Authored by Michael Snyder via TheMostImportantNews.com,

After years of heading in the wrong direction, nobody can deny that the United States is facing overwhelming problems. So why don’t we focus on fixing those problems first? The truth is that we can’t do everything because our resources are very limited. U.S. households are more than 18 trillion dollars in debt, and the federal government is more than 38 trillion dollars in debt.

Even though we have literally stolen trillions upon trillions of dollars from future generations, our major cities are rapidly decaying, our infrastructure is crumbling, corruption is rampant, the middle class is shrinking, most of the population is struggling to even afford the basics each month, mass layoffs are happening all over the nation, our streets are teeming with hordes of drug addicts and homeless people, large numbers of Americans are selling images of themselves online just to make ends meet, and millions of others are living in their vehicles.

So why don’t we use what limited resources we have to fix our own problems?

If you don’t understand the point that I am trying to make, just go take a stroll through downtown Seattle.

The new mayor has decided that it will be her policy to allow people to openly do drugs in the streets…

Seattle’s new ultra-woke mayor has triggered chaos by ordering police not to arrest people doing drugs on the streets of the city plagued by crime and homelessness.

Democratic socialist Katie Wilson, 43, was sworn in as the city’s 58th mayor on Friday.

The progressive politician who co-founded the Transit Riders Union has already taken steps that concerned residents and law enforcement officials say will destroy Seattle.

The president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, Mike Solan, is warning that this will make the lawlessness in the streets of Seattle even worse…

‘We’ve all seen how our streets can be filled with death, decay, blight and crime when ideology like this infects our city, Solan continued in his statement.

‘Now with this resurrected insane direction, death, destruction and more human suffering will be supercharged.’

Lawmakers and residents have reacted to this news in horror, as the city already has a raging homelessness epidemic that they believe this lax drug policy will only amplify.

Once upon a time, Seattle was one of the most beautiful cities on the entire planet.

So what in the world happened?

Of course it isn’t just Seattle that has been transformed into a crime-ridden, drug-infested hellhole.

All over the nation, chaos reigns in the streets of major American cities.

In fact, last night a “hammer-wielding maniac” destroyed a bunch of windows at the Cincinnati home of Vice President J.D. Vance…

A hammer-wielding maniac who smashed four windows at JD Vance’s Cincinnati home has been arrested by the Secret Service after an overnight break-in.

William DeFoor, 26, was charged early Monday morning with one count each of obstructing official business, criminal damaging or endangering, criminal trespass and vandalism.

Secret Service agents heard a loud noise at the home around midnight and spotted DeFoor running from the home, which is the secondary residence for Vance, his wife Usha and their three young children, who were out of town at the time.

Meanwhile, lawlessness also continues to run rampant in high places all over the country.

So what is being done about it?

After all this time, how many corrupt members of past administrations have been arrested and put in prison?

After all this time, how many corrupt corporate executives have been arrested and put in prison?

After all this time, how many of Jeffrey Epstein’s associates that also sexually abused young girls have been arrested and put in prison?

How can we tell the rest of the world how they should be doing things when we can’t even get our own house in order?

We have been getting hit by crisis after crisis, and economic conditions are steadily deteriorating.

In fact, we just learned that U.S. manufacturing activity has contracted for a 10th consecutive month…

US manufacturing activity contracted for a 10th straight month in December, a survey indicated Monday, pointing to a continued drag in sentiment from tariffs and trade policy uncertainty.

The Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) manufacturing index fell to 47.9 from November’s 48.2 reading, the lowest of 2025 despite modest improvements in employment and some other categories.

Our artificially-inflated stock market continues to hover near record highs, but at the same time the number of large corporations that are going bankrupt just continues to rise…

Between January and November 2025, at least 717 companies filed for Chapter 7 or Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to data from S&P reviewed by The Washington Post.

That marks a 14% jump compared to the same period in 2024, and the most filings seen since 2010, the tail end of the Great Recession.

According to the Daily Mail, we are also seeing a very alarming surge in bankruptcies among small businesses too…

A frightening recession indicator is flashing red — and Americans can see it all over Main Street.

Experts told the Daily Mail that a sudden surge in bankruptcies and store closures — hitting mom-and-pop shops, small restaurants, and local retailers — could be an early warning sign that the economy is starting to crack.

One expert that was interviewed by the Daily Mail is warning that this surge in bankruptcies is a clear indication that a recession is coming…

‘The little guys are going to start falling first,’ Joe Barsalona, a Delaware-based bankruptcy lawyer at Pashman Stein Walder Hayden, said.

‘A recession is coming. I agree with economists that the increase in small business bankruptcies is a canary in a coal mine.’

Of course many would argue that a recession is already here.

In recent months, I have written a lot about the mass layoffs that have been occurring all over the country.

