science

Now France is getting in on the Syria action in the wake of President Bashar al-Assad’s overthrow on December 8. Currently the hardline Islamist movement Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham (HTS) holds Damascus and major cities across southern, central, and coastal Syria.

The Turks hold parts of the north near the border (and Turkey’s proxies, particularly the the Syrian National Army, or SNA), while the United States still occupies the northeast (also through its proxy the Kurkish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF). The Israeli military holds an expanse out of the Golan Heights in the south.

France’s defense ministry announced Tuesday that its warplanes launched airstrikes against Islamic State (ISIS) over the weekend.

This marks the first such French strikes in Syria since HTS took over Damascus:

“On Sunday, French air assets carried out targeted strikes against Daesh sites on Syrian soil,” the minister said in a statement on social platform X, using an Arab acronym for ISIS. He also published a video showing the military operation. “Our armies remain engaged in the fight against terrorism” in the region, Lecornu said.

French Rafale fighter jets and American Reaper drones “dropped a total of seven bombs on two military targets belonging to Daesh in central Syria,” the statement specified.

The ‘ISIS threat’ has also been cited by the Pentagon as ongoing justification for keeping some 2,000 or more American troops in Syria. The rationale for occupying Syria’s oil and gas fields has also been the ‘counter Iran’ mission, according to US officials.

But we should note the fact that ISIS has been relatively quiet since the HTS Jolani takeover of the country. Where are the big ISIS terror bombings of prior years when Assad held the country?

The reality is that ISIS terrorists are actually embedded with HTS and its foreign fighter affiliates, as recent American television footage has demonstrated.

The French government released footage of preparations for its weekend strikes on ISIS targets:

France says it carried out missile strikes against ISIS in Syria last weekendpic.twitter.com/iSECAEaz3Z

— Guy Elster (@guyelster) December 31, 2024

ISIS is the threat that keeps on giving: Western allies will stay in Syria for the time being while continually claiming that the coalition (Operation Inherent Resolve) must battle terrorists, even while giving tacit support to HTS in Damascus.

US-designated terrorist Abu Mohammad al-Julani of course began his jihadist career in Syria as a high-ranking member of ISIS and later al-Nusra Front (Al-Qaeda in Syria). As we highlighted previously, this is putting lipstick on a pig.

Authored by Jack Miller & Michael Poliakoff via RealClearEducation,

The study of American history and government is undergoing an unprecedented renewal, akin to the phoenix – a mythical bird that is reborn by rising from the ashes of its predecessor.

Major universities have recently launched independent institutes, sometimes called “schools of civic thought,” dedicated to the in-depth exploration of an American political tradition that goes beyond partisan politics. These institutes have independent hiring authority and significant state funding.

So far about a dozen civic institutes have sprung up, from Arizona, Texas, and Florida to Tennessee, North Carolina, and Ohio – and others will be founded soon. They not only serve college students, but many also help K-12 teachers learn how to teach American history and government more effectively. Their mission is broad, with wide public programming.

In America, we have the privilege of living in a democratic republic, arguably the greatest the world has known. Citizens can engage in politics, persuade their fellow citizens, and effect real change. Our history offers many such examples.

It is all the more tragic and dangerous, then, that many students know so little about our history and institutions. They feel powerless and disaffected.

Too often, instead of engaging with America’s founding principles and history, students hear about the supposed oppressiveness of Western civilization and the American “slavocracy,” with dogmatic teaching of oppressor-oppressed ideas. Our students are frequently taught to believe the worst of our nation and its people.

By contrast, these new institutes endeavor to tell the complete American story – its warts but also its promise to give freedom and opportunity to all. They highlight our long and torturous journey to get ever closer to achieving the vision in our Declaration of Independence – that all men are created equal and are entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

This phoenix-like story has been long in preparation at the Jack Miller Center for Teaching America’s Founding Principles and History (JMC). Over 1,200 professors working in the academy today have been a part of the JMC network, writing and teaching about the American political tradition. This network has transformed a struggling subfield into a strong, competitive discipline and created a talent pool of faculty to support this movement’s rapid growth.

The pipeline for a new generation of classroom leaders was started 20 years ago when JMC began its program of summer institutes for young postdocs and professors. Now these professors operate at institutions of all types. Seven of the eight Ivy League schools have partnered with JMC, as have 18 state universities, along with many liberal arts and religious colleges.

Over 300 JMC-supported programs enrich the academic lives of students, providing guest speakers, fellowships, courses, and a chance to interact with dedicated faculty who are outside of the stale, progressive academic mainstream.

