December 28th • 3h 29m
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.
Candy Land
2 Timothy 3:6-9
The Message
6-9 These are the kind of people who smooth-talk themselves into the homes of unstable and needy women and take advantage of them; women who, depressed by their sinfulness, take up with every new religious fad that calls itself “truth.” They get exploited every time and never really learn. These men are like those old Egyptian frauds Jannes and Jambres, who challenged Moses. They were rejects from the faith, twisted in their thinking, defying truth itself. But nothing will come of these latest impostors. Everyone will see through them, just as people saw through that Egyptian hoax.
EU UK Ukraine and NATO
ISIS
Nigerian missle strikes and gold
Here is the breakdown of the resource situation in Northwest Nigeria (Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi, Katsina, etc.) as of late 2025:
1. The Oil Status: Exploration, Not Production
While you often hear headlines about "Oil in the North," it is important to distinguish between the regions:
* North-West (Sokoto Basin): Geologists believe oil and gas exist here because the geology is similar to basins in neighboring Niger Republic (where oil is already being produced). The NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Company) has been pushing exploration in the Sokoto Basin, but they have not yet announced a major commercial find or started production.
* North-East (Gongola Basin): This is where the actual oil was found. In 2023/2024, the Kolmani Oil Field (on the border of Bauchi and Gombe states) began development with estimated reserves of 1 billion barrels.
Relevance to your thesis: The anticipation of oil in the Northwest is high. The government has mobilized exploration teams, which often changes the value of the land and can trigger preemptive struggles for control, but "oil money" is not yet flowing from the ground in the Northwest.
2. The Real Resource War in the Northwest: Gold
If your hunch is that the violence (often labeled as "banditry" or "religious extremism") is actually about resources, you are likely correct—but the resource in the Northwest is Gold, not oil.
* Zamfara and Kaduna: These states have significant gold deposits.
* The Conflict: Much of the mining is illegal and unregulated. "Bandits" often control these mining sites or the routes to them.
* The Pattern: There is substantial evidence that criminal networks (and potentially politically connected actors) destabilize these areas to exploit the gold reserves without government oversight. The "religious" violence often conveniently clears civilians off land that is rich in minerals.
Summary for your Thesis
* Is there oil in the NW? Likely yes, but it is still in the exploration phase (Sokoto Basin).
* Is the conflict resource-driven? Highly probable. In the Northwest, the conflict correlates strongly with illegal gold mining (Zamfara) and agricultural land control. In the Northeast, the conflict now sits on top of the new Kolmani oil fields.
Summary for your Thesis
* Is there oil in the NW? Likely yes, but it is still in the exploration phase (Sokoto Basin).
* Is the conflict resource-driven? Highly probable. In the Northwest, the conflict correlates strongly with illegal gold mining (Zamfara) and agricultural land control. In the Northeast, the conflict now sits on top of the new Kolmani oil fields.
The "religious war" narrative often serves as a convenient cover for what is effectively a war over mineral extraction and land rights.
Based on the breaking news from December 25–26, 2025, the US military strikes against targets in Northwest Nigeria (specifically Sokoto State) have had an immediate and sharp impact on precious metals markets.
3. The "Strategic Minerals" Angle (Lithium)
The strikes also indirectly protect the Lithium supply chain.
* China has invested heavily (over $1 billion) in lithium processing in Northern Nigeria to feed the EV battery market.
* The instability in the Northwest has threatened these investments.
* The market interprets these US strikes as a signal that the West is re-asserting control over a region that China was quietly dominating through mining deals. This geopolitical tug-of-war over "Critical Minerals" (Lithium, Gold) tends to drive the prices of those minerals up due to fear of supply chain weaponization.
Summary
The strikes have caused a short-term "War Premium" on gold and silver.
* Silver is reacting more violently (higher % gain) because it is both a precious metal and an industrial metal needed for the very tech/energy infrastructure being fought over.
* Gold is rising as the ultimate hedge against the fear that this "counter-terrorism" strike is actually the opening move of a larger proxy resource war in Africa.
*
The immediate effect on the morning of December 26, 2025, was a massive surge in global gold and silver prices.
* Gold: Surged to a record high, crossing $4,530 per ounce.
* Silver: Spiked over 4.5%, breaking the $75 per ounce barrier.
Why?
The market is reacting to the "Trump Factor." President Trump announcing a "powerful and deadly strike" on Christmas Day signals a new, unpredictable phase of US military involvement in West Africa. Investors hate unpredictability. When the US launches missiles in a new theater of conflict, institutional money flees into "Safe Haven" assets (Gold/Silver) to hedge against the risk of the conflict widening.
