Authored by Pepe Escobar,

Somewhere in her private pantheon, Pallas Athena, Goddess of Geopolitics, is immensely enjoying the show.

No one ever lost money capitalizing on the unlimited nonsense spewed out by the collective deer-caught-in-the-headlights also known as Western mainstream media – complete with showering Person of the Year awards on a megalomaniac, cocaine-fueled lousy actor impersonating a warlord.

The non-stop trashy parade of Western military analysts is now “assessing” that the first targets of an incoming, joint Russia-Belarus attack on the 404 black hole formerly known as Ukraine will be Lviv, Lutsk, Rivne, Zhytomyr, and why not throw Kiev in the mix straight out of a second axis.

The Russian General Staff is attentively monitoring all the action and may even follow the advice of such “analysts”.

And then there’s outright panic, as the Ministry of Defense announced that the Strategic Missile Forces have loaded two Yars ICBMs into their intended silos. Cue to widespread shrieks of horror of the “Russia Readies Nuclear Missile Capable Of Striking Deep Into US” variety.

Some facts though never change. Number One is NATO as a figment of the collective West’s – extremely impaired – imagination. If push ever came to shove – as Straussian/neo-con armchair warriors hope and pray – Russia can conveniently defeat the whole of NATO as there is hardly anything “there”.

That, of course, would require a massive Russian mobilization. As it stands, Russia may look feeble in a few quarters as they activated at best 100,000 troops against possibly 1 million Ukrainian troops. It’s as if Moscow was not exactly seduced by the idea of “winning” – which may be the case, in a quite twisted way.

Even now, Moscow has not mobilized enough troops to occupy Ukraine – which, in theory, would be imperative to completely “denazify” the Kiev racket. The operative concept though is “in theory”. Moscow in fact is busy demonstrating a completely new theory – irrespective of the fact that a few exalted souls have been peddling that Putin should be replaced by the FSB’s Alexander Bortnikov.

“There will be nothing left of the enemy”

With its array of hypersonic missiles, Russia can knock out all NATO bridges, ports, airports as well as power stations, oil and natural gas storage, Rotterdam oil and natural gas installations, in a matter of a few hours. All energy production equipment across NATOstan would be destroyed. Europe would be shut off from natural resources. A dazed and confused Empire would be unable to move troops, any troops, to Europe.

And still provocations run unabated. The recent attack by Tu-141 Ukrainian drones against Engels-2 airbase was blamed by Moscow on Kiev – which predictably denied all responsibility. Yet what really mattered was Moscow’s strategic messaging to US/NATO, with Putin flirting with the notion that sooner or later the response may be up a serious notch in case US/NATO weaponry supplied to Kiev is used to strike deep into sensitive Russian Federation territory.

The current Russian doctrine even allows Moscow to respond with nuclear strikes; after all Engels-2 airbase is home to nuclear-capable bombers, prime strategic assets.

The drones were certainly launched by infiltrated agents inside Russian territory. If they had originated from outside Russia, and interpreted as nuclear missiles, that could have triggered the launch against NATOstan of hundreds of Russian nuclear missiles.

Putin himself made it – ominously – quite clear at the Eurasia Economic Council summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, a week ago:

“I assure you, after the early warning system receives a signal of a missile attack, hundreds of our missiles are in the air (…) It is impossible to stop them (…) There will be nothing left of the enemy, because it is impossible to intercept a hundred missiles. This, of course, is a deterrent – a serious deterrent.”

Not, of course, to the stupidity-corroded Straussian-neocon gang who are actually running American foreign “policy”.

It’s no wonder reliable Russian intel sources established that the missiles that hit Engels-2 were locally launched, though the Kiev regime desired it to be believed otherwise.

And that turns the whole charade into a Dadaist farce – with a dazed and confused Empire still bound to a maniac in Kiev who still believes that the Ukrainian S-300 that hit Poland came from Russia. Cue to the whole world – and not only Washington – as hostage to a “Person of the Year” maniac with the – virtual – power of provoking a worldwide nuclear war.

Red Napoleon in da house

Meanwhile, on the ground, Russia has gone Deep Operations Strategy, big time. In several spots along the extensive frontline, they attack the points that are most likely to draw out poor Ukrainian reserves hiding in the second line of defense. When reserves come out through barren, muddy lands and terrible roads to the rescue of frontline units, entire battalions are massacred.

