Merry Christmas, to those of you who observe it! And a fun and festive day even if you don’t!
Voices of the First World War: The Christmas Truce Imperial War Museum (Kevin W)
Islam versus Judaism… How is Jesus Viewed? Larry Johnson
If Jesus Were Born Today, Would He Survive the American Police State? Counterpunch (resilc)
Dinosaur bones found almost on top of each other in Transylvania ScienceDaily (Kevin W)
Camus’ life without illusion Engelsberg Ideas
Weight-loss pill approval set to accelerate food industry product overhauls Reuters
#COVID-19/Pandemics
This Christmas Eve, let us remember that it wasn’t the CEOs and billionaires who saved us during COVID-19. It was the janitors, nurses, cleaning crews, grocery and food workers with their hard, often invisible labor.
— Andrea Junker (@Strandjunker) December 24, 2025
Covid infections make you more vulnerable to flu.
It’s just science.
Accept it, or do something about it, but don’t deny it. https://t.co/3NJ6xgypUY pic.twitter.com/nbPoaeksGw
— tern (@1goodtern) December 24, 2025
From what I can tell, not happening in Southeast Asia, which due to the effective response to SARS and cultural norms that see making as polite and/or normal as a pollution protection, had and I assume still has lower levels of Covid cases over time:
In fact, we’re seeing exponential growth in patient numbers across all disease and age groups in Finland. The trend is strikingly linear on a log scale, with no sign of any slowdown since 2020.
No health system can take this for long. It’s just a matter of time.8/x pic.twitter.com/bkbF72slkH
— Ilkka Rauvola (@jukka235) December 23, 2025
Nobody has long-COVID but everyone is tired all the time, can’t remember things like they used to be able to, is having new medical problems, is having new issues with hair/teeth/nails, “feels off,” can’t focus anymore, and “is sick all the time now.”
— Em Cohen gazafunds.com (@EmCohen_) December 23, 2025
Climate/Environment
Based on the 11-year running mean (and on Earth’s Energy Imbalance), the near-term rate of warming could turn out much higher than the linear 2010-2025 extrapolation.
The next El Niño peak will be very informative for the rate of global warming, as @DrJamesEHansen points out: https://t.co/iaYk8NOZBw pic.twitter.com/wdtYcqxlzF
— Leon Simons 🌍 (@LeonSimons8) December 21, 2025
The Arctic Is Chemically Transforming, and It’s Speeding Up Climate Change SciTechDaily
Land, Climate, and Conflict: Unravelling the Nexus in Sudan, Syria, and Morocco E-International Relations
Southeast Asian floods set to threaten more wildlife due to climate change South China Morning Post
‘Borrowed time’: crop pests and food losses supercharged by climate crisis Guardian
Water
Who controls the Himalayas’ water? Observer
The Colorado River is on the verge of crisis. No one has a solution. Washington Post
Pakistan-Afghanistan border clash could turn into a wider water crisis Channel News Asia
Water crisis threatens food security in Barind region Dhaka Tribune
China?
China consumer shares hit record losing streak on weak demand Business Times
China to scrub small overdue debts from credit records to help spur lending Reuters. Note this is not forgiveness, just cleaning the record.
This… https://t.co/JG5Bu9UvwV
— Paul Triolo (@pstAsiatech) December 24, 2025
China blockades artificial diamonds, and the tools to make them Kevin Walmsley
Southeast Asia
How China Angles for Leverage Along the Thai-Myanmar Border Irawaddy
Cambodia sees mass displacement as conflict with Thailand escalates TRT World. Erm, some of this “displacement” is due to Cambodian encouraging establishment of Cambodian villages over the Thai border, which Thailand is now cleaning out.
Africa
The Catastrophic consequences of the Global War on Terror in Africa Propaganda in Focus
Algeria passes law declaring French colonisation a crime Guardian (resilc)
South of the Border
Pope Leo’s crack team of diplomats face war in Venezuela Responsible Statecraft
European Disunion
Rule of Law in EU Destroyed, ANYONE Can Be Next | MEP Michael v.d. Schulenburg Neutrality Studies, YouTube
After 2 world wars. post WW2 was about relying on the US rather than allowing European rearmament. https://t.co/oseyLPmfWL
— Warren B. Mosler (@wbmosler) December 25, 2025
German communists’ bank accounts terminated RT (Kevin W)
Greek Farmers Plan Christmas Week Blockades on Key Routes Tovima
Old Blighty
Britain is in the grip of a shoplifting epidemic with a record 810 offences going unsolved a day, figures show. Daily Mail
‘Bills keep going higher’: community ‘warm spaces’ on the rise in the UK Guardian
Campaign Against Antisemitism loses “vexatious” court case against Reginald D. Hunter Council Estate Media
New charges laid against comedian Russell Brand in UK 9News (Kevin W)
Israel v. The Resistance
🚨British-Palestinian doctor Ghassan Abu Sitta is due to face his tenth legal action brought by UK Lawyers for Israel, which have cost him over £100,000.
