters, as they had just lost most of their battles—except for victories by J.D. Vance and Ron DeSantis, the latter of whom soon became Trump’s next political headache.

When Gov. DeSantis announced his own campaign four months later, touting his impressive midterm election results, Trump’s path back to the White House grew even murkier.

From then on, however, a stunning sequence of events unfolded.

In March 2023, Trump was indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for alleged hush money payments to an adult film star. Outraged, Trump’s supporters rallied, and his poll numbers surged by five percentage points.

Next came the classified documents indictment in June, followed by the Jan. 6 election interference indictment, the Georgia election interference case, the high-profile Mar-a-Lago raid in August, and the New York bank fraud case in October. Yet each of these misfortunes turned into blessings, raising Trump’s poll numbers by five percentage points each time. Soon, DeSantis found himself unable to keep up, trailing in Trump’s wake.

When Trump lost his bank fraud case and was hit with a nearly $500 million penalty, many thought it would bankrupt him. However, his Digital World Acquisition Corp. shareholders voted to acquire his Truth Social company and take it public, giving Trump a financial lifeline with nearly $2 billion in new wealth. Trump avoided a fall into the abyss and instead reached new heights.

The miracle continued. When he was shot at a rally in Butler in July 2024 but survived miraculously, rising to shout “Fight!” more than half the nation was awed by him, including former critics and foes like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. It was another instance of misfortune transforming into fortune.

Over the past two years, Donald Trump has repeatedly risen from the ashes, culminating in his landslide victory in November.

What does this unbelievable sequence of events tell us?

Now that the election is over, should it be reduced to the winning side laughing at the losing side and enjoying a four-year victory? What message might these sequence of events be trying to convey?

I believe that, at this moment, conservatives should reach deeper into the issues that divide us and seek common ground that can unify the nation. That common ground lies in the values and principles of this country.

These values and principles are embodied in the Constitution and, more importantly, in the vision of the Founding Fathers who crafted it. Despite the divisions in our country, the Constitution still holds a place of reverence. Why don’t we engage in dialogue within the framework established by the Constitution to address our profound differences?

One major issue of debate is inflation and how we should run our economy. Trump advocates for reducing business taxes, while Harris wants to increase them. Harris also wants to use federal funds to subsidize small businesses and support first-time home buyers.

The Founding Fathers believed in leaving the economy alone. They argued that the government should not attempt to “improve” the economy except to maintain market order. The free market itself is the most powerful force, knowing how to reward successful businesses and eliminate inefficient ones to achieve optimal outcomes. The Founding Fathers also warned against the federal government taking from the rich to give to the poor, as this would demotivate people from creating wealth and jobs, ultimately leading to widespread poverty. They even opposed a tiered tax system, as they saw it as the government taking on the role of a robber.

Another major issue concerns the border. Allowing an influx of illegal immigrants essentially changes our immigration policy—a mandate that belongs to Congress alone. The executive branch should faithfully enforce laws set by Congress and should never overstep its authority by using executive orders to rewrite laws.

Regarding the debate on abortion rights, the Founding Fathers clarified that the federal government was only granted 20 powers by the Constitution, which include maintaining national security, regulating international and interstate trade, overseeing immigration and naturalization, coining money, protecting patents, providing bankruptcy provisions, and running postal services, among others. These powers do not include dictating people’s personal choices, such as whether to practice abortion. When the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade two years ago, it wasn’t ruling against abortion per se. The high court was upholding the Constitution by relinquishing its power to make rulings on people’s personal lives and returning that authority to states and local governments. This principle is clear and should not even be a point of debate in a presidential election. If we examine our founding history, we’ll see this truth.

The Constitution also tells us that all of these principles are rooted in morality, faith, and natural law—the same foundations that have guided America through nearly 250 years to become the most successful and prosperous nation on Earth.

If we recognize that the Constitution remains the supreme law of this land, then we should explore it deeply enough to find the common ground established by the Founding Fathers for all of us today.

Conservatives, at this particular moment, are in a unique position to reconnect with our country’s roots—the founding principles—relearn them, and communicate them to the other side. In doing so, they could initiate a new way of thinking and begin healing our nation. I truly believe this is what God wants us to do, as demonstrated by the miracles seen in this election process.

