Tuesday, October 21, 2025

Putting a Pause on the Practice of Surrogacy

Surrogacy’s health risks raise ethical issues over whether the practice is exploitative and should be banned.

Coffee Break: Pyrrhic Victory Drives Dystopian High Tech Drive for Control

After claiming a pyrrhic victory in Gaza, Israel and its allies in Silicon Valley make a dystopian grab for control.

AI Is Coming For Your Doctor

Medical systems using Epic are planning to turn most patient care decisions over to AI.

Links 10/20/2025

Who’s Profiting off of the Criminalization of Homelessness?

Private equity, for one, which cashes in at nearly every stage of the American homelessness crisis.

FEMA Buyouts vs. Risky Real Estate: New Maps Reveal Post-flood Migration Patterns Across the US

Selling may be good for homeowners who can find buyers, but it doesn’t make the community more resilient.

Commodities: Why They Are a Challenge for Investors

Uncertainty is pushing investors to consider commodities but playing them is not as easy as you think!

Links 10/19/2025

The Sunday Movie Presents: Charade (1963) Run Time: 1H 56M

Charade is a romantic comedy-drama movie about thieves, money, and love in 1960’s Paris.

How a Bush-Era ‘Green’ Solution Made Climate Change Worse

Journalist Michael Grunwald digs into uncomfortable truths about food and agriculture in his new book, ‘We Are Eating the Earth.’ 

Links 10/18/2025

Protein Powders and Shakes Contain High Amounts of Lead, New Report Says – A Pharmacologist Explains the Data

As whey and protein powders have moved from the bodybuilder/fitness community to the mainstream, a new study raises alarms about lead levels.

Book Review: The Mixed Blessing of Antibiotics

“Dangerous Miracle,” by Liam Shaw, is a sweeping account of the rise and precarious future of a live-saving antibiotics.

Coffee Break: Politics and Science and Politics, a Coral Catastrophe, Mamdani, and the New ICE Age

Part the First: Politics and Science.  It will be s surprise to no one that autism is somewhere nearby: Inside FDA, career staffers describe how political pressure is influencing their work.  The inquiry came in August and struck scientists at the Food and Drug Administration as highly unusual.  The leader of the center that regulates […]

‘We’re Not Going to Forget’: Pritzker Warns Trump Enforcers Miller, Homan, Bovino That Immunity Not Forever

Governor Pritzker has gotten out of bed to threaten Team Trump over ICE abuses. But this still amounts to a wet noodle lashing.