Links 12/18/2025 | naked capitalism

Christmas At The End Of The World: The Curious Allure Of Festive Apocalypse Films And TV The Conversation

How owl leftovers became the perfect home for ancient baby bees Phys.org

Andersen’s $176M Comeback: The Ghost of Enron Just Went Public Guru Focus

Climate/Environment

Why the weirdest sea level changes on Earth are happening off the coast of Japan CNN

Category ‘6’ tropical cyclone hot spots are growing Phys.org

Trump Administration announces plans to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research and close its famed Mesa Lab Balanced Weather

The country’s biggest magnesium producer went bankrupt. Who’s going to clean up the $100M mess? Grist

Pandemics

The Lancet: The Threat of Another Coronavirus Pandemic Avian Flu Diary

Blamed for the nation’s historic measles outbreak, West Texas Mennonites have hardened their views on vaccines Texas Tribune

Pam Bondi Dismissed Charges Against a Surgeon Who Falsified Vaccine Cards. It Emboldened Others With Similar Cases. ProPublica

How China’s Preparing for the Next Pandemic ChinaTalk

China?

Exclusive: How China built its ‘Manhattan Project’ to rival the West in AI chips Reuters

U.S. announces US$11.1 billion arms sale to Taiwan Focus Taiwan

Syraqistan

800 days of genocide in Gaza Andy Worthington

Netanyahu approves a $35 billion natural gas export deal to Egypt, the biggest in Israeli history AP

Germany signs second $3.1 billion Arrow missile deal with Israel Calcalist

UAE revealed as secret buyer in $2.3 billion Israeli Elbit Systems arms deal The New Arab

The Trump-Netanyahu Schism: Israel’s solution to Trump’s pressure — ‘Let his Gaza plan fail’ Conflicts Forum

🇮🇱🇺🇸🇮🇷| NEW: The WP quoting Israeli & US officials confirm that US-Iran talks were a ruse to strike Iran

US & Israeli officials encouraged media reports to make it look like Israel & US were having a “rift” in order to trick public opinion that a war was not going to happen.… pic.twitter.com/6pfBWNprgT

— Arya – آریا (@AryJeay) December 18, 2025

Killing the ‘brain trust’: How Israel targeted Iran’s nuclear scientists WaPo

The Shortest Path to Zionism: A Network Analysis of the US Nonprofit Industrial Complex University of Michigan

Old Blighty

After the chaos of the Johnson years I’d hoped the election would put relations between the government and the Intelligence and Security Committee back on an even keel, but this is as damning a comment on the state of intelligence oversight as has ever appeared in an ISC report. pic.twitter.com/Zr95EHogM6

— Andrew Defty (@adefty) December 15, 2025

English Outsider On Dirty British Intel And Other Stuff Moon of Alabama

Arrests will be made over ‘globalise the intifada’ chants, police chiefs confirm in wake of Bondi Beach attack LBC

‘Clock is ticking’: Starmer tells Roman Abramovich to transfer money from Chelsea sale to Ukraine fund The Independent

European Disunion

EU muted as US threatens top European companies Politico

Palantir replied 👇to my post on their French intelligence agency contract with, as expected, a lot of lies and gaslighting.

Their main argument seems to be “there’s no issue and for proof the French are so satisfied they keep renewing.”

This is completely false. The fact is… https://t.co/FSq1WaSiEp

— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) December 18, 2025

General strike brings Portugal to a standstill In Defense of Marxism

MERCOSUR protest: Thousands of tractors descend on Brussels to block Parliament and von der Leyen Euro Weekly News

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Live. ‘We won’t leave without a solution’: EU leaders meet to decide Ukraine financing Euronews

The biggest bank robbery in history Ian Proud

Putin hits Europe with his most feared weapon… his lawyers: EU bid to use frozen Russian assets could be scuppered as leaders fear they could be forced to pay the money back after the war Daily Mail

A victory for the @PatriotsEU: the Brusselians backed down, Russian assets will not be on the table at tomorrow’s #EUCO. The Commission now pushes joint loans, but we will not let our families foot the bill for Ukraine’s war. Not on our watch. pic.twitter.com/NlMbOoXrjB

— Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) December 17, 2025

New Not-So-Cold War

Putin & Belousov Address Defense Ministry Board Karl Sanchez

As the conflict between Europe and Russia escalates, Putin announced the deployment of a new powerful deterrent – the Oreshnik missile system will enter combat duty within the next two weeks pic.twitter.com/aFw9T67778

— Glenn Diesen (@Glenn_Diesen) December 17, 2025

Drone Attack Strikes Tanker at Russia’s Rostov-on-Don Port gCaptain

‼️🇷🇺 BIG NEWS – Russia’s shadow fleet is protected by military personnel, says Swedish Navy Operations Commander

▪️Uniformed military personnel and armed men – presumably employees of private military companies – have been spotted on Russian oil tankers operating in violation of… pic.twitter.com/KT63wxkhju

— Visioner (@visionergeo) December 17, 2025

Zoomer school stabber Events in Ukraine

South of the Border

Trump Announces Full Naval Blockade of Venezuela’s “Sanctioned” Oil Exports Simplicius

Note how the US government’s propaganda narrative has changed:

First the Trump admin claimed it was waging war on Venezuela because of drugs — a blatant lie (the US supports the worst drug traffickers in Latin America).

