After sounding the constant warning that Washington is “playing with fire” in continually arming and supporting self-ruled Taiwan, China’s foreign ministry announced Friday new sanctions on ten individuals and 20 American defense companies, mostly notably among them Boeing, specifically in response to American arms sales to Taiwan.

The ministry described that the sanctions freeze any assets that the listed people and firms hold in China and prohibit Chinese organizations and citizens from conducting business with them, and singled out Boeing’s St. Louis-based defense branch, Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation and L3Harris Maritime Services – among others.

Also on the list is Palmer Luckey, the founder of defense firm Anduril Industries. The sanctioned executives are barred from traveling to mainland China, as well as Hong Kong and Macau.

“In response to the latest US announcement of large-scale arms sales to China’s Taiwan region, China has decided to take countermeasures in accordance with the anti-foreign sanctions law against 20 US defense-related companies and 10 senior executives who have engaged in arming Taiwan in recent years,” stated the Chinese foreign ministry.

“Anyone who attempts to cross the line and make provocations on the Taiwan question will be met with China’s firm response… No country or force shall ever underestimate the resolve, will, and ability of the Chinese government and people to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” it added.

The ministry described that “movable and immovable properties, and other kinds of assets” of these American firms and individuals within China “shall be frozen.”

The punitive measure follows the Trump administration’s provocative announcement last week of an $11.1 billion arms package for Taiwan, which is record-setting, confirmed as the largest such US sale to the island to date.

Beijing has said “The Taiwan issue lies at the heart of China’s core interests and represents the first red line in China-U.S. relations that must not be crossed,” according to a foreign ministry spokesperson.

The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the major arms sales are intended to support Taipei’s efforts to “modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability.”

The biggest chunks of the package include some $4 billion of Himars truck-based missile launchers, enough for 82 of the advanced systems.

The Himars have enough range to be able to reach targets on China’s east coast, which introduces a new level of ‘deterrence’ from Taipei’s and Washington’s perspectives.

This revelation that Chinese cargo ships are being set up with sensors and missile launchers is part of a pattern. The CCP is using civilian ships as military. Many ships in the countries fishing fleets have also been militarized.
No tech equipment from China should be trusted.…

— Michael Ron Bowling (@mrbcyber) December 26, 2025

Last week, soon on the heels of this, Beijing issued a blistering statement saying, “The ‘Taiwan independence’ forces on the island seek independence through force and resist reunification through force, squandering the hard-earned money of the people to purchase weapons at the cost of turning Taiwan into a powder keg.”

That prior statement had added, “This cannot save the doomed fate of ‘Taiwan independence’ but will only accelerate the push of the Taiwan Strait toward a dangerous situation of military confrontation and war. The U.S. support for ‘Taiwan Independence’ through arms will only end up backfiring. Using Taiwan to contain China will not succeed.”

Submitted By Thomas Kolbe

The gold price is racing from one all-time high to the next. That’s good news for friends of the precious metal and bad news for anyone still hoping for a stabilization of global debt dynamics. 

Assuming the markets close out the year without major volatility, gold holders can look forward to an approximate 70 percent increase in value within a single year. This is remarkable—not least because 2024 already ended with a 26 percent gain for the otherwise conservative asset class of precious metals. That amounts to a doubling of value in just two years—a surge usually seen in the tech sector rather than gold.

A Store of Value in Turbulent Times 

For the most stable money humanity has ever known, which has served as a store of value in crises for millennia, this is no ordinary development. Quite the opposite. Among those who follow geopolitical developments and financial markets closely, such a compressed upward movement is an unmistakable signal: Danger is imminent. 

Whether it’s military conflicts—like the Ukraine crisis, which still carries dangerous escalation potential—or the global debt dynamics now affecting nearly every region, capital is visibly fleeing to the safe haven of gold. Gold has a key advantage over other assets: there is no counterparty risk. Physical ownership—not as an ETF held at a bank—represents a tangible value that, aside from the annual 1.6 percent mining increase, neither inflates nor can be arbitrarily frozen.

By comparison, the M2 money supply—which includes cash, deposits, short-term term deposits such as money market funds, and savings accounts—is expected to grow by seven to nine percent globally this year. Gold is becoming scarcer relative to circulating fiat money—a compelling argument, particularly in central bank circles. Banks are well aware that their interest rate policies, coupled with ongoing debt monetization, lead to planned currency devaluation. Hence, the precise move into gold—central bankers are essentially trying to secure themselves.

The size of the global gold stock is limited and fairly precisely measurable. Worldwide, there are 216,000 tons of gold, equating to a volume of 11,200 m³—forming a cube with a side length of 22.3 meters. 

Central Banks Scent Their Own Crisis 

Globally, it was again the central banks pushing gold prices higher this year. The Polish, Chinese, and Turkish central banks stand out. Combined, central banks are expected to add roughly 1,000 tons of gold to their vaults this year—a figure well above the long-term average of 400–500 tons. As mentioned: danger is imminent.

This massive buying suggests that central bankers know full well we are facing a global debt problem—or may already be in the eye of the storm. Interest rates are rising in almost every economy, prompting investors to demand higher risk premiums on sovereign bonds from highly indebted states. The U.S., with over 120 percent debt, joins France (~117 percent) and Italy (~136 percent). Even Germany, currently an exception at 65 percent debt, plans a significant buildup in the coming years. Overstretched welfare states and additional burdens from migration-related crises push public budgets further into deficit, only offset by continuously growing bond volumes.

