CMR is the leading provider of funding and management support for small to medium-sized businesses and entrepreneurs 

"We are facing the risk of the disintegration of the international order that brought peace to the world for decades, and in this context, the dialogue between China and France is even more essential than ever," Macron said on Thursday while on a tour of China. It was his fourth state visit, and part of a renewed effort to woo Chinese President Xi Jinping to the West's side on stepping up pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"I hope that China will join our call, our efforts to achieve, as soon as possible, at the very least a ceasefire in the form of a moratorium on strikes targeting critical infrastructure," the French leader said. But the consensus is that Macron's latest effort has once again failed to gain anything in the way of a concession from Xi on the Ukraine issue. 

Xi only vaguely stated that "China supports all efforts that work towards peace" while urging a peace deal that all parties would accept, in a clear nod to Moscow's position that there are still a number of unsatisfactory aspects to the Trump-proposed peace plan.

President Xi also interestingly used language and themes often employed by Putin, for example stressing the needs to carry on the "banner of multilateralism" when it comes to China-France relations:

"No matter how the external environment changes, both sides as major powers should always demonstrate independence and strategic vision, show mutual understanding and mutual support for each other on core matters and major critical issues," he said.

"China and France should demonstrate their sense of responsibility, raise high the banner of multilateralism ... and firmly stand on the right side of history."

Friday's commentary from Rabobank says this is all a case for pessimism when it comes to the closeness or else great distance of a potential Ukraine peace deal:

The kind of multilateralism that Xi has in mind is an important point to consider. Is Xi talking about an idealistic evolution of the United Nations where more power is given to the developing world but disputes are resolved via dialogue? Or is he talking about ending US hegemony to carve the world up into spheres of influence for regional great powers to preside over? Xi’s reluctance to get involved in brokering a peace deal in Ukraine and recent naval deployments in the wake of a diplomatic spat with Japan will make many nervous that it is the latter.

A spheres of influence paradigm is certainly favorable in the eyes of Vladimir Putin. He has reportedly rejected the latest peace overtures from US special envoy Witkoff and told India Today that Ukrainian troops will either leave the Donbas region or Russia will “liberate these territories by force”. Kremlin officials have reportedly told journalists that a peace deal remains a long way off. The Wall Street Journal editorial today says “maybe it is time to conclude that Mr. Putin doesn’t want peace” while arguing that Putin has no incentive to negotiate in good faith while he feels that he is winning.

So, peace in our time? Don’t count on it.

European leaders have not been pleased that the US plan is the first to ever seriously offer territorial concessions since the war's start. Some European officials alongside media reports in the EU have gone so far as to accuse Putin of 'faking' interest in peace efforts.

While the Kremlin has called the prior Tuesday Moscow talks involving Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner "constructive" - it conceded that little actual progress was made toward a deal, given Russia is demanding nothing less than full legal and international recognition of the territories under its control. 

Putin has followed up with a warning that Russia is ready seize more Ukrainian territory as the 'special military operation' continues. "Either we liberate these territories by force of arms. Or Ukrainian troops leave these territories," he has freshly warned.

Images from Macron's three-day rare "sightseeing" tour of China with President Xi:

Chinese President Xi Jinping and visiting French President Emmanuel Macron had friendly exchanges on Friday in Dujiangyan in Chengdu, capital city of southwest China's Sichuan Province, Xinhua reported.

Upon their arrival, Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, were warmly… pic.twitter.com/xoPQsuzH4R

— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) December 5, 2025

Mutual strikes on energy infrastructure are only continuing to escalate. President Putin has also warned his military is readying to expand strikes on Ukrainian ports, in retaliation for a spate of drone attacks on tankers transporting Russian oil to global markets.

With Ukraine peace being elusive, apparently, Xi and Macron handled a series of lesser matters Thursday and Friday," EuroNews reports. "They signed 12 agreements, including ones calling for cooperation on a new round of panda conservation efforts and exchanges in higher education and research." The same report notes that the European Union "ran a massive trade deficit with China of more than €300 billion last year. China alone represents 46% of France's total trade deficit."

Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news,

Democrats are melting down over Trump’s targeted strikes on narco-terrorists, yet a freshly resurfaced clip shows Joe Biden demanding the same aggressive action decades ago, proving their opposition is pure partisan sabotage as cartel poison floods America unchecked.

A 1989 C-SPAN clip of then-Senator Joe Biden has gone viral amid the Trump administration’s boat strikes on drug runners, highlighting the glaring double standard from Democrats who now baselessly cry “war crimes” over actions Biden once championed.

In the speech, Biden urged, “Let’s go after the drug lords where they live with an international strike force. There must be no safe haven for these narco-terrorists …”

1989. Joe Biden delivers a televised message from the Democrat party, calling on then President Bush to do more to stop the flow of drugs into the country.

In addition to calling for more prisons and more cops, Biden said that Democrats want the creation of a strike force to… pic.twitter.com/mV8SbVsnob

— MAZE (@mazemoore) December 3, 2025

What changed? Under Biden’s presidency, fentanyl deaths skyrocketed, with cartels controlling swaths of the border and trafficking exploding to record levels. Now, as Trump delivers on promises to hit back hard, Dems side with the traffickers out of sheer Trump derangement.

The clip, from a February 7, 1989, Senate hearing on crime and drugs, shows Biden pushing for swift, severe punishment of dealers and international operations to dismantle cartels before they infiltrate the U.S. 

He emphasized, “We have to join together to ensure that drug dealers are punished swiftly surely and severely.”

This echoes Trump’s designation of cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, a move Biden never pursued despite his tough talk.

Fast-forward to 2025, and Trump’s team is executing precision strikes on vessels linked to Venezuela’s Maduro regime and cartel operations, destroying drug cargoes and neutralising threats in the Caribbean.

Joe would watch that clip today, and say, "Who is this idiot conservative? He's got it all wrong. C'mon mannnn."

— Zeeko Jr (@ZeekoJr) December 3, 2025

That's the Biden I remember. Pro America, back when Dems could be patriots. Now you have to piss all over everything.

— RB of Jonesboro (@RBJboro) December 3, 2025

It’s amazing. Trump is everything the democrats ever wanted in a single package and they hate him for it.

— ccypbg (@ccippk) December 3, 2025

Then he finally got into office and escorted criminals & drugs directly into our country

— logicallydumb (@logicallydumbb) December 3, 2025

Trump security advisor Stephen Miller blasted Democrats Wednesday for their twisted priorities in an explosive interview.

Miller declared, “This is the first time I can EVER think where a major political party has sided with narco-trafficking, murdering, terrorist SCUM!”

He added, “A Democrat says ‘oh, there’s no such thing as a narco-terrorist. They’re just narco-persons!’ ISIS and these narco-terrorists in our hemisphere use the same tactics. They use r*pe as a weapon. They skin people alive. They cut off their heads. They burn them to death!”

Miller further asserted “We’re not going off running around the Middle East trying to ‘build democracies’ in caves and deserts and in distant sands that have never known democracy.”

“We’re using the military to protect American security, American prosperity, American lives right here where we live, where our children live!” he urged.

Democrats, meanwhile, are inciting military discord while soft-pedaling cartel savagery. As we covered earlier, Virginia Sen. Mark Warner echoed seditious calls on MSNBC, stating “the uniformed military may help save us from this president.”

Warner ranted, “I’m going to want to get answers on what did Pete Hegseth order? Why haven’t we seen the whole unedited video if there’s nothing inappropriate here? You could have cleared this up without the admiral coming in. He’s got a great reputation, I respect him. I want to get the truth. And I’m not sure we’ve had the truth from Hegseth yet.”

Fresh reporting dismantles media smears. The New York Times revealed Hegseth authorized a Sept. 2 strike “to kill the people on the boat, destroy the vessel, and eliminate its drug cargo,” but it “did not specifically address what to do if a first missile failed to fully accomplish these goals, and it was not based on surveillance showing at least two survivors after the initial blast.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified Hegseth “authorized Adm. Frank M. Bradley to conduct kinetic strikes, ensuring the boat was destroyed and the threat eliminated.”

In addition, ABC’s Martha Raddatz provided key updates on ‘World News Tonight’, noting  “According to a source familiar with the incident, the two survivors climbed back on to the boat after the initial strike. They were believed to be potentially in communication with others, and salvaging some of the drugs.”

