December 29, 2025

Let's talk about the Jan 6 suspect's alleged motives.... - Belle of the Ranch

Well, howdy there Internet people. It's Belle again. So, today we're going to talk about the January 6th's suspect's alleged motive.

I guess with everything that happened on the 6th, that doesn't really narrow it down, does it? We're talking about Brian J. Cole Jr., who is the 30-year-old man from Virginia who was picked up last month. Until now, the Department of Justice had avoided detailing what they believe the suspect's motive was. But now, in a filing, we get a pretty good glimpse, mostly through statements he allegedly gave to DOJ.

While the filing says he admitted to leaving the devices at the RNC and DNC, it also said he “denied that his actions were directed toward Congress or related to the proceedings scheduled to take place on January 6.” The filing also states, “he claimed that when he learned that the devices did not detonate, he was pretty relieved and asserted that he placed the devices at night because he did not want to kill people.”

Ever since this happened, there was speculation about the motive and political affiliation of the suspect. The filing from Trump's DOJ shed quite a bit of light on that when it said, "The defendant has never really been an openly political person and does not discuss politics often with his family to avoid conflict.”

According to the defendant, no one knows his political views, including his family. The defendant stated that he does not align politically with his family members and did not tell them that he was going to a protest in support of then President Trump. Later in the interview, the defendant explained that after the 2020 election, when it first seemed like something was wrong and stuff started happening, he began following the issue closely on YouTube and Reddit and felt bewildered.

It certainly appears that wild claims on social media heavily influenced the suspect. According to the filing, the suspect believed that if people “feel that, you know, something as important as voting in the federal election is being tampered with, is being, you know, being, you know, relegated null and void, then like someone needs to speak up, right? Someone up top, you know, just to just to at the very least calm things down.”

The filing also said, "The defendant wanted to do something to the parties because they were in charge." When asked why he placed the devices at the RNC and DNC, the defendant responded, "I really don't like either party at this point."

So, here's the real takeaway. Much like the election itself, wild claims spread about this incident and the suspect. It was blamed on everything from the Deep State to cops. It's entirely possible that the suspect watched the same social media rabbit holes that led him to believe something was wrong with the election make up theories about his alleged actions. Would have been surreal.

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

December 29, 2025

USA Jobs Shock - Joe Blogs

The U.S. economy is still growing — but the jobs aren’t.

Headline GDP numbers look healthy, markets seem calm, and policymakers keep talking about a soft landing. Yet underneath the surface, something very different is happening in the labor market.

In November, the U.S. lost jobs overall — with small businesses cutting sharply, even as medium and large firms continued to hire. At the same time, hiring momentum has slowed, job switching has collapsed, and fewer unemployed Americans are finding work each month.

This is what economists are calling a “jobless boom” — growth without meaningful job creation.

In this video, I break down:
• Why small firms are shedding jobs first
• How higher interest rates and tighter credit are hitting small businesses hardest
• What the Chicago Fed hiring rate really tells us about the labor market
• Why big companies are still hiring — and why that can be misleading
• How rising bankruptcies and record national debt fit into the bigger picture

This isn’t a recession video — yet. But historically, when growth and jobs disconnect like this, it’s rarely a good sign.

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:01 GDP
4:44 JOBS
7:15 UNEMPLOYMENT
7:56 EMPLOYMENT
8:23 HIRING
9:17 BANKRUPTCIES
9:50 INTEREST RATES
10:34 SUMMARY & CONCLUSION

December 29, 2025

Russia detains worshippers after "wrong prayer" for Zelenskyy - Break the Fake - TVP WORLD

In St. Petersburg, around 70 people were detained after gathering for what they called “spiritual meetings” – discussions about life, spirituality, and meaning. The meetings weren’t political… at least not on paper.

But Russian authorities saw it differently. Security forces reportedly grew alarmed after learning that some participants were praying for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. That was enough to turn a harmless discussion circle into a “national security” issue.