When central banks step in and take on large parts of this new debt, the credit money supply grows alongside the actual credit process, driving inflation in both goods and asset prices. 

Subordinating monetary policy to fiscal mandates has created a powerful political unit. Debt policy becomes the norm, and the natural causality between deficit, higher taxes, and inflation is systematically stretched out over time. Who today links rising food prices or the precious metal boom to the Federal Reserve or the ECB?

Private investors feel the pressure, too: German households, for instance, bought about 9,000 tons of gold this year in the form of jewelry, goods, and coins.

Trust Crisis in the Global Financial System 

Growing private and institutional demand for safe assets, which shows no sign of abating and is expected to continue into 2026, points to a severe trust crisis. Rising sovereign bond yields—especially in Japan, with debt around 230 percent—have reached alarming levels, scaring investors and exposing the depth of the trust crisis. A storm is brewing—and Japan may well be where it begins. 

For years, Japan served as a carry trade hub: borrowing cheaply in yen and investing elsewhere for higher returns with limited currency risk. Rising rates there could abruptly make these long-standing financing models unprofitable.

The foundation of the international financial market, largely built on U.S. Treasuries, risks destabilization. Options to hedge against the monetary excess—central banks taking on massive state debts—are limited. 

Gold remains one of the safest havens. For those preferring more volatility, Bitcoin is digital gold: serving the same purpose, independent of state creditworthiness, and operating as a self-contained economic ecosystem. 

Italy and the Final Alarm Signal 

As if one more proof were needed that a storm might hit capital markets, Italy—one of the Eurozone’s three pillars—has gone on the offensive. The country is working to legally transfer gold stored at the Italian central bank to state ownership. 

Does Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni foresee that in a Euro crisis, the ECB might tap national gold reserves to stabilize the common currency?

How far has the trust crisis in capital markets already advanced? The new year may soon give us a clearer answer to this pressing question. 

The number of murders in the US is on track for its largest one-year drop on record, according to an analysis by noted crime stats expert, Jeff Asher.

Using the Real-Time Crime Index that compares data from 570 law enforcement agencies, Asher reports a nearly 20% decline in murders in 2025 vs. the same period in 2024. The database excludes manslaughter, self-defense, negligence, or “accidental killings.” 

As Asher notes on his Substack, 

The drop in crime in 2025 continues a trend that began in 2023, accelerated in 2024, and likely became historic in 2025. A roughly 20 percent drop in murder in 2025, as is suggested by the current data, would be by far the largest decline ever recorded, eclipsing the decline in 2024 — currently pegged at -15 percent by the FBI but that’s subject to a likely upward revision next year.

Other types of crime are seeing large reported declines as well. These drops range from a nearly 23 percent decline in motor vehicle thefts in the RTCI to a smaller 9 and 8 percent drop in theft and aggravated assault respectively according to the RTCI. These numbers won’t be finalized for a while, but they paint the picture of large drops in crime even if the current numbers potentially overstate that drop by a small bit.

Other major crime categories tracked by the index were also down, including motor vehicle thefts (23.2%), aggravated assaults (7.5%) and robbery (18.3%). 

When analyzed by major city using data from City Data, Birmingham, Albuquerque, Columbus, Baltimore and Chicago led the decline, while Milwaukee, Kansas City, and Los Angeles actually saw increases YTD. 

Read the entire report here.

Authored by Conor Gallagher via NakedCapitalism.com,

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz last week decried the end of Pax Americana and declared that Germany will fill the void:

“The decades of Pax Americana for Europe and Germany are largely over for us. It no longer exists as we knew it. Nostalgia will not help us, and I would be the last person to give in to this nostalgia. This is a reality! The Americans are now very fiercely defending their interests. And that is why we must now defend our interests.”

What were the first acts in defending those interests? Germany approved a nearly $60 billion spending package—believed to be the largest in post WWII German history— that provided aboost to defense stocks, which have begun to come down slightly from their record highs. And on Friday the EU approved 90 billion euros in joint debt in an attempt to keep Project Ukraine limping along.

What does it all mean? Is Germany seriously considering conflict with Russia or is it more subterfuge to push the train down the dual tracks of enriching the capital class while holding together the supranational European project? Probably both—but as the European elite bust out their own countries, run up the tab on rearmament, and do all they can to antagonize Russia in Ukraine and elsewhere, when exactly is common sense supposed to kick in?

Let’s start with what we know.

The German political class has been going on about the end of Pax Americana for years now, just as they’ve been talking about rearmament for years. What these discussions allude to is a Pax Germanica taking the place of Washington in the European theater.

🧵 Part 1/2 – Merz stood before his CDSU party and did two things in the same speech that should have stopped Europe cold.

He declared that “Pax Americana is over.” And he reached for Europe’s darkest memory… Munich, the Sudetenland, Hitler, to argue that Russia “won’t… pic.twitter.com/msPDyUSvbC

— THE ISLANDER (@IslanderWORLD) December 14, 2025

Yes, perhaps it should have “stopped Europe cold”, but then, so should have much of the events of the past four years or so. Yet whether by design or folly, it’s becoming increasingly evident that the vaunted German efficiency is a myth.

