Americans Are Increasingly Convinced That Aliens Have Visited Earth Wired
Social media users in the Central Valley are freaking out about unusual fog, and what might be in it LA Times
How Our Brain Drains Its Waste Products Ground Truths
Climate/Environment
HOTTEST CHRISTMAS ON RECORD is expected for tens of millions of people across the United States!
High temps will be as high as 75-77 in Illinois, 67-69 in South Dakota, 80+ in parts of Texas. pic.twitter.com/1geNj0Cteg
— Max Velocity (@MaxVelocityWX) December 20, 2025
A small state with a big climate plan Moving Day
They said they wanted to help farmers. They really wanted to hurt environmentalists. Seeking Rents
AI chatbots share climate disinformation and recommend climate denialists to susceptible personas Global Witness
Water
Commentary: Pakistan-Afghanistan border clash could turn into a wider water crisis Channel News Asia
Japan
Japan Votes to Restart Its Largest Nuclear Power Plant OilPrice
China?
US-China recoupling in an age of decoupling High Capacity
Jiang Xueqin: Chain Reaction Toward World War III Has Begun Glenn Diesen
George Yeo on superpower ‘headaches’ and why the US dollar could crack South China Morning Post
China’s Official Media Rebukes Han-Centric Historical Narratives Sinical China
Wang Ou: Migrant workers, after the honeymoon The East Is Read
The Lucky Country
AUSTRALIA TRIALS ISRAELI WEAPON SYSTEM ‘BATTLE TESTED’ IN GAZA Declassified Australia
Syraqistan
“After the first 70,669 deaths, there is no other.” Patrick Lawrence, The Floutist
West Bank: Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian schoolboy in Jenin at point-blank range New Arab
Israel’s security cabinet approves 19 new West Bank settlements New Arab
Israel to disengage from US military aid and collaborate with STC in Yemen? GeoPolitiQ
Netanyahu plans to brief Trump on possible new Iran strikes NBC News
U.S. Blockades Sanctioned Oil Tankers in Venezuela. Iran Deserves the Same Treatment Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Dave Chappelle: “The fear I have that I need you to protect me from is co-option. What if they make me say the things they want me to say? So just in case we need a code. If I say it you know they got me, and don’t listen to nothing I say after. The code is: I stand with Israel.” pic.twitter.com/Hh4EhieL9z
— ☀️👀 (@zei_squirrel) December 20, 2025
Old Blighty
Two Palestine Action hunger strikers in UK prisons admitted to hospital Al Jazeera
‘Hit Squad’: The Dawn Sturgess Inquiry Coverup Kit Klarenberg
European Disunion
Role reversal: how foot-dragging France blindsided newly assertive Berlin FT
It was blindingly obvious that Europe wasn’t going to agree to the reparations loan Ian Proud
Germany After “Pax Americana”: From Green Transition to Military Keynesianism Umit Akcay
Macron says France to build new aircraft carrier Anadolu Agency
The Brief – Banned in Brussels: How Euractiv landed on the Commission’s enemies list Euractiv
New Not-So-Cold War
No breakthrough after Ukraine talks in Miami Politico
EU loan to Ukraine pushing bloc ‘into war’ with Russia – Orban RT
Europe risks a self-fulfilling prophecy over the threat from Russia FT
Why the Brussels money-grab will fail Unherd
Macron’s Gambit Accepted The Sense of an Ending
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Russia’s lieutenant general killed in Moscow car bomb Intellinews
Sweden Boards Sanctioned Russian Cargo Ship Reuters
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Putin’s Presser: asabiyyah Julian MacFarlane
Diplomacy, corruption, politics Events in Ukraine
They’ve run out of talking points, must be going terribly bad for Ukraine…
Can’t tell if they actually believe this or it’s just propaganda for the gullible. pic.twitter.com/9wvFQOYZz0
— Spetsnaℤ 007 🇷🇺 (@Alex_Oloyede2) December 21, 2025
Africa
The IMF has told Botswana that if it buys its own diamond mines and thus gains control over its own resource production, it will stop funding Botswana. For the IMF to maintain a relationship with Botswana, the country must keep its resources in the hands of white people.
