Individual Economists

Dark-Fleet Tanker At Epicenter Of Iran's Shadow Oil Trade Seized By U.S. Commandos

Zero Hedge -

Dark-Fleet Tanker At Epicenter Of Iran's Shadow Oil Trade Seized By U.S. Commandos

Welcome to Monroe Doctrine 2.0 - a revival of gunboat diplomacy - where U.S. forces just carried out an exceptionally rare move: seizing a massive dark-fleet tanker off Venezuela, long known as a key tanker for Iran's shadow oil trade.

Maritime tracker MarineTraffic shows that the vessel commandeered by a U.S. special operations team, which rappelled onto the tanker's deck from a Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday (watch here), is the VLCC Skipper, carrying a million barrels of crude.

Here's more from MarineTraffic:

U.S. forces seize tanker linked to covert Venezuelan crude shipment

U.S. forces have seized an oil #tanker believed to be the VLCC Skipper, after satellite imagery showed she secretly loading 1.1 million barrels of sanctioned Merey crude at Venezuela's José Terminal. The vessel had been transmitting falsified AIS positions during the operation, a tactic increasingly used by "dark fleet" tankers tied to Venezuelan and Iranian trades.

MarineTraffic data shows the vessel has been sanctioned by OFAC since November 2022 and repeatedly linked to high-risk activity. Her cargo history includes multiple liftings from Venezuela and Iran, while operational risk signals show a two-month AIS gap in Iranian waters. The vessel has also conducted high-risk and dark STS transfers in the Red Sea, Iranian and Syrian zones, alongside multiple AIS spoofing events. Here's the playback of the vessel's latest movements.

Anas Alhajji of Energy Outlook Advisors asked several key questions after the U.S. seized the tanker:

  • Who is the target?

  • What is the impact on global oil markets?

  • Shipping?

  • Tanker rates?

Intelligence firm Kpler noted:

The seizure underscores Washington's escalating efforts to crack down on dark-fleet activity tied to Iranian and Venezuelan crude trades.

The incident comes amid heightened U.S. military presence in the region, and as Venezuela's crude exports dropped to 700 kbd in November. The Skipper has been repeatedly linked to sanction evasion tactics, including spoofing and mislabeled Iranian cargoes routed through Asia, raising alarms about ongoing maritime deception.

Satellite imagery from November 14 shows the seized VLCC Skipper loading crude at Venezuela's José Oil Terminal. Credit: European Union Copernicus Sentinel.

In markets, Brent crude round-tripped any fears of market disruptions as this seizure off Venezuela's shore is isolated.

CBS cited a statement from the Venezuelan government that read, "It strongly denounces and repudiates what constitutes a shameless robbery and an act of international piracy."

Tyler Durden Thu, 12/11/2025 - 07:45

Tether Launches Privacy-Focused Health Platform With On-Device AI

Zero Hedge -

Tether Launches Privacy-Focused Health Platform With On-Device AI

Authored by Nate Kostar via CoinTelegraph.com,

Tether has launched a new platform that aggregates data from multiple wearables and wellness apps into a single, locally processed dashboard, aiming to give users control over their biometric information.

The platform, called QVAC Health, aggregates data from fitness trackers, nutrition apps and other wearables into an encrypted dashboard that works offline, using on-device AI and peer-to-peer model downloads to analyze activity, meals, symptoms and medication logs without relying on external servers.

The app includes experimental computer-vision tools that can estimate calories and macronutrients from meal photos and can correlate those logs with data from multiple wearables to identify patterns in activity, recovery or sleep, all processed locally on the user’s device, according to a Wednesday announcement.

Source: QVAC

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino called the platform a “neutral ground for wellness data” that reflects the “company’s commitment to privacy-preserving local intelligence.”

Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, says future updates will include direct Bluetooth Low Energy connections that will let the app read data from certain wearables without routing information through manufacturer APIs or cloud services.

The platform is part of Tether Data’s QVAC project, which builds peer-to-peer, device-based AI systems designed to operate without relying on centralized platforms.

The global fitness-tracker market was valued at $52.29 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow to $189.98 billion by 2032, according to a Verified Market Research report. Major fitness-tracker manufacturers include Apple, Fitbit, Samsung, and Huawei. 

Privacy concerns drive new developments across crypto

Tether’s new platform aligns with comments Ardoino made in 2024, when he argued that running local AI models directly on user devices was the only reliable way to prevent data from being harvested or exposed through centralized servers.

Former White House adviser David Holtzman told Cointelegraph in December 2024 that AI-driven data aggregation and future quantum threats make large data repositories especially vulnerable.

Holtzman noted that AI can rapidly assemble behavioral and transactional data to identify targets more precisely, while future quantum attacks could break today’s encryption standards across sectors.

He said decentralized systems can help reduce these risks by avoiding large, centralized data stores.

The evolution of the internet. Source: Dock/Cointelegraph

The various threats to privacy have spurred some action in the crypto community. In June, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin proposed a “pluralistic identity” model — a digital ID approach that lets people prove who they are or qualify for services without exposing all of their personal information.

In December, Fortune reported that Circle is developing a privacy-enhanced stablecoin called USDCx with Aleo, designed to give institutional users banking-level transaction privacy while preserving the ability to furnish compliance records when necessary.

Growing concerns over data exposure and surveillance have also fueled renewed interest in privacy-focused cryptocurrencies, with the Zcash protocol emerging as one of the beneficiaries.

Tyler Durden Thu, 12/11/2025 - 07:20

10 Thursday AM Reads

The Big Picture -

My busy-all-day-and-night morning reads:

• Are retail traders the captains now? It’s often easy to laugh at retail traders as they post loss porn on Reddit, insist Strategy’s strategy is sound, buy Bonk ETFs, argue that Bed Bath & Beyond’s cancelled shares are worth something, and pump up fried chicken, quantum computing and small modular reactor stocks. However, they are undeniably a rising power in markets, able to exert immense force on even the largest companies and turn smaller and midsized ones into financial playthings. (Financial Times)

• A Startup Says It Has Found a Hidden Source of Geothermal Energy: Zanskar uses AI to identify hidden geothermal systems—and claims it has found one that could fuel a power plant, the first such discovery by industry in decades. (Wired) see also Nuclear and Fossil Fuels Join Forces to Undermine Renewables: The once unlikely alliance took root in Texas and now reaches right into the White House, where President Trump wants to ban wind energy projects. (Businessweek)

• Why Costco is the only big retailer to challenge Trump on tariff refunds: Buffered by its strong customer loyalty, Costco has a track record of not yielding to the administration. (Washington Post)

• California’s ‘Teacher Village’ Model Spreads as Housing Costs Soar: More schools are offering company housing to prevent educators from fleeing to cheaper locales. ‘They go to Idaho, they go to Texas.’ (Wall Street Journal)

• Giving Money Directly to Children Is an Idea the Right and Left Could Love: Michael and Susan Dell’s $6.25 billion donation to child savings accounts fits a trend: giving with no strings attached. In some ways, it’s a bipartisan philosophy. (New York Times)