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

Authored by Tom Ruck via RealClearDefense,

Following President Donald Trump’s extraordinary victory over Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden addressed the nation. His message was simple: “setbacks are unavoidable, but giving up is unforgivable,” and he concluded by saying, “may God protect our troops.”

Unfortunately for President Biden, however, many people in his party have given up on fighting for America and have even given up on supporting our troops. Indeed, this anti-American and anti-military sentiment in the Democratic party undoubtedly contributed to President Trump’s victory.

This is a shame because veterans represent the very best of America. From the sandy beaches of Normandy and the wet jungles of Vietnam to the hot deserts of Iraq and harsh mountains of Afghanistan, they have fought and died for our freedom. Their courage, honor, and selflessness are unmatched, and they should serve as an example for every American today, especially young people. 

With that in mind, in light of this recent Veteran’s Day, it is worth asking what our new president can do to restore a sense of gratitude in all Americans for our military servicemen and women.

There are many answers to that question, of course. For example, his administration could put a stop to the politicization of the military through wokeness, which would ensure that our veterans can be proud of the branches they served. Likewise, President Trump could use his bully pulpit to remind the American people of the virtues of our military men and women. This White House could also revisit its previous plans to build the National Garden of American Heroes, and honor some of our country’s greatest veterans there.

These are all excellent initiatives, but one of the simplest — and subtlest — ways that President Trump can restore respect for our troops and veterans is by preserving and enhancing the beauty of our national cemeteries. The United States and its territories contain 164 national cemeteries. Some are well-known, such as the Arlington National Cemetery and Gettysburg National Cemetery, and others are more inconspicuous, but each cemetery is — in the words of President Lincoln — “hallowed ground.”

My father is buried at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri, so I know from the personal experience of many visits that these cemeteries are more than places of rest — they are the final resting place of our country’s heroes and sacred symbols of American freedom.

We must never forget these men and women. We must also introduce a new generation of Americans to these cemeteries, as I am convinced that walking through those beautiful, straight, uniform rows of fallen soldiers is such a powerful experience that it could make any American grateful for our veterans.

To do this, President Trump cannot only ensure that these cemeteries are well maintained, he can promote programming that introduces Americans — especially young Americans — to the profound sacrifices that sustain our liberty. Hosting more roll-call events, concerts, and other community initiatives can help keep the spirt of service alive in the hearts of all Americans and change the minds of this new generation.

Doing so will not only give veterans the respect and honor they so thoroughly deserve, but it will also make our country better. Gratitude is the character trait that seems to be desperately missing from our national dialogue, but it doesn’t have to be this way. The first step to making America great again is remembering the greatest people in our country’s past: our veterans.

Preserving and enhancing our national cemeteries is an excellent way to do that. Next Veteran’s Day, visit a cemetery near you and say a prayer of thanks for the men and women that gave everything for our freedom.

Tom Ruck is the award-winning author of “Sacred Ground: A Tribute to America’s Veterans.”

President Biden’s nominee for Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), David Johnson, promised to tackle allegations of IRS misconduct, including politically motivated audits and unfair targeting of small businesses, during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee on Nov. 14. Johnson vowed to hold the IRS accountable for any abuse of power, ensuring that taxpayers are treated fairly.

At the hearing, Johnson addressed bipartisan concerns about the misuse of IRS authority, with lawmakers pressing him on the agency’s practices and adherence to directives aimed at protecting small businesses and low-income taxpayers from increased audit rates.

Political Targeting: A Top Priority

Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) kicked off the hearing by demanding to know how Johnson would address concerns about politically driven IRS actions.

“If you’re confirmed as Inspector General, what actions will you lead at TIGTA to ensure that Americans are not being targeted for audit or investigation based on their political affiliation?” Wyden asked.

Johnson pledged to investigate such allegations thoroughly, emphasizing the seriousness of any attempt to weaponize the IRS.

“I believe that one of the core responsibilities of any Inspector General, by statute, is to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse, and targeting of any American based on their political affiliation, to me, would be an extreme level of abuse,” Johnson replied. “Anybody ordering the IRS or asking the IRS to target political opponents or take action based on political identity would be an abuse of power and would be something that TIGTA would play a role in preventing.”

Johnson assured the committee that TIGTA would play a crucial role in preventing such practices, vowing to report findings to Congress and the public.

