Pool accuses Owens of carelessly endangering others' lives by implicating them in Kirk's murder.

Watch The X22 Report On Video 2 videos found Ep 3792b – [DS] Wants War, Trump Wants Elections In Ukraine, SC Destroys The [DS] Power Structure Ep 3792a – Dark Forces Do Not Want The People Succeed Economically, Trump Is Freeing The People pt> Click On Picture To See Larger PictureThe [CB][DS] are trying to convince the world high electricity costs are coming from AI and Crypto mining, it is not, its coming from the green new scam. Gas prices are coming way down. The new system Trump is building is getting stronger and stronger. The [CB] will fight back against Trump’s tariff system. The [DS] is pushing back, they want war and they do not want the peace deal. Corruption is being exposed in Ukraine which is putting a lot of pressure on Zelensky, the EU is now funding Ukraine. Soon he will be pushed out or he will sign the peace deal. Trump says its time for election in Ukraine. The [DS] criminal syndicate that they setup in DC under threat by the SC. They will rule that Trump as the right to remove the agencies and people, they are not independent of the Executive Branch, game over.   Economy SEC BURGUM: “LAWMAKERS BROKE THE GRID, NOT DATA CENTERS” U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum just called out the real reason your energy bill is climbing, and it’s not AI or crypto. Electricity in New England costs 3x more than in North Dakota and he says that’s… pic.twitter.com/TeFCFv7mrD — Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) December 8, 2025 thanks to bad energy policy, not data centers. He slammed subsidies for unreliable sources like offshore wind, saying some projects cost $11B for 1GW of intermittent power, versus $1–2B for 24/7 reliable supply. Burgum laid into what he called “climate extremists,” accusing them of prioritizing flashy green experiments over building energy systems that actually work. The result is sky-high bills for electricity that cuts out when the weather does, while lawmakers pat themselves on the back for feel-good “net zero” policies that don’t add up. Burgum: “A lot of the higher prices that you’re seeing are not related to the AI data centers. The policy choices of the last 5 years, driven by sometimes climate extremists, were the ones that are driving up the prices you’re seeing.”   That is why I have authorized documentation to impose a 5% Tariff on Mexico if this water isn’t released, IMMEDIATELY. The longer Mexico takes to release the water, the more our Farmers are hurt. Mexico has an obligation to FIX THIS NOW. Thank you for your attention to this matter! Gas Prices Drop To Lowest Level In Nearly 5 Years Across US Gasoline prices have dropped to their lowest levels in nearly five years and stand at around $2.90 per gallon on average as of Monday, according to data from GasBuddy, a company that tracks gas prices. “The national average has just slipped below $2.90 per gallon for the first time since May 2, 2021,” GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan wrote in a Sunday post on X.   Source: zerohedge.com In 37 states, the average price for gas is below $3/gallon. In 22 states, it's below $2.75/gallon. In five states, it's below $2.50/gallon. And trending lower. https://t.co/Mgl0BilVTD — Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) December 8, 2025 ADP Weekly Employment Report Signals Rebound In Labor Market  the US labor market turned up for the four weeks ending Nov. 22, 2025, private employers added an average of 4,750 jobs a week., according to ADP’s new weekly employment data This week’s positive number hints at an upswing in the labor market after four straight weeks of negative pulse estimates, after four straight weeks of losing jobs. This follows the almost unprecedented decline in initial jobless claims last week (which some have argued was impacted by Thanksgiving Week irregularities). Source: zerohedge.com Ford can’t find 5,000 mechanics at $120,000. Nationwide, we’re short 400,000 skilled manufacturing workers. America's Blue Collar Renaissance is running into the wood-chipper of a progressive education system that doesn't teach useful skills. pic.twitter.com/mQBZj6RrHT — Peter St Onge, Ph.D. (@profstonge) December 9, 2025   “degraded” products that nobody wanted, a terrible idea that slowed Innovation, and hurt the American Worker. That Era is OVER! We will protect National Security, create American Jobs, and keep America’s lead in AI. NVIDIA’s U.S. Customers are already moving forward with their incredible, highly advanced Blackwell chips, and soon, Rubin, neither of which are part of this deal. My Administration will always put America FIRST. The Department of Commerce is finalizing the details, and the same approach will apply to AMD, Intel, and other GREAT American Companies. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!  Political/Rights .@GovPritzker and his fellow Illinois sanctuary politicians have released 1,768 violent criminal illegal aliens out of jail and back onto the streets of Illinois since January 20. Criminals released include murderers, pedophiles, and kidnappers back into our neighborhoods and… https://t.co/k4Qs39YuhG — Homeland Security (@DHSgov) December 8, 2025  putting American lives at risk. There are another 4,015 aliens in the custody of an Illinois jurisdiction that ICE is seeking to arrest. Criminal illegal aliens should not be released back onto our streets to terrorize more innocent Americans. BREAKING: Conservatives are demanding an immediate investigation into the protestors who know AHEAD OF TIME where ICE and Border Agents will be in Illinois. Agents showed up, and so did rioters. Someone's tracking them, real-time. And there's likely funding behind it. CUT… pic.twitter.com/s1zOdz3MkD — Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 9, 2025 In the @FBI we are cracking down on online abuse against children like never before – almost 500% increase in Nihilistic Violent Extremism arrests and over 20% increase in FBI arrests directly related to 764 network, thanks to local partners working with us. And we have hundreds… https://t.co/jKOg13P85a — FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) December 9, 2025 We are committed to hunting down the demons behind this metastasizing 764 network. You cannot hide. https://t.co/AUoN6uDnao — Dan Bongino (@FBIDDBongino) December 8, 2025  daily to dismantle the network and all those criminal actors associated with it. BREAKING: A federal judge has just GRANTED President Trump and AG Pam Bondi's request to unseal files from Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell's s*x trafficking case HUGE backfire on the Left once again. They're going to drop the issue entirely. pic.twitter.com/rUuufWOkN7 — Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 9, 2025 DOGE BREAKING: President Trump EVISCERATES the European Union for fining Elon Musk and X $140M, says he will be getting a "full report" on the situation The EU may have COOKED ITSELF! "Elon has not called me to ask for help, but no, that's tough. I don't think it's right, no! I… pic.twitter.com/0sluAU6t5C — Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 8, 2025   don’t see how they can do that!” “I’ll speak about it later. I’ll get a FULL report on it.” “Europe has to be VERY careful…Europe is going in some BAD directions.” @ElonMusk will win this! Geopolitical With today's decision, Brussels is attempting to force Hungary to pay even more or take migrants in. This is unacceptable. Hungary already spends enough to protect the Union's external border. We will not take a single migrant in, and we will not pay for others' migrants.… — Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) December 8, 2025  Hungary will not implement the measures of the Migration Pact. The rebellion begins! War/Peace “GPS (is) down over Venezuela and Trinidad. This is what a pre-strike setup looks like. The last time we saw this kind of buildup was Iraq, 2003 … Once that happens, bombs usually follow.” https://t.co/FvsRXoHIgj — Rasmussen Reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) December 8, 2025 EUROPE PREPARES FOR A UKRAINE WITHOUT AMERICA – LONDON SUMMIT SIGNALS A STRATEGIC SHIFT Today’s summit in London wasn’t just symbolic, it was strategic, signaling that European leaders are preparing to take a more active role in shaping the outcome of the war, especially… https://t.co/xITWxN9kMG pic.twitter.com/aag7wT6zdr — Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) December 8, 2025  amid uncertainty about future U.S. involvement. Zelensky met with Macron, Merz, and Starmer to align Europe’s position on Ukraine peace talks. The message? If the U.S. steps back, Europe is ready to step up. Macron spoke of “convergence” between Europe, Ukraine, and the U.S., code for: we’re not waiting for Trump. Starmer promised “a just and lasting settlement.” Merz framed Ukraine’s future as “the destiny of Europe.” This isn’t just about Ukraine anymore, it’s about Europe’s ability to act without Washington.aa the subtext is clear: Europe knows Trump may walk away, and they’re preparing for it. Ukraine is only part of