1st Amendment Praetorian

https://robertplewis.substack.com/p/cutting-off-the-deep-states-tentacles

New Shitshow Macro post: Cutting Off the Deep State’s Tentacles
If you’re having trouble keeping up with Trump v2.0, let’s unpack the moves that have been made so far to cut off the Deep State’s funding streams and tentacles.

Topics covered in this post
-Introduction: Deeper and Dirtier Than Most Realized
-USAID and State: Intel Agencies by Another Name
-GOV-funded “NGOs” and Deep State Sinecures
-Social Security Admin: Understanding Deep State Needs for Fake Identities
-Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB): An Extortion Racket for Progressive Causes
-The Media: Operation Mockingbird Seems to Have Simply Evolved & Changed Names
-Potential Fraud in Treasuries: Martin Armstrong Laughs Last
-Why Did So Many USGOV Agencies Fund Criminal Aliens?
-Mike Benz: If USAID Funded Trans Groups Abroad for Destabilization - Why Here?
-FBI, CIA, DOD, DHS, NSA, etc: The DOGE MVP’s Next Expected Evolution and Likely Apokalypsis
-Fin

Addendum: I forgot to add The Conservative Treehouse to my domestic Politics section of "The List."

Sundance has been further ahead of the crowd, more accurate on a granular and directional level, and taken more heat for his accuracy & prescience than anyone in this domain. He's been added.

https://robertplewis.substack.com/p/21025-weekly-prep-podcast

War/Military: SOFX Newsletter, The Duran

Many heard about the recent Philadelphia plane crash; what not as many heard about was the young boy who shielded his sister from shrapnel, ended up in surgery due to the injuries that he incurred, and whose first words upon waking were to ask if he saved his sister.

Parents, however this kid was raised is the right way to raise your sons.

notthebee.com/article/10-yea…

Macro takeaways/lessons for the week:
-DOGE is doing exactly what Trump earned a mandate from the voting public for it to do, and the corrupticrats and their media lapdogs are wailing loudly and launching lawfare to stop it. The more outright and rampant fraud they find and cut, the worse the wailing corrupticrats look for trying to maintain said fraud.

-Between Marc Andreesen hiring Daniel Penny and the VP (Vance) pushing for “Big Balls” to be rehired, it looks like the vibe has shifted and the media’s go-to trick of old tweets and using the Saul Alinsky “use your target’s values against him” tactics are done and dusted. I would say that they could simply go back to proper and honest journalism-ing, but I don’t know if they know how to anymore.

-Gold is pushing higher, the “long tail” bond issues are smoothing out, DOGE is cutting fraud, and America is shoring up shipping lanes, commodities, and “the spice.” American Golden Age inbound.

Implications:
Many eyes were opened when the USAID fraud was laid bare, but the latest announcement is that they will soon be moving into the FBI and other places. If you know the world of tech startups, perhaps you understand that USAID and Treasury were simply the “MVP” for DOGE.

Now they know what they’re doing, they have gained public support, and the American people are hugely behind what they are doing, I imagine, and this is only my belief with no evidence to back it up, that those MVPs will soon morph into finding “other” types of hidden information and networks at other agencies behind other “dirty deeds” that will lead to an entirely different type of apokalypsis for the American people.

The Weekly Read (Monday):
Lords of Finance: 1929, The Great Depression, and The Bankers Who Broke the World by Liaquat Ahamed

amazon.com/Lords-Finance-…

If you’ve been following Shitshow Macro or know me in general, you probably know that there are two things that I nerd out about more than anything: history and finance. This is the meeting of those two worlds, and a reiteration of the Biblical passage that, “there is nothing new under the sun.”

It doesn’t matter if it was 1929, 1987, 2008, or 2020 - people will do what they are incentivized to do. In the case of each of those, if certain actors are not dis-incentivized from doing incredibly greedy things that risk breaking the global economy, time has proven that there will always be a cohort who will do exactly that.

If you understand how it’s been done and who has done it in the past, you learn to read the signs for when it’s being done again. This is one of the best historical accounts to help you do that.

Links mentioned in the show:

Intro & Outro music: Blind by Mike Amabile and Run Over Twice
open.spotify.com/track/6SG99nL3…

Media Defamation Lawsuits Crowdfunding Link
givesendgo.com/1APMediaDefama…

Thread with Short and Long Explainer Videos About Our Lawsuits and the J6 False Narratives
x.com/RobertPLewis/s…

USGOV Spend by Agency
(Chart won't display on X but is in the original Substack post)

Fraud, Waste, and Abuse as a % of Budget
(Chart won't display on X but is in the original Substack post)

“The List”
Geopolitics: The Duran, Aurelian Substack (specific to diplomacy), Armstrong Economics blog/newsletter

Economics/Trading: Tree Rings (Luke Gromen newsletter), MacroOps newsletter, Gold Goats & Guns (Tom Luongo newsletter), Armstrong Economics blog/newsletter, Macro Edge Research (jobs and business data points)

Domestic politics: The Duran, Epoch Times, The President’s Daily Brief, Dark to Light with Tracy Beanz and Quite Frankly, Truth Over News Substack, Pippa’s Pen and Podcast (Substack), Armstrong Economics blog/newsletter

The Shitshow Macro Weekly Prep Podcast for Monday February 10, 2025

Note: As the censorship “bumper lanes” are falling away from my account and these are getting more reach, I will be adding “The List” to the end of today’s (and every Monday’s) show notes. These are my first “go-to” sources that I always follow/listen to in order to stay up to date with what’s going on in each domain.

Each of these have proven accurate in most if not all of their assessments over time, even when attacked for going against the grain in their assessments. I follow many other sources for various info, but these are the foundations that I start from. I suggest anyone interested in any of the main topics of these shows follow them as well.

Domestic Politics:
-I slapped myself for not adding this in on Friday, because it made me exceptionally happy and is also a great macro societal indicator of the “current vibe” shift from just a year or so ago.
--Former Marine NYC subway hero that Alvin Bragg tried to steamroll, Daniel Penny, has been hired by the famed Andreesen-Horowitz (a16z) firm led in part by @pmarca
thefp.com/p/exclusive-da…

-I shared a clip of the All In Podcast on Friday that mentioned the discovery by DOGE that the USGOV had zero comptroller or reconciliation process in its spending.
--I listened to the whole ep this weekend, and it's so much worse. Here’s the whole episode for anyone who wants to better understand how the Twitter turnaround experience created a roadmap for DOGE, how DOGE chose where to start, and what their initial findings were:
open.spotify.com/episode/1PPBHP…

-@MikeBenzCyber sat down with Tucker Carlson this week to help Americans who hadn’t listened to him previously understand what “The USAID Files” are laying bare for all to see.
--Note: Mike outlines some words of caution in this interview. In the audio podcast I will add some elucidation and things Mike may not be privy to from firsthand experiences of mine and those of “the community” that would not work in pithy bullet point summaries (the written version of these podcasts).
x.com/TuckerCarlson/…

-If you want to truly “read the tea leaves” and know where global and domestic issues are heading, you need to follow and understand where the capital is flowing, and how, and through whom.
--This always happens in advance. If you know how to understand “the story” that capital flows are telling you, you can be way ahead of the crowd.
--For example, the rise in gold valuations are telling everyone a story that most are missing, even most professional financial pundits & analysts.
--Two of my favorites in this domain are Martin Armstrong and Tom Luongo (@TFL1728 ). The fact that Tom’s name on X is “head sneetch,” which was one of my ODA’s inside jokes, is just icing on the cake.
--Tom had an interview with @TFTC21 that I watched over the weekend. I suggest anyone who wants to see “the big picture” and be ahead of the crowd, on multiple fronts, watch it:
x.com/TFTC21/status/…

-I said on Friday that I would watch the full CBS Kamala Harris interview that was just released before sharing or commenting, and as of now I have.
--I’m not going to bullshit you for political ends - I don’t think she did quite as badly as some made it out to be.
--She was obviously flustered at times and didn’t exude confidence, had well-worn script routines that had been rehearsed with her team (as happens with all politicians), but I didn’t see any “flop.”
--The interviewer was tough, and kept her off-balance. While some viewing this through tribalism may call that poor form on his part - it’s what an adversary would try to do in any talks or meetings, so the public deserves to see if politicians can be intellectually nimble.
--She did repeat many of the total hoax taglines about Trump’s 1st admin - but that, again, is expected in politics and from political animals.
--Here it is, shared by @bennyjohnson so that you can watch for yourself:
x.com/bennyjohnson/s…

-Brad Pitt was in a very patriotic Super Bowl commercial.
--Say what you want about the guy, but I’m secure enough in my sexuality to say that he is one sexy mofo.
--You wanna inspire people? Bring sexy back to the fore of patriotism.
youtube.com/watch?v=fkjimL…

-Some would have you believe that the target matrix for DOGE is being decided haphazardly; that very much seems to be false.
--I learned from the All In Pod linked above that they started with USAID only because it was the first agency to directly push back with lawfare, insubordination, and refusals.
--Human Behavior 101: the first and loudest ones to scream likely have the most to hide.

