Kamala Harris is toast.  The political spin has been crushed underfoot.  The polls were wrong (again) and the presidential race wasn’t even close.  But Harris’ defeat is only a symbol of something much bigger; the national repudiation of an elitist system that has long thrived on the public worship of false idols.

The narrative throughout the Joe Biden campaign was that the old ghoul was “sharp as a tack”.  That fantasy was quickly exposed to the masses in a single election debate.  The Harris campaign narrative was that Democrats are the “party of joy”, and they tried real hard to sell this illusion using a horde of celebrities and legacy media talking heads as a foil. 

It’s difficult to artificially generate joy.  But beyond that, the era of the celebrity endorsement is long gone.  Americans don’t care anymore and this seems to be confounding the progressive media.  According to them Harris ran a “flawless campaign”.  Joy Reid argued that with the number of celebrity endorsements Harris received her victory should have been assured.

JOY REID: Kamala Harris was a “historic, flawlessly run” campaign pic.twitter.com/sJMhcfVYxO

— HOT SPOT (@HotSpotHotSpot) November 6, 2024

Kamala even had the cast of The Avengers on her side.  The problem is that The Avengers and Harris never presented a valid economic policy plan, which is what the public really cares about.

THESE PEOPLE ARE OUT OF TOUCH WITH REALITY
The Avengers cast held a group call to encourage everyone to vote for Kamala Harris. pic.twitter.com/l33Ij1R50k

— 🇺🇸Land Of ILLUSION🇺🇸 (@Landofillusion1) November 1, 2024

Though one could argue that the Trump campaign also highlighted their celebrity endorsements (or that Trump’s TV stardom years ago is an example of celebrity power), the difference is that actors and pop stars were central to Kamala’s presidential run while they were a side note for Trump.  He didn’t need Hollywood to rally for him. 

There is an assumption by media pundits that movie star endorsements are somehow organic; but actors and singers can be bought.  Rumors abound that both Biden and Harris were paying big money to social media influencers in the early days of the election cycle and it’s a fair bet that they were doing the same thing with celebrity mascots. 

How much Harris campaign money was flowing into the pockets of these people?  Recent reports indicate that the Biden/Harris camp generated double the amount of donations that Trump received, yet she spent so much bread her campaign is now allegedly $20 million in debt.  If this is true then it highlights the incredible expense involved in creating fake joy, as well as the pointlessness of the Hollywood cult.

In other words, they can’t buy hype anymore. 

Cash might have been a big motivator for celebrities to jump on the Kamala bandwagon, but there’s also the issue of impending investigations into Hollywood’s degeneracy and pedophilia.  With Trump in office there will be increasing public demands for the release of the Esptein client lists as well as the exposure of the alleged Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs tapes.  Trump is likely to oblige.

Finally, the residents of Tinsel Town are notorious for living within a bubble of ideological delusion.  It’s true that decades ago celebrities had far more influence on the opinions of the general public, and perhaps they think they’re still living in that “golden” era.  It’s simply not the case, as the latest election proves.  The realization is hitting them like a ton of bricks.

TRUMP IS NOT A LEGITIMATE PRESIDENT. pic.twitter.com/Vbwg1xKEeh

— jc ★ (@buttaflyku) November 6, 2024

Narcissists cannot handle the revelation that they are irrelevant, and so they quickly become unhinged.

Kathy Griffin isn’t coping well pic.twitter.com/uICbCMWQ0k

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 7, 2024

The political left roots itself in the idea that they are the core of culture and they pride themselves on being the gatekeepers for what the public sees and hears.  They have long sought to dominate popular media through subversion and they’ll often brag about their success in infiltrating every corner of the entertainment industry.  But does any of this matter anymore?  Ricky Gervais answers this question in brilliant parody.

“Hey guys, I’m a celebrity, I know everything about stuff like Science & Politics – so trust me when I tell you who to vote for”

“If you don’t vote my way it’s like a hate crime, it makes me sad”

The ever Brilliant Ricky Gervais mocking the corrupt Hollywood Diddy Party… pic.twitter.com/uXjJrTjw7G

— Concerned Citizen (@BGatesIsaPyscho) November 1, 2024

The alternative media today is dominating the establishment media.  Celebrities, once living behind a carefully crafted marketing image, are now exposed on social media as the dunces they really are.  Trump’s latest victory in the face of the La La Land army might just herald the total destruction of old Hollywood regime.  

Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

To reverse the damage wrought by financialization, we must reverse financialization.

The post-election hope that festering problems can now be solved doesn’t seem to extend to unaffordable housing and homeless encampments, two blights on the socio-economic landscape. Perhaps this reflects a sense that these blights aren’t readily fixable, or an unsure grasp of the causes of these blights.

Let’s focus on the primary cause that led to unaffordable housing and homeless encampments. There are many contributing factors, of course, such as the NIMBY (not in my back yard) restrictions on new housing, the soaring cost of construction permits, materials and labor, and so on, but all these factors are subservient to one: financialization, which enriched the wealthy and incentivized them to pursue housing not as shelter for their family but as a low-risk investment that generates income and capital appreciation.

As the wealth to be parked in assets exploded to unprecedented heights, those seeking housing as an investment outbid those seeking housing as shelter. As demand generated by financialized investment pushed housing valuations higher, the wealthy gained more capital to be sunk into housing, creating a virtuous cycle of increasing demand and higher valuations.

Those without substantial portfolios of stocks and housing could no longer afford a home as shelter.

Lest you think this is an exaggeration, consider An estimated 26% of Fort Worth’s single family homes are owned by companies, city says. That is a non-trivial percentage of homes owned by corporations, and this doesn’t include homes owned as rentals / short-term rentals (AirBNBs) by wealthy individuals, households, trusts, etc. So up to one-third of all single family homes being owned by investors of one type or another in desirable regions is not unreasonable.

Note that this is 26% of single-family homes, not rental apartments. For context, the U.S. has about 145 million housing units, 15 million of which are unoccupied (second homes, available for rent, rarely occupied, left empty, etc.) 82 million single-family homes of which 68 million are owner-occupied, and about 45 million rental households.

The flood of capital seeking housing created a wave of gentrification that wiped out remaining pockets of low-cost housing. Cheap housing was available in undesirable neighborhoods until financialization created trillions of dollars seeking assets that could be snapped up, renovated and sold or rented at a profit.

Once small landlords learned that studio apartments in the newly renovated flophouse were now renting for $2,000 a month, they naturally raised their rents to “market.” Gentrification–driven by financialization–pushed rents higher, too.

With all the cheap rental housing gentrified, those on the margins ended up on the street. This includes addicts and those suffering from mental illness, but it also includes people who fell on hard times who were now priced out of any shelter other than an underpass or sidewalk.

Let’s tell the story in charts. Here is the Case-Shiller housing index, which shows the 2007-8 housing bubble as a modest blip compared to the current financialization-driven Everything Bubble which has pushed housing valuations out of reach in desirable (i.e. places with plenty of jobs) regions.

Measured by per capita–how many housing units are there per person in the U.S.–there is no housing shortage, as the number of housing units per capita has never been higher.

Wealth and income equality in the U.S. tracks the global asymmetries shown here: the top 10% collect half the income and own 76% of the wealth / assets. (In the U.S., the top 10% own 90% of all stocks.)

Non-bank financial assets are a proxy for financialization, which rose by roughly $50 trillion since the 2009 financial crisis.

The wealth held by the top 0.01% soared by $7 trillion just since 2019, topping $20 trillion. If this elite’s wealth had only risen with inflation. it would be around $4.3 trillion rather than $20 trillion. The increase far above inflation was generated by financialization.

All the monetary and fiscal stimulus, the super-low interest rates and massive appreciation of assets didn’t do much for America’s bottom 50% of households, who saw their share of the nation’s financial wealth fall from 3% in 2010 to 2.6% as tens of trillions of wealth were added to the swollen portfolios of the top 10%–wealth that sought a safe haven in housing.

Financialization has widened the gap between the top 10% and the bottom 50% to the kind of extreme asymmetry that typically presages social upheaval.

To reverse the damage wrought by financialization, we must reverse financialization. Doing anything other than this will have little effect, for no matter how many new homes are built, the wealth of the top 10% will have increased such that they will easily outbid mere wage-earners for the new housing. Building more homes for the wealthy to snap up with their ballooning wealth won’t address the root cause of unaffordable housing and homeless encampments: financialization.

Gordon Long and I discuss The Slow Death of the Single Family Home (30:57 min) in this new podcast.

To further the discussion of the opportunities and limits of state power, I’m making my 2018 book Pathfinding Our Destiny free (Kindle ebook) from November 7 to November 9. Yes, the book is now in the “free box” out on the sidewalk until Saturday, 11/9/24.

