Friday, August 14, 2026

Iran War: Mixed Signals on US Resuming Kinetic Action as Iran Moves to Offensive Stance; Flight from Israel Accelerating

Today’s Iran war news: The Trump team is fracasing over what to do as Iran goes on the front foot while servicemembers are badly overstressed.

Links 8/14/2026

The (Attempted) “Israelisation” of Latin America (Part II)

Israel has accomplished big things in very little time. But is it sustainable? 

Rob Urie: Why Taming the Power of Capital is Needed for Environmental Resolution

A hard yet often witty look at how US environmental policy was built to fail, and the issues presented by AI and voter shifts.

Trump’s ‘Forever’ Tariffs Are Kicking in for the Long Haul – and US Consumers Are Footing the Bill

Early predictions that consumers would bear most of the burden of Trump’s tariffs are proving to be true.

Nolan’s Odyssey Is About the End of an Epoch, Our Epoch

Nolan’s Odyssey is the work of a mature artist speaking about his time, perhaps to the detriment of the original work.

Why Have We Constructed a Society So Prejudiced Against the Autistic?

A bizarre attack on the autism bona fides of environmentalist/TV presenter Chris Packham shows normies do not grasp that passing is hard work

Links 8/13/2026

Iran War: Prospects of Long War Rise as US and Iran Signal a Staredown; Iran Economy Not Collapsing; Saudi-Ansar Allah Attacks Intensify; US Navy in Crisis?

Today’s Iran war news: more on the economic standoff as the Ansar Allah-Saudi conflict heats up and navy suicides come into the spotlight.

On Cinema: Political Films Part 1 – Maybe?

Questioning whether some iconic political films are really all that political.

Paper Tiger: the Failure of America’s Trillion Dollar War Machine

A high-level historical assessment shows that the US image of dominance in war has persistently fallen short in practice.

Layoffs Tied to AI Hurt Worker Productivity – and the Reason May Surprise Managers

AI routinely fails to increase corporate productivity. Using it to get rid of workers is a big reason why.

Links 8/12/2026

Iran War: Iran, Ansar Allah Keep Up Attacks on Ships as Trump Insists He Controls Strait of Hormuz, Will Break Iran Economically; Press Highlights Trump Cowardice in Catering Truck Escape From Ankara

Today’s Iran war news: Trump holds fast momentarily as his humiliation becomes more visible and Iran and Ansar Allah keep attacking.

Notes on Discovery in Biology

I was able to work for five weeks of the summer of 2011 at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole.  This is the one place that all biologists should want to spend time, whatever the focus of their interests and research.  Alas, too many don’t.  I learned much that summer as MBL lived up […]