Well, now Newsweek is reporting that over 100 companies have filed WARN notices for mass layoffs that will be taking place in January…

More than 100 companies have filed WARN notices indicating plans to lay off workers in January 2026, according to WARNTracker.com. The following companies have filed a notice.

I tried to warn my readers that a tsunami of layoffs was coming.

Now it is here.

The following is the full list of 119 companies that have filed WARN notices for this month…

AARP
AbbVie
Adams County Public Hospital
AeroFarms1526 Cane Creek
Amazon
Amentum
American Signature, Inc.
Apogee Architectural Metals
Archer Daniels Midland Company
Atkore Plastics Southeast
Augusta Sportswear, Inc.
Bechtel National Inc.
Best Dressed Chicken, Inc.
Blue Plate Oysterette LLC
Blue Shield of California
Bond 45 National Harbor Restaurant
Braga Fresh Foods, LLC
Building Materials Manufacturing LLC
BWW Law Group, LLC
Catalent, Maryland, Inc.
Charles River Laboratories
Clari Inc.
CNO Financial Group
Colonial Savings, F.A.
ColWyo Coal Company LP
CommUnify
Consolidated Hospitality Supplies
Corteva
CoStar Group
Couchbase, Inc.
CRST Expedited, Inc.
Dental Benefit Management, Inc.
Dillard’s Inc.
Dometic Corporation
DRT, LLC
DSV Air & Sea Inc.
enDevelopment Logistics, LLC
FedEx
FreshRealm
Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission
Galleher LLC
General Motors
Giesecke + Devrient ePayments America Inc
Gilead Sciences
Grand Lux Café, LLC
Great Floors
H&M Fashion USA, Inc.
HD Supply
Heibar Installations Inc.
Henkel Corporation
HRL Laboratories
Hudson
Huntington National Bank
Illumina
ImmunityBio
Inline Plastics
Institute of International Education
International Paper
Invincible Boat Company
Kloeckner Meals
Lakeshore Learning Materials, LLC
Louis Vuitton USA Inc.
Lumileds
Maritime Applied Physics Corporation
Marshalls of CA, LLC
Mattel
McDonald’s
MDWise
Meteorcomm LLC
Mettler-Toledo Rainin, LLC
Michigan Sugar Company
Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey
Nationstar Mortgage, LLC
NIKE Retail Services, Inc.
Nordstrom Portland Rack
Ojai Valley Inn
Palo Verde Hospital
Panasonic Well LLC
Peraton’s Environmental Integration Services III
Post Consumer Brands, LLC
Presbyterian Home for Central New York, Inc.
Providence Health & Services
Rad Power Bikes, Inc.
RATP Dev and Midtown Group
Raytheon Technologies
Rebel Restaurants, Inc.
Red Run Corporation T/A Food Depot
Regional Medical Center of Central Alabama
Retail Services WIS Corporation
Revity, Inc.
Roads Express, LLC
Saddle Creek Logistics Service
SC Industrial Holdings, LLC
SDH Education West, LLC
SDH Service East, LLC
Shell Recharge Solutions
SLO Brewing Co. LLC
Smokin Bear LLC
Smurfit Westrock
Sodexo
Spirit Airlines, LLC.
Synopsys, Inc.
Takeda Development Center Americas Inc.
Terzo Enterprises Incorporated
The Cheesecake Factory
The French Gourmet, Inc.
The Taubman Company
TJX Companies, Inc.
TransAlta
United Supermarkets
Van Law Food Products, Inc.
Verizon
Virginia Mason Franciscan
Warner Music Group
Wells Fargo
West Fraser, Inc.
White Coffee Corporation
WIS International
WWL Vehicle Services America, Inc.

That is quite a long list, isn’t it?

The American people are not stupid.

They can see what is happening, and one recent survey found that 52 percent of U.S. adults actually believe that a recession has already started…

According to the ARG data, 52% of Americans believe the economy is already in a recession, and 64% say it’s getting worse.

These numbers suggest that many Americans are feeling the squeeze, even if official metrics don’t yet reflect a recession.

Only 11% think the economy is improving. Just 22% rate it as excellent, very good, or good, while 73% call it bad, very bad, or terrible, showing a clear gap between public sentiment and political narratives about economic strength.

Looking ahead, 60% believe the national economy will be worse a year from now, and just 16% say it will be better.

Yes, things are certainly bad now.

But they are not even worth comparing to what is further down the road.

So why don’t we use our limited resources to address the historic challenges that we are facing in our own nation?

If we love this country, we should try to fix it.

*  *  *

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

Chevron stands out as the clear winner among U.S. oil majors, given its unique positioning already in Venezuela. The company already produces a quarter of the country’s oil output under a U.S. sanctions waiver and exports crude, giving it an operational and regulatory moat no other oil major can match.

