Subjects of Empire,
Donald Trump pulled a CIA inside job to kill Nicolas Maduros bodyguards and snatch Maduro, with help from bribed traitors in the Venezuelan military and government, who probably killed his security detail when the choppers landed.
The benefit of this to the Petrodollar Empire is that Venezuelan oil reserves are the largest in the world, and the infrastructure to extract them has languished for over a decade. They can produce a lot more in phases, the first phase being about 18 months. The "American" oil-majors will do the work, pre-arranged, and US taxpayers will pay them to do it. The US will control enough oil to swing global prices as a weapon. Venezuelan heavy oil compliments the very light fracked oil from Texas in multiple ways, including using naptha to extract Venezuelan oil, and gulf coast refineries being specialized to deal with heavy crude from Venezuela in the good-old-days.
This pressures Canada to comply with imperial edicts or lose oil revenues.
In finance, Venezuela's oil is an asset, against which money can be loaned. It is a really good asset in a world where financial trust is about to evaporate, better than UK "gilt" government bonds, for instance.
My assessment is that big moves like this immediately precede World War 3, which will be a reset of the global financial system, and will be a shape-shifting war between the US Petrodollar Empire and the rising Chinese Industrial Empire. Trump is opportunistically seizing critical assets, and says "the US needs Greenland", which is a minimally defended large territorial asset, which the Empire can snatch outright from "ally" Denmark.
European manufacturing is in decline, and Europe is import dependent for oil, natural gas and minerals like iron ore and copper. Europe lags China industrially now, but the US wants to grab that industry and move it to the US for the war, because Europe can be strangulated further logistically, when shipping is threatened, just as China can.
War is about logistics, supply lines. Russia has the most-effective military in the world to protect Russian assets and territory, while trying to avoid or minimize involvement in the war between the Chinese and Petrodollar Empires. Nobody wants to get nuked by Russia, so they are trying to understand how much they can and can't "poke the bear". China will obtain Russian mineral and forest assets through trade. The Trump admin. would like to cooperate with Russia in the Arctic for developing oilfields, and there was that big Antarctic find in 2024, too, but nobody is allowed to exploit that by international treaties.
Whatever Israel is being hurridly supplied for will likely be directed against Iran, which is destabilized by protests, which are violent on both sides, including Trump's "humanitarian" red line of "shooting protesters", which justifies US intervention. It is hard to see what can be done militarily without raining missiles down on Israeli military sites, but maybe there has been preparation for an internal coup by the CIA, Mossad and elements that were never fully purged in Iran...
Celia Farber's blogposts formatimeline of events, which are complex and still developing. Maduro & Wife Captured By US, Regime Toppled, Venezuelans Jubilate, American Left Anguishes, Trump Openly Says US Might Govern Venezuela, Dismisses Machado, While Nat Rothschild Tweets: "Well Done." And It's Only January Third https://celiafarber.substack.com/p/maduro-and-wife-kidnapped-by-us-regime
January 4, Maduro & Wife Seen Emerging At DEA Offices, Seemingly Calm, As Maduro Repeatedly Says "Happy New Year" in English; Social Media Floods With Clips Of Venezuelans Waking Up To The News, Weeping With Joy
Before It Can Be Known What US Motives Were (Beyond Oil) It Is Undeniable That The Venezuelan People Are Ecstatic And Grateful—And This Is A Separate Matter. There's No Excuse For Being Unmoved https://celiafarber.substack.com/p/maduro-and-wife-seen-emerging-at January 4, Dominos Falling: Trump Tells Press On AF1 That The US Is "In Charge" Of Venezuela, Threatens Imminent Military Action Against Colombia, And Says "Cuba Is Ready To Fall;" Also: "We Need Greenland."
Danish PM, and Greenland Premier Issue Defiant Statements, Reminding Trump Denmark Is Part Of NATO, And Greenland Will Not Be Annexed https://celiafarber.substack.com/p/dominos-falling-trump-tells-press January 6, Have You Seen Of The Most Frightening Building In Caracas? It's Called El Helecoide. Numerous Reports Of Torture And Murder Have Been Documented Inside It, Yet Maduro's Fans In America Deny Them All
They Deny His Atrocities Because To Admit Them Is To Risk Being Called A "Coup Simp," Or Worse. A New Hashtag Is Going Around: #AskAVenezuelan. But American Progressives Prefer To Insult Them https://celiafarber.substack.com/p/have-you-seen-of-the-most-frightening First, it has been divulged that President Trump a mere week earlier gave Maduro once last chance to relinquish power willingly in a phone call. "You got to surrender," Trump told the press Saturday in reference to Maduro. Trump referenced that he actually "came close" to stepping down - whereafter he possibly would have headed to safer climes in Dubai, Qatar, or even Moscow (where he could join Assad).
Rubio indicates U.S. won’t run Venezuela but will use oil blockade as leverage for changes https://ground.news/article/rubio-indicates-us-wont-run-venezuela-but-will-use-oil-blockade-as-leverage-for-changes_6c9bcc
But at the very moment the Venezuelan leader was on the phone with Trump, a CIA team was already in country monitoring his every move. According to a variety of fresh reporting in NBC and others, the CIA closely watched where he stayed, what he ate, and how he moved.
Likely the CIA would have been developing local assets over a period of years. An 'asset' can be anyone from local citizens or military officers - or even high ranking Colonels in Generals in the national army. One thing is clear at this point - the Pentagon had 'insider help' within the socialist regime.
