Category Archives: Social Commentary

Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Popular Culture, Social Commentary, Technology and Society

Starfleet Academy

January 16, 2026 Rand Simberg 25 Comments

We’ve been sort-of enjoying “Strange New Worlds, the prequel to TOS, but this looks awful. They don’t have GLP-1s in the 21st century?

[Update a while later]

Stephen Green almost watched a whole episode, so you wouldn’t have to.

[Late-morning update]

I watched 24 minutes of "Starfleet Academy" before I turned it off.

I stopped it when the fat Klingon Jem'Hadar lady started verbally abusing the black male kid and the Klingon male kid.

Before that, there was a lot of talk about how people are hungry and have to steal food -…
— Byl Holte (@SirBylHolte) January 15, 2026

[Early-afternoon update]

Wait a minute… pic.twitter.com/57NtaFPIUu
— Jon Del Arroz | Pop Culture & Gaming 🎮 (@jondelarroz) January 16, 2026

Law, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Social Commentary

A Lawsplainer On Minneapolis

January 11, 2026 Rand Simberg 19 Comments

It’s not even a close call.

History, Law, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Social Commentary

Minnesota

January 8, 2026 Rand Simberg 2 Comments

A political culture full of arsonists.

It should be a cautionary tale. I hope it will be.

Business, Economics, Education, History, Law, Media Criticism, Political Commentary, Social Commentary

High- Versus Low-Trust Societies

January 6, 2026 Rand Simberg 4 Comments

Why who we allow to immigrate into the country matters:

When I first came to the U.S. to finish school, a professor told us to take an exam at home and simply said, “Don’t use Google or open your books.”

As someone who grew up in the Middle East, I couldn’t believe it. What kind of society trusts people like that?

But over time, I…
— Dan Burmawi (@DanBurmawy) January 6, 2026

Business, Law, Political Commentary, Social Commentary