The Longest Night

Each trip around the sun seems to speed faster and faster. We better treasure our time friends! I think, we in the west, are indeed in our longest night as our power continues to wane and the BRICS+ model rises. This is a time of great flux. The US, EU, and Israel are doing great harm to their international relationships with illegal wars, economic sanctions, and aggressive attitude. This is the nature of empires. These cycles have occurred over and over through human civilization.

The cyclic nature of civilizations is like our human lifecycle...inevitable. We are merely at the end of our natural cycle. It is okay. We just need to be aware of our decline, and accept it as we do the inevitability of our human death.

Doug lays out what is happening in the US

(13 min) THE GREAT BETRAYAL - Col. Douglas Macgregor

The Biggest Wealth Transfer in American History? Who Gets It?

(10 min) Everyone is talking about the biggest wealth transfer in American history — but very few ask the real question: who actually benefits?
In this video, we break down the hidden pattern behind wealth transfers using history, inflation cycles, and real examples from America, Rome, Weimar Germany, Sam Zell, and Detroit auto workers. This is not about inheritance hype or get-rich-quick ideas. It’s about understanding how currency debasement, asset ownership, and positioning quietly shift wealth upward over time.
If you’ve ever wondered why wages feel stagnant, why assets keep rising, and why the middle class feels stuck despite working harder, this video connects the dots. No predictions. No financial advice. Just clarity through history and patterns.
"This video mentions a $124 trillion wealth transfer, but most of it is already held by the top 2%. For the bottom 90%, the median inheritance is nearly zero. The video is AI-generated, but the information is research-based. Content is intended for a U.S. audience—watch and interpret carefully."

And for a seasonal message...
God Rest Ye Merry Billionaires

God rest ye merry billionaires, let nothing you dismay
Forget your workers families going hungry on this day
And save yourselves from income tax - you'll never need to pay
O tidings of corruption and greed, corruption and greed
O tidings of corruption and greed

In Washington and London-town you pay the lobby fees
To hold the reins both left and right of sham democracies
And keep us entertained so we don’t know we’re on our knees
O tidings of corruption and greed, corruption and greed
O tidings of corruption and greed

Fear not ye say the media, they only sing your praise
The job-creator gave us all that's good and all that pays
Be thankful for your stable-beds and don’t ask for a raise
O tidings of corruption and greed, corruption and greed
O tidings of corruption and greed

The Prince of Peace you call Him while you make war in His name
A man with no possessions made a shill for earthly gain
Imagine all the people led by men who have no shame
O tidings of corruption and greed, corruption and greed
O tidings of corruption and greed

This is a well reasoned idea...but sad we humans do it over and over again.
Jiang Xueqin: Chain Reaction Toward World War III Has Begun

(51 min) Prof. Xueqin Jiang argues that both historical patterns and game theory can be used to accurately predict future events. Prof. Jiang is the host of the popular educational channel Predictive History.

I think he's is likely correct. In fact, I might argue WWIII has already begun.

(32 min) Russia prepares for NATO 2030

ISRAEL'S IRAN WAR PLAN FOR TOTAL DOMINATION | PROFESSOR JIANG XUEQIN @PredictiveHistory

(33 min) Jackson Hinkle speaks with Professor Jiang Xueqin, host of Predictive History, about whether the U.S. will declare WAR ON VENEZUELA & the likelihood of a second US/ISRAELI WAR on IRAN.

For more on his Israel hypothesis...This longer lecture proposes that Israel will emerge as the center of trade and transportation.
Secret History: Pax Judaica (100 min)
In this Thursday, December 18, 2025 lecture to his Beijing high school students, Professor Jiang explains how and why Pax Judaica will come to rule the world.
Notes and References:
1. Book of Ezekiel, Hebrew Bible
2. Observations Upon the Prophecies of Daniel by Isaac Newton
3. Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn
4. The Thirteenth Tribe by Arthur Koestler
5. Kill King 33 by James Downard and Michael Hoffman
6. Words of the Lord (Jacob Frank)

I hope this hypothesis is incorrect for many reasons, but there's no telling what the future holds. However, there are patterns.

U.S. Power in the Middle East Slips — And Iran’s Sudden Move Turns It Into a Major Crisis

(14.5 min) For decades, a dominant global power shaped the political and military landscape of the region — but that influence is now slipping. A sudden and calculated move by a rising regional force has turned this decline into a major geopolitical crisis. This analysis focuses on how global authority is weakening, how power balances are shifting, and why emerging alliances are reshaping the future in ways the former hegemon failed to anticipate. Strategic partnerships, military positioning, diplomatic leverage, and the rise of a multipolar order are all explored, revealing a profound transformation that challenges long-standing control. The result is a region no longer defined by a single external power, but by new actors demanding a central role in shaping what comes next.

Now add in Venezuela....and the collapse accelerates.

(73 min) Col. Larry Wilkerson & Larry C. Johnson: Europe Is Romanticizing War | The Venezuela Trap
This has become one of my favorite weekly conversations.

Reporting from Caracas Venezuela (7.5 min)
Reporting from Caracas Venezuela I don't think there will be any major attack in the coming weeks. If any, it would be most probably towards the end of January, February-March Trump has No public opinion support- Lacks any legality - doesn't have the means to invade, it can be only asymmetrical confrontation - lacks momentum- no real casus belli, can be done only through false flag operations. Here all very normal, people are going on with their daily routine and enjoying family time/Christmas holidays.

