Submitted by Thomas Kolbe

At the turn of the year, the Foundation for Family Businesses, together with the ifo Institute, presented a corporate survey on tax policy and location attractiveness. The result is unequivocal: Germany is too expensive and no longer competitive as a business location.

There is nothing new under the sun. In their year-end Annual Monitor, the Foundation for Family Businesses and the ifo Institute once again went straight to the heart of the matter. A total of 1,705 companies across all sectors and size categories were surveyed on their assessment of current tax policy and Germany’s attractiveness as a business location. The evaluation of this corporate panel—1,358 of which were traditional family-owned businesses—turned out to be devastating, as expected.

Overburdened Labor Factor

More than 80 percent of companies perceive the overall tax and contribution burden—particularly in the area of personnel costs, i.e., wage taxes and social security contributions—as far too high. The heavy burden on the employee side is especially criticized by smaller family-owned businesses. It has become increasingly difficult to grant wage increases when the fiscal authorities take the lion’s share and key performers are bled ever more heavily with each pay raise due to the continuous increase in social security contribution ceilings.

This assessment is shared by Professor Rainer Kirchdörfer, member of the Foundation’s executive board, who comments on the study:
“Our new Annual Monitor shows just how much employers and employees are pulling in the same direction. It is precisely the high taxes on labor that paralyze both sides and drain the joy from performance. High-tax Germany has also lost ground here.”

Two-thirds of surveyed executives complain about excessive income tax rates. Income tax is particularly relevant for partnerships—and by international standards it is clearly too high. A recurring grievance is also the complexity of Germany’s tax system. The familiar quip holds that roughly two-thirds of global tax law literature originates in the Federal Republic. Even if exaggerated, the message is clear: Germany is a bureaucrat’s paradise.

Currently, 5.4 million people work in the public sector—around half a million more than five years ago. This despite technological progress, artificial intelligence, and increasing automation of internal processes.

The Bureaucracy Reduction Classic

A tangible reduction in bureaucracy, including tax law, has been overdue for decades. Yet no federal government dares to tackle this hot potato. German bureaucracy has grown too powerful, evolving at all levels into a state within the state. At the same time, policymakers view the public sector as a kind of buffer for a labor market that has slowly but steadily tipped.

As a reminder: over the past three years, German companies have been forced to create 325,000 additional jobs merely to cope with the ever-expanding bureaucratic workload. The state is effectively outsourcing its ballooning documentation, archiving, and compliance requirements to the private sector.

Ranked second and third among entrepreneurs’ main points of criticism are rising local business taxes (Gewerbesteuer) and energy-related levies. Both factors are likely to play a significant role in 2026. Municipal budgets, paralyzed by a cumulative deficit of €35 billion last year, are virtually screaming for sharp increases in local business tax rates.

This threatens to trigger a tax-driven recessionary spiral initiated by local governments seeking short-term relief—particularly in regions hard hit by the industrial downturn, such as the automotive hubs of Stuttgart, Ingolstadt, and Wolfsburg.

Additional Pressure from Energy Levies

As of January 1, 2026, under the Fuel Emissions Trading Act (BEHG), the CO₂ price corridor will rise to between €55 and €65 per ton. This represents another substantial erosion of Germany’s economic substance, as it struggles to keep energy-intensive production in the country amid intensifying competition with China and the United States.

Entrepreneurs’ demands are clear: a reduction in the electricity tax is long overdue as a first step toward restoring the competitiveness of German industry. The abolition of the solidarity surcharge, alongside an accelerated reduction in corporate taxes, also ranks high on the business community’s wish list for the coming year.

Germany is too expensive as a business location by OECD standards. Since 2018, this has also become evident in overall economic productivity, which has stagnated and even declined slightly in recent quarters.

Valid Criticism, But the Root Problem Remains Untouched

There is no question that entrepreneurs are correct in their assessment of fiscal overburdening on companies and private households. The German state has expanded excessively and—given steadily rising public debt—is increasingly living at the expense of future generations.

What is striking, however, is what the study fails to address. Neither the billion-euro follow-up costs of migration into Germany’s welfare system nor the fiscal and real-economic consequences of centrally planned climate policy are included in the assessment. Yet both factors significantly contribute to rising tax burdens and have sustainably weakened Germany’s industrial base.

What has materialized in energy costs—burdens sometimes three times higher than those in competing locations such as France or the United States—must become the subject of a broad public debate if a return to rational economic policy is ever to be possible.

Under the current federal government led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, this appears fundamentally out of reach.

If not Germany’s economic middle class, who should initiate such a debate openly and courageously? We are still waiting for the icebreaker capable of overcoming the dogma of the alleged lack of alternatives in climate policy in a practical, rational, and unresentful manner. And it remains all too easy for policymakers, operating in an entrenched mode of accelerated debt accumulation, to align incentive structures and a lavishly funded subsidy machine in such a way that any critical voice from the business sector is ultimately silenced.

In the end, the study delivers a rapid situational assessment from which the familiar criticism emerges—criticism that, at all costs, seeks to avoid a collision with an ideologically hardened climate-socialist policy.

