NYT Editorial Board Urges US To Prepare For Future War With China

Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

The New York Times editorial board released a video this week calling for the US to "prepare for the future of war" and urged the Pentagon to take drastic steps to be better prepared for a potential fight with China, a conflict that could quickly turn nuclear.

"US politicians often boast that America has the ‘Strongest and most powerful military in the history of the world’ but behind closed doors, they’re being told a different story," the editorial board said. "New York Times Opinion has learned that the Pentagon has been delivering a classified, comprehensive overview of US military power called the Overmatch brief. The report shows what could happen if a war were to break out between China and the United States. The results are alarming."

The video said that a war with China might seem "purely hypothetical," but claimed that Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered the Chinese military to be ready to seize the island of Taiwan by 2027. However, that timeline is based on claims from the CIA and has never been confirmed by Chinese officials. Xi reportedly told President Biden last year that there were "no such plans" to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027.

US Navy image

The Times editorial board said that defending Taiwan “won’t be easy” and called on the US to invest more in new technologies, such as drones, rather than “symbols of might,” referring to large aircraft and warships.

“America must prepare for the future of war. This is the opinion of The New York Times editorial board. You might be thinking America should focus on peace, not war. But one of the most effective ways to prevent a war is to be strong enough to win it. That’s why it’s imperative that we change,” the board said.

The board suggested several steps for the US to take to prepare for war with China, including building “new autonomous weapons and leading the world in controlling them” and relaxing rules on purchasing weapons to “make bets on young companies.”

The video comes after Congress unveiled a $901 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that, when added to a supplemental spending bill passed earlier this year, will bring the official US military budget to over $1 trillion.

“It’s been nearly 10 years since the Overmatch brief was first delivered. Its warnings have been updated and delivered again to the new Trump administration. We’ve been warned about the urgent need for change. The question is whether we’ll change in time,” the video concluded.

This refers to this NYT story (https://t.co/rdFRYttqF9) in which they reveal there now exists an "overmatch brief" at the Pentagon that details China vs US military power. The name says it all...

Apparently when a senior US official read the brief he “turned pale” as he realized… https://t.co/fJBKMKzR08

— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) December 11, 2025

For years now, the Pentagon has named China as the top “pacing threat” facing the US and has been openly preparing for war with China. President Trump’s War Department is expected to prioritize the Homeland and the Western Hemisphere in its coming National Defense Strategy, as outlined by the recently released National Security Strategy, but it will still be putting a focus on a military buildup in the Asia Pacific to get ready for a future clash with China, while stressing that US allies in the region should spend more on their militaries.

Tyler Durden Thu, 12/11/2025 - 23:25

Gaming The System: Huge Proportion Of 'Elite' University Students Claiming Disabilities

Just when you thought the ongoing cultivation of weakness in American youth couldn't get much worse, huge proportions of the student bodies at US universities are enrolling with official disability designations that bestow various accommodations upon the students who claim them. As you may have expected, the alarming trend is most pronounced at what are supposed to be the most "elite" institutions. 

We're not talking about people in wheelchairs, but rather students snagging diagnoses for ADHD, anxiety and depression from indulgent doctors. "It’s rich kids getting extra time on tests," an un-tenured professor at a selective university told The Atlantic's Rose Horowitch. Apparently fearing backlash, he requested anonymity. 

The numbers are jarring. Harvard and Brown's undergraduate student body is 20% "disabled." Amherst has hit 34%, while Stanford's disability rate is a head-shaking 38%. At one unidentified law school, 45% of students have been awarded academic accommodations. In stark contrast, only 3 to 4% of students at public two-year colleges get disability accommodations. 

"Obviously, something is off here," observes Emma Camp at Reason. "The idea that some of the most elite, selective universities in America—schools that require 99th percentile SATs and sterling essays—would be educating large numbers of genuinely learning disabled students is clearly bogus."

Disabled students are often given time-and-a-half or double-time to finish a test, and the freedom to turn in papers well beyond the given due date. However, extra time isn't the only benefit. At Carnegie-Mellon, a social-anxiety disorder can ensure a student isn't called upon by a professor without advance notice.

Schools also let supposedly learning-disabled students take tests in "reduced distraction testing environments," as being in a room with 80 other people is apparently just too taxing for them. However, a University of Chicago professor told the Atlantic that a deluge of students taking tests in the "reduced distraction testing environments" means those rooms are pretty much as "distracting" as a conventional classroom supposedly is.   

In what may be the most darkly amusing accommodation, a public college in California allowed a student to bring her mother to class -- which backfired when the mother went beyond whatever role she was expected to play and eagerly participated in the discussions, tuition-free.  

Professor Paul Graham Fisher, who'd previously co-chaired Stanford's disability task force, told the Atlantic:   

“I have had conversations with people in the Stanford administration. They’ve talked about at what point can we say no? What if it hits 50 or 60 percent? At what point do you just say ‘We can’t do this’?”

 

Plenty of these students are likely motivated by a cut-throat desire to gain advantage. However, equally bad, it's possible a majority of these students sincerely consider themselves disabled. "Over the past few years, there's been a rising push to see mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions as not just a medical fact, but an identity marker," writes Reason's Camp, who notes that social media and other factors foster a rush to attribute common human fallibilities as some kind of medical condition. "The result is a deeply distorted view of 'normal,'" says Camp. "If ever struggling to focus or experiencing boredom is a sign you have ADHD, the implication is that a 'normal,' nondisabled person has essentially no problems." 

The disability rush isn't limited to elite college campuses. High school students are using disability designations to score extra time on SAT and ACT tests. "We are also well aware of fliers in the district circulating among parents of doctors in the area who are known to hand out ADHD diagnoses," a high school teacher at an affluent public school told We Are Teachers. "In some cases, I think what’s happening is a pay-to-play situation.”

And the decline of the West proceeds apace...

Tyler Durden Thu, 12/11/2025 - 23:00

FDA Investigating Deaths Potentially Linked To COVID-19 Vaccines Across Age Ranges

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is looking into the potential links between COVID-19 vaccination and deaths in various age groups, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

A nurse holds a COVID-19 vaccine in Miami, Fla., in this undated file photograph. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The FDA investigation is being carried out as part of a safety review, a HHS spokesperson said on Dec. 9.

The probe follows a Nov. 28 memo by Dr. Vinay Prasad, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), which revealed that COVID-19 vaccines were likely implicated in the deaths of at least 10 children.

The spokesperson did not provide details on which age groups will be covered or what criteria the FDA will use to determine which cases fall within the scope of the investigation.

Data published by the World Health Organization showed that more than 700 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the United States since December 2020.

The Epoch Times reached out to the HHS for further comment, but did not hear back by publication time.

Prasad said in the memo that the findings were based on a review of 96 death reports voluntarily submitted to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) between 2021 and 2024. The memo did not disclose the health conditions of the children or the vaccine manufacturers involved.

“If anything, this represents conservative coding, where vaccines are exculpated rather than indicted in cases of ambiguity. The real number is higher,” he stated in the memo. “This is a profound revelation.”

Prasad, head of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, was one of the early opponents of keeping COVID-19 vaccines available for younger people. He has has supported COVID-19 vaccination for seniors and younger people with underlying conditions.

The investigation was spurred by concerns that the previous administration misled the public about harms COVID-19 vaccines can cause, including myocarditis, or heart inflammation, Prasad indicated in the memo.

The memo states that the FDA never required manufacturers to demonstrate—through randomized controlled trials—that vaccinating children reduced hospitalization or death. Available data, Prasad wrote, are deeply limited, rely on methods with notorious biases, and fail to establish whether the vaccine saved more children than it harmed.

Prasad criticized common assertions that COVID-19 infection posed a greater myocarditis risk than vaccination, saying that this claim is wrong, that existing studies use “a false denominator,” and fail to evaluate risk-benefit trade-offs for healthy adolescents and young adults.

“Finally, the FDA has failed to properly enforce many required post market commitments for COVID-19 vaccines, including for pregnant women and to document subclinical myocarditis,” he wrote.

Prasad said that CBER will take swift action on the safety concerns and will no longer grant marketing authorization for vaccines in pregnant women based on “unproven” surrogate antibody endpoints.

He added that the agency will shift vaccine regulation toward evidence-based standards and revise its annual flu vaccine framework.

Tom Ozimek, Zachary Stieber and Reuters contributed to this report.

