Puppet MastersS


Blue Planet

Trump's geo-politics: Correcting the imperial model and shaping the incoming economic architecture

Alastair Crooke
Strategic Culture Foundation
Wed, 17 Dec 2025 00:00 UTC
WHite house flags
© SCFThe White House • Flags flying
The NSS is not a pivot from Empire; it does, nonetheless, conclude that the means to domination requires a 'Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine'.

In his speech in Riyadh in May, President Trump set out his rationale to his transactional mode of policy formulation - making peace through commerce, rather than war.

The language in the 4 December US National Security Strategy (NSS) takes this several steps further: It is couched in the terms of 'regions of influence', rather than hegemony, and of managing stakeholder financial interests. It abandons the phraseology of a rules-based order and eschews appeals to democracy and Western values.

But what does this 'peace through commerce' really mean?

The core to the Trump geo-politics is revealed in the NSS as the risk of imperial collapse looming in the future. It talks about Atlas holding the globe aloft - and emphasises that the United States can no longer continue to shoulder the burden of empire.

The NSS, therefore, is ultimately centered around resolving the economic contradictions that has brought the US to this pass - burgeoning debt and an out-of-control fiscal matrix which, absent a solution, ordains that Empire will fold.

Comment: Trump's Venezuelan plan: Comprehendible via the NSS, current contexts and future trajectories.

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Arrow Up

Fearing risks in using Russian assets, EU agrees €90bn Ukraine war loan


Press TV
Fri, 19 Dec 2025 07:05 UTC
Mette Frederiksen
© AFPDenmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen • European Council President Antonio Costa, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attend a press conference after the European Council meeting • Brussels, Belgium • December 19, 2025
EU leaders have agreed to provide Ukraine with a €90 billion ($98 billion) loan backed by the bloc's common budget, while shelving plans to use frozen Russian state assets amid legal and financial concerns and repeated warnings from Moscow.

The agreement was reached early on Friday after overnight talks at a summit in Brussels, as the EU sought to secure funding to continue the war in Ukraine over the next two years.

Under the deal, the EU will raise funds through loans guaranteed by its shared budget, abandoning proposals backed by some member states to leverage around €200 billion in Russian central bank assets frozen in the bloc.

The plan failed to win consensus, largely due to objections from Belgium, where most of the assets are held. Belgian officials warned of legal risks and the potential for retaliatory measures that would disproportionately affect the country.

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever welcomed the outcome, saying it avoided significant legal and financial exposure. "This was extremely risky and raised many unanswered questions," De Wever told reporters. "Rationality has prevailed."

Comment: Something for nothing and nothing for something...Ah Kiev!

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Arrow Up

DOJ releases thousands of Epstein records


RT
Fri, 19 Dec 2025 21:32 UTC
Epstein Clinton and Unknown
© US Dept of JusticeJeffrey Epstein • Bill Clinton • Unidentified
Files include court records, travel photos, and redacted investigative material.

The US Justice Department has released a large tranche of records related to its investigations into late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, publishing the files online on Friday.

The documents were made public under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, legislation signed by President Donald Trump that compels the Justice Department to release records tied to federal criminal investigations into Epstein and longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

The so-called 'Epstein Library' has been organized into four main categories: Court records; disclosures made under the Epstein Files Transparency Act; documents released in response to Freedom of Information Act requests; and records previously provided to the House Oversight Committee in September.

The archive includes a vast number of photographs showing Jeffrey Epstein, his convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, and others during trips to locations such as Bali, Indonesia, Morocco, and St. Tropez, France. Many of the images are heavily redacted, in line with legal requirements to remove information that could identify potential victims or contain child sexual abuse material.
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Gift

