“People Begging Me To Do This”: Trump Signs Executive Order Reclassifying Cannabis Update (Thursday Afternoon): Moments ago in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order expanding access to cannabis, a long-anticipated move that would represent one of the most significant shifts in U.S. drug policy in decades. “Today, I’m pleased to announce that I will be signing an executive order to reschedule marijuana […]

TSMC Targets 2027 Start For Advanced Chip Output In Arizona Taiwan Semiconductor is set to begin moving chipmaking tools into its second Arizona fab around summer 2026, positioning the plant to start 3-nanometer production in 2027, Nikkei Asia reports. Sources say the equipment move is expected in the July–September quarter next year, accelerating a project previously slated to come online in 2028 and aligning with Chairman and […]

Federal Judge Won’t Block White House Ballroom Construction Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times, A federal district judge on Dec. 17 allowed the ongoing ballroom construction project at the White House to continue, turning away a preservation organization’s request to halt it, at least for the time being. The litigation is still underway, and a court hearing is scheduled for January. Construction on the project, […]

US Approves Largest Taiwan Arms Package In History At Over $11BN Just a day ago the US administration communicated to China that it is ready to defend American interests in the Pacific region. Now, it’s being reported that the US has approved $11.1 billion in arms-sales for Taiwan, the single largest ever such announced transfer and clear show of support from Washington. Unveiled late Wednesday, the major arms sales are intended […]

Former Harvard Morgue Manager, Wife Sentenced For Stealing And Selling Body Parts Authored by Bill Pan via The Epoch Times, A former morgue manager at Harvard Medical School has been sentenced to eight years in prison for stealing and selling human body parts donated for scientific research, the Department of Justice said. Cedric Lodge, 58, was sentenced on Dec. 16 during a hearing in federal court in Pennsylvania. His wife, […]

Australian Counterterrorism Unit Rams Car, Arrests Five Men Suspected Of Planning Violence Four days after the Bondi Beach terror attack in Australia, a counterterrorism unit stopped what appeared to be a vehicle carrying five Middle Eastern men in Liverpool, Sydney, who were allegedly heading toward the Bondi Beach area. BREAKING: Australian police ram a car with 5 Islamists travelling to Bondi Beach. Seems like they had info […]

China’s ‘Manhattan Project’ Builds Secret EUV Chip Machine Long Blocked By The West Chinese scientists have built a prototype extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machine in a high-security Shenzhen lab, a milestone Washington has long sought to block, according to a new report from Reuters. The machine, completed in early 2025 and now in testing, occupies nearly an entire factory floor and was developed by former ASML engineers […]

Fed Inflation Target Nears As US CPI Tumbles More Than Expected In November ‘A grain of salt’ is how many have described their position on this morning’s government shutdown-delayed release of October and November Consumer Price Inflation data. Headline CPI slowed to 2.7% YoY in November (dramatically below the 3.1% YoY expected) Core CPI fell to 2.6% YoY in November (well below the 3.0% YoY expected) and the lowest since March […]

US Judge Plans To Block Hundreds Of Trump Admin Layoffs Authored by Kimberley Hayek via The Epoch Times, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston stated during a court hearing that she would block the departments of State and Education from moving forward with approximately 250 and 150 layoffs, respectively. The decision comes after a lawsuit filed in October by unions challenging the Trump administration’s plans to shrink the […]

EU Will Look ‘Weak’ If It Doesn’t Confiscate Russian Funds, Zelensky Tells Crunch Summit “We have to find a solution today,” said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “We won’t leave the European Council without a solution for the funding for Ukraine for the next two years.” The 27 leaders of the European Union are gathered in Brussels Thursday, trying to figure out a way forward on raising at least €90 billion to meet […]

Trump Media To Merge With Nuclear Fusion Company TAE In $6 Billion Deal Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times, President Donald Trump’s media company, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), said on Dec. 18 that it has signed a definitive agreement to merge with nuclear fusion firm TAE Technologies in an all-stock transaction valued at more than $6 billion, an ambitious tie-up the companies said was a bid to help “power […]

It’s Crunch Time For Europe Which Decides Whether To Confiscate Russian Assets By Elwin de Groot and Bas van Geffen, strategists at Rabobank Is today crunch-time for the EU? That is the billion dollar question. European leaders are meeting in Brussels for a two‑day European Council summit. Their agenda covers a range of topics, including a ‘strategic debate’ on the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework for 2028-2034, EU […]

Watch: Presidential ‘Wall Of Fame’ Gets A Savage Upgrade… Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, President Trump has seemingly taken his trolling to new heights by installing brutal plaques beneath key presidential portraits at the White House, exposing the failures of his leftist predecessors. The inscriptions lay waste to the deep state’s darlings—detailing Obama’s foreign policy debacles, Clinton’s globalist […]

