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The beer-loving character Norm on Cheers, known for his famous barroom scene entry lines, once offered this gem: “It’s a dog-eat-dog world and I’m wearing Milk Bone underwear.” And that glass half-empty view on life was offered before the latest report on alcohol consumption. Long story short: BevMo? More like, BevLess. NYT (Gift Article): Health Risks of Alcohol Accelerate After One Drink a Day, Study Finds. “At one drink a day, the researchers found, there was an increased risk of premature death from an illness or injury directly attributable to alcohol, though it was small — one in 1,000 people. But the risk of premature death jumped to one in 25 for those who had two drinks a day, a level long considered safe for men, according to the study, which was published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.” Sadly, this study is coming out in 2026, an American year when even the driest of teetotalers are lining up for a turn at the keg stand. These days, you have to pregame before reading the news. For those who find the drinking news hard to swallow, there is a competing study. “It suggested that moderate drinking (up to two drinks a day for men and one for women) was healthier than not drinking at all ... Some of the panelists behind that report had financial ties to the alcohol industry.” What was the title of the study? The Next Round’s on Us?
+ Guess which report is being adopted by the administration? “A study commissioned by President Joe Biden’s administration to investigate alcohol-related health harms was released independently on Tuesday, after President Donald Trump’s administration decided not to feature the researchers’ findings in new dietary guidelines as it faced pushback from the alcohol industry and a congressional committee.” Is it any wonder that reading these stories, as much as anything else, is what led to my drinking problem?
2
Leave No Unmanned Behind
Drones are just being used to fight wars. They’re now being used to carry out rescue missions. “The unmanned surface vessel, a Saronic Corsair, located the crew, who had spent two hours in the waters off the coast of Oman and brought them to shore, said Capt. Tim Hawkins, spokesman for U.S. Central Command.” Drone boat rescues crew of downed US Apache helicopter near Hormuz.
+ “In a statement on Truth Social, Trump said he had been informed ‘that last night the Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache Helicopters while patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz.’ While the pilots were uninjured, ‘the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack.’” This comes just days after Trump said Israel must not respond to a series of Iranian missile attacks. The only thing consistent about Trump’s war pronouncements has been the claim that a peace deal is right around the corner. “Including the period before the ceasefire, he’s done it at least 38 times. That’s the number of times he’s said directly — in social media posts, public appearances and phone calls with the media — that a deal was nigh or claimed Iran was desperate to cut one.” Here’s the latest from The Guardian.
+ Conflicts are on the rise globally, at the highest level since WWII.
3
Well Endowed
“As bad as this situation is, we have a playbook for addressing such crises. But it requires a huge team effort — and this time, the United States has undermined its ability to help by shuttering U.S.A.I.D., cutting staff at C.D.C. and withdrawing from the W.H.O. Thousands of people could pay the ultimate price for that recklessness.” Jeremy Konyndyk in the NYT (Gift Article): This Could Be the Worst Ebola Outbreak in History.
+ In a parallel universe, you might think that Elon Musk being a key architect and enabler of these terrible cuts would mean some more ethical investors would be rooting against the SpaceX IPO that will likely make him the first trillionaire. But in this universe, just about everyone is in on the deal. WSJ (Gift Article): University Endowments Are About to Strike It Big on the SpaceX IPO. Forget USAID, Nazi salutes, and wanton racism. With the money at stake, universities don’t even care that Elon doesn’t like universities.
4
The Curse of the Babyno
The Knicks had won 13 straight playoff games. Trump showed up at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks lost. Call it the Curse of the Babyno. Trump couldn’t have had much fun at the game. And I’m not just saying that because the Knicks lost and Trump, always the norm breaker, fell asleep in the city that never sleeps. President Trump roundly booed by New York crowd at NBA Finals Game 3. Trump spent much of his life trying to be loved in his hometown. He couldn’t make it there. Donald Trump Got Absolutely Destroyed By Boos At The Knicks Game. (Of course, even in getting booed, Trump was still the biggest story in the biggest show in the biggest town, and that’s how he likes it.) We won’t know until the finals are over, but maybe Trump didn’t curse the Knicks. He just cursed the world and the Knicks are part of the world.
5
Extra, Extra
Reality Bytes: “It took Farid just a few minutes to confirm the video had been made using artificial intelligence. ‘Looking at videos like this is sort of my life,’ he said. ‘Some mornings I’m watching videos of people getting their heads chopped off before I’ve even rubbed the sleep from my eyes.’” When reality is in doubt, news editors ask this Berkeley professor: Is it AI? (But there’s only one of him and AI is getting better every day...)
+ Crypto Apocalypto: “A Reuters examination shows that the Trump family has used this [crypto] template to generate at least $2.3 billion in profit from investors since Trump retook the presidency. On the other side of that cash bonanza for America’s first family: the more than a million investors whose net losses totaled $2.3 billion at the end of April.” Under the Trump crypto playbook, the family always wins. Investors don’t. (I’m still looking for something positive about crypto...)
+ Getting Dark in Cuba: “US President Donald Trump’s push to force change in Cuba by cutting off almost all fuel shipments to the government is depriving the nation of 10 million people of access to water, food and healthcare, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said Monday in a statement.” Bloomberg (Gift Article): UN Says Children Are Dying in Cuba Because of Strict US Sanctions.
+ Welcome Splat: “Omar Artan, from Somalia, was set to be the first official from his country to officiate at the World Cup but was turned back in Miami after flying in from Turkey. He has said that he was interrogated for 11 hours, then held in a cell before being sent back to Turkey. FIFA has said it has no power or influence over immigration issues.” Omar Artan held in cell before US border force shattered World Cup dream. (Feel safer?)
+ Pratt Fall: “ He wrote a memoir called ‘The Guy You Loved to Hate.’ He’s dabbled in rap, releasing a song called ‘I’m a Celebrity.’ He started a company selling crystals claimed to have healing properties. But Spencer Pratt was not able to pull off his latest venture — an improbable bid to become mayor of Los Angeles.” The rise and fall of ‘The Hills’ star Spencer Pratt’s improbable campaign for Los Angeles mayor. (It’s still disturbing how well he did.)
+ QBet: “The reaction around college sports was nearly unanimous, with the idea of Brendan Sorsby playing in 2026 after admitting to thousands of bets on sports -- including 40 on his own team -- representing the latest crossroads for an industry that has faced a dizzying number of them in recent years.”