Friday, July 24, 2026

Coffee Break: Longevity, Quackitude, a Supplement that Works, and a Short Meditation on Orthodoxy

Part the First: What the Longevity Bros Miss: The Office of Science and Society (OSS) at McGill University is one of the best newsletters of its kind and has provided much to think about today’s Coffee Break.  In this first part, it is not too difficult to understand the desire to live long and prosper.  […]

Could a Crash Halve Stock Prices?

US and UK stock prices are in nosebleed terrain. How far could they fall?

Links 7/24/2026

Marco Rubio’s Supersized Reboot of Operation Condor

The US is seeking to create an Operation Condor 2.0 that involves dozens of countries — at a time when ICT technologies make it easier for governments to share information as well as track people’s movements.

Iran War: Trump Threatens More Intense Attacks as Advisors Push for Humanitarian Crisis by Hitting Food and Water Stores; Oil Rises to Over $100 a Barrel; Iran Warns UK; Trump Retrades Saudi Nuclear Deal with Abraham Accord Requirement

Today’s Iran war news: Trump may have aged out of his TACO habits and is readying new, potentially global-economy-wrecking, attacks on Iran.

Pakistan’s US-Iranian Mediation Services Were Just a Bid To Get a Multibillion-Dollar Bailout

As many suspected, Pakistan’s mediation between the US and Iran wasn’t a selfless diplomatic service for regional peace, after all.

“Islamist Extremism” Has Been Defeated; a New (Old) Foe Is Needed: “Left-Wing Political Terrorism”

“Left-wing political terrorism” is replacing “Islamist extremism” as the main threat narrative in Western countries, answering to a new geopolitical theater

The Kansas Community Fighting Data Centers Before They Arrive

Data center watchdog groups in Kansas farming areas seek to ward off applications and fight if it becomes necessary.

Links 7/23/2026

Iran War: Trump and Iran Exchange More Threats; Oil at $98 After Ansar Allah Tanker Strikes; House Passes $1.15 Trillion NDAA with Israel “Merger”; Trump Signs Saudi Nuclear Deal

Today’s Iran war news: Yet more threat display as the US moves more assets to the Middle East and Ansar Allah chokes oil supplies further.

The Global Food Crisis

A hard look at the possible severity of the coming global food crisis and how it demands new approaches to analysis and decisions.

Satyajit Das: Book Essay: “At the Risk of Being Pedantic…?”

The pedantic might relish that their vice can be a bit slippery to pin down.

Coffee Break: Oracle’s Exploding Debt and Plumeting Stock Price Threaten Paramount Media Empire?

The foundations of the hastily assembled Ellison family hasbara media empire — Paramount, WBD, American TikTok — are cracking as Oracle stock has lost $600 billion in market cap since its September 2025 peak and its nearly $200 billion in corporate debt is close to junk bond status.

Latest Chapter in Long-Running Kentucky Retirement Systems Case: Attorney General, Acting on Behalf of Private Equity Kingpins, Throws Legal Mud at Wall to See if Enough Will Stick to Confuse Judge Wingate

An update on the latest twists and turns in the astonishingly long-running Kentucky Retirement Systems case.

Links 7/22/2026