-If one were trying to make the biggest crucial fixes to the most amount of total fraud, waste, and abuse within our system, one would probably be wise to look at the biggest pots of money outflows to find the “low hanging fruit” therein.
--A chart of the USGOV spend by agency in the show notes shows that methodology is being followed.
--Note: One of the greatest “known knowns” of statecraft fiscal/monetary policy is that running a deficit >3% of GDP is a recipe for disaster. Bessent’s “3-3-3” strategy and DOGE seem to be working on that from both ends (cutting and driving growth).
--Cut the fraud, waste, and abuse while “letting the spice flow” is a winning ticket.

-The Governmental Accountability Office (GAO) also shared a chart of already documented fraud, waste, and abuse of departments ranked as a percentage of their budget that I will include in the show notes.

-Raids of criminal aliens by ICE have now had at least several instances in which their raids were tipped off to gang members in advance (Aurora, Oakland, and now Los Angeles).
--It’s looking like the latest leak in advance of the Los Angeles raids came from FBI officials:
theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2025/02/0…

-Of the many J6 revelations in the past several months, one disclosed in the Loudermilk report was an absolute travesty.
--According to the report, the telecom companies said the FBI lied about the J6 pipe bomber’s data being “corrupted” so he couldn’t be identified.
--Now from @julie_kelly2 it seems Ron Johnson, Jim Jordan, and Barry Loudermilk are trying to get to the bottom of who at the FBI lied, why, and who the actual pipe bomber is:
x.com/julie_kelly2/s…

-One of the (failing to land) talking point narratives of the progressives right now is that “NOBODY VOTED FOR ELON!!!”
--Actually, Elon campaigned with Trump for 6 months. He was on stage talking about DOGE. It was “part of the deal,” and is, in fact, what the majority of people voted for.
--I’m really starting to suspect that progs don’t actually know what democracy means.

-The end of last week saw a flurry of lawfare cases attempting to stop DOGE from doing what Trump was elected to have DOGE do.
theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2025/02/0…

-A reminder, as discussed on Friday, that DOGE is simply an Obama-created department that was renamed.
--One judge blocked DOGE, any Trump appointee, official, and even the Treasury Secretary (Bessent) from accessing any USGOV info at Treasury that isn’t a direct Treasury employee.
--If one actually watches Bessent’s latest interview, this order seems a bit humorous because he says directly that DOGE merely has read-only access and the changes are being made by Treasury employees. It also has been called unconstitutional by many, as it is the judicial branch trying to prevent the executive branch from carrying out its duties and mandate.
--Another judge blocked an attempt to keep DOGE out of the labor systems.
--DOGE has made its way into CFPB, which is its own viper’s nest, and newly confirmed OMB head Russ Vought posted to X on Saturday indicating that he is also several steps ahead of the lawfare attempts to block Trump progress:
x.com/russvought/sta…

--If you don’t understand why I’d call CFPB a viper’s nest, I’ll let Sundance at CTH (@TheLastRefuge2 ) explain it to you:
theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2025/02/0…

War/Military:
-Despite the claims of the US-funded Ukrainian media, the past week has made it very hard for rational people to see the Kursk offensive as anything more than a massive blunder on UKR’s part, and also that their military has lost the initiative on the whole.
--What happens next remains to be seen, but UKR is not in an advantageous position, to put it lightly.

Markets/economics:
-You may not understand why, but DOGE getting the US fiscal house in order is having a noticeable (positive) effect on the treasury market already.
--We previously discussed the “long tail” issues in bonds, the bond vigilantes rebelling against US mismanagement, and others. This seems to be cooling already.
--13-week: 4.2280
--5-year: 4.334
--10-year: 4.487
--30-year: 4.69 (this was in the 4.8s very recently)

-Bessent quasi-confirmed what many have been saying in his interview with Fox Business.
--He and Trump want to bring down borrowing costs, so they are focusing on the 10-year Treasury rate rather than the Federal Funds Rate, the latter of which was traditionally the benchmark for borrowing rates (but has not actually been for quite some time).
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

-Futures for all of the major US stock market indices are in the green as of this writing (Sunday evening).

-Crude oil is at $71.50

-Gold is up higher at $2,897

-BTC is a tad lower at $95,685.03

Business:
-Alibaba has released an AI model that it says surpasses Deep Seek.
--You know that “AI arms race” that people keep talking about? This is it.
--Shared by @chigrl :
x.com/chigrl/status/…

Geopolitics:
-Justin Trudeau was caught on a hot mic in Canada saying that he understood that Trump knows the vast mineral resources that Canada has within her borders, which is the reason Trudeau thinks Trump wants to “absorb” our neighbors to the north.
--I would say that, for the first time in recent history, Trudeau is likely correct - in part. When taken in context with the Greenland maneuvering, I don’t believe resources are the only thing at play.

-Macron is giving signals that France may invest $109 bn into a French AI.
--Unfortunately their tax, ownership, and capital structures are not built to encourage would-be startups to operate in France (or the greater EU for that matter) - especially potential unicorns.

Social dynamics/societal/culture war/Legal:
-President Trump has announced that he is stripping the security clearances from:
--Joe Biden (who did the same to Trump post-2020)
--Letitia James (NY AG)
--Alvin Bragg (Manhattan DA)
--Antony Blinken (Former Sec. of State)
--Lisa Monaco (Former Deputy AG)
--Jake Sullivan (Former NSA)
--Andrew Weissmann (Ex-Prosecutor)
--Norm Eisen (Former Ambassador)

-California has dropped its case against Sandra Merritt, who exposed Planned Parenthood for its selling of aborted baby parts:
lifenews.com/2025/01/27/cal…

Conspiracy-y:
I’ve foot-tapped all that I can about the potential for the price of gold to be drastically increased in the near future for several reasons (monetize the debt, sovereign wealth fund, lower the USD to help offset the debt, etc).

In fact, it was one of the things that the people (who have now been confirmed to have Trump’s ear) whose theories on how to fix the US debt crises were collated in my Is the US Debt Crisis Fixable post & podcast all aligned on:

open.substack.com/pub/robertplew…

I did a lot of studying & catching up this weekend on “the current state of the nation/world,” so I can’t remember who put this theory forward, but…

What if the COMEX stockpiling and movement of gold from London to NYC that we discussed on Friday is because the “smart money” is already out ahead of this future move?

It’s something worth noodling on.

White Pill:
In the close of Friday’s show, we mentioned how the younger generations are always the ones to run into the fray to save the world. While I mentioned that one a global scale, we have yet another heartwarming example on a very micro, personal level.

(The thread mentioned in the video):

https://x.com/RobertPLewis/status/1887688892335464621?t=pLEnP3V5fts6uIplEwDZbA&s=09

You can complain about how the media operates with untruths, wrap up smears, and lies all day long and it won't change them.

This is your chance to actually help disincentivize them from continuing along their current path.

https://www.givesendgo.com/1APMediaDefamation

They will fight you to remain asleep.

https://x.com/TFTC21/status/1888263661724340366?t=pt22EFCdC7ui-F1wHJLHTg&s=19

If you didn't know, I and my group have 3 defamation lawsuits against the media that have been running since 2022.

One was just ruled to move forward Friday (against a former Senior J6 committee staffer).