They keep pouring money into the rearmament black hole while hollowing out the economy and cutting social spending. It was fitting that on the same day the Bundestag approved the $60 billion in defense spending, the government also moved to cut welfare payments.

Merz’s speech was similar to Angela Merkel’s 2017 warning that Trump’s America was turning its back on Europe. But Merz goes much further by arguing that Europe “is no longer in peace” and that only a strong Germany can return it to such a state.

This argument is similar to the much-discussed Zeitenwende of Merz’s predecessor, Olaf Scholz. The Zeitenwende has surely been a turn, just not so much in the way it was marketed. It was supposed to mark the dawn of a new era in Europe and Germany in particular, which would undergo a massive overhaul of its armed forces in order to “deter” Russia and bring peace of course. It hasn’t done any of that. In fact, coupled with a refusal to compromise or even hold genuine discussions with Moscow, it’s made conflict more likely. But it also hasn’t produced much in the way of results for the German armed forces, which are still a long ways from being ready for any sort of sustained conflict (more on that below).

More recently, a report last year from The German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) titled “Europe and the End of Pax Americana” is nearly identical to what Merz said last week. SWP is one of the foremost think tanks in Germany, and it advises the Bundestag and the federal government on foreign and security policy issues so it’s worth paying attention to, although it usually produces quite bland, toned down versions of reports from the imperial capital in DC. Here’s the meat of its Pax Americana Finis report: 

Ultimately, the decline of Pax Americana also raises the question of what role liberal-democratic values could and should play in foreign policy. German and European advocates of a values-based foreign policy could lose an important backer – namely, America – in the coming years. As far as the European security order is concerned, the situation is quite clear: the conflict with Russia is only superficially about territorial claims and military power relations; its real cause lies in irreconcilable values about Europe’s internal and external order. From the perspective of the EU and the European NATO states, Europe’s security is therefore inextricably linked to the defence of liberal-democratic values.

Standing up for values outside Europe should therefore focus on those norms, institutions and rules that directly affect the peaceful coexistence of states: inter­national and maritime law, multilateralism and, consequently, the often-cited “rules-based order” at the regional and global level. These principles are also supported out of self-interest by authoritarian states that are not major powers and therefore are confronted by more powerful neighbours. However, none of this changes the sobering fact that without the United States, it would be much more difficult to protect the rem­nants of the rules-based world order.

Ah yes, the rules-based order: 

Germany’s CDU leader Merz as usual saying the quiet stuff out loud! “The ICC is intended for despots and authoritarians not democratically elected governments … ” https://t.co/n4BIsDCjLB

— Adam Tooze (@adam_tooze) May 23, 2024

The legal innovations coming out of EU this week (Article 122 override of unanimity, permanent freeze of sovereign reserves in violation of international law, and now Article 20 selective carve out to enable EU borrowing of ‘joint debt’) should have EU and global lawyers… https://t.co/u7p3sTQPVA

— Kathleen Tyson (@Kathleen_Tyson_) December 19, 2025

Beyond the obvious joke of the rules-based order, what is being proposed here? That Germany will keep the fight against Russia in the name of this order (which is code for neoliberal capitalism controlled by Wall Street and the European financial class).

In What Form Is This Fight? 

If this is the war Germany is engaged in, it started a while back. And it surely isn’t for the benefit of all Germans. Let us briefly once again recall that the final nail in the coffin of the German economy was Berlin’s decision to move away from cheap and reliable Russian natural gas. Amid the hysteria of the conflict in Ukraine, which is backed by Germany, the response in Berlin has been an assault on the working class in Germany.

While the valuations of weapons companies soar, foreign investors are feasting on the German economic carcass. And the government in Berlin is now committing $35.2 billion in public guarantees, loans, and equity to “de-risk” private equity investments in energy, industry, and advanced technology. This is happening as the German engine of Europe breaks down and is dragging the Eurozone with it.  So the military keynesianism ain’t working (it’s a highly inefficient way to boost the economy) while more and more money is being directed away from social programs and into weapons companies and financialization schemes in the name of competitiveness and defending the country against the dual so-called threats of Russia and a retreating America. Nevermind that US troops remain in Germany and that Moscow was perfectly happy doing business with Germany, wanted further integration with Europe, and has no interest in having to go to war with and subdue a continent of 450 million people who are cursed with fanatically Russophobic leaders. 

Unprepared for a Real Fight 

While the European political class wants to keep Project Ukraine going, longer term their stated goal is to be ready for war with Russia. They are nowhere close. A June report from the Kiel Institute and Bruegel highlights the lack of preparedness. The authors don’t proclaim that Germany and Europe will not be ready to fight by 2030 but consider the obstacles:

• An inability to translate spending into real capabilities and sustained growth in European force generation, sustainment, and military modernisation.

• Reducing dependency on US systems and the overstretched US defence industrial base will be a challenge.

• Cost effectiveness is a major problem.

• Perhaps the greatest challenge is  reducing dependency on US forces, which means raising a large number of European troops for which the local population has shown no appetite for.

• Meanwhile, Russia has only increased its advantage since 2022.

It would take an enormous amount of political will, vision, population-wide sacrifice, and even then they might still be far behind Russia but at least able to last more than a few weeks.