The Venezuelan capital of Caracas was hit with overnight shock and awe after military operations resulted in extensive infrastructure damage and power outages. The scope of the operation is not yet clear, but a US official told Reuters Saturday morning on condition of anonymity that the strikes were indeed being carried out by the US military. Initial reports suggested not only US airstrikes but also Special Operations troops on the ground in Caracas. 

The explosions across the capital city came after President Donald Trump deployed a navy task force to the Caribbean and raised the possibility of ground strikes against Venezuela over the past week. It would appear that these threats were not idle. 

Full-scale military operations appear to be underway against Venezuela, with dozens of helicopters with the U.S. Army spotted over the capital of Caracas. pic.twitter.com/kIqfbGjOK4

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) January 3, 2026

Trump took to his Truth Social account to announce that Venezuelan socialist leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife had been captured and were en route by air out of the country.

In late 2025, Trump reportedly gave Maduro an ultimatum via phone: resign immediately, and Trump would offer safe passage for Maduro, his wife, and son, but Maduro refused, demanding amnesty and control over the military, which the U.S. rejected.

BREAKING: US STRIKES ON VENEZUELA

DEATH TO MADURO, DEATH TO COMMUNISM! pic.twitter.com/UC3V27oP6W

— Drew Pavlou 🇦🇺🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼 (@DrewPavlou) January 3, 2026

Suspicions of a larger US action have been escalating for weeks as the Trump Admin pursued targeted strikes against alleged drug smuggling ships running like the Pony Express from Venezuela to waiting couriers in the Caribbean.

🚨 Excellent footage showing how coordinated and precise U.S. strikes were inside Venezuela

The woman in the background proclaims “My God” as she watchespic.twitter.com/4VQ4AqOrk2

— Ian Miles Cheong (@ianmiles) January 3, 2026

This was part of a broader campaign by Trump to oust Maduro, who is accused of corruption, drug trafficking, and helping to engineer the US migrant crisis, which resulted in numerous incidents of Venezuelan cartel militants (Tren de Aragua) engaging in kidnapping, torture, and murder on US soil.  Maduro continued to deny any government involvement in the spread of these cartels and rejected evidence that his government benefits from billions of dollars in drug money transferred by cartels from the US into the Venezuelan economy.

Critics assert that the operation goes against Trump’s campaign promise to end the “forever war” policies of establishment elites (libertarians will probably be furious).  However, from Trump’s perspective, eliminating a hostile communist regime that is a key ally of China and Russia in the western hemisphere fits directly into the administration’s “America First” policy. 

🚨WOW: Venezuelan citizen records explosions in Caracas Venezuela just meters away from him as he drives his car. pic.twitter.com/kJFEvZl7Je

— Andrew (@AllegedlyDrew) January 3, 2026

If the accusations against Maduro are true, then his government would represent a long-term threat to the stability of the US. And, it would appear that a “forever war” is not in the cards with Maduro in custody. 

Furthermore, Venezuela is not the only country south of the border that protects the activities of drug cartels. It’s not the only country that helps migrants flood into the US.   

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has made multiple threats against the US in response to the strict border security and deportations.  She is also suspected of shielding cartel operations from US interference.  Sheinbaum is likely questioning her life decisions today as it becomes clear that Trump was not bluffing about replacing Maduro. 

There is the issue of global political tensions with China and Russia and unrest in America as leftist activists once again exploit the event as an excuse to organize street mobs (as soon as the weather warms up, of course). 

Then there is the question of the fast-approaching midterm elections.  Trump will need to present clear justifications to the American people for grabbing a foreign leader.    

If Trump stumbles on this, Democrats will seize on every opportunity label him a warmonger.  They will assert that Trump is empire-building, trying to steal oil, and that Venezuela is “just the beginning.”  Keep in mind, these are the same people who tried to rally Americans to support WWIII against Russia over Ukraine, but that fact will be glossed over in favor of the narrative that the Dems will “bring peace and stability.” 

On the other hand, many conservatives are taking a “F*ck Venezuela” approach and argue that it’s high time something was done about an abusive and corrupt communist enclave in America’s backyard.  Only time will tell if Trump’s actions garner favor or anger from his voter base. 

A Somali TikToker (account now defunct), first highlighted by Libs of TikTok, mocked Americans about alleged Somali-linked fraud in Minnesota and pushed dangerous rhetoric suggesting Elon Musk was “about to die.” Such statements fit a broader alarming pattern surrounding the Democratic Party’s normalization of assassination culture against Musk and President Trump supporters.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about him. He [Musk] about to die,” TikToker “dowza.z” stated in a short 30-second clip. The account has since been taken down, and it remains unclear whether the TikToker deleted the account or whether the dangerous rhetoric directed at Musk violated the platform’s terms of service.

The somali tiktoker who mocked Americans had a meltdown over Elon Musk and appeared to threaten his life:

“I wouldn’t worry too much about him. He about to die.”

. @FBI should definitely look into this https://t.co/37Ok26xstv pic.twitter.com/Ow8NmwFhut

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 1, 2026

Musk responded on X to DogeDesigner’s reposting of the video, saying, “Then it is war.”

