Why there’s always room for dessert – an anatomist explains The Conversation
Why Marathon Training is Shortening Your Life
Your heart isn’t built for chronic punishment. The same cardiovascular stress that makes you endure pain and suffering for longer can also make you vulnerable.
Exercise saves lives. That’s undisputed. But chronic high-intensity… pic.twitter.com/5QIApyi3Fm
— Metabolic Uncle (@MetabolicUncle) December 24, 2025
Investors Warn of ‘Rot in Private Equity’ as Funds Strike Circular Deals New York Times
Dad’s Microplastic Exposure May Prime Daughters For Insulin Resistance StudyFinds
How Accurate Are Learning Curves? Construction Physics
How Father Christmas Found his Reindeer History Today
The Radioactive Reindeer Problem JSTOR Daily
Climate/Environment
Southern California sees third death from atmospheric river storm drenching region The Guardian
‘The Poor Are in a Very Bad State’: Climate Change Accelerates California’s Cost-of-Living Crisis Capital & Main
Increasing demand for minerals used in renewables could further worsen mining-related deforestation in future: Study Down to Earth
yes, asian and african rivers produce 95% of ocean plastic but nobody asks where the plastic comes from.
plastic recycling is a scam. always has been.
the industry knew since 1974 it “cant be justified economically”they funded the recycling campaigns anyway because the… https://t.co/vnScAWEZ7b
— vittorio (@IterIntellectus) December 23, 2025
New study finds sea level rise is speeding up, contradicting federal report WBUR
A Massive Stone Wall Built 7,000 Years Ago Was Found Intact Beneath the Sea Off the Coast of France ZME Science
The Koreas
North Korea reveals 8,700-ton nuclear submarine as Kim Jong Un warns South Korea Interesting Engineering
Japan
Japan’s Cabinet approves record defence budget that aims to deter China Channel News Asia
Japan has become a troublemaker in international community: Global Times editorial Global Times
China urges travel agencies to cut Japan-bound visitors by 40%, say sources Straits Times
China?
India
US raises red flag for India? Pentagon report flags China-Pakistan cooperation in defence & space Financial Express. Full report.
Syraqistan
‘Israel’ detains Santa Claus amid raid on Haifa Christmas celebration Al Mayadeen
Israel ‘will never leave’ Gaza Strip, defense minister says Anadolu Agency
‘They want to cleanse Syria of Christians’: A community speaks of betrayal, terror, and exile The Cradle
Russia reportedly mediating security pact between Israel and Syria with US approval New Arab
Africa
Trump says US launched strike against ISIL in northwest Nigeria Al Jazeera
Nigeria confirms ongoing security cooperation with US over terrorism threat Anadolu Agency. Commentary:
(1)
What a sad Day to be a Nigerian.
This will be first time since the establishment of Nigeria that another country will conduct a military operation on our soil to “help” us dislodge terrorists.
Even at the height of Boko Haram, our government outrightly rejected foreign…
— Iyo Obietonbara (@sankofa360) December 26, 2025
(2)
But the individual who at one time was second in command of ISIS is now the president of Syria and an ally who was just at the White House. So instead of attacking those elements in Nigeria Trump should invite them to the white house to talk. Maybe he could cut a deal!! https://t.co/wTAqRHii4a
— Ajamu Baraka (@ajamubaraka) December 26, 2025
(3)
Their aim: To carry out coordinated cross-border strikes on insurgent groups that have killed thousands across the region.” Keywords: Cross-Border Strikes. Which border do you think they’re gonna cross to attack terrorists groomed and empowered to destabilize the region ? War☠️
— Djehoutimessou Aa (@DjehoutimessouA) December 26, 2025
Burkinabe’s President Traore Takes Helm of Sahel Confederation as AES Unveils Stronger Strategy West African Voice Network
Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger launch $895m regional investment bank Africa Business Insider
O Canada
The Toronto Tragedy JRUrbaneNetwork
European Disunion
Liberalism’s Denouement in Europe’s Permanent State of Exception Warwick Powell
We warned Merkel many times.