I was invited to discuss the upsides and downsides of central planning on two recent podcasts:

Charles Hugh Smith on The failure(s) of central planning across the globe (42:56 min) Host Rob S. of the Contrarian Capitalist (Substack)

*  *  *

Become a $3/month patron of my work via patreon.com.

Subscribe to my Substack for free

A Total Linhas Aereas 737-400 freighter was destroyed on Saturday morning after a fire ripped through the aircraft’s cargo hold. The freighter was forced to make an emergency landing at Sao Paulo Guarulhos International Airport in Brazil. 

X user Breaking Aviation News & Videos reported the incident earlier this morning. Footage shows the 737-400 freighter was a total loss. 

Here’s more from the aviation news outlet: 

Total Linhas Aereas 737-400 freighter destroyed by a cargo hold fire after making an emergency landing at Sao Paulo Guarulhos International Airport in Brazil.

Three vehicles from the airport’s own fire brigade and another five from the Fire Department worked to fight the flames on the airport runway. At around 7 am, firefighters were already doing the rescue work and removing the cargo from the plane.

The Center for Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (Cenipa) said it will investigate the causes of the fire and forced landing. No injuries reported during the accident.

Total Linhas Aereas 737-400 freighter destroyed by a cargo hold fire after making an emergency landing at Sao Paulo Guarulhos International Airport in Brazil.

Three vehicles from the airport’s own fire brigade and another five from the Fire Department worked to fight the flames… pic.twitter.com/sPbeuo05uH

— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) November 9, 2024

Given the location of the fire in the cargo hold, one can only speculate about the potential for an electronic device to have malfunctioned, especially if it was equipped with lithium-ion batteries. Still, without a proper investigation, it’s only speculation.

📷 @EBaviation pic.twitter.com/gasnY8XKAn

— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) November 9, 2024

The incident comes days after Western security officials told the Wall Street Journal that “two incendiary devices, shipped via DHL, were part of a covert Russian operation that ultimately aimed to start fires aboard cargo or passenger aircraft flying to the US and Canada.”

What is clear for the air freight industry is that handling increasing volumes of electronic goods is fraught with danger.  

Authored by Petr Svab via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

News Analysis

President-elect Donald Trump has many people to thank for winning the election, but near the top of the list should be his young voters, who moved in great numbers toward the Republican since his last election in 2020.

While four years ago Gen Z—those aged 18–29—voted for President Joe Biden by a 25-point margin, this time around, they broke for Vice President Kamala Harris by six points only, according to an AP VoteCast exit poll.

A slight majority of Gen Z men, 49–47, went for Trump, according to the Edison Research exit poll.

There are multiple factors that likely caused that shift. Some quantifiable, others hardly so.

Elon Musk

While billionaire Elon Musk burned a chunk of his popularity by endorsing Trump, he remained popular among Gen Z with 25-point net favorability in an October YouGov survey compared to a 5-point net favorability overall.

Yet it may be less his technological accomplishments such as Tesla and SpaceX and more his online persona that young voters find likable. Musk often expresses himself in memes and with pop culture references popular with Gen Z. He also places a premium on authenticity—a trait appealing to Gen Z.

Last year, when interviewed by CNBC, Musk was asked why he shares his opinions online even when he knew many people wouldn’t like them and it has had some negative effects on his companies.

Musk paused for 12 seconds and then replied:

“You know, I’m reminded of the scene of the ‘Princess Bride’—great movie—where he confronts the person who killed his father and he says, ‘Offer me money, offer me power. I don’t care.’ … I’ll say what I want to say and if the consequence of that is losing money, so be it.”

While the 1987 movie came out many years before Gen Z was born, it’s the source of a number of popular memes Gen Z is familiar with.

Musk also has some bona fides with the gamer community. Just a day before the election, he divulged during his interview with popular podcaster Joe Rogan that he was among the top-rated Diablo 4 players, though the ranking is unofficial.

Memes

Trump appears to have an uncanny ability to produce meme-able content. Starting with his “you’re fired” trope on “The Apprentice” reality show, to his “you’d be in jail” jab during the 2016 presidential debate with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, through to his YMCA dance he has repeated on stage during his rallies, he has become a part of the meme culture.