Then it is war https://t.co/KdlKDW6f61

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 2, 2026

Musk’s comment comes as the current political climate, characterized by increasingly hostile rhetoric from the Democratic Party, has significantly amplified threats and the spillover of inflammatory left-wing propaganda into real-world security risks. Historical precedent supports this assessment, including the role of dark-money-funded NGOs backing anti-American activist networks, what Peter Schweizer has described as the “protest industrial complex,” which coordinated protest activity and other pressure campaigns targeting Musk, Tesla, President Trump, and anything ‘America First’. These efforts coincided with radical left groups, including firebombing terror incidents at Tesla showrooms. Taken together, this pattern of threats from the left and their supporters has translated into real-world consequences. Just look at what happened to Charlie Kirk, which reinforces the urgency for Musk to ramp up his political activity this year.

“America is toast if the radical left wins. They will open the floodgates to illegal immigration and fraud. Won’t be America anymore,” Musk wrote on X.

Musk was quoting a report that he is reportedly going all-in on funding Republicans for the midterm election cycle.

America is toast if the radical left wins.

They will open the floodgates to illegal immigration and fraud.

Won’t be America anymore. https://t.co/9lppGuSyAV

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 1, 2026

This is just day two of the new year.

Authored by former CIA officer Larry Johnson

Western media, especially those outlets firmly aligned with the neoconservative view, are quick to jump on reports of protests in Iran as a sign that the Islamic Republic of Iran is about to implode. Events today in Iran provided another spurt of arousal among neocons longing to bring back the Shah and eliminate the mullahs.

Here’s a summary of the various news reports:

On December 30, 2025, protests in Iran entered their third day, spreading from initial economic grievances in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar to universities and multiple cities across the country. Triggered by the Iranian rial plunging to record lows (around 1.38–1.42 million to the USD) and inflation hitting 42.2–42.5%, demonstrations began with shopkeepers and merchants striking and closing businesses, evolving into broader anti-government chants.

Protests expanded beyond Tehran to cities including Isfahan, Shiraz, Mashhad, Hamadan, Karaj, Qeshm, Malard, Kermanshah, and Yazd. University students joined on Tuesday, chanting slogans like “Death to the dictator” (referring to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei), calls for freedom, and pro-monarchy references (e.g., “Long live the Shah” or “Rest in peace Reza Shah”).

President Masoud Pezeshkian acknowledged “legitimate demands,” instructed the interior ministry to dialogue with protest representatives, and pledged economic reforms. The central bank governor resigned, replaced by Abdolnasser Hemmati. Officials offered talks but warned against escalation or foreign exploitation.

Hmmm… What’s really going on? Turns out that Nima Alkorshid, the host of Dialogue Works, is on an extended family vacation in Tehran. It has been 12 years since he was last in Iran. I know one thing for certain… His mom is thrilled to have her son, his wife and her grandchildren in Tehran. Anyway, I called Nima and asked him what he was seeing.

According to Nima, there is frustration with the government, i.e., Pezeshkian, over the high inflation and that is one impetus driving the protests. However, it is not directed at the Islamic regime despite Western press reports claiming otherwise. Nima also pointed out that about 25% of the population is quite conservative (these are the folks who supported Ahmadinejad) and they are angry with Pezeshkian because he is viewed as too accommodating of the West.

These folks, while miffed at the government, are staunch supporters of the Ayatollah Khameni.

There is video evidence corroborating Nima’s observations. In one clip an Iranian student protester explains the reasoning behind the demonstrations, stating that they are not opposed to the Islamic Republic, but rather to corruption among government officials who are worsening the economic crisis. He says:

This is the voice of an Iranian Basiji. I would sacrifice myself for this homeland. I would give my life for the Islamic Republic. Our protest is against people like Ali Ansari and other corrupt officials. Mr. Ejei [Chief of the Judiciary], where are you?

I was pleasantly surprised by Pezeshkian’s reaction to the protests… Instead of beating the hell out of the protestors and tossing them into prison, he acknowledged the legitimacy of their complaints and fired the central bank governor while promising economic reforms. Seems like a pretty reasonable response to me.

I believe that Russia and China — who have denounced and rejected Europe’s attempt to reimpose economic sanctions on Iran — are working on measures to boost the Iranian economy and get inflation under control. While there is no denying that Iran’s economy has been badly damaged because of Western sanctions — which both Russia and China supported in 2015 as part of the JCPOA — Iran, by virtue of is membership in BRICS and closer economic, political and military ties with Russia and China, is in a stronger position now to revive the economy.

Russia’s economic support focuses on strategic partnerships and trade, and is often intertwined with military cooperation. In January 2025, Russia and Iran signed a 20-year comprehensive strategic partnership treaty, including provisions for economic cooperation. Russia also is providing advanced conventional weapons (e.g., fighter aircraft, attack helicopters) in exchange for Iranian drones, missiles, and ammunition, indirectly bolstering Iran’s economy through barter-like military trade.