Here,… https://t.co/biBXLEvrJW
— David Hundeyin (@DavidHundeyin) December 18, 2025
South of the Border
As PDVSA Hits Oil Production Target, US Seizes 2nd Venezuelan Tanker Orinoco Tribune
This act of piracy also opens a new front. The tanker is said to be owned by a Chinese trading company. And PDVSA’s recent policy has been to get paid upfront, so this would mean a Chinese firm w/ a ~$100 million hole in its pocket. Will Beijing take action beyond statements? pic.twitter.com/9COpvtcIXR
— Venezuelanalysis (@venanalysis) December 21, 2025
US Pursuing Third Oil Tanker Near Venezuela, Officials Say Reuters
USAF F-35As Have Arrived In The Caribbean The War Zone
Will Venezuela Defeat US in World War III? Kevin Barrett
L’affaire Epstein
Justice Department restores Trump photo to public database of Epstein files Reuters
Chomsky taught a generation to dismiss ruling class coordination as “conspiracy theory” while dining with the man who coordinated blackmail operations for that same ruling class pic.twitter.com/ltJqQwHGRQ
— COMBATE |🇵🇷 (@upholdreality) December 21, 2025
Sexual Blackmail Makes the World Go ‘Round Helen of desTroy
Capitalism Did Not Float In on the Market: Chibber, Jacobin, and the Political Function of Western Marxism Weaponized Information
Trump 2.0
Long lines at the food pantry: Inflation tests Trump’s base in Michigan Reuters
Acting CISA director failed a polygraph. Career staff are now under investigation. Politico. Bread lines and lie detector tests. A lot of commentators want to compare to USSR, but at least they had healthcare…
GOP Funhouse
ACA Premiums Explode as GOP Obstruction Pushes Millions Toward Health Care Ruin Egberto Off The Record
Accelerationists
POST-NEOLIBERALISM IS THE NEW CENTRISM Quinn Slobodian, LPE Project
Democrats en déshabillé
Gov. Walz calls $9 billion fraud estimate in Minnesota-run Medicaid services ‘sensationalized’ Minnesota Reformer
The Uniparty
1 in 10 voters want a bigger military budget, 8 in 10 senators voted for one Stephen Semler
Immigration
The real purpose of ICE raids. Borderland Talk with Jenn Budd
Police State Watch
ICE Hires Immigrant Bounty Hunters From Private Prison Company GEO Group The Intercept
Groves of Academe
Radical Finance for America’s Schools w/ David I. Backer MR Online
AI
Could the US win the AI race, but lose the war for economic preeminence? The Antimonopolist
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
There’s so much stolen data in the world, South Korea will require face scans to buy a SIM The Register
Our Famously Free Press
The Political Economy of the US Media System: Excavating the Roots of the Present Crisis Roosevelt Institute
Here’s the deleted trailer for the now-“delayed” segment. It’s almost impressive how much damage Bari Weiss has done to CBS News in such a short period of time.
Someone quickly schedule a prime-time Town Hall with Alan Dershowitz to rectify the harm:pic.twitter.com/382gRG5Lgp https://t.co/3gHRKNES2y
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) December 21, 2025
MAGA media mess deepens at Turning Point convention Axios
StopAntisemitism Takes Credit for Getting Hundreds Fired. A Music Teacher Is Suing. The Intercept
If You’re Not Free To Oppose A Genocide, Your Society Is Not Free Caitlin Johnstone
The Friendly Skies
The SpaceX Explosion That Put Flights in Danger WSJ
‘He Was Poisoned.’ Toxic Fumes on Planes Blamed for Deaths of Pilots and Crew WSJ
Influence of seating position and ventilation on aerosol dispersion in a passenger aircraft Springer Nature
Airbus to migrate critical apps to a sovereign Euro cloud The Register
The Bezzle
Waymo halts service during massive S.F. blackout after causing traffic jams Mission Local
Casino Nation
Life in the Fast Lane With Robinhood Markets Racket News
Antitrust
Monopoly Round-Up: Corporate Lawyers and Fat Envelope America BIG by Matt Stoller
Class Warfare
The New Nobility and Neo-Colonial Exploitation of the Home Citizenry Charles Hugh Smith
Walking in the Dark Enlightened Omnivore
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
“Netanyahu plans to brief Trump on possible new Iran strikes”
With Trump bogged down in the Ukraine with no way that he can come out a winner here and in a stand-off with Maduro in Venezuela who is not stepping down, along comes Netanyahu with a solution – war with Iran. The American public, especially the MAGA voters along with the America Firsters will love that because that is why they voted Trump in for. Of course the US will have to do the heavy lifting and be putting their troops at hazard of being killed but Bibi is willing to take that risk.
I MUST comment on the photo of the cat in the XMAS tree. From all appearances this is a Turkish Van cat, a very rare cat in the United States. I would be curious is the person that submitted this picture is aware of wether this cat is a Van cat. Mine was indeed a character and since the van loves high places and is very mischievous this would indeed be a place where one would go.
Is it Smokey Van Kat, or a breed from the vicinity of Van lake?