Tyler Durden Thu, 12/11/2025 - 22:35

Jordan Peterson Out Of Hospital But Still "Very Unwell", Daughter Says

Authored by Jennifer Cowan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Canadian psychologist and public speaker Jordan Peterson is continuing to fight an uphill battle with his health but has returned home after spending several months in the hospital, his daughter says.

Author, media commentator, and clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson addresses the 5th Demographic Summit in the Fine Arts Museum in Budapest on Sept. 14, 2023. Attila Kisbenedek/AFP via Getty Images

Mikhaila Peterson shared an update on social media this week—her first since October—to announce her father’s return home after spending time in an intensive care unit this fall, where he was treated for pneumonia and sepsis. Those conditions appeared after mold exposure this summer led to a “severe” flare-up of a chronic illness he has been battling since 2017, she said.

Specialists are continuing to work on determining the underlying cause of his illness and are considering a complex array of possibilities from neurological, to autoimmune, to a mixture of both.

Mikhaila said no answers have emerged thus far and he remains “very unwell.”

“I’m hopeful he will recover with time,” she said in a Dec. 9 video post. “When I posted the last video, I didn’t know if he would recover at all. It was really scary and I’m hopeful now, but it’s still early on.”

Her father’s prognosis remains uncertain, but Mikhaila said she is hopeful he is on the road to recovery.

“Things are really bad, but they’re not as bad as they were a month ago or two months ago,” she said.

Mikhaila first announced her father’s health crisis in an August social media post, saying he had been forced to postpone his podcasts and reschedule his European tour due to a “severe” onset of symptoms she said is linked to chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS).

“Jordan Peterson is taking some time off of everything,” she wrote in an Aug. 13 X post, saying he has a “genetic predisposition” that results in the immune system’s inability to detect and detoxify mould or bacteria in indoor air.

She noted that her father has been battling CIRS since 2017, but the family didn’t know what the problem was at the time. CIRS is a long-term condition triggered by exposure to biotoxins in water-damaged buildings that can result in a variety of debilitating symptoms such as fatigue, brain fog, and changes in appetite, according to the National Library of Medicine.

She said his struggles with the condition had intensified over the past year but a recent large mould exposure while helping to clean out her grandfathers’ basement had pushed his symptoms over the edge.

He was taken to the hospital by ambulance later that same month and Mikhaila said in an October social media post that her father had spent nearly a month in the ICU before being moved to “a less urgent floor.”

The family was unable to communicate with Peterson throughout the majority of September, his daughter said in a video accompanying the post. He was diagnosed with critical illness polyneuropathy (CIP) toward the end of his bout with pneumonia. CIP is nerve damage causing severe, symmetrical weakness in critically ill patients, a common complication from sepsis.

Peterson’s situation is further complicated by his inability to take most medications without experiencing “severe paradoxical reactions,” thereby restricting his treatment options, his daughter said.

Stressful Time

Mikhaila said her father’s increased health issues came during a stressful period for her family after she struggled with a difficult pregnancy and then her infant daughter fell ill in June. The six-week-old Audrey suffered a nearly fatal episode of heart failure in June and was then hospitalized again just hours after her father was taken to the hospital in August.

The married mom of three said Audrey is now seven months old and doing “really well” after suffering what now appears to be a “one off freak incident that hasn’t repeated.”

Between her youngest daughter’s health scares and her dad’s condition the 33-year-old has been mostly offline for several months, saying she was feeling “too stressed out” to keep up with The Mikhaila Peterson Podcast.

“I wish things would just go back to normal, but they’re not there yet,” she said in her most recent video update. “Thank you so much for your prayers. We need them. I'll let you guys know as soon as I can if anything changes, hopefully he’s on the road to recovery.”

Peterson, professor emeritus at the University of Toronto in psychology, rose to fame through his YouTube lectures, his successful self-help book, “12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos,” and his criticism of the federal government’s Bill C-16, which added the protection of gender identity and expression to the Human Rights Code and Criminal Code. The bill received royal assent in June 2017.

The author announced last December his relocation to the United States due to his regulatory battles with the College of Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts of Ontario (CPBAO), also citing the political climate in Canada. He and his wife settled in Arizona, where his daughter resides with her family.

The CPBAO, the governing body for psychologists in Ontario, ordered him in 2022 to undergo social media training for comments he made online about a plus-sized model, transgender actor Elliot Page, and a number of politicians.

The well-known author refuted the college’s assertions, saying his comments were not expressed in his professional capacity as a clinical psychologist.

Peterson legally challenged the order but ultimately failed in his attempt after the Supreme Court of Canada chose not to hear his case last summer and dismissed it “with costs.” He had promised in a column earlier that year not only to dive into the social media training prescribed by the college if he lost the case, but to “publicize every single bit of it.”

Tyler Durden Thu, 12/11/2025 - 21:45

US Solar Installations Soar As Developers Rush To Secure Tax Credits

The U.S. solar market saw a significant jump in capacity installations in the third quarter as developers ramp up activity and construction to qualify for the last investment tax credits that are being phased out by the Trump Administration.

As OilPrice reported, the industry added 11.7 gigawatts direct current (GWdc) of solar power capacity in the third quarter of 2025, up by 20% from a year earlier and a massive 49% surge compared to the second quarter. That was the third-largest quarter for deployment in the industry’s history, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie said in the U.S. Solar Market Insight Q4 2025 report.  

 

After the tumult caused by the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) in the summer, the robust third quarter largely reflects utility-scale solar projects that were mostly complete in the second quarter, the report noted.

Under the Trump Administration’s OBBBA, wind and solar projects must begin construction no later than July 4, 2026, to qualify for Investment Tax Credit (ITC) or Production Tax Credit (PTC). Projects that miss this deadline must be fully placed in service by December 31, 2027, to remain eligible for tax credits.

While utility-scale solar installations hit a third-quarter record, the federal permitting freeze presents uncertainty and risk to the industry going forward, SEIA and WoodMac said.

Still, one thing seems certain: the earlier a project could come online or meet the legal requirements for “starting construction,” the better. As a result, Wood Mackenzie predicted there would be a rush of activity to execute on well-positioned projects.

Despite the assault on renewable energy, solar and storage accounted for 85% of all new power added to the grid in the first nine months of the Trump Administration, SEIA said.

A total of 73% of all solar capacity installed this year has been built in states won by President Trump, including 8 of the top 10 states for new installations: Texas, Indiana, Florida, Arizona, Ohio, Utah, Kentucky, and Arkansas.  

Despite the remarkable growth so far, “unless this administration reverses course, the future of clean, affordable, and reliable solar and storage will be frozen by uncertainty and Americans will continue to see their energy bills go up,” SEIA president and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper said.

Tyler Durden Thu, 12/11/2025 - 21:20

The Million Petty Annoyances Of California's Regulatory State

Authored by Edward Ring via American Greatness,

The litany of reasons California is broken is well documented. The highest cost of living and the highest taxes. The highest percentages of homeless people and people living in poverty. Unaffordable homes and unaffordable rent. High crime and failing schools. A hostile business climate and record migration out of state as people and businesses flee.

But not often enough are we reminded of the countless small things that have gone wrong. Small things that add up to a big problem: a state legislature that is out of touch with the people it represents; a state legislature that, for all practical purposes, holds its constituents in contempt; a state legislature that is doing everything in its power to make life difficult.

Just a few days ago, the latest in this long train of abuses arrived. No more plastic bags. Although 2026 is still a few weeks away, this grocery store has already converted to paper only—heavy, fragile paper bags with handles that tear off under the slightest stress. Everything was double-bagged just to lower the probability of catastrophic failure of the handles.

The problems with this are more than the inconvenience of having to pay 20 cents for every double-bagged bag full of groceries. With plastic bags, you could loop their handles around your fingers and carry several of them securely in one hand. Try that with a paper bag. And there are no uses after the first use for a paper bag. Shall we use paper bags for cat litter? Trash can liners? Maybe, but they won’t work very well. And storing them uses up space fast.

So what’s the advantage? Are we saving oil? Certainly not much. And if savings are what we’re after, why did they ever force us in 2014 to stop using ultra-thin plastic bags in favor of “reusable” bags that nobody reuses for groceries, yet have 10-15 times as much plastic in them per bag? Funny how the plastic industry rolled over on that one. “Please don’t regulate us” morphed into “Never mind, we’ll split with the state that dime we’re charging now per bag.” Corporation wins. State wins. Misanthropic regulations abuse the rest of us.

Now the plastic bags are gone. But the dime per paper bag? That stays.