These are marathons, and we could use your help:
https://givesendgo.com/1APMediaDefamation

https://x.com/amuse/status/1887453496506785812?t=ykjo5QcyZORTfVdo99saTw&s=19

https://x.com/wikileaks/status/1887362909753299200?t=TjTdz09xbm8wAuzdnflr1g&s=19

https://x.com/wikileaks/status/1887501752213409919?t=ZmQ5VrPzollRBvzURbCmLw&s=19

https://x.com/shellenberger/status/1887282174321152095?t=SqC5w6dVF0h9Glhu2Dg-ow&s=19

https://x.com/RSBNetwork/status/1887138826629316735?t=G5HydeVkIIHJ0wVl112OEA&s=19

https://open.substack.com/pub/robertplewis/p/12425-weekly-wrapup-podcast?r=2juhnr&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

Links mentioned in the show:
Intro & outro music: Mike Amabile and Run Over Twice “Blind”
open.spotify.com/track/6SG99nL3…

-Conversely, Asian markets were largely in the green all day, save for the Nikkei 225 which ended just barely in the red.

-Current bond yields:
--13-week: 4.2050
--5-year: 4.4280
--10-year: 4.6260
--30-year: 4.8480

-Most currency pairs versus the USD are moving in the thousandths, save for the USDJPY.

-BOJ decided to raise their rates from 0.25 to 0.5; the USDJPY is moving away from the “danger zone,” now at 155.92 (still not safe, but moving lower)

-As of this writing, BTC is at $104,839.47

Business:
-Pfizer will pay $59.7mm to resolve charges that a company it acquired paid “kickbacks” to doctors for them to prescribe the migraine drug Nurtec ODT.
finance.yahoo.com/news/pfizer-pa…

-Blackstone Energy Partners is buying a $1bn Virginia power plant (natural gas) near data centers, as reported by Reuters and shared by @chigrl :
x.com/chigrl/status/…

-Luxury brand Chanel is reportedly laying off 3% of its workforce to better adapt to economic challenges, per @MacroEdgeRes

-Bridgestone Americas will close a plant it has in Tennessee at the end of July, affecting 700 employees, per Macro Edge Research

-Santander (Bank) is considering exiting from Britain.

-Banks in Chicago (Pulaski) and Ohio (Butler Heritage Federal Credit Union) were taken over by regulators last week.

Health:
-I don’t think I mentioned this yesterday, but one of Trump’s Day 1 action items was to withdraw the USA from the WHO.
--Winning!

-Nearly 20 years after a medical study was published in journals (it has been cited 144 times) about phytoestrogens in postmenopausal women, one of the study’s authors has admitted that the study never actually took place:
retractionwatch.com/2025/01/24/pap…

Geopolitics:
-Electricity prices have surged again in Germany, now reaching over €200 per megawatt hour.

-Nigeria - the largest oil producer in Africa - joined BRICs last week.

Societal/legal/culture war
One of the more egregious of the political persecutions that took place under the Biden admin (and that’s a pretty high bar) has been dropped by the Trump admin DOJ.

Dr. Eithan Haim (@EithanHaim ) was a whistleblower at Texas Children’s Hospital, who sounded the alarm that the facility was breaking Texas law by performing gender transition surgeries on minors.
notthebee.com/article/breaki…

x.com/EithanHaim/sta…

Crazy Conspiracy:
People often think that I’m just pulling their leg or being hyperbolic when I tell them that US taxpayers are the ones funding the most radical leftwing groups, both here (domestic) and abroad.

I assure you, this is not the case. If you’ve ever actually looked into where the funding comes from for the many Soros NGOs, you’ll understand why I say this. Things that people claim Soros pays for are largely paid for by the US taxpayer via grants and some pretty complex funding mechanisms.

Don’t take my word for it; here are some examples (but there are many, many more) outlined by @pepesgrandma and @Breeauna9 :

x.com/pepesgrandma/s…

Macro takeaways/lessons from the week:
-Despite everything that we heard out of the media and DC over the past 4 years, it looks like Trump was able to get control over the border extremely quickly. As it turns out, you can just do things when you don’t ask Pat Cippilone for permission.

-Less than a week into the Trump admin and hostages are being returned by the Taliban, Hamas, and the Houthis seem to have dropped off the map. Walk softly and carry a big stick - it’s a thing.

-4 years of unrepentant activism by the Biden DOJ is being unwound across the board. From pro-life protestors to J6ers and whistleblowers, the unjust persecutions are being unwound.
--A reminder from last week’s meditation: “He who spares the wicked injures the good.” Let’s see if those lawfare activists end up facing any legal accountability for what they’ve done.

White pill(s) for the week:
Ladies and gents, the USA has borders again. That’s a pretty good start.

Weekend Meditation:
“Truth is not what you want it to be; it is what it is. And you must bend to its power or live a lie.”
-Miyamoto Musashi

The Shitshow Macro Weekly Wrapup Podcast for Friday, January 24, 2025 is out:

Domestic:
-Border crossings are already 35% down in Trump’s first week from where they were in Biden’s final 2 days in office:
foxnews.com/politics/borde…

--This could have something to do with Marines arriving via Osprey rotary wing aircraft today (video clip taken from @Mrgunsngear ) :
x.com/Mrgunsngear/st…

--Some are complaining this is “overkill,” but IMO it’s a wise “show of force.”
--While media and BlueAnon midwits who don’t understand MIL strategy will often lie to people and call a “show of force” an offensive tactic, it’s quite the opposite: it's an age old tactic in which a force shows its size and/or abilities in order to stave off an adversary (cartels and coyotes, in this situation) from choosing to even enter a confrontation.
--See: Alexander of Macedon, Julius Caesar, Sun Tzu, Von Clausewitz, and many others throughout the long history of strategic maneuvers

-President Trump visited those affected by Hurricane Helene in NC today, something that Biden and his handlers were apparently unable (see: unwilling) to do.

-Two Politico reporters are publicly saying their bosses at the outlet directly told them not to write, tweet, or mention the Hunter Biden laptop in the runup to the 2020 election.
--To reiterate, public polling post-election showed that as many as 10% of Biden’s actual voters said they would not have voted for him had they known Hunter’s laptop was real.
--Biden’s “margin” was far lower than 10%, which makes this a pretty clear cut example of election interference, in my personal opinion.
dailycaller.com/2025/01/23/for…

-I’m really not a fan of the new tweet thread format that starts with a “tease” and has “BREAKING” and all kinds of other stuff littered through it, as it’s usually an indicator of a bullshitter or engagement farming.
--This thread, however, seems to have broken that mold. While I didn’t believe it at first pass due to the things noted above, I’ve seen many of the points made about shakeups at DOJ, FBI, EDNY, and SDNY verified in other places.
--This is important because it shows a potential backup strategy being implemented by the Trump admin; while the Senate delays & drags their feet on his cabinet confirmations, the acting leadership at DOJ and FBI are cleaning house in their stead anyway:
x.com/RodDMartin/sta…

nydailynews.com/2025/01/21/tru…

-We mentioned briefly yesterday that a Federal judge had ruled the usage of FISA to spy on Americans as unconstitutional.
--While the case itself still ended up finding the defendant guilty, the judge had a look at the way the FBI currently uses the NSA’s database warehouse for warrantless “backdoor” searches, and determined that they were violating their own rules for FISA use, and that the current procedures violate the 4th amendment:
theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2025/01/2…

-As more fires break out in California (San Diego and Castaic), things just keep getting worse for (Governor) Newsom and (Mayor) Bass.
--The LA Times reviewed a list of about 3 dozen “highest priority” projects to improve fire fighting capabilities in the areas that the Palisades Fire ravaged that had been identified yet stymied with red tape and regulations for years.
--The kicker: the total budget estimate was $57mm for the projects. Despite not being done with “lack of budget” cited as a major excuse, Gavin Newsom just approved $50mm to “Trump proof California.”
latimes.com/california/sto…

-We have not even come close to understanding the total amount of f-ery that was at play regarding the real story of J6 versus that the narrative the media, committee, and DC wanted to sell you.
--A new story by @NationalFile highlights just one of the many severe oddities that sticks out in a massive way once one looks at it closely.