I hope he is correct!

Colonel Douglas Macgregor Reveals Truth on US Venezuela War

(26 min) Colonel Douglas Macgregor joins the show to break down what’s really happening in Venezuela—and why this crisis is far more dangerous than most Americans realize. We cover everything from U.S. military strikes, Trump’s shocking rhetoric, and failed sanctions, to the uncomfortable truth about regime change, covert warfare, and why Venezuela could become another strategic disaster for the United States.
00:55 - US Military Strikes in Venezuela
01:22 - Trump Shocking Statements on Venezuela
02:20 - Maduro’s Reaction to Trump
03:05 - What Mexico Thinks About Venezuela
04:30 - Why Diplomacy is Possible in Venezuela
06:57 - Why the US Wants a Coup Government
08:17 - Why this War Will Weaken the USA
10:03 - Why US Sanctions Have Failed
12:09 - Why the US Has Already Declared War
15:29 - Why Venezuela is Too Complex For US War
17:29 - Is Venezuela So Bad It Needs a War?
19:10 - What Happens if American People Wake Up?
21:01 - Does the US Want War with China Next?
25:42 - Final Thoughts

Col. Wilkerson had several interesting conversations this week.
With the Judge... COL. Lawrence Wilkerson : A Disaster to Invade Venezuela.

And with Nima...
Col. Larry Wilkerson: The Alarms Are Blazing Red — The U.S. Is Heading Straight Into This
(78 min)

Bad as things look in the US, the EU is looking worse.
"The EU Wants To Take Away Your Cars, That's Their Plan" Economist Richard Werner

(32 min) Tens of thousands of European farmers have had enough with the leadership in Brussels dictating their lives. Farmers this afternoon were actively trying to smash into EU headquarters. Through police barricades while their' throwing tear gas at them.

Why European Farmers Stormed Brussels with Tractors (7 min) What began as a farmers’ protest exploded into chaos in Brussels as nearly 1,000 tractors rolled into the EU capital. Roads were blocked, tyres burned, fireworks lit up the sky, and even a Christmas tree near the European Parliament was knocked over. At the heart of the anger: the EU–Mercosur free trade deal. Farmers fear cheap South American imports could wipe them out, while EU leaders remain deeply divided. France and Italy slammed the brakes; others want to push ahead. The deal is postponed, not buried. As tear gas clears and tractors leave, one question remains: deal or revolt?

In contrast China keeps progressing...
in large part because of their own energy production.
China’s Energy Worldview Exposes the Flaws in Trump’s Venezuela Plan

(14 min) Donald Trump doesn't get it. Neither does Danielle Smith. There's a 50/50 chance Mark Carney doesn't get it, either. What they don't get is that China, and increasingly the rest of Asia, thinks very differently about oil and gas imports. That's a death knell to Trump's "energy dominance" doctrine.

Perhaps war and conflict are just our nature?
Originalos: Before Common Sense

(3 min) When was common sense invented, or has it been?

Today is the Solstice...
The December solstice marks the sun’s southernmost point in the sky, for all of Earth, for this year, the 2025 December solstice happens at 15:03 UTC (9:03 a.m. CST) on December 21. It’s when the sun reaches its southernmost point in our sky. We have the southernmost sunrise and sunset, and – for us in the Northern Hemisphere – the shortest day and longest night.
...After this solstice, the sun’s path will begin shifting moving northward in the sky again....
The earliest people on Earth knew that the sun’s path across the sky, the length of daylight, and the locations of the sunrise and sunset all shifted in a regular way throughout the year. They built monuments such as Stonehenge in England and Intihuatana at Machu Picchu in Peru to follow the sun’s yearly progress.
Today, we picture the solstice from the vantage point of space, and we know that the solstice is an astronomical event. It’s caused by the tilt of Earth’s axis and by its orbital motion around the sun... It’s this tilt, not our distance from the sun, that causes winter and summer. In fact, we’re closest to – not farthest from – the sun at the turn of every new year. In 2026, Earth’s perihelion – or closest point to the sun – will come at 17 UTC on January 3.

The Sun's movement over the year

Paolo Bardelli in Schiranna, Varese, Italy, created this analemma by photographing the sun weekly over the course of a year. Paolo wrote: “The analemma was calibrated and overlaid with an image taken over Lake Varese in the late afternoon of the winter solstice in 2021, featuring one of the many swans that flock to the shores of Lake Varese in the foreground.”

The solstice was part of the Roman holiday, Saturnalia.

Saturnalia marked a cosmic turning point at the darkening descent toward the Winter Solstice, the loosening of old structures, and the symbolic return of the Sun.
It was, in many ways, the spiritual “ancestor” of Christmas. It was a festival of reversal, liberation, joy, and communal rebirth.

So happy Solstice and holiday season, regardless of the holiday you celebrate. The human family has long recognized the importance of the solstice, although it's significance has been lost on modern societies. And though geopolitics are in flux, we remain connected to one another and the natural world in fundamental ways.

Have a great holiday week!

The thread is open to any and all ideas....