Raddatz added, “Because of that, it was determined they were still in the fight and valid targets.”

ABC’s Martha Raddatz on Wednesday’s ‘World News Tonight’ about drug boat-gate: “And tonight, new information: According to a source familiar with the incident, the two survivors climbed back on to the boat after the initial strike. They were believed to be potentially in… pic.twitter.com/R5eHFzzDql

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) December 4, 2025

This confirms the strikes followed rules of engagement, with legal oversight—completely debunking Dem hysteria.

Your support is crucial in helping us defeat mass censorship. Please consider donating via Locals or check out our unique merch. Follow us on X @ModernityNews.

Authored by James Howard Kunstler,

Cold Case Heats Up

"[The current FBI] was competent at cracking the case; [Christopher Wray's] was competent at corruption and obstructing it."

- Mike Benz

Do you have any idea what tapestry of corruption and crime is attached to the little thread of the J6 / DNC / RNC pipe bomber suspect arrested yesterday by the FBI? Consider this: suspect Brian Cole, Jr., is alive and probably talking, unlike, say, Jeffrey Epstein and Thomas Matthew Crooks in other matters of public interest. Let’s hope he is under FBI protection in custody, lest something. . . say. . . happen to him.

Dressed for government work?

As of early this morning, the country knows next to nothing else about Cole and what he was up to the night of Jan. 5, 2021.

The FBI has not even said how he is employed. But his photo shows a young man dressed for office work. . . he lives in a nice house in the DC suburbs of Virginia. . .and you might infer that he is, possibly, a federal government worker. Oh, and the FBI was unable to catch him through the whole four years of “Joe Biden?”

You can suppose at this point that the story of that four-year botched investigation will be a way bigger thing than the pipe bomber’s little prank itself.

It probably leads to the story of wholesale corruption in Christopher Wray’s FBI, and even more consequentially, to the realization that the so-called J6, 2021 “insurrection” was a government op from top to bottom, aimed at eradicating Trump and Trumpism.

First, what was supposed to happen in a joint session of Congress that day?

Answer: certification of electoral college votes in the 2020 election. What else was liable to happen that day? Answer: under the Electoral Count Act of 1887 (3 U.S.C. §§ 5–6, 15–18) — as amended, and by the rules laid out in the U.S. Constitution (Article II and the 12th Amendment) — objections to several states’ slates of electors were expected to be entertained, triggering debate and possible rejection of those states’ electors on the basis that the votes were not “lawfully certified” (under 3 U.S.C. § 6), or not “regularly given” (meaning the vote was marred by fraud, corruption, or violence). Any state’s electoral votes could be rejected if both the House and Senate voted by simple majority, after up to two hours of separate debate.

At mid-day, objections meeting the written requirement (one House member + one Senator) were filed for Arizona and Pennsylvania. The objection to the Arizona vote (Rep. Paul Gosar + Sen. Ted Cruz) was the first scheduled to be debated shortly after 1:00 p.m. It was not allowed to happen. Instead, Congress evacuated the chamber. When Congress returned at 8:00 p.m., votes objecting to Arizona and Pennsylvania slates failed and no others were taken up. Senators who previously had committed to debating the votes of several other swing states demurred, citing the breach of demonstrators into the Capitol. The full tally concluded at 3:44 in the morning, Jan 7, “Joe Biden” and Kamala Harris were certified as winners of the 2020 election.

Here are some things to know about the pipe bomb subplot in the J-6 story.

Kamala Harris, vice president-elect, still a sitting Senator (CA), was not in the chamber for the certification process. She arrived at the DNC headquarters some blocks away from the Capitol by motorcade at 11:30 a.m. and stayed until she was evacuated from the DNC at 1:14 p.m. Couple of questions about that? 1) did she not want to be present in the chamber at the momentous instant that her election as veep was certified? 2) Did she not have a duty to be present for voting on any of the procedure? Weird, a little bit. She has never explained what she was doing at the DNC that day.

