December 29, 2025

2025: The Year in Limericks - Steve Shives

Summary: The title says it all.

December 29, 2025

Breaking: Top Epstein reporter makes bombshell discovery - Brian Tyler Cohen

BTC: There is some massive breaking news that involves Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and the top reporter covering this pedophile ring.

Julie K. Brown is the Miami Herald reporter whose investigation led to the arrests of Epstein and Maxwell. She just posted {social media post displayed}, "Does somebody at the DOJ want to tell me why my American Airlines booking information and flights in July 2019 are part of the Epstein files (attached to a grand jury subpoena)? As the flight itinerary includes my maiden name (and I did book this flight) why was the DOJ monitoring me? And she included a document from the files that outlines her travel from July 2019.

Now, a few things to point out here about that particular moment in time. The president in July 2019 was Donald Trump, meaning Trump's DOJ was tracking this reporter who was investigating Jeffrey Epstein. Also at that time, Trump's labor secretary was a guy named Alexander Acosta, the former US attorney who gave Epstein a sweetheart non-prosecution deal, who was in his position until the same month, July 2019, at which point he resigned. Just weeks later, on August 10th, 2019, Epstein was found dead in his prison cell. Now, that might all be a coincidence, and it might not.

The news raises a lot of questions, chief among them, why was the Trump administration, Trump's own DOJ, tracking and investigating the reporter who was investigating Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell? Why were they tracking her travel? Were they following Julie Brown before Epstein's arrest on July 8th or after Epstein's arrest? And finally, what did Trump's DOJ know that it felt the need to launch this investigation?

I want to be clear, it is not normal for the DOJ to start tracking reporters and certainly not their personal air travel. So ask yourself why the DOJ might have been especially interested in this particular reporter? Remember, as I mentioned before, Trump appointed the US attorney who gave Epstein his sweetheart deal as a Cabinet member, which frankly wouldn't be the first time that Trump has done a favor for someone in Epstein's orbit. This is how he's spoken about Ghislaine Maxwell, for example, who's Epstein's accomplice and a fellow rapist when asked about her publicly.

(cut to video)
WH Reporter: Ghislaine Maxwell is in prison and a lot of people want to know if she's going to turn in powerful people and I know you've talked in the past about Prince Andrew and uh you criticized Bill Clinton's behavior. I'm wondering uh do you feel that she's going to turn in powerful men? How do you see that working out?

Trump: I don't know. I haven't really been following it too much. I just wish her well, frankly. Uh, I've met her numerous times over the years, especially since I lived in Palm Beach and I guess they lived in Palm Beach. Uh, but I wish her well, whatever it is. Uh, I don't know the situation with Prince Andrew. Just don't know. Not aware of it.

(cut to second video)
Axios Reporter: President, the other day a reporter asked you about Ghislaine Maxwell. You said, "I just wish her well, frankly. I've met her numerous times over the years, especially since I lived in Palm Beach, but I wish her well, whatever it is." Mr. President, Ghislaine Maxwell has been arrested on allegations of child sex trafficking. Why would you wish such a person well?

Trump: I don't know that..

Axios Reporter: But I do know that she has, she's been arrested for that.

Trump: Her friend or boyfriend (Reporter: Epstein) was either killed or committed suicide in jail. She's now in jail. Yeah. I wish her well. I'd wish you well. I'd wish a lot of people well. Good luck. Let them prove somebody was guilty. I mean, you do you know that she…

Axios Reporter: Oh, so you're saying you hope she doesn't die in jail. Is that what you mean by wish her well?

Trump: Her boyfriend died in jail. And people are still trying to figure out how did it happen? Was it suicide? Was he killed? And I do wish her well. I'm not looking for anything bad for her. I'm not looking bad for anybody. And they took that and I mean…

Axios Reporter: She's a child sex alleged child sex trafficker.

Trump: But all it is is her boyfriend died. He died in jail. Was he killed? Was it suicide? I do. I wish her well.

