The Corbett Report, episode 489
Source: The Corbett Report
“The Secret of the Doomsday Seed Vault.” (12/15/25)
https://corbettreport.com/the-secret-of-the-doomsday-seed-vault/
US Seizure of Venezuelan Tanker Doesn’t Only Threaten Maduro
Source: The American Conservative
by Joseph Addington
“The U.S. seizure of the tanker Skipper earlier this week has been widely interpreted as a significant escalation by the Trump administration against the government of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. Losing the tanker, which was carrying Venezuelan crude to Cuba, is a significant blow to Maduro and will make it more difficult for the Venezuelan government to fund itself, as it is overwhelmingly reliant on oil exports for government revenue. However, the seizure is also an escalation of American economic warfare generally, including against Iran and Russia, which have also taken advantage of the world’s ‘shadow tanker’ fleet to evade U.S. sanctions and sell energy abroad.” (12/15/25)
Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino to decide about future at bureau in coming weeks
Source: Fox News
“Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino will make a decision about his future at the bureau within the next few weeks, two sources familiar with his considerations tell Fox News. The sources deny recent reports that Bongino’s office at the FBI is empty, but they say his departure is a possibility in the near future. A source familiar with the situation told Fox News Digital that Bongino has not made any decisions about his future. Bongino’s tenure at the FBI has come under fire in recent weeks, alongside FBI Director Kash Patel. Earlier this month, a report from an alliance of active-duty and retired FBI personnel portrayed the bureau as directionless under its new leadership. Bongino and Patel pushed back on the report, however, defending sweeping reforms they say have delivered major gains in accountability and public safety.” (12/15/25)
Trump’s Secret Pardon-for-Profit Racket
Source: Washington Monthly
by Jonathan Alter
“Pardons go back to ancient Mesopotamia, 4,000 years ago, and they haven’t improved with age. I’m currently writing a book about Julius Caesar, who employed ‘clementia’ — clemency — extensively in the closing days of the Roman Republic. After Caesar’s civil war, he pardoned two guys named Brutus and Cassius, and we know how that worked out. Caesar pardoned enemies to get them to his side. I’d be shocked if Trump has ever read anything about Caesar, but he’s taking a leaf from him. Witness Trump’s anger at Representative Henry Cuellar, indicted on federal bribery charges, when Cuellar wouldn’t switch parties. … In the (good) old days, that kind of quid pro quo would have landed Trump in hot water, but it is almost quaint in the context of the 1600 pardons Trump has granted since 2017, including his appalling decision to free the convicted January 6 insurrectionists.” (12/15/25)
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2025/12/15/trumps-secret-pardon-for-profit-racket/
Can Canada Rescue North America?
Source: The American Prospect
by Gabrielle Gurley
“In a rare display of North American harmony, President Trump, Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum, and Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney managed to rise above the FIFA 2026 World Cup draw’s cringeworthy game-show theatrics. There were no juvenile recriminations, new tariff threats, or provocations. Though the president showcased dance moves better left behind in 1978, the prime minister restrained himself. ‘It’s the first time I haven’t danced to the Y.M.C.A. when it came on, but there you go’, Carney confessed when he returned to Ottawa. Sheinbaum, sometimes called the ‘Trump whisperer’, emerged unscathed from her first in-person meeting with the president. As for Carney, Trump has described him as ‘a good man; and ‘a tough negotiator’. Even the leaders’ short tête-à-tête minus advisers avoided drama and left the world to decode whether the short meeting offered any bankable assurances that the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will survive the Trump presidency.” (12/15/25)
https://prospect.org/2025/12/15/can-canada-rescue-north-america/
EU targets Russia’s shadow fleet with new sanctions
Source: Independent [UK]
“The European Union has adopted its latest package of sanctions, directly targeting companies and individuals accused of assisting Moscow in circumventing Western restrictions on oil exports. … Despite 19 previous rounds of sanctions, Russia has largely adapted to the measures, continuing to sell millions of barrels of oil to countries such as India and China, albeit at discounted rates. Much of this trade relies on a so-called ‘shadow fleet’ of vessels operating beyond the reach of the Western maritime industry. The new EU sanctions prohibit citizens of the bloc from conducting business with the newly listed entities and individuals. This move aims to significantly reduce their access to major shipping and insurance providers. In total, the EU has now sanctioned more than 2,600 individuals and companies.” (12/15/25)
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/eu-russia-ukraine-war-sanctions-b2884809.html
Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 12/15/25
Source: Antiwar.com
“Member of Syrian Govt Forces Kills 3 Americans, US Military Plane Near Miss With JetBlue, and More.” (12/15/25)
Ken Burns’s Wake-Up Call
Source: Law & Liberty
by Susan Brynne Long
“Ken Burns’s newest docuseries may have its shortcomings, but others looking to tell the story of the Founding could learn from his attention to detail.” (12/15/250
Britain’s MI6 spy chief: Putin dragging out peace talks and wants to subjugate Ukraine
Source: SFGate
“President Vladimir Putin is stalling efforts to end Russia’s war on Ukraine, and is testing the West with tactics that fall ‘just below the threshold of war’, the head of Britain’s MI6 spy agency said Monday. Blaise Metreweli said Putin is ‘dragging out negotiations’ on stopping the conflict, and remains determined to ‘subjugate Ukraine and harass NATO members’. ‘We are now operating in a space between peace and war,’ Metreweli said of the wider global threat landscape in her first public speech since becoming chief of Britain’s foreign intelligence agency two months ago. Metreweli accused Moscow of sponsoring cyberattacks on other countries’ critical infrastructure, drone incursions around European airports, campaigns of arson, sabotage and disinformation, and ‘aggressive activities in our seas, above and below the waves’.” (12/15/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/mi6-chief-says-uk-faces-threat-from-russia-s-21243105.php
Quantum Vibe, 12/15/25
Source: Big Head Press
by Scott Bieser
Cartoon. (12/15/25)