Great White Sharks Were Scared Out of Their Habitat by Just 2 Predators ScienceAlert (Chuck L)
The Return of the Weirdo Ted Gioia
Were classical statues painted horribly? Works in Progress (Anthony L)
This remarkable book about a ‘wild boy’ reveals what makes us human Washington Post (Anthony L)
What makes you human? Julian Macfarlane
Small explosion at Black Diamond Pool, Biscuit Basin, Yellowstone National Park this morning 💥
USGS called it a kablooey (sudden, dramatic, often messy explosion) Great word!pic.twitter.com/QkzpPAjZpS
— Volcaholic 🌋 (@volcaholic1) December 20, 2025
Editing is Only Good If the Editing is Good and a Lot of Editing is Not Good Freddie deBoer. The editor of my book had recently come out of marketing and sent e-mails like “It detracts the reader from the flow”. Dealing with her enabled me to get over my WASP inhibitions and have screaming rages to my agent, who had to intercede too often. The straw that broke the camel’s back was after repeatedly asking if they cared about format for footnotes, and after I had turned in half the chapters, they said they had to have Chicago Style. I said I was not fixing that on the completed chapters (I was also, uncharacteristic for a book, being held to a very tight and rigid publication deadline), that that was their task. It turns out that there is self-censorship among book authors. Many report, but it seems only to a fellow book writer, that they were subjected to lousy editors. By contrast, I have had very good editors when writing for magazines and big online venues like Bloomberg.
Ancient sewers expose a hidden health crisis in Roman Britain ScienceDaily (Kevin W)
Vaccinating Boys Against HPV Could Eliminate Cervical Cancer ScienceAlert (Chuck L)
The FDA’s Leucovorin Approval—A Departure From Evidentiary Standards JAMA. Important. More RFK, Jr. corruption. JJ: “Weird. In fact no science.”
#COVID-19/Pandemics
⚠️ BREAKING:
Super Flu Spreads Across UK as Hospitals Lose Nearly 13,000 Beds to ‘Bed-Blocking’ Patients
Schools battling flu outbreaks have closed; officials urge the sick to skip Christmas, MPs call for emergency vaccines. pic.twitter.com/6B5vS1X4Vm
— SARS‑CoV‑2 (COVID-19) (@COVID19_disease) December 22, 2025
The Wall Street Journal seems to have figured out how to prevent archiving, so I must report on rather than link to a finding from a recent story, on what are passengers to do if they are worried about toxic fumes. N95 respirators will only stop particles, not gases, BUT P100s will. So if you are seriously germ-paranoid, you can now use toxic fumes as a justification to wear a Darth Vader looking half-face respirator.
Haven’t stepped in a supermarket for 2 years but went to get turkey. Arrived before opening (people queuing). Wore my respirator. Saw one other mask – surgical). No side glances/comments, no-one noticed. Get your respirator on – no-one gives a shit & you enjoy sickness free Xmas. pic.twitter.com/z3cMVFuvRL
— Lara – Covid is Airborne (@fillthewhole) December 22, 2025
China vows city-specific fixes to clear housing glut, stabilise property sector South China Morning Post
Climate/Environment
Organ-tuning books in English churches provide notes on a warming climate Guardian
China?
China turns on a vast experimental network it says is an heir to ARPANET The Register (Chuck L)
Stanford just dropped a quiet bombshell — and Western media barely noticed.
China’s open-source AI models haven’t just caught up to the US… in some areas, they’ve pulled ahead.According to Stanford’s DigiChina Project, Chinese open-weight models like DeepSeek, Alibaba Cloud,… pic.twitter.com/bf7Iek5MQW
— Barrett (@BarrettYouTube) December 21, 2025
China’s Sprint for Tech Dominance Can’t Hide an Economy Full of Holes Wall Street Journal. Lead story. No archived version yet. While it makes valid observations about overproduction, weak consumption, not great social safety nets, and Xi’s determination to continue to boost exports, the piece has a cursory feel, as if the writers thought it was so obvious that an American audience would buy what they were selling that the support for the arguments seem dialed in rather than well-substantiated.
India
Why the US-led Pax Silica tech alliance snubbed India Asia Times (Kevin W)
Africa
Tens of thousands flee DR Congo to Burundi amid rebel takeover of key city Aljazeera. resilc: “I thought Trump brought peace.”
“Sudan is experiencing the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. Yet it has received less than 35 percent of its global funding needs.”
— #AJOpinion by Nabiha Islam ⤵️ https://t.co/5HVACiEdYD
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) December 23, 2025
South of the Border
Experts at oil & weapons-funded think tank: ‘Go big’ in Venezuela Responsible Statecraft (resilc)
Russia Urges US Not to Commit ‘a Fatal Mistake’ by Invading Venezuela (+UN Security Council) Orinoco Tribune (Robin K)
Bari Weiss Praised El Salvador’s Dictator Before Spiking ’60 Minutes’ Story on His Torture Prison Zeteo
European Disunion
What the EU sanctions against Jacques Baud and their justification reveal about the state of the EU Anti-Spiegel via machine translation (Micael T)
Macron reaffirms France’s support for sovereignty of Denmark, Greenland Anadolu Agency
Israel v. The Resistance
Bondi after the bullets Independent Australia (John Helmer). A must read.