Does this law reduce the “footprint” of plastic? Yes. Marginally. Meanwhile, it increases the footprint of paper bags, which are actually worse for the environment. And maybe that’s the biggest problem here: California’s corporate special interests, their lobbyists, and their fanatic green marionettes are all too ready to force “solutions” onto the public before the technology has caught up.

Are there bags that look like plastic bags and work like plastic bags—convenient to use and durable—but aren’t made of plastic? That’s certainly possible, but could we wait? No, of course not. We had to let the special interests consolidate their power and profit, while the usual crowd of useful fanatics beat their chests and crow about how they’re saving the planet. What would we do without them to rescue us all?

When taken to such extremes, these laws have little to do with the environment. It’s about control. It’s about money. It’s a shakedown.

Last weekend I had to refill the gas tank in my rototiller. Could I just uncap my gasoline can and fill it up? That would be too easy. The State of California mandates “automatic sealing nozzles” on five-gallon gasoline cans. Have you ever tried to fill the tank of a small engine tool with gasoline out of one of these overdesigned, utterly dysfunctional cans? To save time, you’re better off removing the entire nozzle assembly, as if you’re at the gas station refilling your can from the pump, and then pouring from the nearly two-inch diameter opening in your partially disassembled gasoline can into a funnel you have inserted in the tank of, in this case, a rototiller. It’s messy and time-consuming. And that’s just another example of the idiocy our supposed representatives force us to endure.

Do you want to install new windows on your house? Not cutting a new window where there once was a wall. No. Just replace an existing old window with a new one. Guess what: you need a permit. You have to submit plans to the city or county bureaucracy. Are you kidding?

Read this summary of the steps you have to take to get a window replaced in a California home:

Step-by-step procedure for replacing old windows with new ones without changing the opening size (most common, fewer forms).
Gather the required documents and use the online portal to submit the application.
Plans: Drawings showing window location, size, and framing (if structural changes).
Window Specs: Manufacturer cut sheets, energy efficiency ratings.
Title 24 Compliance: Documentation showing energy efficiency.
Contractor Info: License details if using a contractor.
Lead Paint Info: If your home was built before 1978, be prepared for lead-safe work requirements and paperwork.
Create an online account with the county and submit your application and documents electronically.
Plan Review: County staff will review for code compliance (Structural, Life Safety, Energy, etc.). You’ll be notified of any needed corrections.
Permit Issuance & Inspection: Once approved, pay fees and get your permit. Schedule required inspections through the portal as work progresses.

The same goes for all of these and more: ceiling fans, patio covers, carports, water heaters, retaining walls, landscape irrigation, and shower or tub replacements. What percent of people doing these jobs get these permits? How many? I’m waiting. How many? Who was that Russian who said, “Show me the man, and I’ll show you the crime”? Welcome to California.

Let’s be clear. The time it takes to fulfill all these steps is often greater than the amount of time that it takes to do the actual work. In many cases, the expense for the excessive designs and disclosures and fees also adds up to more than the actual labor and materials.

This petty tyranny extends to almost everything in California. Do you have a pool? Better put a permanent fence around the entire pool and alarms on any doors that open into that enclosure, or you have not complied. Do you have a gate into your pool enclosure? It has to be “self-closing,” or you did not comply. Make sure the enclosure’s fencing is at least 60 inches high (60 inches! five feet!). Is there a latch on your self-closing gate? Better make sure it is at least 54 inches off the ground, and no plants are allowed, not even in planters, within five feet of the enclosure. New pools even have to have “an approved cover.” Because that’s safe! I’ll never forget the time I saw a grown man, overwhelmed with grief, carrying his soaking wet dead dog into the waiting room at a local veterinary hospital. The poor animal got trapped under their pool cover.

It’s not just bags and buildings where the long arm of California’s regulatory state interferes with your life and induces honest citizens to reluctantly become petty criminals. It also tempts honest contractors who just want to do good work for a fair price, instead of charging three times as much, to spend more than half their time on “compliance.” We aren’t talking about new homes or major remodels, where obviously some regulations are called for, although nothing like what the California legislature has done to basically kill the home building industry. We’re talking about windows. Who do you trust more? The guy with good references who will just replace your window with no fuss? Or the guy who wants to charge you triple and jump through every regulatory hoop? And why should any of us—vendor or customer—have to be put in such a tough position? Get it done efficiently and be a crook, or take three times as long and pay three times as much and be a sucker?

Consider the new law governing kitchen waste. Residents are now required to save their kitchen waste—oops, their “organics”—and discard it in their green waste containers, along with grass cuttings and leaves. Don’t bag it up and put it in the trash, because that increases the quantity of methane that comes out of landfills. Never mind that landfills are still going to emit methane, with or without kitchen scraps, or that methane rapidly degrades in the atmosphere, or that its alleged impact on the global climate is based on theories still wide open to debate, or that even if you are desperately concerned about methane emissions, there are far more cost-effective and less intrusive ways to capture it.

Some of these laws are literally unbelievable, but they’re all too real. According to a thoroughly house-broken reporter for the Sacramento Bee, the potential fine of up to $5,000—five thousand dollars—for someone who, say, repeatedly fails to put their empty pizza box in the right container, “speaks to the seriousness of the matter.” This is pure corruption, meant to enrich public sector unions who get to staff up to implement these laws, and sold to brainwashed “environmentalist” advocates, many of them masquerading as objective journalists who actually think they’re helping the good guys.

California’s intrusive laws are far too numerous to catalog. They are selectively enforced, for the simple reason that the quantity of violations in this supposedly enlightened state numbers in the hundreds of millions. And if you have a business open to the public? Then you may expect the intrusive government regulations to multiply by orders of magnitude. No wonder so many people are leaving, heartbroken that they and their children live in a place where the government is doing everything it can to drive them out. A government that has made the state they love a state they can’t stand to live in anymore.

California’s policymakers aren’t technically criminals—or at least not all of them are. But what they’re doing to the people who live here is a crime. A crime that is split into so many thousands of petty offenses that it is sometimes hard for us to realize how truly monstrous it has become.

Tyler Durden Thu, 12/11/2025 - 20:05

Blue State Governors Are Refusing To Implement Trump's 'No Tax On Tips'

On the campaign trail, President Donald Trump promised to end federal taxes on tips and overtime. Democrats dismissed it as an election-year ploy to win votes, but Trump delivered on that promise when he signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on July 4, which eliminated taxes on tips and overtime for service and hospitality workers.

However, blue-state Democrats like New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis are, in the words of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, “deliberately blocking their own residents” from accessing the “historic benefits” promised under the law.

“President Trump’s tax cuts bill is the most pro-worker, pro-family legislation in a generation,” Bessent said. “It puts more money directly into the pockets of hardworking Americans through No Tax on Tips for dedicated service industry staff, No Tax on Overtime for linemen and factory workers, and a new tax deduction for seniors who depend on Social Security.”

 Bessent continued, “This partisan stonewalling is a direct assault on the very families and workers liberal politicians claim to champion. By denying their residents access to these important tax cuts, these governors and legislators are forcing hardworking Americans to shoulder higher state tax burdens, robbing them of the relief they deserve and exacerbating the financial squeeze on low- and middle-income households.”

Bessent demands that these holdouts conform immediately and quit punishing citizens for political spite. 

“President Trump’s vision is clear: real relief for the forgotten men and women of America, certainty for businesses, and momentum for growth,” Bessent added. “The American people voted for bold change, not bureaucratic roadblocks.”

Bessent also hinted that there would be consequences for states that refuse to comply with the law.

“Treasury stands ready to work with any state committed to delivering on that promise, but we will not stand idly by as this obstructionism drags down the national recovery,” he said. “This is about fairness. This is about opportunity. And this is about putting America first, starting with the families and workers who make our economy the envy of the world.”

Bessent doubled down in a post on X, and compared Govs. Hochul, Pritzker, and Polis to the Dr. Seuss character, the Grinch.

“Courtesy of their Scrooge-like tendencies, America’s seniors, along with all workers who would benefit from No Tax on Tips and No Tax on Overtime, will be robbed of the tax relief they deserve,” he wrote. “The Christmas season should be a time of great cheer. But due to the Trump Derangement Syndrome of these Governors and other radical leftists, too many low- and middle-income households will receive nothing but coal in their state tax stockings.”

Thanks to @POTUS, ‘tis the season to be jolly – unless you’re a taxpayer in New York, Colorado, Illinois, or the District of Columbia.

