Wednesday, December 24, 2025

Kiting Checks For War

 On The Hook,


  Simplicius: Another Failure: EUCO Summit Conditions New Ukrainian "Loan" Repayment on Total Victory Over Russia
​ The EUCO summit was a disaster for Ursula von der Leyen and Friedrich Merz. Despite having enough for a qualified majority in EUCO, the opposition of Belgium and 6 other countries meant that Russian assets were not seized. Despite promising to give Ukraine somewhere between 140-210 billion Euros, EUCO decided to give just 90 billion and the cherry on top, strong opposition from France and Italy meant that the Mercosur free trade deal was postponed. The EU is more divided than ever...
​..In other words, the agreed amount is just enough to keep the country afloat a little longer and prevent bankruptcy, but it does not provide the capacity to go further or to significantly acquire new military capabilities.
​  But here’s the most important and astounding kicker—the loan is entirely conditioned on Ukraine first receiving reparations from Russia; i.e. only if and when Ukraine receives Russian reparations is Ukraine then obligated to repay the loan.​..
..And how can Ukraine force Russia to pay it hundreds of billions in reparations? That’s simple: Win the war.
So, as long as Ukraine wins the war, the EU will get its money back. Sounds like a surefire bet, no?
​  Facetiousness aside, what this means is two things: Firstly, that the EU has just criminally robbed its citizens of €90B by essentially issuing a fake loan which is in actuality another free grant, given that there is zero chance of its repayment ever happening, since Ukraine has zero chance of ever decisively winning the war in such a way as to somehow “force” Russia into paying reparations—a laughable concept that no one even amongst the EUCO cattle could possibly imagine has a chance of happening.
​  But the second is the far more significant and sinister point: it legally ties the EU as a party to the war by giving it major stakes for winning the war against Russia. That means from this point forward, the EU is virtually obligated to do everything in its power to defeat Russia on the battlefield in order to win back its citizens’ criminally stolen assets.​   
https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/another-failure-euco-summit-conditions

​  Alex Krainer, Toward the European spring of 2026?
U.S. National Security Strategy marks a break with America's globalist committments. Yet its regime-change playbook and capabilities remain intact through the NED.
​  NSS25 may not have openly declared diplomatic war against the EU, but it might as well have: it positively asserts the “Primacy of Nations,” spelling out that “the world’s fundamental political unit is and will remain the nation-state,” and that, “The United States will put our own interests first and, in our relations with other nations, encourage them to prioritize their own interests as well.” The document further declares that:
​  “We stand for the sovereign rights of nations, against the sovereignty-sapping incursions of the most intrusive transnational organizations, and for reforming those institutions so that they assist rather than hinder individual sovereignty and further American interests.”
​  The above paragraphs spell out an unambiguously hostile stance against the EU, as well as the U.S. intention to stand up “for genuine democracy,” and encouraging U.S. political allies in Europe to promote their sovereigntist “revival of spirit.”​   
https://alexkrainer.substack.com/p/toward-the-european-spring-of-2026

​  The last time that went down (Macron is no de Gaulle): Les Soixante-Huitards: The French Student Demonstrations of May 1968
The French student demonstrations of May 1968 were a series of protests in France challenging traditional values, government authority, and the established social order.​   https://www.thecollector.com/may-1968-french-student-protests/

​  Moon of Alabama on why WW-3 against Russia is not longer what Hip Eurocrats are pitching:  “What changed with the German Minister of Defense, and why did it change so fast?”  
​  Just last month, Boris Pistorius warned a German newspaper that Europe may already have seen its last peaceful summer and that Russia and NATO could be at war next year.
​  Now he says there will be no Third World War and that talk of a NATO–Russia conflict is “figurative exaggeration.”
What changed, and why did it change so fast?
One Dimitry Medvedev asks a similar question:
​  The ‘European peacemakers’ are surprising. Pistorius said he doesn’t believe war will break out between NATO and Russia, and Stubb admitted our country has no interest in attacking alliance members.
​  So, what happened? Sobering up or have the Christmas holidays simply begun?
My answer to both is: Tulsi Gabbard​:  DNI Tulsi Gabbard @DNIGabbard – 21:02 utc · Dec 20, 2025
​  "No, this is a lie and propaganda @Reuters is willingly pushing on behalf of warmongers who want to undermine President Trump’s tireless efforts to end this bloody war that has resulted in more than a million casualties on both sides.
  Dangerously, you are promoting this false narrative to block President Trump’s peace effort, and fomenting hysteria and fear among the people to get them to support the escalation of war, which is what NATO and the EU really want in order to pull the United States military directly into war with Russia.​"   
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2025/12/what-changed-with-the-german-minister-of-defense-and-why-did-it-change-so-fast.html

​  Russia lacks capability to conquer Ukraine or Europe: US intelligence chief
Gabbard denies reports claiming that US intelligence supports EU, NATO views of alleged Moscow plans to invade Europe, says they aim to undermine Trump’s peace efforts​   
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/russia-lacks-capability-to-conquer-ukraine-or-europe-us-intelligence-chief/3777030 

​  Zelensky reveals full 20-point peace plan draft backed by Ukraine, US
"So we are in a situation where the Russians want us to withdraw from Donetsk Oblast, while the Americans are trying to find a way for us not to withdraw because we are against withdrawal," Zelensky said.
​  "They are looking for a demilitarized zone or a free economic zone, meaning a format that could satisfy both sides. We consider a free economic zone a potential option for a sovereign state to choose such a path. We fought for a single word — 'potential.' We believe that such potential economic zones can exist," he added.
​  "We are saying: if all regions are included and if we remain where we are, then we will reach an agreement. That is why it says 'potential zones' here. But if we do not agree to 'remain where we are,' there are two options: either the war continues, or something will have to be decided regarding all potential economic zones."​   
https://kyivindependent.com/zelensky-reveals-20-point-peace-plan-draft-backed-by-ukraine-us/

And certainly not Ukrainians in Russia:​  Citizens In Eastern Ukraine Will Not Be Allowed To Vote, Zelensky Says​   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/citizens-eastern-ukraine-will-not-be-allowed-vote-zelensky-says

​  The piece of Odessa Oblast that connects with Romania is being cut off from Ukraine by destroying 3 bridges. NATO can supply Ukrainian soldiers deposited there by airplane, but... "A target for Oreshnik": an expert assessed the emergence of a NATO logistics center in Romania   https://en.topcor.ru/67137-cel-dlja-oreshnika-jekspert-ocenil-pojavlenie-logisticheskogo-centra-nato-v-rumynii.html

​This is a critical bridge: Russian Strike on Mayaki Bridge Threatens Up to 60% of Ukraine’s Fuel Supply​    https://www.thedefensenews.com/news-details/Russian-Strike-on-Mayaki-Bridge-Threatens-Up-to-60-of-Ukraines-Fuel-Supply/

​  A sharp change in rhetoric towards Russia indicates an imminent split in Europe: First, Macron refused to support the European Commission's decision to transfer frozen Russian assets to Ukraine, and now the Finnish president has admitted that Russia does not threaten Europe. According to the Finnish leader, talks about the "Russian threat" are needed primarily to justify increased military spending.​   https://x.com/Zlatti_71/status/2003330296104566816