During his debate with Harris, Trump said that Haitian immigrants were eating dogs and cats, a claim based on a handful of unconfirmed anecdotes. People turned his comments into songs and memes that quickly went viral. Even when the original intent was to mock Trump in many cases, his supporters embraced the meme, which then became the highlight of the entire debate.

After his election win, some people expressed the sentiment online that, although they may not agree with Trump, they are happy for the memes his presidency will likely produce.

The Harris campaign also had several viral moments, such as running with the comment by British pop singer Charli XCX that Harris was a “brat” or memes based on a quote she attributed to her mother last year: “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?”

Those moments, however, seemed to have quickly faded, compared to some of the Trump memes that have been reused and resurfaced for years.

Podcasts

During his last several months campaigning, Trump gave more than a dozen podcast interviews, including long-form talks with Lex Fridman and Rogan. He also joined the “Bussin’ With The Boys” and Theo Von shows.

Podcasts are a popular source of information for Gen Z. They allow for a less scripted setting, which fits Gen Z’s preference for authenticity.

Harris gave several such interviews too, appearing on the “Call Her Daddy” show with Alex Cooper as well as the “All the Smoke” podcast and several radio shows. Her appearances, however, were shorter and more sporadic.

Read the rest here…

Axios has revealed on Friday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was greeted with a surprise extra guess during his phone call with President-Elect Donald Trump on Wednesday. Elon Musk was unexpectedly on the line with Trump, which strongly suggests the billionaire SpaceX, Tesla, and X owner might be included in the second Trump administration.

The some 25-minute call included Musk personally reassuring to Zelensky that he’ll continue to provide Starlink satellites and accompanying service to Ukraine. This has been seen as absolutely crucial for communications for the war-ravaged country and its military.

Trump reiterated general ‘support’ to Ukraine but without much detail. New or future defense aid was not discussed, and Trump didn’t give any indication of whether he would continue it or not.

Still, Zelensky was reportedly ‘reassured’ by what he heard from Trump. Zelensky was apparently also relieved that the phone call was held so quickly after Trump’s election, and given that the president-elect has yet to speak to Vladimir Putin.

According to more detail provided by Axios:

Three sources briefed on the call all told Axios that Zelensky felt the call went well and that it did not increase his anxiety about Trump’s victory. One source said it “didn’t leave Zelensky with a feeling of despair.”

Zelensky came away thinking that Ukraine would not have to “pay the price” in a negative sense, under Trump policy regarding the Russia-Ukraine war. Axios reports further: 

• According to three sources with knowledge of that meeting, Trump told Zelensky he would not abandon Ukraine, but wants to give diplomacy a chance.
• “I promise you will be happy with me,” Trump told Zelensky during that meeting, according to a source with knowledge. The Trump campaign declined to comment on Wednesday’s call or the previous meeting.

Thus it appears tensions are somewhat mended after Trump while on the campaign trail called out Zelensky as the “greatest salesman on earth” for the billions in US aid which has continually flowed to Ukraine.

The Ukrainians finally appear ready to at least participate in talks with Moscow, but Kiev officials have indicated that they assume Putin will seek to sabotage them, and prolong the war.

An LA Times account of the call involving Trump, Musk, and Zelensky, described that Musk was not on the phone for the entirety of the conversation:

The person, who was not authorized to comment on the matter publicly, confirmed that Zelensky and Musk spoke during the call with Trump, but that Musk did not appear to be on the line for the entire conversation on Wednesday. Trump seemingly handed his phone over to Musk, the person said, and the Ukrainian president thanked the SpaceX owner for assisting his country with access to the Starlink satellite internet platform.

The mainstream media is not happy that “Trump insider” Musk played a part in the Trump-Zelensky call…

CNN: Elon Musk, who Dana refers to as “Trump insider”, joined in on a phone call between President Trump and Ukraine president Zelensky.

Dana Bash seems devastated at the end. 😂

Watch: pic.twitter.com/fxHHqsb9y7

— Charles Weber (@CWBOCA) November 8, 2024

It will be interesting to see whether Trump sticks to his campaign vow of quickly jump-starting peace talks. There will very likely be individuals placed within his cabinet or elsewhere in his administration who don’t see eye to eye with this approach, especially if it comes down to pushing Kiev to give up territory in Eastern Ukraine.

Liberal elites in Brussels talked a big game when former President Trump was out of office, yet as soon as he won the historic election earlier this week, these elites are now, quite literally, kissing his ass to avoid a trade war. 

At a press conference on Friday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU still purchases significant amounts of energy from Russia.

