Happy Wednesday Everyone! Today’s newsletter: 955 words…3.6 mins
🗞 Today’s Edition: Brigitte Macron Called Activists “Stupid B**ches”, Thailand-Cambodia Clashes Reignite, U.S. Jets Flex Over Venezuela, African Swine Fever Hits Spain, Miami Flips Blue After 30 Years, SpaceX Eyes a Trillion-Dollar IPO, … & much more!
📜THE HIGHLIGHT
One killer insight to stash in your back pocket
💥 Thailand & Cambodia: Why a 900-Year-Old Temple Is Triggering a Modern Meltdown
Thailand and Cambodia are back in a shooting war near the Preah Vihear temple, a UNESCO site that’s become Southeast Asia’s most over-hyped flashpoint.
On Dec. 8, Thailand launched airstrikes after blaming Cambodia for killing a Thai soldier.
Cambodia says the strikes hit sovereign territory and killed four civilians.
Both sides: “They started it.”
💡 Why it matters: The violence shatters a U.S.-brokered ceasefire President Trump bragged about as proof he “ended eight wars.” Spoiler: this one didn’t stick.
Over 500,000 evacuated. Schools shut. Border checkpoints closed. Heritage temples locked - it’s the ugliest escalation since July, when earlier clashes killed 33+ people and displaced 168,000.
🌏 The geopolitics:
U.S.: Trump says he’ll “make a phone call” to end the hostilities. Secretary of State Rubio urges both sides to de-escalate.
ASEAN: Watching helplessly; no real enforcement tools.
China: Quietly in the frame. Analysts say Cambodia used Beijing-supplied missiles; Thailand isn’t thrilled.
Russia: Expanding drills with Cambodia = more eyebrow raises.
⚡Bottom line: Without a major power forcing a deal, the next air strike could tip the region into a wider crisis—one that global markets are utterly unprepared for.
♟️THE CHESSBOARD
Geopolitics Decoded In 3 Moves
🇫🇷 Brigitte Macron Called Activists “Stupid B**ches”
Brigitte Macron is catching fire after a leaked video showed her calling feminist activists “stupid b**ches” backstage at a Paris theater.
The target: #NousToutes protesters who disrupted comedian Ary Abittan’s show over past rape allegations (he was cleared in 2024).
Her team insists she was slamming “radical methods,” not feminism — but France isn’t buying it.
⚡The backlash went nuclear: #NousToutes reclaimed the slur, actress Judith Godrèche joined with “I too am a stupid b**ch,” and critics say the First Lady just undercut Macron’s women’s-rights brand in one sentence.
🛩 U.S. Jets Flex Over Venezuela
Two U.S. F-18s slipped into Venezuelan airspace over the Gulf of Venezuela circling for 40 minutes near Maracaibo — and Maduro’s Russian-made air defenses didn’t fire a single shot.
The Pentagon called it a “routine training mission,” part of Trump’s expanded anti-drug ops, but flight trackers lit up as thousands watched the unchallenged flyover.
💡Why it matters: It’s the boldest U.S. approach since Trump’s pressure campaign escalated. With naval buildups, GPS interference, suspended flights, and Caracas begging Russia, China, and Iran for help, analysts say the message was simple: Washington owns the sky.
🐷 Spain’s “Pig Pandemic” Goes National
Spain declared a national state of emergency after African swine fever hit 13 wild boars near Barcelona — the country’s first cases since 1994 and a direct threat to its €8.8B pork export machine.
Over 100 troops, drones, sniffer dogs, and 300 police are now sweeping Collserola Park for carcasses as 20km control zones trigger hunting bans and strict movement rules.
No farm infections yet — but this has already frozen major exports.
Suspects range from a contaminated pork sandwich to a possible lab slip at nearby CReSA.
⚡Bottom line: One wild boar just shook Europe’s protein supply chain.
🗽THE EMPIRE FILES
Political Drama From DC To NYC
Miami Beach, FL
🔵 Miami Flips Blue After 30 Years
Democrat Eileen Higgins won Miami’s mayoral runoff with 59% of the vote, defeating Republican Emilio González and ending nearly three decades of GOP City Hall control.
Higgins — now Miami’s first female mayor — centered her campaign on affordable housing and local economic relief, whilst criticizing Trump’s deportation policies.
Businessman González leaned on continuity - property development, secure borders and Trump and DeSantis endorsements.
⚡Her win across all five city commission districts is a notable data point for both parties as they size up Florida heading into the 2026 midterms.
✈ DHS Builds Its Own Deportation Fleet
The Department of Homeland Security is creating a dedicated fleet of six Boeing 737s for deportation flights under a nearly $140M contract, shifting away from chartered planes.
Funded through a major immigration-enforcement budget boost, DHS says the fleet will streamline operations and cut scheduling delays.
⚡Officials frame the move as an efficiency upgrade, while critics note it signals a more expansive — and highly visible — deportation posture under the Trump administration.
🤖 CODES & POWER
Tech Wars, Crypto Chaos, and AI’s Black Mirror Moments
🚀 SpaceX Eyes a Trillion-Dollar Liftoff
SpaceX is moving toward a mid-to-late 2026 IPO that could raise $30B+ at a valuation near $1.5T — potentially the biggest public debut in market history.
The plan marks a shift from earlier talk of spinning off Starlink, whose revenue is projected to hit $15B in 2025 and up to $24B in 2026.
A listing would inject capital into Musk’s next frontier: space-based data centers and Starship scaling. Market timing could still push the move into 2027.
🤖 Pentagon Drops GenAI.mil
The Pentagon just launched GenAI.mil, a locked-down AI platform for 3M+ troops and staff, powered by Google’s Gemini for Government.
Think research, intel triage, imagery analysis, and compliance checks on turbo mode.
War Secretary Pete Hegseth called it “the future of American warfare,” pushing agentic workflows with minimal human touch.
⚡It’s IL5-secure, doesn’t train on user data, and fits Trump’s AI Action Plan for “AI dominance.” More models — OpenAI, xAI, Anthropic — join later.
📺 FUN FACTS & TRIVIA
The Anthem With No Words
The Spanish national anthem, Marcha Real (Royal March), has no lyrics.
It's one of just four anthems worldwide without official lyrics (shoutout to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and San Marino), so crowds just hum along or awkwardly clap.
No bad singing scandals since 1770!