Does the current crop of European elected officials or any on the horizon appear capable of anything beyond busting out their own countries?

How about what we don’t know. 

Is It All a Ruse? 

It’s entirely possible. As we see, there are benefits for capital and its long-held wish to dismantle European welfare states. Beyond that, it aids the expansion of supranational EU power, which has nothing much to offer anymore except fear mongering of the Russian horde.

Living standards in the EU continue to decline as prices go up, real wages decline, and the social safety net is cut, and all the borrowing to juice weapons companies and pave the path for private equity are only making matters worse. As a Friday paper from the Kiel Institute highlights:

Current NATO rearmament plans could lead to permanently higher taxes in member states, according to a new analysis by the Kiel Institute based on a unique dataset. The dataset covers the financing of rearmament and wars over the past 150 years in 20 countries. It shows that military spending is initially financed through significantly higher public debt, while in the medium to long term the tax burden rises.

Spook Alignment?

The fact is we don’t know with any degree of certainty what European governments have planned because they long ago quit paying attention to voters, and so much of foreign policy (and domestic) is nowadays conducted by the spooks. As just one example, here’s the situation in the UK, which is openly discussing continuing its dirty war against Russia beyond the inevitable Ukraine collapse: 

🇬🇧 UK Democracy In A State of Collapse

The latest report from the UK Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) depicts the UK’s intelligence agencies (MI5, MI6, and GCHQ) operating with near-total autonomy as the democratic circuit-breaker between secret state power and the… pic.twitter.com/EiDt8W9TWc

— 🅰pocalypsis 🅰pocalypseos 🇷🇺 🇨🇳 🅉 (@apocalypseos) December 17, 2025

And we see Western governments engaged in all sorts of games like fake negotiations designed to trick targets, narrative control, false flags, etc. The Washington Post, for example, just confirmed what was long suspected: that the US pretended to be in negotiations with Tehran in order to help Israel target Iranian nuclear scientists and other officials. And I’ve lost count of the number of stories over the past few years that detail angry calls from the White House to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and tell us a serious rift is emerging between the US and Israel.

With spy games as statecraft, the interests of capital taking precedent over national interest, and crazies running the show, the idea that Europe might try to further “extend” Russia into its own yard doesn’t appear far-fetched—despite their lack of preparedness for such a fight.

For example, if there is “spook alignment” in the West, the plan as discussed by some American think tankers and officials to transform the fight against Russia into an EU project while the US tries to play mediator and make imperial gains elsewhere, looks more possible—if not gaining much in the way of sense. But if the European Blob was delusional enough to go all in on Project Ukraine, what about the larger Western Blob project underway for the US to regain hegemony using oil and AI, which involves strengthening control over West Asia and domination in the Western Hemisphere in order to better confront Russia and China economically, if not militarily.

Even if there isn’t such transatlantic Blob alignment, there exists a great deal of danger for Europe.

Russia is treating the European threat very seriously. As the military buildups continue  in Eastern Europe and the dirty war plays out in multiple theaters, the chances of more direct conflict increase. The madness surrounding the so-called shadow fleet with Ukraine (with whose help?) now hitting Russian tankers in the Mediterranean Sea leaps immediately to mind as a potential source of more direct confrontation once/if Moscow runs out of patience. Even if the titans of finance and the EU power mad bureaucrats see benefits in drumming up the threat of conflict, the fallout from Europe’s economic decline will only become more unpredictable and lead to more desperation.

For now, the idea that the Europeans are bluffing and are wise enough to fold at some point requires us to ignore that nearly the entire European political class has already been willing to decimate their own countries economically in the name of this conflict, and wisdom would have been not to start it to begin with. Their actions show that they value the lives of their fellow countrymen as much as they do Ukrainians. If these actors truly believe in the logic that extending Russia will ultimately weaken it (thus far, the evidence is to the contrary) and topple the government, then when they’re no longer able to outsource the job to Ukrainians they won’t hesitate to further wreck their homelands.

They might not be insane enough to send battalions eastwards, but if they can successfully goad the Moscow, imagine how beneficial some Russian strikes on EU territory would be for the effort to burn more cash on rearmament, further scale back social spending, and centralize more power in Brussels.

So as the EU continues its free fall, perhaps the scariest thought is that the political class has already dug so deep, they’re already at bomb shelter depth.

Finland has over 50,000 air raid shelters.

Their preparedness aims to strengthen their resilience and to deter aggression.

We have so much to learn from the Finns.

This is the change of mindset I want to help bring during my second mandate. pic.twitter.com/xo64LKX1qD

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen_epp) June 4, 2024

Written by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us

When I think of the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk I see the event as symbolic of the death of civil discourse in the west. The timeline split at that moment leaving two distinct groups: The conservatives and centrists who cling to the fantasy that progress through traditional politics is still possible, and the patriots who now realize that a peaceful resolution is unattainable.

I also see it as symbolic of a deeper element of the culture war – Specifically, the war on young white western men. Kirk was 31 at the time of his death. Not “young”, but almost 15 years younger than I am, and it has left me thinking about the future for the next generation of western males at a time when the system is obviously hellbent on destroying them.

They have been the subject of economic warfare through DEI: Corporations and colleges give first shot to any identity group other than white males regardless of merit.