Small Business Owners Feeling the Squeeze

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) raised the alarm over IRS audit practices affecting small businesses, particularly those earning less than $400,000 annually. Citing a 2022 directive from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen promising not to increase audits for small businesses and lower-income households, Blackburn said her constituents remain skeptical.

“Several times on this committee, I’ve talked about the concerns that I hear from small businesses in Tennessee, and a lot of times this has to do with being wrongfully targeted by the IRS,” Blackburn said – pointing to a recent TIGTA report revealing that the IRS has yet to finalize key definitions, such as what qualifies as a “small business,” raising fears that audit rates could still rise. Blackburn pressed Johnson for a commitment to further review these audit processes.

“If you’re confirmed, will you commit to further reviewing these IRS audit processes to ensure compliance with that 2022 directive?” she asked.

Johnson agreed, pledging to follow up on TIGTA’s findings and brief Blackburn and other stakeholders on the results.

TIGTA Report Highlights Gaps in IRS Compliance

The TIGTA report referenced during the hearing painted a worrying picture of the IRS’s progress. While the agency has promised to shield small businesses from increased audits, delays in defining key terms and establishing a methodology jeopardize its ability to meet the directive’s requirements by fiscal year 2025.

The IRS has proposed defining small businesses as those with less than $10 million in assets, but this definition remains under discussion with no timeline for completion. TIGTA has urged the IRS to accelerate its efforts, warning that delays could lead to non-compliance with the 2022 directive.

In response, IRS Deputy Commissioner Douglas O’Donnell reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to the directive, noting steps to shift audit focus to high-income earners and large corporations.

“‘The Commissioner has publicly committed that the IRS will comply with the Secretary’s directive not to increase audit rates above historic levels for small businesses or households earning less than $400,000,” O’Donnell wrote in a July memorandum to TIGTA, adding that the IRS is working with Treasury to finalize the formal methodology for implementing the directive.

Small Businesses Still on Edge

Despite these assurances, Blackburn said small business owners remain uneasy. She highlighted constituents’ fears of being “entrapped” by the IRS amid concerns that increased funding for the agency—part of the Biden administration’s $80 billion IRS boost—has enabled the hiring of thousands of new tax enforcers.

Johnson acknowledged these fears, reiterating that TIGTA would ensure the IRS adheres to its promises. “Given that TIGTA has already issued a report on this very issue, it does seem appropriate for a follow-up,” he said.

As Johnson’s confirmation process continues, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle will be watching closely to see whether his tenure at TIGTA can restore confidence in an agency increasingly under scrutiny. With audit fears looming large over small businesses, Johnson’s pledge to safeguard taxpayers may be put to the test sooner rather than later.

Authored by Diana Furchtgott-Roth via RealClearEnergy,

At the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) in Azerbaijan, attendees are full of dire predictions that the world’s climate will worsen under President-elect Trump. But when Trump fulfills his campaign promises to increase U.S. oil and gas production and removes President Biden’s pause on new liquid natural gas exports, global emissions will likely decline rather than rise.

This is because exports of U.S. natural gas generally displace coal, reducing global CO2 emissions. Even Germany, Europe’s largest manufacturer, is using lignite coal (rather than the less-polluting bituminous coal) to deal with shortages of renewables now that it has closed its nuclear power plants and Russian gas is no longer available.

About 3 billion people in emerging economies lack electricity and running water, and cook over wood and dung. Natural gas power plants would reduce particulates from wood and dung and make the air cleaner. Under President Biden, the World Bank does not make loans for fossil fuel power plants.

More U.S. gas for export will lower prices of Russian and Qatari gas, harming countries that are invading Ukraine and tied to Iran. Prices are set based on future production, and even announcements of energy production will weaken America’s enemies.

Natural gas production has lowered U.S. emissions of CO2, which have declined by a billion metric tons over the past 16 years as natural gas has substituted for coal use in the generation of electricity. Over the same period, CO2 emissions in China have risen by 5 billion metric tons.

Between 2022 and 2023 US coal exports to Europe increased by 22% compared with the prior year. Because coal has more emissions than natural gas, it is surprising that Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has not asked for a pause in coal exports, only on natural gas exports.

