THANK YOU to subscribing contributors DFD and SLH, and to multi-time supporter PH! Their combined $40 yesterday brings our year-end fundraiser total to $1,408.34!
We’re $1,342.16 away from the finish line (once we’ve raised $2,750.50, reader GL will “match funds” to get us to our goal of $5,501).
The $1,500 mark seems like a reasonable goal for tomorrow — it’s only $91.66 away. Please support the freedom movement’s daily newspaper at …
“Donald Trump pardoned Texas Democratic representative Henry Cuellar and his wife in a federal bribery and conspiracy case on Wednesday, citing what he called a ‘weaponized’ justice system. Trump, who has argued that his own legal troubles were a partisan witch-hunt, said on social media that the congressman and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, were prosecuted because the representative had been critical of Joe Biden’s immigration policies. … Federal authorities had charged Cuellar, 69, and his wife with accepting thousands of dollars in exchange for the congressman advancing the interests of an Azerbaijan-controlled energy company and a bank in Mexico. Cuellar is accused of agreeing to influence legislation favorable to Azerbaijan and deliver a pro-Azerbaijan speech on the floor of the US House.” (12/03/25)
“A blackout hit Havana and the rest of the western half of Cuba on Wednesday, leaving millions of people without power on an island struggling with chronic outages blamed on a crumbling electric grid. Lázaro Guerra, general director of the Ministry of Energy and Mines, said the massive outage was caused by a failure on a transmission line that connects two major plants. He said power would be restored gradually. In Havana, dozens of police officers were trying to direct traffic while many students who were already in school were sent back home. Small businesses that have generators resumed their sales, especially of food. Some areas had intermittent internet service, so many residents were left wondering what had happened. ‘There’s no connection. No one knows why the power is out. … They’re not saying anything; it’s all silence,’ grumbled Raúl Calderón, an 82-year-old retiree, as he waited to hear official reports on the radio.” (12/03/25)
“The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith for a closed-door interview later this month even though he had earlier volunteered to appear for an open hearing about his prosecutions of President Donald Trump. Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the committee’s Republican chairman, directed Smith in a letter dated Wednesday to appear for a private deposition on Dec. 17 as part of the panel’s investigations into the prosecutor’s work. ‘Due to your service as Special Counsel, the Committee believes that you possess information that is vital to its oversight of this matter,’ Jordan wrote. He also asked Smith to produce records to the committee in addition to his testimony. A lawyer for Smith, Peter Koski, said in a statement that Smith had offered nearly six weeks ago to appear before the committee in an open hearing but would nonetheless appear as requested for the deposition.” (12/03/25)
“If two-day or even same-day delivery is too slow for you, a new feature from Amazon might have you covered. The Seattle-based e-commerce giant on Monday launched Amazon Now, a delivery offering with a promise to deliver groceries and other household items in 30 minutes or less. … Amazon is testing the program in certain areas of Seattle and Philadelphia, the company said. … The move puts Amazon into direct competition with companies like Instacart and Uber, the latter of which delivers food and groceries through its Uber Eats service. It also builds on Amazon’s push to become a widely recognized grocery retailer with a robust delivery service.” (12/03/25)
“Lebanon’s prime minister said Wednesday that his country was ‘far from’ diplomatic normalization or economic relations with Israel, despite a move toward direct negotiations between the two countries aimed at defusing tensions. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s comments to a small group of journalists in Beirut came in contradiction to a statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel would send an envoy to talks with Lebanese diplomatic and economic officials, which he described as ‘an initial attempt to create a basis for relations and economic cooperation’ between the two countries. Lebanon and Israel both announced the appointment of civilian members to a previously military-only committee monitoring enforcement of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire that halted the latest war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah a year ago.” (12/03/25)
“On Wednesday, Micron Technology announced it will exit the consumer RAM business in 2026, ending 29 years of selling RAM and SSDs to PC builders and enthusiasts under the Crucial brand. The company cited heavy demand from AI data centers as the reason for abandoning its consumer brand, a move that will remove one of the most recognizable names in the do-it-yourself PC upgrade market. … Micron said it will continue shipping Crucial consumer products through the end of its fiscal second quarter in February 2026 and will honor warranties on existing products. The company will continue selling Micron-branded enterprise products to commercial customers and plans to redeploy affected employees to other positions within the company.” (12/03/25)
“A University of Delaware student was arrested with a car full of guns, body armor, and a manifesto that declared he wanted to ‘kill all’ in a mass shooting on the Wilmington campus to achieve ‘martyrdom.’ Luqmaan Khan, 25, was arrested on Nov. 24 after cops found the high-powered cache in his car where he was parked in a public park after class hours. Khan had ammunition with him, a pistol, numerous extended ammo magazines, and a conversion kit which can turn a handgun into a semi-automatic rifle. He was allegedly plotting a violent attack on his school’s police department, with a notebook of handwritten plans including phrases like ‘kill all – martyrdom,’ according to ABC 6.” (12/03/25)
“The EU will begin to ban all Russian gas imports to the bloc early next year after lawmakers, officials and diplomatic negotiators struck a last-minute deal over a key piece of legislation set to reshape Europe’s energy sector. Put forward over the summer, the bill is designed to kill off the EU’s lingering Russian energy dependency at a critical juncture in the Ukraine war, with Russia advancing steadily and Kyiv fast running out of cash. While Europe’s imports of Russian gas have fallen sharply since 2022, the country still accounts for around 19 percent of its total intake. The EU is already set to sanction Russian gas imports, but those measures are temporary and subject to renewal every six months. The new legislation is designed to make that rupture permanent and put member countries that still operate contracts with Russia on a surer footing in the event of legal action.” (12/03/25)
“Defying a warning from the government, farmers in northern Greece blocked traffic at border crossings on Wednesday in an escalating protest over delayed European Union-backed subsidy payments linked to a corruption scandal. Convoys of tractors blocked routes to North Macedonia, Bulgaria and Turkey forcing drivers into lengthy detours. Over the weekend, hundreds of farmers took to the streets, blocking roads with tractors in several areas. Protests by farmers are common in Greece, but the latest unrest erupted over delays in subsidy payments following revelations of widespread fraudulent claims for EU funds. The scandal prompted the resignation in June of five senior government officials and the phased shutdown of a state agency that handled agricultural subsidies.” (12/03/25)