They have been targeted by social warfare: Demonized as irredeemable monsters by woke cancel culture and labeled the cause of all the world’s ills.  Their ancestors built a civilization of unprecedented prosperity and so much material bounty even the poorest people are fat.  They created the middle class, a concept which had never existed before in history.  In 1890 the average global life expectancy was 42 years; by 1990 the average life expectancy was 73 years, all because of western civilization and the technology it created.  And now, white guys are being punished for it.

They have been selected for extermination: They’re the key demographic that leftist governments want to use as cannon fodder for a mindless geopolitical mess in Ukraine.

Charlie Kirk’s biggest mistake was believing that the system could be defeated through peaceful discourse. He was wrong. It’s not just the insanity of the political left that makes peace and reason impossible, there’s also the machinations of globalist controlled governments working tirelessly to conjure a perpetual meat grinder through domestic and foreign conflicts.

One indicator of a coming purge is the open call for young men (specifically conservative men) to accept the idea of future conscription. Multiple EU member states have threatened to institute a military draft if volunteer numbers do not dramatically increase (so much for “democracy”). The purpose of the draft? To construct an EU army large enough to go toe-to-toe with Russia.

As I predicted in my article “World War III Is Now Inevitable – Here’s Why It Can’t Be Avoided”, published in April of 2024, the globalists in Europe are doing everything in their power to stop a peace plan from moving forward in Ukraine. They have been actively sabotaging the Trump Administration’s efforts for a summit which actually includes Russia instead of cutting them out of the process.

At the same time that a greater war is being fomented, there has been a relentless gnawing crusade to demoralize young white men. One could rightly say that this campaign also affects some minority men in places like the US, but let’s not play games – The primary target is without a doubt white western males.

Why? It’s hard to say for certain, but when patriots are called to action it’s usually white conservative men that answer. Minorities (third world migrants in particular) are far more inclined to lean into socialism and view western civilization as a structure to be torn down rather than protected.

This attitude is changing in some areas of South America, for example, but the fact remains that if you visit a developing nation, chances are high that free markets and individual liberty are not common societal values. It’s not racial profiling, it’s simply statistical fact.

In Europe, the current goal of the establishment is to crush the spirits of western men while protecting migrants as a precious commodity. In the UK, the narrative is focused like a laser on white conservative males as public enemy #1, while simultaneously demanding that these same men “prove their patriotism” by fighting for the elites against Russia.

I was watching a news broadcast from the BBC a few months ago in which a male journalist of military age tried to argue rational points on why men in Britain are reticent to go to war for the existing government. He noted that they do not believe that the leftist politicians in power represent them anymore and they feel they are being rapidly replaced by third worlders with hostile ideologies. Why would they fight for such a government?

A black female journalist involved in the discussion sneered at the man’s argument, then grinned as she asserted that nothing he says matters because he could be drafted whether he likes it or not. It was the evil grin of a communist – She knows she’s part of the protected class. She knows that he can be sent to die no matter how logical and reasonable his position,  Meanwhile, she risks nothing in her support of continued war.

She was reveling in the idea of white conservative men being expendable. It’s the leftist dream, is it not? To turn their political opponents into beasts of burden and fuel for the fire of their Utopian fantasy. They don’t care about being correct, or moral; they just want to crush the life out of people who disagree with them.

Progressives in Europe have taken to social media asserting that conservative men should BE SENT FIRST to war; because they are better mentally suited to combat (because conservatives are violent monsters, remember?). They are also easy to sacrifice in the name of the grand progressive experiment. There is, of course, no talk of sending the millions of military age migrant men in Europe to the front lines in Ukraine.

Again, I predicted this exact scenario in my article “Europe Goes Full Totalitarian And Puts The Entire Western World At Risk”, published in March. I stated:

“I would go even further and say that in the event of war with Russia native born citizens will be rounded up for conscription while most migrants are left behind to run the streets of London, Paris and Berlin. I believe the migrants are enforcers to keep any potentially defiant Europeans in line. Many empires and monarchs throughout history have used foreign mercenaries as muscle to prevent local rebellion. The politicians in the EU and UK are following a similar strategy…”

I’ve identified at least three separate propaganda narratives and political agendas that are working in tandem as a weapon against western men.  These mechanisms are highly coordinated across social media, with mainstream news platforms, politicians and influencers repeating the same talking points as if they all received the same script.

Lazy, Apathetic, Angry And Dangerous To Society

Social media is rife with this disinformation claim – Often perpetuated by female influencers, they assert that young men are no longer engaging with modern women and he liberal order because they are “porn addicted”, lack motivation and have no direction. They say that young males have abandoned society and that this makes them volatile and prone to unpredictable violence.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Young men are simply building their own separate society which preserves western values and protects their heritage from the ravages of deconstructionists. Feminists and establishment shills are worried about men walking away because then they can’t exploit those men for their labor and resources anymore. By extension, when men separate from the liberal herd, they have greater independence and a greater potential to rebel.

I would argue that the “incel” narrative widely promoted in the past decade by the political left has nothing to do with sincere concerns about the mental health of young men. Rather, it’s all about controlling those men before they go rogue against the establishment.

Using Economic Hardship And War To Weed Out The Strong

In George Orwell’s novel “Animal Farm”, the communist Pigs seek to dominate the other animals by keeping them busy with arduous (but empty) acts of labor. They use this aimless labor to break the backs of the strongest animals on the farm. The horse named “Boxer” is a true believer in the common good of the collective, but the Pigs see his strength as a potential threat to their long term rule.

