2-cups worth today.  This first part is easy.

Pick up press release and read.

Nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased 2.4 percent in the second quarter of 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today, as output increased 3.7 percent and hours worked increased 1.3 percent. (All quarterly percent changes in this release are seasonally adjusted annualized rates.) From the same quarter a year ago, nonfarm business sector labor productivity increased 1.3 percent in the second quarter of 2025.

The second part isn’t too bad, either.  You grab the BLS presser and on the front page zero-in on…

Then you flip to a subsequent page and see “Who got screwed most?”

Then, I make a few remarks about BTC may head to $133K, stall and fall, and how Silver may pop $40 on this run, and the S&P is inches and goal to marginally higher highs…and then?

We wait.

Peace Deal Rumors?

My consigliere went through the latest from the Polish Seer (Jackowski) over the past couple of days and his take is that it’s POSSIBLE  that a Ukraine Peace Deal could come together.  Ukraine would be (sliced, parceled) and Russia would get a Kalinigrad right-of-way.  Which would sure take the pressure off Europe.

In return (besides Zylensky being bounced) the U.S. and Israel would get a Russian “look the other way” which might explain some recent rumbles about .mil vacations in dust bowl/sand bowl zones.

Normally, I’m in the “Uh-huh..yeah…” and (listen politely) mode.  But the idea has legs with the report that Putin and Trump will meet in coming days, Kremlin aide says.

Big changes in Poland as well: BREAKING: Karol Nawrocki has been sworn in as Polish President The EU bureaucrat’s LOST! 

Obviously, a good news/bad news kind of thing for markets.  That would sure give us the 1929-like high with an S&P up toward 7,000 and above.  We’ll look at the chart option in Peoplenomics Saturday (because there is a path…).

But that leaves America back in a position where the pressure is off defense funding – and that comes around to Jobs….and that is where things get interesting, to say the least.

Especially if China eyes Taiwan in October which keeps popping up in predictive circles.

Ripples to Track:  Keep an eye on which Corps bite as the Developer-in-Chief makes his moves: Trump Announces 100% Tariff on Chips and Semiconductors.  Nice that Apple is talking about building product here, but this isn’t a high-pressure faucet you can just turn on, Mr. Developer.  Plant and equipment (training, even if just programming the robots) is all out in the 18-months to infinity side of the Gantt, right?

Quakify

While a couple of readers are also feeling the “earthquake tireds” lately, one of our SME’s is worried about things ahead.  Telling us after (we gathered round the bank balances) Tuesday when we’d cued up Eight Miles High by the Byrd’s…

Actually, yeah. 8 miles high is about 40,000′ – roughly the tropopause, which in fact is generally the upper range of most normal size volcano eruptions. So far, it seems the smoke is only up to about 6 miles high. Oh, and it’s not just one volcano, it’s up to six… Six Russian volcanoes now erupting after string of earthquakes.

Here’s the ripple to track:

“These are not pumping so much into the stratosphere, as the troposphere, so, probably minimal effect on global cooling. Biggest possible effect, depending on wind direction, would be ash at sub-tropopause levels (say, 30,000 to 40,000 feet ASL) as that is the altitude at which intercontinental aircraft generally fly – both passenger and air cargo aircraft. The flight routes from the US West Coast to Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and China generally parallel the Kamchatka Peninsula as part of a great circle route. That route could be heavily impacted, causing significant route changes to avoid ash.

Oh, and per Google AI, currently, two Alaskan volcanoes are exhibiting signs of unrest: Mount Spurr and Great Sitkin Volcano. While neither is actively erupting, both are being closely monitored for potential eruptions. Mount Spurr has shown increased seismic activity, and Great Sitkin has been experiencing a low-level eruption of lava from its summit crater since 2021, according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory.”

Impacts to consider: and hedge?  Not today, but downstream?  Air cargo (and people) from Asia.  Plus further cooling of climate – which in turn could impact food supplies/prices in months ahead.

Roller-Scroller

Texas democrats are continuing to block the state legislature from getting a quorum.   We’re enjoying the Kabuki of it all, though. The Backstory Fueling the Texas Redistricting Bitterness .  The big con is when R’s break it’s oh so bad.  When the demonscraps do it?  Paint the pig with fine shades of Defending Democracy.  So sure…uh..,.whatever,  Reds.

