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Trudeau's Resignation. From the Toronto Star: Justin Trudeau promises to resign as prime minister and Liberal leader after leadership race. [Ed: if I still drank, I would raise a glass to this.] From Spiked: Justin Trudeau: fall of a woke despot. The world’s cringiest authoritarian is finally on the way out. [Ed: non-Canadians don't know a 1/4 of how cringy he is/was.] From Mish Talk: Say Goodbye to Trudeau’s Out of Control Spending and Reckless Carbon Tax. [Ed: they were killing the middle class.]

From the Bored Panda: Pizzeria In Chicago Opens Doggie Treat Window, Goes Viral Due To The Most Wholesome Interactions.

Big Picture Economics. From CMT: The Cash Coffers Feeding the Market Will Quickly Dry Up Once DOGE Kicks In. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy say DOGE will cut $500 Billion in Government Spending annually. [Ed: this is will definitely impact private markets.] From Daniel LaCalle: The Age Of Debt And Monetary Destruction. Debt bloats the global economy... Spending and debt, rather than savings and prudent investment, form the foundation of economic development...

Ukraine. From Zero Hedge: Russia Achieves Major Battlefield Breakthrough In Eastern Ukraine As Trump Inauguration Nears. WaPo: "Ukraine is in an increasingly dire state as Russia captures territory at the fastest pace since the start of the invasion, with Moscow capitalizing on its greatest advantage: manpower."

Lawfare. From Zero Hedge: Alan Dershowitz: Lawfare Against Trump & Allies "Worse Than Stalinism". "Fight back fairly. We will use the Constitution and the rule of law." [Ed: people's rejection of lawfare's unfairness had a deep impact of the election, IMO.] From the Associated Press: Judge Denies Trump's Bid to Postpone Sentencing. Merchan orders Friday's sentencing to proceed as scheduled. [Ed: Merchan has reportedly signaled that he will not order jail time.] From Jonathan Turley: The Trump Sentencing: Curtain to Fall on Merchan’s Hamlet on the Hudson.

From Ars Technica: Elon Musk: 'We're Going Straight to Mars. The Moon is a Distraction.'

From Dog Man Ray: Endal

Everyday Finances. From the New York Post: Popular Seattle "Safe Space" Waffle Shop Forced To Close Due To Inflation And New $20 Minimum Wage. “I’ve cried every day.” [Ed: true of small business across N. America.]

From the Organic Prepper: Falling correctly isn't just luck. It's a skill, and one you should learn to protect yourself.

From Pro Publica: Chinese Organized Crime’s Latest U.S. Target: Gift Cards. [Ed: the only way we buys GCs is when the venue has a "special" on one and we get it from behind the cashier at the place.]

From Boing Boing: Missing dog returns home, rings doorbell.

2024 Retro. From the Federalist: 2024’s Biggest Loser: Barack Obama. From Just Facts: 50 Examples of Fake News in 2024. From the Epoch Times: 24 Moments That Helped Define 2024. A toppled bridge, CCP hackers, and Hurricane Helene wrought varying degrees of damage, while Trump survived attempts on his life to become president-elect...

From Bored Panda: People Living With More Than 2 Dogs, Post Your Pics Of What It’s Like

From the Epoch Times: Are Plant-Based Meat Alternatives Healthy? ...in a word "no!" [Ed: and they taste like drek.]

Syria. From Consortium News: Six Scenarios For Syria. Whatever happens, the next phase will not be peaceful... [Ed: I hope Trump can at least make the next phase quick.] From Al Jazeera: Syria’s de facto leader says holding elections could take up to four years. [Ed: remember that Al Jazeera is funded, in part, by the gov. of Qatar. Doesn't make them unreliable but you should approach their reports with caution.]

From Townhall: Georgia AG Tears Fani Willis Apart

From James Howard Kunstler: No, The Truth Is Not Just Another Story. "The Democrats are self-immolating on the altar of their own tenuous relationship with common decency..."

From Real Clear Politics: Obama's 'Censorship' Office Goes Bankrupt. ...facilitating “one of the most egregious government operations to censor the American press in the history of the nation” ...

Canada. From the Bureau: Critical Political Choices Will Define Canada's Future In 2025. "Canada must also be prepared to reassess its foreign policy posture..." [Ed: I yearn for the days when Canada was boring.]

From Asia Times: Race for Arctic resources in a climate change era. [Ed: thus Trump's push for Greenland.]

From Daily Mail: Fears grow over spread of sadistic super gang Tren de Aragua across America… as expert issues chilling new warning.