She then asked: “Why not replace it by American LNG, which is cheaper for us and brings down our energy prices? It’s something where we can get into a discussion, also [where] our trade deficit is concerned.”

NEW: President of the European Union commission says they want to start buying oil from the United States and not Russia.

Trump wins the election and the world falls in line. Remarkable.

“We still get a lot of [liquified natural gas] from Russia, and why not replace it by… pic.twitter.com/E6OwSN6UrR

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 8, 2024

Von der Leyen’s comment about the ability to ramp up American LNG purchases was in response to a comment about how the EU can avoid trade war disputes when Trump returns to the White House on Jan. 20. 

Here’s more color from Politico on von der Leyen’s kind gesture to Trump to avoid a tit-for-tat trade war…

It is likely that von der Leyen is taking her inspiration for a potential deal from her predecessor Jean-Claude Juncker, who engineered a highly cosmetic truce with Trump in 2018.

During the first Trump term, Juncker avoided more tariffs by assuring the US president that Europe would facilitate more imports of liquefied natural gas (and more American soybeans.) In fact, the European Commission has no real power in determining European companies’ purchases of LNG and soybeans, but Trump was happy to accept the political theater of parading data that European purchases were going up.

The latest data from IEEFA’s European LNG Tracker shows that for the first half of the year, the US has been responsible for about 48% of the EU’s LNG imports, compared to Russia’s 16%.

According to Aurora Energy Research, an increase in EU imports of US LNG under a Trump administration would cause EU NatGas prices to slide and create a “Trump-driven LNG overbuild on global gas markets” that would lower prices. 

Under Trump’s administration, LNG export capacity expansion could be swift if a Republican-led government decides to expedite LNG terminal approvals and ‘unleash’ American energy, starting with the removal of Biden’s LNG pause, potentially increasing LNG exports by up to 15% by 2030. The European gas benchmark TTF could decrease by up to 9% compared to Aurora’s Central scenario if this were to happen, while Asian gas prices could also decrease by up to 6%. To meet this demand for additional exports, US gas production is projected to grow by 4% by 2030, according to Aurora. However, international LNG exports could still decline, largely due to reduced demand from China if Trump also introduces his proposed universal tariffs.

“The Trump administration would have no direct influence in directing LNG flows away or to the EU, but his administration is likely to remove barriers to LNG terminal buildout capacity that would increase exports, which would suppress European gas prices, as shown in our recent insight report,” Sophie Parsons, Senior Analyst for US Gas at Aurora Energy, noted. 

Trump hasn’t even stepped into the White House. All sorts of moves are happening behind the scenes and then being revealed in the public domain, such as a potential resolution to the war in Eastern Europe and Iran-backed Houthis allegedly declaring a ceasefire. 

Authored by Pepe Escobar,

On the political Richter scale, that was a killer – literally. What was supposed to be a Liberal Totalitarian Show was brutally, unceremoniously, swept out of the park – any park. Even before Election Day, critical thinking was aware of the stakes. With fraud, Kamala wins.

With no fraud, Trump wins.

There were, at best, (failed) attempts at fraud.

The key question still remains: what does the U.S. Deep State really want?

My inbox is infested with loads of weepy reports from U.S. Think Tankland wondering, in disbelief, why Kamala could possibly lose.

It’s quite straightforward – apart from her sheer incompetence cum utter mediocrity literally cackling out loud – the legacy of the administration she was part of is ghastly – all the way from Crash Test Dummy to Little Butcher Blinkie.

Instead of bothering to care about the abysmal state of affairs, at every level, concerning that mythical entity, “the American people”, they chose to invest everything on a neocon-manufactured proxy war to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia – stealing Russian assets, unleashing a tsunami of sanctions, shipping an array of wunderwaffen. The weaponization of Ukraine led to countless Ukrainian dead and the inevitable, fast-approaching cosmic humiliation of NATO in the black soil of Novorossiya.

They invested everything to support a genocide in Gaza conducted with a huge arsenal of American weapons: a lebensraum-coded ethnic cleansing cum extermination op directed by a bunch of Talmudic psychos – and marketed under the “rules-based international order” spewed out by Butcher Blinkie in every bilateral or multilateral gathering.

It’s no wonder that West Asia and the wider Global South soon got the message of what may happen to anyone daring to go against the Hegemon’s “interests”. Thus the counterpunch: the strengthening of BRICS and BRICS+, celebrated for all the world to see two weeks ago in Kazan.