Yes, we need to talk about Jewish Supremacy.
Please take 10 minutes to read Chapter 6 of Israel Shahak’s 1994 book Jewish History, Jewish Religion, titled “Political Consequences”. It is simply mind-blowing to think it was written more than 30 years ago.
——
“The persistent… https://t.co/6QoYrsRHPC— B.M. (@ireallyhateyou) December 5, 2025
Tucker Carlson named ‘Antisemite of the Year’ for opposing Israel’s genocide in Gaza Middle East Eye (Kevin W)
* * * Israeli forces on Monday bulldozed agricultural land in the town of Silat al-Harithiya, west of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian media reported, quoting local officials.
The mayor of Silat al-Harithiya, Samir Zayoud, told local media that Israeli bulldozers began… pic.twitter.com/tFj8U3wNp5
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) December 22, 2025
The true meaning of intifada Asa Winstanley
Israel’s Ben Gvir proposes prison ‘encircled by crocodiles’ for Palestinians Middle East Eye (resilc)
New Not-So-Cold War
Another Failure: EUCO Summit Conditions New Ukrainian “Loan” Repayment on Total Victory Over Russia Simplicius
‘We plan to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine for the next 5-10 years,’ — NATO Lieutenant General Remigijus Baltrėnas dreams of victory over Russia at the hands of Ukrainians.
‘I believe that European allies, together with American allies, are sending the best available… pic.twitter.com/xfTTe16MVn
— Zlatti71 (@Zlatti_71) December 23, 2025
Brief Frontline Report – December 22nd, 2025 Marat Khairullin, Mikhail Popov.
NY Times Weirdly Publishing a Bizarre Propaganda Piece About Putin Larry Johnson
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
Flock Exposed Its AI-Powered Cameras to the Internet. We Tracked Ourselves. 404 Media
Flock and Cyble Inc. Weaponize “Cybercrime” Takedowns to Silence Critics Have I Been Flocked? (Paul R)
Imperial Collapse Watch
US Diplomacy Incapability & Russia Preparing for Attack by NATO Mark Sleboda
Leave Greenland Alone Daniel Larison
David Betz: The West on Irreversible Path to Civil War Glenn Diesen, YouTube
Trump 2.0
Democrats renew government shutdown threat as tensions flare with Trump The Hill
The Trump Administration Protects U.S. National Security by Pausing Offshore Wind Leases Department of the Interior
Fentanyl Free America DEA. resilc: “Not the Onion.”
Trump Administration Live Updates: President Announces Plans for New ‘Trump Class’ Battleships New York Times
Kash Patel’s New Armored BMW Sparks New Controversy Over Alleged Job Perks Forbes (resilc)
In Defense of “The Trump Center for the Performing Arts” Sam Husseini
US farmers say Trump’s $12bn package not enough to undo damage from tariffs Guardian (resilc)
🚨🚨 BREAKING: The Trump administration is in talks with former intelligence analyst Edward Snowden for a TOTAL AND COMPLETE PARDON as well as Snowden’s return to The United States. These talks are reportedly being led by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, a long… pic.twitter.com/3mhK9TJdhV
— Joshua Hall (@JoshHall2024) December 22, 2025
Immigration
Number of people in ICE detention hits record high Guardian (resilc)
Long Haul Trucking Was a Refuge for Sikh Immigrants. Until Now. New York Times (resilc)
Judge extends order barring Abrego Garcia re-detainment The Hill
Supremes
Progressive Judicial Institutionalism Steve Vladeck
GOP Clown Car
Turning Point: How the GOP consensus on Israel cracked Harpers (guurst)
JD Vance: Nick Fuentes ‘can eat shit’ Unherd
Vance refuses to set red lines over bigotry as conservatives feud at Turning Point Associated Press
Top Heritage Officials Flee to Mike Pence’s Nonprofit as Think Tank Fractures Wall Street Journal (resilc). No archived version yet.
L’affaire Epstein
Epstein, Israel, and the CIA: How The Iran–Contra Planes Landed at Les Wexner’s Base American Conservative
Epstein seen kissing, cuddling little girls in stomach-turning new photos released by DOJ New York Post. This ought to be in the price….
Bill Clinton spokesperson says they don’t need ‘protection,’ asks for release of all Epstein files The Hill
Exclusive: One ‘Jane Doe’ tells CNN she is mortified that her name is unredacted multiple times in the Epstein files CNN (Kevin W)
The Epstein Files represent a once in a lifetime opportunity to clear out politics Council Estate Media (resilc)
Economy
Trump says small cars can bring down big prices. Here’s why that’s unlikely CNN
AI
Boys at her school shared AI-generated, nude images of her. After a fight, she was the one expelled Associated Press (resilc)
AI and crypto data centers straining power grids worldwide – satellite image RT (Kevin W)
The Bezzle
Uber Cleared Violent Felons to Drive. Passengers Accused Them of Rape. New York Times (Kevin W)
SPOTIFY MUSIC LIBRARY SCRAPED BY PIRATE ACTIVIST GROUP Billboard
Class Warfare
The GOP War on Nurses Washington Monthly
What happens when disaster recovery becomes a luxury good Grist
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
Antidote du jour (via):