With the Monroe Doctrine effectively rebranded as the “Don-Roe Doctrine,” reflecting the Trump administration’s new approach to exerting control and influence across the Western Hemisphere and rooting out China and Russia, the developments this past weekend involving U.S. Delta Force operators capturing Maduro do not come as much of a surprise.

Consistent with the Don-Roe Doctrine, Chevron has contracted a fleet of tankers scheduled to arrive in Venezuela later this month, reinforcing its role as the dominant player, for now, a critical conduit for Venezuelan crude into US refineries along the Gulf of America.

Key highlights from the Bloomberg report that first pointed out Chevron’s 11 tankers headed to Venezuela:

Number of Chevron-chartered ships is the highest since October and up from nine in December, with arrivals planned at the Jose and Bajo Grande ports.

Of the 11 Chevron vessels, one has already loaded crude and two are currently docked; the oil is bound for U.S. refiners including Valero Energy, Phillips 66, and Marathon Petroleum.

Chevron operates under a U.S. Treasury license and remains the only Western firm permitted to produce and export Venezuelan crude under U.S. sanctions.

On Monday, shares of Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and ExxonMobil jumped on news of regime change in Venezuela. However, Chevron shares had given up most of those gains by late trading on Tuesday.

Here’s more color on the Venezuelan crude industry from UBS and Goldman:

UBS analyst Henri Patricot

US captures Venezuelan leader, references oil investments, higher exports The US government announced on Saturday the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro following a military operation in Caracas (link). US President Donald Trump said that the U.S. “will oversee Venezuela until a safe transition to a legitimate replacement” and oil was mentioned several times. He said in a press conference that US oil companies would “go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, oil infrastructure” and that it would be “selling oil, probably in much larger doses” (link).

Could drive faster production rebound near-term if sanctions are lifted We see this weekend’s developments as slightly negative for the oil price in the near-term. While the US President said that the US embargo on Venezuelan oil remains in full effect, the events likely reduce risk of a further sustained drop in Venezuelan production and there is potential for a sharper rebound in our view. This could be partially offset by a higher geopolitical risk premium. Venezuela has been producing ~0.9Mb/d in 2025, <1% of global supply. Latest reports suggest that production dropped ~150kb/d m/m in December because of US sanctions (link), from ~850kb/d in November (IEA). It had reached 1Mb/d as recently as October 2025 (see Figure 1) and the US strikes reportedly did not impact oil infrastructure (link). Hence, we believe production could return to 1Mb/d fairly quickly, if US restrictions are lifted, a small upside of 150kb/d vs. our 850kb/d base case for 2026. There may be potential to push it slightly further to 1.2-1.3Mb/d. This would be an additional headwind for the oil market in 2026, but would not completely change the picture (1.9Mb/d surplus is our base case).

Greater long-term potential but that requires material investments, stability There would be a greater impact if production returns to the level of 2.5Mb/d from 10 years ago but this would take time and require many things to go right. Unlike for Iran, Venezuela’s oil infrastructure has indeed been impacted by years of underinvestment. As we discussed in our expert call on Venezuela back in 2022, raising production by ~0.5Mb/d could be done relatively quickly but getting back to 2.5Mb/d could take as much as 10 years. It would require major investments and for companies to do so, this would require political stability, which remains uncertain at this stage. Precedents of US-led or US-supported regime changes in oil-producing countries show how challenging this can be (see Figure 2). Iraq managed to grow production but we note this was during a different period for oil demand growth, $60 Brent doesn’t support significant growth investment and the US producer landscape and business model are significantly different. Meanwhile Libya has yet to return to pre-2011 production levels…OPEC+ partners maintain policy at monthly meeting, as expected Separately, the eight OPEC+ countries carrying out the voluntary cuts confirmed on Sunday their plans to pause production increments in February and March 2026 due to seasonality (link). This was in line with OPEC+ delegates’ comments (link) and expectations, and so neutral for oil in our view. The statement is similar to the previous one and made no reference to Venezuela. The eight countries will next meet on 1 February but we believe the next important meeting is more likely to be the one in early March, when the group should decide whether or not to raise production in April. Our base case is that they will return to production increases, so as to fully unwind the cuts by year-end, in time to agree on a new framework for the whole group. The alternative would be for the pause to go on, more likely if we see signs of Venezuelan production rebounding, Russia continuing to produce below target and/or prices moving lower.

Goldman analysts led by Daan Struyven

Following the US deposing of President Maduro, we assess the risks to our unchanged oil price forecast (Brent/WTI 2026 averages of $56/52) from Venezuela.

We see ambiguous but modest risks to oil prices in the short-run from Venezuela depending on how US sanctions policy evolves. We estimate 2026 Brent averages of $58/54 in scenarios where Venezuela crude production declines/rises by 0.4mb/d by end-2026 (vs. our $56 baseline which assumes flat production of 0.9mb/d).