​  Don't pull that trigger if you​ don't want to be shot​ in the face "Panic has arisen in the West over Putin's remarks about Kaliningrad" – British press
The publication notes that the Russian leader promised a "harsh response" from Russia in the event of an attempt to blockade Kaliningrad. He stated that such a threat (challenge) would lead to an unprecedented escalation of the crisis, taking it to a whole new level, escalating into a full-scale armed conflict.​   https://en.topcor.ru/67092-na-zapade-voznikla-panika-iz-za-slov-putina-o-kaliningrade-pressa-britanii.html

​  Adelson ​putatively paid for Rubio to be in the ​Trump administration. Trump's headache: Witkoff and Rubio are enemies​   
This is the president's headache: opposing subordinates. Rubio already has friction and "different views" with Vice President J.D. Vance, and now the top US diplomat has a new enemy: Witkoff.​   https://en.topcor.ru/67155-golovnaja-bol-trampa-uitkoff-i-rubio-vragi.html

​  This 1994 book chapter explains the rigid religous-Zionist perspective that the only purpose of non-Jews is to serve Jews, and that they must all be removed from the land that God gave the Jews. This absolutist perspective commands the actions of the "Jewish state". 
​  Please take 10 minutes to read Chapter 6 of Israel Shahak's 1994 book Jewish History, Jewish Religion, titled "Political Consequences".
"The persistent attitudes of classical Judaism toward non-Jews strongly influence its followers, Orthodox Jews and those who can be regarded as its continuators, Zionists. Through the latter, it also influences the policies of the State of Israel. Since 1967, as Israel becomes more and more 'Jewish', its policies are influenced more by Jewish ideological considerations than by those of a coldly conceived imperial interest. This ideological influence is not usually perceived by foreign experts, who tend to ignore or downplay the influence of the Jewish religion on Israeli policies. This explains why many of their predictions are incorrect."​   https://x.com/ireallyhateyou/status/1996885256255701217

  ​I have seen rumors that Donald Trump converted to Judaism since his first term. This is widely believed in Israel. Politically he's a member of The Tribe.
Why Donald Trump is being called 'first Jewish president' despite being Christian​ - Donald Trump hosted a White House Hanukkah celebration on Tuesday (December 16)​   https://www.tyla.com/news/politics/is-donald-trump-jewish-christian-857163-20251218

​  Netanyahu To Ask Trump To Support Another Attack on Iran
“The June war resulted in mutual deterrence, a situation Iran can accept, but one that is intolerable for Netanyahu and his legacy. Ultimately, the conflict was neither a victory for Israel nor for Iran,” Parsi wrote in Responsible Statecraft on Sunday, responding to the NBC report.
​  “It is precisely this balance of terror that prompts Israel to seek a new round – Israel’s military doctrine does not allow for any of its regional foes to deter it or challenge its military dominance. Iran’s missile program currently does exactly that,” Parsi added. “And this is precisely why Trump must say no to Netanyahu. Because Israel’s objective is not security in the conventional sense, but rather absolute dominance.”​   
https://scheerpost.com/2025/12/22/report-netanyahu-to-ask-trump-to-support-another-attack-on-iran/

​Israeli Ambassador to Washington, Mike: Huckabee: Iran ‘didn’t get the full message’ when US bombed its nuclear sites   https://ground.news/article/huckabee-iran-didnt-get-the-full-message-when-us-bombed-its-nuclear-sites_9d4172

From Churches to ChatGPT: Israeli Contracts Worth Millions Aim to Influence U.S. Public Opinion​   https://israelpalestinenews.org/chat-gpt-israeli-contracts/

California’s New Law Outlawing Criticism of Israel Quashes Academic Freedom, Criminalizes Teachers​   https://scheerpost.com/2025/12/22/californias-new-law-outlawing-criticism-of-israel-quashes-academic-freedom-criminalizes-teachers/

The New York Times ignores an essential part of the Jeffrey Epstein story — Israel​   https://israelpalestinenews.org/the-new-york-times-ignores-an-essential-part-of-the-jeffrey-epstein-story-israel/

MAGA divided: Zionist influence sparks GOP backlash over Israel-First politics​ ​   https://www.naturalnews.com/2025-12-02-zionist-influence-sparks-gop-backlash-over-israel-first-politics.html

Steve Bannon UNLOADS on Ben Shapiro at TPUSA’s America Fest: “Ben Shapiro is Like a Cancer, and that Cancer Spreads”​   https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/12/steve-bannon-destroys-ben-shapiro-tpusas-america-fest/

​  JD Vance: Nick Fuentes ‘can eat shit’
JD Vance has for months faced mounting pressure to censure Nicholas J. Fuentes and his army of boisterously racist and antisemitic supporters, known as Groypers. Speaking exclusively to UnHerd at the vice president’s residence on Friday, he doesn’t mince his words. “Let me be clear,” he says. “Anyone who attacks my wife, whether their name is Jen Psaki [the former Biden press secretary] or Nick Fuentes, can eat shit. That’s my official policy as vice president of the United States.”...
​..Says Vance: “I think that Nick Fuentes, his influence within Donald Trump’s administration, and within a whole host of institutions on the Right, is vastly overstated, and frankly, it’s overstated by people who want to avoid having a foreign-policy conversation about America’s relationship with Israel.” That is, the Hitler-praising Groyper king functions as a useful foil for pro-Israel hard-liners in the Right’s raucous internal debate over America’s alliance with the Jewish state.​   https://archive.is/ptyxj#selection-815.0-829.220

  "​God says ..." Israeli forces on Monday bulldozed agricultural land in the town of Silat al-Harithiya, west of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian media reported, quoting local officials.
  The mayor of Silat al-Harithiya, Samir Zayoud, told local media that Israeli bulldozers began early in the morning, levelling farmlands in the Suruj area, located between Silat al-Harithiya and Ya'bad. He added that the lands, which have grown olive trees for over 30 years, are classified as state lands and cover an area estimated at 45 hectares.   
https://x.com/MiddleEastEye/status/2003193590734872829

​  411 Gazans killed, over 1,100 injured in Israeli attacks since ceasefire, media office says​ - Gaza media office documents 875 Israeli violations of ceasefire since Oct. 10​   https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/411-gazans-killed-over-1-100-injured-in-israeli-attacks-since-ceasefire-media-office-says/3778128

​  ‘Alarming’ medicine shortages in Gaza amid Israeli restrictions
Gaza’s Health Ministry says the most critical drug shortages are in emergency services.​   
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/21/alarming-medicine-shortages-in-gaza-amid-israeli-restrictions

  ​"God says to dig in": Satellite Analysis Shows Israel Entrenching Control in Gaza
Satellite evidence points to expanded Israeli military infrastructure in Gaza during the ceasefire, undermining commitments to a gradual withdrawal.​   https://www.telesurenglish.net/satellite-analysis-shows-israel-entrenching-control-in-gaza/

​  Israeli defense minister vows no full withdrawal from Gaza, occupied Syrian territories
Katz’s office claims his comments on building settlements in Gaza ‘were made solely in a security context’​   
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israeli-defense-minister-vows-no-full-withdrawal-from-gaza-occupied-syrian-territories/3778947

Is this politically possible? Pakistan Army to Deploy Troops to Gaza by January 2026 Under Trump–Munir Deal, $500 Per Soldier​   https://www.thedefensenews.com/news-details/Pakistan-Army-to-Deploy-Troops-to-Gaza-by-January-2026-Under-TrumpMunir-Deal-500-Per-Soldier/

'No Alternative' to the IDF: Israel Privately Presses Trump To Give International Troops Deadline To Disarm Hamas​   https://freebeacon.com/israel/no-alternative-to-the-idf-israel-privately-presses-trump-to-give-international-troops-deadline-to-disarm-hamas/

