After 25 Years, EU Stumbles Over Attempts To Bypass Trump’s World Order Or Something

By William Teach December 21, 2025 – 7:00 am

I had no idea Trump was president in 2000

Europe stumbles in its attempt to bypass Trump’s world order

Ursula von der Leyen was supposed to sign the European Union’s largest free-trade agreement on Saturday, proving the bloc’s standing as a geoeconomic force.

Instead, the European Commission president will have to figure out a way to salvage the Mercosur pact by rallying last-minute support from countries including Italy that helped delay the deal — yet again — over concerns it would hurt domestic farming sectors.

Negotiations on the trade accord — with Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay — have been drawn out over 25 years, rankling the South American countries. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said earlier this week the time was now or never.

And somehow this now involves Trump? If it takes 25 years to get close to a deal, maybe perhaps possibly there was a vast bit of stumbling going on that has nothing to do with Trump?

The ongoing failure to ratify the accord is a blow for the EU, which wants to use the transatlantic agreement as evidence that it could be a global power. It especially wants to prove it can move outside the orbit of China and the US, which have increasingly antagonistic trade relationships with Europe.

“This is Europe’s independence moment,” von der Leyen said earlier this week, ahead of a summit when EU leaders would tackle funding options for Ukraine as well as Mercosur.

Um, let’s be honest, does the EU produce the amount of goods that China and the U.S. do? Is there really any true competition?

The EU views China as both an economic competitor and a systemic rival and has been navigating an escalating trade confrontation that’s seen both sides impose tariffs on the other’s imports. Earlier this year, Beijing announced plans to tighten controls on its exports of rare earths and other critical materials, showing the EU how vulnerable its industries are.

Huh. I guess tariffs are only bad when Trump imposes them

The EU-Mercosur trade pact could help Europe escape its souring dynamics with the US and China. The pact would create an integrated market of 780 million consumers, gradually erase tariffs on goods including cars and give Europe easier access to Mercosur’s vast agricultural industry and resources.

OK, well, where are the smartphones, computers, all sorts of technology stuff, and tons of other goods coming from? Not from the EU or Mercosur.

Failure to secure the Mercosur partnership “would certainly be a blunder of epic proportions for Europe’s ambitions to position itself as a relevant player on the global economic scene,” said Agathe Demarais, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank.

It’s been 25 years. We’ve moved beyond blunder, but, I’m sure it’s Trump’s fault

For now, the EU has been unable to find the majority support needed for passage, mostly due to deep-seated anxieties that the new trade dynamics would merely undercut Europe’s agriculture sector. During a summit Thursday in Brussels, EU leaders faced down thousands of protesting farmers setting tires ablaze and dumping potatoes in the streets.

Basically, the EU is going to screw their farmers. Again.

The South American bloc wants to conclude an agreement with the United Arab Emirates, and is exploring possible partnerships with Canada, the UK and Japan. The EU, for its part, is trying to close a deal with India, which is also almost two decades in the making.

“If the EU wants to remain credible in global trade policy, decisions must be made now,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on his way into the summit in Brussels.

“Now”. Good grief.

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Extinction Rebellion Goes Dark For Their Protest

By William Teach December 20, 2025 – 5:14 pm

Starting out, though

Holiday U.S. warmth boosted by climate change

The U.S. has had a fairly chilly December so far, but things are heating up for the holidays. Christmas is expected to be exceptionally warm across a majority of the United States, particularly the Great Plains.

A Climate Central analysis shows that this unusual holiday warmth, running 20°F to 35°F above average, is at least two to three times more likely to occur due to human-caused carbon pollution.

See, the chilly December was also caused by you driving a fossil fueled vehicle. Nutters

Extinction Rebellion protest criticises inaction over 1.5C climate change target

Extinction Rebellion protesters have targeted several sites in central London in a dramatic warning about global warming targets being missed.

Members of the campaign group gathered outside 55 Tufton Street in Westminster on Saturday morning holding signs reading “1.5 is dead” and “tell the truth”, calling for urgent action to limit the risk of rising temperatures.

The office includes the headquarters of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, a think tank that aims to combat what it sees as harmful climate policies.

So, they were protesting their own fellow cultists?

The protesters, some of whom were dressed in long black gowns and white face paint, while others held pink flags bearing the group’s X logo, also walked around Whitehall near the Ministry of Defence headquarters, and paused near the Houses of Parliament.

Nutters

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If All You See…

By William Teach December 20, 2025 – 1:00 pm

…are Evil fossil fueled vehicles, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Don Surber, with a post on assimilate or go home.