• A 6-year research project found a surprisingly simple route to happiness: Results of a study out of Cornell suggest a happiness hack that can lead you toward a life of purpose. (Washington Post) see also Our Idea of Happiness Has Gotten Shallow. Here’s How to Deepen It. We used to have a very different understanding of what it means to live well. (New York Times)

• Here’s What Ozempic Does To Your Brain, According To Doctors Who Prescribe It: Doctors Say Ozempic Alters Your Brain Chemistry In This Surprising Way: It’s a major part of why the drug works so well. (Women’s Health)

• Cheap and powerful AI campaigns target voters in India: The Bihar state election was awash with voice clones and synthetic videos that reached voters easily and spread misinformation. (Rest of World)

• America has identified its greatest enemy: Western Europe: Trump’s new National Security Strategy: what if groypers cosplayed George Kennan? (Programmable Mutter)

• A Painter of Landscapes: Nationalism and the sublime in the work of José María Velasco. (The Baffler)

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with Stephen Cohen, BlackRock Chief Product Officer and Head of Global Product Solutions. He is a member of BlackRock’s Global Executive Committee. Previously, he was Global Head of Fixed Income Indexing (iShares); and Chief Investment Strategist for International Fixed Income and iShares. Blackrock manages $13.5 trillion in AUM; its iShares division is over $5 trillion.

 

Where homes are losing value most

Source: Axios

 

Sign up for our reads-only mailing list here.

 

 

The post 10 Thursday AM Reads appeared first on The Big Picture.

EU Opens Antitrust Probe Into Google's Use Of Publisher, YouTube Content For AI

Zero Hedge -

EU Opens Antitrust Probe Into Google's Use Of Publisher, YouTube Content For AI

Authored by Vismaya V via Decrypt.co,

  • The EU has launched an antitrust investigation into whether Google exploited publisher and YouTube content to fuel its AI products without fair compensation or consent.

  • Regulators warn that the practices may give Google an unlawful competitive edge over rival AI developers across Europe.

  • This is the EU’s second investigation against Google in a month, as Brussels cracks down on Big Tech’s AI practices.

The European Commission launched a formal antitrust investigation this week into whether Google breached EU competition rules by using web publisher and YouTube content to power its artificial intelligence services without fair compensation or consent.

"The Commission will investigate to what extent the generation of AI Overviews and AI Mode by Google is based on web publishers' content without appropriate compensation for that, and without the possibility for publishers to refuse without losing access to Google Search," a Tuesday statement said.

Publishers must either let Google use their content for AI summaries without payment or risk losing visibility in Search.

YouTube creators face a similar dilemma, as uploading gives Google automatic AI-training rights with no compensation while rival AI developers are barred from using the same content.

"AI is bringing remarkable innovation and many benefits for people and businesses across Europe, but this progress cannot come at the expense of the principles at the heart of our societies,” Teresa Ribera, Executive Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, said in the statement.

Even Alex Chandra, partner at IGNOS Law Alliance, told Decrypt the investigation "reflects a deeper, structural ambition: to subject globally scalable digital business models to the EU's regulatory and competitive framework."

“If the Commission is not very disciplined (transparent about burden-of-proof, consistent across geography and business model) this could become less about “fair competition” and more about “favoring what fits European regulatory and economic priorities,” he said.

If proven, the practices under investigation may breach EU competition rules that ban dominant companies from using their market power to distort competition.

The regulator said it will carry out its investigation as a matter of priority, but provided no legal deadline for concluding the probe.

Big tech cornered

The investigation comes less than a month after the Commission formally launched proceedings to assess whether Google applies fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory conditions of access to publishers' websites on Google Search under the Digital Markets Act.

In September, the Commission fined Google $3.1 billion (€2.95 billion) for breaching EU antitrust rules by favoring its own advertising technology services over competing providers.

Europe's competition regulator has opened a formal investigation into tech giant Meta over policy changes that allow the company's own AI chatbot to operate on WhatsApp while blocking rivals from doing the same. The European Commission announced Thursday it's examining whether Meta violated antitrust rules by effectively reserving WhatsApp's AI chatbot access for itself.  The action targets updated business terms WhatsApp rolled out in late October, which ban third-party AI companies from distri...

The Commission ordered Google to end its self-preferencing practices and implement measures to address conflicts of interest across the adtech supply chain.

Last week, the Commission also opened an investigation into Meta over policy changes that allow its own AI chatbot to operate on WhatsApp while blocking rivals from doing the same.

Tyler Durden Thu, 12/11/2025 - 06:30

Indonesia Targets Finfluencers In Crackdown After P2P Investment Losses

Zero Hedge -

Indonesia Targets Finfluencers In Crackdown After P2P Investment Losses

Indonesia’s financial regulators are stepping up action against social-media investment gurus after a wave of losses tied to risky digital platforms and unverified financial advice. Beginning this week, a new rule issued by the Financial Services Authority (OJK) will force securities firms to vet, supervise and assume legal responsibility for content produced by influencers they pay, according to Nikkei.

Influencers who analyze investments must be licensed advisers, while those promoting products must register as marketing partners and clearly disclose paid endorsements. They will also be required to explain risks, not just potential returns. As the OJK cautioned in an October campaign, “The next time a piece of financial advice blows up on your feed, take a pause. Just because it’s viral doesn’t mean it’s sound.”

The crackdown coincides with mounting complaints against peer-to-peer lending (P2P) apps once hyped by finfluencers. Akseleran, one of the country’s most recognizable platforms, is being sued by at least 19 investors who say they collectively lost around 6 billion rupiah. The company attributes its problems to borrowers defaulting en masse. Several other platforms, including KoinP2P, Crowde and Dana Syariah Indonesia, are under similar scrutiny. The OJK recently revoked Crowde’s license and is coordinating with police to investigate potential criminal activity tied to other platforms.

Nikkei writes that one casualty of that boom-and-bust cycle is 29-year-old Surabaya resident Anita Carolina. Three years ago she was persuaded by a financial influencer to invest 471 million rupiah (about $28,000) in Akseleran. Today she is still trying to recover the money. The experience, she says, changed the way she invests. “Investing should not be marketed as a casual game. Influencers are salespeople, not financial advisers,” she said, adding that she now avoids them “entirely.”

Carolina’s story reflects a broader shift in Indonesia’s financial landscape. Investor participation has exploded, climbing from 2.5 million registered participants in 2019 to 19.2 million in October 2024, fueled by easy-to-use apps and pandemic-era interest in alternative income. Many new retail investors — dominated by millennials and Gen Z — chased high returns through stocks, crypto and P2P lending, often guided not by licensed professionals but by relatable personalities on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. A 2023 CELIOS survey found that 70% of Indonesians trust finfluencers, nearly equal to the 69.5% who trust certified advisers.

Experts say that reliance has created a fertile market for unqualified “advisers” who blur the line between education and marketing. “It has become easy for individuals to label themselves as finfluencers without a proper background,” said economist Tauhid Ahmad. Many fail to disclose paid partnerships, while others promote products they barely understand. Regulators have also struggled to keep up: from 2017 to September 2024, the OJK says it blocked over 13,000 illegal financial entities, most involving online loans or investment schemes that quickly resurface in new forms.