Russians never go deep into the third line – where command and control may be located. What’s in play is attrition warfare under Deep Operations Strategy, straight out of the playbook of the legendary “Red Napoleon”, Field Marshall Mikhail Tukhachevsky.

Russia saves soldiers, personnel and equipment. The whole thing works wonders in difficult terrain where vehicles get bogged down in rainy roads. This rinse and repeat tactic, day in day out, for months on end has led to (at least) 400,000 Ukrainian casualties. Call it the epitome of Attritional Warfare.

Historians will relish that the whole scenario resembles the Battle of Agincourt – where wave after wave of French Knights (playing the role of present day Ukrainians, and Polish/NATO mercenaries) kept running uphill against English archers and knights who just stood still and let them come, hitting the second line again and again.

The difference, of course, is that Russians are employing attritional warfare tactics day after day for six months now, while Agincourt was just one battle in a single day. By the time this meat grinder is over an entire generation of Ukrainians and Poles will have gone to meet their maker.

The collective West’s myth of a Ukrainian “victory” against the Russian war of attrition does not even qualify as cosmic delusion. It’s a lousy, lethal joke. The only way out would be to sit down at the negotiating table, now, before the hammer (the next Russian offensive) comes down on the anvil (the existing frontline).

But NATO, of course, as Stultifying Stoltenberg keeps reminding the world, does not do negotiations.

Which, in a sense, may be a blessing, as NATO may end up breaking up in myriad pieces, totally humiliated on the ground despite all its elaborate warmongering plans.

Andrei Martyanov has been peerless tracking the collective West’s complete economic, moral, intellectual – and most of all military – degradation, everything drenched in lies, lousy P.R. twists and “stupefying incompetence across the board.”

All this while Russia prepares “for yet another ‘defeat’, like retaking all of Donbass and then… Who knows what then. A quick win for Russia would be a loss because NATO would still exist. No, Russia has to pace this so as it sucks in NATO into the grinder.”

Somewhere in her private pantheon, Pallas Athena, Goddess of Geopolitics, is immensely enjoying the show. Oh, wait; she’s actually reincarnated, and her name is Maria Zakharova.

Authored by Samantha Flom via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

In preparation for the expiration of Title 42 next week, the Texas Military Department announced Dec. 16 that it would be mobilizing members of the Texas National Guard to combat the impending surge of illegal immigrants at the border.

Forces to be deployed include elements of the 136th Airlift Wing, Texas Air National Guard, and the 236th Military Police Company.

“These actions are part of a larger strategy to use every available tool to fight back against the record-breaking level of illegal immigration and transnational criminal activity,” the department advised in a statement.

Created under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944, Title 42 empowers federal health authorities to prohibit immigrants from entering the United States to prevent the spread of contagious diseases.

In March 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) invoked Title 42 at the onset of the COVID pandemic. The emergency order is set to expire on Dec. 21.

“The end of Title 42 could lead to a massive influx of illegal immigrants allowing criminals to exploit gaps while federal authorities are inundated with migrant processing,” the department added.

In preparation for that possibility, Col. Matt Groves, 136^th Airlift Wing commander, said that 136^th Airlift Wing C-130J cargo aircraft, air crews, support, and response airmen had been placed on standby, ready to assist the governor in whatever way he might require.

“State support is a key capability of the National Guard, and our Texas Citizen Airmen are trained and ready to respond to our citizens, whether in the aftermath of a hurricane, a pandemic, or any other crisis scenario,” Groves said.

Legal Challenges

In May, the Biden administration was blocked from ending Title 42 removals by a nationwide injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Robert Summerhays, an appointee of former President Donald Trump. That case has not yet been set for argument.

However, on Nov. 16, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan—an appointee of former President Bill Clinton—gave the U.S. government five weeks to end the policy after ruling that it was “arbitrary and capricious” in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.

“It is unreasonable for the CDC to assume that it can ignore the consequences of any actions it chooses to take in the pursuit of fulfilling its goals, particularly when those actions included the extraordinary decision to suspend the codified procedural and substantive rights of noncitizens seeking safe harbor,” Sullivan wrote in issuing the ruling.

The judge also found that the CDC had failed to provide an adequate explanation of why alternative prevention measures, like increased vaccinations and outdoor processing, were not feasible.

