trendsjournal.com – History Before It Happens

December 19, 2023

20231219202129

CANADA’S FACTORY OUTPUT CRASHES

Canada’s manufacturers produced less in June for the fifth consecutive month, according to S&P’s purchasing managers index (PMI) for the country’s industrial sector.

AI DEEPFAKES ARE ERODING TRUST IN POLITICAL PROCESSES

AI’s ability to create fake photos, videos, and voice knockoffs has progressed to the point where it has begun to sway election outcomes, experts told The New York Times.

DENMARK VOWS TO FORCE HUNGARY TO APPROVE EU MEMBERSHIP FOR UKRAINE

Denmark promised to commit to a “maximum pressure campaign” against Hungary to get Budapest to agree to European Union (EU) membership for Ukraine, which was granted “candidate status” four months after Russia invaded.

NETANYAHU’S GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY TO ANNEX WEST BANK

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to be seen as a leader on a major winning streak: he is carrying out a genocide in Gaza with the full support of the U.S.; he smashed Hezbollah in a conflict a few months ago after bombing out civilian targets across Lebanon; and he watched the fall of longtime nemesis Bashar al-Asad in Syria to only be replaced by a pro-Israel government for former Al Qaeda warlords.

OPEC+ ACCELERATES PRODUCTION INCREASES

At its 5 July meeting, OPEC+ decided to boost oil output 548,000 barrels a day beginning 1 August.

SPECIAL REPORT: TRUMP SIGNS BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL INTO LAW

In a made-for-television event, Donald Trump signed his “big, beautiful bill” into law on a White House terrace as military planes flew above and beaming Republican legislators surrounded Trump and applauded.

TECHNOCRACY BRIEFS: OBEY YOUR GENE-EDITING AI-PUSHING MASTERS

The U.S. northeast may soon serve as a petri dish for the latest gene edited experiment, and at least some environmental groups are voicing opposition.

ECONOMIC UPDATE—MARKET OVERVIEW

Love Trump, hate Trump, believe him, don’t believe him, by his deeds you shall know him.

TOP EUROPEAN CEO’S ASK EU TO PAUSE LAW GOVERNING AI

The chief executives of 44 major European corporations, including Airbus, BNP Paribas, and Philips, have signed a letter to European Union (EU) president Ursula von der Layen, urging the union to pause for two years its landmark law governing AI set to take effect next month.

MILEI TAKES PAGE OUT OF TRUMP’S PLAYBOOK, UPS ATTACKS ON JOURNALISTS WHO DON’T SWALLOW HIS SHIT

Javier Milei, the Argentine president, has escalated attacks on unfavorable journalists in the country—following the lead of President Donald Trump, who is famous for calling out what he sees as “fake” journalists.

WHEN THE ECONOMY FALLS, JOBS GO WITH IT

Private sector jobs fell to the lowest level since October 2024, according to a Department of Labor Report and more than half of private companies cut jobs last month. Employers cite high interest rates and uncertainty over tariffs as the driving factors behind slow hiring.

FED A LIE—THE TRUTH ABOUT SEED OILS

Ultraprocessed vegetable oils have quietly become one of the most dominant and pernicious ingredients in the modern diet. They have driven a dramatic rise in linoleic acid (LA) intake over the past century

TESLA SALES CRASH IN SECOND QUARTER

Once the world’s leading maker of electric vehicles (EVs), Tesla delivered 384,000 EVs in this year’s second quarter, compared to 444,000 during the same period in 2024.

GOING OUT OF BUSINESS TRENDS

The economic landscape has presented an array of challenges that will profoundly affect the business community this year.

U.S. SENATE SCRAPS PLAN TO BLOCK STATES FROM REGULATING AI

By a vote of 99 to one, the U.S. Senate deleted from Donald Trump’s “big beautiful” tax and spending bill a measure that would have prevented individual states from regulating artificial intelligence (AI) for 10 years.

RUTHERFORD WARNS: THE GOVERNMENT’S WAR ON ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND ‘THOUGHT CRIMES’ IS TURNING ORWELL’S 1984 INTO OFFICIAL POLICY

BOSTON, Ma.—Today it’s Harvard and the University of Virginia—tomorrow, it could be any institution that dares to dissent.

ECONOMIC UPDATE—MARKET OVERVIEW

Love Trump, hate Trump, believe him, don’t believe him, by his deeds you shall know him.

ARTIFICIALLY SUPPRESSED RATES ARE A FINANCIAL LIE—A SYSTEM DEVOURING ITSELF TO SURVIVE

When central banks lower rates, borrowing becomes easy and cheap. Governments, corporations, and consumers pile on debt.