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AP: Trump Bombs ISIS In Syria To Deflect From Epstein Papers

By William Teach December 20, 2025 – 10:30 am

It would probably be a whole lot better if people stopped treating the Epstein thing as a political football so that the victims could get justice

U.S. strikes ISIS targets in Syria, after killing of 2 soldiers and interpreter

The U.S. is conducting airstrikes against ISIS targets in Syria in retaliation for the attack that killed two American soldiers and a U.S. interpreter on Saturday, officials said. Multiple sources told CBS News earlier Friday that the strikes were being conducted.

One of the officials said the U.S. began striking dozens of targets at multiple locations across central Syria using fighter aircraft, attack helicopters and artillery. More than 70 targets were struck, a U.S. official said.

F-15 fighter jets, A-10 Thunderbolts — known as “Warthogs” — and Apache attack helicopters were used to target ISIS positions in Syria on Friday, U.S. officials told CBS News. F-16 fighter jets from Jordan were also involved in the operation.

Good. But

US Epstein files release highlights Clinton, makes scant reference to Trump

The U.S. Justice Department released thousands of heavily redacted documents related to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on Friday that made scant reference to President Donald Trump but extensively featured Democratic former President Bill Clinton.

The absence of references to Trump was notable given that pictures and documents related to him have trickled out ?of previous Epstein releases for years. Trump’s name appeared in flight manifests listing passengers on Epstein’s private plane that were part of a first batch of Epstein material the Justice Department released in February, for instance.

Perhaps there really isn’t much on Trump. Did anyone consider that?

The partial release ?was intended to comply with a law overwhelmingly passed by Congress in November that mandated the disclosure of all Epstein files, despite the Republican president’s months-long effort to keep them sealed. The scandal surrounding Epstein has become a self-inflicted political wound for Trump, who for years had promoted conspiracy theories about Epstein to ?his supporters.

It was not immediately clear how substantive the new materials were, given that many Epstein-related documents have previously been made public since his 2019 death in jail, which was ruled a suicide. Many of the files were heavily redacted – several documents with 100 pages or more were entirely blacked out – and the Justice Department acknowledged it was still reviewing hundreds of thousands of additional pages for possible release.

Shortly after the release, the U.S. military launched airstrikes against dozens of Islamic State targets in Syria on Friday in retaliation for an attack on U.S. personnel.

See? The airstrikes were deflections.

This whole “question the timing” thing is more of a Media Matters wonkers than something that should be in Reuters, but, the MSM have been infested with those early century Bush hating bloggers and those who worked for outlets like Think Progress, the Huffington Post, etc.

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‘Climate Change’ Is Making Things Worse For The Poor In The PRC

By William Teach December 20, 2025 – 7:15 am

It’s a cute schtick of Blameshifting

‘The Poor Are in a Very Bad State’: Climate Change Accelerates California’s Cost-of-Living Crisis

When California adopted a law to regulate greenhouse gases 23 years ago — the first state in the nation to do so — it focused on the future dangers of global warming. But while California’s emissions have declined, they have kept rising globally, and the climate has worsened. Now, in an effort to build back momentum, advocates are bringing attention to current-day harms driven by climate change.

Among those affected by rising temperatures is Amanda Nevarez, who was left homeless by the Eaton Fire, one of two wildfires in Los Angeles County that together destroyed more than 16,000 homes and buildings and killed 31 people last January. (snip through her Story)

Democrats, who hold a supermajority in California, no longer trumpet policies to fight climate change, an analysis by the Washington Post found. While research shows most Americans are concerned about climate change, a December poll by the Public Policy Institute of California found only 4% of surveyed likely voters said the environment and climate change were the “most important problem” facing the U.S. Elected state officials and those seeking office are emphasizing pocketbook concerns.

Poll after poll after poll show that ‘climate change’ polls low when matched up against real issues. This no different, especially in the uber-expensive People’s Republik Of California

Yet there’s a different way to view the issue than as a choice between tackling high prices or fighting climate change.

“You can’t solve the affordability crisis without solving the climate crisis,” said Noel Perry, the founder of Next10, which co-produced a report with UC Berkeley that identified the costs of global warming in everything from homelessness and rent to energy bills and groceries. He and other climate campaigners are trying to recalibrate their messaging to that political reality.

This just goes on and on, but, come on, it’s the policies of the Democrats and their supermajority that have caused the cost-of-living crisis, and their passes of climate crisis (scam) policies has made it worse. We all know this. Just like the Democrat policies made the Eaton fire more likely and much worse.

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Surprise: The Amount Of Fraud In Minnesota Is Vastly More

By William Teach December 20, 2025 – 7:00 am

It’s funny when Democrats say “It’s only a billion dollars” like that is chump change in Reality Land

At least $9B billed across 14 Medicaid services in Minnesota may be fraudulent, top prosecutor says

surprise surprise surpriseA top prosecutor suggested on Thursday that the total amount of fraud in Minnesota could be $9 billion or more.