--One of the main logic bombs for Americans was that the demographics who were present and largely charged with the “insurrection” claims from that day were unarmed, despite being a demographic that is well known to probably own firearms.
--To be fair, Biden’s DOJ did bring weapons charges against many J6ers, but the actual “weapons” in question were often bike racks, flagpoles, and other things that no rational human being outside of DC prosecutors would consider as such.
--There was one person who brought and discharged a firearm in the scaffolding that day; when one looks into that person, who had killed someone in Utah, been rolled up for it, then released without charges, it starts to look like there may be a “there there.”
--There’s a lot to this story that can’t quite be covered here, so read the thread:
x.com/NationalFile/s…

-The nationwide arrests of criminal immigrants by ICE surpassed 500 today.

War/Military:
-There are a lot of stories going around that Rubio, at the order of Trump, has halted UKR aid and paused nearly all foreign aid except for Israel and Egypt.
--From what I can gather, the UKR bit isn’t exactly true; while some development aid was cut, not all funding was.
--People are wondering why Israel and Egypt would continue receiving aid. If you remember, the Houthis stopping traffic through the Suez pretty much destroyed Egypt’s economy.
--They were also recently amassing troops near their border (we discussed this a week or so ago), so this could be a hope of staving off another conflict in the region.

-This story about UKR, however, seems to be true: the UKR MIL Chief Army Psychiatrist was arrested in a $1mm corruption charge:
bbc.com/news/articles/…

-On another note, Zelensky is demanding 200k “peacekeepers” to enforce any ceasefire agreement with RUS.
--As NATO could only provide around 40k, he’s essentially saying that the US needs to send +150k troops to UKR.
Hard no.
sofx.com/zelensky-calls…

-Taliban POW American Ryan Corbett has now been released after being held in Afghanistan since 2022.

-Multiple hostages held by Hamas have now been released and sent home, some to their homes in the US (they were holding US citizens hostage) and some to their homes in Israel.

-It was largely drowned out with everything going on, but US forces began withdrawing from Conoco Gas Field in Syria on 1/19.

-US PMCs have arrived in Israel and will be managing checkpoints in Gaza in line with the new ceasefire agreement.
--On a personal note, I saw this contract when it was sent out; based on the caliber of people it’s hiring and what they are paying, I would highly suggest that anyone considering f-ery in that specific region consider otherwise.
--It would not go well for you.
sofx.com/us-security-co…

-Over 200 people have been killed and thousands displaced in the Eastern Congo as the M23 rebel group pushes forward and has been clashing with the DRC military.
sofx.com/m23-rebel-adva…

Markets/economics:
-DOGE has apparently identified between $1-2 trillion worth of GOV spending that can be cut, with approximately $420mm of direct DEI contracts that have been canceled and 2 leases that have been canceled.
--I know a lot of very intelligent macro financial people who were worried that DOGE cutting GOV spending would actually be harmful for growth.
--As with most Americans, I’m certain they don’t really understand just how much taxpayer money is spent on $0 value-add vanity projects, especially abroad (how are transgender programs in Pakistan supposed to add to US GDP?).

-Moody’s has upgraded the credit rating of Argentina by one notch to Caa3, citing Milei’s efforts to stabilize the government’s finances as lowering the likelihood it will renege on debt obligations.

-The major US indices ended Friday trading in the red after a pretty good week.

-Gold ended at $2,777.40, in reach of the $2,800 high.

-European markets didn’t have a great trading day, either, with the French CAC 40 being the only major one to stay in the green all day Friday.

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2025/01/24/edny-judge-finds-clear-and-compelling-evidence-of-fisa-702-backdoor-search-violations-by-doj/

https://open.substack.com/pub/robertplewis/p/12325-weekly-prep-podcast?r=2juhnr&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

-It’s still early, but something certainly seems like this is an entirely new “game.” The GOP senators who postured and fake news articles claiming that Trump’s cabinet members wouldn’t get approved seem to be also falling flat quickly. I’m sure Elon offering to fund primaries and @mrddmia with his @Article3Project promising not to let RINOs get away with it unscathed has something to do with it.

-I’ve been saying for several months that the EU is cooked, and they seem to be doubling down on stupid lately. While I certainly wouldn’t mind French Riviera real estate becoming affordable, I’d rather not see the Old World fall back into total chaos on account of virtue signalling midwits.

Implications:
The entire world (sans the EU autocrats) seem to be breathing a sigh of relief that Trump was not only elected, but has officially been sworn in - and got right to work.

Some of these EOs and appointments are doing things that people don’t even know the full effects of, but are moving things in very good directions for the nation and world as a whole.

And that, my friends, is a very good sign of things to come.

The Weekly Read (Monday):
One of the interesting things about casting a wide net for information is when you begin to see the same macro currents, theses, and insights begin to show up in multiple, disparate places.

The idea of an incoming “apocalypse” recently emerged via Peter Theil in an op-ed he penned in the Financial Times, a few Substack posts by Pippa Malmgren (daughter of Harald Malmgren, advisor to Kennedy, Nixon, Johnson, and Ford), and an interview with Izabella Kaminska (financial writer for Politico Europe and the Financial Times).

In the original Greek form of the word (Apokalypsis), apocalypse isn’t the fire & brimstone that we equate with in modern day - it’s an “unveiling” of hidden information.

Of the three noted above - each of whom is a brilliant follow if you’re interested in keeping up with the world - Pippa’s explanations in her last two Substack posts are probably the best.

If you understand the people that Trump has put in his cabinet positions, the EOs that he’s already signed, and the overall current of where things are heading, it most certainly seems that many things that have been hidden will be forced out into the open in the very near future.

While that may be terrifying for those who have built their entire legacies on lies…

Ugly truth > beautiful lies

open.substack.com/pub/drpippa/p/…

Links mentioned in the show:

Intro & Outro music: Blind by Mike Amabile and Run Over Twice
open.spotify.com/track/6SG99nL3…

-The parent company of Dodge, Jeep, Chrysler (Stellantis) announced they’re bringing 1,500 jobs back to one of their US plants in IL.

-Rio Tinto, one of the largest mining outfits, has had an Arizona copper mine held up for 12 years. It’s now betting big that Trump will greenlight this project that can provide 25% of US copper needs, from @chigrl :
x.com/chigrl/status/…

Geopolitics:
-With all that is going on between their debt crisis, collapsed (and it’s still collapsing) public support, and a report from Mario Draghi that all but said the EU project failed, the UK PM Keir Starmer now thinks that the thing their gov needs to focus on is “common sense knife control.”

--This is in response to a migrant (that reports say he may have directly helped bring into the country) killing and injuring innocent children with a kitchen knife.
--No, seriously. What in the bloody hell is going on over there in Britain?

Social dynamics/societal/culture war/Legal:
-Does everyone remember that Christian baker in Colorado who has been under lawfare assault by leftist radicals for over a decade because he didn’t want to bake cakes that went against his religious beliefs?
--Oh, how the turn tables.
--A leftist-run bakery in Flower Mound, Texas (near Dallas) is now quite upset that people are asking them to bake Trump cakes; they are refusing.
x.com/libsoftiktok/s…

Conspiracy-y:
I’m going against my standard practice this week and suggesting a Substack rather than book in the “weekly read” section below, for reasons that we’ll get into in that section.

While I was down hard this weekend and couldn’t keep my eyes open, I listened to a lot of podcasts and some documentaries to keep my mind at work. I had not quite realized just how many threads were starting down this disclosure route, and how many whistleblowers have started to come out of the woodwork.

Due to the compartmentalized nature of these programs, these people and claims are some of the most notoriously difficult to run down and/or verify. Because of the history of coverups, secrecy, and intelligence or intel-adjacent people involved, it’s doubly difficult to ascertain whether the whole thing is a “limited hangout” or a misdirection operation entirely.

One of the whistleblowers who has been given a large platform dropped a name that I know personally, so I’m doing my best to verify that, but doing so is not exactly easy given the current environment. I’m not going to go into that any deeper for you at this point.

There have been plenty of whackadoodle UFO documentaries, books, claims, etc over the years, but James Fox has been one that has included some pretty serious people discussing their experiences - USMIL members and commanders, US and foreign political leaders, etc.

If you didn’t know, there is a lot going on in that domain now; legislation has been introduced in the US and has a lot of wind in its sails to create a “disclosure timeline” to let the public know what the gov (and its contractors) know about the phenomena so far.

Below are links to Fox on Rogan, his latest documentary, and other whistleblowers who seem to be coming out of the shadows with some serious people who have vetted them and their stories.