December 29, 2025

Romania just changed the course of the war by opening the biggest military hub for Ukraine - RFU News

Today, the biggest updates come from Romania.

For nearly three years, Western aid to Ukraine has funneled almost entirely through a single vulnerable corridor in Poland, leaving Kyiv's forces perpetually at risk of logistical strangulation. Now, with Romania stepping up to establish NATO's second-largest strategic logistics base for Ukraine, this precarious bottleneck is shattering, decisively transforming the war by guaranteeing Ukraine an unbreakable, multi-route lifeline that Russia can no longer hope to sever.

In a pivotal announcement confirmed by Major General Maik Keller, deputy commander of NATO’s Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine, a new logistics and coordination hub, will become operational in by late January 2026. This facility will operate in parallel with the primary hub in Rzeszow-Jasionka in Poland, which has long served as the main transit point for Western military aid to Ukraine. Under direct NATO command, the Romanian hub will integrate into NATO’s Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine system, matching donor supplies with Ukraine's urgent operational needs, including artillery, air defense systems, and electronic warfare equipment. To grasp the scale, the Nsatu system already facilitated the delivery of approximately 220,000 tons of military assistance in 2025 alone, involving 9,000 trucks, 1,800 railway wagons, and over 500 strategic airlift flights. Romania stepping up transforms it from a supportive ally into a massive strategic war hub, providing Ukraine with a fortified rear base on NATO's eastern flank.

The new Romanian hub dramatically boosts the volume and speed of military supplies reaching Ukrainian forces. By increasing the transit capacity, it enables the uninterrupted flow of critical weaponry, preventing the operational pauses that have plagued Ukraine due to delayed deliveries. Priorities such as air defense missiles, artillery shells, anti-tank systems, and deep-strike capabilities can now be coordinated more efficiently. This massive war hub ensures that European-funded purchases of U.S. weapons under mechanisms such as Purl arrive faster, sustaining high-intensity combat and allowing Ukraine to maintain pressure on Russian lines without exhausting reserves or risking human lives through lack of necessary equipment.

One of the most war-changing aspects is the creation of a resilient southern route, dramatically reducing dangerous dependency on the single Polish corridor through the overloaded and vulnerable Rzeszow-Jasionka hub. Amid Russia's focused campaign of strikes on Ukrainian logistics routes and Western weapons transfers, Romania steps up by offering a backup logistics flow, enhancing overall supply chain security across NATO's eastern flank. This diversification fortifies Ukraine's rear fortress against interruptions, forcing Russia to split its strike resources across multiple paths where saturation tactics once overwhelmed defenses, divided efforts will sharply reduce effectiveness, even with redistributed Ukrainian air defenses. Moreover, harder-to-track deliveries diminish Russia's intelligence on Ukrainian weaknesses, ensuring consistent aid even amid hybrid threats or escalation, and markedly improving long-term sustainability in a protracted conflict.

Geographically, the hub provides targeted advantages for Ukraine's eastern and southern fronts. Supplies transiting through Romania can reach these critical areas more directly, supporting strikes into Russian-controlled territories and bolstering defenses against Russian advances in the south. This positions Romania as a rear fortress enabling faster reinforcement of coastal and Donbas sectors, where Ukraine needs sustained artillery and air defense to counter aggression. The result is a strategic shift, empowering Ukrainian operations in high-stakes regions and altering frontline dynamics.

Romania's emergence as a massive strategic war hub signals deepened NATO commitment, deterring Russian escalation by strengthening the alliance's eastern posture. It reinforces collective defense, with the hub also serving to train NATO personnel in real-world logistics in supplying an ongoing full-scale war effort. Amid ongoing airspace incidents and Black Sea tensions, this fortified base underscores Romania's role in safeguarding Ukraine's lifeline, raising the geopolitical stakes and solidifying Western resolve.

December 29, 2025

Ex-US ambassador on Trump's 'progress' toward Ukraine peace deal - CNN

US President Donald Trump described his meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, as “excellent” after almost three hours of talks. Former US ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor reacts to Trump’s optimism and outlines what he thinks the next steps should be.

