What if we taxed what people spend, not what they earn?

Wallace & Gromit’s Cracking Christmas – “In 2002, Aardman Animations produced a series of short episodes called Wallace & Gromit’s Cracking Contraptions. In each episode, Wallace unveils a new invention, which Gromit then has to deal with. For the holiday season, Aardman has packaged a few of these short shorts into this compilation, Wallace & Gromit’s Cracking Christmas, free to watch on YouTube.”

What if we taxed what people spend, not what they earn?

Making Starter Pack on Bluesky BSKY

The biggest bank robbery in history Ian Proud

Andersen’s $176M Comeback: The Ghost of Enron Just Went Public Guru Focus

Putin hits Europe with his most feared weapon… his lawyers: EU bid to use frozen Russian assets could be scuppered as leaders fear they could be forced to pay the money back after the war Daily Mail

SARAH A. HOYT:  Here Be Dragons: A collection of short stories

A collection of short stories by Award-Winning Author Sarah A. Hoyt. From dark worlds ruled by vampires to magical high schools, from future worlds where superhumans face all-too-human struggles—this collection showcases Hoyt’s signature blend of high-concept adventure and deeply human drama. Her characters face impossible odds in worlds both strange and familiar, yet they never surrender. With vivid storytelling that has earned her recognition in Analog, Asimov’s, and Weird Tales, Hoyt delivers fiction that is as emotionally resonant as it is imaginative. Angel in Flight is set in Sarah Hoyt’s popular Darkship series.

The collection contains the stories: It Came Upon A Midnight Clear, First Blood, Created He Them, A Grain Of Salt, Shepherds and Wolves, Blood Ransom, The Price Of Gold, Around the Bend, An Answer From The North, Heart’s Fire, Whom The Gods Love, Angel In Flight, Dragons—as well as an introduction by fantasy writer Cedar Sanderson.

FIASCO: The Epstein Files Trump’s DOJ Didn’t Mean to Show You

Trump was extremely successful in imposing his will on Michael Johnson and the Department of Justice Trump calls for charges against enemies, fires prosecutors, attacks judges.

A grifter who is lining his own pockets - Inside the New Fast Track to a Presidential Pardon Lobbyists close to Trump say their going rate to advocate for a pardon is $1 million

So This Is Why Trump Didn’t Want to Release the Epstein Files The latest batch includes many new references to Trump—and enough ammunition for Congress to keep pressing.

L’affaire J Epstein

Epstein, Israel, and the CIA: How The Iran–Contra Planes Landed at Les Wexner’s Base American Conservative

 

Epstein seen kissing, cuddling little girls in stomach-turning new photos released by DOJ New York Post. This ought to be in the price….

Bill Clinton spokesperson says they don’t need ‘protection,’ asks for release of all Epstein files The Hill

 

New Epstein records allege Trump flew on his jet 'many more times' than reported

Exclusive: One ‘Jane Doe’ tells CNN she is mortified that her name is unredacted multiple times in the Epstein files CNN 

 

The Epstein Files represent a once in a lifetime opportunity to clear out politics Council Estate Media 

 

The Epstein Files Trump’s DOJ Didn’t Mean to Show You

The Epstein Files Transparency Act required full release of all unclassified DOJ Epstein records by December 19, 2025. To date, DOJ has released two partial, heavily redacted sets, still withholding an untold number of documents in multiple formats, and no schedule of release has been made public. In addition, the DOJ removed and added additional redactions, to at least 16 documents that had been released.

A couple of notes – 

1) The Department of Justice is communicating to the public – using X– formerly Twitter – primarily owned by Trump ally, supporter, and patron, Elon Musk (as well as a Saudi prince and other investors.) Prior to January 20, 2025, the DOJ used their respective official government website, not a privately owned social media outlet where they issue statements clearly professing Bondi’s vast organization works solely for Mr. Trump, not the American public. 

2) The DOJ has stated they will release (read dump, with no functioning search engine, metadata tagging, identification of locations, identity of persons in photos, dates of the photos, or requisite document management structure) as many as 700,000 more pages to review, per Axios – before it finishes releasing “all the Jeffrey Epstein files.” 

See also analysis and commentary by Dean Blundell, December 23, 2025 – 3) the facts discussed in this analysis may be triggering, and although redacted, describe horrific criminal behavior and sex trafficking. Blundell also uses foul language to describe specific documents and corresponding actions:

 “DOJ Accidentally Dropped “DATA SET 8” Last Night: The Epstein Files Trump’s DOJ Didn’t Mean to Show You. First-hand abuse claims. Hidden flight records. Disappearing documents. And why dictators always fail at cover-ups. Buried inside FBI intake summaries are direct allegations describing Trump as an active participant in abuse alongside Jeffrey Epstein.

• Not rumors.
• Not internet speculation.
• Federal intake records.