Some influencers now admit their own role in fueling unsustainable P2P enthusiasm. TikTok creator Felicia Putri Tjiasaka, who has 1.4 million followers, said she also invested in Akseleran but exited in 2023. “In Indonesia, it’s the productive P2P sector that is failing,” she told her followers, citing economic pressures and lax credit screening.

Others argue regulations are long overdue. Educator and influencer Roy Shakti says untrained personalities are “positioning themselves as experts to teach trading,” and supports measures similar to China’s ban on wealth-flaunting. “You won’t find me promising easy money,” he said. “Instead, I teach people how to raise funding and avoid scams.”

Though she continues to invest in mutual funds and bitcoin, Carolina now conducts her own research before committing a single rupiah. “It’s disappointing, as I followed their advice,” she said. “But now, I avoid them entirely.”

Tyler Durden Thu, 12/11/2025 - 05:45

Pakistan Offers To 'Take Grooming Gang Leaders' If UK Hands Over Dissidents

Zero Hedge -

Pakistan Offers To 'Take Grooming Gang Leaders' If UK Hands Over Dissidents

via Middle East Eye

Pakistan has reportedly offered to take back grooming gang leaders in exchange for Britain handing over Pakistani political dissidents living in the UK.

Pakistani media reported that the proposal was made in a private meeting last Thursday in Islamabad between Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and Jane Marriott, the British high commissioner. Naqvi reportedly urged the UK to hand over anti-government figures Shahzad Akbar and Adil Raja.

via Al Jazeera

Akbar, who was a minister in Imran Khan's government, and Raja, a former army major, are both living in the UK. They have both strongly criticized the Pakistani government over its alleged human rights abuses and suppression of political dissent. 

The British government has previously requested that Pakistan extradite Adil Khan and Qari Abdul Rauf, who were jailed in 2012 as ringleaders of a grooming gang that sexually assaulted and abused 47 girls over two years in Rochdale.

Both Khan and Rauf, Pakistani immigrants, were stripped of their British citizenship after being convicted. But days before a judge ordered them to be deported to Pakistan, they renounced their Pakistani citizenship. Pakistan has since refused to accept them.

According to Pakistani media, the Pakistani government said it would accept Khan and Rauf if the UK hands over dissidents Akbar and Raja.

'Unprecedented and deeply disturbing'

This comes as the Labor government is facing mounting pressure to take further action on child sexual exploitation. Its attempts to set up a nationwide inquiry into grooming gangs have faced repeated delays and debates about how wide its scope should be.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said on Monday the inquiry must "consider the role of ethnicity, religion and other cultural factors" and should "leave no stone unturned".

It is thought that Britain is highly unlikely to agree to the reported Pakistani proposal, and the Home Office and Foreign Office have declined to comment on the reports.

Raja, now a freelance journalist, told The Telegraph that the report "is unprecedented and deeply disturbing. It shows the extent to which an authoritarian regime is willing to go to suppress dissent".

"I have broken no UK law. My only 'offence' is practicing journalism and exercising free expression," he said. "I trust that the UK, a country committed to the rule of law and press freedom, will not allow political critics to be traded away under pressure from a foreign government."

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted from government in April 2022 through a parliamentary no-confidence vote following a fallout with the country's influential military.

He has spent more than two years in prison. Last year a UN report concluded that his detention is arbitrary and in contravention of international law.

Tyler Durden Thu, 12/11/2025 - 02:00

Pakistan Offers To 'Take Grooming Gang Leaders' If UK Hands Over Dissidents

Zero Hedge -

Pakistan Offers To 'Take Grooming Gang Leaders' If UK Hands Over Dissidents

via Middle East Eye

Pakistan has reportedly offered to take back grooming gang leaders in exchange for Britain handing over Pakistani political dissidents living in the UK.

Pakistani media reported that the proposal was made in a private meeting last Thursday in Islamabad between Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and Jane Marriott, the British high commissioner. Naqvi reportedly urged the UK to hand over anti-government figures Shahzad Akbar and Adil Raja.

via Al Jazeera

Akbar, who was a minister in Imran Khan's government, and Raja, a former army major, are both living in the UK. They have both strongly criticized the Pakistani government over its alleged human rights abuses and suppression of political dissent. 

The British government has previously requested that Pakistan extradite Adil Khan and Qari Abdul Rauf, who were jailed in 2012 as ringleaders of a grooming gang that sexually assaulted and abused 47 girls over two years in Rochdale.

Both Khan and Rauf, Pakistani immigrants, were stripped of their British citizenship after being convicted. But days before a judge ordered them to be deported to Pakistan, they renounced their Pakistani citizenship. Pakistan has since refused to accept them.

According to Pakistani media, the Pakistani government said it would accept Khan and Rauf if the UK hands over dissidents Akbar and Raja.

'Unprecedented and deeply disturbing'

This comes as the Labor government is facing mounting pressure to take further action on child sexual exploitation. Its attempts to set up a nationwide inquiry into grooming gangs have faced repeated delays and debates about how wide its scope should be.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said on Monday the inquiry must "consider the role of ethnicity, religion and other cultural factors" and should "leave no stone unturned".

It is thought that Britain is highly unlikely to agree to the reported Pakistani proposal, and the Home Office and Foreign Office have declined to comment on the reports.

Raja, now a freelance journalist, told The Telegraph that the report "is unprecedented and deeply disturbing. It shows the extent to which an authoritarian regime is willing to go to suppress dissent".

"I have broken no UK law. My only 'offence' is practicing journalism and exercising free expression," he said. "I trust that the UK, a country committed to the rule of law and press freedom, will not allow political critics to be traded away under pressure from a foreign government."

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted from government in April 2022 through a parliamentary no-confidence vote following a fallout with the country's influential military.

He has spent more than two years in prison. Last year a UN report concluded that his detention is arbitrary and in contravention of international law.

Tyler Durden Thu, 12/11/2025 - 02:00

FBI Arrests Alleged MS-13 Assassin, 'Kill Squad' Leader In Nebraska: Patel

Zero Hedge -

FBI Arrests Alleged MS-13 Assassin, 'Kill Squad' Leader In Nebraska: Patel

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,

A suspected leader of the criminal gang MS-13 has been arrested in Nebraska, FBI Director Kash Patel said in a Dec. 9 post on X.

Gerson Cuadra Soto, a Honduran national, “is believed to be responsible for overseeing one of their major kill squad units—and suspected of executing the assassination of the son of the former President of Honduras,” Patel wrote.

“This is part of the FBI’s Joint Task Force Vulcan investigation out of @FBIHouston to locate, indict, and arrest members of MS-13 leadership ‘La Mesa.’”

On July 14, 2022, Saíd Omar Lobo Bonilla, son of former Honduran President Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo Sosa, and three other men were killed outside a nightclub in Honduran capital city Tegucigalpa.

Joint Task Force Vulcan is an initiative launched in August 2019 under the first Trump administration that aims to disrupt and eliminate MS-13.

La Mesa, or “The Table,” is a group of senior MS-13 gang leaders who allegedly authorize murders throughout the United States.

