I have to say it's so heartwarming to see so many people out today celebrating King Donald's birthday. #LongLiveTheKing #Blessed
— Not-So-OK Boomer (@Rand_Simberg) June 14, 2025
The Real War Has Finally Begun
A good analysis of what’s been happening over the past day in Iran.
1. The Israel-Iran war: The first day.
— נדב איל Nadav Eyal (@Nadav_Eyal) June 13, 2025
We are now about 15 hours after Israel launched what it labels a *preventive strike* against the Islamic Republic of Iran – targeting its nuclear facilities and ballistic missile sites.
Here’s a short recap of what’s happened – and what…
It seemed pretty clear that something was going to happen when we evacuated embassies in the region.
[Update early afternoon]
Iran has been waging war on us for over 45 years, while we've been pretending they weren't so we didn't have to do anything about it. We got away with it because they hadn't yet developed the capability to hurt us other than killing our soldiers in the region (it certainly wasn't…
— Not-So-OK Boomer (@Rand_Simberg) June 13, 2025
Iran has been launching retaliatory missile strikes against Tel Aviv, with most of them intercepted. I don’t think I’d want to be on Kharg Island on any day, but definitely not today.
Of Monasteries And Universities
A long but useful essay on the coming obsolescence of the current system of higher education.
Los Angeles
I generally avoid the city. The South Bay, with the resurgence of the space industry and many start ups, remains in better shape.
[Update late morning]
LA 2025: Welcome to America’s future.
I hope not.
Brian Wilson
RIP. From his home-town newspaper.
What’s Happening In California
This is a must watch to understand what is really happening in California. Thank you @shellenberger for breaking it down so succinctly 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 pic.twitter.com/aKlziQJKnW
— Michelle Maxwell (@MichelleMaxwell) June 9, 2025
[Afternoon update]
The LA chaos is an illusion, and Trump will not fall for it.
On The Trump-Musk Feud
Beyond the Trump-Musk fallout?
— Victor Davis Hanson (@VDHanson) June 6, 2025
At first impression, it makes no sense that Musk would start firing away at the (admittedly imperfect) budget bill, or escalate to DefCon 1, by tweeting nonsense about impeachment, the Epstein files, or disengaging his space efforts from the U.S.…
Assuming that Trump is serious, wait until he hears that there's no Golden Dome or Mars without SpaceX.
— Not-So-OK Boomer (@Rand_Simberg) June 5, 2025
[Saturday-evening update]
Sorry about the formatting issues. I’m trying to get used to the WordPress update, which munged everything up in terms of how I post. Among other things, it made it a lot more effort to insert HTML.
Eighty-One Years
The thanks we owe to the men who stormed the Normandy beaches and the leaders who made the extraordinarily difficult decision to send them is to ensure the civilization they saved remains the beacon of light and truth and is not worn away by neglect and contempt.
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) June 6, 2025
I remember when I was nineteen my (veteran) mother saying, “I can’t believe it’s been thirty years.”
[Update a few minutes later]
The great crusade and the men who made it work.
On Black Voting Patterns
KJP is right on this one point.
There are better messengers on it, though, as noted there.
Blue Origin Speaks
It’s time for NASA to get out of the launch business.
I’ve only been saying this for over two decades.
Don’t read the comments, though.
[Tuesday-morning update]
Bob Zimmerman is very encouraged about the future of America in space.
Light posting today if at all, because I’ll be at the Space Tech Expo in Long Beach all day.
[Thursday-morning update]
Bob has a follow up post. I do think the proposal to reduce crew size on the ISS is penny-wise pound-foolish.