Kamala Harris was in the DNC building when the pipe bomb was discovered there, around 1:07 p.m. The pipe bomb at the RNC had been discovered some 20 minutes prior, and it was the discovery of that bomb, at 12:44 p.m. that prompted the evacuation of the joint House / Senate session in Congress, not any breach of the Capitol building, which did not occur until 2:13, p.m., more than an hour later.

Now, to the FBI response to all this.

They quickly collected tons of closed-circuit video of a suspect planting these pipe bombs. The footage they released showed the suspect at a one-frame-per-second recording rate which, as Mike Benz points out, is a hundred times slower than any common gas station closed circuit camera nowadays. The FBI also doctored the recordings, specifically blurring out the section of the suspect’s face at one angle captured by a CC camera about eight meters away. The rectangular blur patch over his eyes can be clearly seen. How’d that happen?

The FBI also managed to botch every other aspect of the investigation into the act that actually triggered the evacuation of Congress that day — which was (repeat) not the breach of the Capitol building but the pipe bombs. In the months afterward, FBI Director Wray took agents off the case. He had in place as chief of the FBI’s Washington office an assistant director named Steven D’Antuono who had been in charge previously, as Detroit field chief, of the Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping case in which at least 12 confidential informants and three FBI agents were involved in what looked like an entrapment scheme. D’Antuono had demonstrated considerable skill in constructing skeezy FBI ops when he was put in charge of the DC office. The agency managed to lose the chain-of-custody for much of the evidence in the case, including originals of the videos, cell phone records, communications records between Capitol police, DC metropolitan police, Secret Service, and the FBI, and more.

So, the pipe bomber has been a cold case lo these many years. And now we’re informed as of yesterday’s FBI / DOJ press conference, that the FBI under Director Patel cracked the case using only information and evidence already in the FBI files. So, get this: there must be a record of exactly which agents were on the pipe bomber case those four years under Christopher Wray. There must be a record of who, by name, was in charge of chains-of-custody for all that evidence. And there must be a record of the senior agents and deputy directors who oversaw all their activities, all the way up to Director Wray. Why would they not be subject to charges of obstruction of justice?

All of this is just the pipe bomber subplot of the J6 story. There remains the weird business with then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her failure to request national guard protection at the US Capitol that day. And there remains the question of how many agents, assets, and confidential informants the FBI had in-place at the Capitol on J6, 2021, including Antifa members, and which actions, including the breach inside the building, they instigated. Then there is the question of the House J6 committee, how it was constructed with the help of lawfare ninja Norm Eisen, and how it deliberately destroyed all the evidence it collected over the months of its existence.

Be prepared to learn how the J6 “insurrection” was a government-sponsored seditious conspiracy and then ponder who, by name, will be held responsible for it. That’s the tapestry that Brian Cole, Jr.’s little thread leads to.

Shout out to Mike Benz for his nearly four-hour discussion about the pipe bomber case on “X”.

Less than one week after the NY Times (of all rags) torched Minnesota governor Tim Walz over a massive and sprawling fraud scandal involving Somalians that federal prosecutors say siphoned over $1 billion from the state's social safety net programs, Walz is opening yet another avenue for fraud - giving taxpayer-funded leave illegal immigrants.

Under the Minnesota Paid Family and Medical Leave Program which Walz signed into law ahead of its Jan. 1 start date, "undocumented workers" will receive benefits, according to the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce's FAQ page. 

The program provides payments to Minnesota residents who need time away from work for "serious health" reasons, or to take care of a family member - be it an infant or an ill relative, the Washington Examiner reports. What's more, if an individual qualifies for both medical and family leave, they can "double dip" - getting taxpayer funds for a total of 20 weeks or 5.5 months, each year. These receiving benefits can also "top off" paid leave by using paid time off (PTO), sick days, and vacation hours in addition to their leave of absence. 

Program beneficiaries will receive between 55% and 90% of their regular wages while on paid leave - up to a maximum amount of $5,692 per month. 

"Are people going to abuse the program?" Walz replied when questioned on Tuesday at an event about potential fraud. "How disrespectful to people to assume that ailing Minnesotans are scamming. That’s what I hear from [critics] all the time. I trust Minnesotans."