Patel commended FBI Omaha, Nebraska, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Drug Enforcement Administration, and other partners for their work that resulted in Soto’s arrest.

“This admin is taking a whole of government approach to dismantling MS-13 and their presence within the country,” he said. MS-13, also known as Mara Salvatrucha, was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the State Department in February.

In a Dec. 9 statement, Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen welcomed the arrest of Soto, who he said was illegally in the country and living in the city of Grand Island.

“Cuadra Soto, a leader of the terrorist MS-13 gang and Honduran assassin, entered the United States illegally in 2022 under Biden’s watch—eventually obtaining a California driver’s license before establishing a residence in Grand Island,” Pillen said.

“Here’s the simple truth: Weak borders put our families at risk. Thankfully, under conservative Republican leadership, our border has never been more secure.”

Expanding Scope

Under the Trump administration, the FBI has intensified its targeting of foreign criminal groups.

In March, the FBI announced that it was expanding its counterterrorism mission to aggressively battle transnational organized crime.

The announcement was made after the State Department designated several international cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists.

The FBI changed the name of its Terrorist Screening Center to the Threat Screening Center, saying that the updated name expands the scope of national security screening to cover groups such as MS-13 and Tren de Aragua that operate in the United States.

U.S. military personnel escort alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and the MS-13 gang recently deported by the U.S. government to be imprisoned in the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) prison, as part of an agreement with the Salvadoran government, in San Luis Talpa, El Salvador, on March 30, 2025. Secretaria de Prensa de la Presidencia/Handout via Reuters

“Border security is essential to protecting our country and providing safer communities for our citizens,” Patel said in a statement at the time.

“We’re expanding the watchlist to include cartel and gang members from newly designated foreign terrorist organizations. This change will assist our law enforcement and Intelligence Community partners as we all work together toward the goal of crushing violent crime within our borders.”

In a Dec. 3 statement, the Department of the Treasury said that its Office of Foreign Assets Control has sanctioned key affiliates of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.

“Under President Trump, barbaric terrorist cartels can no longer operate with impunity across our borders. The Tren de Aragua network’s narcotrafficking and human smuggling operations have long posed a grave threat to our nation,” Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in the statement.

A March report from the State Department detailed the threats posed by transnational criminal organizations. It specifically highlighted Mexican criminal organizations as “one of the greatest threats” to the United States.

Mexico was deemed to be the most significant source of illicit fentanyl and fentanyl analogues, with Mexican groups Sinaloa Cartel and New Generation Jalisco Cartel the primary distributors of these drugs in North America, the report said. Mexico is also the source of most of the heroin and meth seized in the United States.

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

FBI Arrests Alleged MS-13 Assassin, 'Kill Squad' Leader In Nebraska: Patel

Zero Hedge -

FBI Arrests Alleged MS-13 Assassin, 'Kill Squad' Leader In Nebraska: Patel

Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,

A suspected leader of the criminal gang MS-13 has been arrested in Nebraska, FBI Director Kash Patel said in a Dec. 9 post on X.

Gerson Cuadra Soto, a Honduran national, “is believed to be responsible for overseeing one of their major kill squad units—and suspected of executing the assassination of the son of the former President of Honduras,” Patel wrote.

“This is part of the FBI’s Joint Task Force Vulcan investigation out of @FBIHouston to locate, indict, and arrest members of MS-13 leadership ‘La Mesa.’”

On July 14, 2022, Saíd Omar Lobo Bonilla, son of former Honduran President Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo Sosa, and three other men were killed outside a nightclub in Honduran capital city Tegucigalpa.

Joint Task Force Vulcan is an initiative launched in August 2019 under the first Trump administration that aims to disrupt and eliminate MS-13.

La Mesa, or “The Table,” is a group of senior MS-13 gang leaders who allegedly authorize murders throughout the United States.

Patel commended FBI Omaha, Nebraska, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Drug Enforcement Administration, and other partners for their work that resulted in Soto’s arrest.

“This admin is taking a whole of government approach to dismantling MS-13 and their presence within the country,” he said. MS-13, also known as Mara Salvatrucha, was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the State Department in February.

In a Dec. 9 statement, Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen welcomed the arrest of Soto, who he said was illegally in the country and living in the city of Grand Island.

“Cuadra Soto, a leader of the terrorist MS-13 gang and Honduran assassin, entered the United States illegally in 2022 under Biden’s watch—eventually obtaining a California driver’s license before establishing a residence in Grand Island,” Pillen said.

“Here’s the simple truth: Weak borders put our families at risk. Thankfully, under conservative Republican leadership, our border has never been more secure.”

Expanding Scope

Under the Trump administration, the FBI has intensified its targeting of foreign criminal groups.

In March, the FBI announced that it was expanding its counterterrorism mission to aggressively battle transnational organized crime.

The announcement was made after the State Department designated several international cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists.

The FBI changed the name of its Terrorist Screening Center to the Threat Screening Center, saying that the updated name expands the scope of national security screening to cover groups such as MS-13 and Tren de Aragua that operate in the United States.

U.S. military personnel escort alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and the MS-13 gang recently deported by the U.S. government to be imprisoned in the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) prison, as part of an agreement with the Salvadoran government, in San Luis Talpa, El Salvador, on March 30, 2025. Secretaria de Prensa de la Presidencia/Handout via Reuters

“Border security is essential to protecting our country and providing safer communities for our citizens,” Patel said in a statement at the time.

“We’re expanding the watchlist to include cartel and gang members from newly designated foreign terrorist organizations. This change will assist our law enforcement and Intelligence Community partners as we all work together toward the goal of crushing violent crime within our borders.”

In a Dec. 3 statement, the Department of the Treasury said that its Office of Foreign Assets Control has sanctioned key affiliates of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.

“Under President Trump, barbaric terrorist cartels can no longer operate with impunity across our borders. The Tren de Aragua network’s narcotrafficking and human smuggling operations have long posed a grave threat to our nation,” Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said in the statement.

A March report from the State Department detailed the threats posed by transnational criminal organizations. It specifically highlighted Mexican criminal organizations as “one of the greatest threats” to the United States.

Mexico was deemed to be the most significant source of illicit fentanyl and fentanyl analogues, with Mexican groups Sinaloa Cartel and New Generation Jalisco Cartel the primary distributors of these drugs in North America, the report said. Mexico is also the source of most of the heroin and meth seized in the United States.

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

Palantir Lands $448 Million Deal To Fix Navy Submarine Delays

Zero Hedge -

Palantir Lands $448 Million Deal To Fix Navy Submarine Delays

Palantir Technologies is becoming a deeper partner to the US military as the Navy launches ShipOS, a $448 million effort to use the company’s AI and data tools to improve submarine production, according to a new report from Bloomberg.

The deal will provide Palantir’s Foundry and Artificial Intelligence Platform across select shipyards and suppliers.

The Navy wants to fix chronic delays and overruns affecting its Virginia- and Columbia-class programs. Secretary of the Navy John Phelan said the goal is to speed up an industry that has struggled with labor issues and subcontractor delays: “By enabling industry to adopt AI and autonomy tools at scale, we’re helping the shipbuilding industry improve schedules, increase capacity, and reduce costs.”