6 Children Killed: Israeli Attack on Gaza School Sparks Global Outrage​   https://www.telesurenglish.net/israeli-attack-on-gaza-school/

Israel is directly responsible for babies freezing to death – Not a Ceasefire Day 72​   https://israelpalestinenews.org/israel-is-directly-responsible-for-babies-freezing-to-death-not-a-ceasefire-day-72/

Israel Demolishes Residential Building in East Jerusalem​   https://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5221954-israel-demolishes-residential-building-east-jerusalem%C2%A0

​  Army-"settler" tag-teams: Israeli settlers rampage across West Bank as army raids intensify
Palestinians across the West Bank faced settler attacks amid Israeli army raids on several villages as Israel’s assault on Gaza continued.​   
https://www.newarab.com/news/israel-settlers-rampage-across-west-bank-army-raids-intensify

​Coordinated: Israeli army, settlers storm al-Zawiya, al-Khalil, Ramallah   https://en.mehrnews.com/news/240016/Israeli-army-settlers-storm-al-Zawiya-al-Khalil-Ramallah

It may be too late​ for these political prisonersMedical Crisis in UK Prisons – 800 Doctors Warn of ‘Imminent Deaths’ Among Palestine Action Strikers​   https://israelpalestinenews.org/medical-crisis-in-uk-prisons-800-doctors-warn-of-imminent-deaths-among-palestine-action-strikers/

​  BREAKING: Greta Thunberg arrested under the Terrorism Act for holding a sign which says "I support Palestine Action prisoners. I oppose genocide" She was detained at the Prisoners for Palestine action at Aspen Insurance in London, insurers for Israeli weapons firm Elbit Systems.​   https://x.com/Prisoners4Pal/status/2003412797158494365

"Sudan is experiencing the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. Yet it has received less than 35 percent of its global funding needs."​   https://x.com/AJEnglish/status/2003393868021244368

​  Tens of thousands flee DR Congo to Burundi amid rebel takeover of key city
UN refugee agency says women and children arriving ‘exhausted and severely traumatised’ after fleeing eastern DRC.​   
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/19/tens-of-thousands-flee-dr-congo-to-burundi-after-rebel-takeover-of-key-city

​That's where nuclear-armed ICBMs are always put: Why has China loaded over 100 Nuclear ICBMs into silos?   https://endtimeheadlines.org/2025/12/why-has-china-loaded-over-100-nuclear-icbms-into-silos/

China Completes Production of Four Attack Submarines Expected to Carry Pakistan’s Maritime Nuclear Deterrent​   https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/china-completes-four-attack-submarines-pakistan#google_vignette

Marines know we don't kill unarmed survivors for a reason​ It's not in line with the US military's historic tradition or ethical standards, and puts troops at risk​  https://responsiblestatecraft.org/second-strike-hegseth-narco/

​  Gilbert Doctorow​, Either rule of law applies to everyone or it applies to no one
The addition of retired Swiss intelligence officer Jacques Baud to the list of persons sanctioned by the European Council a little more than a week ago has shocked the community of Alternative Media, precisely because it indicates that the European Institutions have gone rogue, are trampling on the concept of freedom of expression with impunity and operating in completely opaque fashion so as to frustrate any possibility of recourse to justice by any of our dissidents.​   https://gilbertdoctorow.com/2025/12/23/either-rule-of-law-applies-to-everyone-or-it-applies-to-no-one/

​  Gilbert Doctorow, ‘Judging Freedom’ edition of 24 December: The Totalitarian EU
In today’s conversation with Judge Andrew Napolitano, we discuss the terrible sanctions recently imposed by the European Council on retired Swiss military intelligence expert Jacques Baud for what is said to be his pro-Russian disinformation (an outrageous defamation) and the precedents for such extrajudicial violations of citizens’ rights to free speech, to property rights and more.​   https://gilbertdoctorow.substack.com/p/judging-freedom-edition-of-24-december-bd8

"It's legal. Be informed. We will do this to you": The new EU fascism explained by the German Foreign Office spokesman​   https://x.com/battleforeurope/status/2003506371774525551

​  Germany’s far-right AfD accused of gathering information for the Kremlin
Alternative for Germany’s opponents accuse the party of attempting to disclose sensitive information on arms supply routes and drone defenses.​   
https://www.politico.eu/article/germanys-far-right-afd-accused-of-gathering-information-for-the-kremlin/

  "Thou shalt not Bear false witness": Flock and Cyble Inc. Weaponize "Cybercrime" Takedowns to Silence Critics
When a government contractor pays a company for "Takedown Services" to prevent transparency in government
​  Cyble, claiming to act on behalf of Flock, filed a series of demonstrably false abuse reports with our hosting provider, Cloudflare, to scrub this site from the internet. Their strategy? Accuse us of “phishing” and “trademark infringement” to hide the information we publish.​   https://haveibeenflocked.com/news/cyble-downtime

Facial recognition of pedestrians: Flock Exposed Its AI-Powered Cameras to the Internet. We Tracked Ourselves​   https://www.404media.co/flock-exposed-its-ai-powered-cameras-to-the-internet-we-tracked-ourselves/?ref=daily-stories-newsletter

​  BREAKING: The Trump administration is in talks with former intelligence analyst Edward Snowden for a TOTAL AND COMPLETE PARDON as well as Snowden’s return to The United States. These talks are reportedly being led by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, a long time advocate and supporter of clemency for Snowden, who EXPOSED the fact that the NSA has been secretly spying on the communications of American citizens WITHOUT PROBABLE CAUSE FOR DECADES after the passage of The Patriot Act​   https://x.com/JoshHall2024/status/2003236267249529114​   

​  Orwell in Australia: BREAKING: Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan will push to legislate stronger hate speech laws by compelling social media platforms to identify people behind anonymous accounts used to ridicule another person or group, with a specially appointed jurist to make it legally possible.   https://x.com/ausvstheagenda/status/2002929856833810454

  Governments in the West Are Turning Their Sights on VPNs As They Escalate Their Assault on Online Privacy and Anonymity
“Politicians have now discovered that people are using VPNs to protect their privacy and bypass these invasive laws. Their solution? Entirely ban the use of VPNs.”   https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2025/12/in-their-total-war-on-online-privacy-the-liberal-democracies-of-the-collective-west-are-now-turning-their-sights-on-vpns.html

Trump Suspends $40BN Tech Deal With UK Over Free Speech Crackdown​   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-suspends-40bn-tech-deal-uk-over-free-speech-crackdown

​Just a few as an example:  Trump Admin Bans Anti-Free Speech EU Globalists From Entering US   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-admin-bans-anti-free-speech-eu-globalists-entering-us

​  Why the US-led Pax Silica tech alliance snubbed India
Exclusion reflects US desire for a ‘Goldilocks India’—strong enough to balance China, but not enough to rival US tech​   
https://asiatimes.com/2025/12/why-the-us-led-pax-silica-tech-alliance-snubbed-india/

Trump administration to start seizing pay of defaulted student loan borrowers in January​   https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/23/student-loan-borrowers-wage-garnishment.html

​They spotted the little square antenna on a passing ship: China Issues First Penalty for Starlink Use in Territorial Waters   https://gcaptain.com/china-issues-first-penalty-for-starlink-use-in-territorial-waters/

​  Trump doubles down on claim that US must take over Greenland for national security: ‘We’ll have to work it all out’
The comments follow President Trump announcing a new special U.S. envoy to Greenland over the weekend​   
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-greenland-envoy-annex-national-security-b2889360.html