At least this administration had a merit, strengthening the bonds between all major “existential threats” to the Hegemon: three BRICS (Russia, China, Iran), plus the indomitable DPRK. All that in contrast with a meager tactical victory – which may not last long: the absolute vassalization of Europe.

Hanging Ukraine on Europe’s neck

Of course, foreign policy does not win U.S. elections. Americans themselves will have to solve their dilemmas, or plunge into civil war. As for the bulk of the Global Majority, it harbors no illusions. Trumpquake’s coded message is that the Zionist lobby wins – again. Perhaps not so unanimously when we consider all strands of neo-cons and Zio-cons. Wall Street wins again (BlackRock’s Larry Fink said so even before Election Day). And prominent silos across the Deep State also win again.

That begs a modified question; what if Trump feels emboldened enough after January 25 to launch a Stalinist purge of the Deep State?

Election Day proceeded nearly simultaneously with the Valdai Club annual meeting in Sochi, where the superstar, not surprisingly, was eminent geopolitician Sergey Karaganov. Of course he directly referred to the Empire’s Forever Wars: “We are living in biblical times.”

And even before Trumpquake, Karaganov stressed, calmly, “We will defeat the West in Ukraine – without resorting to ultimate means.” And that “will provide for a peaceful withdrawal of the U.S. – which will become a normal superpower.” Europe, meanwhile, “will move to the sidelines of History.”

All of that spot on. But then Karaganov introduced a startling concept: “The war in Ukraine is a replacement of WWIII. Afterwards, we can agree on some kind of order in Eurasia.”

That would be the “indivisibility of security” proposed by Putin to Washington – and rejected – on December 2021, part of the “Greater Eurasia Partnership” that was conceptualized by Karaganov himself.

The problem though is his conclusion: “Let’s make the Ukrainian war the last major war in the 21st century.”

Ay, there’s the rub: the real major war is actually Eretz Israel v. the Axis of Resistance in West Asia.

Let’s have a quick pit stop in Europe before getting to the meat of this matter. Trumpquake is all set to hang Ukraine on Europe’s neck like a larger-than-life albatross. The shorthand: Exit American money financing the born-to-lose Project Ukraine. Enter German money filling the coffers of the weapons lobby inside the Ray McGovern-coined MICIMATT (military-industrial-congressional-intelligence-media-academia-think tank complex).

The U.S. Treasury has issued an internal memorandum valid until April 30, 2025 – when Trump will be already three months in power – allowing transactions with Russian banks on anything related to oil, natural gas, timber and any form of uranium.

As for the gullible, Brussels-run EU, they will pay the heavy load on weaponizing rump Ukraine while accepting wave after wave of new refugees and saying goodbye to any of their funds already invested in that humongous black hole.

Beware of that Tony Soprano wannabe

Trumpquake – if taken at face value – is bound to further weaponize the U.S. dollar; Trump has threatened, on the record, to blacklist any nation that uses other currencies for international trade. BRICS and BRICS+ partners have registered it; and that will accelerate the testing of all models in the BRICS lab leading towards a multi-layered alternative trade settlement system.

BRICS and the Global Majority also know that Trump in fact signed off on Nordstream sanctions – when he referred recently to “killing” Nord Steam. And they also know he did less than zero during Trump 1.0 to find a solution for the proxy war in Ukraine.

Now we come to the clincher.

Trump personally destroyed the JCPOA – the Iran nuclear deal – brokered by the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany). Moscow – and Beijing – know perfectly well how this led to further destabilization of the whole of West Asia, in conjunction to the Trump-ordered assassination of Gen Soleimani, which started what I termed the Raging Twenties.

Last but not least, Trump brokered the bombastically-named “Deal of the Century”: the Abraham Accords, which if implemented will forever bury any possibility of an Israel/Palestine two-state solution.

The deal – which may be considered as nefarious as the 1917 Balfour declaration – may be in a coma. But MbS’s Whatsapp pal Jared Kushner is back, and will certainly renew the pressure. MbS still has not made up his mind when it comes to BRICS. Trump will go bonkers if MbS increasingly starts to navigate the petroyuan way.

All that brings us to a supremely nefarious character, Tony Soprano wannabe Mike Pompeo, who is a serious candidate to become head of the Pentagon. That would spell major trouble ahead. Pompeo was CIA director and Secretary of State under Trump 1.0. He is an uber-hawk on Russia, China and especially Iran.