Palantir CEO Alex Karp emphasized the scale of the challenge, saying, “It takes 10 million man hours to build a submarine. There are 2,000 businesses involved. Every single one of these components is specialized.” He added that tracking parts through software is vital because “that’s exactly why you need software” to remove bottlenecks, arguing that “already that problem’s gone.”

Bloomberg writes that two major shipbuilders and three public shipyards will receive the software first, and Phelan said the same system could later support carriers, the fleet, and even fighter jets.

The Navy expects the Palantir approach could “significantly” reduce the Columbia-class delay, currently projected to push delivery to March 2029. The contract uses a new “shared risk” model. Phelan said, “If they perform well…they’re going to do well and they should.” Karp responded, “You’re forcing us to absorb risk,” adding, “We get paid as we perform…This is not your typical ‘you get paid after everything fails’ kind of contract…We want to change contracting across the US government to ‘you get paid when it works.’”

Among names worth watching in the submarine space are Kraken Robotics, which has signed cooperative R&D agreements with the U.S. Navy for next-generation sonar systems, Huntington Ingalls Industries, the parent of Newport News Shipbuilding, and General Dynamics, which owns Electric Boat, builder of the Virginia- and Columbia-class nuclear submarines.

Palantir, meanwhile, is expanding its work with the U.S. Navy, using AI and data management platforms to support fleet readiness, logistics, and complex maintenance programs across submarine and surface operations.

Tyler Durden Wed, 12/10/2025 - 23:35

Palantir Lands $448 Million Deal To Fix Navy Submarine Delays

Zero Hedge -

Palantir Lands $448 Million Deal To Fix Navy Submarine Delays

Palantir Technologies is becoming a deeper partner to the US military as the Navy launches ShipOS, a $448 million effort to use the company’s AI and data tools to improve submarine production, according to a new report from Bloomberg.

The deal will provide Palantir’s Foundry and Artificial Intelligence Platform across select shipyards and suppliers.

The Navy wants to fix chronic delays and overruns affecting its Virginia- and Columbia-class programs. Secretary of the Navy John Phelan said the goal is to speed up an industry that has struggled with labor issues and subcontractor delays: “By enabling industry to adopt AI and autonomy tools at scale, we’re helping the shipbuilding industry improve schedules, increase capacity, and reduce costs.”

Palantir CEO Alex Karp emphasized the scale of the challenge, saying, “It takes 10 million man hours to build a submarine. There are 2,000 businesses involved. Every single one of these components is specialized.” He added that tracking parts through software is vital because “that’s exactly why you need software” to remove bottlenecks, arguing that “already that problem’s gone.”

Bloomberg writes that two major shipbuilders and three public shipyards will receive the software first, and Phelan said the same system could later support carriers, the fleet, and even fighter jets.

The Navy expects the Palantir approach could “significantly” reduce the Columbia-class delay, currently projected to push delivery to March 2029. The contract uses a new “shared risk” model. Phelan said, “If they perform well…they’re going to do well and they should.” Karp responded, “You’re forcing us to absorb risk,” adding, “We get paid as we perform…This is not your typical ‘you get paid after everything fails’ kind of contract…We want to change contracting across the US government to ‘you get paid when it works.’”

Among names worth watching in the submarine space are Kraken Robotics, which has signed cooperative R&D agreements with the U.S. Navy for next-generation sonar systems, Huntington Ingalls Industries, the parent of Newport News Shipbuilding, and General Dynamics, which owns Electric Boat, builder of the Virginia- and Columbia-class nuclear submarines.

Palantir, meanwhile, is expanding its work with the U.S. Navy, using AI and data management platforms to support fleet readiness, logistics, and complex maintenance programs across submarine and surface operations.

Tyler Durden Wed, 12/10/2025 - 23:35

Israel Funds Summit For 1,000 US Pastors Overseen By Amb. Huckabee

Zero Hedge -

Israel Funds Summit For 1,000 US Pastors Overseen By Amb. Huckabee

Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

A group of more than 1,000 American Christian Zionist pastors and influencers has spent a week in Israel on an all-expenses-paid trip that was funded by the Israeli Foreign Ministry, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Tuesday.

"This is the first time in history that the state of Israel has officially partnered with 1,000 strategic pastors to commission them as ambassadors to combat antisemitism and reach the youth of their generation," Mike Evans, an evangelical pastor who helped organize the trip, told CBN News. "Right now there’s an ideological war that Israel is losing, so they need the evangelicals, they need the Zionists to fight an ideological war," Evans added.

Christian Zionists like Evans believe that the modern state of Israel has the right to all of the land in historic Palestine, including the Israeli-occupied West Bank, based on the Bible, a view that has its roots in dispensationalism, a Christian theology developed in the US in the 19th century.

The view runs counter to thousands of years of Christian tradition, as it’s rejected by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and many Protestant denominations, yet it has significant influence on US foreign policy. During a speech to the crowd of pastors at the Shiloh archeological site in the West Bank, Evans addressed recent remarks from Vice President JD Vance and President Trump about not supporting the Israeli annexation of the Palestinian territory, which he calls Judea and Samaria.

"You said that the policy of the administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. Mr. Vice President, we love you, and we love America, but the policy of the God who birthed America and the policy of the God who gave these people this land is in fact that Judea and Samaria is Bible land," Evans said.

"Eighty percent of Bible stories come out of Judea and Samaria. So don’t pressure Israel to give illegal, radical Islam Jew-haters Judea and Samaria," he said, adding that the MAGA movement is based on the Bible and "upon the God of this book, the God of Israel."

While American evangelicals have always comprised a solid base of support for Israel, that support has been declining, part of an overall trend among Americans due to Israel's brutal campaign in Gaza.

"There is a growing cancer within the evangelical movement in America, where people are thinking Israel doesn’t matter and there’s nothing biblical about our relationship with Israel. This is very dangerous," US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told CBN News during the summit.

Source: X/Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub

The Israeli Foreign Ministry has taken other steps to influence American Christians, including spending millions on a propaganda campaign targeting evangelical churches in the US that is being called the "largest Christian Church Geofencing Campaign in US history" - a project that was revealed by a federal filing under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

The pastors’ summit in Israel concluded with Huckabee "commissioning" the attendees as "ambassadors" to stand with the state of Israel. During their time in Israel, the pastors were addressed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who told them, “Stand up and be counted. Tell the truth. Speak to young people. Speak up to be counted. I’m counting on you, and I know you’ll do what has to be done. That’s what our destiny calls for.”

Tyler Durden Wed, 12/10/2025 - 23:10

Israel Funds Summit For 1,000 US Pastors Overseen By Amb. Huckabee

Zero Hedge -

Israel Funds Summit For 1,000 US Pastors Overseen By Amb. Huckabee

Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

A group of more than 1,000 American Christian Zionist pastors and influencers has spent a week in Israel on an all-expenses-paid trip that was funded by the Israeli Foreign Ministry, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Tuesday.