James Fox on Rogan talking about The Program
open.spotify.com/episode/1x40iD…

The Program documentary by James Fox
amazon.com/Program-James-…

newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/hfr-…

x.com/rosscoulthart/…

x.com/GoodTroubleSho…

White Pill:
I’m not gonna lie; even though I could barely keep my eyes open or sit up, I kept the inauguration festivities going hoping that things would go off without a hitch. That they did and that this administration is up and running is the whitest of white pills that can be had (for now).

Macro takeaways/lessons for the week:
-The biggest arguments against Trump are falling flat quickly. He learned the importance of personnel choices, and doesn’t seem bashful about seizing the advantage anymore.

A lesson that some are about to learn the hard way.

https://www.nydailynews.com/2025/01/21/trump-replaces-acting-u-s-attorneys-in-manhattan-brooklyn/

https://apnews.com/article/trump-national-security-council-staffers-d167985d61c96dd278b0e58a402ff865

https://thefederalist.com/2025/01/22/if-you-think-trumps-j6-pardons-are-about-the-insurrection-youre-missing-the-point/

https://thefederalist.com/2025/01/22/breaking-j6-investigation-to-move-to-judiciary-committee-to-help-republicans-uncover-fbi-abuses/

https://x.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1882087302090178917?t=DB5n_uMxAQxZ_ya49NlGjQ&s=19

https://apnews.com/article/trump-national-security-council-staffers-d167985d61c96dd278b0e58a402ff865

https://x.com/amyforsandiego/status/1879317933962526913?t=XMvQsLotXZEbDPVTBvKthA&s=19

https://open.substack.com/pub/robertplewis/p/our-radically-changing-understanding?r=2juhnr&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

Out from behind the paywall and free for all to read and share: Our Radically Changing Understanding of the Human Timeline and Experience

Topics covered in this post
Introduction: What does it mean to be human? How old are we as a species? Is there an unseen “tie that binds” us all?
The Metaphysical
-The Monroe Institute, The Gateway Program, and the USGOV
-The Akashic Field and the Integral Theory of Everything
-Cymatics/Music/Vibrations, Place Memory/The Stone Tape Theory, The Hidden Messages in Water,
-The Power of Intention
The Physical
-Homo Naledi and The Cave of Bones
-Are Native Americans Really Native to the Americas?
-The White Sands Footprints May Break the Bering Strait Theory
-The Story of The Deluge (Great Flood) Is Present Across Most Ancient Cultures
-Is Genesis Actual History?
-The Megaliths of Malta: Potentially Rewriting the Timeline of Humanity
-The Sphinx, Erosion, and Leo: Potentially Rewriting the Timeline of Humanity
Fin

https://x.com/atensnut/status/1879174663945007424?t=Z77bMBFFQ2Hj3cSGeodj7Q&s=19

This is why current and former warfighters support Hegseth so strongly:

https://x.com/KarluskaP/status/1879185658830545226?t=OKgVjVnSroIX8niKIgkA-w&s=19

https://x.com/TheRicanMemes/status/1878968977407504575?t=G8Bx52gmjuM2jN8DlaJDiQ&s=19

https://x.com/AutismCapital/status/1878860660735693112?t=p9udFcik-i3bhg_4BimdiQ&s=19

https://x.com/Oilfield_Rando/status/1878841911148241353?t=2JhYikxFq6nsQ7pjXeNYbw&s=19

https://www.spreaker.com/episode/you-re-wrong-with-mollie-hemingway-and-david-harsanyi-ep-129-russiagate-somehow-gets-worse--63466867

https://www.firstpost.com/world/saudi-arabia-freezes-brics-membership-quest-says-report-amid-trumps-100-tariff-on-bloc-13847679.html

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5AUtUDzcK8retq8OlqBgJJ?si=_oBg7ziHQDW2_0ocOMENxw

Just listened to the first ep of The Telepathy Tapes. If you're interested in that and just starting down the path of "the unseen connection between humanity," I highly suggest reading these books.

https://thehill.com/opinion/congress-blog/5055171-constitution-insurrection-trump-disqualification/

"Consider it pure joy, my Brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your Faith develops perseverance.

Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
James 1:2

👆🏼 crypto bros moved in to help him raise $ for rare disease research.

Spoiler:

Sorry ladies, we are what we are, and what men have always been. But we'll get to it.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/67zeoCRxWnnZ2b6ky713U4?si=TcQPYHv6QGCj5V4GNeLbnA

https://open.substack.com/pub/robertplewis/p/122324-weekly-prep-podcast?r=2juhnr&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

The Shitshow Macro Weekly Prep Podcast for Monday, 12.23.24 is out:

-The Defining “The Deep State” (and its component parts) post and podcast have been made available for all to read, listen, and share (Sub link in my X header).

Domestic Politics:
-Of the great articles coming out and finally admitting what the “conspiracy theorists” have been saying about Biden’s questionable mental status to be POTUS for years (WSJ, NY Post), I read another one today that is probably a more important read for all.
--David Samuels has a piece in @tabletmag titled Rapid-Onset Political Enlightenment: How Barack Obama Built An Omnipotent Thought-Machine, And How It Was Destroyed.
--This is a long one, and a big-brainer, but necessary. It walks readers through the “whole of government” online and Orweillian thought police, narrative machine, and progressive “Karen” movement of virtue signalling & shaming others that the Obama Machine built.
--More importantly, it walks through how his and his cronies' own hubris was what ultimately allowed for its destruction - so far.
tabletmag.com/feature/rapid-…

-As outlined below by @ProfMJCleveland Fani Willis and her team have been disqualified in the criminal case against President elect Trump and others by a Georgia Court of Appeals:
x.com/ProfMJClevelan…

-I’ve really been trying (but struggling) to accurately describe just how half-assed and terrible the disinformation and propaganda that American media consumers have been served for the past decade, but --Tim Dillon described it in the best way that I’ve heard so far during his last interview with Rogan:
--“It’s (the PSYOPs and global meddling that goes horribly wrong) not even artful or elegant anymore.”
--That’s what I was searching for; at least in prior decades they put some effort into selling an “artful and elegant” pile of bullshit to the populace. Now it’s just got a sprig of parsley on top.

-President-elect Trump made a public statement about the US retaking ownership of the Panama Canal, and the Panamanian President clapped back publicly via the X platform.
--If you don’t understand the vital role that Panama played in the illegal immigrant invasion facilitated by the Biden-Harris-Mayorkas regime, I covered it in pretty great detail in my post & podcast China Part 2: US Invasion and Encirclement:
open.substack.com/pub/robertplew…

-Congress loves to tell us they simply can’t cut any spending.
--They just “forgave” a $1.14 billion “loan” to Somalia.
Somalia turned around and hired a DC lobbying firm - to get more “loans” that we will “forgive.”
x.com/libsoftiktok/s…

-A few media outlets were willing to talk about the DOJ IG report re: FBI informants and J6, but it doesn’t seem like any are willing to really go into Rep. Loudermilk’s far more damning report on the failures across the board that day + the lawless J6 committee.
--The DoD failures & coverup were a significant part of that report, and now @TPC4USA has an interview out with the former Assistant Secretary of the Army talking about it:
x.com/theblaze/statu…

War/Military:
-A US F-18 Super Hornet was reportedly shot down by friendly fire from a US warship over the weekend. Both pilots ejected and are safe, but…WTAF?

-Trump made a public statement that NATO member states need to start paying 5% of their GDP towards their NATO bill - and a consortium of their leaders publicly agreed:
x.com/joma_gc/status…

-This may seem like a geopolitical tidbit, but when NATO and a pro-EU intel service is there…especially when a massive NATO base may be on the line, it fits best in this section.
--You know that Romanian election that was canceled when the pro-Romania vs EU leader was way ahead in polls?
--They blamed it on “Russian TikTok ads,” but the receipts now show those “Russian ads” were actually run and created by the pro-EU Romanian democratic party.

--If the analysis and reporting are accurate, this seems like they were trying to run the Hillary Clinton 2016 “pied piper” strategy to help promote Trump ahead of other GOP. And like 2016, it didn’t work out in their favor.
--As we all know by now, when globalists don’t get their way, “RUSSIA!!!” is their fallback position.
x.com/RnaudBertrand/…

-UKR launched 7 suicide drones against residential civilian targets in the RUS city of Kazan on Friday.
Not only was this the 5th largest city in RUS - but it’s where the BRICs meeting was held.

