Le Journal

Narrative Control Made Easy: Us Versus Them Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog, Those in charge of narrative control are suffering from the delusion that they're making sense. Everything is under control until it isn't. The name of the game in controlling the populace is narrative control, the current term for setting the context, priorities and agenda so the populace complies without being aware they've been bamboozled into accepting a system that benefits the few at the expense of the many. The easiest way to control the narrative is to establish the false choice of an either-or binary: Us versus Them. This is easy because it bypasses our rational mind by tapping our hard-wired instinct to divide humanity into members of our group and Outsiders / Strangers who are potential threats until proven otherwise. As a general rule, our values, opinions and fealties stretch along a spectrum. We may have loyalties to values that are typically categorized as "conservative" or "liberal" and find no conflict between them. To control the narrative, all nuance and variability must be crushed into an all-or-nothing litmus test: if you disagree with even one of the narrowly defined litmus test standards for inclusion in the "conservative" or "liberal" group--as defined by those seeking to control the populace by controlling the narrative--then you are cast out as "an X in name only." The "other group" is vilified as servants of the Devil. Reading the diatribes mailed out to "loyalists" of the two political parties (seeking donations, of course--proving your loyalty is always about money) is a master class in parody that isn't recognized as parody: "they" are seeking to pollute our precious bodily fluids under the malefic cover of deceptively attractive PR. That all Us and Them binaries are false choices must never be exposed lest the rational mind awaken to the manipulation of a completely fabricated either-or narrative. This fabrication is the foundation of wartime propaganda, of course, as there are no limits on what must be done to rid the Earth of the enemy of all that is good and just. This works just as well in politics and culture wars: rally the troops by enforcing litmus-test inclusion standards that serve the purposes of those in charge of the narrative factory while providing an identity and the benefits of membership to those who declare their fealty to the litmus test checklist. Skeptics are targeted as backward heretics. If you question the current definition of "Progress"--Progress is whatever makes me more money--then you're instantly tarred as a hopeless Luddite. Once the consequences extend to money, income and security, fear kicks in. Standing up for sacred values is a good thing until it might cost us our jobs: when things get serious, we have to lie. This enforcement of false-choice narratives pushes us into Ultra-Processed Life: everything is self-serving artifice, but pointing this out brings trouble, so we go along with the charade. There's no meaning in the narrative other than enforcing compliance to what's on the agenda of options, which are all false-choice binaries: would you choose to be a Good Person or a Bad Person? Hmm, that's not much of a choice, is it? The irony here is that those controlling the narratives see our compliance as "winning," unaware that their control mechanisms have hollowed out the culture, politics and the economy, reducing everything to either-or binaries that are intrinsically false. Falsities generate false signals, which lead to Model Collapse. Those in charge of narrative control are suffering from the delusion that they're making sense. Everything is under control until it isn't. * * * My new book Investing In Revolution is available at a 10% discount ($18 for the paperback, $24 for the hardcover and $8.95 for the ebook edition). Introduction (free) Check out my updated Books and Films. Become a $3/month patron of my work via patreon.com. Subscribe to my Substack…

Intel Plunges On Another Quarter Of Dismal Guidance Intel is back to its old bag of post earnings rugpull tricks. The stock, which for some bizarre reason is up 50% in 2026 and almost 3x higher since August (it's actually not bizarre at all, with Trump pumping it at every opportunity but ultimately the fundamentals have to take over), tumbled after hours on an earnings release which was a tale of two parts. First, the historical data which was not terrible, but certainly not great. This is what the once glorious chipmaker reported for Q4: Revenue $13.67 billion, down -4.1% y/y, but beating sandbagged estimates of $13.43 billion Intel Products revenue $12.93 billion, -1.4% y/y, beating estimate $12.79 billion Client Computing revenue $8.19 billion, -6.6% y/y, missing estimate $8.3 billion Datacenter & AI revenue $4.74 billion, +8.9% y/y, beating estimate $4.42 billion Intel Foundry revenue $4.51 billion, +3.8% y/y, beating estimate $4.36 billion All Other revenue $574 million, -48% y/y, missing estimate $658.9 million Intersegment eliminations revenue -$4.34 billion, -0.6% y/y Adjusted gross margin 37.9% (down sharply from 42.1% y/y) but beating estimate 36.5% R&D expenses $3.22 billion, -17% y/y, berow estimate $3.31 billion Adjusted operating income $1.21 billion, -12% y/y, estimate $878.8 million Adjusted operating margin 8.8% vs. 9.6% y/y, estimate 6.29% Adjusted EPS 15c vs. 13c y/y, beating estimates of 8.7c But while beating on most income statement items may sound good, stepping back to look at the historical results the trends is, well, meh at best. But if the historical numbers were fine, it was the company's forecast that was once again the weakest link, and what sent the stock tumbling after hours. Here is what the company said to expect for Q1, a quarter in which everyone is - if one believes the rumors - buying any and every chip and tech component that isn't nailed down. Apparently every, except for Intel's that is: Sees revenue $11.7 billion to $12.7 billion, the midpoint missing estimates of $12.56 billion Sees adjusted EPS $0, missing estimates of 8c (and that's even with a projected tax rate of 11%, below the estimate 12%). Sees adjusted gross margin 34.5%, missing estimate 36.5% And the cherry on top: the company may be dragging on sales but at least it's overly generous in how it gets there: Sees adjusted operating expenses about $16 billion, estimate $15.93 billion So what happened and why was the guidance once again so piss poor? Apparently, it's not us, it's them, or some other excuse - according to Intel, supply shortages have made it harder to meet customer demand. But wait, what supply: doesn't Intel control its own supply chain. Why yes, yes it does. As Bloomberg notes, Intel is struggling with its manufacturing yields — the percentage of usable chips coming out of its factories — hampering a comeback bid, or rather making a mockery of the stock surge which took place in a vacuum, completely disconnected from the fundamentals which are the same old. Demand is “quite strong,” and the company is working hard to fix its manufacturing problems, CEO Lip-Bu Tan said in an interview. But Intel used up much of its inventory in the fourth quarter, he said. “Our yield and production manufacturing are not up to my standards,” Tan said. “We need to improve that.” Which is amazing because Intel has now been a ward of the US state for almost six months: how it couldn't have improved that until now is a mystery, but one thing is certain - if it hasn't improved by now, it won't. Unless Trump takes (without paying) another 10% of the company's equity. Remarkably, Intel stocks has unjustifiably soared in recent months, rising 3x since its decade lows in August, and riding a wave of Wall Street enthusiasm. Investors poured money into the stock in recent months, betting that new products would further bolster finances. That has not happened... and it probably never will: Intel's annual revenue of $53 billion last year…

Massive Winter Storm Puts 230 Million Americans At Risk As Panic Buying Begins "If you're younger than 40 years old, then you may be experiencing the worst winter weather of your lifetime depending upon where you are over the next 10-14 days," meteorologist Ryan Maue warned on X, as Winter Storm Fern and a dangerous polar blast line up to deliver what could soon be a historic, winter storm event across the South, Midwest, and Northeast of the Lower 48 from Friday through Monday. Parts of Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi that will see potentially crippling "ice accumulation" will also experience severe and prolonged cold ... temperatures in some places near 0°F. pic.twitter.com/hryQhSYIQx — Ryan Maue (@RyanMaue) January 22, 2026 While climate alarmist Al Gore warned about global warming at the World Economic Forum for globalist billionaire elites in Davos, Switzerland, this week, roughly 230 million Americans are grounded in reality and facing what could be a historic snow and/or ice event. This figure represents about two-thirds of the nation's population, with weather models suggesting the impact area spans 33 states, from Arizona to the Midwest, the South, the Mid-Atlantic, and the Northeast. As of Thursday afternoon, the National Weather Service has issued winter storm alerts from the southern Rockies across much of the eastern half of the US, covering dozens of major cities including Dallas, Houston, Nashville, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New York City, and Boston. Fox Weather reports that Texans are already beginning to panic-buy food and other supplies, as the winter event could lead to travel delays and power grid risks involving the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. Fresh on residents' minds is the 2021 catastrophic ERCOT grid collapse. WINTER STORM PREP: Residents in Burleson, Texas, are starting to prepare for the historic winter storm that will impact the region starting Friday. Photos show the bread aisle of a local grocery store completely cleaned out. pic.twitter.com/NTPHkpT5VO — FOX Weather (@foxweather) January 22, 2026 Our reporting this week has outlined the rising risks of NatGas production disruptions across Appalachia that could pressure already tight power grids in the Mid-Atlantic and or Northeast. Appalachian NatGas Output Faces "Intense Losses" As Arctic Blast Drives Power Grid Risk Higher NatGas Jumps 75% As Extreme Cold, Blizzard Risks Threaten Appalachian Gas Supply Winter is Coming for Appalachia This week's Appalachian nat gas production is already down 1.1 Bcf/d versus last week, and the extreme cold is just getting started. Pittsburgh overnight