the equation, the real test is whether Europe can act without Washington. For the first time since 2022, the center of gravity on Ukraine is shifting eastward, to Paris, Berlin, and London. If Trump wins, the burden of leadership falls on Europe. Today may have been the first test of whether it’s ready JUST IN: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer says they are finalizing plans to give Ukraine £100 billion in frozen Russian assets. pic.twitter.com/WZshZBixVN — BRICS News (@BRICSinfo) December 9, 2025 What’s The Likelihood Of A NATO-Russian Non-Aggression Pact? Putin recently proposed providing Europe, the majority of whose countries are part of NATO, with formal guarantees that it won’t attack. In connection with this, he also assessed that those who fearmonger about Russia are serving the interests of the military-industrial complex and/or trying to bolster their domestic image, which exposed their ulterior motives. In any case, his proposal could hypothetically lead to a NATO-Russian Non-Aggression Pact (NRNAP), but only if the political will exists on both sides Source: zerohedge.com  JUST IN I think it's time for Ukraine to hold an election — Trump "You know, they’re using war not to hold an election, but I would think the Ukrainian people would, you know, should have that choice" "You know, they talk about a democracy, but it gets to a point where… https://t.co/TujdmCdpZD pic.twitter.com/5MnnNZ129S — The Other Side Media (@TheOtherSideRu) December 9, 2025   it’s not a democracy anymore” Trump says it’s time for presidential elections in Ukraine Politico journalist Dasha Burns asked the US president whether Ukraine should hold elections. “Yeah. I think so. It’s been a long time. Things aren’t going very well. Yeah, I think it’s time. They’re using war not to… pic.twitter.com/7ZQTjDnk0S — Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) December 9, 2025   hold an election, but I would think the Ukrainian people should have that choice. And maybe Zelensky would win. But they haven’t had an election in a long time. They talk about a democracy, but it gets to a point where it’s not a democracy anymore,” Donald Trump said. As of December 2025, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s approval (or trust) rating in Ukraine has reportedly plummeted due to a major corruption scandal involving leaked “Mindich tapes” tied to his inner circle and energy sector graft. Multiple sources, including Ukrainian media and lawmakers, indicate the rating has dropped by about 40 percentage points in a single week, now sitting at or below 20-25%.   Medical/False Flags [DS] Agenda BREAKING: NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has chosen to appoint Mysonne Linen, a convicted armed robber, to be on his City Hall transition team. You cannot make this up. pic.twitter.com/D3FKfWInpN — Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 9, 2025 WATCH: Crockett Launches Senate Campaign By Posting Bizarre Compilation of Trump Repeatedly Calling Her ‘Low IQ’ FBI Agents Sue Kash Patel After Being Fired Over BLM Support — Claim Kneeling ‘Saved American Lives’   The FBI agents who kneeled during the George Floyd BLM riots were fired on Friday by the FBI. A group of former FBI agents has filed a lawsuit against Director Kash Patel and the federal government after being fired for supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. The dozen agents complained that almost immediately upon becoming director of the bureau, Patel began working to terminate all agents who had kneeled in support of the movement. The lawsuit also claims the agents would not have been fired had they had the same perceived political affiliations as those involved in the January 6th protests. Source: thegatewaypundit.com The FBI, as a U.S. federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice (DOJ), is required to maintain political neutrality and impartiality in its operations and public actions. It does not take official political stands or engage in activism, as its mission focuses on enforcing federal laws without partisan bias. Individual FBI employees (including agents) are subject to strict restrictions under the Hatch Act, which prohibits most forms of partisan political activity to ensure a neutral federal workforce. FBI personnel are classified as “further restricted” employees, meaning they face additional limitations compared to most other federal workers. Key Prohibitions for FBI EmployeesThese apply at all times (on or off duty) unless otherwise noted, with the goal of preventing any appearance of political influence or coercion: Taking a partisan political stand: They may not endorse or oppose candidates for partisan office or political parties in advertisements, broadcasts, campaign literature, speeches at partisan events, or similar materials if done in coordination with a candidate, party, or partisan group.     