In typical fashion, the evil Trump administration under Pete Hegsetg has started using a Canadian children's catoon character mostly used to teach positive social values as a prop to promote it's war crimes.

https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/pete-hegseth-franklin-turtle/article_8ef85618-b0c8-4a2c-af5c-a599dcd763ba.html

At least he didn’t strap Franklin to a nuke headed toward Venezuela.

“What is wrong with this guy?” is a question I ask whenever Pete Hegseth runs his Captain Morgan yap or posts unhinged memes. Now he is dragging Canada’s gentle Franklin the Turtle into his narcoterrorism hot mess in the Caribbean?

On Sunday, Hegseth posted a fake book cover: “Franklin Targets Narco Terrorists.”

This is a dramatic mood change from when Franklin fretted about riding a bike without training wheels. Now Franklin is reimagined as a warrior turtle leaning out of a chopper with an RPG on his shelled shoulder as he blows up drug boats

Oh, for Pete’s sake.

Turning Franklin into Rambo jolted Toronto-based Kids Can Press. The publisher released a statement on Monday: “Franklin the Turtle is a beloved Canadian icon who has inspired generations of children and stands for kindness, empathy, and inclusivity. We strongly condemn any denigrating, violent, or unauthorized use of Franklin’s name or image, which directly contradicts these values.”

But why is Hegseth enlisting Franklin?

The SecDef is facing serious trouble. This is markedly different from the woes he once endured when the salon was sold out of Got2b or the bartender shouted, “Last call!”

The Washington Post recently published a story that even Republicans can’t ignore. According to sources with “direct knowledge” of a Sept. 2 military strike on a suspected drug vessel off the coast of Trinidad, Hegseth’s verbal order was to “kill everybody.” Imagine being so cavalier with human life.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-cabinet-doodle-misspelling-eyes-closed-84df52bbc901a001e98e325155224954

WASHINGTON (AP) — With Tuesday’s White House Cabinet meeting chugging past the two-hour mark, President Donald Trump ‘s eyes fluttered and closed. His budget director busied himself doodling a fluffy cloud. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was lucky enough to speak early, but the title on his nameplate was misspelled.

The sleepy, and occasionally slipshod, gathering nonetheless ended with a flurry of news. Trump declared that he didn’t want Somalis in the U.S. and Hegseth cited the “ fog of war ” in defending a follow-up strike on an alleged drug-carrying boat in the Caribbean Sea in September.

The president started things off by noting that it was the last time his Cabinet would gather until 2026. And, though marathon sessions with his top advisers lavishing praise have become a Trump trademark since he returned to the White House, this latest installment felt at times like a holiday break was needed.

Trump offered lengthy opening comments largely rehashing his key previous policy announcements from recent months. He also repeated old grievances, going back to his falsehoods about having won the 2020 election.

‘Go quickly’

The president then gave each Cabinet member a chance to speak, declaring, “We’re gonna go quickly.” That did little to stop most Cabinet members from offering long presentations.

Hegseth went first and praised the Trump administration’s move to rename his agency the Department of War — something that can’t be officially done without an act of Congress. But the nameplate in front of Hegseth labeled him the “ssecretary of war,” including a mistaken double “S” that quickly became the source of searing online ridicule.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-pardons-texas-congressman-cuellar-wife-2025-12-03/
WASHINGTON, Dec 3 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he was granting a "full and unconditional pardon" to Democratic Representative Henry Cuellar of Texas, and his wife Imelda, who were charged with bribery.
Last year, Cuellar and his wife were indicted for allegedly accepting close to $600,000 in bribes in two schemes meant to benefit an Azerbaijani state-owned energy company and an unnamed bank based in Mexico.

He has maintained his innocence and that of his wife.
"I want to thank President Trump for his tremendous leadership and for taking the time to look at the facts. I thank God for standing with my family and I during this difficult time. This decision clears the air and lets us move forward for South Texas," Cuellar said in a social media posting on X.
In his own social media post, Trump accused former President Joe Biden's administration of having "weaponized" the justice system against Cuellar for having spoken out against Biden's immigration policies.
Cuellar, first elected to the House in 2004, is a moderate Democrat who has fended off recent primary challenges from more progressive candidates in the party.
The Democratic Party's congressional campaign committee has put Cuellar on its list of incumbent Democrats it is defending for re-election because they could face stiff challenges in the 2026 midterm elections.
Trump's Justice Department has largely dismantled its Public Integrity Section, which was erected after the Watergate scandal to investigate and prosecute the country's most politically sensitive cases.
As the section has unraveled, Trump has pardoned or commuted sentences for many of the defendants in cases that still remained outstanding, including former TN House Speaker Glen Casada, former TN state lawmaker Brian Kelsey, a former VA sheriff and a Las Vegas councilwoman, former Republican Representative George Santos.

US private employers lost 32,000 positions in November, with job creation seemingly locked in a standstill, according to the private payroll processor ADP.

Job creation has essentially been flat in the second half of this year, ADP said, and small businesses in particular appeared to struggle in November.

“Hiring has been choppy of late as employers weather cautious consumers and an uncertain macroeconomic environment,” ADP chief economist Nela Richardson said in a statement. “And while November's slowdown was broad-based, it was led by a pullback among small businesses.”

About 46% of all US employees work for small businesses, according to government data.

Manufacturing and construction dropped positions, as did professional and business services. Pay growth is also slowing as hiring stalls, Richardson said.

"Year-over-year pay for job-stayers rose 4.4%, and that's down from 4.5% in October," Richardson said. "For job-changers, it was even a more notable slide downward: 6.7% in October, but 6.3% in November."