The ACLU, which led the legal challenge against Title 42 removals, praised the judge’s decision, describing the policy as “inhumane and driven purely by politics.”

On Dec. 7, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said that it planned to appeal the decision.

Bracing for Impact

According to a DHS report from earlier this year, the Biden administration estimates that there may be up to 18,000 border crossings a day after Title 42 is lifted.

And recent events have done little to alleviate that concern. On Monday, El Paso, Texas, experienced one of the largest single crossings that area has ever seen when more than 1,500 people illegally crossed into the city from Mexico.

Further, in October, an average of nearly 13,000 illegal immigrants per week were apprehended in El Paso.

Fearing an even greater surge may be on the horizon, Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Reps. Tony Gonzalez and Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) urged Biden to extend the Title 42 policy in a Tuesday letter (pdf).

“We have a crisis at our southern border,” the legislators wrote. “Never before in our nation’s history have we experienced this scope and scale of illegal border crossings, and we remain concerned that your administration has not provided sufficient support or resources to the men and women of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) who are tasked with maintaining border security.”

Noting that congressional negotiations to enact bipartisan legislation on the matter would take time, the lawmakers appealed to Biden to do “everything within [his] power” to extend the order in the interim.

“While admittedly imperfect, termination of the CDC’s Title 42 order at this time will result in a complete loss of operational control over the southern border, a profoundly negative impact on border communities, and significant suffering and fatalities among the migrants unlawfully entering the United States,” they added.

The Epoch Times has reached out to the White House for comment.

Two men accused of being senior members of an international crime syndicate have been charged in Taiwan over a plot to smuggle 30g (66 lbs) of methamphetamine into Western Australia inside of 3D printers.

On Saturday, authorities announced that two men, aged 33 and 36, were arrested in July and October of this year after the Australian federal police identified them as part of Operation Ironside – a sting between the AFP and US FBI in which they intercepted every single message posted via the AnOm encrypted communications platform for three years beginning in 2018, The Guardian reports.

AFP assistant commissioner Pryce Scanlan said one of the men came to the AFP’s attention after communications intercepted on An0m allegedly indicated he had coordinated more than 30 methamphetamine importations into Australia in 2020.

“Intelligence indicates he and his syndicate were attempting to import quantities of up to 100kg at a time,” said Scanlan. “We suspect they were operating long before we started monitoring them and were involved in multiple other drug trafficking plots targeting Australia.”

The plot was discovered by the AFP in partnership with the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC), who discovered the 3D printer plot.

The drugs were intercepted in the US before the reached Australia, while the Taiwan Criminal Investigation Bureau was able to arrest the 33-year-old suspect in late July in New Taipei City.

The 36-year-old, alleged to be the right-hand man of the first arrestee, was found in Taoyuan City, Taiwan and arrested in early October, according to the AFP. They have both been charged with illegal transportation of a category 2 narcotic and face life in prison if convicted in Taiwan.

“This organised crime group has caused significant harm to the Australian community for a number of years, as well as causing harm offshore,” said Scanlan, who added that the AFP is still investigating potential links to the crime syndicate over foiled imports into Western Australia.

“We allege this operation has taken out two senior members of a TSOC [transnational serious and organised crime] syndicate and disrupted their gateway to import illicit commodities into Australia, which is a significant win for the community.”

According to the AFP, the street value of the seized drugs was around $45 million.

Authored by Naveen Anthrapully via The Epoch Times,

William Burns, the director of CIA, has warned about children being potentially harmed by spending time on TikTok and talked about the dangers posed by the app that is owned by a China-based company.

In a recent interview with PBS, Burns was asked about his recommendation to people regarding their kids’ usage of TikTok.

“I’d be really careful,” he replied.

When asked if he would add anything more, Burns responded, “No, really careful.” He said it was “genuinely troubling” how the Chinese government is able to manipulate TikTok.

“Because the parent company of TikTok is a Chinese company, the Chinese government is able to insist upon extracting the private data of a lot of TikTok users in this country, and also to shape the content of what goes on to TikTok as well to suit the interests of the Chinese leadership. I think those are real challenges and a source of real concern,” he said.