Pushing partisan activism: Active participation in partisan political management or campaigns is banned, including organizing rallies/caucuses, promoting/selling tickets to fundraising events, addressing partisan gatherings in support of/opposition to candidates, or driving voters to polls in coordination with partisan entities. They cannot use their official authority to interfere with elections or solicit/discourage political activity from individuals with business before the DOJ/FBI. Permitted Activities for FBI EmployeesWhile heavily restricted, some non-active or non-partisan actions are allowed, primarily off-duty: . LAWFARE: Big Fani might have a heft legal bill coming due as President Trump and his fellow 18 defendants are able to recover their legal fees from her Fulton County office. Georgia’s November 26 dismissal triggered a 2025 state statute allowing Donald Trump to reclaim $5–10… https://t.co/9lm69QIade pic.twitter.com/FyoZhmh3JL — @amuse (@amuse) December 8, 2025   million in fees from Fani Willis’s office after she was disqualified for an improper relationship with a special prosecutor. The Georgia Supreme Court removed her permanently in September, opening the door for all 19 defendants to file similar reimbursement claims. The total cost could dwarf Trump’s alone and stands as a humiliating rebuke of Willis’s partisan prosecution. The blowback is now financial as well as legal. $21 BILLION IN OBAMACARE SUBSIDIES CAN'T BE TRACED TO ACTUAL PEOPLE Government Accountability Office decided to see if anyone's actually watching the store. So they made 20 completely fictitious applicants – no real people, no documentation, just testing if the system would… pic.twitter.com/CbGBJg8PLw — Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) December 9, 2025 notice. 18 of them are still actively covered. September 2025. Monthly payout: over $10,000. GAO’s just…monitoring them. Because apparently nobody at HHS has. No SSN? Fine. No proof of citizenship? Whatever. No income documentation? Come on in. GAO literally wrote in their report: “[We] did not provide documentation yet received coverage.” They’re not even hiding it – they got benefits with nothing. The system just said yes. Now check the real-world damage. In 2023, 29,000 Social Security numbers somehow got used for multiple full-year coverage plans. By 2024? That jumped to 68,000. Someone’s running the same number through the machine twice, three times, however many times it takes, and the alarms aren’t going off. Then there’s the $94 million that went to dead people in 2023. Not “accounts tied to people who died recently and the paperwork hasn’t caught up” – straight up deceased recipients. Death certificates filed, funerals held, checks still clearing. But here’s the really wild part: GAO tried to track $21 billion in subsidies from 2023 back to actual Social Security numbers. Couldn’t do it. 21 billion dollars just floating out there with no clear connection to who’s supposed to be getting it. The system allows multiple enrollments per SSN “to help ensure actual SSN-holder can enroll in cases of identity theft or data entry errors.” In other words: we built in workarounds so generous that fraud looks identical to legitimate use. Now Congress is fighting over whether to extend these enhanced COVID subsidies past December 31. Cost to keep them? $30 billion annually. 24 million people enrolled, over 90% getting subsidies. Without extension, premiums spike overnight and 22 million people might lose coverage. Republicans looking at GAO’s findings saying: this is exactly why we shouldn’t pour another $30B into a system that can’t tell fake accounts from real ones. Democrats saying: you’re going to kick 22 million people off insurance because less than 1% is fraud? Both sides kinda have a point. Yeah, the fraud’s under 1% of total enrollees. But when you’re burning $30B yearly and literally cannot verify where $21B went, “less than 1%” stops sounding so minor. Senate vote coming this week. Expected to fail. Which means scramble for short-term extension, fight continues into 2026 budget battles, and absolutely nothing changes about fraud controls. Because here’s what nobody wants to say out loud: the system isn’t designed to catch fraud. It’s designed to maximize