(cut to studio)
BTC: Of course he wishes her well. He wishes everyone well. Why wouldn't he wish her well? In fact, Trump's consistently been notably shy when it comes to offering any of the Epstein files publicly.

(cut to video)
Fox News Reporter: Would you declassify the 9/11 um files?

Trump: Yeah.

Fox News Reporter: Would you declassify JFK files?

Trump: Yeah. Would you? I did. I did a lot of it.

Fox News Reporter: Would you declassify the Epstein files?

Trump: Yeah. Yeah, I would. All right. I guess I would. I think that less so because, you know, you don't know it. You don't want to affect people's lives if it's phony stuff in there because there's a lot of phony stuff with that whole world. Uh, but I think I would or at least…

Fox News Reporter: Do you think that would restore trust?

Trump: Help restore trust? Yeah. I I don't know about Epstein so much as I do the others.

(cut to studio)
BTC: So, look, the reality is that I am the furthest thing from a conspiracy theorist, but there are a lot of pieces to this that seem to tell a pretty clear story.

Trump was obviously close with Epstein for years. Epstein himself called Trump his closest friend for a decade. Epstein trafficked Virginia Giuffre from Trump's Mar-a-Lago spa. Trump then wins the presidency, appoints the guy who let Epstein off with a slap on the wrist to a Cabinet position. Then, in a 2018 message, Epstein said about Trump, "I am the one able to take him down." In July 2019, Trump's DOJ is tracking Julie K. Brown, the reporter who is investigating Epstein. Around the same time, Epstein then gets arrested while Trump is president, incarcerated by the Bureau of Prisons while Trump is president, and then is found dead with no video footage while Trump is president. Then in 2024, Trump wins the presidency again and suddenly decides a thousand FBI agents need to be dedicated to redacting his name out of the Epstein files. He's all over this thing in documents and photos.

Then Dan Bongino, who staked his entire brand on exposing the men involved with the Epstein ring, announces his retirement from the FBI. Pam Bondi reneges on her promise to release the files on her desk. The DOJ breaks the law that required the release of all the files by December 19th. And finally, Trump blurts out over Christmas that the DOJ should just stop releasing any files that pertain to Republicans. I'm sorry, but what the fuck are we doing here? Even if this was an afterschool special on TV, the writers would be accused of being too heavy-handed. What's next? Trump puts on a shirt that reads, "Not involved with Jeffrey Epstein."

The bad news for the Trump team is that Julie's confusion about being tracked is reaching the right people. The House Oversight Committee Democrats tweeted, "The Department of Justice needs to explain why travel, information, and booking itineraries for journalists are in the Epstein files."

In fact, here's Robert Garcia, the ranking member of that committee, explaining what it would mean if Democrats retake the majority after midterms as it relates to actually getting some answers from the people at Trump's DOJ.

(cut to video interview with Robert Garcia and BTC)
Robert Garcia: You know, we don't have the majority, right? So, we don't have the power of subpoena unless we somehow force the Republicans to join us, and we've done that a few times. Uh, but we can't get Todd Blanche in front of us. We can't force Pam Bondi in front of us unless we get the Republican majority to actually move with us. And so James Comer, if he really wants transparency, we should be demanding answers from Todd Blanche, the head of the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Ghislaine Maxwell should be in. We should be asking questions of Pam Bondi, the former FBI directors. We wanted to have some of the former FBI directors come in and they James Comer dismissed it. I mean, he just, you know, he doesn't think it's important. And so that that work's got to continue and when we win that majority, the Oversight Committee on day one is going to get answers and get very aggressive on bringing these folks in.

BTC: And that's exactly the point that I wanted to discuss. What can you commit to in the event that Democrats are able to win the majority and you become chairman of the House Oversight Committee?