​  Lawsuits are bad for business: Why Trump backs Bayer in Roundup weedkiller cancer battle
Biden's Justice Department had argued that federal pesticide law does not shield Bayer from state‑court lawsuits, since liability and consumer protection are traditionally matters for individual states...
..By contrast, the Trump administration has now urged the Supreme Court to accept Bayer's argument that federal law preempts such lawsuits, effectively narrowing the scope for the 65,000 remaining plaintiffs...
..Trump's team has also reframed the Roundup litigation as an unnecessary burden on business, as it exposes Bayer to massive, unpredictable liabilities even when the EPA has approved its products...
Bayer has lobbied US legislators over the mass lawsuits and petitioned Supreme Court justices to review a ruling by a court in Missouri that upheld a $1.25 million jury award to John Durnell, who claimed his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma was caused by exposure to the weedkiller.
​  The German pharmaceutical and biotechnology giant has cited decades of studies that it says show Roundup is safe for human use. This argument was, however, weakened when a key review paper from 2000, often cited in defense of glyphosate's safety, was retracted earlier this month due to undisclosed ghostwriting by Monsanto and other ethical issues.​   
https://www.dw.com/en/donald-trump-backs-bayer-in-roundup-weedkiller-cancer-battle-court-case/a-75188139

​  Aspartame​ (check your toothpaste) in small doses per month: Artificial sweetener found in Diet Coke and chewing gum could trigger heart AND brain damage, study suggests​   https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-15398793/Artificial-sweetener-Diet-Coke-chewing-gum-trigger-heart-brain-damage-study-suggests.html

​  Nicolas Hulscher, BREAKING STUDY: Infant Vaccination Increases Death Risk by Up to 112% vs Unvaccinated
Louisiana Department of Health death records reveal that infants vaccinated at 2 months are far more likely to die in the following month than unvaccinated infants.​   https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/breaking-study-infant-vaccination

​  "Naw, you're not sick enough": Breaking: Government Program for Compensating COVID Vaccine Injuries Is ‘Unconstitutional,’ Lawsuit Alleges
Two women, with support from Children’s Health Defense, are suing the government agency that oversees the compensation program for COVID-19 vaccine injuries.​   https://tdefender.substack.com/p/cicp-lawsuit-chd-covid-19-vaccine

​We made medical care so bad that AI will be good enough for you: HHS aims to accelerate healthcare AI adoption   https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/healthcare-information-technology/ai/hhs-aims-to-accelerate-ai-adoption-in-healthcare/?

Take good care of your own health, please: Congress leaves town until 2026 with no health care deal, forcing premium hikes   https://ground.news/article/with-affordable-care-act-subsidies-set-to-expire-soon-for-millions-of-americans-what-happens-next_19aa45

​  "This century" is already well underway​.​  New ACEAS Explainer highlights risks of slowing global ocean overturning circulation
“This is a wake-up call,” said author and ACEAS Deputy Director, Professor Matthew England (UNSW). “The evidence shows us clearly that the MOC has slowed down, and if this trend continues the impacts on human societies, climate and ecosystems will be profound.”​ ...
 ​..A weakened MOC would alter global heat distribution, shift rainfall belts, and disrupt marine ecosystems. Western Europe could experience regional cooling and heightened weather extremes, while tropical regions could experience major changes in rainfall. Fisheries that depend on nutrient‑rich upwelling would be adversely impacted, threatening food security and livelihoods worldwide.​   https://antarctic.org.au/new-aceas-explainer-highlights-risks-of-slowing-global-ocean-overturning-circulation/

​Fair Weather Farmer​ (pictured in close-up with Christmas tomatoes, now given out as presents)


Tuesday, December 23, 2025

Economic Grocery Bills

 Frugal Shoppers,


  
Surplus Energy Economics, The class of ‘26  - ON THE EDGE OF CHANGE                        I’d like to point out that the coming twelve months will mark the 250th anniversary of the most important year in modern history.
  In 1776, Adam Smith published The Wealth of Nations, the foundation treatise of classical economics, whilst the United States Declaration of Independence was promulgated. Most important of all, James Watt completed the first truly efficient steam engine.
  People had long used coal and other fuels to warm their homes and prepare their food. What was transformative about Watt’s discovery was that it enabled us, for the first time, to convert heat into work. The entirety of the industrial age flowed from that breakthrough...
..Our fundamental problem today is resource depletion, which is driving a wedge between preference and possibility. We want growth to continue; it can’t. We
 seem to favour wide inequalities between social groups; this is becoming unsustainable
​  This problem is most acute with fossil fuel energy.​ In a sense, we’ve been here before, when the economics of coal deteriorated during the inter-war years. Fortunately, oil and natural gas were available to take over from coal, and their superior characteristics gave the global economy its biggest burst of growth in the quarter-century after 1945.
​  Our predicament now is that we have failed to find a successor to hydrocarbon energy.​ Recent reports from Rystad Energy and the IEA have pointed towards a looming decline in the supply of oil and natural gas..​..

..Energy is not like any other commodity. A shortage of coffee and a rise in its price do not make us poorer, but energy shortages and higher costs do make us less prosperous.
  The economy works by using energy to convert other raw materials into products, artefacts and infrastructures, so a decrease in the amount of ex-cost energy available to the system makes the economy smaller...
..The critical measure of the condition of energy supply is the Energy Cost of Energy, a calibration of how much energy, being consumed in the energy access
 process, is unavailable for any other economic purpose. Driven by the depletion of fossil fuel resources, global trend ECoEs have risen relentlessly, from 2.0% in 1980 to more than 11% today...​   

                                                                                                                                              ..Most of the energy available to the economy – perhaps 95% in complex advanced economies, and 90% or so in emerging market countries – is required simply for system maintenance. It has to be devoted, not just to repairing and replacing infrastructures and productive capabilities, but also to the support of the population.

​  The West has long since passed the ECoE threshold beyond which growth becomes impossible, and the same is now happening in less complex, more ECoE-resilient EM economies.
​  Renewables cannot take ECoEs back down to growth-capable levels. In addition to their intermittencies and lesser portability, these renewables depend, for their expansion, maintenance and replacement, on legacy energy from fossil fuels.
​  This is a material explanation for the financial fact that renewables are reliant on subsidies.​.. Seen in material rather than monetary terms, the whole of the economy is ‘subsidised’ by the energy industries. This subsidy is gradually being withdrawn by rising ECoEs...

