Category Archives: Coffee Break

Coffee Break: Armed Madhouse – The Stab in the Back

As the war in Ukraine moves toward an ugly conclusion unfavorable to the U.S., I anticipate the appearance of a common propaganda phenomenon following lost wars: the stab in the back. This is a propaganda tactic in which military defeat is attributed to domestic treachery undermining the heroic efforts of the military. The bellicose elements […]

Read more...

Coffee Break: Ancient Food Facts, Cancer Therapy, the Conscious Brain, and Biohacking with Biotech…Plus Thomas Jefferson

On this Independence Day in one country in North America a few notes on life outside current politics, scientific and otherwise. Part the First: The Archaeology of Food Is Fascinating.  Having read about Roman eating habits over the years I have wondered about two things, fish sauce and the dormouse.  Now we know which fish […]

Read more...

Coffee Break: Armed Madhouse – Are You Not Entertained?

We have entered an era in which warfare has departed from the conventional (Clausewitzian) concept of attaining clear objectives. Instead, modern armed conflict is characterized by limited and generally inconclusive military clashes motivated by factors disconnected from the practical concerns of the affected citizens. War has turned away from decisive conflict and embraced performative spectacle. […]

Read more...

Coffee Break: Funding Medical Education, A Human Ancestor, Tardigrades to the Rescue, Trashing the Earth, Plus MAHA and Measles

Part the First: Financing Professional Education in the United States.  College costs too much in the United States.  Professional School costs way to much.  Up until the present – who knows what will happen next as the broad attacks on American universities continue – graduate education at the PhD level in traditional disciplines in the […]

Read more...

Coffee Break: Nihilists at Google Wrecking Existing Business to Chase AI Growth

Nihilism on the part of Alphabet’s CEO explains Google’s willingness to risk its search business and the open web itself to chase OpenAI.

Read more...

Coffee Break: Healthcare and the State of Science, Plus Baseball and Abundance

Part the First. How Did the United States Get This Healthcare System?  I distinctly remember the first time this question occurred to me, because as the child of a union household a visit to the doctor or the Emergency Room (trees were made to fall out of) was never a problem.  I was twenty years […]

Read more...