Along with the economic cooperation, there have been five visits by four senior Iranian officials to Moscow since July 1, 2025, based on reported trips. These include political, military, and economic figures, with purposes ranging from nuclear discussions to military cooperation and strategic partnerships:

Ali Larijani (Supreme Leader Adviser, political) – July 20, 2025: Discussed nuclear negotiations and bilateral relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Brigadier General Aziz Nasir Zadeh (Defense Minister, military) – July 21, 2025: Met with Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov to expand military cooperation, likely seeking assistance post-Israel-Iran conflict.

Abbas Araghchi (Foreign Minister, political) – August 2025: Sought Russian support in the aftermath of U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iranian infrastructure following the ceasefire announcement. He made a second visit on December 17, 2025, to sign a foreign ministry cooperation plan for 2026-2028 and hail expanding partnerships.

Mohammad Reza Aref (First Vice President, political/economic) – November 17-18, 2025: Attended the SCO Council of Heads of Government meeting and held bilateral talks with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on economic and political cooperation.

But that is not all… there is the North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC). There have been multiple bilateral and multilateral meetings/discussions between Russia and Iran (often including Azerbaijan) since July 1, 2025, focused on advancing the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a multimodal trade route linking Russia, Iran, India, and beyond. Here are the key meetings in 2025:

October 2025: Trilateral talks in Baku (Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran) on expanding the western route of the INSTC, including infrastructure inspections and agreements on logistics/cross-border efficiency.

November 2025: Railway executives from Russia, Iran, and Azerbaijan signed a memorandum in Baku to enhance the western route’s competitiveness (e.g., fixed pricing, unified rates).

December 12, 2025: Presidents Vladimir Putin and Masoud Pezeshkian discussed INSTC progress (including the Rasht-Astara railway) during a meeting in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.

December 16, 2025: High-level talks in Tehran between Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani and Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister for Transport Vitaly Savelyev, emphasizing fast-tracking the corridor and removing obstacles.

And then there is China. China offers more substantial economic lifelines, mainly through oil trade and pledged investments, positioning itself as Iran’s largest trading partner. China purchases 90% (or nearly all) of Iran’s exported oil at discounted prices (as low as $14 per barrel below market), providing crucial revenue—estimated at $67 billion for the Iranian year ending March 2025 (15% of GDP). This accounts for 13.6% of China’s oil imports and funds 45% of Iran’s 2025–2026 government budget. Under the 2021 25-year comprehensive strategic partnership (reaffirmed in September 2025), China pledged $400 billion in investments for sectors like oil/gas, infrastructure, banking, telecom, ports, railways, and tourism. Infrastructure initiatives include a new railway for overland oil shipments (opened May 2025 but halted by war) and the first freight train from Xi’an to Iran’s Aprin dry port in May 2025. Discussions on economic corridors via Central Asia (e.g., May 2025 railway officials meeting) aim to enhance transit.

On the peace and standing up to evil front, President Trump is on pace to surpass the great Ronald Reagan.

A weakened Iran – a nation run by religious nazis – is due to President Trump’s efforts to isolate Iran economically and to use military force wisely. It is time to Make… https://t.co/MVi4Thb5d5

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) January 2, 2026

At least 3 senior Iranian officials (political and military) have visited China since July 1, 2025, based on publicly reported trips. These visits focused on multilateral summits (e.g., Shanghai Cooperation Organization events), bilateral cooperation, and post-conflict diplomacy following Iran’s tensions with Israel and the US:

Abbas Araghchi (Foreign Minister, political) — July 2025: Attended an SCO foreign ministers’ meeting in Tianjin and held bilateral talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on deepening ties and regional issues.

Masoud Pezeshkian (President, political) — September 1–2, 2025: Visited Beijing for the SCO Summit; met with President Xi Jinping to discuss comprehensive strategic partnership, trade, investment, and global governance.

Aziz Nasirzadeh (Defense Minister, military) — Late June 2025 (close to July threshold, often grouped in post-July reporting): Attended SCO defense ministers’ meeting in Qingdao; first reported foreign trip post-Israel conflict.

Iran’s efforts to resurrect a sound economy are being carried out under the shadow of renewed attacks by Israel and the United States. According to RT:

President Donald Trump warned the US could carry out further military strikes against Iran if it attempts to rebuild its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. He made the remarks to journalists alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Monday.

“If it’s confirmed, they know the consequences, and the consequences will be very powerful, maybe more powerful than the last time,” Trump said on Monday. “We’ll knock them down. We’ll knock the hell out of them. But hopefully that’s not happening.”

The US president indicated he would “absolutely” support Israeli military action against Iran’s missile program, saying the US would act “immediately” against any nuclear advances.

Rebuild ballistic missile programs? Looks like Donald Trump has not been informed that Iran’s ballistic missile programs were not destroyed during the 12-day war. Iran is not rebuilding… It is expanding and modernizing its ballistic missile force, which is safely stored below ground out of the reach of Israeli and US weapons. If Israel and Trump are foolish enough to attack Iran again, I think they will find Iran is a far more formidable and dangerous foe than the one they encountered in June 2025.

In an effort to reverse China’s sagging birth rate, Beijing has removed a three-decade tax exemption on contraceptives starting Jan. 1, when condoms and contraceptive pills will now incur a value-added tax of 13%, the standard rate for most consumer goods. 