America’s natural gas exports to Europe have been soaring since 2022, when Russia decreased the flow of natural gas. According to the Energy Information Administration, America exported an average of almost 12 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas in 2023, more than any other country.

Europe is America’s biggest customer, and in a phone call to President-elect Trump, European Union President Ursula von der Leyen suggested that US natural gas could replace Russian gas.

But even if America stopped all use of fossil fuels immediately, global temperatures would only be two-tenths of 1 degree Celsius by the year 2100, according to government models. This is because China, India, Africa, and Latin America are ramping up their use of coal to reach Western standards of living. China is home to large supplies of coal, but little natural gas, and uses its domestic coal supplies for generating electricity to power its global manufacturing capacity.

A second Trump administration will not only encourage production of natural gas but also faster permitting of pipelines and LNG terminals to move the natural gas from the interior of the country to the ports, and into export terminals to be shipped to Europe and Asia.

America’s natural gas production, at over 100 billion cubic feet per day, is greater than pre-pandemic levels, but production is primarily on private lands. It could have been even higher if Biden had not restricted leases on federal land and if pipeline approval were faster.

Trump’s energy plan includes permitting reform, allowing different sources of energy to compete on a level playing field, opening more lands to natural gas development, reversing Biden’s climate agenda, expediting nuclear technology, and protecting the energy grid.

Trump, unlike Biden, will not instruct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to slow down pipeline and liquid natural gas export terminal construction in the name of a transition to renewables. Nor will Trump instruct the Securities and Exchange Commission to discourage investment in pipelines, or the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to discourage loans for fossil fuel projects.

The more natural gas is exported, the lower are global emissions. With Trump’s changes, natural gas will be able to travel to where it is needed due to faster infrastructure permitting.

As the northern hemisphere moves into its winter season, the need for more energy for warming homes and businesses becomes even more pressing, and natural gas is cleaner than coal. COP29 attendees have no reason to demonize Trump’s energy agenda, which will be a boon to the environment.

Diana Furchtgott-Roth serves as the Director of the Center for Energy, Climate, and Environment and The Herbert and Joyce Morgan Fellow in Energy and Environmental Policy at The Heritage Foundation. 

Two camps have emerged between top contenders for President-elect Donald Trump’s next Treasury secretary.

On one side, Elon Musk and RFK Jr. are pushing for Howard Lutnick, with Musk praising the Cantor FItzgerald CEO as a disruptor compared to Key Square Group (and George Soros protégé) Scott Bessent – the latter of whom met with Trump on Friday, and has the backing of many including noted investor Kyle Bass.

“Scott Bessent is eminently more qualified than Howard Lutnick to run the U.S. Treasury,” said Bass in a Wednesday post on X. “Scott understands markets, economics, people, and geopolitics better than anyone I’ve ever interacted with. Markets have already anticipated a Bessent choice. Lutnick is not Trump’s answer.”

In response, RFK Jr. suggested that Lutnick – who is currently working as co-chair of Trump’s transition team, would be a strong advocate for Bitcoin – which he described as “a hedge against inflation for middle class Americans,a remedy against the dollar’s downgrade from the world’s reserve currency, and the offramp from a ruinous national debt.”

Bitcoin is the currency of freedom , a hedge against inflation for middle class Americans,a remedy against the dollar’s downgrade from the world’s reserve currency, and the offramp from a ruinous national debt. Bitcoin will have no stronger advocate than Howard Lutnik.

— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) November 16, 2024

Musk suggested more people weigh in on the decision, but said he views Bessent as “a business-as-usual choice,” while Lutnick “will actually enact change.”

Would be interesting to hear more people weigh in on this for @realDonaldTrump to consider feedback.

My view fwiw is that Bessent is a business-as-usual choice, whereas @howardlutnick will actually enact change.

Business-as-usual is driving America bankrupt, so we need change… https://t.co/igGLZOJ8wz

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 16, 2024

According to Bloomberg, the choice is ‘creating tension and increasing the chance that another candidate rises up,’ citing anonymous people familiar with the decision making.

Trump himself has appeared frustrated with the infighting and staff are looking for alternatives, with Robert Lighthizer, Senator William Hagerty and Apollo Global Management Inc. Chief Executive Officer Marc Rowan among the names in the mix.