00:00 President Donald Trump speaks after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
01:16 Former US ambassador to Ukraine reacts to Trump’s meeting with Zelensky
03:45 Trump says Putin wants “Ukraine to succeed”
05:33 Live report from London on new details from Trump’s meeting with Zelensky

December 29, 2025

Stephen Miller's Last-Minute Payout Sparks Ethics Alarm - Rebel HQ

Newly uncovered tax filings show Stephen Miller received a six-figure payout from his pro-Trump nonprofit just before joining the White House. The timing, size, and secrecy of the payments are fueling concerns about golden parachutes, dark money, and whether Trump officials are being financially rewarded for entering government service.

December 29, 2025

Justice Department gets ominous news in court - Brian Tyler Cohen

Legal Breakdown episode 646: Justice Department faces steep hill with new Kilmar Abrego Garcia ruling.

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BTC: You're watching the Legal Breakdown. Glenn, we have a good development here and a pretty ominous sign for the DOJ. Can you explain what just happened in court?

GK: Yeah, Brian, it looks like Abrego Garcia, our viewers will recall, he was one of the many people who were unlawfully deported to that prison in El Salvador, but the courts directed that he be brought back. He was brought back but then vindictively in my opinion based on the evidence DOJ brought criminal charges against him down in Tennessee.

Abrego Garcia has been winning on the deportation front and it looks like Abrego Garcia is also winning in his criminal case down in Tennessee because here is what just happened in that case. The presiding judge, Judge Crenshaw canceled the trial date. Why? Because he said, "I believe Abrego Garcia has presented substantial evidence." The legal term is he made a prima facie showing on its face enough evidence to prove at this stage he's being prosecuted vindictively in violation of his due process rights. So, let's kind of walk through procedurally what happens once a defendant, and this is rare, proves to a judge's satisfaction that the prosecutors are going after him vindictively, not in a righteous prosecution.

The burden shifts to the government, to the Department of Justice to present evidence to prove to the judge's satisfaction that they're not going after him vindictively. So, what Abrego Garcia's lawyers did is they filed for subpoenas because at the upcoming hearing on the vindictive prosecution issue, which is now set for January 28th, brego Garcia's lawyer said, "Okay, we need to put people like Todd Blanche and other high DOJ officials on the stand because we believe that they are going to help us prove this is a vindictive prosecution that should be dismissed."

And the judge said, "Okay, I will take that request under advisement, but we now have to do this by the numbers." One, Abrego Garcia's lawyers convinced me there's prima facie evidence that he's being vindictively prosecuted. Now, the burden shifts to DOJ, and DOJ has to present evidence. They have to call witnesses to try to prove to the judge's satisfaction that it's a righteous, not vindictive, prosecution. And here's the thing, Brian. If they can do that, then the burden shifts back to Abrego Garcia and his lawyers to show, "No, now we're going to put the evidence on through Todd Blanche and other high DOJ officials that we have subpoenaed to undercut whatever it is that DOJ's witnesses try to convince you, your honor, of regarding this not being a vindictive prosecution."

So, there's this little game of legal ping-pong back and forth, but there's a really ominous line in this four-page order that was just issued by Judge Crenshaw. He said, "You know what? Fine. We're going to do it by the numbers. I'm going to give DOJ the opportunity to put on whatever witnesses from DHS or wherever else they want to put on to try to convince me that DOJ wasn't acting vindictively against Abrego Garcia." And you know they may be able to prove it but he says something in the motion that leads the reader to conclude he's pretty skeptical, but he said I'll give you a chance but if you satisfy me that maybe this is a righteous prosecution then I'm going to go back to Abrego Garcia's lawyers and then we're going to take up their motion to get that subpoena issued for Todd Blanche and I think it's two other high DOJ officials because then he will still have the opportunity to prove it's a vindictive prosecution.