The move comes after 2024 data marked the third consecutive year that birth rates have dropped – something experts have warned is likely to continue. Last year, China introduced an annual childcare subsidy, and exempted such subsidies from personal income tax amid a series of “fertility-friendly” measures implemented in 2024 – such as urging colleges and universities to provide “love education” to portray marriage, love, fertility and family in a positive light, Reuters reports.

Meanwhile, CCP leadership pledged in December at the annual Central Economic Work Conference to promote “positive marriage and childbearing attitudes.” 

The country’s birth rates have been falling for decades as a result of Beijing’s one-child policy implemented from 1980 – 2015, along with rapid urbanization. 

High childcare and education costs along with job uncertainty and a slowing economy has also dissuaded young Chinese from getting married and starting a family. 

Low birth rates will end civilization https://t.co/KPxBor9lAJ

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 22, 2025

As Thomas Kolbe noted two weeks ago:

China is expected to lose about 20 percent of its population over the next 30 years.

There is no doubt this will have consequences for the global economy. Societies react reflexively to such developments. China responds with aggressive subsidies for its export engine to counter these domestic distortions, which primarily manifest economically as deflationary pressures.

China’s attempt to course-correct comes as global fertility rates continue to plummet. Fertility rates (the average number of children born to a woman in her lifetime) are different from birthrates (the number of live births per 1,000 people in a population over a given period), although the terms are related and often used interchangeably.

Meanwhile, look at who has the highest fertility rates: Somalia, Chad, Niger, DRC, and other African nations. Only about 4 percent of the world’s population reside in a country with a high fertility rate – more than five children per woman – and all of those nations are in Africa, the Census Bureau noted. Even in those countries, fertility rates are generally lower than they once were.

The fertility rate in India, the world’s most populous country, has steadily declined over the past six decades. In June, the UN Population Fund reported that India’s fertility rate stood at 1.9 children per woman, down from five or six children in 1960.

In 1990, China’s fertility rate was 2.51, despite its one child policy. By 2023, it had dropped to less than one birth per woman, according to the United Nation’s population division.

In the United States, fertility has undergone a persistent decline. It fell below the replacement level in 1972 and reached 1.62 in 2023, a historic low.

Asian and European countries have the lowest fertility rates in the world, and South Korea (0.72), Singapore (0.97), Ukraine (0.977), and China (0.999) all have rates below one.

Oh, and…

Authored by Riley Waggaman via Off-Guardian.org,

The commercial enterprise that controls Russians’ biometric data has introduced new ways to use your face as a form of ID, resulting in unprecedented levels of safety and convenience in the Russian Federation.

Russians young and old are already reaping the benefits of their country’s “digital transformation”—including very, very young Russians.

The Russian government is working on amending federal legislation to allow schools across the country to monitor and identify students using biometrics, Kommersant reported on December 3. Plans for a standardized “biometric turnstile system” for Russian schools are already being tested in Tatarstan.

source: Kommersant.ru

Authorities have stressed that schools will be able to choose whether or not to switch to biometric identification, adding that parents must first consent before their childrens’ faces are scanned and entered into Russia’s Unified Biometric System (UBS).

A Russian schoolboy faces his completely voluntary future (source: Kommersant.ru)

Conservative-patriotic media outlets in Russia responded positively to this completely voluntary and very safe and convenient initiative.

source: Katyusha.org

Concentration camp? A bit dramatic, no? These so-called Russian patriots could learn a thing or two from disaffected westerners who read RT and understand the delicate nuances of the Russian government’s Plan, which must be trusted at all times.

Here is an unrelated excerpt from Kommersant’s recent article on the subject:

The Ministry of Education told Kommersant that the biometric school entry system is already being tested in 20 schools in Tatarstan, where “special attention is paid to security”: the school grounds are fenced, cameras are installed along the perimeter, and entry is through checkpoints.

Perfect for learning.

As this blog reported, at the end of August, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation and Chief of Staff of the Government Executive Office Dmitry Grigorenko deployed familiar language when describing the advantages of using biometrics to identify schoolchildren:

Entry to school ‘by face’ is not only convenient, but also very safe. Because it is always clear who is entering, who is exiting, who is in school… After all, this is where our children spend their lives.

But underage children aren’t the only Russians basking in the safety and convenience of biometric identification (although they are very obviously the primary targets of the country’s “digital transformation”; dehumanization must start at a young age so as to seem “normal”): Russians of all ages can now leave their unsafe and inconvenient paper IDs at home.

The Center for Biometric Technologies, the joint stock company that stores and manages Russians’ biometric data, recently unveiled a new platform for providing biometric services, “Migom” (Мигом, which can be translated as “instantly” or “in an instant”).

On December 11, the company posted a photo collage demonstrating how Migom will be incorporated into everyday life in Russia.

source: The official Telegram channel of Joint Stock Company (JSC) Center for Biometric Technologies

The accompanying caption:

[W]e want to show you how these [biometric] services look in real life. These photos show how easy it is now to access familiar services: order documents at the MFC [government services portal], check into a hotel, verify your age when purchasing age-restricted goods [including energy drinks; no, not a joke] at vending machines and self-checkouts, and soon, undergo pre-flight security checks.