We were told we didn’t understand Germany’s relationship with Russia because it wouldn’t be a problem to get Russian energy for them.
She was wrong and everyone who followed her was wrong.
Germany must bring back nuclear energy immediately.
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) December 25, 2025
New Not-So-Cold War
Multiple Russian milbloggers started to confirm today that Ukrainian forces have mostly recaptured the key northeastern city of Kupyansk.
Russian milblogger Rybar laments “we defeated ourselves.” pic.twitter.com/sQniobrhxq
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) December 25, 2025
Ukraine strikes oil refinery in Russia’s Rostov Oblast with Storm Shadow missiles, General Staff says Kyiv Independent
‼️‼️‼️ BREAKING – NATO fighter jets were scrambled after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Tu-95MS strategic bombers on a Christmas sortie toward northern Britain, according to the Mirror. The aircraft flew over the Norwegian Sea, prompting an air policing response amid… pic.twitter.com/x7PbFDEjN4
— Visioner (@visionergeo) December 25, 2025
Access Without Authority: The Structural Failure of US Backchannel Diplomacy with Russia Kautilya the Contemplator
***
Russia Becomes Europe’s Largest Crypto Market BIT Markets
Russia plans to track every click as Kremlin pushes internet ID scheme Intellinews
Three killed in Moscow explosion including two police officers in suicide bombing Intellinews
South of the Border
White House orders military to focus on ‘quarantine’ of Venezuela oil Reuters
U.S. Military Killed Boat Strike Survivors for Not Surrendering Correctly The Intercept
This chase for the Bella 1 tanker carrying Venezuelan oil is now a 5-day farce
Daffy Duck is directing the Pentagon with Elmer Fudd running U.S. foreign policy.https://t.co/7TzdKcXs2Y#Venezuela #oil #sanctions #CoastGuard #Geopolitics
— Art Berman (@aeberman12) December 26, 2025
L’affaire Epstein
In 1982, Jeffrey Epstein Was Already Living Under a Fake Passport Identity and Traveling All Over the World. The North Star
Trump: Merry Christmas to all, including the many Sleazebags who loved Jeffrey Epstein…. attended his parties, and thought he was the greatest guy on earth, only to “drop him like a dog” when things got too HOT, falsely claimed they had nothing to do with him…. pic.twitter.com/lQGkx8ffLg
— Acyn (@Acyn) December 25, 2025
Trump 2.0
Trump’s Economic Lies Exposed by Charts: Jobs Falling, Inflation Rising, Reality Ignored Egberto Off The Record
Merry Christmas, America. We are blessed to share a nation and a Savior. pic.twitter.com/SDYujiojXS
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) December 24, 2025
Tracking how much of Project 2025 the Trump administration achieved this year PBS
Democrats en déshabillé
Liberal Despair Thomas Frank, Harper’s
All I want for Christmas is for the Democrats to play identity politics the right way. The Hill
Immigration
Stephen Miller Cites Children of Immigrants as a Problem New York Times
Imperial Collapse Watch
THE STIBNITE DOCTRINE Shanaka Anslem Perera
AI
Ashley MacIsaac concert cancelled after AI wrongly accuses him of being sex offender CBC
Nuclear developer proposes using Navy reactors for data centres Financial Post
Nvidia to acquire Groq assets in $20bln AI licensing deal Al Mayadeen
Our Famously Free Press
Washington Post: Venezuela using real and actual threat of invasion and regime-change as “excuse” to prepare to defend against invasion and prevent subversion. Any time the US threatens a country, US regime media will spin its response as further proof of the need for invasion pic.twitter.com/Tp8uwYnvkw
— Ali Abunimah (@AliAbunimah) December 25, 2025
The Bezzle
Waymo Has to Pay People $22 to Close Stuck Robotaxi Doors Gizmodo
Casino Nation
GAME OVER: THE END OF FINANCIAL REGULATION AS WE KNEW IT LPE Project
Teens battle grease and gravity in this lively street game Aeon
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
I’ll bomb Nigeria this Christmas
You can plan on me
Please eradicate ISIS terrorist scum
And presence, you see
Christmas will find me on Truth Social
Where powerful bombast will be
I’ll bomb Nigeria this Christmas
If only to make Epstein revelations less seen
I’ll bomb Nigeria this Christmas
You can plan on me
Please eradicate ISIS terrorist scum
And presence, you see
Christmas will find me on Truth Social
Where powerful bombast will be
I’ll bomb Nigeria this Christmas
If only to make Epstein revelations less seen
“Teens battle grease and gravity in this lively street game”
‘participants attempt to climb a grease-coated wooden pole to claim prizes hanging from its peak.’