Details of what was dubbed "Operation Absolute Resolve" have at this point been revealed by more than a dozen officials across the White House, administration, and Congress. There have also been very clear public remarks, and the obvious fact of the months-long Pentagon build-up in the southern Caribbean. For example, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan "Raizin" Caine said Saturday that US intelligence even knew the names of Maduro’s pets. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/how-maduro-was-caught-completely-surprise-us-raid-after-cia-team-weeks-monitored-his
Likely the CIA would have been developing local assets over a period of years. An 'asset' can be anyone from local citizens or military officers - or even high ranking Colonels in Generals in the national army. One thing is clear at this point - the Pentagon had 'insider help' within the socialist regime.
Details of what was dubbed "Operation Absolute Resolve" have at this point been revealed by more than a dozen officials across the White House, administration, and Congress. There have also been very clear public remarks, and the obvious fact of the months-long Pentagon build-up in the southern Caribbean. For example, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan "Raizin" Caine said Saturday that US intelligence even knew the names of Maduro’s pets. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/how-maduro-was-caught-completely-surprise-us-raid-after-cia-team-weeks-monitored-his
Chinese officials - Xi Jinping’s special envoy Qiu Xiaoqi, to be specific - sat down with Maduro on Friday. January 2nd. Discussed their “unbreakable brotherhood”. Reviewed over 600 existing agreements between Beijing and Caracas. The usual diplomatic theater about resisting Western imperialism and building a multipolar world order.
Then, just hours later, American bombs started falling....
Then, just hours later, American bombs started falling....
..Here’s what else happened on January 1st - two days before those strikes. China’s new silver export restrictions went into effect. Not recommendations. Not guidelines. Hard restrictions requiring government licenses for any company wanting to ship silver out of the country. And we’re not talking about some minor player here. China controls somewhere between 60-70% of the global silver supply. They’re not just a big fish. They’re the entire goddamn ocean.
The word on the street - and yes, this is rumor territory, so take it with appropriate skepticism - is that Shanghai Port Authority refused to ship a 50 million ounce silver cargo to COMEX-approved delivery warehouses. That’s not a typo. Fifty. Million. Ounces. The kind of shipment COMEX desperately needs right now because their registered inventories are down 70%.
Let me paint you a picture of how bad things are for COMEX. Physical silver in Shanghai is trading at ~$80 per ounce. In some Asian markets, it’s hitting $130. Meanwhile, COMEX futures are quoting around $71. This market is broken beyond repair. The paper price and the physical price have completely divorced, and the physical market is keeping the house. https://no01.substack.com/p/america-bombs-venezuela
Let me paint you a picture of how bad things are for COMEX. Physical silver in Shanghai is trading at ~$80 per ounce. In some Asian markets, it’s hitting $130. Meanwhile, COMEX futures are quoting around $71. This market is broken beyond repair. The paper price and the physical price have completely divorced, and the physical market is keeping the house. https://no01.substack.com/p/america-bombs-venezuela
Jan. 4, Gold & Geopolitics, Venezuela: afterthoughts
Maduro’s in a Brooklyn detention center now. Trump’s declaring the US will “run” Venezuela. And I need to update where I stand after watching this unfold.Because the more I look at this, the more convinced I am we just witnessed theater. Expensive, well-choreographed theater with real consequences, but theater nonetheless.
Let’s start with the obvious. Not a single AA-missile fired. Zero American casualties. The Venezuelan military - supposedly on high alert after weeks and months of threats - just stood down. Maduro and his wife waiting at home when Delta Force arrived. No firefight. No resistance. Just a clean extraction...
Helicopters flying over Caracas. A country that allegedly has thousands of Russian MANPADS. Prepared for this exact scenario for years. And not one gets fired?
Either Venezuela’s military capability was pure fiction, this was negotiated beforehand or he got sold. I’m going with Occam’s Razor.
Maduro likely got an offer he couldn’t refuse. Like: come quietly and your family’s protected and tended for.
His vice president Delcy Rodríguez is now acting president. Trump claims she’s cooperating. However, she’s publicly demanding Maduro’s release and condemning American aggression. https://no01.substack.com/p/venezuela-afterthoughts
A major plank in the Trump administration's case for military intervention in Venezuela is looking thinner today, as the Department of Justice has retreated from the notion that captured President Nicolas Maduro was the head of an organized drug cartel called Cartel de los Soles. The DOJ now says the term "Cartel de los Soles" is merely descriptive of a "culture of corruption" fueled by the illegal drug trade.
This isn't semantics: Both the Treasury and State Departments had officially designated the non-existent group as a terrorist organization...
Sheinbaum rebuffs Trump’s Venezuela operation, threats to Mexico
This isn't semantics: Both the Treasury and State Departments had officially designated the non-existent group as a terrorist organization...
The retreat from the idea that Cartel de los Soles is an actual organization was apparent in the DOJ's filing of a superseding (updated) indictment. The previous indictment referred to the supposed cartel 32 times, naming Maduro as its chief. The new one only mentions the term twice, and says it's only descriptive of a "patronage system" and a "culture of corruption" propelled by drug money. That's consistent with the fact that the DEA's annual National Drug Threat Assessment has never mentioned any "Cartel de los Soles" in its cataloguing of major traffickers. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-doj-admits-venezuelas-cartel-de-los-soles-isnt-actual-organization
What do you know? Today in court the Justice Department officially dropped the fake claim that Maduro was ringleader of the fictitious ‘Cartel of the Suns’, which never existed. The theater is not required anymore, you see, now that he’s captured! Convenient how that works, no? ...