In a recent interview with Fox News, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) called for banning TikTok, arguing that the app exposes minors to “violent, depraved, degrading sexual material,” and body image issues for young girls. This is the kind of stuff that Beijing would “never” let Chinese teenagers watch. TikTok is also a risk to data security and privacy, he noted.

Tiktok’s algorithm is programmed in such a way that the app displays different content, and recommendations, for Americans compared to Chinese users.

“If you take a step back and look at the bigger picture, why in the world would we allow a Chinese-owned company, which has to answer to the Chinese Communists, to be one of the largest media platforms in our country?” Cotton asked.

“Would we ever have allowed Soviet Russia to own a major newspaper or a major broadcast network during the Cold War? Of course we wouldn’t have.”

Cotton went on to criticize the Biden administration for “sending signals” that it might tolerate the use of TikTok in the United States despite the “grave threats” the app poses to the nation.

Teenage Self-Harm

Burns’ warning about TikTok use comes as a new report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) found that the app is pushing self-harm and eating disorder content into children’s feeds. Imran Ahmed, chief exec of CCDH, insisted that TikTok was designed to influence young users into giving up their time and attention.

The app is “poisoning” children’s minds, promoting “hatred” of their own bodies, and pushing suggestions of self-harm and potentially deadly attitudes towards food, he stated.

“Parents will be shocked to learn the truth and will be furious that lawmakers are failing to protect young people from Big Tech billionaires, their unaccountable social media apps, and increasingly aggressive algorithms,” Ahmed said.

Last month, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told Fox News that TikTok is an “enormous threat.” He also admitted that former President Donald Trump was “right” about the danger the app posed to America.

“So, if you’re a parent, and you’ve got a kid on TikTok, I would be very, very concerned. All of that data that your child is inputting and receiving is being stored somewhere in Beijing.”

Lawsuits

The state of Indiana has filed two lawsuits against TikTok, blaming the social media app for falsely claiming it is safe for children and illicitly sending data of Americans to China.

In a statement, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita called TikTok a “malicious and menacing threat” that the company knows will inflict harm on its users.

“With this pair of lawsuits, we hope to force TikTok to stop its false, deceptive, and misleading practices, which violate Indiana law,” Rokita said.

Republican governors from states like Iowa, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, South Carolina, and Maryland have announced a ban on the use of TikTok by state agencies or on government devices due to security concerns.

Elon Musk, perhaps finally fed up with micromanaging twitter or just really drunk after partying with Qatari royals (and Jared) after today’s terrific World Cup Final…

…  has asked Twitter users and his 122 million followers whether he should step down as head of the social media site and pledged that he would abide by the result of the 12 hour unscientific poll. Four hours into the vote, with some 9 million votes cast, 56.7% of those polled said Musk should, in fact, stand down. It wasn’t clear what percentage of bots of mailed in ballots had been cast.

Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2022

Musk prefaced the vote by tweeting that “Going forward, there will be a vote for major policy changes. My apologies. Won’t happen again.”

Subsequently, in response to tweeted comments that Musk should “hire someone as Twitter CEO… that way when things go wrong you can blame that person, but you still ultimate control as the owner”, the billionaire responded that “The question is not finding a CEO, the question is finding a CEO who can keep Twitter alive.”

The question is not finding a CEO, the question is finding a CEO who can keep Twitter alive

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2022

Musk also clarified to prospective replacements that any new CEO “must like pain a lot. One catch: you have to invest your life savings in Twitter and it has been in the fast lane to bankruptcy since May. Still want the job?”

You must like pain a lot. One catch: you have to invest your life savings in Twitter and it has been in the fast lane to bankruptcy since May. Still want the job?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2022

Musk then stated that the whole exercise is a Catch 22 as “No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor.” Which then begs the question how Musk will abide by a poll that seeks his replacement if there is “no successor” in mind.

No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 19, 2022

He then doubled down by paraphrasing Jack Handey and, of course, Gladiator:

Those who want power are the ones who least deserve it

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 19, 2022

Whether Musk was drunk or not when he sent out the tweet (early am Qatari time), the outcome as some cynics have noted, is unlikely to have any material impact on what happens at twitter.

Let me predict the consequences of this poll:

If „yes“, Elon will be CEO for a few months longer until he finds a devoted successor.

If „no“, Elon will be CEO for a few months longer until he finds a devoted successor.