Meanwhile, American workers feel terrible about the job market. Some 69% of consumers expect unemployment to rise in the year ahead, according to the University of Michigan’s survey of consumers.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/adp-private-payrolls-dropped-32000-positions-last-month-in-slowing-job-market-133210474.html

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/12/03/economy/us-adp-private-jobs-report-november
Small businesses are “starting to crack” amid a weakening economy, rising costs and fickle consumers; and they drove job losses in the US private sector in November, new data showed Wednesday.

Payroll giant ADP estimated that 32,000 jobs were lost in the private sector last month, a large drop-off from the upwardly revised 47,000 jobs gained in October.

The job losses were overwhelmingly at small establishments (classified as having between one and 49 employees), which shed an estimated 120,000 jobs last month. Medium and large businesses added 51,000 jobs and 39,000 jobs, respectively.

By industry, the losses were more broad based, with some of the deeper drops in industries such as professional and business services, information and manufacturing.

Economists were expecting that 40,000 jobs would be added, according to FactSet.

Private employers have shed jobs in four of the past six months, ADP data shows. The net loss of 32,000 reported for November is the largest monthly drop in two and a half years.

ADP’s estimates, which are drawn from anonymized and aggregated payroll data from its clients, don’t often fully correlate with the official monthly jobs numbers that are released by the government.

However, ADP’s reports have gained prominence in recent weeks, because the historic federal shutdown mangled statistical agencies’ abilities to collect, analyze and release economic data.

The November jobs report, which originally was supposed to be released Friday, has been delayed until December 16 and will include partial data from October.

https://apnews.com/article/drunk-raccoon-liquor-store-bandit-virginia-5109feb2ea9ab9bf8954ec3798689fd0
>On Nov 29, a raccoon broke into the Ashland ABC Store in Hanover County, ransacking shelves and helping itself to alcohol.
>A ceiling tile collapse allowed the intruder to enter and knock out CCTV cameras, and Officer Samantha Martin said the raccoon fell through one tile then went on a full-blown rampage, drinking everything.
>Employees discovered smashed bottles, alcohol pooled on the floor and an aisle soaked with broken glass, while store employees found the raccoon passed out in the bathroom between a toilet and a bin.
>After a period of observation, the animal was returned to the wild after Officer Martin secured the raccoon and transported it to the Hanover County Animal Shelter to sober up.
>The shelter's Facebook post quickly went viral, racking up more than 8,000 likes, 827 comments and 4,100 shares by 1.20pm on Dec 3 and drawing national coverage.
pic unrelated

>European leaders are considering dumping $2.34 trillion in US debt if Trump abandons Ukraine, potentially triggering an economic crisis worse than 2008

https://www.the-express.com/news/world-news/192200/europe-s-nuclear-option-threatens-trump-midterm-elections-approach

European nations are reportedly weighing the "nuclear option" of destabilizing the American economy should Donald Trump abandon Ukraine and compromise continental security. Discussions between American and Ukrainian representatives resumed Sunday in Miami, with both parties working to hammer out a peace agreement.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump's Russia envoy Steve Witkoff participated in the session, alongside the President's son-in-law Jared Kushner. After the "fragile" negotiations, the President informed journalists aboard Air Force One that there was "a good chance we can make a deal".

Yet European leadership remains wary that Trump is hastening toward a geopolitical arrangement with Vladimir Putin while disregarding NATO allies' security interests.

The Wall Street Journal reveals a European intelligence agency has distributed internal evaluations regarding "commercial and economic plans" the Trump administration has been pursuing with Russia in private discussions.

This has allegedly intensified concerns among European officials that the White House is poised to compromise the continent's safety for American economic advantage.

Insiders informed the WSJ that European leaders are weighing severe countermeasures in response, calculated to trigger economic turmoil across the United States. The proposed strategy includes liquidating trillions in American government bonds held by European governments.

A swift sell-off could potentially trigger a crash in the value of the US dollar, instigate a liquidity crisis across the banking system, and cause a significant surge in borrowing costs.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crk7xjpv8gmo
China and Japan's coast guards have given different accounts of a confrontation that occurred near a group of geopolitically sensitive islands in the East China Sea.

China's Coast Guard said on Tuesday that a Japanese fishing vessel had illegally entered the waters of the Diaoyu Islands - which Tokyo calls the Senkaku Islands. China claims them as their territory, despite the islands being administered by Japan.

Japan's Coast Guard, meanwhile, said it intercepted and expelled two Chinese Coast Guard ships as they approached the fishing vessel.

The confrontation comes as diplomatic ties between the two nations spiral, after Japan's leader made controversial comments about Taiwan last month.

While responding to a question in parliament in November, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, known to be a vocal critic of China and its activities in the region, suggested that Tokyo could take military action if Beijing attacked Taiwan.

Beijing views self-governed Taiwan as part of its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to "reunite" with it.

Both sides have since engaged in increasingly hostile rhetoric towards each other, with the widening rift affecting daily life for citizens in both countries.

Taiwan is located about 160km south-west of the Senkaku Islands.

I got a message from an acquaintance asking me to vote for the child of their friends — and I was shocked by the rules of the contest.
Here’s the deal: children with cancer are competing for a treatment grant in a drawing competition. And yes, treatment goes to the WINNER determined by public voting, while the rest (quote) get “attention and support.”
To make it worse, the sponsors are Coca-Cola, LG, Raiffeisen Bank and other famously broke corporations who apparently can only afford treatment for the kid who skipped art class the least.

Here’s the site: https://ukr-one.matsu.beauty/help-for-child/72
(It’s in Ukrainian.)

P.S. I’ve never posted on forums before, but I’ve heard enough stories about how the pressure generated here sometimes knocks sense into “creatives” behind things like this.