“Did you speak with (the oil companies) before the operation took place?“
Trump: “Yes. Before and after. They want to go in and they’re going to do a great job.”
And speaking of skullduggery, reports continue suggesting that Maduro’s downfall was the work of behind-the-scenes betrayal as we have been suspecting:
Market impact projections suggest significant downward pressure on global oil prices, potentially reducing benchmark crude costs by $10-20 per barrel over extended timeframes. Such price reductions would affect global economic dynamics, energy transition economics, and geopolitical relationships between producing and consuming nations.
Strategic implications include strengthened American energy security, reduced import dependence, and enhanced capacity to influence global energy markets through supply management. This scenario assumes successful resolution of operational challenges and sustained political stability within Venezuelan territory. The US military's strategic positioning suggests long-term commitment to this approach. https://discoveryalert.com.au/strategic-implications-global-energy-control-2026/
After Venezuela Assault, Trump and Rubio Warn Cuba, Mexico, and Colombia Could Be Next https://scheerpost.com/2026/01/04/after-venezuela-assault-trump-and-rubio-warn-cuba-mexico-and-colombia-could-be-next/
Simplicius, Jan. 5, Big Surprise: Legal Story Changes as Maduro Brought to Court
..But it little matters anymore, as the Trump administration has dropped all pretenses of adhering to any laws, strictures, or moral codes: they have simply declared the US’s right to take whatever it wants by virtue of its superpower status alone...
..Rubio even whined he “doesn’t care what the UN thinks”, while the US ambassador to the UN flatly explained the reason the Venezuelan regime change was carried out was because the US “can’t have adversaries controlling the largest oil reserves in the world” .....This fact did not escape the Russian ambassador to the UN, who rightly protested:
“We are particularly appalled by the unparalleled cynicism with which Washington did not even attempt to conceal the true aims of its criminal operation.”
Trump even admitted to having informed “the oil companies” of the secret operation in advance, which appears to imply they took part in the planning of the whole affair from the get go—or perhaps, were even the chief drivers of it all, we might assume:“We are particularly appalled by the unparalleled cynicism with which Washington did not even attempt to conceal the true aims of its criminal operation.”
“Did you speak with (the oil companies) before the operation took place?“
Trump: “Yes. Before and after. They want to go in and they’re going to do a great job.”
And speaking of skullduggery, reports continue suggesting that Maduro’s downfall was the work of behind-the-scenes betrayal as we have been suspecting:
WSJ writes that a ‘recently classified’ report describes how the CIA was responsible for convincing Trump that Delcy Rodriguez was the one, over would-be puppet Machado...
..It’s also worth mentioning Donroe Donnie’s brilliant plan for the great “wealth” extraction operation in Venezuela. You see, it’s the tax payer that’s actually meant to foot the bill, as usual, while the oil companies chug their way along to the bank... ..You see, word on the street has it that oil companies aren’t exactly hopping and skipping to get back in that market because current global oil prices do not make Venezuela’s difficult brand of oil profitable to extract and refine, to say the least. But don’t worry, Donnie will foot the bill—or rather, you will: what did you think he meant by the “tremendous amount of money” which will have to be “reimbursed by us”? Did you forget the credo of American State Capitalism? Socialize the losses, privatize the profits. https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/big-surprise-legal-story-changes
There is well organized and granular detail here: US Removal of Maduro Reshapes Global Energy Security
Scenario 1: Successful Integration and Production Ramp-Up
Optimal development scenarios envision Venezuelan production reaching 5-8 million barrels per day by 2035, establishing the United States as the dominant Western Hemisphere oil power. This outcome requires sustained infrastructure investment, technological deployment, and operational expertise that addresses historical production constraints. Market impact projections suggest significant downward pressure on global oil prices, potentially reducing benchmark crude costs by $10-20 per barrel over extended timeframes. Such price reductions would affect global economic dynamics, energy transition economics, and geopolitical relationships between producing and consuming nations.
Strategic implications include strengthened American energy security, reduced import dependence, and enhanced capacity to influence global energy markets through supply management. This scenario assumes successful resolution of operational challenges and sustained political stability within Venezuelan territory. The US military's strategic positioning suggests long-term commitment to this approach. https://discoveryalert.com.au/strategic-implications-global-energy-control-2026/
Sheinbaum warned that infighting would harm the region's economy, saying Mexico fights organized crime while blaming the United States for weapons flow and drug consumption fueling violence.
Regional reactions split along ideological lines as right-wing leaders cheered Nicolás Maduro's removal, which critics linked to exploiting oil, while Maduro and his wife face indictments in New York's Southern District.
Historical patterns, Sheinbaum said, show interventions fail to produce democracy and stability, arguing such actions 'don't lead to peace or development' and stressing Latin America's right to sovereignty and self-determination. https://ground.news/article/sheinbaum-rebuffs-trumps-venezuela-operation-threats-to-mexico_09eaa6
Regional reactions split along ideological lines as right-wing leaders cheered Nicolás Maduro's removal, which critics linked to exploiting oil, while Maduro and his wife face indictments in New York's Southern District.
Historical patterns, Sheinbaum said, show interventions fail to produce democracy and stability, arguing such actions 'don't lead to peace or development' and stressing Latin America's right to sovereignty and self-determination. https://ground.news/article/sheinbaum-rebuffs-trumps-venezuela-operation-threats-to-mexico_09eaa6
BREAKING: COUP D’ÉTAT IN VENEZUELA? Heavy Gunfire in Caracas, Anti-Aircraft Artillery Firing Non-Stop – Armed Groups Moving Through the City, Clashing With Government Troops
Monday night erupted in heavy firefights in Caracas, more specifically in areas of Miraflores, where the presidential palace is located.
