Norway’s $2-trillion sovereign wealth fund announced on 2 December that it is stepping up pressure on Microsoft over human rights concerns linked to the Israeli army’s actions in Gaza, backing a shareholder demand for greater transparency on the company’s global operations.

The sovereign wealth fund, the largest in the world, said it will vote in favor of a proposal calling on Microsoft to publish a report outlining human rights risks in countries where its products are used in contexts of “significant” rights abuses.

The proposal, submitted by the shareholder group EICO, will be presented at Microsoft’s annual general meeting on 5 December.

Its intervention follows reports that Microsoft’s software and cloud tools were deployed by the Israeli military in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, prompting renewed scrutiny of the company’s role in a war marked by widespread allegations of war crimes.

~ Full article…

But first, you must know three things about Venezuela to understand why Donald Trump has openly ordered the overthrow of their government.

1.     Venezuela has the largest reserves of oil on the planet.

2.     Venezuela has the largest reserves of oil on the planet.

3.     Venezuela has the largest reserves of oil on the planet.

Look it up: According to OPEC’s own site, Venezuela’s 303 billion barrels in proven reserves are four times the reserves of Saudi Arabia.

[…]
There was indeed a drug boat, a submersible, attacked by the US. But American media generally failed to mention that, unlike the fishermen and commuters killed coming from Venezuela, the one real drug haul came from Colombia and was captured in the Pacific Ocean, not the Caribbean.

So where are the drugs coming from, if not Venezuela or Canada? According to a New Yorker investigation, one of the world’s largest and most violent cocaine cartels, the Kinahan Organized Crime Group, is run out of — you guessed it — Abu Dhabi.

~ Full article…

Chief exec Oleksandr Komarov said Kyivstar has already equipped its cell network with batteries and generators to provide up to ten hours of coverage when grid power is not available, and the Starlink support extends availability for customers.

“Today we are introducing the cutting-edge Direct to Cell technology which will increase this resilience significantly, starting with a vital functionality that is critical for our people,” he said in a statement.

Elsewhere in Europe, Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) recently confirmed it will offer a satellite service for UK customers, also using Starlink’s Direct to Cell. It is scheduled for release during the first half of 2026.

~ Full post…

So the next time someone asks you, “Where’s the proof that DOGE actually saved money?” you look them dead in the eye and say:

“Where’s your panda?”

And when they say, “That doesn’t make any sense, you’re the one who should have the panda, you’re the one who made the claims—”

You just walk away and say “see you in my driverless car on Mars in 2018 that runs on the bones of dead liberals“…”

DOGE Catastrophic Failures Blamed on Baby Pandas

As you know, our dear hero Elon Musk recently stepped down from his heroic role at the Department of Government Efficiency, or as I call it Definitely Our Greatest Experiment (DOGE). And the liberal media is trying to make him look bad just because his department was dissolved eight months early, fell roughly $1.85 trillion short of its initial savings goal, and used what Politico has called “faulty math.”

That’s right. Faulty math. You know who else used faulty math? Tesla Door Handles. And owners turned out fine, apart from being trapped and burned to death.
[…]
In a recent interview, Musk explained how to spot government fraud using what I’m calling The Lying Panda Principle™:

It’s going to be like the Save the Baby Pandas NGO… But then it turns out no pandas are being saved in this thing, it’s just corruption, essentially. And you’re like, ‘Well, can you send us a picture of the panda?’ They’re like, ‘No.’ OK. Well, how do we know it’s going to the pandas?

EXACTLY, Elon. If someone can’t prove their results, they’re obviously a fraud.

Which is why I’m SO RELIEVED that DOGE posted a “Wall of Receipts” on their website claiming $214 billion in savings. Sure, it “has not been independently verified.” Sure, outside analysis found the numbers were inflated, probably fraud. But that wall of lies is called “Receipts.” What more proof do you need than a word? It’s right there in the name!

And that brings us to the Panda-nomics.

See, the liberal media wants you to believe that when Elon promised $2 trillion in savings, (that’s a lot of pandas) then revised it to $1 trillion, (fewer pandas) then said actually $150 billion, (one panda, shared custody) that this represents some kind of “failure.”

But they’re missing the point.

Elon’s Panda Test asks: “Can you show me proof your program works?”

And DOGE answers: “We have a website” (a website is basically a digital panda).

~ Full article…

7.2.1 Distribution of costs by country

In the previous section, we found needs of Europe to fund 258-419 billion euros in 2026, less funding from other allies, and cost savings. European governments must fund almost all Ukraine’s needs for civilian and military assistance. This speaks in favour of confiscating frozen Russian assets, or applying more of them as collateral for loans to Ukraine. Another opportunity opens when European countries’ support for Ukraine’s defensive war is likely to be partially covered under the NATO’s target for military spending. This implies that support to Ukraine will, to a considerable extent, entail costs that in any case would have to be spent on military defence , rather than crowd out other budget items. In 2025, Europe has a value creation (GDP) of about 22,500 billion euros, compared to Russia’s almost 2,000 billion euros.197 This means that when Russia increases military spending by 1% of GDP, Europe
may match that rearmament by allocating only 0.1% of its GDP.
[…]
Military spending of 3.5% of GDP is equivalent to the current level in the United States, Poland, Estonia and Greece, but would imply a significant increase for many European countries. Several countries have a backlog of pledged support that has not yet been allocated, equalling up to 160 billion euros.200 This testifies to challenges with the capacity to convert budgeting into actual investments and arms deliveries, or may indicate spending scope. For many countries, Ukraine support may be the most appropriate and strategically sensible channelling of defence appropriations in the coming years. Further, much political
controversy over support to Ukraine has been avoided by providing EU-level support as loans.201