Let’s have a closer look at these inspiring photographs.

A lady with nice long hair checkmates George Soros by using her FACE, and not her NATO-ENDORSED PAPER ID, to prove that she is a responsible taxpayer, and not a terrorist-biohazard!

Respectable suit-wearing man receives facial recognition-permission to buy something from a vending machine. VERY MULTIPOLAR, INDEED.

Energy drink enjoyers in Russia can now prove they are old enough (18+) to drink their favorite drink using their FACES. Davos trembles.

The End.

Peak winter in the Lower 48 typically occurs around mid-January, while the U.S. growing season generally begins in late March or early April. With affordability increasingly top of mind and food inflation proving sticky, it is worth remembering that our grandparents – or even our parents, in some cases – turned to “victory gardens” during World War II, which supplied about 40% of the nation’s fresh vegetables.

Between 1943 and 1944, Americans planted upwards of 20 million victory gardens. These gardens produced 10 million tons of food annually, almost entirely fresh vegetables. They were planted in backyards, community plots, and schools, and they matched or exceeded the commercial vegetable production of the entire U.S. farming sector at the time. The most common crops included tomatoes, beans, carrots, beets, lettuce, squash, and potatoes.

Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s 2026 MAHA agenda has been released, marking an escalating war against the processed-food industry and an effort to overhaul the entire food supply chain.  

🚨 JUST IN: Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s 2026 MAHA agenda has been RELEASED 🔥

– Petroleum-based food dyes
– Dietary guidelines
– Define ultra processed foods
– Infant formula safety
– “Generally Recognized As Safe” reform for food ingredients
– Front-of-pack labeling
-… pic.twitter.com/u9MpK0Si8Z

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 30, 2025

What is missing from MAHA, however, is a push for backyard and community gardens. Expanding household-level food production would boost supply, lower grocery costs, and restore self-sufficiency, reducing reliance on DoorDash and Walmart.

The lesson from history should be obvious. If our baby boomer parents could build victory gardens and achieve self-sufficiency, Americans can do the same eight decades later.

Today, roughly 40% of U.S. vegetables are sourced from California, while about 30% of fresh vegetables are imported from neighboring countries. That level of concentration and dependence exposes the food supply to disruption, especially when Chinese “agroterrorism” is an increasing risk.

A more resilient food supply chain starts in your backyard, with food production literally at our fingertips, turning thumbs green. Let’s get back to our roots.

Authored by J.T.Young via American Greatness,

Ten months ahead of November’s midterms, political and economic crosscurrents are colliding. Which of these conflicting trends prevails will greatly shape the next two years. And possibly even longer.

Midterm elections are always important. Besides gauging the country’s political mood, they have proven integral to maintaining America’s political equilibrium.

They are the “ebb” to the “flow” of America’s political tide. Historically, every four years, a large tide of voters goes to the polls and elects a president. Then every two years, the large voter flow ebbs back and the president’s party suffers accordingly.

This midterm is particularly important to Trump because he has proven susceptible to being baited by his opponents. After 2018, Rep. Nancy Pelosi returned to the House speakership and unrelentingly harassed Trump over the last two years of his first term. These distractions and obstructions­—especially during COVID—were undoubtedly a factor in Trump’s narrow 2020 electoral college defeat.

Today’s political crosscurrents are pronounced. As already mentioned, the president’s party historically loses seats. The last two two-term presidents, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, suffered congressional losses averaging 22 House seats and 7.5 Senate seats.

Such losses would give Democrats control of Congress: a House majority larger than Republicans’ current narrow one and a Senate majority larger than Republicans’ current six-seat one. Such outcomes would end Trump’s legislative agenda, and Democrats could set their own.

To understand the potential impact, play back the recent funding impasse when Democrats shut the government down for the longest period ever—despite not having control of either chamber.

While Trump would be able to veto Democratic legislation and Republican numbers would be ample to uphold his vetoes, Democrats would have a formal hand in shaping the political agenda. This could greatly help their 2028 presidential prospects.

However, current politics are blunting the historical midterm flow.

Trump is divisive, with just a 43.4% favorable rating; however, his job approval rating of 43.1% is higher than Obama’s (42.4%) at the same point in his second term. Further, Democrats are in abysmal shape: just a 32.5% favorability rating.

The current 2026 political map is also favorable to Republicans. While they have more seats (by 22 to 13) to protect in the Senate, the toss-up seats are evenly split: Republicans with Maine and North Carolina; Democrats with Georgia and Michigan. Mid-decade House redistricting efforts are also likely to somewhat favor Republicans; if the Supreme Court should allow race to be disregarded in drawing House districts when it rules on the Louisiana case currently before it, then even more redistricting could occur and amount to an even greater Republican advantage.

Today’s economic crosscurrents are equally pronounced.

For good or ill, incumbent presidents and their party own the economy. The question is: Which economy will Republicans own?

At the micro level, the growing issue is “affordability.”

Nationally, this is an overhang of inflation that surged during Biden’s administration and peaked at 9.1% in June 2022—a 40-year high.

