Category Archives: Coffee Break

Coffee Break: Texas Is the MAGA vs RINO Frontline

Texas is the 3rd largest US state. It’s been under GOP rule for 21 years and a civil war is brewing between MAGA and RINO factions.

Coffee Break: Armed Madhouse – Israel’s Ominous Future

The fog of war is thick over the current hostilities between Israel and Iran, but the intense interest in short-term outcomes of this regional war may be obscuring the ultimate prospects for Israel as negative trends undermine its militaristic foreign policy. I will describe these trends and the likely outcome. Loss of International Support The […]

Gaza: The Sacrificial Ram on Capital’s New Altar

Gaza and Ukraine symbolize the death of an old ‘nomos’ and the rise of a new one shaped by war, capital, and collapsing ideals

Coffee Break: Trump Deploys National Guard to LA

President Trump deploys National Guard and US Marines to Los Angeles in support of ICE. Gavin Newsom files suit in opposition. Waymos burn.

Coffee Break: Armed Madhouse – Implausible Deniability and the Deep State

The Central Intelligence Agency has in many ways achieved the opposite of the purpose for which it was founded. Instead of increasing the security of the U.S., it has weakened it. The CIA is a main element of what is known as the Deep State, a permanent government that operates apart from the democratic machinery […]

Coffee Break: Trump vs. Musk Omnibus

A scorecard in the Godzilla v. Mothra, um, Trump v. Musk slugfest.

Coffee Break: Armed Madhouse – Ukraine War Report

I have followed the war in Ukraine closely since 2022, and now that the war seems to be heading toward a conclusion, I would like to offer some observations. The War Was Planned and Guided by Western Governments Recent revelations have ended the pretense that Ukraine has been directing its war against Russia independently with […]

Coffee Break: Advances in Limb Regeneration & Malaria, Plus Science & Politics and a World through the Lens of Tuberculosis

Part the First. Old Experimental Models in Biology Lead to New Knowledge. Developmental Biology began as Embryology. A few of us still kicking remember the transition and miss the holistic approach required to master the material. Early embryological models included sea urchins and salamanders, tadpoles and the chicken. Much useful research was done with these […]

Coffee Break: Armed Madhouse – Trump’s Golden Dome Boondoggle

The zombie idea of nuclear missile defense returns with the announcement of President Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile shield, a program so stupid and costly that it could make the F-35 follies look like a side show. An orbital anti-missile system is a dream come true for the U.S. Military-Industrial Complex (MIC), but a nightmare for […]

Coffee Break: A Triumph of Gene Editing

Part the First: Gene Editing as a Cure for Genetic Disease. The recent politics of American science has been depressing in the extreme, and last week I promised to cover recent good things in basic and clinical science. I can’t think of anything better than a baby has been treated successfully for a rare, lethal […]

Coffee Break: Armed Madhouse – Missile Misfit

There are 400 nuclear missile silos in the central United States that constitute the land-based component of the U.S. nuclear deterrent. The Minuteman III missiles in the silos are roughly 50 years old. Although they have been repeatedly upgraded over the years, the Air Force decided a replacement should be developed. The new missile under […]

Coffee Break: Notes on Pandemic Responses, a Human Pathogen that Eats the Plastic of Medical Devices, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services Speaks Out

Part the First: Retrospective Notes on a Pandemic. BMJ, formerly known as the British Medical Journal, has recently published two interesting pieces on COVID-19. The first is an analysis by Anthony Costello, who was previously Director of Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health at the World Heath Organization: UK decision not to suppress covid raises questions […]

Coffee Break: Armed Madhouse – Air Combat Is Changing

The recent fighting between India and Pakistan has provided evidence of the diminishing role of the jet fighter pilot in modern warfare. A large air battle was fought between the two nations on May 6 and 7. India lost at least five jets, some of them advanced French Rafale fighters. Most of the losses were […]

Coffee Break: More on the Disruption of American Science and Good News on Intranasal Viruses to Combat Respiratory Viruses

Part the First. A Few Words in Response to the Excellent Commentariat of Naked Capitalism. No one knows better than I that funding of science in the United States is hit or miss. My overall average flirts with the Mendoza Line, which is not so bad. For most I do not miss the grant treadmill/lottery, […]