For millions of hardworking Americans, @GovKathyHochul, @GovofCO @jaredpolis, and @GovPritzker are The Grinches Who Stole Christmas.

Courtesy… pic.twitter.com/eVtKYcHc4w

— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) December 10, 2025

Ironically, Trump wasn’t the only one who wanted to relieve service and hospitality workers of paying taxes on tips and overtime. Two months after he proposed his No Tax on Tips plan, Kamala Harris pitched her own version of the idea at a rally in Las Vegas in August 202. She pledged, “It is my promise to everyone here when I am president, we will continue our fighting for working families of America including to raise the minimum wage and eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers.” 

While many Democrats were already on the record opposing Trump’s plan, Harris’s proposal had the backing of both of Nevada’s Democratic U.S. Senators, Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto. Former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre even said that if such a proposal to eliminate taxes on tips had passed Congress, Joe Biden would have signed it.

Trump, however, called Harris out immediately for stealing his proposal.

“Kamala Harris, whose ‘Honeymoon’ period is ENDING, and is starting to get hammered in the Polls, just copied my NO TAXES ON TIPS Policy,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social at the time. The difference is, she won’t do it, she just wants it for Political Purposes! This was a TRUMP idea - She has no ideas, she can only steal from me. Remember, Kamala has proposed the LARGEST TAX INCREASE IN HISTORY - It won’t happen. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!”

The Trump administration sees the new law as a straightforward win for workers, yet this standoff with blue states ensures the debate is far from over.

Tyler Durden Thu, 12/11/2025 - 19:40

What Is Really Happening With Vaccination Policy?

Authored by Jeffrey A. Tucker via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The national press was overtaken with hullabaloo following the recent meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). This is a committee that serves under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), providing a check of outside expertise on what would otherwise be a bureaucratic edict.

Dr. Robert Malone speaks during a meeting of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) in Atlanta, Ga., on Dec. 5, 2025. Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images

It brings together outside experts from academia and medicine to provide guidance on how the CDC should advise doctors and parents on vaccines. As part of the new committee formed by Health and Human Services director Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., there are strict rules against conflict of interest.

The new committee has voted to make a small, common-sense change in the childhood vaccination schedule. It is seen as hugely significant because it has taken issue with a particular shot that has been on the schedule since 1991.

The shot concerns Hepatitis B. Instead of a universal recommendation, the committee suggested that it should not pertain in the first months of life provided the birthing mother has tested negative for the disease. After that time, the shot should only be given when there is informed consent.

Stated that way, it does not seem even slightly controversial. Indeed, one wonders why the shot was ever on the schedule, especially given the paltry data on effectiveness and safety. On March 1, 1991, the New York Times reported on its addition to the childhood schedule: “If adults won’t go for the shots, then give them to babies.”

As part of the childhood schedule, they are automatically granted immunity from liability, as legislated in 1986 on fear that lawsuits could bankrupt the whole industry. With such a shield in place, there was a gold rush to move shots from targeting adults to being given to children. Most kids in the United States since those days have taken the shot, even those at no risk of the disease in question.

That it should be removed from the schedule for mothers testing negative would seem entirely non-controversial. It certainly does not warrant panic that the entire schedule is being shredded or that the industry will collapse. The response of the industry is entirely disproportionate to the threat. In addition, the committee had open public debate for two full days. It was hardly ill-considered.

The committee had invited a variety of perspectives. One was from a schedule skeptic, attorney Aaron Siri, who is a lawyer and author who has testified widely on the topic. To balance that out, ACIP invited Paul Offit, of the Vaccine Education Center in Philadelphia, and Peter Hotez of Texas Children’s Hospital. Both are famous for their uncritical attitude.

The trouble is that Drs. Offit and Hotez refused the invitation. That is strange. They were invited to speak for up to 45 minutes without interruption to the entire world because the meeting was livestreamed. This was the perfect opportunity for them to make their case to the committee, to the CDC, and to the world. They said, each in his own way, that they did not want to legitimize the committee by honoring it with their testimony.

This is taking place even as a coalition of coastal states have pushed a secessionist measure to impose their own vaccine schedule against the efforts of the HHS, CDC, and ACIP to pare back some recommendations to pre-1986 levels.

Donald Trump has meanwhile weighed in on the controversies.

“Today, the CDC Vaccine Committee made a very good decision to END their Hepatitis B Vaccine Recommendation for babies, the vast majority of whom are at NO RISK of Hepatitis B, a disease that is mostly transmitted sexually, or through dirty needles. The American Childhood Vaccine Schedule long required 72 ‘jabs,’ for perfectly healthy babies, far more than any other Country in the World, and far more than is necessary. In fact, it is ridiculous! Many parents and scientists have been questioning the efficacy of this ‘schedule,’ as have I! That is why I have just signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the Department of Health and Human Services to ‘FAST TRACK’ a comprehensive evaluation of Vaccine Schedules from other Countries around the World, and better align the U.S. Vaccine Schedule, so it is finally rooted in the Gold Standard of Science and COMMON SENSE! I am fully confident Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and the CDC, will get this done, quickly and correctly, for our Nation’s Children.”

Thus can we see that Trump himself wants to go much further.

We are confronted with a fascinating historical paradox here. Trump has said many times that he is very proud of Operation Warp Speed that brought a shot for COVID to market in record time. Many of his supporters, however, do not agree with this opinion. And to be sure, the effectiveness and safety of this injection has not scored high marks on anyone’s scale.

That said, Trump is now leading the charge for a full rethinking of the place of vaccines and shot mandates in national life. His own Food and Drug Administration has sounded the alarm on the COVID shots for kids, which were never necessary in the first place. They were often mandated for school attendance. It turns out that there were at least 10 deaths definitively traceable to this shot and probably many more. People are understandably scandalized.

Beneath all this debate, there is a much broader meta-narrative at work. Vaccines had long expanded in use without too much public debate. It was the COVID response and the mandates for millions to accept an untested technology (modified mRNA) else lose their jobs. This was a bridge too far. To top it off, the shot did not stop transmission or infection and has revealed a poor safety profile.

As a result, many aspects of the entire system of public health have come into question. What’s on trial here is not just one shot or the childhood schedule or even vaccines only. What’s come into question is the credibility of the expert class of medicine men who shepherded this entire regime into operational legitimacy. If anyone believes that there would be a return to the status quo ante following all of this, that person is woefully naive about the relationship between the public mind and structures of governance.

What is unfolding right now is the consequence of a loss of trust. That does not mean that everything government has said is thus rejected. What this does mean is a dramatic shift in the burden of proof. The Hepatitis B shot needed to prove that it was necessary, safe, and effective for all newborn children, even those of mothers who have tested negative. Under that standard, the shot simply could not survive.

As we look at the entire schedule, it is true that there are other formulas and diseases that will be subjected to what is called shared decision-making between parents and medical doctors. Which is to say: We are watching the emergence of choice and volunteerism to primacy of place where they should have been all along.

Tyler Durden Thu, 12/11/2025 - 19:15

Letitia James Off The Hook Again As 2nd Grand Jury Refuses To Indict

New York Attorney General Letitia James has dodged yet another bullet from the Trump DOJ, after a second federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia declined to indict her on mortgage fraud charges for the second time in a week, after their first case against James was dismissed because a federal judge ruled that Halligan's appointment as interim US attorney was invalid under federal law because she took office after the statutory 120-day interim appointment period had expired. 

Apparently "any good prosecutor" cannot get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich. Or we're not dealing with "any" good prosecutors - as a decision like this from a grand jury is rare due to the fact that only prosecutors appear before them and defendants do not get to offer evidence to rebut the charges. 

"For the second time in seven days, the Department of Justice has failed in its clear attempt to fulfill President Trump’s political vendetta against Attorney General James. This unprecedented rejection makes even clearer that this case should never have seen the light of day," said Abbe Lowell, a lawyer representing James. "This case already has been a stain on this Department’s reputation and raises troubling questions about its integrity. Any further attempt to revive these discredited charges would be a mockery of our system of justice."

James was charged with one count of bank fraud and one count of making a false statement in 2020 connected to a home in Norfolk, Virginia. She is accused of indicating on mortgage paperwork that the purchase would be her second home - except she then rented it out and/or let her niece live in it. James denies wrongdoing. 

The initial case was prosecuted by Lindsey Halligan, who Trump installed as the acting US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia. While Halligan was able to get a grand jury to indict James, a federal judge dismissed the case - ruling that she was improperly appointed to the post. The effect of the ruling also resulted in the dismissal of the criminal case against former FBI Director James Comey. 