Along with recent Russia and US production beats, potentially higher long-run Venezuela production further increases the downside risks to our oil price forecast for 2027 and beyond. Although Venezuela produced ~3mb/d at its peak in the mid-2000s and holds ~1/5 of global proven oil reserves, any recovery in production would likely be gradual and require substantial investment. We estimate $4/bbl of downside to 2030 oil prices in a scenario where Venezuela crude production rises to 2mb/d in 2030 (vs. our 0.9mb/d base case).

About 20% of all global oil tankers are used to smuggle crude oil from countries under international sanctions, with 10% of these ships carrying Venezuelan oil. With Maduro out and the U.S. taking control of the Western Hemisphere, we suspect the dark fleet tanker industry will be dramatically hit – bad news for China’s “teapot” refineries.

Via The Cradle

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar visited the Republic of Somaliland on Tuesday and is meeting the breakaway state’s president, according to multiple media reports. Reuters cited sources as saying that Saar is currently in Somaliland and will meet the president of the state, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, in the capital Hargeisa.

Somaliland media reports also confirmed the Israeli foreign minister’s visit. The Israeli Foreign Ministry did not respond to requests for comment. According to Somaliland’s Information Ministry, Saar was received by senior Somaliland officials at the airport.  Last month, Israel became the first state to formally recognize Somaliland, which broke away from Somalia in 1991 but had never been recognized by any UN member state.

Israeli Foreign Ministry/Anadolu Agency

Somali officials and several Arab, Islamic, and African states have condemned the Israeli move – which was rejected by most members of the UN Security Council at an emergency meeting in New York.

The Israeli government has been aiming for Somaliland to serve as a potential destination for Palestinians that Tel Aviv aims to forcibly displace from Gaza, according to multiple reports over the past year.

After US President Donald Trump announced plans to expel the strip’s population and transform Gaza into a “Riviera,” talks to relocate large numbers of Palestinians reportedly began with several African states, including Somaliland and Morocco. Trump walked back his comments earlier this year, but efforts to expel Palestinians have continued.

Somalia’s president said in a recent interview that Israel has demanded from Somaliland, as part of its terms, that the breakaway state receive displaced Palestinians from Gaza and allow the establishment of Israeli military sites. He added that intelligence confirms Somaliland accepted these terms.

“The Government of the Republic of Somaliland firmly rejects false claims made by the president of Somalia alleging the resettlement of Palestinians or the establishment of military bases in Somaliland,” Somaliland’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement in response.

“Somaliland’s engagement with the State of Israel is purely diplomatic, conducted in full respect of international law and the mutual sovereign interests of both countries,” it added. 

Ummmm…

Recognizing Somaliland isn’t charity — it’s strategy. It aligns with America’s security interests and the “America First” doctrine by strengthening an ally that shares our values in a region vital to global trade and counterterrorism.@thehillhttps://t.co/gfgyShpL6B

— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) January 5, 2026

The Foreign Ministry went on to say that the “baseless allegations are intended to mislead the international community and undermine Somaliland’s diplomatic progress,” adding that “Somaliland remains committed to regional stability, and peaceful international cooperation.”

At CES in Las Vegas, where robotics is a dominant theme this year, Roborock introduced a striking new home robot meant to persuade consumers that household automation is ready for everyday life, according to Bloomberg.

The Chinese company — formally called Beijing Roborock Technology Co. — revealed the Saros Rover, a robotic vacuum concept equipped with two independent wheel-legs that allow it to climb stairs and traverse uneven terrain. According to the firm, it is “the first robot vacuum cleaner with two wheel-legs.” The device uses artificial intelligence, motion sensors, and 3D spatial mapping, and in a media demonstration it climbed stairs, descended a ramp, and performed a small jump, which a company spokesperson said could help it handle obstacles.

Bloomberg writes that the Rover replaces last year’s headline-grabbing Saros Z70, which featured a mechanical arm capable of picking up objects such as socks. While that model drew crowds at CES, it later disappointed reviewers when it launched for $2,599 in the U.S., partly because it recognized only a limited range of items. Learning from that experience, Roborock is now taking a more cautious approach: the Rover does not yet have a confirmed release date.

Like its predecessor, the new robot moves slowly when operating on its legs, and the company declined to disclose battery performance. During the presentation, it also remained unclear how well the Rover can recover from a fall, though the spokesperson said that in such cases the robot will attempt to right itself without human help.

Robotics’ growing presence at CES has become so prominent that the event’s organizer, the Consumer Technology Association, created a dedicated exhibition area for the category. Alongside home devices like Roborock’s, companies are showcasing humanoid robots that claim to handle complex tasks such as folding laundry. Still, widespread consumer adoption faces major hurdles, including high costs, limited battery life, and the need for more reliable mobility.