Now they admit that this is actually because Venezuela… https://t.co/pSoGQi3Ivk

— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) December 18, 2025

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Parsing Trump’s Venezuela Claims: The Oil Case Behind The Rhetoric Forbes

Trump administration asking US oil industry to return to Venezuela — but getting no takers Politico

U.S. Tanker Seizure Has Paralyzed Venezuelan Oil Shipping—Except Chevron’s WSJ

Venezuelan Navy escorting oil tankers through blockade zone — reports

US officials are aware & ‘considering various courses of action’

Source: Mario Nawfal, video depicts US naval blockade pic.twitter.com/ZSLgYzt3tP

— Victor vicktop55 commentary (@vick55top) December 18, 2025

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4 killed in latest US strike on alleged ‘narco-trafficking’ boat in eastern Pacific Anadolu Agency

Venezuela Denounces US Aggression Before the UN and Requests Urgent Security Council Meeting TeleSUR

Trump allies seek White House visit for Venezuelan opposition leader Semafor

Why Israel is Pushing for Regime Change in Venezuela through Washington Palestine Chronicle

L’affaire Epstein

Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell asks court to set aside her conviction ABC News. “Maxwell’s last-ditch effort for relief from the courts comes as the Justice Department faces a Friday deadline to publicly disclose its investigative files on Epstein and Maxwell in compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act…[which] contains exemptions permitting Attorney General Pam Bondi to withhold certain records if their publication could jeopardize active criminal investigations or prosecutions.”

Senators Press FBI Over Failure to Investigate Epstein’s Lawyer and Accountant WSJ

Harvard launches secret probe into students who filmed Larry Summers expressing ‘shame’ for Epstein ties: report New York Post

Trump 2.0

Description of FCC as ‘Independent’ Scrubbed From Agency Website After Chair Says It Isn’t Common Dreams

CFTC Acting Chair Caroline Pham Will Join MoonPay to Lead Legal and Regulatory Strategy Crypto in America

WH has installed a series of plaques under Trump’s new “Presidential Walk of Fame.”

On Biden: “Sleepy Joe Biden was, by far, the worst President”

On Obama: “One of the most divisive political figures in American History…creation of the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax” pic.twitter.com/BjT19R4waL

— Vaughn Hillyard (@VaughnHillyard) December 17, 2025

GOP Funhouse

Senate GOP grows uneasy as Pentagon’s Kelly investigation escalates The Hill

Democrats en déshabillé

About two hours before he tweeted this, Chuck Schumer voted to authorize $901 billion in military spending, $8 billion more than Trump requested. https://t.co/H8LShLb6vw

— Stephen Semler (@stephensemler) December 17, 2025

How I Almost Became a Palantir Democrat Un-Diplomatic

Immigration

U.S. Sends Cubans to Naval Station at Guantánamo Bay New York Times

Border Patrol, ICE and Christian Nationalism Borderland Talk with Jenn Budd

Imperial Collapse Watch

How the US empire creates chaos to disrupt multipolarity Geopolitical Economy Report

All the Dominant Models Are Collapsing Charles Hugh Smith

My Navy SEAL Congressman Can Beat Up Your Navy SEAL Podcaster The After-Action Report

“MAHA”

American Academy of Pediatrics loses HHS funding after criticizing RFK Jr. WaPo

CDC Adopts Contentious Hepatitis B Vaccine Recommendation MedPage Today

Healthcare?

How Health Care Became a Financialized Hellhole Commonplace

Antitrust

Big Tech Zeal to Weaponize Trade Pacts to Fight Competition Policy Exposed in Absurd House Hearing Targeting South Korean Digital Anti-Monopoly Laws Lori Wallach, The Economic Populist

Craftsmanship in the culture industry Archedelia

AI

An AI Bullshit Detector Future Pathways

AI promised a revolution. Companies are still waiting. Reuters

First Micron exited their Crucial consumer-facing memory business, then we heard Samsung may stop selling SSDs and now there’s news that Nvidia may reduce their RTX 50 production by up to 40% next year. pic.twitter.com/rpyyLz9mw6

— Markets & Mayhem (@Mayhem4Markets) December 17, 2025

“The study paints what’s likely a pretty conservative picture of AI’s environmental impact since it’s based on the relatively limited amount of data that’s currently available to the public.”https://t.co/4h54ELCMuu

— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) December 17, 2025

Our Famously Free Press

The World At Eleven. Aurelien

Guillotine Watch

Twist In CEO Murder Case: Prosecutors Withdraw Key Interrogation Recordings In Mangione Trial Dallas Express

Class Warfare

Border Agents ‘Interrogated’ Striking Workers In Chicago, Teamsters Say Huff Post

Barista workers arrested at Starbucks roasting plant in York County Harrisburg Patriot News. Striking barista workers.

Power Brokers Harper’s. “What’s really behind your soaring utility bills”

Antidote du jour (via):

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.