June 23, 2026

ICYMI: Go East, Young SpaceX Millionaire! “Aside from fueling Elon Musk’s orbital data center ambitions, the recent SpaceX initial public offering minted thousands of new millionaires — and where they put their money will have ripple effects lasting a generation. Can you guess where that money won’t go?”

Posted at 8:04 am by Stephen Green

SHUT UP, THEY EXPLAINED:

Plus this reminder that Wikipedia seems to be just another lefty slush fund: “But make sure to donate! Time is running out! In case you missed it here’s a big notification that takes up the entire screen. Just ignore the fact that Wikipedia makes $200M a year and is sitting on $300M of assets, they need your money NOW. TIME IS RUNNING OUT! HURRY! (sarcasm)”

Where does the money go?

Posted at 7:48 am by Stephen Green

UGH: Judge Shuts Down Trump Admin Database Used To Remove Non-Citizens From Voter Rolls.

A Biden-appointed federal judge shut down a database used to remove noncitizens from voter rolls Monday.

The 75-page opinion, issued by Sparkle L. Sooknanan, follows a civil action suit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the state of Texas by parties including the League of Women Voters.

The decision set aside a modified version of the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system, created following a Trump-signed executive order to “verify the citizenship or immigration status of registered voters or individuals registering to vote,” and put in place by the DHS and SSA.

Sooknanan justified vacating the SAVE system by citing “two fundamental rights that protect Americans from government overreach,” namely the right to privacy and the right to vote.

Every illegal vote effectively disenfranchises a legal voter, but we’re not supposed to look into that, I suppose.

Exit quote: “Sooknanan also blocked the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust probe into Media Matters and barred the executive branch from deporting unaccompanied migrant minors and reunifying them with their families abroad.”

Posted at 7:33 am by Stephen Green

THE PLACE DOESN’T SOUND VERY POSITIVE, DESPITE ITS NAME: Open Letter to Restaurateurs –and specifically to the owners of Positive Pie in Montpelier, Vermont.

I never “give orders” to waitstaff or treat them as if they were servants. I always say, “When you get a moment, may I please have a refill?” I can’t be any more polite or easy to serve. There’s nothing else I can do to signal that I’m friendly and won’t cause a problem.

Here’s the part where I get really candid because I have nothing left to lose: How dare your staff treat me like I’m some piece of shit interrupting their day? What’s wrong with your management, your business vision, and your standards?

I realize you’ve probably never had a letter like this. You’re likely to see this letter as coming from an asshole customer, because that’s the standard response in business today even when customers are reasonable.

But I’m not alone. Most people won’t tell you candidly what your service is like because they don’t want to cause a fuss. But I’m one of millions of Americans who are fed up with this shitty, rude service that’s taken over our culture in the past six years.

I have to say, I basically never have this experience in Knoxville, where people are almost always pleasant and helpful, and if they’re not it’s obviously because they’re busy and they’re generally apologetic. Maybe it’s a blue-state thing?

Example: I was having lunch at the Chop House in West Knoxville a while back, and had ordered the prime rib sandwich. It came medium, not medium rare, but it was juicy, not dried out, and basically fine. (I order medium rare because I’m pretty much fine with anything from rare to medium). So I noted the difference but didn’t even think of sending it back, which I will do only in extreme circumstances. But a couple of minutes later the manager showed up with another one that was actually medium rare, apologized and said the server had noticed that my prime rib was overdone and put in for a replacement. Now that’s service, but this is just a nice but not particularly expensive West Knoxville eatery. Maybe that’s just southern hospitality culture, or maybe people here are just in a better general mood than people in Bernie Sanders’ home state.

Posted at 7:30 am by Glenn Reynolds

IMPRESSIVE, MOST IMPRESSIVE:

Posted at 7:17 am by Stephen Green

#JOURNALISM:

Posted at 7:06 am by Glenn Reynolds

FROM KAL SPRIGGS:  Valor’s Liberation: A Young Adult Military Science Fiction Novel.

“The Tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” -Thomas Jefferson

The world of Century is under alien occupation, and their military forces seek to end it.

For two years they have built up forces, whatever they could beg, borrow, and even steal. And now they’re going home to kick the Culmor Empire right off their world.

No one has worked harder than Jiden Armstrong to make that possible. Only on the eve of the attack, she’s still recovering from injuries, she’s sidelined, and unable to help free her homeworld.

Except the aliens have a doomsday plan and they’re willing to bombard the planet from orbit rather than let it go. There’s one option left: someone has to lead a team to infiltrate the planet, to descend into a million-year-old alien facility, to awaken long dormant defensive systems, and to protect the world of Century.

Jiden is the only one with the right skills, the right knowledge, and the abilities to pull it off. What no one knows is that something awaits her, buried and waiting beneath the sands of Century, a hidden threat that will challenge everything she is, and she will need every bit of valor to liberate her world.

 

Posted at 6:59 am by Sarah Hoyt

THIS IS WHY I KEEP ALL MY PAPER BOOKS, THOUGH I READ A LOT MORE IN PIXELS:  The new Dark Ages.

Posted at 2:00 am by Sarah Hoyt