"This is the first time in history that the state of Israel has officially partnered with 1,000 strategic pastors to commission them as ambassadors to combat antisemitism and reach the youth of their generation," Mike Evans, an evangelical pastor who helped organize the trip, told CBN News. "Right now there’s an ideological war that Israel is losing, so they need the evangelicals, they need the Zionists to fight an ideological war," Evans added.

Christian Zionists like Evans believe that the modern state of Israel has the right to all of the land in historic Palestine, including the Israeli-occupied West Bank, based on the Bible, a view that has its roots in dispensationalism, a Christian theology developed in the US in the 19th century.

The view runs counter to thousands of years of Christian tradition, as it’s rejected by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and many Protestant denominations, yet it has significant influence on US foreign policy. During a speech to the crowd of pastors at the Shiloh archeological site in the West Bank, Evans addressed recent remarks from Vice President JD Vance and President Trump about not supporting the Israeli annexation of the Palestinian territory, which he calls Judea and Samaria.

"You said that the policy of the administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. Mr. Vice President, we love you, and we love America, but the policy of the God who birthed America and the policy of the God who gave these people this land is in fact that Judea and Samaria is Bible land," Evans said.

"Eighty percent of Bible stories come out of Judea and Samaria. So don’t pressure Israel to give illegal, radical Islam Jew-haters Judea and Samaria," he said, adding that the MAGA movement is based on the Bible and "upon the God of this book, the God of Israel."

While American evangelicals have always comprised a solid base of support for Israel, that support has been declining, part of an overall trend among Americans due to Israel's brutal campaign in Gaza.

"There is a growing cancer within the evangelical movement in America, where people are thinking Israel doesn’t matter and there’s nothing biblical about our relationship with Israel. This is very dangerous," US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told CBN News during the summit.

Source: X/Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub

The Israeli Foreign Ministry has taken other steps to influence American Christians, including spending millions on a propaganda campaign targeting evangelical churches in the US that is being called the "largest Christian Church Geofencing Campaign in US history" - a project that was revealed by a federal filing under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

The pastors’ summit in Israel concluded with Huckabee "commissioning" the attendees as "ambassadors" to stand with the state of Israel. During their time in Israel, the pastors were addressed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who told them, “Stand up and be counted. Tell the truth. Speak to young people. Speak up to be counted. I’m counting on you, and I know you’ll do what has to be done. That’s what our destiny calls for.”

Tyler Durden Wed, 12/10/2025 - 23:10

Netflix Docudrama Features Transgender Coal Miner "Fighting The Patriarchy"

Zero Hedge -

Netflix Docudrama Features Transgender Coal Miner "Fighting The Patriarchy"

The film industry has really been scraping the bottom of the barrel over the past few years to find "inspirational" LGBT stories to appease their DEI overlords in Hollywood.  Without a significant American audience the production of woke films is beginning to fade; no one wants to watch these movies.  However, some distributors can't help themselves as they search foreign markets to purchase far-left content and get their ideological fix. 

The newest foreign art house slop making it's way to Netflix audiences in the US this month is a movie called "Queen Of Coal", originally titled "Miss Carbon" in Argentina where the flick was originally released.  Pedro Pascal plays a role in the film (of course he does), and it's set to hit Netflix on December 19th.  

The tale is a docudrama based on the true story of an 18-year-old man named Carlos Antonella Rodríguez who gets work as a coal miner in 2011.  He then "transitions" over the course of a few years to become a transgender woman named "Carlita" (take note of the almost worshipful manner in which the trans character is portrayed). 

Carlos is officially recognized as a woman under an Argentina law enacted on May 23, 2012.  It was the world's first legislation to allow legal gender recognition based on self-identification, without requiring medical interventions, psychological diagnoses, or judicial approval (this might be something that Javier Milei should look into).  The man was then declared the "first woman coal miner" in Argentina's history. 

That's right, a man dressed up as a woman defeated the patriarchy for all women because he is now legally considered a real woman in Argentina.  In other words, this is a lot like Bruce Jenner (now Caitlyn Jenner) winning Glamour Magazine's "woman of the year." 

Netflix describes the movie as:

Carlita, a trans woman, dreams of working in the coal mines but faces superstitions and a ban on female workers, forcing her to fight for her place and disrupt the system.

Some might wonder why anyone would "dream" of becoming a coal miner.  No one does, but in Argentina in 2012 coal mining was considered a higher paying job ($1500 per month US).  Carlos does not actually extract coal, he repairs machinery that helps in the mining of coal, but is technically considered a "coal miner".

Some people might remember the explosive controversy over Netflix's distribution of the 2020 film "Cuties" - A French movie featuring 11-year-old girls in a highly sexualized dance troupe.  Critics accused the filmmakers of creating thinly veiled child pornography disguised as feminist empowerment.  The film's director is a female Muslim feminist from Senegal who grew up in a polygamous family.  Around 10% of Senegalese Muslim marriages involve minors under the age of 15. 

The foreign feature did not go over well with American audiences, except for leftist activists who widely defended the movie and even argued in favor of the child dance scenes.  Much was revealed about the political left in 2020.  

There has been a similar reaction with the announcement of Queen Of Coal:  Audiences are laughing at the concept while rejecting the basic premise that a man can become a woman and then be declared the "first woman coal miner".  It does not appear that the film will draw many viewers for Netflix, but it does showcase why Netflix's attempted purchase of Warner Bros. is very bad for movie goers. 

Tyler Durden Wed, 12/10/2025 - 22:45

Judge Halts Trump's Deployment Of National Guard In Los Angeles

Zero Hedge -

Judge Halts Trump's Deployment Of National Guard In Los Angeles

Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times,

A federal judge on Dec. 10 blocked President Donald Trump’s use of the National Guard in Los Angeles to deal with civil unrest.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer rejected the Trump administration’s argument that protests against federal immigration authorities constituted a rebellion that warranted the president’s federalization of California National Guard troops.

Breyer had previously blocked the deployment. On Sept. 2, he found the federal government had violated the Posse Comitatus Act.

The federal government has argued that the sometimes-violent protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were interfering with the government’s ability to enforce federal immigration law.

Although the federal Posse Comitatus Act restricts the ability of the federal government to use military resources for domestic law enforcement, a president may take over, or federalize, state National Guard troops on an emergency basis in certain circumstances.

“The Founders designed our government to be a system of checks and balances. Defendants, however, make clear that the only check they want is a blank one,” Breyer wrote in the court order.

“Six months after they first federalized the California National Guard, Defendants still retain control of approximately 300 Guardsmen, despite no evidence that execution of federal law is impeded in any way—let alone significantly.”

The judge also rejected the administration’s argument that the court system has no authority to review a president’s takeover of state National Guard troops in an emergency situation.

Breyer wrote that it was “nonsensical to suggest that the law would permit a president to ... send Guardsmen wherever he wanted for as long as he wanted.”

After California Gov. Gavin Newsom sued to block the deployment, the Trump administration took the position that “after a valid initial federalization, all subsequent re-federalizations are completely, and forever, unreviewable by the courts,” the judge wrote.

“Defendants’ position is contrary to law,” and, coupled with the Trump administration’s deployment of California National Guard troops to other states, is “effectively creating a national police force made up of state troops,” the judge added.

