Happy Tuesday Everyone! Today’s newsletter: 912 words…3.4 mins
🗞 Today’s Edition: “HELP IS ON ITS WAY”: Trump’s Iran Moment, Iran’s Kill Switch, Paramount Sues WBD, Elon & Hegseth At Starbase, Trump Ends TPS For Somalis … & much more!
🚨 Watch For:
POTUS is set to address the nation on Iran: Tonight
Greenland & Denmark’s officials to visit D.C.: Wednesday, Jan 14th
Venezuela’s Maria Corina Machado (Nobel Peace Prize winner) will visit the White House: Thursday, Jan 15th
📜THE HIGHLIGHT
One killer insight to stash in your back pocket
🚨“HELP IS ON ITS WAY”: Trump’s Iran Moment—and Why It Matters
President Trump just went full megaphone diplomacy on Iran—urging protesters to seize institutions as a brutal crackdown unfolds.
Death toll exceeds 2000, with opposition groups claiming even higher internal numbers (~20,000).
A near-total internet blackout for 108+ hours, is making independent verification nearly impossible.
💬 What Trump did:
Posted “HELP IS ON ITS WAY” and “MIGA!” on Truth Social.
Canceled all U.S.–Iran meetings until killings stop.
Announced a 25% tariff yesterday, on any country trading with Iran, economically boxing Tehran in.
➡️ What’s happening in Iran:
Security forces, IRGC units, and reported rooftop snipers are firing on crowds. Eyewitnesses say stores are deleting CCTV footage under pressure. Tehran blames “terrorists,” the U.S., and Israel—classic deflection. Body bags are piling up as a few images are released on X via Starlink terminals.
➡️ Why this escalates fast:
The White House confirms a national security meeting on options ranging from cyber moves to airstrikes. Trump’s playbook: economic isolation first, force second.
💡 Bottom line: This isn’t just rhetoric. It’s pressure-cooker politics—with real odds of military spillover if the killing continues. Iran is daring the U.S. to blink.
♟️THE CHESSBOARD
Geopolitics Decoded In 3 Moves
📡 Iran Hits the Starlink Kill Switch—And the Internet Goes Darker
Iran’s IRGC is deploying military-grade jammers to knock out Starlink signals that protesters are using to share crackdown footage.
The so-called “kill switch” targets low-Earth-orbit satellites, degrading not just Starlink but also mobile and GPS networks nationwide.
Tactics mirror Russia in Ukraine: GPS spoofing and microwave jammers pushed packet loss from 30% to ~80% in days.
IRGC units are raiding Tehran and Mashhad to hunt smuggled ground-based Starlink terminals, while SpaceX software updates offer only partial fixes.
💡Bottom line: It’s digital cat-and-mouse—with protesters losing bandwidth fast.
🪨Greenland’s AI Gold Rush
Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Sam Altman and Bloomberg-backed capital are pouring into AI-driven rare earth mining in Greenland, led by KoBold Metals, to lock down minerals for EVs, AI data centers, and semiconductors.
Why now: China controls ~70% of rare earth production, and U.S. anxiety spiked after Beijing restricted germanium/gallium exports.
💡Bottom line: Trump’s renewed Greenland push adds heat—but Arctic logistics, local politics, and permits mean no meaningful supply for years.
⚖ South Korea Puts an Ex-President on Death Row—In Theory
Prosecutors just sought the death penalty for former President Yoon Suk Yeol, accusing him of leading a December 2024 insurrection by ordering troops to block parliament and suspend democracy.
Under Korean law, rebellion = death or life—no middle ground.
Context: Seoul hasn’t executed anyone since 1997, making life imprisonment far more likely.
💡Bottom line: As a February 2026 verdict looms, Amnesty International criticizes the death penalty push as a human rights setback.
🗽THE EMPIRE FILES
Political Drama From DC To NYC
🇸🇴 Trump Ends TPS for Somalis
The Trump administration won’t be extending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalia, a humanitarian program that’s let Somalis live and work in the U.S. since 1991 due to civil war.
The Biden administration had extended the TPS and set a March 17, 2026 expiration date.
DHS says conditions in Somalia have “improved,” so TPS holders must leave by that date or lose legal protection and work permits.
About 700–2,500 people are affected—many in Minnesota.
⚡Expect legal challenges, but for now, the countdown is real.
🍿 Hollywood Goes to Chancery Court
Paramount Skydance just sued Warner Bros. Discovery to force disclosure of the numbers behind WBD’s $83B Netflix deal, escalating its hostile bid.
The claim: WBD’s board is hiding valuations to dodge Paramount’s $30-per-share cash offer.
WBD's counter: Dismissed as "baseless," doubling down that Netflix's deal structure beats Paramount's offer.
⚡This proxy fight will determine whether streaming consolidation favors cash or content empires. Delaware courts rarely force M&A disclosures—Paramount's banking on shareholder pressure.
🤖 CODES & POWER
Tech Wars, Crypto Chaos, and AI’s Black Mirror Moments
War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Elon Musk at Starbase. Source: X.com/@SecWar
🚀 Hegseth + Musk Take Starbase
War Sec. Pete Hegseth toured SpaceX’s Starbase with Elon Musk, pitching an “AI-first warfighting force” by integrating xAI's Grok model across military networks.
The subtext: Trump’s $500B defense push favors fast, private disruptors over legacy giants.
⚡After last year’s fallout, Musk is back in DC’s good graces—armed with a $739M Space Force deal for missile tracking and serious White House momentum.
🍎 Apple Goes Full Creator Economy—On Subscription Mode
Apple is bundling its pro creative tools into Creator Studio for $12.99/month, stacking Final Cut, Logic, Pixelmator, Motion, and AI-powered upgrades.
Translation: Adobe-style recurring revenue, Apple-style polish.
⚡New features—AI transcript search, beat detection, auto-crop, natural language tools—signal Cupertino wants creators locked into its ecosystem before AI-native rivals eat its lunch.
📺 FUN FACTS & TRIVIA
Van Halen’s “No Brown M&M’s” Test
Van Halen notoriously hid a "no brown M&M's" clause in their concert contract as a clever safety check.
If they found brown candies backstage, they knew the promoter hadn't read their detailed technical rider—which included vital instructions for their complex stage setup—and would order a full inspection to prevent dangerous errors.
It was a rock 'n' roll test for professionalism!