2. Disruption of the "Blood Gold" Supply (Local Impact)
Crucially for your thesis, these strikes targeted Sokoto State, which borders Zamfara—the heart of the illegal gold trade.
* The Target: The strikes hit camps often labeled as "ISIS" or "Bandits." In reality, many of these camps function as guard posts for illegal mining operations.
* The Disruption: By bombing these logistical hubs, the US and Nigerian military are effectively severing the supply chain of illegal gold that flows from Northwest Nigeria into Dubai and international markets.
* The Market Logic: While Nigerian gold is a small fraction of global supply, it is a huge source of off-the-books liquidity. Cutting this off creates a local liquidity crunch for the warlords, forcing them to either retaliate (increasing violence) or abandon the mines.
3. The "Strategic Minerals" Angle (Lithium)
The strikes also indirectly protect the Lithium supply chain.
* China has invested heavily (over $1 billion) in lithium processing in Northern Nigeria to feed the EV battery market.
* The instability in the Northwest has threatened these investments.
* The market interprets these US strikes as a signal that the West is re-asserting control over a region that China was quietly dominating through mining deals. This geopolitical tug-of-war over "Critical Minerals" (Lithium, Gold) tends to drive the prices of those minerals up due to fear of supply chain weaponization.
Summary
The strikes have caused a short-term "War Premium" on gold and silver.
* Silver is reacting more violently (higher % gain) because it is both a precious metal and an industrial metal needed for the very tech/energy infrastructure being fought over.
* Gold is rising as the ultimate hedge against the fear that this "counter-terrorism" strike is actually the opening move of a larger proxy resource war in Africa.
*
Trump Nigerian Lithium and other mining of rare earths
Apart from oil, Nigeria has enormous reserves of lithium, cobalt, nickel and other rare earths, which are embedded in solid rock and heavy mineral sands. It is ranked fifth globally in the production of rare earth elements—behind China, the US, Myanmar and Australia. Segun Adeyemi recently reported in Business Insider Africa that Chinese companies have invested more than USD 1.3 billion in Nigeria’s fast-growing lithium-processing industry. Combined with the leverage that Russia now wields in the mineral-rich Sahel states of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, China’s growing economic influence in West Africa’s regional power, Nigeria, should be of serious concern to the US, since China already dominates the global rare earths industry.
The US has been strategizing about how to end its high level of dependence on China for rare earths, which are essential for clean energy, such as electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines, and in electronic consumer products, such as LED television screens, computers and smart phones. These minerals are also required to produce jet engines, missile guidance and defense systems, satellites and GPS equipment.
After threatening China with a 140 per cent tariff when China imposed restrictions on the global supply of rare earths, Trump quickly made a U-turn in his recent meeting with China’s president, Xi. He realized that a trade war with China on rare earths would profoundly hurt the US economy. Under the deal he struck with Xi, Trump agreed to end the tariff threat and lift the ban on Chinese companies’ access to US chips, while Xi agreed to restart China’s supply of rare earths and purchase US soybeans for one year. Trump praised Xi as a great leader when he returned to the US.
The US is in panic mode in the geopolitics of rare earths trade. On his recent visit to Southeast Asia, Trump signed a raft of agreements with several countries in the region to beef up the production and processing of rare earths and exports to the US.
Various reports by experts in geopolitics indicate that the Trump administration sees Africa as an important source of critical minerals that will help wean the US off China. The administration brokered a peace deal between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda in June 2025, which included an investment agreement that allows the US to invest in DRC’s minerals.
Big Tech AI and the Socials
Limbic Capitalism
Social media
Gambling
Investing
Porn
Crazy tik tok women
Limbic Capitalism is a term used to describe a business model in which companies design products and services specifically to trigger the brain’s limbic system—the part of the brain responsible for basic survival drives, emotions, and pleasure—rather than appealing to the rational, thinking part of the brain (the cerebral cortex).
In short, it is capitalism that profits from addiction and compulsive consumption.
Origin
The term was popularized by historian David Courtwright, particularly in his 2019 book The Age of Addiction: How Bad Habits Became Big Business. He argues that modern corporations have evolved to become "technologically advanced but socially regressive," using sophisticated science to hack human biology for profit.
How It Works
The limbic system is evolutionarily ancient. It rewards behaviors necessary for survival (like eating, reproducing, and social bonding) by releasing dopamine (the "pleasure" chemical).
Limbic capitalism "hacks" this system by offering super-stimuli that trigger these rewards more intensely and frequently than nature ever intended. Over time, this bypasses the brain’s executive function (self-control), leading to habit formation, compulsion, and eventually addiction.
