But first:  The U.S. and Iran gave conflicting informatio n about whether the Strait of Hormuz is open, as strikes escalated over the weekend.  Could be worse.   The USA has not yet invaded Kharg Island . Brent crude oil climbed nearly 10% to $83.30/barrel. WTI petroleum jumped slightly more. According to the official site, the Strait of Hormuz is CLOSED . No FIFA World Cup match today. The only really interesting event of this Major League Baseball All-Star week ( regular season games return on Thursday ) is the Home Run Derby, which will only stream on Netflix from 8PM EDT. So on to my posting of today.  The FIFA World Cup seemed to be full of players faking injuries, something tolerated in the game.   Shouldn't this be morally reprehensible, and deserving of a penalty? Well, volleyball players lie all the time.  They almost never voluntarily admit fault, like in touching balls that go out of bounds. Volleyball players literally have to lie ...

The Russian War in Ukraine has re-aroused the fear of a nuclear holocaust.  The closest humanity has been to extinction was the prospect of a similar horror through much of the Cold War.  Two J. Robert Oppenheimer productions will shake you out of your comfort zone.  It's actually worse because he is only the Father of the Atomic Bomb.  He had a feud with Edward Teller, Father of the Hydrogen Bomb. MSNBC had a documentary last night:   To End All War:  Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb , featuring a number of comments by Christopher Nolan, whose film,  Oppenheimer , will be released on July 21.  This movie is rated R and will be 3 hours long, with a glowing cast:  Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, Emily Blunt as his wife, Matt Damon as General Leslie Groves, who ran the Manhattan Project, Robert Downey, who eventually became Oppie's nemesis, Kenneth Branagh, Florence Puch, as O's girlfriend/mistress, Gary Oldman, Josh Hartnett, Rami...