The Center for American Studies at Christopher Newport University is an example of this transformational work. Begun in 2007 with JMC’s assistance, it has grown to be a major force on campus. Co-directed by Professors Elizabeth and Nathan Busch, it has a full-time faculty of six who mentor many undergraduate students. The Center has brought to campus distinguished scholars and public officials, including the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, Jonathan Turley, John Yoo, and William J. Perry, for presentations to the university community.

The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) works alongside JMC to promote the formation of new independent institutes. ACTA has redoubled its efforts to ensure that all undergraduates pass a required course that covers core American founding principles.

For 30 years, ACTA has warned of the cost of higher education’s malfeasance. In 2000, its extensive survey of students at the 50 most elite colleges and universities revealed a shocking level of historical and civic ignorance. ACTA’s survey report, “Losing America’s Memory,” led to a joint, unanimous resolution passed by Congress that called for improving the civic knowledge of college students.

ACTA’s 2024 survey that polled 3,000 college students shows that we must redouble our efforts.

Our work so far has helped South Carolina adopt the REACH Act. Since 2021, all of the state’s public universities require a course in which students study the key documents and moments in our nation’s story.

The new institutes of civic education, which began at Arizona State University in 2017, have now expanded into eight states on 13 campuses. Most recently, Ohio passed legislation that has already led to new institutes being set up at its five public universities. The goal is to expand civic education programs into many more states.

ACTA’s National Commission on American History and Civic Education is convening 24 of America’s most distinguished scholars, thought leaders, and educators to produce a white paper on the urgency of restoring the undergraduate requirement in American history and government at every college and university in the nation. The white paper will provide guidance on the scope of that course and how trustees and legislators can make America’s civic rebirth a reality. An anthology of essays, “American History and Government: What Every College Student Should Know,” will enhance the national conversation.

The new civic institutes will re-engage students with America’s story of freedom and opportunity for all. The joint contribution of JMC and ACTA, made alongside other civic-minded organizations, private and public, will renew students’ understanding of our nation as the land of the free. This is how Americans can mend our flaws and face the challenges of the future together.

Authored by Melanie Sun via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

With solar storms causing a geomagnetic storm on Earth, the northern lights or aurora borealis could extend beyond the Arctic Circle down into the northernmost U.S. states this New Year’s Eve, according to a Dec. 31 forecast by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The moderate-strong G2-G3 geomagnetic storm, with a Kp index of 6-7, forecasted for Dec. 31 by NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, means the aurora could be visible in New York and Idaho, and potentially as far south as Illinois and Oregon.

The Kp-index measures geomagnetic activity in the Earth’s atmosphere. “For Kp in the range 6 to 7, the aurora will move even further from the poles and will become quite bright and active,” according to NOAA.

A minor G1-level geomagnetic storm warning is also active from New Year’s Eve into Jan. 1. These storms typically produce auroras visible only from higher latitudes, in locations such as northern Michigan and Maine.

Multiple solar flares—two X-class solar flares and 17 M-class flares—erupted on the Sun within 24 hours on Dec. 29.

Two of the M-class flares released solar storms, or streams of electrically charged particles and plasma called coronal mass ejections (CMEs), toward Earth.

This prompted the Space Weather Prediction Center to issue two geomagnetic storm warnings ahead of the CMEs’ arrival.

Traveling 93 million miles, the CMEs are expected to reach Earth early in the mornings of Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.

This is when the chance of seeing a turbo-charged aurora will be best.

The aurora, known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), occurs when charged particles released by the Sun during flares arrive at Earth. These particles are directed by Earth’s protective magnetosphere toward the poles, where they collide with gases in the atmosphere. This interaction releases excess energy as colorful glows of light, visible as the aurora.

The stronger the solar flare, the more energy arrives at Earth, and the brighter and more widespread the aurora.

When, Where to See the Aurora

Clear, night skies are best for being able to see the aurora.

The geomagnetic storm early New Year’s Eve morning and night (Eastern Time) may bring the colorful aurora to places above 50 degrees geomagnetic latitude, such as Alaska, Washington, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine.

If the geomagnetic storm is strong enough, parts of Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Iowa, and New York may also get a glimpse of the lights early Dec. 31 Eastern Time before the sun rises.

The CME from the first solar flare is forecast to arrive at Earth by midday UTC (7 a.m. ET) on Dec. 31, and the second flare near midday UTC (7 a.m. ET) on Jan. 1.

