January 9th • 3h 13m
Shownotes
Every new episode of No Agenda is accompanied by a comprehensive list of shownotes curated by Adam while preparing for the show. Clips played by the hosts during the show can also be found here.
LA Fires
Up and Down California in 1860-1864 The Journal of William H Brewer
In his writings, Brewer detailed his extensive travels across California, documenting various natural phenomena. He described torrential rains that transformed the Central Valley into a vast lake, intense heat that caused stored meats to spoil rapidly, and significant earthquakes and wildfires.
For instance, Brewer recounted:
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I have witnessed torrential rains that turn the Central Valley into a vast whitecaps Lake, intolerable heat waves that made the fats of our meats run away in spontaneous gravy, violent earthquakes and fires I could only describe as great sheets of flames extending over acres.
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Flooding: He observed heavy rains leading to widespread flooding in the Central Valley, effectively turning it into an expansive lake.
Heat Waves: Brewer noted extreme heat conditions that caused fats in their provisions to melt, resulting in what he metaphorically described as "spontaneous gravy."
Earthquakes and Fires: He witnessed violent earthquakes and extensive wildfires, describing the latter as "great sheets of flames extending over acres."
Yellow Coats and Goggles
Climate Change
Climate Models Can’t Explain What’s Happening to Earth - The Atlantic
Fifty years into the project of modeling Earth’s future climate, we still don’t really know what’s coming. Some places are warming with more ferocity than expected. Extreme events are taking scientists by surprise. Right now, as the bald reality of climate change bears down on human life, scientists are seeing more clearly the limits of our ability to predict the exact future we face. The coming decades may be far worse, and far weirder, than the best models anticipated.
ISIS In America
USAJOBS - Job Announcement Targeting Officer
As a Targeting Officer at CIA, you will identify the people, relationships, and organizations having access to the information needed to address the most critical U.S. foreign intelligence requirements and find opportunities to disrupt terrorist attacks, illegal arms trade, drug networks, cyber threats, and counterintelligence threats.
As a Targeting Officer at CIA, you will identify the people, relationships, and organizations having access to the information needed to address the most critical U.S. foreign intelligence requirements and find opportunities to disrupt terrorist attacks, illegal arms trade, drug networks, cyber threats, and counterintelligence threats.
Targeting Officers are integral to the planning and implementation of Directorate of Operations (DO) foreign intelligence collection, counterintelligence, and covert action operations. You will combine specialized training, utilize advanced analytic skills and tools, and in-depth knowledge and experience in DO operational tradecraft to identify new opportunities for DO activities and enhance ongoing operations.
Many Targeting Officers spend much of their career serving in the Washington, DC area with opportunities for overseas travel. Opportunities for Targeting Officers to serve multi-year postings overseas exist, but these positions are competitive.
Targeting Officers are integral to the planning and implementation of Directorate of Operations (DO) foreign intelligence collection, counterintelligence, and covert action operations. You will combine specialized training, utilize advanced analytic skills and tools, and in-depth knowledge and experience in DO operational tradecraft to identify new opportunities for DO activities and enhance ongoing operations.
Many Targeting Officers spend much of their career serving in the Washington, DC area with opportunities for overseas travel. Opportunities for Targeting Officers to serve multi-year postings overseas exist, but these positions are competitive.
Big Tech AI and the Socials
Boots on the Ground: Salesforce AI
Greetings from Cape Town, South Africa.
Started listening to No Agenda last year after hearing you on Rogan.
I came across this article and thought I absolutely had to send a boots on the ground.
“Salesforce will hire no more software engineers in 2025”
They say because of significant boosts in productivity from AI.
I
am the technical lead of a team managing a huge implementation using
most Salesforce products. I have also worked very closely with their
internal development teams.
I have to say there are, no doubt some good people there, but largely our experience is that they are incredibly incompetent.
They
make mistakes that only juniors would make. Their AI is hardly
intelligent. We could probably do more with a single SQL query.
Their support agents know next to nothing and generally provide incorrect advice before promptly closing tickets.
It’s
all just smoke and mirrors to lock large corporates into lengthy
revenue share contracts, whilst we developers are left doing magic with
very little. All whilst complaining that we aren’t certified.
I
thought you would appreciate this because when I read “significant
boosts in productivity from AI” I thought this was an incredibly clever
marketing spin.