122 F (1990) is the all-time record.  But the “climate hysteria” is rising faster:  Weather Tomorrow for Phoenix, AZ .

Don’t like the tone of this one, either: Renowned Oncologist Sounds Alarm: Cancer Deaths Are Now Surging Among Covid-Boosted. Meanwhile a better call as we figure it: SF Chronicle Annoyingly Warns ‘COVID Cases in California are Climbing Again’ – California Globe

They can’t be, um,  Sirius… Howard Stern CANCELED?! Insider Says Sirius WILL NOT Re Up Contract Ending His Show.  (Does anyone give a shit? Show of hands?)

But relax, Citizen!  We have the best government money can buy! “LAWFARE: The D.C. federal bench has effectively usurped executive authority, despite the fact that a third of its judges weren’t even born in the United States, and not a single one had prior judicial experience before their appointment. This judicial farce must end.  (Well, no, it doesn’t…)

3I/ATLAS hysteria watch posted: Mysterious interstellar object aiming at Earth ‘not natural’ as scientists rule out comet theory.  About time to start selling dust bunnies on eBay, again?

Two Personal Research Notes

Lithium Orotate: Alzheimer’s/VD  “Breakthrough”?

Attentive readers will remember several years ago (6-7?) I mentioned that both wife Elaine and I have APOE-4  alleles. This increases our odds of taking the “long exit” that no one wants.  I did a ton of research at the time (it’s somewhere in the Peoplenomics archives) a I demonstrated a correlation between Alzheimer’s incidence in areas of the country with low ground (drinking) water lithium levels versus higher level areas.

Both Elaine and I have been taking 5 mg lithium orotate for years.  Today comes important news which may validate our personal healthcare decisions. Our Brains Contain Lithium—and Its Loss Might Help Drive Alzheimer’s, Study Finds.

Thanks to our aggressive anti-aging protocol, we seem to be “holding the line” – which is a very good thing.

Docs are in a tough spot when comes to discussing nutrition because so much of the medical world is “owned” by Big Pharma.  OTC’s like lithium orotate are not.  As I told my PCP explaining why I wasn’t going to quit the lithium (while taking a BP med) I pointed to this history of its efficacy.

“4. Historical and Nutritional Lithium

Lithium was once viewed quite differently in the public sphere. Notably, the original formulation of 7-Up (introduced in 1929 as ‘Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda’) contained lithium citrate. It was marketed as a mood elevator and hangover cure until the compound was removed in 1948.

Several peer-reviewed studies and meta-analyses have since explored correlations between trace lithium levels in drinking water and reductions in suicide rates and violent behavior. These findings have rekindled interest in lithium as a trace nutrient rather than strictly a psychiatric medication.

5. Literature Overview

Numerous academic papers have evaluated the safety threshold for lithium intake. A 2011 review in ‘Biological Trace Element Research’ reported no evidence of toxicity at daily intakes below 1 mg/kg body weight. Bradycardia and other cardiac side effects have only been reported in therapeutic-level doses typically exceeding 150 mg/day.”

Lithium orotate is a very different critter than lithium carbonate which is used for some psychological conditions.  Like aspirin, there’s no “more is better” in this stuff.  None seems to be bad (very) bad,  But, too much colors over into toxicity at high levels.

In my case, when my PCP wanted me off lith (oro) during the med change, I complied momentarily but then phased back in (1 mg of orotate per day and scaling back up).  Lithium is dangerous stuff and should not be trifled with absent a knowledgeable doc’s involvement.

Orotate is an Over-the-Counter and Carbonate is prescription so here’s the comparison:

Let me Emphasize again this Important Distinction: Half-life typically refers to plasma clearance, but what matters for mood or neurological effects may be how long lithium remains bioactive in the brain, which could differ between these forms. Without large-scale studies, most claims about lithium orotate’s extended “effective half-life” remain theoretical.

This is NOT MEDICAL ADVICE.