-When the people put in charge of serious things can only think in terms of minutes or days, rather than years or decades, you get some very stupid, short-sighted moves. From the ultra-prog Atlantic magazine:
--“In Ukraine, Russia proved to the entire world that the US no longer has the industrial base to support its military, and therefore, the conventional military production capabilities to credibly stop a peer- or near-peer power from making changes to the global monetary system or “Rules Based Global Order.”
theatlantic.com/politics/archi…

-Do you remember us talking about the deal that was struck for Kenyan troops to deploy to Haiti to help the interim GOV there battle Barbeque and the gangs that have taken over the nation?
--Apparently only 400 troops actually arrived (there were supposed to be thousands), and the other nations who were supposed help are only doing evacs, and only when it’s safe:
x.com/LostWeapons/st…

Science/Health:
-We talked about the anti-RFK Jr “polio” Information Operation last week.
--@tracybeanz shared a video from The Highwire this weekend that helps break that IO into pieces and outlines what ICAN was actually doing when it petitioned the FDA:
x.com/tracybeanz/sta…

-President-elect Trump has announced that he plans to withdraw the US from the WHO on day 1 of his administration.

-The State of Louisiana has now forbade its public health workers from promoting COVID, flu, and/or MPOX shots.

-We’ve talked about @AaronSiriSG several times before, and he and @ICANdecide are really doing the Lord’s work.
--The CDC has claimed that it’s a myth that ingredients in shots are dangerous, saying that many of them are found in foods.
--Aaron and ICAN submitted FOIA requests for the data to back that up - and the CDC admitted there is, in fact, no data to back up their claims.
Are we following the science or not, folks, because no data means no science.
icandecide.org/press-release/…

Markets/economics:
-MSTR has been added into the Nasdaq 100 and QQQ ETF. MSTR is considered a BTC and crypto proxy, and QQQ is a fund that receives a lot of passive investment dollars.
--Not personal investment advice, but this could have substantial upside potential for BTC, even if not immediately (or in a straight line).

-The US budget deficit is now at the worst on record, and is the worst start to the fiscal year ever.
--Chart from @ZeroHedge in the show notes.

-On that note, the largest buyer of US bonds (PIMCO) has announced they will no longer be buying long term US treasuries.
--We’ve spoken about “bond market vigilantes” before, and their announcement, while written in a very “professional” and mild manner, indicates this is precisely what they are doing (protesting out of control USGOV spending & financial mismanagement).

-California, a state with the one of the largest economies in the union, defaulted on its debt repayment to the USGOV for Coof-era loans, and has opted to pass the bill on to California small business owners.
--A video shared by @outragedteen_ includes a news clip with a small business owner who says her payroll taxes jumped $2,100 per month due to this:
x.com/outragedteen_/…

-Speaking of potential fraud and California, @5149jamesli may have found a massive amount of fraud in the California government spending through “affordable housing” to some potentially shady developers. The thread below tracks the financials and shell companies:
x.com/5149jamesli/st…

-The Fed decided to cut rates last week on 12.18. The results (so far)?
--The 30-year mortgage rate sailed up to 7.512%
--The US 10-year treasury rate jumped to 4.45%

-Auto loan delinquency rates have soared to the highest level in 14 years.
--Biden-Harrisnomics, baby!
--Chart from @Barchart in the show notes

Business:
-The Missouri trucking company RBX, Inc, with 255 drivers, filed for bankruptcy, according to @MacroEdgeRes

-Auto dealerships are quietly closing down around the country, and customers are stuck in limbo without cars they paid for, and having trade-ins threatened with repo because the dealerships never paid off the titles of their trade-ins.
--A thread from @UnicusResearch walks through this insane trend that isn’t being talked about:
x.com/UnicusResearch…

Geopolitics:
-The Bank of England has announced that its shadow banks receiving bailouts will be kept secret from the British taxpayers who are paying for it:
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
--“Democracy”

-If you ever wonder just how crazy and self-destructive the EU can possibly get…there is no end to it.
--The EU is now investigating whether Poland is allowed to fund its own state-owned nuclear power plant, as shared by @chigrl
--European Commission to Scrutinize Polish Aid for Nuclear Plant
The European Commission will look into Poland’s decision to support the state-owned company Polskie Elektrownie Jądrowe sp. z o.o. (PEJ) in the construction of a new nuclear power plant in Lubiatowo-Kopalino.
The Commission said in a media release it has launched an in-depth investigation, after being informed about the decision in September 2024.
The preliminary assessment finds the aid package to be necessary; however, the Commission said it doubts that the measure, at this stage, is in line with EU state aid rules. (Source: Rigzone)

-As if to buttress that statement above, again from Tracy Shuchart (@chigrl ), the EU is implementing a piece of legislation saying that any EU or foreign companies doing business with the EU that doesn’t abide by their regs (like the Paris Climate Accord) will be fined 5% of their global revenue.
--Qatar is threatening to cut off its gas shipments to the EU if they actually go forward with these fines to (common sense) nations who don’t do virtue signalling:
x.com/chigrl/status/…

-Canada, whose government is not having a very good time right now, has abandoned its aims for a Net Zero electricity grid by 2035, pushing the target back to 2050.
--Klaus Schwab hardest hit.

Social dynamics/societal/culture war/Legal:
-The Biden admin has now withdrawn their Title IX requirement that would have forced females to allow males into their locker rooms.
thegatewaypundit.com/2024/12/biden-…

-Bring on the lawsuits.
--After claiming for years, without evidence, that puberty blockers were “reversible” to shut down anyone who opposed them being used in kids, leaked WPATH videos shows one of their medical pushers & proponents admitting they are not, in fact, reversible.
Shared by the Gays Against Groomers account (@againstgrmrs ):
x.com/againstgrmrs/s…

Conspiracy-y:
I went against my cheap-o ways and forked over the money to become a member of the Tucker Carlson Network so that I could watch the Thank You, Dr. Fauci documentary this weekend and boy, was it worth it.

Shiminy Christmas that dude is a demon, as are many of the ghouls around him, in my personal opinion.

What I didn’t realize was that TCN has made documentaries that go through the Deep State lawfare attacks that have been waged against many of the people around Trump.

TCN has a whole series of them, and even though I had a pretty good understanding of what transpired, I watched the edition that covered the lawfare against General Flynn. Egregious.

I’m not sponsored by nor do I get any type of remuneration from sharing these, but I will post the links to both of those videos below. The All the President’s Men series covers several others, including Kash Patel, that I plan on watching.

If you didn’t get my note to Shitshow Macro subscribers, watching those two documentaries is why I released the Defining the Deep State post and podcast from behind the paywall earlier than I had planned.

Thank You, Dr. Fauci
tuckercarlson.com/thank-you-dr-f…

All the President’s Men: The General
tuckercarlson.com/all-the-presid…

White Pill:
Some people hit roadblocks, setbacks, or difficulties, and fold like a wet blanket.

Others allow themselves to be diverted to easier and simpler paths.

The Prime Movers, however, understand, even if only subconsciously, the Marcus Aurelius and Stoic philosophy that, “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”

Between current social sentiment shifts (the election) to The Tablet Mag article and documentaries that I shared above, we are seeing a resurgence of people who understand that, “the obstacle is the way.”

And they are the rambunctious, rebellious, and stiff-necked types who don’t let roadbumps stop their journeys.

We should all aspire to this, and be thankful that the time of the Prime Movers seems to be back upon us.

Macro takeaways/lessons for the week:
-The last of the lawfare attempts seems to have crumbled with Big Fani’s disqualification, The Emperor with No Clothes has been laid bare (both Obama and his meat puppet Biden), and even the truths of what actually transpired on J6 are beginning to see the light of day. The Era of the Great Pretending is over.

-UKR admitted to aiding the AQ and ISIS takeover of Syria, and is flying suicide drones into residential buildings in videos that look eerily reminiscent of 9/11, and even The Atlantic is admitting that the Green Sweatsuit Comedian can’t win his war. How much longer must that charade continue?

-The EU seems determined to absolutely destroy any economic output that its member states create, and allow its citizens to be harmed by the inflow of illegal immigrants that it allowed in and pays for. Again, how much longer must that charade continue?

