Can Bibliotherapy Heal the Pain of the World? Lit Hub
The Psychedelic Scientist Nautilus. “High on ayahuasca, Bruce Damer saw how life on Earth began. He may very well be right.”
A Thousand and One Nights in Italy Public Domain Review. “In mid-19th century Italy, two eccentric aristocrats set forth on parallel projects: constructing ostentatious castles in a Moorish Revival style. Iván Moure Pazos tours the psychedelic chambers of Rochetta Mattei, optimised for electrohomeopathic healing, and Castello di Sammezzano, an immersive, orientalist fever dream.”
Climate/Environment
Arctic endured year of record heat as climate scientists warn of ‘winter being redefined’ The Guardian
From Climate Reports to Security Planning New Climate Reality
TCB quick hit: How climate change broke the Pacific Northwest’s plumbing The Climate Brink
#BREAKING: New drone video from Pacific, WA, on Tuesday morning following a levee failure on the White River at Pacific City Park. Whole neighborhoods are underwater as water continues flowing out of the failed levee. #wawx #flood #drone pic.twitter.com/QEkcG5QygR
— Matthew Pfab (@The_Weatherman2) December 16, 2025
Wildfire smoke lofted miles high could have an unexpected effect on Earth’s climate Space.com
They lost their homes in the L.A. wildfires. Now they can’t get the mortgage relief the state promised LA Times
How natural disasters exacerbate inequity Phys.org
Water
‘No water, no life’: Iraq’s Tigris River in danger of disappearing The Guardian
From Tehran to Chennai, a city without water is a harbinger of a thirsty planet Economic Times
Pandemics
We can save disabled people’s lives if we listen to the recommendations of the Covid inquiry Big Issue
The Outbreaks Are the Point Pandemic Accountability Index
China?
Sanctions and Economic Warfare in the US–China Contest: The “Renmin School” Playbook Sinification
Where Is the China-GCC Free Trade Agreement? The Asia Cable
Why China isn’t rushing to buy Nvidia’s H200 AI chip ThinkChina
India
India and China in deep water over Himalayan hydropower East Asia Forum
Leveraging Taiwan: India’s strategic counterbalance to China Lowy Institute
Syraqistan
A Trump Associate Wants a U.S. Military Base in Israel. Government Officials Are Playing Along Haaretz
Israel’s ‘Algorithmic War’ & ‘Algorithmic Assassinations’ in Lebanon continue unabated Conflicts Forum
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Plurality of Republicans say end US aid to Israel: poll Responsible Statecraft
🇺🇸🕎 This clip from tonight’s White House Hanukkah dinner is wild, and deeply revealing.
Donald Trump once again openly boasts that Miriam Adelson gave his campaign “directly and indirectly” $250 million, then jokes that it “is not what it used to be.” That alone is a remarkable… pic.twitter.com/7Soq3zfvPY
— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) December 17, 2025
Paper owned by Adelson (Full article):
The largest online media outlet in Israel is now calling for a global Jewish security architecture that will connect Israeli security forces with local law enforcement— “especially in the U.S.”— to identify instances of antisemitism and take action against them.
They are now… pic.twitter.com/ptLt462FBm
— Dane (@UltraDane) December 16, 2025
O Canada
Canadian military intelligence officer allegedly shared classified information with Ukraine Globe and Mail
Canada has given up on its “Victims of Communism” monument after hundreds of the names were shown to be affiliated with Nazi or Fascist groups. pic.twitter.com/FqB1HD0pdr
— Orikron 🇵🇹 骆培思 (@orikron) December 15, 2025
Old Blighty
Hunger Strikes and Court Cases Craig Murray
Downing Street insists negotiations over US-UK tech deal still live BBC
European Disunion
‘Discriminatory’: US threatens EU companies over tech fines Euractiv
Frontline states want EU cash as Russian threat intensifies Politico
Volkswagen Closes a Plant in Germany for the First Time in 88 Years TeleSUR
The EU’s problem isn’t Belgium — it’s Trump Politico. Key section on Russian asset omnishambles:
“The flagging negotiations on Tuesday saw EU officials and leaders increasingly raise the nuclear option: ramming the reparations loan through with qualified majority voting ― in other words, ignoring some countries’ objections and plowing ahead anyway. But some officials said this would rip open an already fractured bloc and likely plunge it into into real crisis. Another alternative is for some countries simply to offer limited bilateral loans.”
Fitch Places Euroclear Bank on Rating Watch Negative Fitch Ratings
New Not-So-Cold War
Russia rules out any concessions at all on Ukrainian territory – Ryabkov Intellinews
If You’re Talking to Yourself, It Ain’t a Conversation… Trump’s Failed Diplomacy in Ukraine Larry Johnson
US elite split Events in Ukraine
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Ukraine Claims World’s First Underwater Drone Attack On Russian Submarine The War Zone
I deliberately didn’t post anything about the security incident in Novorossiysk yesterday, waiting for the satellite images.
As we can see, the drone hit the corner of the pier, and the sub is still there, confirming Russian MOD claim.