​..“Secular stagnation” – in essence, a trend inflexion – set in. The real cause, as we know, was rising ECoEs, for which no ‘fix’ exists.
But the response favoured at the time was “credit adventurism”. We can’t reinvigorate a flagging material economy with monetary tools, any more than we can cure an ailing house-plant with a spanner...
..The forces of resource degradation and rising ECoEs cannot be halted by political diktat.
  The use of super-rapid liquidity expansion to sustain a semblance of normality will result in a massive financial crisis, part of which will be a wholesale destruction of super-inflated paper asset wealth. The financial recklessness required to maintain a simulacrum of ‘business as usual’ has already put wide swathes of the discretionary economy on life support.
  This might not be the most uplifting way to end 2025, but knowledge is always to be preferred over even the most palatable versions of ignorance.   
https://surplusenergyeconomics.wordpress.com/2025/12/21/316-the-class-of-26/

​  Rubio's Stark Warning: Europe Risks Wiping Out Shared Culture Of Western Civilization
Echoing the Trump administration’s National Security Strategy, Rubio pulled no punches in highlighting how Europe’s slide toward “civilizational erasure” endangers alliances built on liberty and self-governance...
..“You go to these NATO meetings and you meet with people, what they will tell you our shared history, our shared legacy, our shared values, our shared priorities. That’s what they talk about as the reason for this alliance,” Rubio said.​ “Well, if you erase your shared history, your shared culture, your shared ideology, your shared priorities, your shared principles, then what – then you just have a straight-up defense agreement. That’s all you have,” he continued.​   
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/rubios-stark-warning-europe-risks-wiping-out-shared-culture-western-civilization

​  "What could go wrong?" Germany After "Pax Americana": From Green Transition to Military Keynesianism
The collapse of Germany’s export driven growth model 
is forcing a strategic repositioning in which green industrial ambitions are being replaced by military Keynesianism.​    
https://umitak.substack.com/p/germany-after-pax-americana-from

​  Ursula von der Leyen, Finland has over 50,000 air raid shelters.Their preparedness aims to strengthen their resilience and to deter aggression. 
We have so much to learn from the Finns. This is the change of mindset I want to help bring during my second mandate.   https://x.com/vonderleyen_epp/status/1797929474283159897

​  Denmark Furious After Trump Names Special Envoy To Greenland
The move prompted Denmark's Foreign Minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, to summon the U.S. ambassador, saying the appointment suggests continued American interest in the resource-rich island.​   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/denmark-furious-after-trump-names-special-envoy-greenland

​  Poseur Macron tries unconvincingly to Vogue machismo​: Macron says France to build new aircraft carrier
'This new aircraft carrier will be an illustration of the power of our nation,' French president says
​  "We must be strong in order to be feared, and in particular strong at sea. That is why, in accordance with the last two military programming laws and after a full and thorough review, I have decided to equip France with a new aircraft carrier," Macron said​.   https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/macron-says-france-to-build-new-aircraft-carrier/3777108

​  No breakthrough after Ukraine talks in Miami
Steve Witkoff and Kyiv’s Rustem Umerov used identical language, saying Ukraine “highly values” U.S. support.​   
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/21/ukraine-russia-miami-florida-talks-00702453

​Throw Freddy Merz under the bus, Emmanuel ! Macron Seeks New Talks With Putin, Forcing 'Alternative' Path To Stalled US Negotiations   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/macron-seeks-new-talks-putin-forces-alternative-path-stalled-us-negotiations

​  Remember: Macron​ still works for Rothschild Paris Bank.  Macron's Gambit Accepted​ An inspired move or an amateur's blunder?
Vladimir Putin says he's ready to talk to French President Emmanuel Macron about the war in Ukraine. The Russian declaration came in response to ​  Macron's statement following the European summit that it would “again be useful” for “Europe” to speak to Russia rather than leave the United States to maneuver alone, as bilateral talks between Ukraine and the United States continue in Florida.
​  It hardly needs pointing out, however, that Putin agreed not to speak to “Europe” but rather to Macron, and he did so after the European summit put paid to Friedrich Merz's attempt to unite his EU partners around a stronger stance vis-à-vis Moscow.
​  Merz wanted to use Russian funds frozen in European banks to finance Ukraine's war effort. The ECB counseled against this move, which could have left member state governments on the hook for hundreds of billions of euros if the war were to be ended behind their backs by a treaty imposed on Ukraine by the US and Russia.​   
https://arthurgoldhammer356783.substack.com/p/macrons-gambit-accepted

​  Thomas Kolbe, Germany's Debt-Fueled Illusions: Merz Humiliated, Economy In Freefall
After the failed raid on Russian assets at Euroclear, Berlin now turns its gaze to the hoped-for comeback of the German economy. Yet here too awaits the next bitter realization for naïve statisticians: wealth cannot be printed with debt.​..  It reads like a naive comedy: the CDU and SPD camouflage reform policies, only to steer the central plan of transforming society and the economy into a green command economy with a military-industrial complex through increasingly rough seas to a safe harbor.​   https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/germanys-debt-fueled-illusions-merz-humiliated-economy-freefall

​  EU loan to Ukraine pushing bloc ‘into war’ with Russia – Orban
Brussels needs Ukraine to win on the battlefield for the bloc to ever see its money again
, according to the Hungarian prime minister​   
https://www.rt.com/news/629827-eu-loan-ukraine-war-orban/

​  Russian lieutenant general killed in Moscow by car bomb
Russian Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov head of the Operational Training Directorate at the General Staff has been killed in a car bomb explosion in southern Moscow on December 22,..​.
..According to the Myrotvorets Centre, a Kyiv-based intelligence website, the Russian official was a target of Kyiv for several years.
​  The website, which calls itself “Non-government Centre for Research of Elements of Crimes against the National Security of Ukraine, Peace, Humanity, and the International Law," had his name listed before he died in Moscow.
​  Sarvarov's personal data appeared on the site on May 28, 2022. His profile described him as a "Russian war criminal," with December 22 marked as his "liquidation date."​   
https://www.intellinews.com/russia-s-lieutenant-general-killed-in-moscow-car-bomb-417837/?source=russia

C​aitlin Johnstone, If You're Not Free To Oppose A Genocide, Your Society Is Not Free​   https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/if-youre-not-free-to-oppose-a-genocide

​  Escape Key, A Conditional Existence
Today, if you have money, you can buy what you like. Assuming you use a credit card your balance is checked and the money withdrawn.
​  By 2029, the terminal checks a second balance — carbon, social, compliance — before the transaction clears. Fail the check, payment denied. It’s a permission system.
​  We covered the EU implementation in How Europe is Building a Carbon Currency — Digital Product Passports, Digital ID Wallets, and the Digital Euro. But Europe is just one implementation. The architecture is global.​   
https://escapekey.substack.com/p/conditional-existence

​  StopAntisemitism Takes Credit for Getting Hundreds Fired. A Music Teacher Is Suing.
When Oregon Music teacher Susan Lewis logged onto a Zoom meeting with her boss one afternoon in August 2024, she thought she would be preparing for a sixth year teaching at Valley Catholic School. Instead, she lost her job.
​  Lewis was shocked, she recalled in an interview with The Intercept, as were her colleagues and studentsThe school did not give any explanation for why they did not renew her contract. Unbeknownst to Lewis, the pro-Israel blacklist organization StopAntisemitism had recently launched an online campaign against her, framing her social media posts about the genocide in Gaza as “using her platform to spread vile antisemitic hate online.”
​  Lewis is one of at least 400 people StopAntisemitism has taken credit for getting ousted from their jobs in its online crusade.​   
https://theintercept.com/2025/12/20/stopantisemitism-israel-blacklist-teacher-job-firings/?