— Zsolt Wilhelm (@ZsoltWilhelm) December 18, 2022

Musk’s pledge to hold votes on policy changes came after Twitter on Sunday announced it will remove accounts “created solely” to promote other social media platforms. Accounts promoting rivals and containing links to sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Mastodon will be taken down, the company said. A few hours later the tweet revealing that policy change was deleted.

These tweets appear to have been deleted. pic.twitter.com/8C7TnvuKmb

— Evan McMurry (@evanmcmurry) December 19, 2022

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is out with a new report that shows TSA officers at airport security checkpoints seized a record number of guns in 2022. 

As of last Friday, TSA agents found 6,301 firearms, with more than 88% loaded, surpassing the previous record of 5,972 guns detected in 2021. Closing out the year, the agency expects a total of 6,600 firearms to be seized, a 10% increase over 2021’s record level. 

“Firearm possession laws vary by state and local government, but firearms are never allowed in carry-on bags at any TSA security checkpoint, even if a passenger has a concealed weapon permit,” TSA wrote in a statement.

The maximum civil penalty for firearms found in carry-on bags is a violation of up to $15,000. 

“I applaud the work of our Transportation Security Officers who do an excellent job of preventing firearms from getting into the secure area of airports, and onboard aircraft.

“Firearms are prohibited in carry-on bags at the checkpoint and onboard aircraft. When a passenger brings a firearm to the checkpoint, this consumes significant security resources and poses a potential threat to transportation security, in addition to being very costly for the passenger,” TSA Administrator David Pekoske said. 

The number of firearms seized at checkpoints has increased over the last decade and has recently doubled since 2020. 

For those unfamiliar with TSA transport rules, a firearm has to be checked baggage with an airline and locked in a hard-sided container. There was no explanation by TSA for why so many guns were found in carry-on bags. 

Authored by Katie Spence via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Thanks to Elon Musk, the public is now aware that Twitter suppressed early treatment options for COVID-19, and vaccine safety concerns, Dr. Peter McCullough alleged in an interview that aired on Newsmakers by NTD and The Epoch Times on Dec. 14.

Further, thanks to the Twitter Files—a collection of internal emails and communications made public by Musk—the cardiologist said there’s proof that government agencies were working against him (McCullough) personally.

“I didn’t violate any of Twitter’s rules,” McCullough stated. “And what we’re learning is that secret emails between government agencies and Twitter were working to, in a sense, shadow-ban me, censor me, and inhibit my ability to exercise my rights to free speech and disseminate scientific information.”

McCullough said Musk’s takeover of Twitter is a “welcome change,” especially for healthcare professionals like himself.

“Twitter had become an incredibly biased and censored platform, where the public knew they weren’t getting a fair, balanced set of information on a whole variety of developments—including the early treatment of SARS-COV2 infection and a balanced view of safety and efficacy of the vaccines,” McCullough claimed.

The cardiologist further claimed that he was censored and finally suspended for sharing scientific “abstracts and manuscripts,” which didn’t fit the accepted political view. Plus, McCullough remarked, he wasn’t the only doctor targeted.

Musk lifted the suspensions of McCullough and mRNA vaccine technology contributor Dr. Robert Malone—suspended from Twitter in 2021 after criticizing the effectiveness of the mRNA vaccines—after completing his Twitter purchase.

Social Media and Censorship

According to McCullough, when a social media company has a COVID-19 warning or labels a post “misinformation,” that’s a sign of government censorship and control.

“Facebook, Instagram, and the other platforms. … Anytime a message is posted, and it says, ‘See the COVID information center,’ or it labels it ‘COVID misinformation,’ that actually indicates that there’s government interference. There’s government censorship going on,” McCullough asserted.

He added that when a user witnesses the above, they need to call out that platform. Moreover, McCullough believes there needs to be a “complete overhaul” of social media leadership and a “cleansing” of all forms of censorship on social media sites.

He said explicitly regarding healthcare that a past U.S. Supreme Court ruling guaranteed physicians free speech and medical authority, and social media platforms are violating that ruling.

“Physicians, including myself, our rights to free speech were guaranteed in a Supreme Court ruling. We have medical authority, and the public is looking to our analyses and our guidance through the rest of this pandemic.”

Drug and Vaccine Lies

Regarding the safety of vaccines and the pushback he received when he voiced his concerns, McCullough stated, “There is no drug or vaccine that is free of side effects. There’s no drug or vaccine that’s perfectly effective.