Robert Garcia: Well, I can tell you on the Epstein investigation, what all of the folks that we need to talk to, former members at the FBI, rank and file folks that are that are critical, certainly most importantly, Pam Bondi, Kash Patel, folks have been involved in putting the files together, the banks, all of the folks involved on on day one, we'll put out a substantial list and subpoena the appropriate people and institutions so that we get all the answers and that we can bring justice for the survivors and that'll happen day one.

(cut to studio)
BTC: Ro Khanna, the co-sponsor of the Epstein Transparency Act, also tweeted, "Julie K. Brown has been tirelessly seeking the truth to expose the Epstein class. DOJ must answer for this."

But to Robert Garcia's point, that only happens if Democrats retake the majority because clearly while Trump is leading this cover up, his lackey like Pam Bondi, Kash Patel, Dan Bongino, Mike Johnson, Todd Blanche, and James Comer are helping him every step of the way. Forget that these people quite literally ran on exposing the deep state elites who could commit heinous crimes with impunity. These people are literally entrenching that very system. They are exactly the ones they warned you about. So keep the pressure on because that pressure works. But just know that so long as Republicans, other than basically Thomas Massie, are still in power, they will fight you every step of the way.

What we've gotten thus far is in spite of this GOP, not because of it. Something to think about as we head into 2026 with midterms on the horizon and the American people get to make a choice. Give more power to the people who are protecting the pedophiles or give power to the people who are exposing them. Take all the time you need with that one.

December 29, 2025

Russian Ruble Disaster - Joe Blogs

The Russian ruble has surged in 2025 — up around 45% against the US dollar, making it one of the best-performing assets in the world, according to Bloomberg.

But this apparent strength is actually becoming a serious problem for the Russian economy.

In this video, I explain why a stronger ruble is damaging government revenues, hurting exporters, and undermining Russia’s budget, at exactly the wrong moment. I also break down new Reuters analysis showing that Russia’s tax receipts are expected to fall to their lowest level since 2022, with the biggest drop coming from mineral extraction taxes — a clear sign that Russia is not just earning less per barrel, but may also be extracting and selling less oil and gas.

Using simple worked examples, I show how:
• A stronger ruble means fewer rubles per barrel of oil sold
• Profits fall even if the oil price stays the same
• Tax revenues collapse as a result
• Falling energy demand compounds the damage

This isn’t a story about currency strength — it’s a warning about hidden economic weakness, falling demand for Russian energy, and growing pressure on the Kremlin’s finances.

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:04 RUBLE
5:39 2025
7:22 IMPACT
9:11 OIL
12:12 SANCTIONS
13:54 SUMMARY & CONCLUSION

December 29, 2025

Let's talk about organizing, structure, and a survival myth.... - Belle of the Ranch

Well, howdy there Internet people. It's Belle again. So, today we're going to talk about organizing, structure, and survival myth.

We got this question and it's an interesting one and it's really relevant to those who are community networking and it deals with something that often has to be trained out of the veteran community.

Okay, here's the question. Belle, after everything that's gone on with the disasters here in Washington State, the group I've been pushing for years to form a community network is finally ready and having serious meetings and discussions about it so we can be ready for the next disaster and the vets want to be ready in case of an actual collapse of society. We've already run into our first big issue when it comes to how to structure it. I'm advocating for the kind of structure you have promoted here for years where it's very fluid and leadership is based on the particular situation and who is most experienced in that situation. But the people who were in the Army want a more rigid hierarchy and they say it's more efficient. I have a list of reasons why I think the more fluid reason is better, but I thought I'd go to the source and ask the people who have been running a functioning network for 10 years and as I've recently discovered are mostly vets. So why did you not use the structure most of you are more comfortable with?

Military structure is perfect for following orders to achieve well-defined short-term objectives. The order is, "Sergeant, take that hill." Not, "Sergeant, take that hill, build a rapport with the locals, establish a working relationship with the village on the next hill and take care of anything else that comes up." Some of the vets watching this are going to say, "Well, that kind of happened in conflicts X and Y." First, yes, it did. Did we win any of those conflicts? Second, when the unit ran into something outside the scope of its primary mission, the task was usually handed off to a different unit. That's why the military has MOS's.