Locally, affordability played well in New York City (which has been plagued by Democratic policies of rent control and excessive taxation, regulation, and litigation) in 2025’s mayoral race. It also played well in Virginia, where it linked powerfully into the record-long government shutdown. Democrats are therefore seizing on the issue with some success—particularly in the establishment media—and are trying to nationalize it.

At the macro level, the economy is a different story. Despite “expert” predictions that Trump’s tariffs, green agenda rollback, attack on illegal immigration, and reduction in government would combine to wreck the economy, the reverse has occurred. In Trump’s first two full quarters in office, GDP averaged over 4% growth: up 3.8% in Q2 and 4.3% in Q3. Inflation has also been moderate—2.7% in November—certainly not the spike experts predicted and a far cry from the previous four years.

So politically, depending on your perspective, Republicans look to outperform historically. Their Senate majority looks safe for now, with the chance Republicans could even gain a seat or two. Contrastingly, the Republicans’ House majority looks vulnerable; this could be offset slightly by current mid-decade redistricting efforts. Yet even just half the average loss of the last two administrations in their second midterms would mean an 11-seat swing and a 226-209 Democrat majority.

Economically, the question is whether the micro or the macro prevails. Can the micro become a national mood outside Democratic areas, or will the macro of strong GDP growth and moderate inflation have time to prevail? Expect political midterm fortunes to respond accordingly.

What is certain is that the midterms will shape the last two years of Trump’s second term. And possibly determine who will run and who will win the presidency in 2028.

The US State Department has once once again re-issued an urgent advisory warning Americans not to travel to Russia. The renewed travel advisory also tells any American citizens currently in Russia to depart immediately. It cites the danger associated with the ongoing war with Ukraine, as well as the significant risk of wrongful detention by Russian officials, and the possibility of terrorism.

This is nothing new, given such warnings have been issued going all the way back to February 2022, but it suggests that the Trump administration’s view is that things might continue to escalate as efforts toward a peace deal stall.

“Russian officials often question and threaten U.S. citizens without reason. Russian security services have arrested U.S. citizens on false charges. They have denied them fair treatment and convicted them without credible evidence. Russian authorities have opened questionable investigations against U.S. citizens for their religious activities,” the advisory reads.

This joins no less than five fresh advisories reissued by the department since Dec. 18. They include Level 4: Do Not Travel warnings for Belarus and Yemen, as well a Level 2 warning for Jordan due to terrorism, and a Level 1 advisory for Portugal.

Currently the State Department also has active Do Not Travel warnings for Venezuela, Syria, Haiti, Ukraine, and several other countries.

One thing the official Russia travel warning leaves out is the fact that the CIA continues to assist Ukraine in actively targeting Russian territory, especially energy sites.

Even as the Pentagon has taken steps to draw down its support, the CIA has been ramping up its anti-Russia covert actions launched out of Ukraine, as The NY Times this week highlighted:

Where Mr. Hegseth had marginalized his Ukraine-supporting generals, the C.I.A. director, Mr. Ratcliffe, had consistently protected his own officers’ efforts for Ukraine. He kept the agency’s presence in the country at full strength; funding for its programs there even increased. When Mr. Trump ordered the March aid freeze, the U.S. military rushed to shut down all intelligence sharing. But when Mr. Ratcliffe explained the risk facing C.I.A. officers in Ukraine, the White House allowed the agency to keep sharing intelligence about Russian threats inside Ukraine.

Now, the agency honed a plan to at least buy time, to make it harder for the Russians to capitalize on the Ukrainians’ extraordinary moment of weakness.

“Brilliant” or foolhardy and stupid to keep poking the nuclear-armed Russian bear?

“A C.I.A. expert had identified a type of coupler that was so hard to replace or repair that a refinery would remain offline for weeks.”

Brilliant asymmetric work. https://t.co/bsfHmYpszi

— Meaghan Mobbs (@mobbs_mentality) January 1, 2026

The Times report presented some jarring language which points to the Trump administration playing with fire in provoking Putin in order to force him to the negotiating table:

As the campaign began to show results, Mr. Ratcliffe discussed it with Mr. Trump. The president seemed to listen to him; they had a frequent Sunday tee time. According to U.S. officials, Mr. Trump praised America’s surreptitious role in these blows to Russia’s energy industry. They gave him deniability and leverage, he told Mr. Ratcliffe, as the Russian president continued to “jerk him off.”

The energy strikes would come to cost the Russian economy as much as $75 million a day, according to one U.S. intelligence estimate. The C.I.A. would also be authorized to assist with Ukrainian drone strikes on “shadow fleet” vessels in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. Gas lines would start forming across Russia.

“We found something that is working,” a senior U.S. official said, then had to add, “How long, we don’t know.”

Or perhaps it’s “working” until things go boom between NATO and Moscow, mushroom cloud style.

Meanwhile, the CIA as usual has an outsized role in tipping Trump in a direction which makes peace harder, and a lot further away:

Mr. Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. chief, flew to Alaska with the president on Aug. 15 and, before the meeting, briefed him on “what we’ve got” about Mr. Putin’s intentions. It did not align with Mr. Trump’s instinct; the Russian, the agency argued, was not interested in ending the war. A senior American official described the assessment this way: “Trump isn’t going to get what he wants. He is just going to have to make Alaska a show.”