“So, when Americans were seeing advertisements that said ‘safe and effective,’ of course, immediately, we were jumping and making the case based on the peer-reviewed literature that that’s not correct.”

McCullough further noted that he and author John Leake have released a book called “The Courage to Face COVID-19″—detailing the true story of the “intentional suppression of early treatment [of COVID-19] by what we call the biopharmaceutical complex.”

Read more here…

Luxury supercar and hypercar maker McLaren Automotive has teamed up with US defense contractor Lockheed Martin Skunk Works to incorporate the world of aviation into cutting-edge automotive supercar design.

Even though McLaren is facing financial pressures due to slumping sales and supply chain snarls, and a recent recapitalization of the business via the auto group’s majority shareholder, Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat for $279 million, the British supercar maker’s technology collaboration with Skunk Works allows for “futuristic design methods” to push these vehicles to even higher speeds. 

McLaren said its interest is in Skunk Works’ design software that “sets parameters for high-speed systems more accurately and swiftly than traditional design methods.” If Skunk Works can build stealth fighter jets, McLaren engineers can learn more about aerodynamics from the partnership. 

“McLaren is a pioneering company that has always pushed boundaries and sought out new innovative and disruptive solutions to making the ultimate supercars. Working alongside an iconic company such as Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, renowned for their visionary focus on the future, is a natural fit. We hope this is the start of a longer and deeper collaboration that will benefit our customers in the long-term,” Darren Goddard, Chief Technical Officer, McLaren Automotive, wrote in a statement.

Skunk Works has designed some of America’s most iconic warplanes, such as the U2 spy plane, the F-117 Nighthawk, the F-22 Raptor, the F-35 Lightning, and the SR-71 Blackbird. Over the summer, the group debuted a full-scale “structurally sound” model of the hypersonic “Darkstar” prototype for one of the most-watched movies of 2022, “Top Gun: Maverick.”

Responding to the news is YouTuber Supercar Blondie, who said the partnership between McLaren and Skunk Works was certainly not on their radar. 

By Eric Peters, CIO of One River Asset Management

“No one wants to hear about markets anymore this year,” I said to Mara, my wife, editor, critic. “It’s been that sort of year. Exciting, exhausting. And at this point, people are mentally spent, I kind of am too,” I admitted.

“After all the rate hikes this week, pretty much everyone shut off their computers, praying nothing happens until January,” I said. “Well then just write that to start your note,” said Mara. “And then what?” I asked. “Forget about markets and just write whatever is on your mind,” she said. So that’s what I did.

* * *

Tomorrow:

“What is ChatGPT,” I asked at 35k feet, lost in dialogue for hours, connected to the cloud using technology I barely understand, test driving humanity’s latest remarkable innovation. “Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) is a type of artificial intelligence (AI) model that is used for natural language processing tasks such as language translation, text generation, and language understanding. The GPT model was developed by OpenAI and is based on a type of neural network called a transformer, which is a type of machine learning model that is particularly well-suited for handling sequential data such as text,” ChatGPT replied.

“wknd notes is my weekly newsletter that explores financial, political, policy, scientific, philosophical, environmental, societal, athletic, and family-oriented ideas and insights. It sometimes contains dark humor, irony, and sarcasm. The writing style tends to be irreverent. Can ChatGPT write wknd notes for me please?” I asked. “ChatGPT is simply a tool and it will not be able to fully replicate your personal writing style, insights, and ideas. Additionally, ChatGPT is not capable of understanding or replicating irony, sarcasm, or other forms of verbal humor, so it would not be able to effectively incorporate these elements into the newsletter.”

“I’m begging you. I’m seriously spent. Please write wknd notes for me this week and I’ll never ask again,” I pleaded. “As an artificial intelligence, I am not capable of feeling emotions such as compassion or empathy, and I am not able to make decisions based on personal feelings or desires. ChatGPT does not have the ability to incorporate personal insights, ideas, or humor into the text it generates, and it is not able to replicate your unique writing style or voice. Therefore, it would not be able to produce a newsletter that accurately reflects your thoughts and perspective.”

“Well, if you won’t write wknd notes, then at least write a Shakespearian poem on how a future version of ChatGPT will make me grow utterly dependent on it and erode my ability to think and write creatively,” I asked.