If you adopt that structure, by definition, you aren't flexible. You won't be good at disaster relief this month, helping DV shelters next month, then helping a union the next, and then helping mitigate a pandemic the next. Building a more fluid structure allows the expert in the subject to take the lead as needs switch or allows your organization to quickly just act as an arm for another more experienced person in an entirely different organization. The stuff we did for the union in Alabama was 100% listening to the things they said they needed and trusting they knew their needs better than we did. Then we just applied the skills we had that we could leverage.

Allowing that fluid structure keeps the network active. It creates longevity because the network stays busy. If you organize around a single mission, let's say disaster relief, and you don't have any disasters for a while, your group will fade away, then here's the big one that will help you reach the vets in your circle.

Since they're the ones planning for the collapse of society, in every societal collapse scenario, the military is gone. If the military with nearly unlimited funding, resources, training, and personnel is gone in this scenario, what good is it modeling your group after something that failed? If the real military didn't succeed, the team version won't either. Be flexible. Do more good. Stay around longer.

Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.

December 28, 2025

Let's talk about Climate Advisories being deleted and your next house.... - Belle of the Ranch

Well, howdy there Internet people. It's Belle again. So, today we're going to talk about climate advisories being deleted and your next house.

This happened pretty quietly, but it says a lot about the world we live in right now. Zillow, which is one of the biggest real estate platforms in the country, removed climate risk data from its home listings. Now, don't trash Zillow for this. They got complaints about it hurting sales and realistically, from what we've heard, this was a move to cover themselves legally. And while the data is gone from their site, it looks like it's been replaced by a link to First Street, which provides incredibly similar data. Nice.

But this situation tells us far more about money, incentives, and how people actually respond to climate change than most political debates ever will. Because here's the reality, if climate change stayed theoretical, distant, and abstract, it would be easier for any market to ignore. But the moment climate risk starts affecting property values, insurance costs, and investment decisions in real time, well, suddenly it becomes super inconvenient to those with the money. And inconvenient information often doesn't survive long in systems built around profit.

Reporting says the complaints didn't come from scientists. They didn't come from insurers. They came from the real estate industry itself. Agents, brokers, regional listing services. So, in other words, the people whose paychecks depend on sales volume and price stability. That's how these things usually work. This isn't really about Zillow. Zillow is just the latest pressure point where climate reality collided with economic incentive. Because see, we've built an economy where enormous amounts of wealth are tied to assets that assume environmental stability, coastal property, wildfire prone suburbs, river flooded developments, desert cities reliant on shrinking water supplies. If full climate risk were baked honestly into prices tomorrow, a lot of balance sheets wouldn't look very good the next day.

So instead, the risks get delayed, softened, deferred, buried behind optimism and marketing language and vague reassurances about resilience. Again, I'm not even talking about Zillow. I really like the link out to First Street. That's a pretty solid move considering the situation. But this is why climate change is so hard to address systemically. Not because people don't understand it, not because the data is unclear, but because acknowledging it fully would force a massive repricing of reality. And you know, that threatens people who currently benefit from the way things are priced now.

It's much easier to argue about whether sea level rise is really that bad than it is to explain why a million-dollar home might be worth far less in a decade. It's much easier to dispute wildfire projections than to explain why an entire region may become effectively uninsurable.

Here's the uncomfortable part. When climate risk gets hidden, it doesn't disappear. The buyer becomes the risk sponge. The homeowner becomes the last one holding the bill when insurers pull out when disaster relief runs thin and when repairs become unmanageable. And it tells us something else even more uncomfortable about how this phase of the climate era is going to look. The science will keep getting louder, the disasters will keep getting more expensive, and the systems built on short-term profit will keep trying to turn the volume down. Not because the danger isn't real, but because the price of admitting it has become too high.

Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.