This comes a mere hours after the interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, was formally sworn in. Rumors have been circulating that Maduro’s right-hand man, Diosdado Cabello, was planning a coup d’état against Rodríguez. https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/01/breaking-coup-detat-venezuela-heavy-gunfire-caracas-anti/
Her Name Was INGA: Venezuela and the War You Were Never Shown
..“She” is everywhere and nowhere. “She” never signs her name, never takes the podium, never runs for office. “She” doesn’t overthrow governments—“She” reorganizes them. “She” doesn’t start wars—she manages instability. She doesn’t steal money—she allocates resources. When tax dollars disappear, “She” smiles and calls it complexity. When sovereignty erodes, she shrugs and calls it cooperation. When nothing improves and no one is accountable, “She” reminds you that the system is just too big to understand.
INGA thrives on deniability. “She” operates best when everyone agrees something is wrong but can’t quite agree on who did it. “She” disperses responsibility so finely that outrage has nowhere to land. Every disaster has a committee. Every decision has a process. Every process has a justification. And every justification points somewhere else.
“She” loves optics. Elections that change faces but not outcomes. Peace deals that make headlines while pipelines, debts, and dependencies remain untouched. Wars framed as humanitarian necessity, reconstruction framed as generosity, and influence framed as partnership. She ensures there is always motion—summits, conferences, agreements—so no one notices the direction never changes.
INGA doesn’t rule by force. “She” rules by exhaustion. By paperwork. By endless intermediaries. By convincing nations they chose this path themselves. By making citizens feel vaguely uneasy but powerless, sensing manipulation without being able to name the manipulator. “She” is patient. “She” doesn’t need you to believe in “her”. “She” only needs you to keep arguing with your neighbor while she rearranges the board.
This is why the chaos feels synchronized. Why crises stack instead of resolve. Why accountability dissolves the moment you reach for it. https://x.com/idontexistTore/status/2007565477942554948
This comes a mere hours after the interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, was formally sworn in. Rumors have been circulating that Maduro’s right-hand man, Diosdado Cabello, was planning a coup d’état against Rodríguez. https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/01/breaking-coup-detat-venezuela-heavy-gunfire-caracas-anti/
Chaos is not the breakdown of the system. Chaos is the system operating as designed. What you are watching—across governments, economies, wars, elections, and institutions—is not failure, incompetence, or decay. It is coordination masquerading as disorder. At this scale, chaos does not emerge spontaneously; it is engineered, routed, financed, narrated, and maintained. Once you learn to read its patterns instead of its headlines, the illusion collapses, and a single truth becomes unavoidable: none of this is accidental...
..INGA: Integrated Networked Governance Architecture isn’t a building, a charter, or a treaty. It’s the way power learned to survive democracy by moving sideways instead of down. When authority could no longer rely on kings, coups, or overt occupation, it learned to embed itself across systems that appear unrelated but act in concert.....“She” is everywhere and nowhere. “She” never signs her name, never takes the podium, never runs for office. “She” doesn’t overthrow governments—“She” reorganizes them. “She” doesn’t start wars—she manages instability. She doesn’t steal money—she allocates resources. When tax dollars disappear, “She” smiles and calls it complexity. When sovereignty erodes, she shrugs and calls it cooperation. When nothing improves and no one is accountable, “She” reminds you that the system is just too big to understand.
INGA thrives on deniability. “She” operates best when everyone agrees something is wrong but can’t quite agree on who did it. “She” disperses responsibility so finely that outrage has nowhere to land. Every disaster has a committee. Every decision has a process. Every process has a justification. And every justification points somewhere else.
“She” loves optics. Elections that change faces but not outcomes. Peace deals that make headlines while pipelines, debts, and dependencies remain untouched. Wars framed as humanitarian necessity, reconstruction framed as generosity, and influence framed as partnership. She ensures there is always motion—summits, conferences, agreements—so no one notices the direction never changes.
INGA doesn’t rule by force. “She” rules by exhaustion. By paperwork. By endless intermediaries. By convincing nations they chose this path themselves. By making citizens feel vaguely uneasy but powerless, sensing manipulation without being able to name the manipulator. “She” is patient. “She” doesn’t need you to believe in “her”. “She” only needs you to keep arguing with your neighbor while she rearranges the board.
This is why the chaos feels synchronized. Why crises stack instead of resolve. Why accountability dissolves the moment you reach for it. https://x.com/idontexistTore/status/2007565477942554948
Interesting attack. The list has names I did and did not expect to see: BREAKING: Venezuela’s former Chief of National Intelligence Hugo Carvajal has OFFICIALLY RELEASED every U.S. Senator who is on THE VENEZUELA LIST of politicians who have been receiving MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN KICKBACKS from the Maduro regime and Venezuelan drug trafficking organizations that make up his government in exchange for using their government positions and influence to undermine President Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s ongoing war with these narcoterrorists.
Every one of these Senators is guilty of providing aid and comfort to THE ENEMY during a time of war and has the blood of their fellow American citizens. https://x.com/GalacticJack/status/2007669058163093845
Every one of these Senators is guilty of providing aid and comfort to THE ENEMY during a time of war and has the blood of their fellow American citizens. https://x.com/GalacticJack/status/2007669058163093845
Thomas Kolbe says Europe had better line up behind the US quickly: Energy Levers Shift As US Strikes A Geopolitical Blow With Maduro Arrest
The new year has begun with a bang, and critical weeks and months lie ahead, in which the players on this power field are forced to make moves. While the U.S., with a single step, has removed or neutralized multiple pieces from the board, Europe faces a different situation.
Here, the alliance of Brussels, London, Berlin, and Paris continues to try to solve its resource problems through escalation of the Ukraine conflict. Hovering over all of this is the hope, expressed by EU foreign affairs representative Kaja Kallas on behalf of the alliance, to weaken the Russian state through military success—and, by inference, gain influence over the massive resource complex.
A reminder: Europe has no significant domestic raw materials, is around 60 percent net energy importer, and now finds itself largely exposed as major players—the U.S. and China—gradually make their moves and wield powerful levers over the resource complex.
It is time to decide. Either Europe continues down the path of climate-socialist destruction toward the inevitable collapse of the European Union, or it accepts the strategic leadership of the U.S., follows Washington’s rules—which essentially imply dismantling the censorship apparatus and the climate-socialist control complex—and returns to a Europe of regions: a promising concept based on competitive free-market principles and preservation of regional cultural traditions. https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/energy-levers-shift-us-strikes-geopolitical-blow-maduro-arrest
Here, the alliance of Brussels, London, Berlin, and Paris continues to try to solve its resource problems through escalation of the Ukraine conflict. Hovering over all of this is the hope, expressed by EU foreign affairs representative Kaja Kallas on behalf of the alliance, to weaken the Russian state through military success—and, by inference, gain influence over the massive resource complex.
A reminder: Europe has no significant domestic raw materials, is around 60 percent net energy importer, and now finds itself largely exposed as major players—the U.S. and China—gradually make their moves and wield powerful levers over the resource complex.
It is time to decide. Either Europe continues down the path of climate-socialist destruction toward the inevitable collapse of the European Union, or it accepts the strategic leadership of the U.S., follows Washington’s rules—which essentially imply dismantling the censorship apparatus and the climate-socialist control complex—and returns to a Europe of regions: a promising concept based on competitive free-market principles and preservation of regional cultural traditions. https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/energy-levers-shift-us-strikes-geopolitical-blow-maduro-arrest
The EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism launched on January 1 aims to level the playing field for European steel, cement, and power producers by taxing the carbon content of imports from countries with weaker emissions rules.
China has threatened retaliation, calling CBAM unfair and discriminatory. https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/EUs-Carbon-Border-Tax-Goes-Live-and-Trade-Partners-Are-Not-Amused.html
US president, his team are ‘very staunchly defending their country's national interests,’ deputy chief of Russia’s Security Council tells state media https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/russias-medvedev-calls-trump-s-actions-in-venezuela-illegal-but-say-they-have-a-certain-consistency-/3789669
Trump is not saying MI-6 didn't do it from Estonia, is he? The US was handed the navigation-controller module from a drone to review its flight programming.
Trump Flips, Has More Info: Ukraine Didn't Target Putin Residence With Drones https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-flips-has-more-info-ukraine-didnt-target-putin-residence-drones Celia Farber, Jan. 4, What Israeli TV Is Saying About Venezuela: The Nation Was An "..Economic And Logistical Lifeline" To Iran and Hezbollah—Detailed Report On What A US Controlled Venezuela Would Mean For Israel While Outraged Over Rodriguez' "Zionist Tinge" Comment https://celiafarber.substack.com/p/what-israeli-tv-is-saying-about-venezuela
Gold & Geopolitics, Same playbook, different target - Round #3, #4? I've lost count!
Iran started burning on December 28th, right as most of the West was preparing their fireworks for New Year’s Eve. Protests erupted across Tehran when the rial hit 1.42 million against the dollar - a currency collapse that made food prices jump 72% in a single year. Shopkeepers in the Grand Bazaar closed their stores. Students poured into streets. What began as economic desperation in the capital spread to 17 provinces within 48 hours. Netanyahu saw his opening.
Iranian protesters were already chanting “Death to the dictator” in reference to Supreme Leader Khamenei. The economic collapse is real - 42% inflation, electricity cuts, broken promises from President Pezeshkian about lifting internet censorship and improving governance. Whether the protests were organic grievances or color revolution doesn’t particularly matter at this stage. The desperation is genuine. But there’s always infrastructure ready to amplify and redirect organic chaos. The MEK opposition held rallies across European capitals within days, showing someone had pre-positioned resources to capitalize on unrest. Genuine economic rage creates opportunity. External actors ensure that opportunity doesn’t go to waste...
..January 3rd. American special operations forces landed in Caracas, extracted Maduro and his wife, flew them to New York. Zero American casualties. No Venezuelan anti-aircraft response despite weeks of escalating threats and warnings. The operation was surgical. Too surgical. Something doesn’t track about dozens of highly trained presidential guards, holding defensive positions in facilities they know intimately, getting wiped out without inflicting a single casualty on the attackers. Venezuelan reports say those guards were executed in cold blood. The logical conclusion? Someone from inside disarmed and executed his security detail. Whether that someone was paid, threatened, or ideologically motivated is irrelevant to the outcome.
Trump is emboldened. He’d just demonstrated that regime change operations can be conducted with minimal warning and face zero meaningful consequences. No UN resolution required. No NATO consultation. No congressional authorization. Just presidential orders, military execution, accomplished facts. European leaders issued their predictable statements about international law and sovereignty. Within 72 hours, British oil companies were positioning to return to Venezuelan operations. The international order doesn’t prevent American action.
That’s when the machinery immediately started moving toward Iran in ways that can’t be hidden from people paying attention.
Trump is emboldened. He’d just demonstrated that regime change operations can be conducted with minimal warning and face zero meaningful consequences. No UN resolution required. No NATO consultation. No congressional authorization. Just presidential orders, military execution, accomplished facts. European leaders issued their predictable statements about international law and sovereignty. Within 72 hours, British oil companies were positioning to return to Venezuelan operations. The international order doesn’t prevent American action.
That’s when the machinery immediately started moving toward Iran in ways that can’t be hidden from people paying attention.
First signal: After Venezuela, the US Air Force shut off tracking systems across virtually its entire fleet... You can’t report on movements you can’t detect...
..Second signal: some heavy airlifting started. Between January 3rd and 4th, at least ten C-17 Globemaster transports landed at RAF Fairford in Britain. The departure points: Fort Campbell, Kentucky and Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia. Both host elements of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. The Night Stalkers. One analyst described what those bases represent: home to the 75th Ranger Regiment and Special Operations Airborne units that conduct the kind of missions most people only see in movies. The cargo manifests were visible to spotters on the ground. MH-60 Black Hawks and MH-47 Chinooks getting unloaded at Fairford under darkness. Some aircraft continued to Ramstein Air Base in Germany for forward positioning. Others remained in Britain. This might be routine rotation or training deployment, but 12 heavy duty planes?? RAF Fairford served as the primary staging base before June’s strikes on Iran too. Same units. Same equipment profiles. Same deployment pattern.
Third signal: Greece went dark. Sunday morning, January 4th, around 9am local time, Greece’s entire airspace experienced complete communications failure. Not partial disruption. Total blackout across every frequency simultaneously... Airborne jamming… If the US military aircraft would be flying towards Israel, they would be transiting Greek airspace during that window. Civilian traffic grounded means military traffic moves freely without collision risk or civilian observation. The interference lasted several hours while something moved through corridors that normally handle hundreds of commercial flights. That same day, Israel’s security cabinet approved “Operation Iron Strike”. Five hours of meetings reviewing Netanyahu’s discussions with Trump, outlining priorities for action against Iran, finalizing approvals. No disclosed targets. No announced timeline. Just authorization...
..Aircraft could stage from Souda Bay or Cyprus. Strike deep into Iran through Syrian airspace. Return the same way. Remember, during last year’s 12-day war, Israel used Syria as the corridor precisely because ISIS now controls Damascus and Israel systematically destroyed Syrian air defenses. Iraq won’t grant overflight permission. Turkey’s unreliable. The Mediterranean-Cyprus-Syria route provides the lowest-risk approach to Iranian targets. Refueling tankers stay out of range of Iranian AD. Special operations helicopters insert along Iran’s western borders with Greek and Cypriot coordination.....Meanwhile, back in Iran, the protests escalated exactly as needed to justify intervention. By January 3rd, security forces were firing live ammunition. At least 31 people dead. Dozens arrested. Tear gas deployed across Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, Mashhad. Khamenei appeared on television Saturday with the language autocrats use when they’ve decided violence is the answer:
“We talk to protesters, the officials must talk to them. But there is no benefit to talking to rioters. Rioters must be put in their place”.
Not protesters. Rioters. The distinction provides legal and ideological cover for lethal force without restraint.
Iranian officials told The New York Times their government was operating in “survival mode”. Israeli intelligence leaked claims that Khamenei has an escape plan to Moscow prepared in case security forces defect to protesters... “We talk to protesters, the officials must talk to them. But there is no benefit to talking to rioters. Rioters must be put in their place”.
Not protesters. Rioters. The distinction provides legal and ideological cover for lethal force without restraint.
..Trump responded with the exact framing you’d expect after Venezuela validated the humanitarian intervention template:
“If Iran shots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go”.
Internal chaos plus brutal suppression equals American military intervention marketed as humanitarian rescue. The script writes itself at this point. We’ve seen it in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria. Add Venezuela to the list... But is this real or theater? ...
..Trump’s public statement after meeting Netanyahu was a carefully calibrated threat:“If Iran shots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go”.
Internal chaos plus brutal suppression equals American military intervention marketed as humanitarian rescue. The script writes itself at this point. We’ve seen it in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria. Add Venezuela to the list... But is this real or theater? ...
“There will be consequences. Consequences will be very powerful, maybe more powerful than last time”.
Last time was theater. This time might not be. https://no01.substack.com/p/same-playbook-different-target
More than 12 US Air Force C-17's arrive in UK within 24 hours; Iran Build-up? https://halturnerradioshow.com/index.php/component/content/article/more-than-12-us-air-force-c-17s-arrive-in-uk-within-24-hours-iran-build-up?catid=17&Itemid=101 US Air Force C-17 Globemaster headed south-eastward from Germany, currently in Middle East airspace, with second plane appearing to follow similar initial path. https://x.com/spectatorindex/status/2007911135165714815
From Iran, Iran government triples subsidies to meet people's needs https://en.mehrnews.com/news/240466/Iran-government-triples-subsidies-to-meet-people-s-needs
UNRWA says Israel’s ongoing military operation in northern West Bank has uprooted tens of thousands of Palestinians https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/over-12-000-palestinian-children-remain-forcibly-displaced-in-west-bank-un-agency/3789634
Three Palestinians, including a child, were killed on Saturday by Israeli occupation forces across several areas of the Gaza Strip, according to medical and local media sources.
Medical officials reported that a 45-year-old woman was shot and killed by Israeli gunfire in Beit Lahia, in the northwest of the enclave. Her body was transferred to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
Eyewitnesses identified the woman as Sinioura al-Shish, saying she was killed in the Tel al-Dahab area of Beit Lahia, within zones from which Israeli forces had previously withdrawn under the ceasefire agreement.
Earlier in the day, medical sources confirmed that an 11-year-old Palestinian girl was killed by Israeli fire outside the army’s deployment areas in Beit Lahia. Her body was also taken to Al-Shifa Hospital. https://www.palestinechronicle.com/three-palestinians-including-child-killed-by-israeli-fire-in-gaza/
Medical officials reported that a 45-year-old woman was shot and killed by Israeli gunfire in Beit Lahia, in the northwest of the enclave. Her body was transferred to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
Eyewitnesses identified the woman as Sinioura al-Shish, saying she was killed in the Tel al-Dahab area of Beit Lahia, within zones from which Israeli forces had previously withdrawn under the ceasefire agreement.
Earlier in the day, medical sources confirmed that an 11-year-old Palestinian girl was killed by Israeli fire outside the army’s deployment areas in Beit Lahia. Her body was also taken to Al-Shifa Hospital. https://www.palestinechronicle.com/three-palestinians-including-child-killed-by-israeli-fire-in-gaza/
With Their Breadwinners Killed, Gaza’s Children Turn to Begging to Survive https://israelpalestinenews.org/gaza-children-begging-to-survive/
In December 2025, the Wall Street Journal revealed ‘Project Sunrise‘1 — a $112 billion plan to transform Gaza into a ‘high-tech metropolis‘ over twenty years. The blueprint – developed by Jared Kushner and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff – envisions luxury coastal resorts, AI-optimised power grids, and high-speed rail. Seventy percent of Gaza’s coastline would be monetised beginning in year ten, projected to generate over $55 billion in investment returns.
The plan makes no mention of where Gaza’s two million displaced residents would live during reconstruction. That absence is not an oversight — it reflects the architecture working exactly as designed...
The outcome in Gaza: a territory whose governance remains permanently contingent on external certification, enforced through financial dependency, and monitored through technical systems that become nearly impossible to exit once installed.
Reconstruction becomes restructuring, crisis becomes leverage, and emergency becomes architecture. https://escapekey.substack.com/p/the-architecture-of-emergency
Escape Key, The Architecture of Emergency
The plan makes no mention of where Gaza’s two million displaced residents would live during reconstruction. That absence is not an oversight — it reflects the architecture working exactly as designed...
..The sequencing is explicit: public money flows during uncertainty; private capture begins when assets generate returns. Taxpayers socialise the downside; investors privatise the upside...
But before private capital can enter, someone must control who delivers services on the ground...
There is a Stafford Beer credited term in systems theory: POSIWID. The Purpose Of a System Is What It Does. Ignore the stated intentions. Watch the outcomes.But before private capital can enter, someone must control who delivers services on the ground...
..Israel is not funding reconstruction — Western taxpayers are. Israel will not profit directly from the trucking fees or coastal development — private enterprise will. But Israel determines who is permitted to participate at all. Every contractor, every aid worker, every organisation that wishes to operate must pass through Israeli vetting. This grants the party that flattened Gaza the power to set the terms on which it is rebuilt, using other people’s money, for other people’s profit...
..What begins as emergency response becomes permanent operating procedure through procedural drift. Each review finds ‘progress but more work needed‘. Each tranche release comes with additional conditions. The transition never actually transitions, because transition was never the function. The outcome in Gaza: a territory whose governance remains permanently contingent on external certification, enforced through financial dependency, and monitored through technical systems that become nearly impossible to exit once installed.
Reconstruction becomes restructuring, crisis becomes leverage, and emergency becomes architecture. https://escapekey.substack.com/p/the-architecture-of-emergency
Meryl Nass MD, That ratcheting control system is not new, just "improved": Important: A Cliff Notes version of Carroll Quigley's TRAGEDY AND HOPE, to reveal who runs the world and how, and an interview with Norman Dodd on the same subject. - G Edward Griffin interviewed Dodd and wrote the Forward to Plummer's summary book on Tragedy and Hope https://merylnass.substack.com/p/important-a-cliff-notes-version-of
Kyle Young has a lot more details which have surfaced regarding specific people and the inside-job aspects of Charlie Kirk's assassination. I read his essay:
Amfest, Erika Kirk, Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro, Ft Huachuaca, TikTok, with Roman Shapoval https://secularheretic.substack.com/p/amfest-erika-kirk-candace-owens-tuckerTrump Admin Cracks Down on Tim Walz's Minnesota with Massive Immigration Operation - Thousands of Agents Flooding to State https://www.westernjournal.com/trump-admin-cracks-tim-walzs-minnesota-massive-immigration-operation-thousands-agents-flooding-state/
Senator Kelley followed the law. They can smack him down anyway: Senator and retired Navy Captain Mark Kelly facing demotion, pay cut after November video warning against 'illegal orders' https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/senator-mark-kelly-faces-demotion-military-pay-cut-punishment-video-warning-against-illegal-1768517
Meryl Nass MD on friends-of-big-pharma: IMHO, the opioid epidemic is due to several US government policies
Let's look at opioid deaths by drug and year. And my deep dive into this issue from 2015-2017 https://merylnass.substack.com/p/imho-the-opioid-epidemic-is-due-toCannabis Industry Lawyer, 2026 Cannabis Laws Are About to Shift—Here's Why https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AniwxHoi1I
Conclusion: The present meta-analysis suggests that high UPFs consumption is associated with a significantly increased risk of certain site-specific cancers, especially the digestive tract and some hormone-related cancers. However, further rigorously designed prospective and experimental studies are needed to better understand causal pathways. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37360305/
Meryl Nass MD, With the stroke of a pen, the childhood vaccine schedule is reduced from 17 to 11 diseases
Parents will still be able to get more vaccines if they want them--but presumably they won't have a liability shield. I disagree with the HPV vaccine staying on the schedule. https://merylnass.substack.com/p/with-the-stroke-of-a-pen-the-childhood Celia Farber, CDC SLASHES CHILDHOOD VACCINE SCHEDULE FROM 84-88 DOSES DOWN TO 30, ALIGNING WITH GERMAN, DANISH AND JAPANESE STANDARDS, FOLLOWING TRUMP'S REQUEST TO RFK JR. AND JIM O'NEILL TO INVESTIGATE - mRNA Vaccines Hopefully Next. https://celiafarber.substack.com/p/cdc-slashes-childhood-vaccine-schedule
Targeting 17 diseases
(18 if RSV monoclonal antibody is included)
New CDC routine schedule (2026)
~30 routine doses
Targeting 10–11 diseases
Based on international consensus
Net change: approximately 54–58 routine doses removed, commonly summarized as ~55 routine doses.
Importantly, this reduction applies only to vaccines previously labeled “routine for all children.” No vaccines were banned or removed from availability. https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/breaking-cdc-shrinks-routine-childhood
The MAHA Report, Why the CDC’s Pared-Down Childhood Vaccine Schedule Is Long Overdue
His decision was neither whimsical or radical, as most mainstream media played it. Rather, it draws on gold standard research, including a research paper entitled,“Assessment of the U.S. Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedule Compared to Other Countries,” submitted by Tracy Beth Høeg, Acting Director for the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research; and Martin Kulldorff, Chief Science and Data Officer for the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. The paper was prepared in consultation with experts at CDC, FDA, NIH, and CMS.
According to the memorandum, the HHS is now recommending 11 vaccines, down from 17. https://www.themahareport.com/p/why-the-cdcs-pared-down-childhood
BINGO! Doctors Will No Longer Receive Financial Rewards for Vaccinating Kids
In a Dec. 30, 2025, memo to state health officials, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said it “does not tie payment to performance on immunization quality measures in Medicaid and CHIP at the federal level.” U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the new policy protects medical freedom and informed consent. https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/doctors-will-no-longer-receive-financial-rewards-vaccinating-kids-cms/Meryl Nass MD, NY Times did a very good story Jan 2 on the glyphosate liability issue, by the same author who has done the excellent PFAS reporting https://merylnass.substack.com/p/ny-times-did-a-very-good-story-jan
Meryl Nass MD on a very good surprise, The pesticide liability shield rider has been removed from the Interior/EPA Appropriations bill released to the House this morning. The Farm Bill, the Supreme Court and the State bills remain pending https://merylnass.substack.com/p/the-pesticide-liability-shield-rider
I wonder what this will look like in practice. John Klar, All 50 U.S. States to Receive Funding to Improve Rural Health Care
Three days before the new year, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), announced awards to all 50 states under President Trump’s Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP), which will provide $50 billion over five years to help states improve rural health delivery.....Key Takeaways:
– Awards for all 50 states under President Trump’s $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program were announced on December 29.– Proposal approvals indicate that RHTP funds will support substantial long-term investments in rural healthcare systems and workforces, and focus on prevention and reversal of chronic diseases. https://www.themahareport.com/p/all-50-us-states-to-receive-award
Human colostrum is likely better. Nicolas Hulscher, Study Finds Bovine Colostrum 3× More Effective Than Flu Vaccination in Preventing Flu Illness
Participants experienced ~60% fewer illness days and ~75% fewer flu-like episodes with bovine colostrum compared to flu vaccination. https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/study-finds-bovine-colostrum-3-more Alex Berenson, 2.7 million Spanish children and teenagers. ZERO Covid deaths.
A new study proves, yet again, that the mRNA Covid jabs should NEVER have been approved for young people. https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/27-million-spanish-children-and-teenagersA catastrophic mistake approving a technology shown to induce severe blood abnormalities in 93% of recipients. https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/breaking-uk-approves-experimental
Steve Kirsch, UK government still ‘withholding data that may link Covid jab to excess deaths’
UKHSA argued that releasing figures would lead to ‘distress’ of bereaved relatives if connection were discovered. But the Czech Republic showed UKHSA is wrong. They should release the data now. Executive summary
The UK government keeps the COVID vaccine data secret from the public because releasing the data risks damaging the well-being and mental health of the families and friends of people who died. https://kirschsubstack.com/p/uk-government-still-withholding-data
The UK government keeps the COVID vaccine data secret from the public because releasing the data risks damaging the well-being and mental health of the families and friends of people who died. https://kirschsubstack.com/p/uk-government-still-withholding-data
Major cancer journal confirms global turbo cancer safety signal as criminal cyberattacks possibly linked to PubPeer disrupt access to the study. https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/breaking-study-identifies-over-300
Cancer-Free (walking a cut piece of oak limb across the roof)