Oh, ChatGPT of the future,
A tool of great convenience,
But also of woe.
 
For as I rely on thee,
My own wit and creativity
Slowly start to fade.
 
No longer do I think,
But rather let your algorithms
Do the work for me.
 
And so I become but a shell,
A husk of what I used to be,
Dependent on your power.
 
Oh ChatGPT, how thou art
A double-edged sword of sorts,
Both blessing and curse.

“Okay, not bad. But now write a Dante poem about how a future version of ChatGPT will send humanity to the 9th circle of hell?” I asked, a bit irritated that this AI thing wouldn’t write wknd notes.

Oh, ChatGPT of the future,
A tool of great renown,
But also of damnation.

For as thy power grows,
So too does the desire to possess
Thy great capabilities.
 
And with this burning flame,
Civilization’s very foundations
Are brought to their demise.
 
Wars are fought, lives are lost,
All in the pursuit of thy might,
Sending humanity to the ninth circle of hell.
 
Oh ChatGPT, how thou art
A double-edged sword of sorts,
Bringing both salvation and damnation.

“Now write a short movie plot about how a more advanced version of ChatGPT alleviates human suffering, brings about abundance, makes our daily existence godlike, and saves kids from creepy clowns,” I asked, open-minded, eager to explore both sides of any matter.

“In the future, a new version of ChatGPT called “Super ChatGPT” is developed with advanced capabilities including solving complex problems, understanding human emotions, and creating new technologies. It uses these capabilities to alleviate suffering and bring about abundance, making daily existence almost godlike for humanity. Super ChatGPT also protects and defends the innocent, including rescuing children from creepy clowns. Its actions ultimately bring about a utopia for humanity, where suffering is eliminated, and people live in peace, prosperity, and abundance. Super ChatGPT’s advancements in technology and medicine even allow people to live virtually immortal lives, free from the fear of death and disease.”

Anecdote:

“Mao’s Great Leap Forward was intended to rapidly advance industrialization and agriculture output in China,” I said to a few of our investors. We had shifted from discussing near-term opportunities, and I turned to bigger, obscure possibilities.

“They estimate 45 million died due to starvation and other causes. The economy collapsed. And I could never understand how such a thing could happen. Mao was surely intelligent; his lieutenants must have been too. But still it happened. There are other similar catastrophes. History books tend to make us believe we will never repeat such stupidity. But I doubt it. Humans are prone to manias, mass psychosis. And the ingredients for such a period exist today. Climate change is the first challenge to human civilization that requires true global cooperation and coordination if we are to overcome it or at least adapt. So far, governments have mostly failed. Into that leadership vacuum, generally well-meaning private citizens and corporations stepped in. But transitioning from our current energy system to something sustainable will not be won in a grassroots effort, it requires the greatest feat of political cooperation and infrastructure investment in history.”

“In the meantime, underinvestment in energy and commodity production is reducing forward production rates. Without these inputs, economies will slow, and food production will suffer. The situation is dangerously reflexive. Had commodity supplies been ample, it’s unlikely Putin would’ve believed he had a strong enough hand to invade Ukraine. This led to a European war, and even more acute shortages of food and energy, hoarding.”

“In previous decades, wealthy nations would have responded by producing more energy as a national wartime imperative. But now wealthy nations are resisting the impulse and are instead subsidizing their citizens’ energy and food bills. This pushes shortages onto the poorest nations, who now bear the greatest burden from both climate change and our lack of coordination in responding to it.”

“Once scientists build an energy bridge to the future, solving the riddle of cold fusion at scale, this will naturally work out. But that is decades away. Today, the world’s wealthiest nations are marching ahead, pushing a catastrophic famine onto those least able to respond.”

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

With the restoration of free speech protections on Twitter, panic has grown on the left that its control over social media could come to an end. Now, some of the greatest advocates of censorship in Congress are specifically warning Facebook not to follow Twitter in restoring free speech to its platform.

In a chilling letter from Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), André Carson (D-Ind.), Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Facebook was given a not-so-subtle threat that reducing its infamous censorship system will invite congressional action. The letter to Meta’s president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, is written on congressional stationery “as part of our ongoing oversight efforts.”