They exploit Boxer’s patriotism and ultimately work him to death. They then sell his body to a slaughterhouse despite his faithful service to the farm.

If you are a young man and a patriot in the west and primarily in Europe, YOU are Boxer the horse. They will send you off to slaughter in the name of the collective because you represent potential opposition. They will use economic decline as a means to pressure you into conformity, or leave you no other option but to join the military. They will then celebrate your death, because they nullified your strength without ever having to fight you directly.

Young Men, The Warrior Class And The Weak Elites

Another story I’m often reminded of when contemplating the plight of young men is “The 47 Ronin”. The basic theme is one of justice vs. law and government corruption. When the benevolent lord of a samurai fiefdom is assassinated by another lord, his soldiers call for justice. However, the government intervenes and disrupts any investigation into the murder.

They know the opposing lord is a criminal, but he is also an elite valuable to the power structure. He is one of them, and to punish their own is to bring the entire feudal system into question in the eyes of the nation. They allow him to escape consequences for the sake of the “greater good.”

The samurai, though, do not share in this “enlightened” vision of gray morality. They see everything as black and white; honorable and dishonorable. They make a plan to kill the enemy lord who murdered their master.

I find this story to be the most profound when it comes to explaining the way in which men are treated by modern liberal society, specifically white men in the west. At the end of The 47 Ronin, the samurai succeed in killing the corrupt lord, but they are then required to commit mass suicide or face dishonorable execution as criminals.

They are warriors that have gone rogue; they have exited the societal reservation. They have become the most dangerous thing in existence: Honest men willing to act outside the law.  And so, they must die for the sake of the status quo.

What I see going on today is a perverse agenda to control western men and keep them subservient. The agenda stifles the next generation, through nihilist propaganda, through the apathy of the political circus, and by conditioning those men to see themselves as a dispensable utility. If the system can’t control these men, it will try to kill them by creating a war big enough to thin their ranks by attrition.

The elites view the warrior class as the ultimate danger, and young western men represent the best chance of a renewed warrior class. If these men ever realize their true power, the weakling elites would be wiped off the face of the Earth within moments. I hear the argument often that this kind of rebellion is meaningless without a detailed plan to rebuild.  This is another means of control – Demand a perfect solution before action is ever taken so that nothing ever gets done.

Warriors understand that reformation only comes from the will to take action; the will to create momentum. They understand that civil discourse has its place, but if all it does is maintain the status quo then it must be abandoned. Warriors understand that the worst thing one can do is debate the obvious while the world burns.

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

Authored by J.D. Hester via AntiWar.com

With paleoconservatism currently ascendant in the United States, the slogan “America First” has risen to prominence in public discourse. However, this is not the first time that the phrase has been commonplace in American politics. While America First is currently associated with the right, the bipartisan America First Committee (AFC) united anti-war activists across the political spectrum around keeping the US out of the Second World War. With the Russo-Ukraine War raging on and the Israel lobby pushing for more US involvement in the Middle East, it is once again time for a big-tent alliance to oppose war and put America first.

“History is written by the victors” is a popular adage to describe the phenomenon in which the victorious side of a conflict mythologizes their exploits. Anti-war activists, especially for generally popular wars like WWII, are often vilified as bigots or sympathizers of foreign nations. In the modern era, opponents of U.S. support for Israel are often vilified as “Jihadists,” “third-worldists,” or “Islamists.” Likewise, those skeptical of U.S. support for Ukraine are regularly smeared as Putin apologists. Similar slanderous claims have been made about the AFC, despite the principled motives of the vast majority of its members.

While some members of the America First Committee, like the famous aviator Charles Lindbergh, made antisemitic statements, the organization itself fought antisemitism in its ranks. Nevertheless, historical revisionists have often fixated on the small minority of genuine antisemites. As one historian put it: “Thousands of sincere Americans of varied background and from both political parties joined and contributed to [the America First Committee]. It also attracted support from a number of fringe hate organizations, from anti-Semites, and from Nazi sympathizers. This minority support tarnished its reputation.”

The efforts of critics to smear the organization have mostly concealed its successes. However, some prominent individuals have praised the organization for what it was able to accomplish in the short time it existed (about 15 months). Paleoconservative commentator Patrick Buchanan wrote,

“The achievements of [the America First Committee] are monumental. By keeping America out of World War II until Hitler attacked Stalin in June of 1941, Soviet Russia, not America, bore the brunt of the fighting, bleeding and dying to defeat Nazi Germany. Thanks to America First, no nation suffered less in the world’s worst war.”

By resisting the efforts of war hawks to preemptively enter World War II, the AFC likely prevented the deaths of thousands of young American men and demonstrated the power of anti-war advocacy.

Now, the time is ripe for another coalition of anti-war activists from across the political spectrum to oppose the possibility of U.S. military entanglement in Venezuela, Ukraine, or the Middle East. Indeed, a new AFC might be closer than expected. In a previous article, I outlined how Tucker Carlson, a paleoconservative, has found common ground with progressives like Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian on opposing U.S. support for Israel.

