June 15, 2026

PARTY OF YOUTH UPDATE:

I’m so old, I still remember when Bette could carry a tune — even a good one.

Posted at 10:53 am by Stephen Green

WELL, THIS IS THE 21st CENTURY, YOU KNOW: Coming Soon: Humanity’s First Outpost in Deep Space.

What once seemed like science fiction is now within reach, as NASA looks to establish an enduring human presence on the Moon in the next decade.

NASA’s Moon Base is on track to become the first permanent human settlement in the solar system by the early 2030s.

“This will be humanity’s first outpost in deep space,” Carlos García-Galán, program executive of Moon Base, told National Review. “It is a huge step forward in our capabilities to live and work and basically be able to push the boundaries in space.”

Located 238,855 miles from Earth, Moon Base will serve as a center for scientific research and technological development. The mission’s initial all-robot crew could launch as soon as fall 2026.

García-Galán sees the base as a critical step toward developing the technology required for missions to other planets, notably to Mars.

“I’ve helped build the Space Station. I’ve helped design the Orion spacecraft,” he said. “But this will take us to the next level.”

NASA’s plans for Moon Base were first announced on March 24, presented as an effort to establish the country’s leadership in space and pursue President Trump’s National Space Policy. In his December 18, 2025 executive order, the president said that taking the lead in space exploration was a vital symbol of “national vision and willpower” and a way to better promote America’s security and longevity. A lunar outpost was the top objective listed in the order.

The Moon Base mission focuses specifically on the South Pole of the moon because it is best for NASA’s specific scientific objectives. Beyond simply illustrating American achievement, these goals include testing advanced space exploration technologies, working with unique natural resources, establishing a center for scientific research, creating a permanent location for human settlement, and preparing to send a crew to Mars.

This is much more like the 21st century I was promised as a kid. Speaking of which, whatever you do, don’t put Martin Landau in charge of the base, if you want to keep it around:

Posted at 10:45 am by Ed Driscoll

THE COPE MUST HURT:

And all the way down at #34: “Do I need to go on? There are about 100 more domestic policy issues I could list…”

Posted at 10:23 am by Stephen Green

USA! USA! USA!

Canada certainly doesn’t: Snowbirds aerobatic team grounded until early 2030s while new planes purchased.

Posted at 10:22 am by Ed Driscoll

THE LEFT WANTS HIM DEAD, AND THEY AREN’T SHY ABOUT TELLING EVERY TRIGGER-ABLE NUTCASE OUT THERE:

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): Then there’s the once-apparently-sane Ken White:

Posted at 10:14 am by Stephen Green

METAPHOR ALERT: Obama Presidential Center’s $470M safety net under scrutiny as subcontractors say they’re owed millions.

Concern is mounting that taxpayers could be left holding the bag if the Obama Presidential Center runs into financial trouble, as the foundation behind it has yet to establish a promised $470 million safety net to guard against a public bailout.

The scrutiny comes as a Fox News Digital investigation found multiple contractors and subcontractors claiming losses ranging from hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions on the project, with some alleging they remain locked in payment disputes and face financial ruin just days before the center’s grand opening.

Under its agreement with the city, the Obama Foundation pledged to create the fund, known as an endowment, as part of its 99-year deal to take control of the publicly owned 19.3-acre section of Jackson Park for a one-time payment of just $10.

Fox News Digital previously reported that the foundation had deposited just $1 million into the reserve fund in 2021 and that the balance remained largely unchanged in its most recent publicly available filings.

Exit quote: “Grogan said reports that contractors remain unpaid only reinforce the need for closer scrutiny and called for an investigation if allegations that subcontractors were left holding the bag prove accurate.”

Posted at 9:36 am by Stephen Green

DISPATCHES FROM AIRSTRIP ONE:

Posted at 9:20 am by Stephen Green

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Sane People Aren’t Triggered by Elon Musk’s Wealth. “Their hatred isn’t distributed evenly among the super-rich, of course. No one in the Democratic Party is upset with George Soros, for example. We don’t hear many complaints about Bill Gates from them either. It’s more than Musk’s money that sends them spiraling though. They’re harboring a lot of resentment because Musk broke the stranglehold they had on the social media false narrative machine when he purchased Twitter. His work with DOGE at the beginning of President Trump’s current term was a direct attack on their god: the federal government.”

Posted at 9:05 am by Stephen Green

THE MANDATE OF HEAVEN:

Posted at 8:48 am by Glenn Reynolds

NOW THAT SPENCER PRATT IS OUT OF THE RACE, CNN CAN SAFELY TELL YOU HOW FUBAR L.A. IS:

Posted at 8:35 am by Ed Driscoll

MUST BE A PRETTY GOOD LIST: Beijing blasts Pentagon’s latest Chinese military company list. “The Defense Department’s updated 1260H list, published Monday, classified dozens of new companies and their subsidiaries, including e-commerce giants Alibaba and Baidu, and the electric vehicle manufacturer — and major Tesla rival — BYD, as ‘Chinese military companies operating in the United States.’ The listing doesn’t bar them from operating in the U.S., but it prohibits them from doing business with the Pentagon and imposes a reputational stigma at a time of rising concerns about Chinese espionage operations. The intelligence agencies of Britain, the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand warned last week that China is increasingly using professional networking sites and job platforms — including LinkedIn and Indeed — to gain access to classified information.”

Posted at 8:34 am by Stephen Green

ELON AND MONEY — WHAT HIS LEFTIST CRITICS CAN’T COMPREHEND:

Posted at 8:32 am by Glenn Reynolds

MEK WARS:

Read the whole thing.

Posted at 8:22 am by Ed Driscoll

ANOTHER “CONSPIRACY THEORY” TURNS OUT TO BE TRUE: Tulsi Gabbard: Yes, There Were US Funded Biolabs in Ukraine. “Rather than tell the truth, assuming the funding was benign in intent, the press and the White House went into full propaganda mode and denied everything. Victoria Nuland, ironically, had told at least part of the truth briefly before the coverup went into overdrive, but as with COVID, the government, and especially the Biden administration, had an allergy to the truth.”

Plus:

So what do we know? Well, the funding stream dates back to the end of the Cold War. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian bioweapons labs were in funding freefall, and Western powers wanted to ensure that the scientists didn’t sell viruses or their expertise, or that, through neglect, disasters didn’t happen.

So we poured money into both nuclear and biological research in the Soviet Union. Basically as preventative bribes and to exercise some control. Why that funding stream in Ukraine went on for decades, and why Ebola and SARS viruses were in Ukraine, is a serious question. But then again, we are talking about our federal government, run by idiots like Fauci, who do stupid things that kill people.

We did something similar with Soviet rocket scientists, to keep them from going to work for third world dictators making missiles. And:

What we don’t know is that these biolabs were actually conducting biowarfare experiments. Just because the government lied about the existence of these facilities for political reasons does not mean that the worst possible interpretation is correct, as many assume.

In other words, we don’t know what this means beyond the fact that the Biden White House lied, which just means that it was a day ending in “Y.”

They lied not so much because it was in their interest, as because it was in their nature. At any rate, I’m more concerned about the secret Chinese biolabs in the United States, working on pathogens.

Posted at 8:19 am by Glenn Reynolds

TIM O’BRIEN: Elon Musk and the Politics of Envy “Envy is the lifeblood of leftist politics, and Musk is merely their latest, biggest, and most convenient target. But it’s worth being reminded that to the left, you are no different than Elon Musk. Let me explain.”

Posted at 8:03 am by Stephen Green

WHO DO THEY THINK THEY ARE, THE TEA PARTY?

Posted at 8:02 am by Glenn Reynolds