Those in the upper latitudes in the Eastern Hemisphere will have a chance of seeing a brighter-than-usual aurora on New Year’s Eve.

Updates to the forecast are available on NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center website.

Uptick in Solar Activity

The recent uptick in strong geomagnetic storms, seen as strong auroras, marks a period of increased solar activity on the Sun.

The Sun’s activity has been observed to move through an 11-year solar cycle and has reached its solar maximum period.

In May, the Earth was hit by the strongest geomagnetic storm in 20 years—a G5-level storm associated with an X8.7 solar flare—that saw reports of the aurora being visible as far south as Florida.

October saw an X1.8 solar flare and a resulting G3-level storm. X-class flares are the strongest category of solar flare and are 10 times the intensity of the preceding category, the M-class solar flare. They increase the risk of disturbances to satellite communications, power grids, and navigation systems.

The current solar maxima, which started in 2020, is expected to last at least into 2026.

Authored by Michael Snyder via TheMostImportantNews.com,

When I write about “the collapse of society”, a lot of people out there think that I am exaggerating.  Sadly, the truth is that I am not exaggerating at all.  The United States was once the greatest country in the world, but now we have become one of the most self-destructive societies that the world has ever seen.  We have turned our backs on the values of our forefathers, and we are literally destroying everything that they worked so hard to give us.

Earlier today, I came across a quote from historian Arnold Toynbee that really resonated with me…

In the mid-20th century, historian Arnold Toynbee, who had studied the varying fates of 28 societies, said: “Civilisations die from suicide, not from murder.”

He is right.

Most great civilizations throughout history have been destroyed from within, and now the exact same thing is happening to us.

The following are 16 signs that America is literally committing suicide right in front of our eyes…

#1 Our suicide rate just keeps going higher and higher…

According to new data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the suicide rate in the United States recently reached its highest peak since 1941.

#2 Meanwhile, our birth rate just fell to the lowest level ever recorded…

In 2023, the US fertility rate fell another 3% from the year before, to a historic low of about 55 births for every 1,000 females ages 15 to 44, according to final data published Tuesday by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. Just under 3.6 million babies were born last year, about 68,000 fewer than the year before.

Since 2007, when the fertility rate was at its most recent high, the number of births has declined 17%, and the general fertility rate has declined 21%, according to the new report.

#3 As a society, we are increasingly rejecting the traditional family unit.  As I discussed the other day, the percentage of the population that is single and childless is now greater than the percentage of the population that is married with children.

#4 Instead of greatly valuing our children, we are becoming an anti-child society.  In Texas, law enforcement authorities tell us that there is an epidemic of mothers abandoning their children…

Statewide, according to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, at least 18 babies have been abandoned this year. The latest occurred just before Christmas at a Whataburger in San Antonio. A decade ago, the number was seven.

#5 The number of abortions in the United States is actually higher than it was before Roe v. Wade was overturned…

Abortion has become slightly more common despite bans or deep restrictions in most Republican-controlled states, and the legal and political fights over its future are not over yet.

It’s now been two and a half years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and opened the door for states to implement bans.

#6 Approximately one out of every ten abortions in the U.S. happens “via pills prescribed via telehealth to patients in states where abortion is banned”…

But now, it’s become more common for pill prescriptions to be made by telehealth. By the summer of 2024, about 1 in 10 abortions was via pills prescribed via telehealth to patients in states where abortion is banned.

#7 Tissue from aborted fetuses is used in some of the most horrifying ways imaginable.

#8 A woman was just burned alive while she was riding the subway in New York, and everyone is acting like this is perfectly normal…

A grand jury has indicted the man accused of fatally setting a woman on fire a New York City subway train, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced.

Investigators said Sebastian Zapeta, 33, used a lighter to set the unidentified woman’s clothes on fire as she slept inside a train car at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station on Dec. 22.

Zapeta used a shirt to fan the flames, according to the criminal complaint. He is charged with one court of 1st degree murder, three counts of 2nd degree murder and one court of 1st degree arson related to the attack.

#9 Thanks to the self-destructive border policies of our politicians, an ultra-violent Venezuelan gang is now entrenched in 18 U.S. states…

Fears are growing over the spread of a violent Venezuelan gang across the US, with experts warning the mobsters could have a foothold in more than half the country by February next year.

It emerged earlier this month that Tren de Aragua, which has been dubbed the ‘epitome of evil’ and ‘MS-13 on steroids’, is already operating in 18 states.