Breyer stayed his preliminary injunction until noon on Dec. 15, presumably to give the federal government an opportunity to appeal.

Newsom hailed the ruling.

“Today’s ruling is abundantly clear – the federalization of the National Guard in California is illegal and must end,” the governor said in a statement.

“The President deployed these brave men and women against their own communities, removing them from essential public safety operations. We look forward to all National Guard servicemembers being returned to state service.”

The Epoch Times reached out to the Department of Justice for comment. No reply was received by publication time.

Separately, on Sept. 8 the Supreme Court stayed a lower court order restricting immigration stops in Southern California. Three justices dissented.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement started operations in the Los Angeles area on June 6. Local and state officials strongly criticized the effort, saying the federal government was overstepping its legal authority.

The high court order paused a temporary restraining order that Judge Maame Frimpong of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California issued on July 11 that limited the factors that law enforcement officials may use when making immigration-related stops and arrests.

Specifically, Frimpong barred the Department of Homeland Security from stopping or arresting individuals based exclusively on factors such as the language the person speaks or where the person works.

In her dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote, “We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low wage job.”

Justice Brett Kavanaugh filed a concurring opinion.

“Apparent ethnicity alone” is not enough to establish the reasonable suspicion needed to justify an immigration stop, but it may be relevant to the issue,” he wrote.

Tyler Durden Wed, 12/10/2025 - 22:20

House Armed Services Chairman Prepared To End Investigation After Viewing Double-Tap Boat Strike

Zero Hedge -

House Armed Services Chairman Prepared To End Investigation After Viewing Double-Tap Boat Strike

Congress this week has been threatening to withhold travel funds for Pentagon leadership as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has refused to turn over videos of strikes against suspected drug-smuggling boats off the coast of Latin America, amid the ongoing debate over their 'legality' of the actions.

The demand, which would significantly reduce Hegseth's own travel budget, has been quietly tucked into the final draft of the annual defense policy bill. Congressional leaders called for "unedited video of strikes conducted against designated terrorist organizations in the area of responsibility of the United States Southern Command" to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees.

Rep. Mike Rodgers (R-AL)

Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, has expressed new frustration on Wednesday over Hegseth's refusal to release a Sept. 2 video which shows strikes on men who survived the first round of a drone attack.

"I’m going to stay hopeful for a couple more days. But the idea that he’s going to try to simply drag this out until Congress breaks for the holidays is outrageous, and folks ought to be pretty damn pissed off," said Warner.

Hegseth earlier said the request to release the video is still under review, and that his office is mulling it. While top national security officials have seen it, Warner said further that "There were other members of the administration in that briefing who understood that Congress has an oversight responsibility to see this video."

The so-called Gang of Eight were allowed to view it in a closed session. These are the eight leaders within Congress who are briefed on classified intelligence matters.

However, there are signs that Congressional leaders could back down, as CNN newly reports on Wednesday: 

House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers is prepared to end his panel’s investigation into the September double-tap strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, a committee aide tells CNN.

Rogers received a classified briefing last week to view the video footage and is now pushing for the rest of his panel to be able to see the video.

The committee aide said, "The video and classified briefings from the Pentagon were sufficient to convince him this was a legal action. But he’s also been clear that we need a classified briefing where the rest of HASC’s members can see the video, and we expect that to happen next week."

Some lawmakers have disagreed, calling it an appalling act and war crime, while others said the video showed the survivors trying to salvage the drugs...

Some conservatives have decried the whole saga as but a carefully orchestrated plan of character assassination campaign targeting Hegseth.

But Trump has been sticking by him. The last word Hegseth gave on releasing the video was as follows: "We've got operators out there doing this right now, so whatever we were to decide to release, we would have to be very responsible about, so we're reviewing that right now."

Tyler Durden Wed, 12/10/2025 - 21:55

Republicans Taking Note After Miami Mayor's Office Flips Blue For First Time In Decades

Zero Hedge -

Republicans Taking Note After Miami Mayor's Office Flips Blue For First Time In Decades

Republicans looking for hints on how midterms might go need look no further than Miami, Florida - where Democrat Eileen Higgins won the mayor's race, becoming the first woman to lead the city - and the first Democrat to take the helm in nearly 30 years. 

Miami mayor-elect Eileen Higgins celebrates at a watch party after winning the Miami mayoral runoff election, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in Miami. | Lynne Sladky/AP

The 61-year-old campaigned on opposition to the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration, saying many in Miami have voiced concerns over family members being detained. 

Higgins beat Trump-backed former city manager Emilio Gonzales by roughly 19%. That said, there are a few caveats:

- The race was supposed to be nonpartisan, meaning voters didn't see party labels when they cast their ballot.

- It's an off-year election, and the first Miami mayoral runoff since 2001.

- It's the first time the mayor's race has ever been decided in December, while people are preparing for the holidays. 

Yet, since Republicans have held the seat for so long, and because Higgins won by nearly 20 points, Democrats get to add Miami to their list of wins in 2025. 

"We are facing rhetoric from elected officials that is so dehumanizing and cruel, especially against immigrant populations," Higgins told AP following her victory speech. "The residents of Miami were ready to be done with that."

While the Miami race might be an outlier when it comes to predicting midterms, the victory gives Democrats some momentum heading into midterm elections, where the GOP is looking to keep Florida red - including a Hispanic-majority district in Miami-Dade county that has been shifting increasingly conservative in recent years. 

"Tonight's result is yet another warning sign to Republicans that voters are fed up with their out-of-touch agenda that is raising costs," said DNC chair Ken Martin following Higgins' win. 

Conservative activist Scott Pressler sounded the alarm, writing on X: "Republicans are completely squandering all of the work we did to win the 2024 elections."

As Politico notes, Higgins' campaign is likely to be carefully studied by other Democratic hopefuls in Florida - after she ran "not on social justice or culture war issues, but on improving affordability and making government work better. She agreed with Republicans that the city’s finances needed a careful look." 

Republicans will certainly face questions after Tuesday's result - including whether they're losing ground with Latinos, and whether it will continue to be effective to call Democrats "socialists" at every turn given that it didn't work whatsoever with Higgins. 

"Donald Trump got involved in this election. Ron DeSantis got involved in this election. Every statewide elected Republican got involved in this election," said Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried. "They knew this was an important race, and them blowing it off today is why we’re going to be able to win some really big races next year — because they think they just have Florida in the bag."

Tyler Durden Wed, 12/10/2025 - 20:15

The Hyperventilating Over The DOE Restructuring Is Ongoing

Zero Hedge -

The Hyperventilating Over The DOE Restructuring Is Ongoing

Authored by Larry Sand via American Greatness,

In the latest wave of fearmongering surrounding President Trump’s efforts to overhaul the U.S. Department of Education, a coalition of states that sued to stop mass layoffs at the department in March is now challenging recent decisions to transfer many of the DOE’s core functions to the U.S. Department of Labor and other federal agencies.

