Intro
Welcome to The Cameron Journal Newsletter. Each week, Cameron Lee Cowan wraps up the headlines with commentary, helping you navigate today’s media narratives, how they are affecting our Culture, Lifestyle, and Society.
The World is Hard, This is Not
If you’re new here, my name is Cameron Lee Cowan M.A. MFA, and I’m the Creative Director here at The Cameron Journal. You can learn more about me on the about page. I do research and commentary on politics, culture, and the world around us. Each week I send out the latest news narratives, the latest videos from The Cameron Journal and commentary about the week’s events.
Remember, The World is Hard, This is Not.
Update from Cameron
Hello everyone!
As I mentioned last week, this will be the last newsletter of 2025. I am taking some time off at the end of the year. I normally take at least 2 hiatuses from the show and everything (one over the summer and one in the winter). This year, I didn’t take a break at all. So now, it is time for me to take some time and reflect. I have some new plans for The Cameron Journal in the new year that should be quite exciting.
I should note that we will be doing a long “hang out” stream on New Year’s Even with The Living Joke. The guys and I will be hanging out, playing games, and more. The stream starts at 4 pm!
I’m feeling very reflective this holiday season. 2025 has been one hell of a ride this year. I am definitely looking forward to 2026 being a better year than 2025. I think everyone has gotten on the struggle bus this year, but maybe it is just me. I am excited to reset my energies and myself to prepare for the next steps of what I have to do in my business, in my life and so on. The holidays are a tough time. We remember loved ones lost. I lost two friends this year. I’m thinking of their children and their first Christmas without their father. I am grateful that all my parents are still alive and doing well.
But I have lost relatives, and it is easy for our thoughts to turn to them at this time of year. This week, on the Christmas show for The Living Joke, Will showed off his bubble lights, and I was immediately taken back to my Grandma’s house when I was a kid. The bubble lights are one of my first memories.
And with that cozy memory, let’s jump into the headlines. I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a Happier New Year!
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The News Narratives of the Week
Don’t forget to join me on Monday for The Cameron Journal Newshour! We will have a special guest in the 2nd half of the show this week, so make sure to come on by!
Epstein Files Release
In compliance with Congress’ new law, the Department of Justice began the production of the full files around the investigation of Jeffrey Epstein and his crimes. Although 17,000 documents were released, we still don’t have the full Epstein files. There are more documents to come, and the DoJ promises that they will all be produced by the end of the year. I’ve been following the New York Times and their evaluation of the documents with live updates.
So far, no new information has been released. Many pictures of him with Hollywood stars have been released without context of the photos. Bill Clinton figures quite prominently in the release, and President Trump is curiously absent. There are also over 500 pages of redacted documents. In numerous instances, whole pages have been blanked out. Given all the material that we have between the email accounts, the House Oversight Committee documents and now this release, you’d think there would be something big to report but according to The New York Times, there’s no big revelations so far.
There are more documents to come, but it is clear what narrative is being created. The narrative is that Epstein was a Hollywood/Democrat problem and republicans (especially the President) are not involved in the case. We know that’s not strictly true, but that is the narrative being created here. It is quite interesting that the right-wing news machine and even X (formerly known as Twitter) accounts have been largely quiet on the release. Usually, there would be hundreds of accounts posting something like, “BREAKING! NEW THING!” but even those accounts haven’t bothered with this. I will be interested to see if anything new comes out over the coming days.
Venezuela Invasion?
Over the 2024 election, more than one Trump supporter screamed at me “No New Wars!” as if not wantonly invading a country was somehow an accomplishment. And yet, here we are today with the possibility of an invasion of Venezuela. I haven’t seen any open intelligence that an invasion is happening, but some of my contacts in South America are freaking out. I have been skeptical, but even I can’t deny the fact that it looks like this campaign is going beyond bombing some boats. Let’s think about this for a moment, there is a $50 million bounty on the head of Nicholas Madura, the president/dictator of Venezuela. We have a massive fleet of ships off their cost and troops being positioned in Trinidad. It seems like an invasion is imminent. In fact, it was speculated that the President would be announcing an invasion during his Oval Office address on Thursday night but did not mention it.
Narratively, the administration doesn’t seem to really be preparing the public for an invasion. For those of us old enough to remember the Iraq invasion, it took the Bush Administration 2 years to prepare the country for the idea, in a time when the country was already on their side (Bush had high popularity during this time), they still had to make the case to the country for the war. If President Trump decides to take this action, it would most certainly be unexpected by most people and would shock the country. The political blowback could be significant, but that has never stopped President Trump before. As an example of Trump taking action regardless of the politics, this week, he added his name to the facade of The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. so it is now the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. What do you want to bet that they won’t be answering the phones with all of that?
My point is this: if it looks like an invasion, it might not necessarily be an invasion. However, the Department of War announced this week that the U. S. Navy will be seizing oil tankers trying to export oil from Venezuela. This could lead to more conflict, as the Venezuelan navy will now be escorting those tankers. Shots could be fired at any moment and lead to escalating conflict. President Trump also mentioned the nationalization of Venezuela’s oil industry and the “theft” of oil and land from American companies. Honestly, an invasion of a South American country by the U.S. because of a corporate interest is about as American as Mom and Apple Pie (no offense to moms).
Marijuana Rescheduled
This week, President Trump signed an executive order removing Cannabis and Marijuana from the list of schedule 1 drugs (highly dangerous) and putting on the lowest level of danger in schedule 3. Quite frankly, I’m still surprised this happened under a republican administration. I had hoped the Biden administration would do it. While it does not make marijuana federally legal, new research can be conducted.
According to Marijuana Moment, “The executive order Trump signed directs the attorney general to complete a process to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), which would let cannabis businesses take federal tax deductions and lift certain research barriers.
While it wouldn’t legitimize state marijuana programs according to the federal government, the decision by a Republican president to loosen longstanding cannabis laws and recognize its medical benefits could embolden on-the-fence legislators at the state level, who may see it as a signal that the politics of the issue are shifting and there’s a lower risk of federal enforcement action.”
It is expected to help legalization efforts in Pennsylvania and Tennessee, where cannabis legalization is being debated. There’s not much narrative on this one, but legalization advocates will be using this as a reason to allow more people to consume the plant, especially as new research is beginning to evaluate its long-term effects for the first time.
America’s Lost Generation is Out Now! Get Your Copy!
I’m excited to announce that America’s Lost Generation is out now! It’s available everywhere books are sold or through The Cameron Journal directly. You’ve been hearing me talk about this book for a long time, and you’ve read the Millennials collection on The Cameron Journal. Looking to Japan for guidance (and a cautionary tale), I told the story of Millennials through their voices.
Articles of Interest
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