So when you read between the lines of this four-page order, it seems pretty ominous for Donald Trump's DOJ because the judge has already canceled the trial date and already made a prima facie finding that Abrego Garcia has presented evidence that shows this is a vindictive prosecution.

BTC: You know, I know that you and I speak about atmospheric precedent quite a bit where you know, you have a similar an analogous case happening in another jurisdiction and while that might not directly impact the ongoing litigation here, for example, it can still have some atmospheric impact, it's still taken under advisement by the judge. And so I'm curious to what extent do you think that a possible vindictive prosecution in the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case might impact the Letitia James or James Comey cases that of course the Trump administration is going to appeal and try to get back onto the docket here or vice versa if you have one of those cases that go first and the judge agrees to hear it on the merits if they can get it back into the courtroom because I know the prosecutors who've brought those cases were disqualified, but if they can figure out a way to get them back into the courtroom and those judges there find that Trump, for example, engaged in vindictive prosecution, then would the judge in the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case be able to say, "Oh, this guy has a proclivity to engage in vindictive or selective prosecutions, and so now I'm going to be more likely to rule in Kilmar Abrego Garcia's favor?"

GK: You know, Brian, that's a great question. You are one heck of a law student at this point, and you've probably learned much of what we need to know to contend with, you know, the Trump lawlessness of the day.

But so here's what will happen. We have seen vindictive prosecutions of Leticia James and James Comey. Now of course they were dismissed on other grounds because there was an in there was an unqualified US attorney Lindsey Halligan who got these indictments in the first place. But you know ordinarily you don't look to one case to provide evidence or information in another unrelated case except when there is a pattern when there is an MO modus operandi or method of operating demonstrated by one party or the other. And boy, it sure looks like there is a pattern of vindictive prosecutions against people that Donald Trump perceive as his political enemies or foes, you know, for some reason.

So, I can tell you if I were the lawyers in those cases, I would absolutely seek to introduce evidence of vindictiveness in other cases as they impacted my case and my defendant that I was representing. And then it's up to the judge either to accept it and factor it in to his or her decision or say, "I hear the argument you're making, but I'm just going to deal with this case on its four corners without regard to possible vindictive prosecutions by this very same administration in other cases.” But, you know, I like the defendant's chances of kind of cross-pollinating evidence of vindictiveness as it pertains to Abrego Garcia and James Comey and Leticia James, not to mention John Bolton and John Brennan and others who the Trump administration is hellbent on weaponizing the rule of law to go against.

BTC: And so in a way, isn't the fact that Trump is so eager to prosecute all of his political allies the very thing that may take him down in the end, the very thing that may lead to his inability to prosecute any of them?

GK: Yeah, it's all working against him. And we see Donald Trump and his DOJ failing in court over and over and over again, including trying to get his, you know, unqualified, lawless US attorneys in place in various US attorneys offices to do his dirty bidding. So, I think ultimately we see the rule of law continuing to stand strong against Donald Trump's lawlessness and abuse, you know, but the Supreme Court, I know that's always the ultimate challenge, but I'll tell you, the trial court judges and most of the courts of appeal, the criminal courts of appeal have been holding strong as a bulwark against Trump's lawlessness.

BTC: And last question here, Glenn, as it relates to Kilmar Abrego Garcia specifically, it feels to me like this administration just recognizes that it needs to make an example out of him and that if they were to deign to allow him, you know, to be to walk free because all of their prosecutions are completely baseless, that that would be more of a blow to their ego. And so, you know, if we know anything about the Trump administration, it's that God forbid you take a swipe at Trump's ego. And so do you think um given you know the power that the DOJ has to make someone's life a living hell that Kilmar Abrego Garcia has a decent chance of being able to walk free or do you think that if it's the last thing they do this DOJ is going to see to it that Garcia you know either is prosecuted in this criminal case or deported or whatever it may be?