December 28, 2025

Harry Enten: Donald Trump is far underwater with independent voters - CNN

CNN's Harry Enten and Manu Raju's "Inside Politics" panel unpack the first year of President Trump's second term.

0:00 CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten takes stock of the first year of President Trump's second term
3:41 CNN chief national affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny discusses Trump's second term so far
5:38 NPR senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith looks at Trump's rallies and his second-term activities
7:15 Bloomberg US economy & government managing editor Mario Parker discusses Trump's falling poll numbers on affordability, immigration, and other issues
8:41 Manu Raju and Jeff Zeleny discuss the pace of Trump's executive orders

December 28, 2025

I'm busy and focused on winning the House for the Democrats' in 2026: Pelosi - ABC News

ABC News’ Jonathan Karl interviews Speaker Emerita Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on “This Week.”

December 28, 2025

New Czech long-range missiles rewrite Ukraine's deep-strike capability - RFU News

Today, the biggest news comes from Ukraine.

Ukraine is about to receive what can reasonably be described as the best Christmas present of the war so far. At a moment when Russia believed the limits of Ukraine’s long-range strike capability were already fixed, the Czech Republic is delivering a weapon that effectively rewrites those assumptions and turns Christmas into a perfect gift for Ukraine.

Prague has confirmed that it will supply Ukraine with its newly developed MTS Narwhal long-range cruise missile for real combat testing, with the first missiles scheduled to arrive between January and February 2026. According to Czech and international reports, these initial deliveries are not symbolic, as the missile is expected to enter serial production as early as March 2026, provided that battlefield trials validate its performance.

The Narwhal is a jet-powered cruise missile developed by the Czech company LPP. It has a stated range of 680 kilometers, a top speed of roughly 750 kilometers per hour, and a 120 kilogram warhead, placing it firmly in the deep-strike category rather than among conventional tactical battlefield weapons. Its most important technical feature is its navigation architecture. This combines inertial guidance with visual terrain-matching systems designed to remain effective under heavy Russian GPS jamming, a defining feature of the current war. In practical terms, this places Narwhal closer in philosophy to the German Taurus missile than to the American ATACMs. Taurus similarly emphasizes low-level penetration and guidance resilience, while offering a range of roughly 500 kilometers compared to ATACMs’ 300 kilometers. Compared to Taurus, however, the Czech missile is lighter and carries a smaller warhead. This points to an infrastructure-disabling role rather than deep bunker destruction, placing it in the same strategic strike niche as ATACMs. At the same time ATACMs relies on GPS-aided inertial guidance and follows a ballistic path, while Narwhal trades kinetic speed for survivability against electronic warfare. It does so by flying low and navigating independently, filling a new role in Ukraine’s strike planning, forcing Russia’s air defenses around Narwhal and ATACMs targets to adapt to two entirely different strike profiles.

The impact is significant because a 680-kilometer range dramatically expands the list of Russian rear-area targets that Ukraine can threaten from well inside its own territory. This range is sufficient to place major strategic command facilities under constant risk, forcing Russia to either disperse assets or invest heavily in additional air defense. The 120-kilogram warhead is large enough to destroy aircraft on open ramps, ignite fuel and ammunition storages, and cripple infrastructure critical to sustaining frontline operations, which directly translates into operational pressure for Russia; much of it still placed out in the open as bunker construction efforts have stalled. Most importantly, the missile is built around the reality that Russia’s strongest defensive tool is no longer air defense alone, but layered GPS jamming, and Narwhal is explicitly designed to keep flying when satellite navigation is degraded or denied.

Ukraine’s willingness to accept the Narwhal for combat testing is not a coincidence, as Ukrainian forces have repeatedly demonstrated that they are prepared to test new Western systems while actively defending in the full-scale war against Russia. From long-range rockets and cruise missiles to air defense and frontline systems, Ukraine has shown that real battlefield feedback can compress years of development into months, revealing weaknesses that no test range can simulate. By agreeing to trial the Narwhal in real combat, Ukraine will employ the missile against Russian targets to generate feedback for Czech developers. Once the missile enters production, some of it may go to Ukraine in return for its invaluable contribution, while allowing the system to be continuously improved as it is produced.