We assume that individual countries in Europe will compensate for the loss of US support and that the EU Commission will maintain its joint support schemes with 19 billion euros, so that individual European countries will have to bilaterally donate 239 – 400 billion euros in 2026. Bilaterally, Northern countries have so far donated 87.5 billion euros and other European countries 7 billion, i.e. the shares of donations are distributed 93:7. Northern Europe has much higher value creation (16.380 billion euros) than Southern Europe (6.090 billion euros). With the same distribution as before, countries in the north must increase their support by 195 – 346 billion euros in 2026, while southern countries must raise support by 15 – 26 billion euros, but with considerably lower costs in the following years after a Ukrainian (partial) victory and a favourable peace agreement.

~ Full report…

~ Source

The South Florida Sentinel in 2010 indicated that although many of the earlier mobsters had died, the criminal element was still active.

By 1968, a state crime commission concluded, "South Florida, especially Dade and Broward counties, has become a haven for many known Mafia figures and associates, though their activities know no local boundaries within the state."

In more recent years, "The Teflon Don," Gambino boss John Gotti, maintained a residence in Fort Lauderdale. So did Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo, the brutal head of a Mafia family operating in Philadelphia and Atlantic City....

They still get involved in gambling, loan sharking, strip clubs, prostitution, drug dealing and extortion, but have gravitated toward more sophisticated crimes — such as stock and Medicare fraud — that don't carry the same risks.

They have faced increased competition from Israeli organized crime and Russian mobsters.

"The biggest change has been the Russian mafia," Mangan said. "The Russians started moving in after the fall of communism. They primarily set up in South Beach. They started opening banks in Antigua and Aruba."

[…]
A 1963 article in the Fort Lauderdale newspaper filled in a few of the financial details, revealing that Consumer Finance Corp of America was a holding company for numerous subsidiary corporations. It had apparently bought the strip center located as 3000 N. Federal Highway, where Gate City Realty had its office and was providing financing for the construction of the round building to the northwesMost telling of all, however, is the strange fact near the end of the article stating that Consumer Finance had branched out into a Panamanian corporation–setting up a fish importing business. Seafood would be FLOWN into Florida from Central America by PESCADORES IMPORTADO INTERNATIONALES, S.A.

We’ve all done enough reading and research to recognize a CIA proprietary when we see one, especially one operating just outside Cuban territory in 1963.

~ Full post…

Contrary to popular belief, Julius Caesar was not the first living leader to put his portrait on a coin. A couple of others beat him to it, including Persia’s Darius the Great. But the Roman emperor was the first to break with tradition and distribute them to ensure his subjects understood that he possessed absolute power and, not incidentally, controlled the empire’s money supply. It was a savvy move, copied by monarchs and dictators across the world ever since.

America has long followed suit, featuring the faces of our leaders on our currency, but with an important caveat: They had to be long out of power and in their graves. No monarchy or dictatorship for us; we were hostile to the idea of minting the portrait of a living leader for the very reason Caesar thought it was such a clever idea. Our Constitution meant to ensure that no one person in American life would ever have sole unlimited power.

In 1877, Congress even passed a law prohibiting it, which says that “only the portrait of deceased individuals may occur on the United States currency and securities.” Even coins that will be minted for the 250th anniversary of the nation have a special section in the code which states, “No coin issued under this subsection may bear the image of a living former or current President, or of any deceased former President during the 2-year period following the date of the death of that President.”

But that was before we had our own Orange Caesar, who believes he can rule by fiat, supported by Republicans in Congress, and then allow the Supreme Court to sort it out, usually in his favor.

On Oct. 3 it was reported that the Treasury has designed and prepared to mint a new $1 coin with President Donald Trump’s face in honor of the country’s 250th celebration in 2026. The founders would be so proud to know that we made it that far before we finally succumbed to tyranny.

~ Full article…

Our findings suggest that in countries where inequality is highly visible and persistent, people may adapt by morally justifying their structural economic system, arguing that it is fair and legitimate. In wealthier, more equal societies, people appear more sensitive to the potential harms of excess.

While our study shows that most people around the world do not view excessive wealth as morally wrong, those in wealthier and more equal countries are far more likely to condemn it.

That contrast raises a sharper question: When people in privileged societies denounce and attempt to limit billionaires, are they shining a light on global injustice − or projecting their own sense of guilt? Are they projecting a moral principle shaped by their own prosperity onto poorer countries, where wealth may represent survival, progress or even hope?

~ Full article…

Mischief Reef, originally a low-tide, ring-shaped island situated in the Spratly Islands—one of the primary archipelagos in the South China Sea—underwent land reclamation around its rim by China starting in the 1990s, with the process largely completed by 2015.

China asserts control over more than 80% of the South China Sea, a waterway rich in energy resources that sees up to $5 trillion in trade annually. The news emerges after it was revealed this tiny island nation is at the center of a secret war between China and the US.

~ Full article…