THE NEW SPACE RACE: Elon Musk wants to put 1 million AI satellites in space. Here’s how SpaceX could do it.

RIP: Gene Shalit, Mussed-Up Movie Critic of the Today Show, Dies at 100.

Gene Shalit, the fun-loving film critic on the Today show known for his oversized mustache, out-of-control mop of black hair and lively use of puns in his movie reviews, died Friday. He was 100.

Shalit, a mainstay on the NBC morning show for four decades until his retirement in November 2010, “passed away peacefully today after 100 years of an amazing life,” his family said in a statement to NBC News.

Shalit started as a book reviewer on Today in 1970 and went on to replace Joe Garagiola on the desk three years later. Working alongside the likes of Hugh Downs, Tom Brokaw, Barbara Walters, Bryant Gumbel, Jane Pauley, Matt Lauer and Katie Couric, Shalit proved to be a spirited counterbalance to the heavier news of the day, entertaining audiences with celebrity interviews and insights into moviegoing choices during his “Critic’s Corner” segment.

Exit quote:

Rest in peace to Gene Shalit, a man whose Kermit the Frog interview went absolutely off the rails in 1984.

Nobody has interviewed a Muppet like this since. pic.twitter.com/WOdlgNcdvD

— Mike Beauvais (@MikeBeauvais) June 12, 2026

DEMS’ “EPIC FAIL” IN ANTI-ICE CAMPAIGN: They spent multi-millions of dollars on paid protestors, masterfully coordinated talking points with allies in the non-profit/NGO and Mainstream Media communities, and maneuvered every which way but forward for months. And what did they win?

“ICE and Border Patrol will be funded without the changes Democrats were demanding, including requiring judicial warrants to enter homes and prohibiting officers from wearing masks. The package also lacks reforms with bipartisan support, such as requiring officers to wear body cameras.

“Not only is this standoff ending without Democrats achieving the reforms they pressed for, the agencies will be insulated from additional pressure through the appropriations process for three years.”

The preceding quote is from one of the Dems’ key allies, NPR, so reading it must be tough for them. But that’s nothing compared to the analysis of the I & I crew. Do not miss the “cherry on top.”

UK NEWS: The Little Girl With Knife and Axe Just Gave the System a Final Whack.

THE DEEP SEVENS AGAIN: Earth’s Core May Be Wrapped in an Ancient, Unexpected Structure.

MARK JUDGE: Graham Platner’s Sexts and the Stasi Media.

THE NEW SPACE RACE: SpaceX goes public with a mind-bogglingly historic IPO. The space industry may never be the same.

THEY’RE ALWAYS IN THE LAST PLACE YOU LOOK: Hidden Phase of Matter Finally Captured After Decades of Predictions.

WELL, GOOD: Breakthrough for 800 Million Patients? Kidney Disease Drug Shows Powerful New Benefits.

CHANGE: Expensive recreation cars have come a long way from the days of botched, low-quality replicas.

It’s re-creation, not recreation.

UNEXPECTED HEADLINES: Pokémon Go players unwittingly contributed to tech with military drone uses. “A decade after the global craze for Pokémon Go peaked, an AI company has been using billions of real-world images captured by millions of players to develop navigation technologies for delivery robots and possibly military drones. That represents an intriguing but potentially discomfiting legacy for an augmented reality mobile game that has incentivized gamers to capture short smartphone videos of physical neighborhoods and landmarks.”

RIP: David Hockney, iconic British artist known for his colorful landscapes and pool scenes, dies at 88.

FLORIDA MAN FRIDAY [VIP]: He Played Hide’n’Seek With a K-9 and Lost. “It’s time for your much-needed break from the serious news, and this week, we’ll learn the difference between hurricane-proof and chainsaw-proof, how not to tip the DoorDash driver, and to keep your pants on in Austin.”

FATHER’S DAY GIFT: Ergonomic Long Handle Toenail Clippers with Catcher. #CommmissionEarned

RULE OF LAW: Brady Hopping Mad That Feds Won’t Violate Federal Law to Further Their Name-And-Shame Campaign.

ANOTHER STUDY SAYS POORER, ACTUALLY: How Britain Became as Poor as Mississippi.

Britain has been left behind. The country’s output per person is now only just above that of Mississippi, America’s poorest state—and that slight lead is only achieved thanks to London. Outside the capital, in places where tourists do not visit, living standards fall well below Mississippi’s. Brits visiting the United States find that their currency has depreciated to the point where the pound today buys only about $1.35. British wages have lagged well behind those in the U.S., and also those in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Denmark; once you account for inflation, they’ve barely grown at all. Within the next decade, the typical Pole will have a standard of living equal to the typical Brit, if current trends continue.

One generation ago, Britain was a major global power; today, it is a middling one, gripped by sclerosis. Taxation is at the highest level since World War II, yet public services have deteriorated. The National Health Service, the celebrated pillar of the British cradle-to-grave welfare state, has a backlog of 6 million patients—almost a tenth of the population—waiting for treatment. The health service now has to spend more money settling maternity-malpractice claims than it does on actually providing maternity care. Many Brits can neither obtain an appointment with a publicly funded dentist nor afford a private one; in a 2023 survey, one in 10 reported doing DIY dental work, in extreme cases extracting their own teeth or gluing broken crowns back together.

Previously: Sorry, Britain, but You’re Just Another Europoor Country Now.

IT’S TIME FOR VICTORIA TAFT’S West Coast, Messed Coast™: Hosts World Cup, and Fans From Third World Feel Right at Home! “Maybe not the U.S. as much, but el mundo is watching the World Cup, and those fans from el tercer mundo are probably thinking, as they take in the sights of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle, ‘Damn, what a s**thole country this is.’ And they’d be right.”

READER FAVORITE: Kismile Nugget Ice Makers Countertop. #CommissionEarned

IT’S BIG: New Look at America’s Next Ballistic Missile Submarine. “The Columbias feature several qualitative enhancements fostered in the 5 decades since the inception of the Ohio-class, including a quieting and propulsion technology leap (including electronic input for the control surfaces), new sonar arrays and other sensor upgrades, and additional space granted by the Columbia’s larger size. Despite the Columbia’s increased size, the amount of Trident missiles aboard drops from 24 on the Ohios to 16, with the jury still out on uses for the extra tonnage.”

I’d really like to know, but those who do know can’t say.

THAT WOULD BE NICE: Can We PLEASE Stop Mass-Importing Third-World Medieval Butchers?

I’M GOING LONG ON SEXTANTS: Researchers Believe Russian Satellites May Be Testing Space-Based GPS Jamming Across Europe.

DID ANYONE THINK THAT? Just When You Thought the Platner Tattoo Scandal Couldn’t Get Worse…

DISPATCHES FROM HOLLYWEIRD:

The most envious, Marxist, redistributive person in the world isn't the guy busting his hump to frame a house, or the guy grinding out DoorDash…it's the smug guy worth 7 or 8 figures staring at a trillionaire he considers socially beneath him. https://t.co/4NA4w0XCbS

— Antonio García Martínez (agm.eth) (@antoniogm) June 12, 2026

WE’VE ALL SEEN JURASSIC PARK: First leather bag made from T-Rex cells fails to sell at Paris auction.

IT’S GOOD TO BE THE NOMENKLATURA: Mamdani cashed in on mayoral perks for Knicks tickets — and downplayed the price.