"I believe they know you’re not gonna get rich, and it’s not your full salary. You’re not gonna scam and take time off," Walz continued. 

Meanwhile, Walz continues to downplay growing concerns after a $1 billion fraud was uncovered by City Journal, in which Somali immigrants were stealing welfare funds and funneling the money home to Somalia. 

The fraud involved a series of schemes that federal authorities say took root over the past five years, many centered within Minnesota’s Somali diaspora, where individuals established companies that billed state agencies for services that were never performed. Prosecutors say 59 people have been convicted across various cases so far, in three separate plots.

Minnesota’s fraud scandal stood out even in the context of rampant theft during the pandemic, when Americans stole tens of billions through unemployment benefits, business loans and other forms of aid, according to federal auditors. - NYT

Federal prosecutors have emphasized the seriousness of the cases being prosecuted by career federal attorney Joseph H. Thompson - who warned that the scale of fraud threatens public confidence. “No one will support these programs if they continue to be riddled with fraud,” Mr. Thompson said. “We’re losing our way of life in Minnesota in a very real way.”

Also meanwhile, Minnesota is awarding public outreach grants to community groups that are focused on "equity" and helping "priority populations" including minorities, LGBT people, immigrants, and people who can't speak English. 

Funding for the grants comes from a portion of the annual projected PFML payments. For fiscal 2026, grants will be awarded from an available fund of $1.9 million, increasing to $3.7 million the following year.

‘The next big fraud scandal in Minnesota’

Some policy experts are raising fraud-related concerns about bad actors abusing the paid leave program, especially exploiting the minimal eligibility criteria that allow illegal immigrants to benefit from the coverage plan.

“Why are Minnesota taxpayers, which I’m one, funding people who, legally speaking, should not be in America or in Minnesota?” questioned Bill Glahn, a policy fellow at the Minnesota-based Center of the American Experiment.

Proponents of PFML, however, believe that illegal migrants should reap the rewards if they pay into the program via the payroll tax, which is split between employers and employees, whose half is deducted from their wages. -Washington Examiner

Evidence continues to mount that Walz is, as President Trump claims, a complete retard. 

After several months of wild swings, moments ago the Fed published the latest consumer credit report (G.19) and it was quite tame by recent volatile trends.

Total consumer credit rose by $9.178BN in October (which is more contemporaneous than more other data points we have received in recent weeks thanks to the govt shutdown), which was down from a downward revised $11.0BN in Sept ($13.09BN pre-revision), and below the $10.48BN median estimate. The latest monthly increase pushed the total to a new all-time high of $5.084 trillion. 

Looking at revolving credit (i.e., credit cards), the increase was $5.407BN to $1.317 trillion, the biggest monthly increase since July, if on the low side compared to the $8.7 billion average monthly increase from 2021 until the end of 2024.

Non-revolving credit (primarily auto and student loans), rose by $3.771BN, the lowest increase since February when we saw a decline of $2.4 billion. This increase brought the total nonrevolving credit to $3.767 trillion, a new record high.

While there was no detailed breakdown for October, the historical data showed that when broken down by components, student loans - now that the repayment moratorium is over - surged by $27.4 billion in Q3 to a record $1.841 trillion. As discussed previously, student loans have a magical capability of being abused for everything but college, which is why enterprising "students" binge on them any time they can to fund all their other purchases, except education-related. Meanwhile, car loans rose by a far more modest $4.0 billion to $1.564 trillion.

A few weeks ago Kelley Blue Book reported that the average new car price hit $50,000 for the first time ever. Well, as the next chart shows, there's a reason why: it's because the amount finance by new car loans also hit a new record high of $41K.

Finally, and this will come as a surprise to nobody, despite 1.50% in rate cuts by the Fed since last September, we can now confirm that rates on credit cards have gone... higher, as banks continue to bleed US consumers dry: at the start of 2025 the average rate on credit card accounts was 22.80%... and on Sept 30 the number was higher at 22.83%, just barely below the all time high of 23.37% set one year ago.

U.S. natural gas futures spiked nearly 7% by late morning, hitting their highest level in almost three years as traders braced for another blast of deep cold across the eastern U.S. through the midpoint of the month.