ADHD-Alzheimer’s  Continuum Paper

Related to this, I got a call from Dr. Bob (one of the two MDs on the ADHD-ALZ paper) and looks like a better than even-money6 chance it will be picked up in one of the refereed/peer reviewed journals.  Which would be great. I’ll let you know if it does…

Photobiomodulation Research

Now for the really exciting part of my recent work.  I’m working on a paper modestly titled “Photonic Pumping of Human Experience...”  Simply, it suggests that religious-like experience may be triggered by a neurotransmitter cascade (releasing classes of endorphins and DMT-related) due to high “light-loading” (with a possible role of fasting).

This popped because I noticed that a lot of historical religious figures spent long hours outside in full sunlight situations. Most at elevations well above sea level so more UV shifted full spectrum light.  And lots of wandering time and…oh, plenty of math working out the numbersm, too.

To give you a sense of it, here’s just one of the interesting data views:

Which traces directly back to my work (with Ai) in The Charge Body Hypothesis – Hidden Guild.  I think it’s in the Peoplenomics archive as a full paper…

Anyway, when coupled with the Dopes on Dopamine paper that I posted last weekend, seems an oh-so-strange turn out to take in life at 76, right?

This ones one more line of inquiry to follow and that’s to ask “Is there a half-life to Light?  I had Ai write up the summary of where this leads:

“Where We’re Headed Next: Light as Input, Memory as Charge?

The next phase of this personal research journey asks a provocative set of questions: Can photonic exposure be measured, optimized, and perhaps even “written” into the body via blood and biophoton cascades? Building on our Charged Body Theory, we’re now investigating whether blood acts as both a photonic memory medium and a coherence interface—a sort of read/write gel that stores light-triggered experiences via electromagnetic or biochemical cascades.

Key to this is exploring whether there’s a “half-life” to photobiological activation—a decay curve after light-induced coherence or neurotransmitter release. If such decay curves exist, they might allow us to calculate optimal personal light exposure windows for cognition, memory, even spiritual clarity. Think of it as circadian rhythm 2.0: not just sleep-wake timing, but peak windows for light-charged memory formation, coherence, and repair.

In short, we’re asking: How much light is enough, when should it be applied, and does the body remember the charge? The implications stretch from Alzheimer’s prevention to spiritual states to the design of light-aware wellness protocols. Stay tuned—because we may be approaching a whole new understanding of how human consciousness is powered, stored, and recharged.”

Some of this stuff also backs up into human perceptual issues.  What I mean by this is two-fold.

First, in discussions with my buddy The Major, he’s still oriented to the “scalar physics” kind of thinking.  Like string theory, color me skeptical because I’m not seeing breakthroughs (practicum) from it, yet.  (I argue as much in Collaborator? Sure. But Still “Scalar Skeptic”) I’d point to Clif High’s recent discussion of how humans interact with the Ontology as likely a much more productive path, though Charles Capp’s book :”Calling things That5 Are Not“ might get you through a lot of (parallel) concept with less time-burden…

The  second odd perceptual is I’ve really begun to notice my preference is vegetables.   (Weird, right?).  I am drawn to the lower part of stalks of Romaine lettuce and to mung bean sprouts.  And this seems to figure into “light appetites”.  It has always been axiomatic that “your body will tell you what it needs” but few really listen.  Well, now I am and I’m curious why the appeal of “light deficient portions of plants and is there some asymmetry going on…hmm…

To repeat: None of this is medical advice.  Just damned interesting work.  When not developing a new kind of software which is a kind of ADHD To-Do list which doesn’t need a subscription and ought to run on damn near anything.  More on that to follow…

Around the Ranch: Gourmet Summer

Yum night. One pound of decent pork chops.  Browned in a tablespoon (or so) of garlic butter and plenty of pepper.  Finished with rosemary, and two shots of Cointreau.

Served on a bed of thin spaghetti – it was heavenly!!!

So with this, and to farm out ideas and research a bit, let’s see if I can talk LOOB into giving us a shopping list of the best cooking booze out there.  I have a short list and want to know what he would add because his cooking knowledge is immense.  (and includes Reader Ray’s collection of antique cookbooks…

On hand now: spice rum, white cooking wine, mirin, Marsala, red wine (if Elaine and I don’t get to it first…), I need to get some Madeira, and we have the Cointreau.  What do add stoveside?

Write when it’s light, you’re fed, and the market’s not manic,

[email protected]