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Captain Fatbeard The Fat Fear of the Seven Reeeees is resorting to commerical piracy and raiding of merchant vessels
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5643019-us-seizes-venezuela-tanker/
Trump says US has seized oil tanker near Venezuela

President Trump said Wednesday that the U.S. has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, the latest escalation in what has become an increasingly tense relationship between the two countries.

“We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela. A large tanker, very large,” Trump told reporters. “And other things are happening.”

Trump did not provide additional details about the seizure, and he told reporters they would hear from “the appropriate people” about it.

“It was seized for a very good reason,” Trump said.

Asked what would happen to the oil on the tanker, Trump said, “I assume we’re going to keep the oil.”

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Donald Trump saved the life of Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado by helping her flee to Norway from the Maduro regime in Venezuela.
Trump assembled an expert team of contractors skilled in extraction operations as well as select members of the US military and helped her get through 10 government checkpoints undetected and eventually flee the country by boat.
https://thehill.com/policy/international/5644246-maria-corina-machado-venezuela-norway-trip/
Trump administration helped Venezuela’s Machado escape to Norway: Report

The Trump administration reportedly aided Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado in her secret travel from Venezuela to Norway for the award ceremony in Oslo.

Venezuela’s opposition leader has been in hiding since Jan. 9, shortly after President Nicolás Maduro started his third term following a disputed election.

Leaving her location on Monday, she first managed to get through 10 military checkpoints undetected, according to reporting by The Wall Street Journal, citing a person familiar with the operation.

She next headed to Curaçao on Tuesday. Her path through the Caribbean Sea was flanked with danger in waters ripe with attacks from the Trump administration in recent weeks. The Journal reported that the group helping Machado reached out to the U.S. military so it would not strike her boat. In addition to Machado, two people were on board the fishing skiff that skipped across the sea after a two-month planning process.

“We coordinated that she was going to leave by a specific area so that they would not blow up the boat,” said the person close to the operation, according to the Journal.


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https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/trump-plans-envision-major-us-investment-russia-restoring-oil-flows-europe-wsj-2025-12-11/
U.S. President Donald Trump's plan for peace in Ukraine includes proposals to restore Russian energy flows to Europe, major U.S. investment in Russian rare earths and energy, and tapping frozen Russian sovereign assets, the Wall Street Journal said.

The newspaper said the plans were detailed in appendices to peace proposals handed to European counterparts over recent weeks.

They include a plan for U.S. financial firms and other businesses to tap $200 billion of frozen Russian sovereign assets for projects in Ukraine, including a major new data center powered by the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant now controlled by Russian forces, the paper said.

U.S. companies would invest in Russian strategic sectors such as rare-earth extraction and oil drilling in the Arctic, while Russian energy flows to Western Europe and the world would be restored, it added.

The paper said one unidentified European official compared the proposed U.S.-Russian energy deals to an economic version of the 1945 Yalta conference.

At that meeting, the victors of World War Two, the Soviet Union, the United States and Britain, divided up their spheres of interest in Europe.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 after eight years of fighting between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian troops in the Donbas, formed of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

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https://www.axios.com/2025/12/11/impeachment-haley-stevens-rfk-democrats-trump

One of Democrats' most fraught internal fights of the year resurfaced Wednesday after Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) introduced articles of impeachment against HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Why it matters: Stevens is part of a growing group of House Democrats effectively going rogue by mounting impeachment efforts without support from party leadership, to the frustration of many of their colleagues.

The Michigan Democrat stressed in an interview with Axios that she "worked closely" with the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees HHS.

But Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), the top Democrat on the panel, told Axios she "approached us about joining her, and then in the end we declined."

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told Axios he hasn't taken a look at Stevens' measure, adding: "You know what I'm focused on? Making sure that the American people don't have their health care ripped away from them."

State of play: Stevens is one of a handful of House Democrats who have tried to impeach Trump or one of his officials this year.

Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.) has introduced impeachment measures against President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

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https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-threatens-new-icc-sanctions-unless-court-pledges-not-prosecute-trump-2025-12-10/
President Donald Trump's administration wants the International Criminal Court to amend its founding document to ensure it does not investigate the Republican president and his top officials, a Trump administration official said, threatening new U.S. sanctions on the court if it did not.