GK: Brian, I think both things are in play. First of all, the court in Maryland in Abrego Garcia's deportation case has held strong and has ruled in his favor virtually at every turn. And it looks like that will probably continue to the end of that litigation. The courts in Tennessee, the judges are holding strong, but I happen to think even if Abrego Garcia is vindicated and exonerated in both of those cases, the Trump administration will find some way to make his life a living hell beyond those two cases, I would probably put my $1 bet on that as well. Um, but at the end of the day, you know, Donald Trump will continue to fail and maybe at some point they will, you know, no longer want to look foolish in the court of public opinion. Of course, what they will always fall back on, Brian, every time they lose in court is that the judges, even if they're appointed by Republican presidents, are radical left-wing lunatic judges.

BTC: Right. Well, look, plenty more to come on this case in particular. For those who are watching, if you'd like to follow along, the best way to do that is to subscribe to both of our channels. I'm going to put those links right here on the screen and also in the post description of this video. Best way to support our work and it is and always will be 100% free. I'm Brian Taylor Cohen…

GK: …and I'm Glenn Kirschner.

BTC: You're watching the Legal Breakdown.

December 29, 2025

China Just Hit Taiwan; Chinese Economy & Industrial Profits; Local Fiscal Crisis - China Update

00:00 Introduction
00:12 Taiwan Tensions: Military Drills
03:35 Chinese Economy: Industrial Profits Continue Decline
07:25 Local Fiscal Crisis: Asset-backed Securities

December 29, 2025

Let's talk about Trump and Bessent targeting the filibuster as Republicans cringe.... - Belle of the Ranch

Well, howdy there Internet people. It's Belle again. So, today we're going to talk about Trump and Bessent targeting the filibuster as Republicans cringe.

As the deadline for a budget approaches, Trump has decided to once again try to push the Senate into getting rid of the filibuster. Trump said that with the filibuster gone, they could do everything they wanted and said, "The filibuster is hurting the Republican party without question.”

The filibuster is a Senate rule that requires more than a simple majority to move most legislation through the Senate. In current politics, the idea is that the higher threshold creates more deliberation and reduces knee-jerk reaction bills. That's the reason for public consumption.

But there's another reason that's important to senators politically. The filibuster also means all of those ridiculous messaging bills that make it through the House are dead on arrival in the Senate. Those bills make it through the House because representatives only have to win a district. Senators run statewide and need a wider coalition to win. The filibuster immediately killing those bills saves them from having to take uncomfortable votes.

Beyond that, strategically, while the filibuster is annoying for the party in power, it's something both parties enjoy when they're in the minority. Senator Thune, the Republican Senate Majority Leader, has shot down Trump's desire to get rid of the filibuster in the past. And Senator Todd Young of Indiana said at the beginning of the month that "I know this has been an important priority for the president, but I think he has too many people telling him that this is achievable when it doesn't strike me as achievable. I don't think we're close to having the votes, just to be candid.”

But despite Trump's own party pushing back on the idea, Trump and his administration seem unwilling to let it go. US Treasury Secretary and former soybean farmer Scott Bessent drew a line to the upcoming budget fight and potential shutdown, saying, "The American people are just now emerging from the longest and most devastating government shutdown in US history."

He went on to point out the lengthy shutdown caused $11 billion in permanent economic damage. He tried to somehow blame it on Democrats rather than Trump's inability to make a deal, which is kind of hard to believe since Trump has both the longest and second longest shutdowns in US history under his belt. And considering the government has been shut down more under Trump than any other president, it isn't hard to find the common denominator.

But the real point here is that Trump is going to push this again. That means that Republicans who are still fighting amongst themselves over what they want in the budget will now also have to fight with Trump over the filibuster. Republicans in the Senate are unlikely to go for dropping the filibuster as they head into the midterms because while Democratic control of the Senate is unlikely, it isn't impossible and they know that eventually the control will flip. And when that happens, the filibuster is all they'll be able to count on to stop working-class people from getting health care or people in poverty from getting help. You know, things that the Republican party truly prioritizes.

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

December 29, 2025

2025: The Year in Limericks - Steve Shives

Summary: The title says it all.