Implications:
The Atlantic admits that the US and EU’s decisions to offshore their industrial bases is mutually-exclusive to fighting any peer or even near-peer adversary, on the same weekend that an F-18 Super Hornet is shot down by US warship friendly fire - that if the reporting I’ve seen is correct, may have been commanded by a female.

Virtue signalling and progressive policies bring nothing but damage. Enough is enough.

The Weekly Read (Monday):
The Defining the Deep State post has at least a year’s worth of recommended reading and watching linked within it - I think we’ve met our quota for this week.

Links mentioned in the show:

Intro & Outtro music: Blind by Mike Amabile and Run Over Twice
open.spotify.com/track/6SG99nL3…

US Budget Deficit Worst Start of the Year On Record
(Chart won't display on X but is in the original Sub post (link in comments)

Auto Loan Delinquency Rates
(Chart won't display on X but is in the original Sub post (link in comments)

Nobody is above the law, right Liz?

https://x.com/JeffClarkUS/status/1870821774881149423?t=HPGnsHM1GkSpUhBAQSImIg&s=19

https://www.tabletmag.com/feature/rapid-onset-political-enlightenment

And that, my friends, is how you close a banger of an article with a claymore:

https://x.com/bonchieredstate/status/1865443481910485409?s=19

https://robertplewis.substack.com/p/12624-weekly-wrapup-podcast

--To that point, Turkey still publicly disavows any claims they have a hand in what’s going on in Syria.
--Here’s an article about the loss of Hama:
sofx.com/hama-captured-…

--And a deep-dive into the current state-of-play in Syria from today’s @TheDuranReal :
rumble.com/v5wo0yk-lavrov…

-An interesting theory (fully theoretical) by Alex of The Duran regarding the South Korean martial law episode this week. As it falls in line with something that we’ll cover in geopolitics today and includes the MIL, it’s worth mentioning.
--+80% of the S. Korean populace does not want their nation sending weapons to UKR.
--They did a sleight of hand previously, saying they would ship arms to the US to replace US weapons sent, only to be discovered that they in fact sent them directly to UKR.
--S. Korea does have a significant weapons manufacturing capability, meaning those Western nations who are “all-in” on Project UKR (no matter how their constituents feel) would probably want to lean on S. Korea hard to get in the game.
--The president had a significant popularity issue, and declaring martial law while shutting down the media could provide him as a final middle finger “I’m gonna do what I want” to the people before being ousted from office.
--Probably with a significant sinecure or kickback awaiting him, if that's an accurate theory.

-Putin has stated that he will be sending some of the new Oresnik missiles (the hypersonics that were used to turn a Kiev weapons manufacturing plant to dust recently) to Belarus.

-Speaking of RUS, their foreign minister Lavrov this week in an interview with Tucker that was released last night.
--While he does bring up a lot of past grievances, the man is very well spoken and he speaks using well-thought reasoning rather than the word salads we’re so used to.
--Take anything he says through the lens of the leader trying to give the best version of his side of the story, but he does verify quite a few things that have been said in other places about the underhanded way in which Western foreign policy has often been run.
x.com/TuckerCarlson/…

Markets/economics:
-At market close for the week, the S&P 500, NASDAQ, and Russell 2000 were up while the Dow 30 and oil were down.
--The financial press is putting out headlines today saying the market did great due to “help from a strong jobs report.”
--The actual jobs report: FT jobs -111k, PT jobs -268k
--Chart from @zerohedge in the show notes

-BTC crossed the important $100k value this week but had some significant seesaw action.
--At current (Friday evening) the price point is at $99,990.60

-The USDJPY currency pair is still in the danger zone at $149.98

-The European markets faired far better this week than they should, given what’s going on and what we’ll cover below.
--Aside from the Heng Seng, Asian markets had a red day on Friday.

-The Ice BofAML MOVE Index (bond market volatility) dropped significantly this week, now down to $83.20.

-The Biden-Harris tenure has added one more “certainty” to the list:
--Death, Taxes, and Downward BLS Revisions
--The latest is the biggest since May 2023, dropping October payrolls from 233k to 184k
--Chart from Zero Hedge in the show notes.

Business:
-Tens of thousands of German VW employees have halted production as a strike and protest against the pay cuts for those who keep their jobs.
--Their union is warning of a fierce strike, but Germany’s Green party has seriously damaged the entire auto industry in their country (of which VW makes up 19%).
armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/cli…

-A US appellate court has upheld the ban on social media platform TikTok, which will force its sale.
finance.yahoo.com/news/us-appeal…

Health:
-Health freedom fighter @AaronSiriSG and his group just secured another massive court win. This one requires the FDA to turn over another 1 million Coof shot trial documents that they tried to hide from the public.
x.com/AaronSiriSG/st…

--A link to the ruling is in the above tweet. If you don’t have legal beagle or medical experience, @TracyBeanz (who has been hot on this trail since Day 1) will be breaking it down for you:
x.com/tracybeanz

Religion:
-Archaeologists in Turkey believe they have uncovered the tomb of Saint Nicholas.
--Yes, Santa Claus.
--Merry Christmas.
x.com/DailyTurkic/st…

Geopolitics:
-The French government has collapsed after a “no confidence” vote in the ramshackle coalition that Macron cobbled together to keep Marie Le Pen and her party out of national office after their massive popularity surge in the last round of French elections.
--Macron called a press conference to state that he will not step down or call new elections despite this.

-Romania canceled their elections when their anti-EU candidate showed 68% public approval versus the EU sycophant with only 32%.
x.com/daily_romania/…

-So far, we have a growing list of EU national leaders who have either canceled elections or refused to step down after losing elections.
--And as always, they all claim that it’s “for the sake of democracy” that they defy the will of their populace:
--France (Macron)
--Romania (Ciolacu)
--Georgia (Zourabichvili)
--Ukraine (Zelensky)
--Germany (Sholz and the anti-AfD pushes)
--UK (Starmer saw 2mm signatures within 48hrs to call snap elections against him)
--S. Korea is not traditionally considered as “the West,” but they are tied at our hip in multiple ways. It’s fair to say that enacting martial law to play in Project Ukraine (potentially) against the wills of your populace amidst rapidly declining public support can be included in this list.

-A new poll conducted for Europe 1, CNews, and Journal du Dimanche shows that 48% of the French population want zero immigration into their country - either legal or illegal.
zerohedge.com/political/48-f…

-Staying in Asia, the Tokyo Government has elected to introduce a 4-day workweek starting in April of next year as a major push toward work reform, per @MacroEdgeRes
--Japan is one of many countries facing a population decline crisis. It will be interesting to see if more free time = more baby making.

-Canada has announced that an additional 324 firearms and any “assault-style” firearms are banned from sale, trade, or transportation starting immediately (as of the announcement yesterday).
--To add further lemon to the eyes of many, the confiscated firearms will be sent to UKR.
--Just putting A + B together…after Trump’s (joking) comments about making Canada the 51st state, perhaps Justin is making that pathway far easier for if the US wanted to “liberate” our neighbors to the North.
x.com/EndWokeness/st…

Societal/legal/culture war
-The US House has passed the “Crucial Communism Teaching Act” to legislate teaching the dangers and past outcomes of communism and other totalitarian ideologies in US schools.
--While this seems common sense, consider why it’s never been a part of the curriculum before, despite the highest body count mass murderers in history being Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, and other dirty commies.
--Expect fierce opposition to come from the Department of Education, and ask yourself why they are so opposed to it when they do.
theepochtimes.com/us/house-overw…

-A new infographic from the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund shows where & which Soros-funded progressive prosecutors have been kicked out of office (21 total since 2022).
--H/t to @LeadingReport for the find & share.
--Infographic in the show notes.

Crazy Conspiracy:
Anyone familiar with the JFK shooting investigations knows about the strangeness surrounding the bullets that were or were claimed to have been used that day.

From the “magic bullet theory” that defies all ballistics and physics to the perfectly intact bullet that was “found” on the stretcher in Dallas, it’s reasonable for any sane person who reads about them to see hijinks and chicanery at play.

It seems we have more of the same regarding the Butler, PA attempt on Trump. As per new reporting by @JD_cashless , bullet fragments from the body of the attempted Trump assassin have “gone missing.”

headlineusa.com/bullet-fragmen…

Macro takeaways/lessons from the week:
-The Daniel Penny trial is a good litmus test for whether the population is at the ejection point for woke bullshit. The hung jury on count 1 is a good sign. The prog prosecutor going against legal convention to put him in jail at any cost is a signal that they will not stop fighting for their causes.