​  Caitlin Johnstone, Notes On Bondi Beach And Free Speech
The dumbest thing we are being asked to believe today is that pro-Palestinian protests caused the Bondi shooting. It’s self-evidently moronic. No one sincerely believes it. They’re just pretending to believe it to get protests banned and criticism of Israel outlawed.
​  Nobody actually believes pro-Palestine protests caused the Bondi shooting. They’re just pretending to believe that to promote the interests of a genocidal apartheid state.
​  Nobody actually believes “globalize the intifada” means “kill all Jews”. They’re just pretending to believe that to promote the interests of a genocidal apartheid state.
​  Nobody actually believes pro-Palestine demonstrations are “hate marches” or that pro-Palestine speech is “hate speech”. They’re just pretending to believe that to promote the interests of a genocidal apartheid state.​   
https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/notes-on-bondi-beach-and-free-speech

​  Sasha Latypova, on Substack bending the knee: Please read and share this message from a digitally caged Australian author.​ 
This post is an unscheduled urgent message from a former Substack author “Excess Deaths AU (EDAU)” based in Australia. We were subscribing to each other’s publications and I enjoyed their well researched, thoughtfully written articles. Due to the Asutralian draconian censorship laws and technology that they are installing to control the population via digital/biometric real time tracking, this publication is now shut down...
​..Many Australian authors are locked out of Substack due to Australian ‘age assurance’ laws. Of course, we know this is not about assuring age to ‘protect the children,’ but is a Maoist-like identification and purge of the creators and dissidents who flocked to Substack during covid Emergency powers. Our content is still up for children to see - this is about demoralising and silencing those who create dissent and critique of governments.
​  Australian authors were under the impression we would be automatically ‘age verified’ through Stripe or credit card but this is not the case for all. Substack is not even on the official list of government-restricted platforms. https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-us/industry-regulation/social-media-age-restrictions/which-platforms-are-age-restricted
​  The technology deployed (persona) cannot be circumvented with the use of VPN or Tor and the biometrics cannot be fooled as others have done around the world. This appears to be much more sophisticated than the technology that was deployed in the UK and our individual accounts appear to be flagged.​   
https://sashalatypova.substack.com/p/urgent-please-read-and-share-this

​  Irony Alert: Google Suddenly Champions Free Speech As UK Crushes Online Expression
Google has slammed the UK for threatening to stifle free speech through its aggressive online regulations. This from the company infamous for its own censorship crusades against conservative voices and inconvenient truths.​   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/irony-alert-google-suddenly-champions-free-speech-uk-crushes-online-expression

​   Approved for all ages:  AUSTRALIA TRIALS ISRAELI WEAPON SYSTEM ‘BATTLE TESTED’ IN GAZA
The ADF is evaluating an Israeli-made AI precision targeting system ‘proven in combat’ in Gaza.​   
https://declassifiedaus.org/2025/12/22/australia-trials-weapon-battle-tested-in-gaza/

​  Two Palestine Action hunger strikers in UK prisons admitted to hospital
Kamran Ahmed and Amu Gib have been hospitalised as a protest that began 50 days ago raises alarm.​   
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/22/two-palestine-action-hunger-strikers-in-uk-prisons-admitted-to-hospital

​  Patrick Lawrence, “After the first 70,669 deaths, there is no other.”​ - Bondi Beach reconsidered.
These were senseless murders by any conceivable judgment—so senseless I am stating the obvious by saying so. But I cannot enter into the responses officials and the media serving them have urged incessantly since last weekend. Out of the question for any number of reasons, chief among them the dishonesty at the core of what I may as well call “official grief.”
​  Read in the larger context of these awful events, the obsessive humanization of the Bondi Beach victims is an upside-down exercise in dehumanization. This is first, straight off the top. Jewish lives count, white lives count, names, faces, generous smiles—all this counts. But the names, faces, and lives of those the Zionist regime has terrorized and brutalized for the past two years or eight decades, depending on how you reckon history: No, no need for any of this because they do not count.​   
https://thefloutist.substack.com/p/after-the-first-70669-deaths-there

​  West Bank: Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian schoolboy in Jenin at point-blank range
Israeli forces shot and killed two young Palestinians in the West Bank on Saturday, shooting one a mere metres away from him.
​  One of those killed was 16-year-old Rayyan Mohammad Abu Mualla, who was gunned down at close range by an Israeli soldier in Qabatiya, south of Jenin, as he was heading home from school.
​  Footage circulated by Al Jazeera and other outlets shows two Israeli soldiers lying in wait as the teenager walks down a narrow alley. One soldier crouches while the other stands behind him, both watching Abu Mualla approach.
​  Seconds later, the soldier opens fire from just a few metres away, shooting the child four or five times. Abu Mualla is then left bleeding on the ground as Israeli forces block Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances from reaching him. He later died from his wounds.​   
​  The Israeli army claimed the teenager had thrown a brick, a justification it has repeatedly used over decades to excuse the killing of Palestinians, including children.​   https://www.newarab.com/news/jenin-israeli-army-kills-palestinian-schoolboy-point-blank

​  Escape Key, Project Sunrise
In September, I analysed Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza and identified the architecture: conditional finance, enforced through external oversight, operationalised via six technical rails. The template employed in Ukraine was visible, but the benchmarks were pending. The blended finance mechanism was implicit — referenced through ‘public-private partnerships’ requirements, but not yet codified.
​  Three months later, Project Sunrise has made explicit what was then inference. The Wall Street Journal’s reporting matters precisely because it contains the numbers, the sequencing, and the monetisation clauses that moves this analysis from pattern-recognition to documentation.

​  The 32-page PowerPoint presentation — developed by Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff, and senior White House aide Josh Gruenbaum over 45 days — is an exercise in raising capital; it’s not a policy document. It confirms the financial architecture (anchor commitments, blended finance, monetisation schedule) but doesn’t develop the operational rails discussed in September — digital ID requirements, accreditation, data streams, audit protocols, leading to financial actuation. Yet, those remain visible in active UN tenders and existing biometric systems, awaiting formalisation once capital is committed. What this presentation does confirm is the destination: the same taxpayer-funded cash bonanza the EU has structured for Ukraine, to be capitalised on by the private ‘partners’.​ The total cost: $112.1 billion over ten years.​   https://escapekey.substack.com/p/project-sunrise

​  Israel's security cabinet approves 19 new West Bank settlements
The UN says settlements are expanding at their fastest pace since 2017
, with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres describing their development as 'relentless'.​   
https://www.newarab.com/news/israels-security-cabinet-approves-19-new-west-bank-settlements

​  New Israeli drone strikes hit south Lebanon in latest ceasefire breach
Israel claimed it targeted two Hezbollah members, hours after Beirut said phase one of disarming the resistance group is nearly complete​   
https://thecradle.co/articles/new-israeli-drone-strikes-hit-south-lebanon-in-latest-ceasefire-breach#google_vignette

​  MSM Belatedly Details Syrian 'Prisons Filling Up Again, Torture' Under Jolani Regime
While the West and Gulf countries celebrated Assad fleeting the country for Russia in December 2024, with the al-Qaeda linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) taking over Damascus, the new government quickly got to work persecuting, massacring, and disappearing religious minorities.
​  First Alawites were targeted last spring, then Christians, and more recently Druze - or anyone not acting according to the HTS brand of fanatical Islam and jihad. But CNN and other establishment news outlets have 'moved on' and are turning a blind eye.​   https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/mainstream-media-belatedly-details-syrian-prisons-filling-again-torture-under-jolani

​  Meeting very soon: Netanyahu plans to brief Trump on possible new Iran strikes
Israeli officials believe Iran is expanding its ballistic missile program. They are preparing to make the case during an upcoming meeting with Trump that it poses a new threat.   
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/netanyahu-plans-brief-trump-possible-new-iran-strikes-rcna250112