The
truth is that their customers are leaving because the products are
awful. They are not hiring because they have already hired too many
incompetent employees who work very slowly producing not very much.
It’s the start of a collapse marketed as AI. Brilliant!
Please keep up the good work. Your show is the highlight of my week and I look forward to each episode.
All the best to you and John.
From another John.
AI: Building a product that starts from a technology instead of a user need is ass-backwards.
Big Pharma
Alcohol Liver Cancer - GLP-1?
Cancer Alcohol new report coming
This UK doc thinks we'll see a new report out with a huge rise in cancer deaths in the next couple of weeks to a month-ish since these reports are recent. I'd point you to a clip start but I didn't find anything great for the show. He adds a new category to liver damage.
Vaccine injured liver disease? Autoimmune Hepatitis
Trump
Trump litigation BOTG
The NY Court of Appeals just denied Trump’s stay motion. So now all eyes are on SCOTUS
This
is all about whether a judgment of conviction is entered. If it’s
entered, that creates a political point that Trump is “officially” a
felon. (Because right now, the conviction isn’t final and therefore not
on the books—despite what the women on The View might say).
Because
Trump will likely get a sentence of no punishment, that’s all I see. I
suppose there are other ramifications that all felons experience,
too—things like voting, firearms, disclosing things on financial
documents, etc. I haven’t studied those, but they seem minor compared
to the political ramifications.
Boots on the ground Trump election influence EU
Small update from the Netherlands. I work in one of the main consultancy firms in the Netherlands doing projects for all ministries here. Working on everything from the Dutch DoD, CDC (RIVM), housing projects, environment stuff, municipality, education etc etc. Everything.
Since the election there is a 180 degrees turn at our meetings. Practically all ESG themes (which were fundamental up until that moment in the organisation) were completely scrapped. From an extreme focus on all woke themes from inclusion to climate change and everything in between we went totally the other direction focusing on security (migration) economy and other real issues. It’s a huge relief for me personally but also slightly disturbing(?) that the election on the other side of the Atlantic directly has such a fundamental change. We didn’t vote and still the whole world seems to have been turned upside down.
This same change can btw be seen in daily conversations in and outside of the workplace and even the - extremely woke - media here seems to be changing (ever so slightly) back to some form of sanity.
Biden
Tim Gill 400k to Biden Medal of Freedom
Partner Scott ambassador to Switzerland and Lichtenstein
Pig Butchering
Women being Pig Butchered
ITM, Kind Sir:
I work in a small law firm in Alabama, FEMA Region 4. I e-mailed you previously in June 2023 and you shared the information I had at the time about these scam calls and texts. I thought I would update previously provided perspective (show #1563) about pig butchering scams from a small town law office perspective where I am a legal assistant of 30+ years.
On your most recent episode #1728 you and JCD discussed that you though these scams to be primarily directed at men from alleged women trying to engage them in some sort of relationship and that it is done through text messages. While that does happen I am sure, my experience has been slightly different.
In the past year, our office has two older – actually elderly - ladies who have been scammed out of good chunks of their life savings and the engagement they have had with the scammers was initiated through social media – specifically Facebook. They get a friend request from someone, accept it and very quickly become very emotionally involved with the plights of the imaginary “friends” on the other end. It is a very elaborate ruse complete with pictures of themselves, family and friends. Once these ladies get on the hook, their “help” is elicited and it goes from there. Without getting into too much detail, one of these ladies got taken for over $100K and the other over $250K in just a few short months. These evil monsters are preying on their loneliness convincing the ladies that they have found their soul mates and once they get some financial issues cleared up (which they lovingly assist with), they will travel the world and spend the rest of their days together.
Our office has become involved and made aware of these situations not by the ladies who are being scammed. They refuse to admit that they could be gullible enough for that to have happened to them. The contact comes from family members of the ladies who are grasping at straws and trying to get any kind of help they can to convince Momma/Gran Gran that they are in fact being taken for a ride. Gran Gran does not want to hear of it because she is so happy and in love again and has hope for the future – even though they have never met their beloved in person. Saddest part is that these ladies are more than competent and, legally, the only advice that can be given to the family is that there is nothing that can be done. It is their money and they are doing with it what they see fit and are capable of making their own decisions.