-Iowa’s Jodi Earnst has been getting ratio’d into oblivion for trying to knife Pete Hegseth’s nomination to SecDef, and Dade Phelan has been ousted after his attacks on Paxton. The GOP constituency may have finally awakened to the power in numbers that their support/disgust holds.

-The same Western leaders who mouthed in unison the standard bearer slogans like “build back better” and “we’re in it together” are now refusing to cede power despite losing elections. We weren’t kidding when we told you that they don’t use the word democracy by the same definition that we do.

White pill(s) for the week:
I’ve been saying this for many months, but the full picture was difficult to see for many until after the election. The public sentiment has been shifting for quite some time - sometimes quietly, but sometimes loudly. It was not easy to see to those who weren’t looking and considering multiple variables, because there weren’t many “in your face” signals.

But the signals were all there if you knew where to look.

For the greater populace, it often takes those “in your face” sea change events to alert them to a changing paradigm.

Elon Musk buying Twitter and changing it to X was one - this allowed many tech and Silicon Valley people to come out publicly.

Marc Andreesen was another - his interview with Joe Rogan led to a waterfall of other tech founders talking about the grievous overreach of the Biden-Harris admin.

I would expect healthcare & pharma or FBI/DOJ whistleblowers to be the next big sea change, but we shall see.

If you haven’t seen the Joe Rogan & Mike Benz interview that aired this week yet, the end of that interview sums it up quite perfectly.”

Rogan: “How do you sleep at night knowing all of this?”

Benz [sic]: It was difficult at first, but now we’re in the best time ever to be alive (putting massive wins on the board).

Watch the interview via the link below if you haven’t already.

And never forget, covfefe (In the End, We Will Win).

open.spotify.com/episode/7uBY7T…

Weekend Meditation:

“It is more civilized to make fun of life than to bewail it.”
-Seneca

Men will hold their most pointed & damage-inducing insults for those who they would step into the fore and sacrifice their lives or limbs if called upon to do so. Combat vets have a unique sense of “gallows humor” that is met with disgust or horror by those uninitiated to the “two-way live-fire range.”

We can crumble and cry about a bad situation, or we can make fun of it and get on with it.

Choose the latter.

Links mentioned in the show:
Intro & outro music: Mike Amabile and Run Over Twice “Blind”
open.spotify.com/track/6SG99nL3…

Jobs Report Drops
(Chart won't display on X but is in the Sub post)

21 Soros-Funded Prog Prosecutors Fired Since 2022
(Chart won't display on X but is in the Sub post)

Another Biden-Harris BLS Downward Revision
(Chart won't display on X but is in the Sub post)

*SAR: Banking Suspicious Activity Report

Speaking of demons...

"Do not be afraid."

They have no power over your soul unless you give it to them.

Thanksgiving fun day Conspiracy Theory, dredging one up that I heard a long time ago...

To begin: unlike the bad faith actors & propagandists who make up our current MSM, I've always been one to at least consider a conspiracy theory, if only briefly, when I hear them.

Some can be tossed aside very quickly, some have a very "limited hangout" aspect to them, some have an exceptional amount of meat on the bones, and others begin to gather "proof points" but only over the following years or decades.

Let me tell you about one that I originally considered wild & ridiculous, but that has gathered more meat on its bones as I've learned more about ancient history and our current place in the timeline of history.

Perhaps a decade or more ago, I came across a really interesting one that stated The Ark of the Covenant has traveled from East to West ever since it was given to humanity.

Further, this theory stated that whoever held the Ark at any time was the hegemon (ruling power).

There are plenty of internet history bros who will fight you on this, but at least directionally it has some "there there" with regard to who ruled the "known world" at what time and the westwardly direction in which power has shifted.

There are other interesting rabbit holes of what The Ark is (aside from simply a place to hold the tablets), and why the Levites were the only ones who could touch it - but let's not dig into that one.

When this picture popped up, and people started coming out of the woodwork to say that The Ark had never been found and this was merely a replica, it made me smile and pull this thing I'd heard back out of the memory banks.

As world leaders are already starting to get their shit in check and business leaders (and even propagandists in the media) make their way to "kiss the ring," I'm hoping there is a lot more "there there" than just a fun thing to read, consider, and entertain.

If so, that would certainly be worthy of giving thanks for on this thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving, here's a nerdy joke:

https://x.com/JamesGrantJ6/status/1862181414998859907?t=oqU2DlMn-qkGAIPoDxNNKw&s=19

The J6 disclosures will demolish any leftover credibility the media and those who pushed the false narratives may have left.

Deservedly.

https://tydfmovie.com/checkout/?add-to-cart

https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/hey-elon-hey-rand-mega-censored-fauci-documentary-nails-whole-charade

https://x.com/UndeadFoia/status/1859714984114258350?t=1ob4V6udi6Yl97xhcWebgw&s=1

AYFKM?

https://headlineusa.com/dhs-says-it-doesnt-have-interview-transcripts-from-panels-trump-shooting-investigation/

Holy shit. J6 disclosures (the reality based ones) are picking up steam already:

https://x.com/kylenabecker/status/1859663945164030118?t=rog9A-ZDNbKX5j5ypmDVlg&s=19

https://x.com/amuse/status/1859588165184651310?t=lRwIeI-fOrsKPyQFQ3wrqw&s=19

https://x.com/JerryDunleavy/status/1858212830874386495?t=k-Y7XjWJMIfc8rc-xV8aOA&s=19

I never realized just how many times the phrase "do not be afraid" is mentioned in both The Old and New Testaments of The Bible.

There's certainly a lesson there.

https://x.com/KarluskaP/status/1857953928152752275?t=hc5SdQ-IDZo2Y96cMjgesg&s=19

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/nov/16/whistleblower-warns-fbi-trusted-background-checks-/

https://x.com/_johnnymaga/status/1857599848062628084?t=c-8xM_TvRLf-xo0IJdeEEA&s=19

Trey Gowdy is one of the reasons the Benghazi Committe & report were bullshit and I will never forgive him for that.

Glad to see someone with the balls to call him out. Those balls belong to Mollie.

Your terms are acceptable.

Weird.

The final.

https://x.com/gc22gc/status/1852843689829400638?t=8XPLBPRj0KvCx5AEQehBCw&s=19

https://x.com/AlexBerenson/status/1852832246580887830?t=GxEcpQpYYDX6Sn0RhHdVIw&s=19

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2024/11/03/ignore-polling-democrats-are-in-the-pull-the-goalie-phase/

A lot if this going on. Between the low & no propensity R voters, classical liberals, and Libertarians, it's a done deal if everyone shows up on election day to vote.

But the last part is the kicker. Don't skip because you think its "in the bag."

https://x.com/BridgetPhetasy/status/1852881275146703149?t=V7IWhC3bkoUABBzR9XEmZg&s=19

https://x.com/RobertPLewis/status/1852820235289846176?t=XoGRjoK9uDEHGJdmzKsdaA&s=19

https://x.com/RobertPLewis/status/1852818747825979731?t=K5Pq7IweDMh4obGUYr2V1g&s=19

https://x.com/RobertPLewis/status/1852818466715418988?t=07VHSPsGLNYbPjfulQRUKw&s=19

https://x.com/RobertPLewis/status/1852818119598940351?t=DDDObQgwLsjXqhxNJfSvRA&s=19

https://x.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1852419330061021314?t=OQq5ISLEex7VNtdwBRGyyA&s=19

https://x.com/thackerpd/status/1848755448674934836?t=p8X6s1qP1v68xV9NytDjEw&s=19

https://x.com/mazemoore/status/1848572247650537955?t=TQdDIcXaE-CGr4TQBxrnjA&s=19

A joke, obviously, but a damned funny one.

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/obama-ag-sues-pentagon-for-chinese-military-company-prompting-stefanik-to-blast-her-for-selling-out/

https://x.com/Jewtastic/status/1848438591409819750?t=j5a5gXgc6t3PsoGhQsUIYQ&s=19

https://open.substack.com/pub/robertplewis/p/weekly-prep-pod-102124?r=2juhnr&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true