One report documents a witness recounting Trump speaking openly about “abusing some girl” while on the phone — repeatedly referencing Epstein by name…” There are numerous documents cited in this posting, along with copies of referenced FBI files that incriminate others specifically involved with Jeffrey Epstein. 

This information is significant as “in September 2025, FBI Director Kash Pateltold lawmakers that internal bureau records contained “no credible information” that Jeffrey Epstein trafficked young women to anyone other than Epstein himself.”

 In point of fact, we know now that Patel lied under oath. DATA Set 8 peels away at the deep layers of the onion to reveal many of the participants not only in Epstein’s long term, cross border sex trafficking operations, but also of individuals around the world who participated with him in committing financial fraud and money laundering.

 The Atlantic, December 23, 2025 – The Epstein Files Only Get Worse America is in for a confusing, troubling holiday [no paywall].

Also, via Narativ.org: “What’s Missing. The FBI has 300 gigabytes of data from Epstein’s properties. Forty computers. Seventy CDs. Twenty-six storage drives. Six recording devices. Visitor logs from Little St. James. In July, WIRED analyzed the prison surveillance footage the DOJ released as “raw.” It had been edited in Adobe Premiere Pro, assembled from multiple clips. A “missing minute” AG Bondi blamed on a system reset was actually 2 minutes and 53 seconds. The camera on Epstein’s cell door wasn’t recording. Neither was the camera on one elevator bay to his floor…”

MAGA Is Breaking Up Over an “Are Nazis Cool?” Debate. It’s a Sign of Things to Come.

Trump’s GOP is held together by a cult of personality. But what happens when that personality flickers?

Feeling wonder every day improves our health. Here’s how to do it.

Research has established the power of awe. I experienced it myself in a way I never thought I could.

Rising auction prices are an illusion. Collectors, dealers, and institutions prosper at the expense of working artists... more »

Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell asks court to set aside her conviction ABC News. “Maxwell’s last-ditch effort for relief from the courts comes as the Justice Department faces a Friday deadline to publicly disclose its investigative files on Epstein and Maxwell in compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act…[which] contains exemptions permitting Attorney General Pam Bondi to withhold certain records if their publication could jeopardize active criminal investigations or prosecutions.”

Senators Press FBI Over Failure to Investigate Epstein’s Lawyer and Accountant WSJ

Harvard launches secret probe into students who filmed Larry Summers expressing ‘shame’ for Epstein ties: report New York 

Understanding Myself, Fifty Years Later A notebook, a classroom memory, and a late-life moment of recognition

A Natural Molecule Shows Surprising Power Against Alzheimer’s.

Understanding Myself, Fifty Years Later A notebook, a classroom memory, and a late-life moment of recognition

Then as farce, now as tragedy

The first Christmas Card Wikimedia Commons

Stories have always been an important part of the human experience. Even people who don’t consume books, movies, or television shows still embrace stories. It’s how we recount our experiences and how lessons have long been passed from one generation to the next, even before we could use to to reach the masses.

There’s a reason good storytellers become icons now that you can tell that story to millions of people

Nothing Better Than a Whole Lot of Books: In Praise of Bibliomania

A Poynter Report special: the 2025 year in media

A Poynter Report special: the 2025 year in media

From attacks on the press and regulatory power plays to newsroom upheaval and unexpected cultural flashpoints, these moments defined media in 2025

Ethnic Cleansing, Trump Style: Administration Moves to Send Asylum Seekers to Uganda, Honduras and Ecuador

Yes, the Trump Administration is seeking to shunt asylum seekers to Uganda, Honduras, and Ecuador, presumably <1>pour décourager les autres.

Mass hacking of IP cameras leave Koreans feeling vulnerable in homes, businesses Korea JoongAng Daily

A group of journalism students was able to track probable Russian spy drones launched from cargo ships to surveil European military bases. They even flew a drone of their own over one of the cargo ships: “we droned back”.

My talk at Keele

It is a double dose of video from me this morning. This is the talk I gave at Keele World Affairs recently. The Q&A was
Read the full article…

6700 Indians have been rescued from Cambodia and Myanmar scam compounds so far

 

The Plastic Chemicals Hiding in Your Food

Consumer Reports [no paywall – 2024] “CR tested popular fast foods and supermarket staples for bisphenols and phthalates, which can be harmful to your health. Here’s what we found—and how to stay safer. 

By the time you open a container of yogurt, the food has taken a long journey to reach your spoon. You may have some idea of that journey: From cow to processing to packaging to store shelves. But at each step, there is a chance for a little something extra to sneak in, a stowaway of sorts that shouldn’t be there. That unexpected ingredient is something called a plasticizer:

 a chemical used to make plastic more flexible and durable. Today, plasticizers—the most common of which are called phthalates—show up inside almost all of us, right along with other chemicals found in plastic, including bisphenols such as BPA. These have been linked to a long list of health concerns, even at very low levels. Consumer Reports has investigated bisphenols and phthalates in food and food packaging a few times over the past 25 years. 

