Happy Thursday Everyone! Today’s newsletter: 941 words…3.5 mins
🗞 Today’s Edition: Shutdown’s Over, BBC Busted - Again! Iran’s New Front - The West Bank, Europe’s Christmas Under Siege, Last Penny Drops, Uber Ski… & much more!
📜THE HIGHLIGHT
One killer insight to stash in your back pocket
Source: X/@WhiteHouse
⏱ Shutdown’s Over—But the Clock’s Still Ticking
After 43 days, the longest U.S. government shutdown in history ended on Nov. 12, 2025, when the House of Representatives passed the bill with a 222-209 vote, followed by President Trump signing the bipartisan spending bill later that night.
The standoff halted non-essential services, furloughed 800,000 workers, and delayed pay for 1.4 million more.
What triggered it: GOP fought to gut ACA subsidies. Dems dug in. Neither blinked until airports started melting down and poll numbers cratered.
💸What it means:
Federal agencies reopen immediately, back pay is mandated, travel disruptions ease, and SNAP benefits resume.
Markets stabilized—though stocks dipped after the signing amid ongoing uncertainty.
The shutdown’s economic cost: $11 billion.
📆 But: The bill only funds the government until Jan. 30, 2026. Translation: We're doing this again in 10 weeks. 🍿
🟦 Democrats: Call the shutdown “hostage-taking” but claim a moral win for protecting health provisions and stopping deeper cuts. Yet internal divisions flared after eight senators voted to end it without major concessions.
🟥 Republicans: Celebrate a clean win without tax hikes or amnesty. Trump dubbed it a “great day,” though some conservatives blasted surprise provisions like lawsuit shields.
💡Bottom line: Relief reigns, but the partisan scars—and fiscal cliff—linger.
♟️THE CHESSBOARD
Geopolitics Decoded In 3 Moves
🥷 Iran’s New Front: The West Bank
Israeli intel confirms Iran has ramped up weapons smuggling into the West Bank post–Trump-brokered ceasefire.
Shipments of claymore mines, explosive drones, and anti-tank missiles are flooding PIJ and Al-Aqsa Brigades via Jordan's porous border.
The IRGC’s elite units 4000 and 18840 are behind the ops, routing arms across Jordan’s border.
In October, the Shin Bet and IDF intercepted a massive Iranian shipment.
Tehran's bet: Transform the West Bank into a third front (after Gaza/Lebanon), gambling Israel can't fight a multi-theater war indefinitely.
💡Why it matters: Trump's ceasefire bought Hamas a breather—but gave Iran a window to arm the West Bank. Israel's now scrambling to seal the Jordanian border before this becomes October 7th: The Sequel.
📺 BBC Busted—Again
For the second time, the BBC’s been caught doctoring footage of Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 speech, splicing clips nearly an hour apart to make it look like he urged supporters to “fight like hell” toward the Capitol.
The same trick appeared in a 2024 Panorama doc, now repeated by Newsnight—a pattern critics say exposes institutional bias, not just “editorial errors.”
The scandal forced out Director-General Tim Davie and BBC News chief Deborah Turness, as Trump vows a $1B lawsuit.
💡Bottom line: This isn’t bad editing—it’s a credibility crisis.
🎄Europe’s Christmas Under Siege
Across Europe, Christmas markets are turning into fortresses as officials brace for Islamist terror threats.
The Magdeburg Christmas market in Germany has been cancelled due to security concerns and rising security costs (€11M+), after last year’s Saudi-led car-ramming attack that killed 6 and injured 338.
Smaller towns like Overath and Kerpen have also axed festivities entirely, unable to afford new anti-terror barriers and surveillance grids.
Major cities—Paris, Berlin, Strasbourg—now rely on armed patrols, drones, and checkpoints to keep markets open.
💡Bottom line: Instead of fixing the open-border chaos fueling these threats, Europe’s spending millions defending Christmas from itself.
🗽THE EMPIRE FILES
Political Drama From DC To NYC
💰The Last Penny Drops
After 230 years, the U.S. Treasury is minting its final penny.
Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent will oversee the ceremonial strike, marking the end of a coin that’s been losing value as the shift towards digital payments is making its continued production impractical.
Each penny costs nearly 4 cents to make, prompting President Trump to scrap production—saving $56 million a year.
⚡Don’t panic: your spare change still spends… it just won’t reproduce.
🍽️Trump’s Wall Street Feast
President Trump hosted America’s financial elite for a White House dinner aimed at tightening business ties and hyping U.S. manufacturing.
The guest list read like a Forbes cover—Jamie Dimon, Larry Fink, Stephen Schwarzman, Ken Griffin, Henry Kravis, and even SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son.
Officially, the dinner focused on affordability—but sources say talk drifted to tariffs, IPOs, and America’s economic comeback.
⚡Wall Street’s back at the table—and this time, Trump’s serving America First on fine china.
🤖 CODES & POWER
Tech Wars, Crypto Chaos, and AI’s Black Mirror Moments
🤖 Anthropic Goes All-In on American AI
Anthropic just dropped $50 billion on U.S. tech infrastructure—building massive data centers in Texas and New York to supercharge AI innovation and Trump’s tech agenda.
The project = 800 permanent jobs, 2,400 construction gigs, and a 2026 completion date.
CEO Dario Amodei says it’s about “AI that accelerates discovery.”
⚡With Fluidstack powering the setup, Anthropic’s betting big on AI dominance—Made in America.
🎿 Uber Hits the Slopes
Uber is launching Uber Ski, letting riders book trips to 40+ mountains across the U.S., Canada, Switzerland, and France this season.
Partnering with Vail Resorts, users can now reserve rides directly to mountain destinations
Epic Passes can now be purchased directly in the app, covering access to 90+ ski and snowboard resorts and UberXL/XXL vehicles handle all your gear.
⚡Uber is turning ski season into a full-service, app-driven experience, taking the hassle out of mountain logistics so riders can focus on the slopes.
📺 FUN FACTS & TRIVIA
Guinea Pigs Need Company
In Switzerland, it’s unlawful to own just one guinea pig. It's considered animal cruelty because they're social beings and get lonely.
You could be fined up to CHF 20,000 (~$25,000) or even face possible jail time in severe cases.