According to First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson, 14 Medicaid services under audit and deemed “high risk” for fraud have cost the state $18 billion since 2018.

Thompson said a substantial amount of money billed across those programs is fraudulent, but the exact amount is still under investigation.

“I don’t make these generalizations in a hasty way,” he said. “When I say significant amount, I’m talking on the order of half or more. But we’ll see. When I look at the claims data and the providers, I see more red flags than I see legitimate providers.”

I wonder if Ilhan Omar and Tim Walz will be implicated? There’s no way they didn’t know. Anyhow, imagine how many people could have actually been helped with that $9 billion in Minnesota. And we can all assume that the actual number is much higher, but, it’s harder to track

Minnesota Department of Human Services Inspector General James Clark released a statement, saying speculation of the amount of fraud occurring is “shocking.”

“If there is evidence of Medicaid fraud, the state should be given the information so DHS can slam the door shut on payments to those individuals and businesses,” Clark said. “We have been moving more aggressively than ever to suspend payments where we see evidence of fraud and refer criminals to law enforcement for prosecution. I’ve previously sent letters to the U.S. Attorney’s Office asking them to share evidence of fraud and I’m requesting a meeting immediately to discuss how we can partner to stop criminals now.”

Yeah, well, you had your chance to do something over this fraud that has been going on for years, and you failed.

“Minnesota has become a magnet for fraud, so much so that we have developed a fraud tourism industry – people coming to our state purely to exploit and defraud its programs,” Thompson said. “This is a deeply unsettling reality that all Minnesotans should understand.”

How does it not get caught when you’re seeing this amount unless people were in on it and/or covering it up?

It’s not just Minnesota. Democrats have created welfare fraud everywhere

It’s not just Minnesota.

The past few weeks have made clear that fraudsters stole billions of dollars from states’ welfare programs, much of it from Medicaid. It also appears that Democratic politicians tolerated the heist for their own political benefit. Yet politicians in virtually every state have let waste, fraud, and abuse spread like wildfire in Medicaid, putting taxpayers on the hook for an estimated $2 trillion in improper spending over the next decade alone. Thankfully, President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans have given states a reason to clean up this mess and spare taxpayers that pain. (snip)

The first Trump administration found that 27.4% of federal Medicaid spending was improper in 2020 — or about $120 billion at the time. The administration also found that four out of every five improper payments were the result of eligibility errors. This money flowed to people who shouldn’t have been on Medicaid and therefore diverted money and care away from its intended recipients. Five years later, it’s highly likely that at least one in five Medicaid dollars is still wrongly spent.

Yeah, I’d read the whole thing.

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Climate Crisis (scam) Is Threatening Our Christmas Foods Or Something

By William Teach December 19, 2025 – 3:03 pm

I wonder how the cold of the Little Ice Age affected all these same foods? Or during the Medieval Warm Period? Doesn’t matter, this is All Your Fault

From turkey to cinnamon, here’s how the climate crisis is threatening our favourite Christmas foods

Many key ingredients for festive foods have been hit by climate change, causing yields to plummet or forcing farmers to introduce adaptations.

As Christmas approaches, supermarket shelves fill up with beloved products for festive meals: turkey, potatoes, cinnamon and chocolate.

But consumers may have noticed that costs for these traditional foods are a little higher this year, or perhaps that stock seems scarcer.

Many key ingredients for festive foods have been hit by climate change, causing yields to plummet or forcing farmers to introduce adaptations.

Here’s how the climate is impacting the global pantry and changing our Christmas meals.

Yeah, prices are up, thanks to post-COVID inflation made worse by the policies of Modern Socialist governments. Add in some serious bird flu, for which government’s culled way too many birds than was necessary, issues with beef, and more, and you get what’s going on. And, really, here in America which is not hyper-leftist like Europe (the article is in Euro News), there’s not much in the way of shortages. Turkeys are easy. So are potatoes and chocolate. Not sure about cinnamon, I have one shaker that I’ve had forever, use it on French toast.

From West African cocoa farms to cinnamon groves in Sri Lanka, climate pressures are hitting both availability and price, according to a new report from The Weather Channel.

Cocoa, vanilla, cinnamon, and sugarcane are among the world’s crops most susceptible to climate change.

Vanilla production is centred in Madagascar, where it is at the mercy of cyclones and heatwaves.

They’ve always had to deal with these throughout the Holocene period, and since the last glacial age. It’s called weather. Shit happens

Drought reduced UK onion yields by 30 per cent in 2023, while the Pacific Northwest of the US, a major onion-producing region, saw an 8 per cent drop in 2021 due to severe heat.

Those same onions in the Pacific Northwest saw normal to above normal yield in 2024 and 2025. Huh.