enrollment. When your mandate is “get people covered,” asking too many questions becomes the enemy. Verification slows things down. Documentation creates barriers. Better to let a few fake accounts slip through than risk denying real people who need coverage. So GAO’s 18 fictional enrollees will keep collecting their $10K monthly until someone at HHS manually shuts them down. Which requires someone at HHS to actually read GAO reports. Which requires someone at HHS to care more about fraud than enrollment numbers. Don’t hold your breath. By next year, GAO will run the same test. Find the same results. Write the same warnings. And Congress will have the same fight about whether feeding money into a system that can’t track where it goes is compassionate policy or expensive theater. Meanwhile, somewhere in America, a completely imaginary person just got their subsidized premium renewed for 2026. Boasberg wants the testimony of a discredited leaker, who repeatedly violated attorney-client privilege and who never once had a conversation with Sec Noem, to determine the mental state of Sec Noem?! DOJ should not give loser Boasberg the time of day. Don’t participate in his… https://t.co/zbEeR6Ko9m — Chad Mizelle (@chad_mizelle) December 9, 2025  clown show. Ignore him. In the meantime, Congress needs to start acting like a co-equal branch and initiate its own inquiry into Boasberg.   President Trump’s Plan Alina Habba Resigns as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey After Courts Rule Against Her Appointment Alina Habba, President Donald Trump’s pick to serve as U.S. attorney for New Jersey, has resigned from her role following a federal court’s ruling to uphold a lower court’s decision that she was not “lawfully” appointed to the office. The news was announced Monday by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who said she was “saddened to accept Alina’s resignation”: pic.twitter.com/bid0ao1y4B — Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) December 8, 2025 Habba intends to return to the U.S. attorney’s office if that occurs, Bondi added, noting that she will be continuing with the DOJ as a senior advisor. Source: breitbart.com Do Not Mistake Compliance For Surrender” – Alina Habba Steps Down As Acting US Attorney For New Jersey    Habba’s statement Monday said “do not mistake compliance for surrender”. pic.twitter.com/wIhEvXXZoh — Alina Habba (@AlinaHabba) December 8, 2025 Source: zerohedge.com There’s really only two explanations for Ketanji Brown’s arguments here. She is either too stupid, to really understand the Constitution and why it grants so much power over unelected bureaucrats. Or….. She does know and is part of the enemy insurgency, trying to destroy the… https://t.co/lWD8QJ39gn — JoeLange (@JoeLang51440671) December 9, 2025  Ketanji Brown Jackson claimed the president should have no power to fire expert bureaucrats. She said economists, PhDs, scientists, & transportation officials should operate beyond presidential reach. Such a view would carve the heart out of Article II & cement rule by permanent insiders rather than elected leadership. Jackson’s theory elevates the deep state over the voters who choose a president. That is a constitutional revolution in plain sight. The reason the deep state has sought to create "independent commissions" like the FTC and the FCC was to grant them vast powers while also placing them beyond oversight and accountability. Well, it looks like the SCOTUS is about to destroy that boondoggle once and for all.… https://t.co/ERwcvc5GRe — AwakenedOutlaw (@AwakenedOutlaw) December 8, 2025   Furthermore, the same logic would apply to the Federal Reserve, IMO. In fact, that’s almost certainly where this is going. Justice Kavanaugh: “I want to give you a chance to deal with the hard hypothetical. When both Houses of Congress and the President are controlled by the same party, they create a lot of these independent agencies or extend some of the current independent agencies into these kinds of situations so as to thwart future Presidents of the opposite party If you don’t impeach the corrupt judges, you CANNOT fix the country. They will form a cartel (a judicial dictatorship) and block all reforms, protecting the systemic corruption that put them in their seats. https://t.co/crNZDuj0Kf — Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) February 26, 2025   If Trump is getting stonewalled by corrupt Republican leadership, then he should be holding public rallies, doing press conferences and buying up TV spots on the major networks to make his case, expose every