In our new tests, we checked a wider variety of foods to see how much of the chemicals Americans actually consume. The answer? Quite a lot. Our tests of nearly 100 foods found that despite growing evidence of potential health threats, bisphenols and phthalates remain widespread in our food…”

An in depth look at unpaid highway toll scams; WSJ Video (4.42); 1 billion lost over last three years to Chinese gangs; they get credit card numbers and use US helpers to buy goods, sometimes ship to China
 
Fraud Studies: Here are links to the studies I’ve written for the Better Business Bureau: puppy fraud, romance fraud; BEC fraud, sweepstakes/lottery fraud,  tech support fraud, romance fraud money mules, crooked movers, government imposters, online vehicle sale scams, rental fraud, gift cards,  free trial offer frauds,  job scams,  online shopping fraud,  fake check fraud and crypto scams
 
Fraud News Around the world

• East St. Louis: Man from India gets 90 months prison for fraud impersonating federal agents; went to homes of victims to pick up money; got $2.2 million
• Maine: Man from India pleads guilty to scam claiming to be officials with the FTC and telling victims that they needed to hand over cash and gold to keep it “safe;” went to victim’s homes
• Singapore: Two men to be charged with government impersonation fraud
• Canada: Kitchener police arrest man who was stealing, altering, and replacing gift cards
• India: Police arrest 21 in bust of tech support fraud targeting the US and pretending to be Microsoft
• Canada: Police thwart scam that called claiming to be bank and that debit card was compromised; caller got PIN and Uber driver was sent to collect card
• Maine: Police arrest man who went to home to collect gold in tech support fraud
• Cincinnati: Customs seizes $407,000 of counterfeit cancer drug and contact lenses, etc.
• Canada: Ottawa police arrest man for grandparent scam who went to victim’s home to pick up funds
• Manhattan: DA indicts man for apartment rental fraud
• Philadelphia: Police arrest man for gift card scam at Wal-Mart

Humor

• Kim Kardashian, who is famous for something, announced recently that she failed the California bar exam. She previously failed the so-called the “baby bar,” a multiple-choice test required for people who study law via apprenticeship instead of, you know, actually going to law school. Kardashian has supposedly been apprenticing for over six years now, and did pass the baby bar on her fourth try, but for now has gone no further. To be fair, the pass rate for the California bar exam is notoriously low, and many people have initially failed it but then gone on to become good lawyers. To be less fair, virtually all of those people had a law degree, which Kim Kardashian doesn’t, or at least a college degree, which Kim Kardashian also doesn’t. (From Lowering the Bar)

FTC and CFPB

• FTC releases annual report on Do Not call complaints and robocalls
• FTC sends $9.1 million in refund checks to deceived victims of extended warranty company American Car Shield
• FTC and 21 States file amended complaint alleging deceptive billing and cancelation policies by Uber
• FTC resolves case with Illusory Systems over data security issues and claims that allowed hackers to steal $186 million from customers

Artificial Intelligence and deep fake fraud

• How scammers are now seeding AI to provide people with fake customer service numbers that go to frauds
• AI can be used to easily create phishing scams; known as “vibescamming”

Benefit Theft 

• Tampa: Eleven indicted for PPP fraud; got $2.2 million
• Connecticut: Man gets 32 months prison for PPP fraud; got $2.3 million
• Georgia: Two men get ten and six years prison for theft of unemployment benefits; got $17 million
• Oklahoma: Man gets 21 months prison for PPP fraud
• Georgia: Man charged with PPP fraud, and also for operating a dog fighting operation

Scam Compounds

• 6700 Indians have been rescued from Cambodia and Myanmar scam compounds so far
• Myanmar calls on other countries to take back 1665 fraud callers from scam compounds

IRS and tax fraud

• Fort Worth: Four family members convicted of stolen identity refund fraud
• Georgia: Man gets 84 months prison for doing tax returns for clients claiming COVID tax credits they weren’t entitled to; got $4 million

Ransomware and data breaches

• Hits Oklahoma sheriffs department

ATM Skimming                                                       

• Cincinnati: Two men (Romanians?) arrested for ATM skimming
• Pensacola: Man indicted for ID theft, ATM skimming

Jamaica and Lottery Fraud

• Canada: British Columbia to extradite fraudster to the US over bogus sweepstakes mailings
• South Dakota: Man extradited from Jamaica gets 63 months prison for lottery fraud

Romance Fraud and Sextortion 

• Cleveland: Man extradited from Ghana charged with romance fraud that used AI; part of gang that got $8 million
• Romance fraud victim in Taiwan charged with drug smuggling; claims she had no idea
• New Orleans: Nigerian man who was extradited from the UK gets 33 months prison for romance fraud; losses of over $402,000
• Ghana arrests 32 Nigerians running romance fraud group
• UK: Man gets 17 years prison for romance fraud

