The Tramp’s Last Bow The Wire

15 Surprising Facts About Reindeer TreeHugger

Ephemeral edible: gingerbread monolith appears on San Francisco hilltop, then collapses Guardian (The RevKev)

Christmas in the grip of the Spanish Flu: As shops removed blackout curtains for the first time in four years in 1918, war-weary Britons faced the difficult decision over whether to see family during global pandemic that killed 50million  Daily Mail

22 photos reveal what Christmas looked like around the world in 2020 Business Insider (The Rev Kev)

A Great Deaf Bear London Review of Books

Quantum philosophy: Four ways physics will challenge your reality ScienceX (chuck l)

Ads All Tell Us To Kill Our Future. Worth Discussing? Counterpunch. Lee Camp.

Through a Lens Darkly: A Photographer’s Journey Through Los Angeles Capital & Main

Japan adopts green growth plan to go carbon free by 2050 Politico

Parthenogenesis: How females from some species can reproduce without males Ars Technica

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are Modeling Themselves After the Obamas After Leaving Royal Life Marie Claire

Japan’s ‘onsen’: A hot bath every day keeps doctors away Deutsche Welle

Navy Warship’s Secret Mission Off West Africa Aims to Help Punish Venezuela NYT

The End of Efficiency (david l)

Nashville

Mother, 29, given TWO free homes worth $409K by ‘Nashville bomber’, 63, says she had no idea he signed property over to her a month ago – as Feds probe if he blew himself up because he feared 5G is spying on Americans Daily Mail

Nashville: officers raid a home as a person of interest reportedly linked to Christmas Day blast Guardian (Bill)

UK

A deepfake Queen is more truthful than the real one – how ironic! RT (The Rev Kev)

Brexit

EU member states begin process to approve Brexit trade deal FT

Brexit: back on our heads EUReferendum.com

Brexit: Firms warn ‘clock is ticking’ to keep goods moving BBC

Businesses Brace for Disruption Despite Post-Brexit Trade Deal WSJ

COVID-19

Covid-19 learns from experience – unlike Boris Johnson and his crew. We are paying for their mistakes Independent. Patrick Cockburn.

Coronavirus: Cases of new variant appear worldwide BBC

U.K. variant puts spotlight on immunocompromised patients’ role in the COVID-19 pandemic Science

Germany and Europe Could Fall Short on Vaccine Supplies Der Spiegel

The Gift of a COVID Vaccine? Project Syndicate Jayati Ghosh

The first Covid vaccines were triumphs. What if the next are only OK?Politico (Bill)

Could AstraZeneca’s COVID Vaccine Still Succeed? The Motley Fool (Bill)

Hong Kong faces public scepticism over mainland Chinese jabs FT

A ‘duty to warn’: An ER doctor, shaped by war and hardship, chronicles the searing realities of Covid-19 Stat

If Covid-19 vaccines cause side-effects, who pays: makers or governments? SCMP

The drug that gives ‘instant immunity’ to coronavirus? UK trials new antibody therapy that can stop people who have been exposed to COVID becoming ill and it could save MILLIONS of lives across the globe Daily Mail

You thought coronavirus is our newsmaker of 2020? No, it’s science-made mRNA, its nemesis The Print

Fauci admits to LYING about Covid-19 herd immunity threshold to manipulate public support for vaccine, moves goal post to 90% RT (The Rev Kev)

‘No other case like this’: 3-year-old in Missouri had stroke after Covid diagnosis, doctors say NBC

LA’s Covid ‘tsunami’: inside the new center of America’s raging pandemic Guardian

Los Angeles County reports nearly 30,000 coronavirus cases over a two-day period LA Times

COVID-19 patient charged with murder in deadly beating of fellow patient at Lancaster hospital ABC

Biden Transition

Joe Biden Is Turning Out to Be Exactly Who He Told Us He Was Jacobin

The Triumph of Lunacy White Hot Harlots (UserFriendly)

Challenging police violence … while Black Reuters

Jon Ossoff has raised more money than any Senate candidate in US history in heated Georgia runoff election Business Insider (The Rev Kev)

Trump Transition

Can Donald Trump pardon himself? The raging political debate goes on The Hill

Trump refuses to budge over aid bill, imperiling jobless benefits for millions Reuters

Waste Watch

2020 shapes up as major year for M&A, consolidation in waste and recycling industry Waste Dive

Class Warfare

Life In The Christmas City American Conservative. My MIT roommate hailed from Bethlehem.

Coronavirus stalls long-awaited day in court for historic opioid lawsuit WaPo

Congress Ends Penalty That Kept A Million Americans From Getting COVID Relief Funds Marshall Project

She Noticed $200 Million Missing, Then She Was Fired ProPublica

Payday Helps Laid-off Real News Staffer Win Better Severance on Christmas Eve Payday Report

India

Resilience of Farmers Protesting on Delhi’s Borders Instils Hope in India’s Future The Wire

Virus trains?: Busting the myth that Shramik Specials were the reason Covid-19 spread through India Scroll

Watch | ‘India’s Not in Recession but Govt Refusal to Stimulate Will Create Financial Crisis’The Wire

Turkey pivots to the center of a New Great Game Asia Times. Pepe Escobar.

Julian Assange

Melzer Asks Trump to Pardon Assange Consortium News

That’s right. A lot of the public is confused about the indictment. Seventeen of the eighteen counts are a gun aimed directly at normal journalistic practice. The DOJ has been successful- with the aid of the press, revoltingly – in diverting attention to the hack issue. https://t.co/glJfvVbCO2

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 24, 2020

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

Antidote du Jour (via):