From the $2.70 per MMBtu low in August to the $5.41 per MMBtu high around lunchtime in New York, prices have doubled and are now on track for their highest level since December 2022.

Colder-than-normal forecasts for the Lower 48 have pushed the quarterly gain to 62.5%, marking the strongest quarterly increase since the fourth quarter of 2005.

What sparked today's price spike, according to Bloomberg:

• Atmospheric G2 warns of significantly colder-than-normal temperatures across the eastern U.S. Dec. 10–14, with the pattern likely persisting into the following week.

• NOAA's 6–10 day outlook shows broad below-average temperatures across the East.

Forecasted Lower 48 average temperatures for the next two weeks will be well below the 30-year average.

As a result, heating demand soars...

Snow in the Mid-Atlantic today.

For Washington D.C. this is a major snow accumulation because any snow is major heading into the second quarter of the 21st Century. ?? pic.twitter.com/D1zEk8zYqs

— Ryan Maue (@RyanMaue) December 5, 2025

Related:

• Polar Vortex Threat Sends US NatGas Futs To Highest Level Since 2022

What meteorologists are saying:

Co-sign https://t.co/pWtNdrP8gt

— BAM Weather (@bam_weather) December 5, 2025

The 2nd and the first half of the 3rd week of December (~Dec 8-17) offers some shift in the pattern over North America.

We currently expect an active Clipper pattern with bouts of cold and snow for the Northern tier of the U.S. through next week, and *maybe* a brief moderation… https://t.co/mJwAZHwm7U pic.twitter.com/J3bM61yeuN

— Weather Track US (@weathertrackus) December 5, 2025

Bundle Up on your way to school or work today! ??
Lots of single digit temperatures out there ?? #wxtwitter #wxX #NYwx #VTwx #PAwx pic.twitter.com/FKHYe93thG

— Mark Margavage (@MeteoMark) December 5, 2025

A parade of clippers keeps us chilly and snowy through early next week. We've got @JMichaelsNews in the snow in Richmond VA this morning on @weatherchannel ?? pic.twitter.com/mGoyPgkTl7

— Kelly Cass (@kellycass) December 5, 2025

Scott Sabol, Meteorologist CBM/CCM@ScottSabolFOX8 For pointing out monster SOI crash in the face of the La Nina Base state as phase 8 MJO develops. Same kind of thing happened in Dec 1983 before major arctic attack pic.twitter.com/QGnXLylLql

— The American Storm (@BigJoeBastardi) December 5, 2025

Please "Make Global Warming Great Again"...

First, Delta Air Lines warned that the record 43-day government shutdown last month, which throttled air traffic at 40 major airports, would slash its fourth-quarter profit by about $200 million. Now Southwest Airlines is following suit, cutting its full-year profit guidance as the shutdown's ripple effects continue to weigh on major carriers.

Southwest revealed in a new SEC filing:

"As a result of lower revenue due to the government shutdown, and the impact of higher fuel prices, the Company now expects its full-year 2025 EBIT to be approximately $500 million, compared with its prior expectation of $600 million to $800 million. Following the temporary decline in demand related to the shutdown, bookings have returned to previous expectations."

The good news is that the shutdown's impact didn't spill over into December. Southwest noted in its filing that bookings have already bounced back:

Following the temporary decline in demand related to the shutdown, bookings have returned to previous expectations.

Southwest shares are down about 1.5% in premarket trading following the earnings outlook downgrade. Year-to-date (as of Thursday's close), shares are up 6.5%. The float is short 6.56%, or about 33.5 million shares.

Delta Air Lines and Alaska Air Group, which owns Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, both disclosed Wednesday that the shutdown's disruption would dent earnings this quarter.

"When you've got the Transportation Secretary telling people, 'We don't have controllers,' questioning the safety at some level of travel, which has never before happened, people said, 'Whoa, I'm going to hold up on making decisions,'" Delta Chief Executive Ed Bastian said Wednesday at a conference.

Last month, the Federal Aviation Administration restricted flights at major US airports in response to the government shutdown, which sent some federal transportation workers home. More importantly, air-traffic controllers called out sick, causing widespread disruptions and prompting Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to reduce flight volumes nationwide to prevent chaos across airports.