WTF-Beta

oats

That is one lucky cat!

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/14/bastille-day-celebrations-france-tempered-fear-wildfires

A coffee at a French cafe or dinner at a French bistro would be wonderful. Absent those, here are two versions of one of my favorite French songs to listen to at home while sipping a latte...

He really should stop trying to save face when he blunders into something. He just ends up sounding stupid.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a reversal of plans to charge a 20% toll on cargo going through the Strait of Hormuz, saying that Middle Eastern countries will instead make investment and trade deals with the U.S.

“Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States,” Trump said on social media.

The president said the investments “will be MASSIVE,” though it’s unclear if these would be new commitments relative to what Trump announced after a visit last year to the Middle East.

https://apnews.com/article/iran-us-hormuz-strait-war-july-14-2026-abd060c55feea216625689e57d8f76be

Well this didn't age well.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/marco-rubio-prior-warning-tolls-203343581.html

Well, Sir Anthony does…

https://www.euronews.com/culture/2026/07/10/sir-anthony-hopkins-signs-recording-contract-and-drops-first-single-at-88

A new game to add to your daily game regimen.

https://anthropeum.com/

Graham's sister likely to be named his replacement.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lindsey-graham-replacement-senate-south-carolina-governor/

This week Tony Wyss-Coray and I published an invited review paper in Nature Medicine entitled “Biological Aging Clocks in Health and Disease.” The concepts and content of the paper may be difficult to understand for people not working in life science, but they are groundbreaking and have exciting implications for the future of medicine. So this edition of Ground Truths is intended to make all of the progress comprehensible for you and to hopefully see the coming inflection point in medicine. I’ll divide this into 4 key sections: (1) the chronological illusion of aging; (2) aging is synchronous in our body—the value of organ clocks, (3) cell clocks and the master regulators of aging; and (4) impact for routine medical practice.

https://erictopol.substack.com/p/medicine-is-moving-from-calendars?publication_id=587835&post_id=206616743&isFreemail=true&r=1v8sh2&triedRedirect=true

"My doctors have confirmed that I didn't break any bones or suffer a concussion. I didn't have a heart attack or a stroke. I don't have any tumors or hemorrhages," McConnell said Sunday. "But I was briefly unconscious and was taken to the hospital. While receiving excellent care over the past several weeks, I've also had to deal with a mild case of pneumonia."

His doctors are trying to figure out what caused the incident, McConnell said, adding he's doing everything they ask to speed up his recovery.

"In fact, with signs of continued progress, I've been able to move from hospital care to a rehabilitation center where I'll keep regaining my strength," he said.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mitch-mcconnell-health-update-pneumonia-unconscious/

Medical examiner says it was an aortic dissection.

It's interesting to read various views of Graham's life and political career.

Anne Applebaum in the Atlantic:

https://archive.is/YUTyn

And an interesting interview this morning with Chris Coons. Starts at 13:39:

Meghan McCain's thoughts.

https://archive.is/RQ3Ab

Emergency personnel responded to a call for “cardiac arrest” at Graham’s Capitol Hill home on Saturday night, according to police scanner audio obtained by NBC News.

Photographs reviewed by NBC News show that paramedics carried a person on a stretcher from Graham’s home to an awaiting ambulance. Police cars and fire trucks were also on site.

Graham was fresh off a trip to Kyiv, Ukraine, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday. He had been scheduled to appear on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/sen-lindsey-graham-dies-71-brief-sudden-illness-rcna552722

‘A slap in the face’: small farmers say Trump is turning his back on them

The president wooed farmers in his campaign, but now the USDA is yanking funding, citing ‘DEI’ and wasteful spending

Trump wooed farmers in the presidential election two years ago with promises to be their champion in Washington DC, only for the side-effects from his tariff regimen and the war with Iran to rock agriculture nationwide. Small-scale producers of livestock and food say they have been uniquely affected by policy shifts at the USDA, which has laid off staff and dismantled initiatives created under Joe Biden, fueling accusations that it is prioritizing large, corporate-owned farms over their businesses.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/11/iowa-farming-trump-cuts-usda

A Japanese choir is touring Lithuania performing Lithuanian songs, the result of a cultural friendship between the two countries that began by chance more than a decade ago.

https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2976341/japanese-choir-finds-its-voice-in-lithuanian-folk-songs

@AndyD

Oops. Turns out I'm behind the times. Grande used to be Starbucks' biggest size, but now...

The history of Starbucks drink sizes:

https://www.dictionary.com/articles/starbucks-trenta