Trump's Trials. From the Populist Times: Federal Prosecutors in Trump Witchhunts Fleeing in Droves, Afraid of Bankruptcy and Defending Themselves in Court. [Ed: they are legal experts, they should know their own liability.] From Lawfare: The Trump Trials. [Ed: good overview.]

From Pocket: The Polish Phrase That Will Help You Through Tough Times.

From Madly Odd: Watch how this dog saves his friend from committing suicide – What A Hero!

From the Hill: 'I Don't Believe He Has the Votes on Friday'. GOP lawmaker suggests 2 alternatives to Johnson as House speaker. [Ed: Johnson shot himself in the foot with the terrible terrible budget proposal.]

From Zero Hedge: Pentagon Launches Fresh Assault On Houthis In Yemen Ahead Of 2025. Earlier Tuesday the Houthis targeted American warships & commercial vessels... [Ed: please, God, let 2025 be better than 2024.]

$ on the Street. From the Economic Collapse Blog: Worst Homelessness Crisis Ever! All over America, our core urban areas are teeming with tent cities, hordes of homeless drug addicts, and vast throngs of newly arrived migrants that don’t have anywhere to go... [Ed: it is Great Depression levels.] From the Financial Times: US credit card defaults jump to highest level since 2010. Consumers are ‘tapped out’ after years of high inflation and as pandemic-era savings have evaporated.

From Sunny Skyz: A Service Dog's Incredible Impact On A Little Boy With A Rare Genetic Disorder

Trudeau. From the Post Millennial: Trudeau told to ‘get the f*ck out of BC' during his Christmas ski vacation. [Ed: he should get the f*** off the planet. He is toxic to his core.] AND Rand Paul blasts Justin Trudeau for 'abuse' of emergency powers after Truckers' protest. “Trudeau could freeze a bank account without a court order, without due process," Paul said. [Ed: he could and he did. Hundreds of thousands of Canadians changed their banking habits as a result.] AND Canadian NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh 'will vote to bring Trudeau government down' under next sitting of House of Commons

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE!! 2025 IS GOING TO BE WONDERFUL.

Jimmy Carter. From Zero Hedge Jimmy Carter, 39th US President, Dead At 100. "There will be public observances in Atlanta..." From Reason: RIP Jimmy Carter, the 'Passionless' President. The libertarian case for the late Jimmy Carter.

From ITM Trading: As CBDCs Launch, How Long Until the Social Credit Grid Controls You? Central Bank Digital Currencies are not just digital cash—they’re the foundation for absolute control. [Ed: it is a tool of tremendous freedom but it can become a weapon of tremendous oppression.]

From Spiked: ‘Assisted dying’: why we need to kill the bill. In 2024, the assisted-suicide lobby revealed its true, ugly colours. [Ed: gov. wants to escape the cost of caring for elderly and ill. I hate "assisted dying."]

From the Guardian: Paw and order: retired police dog rescues man on first walk after surgery

Bird Flu. From Avian Flu Diary: The Wrong Pandemic Lessons Learned. From Sentinel Intelligence: The Chicken Little Problem: Are We About to Have a Bird Flu Pandemic, or Not? [Ed: I am more confident of NOT under Trump.] From Jonathan Turley: Silence of the Labs: How a Censorship Campaign Failed to Kill a COVID Origin Theory. [Ed: of course, they will try to "own" the bird flu story, as well.] AND Pandemic Hawks Circle Dr. Jay: Pundits Launch Attacks on Bhattacharya Ahead of his Confirmation Hearings.

Ukraine. From Zero Hedge: Zelensky Charges Slovakia's Fico With Opening "Second Energy Front" At Moscow's Bidding. Fico explodes: "But who cares about Slovakia, right, Mr. Zelenskyy? But when you need something to keep you from freezing in the winter, you scream in frustration." [Ed: Mr. Zelensky's scam is starting to break down.] From Gilbert Doctorow: Further thoughts on Trenin and how the war ends From Reuters: Russia will abandon its unilateral missile moratorium, Lavrov says.[Ed: Take Lavrov seriously.] From the Mises Institute: Provoked: The Long Train of Abuses that Culminated in the Ukraine War

From Grabienews: Supercut: 2024’s Most Mortifying Media Moments

From Joshua Stylman: Engineering Reality: A Century Of Cultural Control, Part I - The Architecture Of Control. ...even our most cynical assumptions about manufactured culture barely scratched the surface.

