GDP hits 5.5%.
Meaning the American economy is now growing faster than China.
– Productivity growth tripled
– Wages are growing 3.8%
– Layoffs are the lowest since 2022
– Inflation is just 1.7% per TruflationThis is the crash legacy media and economists swore was coming. pic.twitter.com/VSs011nyAy
— Peter St Onge, Ph.D. (@profstonge) January 16, 2026
This is remarkable to watch on multiple levels. There is the diplomatic dimension, where an American Under Secretary of State is not supposed to call a spade a spade. But when the people demanding deference to those outdated conventions are the very same elites who fear their own citizens and suppress them through increasingly tyrannical censorship, they have forfeited any claim to courtesy. You can almost picture German elites getting whiplash just from reading it.Then there is the tactical side of it. Sarah Rodgers knows perfectly well that what she is saying is not permitted speech in Germany. That is precisely why she says it so bluntly and forcefully, almost daring the German government to react. The point is the opposite of subtle persuasion (that did not work). Instead, she’s inviting the German government to lash out at her, which would make their repression even more visible and self-incriminating.
There is also a deeper historical message embedded in this. The United States did not sacrifice blood and treasure to liberate Germany after World War II so that it could quietly slide back into old authoritarian habits under a different pretext. And if it insists on doing so, it should not assume American indulgence or silence. That era is over.
A very good discussion. Rand Paul has some novel and reasonable ideas around these topics. Video is queued up to the right spot, runs about 30 minutes.
Another win: “A highly respected judge declined to block I.C.E. operations in the very politically corrupt State of Minnesota.”
Related: Mr Run-Red-Lights Youtube streamer just realized he’s going to jail.
Another absolutely heartbreaking story of a woman being torn from her family and disappeared by ICE. Warning, this one is really sad.”
If the US is going to eliminate income taxes or fund all the things that the administration is proposing, the revenue stream seems to be going in the wrong direction. What’s more is that reliance on tariffs for tax revenue offers a very obvious escape route: if you can produce something with inputs sourced solely in the US, you don’t pay tariffs at all. As that option broadens, tax revenue will logically go down, not up.
The release brings the total revenue collected in 2025 to $264.05 billion. It’s a historically high annual total — but also the second straight monthly decline after Trump dialed back key tariffs last November.
The peak for the year was October’s monthly haul of $31.35 billion. The first decline then came in November, with $30.76 billion in customs duties collected that month.
Trump on USMCA renegotiation "I don't really care about it, so it might go away. No real advantage to us. It's irrelevant to me. Canada would love it. Canada wants it. They need it."
"Because we don't need Canada product. That's the thing. You know, I want to be a nice person,… pic.twitter.com/aG68X7vJiz
— cbcwatcher (@cbcwatcher) January 13, 2026
In a remarkable approach, Secretary Bessent announced during a Fox News interview that a regional targeting effort is now underway that will block anyone who receives public assistance from sending money overseas (remittances to foreign countries). This is not a fee or tax on the remittance, or financial transaction; this is a complete block of their ability to send money overseas. Anyone receiving public assistance will not be able to send money to foreign lands.
Yes, it seems like this is initially going to be subject to the honest admission of the money sender. However, with the IRS reviewing each transfer and cross referencing to public assistance records anyone who attempts to work around this regulation will be subject to federal laws on financial fraud, wire service fraud and potentially money laundering.
The interagency focus will eventually go nationwide, as with the new USAO position that focuses on public assistance fraud; but for now, that focused effort will target Minnesota. Minneapolis will be the beta test for a national rollout.
@DataRepublican: To understand why Maduro’s Venezuela was useful to the foreign-policy order, we need a concept rarely spoken outside foreign-policy circles yet central to how states operate: legibility.
Any predictions as to where this is all headed? The top guy got switched out, but other than that the same gang appears to still be in control.
While Machado is a “nice woman,” she lacks support and respect inside Venezuela, Trump said Saturday in a news conference to discuss the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by US forces. “I think it would be very tough for her to be the leader,” he said. Instead, he said the US plans to work with Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s second-in-command.
Venezuela had a Russian-supplied integrated system focused on protecting Caracas and strategic sites. This included long-range, medium-range, short-range, and point-defense systems, supplemented by anti-aircraft guns and fighter interceptors.