Nothing is stopping the DOJ from taking another bite at the apple and refiling the case against James. 

Tyler Durden Thu, 12/11/2025 - 18:50

Senate Democrats Unite To Condemn Tucker Carlson Over Nick Fuentes Interview

Authored by José Niño via Headline USA (emphasis ours),

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer just forced Republicans into an uncomfortable corner over antisemitism, and the silence from the GOP side of the aisle speaks volumes. On Monday, Schumer introduced a resolution condemning nationalist influencer Nick Fuentes over 'antisemitism' and Tucker Carlson for platforming him. 

Chuck Schumer / PHOTO: Senate TV via AP

All 47 Senate Democrats signed on as co-sponsors. However, no Republicans have signed on to the resolution. 

For gun rights advocates and Second Amendment supporters who value constitutional principles and limited government, this political theater reveals something far more troubling than a debate over offensive speech. It exposes how establishment politicians weaponize accusations of extremism to marginalize voices that challenge the bipartisan foreign policy consensus and question unlimited military commitments abroad.

The controversy erupted after Carlson’s October 2025 interview with Fuentes on his podcast. The two hour conversation sparked fierce debate within conservative circles, as Headline USA previously reported, particularly among pro-Israel voices on the right who condemned Carlson for failing to challenge Fuentes on his views. The discussion included references to “organized Jewry in America” and criticism of Christians who support Israel, whom they characterized as having a “brain virus.”

Fuentes, a 27-year-old nationalist, advocates for immigration restriction and a more restrained foreign policy. These positions, particularly skepticism toward endless foreign interventions and nation building projects, align closely with views held by many in the gun rights community who recognize that expansive government power abroad inevitably threatens constitutional liberties at home.

[ZH: Fuentes later went on to call Carlson 'two-faced' for allegedly denouncing Fuentes as an antisemite in subsequent interviews]

"He's still a nice guy, but he's two-faced."

Nick Fuentes discusses his falling out with Tucker Carlson pic.twitter.com/q1TroI8mN9

— Fuentes Updates (@FuentesUpdates) December 8, 2025

*  *  *

The resolution Schumer introduced formally demands that the Senate strongly reject “the views of and platforming of Nick Fuentes” and condemn “the effort by Tucker Carlson to platform and mainstream Nick Fuentes.” It calls on all elected officials and community leaders to reject white supremacy and antisemitism whenever they occur.

But the resolution goes further, targeting Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts for defending Carlson and releasing a video attacking critics of the interview. Democrats accuse Roberts of using “antisemitic dog whistles” in his defense. The resolution also highlights Trump administration official Paul Ingrassia, who said in an unearthed group chat that he has a “Nazi streak in me from time to time,” as Headline USA previously demonstrated.

The partisan divide could not be starker. Schumer reportedly sought Republican backing for his condemnation resolution, but not a single GOP senator joined.

Multiple Jewish organizations rushed to support the Democratic resolution, including the Jewish Democratic Council of America, Democratic Majority for Israel, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, and Jewish Women International. JDCA CEO Halie Soifer attacked Republicans for their absence, telling Jewish Insider that “this issue should not be partisan, yet not one Republican has joined this resolution, and the President of the United States has refused to condemn Fuentes, Tucker Carlson’s platforming of Fuentes, and the hate they’ve espoused.”

José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino 

[ZH: Will Schumer now denounce Piers Morgan?]

‘What a CROCK of S !’ Piers Morgan vs Nick Fuentes Full interview

Piers Morgan asks him about his most controversial past comments, on race, religion, women, Hitler, the Holocaust and his real thoughts on his conservative peers, from Tucker Carlson, to Candace Owens to the… pic.twitter.com/rUEuKljJqe

— bigedko (@big_edko) December 8, 2025

Tyler Durden Thu, 12/11/2025 - 18:25

Prepare For Coming World War, NATO Chief Says

NATO chief Mark Rutte on Thursday gave a major address in Berlin wherein he pleaded with members of the alliance to drastically step up joint defense efforts, in order to face down a coming conflict with Russia that could be "on the scale of war our grandparents and great-grandparents endured."

It in the "keynote speech" he chastized those alliance partners who don't feel the urgency of the 'Russian threat' to Europe.  "We are Russia's next target. I fear that too many are quietly complacent," he said. "Too many don't feel the urgency. And too many believe that time is on our side. It is not. The time for action is now."

"Conflict is at our door. Russia has brought war back to Europe. And we must be prepared," he added while warning of the next world war.

He further asserted that Russia could be ready to use military force against NATO within five years, at a moment the Ukraine war shows no signs of stopping. Rutte argued that more than just higher spending thresholds should be implemented, and he urged that alliance members must shift to a "wartime mindset".

"This is not the time for self-congratulation," Rutte continued. "I fear that too many are quietly complacent. Too many don't feel the urgency. And too many believe that time is on our side. It is not. The time for action is now."

NOW - NATO Chief Rutte warns: "We need to be ready... Russia has brought war back to Europe, and we must be prepared for the scale of war our grandparents and great-grandparents endured." pic.twitter.com/STEvo8y3Zr

— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) December 11, 2025

"Putin is paying for his pride with the blood of his own people," Rutte elsewhere stated. "And if he is prepared to sacrifice ordinary Russians in this way, what is he prepared to do to us?"

Of course, none of this acknowledged what from Moscow's point of view are the root causes of the war, especially the issue of constant NATO expansion.

Rutte is also hyping a coming 'world war' even while European leaders by and large have rejected the Trump-proposed peace plan, given they find the prospect of territorial concessions in Donbas and Crimea to be intolerable. It seems the hawks are still in control of Europe.

Another interesting moment was the NATO chief placing a lot of blame on China. He alleged that Moscow would not be able to execute the war without help from Beijing.

"China is Russia's lifeline," he alleged. "Without China's support, Russia could not continue to wage this war. About 80 percent of critical electronic components in Russian drones and other systems are made in China. So, when civilians die in Kyiv or Kharkiv, Chinese technology is often inside the weapons that kill them."

But ironically the same could be said of many Western military systems, even ones deployed by the Pentagon. Chinese tech is basically everywhere and this is no secret.

* * *

One commentator had this astute observation on the sad state of affairs in Europe:

Frenzied, desperate Boomers passing laws to ban young people from free speech, home ownership, or stable employment, while also berating them uhh this is just like WWII, so we are reintroducing military conscription too.

Dropping out, lying flat, giving up—are rational choices.

Tyler Durden Thu, 12/11/2025 - 18:00

Waste Of The Day: Shockingly, Inmate Phone Calls Lead To More Criminal Activity

Authored by Jeremy Portnoy via RealClearInvestigaions,

Topline: A new program that gives unlimited free phone calls to Massachusetts prisoners cost taxpayers $12.5 million in fiscal year 2025, according to the Boston Herald. 

Key facts: The program was meant to allow inmates to stay connected to their family members and other outside support systems, helping the rehabilitative process. It has not always had its intended effect.

Bristol County Sheriff Paul Heroux told the Herald that inmates at the jail he oversees are using the free phone calls to “plan criminal activity.” He claimed he has seen an increase in witness intimidation and violations of restraining orders since the so-called “No-Cost Communication” program began in late 2023.

Some inmates, according to Heroux, talk on the phone so much that they have stopped attending prison programming. 

Captain Eric Cardoso of Bristol County told NBC10 his unit needed to hire new investigators because inmates were using their phone calls to smuggle drugs into prisons.

Some jails had too few phones to accommodate the increased demand for calls, leading to fights among prisoners, according to Prison Legal News. The state solved that problem by giving prisoners tablets with a phone app installed.

Democratic State Rep. Adam Scanlon told the Herald the no-cost call program “has created unsustainable costs for county sheriffs and taxpayers.” He and Heroux are writing a bill that would keep inmates’ calls free, but limit them to 15 to 60 minutes per day.

Before the new law went into effect, people who received phone calls from inmates had to pay 12 to 14 cents per minute. 

Connecticut, Minnesota, Colorado and California are the only other states that offer free calls for inmates.

Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world’s largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com. xs

Summary: Prisoners should not be restricted from calling their families, but Massachusetts’ taxpayer-funded program must be reformed so it does not promote illegal activity.