From Zero Hedge: "The Last Spark Of Hope" For Germany - Musk Pens Pro-AfD Op-Ed In Major Paper; Editor Resigns. The AfD "represents a political realism that resonates with many Germans who feel that their concerns are ignored by the establishment..."

From Consortium News: Luigi Mangione & the Dangers of Terrorism Charges.

From Road and Track: NASCAR Helps Deliver Tiny Homes to Hurricane Helene Victims in North Carolina. "The project is the work of Lowe's, NASCAR, and a group of local volunteer builders, who came together to build some of the towable houses in time to provide Carolinians with a place to call their own over the holidays. Lowe's says that it plans to deliver 67 tiny homes — each of which can sleep four.

Everyday Finances. From Zero Hedge: A Decade Of McFlation. McChicken sandwich up 199%... [Ed: we simply do not go to McDs anymore. It used to be our default venue when we were on the road.] From Reason: Everybody Hates Prices. How much should a Wendy's Baconator cost? Elizabeth Warren thinks the government should help decide. From Quartz: Americans have billions in unused gift cards. At least two in five Americans have an unused gift card lying around

From the Dogington Post: Dog Who Is Afraid Of The Vet Meets Her Newest Vet, And It’s Someone She Never Expected

AI. From Madras Courier: An AI System Has Reached Human Level ‘General Intelligence’: Here’s What It Means. From EuroNews: The barcode was ‘one of the 50 things that made the world economy’ but a new revolution is coming. [Ed: I think AI is overhyped...but I could be wrong.]

From the Populist Times: 154% More Shoplifters Charged with Felony After New State Prosecutor Reduces Threshold for Shoplifting from $1,000 to $300

Updated 29 Dec 2024: 70 items.
Original post, 7 Nov 2024: 11 items.

Brad here. I confess feeling some disappointment with the Democrats here. Rather than blame UFOs or the Mossad or time-traveling hackers, the Democrats have started blaming each other for the failure of the Kamala campaign. Are they beginning to see the fiasco for what it was? Or is this just how the flurry of finger-pointing looks ("blame-him/her, not me")? Either way, it's the candidate or the campaign being blamed, not mysterious outside forces...so it's not grist for my mill.

Brad here. Shortly after the 2016 presidential election, I began a list of all of the excuses Hillary and her boosters offered for her ignominious defeat. That list seems to have topped out at 199 excuses. But now the blame-anything-else circus has come back to town, now in defense of Kamala Harris and her massively inept campaign. So, time for a new list!

As before, these are only those excuses which don't blame the candidate herself or the conduct of her campaign. So, for example, "Tim Walz" doesn't appear on this list, though I have already seen him being blamed for the debacle.

[ Read the rest ... ]

From the Federalist: The Most Politically Absurd Things Americans Had to Deal With This Year.

From the Epoch Times: The Biggest Supreme Court Decisions Of 2024. The Supreme Court issued consequential decisions on presidential power, administrative law, the Second Amendment, and other issues.

From the Miami Herald: Dave Barry Year in Review: 2024 was an exciting year, and by ‘exciting,’ we mean ‘stupid’ [Ed: FYI, Barry became a libertarian through his friendship with Sheldon Richman.]

Ukraine. From Zero Hedge: Russia Surrounds Vital Ukrainian Stronghold After Devastating Power Grid Attack. Putin's forces are currently surrounding another "linchpin" town called Velyka Novosilka... [Ed: the war in Ukraine is basically over.] From Gilbert Doctorow: Dmitry Trenin’s thoughts on how the Ukraine war may end. [Ed: a must read.]

From Reason: The Federal Government Is Spending Over $15 Billion To Push Electric Vehicles. Despite the wasteful spending, E.V.s remain unpopular with large portions of the country. [Ed: try living in the country and driving an EV.]

From Politico: Showdown in Georgia as pro-EU president refuses to step down. Salome Zourabichvili says she will continue to do her job, calling the inauguration of a new president “not valid.” [Ed: interesting situation that could easily occur elsewhere.]

From the Hill: Will the jury let Luigi Mangione get away with murder? [Ed: it is a real possibility.]

From Jonathan Turley: Our Lying Eyes: New Photo Shows Biden With Hunter's Business Associates Despite Past Denials. The House has released records showing $27 million in payments from foreign sources to Hunter Biden and his business partners from 2014 to 2019. [Ed: not that it matters...with the blanket pardon.]

From the Daily Caller: Biden Admin Partially Blames Immigration Surge For Massive Spike In Homelessness