Happy Monday Everyone! Today’s newsletter: 1,156 words…4.3 mins
🗞 Today’s Edition: Alberta Wants Independence, China's Hottest App Asks, "Are You Dead?" EU Mulls Sanctions on U.S., Sonic Weapon Used In Venezuela, Powell Makes Unprecedented Statement, Iran To Send Protesters To The Gallows … & much more!
🚨 Watch For:
U.S. in advanced stage talks on Iran options. Expect a final decision: Early this week.
SCOTUS ruling on tariffs: Expected on Wednesday, Jan 14th
Denmark and Greenland officials to meet U.S. counterparts in D.C.: Wednesday, Jan 14th
📜THE HIGHLIGHT
One killer insight to stash in your back pocket
Moraine Lake, Banff, Alberta
🦅 Alberta Wants Out: Why Canada’s Texas Wants Independence
Alberta is flirting—again—with the idea of going solo. But this time, they’re not playing games.
On Jan. 2, the Alberta Prosperity Project (APP) launched a formal petition to force a province-wide referendum on whether Alberta should leave Canada and become an independent country.
Real momentum: Albertans brave the freezing winter conditions to stand in line and vote.
Social media posts show hours-long lines spanning blocks
The mechanics, in plain english:
📝 Supporters must collect 177,732 valid signatures by May 2 (about 10% of voters from the last provincial election).
⏳ If verified by Elections Alberta, it would trigger a referendum as early as fall 2026.
Why people are signing:
💸 Money resentment (Socialism 101): Alberta sends roughly $4.2B a year to Ottawa through Canada’s equalization system, which redistributes wealth to poorer provinces.
Alberta hasn’t received a dollar from that system since the 1960s—even during oil busts.
🛢️ Policy anger: Many Albertans feel federal climate laws—like Bill C-69 and proposed oil-and-gas caps—kneecap Alberta’s oil industry; but the nation continues to benefit from Alberta’s oil revenues.
It's like paying your roommate's rent while they lobby your boss to fire you.
🇺🇸 The American angle: Alberta’s Premier Danielle Smith met with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago shortly after his victory in 2024.
A number of APP officials have since made multiple trips to Washington D.C, and are reported to have met with State Department officials.
The pitch to Washington: Direct pipeline access, no Ottawa middleman, third-largest oil reserves globally—tariff-free heavy crude for Midwest refineries, expanded trade in resources (minerals, agriculture), and a friendly ally on the border for security and investment…and possibly annexation.
💡Bottom line: Alberta isn’t leaving Canada tomorrow—but this is no fringe tantrum. It’s a serious protest vote brewing, powered by money, energy politics, and a feeling that Ottawa just isn’t listening.
♟️THE CHESSBOARD
Geopolitics Decoded In 3 Moves
Left: Erfan Soltani (26) ; Right: Millions rise up in Iran against the Ayatollah’s tyranny
🇬🇱 Greenland Goes Nuclear (Diplomatically)
Europe is quietly war-gaming sanctions against U.S. tech giants and banks if Trump rejects a NATO troop deployment to Greenland, per The Telegraph.
The trigger: Trump’s renewed threats to take the Arctic island “the hard way,” framing it as vital to counter Russia and China.
The EU’s contingency plan could hit Meta, Google, Microsoft, X, plus U.S. financial firms—and, in extreme talk, even U.S. bases in Europe.
UK’s PM Keir Starmer is floating NATO forces (think Royal Marines) as a compromise to protect Danish sovereignty and soothe Trump.
💡Bottom line: No official EU sign-off yet—this is escalation planning, not policy.
🔉 Sonic Weapon Claims in Venezuela Operation
A viral, unverified eyewitness account about the Jan. 3 U.S. raid that captured Nicolás Maduro alleges something straight out of Black Mirror.
A Venezuelan guard’s testimony — amplified by White House Press Sec Karoline Leavitt — claims U.S. forces deployed an intense sound-like weapon.
It left the Venezuelan troops “bleeding from the nose, vomiting blood and unable to stand,” while about 20 elite U.S. troops overwhelmed hundreds of defenders with precision.
💡Bottom line: The White House and Pentagon have not confirmed sonic or directed-energy weapon use, and independent reporting notes the effects and tech remain unverified amid swirling speculation.
🥷 Iran To Send Protesters To The Gallows
Iran’s regime is reportedly set to begin a new wave of executions on Jan. 14, using the gallows as crowd control amid nationwide protests.
Erfan Soltani, 26, allegedly sentenced to death without a trial or lawyer, given 10 minutes to say goodbye to his family.
Rights groups warn hundreds more are on death lists. Since Jan. 6–7 alone, at least 15 executions have been confirmed.
Total deaths from the crackdown range from ~540 to 2,000+, depending on source, with 10,000+ arrests amid internet blackouts.
💡Bottom line: Even as they schedule hangings, regime officials are secretly begging for a Trump phone call—terrified his "very strong options" mean airstrikes that could shatter their grip for good. Iran is on the brink.
🗽THE EMPIRE FILES
Political Drama From DC To NYC
Trump and Powell’s viral moment inspecting the renovations
🕵️♂️Powell vs. Trump: Rates, Renovations & Retribution
Fed Chair Jerome Powell says a DOJ criminal probe into his June 2025 testimony on the Fed’s $2.5B (now ~$3.1B?) HQ renovation is political payback for refusing to cut rates.
In a rare video, Powell called the investigation “unprecedented,” warning it threatens Fed independence.
The probe, led by Trump ally Jeanine Pirro, is reviewing whether Powell misled Congress.
⚡Markets flinched; yields popped. Translation: Monetary policy just became a courtroom drama.
💰Bill Gates’ $8B Divorce Check—Written to Charity
New tax filings show Bill Gates transferred $7.9B in 2024 to Melinda French Gates’ Pivotal Philanthropies as part of their divorce settlement—one of the largest divorce-related payouts on record.
The money funds Melinda’s focus on women and families, following her May 2024 exit from the Gates Foundation with control over $12.5B in assets.
Context: The couple divorced in 2021 after 27 years, amid scrutiny of Bill’s Epstein ties.
⚡No alimony, no public asset breakdown—just a clean financial split. Bill retains control of the Gates Foundation.
🤖 CODES & POWER
Tech Wars, Crypto Chaos, and AI’s Black Mirror Moments
🎮China’s Hottest App Asks a Dark Question—Are You Dead?
China’s top paid app right now is… a digital pulse check. “Are You Dead?” makes users tap a button every 48 hours to prove they’re alive—or it alerts an emergency contact.
It’s gone viral among young, urban solo dwellers, as China heads toward 200M one-person households by 2030.
⚡Tech meets loneliness: Morbid branding, real demand.
⚖ Grok, Deepfakes & the Law
UK regulator Ofcom opened a formal probe into Elon Musk’s X over claims its Grok AI is generating non-consensual sexual deepfakes, including sexualized images of minors.
X’s move to gate Grok’s image tool behind paywalls didn’t impress regulators.
X argues Grok prioritizes free expression and user responsibility, noting recent feature limits.
⚡Penalties could hit £18M or 10% of global revenue, plus ISP blocks.
📺 FUN FACTS & TRIVIA
Squirrels Are Nature's Accidental Tree Planters! 🐿️🌳
A single squirrel buries up to 3,000 acorns each fall to stash food for winter. Thanks to their impressive—but not perfect—memory, they forget or fail to recover 60-80% of them. Those buried acorns often sprout into new oak trees!
So that random young oak in the woods? Thank a forgetful squirrel for planting it.