Bessent Forecasts ‘Substantial’ Tax Refunds, Real Wage Increases Next Year Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times, Confirming President Trump’s triumphant comments last night, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said this week that an increase in Americans’ tax refunds would enable the United States to “go back to the kind of economy that we had.” While speaking to Fox Business, Bessent said that “substantial […]

Activist Investor Elliott Builds Billion Dollar Stake In Lululemon Shares of Lululemon are higher in premarket trading after a report that activist investor Elliott Investment Management has built a $1 billion stake in the company and is pushing for a turnaround at the struggling athletic apparel brand. The Wall Street Journal cites sources familiar with Elliott’s move to build a billion-dollar position, making it one of the […]

Scott Adams Reveals Scary Health Update Amid Cancer Battle Dilbert creator Scott Adams revealed over the weekend that he is “paralyzed below the waist” as he continues battling advanced prostate cancer. “I can’t move any muscles,” Adams told his YouTube audience on Saturday. “I do have feeling, I just can’t move any muscles.” Adams said he is pursuing radiation therapy to address a tumor near his spine as part of […]

UK Man Jailed For 18 Months For 2 Tweets Viewed Just 33 Times Authored by Steve Watson via modernity.news, In the latest insane case of free speech being utterly dead in the UK, a socially isolated man has been slapped with an 18-month prison sentence for two anti-immigration tweets that barely anyone saw—viewed a pathetic 33 times combined. Luke Yarwood, 36, let loose on X after a deadly car attack at a Christmas market in […]

Initial Jobless Claims Show No Signs Of Labor Market Distress After the Thanksgiving Week debacle, the number of Americans filing for jobless benefits for the first time remains back in the same – very low – range it has been in for the last four years at 224k… Source: Bloomberg After the shutdown, we have seen an uptick in initial jobless claims in the ‘Deep TriState’… Source: Bloomberg Continuing jobless claims bounced […]

“It’s Unbelievable”: Taxpayers’ Money Still Flowing To Indicted Fraud Suspect: Minnesota Lawmaker Authored by Janice Hisle via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), A Minnesota lawmaker alleged on Dec. 17 that a man awaiting trial on federal charges that he laundered $1.1 million in taxpayer dollars and his wife continue to collect payments from other government programs, a state lawmaker said Dec. 17. The Minnesota State Capitol in […]

Pentagon Escalates Probe Of Sen. Mark Kelly Over ‘Illegal Orders’ Video Authored by Arjun Singh via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a former astronaut and captain in the U.S. Navy, is now facing a “command investigation” into his conduct by the Department of War. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 22, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times A […]

Instacart Shares Slide As FTC Reportedly Investigates AI Pricing Tool Instacart shares fell in premarket trading in New York after an overnight report said the Federal Trade Commission has opened an investigation into the online grocery delivery and pickup platform. Reuters reported that the FTC’s investigation is focused on Instacart’s AI-driven pricing tool and whether it led shoppers to be charged different prices for identical […]

How Social Security Has Evolved Authored by Tom Margenau via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), I continually remind my readers that they shouldn’t worry too much when they read or hear reports of Social Security’s imminent collapse. Once Congress works up the nerve to deal with the issue (and once the American people accept the fact that the program needs reform), they will get around to passing amendments to the Social Security […]

Futures Rise After 4-Days Of Declines Ahead Of CPI, Central Bank Bonanza Stocks rebounded from Wednesday’s tech-led rout after an upbeat forecast from Micron helped put the brakes on a tech-driven selloff on a busy day for data and central bank meetings. As of 7:15am ET, S&P and Nasdaq  futures rose 0.6% following four down days. In premarket trading, Micron shares soared 11% after reporting blowout earnings. Europe’s […]

AfD Says It Was Target Of Infiltration After Eichwald Admits ‘Hitlerian’ Speech Aimed To ‘Warn’ Voters Off Via Remix News, After a bizarre speech that mimicked much of the rhetorical style of Adolf Hitler at the founding congress of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) youth group, Alexander Eichwald has confessed that he joined the party as a form of provocation. In an interview with Junge Frieheit, Jean-Pascal Hohm, who serves as […]

Why Coal Is Here To Stay, In One Chart Bloomberg Opinion columnist and chief energy correspondent Javier Blas posted a chart on X from the International Energy Agency’s new global coal report showing that coal demand jumped to an all-time high this year, despite years of efforts by the green-industrial complex to end its very existence. “Global coal demand rose to an all-time high in 2025, up 0.5% y-on-y to 8,845 million tons […]