A Magnifying Glass Examining A Red Warning Or Hazard Symbol

WALL STREET INCREASINGLY ALARMED BY U.S. DEBT CRISIS

With the annual U.S. budget deficit already climbing toward $2 trillion, Republicans in Congress dug the budget hole even deeper by passing Donald Trump’s “big beautiful” tax-cut legislation, which the latest projections say will add $3.4 trillion to the national debt by 2035.

THE ENDPOINT OF TECHNOCRACY

OpenAI’s Sam Altman says humans will soon live with a 24/7 AI companion. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is betting people will wear it as part of an augmented reality experience in some version of AR “smart” glasses that will supplant smartphones.

Donald Trump Gestures At A Rally In Battle Creek, Michigan

TRUMP BRUSHES OFF MUSK’S AMERICA PARTY PUSH, SAYS THIRD PARTIES ‘NEVER WORKED’

President Donald Trump seemed to brush aside Elon Musk’s decision to fund a viable third party in the U.S., saying the world’s richest man could have “fun with it,” but called the idea “ridiculous.”

A Mikoyan MiG-29 "Fulcrum" Fighter Jet In Flight Near Sliac, Slovakia

RUSSIA LAUNCHES BIGGEST AERIAL ATTACK ON KYIV, MAKES GAINS IN THE EAST

Russia carried out its largest aerial attack on Kyiv since the start of the war on Friday as its forces applied new pressure on Ukrainian troops in Kostiantynivka, a strategically important city in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.

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Global Economy

SPOTLIGHT: BIGS GETTING BIGGER

Stock market churn, geopolitical strife, and Donald Trump’s chaotic tariff war have not hobbled the U.S. market for corporate mergers and acquisitions.

SPECIAL REPORT: TRUMP TARIFF WAR

On 7 July, Donald Trump revealed new tariff rates ranging from 25 to 40 percent on 14 countries but delayed their onset from 9 July until 1 August to give those nations time to negotiate a trade deal.

SPECIAL REPORT: CRYPTO IS BECOMING THE NEW NORMAL

Chinese consumers are using mobile payment systems almost exclusively now, French newspaper Le Monde reported, so much so that cash “has dwindled to near extinction,” it said.

The Israel War

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair Speaking At The Chatham House

TONY BLAIR INSTITUTE CONTRIBUTED TO POST-GENOCIDE GAZA PLANS THAT CONSIDERED A ‘TRUMP RIVIERA,’ MUSK ‘SMART MANUFACTURING ZONE’: FT

Employees from the Tony Blair Institute (TBI) participated in a slide deck that was shared with the Trump administration that considered a post-genocide Gaza that included the concept of a “Gaza Riviera” after half a million Palestinians were paid to leave the battered enclave, according to the Financial Times.

The Iran And Saudi Arabia Flags Together Against A Blue Background

SAUDI ARABIA-IRAN RAPPROCHEMENT: RIYADH APPEARS TO BACK TEHRAN AFTER WAR WITH ISRAEL

Saudi Arabia appeared to back Tehran after Israel decided to launch its unprovoked war last month, which was seen as the latest setback for President Donald Trump’s effort to get Riyadh to normalize relations with Tel Aviv in his Abraham Accords.

The Holy Defense Museum in Tehran, Iran, Which Is Dedicated To The Iran-Iraq War

IRAN IN ‘STATE OF FULL READINESS,’ BELIEVES ISRAEL WANTS NEW WAR, TRUMP WILL HELP

The Israelis want to restart the war with Tehran and President Donald Trump “appears to be on board,” Iranian sources told Press TV.

Trends in AI

IS AI MORE EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT THAN HUMANS ARE?

A group of European scientists recently put leading AI models from Anthropic, DeepSeek, Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI through a battery of commonly used tests of emotional intelligence (EI).

ZUCKERBERG DISCUSSES DETAILS OF META’S AI PUSH

Last week, Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg detailed a restructuring of his company’s AI operations around a push to create an AI "superintelligence" that can outperform humans in virtually all fields.

TOP EUROPEAN CEO’S ASK EU TO PAUSE LAW GOVERNING AI

Hi-Tech Science

MICE REGROW MISSING EARS WHEN AN EVOLUTIONARY MISSTEP IS CORRECTED

By turning on a gene that evolution had turned off, researchers at the University of Beijing have enabled mice to regrow missing ear tissue.

GENETICALLY ALTERED E. COLI TURN PLASTIC WASTE INTO PAINKILLERS

Biologists at the University of Edinburgh have figured out how to reprogram the genome of e. coli, a common bacterium, so it eats waste PET plastic—the material commonly used in plastic bottles and packaging—and yields acetaminophen, also known as paracetamol, the painkiller in popular brands such as Excedrin, Panadol, and Tylenol.

HOW TO KILL A HURRICANE IN ITS TRACKS

Evidence shows hurricanes are becoming steadily more intense and, therefore, more damaging over time. What if a hurricane could be drained of its energy before it could come ashore?