Overall, this delivery stands out as the best Christmas present, in the form of a long-range missile built for the kind of electronic warfare environment Russia relies on, with Ukrainians looking to test it against the most valuable targets to generate feedback for its developers. Its arrival effectively means that a Czech ATACMs and Taurus equivalent has entered the war, giving Ukraine a new deep-strike...

December 28, 2025

Let's talk about another Trumpian shutdown on the horizon.... - Belle of the Ranch

Well, howdy there Internet people. It's Belle again. So, today we're going to talk about another Trumpian shutdown on the horizon.

The US has just sort of returned to normal after Republicans created the longest shutdown in American history so they could raise the cost of health care for millions, which was really just about avoiding admitting the one Big Beautiful Bill abandoned the working class. But another shutdown could be right around the corner. As part of the deal that ended the last shutdown, Congress has until January 30th to pass the remaining appropriations or pass another continuing resolution. The last deal only actually contained three of the 12 required appropriations bills. Democrats have a little leverage here, but not much and they haven't laid out their potential asks or positions.

That's led to this question. Belle, I know not to expect much, but I'm starting to wonder if the Democrats are even going to try to get anything in the negotiations. I've seen nothing saying they're going to even try. What gives?

Well, it's been a long time since we saw a normal appropriations package negotiation, but sometimes silence in the run-up is a game of chicken between the parties. Nobody wants to stake out their position first because what if the other side was going to give up their request for free, but now that they know your side wants it badly, they'll try to extract a concession for it. So sometimes silence is normal. But again, we haven't seen that in a while and that's not what's happening now. But it does help understand what is happening.

What if the other side is arguing amongst themselves and they don't even know what they want yet? They're still arguing over their position. You don't want to telegraph yours yet. That's what's happening.

The Republican party, yes, the majority party, hasn't figured out what their position is. Just last week, the House and Senate Appropriations leads announced they'd agree on topline numbers. If you're not familiar with this process, that's literally step one. The appropriations bills that have to be passed by the end of next month haven't even had their first draft written yet.

Johnson recently told his side in the House that he really wanted to get this through by the deadline. With some Republican factions demanding no spending increases and some demanding more, there's a feeling on the Republican side of the aisle that meeting the deadline is aspirational at best. So, the short version here is that Democrats are not staking out their position yet because they don't want to give something away for free or let Republicans know what they want until Republicans decide their position amongst themselves.

If Democrats demanded a 5% increase, and Republicans had already decided behind closed doors on a 2½% increase, Republicans would walk out and say no spending increases and then later give a concession of 2½%. So, it looks like Republicans negotiated, but they really just got their way. I know there's an expectation that Democrats will drop the ball here. If you've bet on that, don't worry. They have plenty of opportunities, but they haven't done it here.

Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.

December 28, 2025

What Russia's Economy Will Look Like in 2026 - The Global Gambit - Pyotr Kurzin

Russia is heading toward a far more unsettled moment than the Kremlin is prepared to admit — and 2026 may be when the pressure becomes impossible to ignore.

In this clip, we look ahead to what is likely to define Russia internally over the next year: rising inflation driven by sustained money printing, continued pressure on the ruble, and a growing sense of public fatigue after years of war and economic strain.

We explore why economic hardship is becoming harder to conceal, how everyday life is being affected by currency devaluation, and why political discontent is increasing even without a clear tipping point for mass protest. As veterans return from the war in Ukraine, social tensions are likely to intensify — adding another layer of stress to an already fragile system.

This episode focuses on the internal dynamics shaping Russia’s future: economic pressure, shifting public sentiment, and the growing risk of elite and political infighting as resources tighten and patience wears thin.