Republican politician, and urge his supporters to put the pressure on. https://t.co/rOLst3mG4P — Murray (@Rothbard1776) December 8, 2025   President Trump: Senator Grassley is acting like an asshole with this Blue Slip nonsense and I can’t get anyone confirmed — so now I have to keep appointing people for 3 months at a time “I think I know why they that, to protect their ASS.”https://t.co/gcUAi4IXGY https://t.co/x1AI6U0htR pic.twitter.com/lSFe7BzPQ2 — MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) December 8, 2025   BREAKING: President Trump RIPS the Senate GOP and Chuck Grassley for letting Democrats obstruct his appointment of US Attorney Alina Habba and others *SEVEN* US Attorneys will have to quit soon because the GOP IS DOING NOTHING. "If I put up GEORGE WASHINGTON [in] Virginia… pic.twitter.com/2RgAp8Nq8y — Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 8, 2025   where you have Dem Senators, they won’t approve him! This gentlemen’s agreement [blue slip] has lasted TOO LONG. It means you can’t appoint a GOP US Attorney!” “In VA, NJ, CA, a US Attorney or judge…the only people you can get by are Democrats because they put a HOLD ON IT!” “It only takes one senator! If they are Democrat, they won’t approve it.” “All because GRASSLEY with his BLUE SLIP stuff won’t let anybody go by! And by the way, Democrats have violated blue slip!” Susie Wiles: Trump Will Campaign for 2026 Midterms ‘Like It’s 2024 Again’ White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles revealed that President Donald Trump will get out and “campaign like it’s 2024 again” for the 2026 midterm elections. Wiles went on to explain that “in the midterms, it’s not about who’s sitting at the White House,” but about localizing the election and keeping “the federal officials out of it.” “We’re actually going to turn that on its head,” Wiles shared. “And, put him on the ballot because so many of those low propensity voters are Trump voters. And, we saw, a week ago Tuesday, what happens when he’s not on the ballot and not active. So, I haven’t quite broken it to him yet, but he’s going to campaign like it’s 2024 again.” Source: breitbart.com

Black Americans are pissed! “So sick of these people who immigrate to our country and decide to sh*t on this great country." "How bad does your sh*thole country have to be that you uproot the traditions, the languages, and the customs? You leave all of that behind to come to a… pic.twitter.com/TPuWjBiiAX — Alex Jones […]

by Harley Schlanger, LaRouche Organization: It’s decision time for nations: Stay within the bubble of monetarism, i.e., inventing new financial instruments to offload unpayable debts onto the taxpayers, while bailing out the largest speculators? Or adopting a new paradigm based on mutual benefit?  The second option includes adopting LaRouche’s Four Laws, beginning with a global […]

by Niamh Harris, The Peoples Voice: The Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban has claimed that the EU is shifting its economy to reach full combat readiness within five years. Speaking at an anti-war rally on Saturday, Orban claimed that the European Union was preparing for war with Russia and aims to be fully ready by […]

from ITM TRADING, INC.: TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/

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  Throughout history, a number of trade goods have transformed cultures, established ties between civilizations, and even helped start wars. From the opium that encouraged the British Empire to expand its borders to the precious whale oil that pushed sailors to explore uncharted waters, these commodities were much more than trade goods; they changed the world.   1. Guano: More Valuable Than Gold Guano mining in Peru, 1865. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Since human civilization began farming, those who worked the land were largely at the mercy of the weather and the inherent mineral properties of the soil they farmed. This was the case for thousands of years until guano changed the way the world grew crops. The accumulated waste products of bats and seabirds, guano, has an exceptionally high concentration of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium. These minerals are vital for plant growth and make guano the perfect fertilizer. Aside from farming, guano was also traded as an ingredient for the production of gunpowder.   