While a new antiwar coalition would certainly look different than the original AFC, the modern geopolitics are radically different from the 1930s. The United States is now a nuclear-armed superpower capable of waging war anywhere on the globe. Additionally, the Israel lobby exerts a strong influence over numerous American politicians. A new antiwar coalition will have different goals and employ different strategies. Nevertheless, its core mission––putting America first by resisting unjust wars – would remain the same.

In the end, a new America First Committee might be even more necessary than it was in 1941. With the advent of nuclear weapons, military conflict is an existential threat to our world. In fact, the doomsday clock states that the world is a mere 89 seconds to midnight. Americans across the political spectrum are waking up to this reality. Opposing war is not a matter of ideology; it is a matter of survival. The simple idea that the American government should put the interests of the people it represents first is so obvious, yet often absent in practice.

A modern AFC could pressure the government to act according to the will of the people and prove that dissent is patriotic. The America First Committee offers a historical blueprint, but it is up to us to build the momentum and movement necessary to truly change U.S. foreign policy.

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

A post-Christmas Day winter blast is expected for parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast for the end of the week, with some of the heaviest snowfall expected in eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the New York City area.

Meteorologist Steven DiMartino of private forecaster NY NJ PA Weather wrote in a new report Thursday that the winter storm will dump accumulating snow across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast from Friday afternoon through Saturday.

Here is DiMartino’s forecast, which suggests that travel disruptions could occur up and down the I-95 corridor from Philadelphia to Boston:

• Timing: Snow develops Friday between 3-6 PM, becomes steady after 6 PM. Mixed precipitation develops after midnight in several zones, with a change back to all snow by early Saturday morning. Snow showers may linger through late Saturday morning.

• Heaviest impacts: Interior parts of New York and nearby areas could see 6-10 inches of snow or sleet.

• Moderate snow: Portions of southern New England and nearby regions may receive 3-6 inches.

• Mixed precipitation zones: Areas around Philadelphia and central Pennsylvania face snow changing to sleet or rain, with 1-4 inches of snow and up to .05-.25 inches of ice, raising the risk of slick roads and power issues.

• Farther south: Snow may briefly change to rain, with lighter accumulations.

• Coastal New England: Lighter snow showers, generally 1-3 inches.

Forecast Map:

Related:

• “Winter Isn’t Over”: NatGas Soars As Another Cold Blast Targets US East

• Mapping The Chances Of A White Christmas

Meanwhile, on the US West Coast:

• Atmospheric Rivers Pound US West Coast, Raising Bomb Cyclone Threat Ahead Of Christmas

The latest warmup has been a welcome relief following a first half of December marked by polar vortex mayhem across the eastern half of the Lower 48.

We expect cold air to return in the coming weeks, as peak winter is between mid- and late January.

Authored by William Brooks via The Epoch Times,

For many folks raised in the northern United States and Canada, the Christmas season evokes vivid childhood memories: fresh snowfalls, frosted windowpanes, the scent of a pine tree in a warm living room, and neighbourhoods aglow with coloured lights against the early evening darkness.

We recall midnight carol services followed by exciting Christmas mornings, the thrill of unwrapping a new pair of skates, and the delicious aroma of a roasting turkey.

For almost everyone, Christmas was a season of goodwill—a time when families reunited, neighbours dropped by for eggnog, and communities felt briefly stitched together by shared customs rather than pulled apart by grievance. Those memories help explain why Andy Williams’s early 1960s hit could so confidently proclaim, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”

Such fond recollections now sit in sharp contrast to the Decembers we inhabit today.

What was once a broadly shared cultural moment increasingly feels caught in a vortex of political resentment, culture-war skirmishes, and competing claims over the public space. The season that once wrapped communities in a common warmth now exposes society’s fault lines. Christmas has not disappeared—its lights still shines—but the bonds that once united us are harder to distinguish amid the confusion of post-modern diversity.

During the Christmas season, expressions of hostility toward people of faith have become a familiar part of our present-day ideological battles. Scholars have long documented the opposition of adversarial intellectual movements toward the influence of Christian values in public life. In the United States, organizations such as the Satanic Temple and the Freedom From Religion Foundation openly work to challenge the presence of Christian symbols and traditions in civic settings. Legal arguments invoking the Constitution’s Establishment Clause are routinely used to confine Christmas displays and pageants to private spaces.

In Canada, grievances have taken a more troubling turn. Over the past several years, specious allegations related to the history of indigenous residential schools contributed to an atmosphere in which more than 100 Christian churches have been vandalized or burned, from Kamloops, British Columbia, to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

One cannot ignore that the Judeo-Christian traditions, which once healed social divisions, have become a target for discord. Even the most familiar religious symbols provoke dispute. What used to be shared feelings of peace and joy are now pulled into broader conflicts over identity and power. Sentiments that were once widely shared appear sharply divided, and scores of young people are being conscripted into the pathological legions of a troubled age.

Restoring the Spirit of Christmas

Whatever one’s views on history or accountability, the globalization of violence against people of faith and places of worship reveals how deeply polarized our cultural landscape has become.

In an era when division dominates headlines, restoring the spirit of Christmas will require something countercultural: a deliberate return to civility. As we approach 2026—a year likely to bring continued economic, political, and global uncertainty—individuals and communities still have an opportunity to reclaim the season by prioritizing goodwill over conflict.