What is astounding to me is that in our small town general practice law office we have been made aware of three of these scenarios in the past year. How many more have happened here - and all over the country, for that matter - that we don’t know about? It has to be astronomical!
I recall a quote by Mark Twain that sums up why these ladies would not allow themselves to be convinced by their loved ones that they might need to stop and assess their situation for a minute: “It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.”
Just thought I would share…….and oh, please share with John. I would have e-mailed him also but Dvorak is hard to spell!
Thank you for your courage, Gents!
Dame Ronda
M5M
Narcissism and Marxism
Bemrose on Narcissism and Marxism
The Marxist religion teaches people to look outside themselves for the source of their problems. All strife is rooted in "power dynamics". Evil corporations, the wealthy, politicians, white people, cisgenders, ableists with all their arms and legs. Your problems can always be traced to everyone except you.
In order to avoid cognitive dissonance, this requires an exceptional degree of "othering" - to dehumanize other people and disregard their feelings and needs. This is not easy for people with a conscience. After all, it's much harder to dump all your problems on someone after you look at things from their point of view.
On the other hand, this "othering" comes naturally to narcissists and sociopaths, who, being incapable (or unwilling) to consider someone else's thoughts and feelings, will "other" people as a matter of reflex.
Hence why narcissists and sociopaths are a natural fit for Marxism, as it reinforces their psychosis. After all, what could be better for a narcissist, than being reaffirmed by a religion that makes everything about you (victim mentality), and puts all of your problems on the "other".
Narcissism to Marxism LOL
Hi Adam,
My 2c worth on the Narcism/Marxism correlation.
1) I’m a narcissist, I think I’m the best
2) Some people are clearly doing better than me
3 ) It’s not my fault though it’s the system
4) The system is capitalism
5) I’m a Marxist now
Thanks for the great show!
Robert
Social Media and Narcissism Marshall McLuhan
In Chapter 4 of _Understanding Media_, Marshall McLuhan explains how technology acts as extensions of ourselves, often numbing us to its transformative effects. Using the myth of Narcissus, he describes how we become captivated by our technological "reflections," unaware of their impact. McLuhan introduces "autoamputation" as a survival mechanism, likening technology to idols that shape us in their image, as Psalm 115 warns. Social media amplifies this effect, creating a global forum where our voices resonate endlessly. Technology, like Thor's hammer, grants us divine power, yet distracts us from its profound influence on society and human behavior.
Chapter 4 of Marshall McLuhan's 1964 book, Understanding Media, describes how technological innovations furnish us with extensions of our own selves, even though we do not realize it. McLuhan notes that from the myth of Narcissus (the origin of the term narcissism) is the Greek word “narcosis”, or “numbness.” Narcissus was so numbed by the image of himself reflected on the water that he did not realize that he was looking at himself. The same is true of us when we use our hi-tech gadgets.
“With the arrival of electric technology,” writes McLuhan, “man extended, or set outside himself, a live model of the central nervous system itself. To the degree that this is so, it is a development that suggests a desperate and suicidal autoamputation, as if the central nervous system could no longer depend on the physical organs to be protective buffers against the slings and arrows of outrageous mechanism.”
In other words, “autoamputation” is a kind of survival mechanism, by which the body tries to cope with the technological change currently transforming the environment. But the form this attempt at survival takes is the construction of idols. In fact, any use of technology is likened by McLuhan to the beholding of idols. On this point, he quotes Psalm 115, in order to suggest how humans can come to conform themselves to the idols that they behold:
“Their idols are silver and gold,
The work of men’s hands.
They have mouths, but they speak not;
Eyes they have, but they see not;
They have ears, but they hear not;
Noses have they, but they smell not;
They have hands, but they handle not;
Feet have they, but they walk not;
Neither speak they through their throat.
They that make them shall be like unto them;
Yea, every one that trusteth in them.”
In other words, we become like unto the technologies that we construct as extensions of our selves. That is what it means to call them “extensions.” And we are inevitably worshipping ourselves in our fascination with them.