For hundreds of years, guano was used by cultures in modern-day Peru to boost the crop yields of farms located in relatively infertile areas of the Inca Empire. However, after European explorers encountered this practice in the 19th century, the global trade in guano took off. The use of guano as a fertilizer allowed European nations to boost their crop yields to feed their growing empires and greatly contributed to the modern farming practices we still use today. However, the global trade in guano steadily declined as seabird colonies began to collapse due to the over-exploitation of the mineral reserves. In 1910, after an artificial method of extracting nitrogen and other minerals from the atmosphere was developed, the global trade in guano became a thing of the past.   2. Whale Oil: Lighting the World Danish Whaling Station by Abraham Speeck, 1634. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Before the advent of gas and electricity, the streets of major cities were primarily lit with whale oil. For centuries, this valuable commodity was extracted from baleen whales and sperm whales. The oil was mostly used to make soap and lamp fuel from the 16th century until the late 19th century. Moreover, whale oil was a highly sought-after lubricant for mechanical instruments, as well as a vital ingredient for varnish and sailing cloth. As industrial ingenuity increased and the global trade in whale oil became more lucrative, myriad new ways to use whale oil were invented. For example, during both World Wars, whale oil played a crucial role in the creation of explosives, and throughout the 1960s, whale liver oil was a highly significant source of Vitamin D.   During the global whale oil trade, the finished product was typically created at sea aboard massive industrial whaling ships, which used steam pressure to render a whale carcass into valuable oil. However, as overfishing led to an increase in the price of whale oil, consumers sought cheaper alternatives. Eventually, all of the most important uses of whale oil were replaced with petroleum alternatives, and the industry steadily collapsed.   3. Salt: White Gold A museum salt mining exhibit, 2010. Source: High Contrast / Wikimedia Commons   Before the advent of commercial refrigeration, one of the only ways to preserve food was to extract moisture using salt. For thousands of years, the global salt trade was a key driving factor for the development of civilizations in the ancient world. For centuries, the trade and production of salt played a key role in the economies of the Ancient Greeks, Tamils, Romans, and Chinese. Salt was such an important good for the early Romans that roads were constructed leading from the Adriatic Sea to Rome in order to allow for faster transport of sea salt.   Notably, the modern word “salary” derives from the Latin word for salt. However, there is very little evidence to support the notion that Roman legionaries were paid in salt. Their salary was paid in currency and was often referred to as a “solarium” as it may have been used to purchase salt for food preservation. During the latter period of the Roman Empire and continuing into the early Middle Ages, salt was a highly traded commodity, which was transported along salt roads across Europe. However, as industrial production and new methods of food preservation became prevalent, the value of salt plummeted, and a global trade network became a preserve of the ancient world.   4. Ambergris: Perfume From the Sea Dried ambergris, 2018. Source: Wmpearl / Wikimedia Commons   Ambergris is perhaps one of the most obscure forgotten trade goods. The solid waxy material known as ambergris is found in the intestines of sperm whales and is a byproduct of the digestive process. In Europe, the global trade in ambergris was largely driven by the perfume industry as it was used to stabilize the ingredients in high-end fragrances. In Asia, ambergris had myriad uses and was employed in traditional medicine and even as a food flavoring. Ambergris is found washed up on shores around the world, and its name comes from the French word “gray amber” due to its similarity to the natural mineral found along the North Sea. Ambergris is a chemically complex mix of acids and cholesterols that increase in potency once dried. Today, the properties of ambergris are replicated by synthetic materials.   5. Beaver Pelts: The Key Commodity of the Fur Trade Fur traders in Canada, trading with Indians by William Faden, 1777. Source: Wikimedia Commons   The economy of the early North American colonies, especially Canada, relied heavily on the trade of beaver pelts. The creation of an entirely unique currency, known as the Made Beaver currency by the Hudson Bay Company—used to standardize the price of beaver pelts and distribute the wealth of the fur trade among hunters—clearly shows how vital trade in beaver pelts was to the early settlers. Beaver pelts were primarily used to make hats due to the length and composition of the fur. Global trade began in earnest around the 16th century as wealthy Europeans looked to the relatively tariff-free economy of North America to make their fortune.   