If the court does not act on this U.S. demand and two others - dropping investigations of Israeli leaders over the Gaza war and formally ending an earlier probe of U.S. troops over their actions in Afghanistan - Washington may penalize more ICC officials and could sanction the court itself, the official said.

Sanctioning the court would significantly escalate the U.S. campaign against the ICC, which has long been criticized by U.S. officials including both Republicans and Democrats, who say the court infringes on U.S. sovereignty.

The Trump administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Washington has communicated its demands to ICC members, some of whom are U.S. allies, and has also made them known to the court. The United States is not a party to the Rome Statute that established the ICC in 2002 as a court of last resort, with the power to prosecute heads of state.

The demand and the threat to resume the U.S. sanctions campaign towards the court have not been previously reported.

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https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5641032-rahm-emanuel-social-media/
ormer Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) is calling on the U.S. to follow Australia’s lead and ban children younger than 16 from using social media.

“When it comes to our adolescents, it’s either going to be adults or the algorithms. One of them is going to raise the kids,” Emanuel said in a video on the social platform X. “And I think we need to help the parents. It’s too much for a parent to push against Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, all the other social media apps.”

Down under, a law requiring social media companies to disable the accounts of Australian users under the age of 16 took effect on Wednesday. Failure to do so would in a fine of more than 49.5 million Australian dollars, equivalent to more than $32 million.

The law applies to Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Snapchat, YouTube, TikTok, Kick, Reddit, Twitch and X, and is the first of its kind globally.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/nyregion/ghislaine-maxwell-epstein-grand-jury-unsealed.html

A Manhattan federal judge on Tuesday granted the Justice Department’s motion to unseal the records of the grand jury investigation of Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime companion of Jeffrey Epstein who is serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking a minor and other counts.

The ruling by Judge Paul A. Engelmayer cited a new law passed by Congress requiring the Justice Department to release all its files on Mr. Epstein by Dec. 19.

But the opinion makes it clear that grand jury transcripts will be only a small part of a huge trove of materials that the Justice Department has said it intends to release under the new law.

The department also asked Judge Engelmayer to modify a protective order issued at the beginning of Ms. Maxwell’s case that maintained strict confidentiality over materials turned over to defense lawyers, known as discovery. “A paramount goal of the protective order,” the judge wrote, was “to protect the privacy interests of Maxwell’s and Epstein’s victims.”

In his 24-page opinion on Tuesday, Judge Engelmayer wrote that the new law, known as the Epstein Files Transparency Act, “unambiguously” applied to the discovery materials in the case. Modifying the protective order, he added, was necessary to enable the Justice Department “to carry out its legal obligations under the act.”

Such discovery includes materials gathered from searches of physical spaces, like Mr. Epstein’s house and island, and the contents of computers and other electronic devices seized from those spaces.

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https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/09/politics/james-comey-dan-richman-justice-department-prosecuting

The Justice Department said in court documents on Tuesday that it plans to continue its efforts to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey.

The department’s stance was revealed in a lawsuit brought by the former FBI’s director’s friend and former lawyer Dan Richman. It comes two weeks after Comey’s previous indictment was dismissed and after a judge put temporary limits on the evidence prosecutors can use in future grand jury proceedings.

In the documents filed Tuesday — in a fast-moving court battle over evidence used to investigate Comey over his statements to Congress five years ago — the Justice Department refers to the situation as both a “pending criminal investigation” and “a potential federal criminal prosecution.”

The DOJ wrote to a federal judge that Richman’s lawsuit shouldn’t be able to stymie a criminal prosecution.

The lawsuit, the Justice Department wrote, “is actually a collateral motion aimed at hindering the government from using (Richman’s) property as evidence in a separate criminal proceeding.” The court that temporarily locked down evidence the Justice Department had from Richman “has effectively enjoined the government from investigating and potentially prosecuting Comey.”

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The recruitment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas has added a crucial bit of insight and one big number: 1.1 million. That’s how many layoffs have been announced year to date, only the sixth time since 1993 that threshold has been breached. You have to go back to 2009 to find a year with greater layoffs, and that was in the very depths of the Great Recession.