This includes some of the most remote corners of the America in Colorado, North Dakota, Montana, Nevada and Wyoming. The bloodthirsty criminals also maintain strongholds in major cities across Texas as well as New York and Chicago.

#10 Even when criminals are arrested, they are often put back into the streets over and over again.  In Florida, a 31-year-old man was just arrested for the 35th time…

Police say Kevin Campana, 31, was arrested for his 35th time in Volusia County after stealing a car and attempting to escape officers Dec. 23.

The Edgwater Police Department says Campana broke into Hibiscus Wholesale Auto Parts Inc. on Monday and stole a car while wearing no shoes.

Officers say Campana attempted to escape police in a car chase, which ended in a head-on crash with a K-9 units car.

#11 Kids are committing very serious crimes all over the country.  In fact, a 9-year-old kid was just arrested for being involved in a carjacking in Baltimore…

Local news Fox Baltimore reports three juveniles, including a 9-year-old, and two adults were arrested last Sunday in connection to an armed carjacking near the 3900 block of East Lombard Street.

“Once there, officers spoke with a 32-year-old woman who stated while stopped at a stop sign at Grundy at Bank Street, four male suspects approached her vehicle. One suspect, described as a white male, produced a metal tool, smashing her window. The suspect then proceeded to drag the woman from the vehicle and fled the location in the victim’s car,” the local outlet said.

Officers arrested a 21-year-old man, a 15-year-old boy, a 19-year-old man, a 16-year-old boy, and a 9-year-old boy after a short foot pursuit. The 21 and 16-year-olds were taken to the Central Booking Intake Facility, while the 15-year-old was taken to the Department of Juvenile Services. The 9-year-old was released to his parents.

#12 To a very large degree, we have allowed our lives to be dominated by the technological control matrix that is being constructed all around us.  I really like how Denis Villeneuve recently made this point…

Denis Villeneuve, director of the hit sci-fi franchise Dune, expressed dismay about how individualism has suffered during the age of Big Tech.

Speaking with the Los Angeles Times, Villeneuve lamented that “human beings are ruled by algorithms right now,” adding that he keeps a strict no cell phone policy on his movie sets.

“We behave like AI circuits. The ways we see the world are narrow-minded binaries. We’re disconnecting from each other, and society is crumbling in some ways. It’s frightening,” he said.

#13 Just like ancient Greece and ancient Rome, we have allowed sexual immorality to run rampant.  The following case from Georgia should be a major league wake up call for all of us…

Two Georgia men who were convicted in the sickening sex abuse of their two adopted sons are headed to prison for the rest of their lives.

A judge decided that married gay couple William and Zachary Zulock – once darlings of the LGBTQ scene in Georgia – will each serve 100 years in prison for sodomizing their young sons, recording the sex acts and providing videos of the abuse to other pedophiles, 11Alive reported.

The horrific abuse was believed to take place when the boys were as young as three and five years old.

#14 Needless to say, that case in Georgia is not as isolated incident.  In a previous article, I explained that there are now 795,000 registered sex offenders in this country.

#15 In the 1940s, almost 80 percent of all Americans belonged to a church or some other type of religious institution.  Today, that figure is down to just 45 percent…

In the late 1940s, nearly 80% of Americans said they belonged to a church, synagogue, mosque or temple, according to Gallup. Today, just 45% say the same, the analytics company noted, and only 32% say that they worship God in a house of prayer once a week.

#16 Thousands of churches have been permanently shutting down all over America, and many of the old buildings are now being used for other purposes…

Some former churches are being converted for businesses or residential use. One old Methodist church in Atlanta, which was down to about 60 members when it closed, was sold to a luxury real estate developer seven years ago. Now, it’s become a series of 3,000-square-foot condos.

If we stay on the road that we are currently on, our society will die.

But if we reverse course and start doing what is right with all our hearts, anything is possible.

We were once a light to the entire world, and we can be that light again.

But at this moment our society is racing into the darkness, and it won’t be too long before our self-destructive behavior catches up with us in a major way.

*  *  *

Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

This chart lists the top nine U.S. news stories of 2024, according to Google’s Year in Search. In addition, Visual Capitalist’s Pallavia Rao visualized the popularity of one developing news story.

ℹ️ Google looks at news searches between December 31st 2023–December 8th, 2024 when defining this list. Popularity peaks in this chart are not normalized across news stories.

In case this year has felt particularly long, we also did one for 2023. It’s a useful refresher of what had everyone talking exactly 12 months ago.