Britain caught in ‘space between peace and war’, says new head of MI6 Guardian

 

Britain caught in ‘space between peace and war’, says new head of MI6 Guardian 

Automatic License Plate Reader Report Raises Concerns About Expansion of Government Surveillance in Iowa

Follow up to Judge Rules Flock Surveillance Images Are Public Records That Can Be Requested By Anyone, How Cops Are Using Flock Safety’s ALPR Network to Surveil Protesters and Activists and DeFlock – Automated License Plate Readers 

 See Also: “The University of Iowa’s Technology Law Clinic and the ACLU of Iowa today released a reportthat surveyed 48 Iowa communities and their use of automated license plate readers (ALPRs), a growing form of government surveillance that is raising concerns with privacy, civil rights, and good governance advocates. 

The report is a focused look at the growing use of ALPRs by selected law enforcement agencies across Iowa and demonstrates that ALPRs are a surveillance tool that poses serious risks to Iowan’s privacy and civil liberties. ALPRs are not speed cameras. They are not “red light” cameras.

 Instead, they are cameras used along roadways throughout Iowa that take thousands of snapshots of all the license plates of the vehicles that drive by. That information can then be fed into a network of nationally shared databases that has too few privacy protections and is subject to abuse.

• More details about ALPRs generally can be found on the ACLU of Iowa web site.
• See also Protect Our Privacy Toolkit PDF

“Unlike other traffic cameras, ALPRs aren’t activated because you violated a law. They record you and every other person who drives by, simply to build a database of vehicle information. They can take hundreds of photos in a matter of minutes. 

And unlike ordinary surveillance cameras, where data is either not shared or shared in a more limited manner, the main purpose of ALPRs is to feed this information into a database,” said Megan Graham, director of the Technology Law Clinic at the University of Iowa College of Law and the professor who supervised the project…”

How to Build A Bot in Twelve Steps

Golann, Dwight, How to Build A Bot in Twelve Steps (December 05, 2025). Suffolk University Law School Research Paper, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5871402 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5871402 

“Bots” powered by artificial intelligence systems are enormously powerful and versatile. 

Trained bots can take on a wide variety of roles, speaking and acting as lawyers, clients, mediators and advisors, providing unique assistance to teachers and other professionals as they do. This short paper describes how to build a bot in twelve simple steps in the ChatGPT Plus system in a template provided in Chat.

 The process is conducted in lay English, without coding or any specialized knowledge of AI. The paper also includes as examples the actual instructions guiding the “Dispute” and “Contract” bots on sites.suffolk.edu/ai-negotiation/

Bari’d (sic) 🇷🇺: The 60 Minutes CECOT Segment - Krasnov creating samizdat landscape in the US 🇺🇸 of A

Bari Weiss, meet The Streisand Effect.

Breaking CBS NEWS: “We can’t report on the current murdering spree until we get the serial killer’s side of the story.”

The segment apparently aired on Canada’s Global TV app and was shared by this Bluesky user @jasonparis.bsky.social. You can watch the entire segment below …

***Please share widely ‼️***

MOST WATCHED: The 60 Minutes CECOT Segment

We’ve gone from bootlegging whiskey during prohibition to having to bootleg truth during fascism…

"Isn't it the moment of most profound doubt that gives birth to new certainties? 
Perhaps hopelessness is the very soil that nourishes human hope; perhaps one could never find sense in life without first experiencing its absurdity." 
~ Vaclav Havel 

Spiked ’60 Minutes’ Segment Spreads Online After Canadian TV Network Posts Unedited Episode

youtube - This video contains content from Paramount Global (CBS), who has blocked it on copyright grounds

60 Minutes prison segment postponed by CBS briefly viewed in Canada on Global TV

Segment on El Salvador's CECOT prison didn't air with CBS, but was temporarily seen on Monday

Outrage after CBS pulls 60 Minutes segment on El Salvador’s Cecot prison 

‘60 Minutes’ Correspondent Says Bari Weiss Made a ‘Political’ Decision to Pull Segment on the ‘Brutal’ El Salvador Prison Where Trump Administration Sent Deportees

If not Blueskyers who? If not in 2026 midterm When?

ICE List Wiki

Crust News and Dominic Skinner: “The ICE List Wiki is now public. It documents immigration enforcement activity across the United States, not just ICE, but Border Patrol, HSI, DHS more broadly, and the hundreds of local police departments operating under 287(g) agreements.

 Agent identities, incidents, raids, vehicles, supporting agencies, and companies propping up the regime, are recorded as the interconnected system that they are. Entries and linked to each other so that nothing exists on its own anymore. This is our Christmas gift to the USA: a record that refuses to forget.”