Key Characteristics
* Addiction by Design: Products are engineered to maximize "time on device" or consumption volume (e.g., the "infinite scroll" or the specific "bliss point" of sugar and fat in snacks).
* The Heavy User Reliance: These industries often rely on a small percentage of addicted users for the majority of their revenue (e.g., "whales" in mobile gaming or heavy drinkers in the alcohol industry).
* Variable Rewards: Many of these products use "slot machine" mechanics (intermittent reinforcement), where you don't know if the next swipe, bite, or click will be rewarding, which keeps the brain hooked.
Common Examples
* Social Media: Algorithms designed to keep you scrolling by feeding you outrage, validation (likes), or fear (FOMO).
* Ultra-Processed Food: Snacks engineered with exact ratios of salt, sugar, and fat to override the body's "I'm full" signals.
* Digital Gambling & Gaming: Loot boxes in video games or sports betting apps that turn fandom into high-speed gambling.
* Pornography: Platforms that offer limitless novelty and hyper-stimulation, hijacking the biological drive for reproduction.
Eminent Domain
Adam—On Episode 1827, you discussed the Christmas-tree farmers in Maryland who are fighting a power company that is threatening to invoke eminent domain to cut through their land. I would have messaged you live, but I was in the middle of some delicate woodworking.
The fact is, according to a very unpopular 5-4 SCOTUS decision called Kelo v. New London (2005), private entities can indeed “borrow” governmental eminent-domain powers as they use the land for “public use.” Kelo has been called a “reverse Robin Hood” decision.
I suppose that many public utilities are already quasi-governmental and enjoy the associated powers. But even purely private companies can avail themselves of eminent domain if they seek to promote a public use. So even if the power company in Maryland is totally private, it can easily call power transmission a “public use” and cut a swath through private property—as long as it reasonably compensates the aggrieved landowners as the Fifth Amendment requires.
Sounds pretty messed up, right? Well lo and behold, I received the attached article this morning (highlighted as usual). It provides a fascinating look at how the government’s lawyer in Kelo manipulated the four liberal SCOTUS Justices, plus notorious swing voter Justice Kennedy, into reading eminent domain so broadly that it benefits private developers.
It also points out that the backlash to this decision was so fierce that 47 states immediately passed property-protection laws to reduce Kelo’s impact. Maryland is one of the 47, but I guess its laws don’t protect the Christmas-tree farmers from public-utility development. AI über Alles.
Some highlights from the article:
SCOTUS’s 5-4 Kelo decision allowed Connecticut to seize private homes for economic development. In response, every state except New York, Massachusetts, and Arkansas enacted landowner-friendly reforms, with 11 states amending their state constitutions.
Despite these state-level reforms, Kelo remains intact—governments can still take property for economic-development purposes. The state laws just make it harder.
The current SCOTUS composition might produce a different result today: The conservatives are “originalists” who reject attempts to morph the Constitution, while the liberals show concern for “marginalized communities.”
Still, SCOTUS has recently declined multiple opportunities to revisit Kelo. These include a 2021 case involving a chocolate factory in Chicago (seriously??); a 2024 case involving a public park on Long Island; and a 2025 case involving a Colorado farm. Sooner or later, I think one of these case will get traction—a cert-worthy case has to check a lot of boxes.
Some skullduggery: The lawyer who argued Kelo for the city of New London focused on facts rather than legal theory. He hoped to lure the four liberal Justices at the time—Stevens, Ginsburg, Souter, and Breyer—along with Justice Kennedy. He avoided constitutional questions, and instead framed the issue around whether developers would lose their 99-year lease for noncompliance. Meanwhile, because the City of New London had not yet selected a developer, the landowners could not allege cronyism or bias. He got his five votes. The dissenters were Rehnquist, Scalia, Thomas, and O’Connor.
Ironically, the actual New London development project in Kelo failed, leaving Susette Kelo’s former property as a weed-infested vacant lot. See the article for before-and-after photos.
North Sea Nexus
Rubio 5 Visa Bans
For far too long, ideologues in Europe have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose. The Trump Administration will no longer tolerate these egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship.
Today, @StateDept will take steps to bar leading figures of the global censorship-industrial complex from entering the United States. We stand ready and willing to expand this list if others do not reverse course.
On the list are Imran Ahmed (Centre for Countering Digital Hate), Josephine Ballon and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg (HateAid), Thierry Breton (former EU Commissioner) as well as Clare Melford (Global Disinformation Index). The US government could expand the list.
