TREE HOUSE NEWS 🏡

NEWS AGGREGATION & COMMENTARY

May Great Spirit bless 🙏

I pray you all have a prosperous and productive day. Well, at least I got up this morning feeling more like normal, about where I should be. I pray that this is a sign of recovery. I would like to finish my mission unimpeded by this albatross I had hanging around my neck. So now here I sit, 6:00 AM, still dark out. It's supposed to be 50°F and partly sunny 🌥️ today, then turn colder tomorrow, then back above freezing all the rest of Christmas week. I can see the green, green grass of home. 😉

I have a telephone meeting with my specialist from Toronto this afternoon, so I may hopefully find out more about this screwed up stomach of mine and what to do with it. I am functioning at a higher energy level. The stomach seems to be stuck at the level of heartburn, just a different, annoying pain in the butt, just not as intrusive as the nausea. The anti-acid I took feels more like I drank battery acid; hopefully it will pass. Oh well, couch time again, it feels nice under the blanket.

TODAY'S COMMENT:

I do not have much to comment on today. At least the stomach has settled a bit now so that I can continue this news report.

Let us begin with Trumpo The Typo's primetime address. What did you all think of Trumpo The Typo's Prime Time Address last night?

4 takeaways from Trump's primetime address

President Donald Trump delivered a rare, 20-minute primetime speech from the White House on Wednesday night. The address included relatively little news but did frame up how the White House would like to sell its record on the economy and other issues amid increasingly dire political indicators.

• 1. It's all Biden, all the time, from here on out
• 2. It was closer to what his advisers seemed to want, but it was hardly compelling
• 3. It was a characteristic factual mess
• 4. Trump's speech about nothing betrayed White House concerns

________________

• 5. Must have flushed what was left of his brain down that gold White House Toilet 💩 🧠 🚽

What a Disgusting Slime Ball 🫟 ⚾️

Read More:

Updated Dec 18, 2025, 7:11 AM ET - Updated 3 hr ago

- CNN -

WINTER WEATHER WARNING CANADA

Drivers urged to stay off roads in Alberta and Saskatchewan as winter storm blasts through Prairies

• Blizzard conditions expected to hit Manitoba next
• The Latest
• A nasty winter storm has led to treacherous driving conditions on a number of major highways in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
• Police in both provinces have warned drivers to stay off the roads tonight, with one officer in Saskatchewan saying the roads are too icy even to stand.
• Freezing rain and heavy snow are heading for the vast majority of southern Manitoba, including Winnipeg.

Read More:

- CBC -

CANADIAN NEWS:

Zelenskyy urges EU leaders to agree on handing over Russian assets

Ukraine expected to run out of money next year without Europe's help

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged EU leaders to reach a deal at a fraught summit on Thursday, where European Union leaders were trying to overcome differences on whether to use frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine's war effort.

Zelenskyy, who took part in the Brussels summit, said reaching a deal was the right thing to do and would allow Ukraine to keep fighting.

"Just like authorities confiscate money from drug traffickers and seize weapons from terrorists, Russian assets must be used to defend against Russian aggression and rebuild what was destroyed by Russian attacks. It's moral. It's fair. It's legal," he said.

WATCH | Russia 'ready' if Europe wants war, Putin says:

• Keen to show strength:

WATCH | Trump calls EU leaders' weak':

• ' The only game in town':

Posted: Dec 18, 2025 12:05 PM EST | Last Updated: 19 minutes ago

- CBC -

If I commented on this, it would be negative, with one of my homemade adjectives added.

Trump hasn't threatened ripping up the North American trade deal in private talks, Carney says

Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement is up for review in 2026

China, Russia pulling ahead of NATO in Arctic drone capabilities: report

Report notes Russian fleet expected to grow by 'order of magnitude' in coming years

A new study by the Center for European Policy Analysis suggests Russia and China are pulling ahead of NATO nations, including Canada, in the race to develop and field drones capable of operating in harsh Arctic conditions. The report, released this week, identified infrastructure gaps, questioned the adequacy of investment and pointed to procurement obstacles that hinder the integration of uncrewed systems into Western militaries.