Developments

James Howard Kunstler
kunstler.com
Fri, 19 Dec 2025 00:00 UTC
Dan Bongino
© UnknownDan Bongino leaves the J Edgar Hoover Building
"Leftists are evil scum who castrate children and invite Mexican rapists into the USA to peddle fent to your kids."
— Aimee Terese on "X"
The frantic ceremonies of Christmas shopping climax now. . . the stockings are hung by the chimney with care. . . and the republic judders into the darkest season of an evil era. You fear the one gift you have waited for lo these twelve months will not be delivered: the frog-marching of Brennan, Clapper, Comey, Strzok, HRC, Mayorkas, Monaco, Rosenstein, Priestap, Halper, Yates, Lynch, Garland, Wray, Haynes, Sullivan, Schiff, Warner, Eisen, Elias, Weissmann, Jack Smith. . . and many other deep state treason-goblins into the maw of a federal courthouse for processing like so many mackerel in a cat food cannery. "No arrests!" is the melancholy cry heard from sea to shining sea.

It's true. A whole year ticked by and no accountability for the immense decade-long free-ranging crime-spree against our country by so many government officials. Did I leave out Mr. Obama? Yes. He would probably have to dangle as an "unindicted co-conspirator," cuz president, and all. But maybe not. It's open to interpretation, I grant you. . . assuming anyone in the Trump DOJ could actually get serious and move a folder off his/her desk. Anyway, Christmas is upon us and the MAGA minions sulk in despair. No arrests!
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Warning

Putin gives European 'warmongers' a reality check: A timely attitude adjustment—NOT mincing words!

Henry Kamens
New Eastern Outlook
Thu, 18 Dec 2025 00:00 UTC
PUtin
© UnknownRussian President Vladimir Putin
President Vladimir Putin's blunt warning to Europe exposes a widening gap between Western peace rhetoric and a political reality in which European elites are increasingly invested in prolonging the Ukraine conflict rather than resolving it.

Europe's warmongering elite just received a reality check from Moscow — and their reaction reveals how deeply the continent's politics are tied to keeping the conflict alive.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has delivered one of his bluntest warnings to Europe to date, telling Western leaders that if they truly want a war with Russia, they can "start right now."

In a recent media exchange, Putin stressed that Moscow is ready for any scenario but made clear that a direct conflict with Europe would not resemble Russia's special operation (SMO) in Ukraine... And once it starts, there might not be anyone left on the European side to negotiate with in ending it.

By cautioning that if the continent chooses the path of war with Moscow, Russia is fully prepared to respond, and that it will not be like the special operation in Ukraine, which is being carried out in a surgical fashion, Putin has just handed Europe's political class a blunt reality check, warning that their war talk has consequences they're not prepared to face.

While Moscow avoids diplomatic sugarcoating, NATO leaders keep preaching "peace" while undermining every path toward it. Europe's loudest warmongers are the ones most threatened by a real peace deal — and their political survival depends on keeping the conflict alive.

Comment: Rutte is intimidating Russia, not the other way around. As Europe unravels, hyped rhetoric and phony blame is the obvious diversion.

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Star of David

Netanyahu exploits the Bondi Beach massacre to build support for the Gaza genocide, fueling antisemitism in the process

Jonathan Ofir
Mondoweiss
Thu, 18 Dec 2025 00:00 UTC
Netanyahu
© Marc Israel Sellem/PoolIsraeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu • Cabinet meeting • Jerusalem
Benjamin Netanyahu is blaming the attack at Bondi Beach on Australia's support for Palestinian statehood. He conflates Jewish safety with Zionism to garner support for Israel, but in doing so, he enlists all Jews as agents of Palestinian oppression.

On September 21, Australia officially recognized the State of Palestine. This recognition coincided with that of several other Western countries, including France, Canada, and the United Kingdom. This is, of course, a problem for an Israeli government that "flatly rejects the establishment of a Palestinian Arab state west of the Jordan River."

So what better than a massacre of Jews on Hanukkah to undermine this effort?
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Ice Cube

How to steal 210 billion euros


Voltaire International News, issue 156
Thu, 18 Dec 2025 00:00 UTC
Valdis Dombrovskis
Valdis Dombrovskis, EU Commissioner for the Economy
According to Latvian Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commissioner for the Economy, the assets of the Bank of Russia held in the European Union, including in central securities depositories (CSDs) such as Euroclear, "are not being seized and the principle of sovereign immunity is being respected."