​  Acts of unjustified, undeclared war: Gunboat Diplomacy Accelerated: US Seizes Another Oil Tanker Off Venezuela's Coast
Trump's gunboat diplomacy is aimed at the country's autocratic leader, Nicolás Maduro. This ploy could accelerate regime instability in Caracas and materially weaken Cuba.
​  "Their theory of change involves cutting off all support to Cuba," Juan S. Gonzalez, who was President Joe Biden's top White House aide for Western Hemisphere affairs, recently said. "Under this approach, once Venezuela goes, Cuba will follow."
​  On Tuesday, Trump ordered a "total and complete blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers going into and out of Venezuela. He further boasted of the country having been "completely surrounded" with the "largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America."
​  He then warned, "It [the blockade] will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before — Until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us."​   
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/gunboat-diplomacy-accelerated-us-reportedly-interdicts-seizes-another-oil-tanker

​  Gold & Geopolitics, The US is at war​ - not a hidden/proxy one this time   
According to international law, a blockade is an act of war. Not a sanctions enforcement mechanism. Not a police action. An act of war.​   https://no01.substack.com/p/the-us-is-at-war

​  This act of piracy also opens a new front. The tanker is said to be owned by a Chinese trading company. And PDVSA's recent policy has been to get paid upfront, so this would mean a Chinese firm w/ a ~$100 million hole in its pocket. Will Beijing take action beyond statements?​   https://x.com/venanalysis/status/2002601769021636759

US Pursuing Third Oil Tanker Near Venezuela, Officials Say​   https://gcaptain.com/us-pursuing-third-oil-tanker-near-venezuela-officials-say/

​  Acting CISA director failed a polygraph. Career staff are now under investigation.
At least six career staffers at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency were suspended with pay this summer after organizing a polygraph test that the agency’s acting director, Madhu Gottumukkala, failed...
​..The incident this July and the subsequent fallout — which has not been reported before — have angered career staff, alarmed fellow Trump administration appointees and raised questions about Gottumukkala’s leadership of the nearly $3 billion cyber defense agency.
​  “Instead of taking ownership and saying, ‘Hey, I screwed up,’ he gets other people blamed and potentially ruins their careers,” said a current official, who described Gottumukkala’s tenure at CISA so far as “a nightmare” for the agency..​.
.​.Gottumukkala failed the polygraph test in the last week of July, according to five current officials and one former official.
​  The test was scheduled that month to determine his eligibility to review one of the most sensitive intelligence programs shared with CISA by another spy agency, three current officials and one former official said.
​  That material was designated as a controlled access program — meaning its circulation was supposed to be tightly restricted to those assigned as need-to-know — and the agency that furnished it to CISA further required that any need-to-know employees first pass what is known as a counter-intelligence polygraph, according to four current officials and one former official.
​  As a civilian agency, the vast majority of CISA employees do not need to view these types of highly sensitive materials, nor do they have to pass such an exam to be hired. But polygraphs are widely used across the Pentagon and U.S. spy community.​   
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/21/cisa-acting-director-madhu-gottumukkala-polygraph-investigation-00701996?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=dlvr.it

​  ICE Hires Immigrant Bounty Hunters From Private Prison Company GEO Group
ICE has secured a deal with surveillance firm BI Incorporated as part of a new program, first reported in October by The Intercept, to use private bounty hunters to determine the locations of immigrants in exchange for monetary bonuses.
​  BI, which was acquired by the GEO Group in 2011, is one of several firms hired by ICE to provide “skip tracing” services, in which its teams of corporate investigators will use surveillance to track immigrants across the country to their homes and places of work so federal agents can easily swoop in and make arrests.​   
https://theintercept.com/2025/12/19/ice-bounty-hunters-location-surveillance-geo-group/?

​  Journo Freaks Out After Bari Weiss Spikes '60 Minutes' Segment On El Salvador Prison
CBS News' new editor in chief Bari Weiss pulled a planned "60 Minutes" segment on an El Salvador maximum-security prison where the Trump administration has sent hundreds of Venezuelan migrants - apparently because the journalist behind the piece failed to obtain comment from the Trump administration.​   https://www.zerohedge.com/political/bari-weiss-spikes-60-minutes-segment-el-salvador-prison

​  DHS Offering $3,000 To Illegal Aliens To Self-Deport As Part Of Holiday Deal
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is offering triple the amount of cash to illegal immigrants who willingly leave the United States through a smartphone app as part of a “holiday deal.”   https://www.zerohedge.com/political/dhs-offering-3000-illegal-aliens-self-deport-part-holiday-deal

​  A perspective to consider next year: The real purpose of ICE raids.
The immigration enforcement agencies are not simply choosing the biggest, most blue cities to raid just because they hate them.​..
​..These are the tools they intend to use soon during elections.
​  I expect this administration, Secretary Noem and CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott to order federal immigration agents to accost voters as they stand in line on voting day. Those of color, specifically Latinos, will have their citizenship questioned. And judging by how the agencies are grabbing people without even conducting on-site citizenship interviews, then taking them into ICE custody for a day, or two or three before letting them go, I expect this will be used to prevent citizens from voting. I wouldn’t even be surprised if Border Patrol set up checkpoints in areas of high Latino populations.
​  By the time voters are released, voting booths will be closed. By the time cities and states realize what has happened, declarations of who won will be announced and votes will be certified. This will all be followed by years of court battles like the 2020 election.​   
https://jennbudd.substack.com/p/the-real-purpose-of-ice-raids

​  Shares of warship builder Huntington Ingalls Industries rose in premarket trading and are on track for the largest annual gain in 12 years, driven by news of President Trump's continued push to rebuild the U.S. Navy.
  Trump-class battleships. On December 22, 2025 President Trump announced that he had approved a plan for the U.S. Navy to build two new "Trump-class" battleships, with the goal of acquiring 20-25 of these ships in the coming years. In his address, the President noted these 30,000-40,000 ton ships will carry a large quantity of missiles, including hypersonic missiles, and will also be outfitted with electromagnetic rail guns and directed energy lasers. Trump-class battleships will also carry nuclear-armed sea launched cruise missiles (currently under development) adding an additional element of nuclear deterrence to the Navy. Trump-class destroyers appear to be designed as the center of enhanced command and control networks at sea, as the Navy looks to field more autonomous assets and traditional vessels in the coming years. The WSJ has reported that the U.S. Navy will launch a vendor competition, with plans to procure the first hull in 2030.​   https://www.zerohedge.com/military/huntington-ingalls-industries-jumps-trump-class-warships

​  Trump unveils ‘Trump-class’ battleships for US Navy’s ‘Golden Fleet’
The US president says the new vessels will ensure naval dominance and include AI and laser technology.
​  “We had big battleships. These are bigger. ​  They’ll be 100 times the force, the power [of the old ships], and there’s never been anything like these ships,” Trump said.
​  He added that the vessels would be “cutting edge” and equipped with the latest technology, including artificial intelligence and directed energy lasers. They will also be armed with hypersonic missiles, nuclear cruise missiles and rail guns – all technologies that are in various stages of development by the US Navy.
​  “Each one of these will be the largest battleship in the history of our country, the largest battleship in the history of the world,” he said​...​ 
​..Both Trump and Navy Secretary John Phelan spoke about the new Trump-class warship as a spiritual successor to the battleships of the 20th century, but historically, that term has referred to a very specific type of ship – a large, heavily armoured vessel armed with massive guns designed to bombard other ships or targets ashore.​..
​..According to a newly created website for the Golden Fleet, this new “guided missile battleship” is set to be roughly the same size as Iowa-class battleships, but only weigh about half as much, approximately 35,000 tonnes, and have far smaller crews – between 650 and 850 sailors.​ Its primary weapons will also be missiles, not large naval guns.​..
​..He said he will meet with major defence firms next week to address delays and overruns, ‌and to examine whether executive compensation, stock buybacks and dividends ⁠are contributing to missed production targets. “We don’t want to have executives making $50m a year, issuing big dividends to everybody, and also doing buybacks”, while production of F-35s and other jets languishes, Trump said.​   https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/23/trump-unveils-trump-class-battleships-for-naval-golden-fleet

