Coffee Break: Delusion, Deception and Dipshittery: Hasbara on the 8th Front
Israel and its billionaire ally Larry Ellison are engaged in a desperate mix of deception, delusion, & dipshittery to hold narrative control.
Read more...Category Archives: Coffee Break
Coffee Break: Autism, Universities, Gene Therapy for HD That Works, More Anti-Vax Nonsense, and Making America Greater, or Not.
This is Naked Capitalism fundraising week. 139 donors have already invested in our efforts to combat corruption and predatory conduct, particularly in the financial realm. Please join us and participate via our donation page, which shows how to give via check, credit card, debit card, PayPal. Clover, or Wise. Read about why we’re doing this […]
Read more...From Al-Qaeda to Antifa: “Phantom Terror” Turned Inward and the Rise of a New State
Politics begins by naming an enemy; the state depends on it. Calling Antifa “terrorist” could be the tool to redefine both politics and power
Read more...Coffee Break: Palantir, Peter Thiel, Alex Karp, and the Antichrist
Palantir co-founders Peter Thiel and Alex Karp almost embody the zeitgeist of 2025 with Palantir’s use of AI for ICE and the IDF, their Trump affiliations, and their outspoken views on the Antichrist and “Western Civilization.”
Read more...Coffee Break: Armed Madhouse – Laser Weapons
High-energy laser weapons (HELs) are moving from lab demos to real defenses. Israel’s Iron Beam—likely the first HEL to see combat—promises near-zero cost per shot against drones and short-range rockets, easing the strain on interceptor stockpiles. But lasers aren’t miracle weapons. Power and cooling demands, weather, line-of-sight limits, and maintenance of delicate optics constrain performance, and attackers can counter with obscurants and saturation. This piece explains the tech, the trade-offs, and how Iron Beam fits alongside Iron Dome in a layered defense that could reshape the economics of air defense in the Middle East.
Read more...Coffee Break: Impunity, Incompetence, and Maybe Insight Into How Trump Works
This past week the Trump administration has put on a bravura display of impunity and seeming incompetence, but perhaps we can glean some insight into how they function.
Read more...Coffee Break: The Next Surgeon General, Gene Therapy, Ozone Hole Closes, Daylight Saving Time, and American Socialism
Part the First: The Next Surgeon General Prepares for her Closeup. In a surprise to absolutely no one, Casey Means MD discloses financial ties to supplement industry. New financial disclosures from surgeon general nominee Casey Means show that she’s made hundreds of thousands of dollars promoting supplements and other health and wellness products, details likely […]
Read more...Israel’s Attack on Qatar Shows What Gulf States Have Yet to Grasp
It’s a cruel irony that Qatar has been bombed twice in the last three months by two sworn enemies, first by Iran and then by Israel. Neither has received kinetic retaliation from the very power supposedly guaranteeing Qatar’s security: the U.S. This signals a shift in the world order that Israel has already understood, but […]
Read more...Coffee Break: Armed Madhouse – Plinking Narcos
The Trump administration’s stepped-up military actions in Latin America resemble “plinking”—casual target practice against weak opponents. From strikes on drug traffickers to potential aggression toward Panama or Venezuela, these moves serve domestic political theater rather than strategy. This analysis explores the motives, historical parallels, and potential fallout of treating the hemisphere as a free-fire zone.
Read more...Coffee Break: Doomscrolling the Influencer Apocalypse
The influencer apocalypse triggered by the assassination of influencer Charlie Kirk is the biggest American moral panic since 2001, but the right-wing may not be able to control what has been unleashed.
Read more...Coffee Break: Vaccine “Side Effects,” Outdated Theory of Disease, “Life” on Mars, and More on Liberalism
Part the First: Unintended Side Effects of Vaccines. From Science-Based Medicine this week: Unintended Side Effects HPV and Shingles Vaccines—Reason for Concern. This headline is genius in its indirection: Emerging trends in the peer-reviewed scientific literature show new evidence of unintended effects of two popular vaccines—the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and shingles vaccines. Surprising findings […]
Read more...If There Is No Welfare State, What Will Europe’s Social Contract Be?
The welfare state is the underlying social contract that has kept Western European nation-states together since World War II. If it ends, as some politicians warn, what would replace it?
Read more...Coffee Break: Silicon Valley Ideologies as a Lens for Viewing Current Events
Silicon Valley ideologies like transhumanism, effective altruism, and neoreaction drive the actions of billionaires like Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg.
Read more...Coffee Break: Armed Madhouse – The Dragon’s Teeth
Military analysts expected China to showcase advanced weapons at its latest Beijing parade, and the display did not disappoint. From hypersonic missiles and stealth aircraft to universal VLS cells and drone swarms, the event highlighted qualitative leaps in Chinese military power. The parade revealed not just new systems, but a doctrine of deterrence by denial that directly challenges U.S. strategic assumptions.
Read more...Coffee Break: Trump’s Imperial Boomerang Gets Different Reactions in Chicago, D.C.
As Donald Trump threatens to hit Chicago with the imperial boomerang, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson fights back with an executive order that contrasts sharply with the actions taken by Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.
Read more...