They had around 12 batteries of…
— wretchardthecat (@wretchardthecat) January 4, 2026
The Kobeissi Letter- Most people do not realize how much the world just changed.
In other words, in 12 hours, the US has gained control of oil reserves worth more than the entire GDP of ALL countries in the world, aside from the US and China. That’s 4 TIMES larger than the GDP of Japan.
Then there’s everything else.
Kash Patel announces closure of FBI HQ Hoover building;
“When we arrived, taxpayers were about to be on the hook for nearly $5 billion for a new headquarters that wouldn’t open until 2035. We scrapped that plan. Instead, we selected the already-existing Reagan Building, saving billions and allowing the transition to begin immediately with required safety and infrastructure upgrades already underway. Once complete, most of the HQ FBI workforce will move in, and the rest are continuing in our ongoing push to put more manpower in the field, where they will remain,” he continued.
THERE GOES MY SPRING BREAK PLANS, THANKS A LOT DONALD DRUMPF
I HAD A FULL ITINERARY OF GETTING KIDNAPPED AND RANSOMED AND CATCHING AIDS ALL PLANNED OUT
AND NOW IT’S RUINED https://t.co/9DqB3GQpxm
— Oilfield Rando (@Oilfield_Rando) December 26, 2025
The US president marked Christmas Eve by quizzing children on their wishlists, while promising to not let a “bad Santa” infiltrate the country and even suggesting that a stocking full of coal may not be so bad.
The US State Department said Tuesday it would deny visas to a former EU commissioner and four others, accusing them of seeking to “coerce” American social media platforms into censoring viewpoints they oppose.
“These radical activists and weaponized NGOs have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states — in each case targeting American speakers and American companies,” the department said in a statement announcing the sanctions.
The measure targeted Thierry Breton, the former top tech regulator at the European Commission, who often clashed with tech tycoons such as Elon Musk over their obligations to follow EU rules.
Breton was described by the State Department as the “mastermind” of the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), a major piece of legislation that imposes content moderation and other standards on major social media platforms operating in Europe.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on X his country “strongly condemns” the visa restrictions, adding that Europe “cannot let the rules governing their digital space be imposed by others upon them”.
Where do I submit nominations?
A world wide system of censorship: Here is the full length video report into the mysterious ‘Global Disinformation Index’ and how it censors political speech across Europe and the US.
The DOJ releases 30K more documents;
Some of these documents contain untrue and sensationalist claims made against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election. To be clear: the claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already.
Nevertheless, out of our commitment to the law and transparency, the DOJ is releasing these documents with the legally required protections for Epstein’s victims.
And this is why the consequences for making a false accusation should be identical to the crime being alleged.
I’m not going to venture into the fire hose today because I have work to do, but a good starting point would be Mario Nawfal, (although it looks like he’s already been stung by one “manipulated image”).
My goodness, there are some real gems being uncovered.
“President Donald Trump revealed the Trump-class battleships Monday at his Palm Beach estate, joined by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Navy Secretary John Phelan, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. These 30,000-ton vessels upgrade from current destroyers with more missile tubes, space for hypersonics, railguns, and lasers, aiming to build two initially and scale to 20-25 amid China’s naval growth. The White House calls it a Golden Age for defense to modernize the aging 287-ship fleet, though critics like former Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery question the $5 billion-plus designs’ focus on aesthetics over lethality against China.” – Grok AI
More at Naval News. John Konrad reacts.
Reporter: “What are you doing with the [Venezeulan] oil you seized?”
“We’re going to keep it.”
CBC suddenly realizes that Venezuelan oil is a lot like Canada's and that American refineries are specifically built and modernized to refine Canadian heavy oil… and can easily pivot to oil from Venezuela
CBC also realizing that Dave Eby and the US billionaire created… https://t.co/JLiYTR8yN1 pic.twitter.com/WaUTK2AosR
— cbcwatcher (@cbcwatcher) December 20, 2025
“years of mismanagement and underinvestment have seen exports crater” – that’s the CBC unmentioning that Hugo Chávez stole billions in investment when he seized US oil assets.
Interesting hypothesis: Why has the US assembled the largest naval force in the Caribbean since 1962? It’s not about drugs. It’s not about oil.
Better late than never: “I will approve a pipeline”