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com

Tyler Durden Thu, 12/11/2025 - 17:40

"Fraud On Epic Scale": Do Kown Gets 15 Year Prison Sentence For $40BN Terraform Fraud

Many will point to the collapse of the Terra ecosystem in May 2022 as the trigger for the last crypto crash/winter which eventually culminated with the collapse of FTX. And moments ago, a judge added a prison sentence for the mastermind behind it all. 

Terraform Labs co-founder and onetime fugitive Do Kwon, who in August pled guilty over one of the largest frauds in crypto history, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the fraud that led to the company’s $40 billion collapse in 2022 and triggered a series of cascading crises in the cryptocurrency world, Bloomberg reported.

Kwon, 34, was sentenced at a hearing Thursday in New York by US District Judge Paul Engelmayer, capping US efforts to prosecute the crypto entrepreneur after a legal fight to extradite him from Montenegro, where he was imprisoned for using a fake passport.

He still faces fraud charges in his native South Korea.

“This was a fraud on an epic generational scale,” Engelmayer told Kwon. “In the history of federal prosecutions very few cases have caused more monetary harm than you did.”

Prosecutors had sought a 12-year sentence, saying Kwon’s lies to customers contributed to the “crypto winter” of 2022 and the failure of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX (who is also in prison for a similar massive fraud).

Kwon’s lawyers asked for no more than five years, arguing his crimes were motivated not by greed but a desire to prop up Terraform’s TerraUSD stablecoin. The judge called that request “wildly unreasonable.”

Kwon's prison term comes at a time when the Trump admin has weakened enforcement in crypto markets. On Oct. 23, Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who was convicted of failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program at the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.

Tyler Durden Thu, 12/11/2025 - 17:18

Pritzker Signs Law Limiting Federal Immigration Enforcement In Illinois

Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill into law on Dec. 9 that will limit federal immigration enforcement in the state, including in its courthouses and hospitals.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker speaks during a press conference with Texas Democrats at the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades union hall in Aurora, Ill., on Aug. 5, 2025. Scott Olson/Getty Images

“With my signature today, we are protecting people and institutions that belong here in Illinois,” Pritzker said in a statement. “Dropping your kid off at day care, going to the doctor, or attending your classes should not be a life-altering task.”

HB 1312, which went into effect immediately, allows people to take legal action against law enforcement officers they believe violated their constitutional rights during civil immigration operations in the state.

The legislation also bars civil arrests in and around courthouses for anyone attending certain state court proceedings and provides a pathway for affected individuals to seek damages for false imprisonment.

Hospitals are required under the new law to restrict the release of protected health information and implement policies governing interactions with law enforcement agents, according to the governor’s office.

The bill also prohibits schools and child care centers from disclosing the actual or perceived immigration status of students, employees, or anyone associated with them to third parties unless required by law.

The National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) welcomed the governor’s move to sign the bill, calling it a “necessary legislative step” to protect people’s constitutional rights.

“The fear of being abducted by federal immigration agents when attending a hearing in state court is disrupting people’s ability to engage with the justice system for critical matters, such as seeking a protection order in a domestic violence situation or addressing a traffic ticket,” Cecilia Mendoza, NIJC associate director of government relations, said in a statement.

Homeland Security Department (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said Pritzker violated the U.S. Constitution and his oath of office when he signed the bill into law.

The bill comes as the Trump administration has expanded immigration enforcement in Illinois, sparking protests near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Chicago, which prompted President Donald Trump to deploy hundreds of National Guard troops to protect ICE personnel and facilities. A federal judge later issued an injunction to temporarily block the deployment.

According to a DHS statement on Dec. 8, Illinois released about 1,768 criminal illegal immigrants back into the community this year despite federal detainer requests. Those who were released were convicted of various crimes, including homicide, burglary, serious drug offenses, weapons offenses, and sexual predatory offenses.

This follows ICE Director Todd Lyons’s September letter to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul asking him to honor ICE arrest detainers for criminal illegal immigrants in state custody.

The detainers require the state to notify ICE when a criminal illegal immigrant is due for release to ensure that the person can be safely transferred into federal custody.

In its Dec. 8 statement, the DHS said Raoul’s office did not respond.

Jill McLaughlin and Reuters contributed to this report.

Tyler Durden Thu, 12/11/2025 - 17:00

2.5 Million Illegal Immigrants Deported Under Trump Admin: DHS

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

More than 2.5 million illegal immigrants have left the United States under the Trump administration, a “record-breaking achievement” in a year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a Dec. 10 statement.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection security agents guide illegal immigrants onboard a C-17 Globemaster III assigned to the 60th Air Mobility Wing for a removal flight at Fort Bliss, Texas, on Jan. 23, 2025. Dept. of Defense photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Nicholas J. De La Pena

The 2.5 million figure includes more than 605,000 individuals deported as part of DHS enforcement operations and around 1.9 million illegal immigrants who have voluntarily self-deported since January.

“Since January 20, DHS has arrested more than 595,000 illegal aliens,” DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said. “Illegal aliens are hearing our message to leave now. They know if they don’t, we will find them, we will arrest them, and they will never return,” the department said.

DHS encouraged illegal immigrants to use the CBP Home app, which allows them to notify the federal government of their intent to depart the United States willingly. Those who self-deport via the app get $1,000 and a free flight home.

According to DHS, it has prioritized the removal of the “worst of the worst” criminal illegal immigrants as part of the administration’s push to ensure law and order in the country.

The rapid decline in the illegal immigrant population is showing effects nationwide, such as a “resurgence in local job markets,” DHS said. In October, 12,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy, which followed 431,000 additions in September.

President Donald Trump recently commended DHS Secretary Kristi Noem for a closed, secure border.

“We have a border that is the best border in the history of our country,” he said.

In a Dec. 10 post on X, Noem said that DHS’s accomplishments this year under Trump have been “historic.”

“None of it would be possible without the Homeland Security Advisory Council,” she said. “The men and women of this council provide their experience and insights to help deliver seven consecutive months of zero illegal entries, a revitalized Coast Guard, and more than 2.4 million deportations.”

The council provides the DHS secretary with advice and recommendations on homeland security issues and comprises leaders from state and local governments, academia, the private sector, and first responder communities.

However, the Trump administration’s enforcement against illegal immigrants has faced pushback from lawmakers.

Earlier this month, a group of lawmakers introduced the Dream Act of 2025, seeking to allow noncitizens who do not have lawful status and were brought to the United States as children to potentially qualify for lawful permanent residence and citizenship provided they meet certain work, military, or education requirements, according to a Dec. 4 statement from the office of Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.).

These individuals, referred to as Dreamers, must pass security and law enforcement background checks while proving proficiency in the English language and possessing knowledge of American history.

They must not have committed a felony or other serious crimes and should not pose a threat to the United States, the statement said.

“For decades, gridlock and partisan politics have forced Dreamers to live in limbo. And under the Trump Administration, they now have to fear being swept up in Trump’s cruel mass deportation campaign at any moment,” Padilla said.

Nearly 2 million “Dreamers” are estimated to live in the United States.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s policies are continuing to be a robust barrier against the uncontrolled influx of illegal immigrants.

In October and November, there were 60,940 total encounters with illegal immigrants by border patrol agents nationwide, which is the “lowest start to a fiscal year ever,” Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a Dec. 4 statement.

Since Trump took office, nationwide apprehensions have averaged less than 10,000 per month, which is a “level of deterrence unmatched in modern border history,” CBP said.

“For the seventh consecutive month, U.S. Border Patrol released zero illegal aliens into the United States. Every individual apprehended was processed according to law—a milestone unmatched in modern border history,” it said.

On Dec. 8, DHS announced the launch of a new “Worst of the Worst” webpage on its website that details information on criminal illegal immigrants arrested by the department under the Trump administration.

Americans can search through data of criminal illegal immigrants who have been arrested from all 50 states with criminal histories including homicide, rape, assault, child molestation, drug trafficking, armed robbery, and battery.

According to DHS, 70 percent of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests are of criminal illegal immigrants who have been charged or convicted of a crime in the United States.

“As the media whitewashes the facts, day in and day out, our brave men and women of ICE risk their lives for the American people. Americans don’t have to rely on the press for this information—with this transparent tool, they can see for themselves what public safety threats were lurking in their neighborhoods and communities,” McLaughlin said.