Social media platforms, which serve as de facto public squares where everyone has access to the forum at all times to immediately express whatever is on their minds without the restriction of space and time, provides an unlimited association impossible to achieve before the digital age. Amplified and enlarged, our persons reach across an electronically contracted landscape, where we can be in all places at all times, our voices resounding loudly in the four corners of the earth. Like the hammer of Thor, technology gives us power divine. In the computer age technology is the new religion. But this religion is us. Digital technology extends our central nervous system out into the world. While we gaze at our own reflection, totally absorbed and distracted, the hidden aspects of this powerful media influence human affairs and social conditions:
The Great Re-Wiring
Hi Adam, about the mental effects of the use of the smartphone, On the book "The Anxious Generation - How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness" psychologist Jonathan Haidt point out on the creation of the app store, not the creation of the smartphone. The app developers can now apply every trick on the psychology book to hook everyone up.Haidt focuses on child development and I think he has the studies done, but I am not an expert on that field.
Delulu
China
Hacking Group Names
Niet helemaal juist. Hacking groups worden door zogenaamde “intelligence providers” genoemd en 1 woord verwijst meestal naar een land.
Microsoft is de threat intelligence provider in dit geval en bij hun hebben alle Chinese hacking groups “typhoon” in de naam. Maar dat zijn wellicht verschillende outfits. Omdat het China is heb je wellicht wel gelijk in je uitspraak omdat die worden aangestuurd worden door de ccp.
Maar volt typhoon bvb heet "vanguard panda" bij crowdstrike - panda is china bij hen.
Bear is Rusland : cozy bear - fancy bear
Dit is full list :
- Bear: Russia
- Panda: China (CrowdStrike)
- Dragon: China (non-CrowdStrike)
- Kitten: Iran
- Chollima ([mythical horse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qianlima#North_Korea)): DPRK (North Korea)
- Spider: ecrime (not region-specific or state-sponsored)
- Jackal: hactivist (not region-specific or state-sponsored)
- Buffalo: Vietnam
- Crane: Republic of Korea
- Leopard: Pakistan
- Tiger: India (CrowdStrike) or China (non-CrowdStrike)
- Lynx: Georgia
- Wolf: Turkey
- Ocelot: Colombia
- Hawk: Syria
Shift to China - USA DOD Pavement Engineers re-building in APAC BITG
ITM: I’m here at the FHWA Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting in DC sitting in at the DOD Asphalt and Concrete pavement meetings (each four hours long!).
Yeah, DOD isn’t focused on building runways in Europe. Major paving projects planned throughout the Pacific. You’re prediction seems to align with where we’re going to be laying asphalt and concrete runways over the next several years.
Maybe don’t use my “real” name on this one if you decide to mention this, but you can use: Commodore of “Smooth Texas Highways.” :-)
Real News
Go Podcasting
Trudeau
Truth about Trudeau's resignation BOTG
Hey Adam,
I thought I would drop a line about the current Canadian politics shift as even us Candanavians have trouble understanding our Parliament system. It may seem like Justin Trudeau is done because he said he "will" resign, but this was really just a saavy, a-hole move to screw Canadians over and hold onto power longer (I know, literally the opposite of what is reported). Had Trudeau done nothing, a non-confidence vote would have been proposed on the 25th of January and Canadians would have been at the polls as early as March. However, Justin is pulling a classic "Canadian Switcheroo." This dick move has been played by every PM in my lifetime save one... maybe two. What happens is the leader (this has happened provincially as well as federally) will "resign" and instead of an open election being held, they install a new leader of their Party's choosing. This is how we had a female PM for a cpl months in the 90s and a bumbling nobody PM for a few months at the end of the last Liberal regime.
So, because JT is pulling a Canadian Switcheroo, parliament is prorouged (a stupid term for suspended) until late March while they hold an interal leader election. This means the earliest we can go to an election is now late May. This extends his reign by 2 months and it seems like he is hoping to regain his party support with some backdeals. The very freaky thing is that the liberal party rules allow for foreign citizens and teenagers as young as 14 to vote for the new party leader. Rumours are that the pro-hamas rioters who have been burning Quebec down are telling all their supporters to sign up as liberal party asap. So, while it seems like something is happening, it is kinda a big wet fart and one last "screw you" to Canadians.
This may be a recurring theme throughout 2025, where things "seem" like they are happening and then fizzle out a few weeks later, both in Canada and globally.
Hope this helps. I am not a political expert but I know enough to know that this "resignation" is anything but.
Cheers!
Matt Boisvert