"Procurement of Arctic-capable drones across NATO remains fragmented, slow and risk-averse, as most allies prioritize systems designed for temperate climates and only later adapt them for Arctic use, thus resulting in few NATO-certified Arctic-ready platforms," said the report authored by research fellow Federico Borsari and retired U.S. major-general...

• As China explores the Arctic, Canada's military is preparing for confrontation
• Defence minister says 'we're good' to meet 2% NATO spending target by March
• Zelenskyy offers to drop NATO aspirations, remains against ceding territory to Russia
• The Canadian drone industry is spinning up — with lessons from Ukraine
• Canadian military buying armed drones for $2.49B

WATCH | More about Canada's drone industry:

• Canada is strengthening defence ties with Finland and Sweden. What can they teach us?

Prime Minister Mark Carney says U.S. President Donald Trump hasn't given him any indication that he's willing to walk away from the North American free trade deal that was struck during his first term at the White House.

Carney met privately with Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in Washington during the FIFA World Cup draw earlier this month. Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), which is up for review in 2026.

Dec 18, 2025 4:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

- CBC -

Trump’s dark Christmas story doubles down on a political error

It was the nightmare before Christmas.

Donald Trump put a dark new spin on the tradition of national presidential addresses Wednesday, conjuring a hellscape of a “dead” nation he claims he was handed by former President Joe Biden.

His goal was obvious — to distract from his own political slump. Presidents often ask television networks for airtime for a prime-time address at epochal moments — when they are about to take the nation to war, or after tragedies...

• Where Trump’s skills may be failing him:
• All is not lost for Republicans — but things need to change:

Read More:

Updated Dec 18, 2025, 9:31 AM ET - 1 hr 42 min ago

- CNN -

The Kremlin’s brazen tactics: Russia’s shadow fleet is doubling as a spy asset, intelligence sources say

Russian personnel with links to the country’s military and security services have engaged in spying in European waters while working covertly on ships carrying Russian oil, Western and Ukrainian intelligence sources exclusively told -CNN-.

Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Moscow has built up a so-called shadow fleet of hundreds of tankers. These vessels carry Russia’s oil from its Baltic and Black Sea ports despite Western sanctions, earning the Kremlin hundreds of millions of dollars every year.

In recent months, some of these ships – often registered to unrelated countries – have acquired extra crew members shortly before leaving port, according to Ukrainian intelligence. -CNN- has seen two crew lists for these vessels in which the staff is predominantly non-Russian – but the documents also feature a pair of Russian names, and their Russian passport details, at the bottom of the roster.

• The only Russians on board:
• ‘It seems they run the ship’:
• Moran’s deep ties with Wagner:

Read More:

PUBLISHED Dec 18, 2025, 8:09 AM ET - 3 hr ago

- CNN -

Warner Bros. chose Netflix over Paramount — again. Now what?

Warner Bros. Discovery has officially rejected Paramount’s hostile takeover bid, advising its shareholders to do the same.

But the battle is far from over. Let’s break down what just happened and what to expect next.

So, what just happened?:

Early Wednesday morning, Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN’s parent company, published a letter to shareholders and an SEC filing, formally rejecting Paramount’s latest offer for the entire company, deeming the hostile takeover bid “illusory.”

The current deal to sell Warner’s studios and streaming assets to Netflix, the board said, is still better for WBD shareholders.

• Why did WBD reject Paramount?:
• What is Paramount saying?:
• What does Paramount do next?:
• Does Netflix need to do anything?:
• What are regulators doing?:

Read More:

Updated Dec 17, 2025, 4:07 PM ET - Updated 19 hr ago

- CNN -

🫷 ~ VIVE LA RESISTANCE ~ 🫸

☮️🗽THE MARCH TO PEACE AND LIBERTY HAS ONLY BEGUN!🗽☮️