Politics and Crime Kept Americans Googling

Unsurprisingly in an election year three of the top stories for America centered around politics.

The first of course: an assassination attempt on President Donald Trump in July. The second: the big election in November.

Another story that had Americans googling for context: Project 2025. This conservative plan released by the Heritage Foundation for the next Republican administration went largely unnoticed until Democrats began talking about it.

It broadly defined four policy aims. One in particular which raised alarm, wanted to place the federal bureaucracy under direct Presidential control. It also proposed withdrawing a popular abortion pill from the market and to enforce a law that stops the drug from crossing state borders.

But perhaps the biggest news story of all hit in the last week of Google’s Year in Search analysis, when a gunman shot and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

A 25-year-old, Luigi Mangione, has been arrested in relation to the assassination.

More importantly, the assassination and the subsequent arrest has spurred conversation around America’s healthcare industry. The data behind denied claims (one-in-five) as well as large medical costs (the leading cause of bankruptcy) has added to the conversation.

Looking for other related news with the health insurance industry? Check out: America’s Largest Insurers by State for a full breakdown.

Authored by Gordon Gray via RealClearPolicy,

On Monday, December 2, Delaware Chancery Court Judge Kathleen McCormick delivered her ruling on Tesla’s proposed $56 billion pay package for CEO Elon Musk, striking it down despite shareholders voting twice to approve the deal.

Let’s unpack the absurdity of this ruling: A Tesla shareholder with just nine shares sued over Musk’s proposed compensation, triggering a six-year legal battle. While Tesla argued the case was flawed, the judge sided with the plaintiff, citing transparency issues.

The plaintiff’s lawyers originally demanded up to $7.74 billion in fees—more than Volvo’s market cap—and ultimately walked away with $345 million in legal fees, one of the largest payouts in securities litigation history.

The only winners here were the trial lawyers. Our legal system is dysfunctional, increasingly weighed down by opportunistic lawsuits and substantial payouts. The Trump Administration has an opportunity to reverse this trend. Runaway litigation hurts our small businesses, burdens consumers with increased costs, and drives up the price of almost everything for everyone.

According to a 2024 Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) study, the costs of lawsuits, settlements, and related legal fees — commonly known as tort costs — totaled $529 billion, amounting to “2.1 percent of the U.S. GDP.”  And the costs placed on consumers keep climbing: between 2016 to 2022, “tort costs have grown at an annual rate of 7.1 percent.” If these trends continue, the costs to American businesses will double in eight years, the ILR warns. This is unsustainable.

Families, small businesses, and the private sector aren’t alone in facing this burden. The Congressional Research Service estimates that the federal government paid out $525.35 million to individual claimants in fiscal year 2022 alone. That’s more than half a billion dollars in taxpayer money to settle claims — a staggering figure.

As these costs grow, they become embedded in the prices consumers pay. Even if you don’t own a car, exploding auto insurance premiums get embedded in the cost of transportation, much like the cost of medical liability insurance raises the cost of health care for patients. The cost of doing business in the face of the threat of litigation ultimately comes out of consumers’ pockets. The ILR study found that on average, U.S. households paid a $4,207 “tort tax” in 2022. You don’t pay a “tort tax” directly but it’s built into the price of everything you buy everyday.

The issue of runaway litigation is about much more than Elon Musk – it’s about the broader impact on America’s economy.  In the wake of the ruling, market leaders and investors have raised concerns about the chilling message this massive fee sends. Hedge Fund Manager Bill Ackman called the “payola for lawyers absurd” and predicted a “migration of corporate America from Delaware.” Investor Cathie Wood said the ruling makes “a mockery of the sense of fairness essential to our American judicial system.” Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis noted that the award is “…like throwing sand in America’s economic engine.”

As the Delaware judgment makes clear, more could be done at the federal level to curb the egregious growth in tort costs. President Trump has vowed to lower costs for American families. One of his first acts as President-elect was to establish “DOGE,” the Department of Government Efficiency, co-led by Elon Musk, to claw back the growth of the administrative state. Tackling these tort taxes should be a key focus of this effort.

By easing costs on families and dismantling America’s runaway legal system, the Trump administration can unleash the full potential of our economy.

Gordon Gray leads Pinpoint Policy Institute as Executive Director. Prior to launching Pinpoint, Gordon served as the Vice President for Economic Policy at the American Action Forum, where his portfolio included the federal budget, taxes, the macroeconomic outlook, and general economic policy matters.