June 3, 2026

“THE MOST EXPENSIVE MAGIC TRICK IN AMERICA. AND THE THING THAT DISAPPEARS? IT’S YOUR HOME OWNERSHIP:”

UPDATE (from Steve): The plan was obvious just as soon as Mamdani announced it.

Posted at 7:45 am by Ed Driscoll

FROM JEFF DUNTEMANN:  Cold Hands and Other Stories.

#CommissionEarned

Veteran computer author Jeff Duntemann’s second collection of short fiction runs the gamut from spaceflight to mathematically rigorous witchcraft. The volume includes “Cold Hands,” (nominated for the Hugo Award) “Our Lady of the Endless Sky,” “Inevitability Sphere,” “Whale Meat,” “Born Again, With Water,” “Drumlin Boiler,” “Drumlin Wheel,” and “Roddie,” plus a new excerpt from his hard SF nanotech adventure novel, The Cunning Blood.

Posted at 7:36 am by Sarah Hoyt

THE NEW SPACE RACE: SpaceX gets US approval to test new Starfall capsules for space manufacturing.

According to the newly released documents, Starfall will provide both in-space manufacturing and point-to-point cargo delivery services. This is in line with previously announced plans for Starship to rapidly deliver military cargo for the U.S. military.

The Starfall vehicles could also serve as a “proliferated successor” to the International Space Station (ISS), as they could support “a self-sustaining manufacturing economy in space”.

In order to create a “self-sustaining commercial in-space manufacturing market”, the vehicles would offer access to “microgravity and vacuum, loiter on orbit, and safe return from orbit as a service at scale,” the documents state.

The FAA’s documents do not provide any information regarding potential launch dates for the first Starfall missions. However, the agency does clearly state that Starfall would be a large-scale project if it is eventually greenlit and officially announced by SpaceX.

According to the documents, Elon Musk’s private space company “plans to develop a mass-producible reentry vehicle that can precisely deliver cargo from space to various locations on Earth, which would be able to launch on either Falcon 9 or Starship.”

Instead of One Big Station, think of Starfall as an “Army of Davids” approach to microgravity manufacturing and experimentation, to coin an Instaphrase.

Posted at 7:34 am by Stephen Green

BUT YOU CAN’T HAVE ANARCHO-TYRANNY IF PEOPLE CAN DEFEND THEMSELVES:

Posted at 7:25 am by Glenn Reynolds

SCOTT PELLEY FIRED FROM CBS NEWS AFTER 60 MINUTES CRASHOUT:

In an early statement to The New York Times, Pelley humbly compares himself to a combat veteran.

Mr. Pelley, in a telephone interview on Tuesday evening shortly after he was fired, said he had devoted decades of his life to “60 Minutes,” which he said he still cared about deeply.

“I have been in combat in Afghanistan,” Mr. Pelley said. “I have been in combat in Iraq. I have been in the war zone in Ukraine multiple times, risking my life and the happiness of my family because of my devotion to the broadcast.”

Of course, there’s only one thing Pelley can do now that he’s been fired by CBS:

I’m sure an audience of at least dozens are eagerly awaiting the Amazon Grand Tour-style reboot of 60 Minutes — just imagine the opening scene, when Pelley puts the band back together again!

Posted at 7:14 am by Ed Driscoll