The fact that Ukraine was able to slip… https://t.co/EweaVvbxCi pic.twitter.com/9rAFJolYXt
— Olga Bazova (@OlgaBazova) December 16, 2025
Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant switches to single external power line after fire Anadolu Agency
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NATO-Ukraine war on Russia spreads to commercial vessels in the Black Sea WSWS
Russia deploys all eight nuclear icebreakers to keep Arctic export routes open
Russia has, for the first time, deployed its entire fleet of eight nuclear-powered icebreakers simultaneously to maintain winter navigation in the Gulf of Ob and the Yenisei Gulf. #MarineTraffic data… pic.twitter.com/mjBE03RKYl
— MarineTraffic (@MarineTraffic) December 16, 2025
South of the Border
Trump Declares ‘Total and Complete Blockade’ of ‘Sanctioned Oil Tankers’ in and Out of Venezuela Antiwar
It is international law 101 that a military blockade is not just a violation of the UN Charter, but a crime of aggression.
Unless that blockade is in response to an ‘armed attack.’
None of President’s Trump’s list of complaints come close to an armed attack.
— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) December 17, 2025
US officially labels Colombia’s EGC group a ‘terrorist organization’ Al Jazeera
Why Is Trump Giving Nicaragua’s Ortega a Free Pass? World Politics Review
Operation Condor: Transnational Murder Syndicate Kit Klarenberg
Trump 2.0
Susie Wiles, JD Vance, and the “Junkyard Dogs”: The White House Chief of Staff On Trump’s Second Term (Part 1 of 2) Vanity Fair
Susie Wiles Talks Epstein Files, Pete Hegseth’s War Tactics, Retribution, and More (Part 2 of 2) Vanity Fair
White House launches damage control over unfiltered Wiles interviews Axios. Some other tidbits:
US strategy in Venezuela is to keep intimidating in the hope that Maduro just surrenders without a war, Trump’s Chief of Staff said to Vanity Fair.
Venezuela isn’t going to surrender. Trump never had a plan and Maduro was right to call his bluff on that. https://t.co/nCvbQVs6Mx pic.twitter.com/RlpYhl8QXz
— Ollie Vargas (@Ollie_Vargas_) December 17, 2025
Susie Wiles confirms in today’s Vanity Fair interview what we all knew about Liberation Day and tariffs. They were thinking out loud and had no clear path on how to move forward.
American consumers and workers are worse off for it. pic.twitter.com/X8hYfVXZ0P
— Tahra Hoops (@TahraHoops) December 16, 2025
Susie Wiles told NYT she didn’t call Elon Musk “an avowed ketamine” in one of her ELEVEN interviews with Vanity Fair.
“That’s ridiculous. I wouldn’t have said it and I wouldn’t know.”
Vanity Fair: Cool here’s a recording of you saying that. https://t.co/SblJJHmh58
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) December 16, 2025
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DESIGNATING FENTANYL AS A WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION The White House
When everything is a WMD and everyone is a terrorist or a traitor, there are no limits to executive power.
DESIGNATING FENTANYL AS A WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION https://t.co/p6aCfRHiP6
— Ben Hunt (@EpsilonTheory) December 16, 2025
Pentagon plan calls for major power shifts within U.S. military WaPo
Imperial Collapse Watch
How Capitalism Replaced America Murtaza Hussain
Higher US Profits Are WHY The US Can’t Compete (American won’t re-industrialize) Ian Welsh
Trump targets defense giants’ shareholder payouts as cost overruns mount, sources say Reuters
GOP Funhouse
House Republicans block vote on extending insurance subsidies Regular Order by Jamie Dupree
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
Russia expands biometric ID system (again) Edward Slavsquat
Police State Watch
DHS Denies That ICE Agents Pulled Over Ilhan Omar’s Son NOTUS
Posting this again because can’t stop thinking about how incredibly clueless Kash Patel’s FBI agents are looking out there in Providence kicking around snow 🤣pic.twitter.com/6AUNufBA9T
— Wu Tang is for the Children (@WUTangKids) December 16, 2025
Meanwhile…
To be fair, Katie Miller added this note at the beginning of her podcast with FBI Director Kash Patel & his girlfriend Alexis Wilkins, but thus far, that hasn’t helped the negative ratio it’s receiving (see bottom of screenshots)… pic.twitter.com/d7dJ5vLG8k
— Jimmy Simmons (@ArticulateTHGHT) December 17, 2025
Feds say antigovernment group plotted New Year’s Eve bombings in Southern California LA Times
LONGTIME PAID FBI INFORMANT WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN TERROR CASE AGAINST “TURTLE ISLAND LIBERATION FRONT” The Intercept
American Exceptionalism
Executions nearly double in 2025 due to dramatic rise in Florida NPR
Immigration
Ghost Trucks Working Class Storytelling
Economy
US added 64,000 jobs in November as unemployment hits 4-year high USA Today
AI
Why Sam Altman is getting into the pornography business Oligarch Watch
King of Cannibal Island London Review of Books
Casino Nation
The high cost of the U.S. sports betting boom Axios
The Bezzle
Meta tolerates rampant ad fraud from China to safeguard billions in revenue Reuters
Rogue states using crypto gaps to finance weapon programs Asia Times
Class Warfare
Greg Bovino of the U.S. Border Patrol showed up at the picket line of Teamsters Local 705 in Chicago today. The workers have been on strike against manufacturer Mauser since June. When workers are intimidated by federal agents, it chills worker organizing! https://t.co/If9kKAQlyP pic.twitter.com/7V9X2SzGdg
— Luis Feliz Leon (@Lfelizleon) December 16, 2025
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