Technology remains the hardest-hit private sector industry, with more than 150,000 job cuts announced so far this year as firms continue to reset headcount after the boom years while they increasingly lean into automation.

Specifically, U.S.-based employers announced 1,170,821 job cuts in the first 11 months of 2025, up 54% from the same period in 2024. That makes 2025 one of only six years since 1993 in which announced layoffs through November have topped 1.1 million.

Hiring plans are not offsetting the damage. Through November, per the Challenger report, employers have announced 497,151 planned hires, down 35% from the same point last year and the lowest year-to-date total since 2010.

Earnings reports increasingly reveal, as many executives call it, a “bifurcated” or “K-shaped” economy, used to describe the different trajectories of rich and poor. The wealthier cohort is spending freely, with the upper 10% accounting for nearly 50% of consumer spending (and absorbing elevated costs passed through from tariffs), while the lower-income consumer shows increasing signs of strain.

Analysts at both Goldman Sachs and Bank of America Research have noted that this recovery is a financial one, reflected in stock prices and soaring profits—and increasingly in fewer workers required in white-collar positions. The era of “jobless growth” and process over people is emerging into view, thanks to the forever layoff.

https://fortune.com/2025/12/09/forever-layoffs-job-security-k-shaped-economy-white-collar-recession-challenger-glassdoor/

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https://thehill.com/homenews/5640090-donald-trump-economy-inflation/
President Trump gave the economy under his second administration an “A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus” ahead of his trip to Pennsylvania to sell his efforts to bring down inflation on Tuesday.

The president made the comments during an interview with Politico that was conducted on Monday. During the interview, Trump was asked about one of his of his supporters who gave him an “A-plus-plus” grade overall but said not enough is being done to address the high costs of goods.

“I inherited a total mess. Prices were at an all-time high when I came in. Prices are coming down substantially,” Trump said, referring to what he said were decreasing energy costs.

“Prices are all coming down. It’s been 10 months. It’s amazing what we’ve done. If you think of gasoline a gallon, they had it at $4.50, almost $5.00. You go to some of the states, you had it at $6.00. We hit, uh, three states two days ago, $1.99 a gallon. When that happens, everything comes down,” he said.

Trump’s remarks come as he prepares to travel to Scranton, Pa. on Tuesday to tout his efforts to bring down costs. The president, who campaigned successfully on affordability in 2024, has since been plagued by frustration among Americans over prices remaining high.

Republicans saw their biggest warning sign yet on the issue in last month’s off-year elections when Democrats won elections in key races across the country.

Trump has laid blame on the Biden administration for high costs and has referred to Democratic messaging on affordability as “a hoax” and “a con job.”


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The United States has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela amid a monthslong buildup of military forces surrounding the country, President Trump confirmed on Dec. 10.

"As you probably know, we've just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela," Trump said at a meeting at the White House.

"Largest one ever seized, actually. And other things are happening."

Trump declined to provide additional details about the tanker to reporters and said the administration would be releasing more information at a later time.

“You see the result, and I guess they probably released the pictures by now – pretty soon,” Trump said. “You’ll discuss that with the appropriate people later on.”

The president added, “It was seized for a very good reason.”

Asked by a reporter what happens to the oil on the tanker, Trump said: “You’re a good newsman. Just follow the tank.”

“I assume we’re going to keep the oil,” Trump said.

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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-10/us-state-department-reverts-times-new-roman-font/106127732
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ordered diplomats to revert to using Times New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor Antony Blinken's decision to adopt Calibri a "wasteful" diversity move, according to a leaked internal cable.

The department switched to Calibri, a modern sans-serif font, in January 2023, saying it was a more accessible font for people with disabilities because it did not have decorative angular features and was at the time the default in Microsoft products.

Some scientific studies have suggested that sans-serif fonts such as Calibri are indeed easier to read for those with certain visual disabilities.

However, a cable dated December 9 that was sent to all US diplomatic posts said that typography shaped the professionalism of an official document and that Calibri was informal compared to serif typefaces.

