Links 12/6/2025 | naked capitalism

A massive Bronze Age city hidden for 3,500 years just surfaced ScienceDaily (Kevin W)

House of Luddington on fire Facebook. For Yoopers 🙁

Studying Science in an Anti-Scientific Time Chronicle of Higher Education (Anthony L)

Resurrecting a Global Killer: ACIP’s Hep B Vote MedPage

🚨Here’s what a fascinating case of twin girls born conjoined at the head tells us about the brain—and the soul—says neurosurgeon Dr. Michael Egnor.

“They have what’s called a thalamic bridge, which is a bridge of brain tissue that connects the deepest parts of their brains. So… pic.twitter.com/wqLFjT0iRL

— Jan Jekielek (@JanJekielek) December 4, 2025

#COVID-19/Pandemics

In 2020 I published a paper arguing that there likely was an element of CD8 T cell death in Covid. For the following years, I was met with overall antipathy from many professors for claiming covid was harming T cells. Now, a new publication highlights persistent T cell… https://t.co/fheGj5hZzi pic.twitter.com/7PElkhryOJ

— AJ Leonardi, MBBS, PhD (@fitterhappierAJ) December 5, 2025

The word subsets is really important.

Covid infection affects different subsets of cells in different ways, but also different subsets of people in different ways. pic.twitter.com/uuA5qcBXnM

— tern (@1goodtern) December 6, 2025

Yes, we should be wearing masks.

This flu is debilitating, dangerous and has already killed babies and kids amongst others.

This Flu season is breaking records all over the world and comes on the back of Covid which damages the immune system – which the media is silent about.… pic.twitter.com/h6HKK6Cp2W

— Matthew Todd 🌏🔥 (@MrMatthewTodd) December 5, 2025

Climate/Environment

Why Solar Geoengineering Is Now a Moral Imperative Earth

Breaking News!Code Yikes!

PIOMAS just posted their Arctic sea-ice volume data for September, October and November (catching up after the Gov’t shutdown).

Here is the volume data, 1979 – 2025, showing a record low for both October and November:https://t.co/Zn47UMVckB pic.twitter.com/2VNUHOOBYM

— Prof. Eliot Jacobson (@EliotJacobson) December 3, 2025

Will glacier melt lead to increased seismic activity in mountain regions? PhysOrg

Where low temperature records from the 1800s may be broken this week Washington Post

While a harsh cold spell in battering USA and Canada, the abnormal heat persists in Mexico,Central America and Caribbean,almost all countries are with record heat.

In Mexico 32C/90F is being reached every day above 1600m asl/5250 ft like at Huajuapan de Leon,Oaxaca State. pic.twitter.com/slWVKScGjL

— Extreme Temperatures Around The World (@extremetemps) December 4, 2025

‘Creeping catastrophe’: Climate change is driving global rise in infectious diseases, leading health experts warn Tropical Medicine

Bird malaria increases in Sweden as springs get warmer LandetsFria via machine translation (Micael T)

China?

China home prices to fall 3.7% this year, extending declines into 2026 Reuters

China Shadow Banks Back in Spotlight With Loans for Ailing Firms Bloomberg

How Far Can Chinese HBM Go? ChinaTalk

Oh wow, take a look at what provincial volume-based procurement is doing to medical equipment prices in China. Tests there were already inexpensive (vs the U.S.), and I’m guessing this means they’re about to get even cheaper.

Some of the price drops seen:•Digital X-ray (DR):…

— Rui Ma (@ruima) December 4, 2025

I think this paints with far too bright colors but would appreciate informed reader input:

🇹🇼🇨🇳 Taiwan’s Opposition Leader Just Flipped the Script

One of the most fascinating political pivots in years is happening in Taiwan.

Cheng Li-wun, once a firebrand pro-independence activist who condemned the KMT as “oppressors”, is now the leader of that very same Nationalist… pic.twitter.com/Yu8fYpUNTV

— James Wood 武杰士 (@commiepommie) December 5, 2025

Taiwan, Japan voice concern over Chinese military movements Reuters

Japan

Unrealized losses at Japan’s regional banks are surging:

Unrealized losses for Japanese regional banks on domestic bond holdings surged +$4 billion in Fiscal Q2 2025, ending September 30th, to a record $21.3 billion.

This marks a 260% increase since March 2024, when the Bank of… pic.twitter.com/8Ceao9A6EN

— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) December 5, 2025

In Japan, Prime Minister Takaichi tries to avoid a ‘Truss shock’ Reuters

India

FYI–Putin’s State Visit to India Karl Sanchez

Putin Goes to India John Mearsheimer

South of the Border

Brief Venezuela Update: Will He Or Won’t He? Mark Wauck

The fentanyl killing America is from top ally India — not Venezuela Dan Cohen

European Disunion

Laugh at the political class wherever you meet them! Overton via machine translation (Micael T)

Austria to go ahead with Eurovision despite financial impact of boycott Guardian (Kevin W)

I hope the whole Eurovision collapses Aftonbladet via machine translation (Micael T)

Sahra Wagenknecht in an interview with NachDenkSeiten: On warmongering, social division and the necessary change of course NachDenkSeiten via machine translation (Micael T)

Greece’s Missile Plans in the Aegean Raise Alarm in Turkey Greek Reporter

Romania’s far right German Foreign Policy (Micael T)

The $13 Billion Time Bomb Inside Germany’s Auto Empire GuruFocus

Chinese Auto Parts Pour into German Car Market Supply Chain Brain

Farmers’ blockades cause long truck lines at Greek borders ekathemerini

Old Blighty

UK construction sector ‘suffers sharpest slowdown since first Covid lockdown’ Guardian

The Chancellor cannot count on banks to rescue the economy Telegraph

Pakistan Demands Extradition of Political Dissidents From UK in Exchange for Taking Members of “Grooming Gangs” DropSite

Israel v. The Resistance

The End of the Israel Exception Foreign Affairs. Important.