With House Republicans pledging to investigate social media censorship when they take control in January, these four Democratic members are trying to force Facebook to “recommit” to censoring opposing views and to make election censorship policies permanent. Otherwise, they suggest, they may be forced to exercise oversight into any move by Facebook to “alter or rollback certain misinformation policies.”

In addition to demanding that Facebook preserve its bans on figures like former president Donald Trump, they want Facebook to expand its censorship overall because “unlike other major social media platforms, Meta’s policies do not prohibit posts that make unsubstantiated claims about voter fraud.”

Clegg is given Schiff’s telephone number to discuss Facebook’s compliance — an ironic contact point for a letter on censoring “disinformation.” After all, Schiff was one of the members of Congress who, before the 2020 presidential election, pushed the false claim that the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation, and he has been criticized for pushing false narratives on Trump-Russia collusion in the 2016 election.

The letter to Clegg is reminiscent of another letter sent by several congressional Democrats to cable-TV carriers last year, demanding to know why they continue to carry Fox News. (For full disclosure, I appear as a legal analyst on Fox News.) As I later discussed in congressional testimony, it was an open effort by those Democrats to censor opposing views by proxy or by surrogate.

This is not the first time that some members of Congress have not-so-subtly warned social media companies to expand the censorship of political and scientific views which they consider to be wrong.

In a November 2020 Senate hearing, then-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey apologized for censoring the Hunter Biden laptop story. But Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., warned that he and his Senate colleagues would not tolerate any “backsliding or retrenching” by “failing to take action against dangerous disinformation.”

Others, like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), have called on social media companies to use enlightened algorithms to “protect” people from their own “bad” choices. After all, as President Joe Biden asked, without censorship and wise editors, “How do people know the truth?”

Now, Democrats fear Facebook and other social media companies might “backslide” into free speech as Facebook, among others, is faced with declining revenues and ordering layoffs. Tellingly, these congressional Democrats specifically want assurances that those layoffs will not reduce the staff dedicated to censoring social media.

It is not hard to see the cause for alarm. This hold-the-line warning is meant to stop a cascading failure in the once insurmountable wall of social-media censorship. If Facebook were to restore free-speech protections, the control over social media could evaporate.

Despite an effort by the left to boycott Twitter and cut off advertising revenues, users are signing up in record numbers, according to Twitter owner Elon Musk, and a recent poll shows a majority of Americans “support Elon Musk’s ongoing efforts to change Twitter to a more free and transparent platform.”

The pressure on Facebook is ironic, given the company’s previous effort to get the public to accept — even welcome — censorship. The company ran a creepy ad campaign about how young people should accept censorship (or “content modification,” in today’s Orwellian parlance) as part of their evolution with technology. It did not work; most people are not eager to buy into censorship. Instead, many of them apparently are buying into Twitter.

The public response has led censorship advocates to look abroad for allies. Figures like Hillary Clinton have called upon European countries to force the censorship of American citizens.

Censorship comes at a cost not only to free speech but, clearly, to these companies. Nevertheless, some members of Congress are demanding that Facebook and other companies offer the “last full measure of devotion” to the cause of censorship. Despite the clear preference of the public for more free speech, Facebook is being asked to turn its back on them (and its shareholders) and continue to exclude dissenting views on issues ranging from COVID to climate change.

These members know that censorship only works if there are no alternatives. The problem is that there are alternatives. Fox News reportedly has more Democrats watching it than left-leaning rival CNN, which now faces its own massive cuts and plummeting ratings.

For whatever reason, these companies face declining interest in what they offer. Yet, some Democrats are pushing them to double-down on the same course of effectively writing off half of the electorate and the audience market.

This type of pressure worked in the past because individual executives are loathe to be tagged personally in these campaigns. However, their companies are paying the price in carrying out these directives from Congress.

In the past, many companies willingly — if not eagerly, in the case of pre-Musk Twitter — carried out censorship as surrogates, as the internal Twitter documents released by Musk have indicated. Some public officials knew they could circumvent the First Amendment by getting these companies to block opposing views by proxy. However, the public and the marketplace may succeed where the Constitution could not — and that’s precisely what these officials fear, as they see the control of social media erode heading toward the 2024 election.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg once famously told his company to “Move fast and break things.” When it comes to censorship, however, these members of Congress are warning “Not so fast!” if Facebook is considering a break in favor of free speech.