Tyler Durden Thu, 12/11/2025 - 16:20

Asset Purchases Begin: Fed To Buy $8.2BN In Bills Friday; Full Monthly Schedule Released

It's only appropriate that one day after Powell unveiled QE, pardon NOT QE, pardon Reserve Management Purchases (as we said he would a month ago), that the New York Fed would do what it did for the entire duration of QE 1, QE 2, QE 3 and so forth, and publish the POMO, pardon NOT POMO schedule of daily asset purchases. But since it's Bills and not long-duration Notes or Bonds, it's not QE... or some banana logic. 

As shown in the schedule below and as was first announced yesterday, the Fed plans to buy $40 billion of T-bills, spanning two sectors, over the period beginning Dec. 12 and ending Jan. 14 for "reserve management purchases." This includes $8.2 billion on Friday (full schedule here).

The central bank also plans to buy another $14.4 billion of T-bills as part of its plan to reinvest all principal payments from its agency securities.

Earlier in the day, Barclays published a note estimating that the Fed could wind up buying close to $525 billion of T-bills in 2026 from a previous forecast of $345 billion, with net issuance to private investors estimated at just $220 billion from $400 billion previously. 

Separately, JPMorgan and TD Securities also now see the central bank absorbing a bigger amount of debt. Bank of America anticipates the Fed may have to keep an increased pace of purchases for longer to add enough reserves and stabilize money market rates. 

Echoing verbatim what we said one month ago, Wall Street strategists said the measures will help alleviate pressures that have been building up for months while the Fed was shrinking its holdings. They expect the purchases will act as a tailwind for swap spreads and SOFR-fed funds basis trades. And, judging by the market which will close at an all time high on Thursday, stocks and precious metals (the crypto algos may need a reboot to figure out what is going on).

A closer look at what Bank of America's Mark Cabana had to say:

• There is risk of maintaining higher pace of purchases for longer as RMPs will only add back $80 billion of cash above natural liability growth by mid-April while BofA expects the Fed will need to add back $150 billion to achieve ideal outcome (as a reminder, Cabana initially predicted $45BN in monthly Bill purchases).
• Fed will shift to UST coupons out to three years if they perceive bill investors are “being adversely affected” to limit their displacement. It will be very difficult for the pro-Fed commentariat to pretend this is NOT QE (again).
• Balance sheet actions reinforce core spread views: long January and 1y1y SOFR-fed funds, long 2-year asset swap spreads

On Wednesday, trading in short-term rate futures jumped and two-year swap spreads widened to their highest levels since April, a sign of less stress in the short-term market.

Tyler Durden Thu, 12/11/2025 - 16:02

OPEC Maintains Bullish Oil Demand Outlook, IEA Trims Oil Glut Forecast

Oil prices are lower this morning despite a less-hawkish-than-feared Fed cut and a double-whammy of relative optimism from OPEC and the IEA...

IEA Trims Oil Glut Forecast as Supply Surge Halts

OilPrice.com's Tsvetana Paraskova reports that the oil market still faces record oversupply next year, according to the monthly report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), but the glut estimate is now trimmed by about 230,000 barrels per day compared to the November forecast. 

The market is headed to as much as 3.84 million barrels per day (bpd) of supply exceeding demand in 2026, the IEA said on Thursday in its closely-watched report for December.  

While this still is a considerable glut, it’s lower than the 4.09 million bpd implied oversupply expected in the November report. 

In today’s report, the IEA said that the projected global oil surplus in the fourth quarter of 2025 has narrowed since last month’s report, “as the relentless surge in global oil supply came to an abrupt halt.” 

Total global oil supply dipped by 610,000 bpd in November compared to October and by a whopping 1.5 million bpd from September’s all-time high, the IEA noted. 

OPEC+ accounted for 80% of the decline over October and November, reflecting significant unplanned outages in Kuwait and Kazakhstan, while oil output from sanctions-hit Russia and Venezuela plunged. 

Russia’s total oil exports are estimated to have plummeted by about 400,000 bpd in November to 6.9 million bpd, as buyers assessed the implications and risks associated with more stringent sanctions. 

Buyers, especially in Russia’s second-biggest crude oil customer, India, are steering clear of any Rosneft and Lukoil-related cargoes, for fear of running afoul of the U.S. Administration while India and the United States are still locked in difficult trade negotiations. 

The IEA noted in its report the apparent disconnect between the current global oil surplus and inventories near decade lows at key pricing hubs. 

Despite record volumes of oil piling up on water, benchmark crude oil prices eased only marginally in November, because “in stark contrast to the broader picture, crude and refined product stocks in key pricing hubs have seen only marginal builds,” the agency said. 

OPEC Holds Firm on Bullish Oil Demand Outlook for 2026

As Charles Kennedy reports at OilPrice.com, global oil demand will rise by about 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd) next year, supported by solid economic growth, OPEC said in its monthly report ton Thursday, keeping its demand forecasts unchanged from last month. 

Unlike other forecasters, investment banks, and analysts, OPEC continues to expect robust demand growth in 2026 that will be higher than the estimated increase for 2025 of about 1.3 million bpd, forecasts in the cartel’s Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) showed on Thursday. 

Figures about the balance of supply and demand in OPEC’s report also suggest that the cartel expects a balanced market next year.

Demand for crude from the OPEC+ producers is expected at 43.0 million bpd in 2026, up by 60,000 bpd compared to the projection for 2025, OPEC said.  

At the same time, crude oil production by the countries in the OPEC+ pact averaged 43.06 million bpd in November, a rise by 43,000 bpd from October, compared to the available secondary sources in OPEC’s report. 

After December, OPEC+ producers will be pausing their targeted monthly production increases during the first quarter of 2026. 

OPEC expects rival non-OPEC+ oil supply to grow by about 600,000 bpd next year, versus growth of some 1 million bpd expected for 2025. 

The rise in non-OPEC+ output is expected to be driven by offshore start-ups across Latin America and the Gulf of Mexico, increased NGLs production in the U.S., Argentina’s tight oil production, and the scaling of oil sands projects in Canada. Latin America is projected to lead non-OPEC+ growth, accounting for about two-thirds of the total, followed by Canada and the U.S.

This projection, while not new for OPEC, reiterates the cartel’s view that U.S. oil production growth will slow down next year.   

Signals have started to emerge in the shale patch and from industry executives that WTI crude prices below the $60 per barrel mark will put the brakes on America’s shale growth. 

Tyler Durden Thu, 12/11/2025 - 15:20

Zelensky Floats Holding Referendum On Giving Up Land For Peace

"I am definitely in favor of elections," Ukraine's President Zelensky said Thursday. "The most important thing is that they are held legitimately." He's presenting a position of willingness to compromise amid the increasing pressure from Trump. Is this but a ruse to buy time? 

President Trump is meanwhile pressing European leaders to force Zelensky to accept the US peace plan which hinges on major territorial concessions and a cap on Ukraine's armed forces. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the US president held a tense call with his German, French and British counterparts, where he conveyed his frustrations with Zelensky for not seriously engaging with the US proposal.

Via Reuters

The Ukrainian government has submitted a response to Washington, but "big gaps" remain, WSJ says. This back-and-forth over what Europe-Ukraine vs. Washington finds an acceptable compromise is nothing new.

But the truly new proposal from the Ukrainian side is that it is now floating the possibility of a popular referendum on the matter.

"Territory and security guarantees remain the primary sticking points for Ukraine. Zelensky maintains that Ukraine has no legal or moral rights to cede land to Russia," WSJ lays out by way of context. "Moscow has demanded Ukrainian withdrawal from the eastern province of Donetsk, which Russia hasn’t been able to take fully by force."

Ceding territory by vote? WSJ continues...

Zelensky has long said that as president he can’t unilaterally decide the fate of Ukrainian territories, which must be approved by the Ukrainian people.

In early fall, 54% Ukrainians opposed ceding land, even if it meant continuing the war and risked the country’s independence, compared with 38% who were open to some territorial concessions, in a poll conducted by Kyiv International Institute of Sociology.

But at this point there may actually be more willingness to take such a step on the part of the Ukrainian masses. After all, there's greater awareness at this point of how poorly the army is faring along the front lines. 

There's also a power crisis ahead of what promises to be a harsh winter. Ukraine simply can't get the parts to repair its energy grid fast enough, amid unrelenting Russian drone and missile strikes.

Zelensky has emphasized a big caveat to the possibility of elections - whether a vote for the presidency or on the issue of giving up land: his international backers must help guarantee a safe and fair vote.

This means Russia might have to agree to a temporary ceasefire while any potential election proceeds, according to Kiev's thinking. Such could prove a tall order - and maybe for Zelensky this exactly the point.