"To restore decorum and professionalism to the Department's written work products and abolish yet another wasteful DEIA program, the Department is returning to Times New Roman as its standard typeface," the cable said.
"This formatting standard aligns with the President's One Voice for America's Foreign Relations directive, underscoring the Department's responsibility to present a unified, professional voice in all communications."

DEIA, often referred to simply as DEI, stands for diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility, and refers to a range of initiatives intended to make workplace environments more accessible and welcoming to people of all backgrounds.

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/12/09/miami-mayor-election-updates-results/87631398007/

Eileen Higgins clinched victory in Miami’s mayoral runoff election, according to multiple reports, marking the first Democrat to win the office in almost 30 years and the first woman ever elected mayor in the city.

A roaring chant of “Eileen” erupted at Higgins’ watch party at the Miami Women's Club after she was projected to win.

“Well, we did it,” Higgins told her supporters, the Miami Herald reported. “Tonight, history was made.”

While the Miami mayoral position is non-partisan, Higgins' success was a major moment for Democrats, who have defeated GOP rivals in several 2025 off-year elections. It could also spell trouble for Republicans and President Donald Trump, who endorsed Higgins’ opponent, Emilio González.

Trump flipped Miami-Dade County, which includes the city of Miami, in the 2024 presidential election. But Democrats have pointed to their recent victories as a sign of what’s to come in the midterm elections next year as voters still face high food and housing prices.

Ahead of the runoff, Higgins came in first during Miami’s initial mayoral race on Nov. 4, where she garnered roughly 35% of the vote. González came in second with 19%. Since no candidate secured more than 50%, the top two hopefuls went head-to-head on Tuesday.

Miami is home to approximately 487,000 people.

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https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/09/trump-will-again-test-his-blame-democrats-message-on-the-economy-this-time-at-a-casino-00683164

President Donald Trump will visit Pennsylvania Tuesday where he will talk up the efforts he’s taken to ease economic pain for Americans — the latest attempt to reboot an affordability message that’s been hindered by his insistence that the economy is strong.

Trump has repeatedly tried to control the narrative by suggesting he and his administration are fighting an uphill battle against policies enacted by former President Joe Biden — he has called affordability a “Democrat scam” — and is asking Americans to give him more time to resuscitate the country. And he’s expected to lean on that same message in the battleground state of Pennsylvania at a casino resort in Mount Pocono.

In an interview with POLITICO’s Dasha Burns for a special episode of The Conversation that published on Tuesday, Trump gave himself an “A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus” grade on the economy. And on Tuesday, Trump’s speech is likely to be more of the same — reminding Americans about the steps the administration says it’s taken to help the economy in the face of what he inherited from Biden.

Ahead of the trip, White House spokesperson Kush Desai said “much work remains” but that “putting an end to Joe Biden’s inflation and affordability crisis has been a Day One priority for President Trump” and ticked off accomplishments including “slashing costly regulations to securing historic drug pricing deals efforts that have cooled inflation and raised real wages.”

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https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/u-s-flips-history-by-casting-europenot-russiaas-villain-in-new-security-policy-cbb138fa
BRUSSELS—For years, the U.S. government has published an annual National Security Strategy that lays out how Washington sees the world and its approach to dealing with looming threats, from China to Russia to drug-traffickers in Latin America.

This week, the Trump administration’s version seemed to reserve its harshest tone for a new target: America’s closest allies in Europe.

The 30-page document painted European nations as wayward, declining powers that have ceded their sovereignty to the European Union and are led by governments that suppress democracy and muzzle voices that want a more nationalistic turn.

It says the continent faces “civilizational erasure” through immigration that could render it “unrecognizable” in two decades—as well as turning several North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies into majority “non-European” countries. It concludes the region could grow too weak to be “reliable allies.”

The document underscores how radically the Trump administration is reshaping traditional American foreign policy, and it is likely to deepen divisions in the trans-Atlantic alliance, which has largely kept the peace in Europe since World War II and promoted Western values across the world.

The document landed like a bucket of cold water in European capitals. European leaders reading the document need “to assume that the traditional trans-Atlantic relationship is dead,” said Katja Bego, a senior researcher at Chatham House, a think tank in London.

Timothy Garton Ash, a prominent British historian, described the document “as the mother of all wake-up calls for Europe.”


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