US strategy: Reduce Russian refining capacity by targeting the refineries with Ukraine and try reducing Indian imports by tariffs and threats of further action against cos involved, while calling out EU’s double standards—making it harder for them to sabotage any future dialogue. https://t.co/T1GnlfFg0q

— Rishap Vats (@VatsRishap) September 13, 2025

Above is a scene which has played out weekly, and almost daily, for a matter of months now. One option the Kremlin might be looking at is fully capturing Ukraine’s crucial Black Sea export hub of Odessa, which would further decimate the country economically. NATO might by that point be ready to get more directly involved. Trump has also issued warnings against seizing Odessa.

Authored by Sasha Stone via sashastone.com,

In his swearing-in ceremony, the new Mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, said, “We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.”

MAYOR MAMDANI: “We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.” pic.twitter.com/3LIOVHdKSy

— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 1, 2026

It sent chills down the spines of most of those who understand the history of governments given over to collectivism. I think it’s likely in name only, a virtue signal for those at the top to feel better about income inequality.

Let Zohran meet the needs of the poor and the marginalized while we enjoy our mansion in the Hamptons in peace. They’ll have to cough up the taxes to buy off some of that guilt, but that’s a small price to pay compared to an unruly mob banging down your door.

It struck me a little funny since I’ve been thinking about the book Pendulum: How Generations of the Past Shape Our Present and Predict Our Future.

In it, the authors see the 80-year cycle in Neil Howe and William H. Strauss’ The Fourth Turning as two 40-year cycles: the “We” cycle (collectivism) and the “Me” cycle (individualism).

They theorize that humans always take a good thing too far. Collectivism starts well, solving problems for the underclass. Then, it becomes toxic and dangerous, like Nazi Germany dangerous. Then the pendulum begins to swing back to individualism, where it thrives for about 20 years, then winds down, as humans take a good thing too far, leading to nihilism, emptiness, and selfishness.

From the book, which was written in 2011:

The second half of the Upswing of “We” and the first half of the Downswing from it (2013–2023) bring an ideological “righteousness” that seems to spring from any group gathered around a cause. The inevitable result is judgmental legalism and witch hunts. The origin of the term witch hunt was the Salem witch trials, a series of hearings before county court officials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in the counties of Essex, Suffolk, and Middlesex in colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693,6 exactly at the beginning of the second half of the Upswing toward the “We” Zenith of 1703.

Senator Joseph McCarthy was an American promoter of this witch-hunt attitude at America’s most recent “We” Zenith of 1943 (see the “House Un-American Activities Committee,” 1937–1953); Adolf Hitler was the German promoter (see the Holocaust, 1933–1945); and Joseph Stalin was the Soviet promoter (see the Great Purge, 1936–1938). Our hope is that we might collectively choose to skip this development as we approach the “We” Zenith of 2023. If enough of us are aware of this trend toward judgmental self-righteousness, perhaps we can resist demonizing those who disagree with us and avoid the societal polarization that results from it. A truly great society is one in which being unpopular can be safe.”

According to this theory, the “We” cycle peaked in 2013, just as Obama was about to enter his second term, and as Critical Race Theory began infiltrating schools, and, it was right around the time Helen Andrews says the Great Feminization began.

Michael R. Drew and Roy H. Williams, the authors of Pendulum, also targeted the height of the “witch hunt phase” at 2023, which seems to be exactly when cancel culture escalated into the indictments against Trump and brazen lawfare. Cancel culture seems like child’s play compared to trying to put your political opponent in prison and throw him off the ballots.

Even though the book Pendulum was written back in 2011, they seemed to know back then that the time we’re living through now would be very bad. Maybe not Nazi Germany bad, but Tyler Robinson and Matthew David Crooks bad. Collectivism has no choice but to go to that awful place where they demand compliance and conformity.

Rugged individualism not only built this country, but it also built New York City. It’s the land of opportunity. If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. Deciding New York, of all places, will be a socialist hellhole is a choice the voters made. They’ll have to live with it, good or bad or ugly.

According to Pendulum, we’re in the “collectivism gone wrong” phase, and we’re moving back toward the individualism phase — and honestly, not a moment too soon.

The downstream effects of our collectivist phase are only now beginning to show themselves. There was a good piece in Compact Magazine about the Lost Generation of white men who were told not even to bother applying to jobs because they wouldn’t even be considered.

I know a lot of young men who have spent the last ten years aimless, rootless, with no place to land. It isn’t only white men, but it’s especially white men, and according to the Left, we’re not supposed to care. We have to care.

Right now, Zohran is a man with a dream. It happens to be an old dream, one proven again and again to fail, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see whether he can really change New York City for the better or whether it will just be another role he plays because it sounded good at the time.

Start spreading the news…

Anyway, Happy New Year. I have high hopes for 2026. Maybe this will be the year things start to turn around. Thank you for being such faithful readers. I so appreciate it. I meant to get my podcast out tonight, but it’s not quite ready. Until next time…