Sorry If This Is Antisemitic But I Think It’s Wrong To Train Dogs To Rape Prisoners Caitlin Johnstone (Micael T)

Israel strikes south Lebanon after first direct talks in decades BBC

Trump Applies the Brakes in Lebanon and Israel Will Have to Give Diplomacy a Chance Haaretz

The Jewish religion and its attitude to non-Jews: Part 1 Israel Shahak, Matzpen.org. Chuck L: “Published 44 years ago but as relevant as ever.” Moi: Important.

Iran’s rial Hits Record Low of 1.2 Million per Dollar Amid Nuclear Sanctions Meyka

Facing Severe Drought Iran Plans to Purchase Water From Neighboring Countries Kurdistan24

New Not-So-Cold War

Brief Frontline Report – December 5th, 2025 Marat Khairullin

Vladimir Putin’s Philosophy of Complexity Russia in Global Affairs (Micael T)

Putin’s Top Envoy Kirill Dmitriev & His Deep Connections with the WEF, Western Elites, & Trump’s Business Circles Fiorella Isabell. One has to note that Putin has made clear that any serious negotiations have to be led by the Foreign Ministry. John Helmer has argued that Dmitriev’s role is to conduct a money strip tease for the very acquisitive Trump.

Will internet restrictions and resource bans lead to a new brain drain? TopWar (Micael T)

Child nazi spies Events in Ukraine

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

Woman Hailed as Hero for Smashing Man’s Meta Smart Glasses on Subway Futurism

Imperial Collapse Watch

National Security Strategy of the United States of America White House

New U.S. National Security Strategy – Fortress America, Compete China, Strangle Europe, Forget The Rest Moon of Alabama (Kevin W)

The Trump Administration’s New US National Security Strategy Signals a Divorce from NATO Over Ukraine Larry Johnson

‘Pretty Explicit White Nationalism’: Trump National Security Strategy Document Leaves Critics Aghast Common Dreams (Paul R)

Trump 2.0

“It’s bad”: Lawmakers shocked at video of strike on survivors of alleged drug boat Salon

GOP senators, lacking confidence in Hegseth, say his future is Trump’s call The Hill

US Supreme Court agrees to hear case challenging birthright citizenship BBC (Kevin W)

Immigration

U.S. work authorizations for legal immigrants slashed from 5 years to 18 months Kansas Reflector (Robin K)

Grijalva says ‘very aggressive’ ICE officer pepper-sprayed her during Tucson raid The Hill. These complaints are unserious until someone start filing suits over civil rights violations.

GOP Clown Car

Scoop: New fundraising platform ignites MAGA cash clash Axios

L’affaire Epstein

Judge Approves Release of Epstein Grand Jury Documents in Florida Case New York Times (Robin K)

Our No Longer Free Press

Inside the economics of Candace Owens’s media empire and the Macron lawsuit threatening to unravel it Fortune. Great detail on the economics of conservative podcasters and Owens in particular.

YouTube, aka The Biggest Platform on Earth, Has Deleted All My Albums David Rovick. *Sigh*. “If your business depends on a platform, you don’t have a business.” What YouTube did was awful but not unexpected. Was he asleep when pro-Russia accounts were temporarily or permanently banned on YouTube? Has he missed the very aggressive crackdown on pro-Palestine speech in the UK?

Europe Fires a Speech Warning Matt Taibbi

‘An attack on all American tech platforms’: Trump admin decries EU fine on Musk’s X Politico (Kevin W)

Economy

Debt Gap at 50-Year High in Emerging Countries, World Bank Says Bloomberg. We do not have a lot of external debt here in Thailand. But we DO have a very high level of non-mortgage personal debt and high overall total personal debt, to the degree that is it is officially acknowledged as a problem.

PCE Price Index Increases 0.3 Percent, Next Year Huge Medical Price Pressures Michael Shedlock

Manufacturing Employment, Hours Going Down Menzie Chinn

NAR Says Typical First-Time Homebuyer Age Was 40 in 2025, up from 33 in 2021. But Is this Accurate? Wolf Richter

Mr. Market is Moody

Global Central Banks Step Up Gold Buying Despite Record Prices Caixin

Weak Japanese yen is ticking time bomb Reuters

Johns Hopkins Study Challenges Billion-Dollar AI Models ScienceDaily (fk)

OpenAI Is Suddenly in Major Trouble Futurism

The Bezzle

Waymo to issue recall over self-driving vehicles driving past stopped school buses Reuters (Kevin W)

Class Warfare

The missing piece in the affordability debate: Higher paychecks Economic Policy Institute

Americans head to dollar stores as affordability crunch pinches consumers Financial Times

Kicking Robots Harper’s (Anthony L)

In class warfare terms, this is the PMC extracting from the super-wealthy as well as the intended, presumably generally-not-well-off aid targets:

This 2-minute clip is spreading like wildfire tonight for one simple reason: it’s the clearest “pattern recognized in real time” moment about modern philanthropy most people have ever heard.

Nicole Shanahan (RFK Jr’s 2024 running mate + ex-wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin)… pic.twitter.com/U3qC30hdLL

— Camus (@newstart_2024) December 4, 2025

Antidote du jour (via):

And a bonus:

“What’s up?” A man inside his car in Canada had an extreme close encounter with a wild bison when the mammal calmly approached the vehicle. pic.twitter.com/ANlgEdrzm0

— AccuWeather (@accuweather) December 5, 2025

A second bonus: