Here's a retrospective on 2022 and eleven trends we can look forward to in 2023, via Virtual Mirage:
As we close out 2022, I thought it would be a good idea to identify and discuss 11 trends and hard truths for the sake of saying things out loud that the media should be reporting on fairly and investigating but too often is not. These are big-picture items that stand to impact many, if not most of us, in a big way.
1. Illegal immigration. Each day that passes is another day that makes it impossible to go back, even if the border were to be secured immediately. We will be dealing forever with the fallout of unrestricted, illegal border crossings in terms of expense, crime, impact on our schools, and an already stressed healthcare system.
2. Covid. There is ongoing fallout from controversial vaccine mandates. Congress has rescinded the military mandates but not before tens of thousands or more received the vaccine under duress, and many thousands were forced out. We already had a recruiting crisis and it’s only grown worse. A judge has ordered New York City to hire back more than 1,700 workers fired for refusing the vaccine. What’s the state’s response? It is appealing. We are also dealing with the costs and health impact of those who got vaccinated and are suffering illnesses. Some of them are permanently disabled. Some have died. There is an ongoing cost to our youth, who do not tend to get very sick with Covid but who are at risk of serious illness from the vaccine.
3. College costs. With discussion and debate focused on loan forgiveness– or more accurately transferring the cost of outstanding loans to taxpayers– it does nothing to cure the overinflated and unjustifiable cost of a college education. The same syndrome is in play with health care costs. The fact that the government ensures these bills will get paid using taxpayer money and loans, grants, scholarships, Medicare, etc., only ensures the corporations can charge outrageous amounts of money for the services. If it weren’t for government and private medical insurance, and loans and grants, then few could afford the overinflated medical and education costs and the prices would, by necessity, have to come down. The government is the cause of these problems and could solve them, but will not because elected officials are part of the system that benefits. They get donations from industries, academic institutions, hospitals, the insurance industry, pharmaceutical companies, and others to help them stay in office and positions of power. Thus, their solutions by necessity will continue to feather their nests always at our expense.
4. January 6, 2021. (I’ll be reporting on this topic in an upcoming edition of Full Measure.) This event stands out as one of the most outrageous events of our time in terms of how it’s prosecuted by government officials. There are clearly political motivations and double standards in play, with what seems to be an obvious plan in advance to controversialize anyone who turned out to support Donald Trump and question the 2020 election. The apparent goal? To neutralize these people and anyone else who dared to think of questioning elections or supporting Trump.
5. Transgenderism in medicine, media, politics, education, advertising— you name it. Virtually unheard of just a few years back except as part of a mental health discussion largely limited to a psychiatric diagnosis — suddenly it’s everywhere! Like other narratives, there are organized, well-funded efforts behind the transgender lobby and, as I’ve written in my books, these powerful forces have been able to co-opt nearly every form of information in order to make fringe beliefs appear to be the norm shared by nearly everyone.
6. Health crises. From rampant chronic health issues, to autism, autoimmune disorders, and new diseases such as POTS, the government is typically only funding research on issues that the pharmaceutical industry wants to be funded and is only finding answers that the industry and special interests want to be found. Since it’s not in any big industry’s interest to identify the multi-exposure causes likely behind many health issues, these studies won’t be funded. I would argue that much if not most legitimate research that needs to be done to answer important health questions is being blocked or not funded.
7. Government control. The government is so tied into funding everyone and everything today, including private companies through contracts and incentives, it can control policies and actions far outside what is supposed to be in the government’s reach. Covid vaccines were one such example. By threatening to push private hospitals by withholding Medicare payments, the government was able to force policies upon them. By refusing to reimburse for certain medical treatments, the government can make sure certain treatments– even if important and effective– aren’t used. This government power is especially dangerous when the government takes part in corrupt or politically-motivated agendas.
8. Scientific fraud. I’ve reported on and written much about how the scientific and medical industries have been largely taken over by vested interests making it hard to get accurate medical information. Some of the best evidence comes from top scientists at medical journals such as Lancet’s Dr. Richard Horton, and Dr. Marcia Angell, formerly of the New England Journal of Medicine. They have said that much or most science in medical journals is not be believed today due to the undue influence of the pharmaceutical industry on studies and what does or doesn’t get published.
9. FBI and intel agency corruption. One of the biggest scandals of our time that is drastically underreported is widespread corruption at high levels in our intel agencies, as exposed in their schemes to frame Donald Trump. Even when agents and officials commit lapses and crimes, they are rarely held to account in any meaningful way. Recall former FBI director James Comey was referred by the Inspector General for criminal charges in his efforts to damage Trump but the Dept. of Justice took a pass on prosecuting him. Only one FBI lawyer was (lightly) prosecuted in one of the most outrageous crimes of its kind: doctoring a document to obtain a wiretap on Trump campaign associate Carter page… who never got so much as an apology. And that FBI attorney didn’t even get jail time. And there seemed to be no effort to identify and prosecute the others that were in that chain, signing off on false information or staying silent about it.
10. FISA court scandals. One of the most powerful and secretive courts, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, has confirmed rampant FBI lapses or misconduct when it comes to applications for secret wiretaps to spy on US citizens. However, nobody has been held to account.
11. Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover. I rank this as the single most important development when it comes to censorship and the government/industry’s grip on our information. It is sad that it took a scorned billionaire– remember Musk was notably left out of Biden Administration invites on car and green energy discussions because he apparently doesn’t blindly support organized labor/labor unions– to do the job that the media, elected officials, and intel agencies all failed to do: expose censorship, corruption, and election interference within a top Big Tech company. Though one of the biggest stories of our time, it is still widely ignored or slanted by the news media, which is opting for stories about how bad it is for Musk to be running Twitter rather than the previous government-corporate minders.
I'd say that was right on the money,
LSP