​  Waymo halts service during massive S.F. blackout after causing traffic jams
About a third of San Francisco lost electricity throughout the day Saturday after rolling Pacific Gas & Electric Co. blackouts hit some 125,000 homes and businesses. PG&E said at 8:30 p.m. that power should start to be restored “later this evening.”
​  Traffic lights across the city were down, seemingly confusing the driverless cars — and halting them in their tracks. Riders and pedestrians posted videos of Waymos stuck at intersections, long lines of drivers behind them.​   
https://missionlocal.org/2025/12/sf-waymo-halts-service-blackout/

​  Escape Key says the system will decide how you are doing for you: The Meaning of 'Well-Being'
In 1948, the World Health Organization offered a new definition of health: ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’.
​  The addition of ‘mental’ might have seemed natural enough, since minds can suffer just as bodies can. But ‘social well-being’ introduced something different. Your health now depended on your relationships, your standing, your integration into community. And the word ‘complete’ set a standard that no living person can meet on their own.
​  This works to relocate authority: if health includes social factors, it cannot be assessed from the inside alone. Institutions gain a rationale to evaluate your social well-being, measure it against a standard, determine whether it is adequate. Health began its migration from something you possess to something assessed externally.​   https://escapekey.substack.com/p/the-meaning-of-well-being

​  Defunding a criminal cabal; there are more: RFK Jr. Cancels Millions in Grants to AAP, as Battle Heats Up Between Health Officials and Pediatric Group
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday announced millions in funding cuts to the AAP — on the same day lawyers for the pediatric trade group defended their lawsuit against Kennedy in a Boston court. The Washington Post said the AAP lost the funding after “criticizing RFK Jr.” HHS said the agency cancelled the grants because they “no longer align with the Department’s mission or priorities.”​   https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/rfk-jr-cancels-millions-in-grants-to-aap-hhs/

  ​Meryl Nass MD, Strengthening the Biological Weapons Convention: the US returns to the table after essentially a 25 year hiatus
It seems the Trump administration plans to breathe new life into the Biological Weapons Convention. Fingers crossed.​   https://merylnass.substack.com/p/strengthening-the-biological-weapons

​  Dr. Paul Thomas: Why I Don’t Vaccinate Kids — and What Parents Should Know
Retired pediatrician Dr. Paul Thomas spoke with CHD.TV Director Polly Tommey about why he broke from mainstream medicine and what he says parents must know about vaccines, childhood illness and medical risk“Once I saw vaccine injury, I couldn’t unsee it,” Thomas said.Dr. Paul Thomas, a retired pediatrician who practiced for 35 years, spoke with CHD.TV Director Polly Tommey about questions many parents wrestle with: Do unvaccinated children get sick more often? When is hospital care really necessary? How should parents handle disease outbreaks, childhood fevers and family pressure to vaccinate?​   
https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/dr-paul-thomas-why-dont-vaccinate-kids-parents-should-know/

​  Here, sign this release form: Veterans on Psychiatric Drugs Call for ‘Informed Consent’
The American Psychiatric Association (APA), VA and other prominent medical associations are lining up in opposition to proposed legislation that would require prescribers of psychiatric medication to obtain signed consent from veterans acknowledging the side effects and risks of psychiatric drugs.
​  The proposed legislation, dubbed the Written Informed Consent Act, was introduced into the House by Gus Bilirakis of Florida in August, with a companion bill introduced into the Senate by Tim Sheehy of Montana on Dec. 3. Both of the sponsors are Republicans; one House Democrat has joined them.​   
https://www.themahareport.com/p/veterans-on-psychiatric-drugs-call

​  Do you know where yourvitamin-D level is? Nicolas Hulscher, Vitamin D Could Prevent 30,000 Cancer Deaths Per Year in Germany Alone
  Over 900 studies show anti-cancer activity of vitamin D across most cancer types, and randomized controlled trials demonstrate a ~13% reduction in cancer mortality.​   https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/vitamin-d-could-prevent-30000-cancer

COVID Vaccine Myocarditis Deaths ‘A Very Small Price to Pay’, Says Fired FDA Advisor Paul Offit​   https://www.globalresearch.ca/covid-vaccine-myocarditis-deaths-very-small-price-pay/5909862

'He was poisoned.' Toxic fumes on planes blamed for deaths of pilots and crew​   https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/he-was-poisoned-toxic-fumes-on-planes-blamed-for-deaths-of-pilots-and-crew/ar-AA1SN13A

​  I don't watch; I read. Peter McCullough MD, Breaking Down the American Health Restoration and Affordability Act (AHRAA) Small portion of Americans impacted by new bill from the administration   https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/breaking-down-the-american-health

  Opposing view of Obamacare subsidy ending: ACA Premiums Explode as GOP Obstruction Pushes Millions Toward Health Care Ruin
Republican obstruction transforms ideology into suffering, financial devastation, and preventable deaths. This crisis is not accidental. It is the predictable result of policy choices that prioritize corporate profit and partisan sabotage over human life.
​  ACA subsidy expiration triggers premium increases of 300–400% for many older Americans.
A $479 monthly premium jumps to nearly $2,000 with no improvement in coverage.
​  Republican proposals, such as one-time HSA deposits, fail to address affordability or premiums.
Red states suffer the most from policies enacted by the politicians they repeatedly elect.
​  Many working people will forgo insurance entirely, risking medical bankruptcy or death.​   
https://egberto.substack.com/p/aca-premiums-explode-as-gop-obstruction

​More GDP is good, right?  Q3 GDP Unexpectedly Surges To 2 Year High On Soaring Health Insurance Spending   https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/q3-gdp-unexpectedly-surges-2-year-high-soaring-health-insurance-spending

Apparently any number you like can be substantiated:  DOGE Delivers Massive $214 Billion In Taxpayer Savings... So Far   https://www.zerohedge.com/political/doge-delivers-massive-214-billion-taxpayer-savings-so-far

Hunter Biden Denies Laptop's Existence, Decries Open Borders, Claims $15 Million In Debt In Tell-All Interview​   https://www.zerohedge.com/political/hunter-biden-denies-laptops-existence-slams-open-borders-claims-15-million-debt-tell-all

  ​If I were extraterrestrial I'd have been experimenting with hominid apes for eons. Americans Are Increasingly Convinced That Aliens Have Visited Earth
Polling shows that nearly half of Americans now believe aliens have visited this planet—and that the number who aren't sure has dropped by two-thirds. The reasons why, experts say, are complicated.​   https://www.wired.com/story/americans-are-increasingly-convinced-that-aliens-have-visited-earth/

​  I'm not unique in that "Planet of the Apes" perspective: April 15, 2021  Scientists Create Early Embryos That Are Part Human, Part Monkey
For the first time, scientists have created embryos that are a mix of human and monkey cells.
​  The embryos, described Thursday in the journal Cell, were created in part to try to find new ways to produce organs for people who need transplants, said the international team of scientists who collaborated in the work. But the research raises a variety of concerns.​   
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/04/15/987164563/scientists-create-early-embryos-that-are-part-human-part-monkey

​Apeman (pictured yesterday with Christmas tomatoes)