lows are headed to -6.8°F at their most intense levels next week, with this cold coming in… pic.twitter.com/l2oyl80cfe — Criterion Research (@PipelineFlows) January 22, 2026 Weather observer Ryan Hall, Y'all warned in a note earlier today about the ice threat: The Ice Threat I need to say this clearly. For millions of people from Texas through the Carolinas, the ice is the story. Not the snow. The National Weather Service is using the word "crippling" in their discussions for parts of Arkansas, northern Mississippi, and western Tennessee. That's not a word they throw around casually. Here's what's happening. A pronounced warm nose aloft between 850 and 700 millibars will override sub-freezing surface temperatures across a huge swath of the Deep South. When precipitation falls through that warm layer and then hits the frozen surface, you get freezing rain. And we're looking at a lot of precipitation falling through that warm layer. Two distinct zones of severe icing are now becoming clear. The first runs from northwest Mississippi through southwest Tennessee and into southeast Arkansas along the I-30 and I-40 corridors. The second sits over northeast Georgia and the western Carolinas in the higher terrain where frigid air draining south along the Appalachians will keep the surface locked below freezing…

Demographics Deployed For Political Control Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times, People are talking ever more about the possibility of civil war in the United States. The scenes on the streets do not look good, to be sure. That said, we are nowhere near this point and certainly don’t have to be. The trigger for the unfolding of events speaks to a tactic of control that unleashes resistance (and counterresistence) like no other. If this issue is resolved in peace and within the rule of law, normalcy can be restored. Let’s review some of the deeper history. At the height of the Roman Empire, when conquering ever more territory was regarded as regime triumph, a strategy for control emerged that would long persist into the modern age. The military would urge Romanization of the conquered provinces. The aristocracy would flood provinces and towns, bringing language and technology and administrative leadership. Roman citizens, often veterans of these wars, were settled with land grants and created loyal Roman outposts. Many modern European cities trace origins to these settlements. The tactic assured regional loyalty, lessened local resistance, and helped blunt the efficacy of independence movements. The Spanish Empire took a similar approach in the Americas. Massive settler migration from Iberia led to the demographic replacement of indigenous populations. Spanish was imposed as the dominant language. Indigenous tongues were suppressed. Localized religions mutated to match priorities of the imperial faith. So it was in the Soviet Union. After the archives opened following the fall of communism, scholars found proof of what they had long suspected. Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Russians were directed to migrate to the Baltic states following the 1940 annexation. The priorities were the same as the above examples: spread the Russian language, intermarry, and build and administer infrastructure. This weakened national identities and secured Russian holdings. All of these are examples of what is called settler colonialism. It’s a tactic, often a brutal one because it touches the lives, languages, educations, and religion of everyone. It can often be pitiless toward the settled traditions that are being displaced. The USA was born as an experiment in the same way via the British Empire. The English Court and its industrial partners had every intention of using the colonies for the empire’s own purposes, restricting trade and taxing its residents. It did not go so well. After 150 years of experience with freedom in the colonies, Americans developed a sense of independent identity that led to a war of independence that the colonies won. It is true that the United States began as a nation of immigrants and has always been a welcoming country. The early Founding documents left the issue of citizenship to the states because people were citizens of their states. Following a horrible Civil War, the federal government took charge of determining citizenship, alongside a peculiar model of earning the right to vote. All people born within its borders were automatically granted citizenship rights. Immigration became a source of controversy in the late 19th century with floods of new asylum seekers from Russia, Italy, Ireland, and elsewhere, thus taxing infrastructure and giving rise to ethnic and religious tensions. The immigration acts of 1921 and 1924 sought to settle those problems with a strong legal preference for European migration. Forty years later, this prioritization was deemed discriminatory. The immigration act of 1965 reversed priorities and opened up the country to a wider range of newly arriving residents to become citizens. Even with this change, the subject of immigration was regarded as a manageable domestic policy dispute, with people on all sides favoring this or that. The debates concerned economics, religion, and the issue of acculturation. What was not in question was the idea of using demographics for purposes…