The attorneys general from 20 blue states and the District of Columbia, along with several teachers’ unions, argue in an amended complaint filed on Nov. 25 that federal laws require the U.S. Department of Education to implement its own programs. The lawsuits focus on the fact that the department signed seven agreements with four other federal agencies, allowing those agencies to handle the day-to-day management of key grant programs. Under these arrangements, the Labor Department now heads up most K-12 grant programs, distributing over $20 billion annually to schools.

The National Education Association issued a ridiculous statement alleging that the moves are “illegal, cruel, and shameful.” NEA president Becky Pringle bizarrely declared, “Not only do they want to starve and steal from our students—they want to rob them of their futures. Nothing is more important than the success of our students, and America’s educators and parents will not be silent as Trump and Linda McMahon turn their backs on our students, families, and communities to pay for billionaire tax cuts.”

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten also claims that the move is not legal. “There are lots of things about the Department of Education that are in statute,” she declares, referring to funds that the department distributes to low-income families, students with disabilities, English as a Second Language learners, and work-study programs.

Let’s take a deep breath, step back, and look at the facts.

While the federal government has spent money on education and developed education policies since the 19th century, the DOE didn’t become a standalone agency until 1980, when it split off from the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Its creation came about when, as a sop to the National Education Association, Jimmy Carter established it while running for reelection. Clearly, it was politically motivated, and in response, the NEA subsequently issued its first-ever endorsement in a presidential contest.

As Jay Greene, a senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, points out, most of the programs that the DOE now administers were created before the department was established. He writes that it is “just a bureaucratic restructuring. It doesn’t get rid of programs; it doesn’t cut funding; it doesn’t close any schools. It’s just a change in the administration, not a change in the programs and services and funding delivered to America’s schools.”

Neal McCluskey, director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom, further explains that under the restructuring, states may get money back, but with strings attached.

Additionally, President Trump says his goal is to transfer the department’s primary responsibilities—such as Pell Grants, Title I funding, and resources for students with disabilities—to other parts of the federal government.

There is little reason to believe that moving various programs to different agencies will have any impact on schools whatsoever. Running the same programs under a different department is unlikely to affect students.

“If that’s all they’re doing, they’re not going to save any money, they’re not going to change any policy,” says Shep Melnick, a political scientist at Boston College.

Melnick is correct. Essentially, what the feds are trying to do at this time is tantamount to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

What the left and the teachers’ unions truly fear is that the restructuring will eventually result in the federal government completely withdrawing all educational control.

The reasons for shutting it down are numerous.

First, spending is more efficient when it is closer to the source. Jim Blew, assistant secretary of education during the first Trump administration and co-founder of the Defense of Freedom Institute for Policy Studies, correctly notes, “This ‘local control’ message is often met by naysayers with the concern that some local districts may do worse without federal ‘guardrails’—as if every school and district needs the same guardrails or that maintaining them comes with no cost. Perhaps some local districts will use their freedom to create worse outcomes (although that would be hard to do when roughly a third of our nation’s 4th and 8th graders already cannot demonstrate even basic, grade-level reading or math skills), but I find it more likely that we will see committed, innovative educators improve student outcomes when freed to use federal funding as they think best.”

Perhaps no one fully comprehends the DOE’s uselessness and waste more than former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. She contends that it shuffles money around, imposes unnecessary requirements and political agendas through its grants, and then shirks responsibility for evaluating whether any of what it does actually adds value. “Here’s how it works: Congress appropriates funding for education; last year, it totaled nearly $80 billion. The department’s bureaucrats take in those billions, add strings and red tape, peel off a percentage to pay for themselves, and then send it down to state education agencies.”

In summary, the DOE is ineffective, incompetent, unnecessary, and costly, and does nothing to support education. Its creation was a mistake, and it should be abolished. There is no strong policy reason or constitutional basis for the federal government to be involved in K-12 education. Ultimately, America’s schools would be better off without it.

But big-government leftists and teachers’ unions rely on centralized authority. It’s easier for them to influence a single federal agency where they already hold sway than to compete for control across 50 states and thousands of local districts.  And, sadly, they will get their way, as 60 U.S. Senators would have to authorize the abolition of the DOE, which will not happen.

Tyler Durden Wed, 12/10/2025 - 19:50

Thursday: Trade Deficit, Unemployment Claims

Calculated Risk -

Mortgage Rates Note: Mortgage rates are from MortgageNewsDaily.com and are for top tier scenarios.

Thursday:
• At 8:30 AM ET, The initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released.  There were 191,000 initial claims last week.

• Also at 8:30 AM, Trade Balance report for September from the Census Bureau. The consensus is the trade deficit to be $65.5 billion.  The U.S. trade deficit was at $59.6 billion in August.

• At 10:00 AM, the Q3 2025 Housing Vacancies and Homeownership from the Census Bureau.

• Also at 10:00 AM, State Employment and Unemployment (Monthly) for September 2025

Watch: Third Russian Oil Tanker Hit By Sea Drone In Black Sea

Zero Hedge -

Watch: Third Russian Oil Tanker Hit By Sea Drone In Black Sea

Ukraine has carried out another drone attack on a Russia-linked so-called 'shadow fleet' tanker in the Black Sea on Wednesday, which marks a third such attack in less than two weeks, and which seeks to disrupt Moscow's maritime oil trade.

Local reports have identified the Comoros Islands-flagged Dashan as being struck while sailing en route to the Russian port terminal of Novorossiysk. The Ukrainians were quick to release drone-perspective video confirming the attack, and the vessel appeared to be unladen at the time.

The some $30 million tanker "sustained critical damage and was completely put out of action - powerful explosions can be clearly seen in video footage shown by the sources," according to Ukrainian media.

The Dashan was under US-led sanctions, as well as sanctions by the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Switzerland.

When the tanker Kairo was hit late last month it was towed to Bulgaria, but it was also deemed a complete loss.

Reuters has recently noted that "War insurance costs for ships sailing to the Black Sea have spiked again, with insurers reviewing policies daily as the conflict in Ukraine spills into sea lanes, five shipping and insurance sources said on Thursday."

Moscow is outraged at recent attacks on tankers transporting Russian oil. Also on Wednesday, a cargo vessel carrying grain from Crimea was detained by Ukrainian authorities at Odessa port:

Ukrainian security officials have detained a cargo vessel in the port of Odesa that authorities say is part of Russia’s so-called "shadow fleet," the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said Wednesday.

The ship, whose name was not disclosed, arrived under the flag of an African country to load a shipment of steel pipes. The captain and 16 crew members holding passports from unspecified Middle Eastern countries were on board at the time of the seizure.

According to the SBU, the vessel illegally transported nearly 7,000 tons of Russian grain from annexed Crimea to North Africa in January 2021.

The SBU claims it found evidence of "illegal operations in ports on temporarily occupied Ukrainian territory" after a search of the ship.

Apparently Ukrainian authorities intend to seize the ship's cargo altogether, and transfer them Ukraine’s Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA), a government entity which deals with property linked to corruption or other crimes. So naturally, Moscow is not going to look kindly on fresh offers to mutually stop attacks on energy infrastructure.

President Putin has warned he's ready to step up military attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in retaliation for these brazen attack on Black Sea shipping.

Tyler Durden Wed, 12/10/2025 - 19:25

Pages