During its peak, the global beaver pelt trade contributed to a number of armed conflicts, such as the French and Indian War and the Beaver Wars. The trade reached its peak at the beginning of the 19th century and steadily declined as European fashion evolved and cheaper synthetic alternatives replaced expensive animal furs.   6. Ice Blocks: Cold Gold An ice delivery, 1918. Source: National Archives at College Park / Wikimedia Commons   Before the refrigerator made it readily accessible, water ice was a relatively rare commodity across large parts of the world. During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the ice trade in Norway and the United States involved harvesting naturally occurring ice from mountain ponds and streams, storing it in an ice house, and then shipping it across the world. One of the pioneers of the ice trade was Frederic Tudor, who started shipping ice blocks from the northern provinces to the Caribbean.   As the ice trade grew, a huge number of frozen blocks were harvested from the Hudson River and Maine and shipped from New York to cities around the world. The abundance of ice allowed the brewing, fishing, and meatpacking industries to expand considerably, opening up new markets and enabling business to continue during the summer months. At the end of the 19th century, the ice trade in the US was worth almost thirty million dollars and employed nearly one hundred thousand people. The global ice trade collapsed in the first half of the 20th century as artificial refrigeration took off and allowed ice to be produced regardless of location.   7. Opium: A Driving Force of Imperialism The signing and sealing of the Treaty of Nanking by Captain John Platt, 1846. Source: Wikimedia Commons   The opium poppy, which originated in Turkey, was first mentioned by the Greek philosopher and physician Dioscorides in the 1st century CE. The opium poppy was used in ancient medicine as a painkiller and panacea. Until the late 7th century, the opium trade was localized to Mesopotamia and Greece, after which it slowly spread out and made its way to China and India, where it was used in a variety of traditional medicines. Throughout much of history, opium was taken orally as a panacea and was not potent enough to cause addiction.   However, as tobacco smoking became more widespread in Europe and the global trade in tobacco products became lucrative, the practice of opium smoking also began to develop. The practice was particularly popular in China, where opium smoking became popular, and by the 17th century, addiction to opium-laced tobacco was a common occurrence. During the 18th century, European imperial powers, especially Britain, sought to take advantage of the lucrative opium market in China and began trading the narcotic in exchange for tea and silk. The opium trade between Britain and Chinese merchants caused serious problems for the Chinese authorities, who sought to eradicate opium addiction by restricting trade. This resulted in the Opium Wars, which ended with Britain winning the right to trade the commodity freely in Chinese ports.   8. Indigo: A Forgotten Cash Crop An Indigo Factory at Allahabad, India by John Clark Ridpath, 1897. Source: Internet Archive Book Images on Flickr   Throughout history, various cultures have used indigo to dye clothing. Evidence of the earliest known indigo production can be found in Peru, dating back almost six thousand years. In China and Japan, indigo has long been used to dye fabrics, especially silk, with India being at the heart of much of the ancient indigo trade. Historical records indicate that the Ancient Greeks and Romans imported much of the indigo from India, which was considered a luxury commodity.   During the Middle Ages, across Europe, the woad plant was used as a substitute to dye clothing instead of expensive imported indigo. However, after European explorers established sea routes to India in the early 16th century, the production of indigo grew rapidly. At the height of the indigo trade, nearly ten thousand square kilometers of Indian land was dedicated to the growing of indigo. As cheaper synthetic alternatives became more readily available, the global indigo trade steadily declined.