Lutnick was a key support to Trump’s fundraising in the final months of the campaign and he has helped lead the team’s transition to the presidency. Because of that, some key advisers are looking at what else Lutnick might take — if not Treasury — such as a plum ambassadorship, according to people familiar with the decision. –Bloomberg

That said, Lutnick previously donated to both Hillary Clinton in 2015 and Kamala Harris’ Senate campaign in 2016, among others.

Ultimately, the choice is up to Trump – who hasn’t shared his opinion in public.

Authored by Rudy Blalock via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

There were 757 reports of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) accounted for between May 2023 and June 2024, according to an unclassified Department of Defense (DoD) report released Thursday.

Congress mandated the annual report by the DoD’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), which is tasked with studying and cataloging reports of UAPs, formerly referred to as UFOs.

The report said that AARO received 757 UAP reports from May 1, 2023, to June 1, 2024, of which “485 of these reports featured UAP incidents that occurred during the reporting period. The remaining 272 reports featured UAP incidents that occurred between 2021 and 2022 but were not reported to AARO until this reporting period and consequently were not included in previous annual UAP reports.”

The new findings bring the total number of UAP cases under AARO review to more than 1,600 as of June.

AARO Director Dr. Jon Kosloski said at a Nov. 14 media briefing the findings have left investigators puzzled.

“There are interesting cases that I, with my physics and engineering background and time in the IC [intelligence community], I do not understand. And I don’t know anybody else who understands them either,” Kosloski said.

Some cases were later resolved, with 49 determined to be common objects like balloons, birds, and unmanned aerial systems. Another 243, also found to be ordinary objects, were recommended for closure by June. However, 444 were deemed inexplicable and lacking sufficient data, so they were archived for future investigation.

Notably, 21 cases were considered to “merit further analysis” due to anomalous characteristics and behaviors, unlike typical sightings.

Despite the unexplained incidents, the office noted that it “has discovered no evidence of extraterrestrial beings, activity, or technology.”

The report said UAP cases often had consistent patterns, described with unidentified lights and round, spherical, or orb-shaped objects with distinct visual traits.

Of the new cases, 81 were reported in U.S. military operating areas, and three reports from military aircrews described “pilots being trailed or shadowed by UAP”.

The Federal Aviation Administration reported 392 unexplained sightings of the 757 reports since 2021.

In one such case, the AARO resolved a commercial pilot’s sighting of white flashing lights as a Starlink satellite launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

“AARO is investigating if other unresolved cases may be attributed to the expansion of the Starlink and other mega-constellations in low earth orbit,” the report states.

The AARO report maintains that none of the resolved cases have substantiated “advanced foreign adversarial capabilities or breakthrough aerospace technologies.” The document also states that the AARO will immediately notify Congress if any cases indicate such, which could suggest extraterrestrial involvement.

The report emphasized the AARO’s “rigorous scientific framework and a data-driven approach” and safety measures while investigating these phenomena.

UAP Hearing

The report was released a day after a House Oversight Committee hearing titled “Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Exposing the Truth,” during which witnesses alleged government secrecy surrounding the phenomenon.

During the hearing, a former DoD official, Luis Elizondo, said UAPs are real.

“Advanced technologies not made by our government or any other government are monitoring sensitive military installations around the globe,” he said.

Elizondo testified that the government has operated secret programs to retrieve UAP crash materials to identify and reverse-engineer alien technology.

“Furthermore, the U.S. is in possession of UAP technologies, as are some of our adversaries. I believe we are in the midst of a multi-decade secretive arms race, one funded by misallocated taxpayer dollars and hidden from our elected representatives and oversight bodies,” he said.

“Although much of my government work on the UAP subject still remains classified, excessive secrecy has led to grave misdeeds against loyal civil servants, military personnel, and the public, all to hide the fact that we are not alone in the cosmos.

“A small cadre within our own government involved in the UAP topic has created a culture of suppression and intimidation that I have personally been victim to, along with many of my former colleagues.”

Authored by Steve Watson via modernity.news,

The irrelevant legacy media is currently fixated on pushing the narrative that President-elect Trump’s cabinet nominees are not qualified to take the positions he has offered them.

As we highlighted yesterday, all the right people are pissed off about it.

Rachel Maddow, who is still adamant Trump is going to put her in a concentration camp, claimed that he is intentionally destroying the government with his cabinet nominations.