Arguably the pressing question from now on is whether Trump – whose life was spared by God, in his own interpretation – does what is expected of him by his uber-wealthy donors, appoints Pompeo and similar gangsters for key posts, and invests on Israel’s war against Iran and the Axis of Resistance.

If that’s the case, he won’t have to worry about another failed sniper. But if he really tries to run his own independent game, there’s no question he will be a dead man walking.

So the whole Global Majority waits with bated breath. How will Trumpquake translate in the geopolitical MAGA sphere? Sure bets focus on extensive use of private military companies (PMCs) for foreign policy “missions” and selected, targeted military “interventions”. Targets could include any Global South player from Mexico (to “secure the border”) to Venezuela (the Monroe doctrine “securing the oil”), Yemen (to “secure the Red Sea”) and of course Iran (a massive bombing campaign to “secure Israel”).

In a nutshell: no new wars (as Trump promised), just a few targeted incursions. Plus Hybrid War on maximum overdrive. Brazil, watch out: Trumpquake will not tolerate a truly sovereign BRICS member increasing its Global South influence in the “Western Hemisphere”.

Fasten your seatbelts: whatever happens, Trumpquake is bound to be a bumpy ride.

Natural resources are the backbone of modern manufacturing, necessary to produce everything around us.

According to 2021 data from Statista, 10 countries dominate the global natural resource landscape, each holding vast reserves critical for various industries.

Russia’s $75 Trillion in Natural Resources

Russia leads the pack with natural resources valued at $75 trillion, largely consisting of coal, natural gas, oil, and rare earth metals. At the end of 2018, Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment valued the country’s mineral reserves at approximately $1.44 trillion.

In terms of global share, Russia is unmatched in natural gas, holding the world’s largest proven reserves at 1.32 quadrillion cubic feet as of 2020—nearly 20% of the global total. Russia also ranks as a gold powerhouse.

Other Resource Giants

The United States ranks second, with an estimated $45 trillion in natural resources, including coal, timber, natural gas, and valuable metals like gold.

In Saudi Arabia and Canada, oil wealth drives natural resources, placing these countries third and fourth on the list. Saudi Arabia, with its vast oil fields, has been a leader in global energy markets. Canada, on the other hand, also benefits from substantial uranium deposits and is home to some of the world’s largest lumber companies.

Further down the list, China has vast coal reserves, positioning it as the top producer of the fuel.

Mineral-rich Brazil and Australia are leading producers of metals like iron ore, while Australia is also a top exporter of coal.

If you enjoyed this graphic, make sure to check out this graphic that shows how global coal consumption is still rising.

Authored by Antonio Graceffo via The Epoch Times,

The White House has released the first-ever U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) strategy, developed to counter China’s ambitions to lead AI development globally and leverage it across military and civilian sectors for strategic dominance.

On Oct. 24, the White House issued the National Security Memorandum (NSM) on Artificial Intelligence (AI), underscoring the urgent need for the United States to lead in AI governance and set global standards for security, transparency, and ethical use. This initiative seeks to counter the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) efforts to dominate the AI field.

Through initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative and aggressive tactics within organizations such as the World Trade Organization, the United Nations, and the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the CCP has shown its intent to reshape international rules in ways that favor Beijing’s interests, often disregarding established global norms. Allowing China to dictate AI standards could have far-reaching and severe consequences globally.

The AI threat from the Chinese regime to U.S. national security is substantial and complex, involving China’s integration of AI across both civilian and military sectors as part of its long-term strategy. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan has voiced concerns over China’s use of AI for internal surveillance and misinformation campaigns, which are now being exported and pose threats to U.S. and allied security.

A key component of Beijing’s AI strategy is the “intelligentization“ of its military, aiming to use AI for advanced decision-making and autonomous systems, which could give the regime a strategic military advantage in ways that the United States may struggle to counter.

China’s AI-powered military advancements include deploying unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and uncrewed surface vessels (unmanned naval drones), as well as enhancing command and control operations. These capabilities could disrupt U.S. intelligence operations or destabilize military power balances in sensitive regions like the Taiwan Strait. Such risks highlight the urgency for the United States to monitor and counter these developments, as China’s rapid AI integration could make predicting and countering its moves increasingly difficult.