That’s it? Those kids should learn from Steve Rogers’s example-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ag0PtH3g-s (1:14 mins)
This remains a notorious feature of “Frosh week” at Queens University (in Kingston, Ontario) for the Engineering department.
re: Stephan Miller Cites Children of Immigrants as a Problem.
He continues living up to this 2018 description of him in the Jewish magazine The Forward.
Why Stephen Miller Is The Most Hated Jew In America — By Fellow Jews
https://forward.com/news/403903/why-stephen-miller-is-the-most-hated-jew-in-america-by-fellow-jews/
“Nuclear developer proposes using Navy reactors for data centres”
The need for power for those data centers is getting insatiable. People might remember how in Trump’s 26-point peace plan that the US would get control of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant which is Europe’s biggest and is actually Russian. Now it has come out that the main reason for this to be inserted in that peace plan was so that the US could use it for a cryptomining operation and this was confirmed by Putin himself. How crazy is that?
https://www.rt.com/russia/630028-us-wants-cryptomining-zaporozhye-putin/
I got an idea. So Trump America is really desperate for power for cryptomining and for running all those data centers, right? And the U.S. Navy has about 80-90 nuclear-powered ships. How about ordering all those ships to return to ports along the east and west coasts of America. Once there, they could run an extension cord out to those ships and use those nuclear power plants to power up yet more data centers and cryptomining operations. Sounds like a plan to me.
> Liberal Despair Thomas Frank, Harper’s
>> This is one of the reasons that Zohran Mamdani succeeded in his unlikely campaign for New York City mayor. Whatever else you might say about him, Mamdani didn’t follow standard Democratic Party procedure, patiently waiting for his turn and swearing to honor norms. He understands that bold, energetic action is still possible, on the left as well as on the right.
Mamdani may be as subversive to the standard Democratic Party as Trump was to the Republicans. He kicked Cuomo to the curb as thoroughly as Trump did to Jeb. NYC is the apex Progressive center, while the Trump base is rural/suburban.
I thought of NYC when reading Richard Norton’s definition of a feral city: a metropolis with a population of more than a million people in a state the government of which has lost the ability to maintain the rule of law within the city’s boundaries yet remains a functioning actor in the greater international system.
Considering the rule of law is enforced by Mayor Bloomberg called ‘the seventh largest army in the world’, and that NYC is a functioning actor internationally, there are strategic concerns that are cosmopolitan. The DNC’s past history suggests they will try to take out his legs with a chainsaw. Business concerns (how about those office rents?) are worried about their ricebowl towers wobbling, and rightwing ideologues can be manipulated into infrastructure attacks.
Chuck a couple of false flags in the mix, a bit of counter-agitprop, and the Big Apple can be painted as a feral city. Then, as Betz says, ‘these feral cities come to be seen by many of those indigenes of the titular nationality now living outside them as effectively having been lost to foreign occupation.’ And the troops get sent in. There is precedence.
Which way, then, will the ‘seventh largest army’ swing? Or does Mamdani fold into AOC_2.0? I lived in the city, the most complex social environ I’ve ever been in, an operatic scale culmination of civilization in all its grimy glory. It matters. How will this tide turn?