Now here’s a quick reminder that the media said nothing when Joe Biden made some truly incomprehensible nominations.

As the media and Democrats attack Trump’s nominees—RFK Jr, Tulsi Gabbard, Matt Gaetz etc—let’s take a look at how unqualified Biden’s nominees are for their jobs –

Xavier Becerra, HHS – not a doctor, he’s a lawyer, ex-attorney general of California

Jared Bernstein, Chair of…

— Elizabeth MacDonald (@LizMacDonaldFOX) November 15, 2024

The post continues:

Jared Bernstein, Chair of Council of Economic Advisors – not an economist, Bachelor’s degree in music, masters in sociology 

Pete Buttigieg, Transportation Secretary – no transportation background, Mayor of Indiana, “pothole Pete”

Mayorkas, DHS Secretary  – no security background, lawyer, Asst U.S. attorney, Obama transition team 

Jennifer Granholm, Energy Secy –  no energy background, Michigan Governor

Gina Raimondo, Commerce Secretary – No trade background, Gov of Rhode Island

Deb Haaland, Interior Secy – New Mexico Congressman 

And just for kicks…Bill Nye, the environmentalist “Science Guy” — no background in environmentalism or science, he’s a mechanical engineer and comedy writer.

Just look at this crew:

pic.twitter.com/k59qBLEWLX

— Cindy (@asheborn57) November 15, 2024

Sam Brinton is a LGBTQ activist who was hired to the office of nuclear energy. They he was later fired for being weird and stealing other people’s clothes and integrating them into their his wardrobe.

Former US Government official, Sam Brinton has been accused of stealing Tanzanian Fashion Designer, Asyakhamsin’s luggage in 2018.

Sam has been wearing her costumes to events. pic.twitter.com/SBaxZV4k2s

— Africa Facts Zone (@AfricaFactsZone) February 24, 2023

Then there’s Choo choo Pete. His only qualification was that he liked trains as a child.

Transportation secretary nominee Pete Buttigieg says he’s had “a personal love of transportation ever since childhood…though I know that in this administration I will at best aspire to be the second biggest train enthusiast around.” https://t.co/Htk1eGXy8t pic.twitter.com/tX48fXdEoO

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) December 16, 2020

He wasn’t experienced in the slightest.

That’s not fair. Mayor Pete loved choo choos.

— Karl Dierenbach (@Dierenbach) November 15, 2024

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, who never held any position relating to energy and doesn’t have any qualifications regarding energy just consistently pushed the new green deal agenda and railed against American energy production for four years.

Energy Secretary Granholm secretly consulted with a top Chinese Communist energy official before the release of 50 million barrels of oil from the SPR, the largest release of its kind in US history at the time.
pic.twitter.com/FA6VQYW1ll

— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) August 4, 2023

She also presided over a culture of corruption where senior DOE employees trade and own stocks related to the agency’s work, as well as  lying about her personal stock holdings.

She’s also not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

I was in the Michigan National Guard during Granholm’s term. The one thing I remember clearly August 2005 she came to Camp Grayling and said for soldiers to go to Iraq, is like athletes going to the Olympics.

— Cranky Veteran🇺🇸 (@AndyCazzola) November 15, 2024

There was also cackles Kamala. Where do we even start with her? Perhaps the most unqualified person for Vice President ever.

“ Xavier Becerra, HHS – not a doctor, he’s a lawyer, ex-attorney general of California ”

Well Whaddya Know? Just like Karmella!😂😂😂

— NonProgressive NYer🇺🇸 ✝️🇮🇱 (@Declassified66) November 15, 2024

You can’t even compare Trump’s cabinet picks to this parade of clowns.

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Donald Trump has nominated Chris Wright, who runs the Colorado-based oil and natural gas fracking services company, Liberty Energy, to lead the Energy Department. Like many other Trump picks, Wright, LIberty’s CEO, has no previous Washington experience, and instead has made a name for himself as a vocal proponent of oil and gas, saying fossil fuels are crucial for spreading prosperity and lifting people from poverty. And in news that will surely infuriate the green lobby and brainwashed progressives everywhere, Wright has said that the threat of global warming is exaggerated.