Some analysts believe that AI will be so crucial in future wars that, without it, the U.S. military might be unable to defeat the Chinese military, the People’s Liberation Army. The recent U.S. memorandum directs defense and national security agencies to incorporate AI in defense, intelligence, and counterintelligence operations. The White House emphasizes integrating AI into national security while protecting AI resources from foreign threats, with a particular focus on mitigating risks like technology transfer and espionage in the AI supply chain. The NSM further prioritizes intelligence gathering on competitor activities in the U.S. AI sector to counter economic and technological espionage targeting American AI leadership.

China’s national AI strategy prioritizes advancements in AI technology and active participation in global AI governance. Central to this strategy is military-civil fusion, where civilian AI advancements are rapidly applied to military technology, giving China a strategic advantage in innovation and resource use. While the U.S. government is also funding AI development, and the recent memorandum aims to integrate AI into intelligence and defense to maintain competitiveness and prevent AI-based operational advantages for China, especially in cyber and autonomous warfare, China may still be outpacing the United States in certain critical areas.

“The 2023 National Security Scorecard: Critical Technologies Edition” report from Govini offers an in-depth look at the U.S.–China rivalry in key technologies essential to national security. It highlights vulnerabilities in U.S. defense due to a heavy reliance on Chinese suppliers, especially in AI. The report indicates that China now leads the United States in AI innovation, as evidenced by its high patent output and robust development of machine learning applications that impact both military and civilian sectors. This growing gap underscores the need for the United States to strengthen its AI research and development, secure its supply chains, and lessen its dependence on technology from adversarial sources, such as communist China, to maintain a strategic edge in national security.

Alongside enhancing its AI capabilities, the United States must encourage its allies to strengthen their own. Speaking at the National Defense University on Oct. 24, Sullivan stressed the importance of international partnerships to provide secure alternatives to China’s AI-powered digital infrastructure, which poses risks of data compromise, surveillance, and censorship. He cautioned that reversing course can be difficult and costly once nations adopt China’s technology.

The White House asserts that achieving U.S. dominance in AI requires both public and private collaboration to drive innovation, secure AI talent, and maintain computational advantages. Key initiatives include strengthening domestic AI research, enhancing cybersecurity, and ensuring a secure AI ecosystem. The CHIPS Act boosts U.S. capacity in advanced chip production critical for AI, while recent policies restrict China’s access to AI-enabling semiconductor technology to slow its military advancements.

Although non-defense research funding has decreased in recent years, the Biden administration is coordinating with Congress to secure resources to improve AI capabilities, such as government supercomputers and supply chain security for semiconductor production. Without these measures, experts warn that China’s rapid AI adoption could shift military power in its favor, especially in contested regions like Taiwan.

To counter the CCP’s AI threat, the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) advises that the U.S. bolster its military AI capabilities, establish norms for responsible AI use in defense, and work closely with allies on these issues. CNAS recommends negotiating risk reduction and confidence-building measures with China specifically for military AI while simultaneously pursuing broader crisis management frameworks.

Additionally, CNAS suggests integrating military AI into diplomatic efforts on nuclear and strategic stability with China, addressing risks from AI’s rapid, unpredictable nature, and prioritizing intelligence on China’s military AI advancements.

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

Weddings have always been monumental milestones. However, pulling off the perfect celebration can come with a hefty price tag.

In this graphic, Visual Capitalist’s Bruno Venditti visualizes the average wedding costs in the U.S. by state (excluding Alaska and Hawaii), according to data compiled by The Knot as of December 2023, which surveyed 9,318 couples across the country.

Most Expensive Locations to Host a Wedding

According to the study conducted by The Knot, the national average cost of a wedding in 2023 reached $35,000, compared to the $30,000 average recorded the previous year.

Cities like New York, San Francisco, and Chicago are among the most expensive locations to host a wedding, while states with smaller populations, such as Idaho, West Virginia, and Wyoming, offer more affordable alternatives.

What Drives Wedding Costs?

Several factors contribute to the rise in wedding costs.

On average, couples hire 14 vendors to execute their big day. The wedding reception venue, live band, and photographer are typically the priciest of these.

Furthermore, the demand for wedding planners has seen a notable increase, with 37% of couples in 2023 opting for professional planning services, up from 30% in 2019. These experts help orchestrate everything from catering to decor, ensuring that each detail aligns with the couple’s vision.

The costs on this map do not include another big-ticket item—the engagement ring, which averages over $5,000.

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out this graphic, which shows what you need to earn to own a home in 50 American cities.