Trump is meanwhile fed up, his patience wearing thin...

White House on Russia-Ukraine:

Trump is extremely frustrated with both sides of this war.

He is sick of meetings just for the sake of meeting.

He does not want anymore talk, he wants action. pic.twitter.com/6tOmFkrM1W

— Clash Report (@clashreport) December 11, 2025

Tyler Durden Thu, 12/11/2025 - 15:00

Trump Admin Pulls 9,500 Truck Drivers Off The Road For Failing English Tests

Authored by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times,

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said more than 9,500 commercial truckers have been taken out of service for failing English-language proficiency checks, a cumulative enforcement tally he said highlights an ongoing effort to keep unqualified operators from posing dangers on the nation’s roads.

“We’ve now knocked 9,500 truck drivers out of service for failing to speak our national language — ENGLISH!” Duffy wrote in a Dec. 10 post on X. “This administration will always put you and your family’s safety first.”

The tally reflects cumulative enforcement actions taken since May, when the Department of Transportation reinstated out-of-service penalties for drivers who cannot read or speak English well enough to operate a commercial motor vehicle.

President Donald Trump and Duffy have both said the renewed enforcement is necessary to ensure truckers can understand road signs, communicate with police and inspectors, and follow instructions at checkpoints and weigh stations.

“America First means safety first,” Duffy said in May. “Americans are a lot safer on roads alongside truckers who can understand and interpret our traffic signs. This common-sense change ensures the penalty for failure to comply is more than a slap on the wrist.”

The crackdown comes after Trump signed an executive order in March designating English as the country’s official language. In April, he signed another order directing Duffy to ensure that commercial truck drivers who fail to meet English-language proficiency standards are taken out of service.

“My Administration will enforce the law to protect the safety of American truckers, drivers, passengers, and others, including by upholding the safety enforcement regulations that ensure that anyone behind the wheel of a commercial vehicle is properly qualified and proficient in our national language, English,” Trump wrote in the April order. “This is common sense.”

Trump’s April order scrapped an Obama-era rule under which inspectors could cite truckers for failing English requirements but were not allowed to remove them from service, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said in a May memo.

Fatal Crashes Prompt Wider Crackdown

The English-proficiency push is part of a broader campaign to tighten oversight of commercial licensing after a series of fatal crashes involving foreign or nondomiciled drivers. Several of those drivers were later found to have failed English tests or held licenses issued in error by states.

In one Florida case, Indian national Harjinder Singh was accused of killing three people after making an illegal U-turn in a semi-truck.

Harjinder Singh is escorted onto an airplane by Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and law enforcement in Stockton, Calif., on Aug. 21, 2025. Benjamin Fanjoy/AP Photo

Officials said Singh—who was in the United States illegally—failed an English exam, answered only two of 12 questions correctly, and could identify just one of four road signs. Despite that, Washington state issued him a full-term commercial driver’s license (CDL) in 2023, and California issued a second CDL in 2024.

Singh pleaded not guilty in September. The Epoch Times reached out to Singh’s attorney for comment at the time but did not receive a response.

Federal reviews have identified similar cases in California, New York, Pennsylvania, and other states, prompting widespread scrutiny of state licensing practices.

States Face Pressure, Funding Loss

The mass disqualifications follow the Transportation Department’s ongoing audit of how states issue nondomiciled CDLs to foreign drivers. In September, Duffy issued emergency restrictions after auditors found a “catastrophic pattern” of noncompliance in multiple jurisdictions, with California singled out as the most severe case.

The audit found that more than 25 percent of California’s no-domiciled CDLs were issued improperly, many to drivers whose lawful presence in the United States had expired months or years earlier. One Brazilian national received endorsements to operate school buses after his immigration documents had lapsed, in a case the Transportation Department described as shocking.

A sign at a press conference held by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy at the Department of Transportation's headquarters in Washington on Oct. 30, 2025. Arjun Singh/The Epoch Times

“What our team has discovered should disturb and anger every American,” Duffy said in September. “Licenses to operate a massive, 80,000-pound truck are being issued to dangerous foreign drivers–often times illegally. This is a direct threat to the safety of every family on the road, and I won’t stand for it.”

The Transportation Department has since threatened to withhold tens of millions of dollars in federal highway safety funds from California, Washington, and New Mexico unless they fully enforce English-language rules and revoke improperly issued licenses. California alone risks losing more than $40 million, though state officials have said they already require English testing during commercial road exams.

The language crackdown coincides with heightened immigration enforcement targeting commercial drivers who are in the country illegally.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in October that 146 illegal immigrants operating semi-trucks were arrested during a joint ICE–Indiana State Police operation near the Illinois border. More than 40 drivers held CDLs issued by states including California, Illinois, and New York.

“Far too many innocent Americans have been killed by illegal aliens driving semi-trucks and big rigs,” Noem said in an Oct. 30 statement. “And yet, sanctuary states around the country have been issuing illegal aliens commercial driver’s licenses. The Trump Administration is ending the chaos.”

Tyler Durden Thu, 12/11/2025 - 14:40

Putin Doubles Down On Backing Maduro As US Prepares To Seize More Oil Tankers

The Kremlin confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Thursday and reassured him of Moscow's support, at a moment he's facing likely regime change action at the hands of US military might.

Putin expressed support for Maduro's rule "in the face of growing external pressure," but they also discussed their advancing a strategic partnership and the areas of ongoing economic and energy projects. Moscow has long stood by Caracas' side throughout years of growing isolation and sanctions.

The Kremlin statement added that "Putin expressed solidarity with the Venezuelan people and reaffirmed his support for the Maduro government's policy of safeguarding national interests and sovereignty amid mounting external pressure."

Wednesday saw elite American special forces operators board and seize a Venezuelan oil tanker. They were filmed rappelling onto the ship's deck from a helicopter, with rifles at the ready.

This has serious repercussions for Russia too, given Moscow has been a longtime trading partner with Caracas, and it raises the potential that Russian tankers in the Caribbean could be intercepted.

Perhaps even more notably, Reuters reports that Washington is preparing to intercept more ships transporting Venezuelan oil following the seizure of a tanker this week, as it increases pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, six sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Further direct interventions by the U.S. are expected in the coming weeks targeting ships carrying Venezuelan oil that may also have transported oil from other countries targeted by U.S. sanctions, such as Iran, according to the sources familiar with the matter who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Last weekend Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that his country would stand "shoulder to shoulder" with Venezuela in this time of crisis, but didn't offer anything concrete.

"This is primarily due to the desire to assert the unquestioning dominance of the United States in the region, this is a trademark of the Trump administration," Ryabkov explained.

According to some more of the latest developments via Newsweek:

• Initial reports on Wednesday cited U.S. officials saying the Coast Guard carried out the tanker seizure under international maritime law, targeting vessels tied to alleged illicit PDVSA-linked crude shipments.
• U.S President Donald Trump later confirmed the seizure, hinting that “other things are happening,” but offered no further details.
• A senior Trump administration official described the move as a “judicial enforcement action on a stateless vessel” last docked in Venezuela.
• Oil prices jumped on the news: Brent crude rose 0.8 percent to $62.35 a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate climbed to $58.46.
• Analysts warn the seizure may further strain U.S.–Venezuela relations and deter shippers already wary of handling sanctioned Venezuelan crude.
• Maduro has long accused Washington of seeking to overthrow him and seize Venezuela’s vast oil reserves; the nation’s production has fallen from over 2 million barrels a day to roughly 1 million.
• The seizure comes after Trump renewed threats of intervention by land, air, or sea, including a recent U.S. fighter jet flyover near Venezuelan airspace.
• Caracas condemned the action as “international piracy” and “brazen theft,” accusing the U.S. of trying to control its natural resources.
• Trump called the tanker the “largest ever” seized by the U.S.

Some hawks have long viewed Venezuela as a Latin American satellite state of Russian influence...

According to this column, "In Venezuela, the Department of War is indeed playing offense, as Trump promised, but the opponent isn’t really Maduro, it's Putin" pic.twitter.com/1W0ros2WvM

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) December 7, 2025

While Russia has been a longtime ally of President Maduro, it is unlikely to come to his defense in any direct way, also given the delicate and sensitive efforts to improve bilateral ties with Washington amid talks to de-escalate the Ukraine war. This despite Caracas having formally pleaded for more help from Moscow of late, including arms deliveries.

Tyler Durden Thu, 12/11/2025 - 14:00