“Chris has been a leading technologist and entrepreneur in Energy,” Trump said in a statement Saturday. “He has worked in Nuclear, Solar, Geothermal, and Oil and Gas. Most significantly, Chris was one of the pioneers who helped launch the American Shale Revolution that fueled American Energy Independence, and transformed the Global Energy Markets and Geopolitics.”

In response to the nomination, Wright said on X that “my dedication to bettering human lives remains steadfast, with a focus on making American energy more affordable, reliable, and secure. Energy is the lifeblood that makes everything in life possible. Energy matters.  I am looking forward to getting to work.” He is spot on.

I am honored and grateful for the opportunity from @realDonaldTrump to serve our country as U.S. Secretary of Energy. My dedication to bettering human lives remains steadfast, with a focus on making American energy more affordable, reliable, and secure. Energy is the lifeblood… pic.twitter.com/IfjMQw9xKi

— Chris Wright (@ChrisAWright_) November 16, 2024

Trump said Wright, if confirmed, would also sit on the newly formed Council of National Energy that will be chaired by Doug Burgum, Trump’s nominee to lead the Interior Department.

The Energy Department has a multi-faceted mission that includes helping to maintain the nation’s nuclear warheads, studying supercomputers and maintaining the US’s several hundred million-barrel stockpile of crude oil (his appointment likely means that the US will aggressively ramp up its refilling of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve). The DOE also plays a key role in approving projects to export liquefied natural gas, something that was paused during Biden’s administration. Trump has vowed to undo the pause.

While the department has little authority over oil and gas development, Wright will play a leading role in helping Trump carry out his energy priorities.

Trump’s selection of Wright, whose company is among the largest providers of fracking services globally, is a show of support for the hot-button oil and gas extraction method that Trump frequently touted during the campaign to attack his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris who had previously vowed to ban fracking, even if she subsequently flip-flopped on the issue, just like on every other hot topic.

Elsewhere, Bloomberg points out that Wright’s company published a 180-page paper this year that concluded climate change “is far from the world’s greatest threat to human life,” and that “hydrocarbons are essential to improving the wealth, health, and life opportunities for the less energized.”

“There is no climate crisis. And we are not in the midst of an energy transition either,” Wright said in a video posted on his LinkedIn page. “Humans, and all complex life on earth, is simply impossible without carbon dioxide — hence the term carbon pollution is outrageous.”

Wright holds engineering degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California at Berkeley. He describes himself on his Denver-based company’s website as a “tech nerd turned entrepreneur and a dedicated humanitarian.”

Trump named Wright with backing from Continental Resources Chairman Harold Hamm, a Trump energy adviser and donor. Hamm said in an interview with the Houston-based trade publication Hart Energy that Wright was his choice for the job.

If confirmed by Congress, Wright would play a leading role in Trump carrying out his campaign pledge to declare a national emergency on energy. Trump has cast such a declaration as helping increase domestic energy production — including for electricity — which he says is needed to help meet booming power needs for artificial intelligence.

Under the first Trump administration, the Energy Department played a critical role in the president-elect’s efforts to revive US coal power, an initiative he’s hinted he may attempt again.

Wright would also oversee Trump’s promise to refill the nation’s emergency cache of crude oil. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which has a capacity of more than 700 million barrels, reached lows not seen since the 1980s following the Biden administration’s unprecedented drawdown of a record 180 million barrels in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

While Wright has warned that subsidies for wind and solar drive up power prices and increase grid instability, he does support alternative energy.

“I’m not here to protect market share for oil gas,” he said during a 2022 interview with Bloomberg Television. “We should do credible things, mostly driven by market forces. But shoveling subsidies at wind and solar, which are 3% of global energy, that’s not meaningfully going to change greenhouse gas emissions. But it is going to drive electricity prices up.”

Wright is on the board EMX Royalty Corp., a global mining royalties firm, according to his company bio, and his company is an investor in geothermal energy and sodium-ion battery technology. More importantly, Wright serves on the board of small modular reactor developer Oklo, which we first recommended to our premium subscribers back in May and have pushed aggressively every since as a long-term investment.

Dear OKLO shorts, good luck pic.twitter.com/JTigwrSJVY

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) October 2, 2024

We have feeling that the record number of OKLO shorts that has been built up in recent weeks amid the stock’s unprecedented meltup will be hurting very badly come Monday.