He told Declassified: “The aim is never to win. The aim is financial and mental attrition”. pic.twitter.com/eb5UdF1yn8
— Declassified UK (@declassifiedUK) December 21, 2025
The “ceasefire” is being used by Israel as a remodulation of the genocidal regime, with the blockade of medical aid forcing the few partially functioning Palestinian hospitals in Gaza to shut down. https://t.co/cGWQBDT5o1
— Nicola Perugini (@PeruginiNic) December 25, 2025
2025 Antisemite of the Year – Tucker Carlson pic.twitter.com/1eu2r9jvEs
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) December 21, 2025
14 countries condemn Israel’s expansion of West Bank settlements Arab News
Israel’s diamond industry is going extinct. That’s a billion-dollar problem for the IDF. Kevin Walmsley
Next war with Israel would not end in 12 days, Guards-linked daily warns Iran International
New Not-So-Cold War
The Reparations Loan is Dead Amerikanets. Has estimates of Ukraine spending for 2026 2nd 2027.
THE PUTIN-BUSH CONVERSATIONS – WHAT WAS LEFT UNSAID John Helmer
Poland & Hungary Are Threatened By Ukraine Yet Still Remain Divided By It Andrew Korybko
Imperial Collapse Watch
The curious liberalism of the ‘Axis of Evil’ Unherd
In defense of a King (sort of) America’s Undoing (resilc)
Trump 2.0
Trump’s Seizures of Oil Tankers Challenge Maritime Rules and Customs New York Times
The Heaviest American Surface Combatant Since WW2: How Capable is the Trump Class ‘Battleship’? Military Watch
Trump’s big, bad battleship will fail Responsible Statecraft (resilc)
‘Not a happy Trump supporter’: Cattle ranchers hit by push for lower beef prices Reuters (resilc)
Immigration
10 Companies Have Already Made $1 Million as ICE Bounty Hunters. We Found Them. Intercept
L’affaire Epstein
Officials discover a million more documents potentially related to Epstein case BBC. Lame.
Epstein files appear to show Andrew asking Ghislaine Maxwell for ‘inappropriate friends’ Guardian
Our No Longer Free Press
US Bars Five Europeans It Says Pressured Tech Firms To Censor American Viewpoints Online Associated Press
US Sanctions EU Officials for Free Speech Suppression in Major Widening of US-European Rift Simplicius
This is a huge escalation. For the first time ever the US started sanctioning former senior EU officials, namely former European Commissioner Thierry Breton.
If anyone doubted there was a Euro-US split going on, this is yet another hostile action by the US that makes it loud and… https://t.co/4QMRNlldxJ
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) December 24, 2025
LEAKED: The Censored CBS Video Bari Weiss Does NOT Want You SEE Katie Halper, YouTube
Stephen Miller calls on CBS News to fire ‘60 Minutes’ producers over ‘revolt’ The Hill. Pass the popcorn. Looks like Miller never heard of the Streisand effect
Economy
Trump is close to naming the new Federal Reserve chief. His choice could raise the risk of stagflation The Conversation (Kevin W)
Mr. Market is Giddy
Stock Market Crash: The 1929 Warning That Looks Like 2026 Share Talk
AI
Adobe hit with proposed class-action, accused of misusing authors’ work in AI training TechCrunch (Kevin W)
Fears grow over AI bubble – and here are the pressure points that could burst it Sky
Guillotine Watch
How the ‘Epstein Class’ Fails to the Top Chris Hedges, YouTube (resilc)
Elon Musk, AI and the antichrist: the biggest tech stories of 2025 Guardian
Class Warfare
Sharp price increases make basic foodstuffs unaffordable for millions in Canada WSWS
American Reality from Chinese Perspective Karl Sanchez
Antidote du jour (via):
A bonus (singnet):
I love this when dogs get to choose their new forever family. What a Merry Christmas for them! ♥️🐾 pic.twitter.com/nJ1s07hFFs
— Farm Girl Carrie 👩🌾 (@FarmGirlCarrie) December 19, 2025
A second bonus:
What Christmas looks like after being adopted.. 🥺 pic.twitter.com/9Wsgk1BlZK
— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) December 21, 2025
And a different sort of bonus:
The art of Pysanky: traditional egg decorating from Europe
📹vilsonpessanka
pic.twitter.com/deAXF6ETty
— Science girl (@sciencegirl) December 20, 2025
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