One practical step is to revive social gatherings that bridge divides. Local get-togethers, informal open houses, or even virtual reunions can create spaces where politics are set aside in favour of conversation, laughter, and shared experiences. As CBS World War II correspondent Eric Sevareid once observed: “Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we’re here for something else besides ourselves.” Such simple messages can soften resentment, much like the Christmas parties of years gone by.

Another way to restore the season’s spirit is through acts of service. With economic pressures and social isolation still prevalent, volunteering at shelters, donating to food banks, or organizing gift drives can reconnect Christmas to its traditional message of charity and hope. U.S. President Calvin Coolidge captured this well when he wrote: “Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. … To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.” Charitable acts can shift the human focus from self-indulgence to generosity.

Personal reflection is also useful. Attending a carol service, rereading traditional works like Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” or Dylan Thomas’s “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” can restore the virtues of empathy and humility that contribute to the true spirit of Christmas. In a world that is so quick to weaponize differences, reflection reminds us of what we share. Writer and clergyman Norman Vincent Peale once asserted that “Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.”

Finally, we can choose to engage more prudently with modern technology: using it to connect with distant loved ones or share words of encouragement, while stepping back from the outrage-driven algorithms that profit from division.

As the iconic American humorist Mark Twain once noted: “It is my heart-warmed and world-embracing Christmas hope and aspiration that all of us, the high, the low, the rich, the poor, the admired, the despised, the loved, the hated, the civilized, the savage (every man and brother of us all throughout the whole earth), may eventually be gathered together in a heaven of everlasting rest and peace and bliss, except” he joked, “the inventor of the telephone.”

If Christmas feels diminished today, it is not because its message has failed, but because we have allowed civility to erode.

Choosing goodwill over resentment will not end every conflict—but it can restore the warmth that once made this season truly wonderful.

In that choice lies a quiet but powerful act of hope.

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

A former top aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that, in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas invasion on Israel, the first assignment he received from a “panicked” prime minister was figuring out how he could avoid being held responsible for an attack that was as humiliating for Netanyahu as it was devastating for the country. He also said Netanyahu was personally involved in orchestrating the leak of classified information to foreign media in a bid to dodge criticism over a failure to reach a ceasefire agreement.  

The accusations from former Netanyahu spokesman Eli Feldstein came in an extensive interview with Israel’s Kan news network that aired Monday and Tuesday nights. While there were many communication needs in the wake of mass bloodshed that brought 1,200 deaths and saw hundreds taken captive, Feldstein said Netanyahu’s first priority was avoiding blame. Describing Netanyahu as appearing “panicked” at the time, Feldstein told Kan: 

“He asked me, ‘What are they talking about in the news? Are they still talking about responsibility? He wanted me to think of something that could be said that would offset the media storm surrounding the question of whether the prime minister had taken responsibility or not…The first and biggest task that I had after October 7 was erasing the concept of [Netanyahu’s] responsibility from the public discourse.”  

Further hammering the point, Feldstein said that close Netanyahu associates even advised Feldstein to ensure the word “responsibility” never appeared in statements that he was preparing. “They told me to take the word ‘responsibility’ out of the lexicon and formulate something without the word ‘responsibility’ … it won’t go in,” he said.

Eli Feldstein, who stands accused of operating as a Qatari agent while working as Netanyahu’s spokesman, reveals the one and only mission he ever got from the PM: Figure out how I can shirk responsibility for October 7. Do anything. This is just the promo for a long interview… pic.twitter.com/c7I7gmLQZ5

— UnXeptable (@UnxeptableD) December 22, 2025

His account is certain to strike a nerve in Israel, where Netanyahu has faced steady criticism for accepting responsibility for the massive security failure that took place under his government’s watch — and has also been accused of extending the war in Gaza so as to forestall a comprehensive, post-war inquiry, even if extending the war meant keeping hostages lives in peril.

Responding to the broadcast, the prime minister’s office was dismissive of what it called a “long series of mendacious and recycled allegations made by a man with clear personal interests who is trying to deflect responsibility from himself.” Feldstein has been charged with leaking classified information to the media in a bid to shield Netanyahu from criticism at a time when Gaza ceasefire negotiations had come to a halt.

In his Kan interview, Feldstein said Netanyahu was very much a part of that scheme: “In order to [publicize] such a document, the prime minister must be in the picture – from beginning to end..He is the one who ultimately was behind the leak.” He said Netanyahu is lying when he denies his own involvement. 

Feldstein, who’d previously worked for far-right Netanyahu coalition member and current national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, was accused of planting bogus narratives that Hamas was scheming to smuggle Israeli hostages into Egypt, and that Hamas was prolonging negotiations in a form of psychological warfare on the Israeli people. At least one of the outlets that relied on Feldstein’s leaks — the Jewish Chronicle of London — went on to withdraw their report, with prominent columnists resigning over the scandal. Feldstein has also been accused of accepting money from Qatar as part of a foreign influence operation.  

The leaked document was an internal Hamas communication that was supposed to reveal the group was insincere in reaching a compromise that would bring about a ceasefire. However, one of the recipients of the document, the German tabloid Bild, reportedly distorted the document’s content for the benefit of Netanyahu. In Tuesday’s second installment of the interview, Feldstein said that, after the misleading Bild story ran, Netanyahu adviser Jonathan Urich texted him and said, “The boss is thrilled.”