European financial institutions holding frozen Russian state assets are "fully protected against any legal proceedings." Thus, "central securities depositories can offset any seizure in Russia with frozen or immobilized assets held here," he stated on December 12. Therefore, the EU does not fear legal action from Russia before international courts (see VAI 4408). However...

In addition to the well-known opposition of Hungary and Slovakia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy, Malta and the Czech Republic have now warned against "any haste at the technical level" which would lead to the realization of the financial arrangement of the "repair loans".

Belgium, for its part, is demanding higher guarantees than those proposed by the Commission. This is one of the sticking points in the ongoing negotiations.

Comment: The devil is in the details, should the EU manage to persist, falter and have to repay.

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Whistle

IRS whistleblowers tell 'Pod Force One' of 'unprecedented' corruption swept 'under rug' by Hunter Biden pardon

Josh Christenson
New York Post
Wed, 17 Dec 2025 06:16 UTC
Shapley
© Pod Force OneIRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler (not pictured) appeared on "Pod Force One"
IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler discussed in a wide-ranging "Pod Force One" interview the "unprecedented" level of corruption they said they observed while investigating Hunter Biden before a pardon from his presidential dad, Joe Biden, swept everything "under the rug."

Shapley and Ziegler, who have since been promoted to leadership positions in the IRS, said the former first family had undue influence on their investigation into Hunter Biden's finances.

"The Biden family lived five miles down from the office or a few miles down from the office. The guest house where Hunter Biden stayed for a while, five miles from the office," Ziegler told The Post's Miranda Devine of the five-year probe into the former president's son's $1.4 million tax delinquency.

"Throughout the investigation," he said, "we heard about Joe Biden coming into the FBI office. I mean, it was really, really concerning from like, 'Is this honestly the best place to work this tax investigation?'"

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Family

"Children Are NOT Experiments": House-Passes Bill Criminalizing Transgender Treatments For Minors

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Thu, 18 Dec 2025 16:08 UTC
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.)
© Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch TimesRep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) presides over a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Feb. 12, 2025.
The House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday that would criminalize transgender-related treatments for minors, which includes surgical procedures and puberty blockers.

The bill, called the "Protect Children's Innocence Act" was sponsored by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and passed in a 216-211 vote.

Three Democrats voted along with Republicans, while four Republicans voted against it, according to Greene.
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Wolf

SOTT Focus: The Oligarch Part 1: How One Powerful Man Made Zelensky President, Ukraine His Pocket state, And Sent It To War


RT
Wed, 17 Dec 2025 21:34 UTC
Igor Kolomoysky
© RTIgor Kolomoysky
Igor Kolomoysky built up Ukraine's largest bank, then plundered it for billions in a scheme so elaborate it looks like a state intelligence operation. During the 2014 Maidan revolution, he ended up caught in a whirlwind of far-right militants, rising Western scrutiny, and a dramatic denouement with his bank - and fled abroad. Not one to give up, though, Kolomoysky had a plan for revenge and its name was Vladimir Zelensky.

Zelensky, however, soon ran amok. He "tricked Putin" in Paris, ruining hopes for peace in the Donbass, and setting the stage for the fateful events of 2022. Caught between Western pressure and his benefactor's menacing presence, Zelensky tried to play both sides until events forced his hand. Yet Kolomoysky's downfall merely left an open niche for a new shadowy figure to stride in.

Below is the first part of RT's investigation, based on hundreds of pages of court documents, dealing with Kolomoysky's rise, his turning PrivatBank into an empire of fraud, the events of Maidan, and his involvement in the post-Maidan world.

"He did play as Napoleon, right, Zelensky?... This Napoleon will soon be no more," said a man with curly grey hair and a scraggly grey beard from the defendant's cage in a Kiev courtroom. It was the middle of November, and Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoysky was speaking at a hearing in the longstanding fraud charges he faces related to his plundering of PrivatBank. Looking relaxed in a track suit and speaking in Russian, Kolomoysky predicted that Vladimir Zelensky would come crashing down with him due to his own intimate involvement in the corruption scandal currently roiling Ukraine.
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