Prices for turkeys are also indirectly affected by soaring gas bills, which are making the running of incubators for chicks more expensive.

Well, thanks to all the leftist governments making the gas more expensive. Things will be fine, folks. Just a bunch of climate nags nagging in cult.

Read: Climate Crisis (scam) Is Threatening Our Christmas Foods Or Something »

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If All You See…

By William Teach December 19, 2025 – 1:00 pm

…is a river full of sharks* due to salt water infusion from ‘climate change’, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Common Cents Blog, with a post on CNN practicing random acts of journalism.

*yes, yes, the movie Under Paris, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and have watched 2-3 times.

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Trump Admin Pause Green Card Lottery Program Used By Brown Shooter

By William Teach December 19, 2025 – 10:30 am

They know quite a bit about the Brown shooter so far

Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente identified as Brown University and MIT shooting suspect, found dead

Authorities have identified the suspect in Saturday’s mass shooting at Brown University, which left two students dead and nine injured during a finals week review session, as the same man believed to have carried out the murder of a renowned nuclear scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology days later.

His name is Claudio Manuel Neves-Valente, according to Providence police.

Neves-Valente, 48, was a Portuguese national and studied at Brown from the fall of 2000 to the spring of 2001 to study physics, according to Brown President Christina Paxson. But he went on a leave of absence and ultimately withdrew in 2003.

A motive, though, is unknown

Trump suspends green card lottery program that let Brown University, MIT shootings suspect into US

President Donald Trump suspended the green card lottery program on Thursday that allowed the suspect in the Brown University and MIT shootings to come to the United States.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a post on the social platform X that at Trump’s direction she is ordering the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to pause the program.

“This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country,” she said of the suspect, Portuguese national Claudio Neves Valente.

Neves Valente obtained legal permanent residence status in 2017, U.S. attorney for Massachusetts Leah B. Foley said.

The diversity visa program makes up to 50,000 green cards available each year by lottery to people from countries that are little represented in the United States, many of them in Africa. The lottery was created by Congress, and the move is almost certain to invite legal challenges.

Is it a pause, or, are they trying to end it? She tweeted

In 2017, President Trump fought to end this program, following the devastating NYC truck ramming by an ISIS terrorist, who entered under the DV1 program, and murdered eight people.

At President Trump’s direction, I am immediately directing USCIS to pause the DV1 program to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous program.

They’ll probably try and pause it as long as they possibly can, then work to revamp the vetting after some lefty judge shrieks and Demands they restart it

Trump has long opposed the diversity visa lottery. Noem’s announcement is the latest example of using tragedy to advance immigration policy goals. After an Afghan man was identified as the gunman in a fatal attack on National Guard members in November, Trump’s administration imposed sweeping rules against immigration from Afghanistan and other counties.

Really? “Using a tragedy”?

This list could keep going and going, not too mention all the ones about gun bans in Australia after the Islamists shot all the Jews in Bondi beach. And Rhode Island already has very strong gun controls, as does Massachussets

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NY Has Backed Off Of Climate Goals Or Something

By William Teach December 19, 2025 – 7:15 am

It’s easy to Do Something when economic conditions are good, eh?

Why New York Has Backed Off on Addressing Climate Change

New York was once considered a groundbreaker on addressing climate change, with a law that promised to all but eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Gas-guzzling cars and oil-burning heaters and furnaces would be relics of a fossil-fuel past, and all the electricity in the state would come from carbon-free sources. But Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat who is facing an affordability crisis and rising energy demand, has slowed progress on climate issues. I talked with Hilary Howard, who covers climate change and the environment in the New York region, for an assessment.

Why do climate activists — and some of Hochul’s fellow Democrats — say that her focus on affordability is undermining the state’s climate goals?

Governor Hochul, who is navigating a shaky economy and surging power demand, has adopted an “all of the above” approach to energy, which has included new nuclear and natural gas initiatives. This is in response to President Trump’s cancellation of several renewable energy projects in New York. Hochul’s idea is that having abundant and varied amounts of energy will keep down consumers’ costs.

But, I thought all the leftists in NY would be thrilled to deal with high prices in order to save the planet. No?

Under the climate law you mentioned, New York is supposed to eliminate nearly all greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. That was an ambitious goal when it was set six years ago. Is it achievable now?

The first goal, a 40 percent reduction in emissions by 2030, is running between six and eight years late, according to the state. So far, emissions have been reduced by about 10 percent. Four years are left. Meeting that goal is not looking promising.

Bummer. NY and Hochul just need to crack down, because the majority of New Yorkers voted to do this. They need to suck it up.

Read: NY Has Backed Off Of Climate Goals Or Something »

Posted in Collapsing Science, Global Warming | 5 Comments | Trackback URL
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