The US takes control of Venezuela.

Tech is about to get even crazier.

A police officer transfigures (Harry Potter style)

*Source: CoinGecko.com As of 3:56 PM January 11, 2026

1) Venezuela: The 51st State(?): In the wake of the US military’s capture and arrest of President Maduro, President Trump stated that the U.S. will "run" Venezuela during a transitional period to ensure stability and secure oil resources. He emphasized that major U.S. oil companies would be sent in to repair the country's infrastructure as part of the "reimbursement" for damages. Trump suggested that U.S. oversight could last for years, promising that under American management, the nation will be rebuilt "in a very profitable way" while finally driving down global gas prices. Add in Trump’s interest in Greenland, and it’s clear 2026 will be wild.

2) Less chat, more bot: The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) kicked off in Las Vegas with a focus on "Physical AI" - AI models that interact with the real world. Highlights included Nvidia’s "Cosmos" platform, which allows robots to understand object permanence and physics, as well as Uber’s luxury robotaxi debut, and Boston Dynamics’ humanoid robot "Atlas" demonstrating car assembly. There were also plenty of useless unusual products unveiled, like an AI ice maker, and lollipops that use bone conduction to play music into your inner ear while you eat them.

3) Alphabet takes down Apple: For the first time since 2019, Alphabet (the parent company of Google) is now the world’s second largest company, beating out Apple. Alphabet has been on an absolute tear recently, with their stock up 70% over the past 12 months. Would you believe me if I told you this was because of AI hype? You would? Okay, good.

1) A flock of 50 sheep wandered into a supermarket in Germany, roaming the aisles for 20 minutes and causing chaos before being shooed out by staff. “Get the flock out of here!” - probably an angry German grocery store clerk in whatever the German translation is.

2) In a bold act of vandalism, a man in Paris was filmed yanking the sword from the gilded statue of Joan of Arc in broad daylight before walking off with the historical replica. So I guess he’s, like, the King of France now? C’est la vie.

3) A Utah police department's AI software accidentally reported that an officer "transformed into a frog" after it overheard a Disney movie playing in the background of a bodycam recording. Don’t worry, he got better.

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The truth is, sticking to a budget is easier than you think.

First, budgeting isn’t just a spreadsheet, it’s a habit loop: cue, routine, reward.

Right now your loop is probably:
Feel stressed about money → build a perfect budget → feel relieved → then stop tracking once the stress dips or gets too much.

To make it stick, you need a smaller, daily habit to stack with budgeting, making it automatic:

This might seem overly simple, but that’s the key.

Make budgeting a regular, small action with immediate reward - not a massive irregular task that foreboding.

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