It's revealing that American malls have LEGO stores, but not Erector Set stores.

The Iran war pushed U.S. gasoline prices up 30% and jet fuel even more. But while we face higher prices, poorer countries—face fuel and electricity shortages beginning to constrain economic activity and threaten the global economy.

Mamma raccoon retrieved her kit during the night. So that's one thing off my worry list.

I once opened the door dripping from the showed and wearing only a towel to chase off the cat digging through my mom's garbage bag. It was NOT that kind of cat.

It is remarkable how quickly one can move in wet feet and slight attire.

I came home to find things knocked down in the garage and a baby raccoon under the mower. I guess mamma is moving the den after getting caught in plain site on the fence last night.

Ambition and productivity are nice and all, but the purpose of life is not to amass wealth you won't be able to take beyond it. It never was and never could have been, even in principle.

I used to work with an ultra-conservative who defended all sorts of socially corrosive policies specifically on grounds they would affect him if he were ever rich (which he will certainly never be) and wouldn't help the healthy (which he was not).

Not feeling good about giving my hard earned money to the oligarchs, to fund illegal & unnecessary "wars,"or fund any of this admin's crooked schemes.
Not at all 'good.'

Virginia has joined the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which would obviate the electoral college once enough states sign on to amount to 270 electoral votes. Virginia brings the total to 222. Only 3 or 4 more large states are needed.

Yeah, water is no problem. Drains would be. The bigger issue might actually be energy efficiency, as in the south, public buildings historically gave energy efficiency zero thought.

Raccoon carrying kit in her mouth.

Mamma raccoon does not like tonight's storms and is moving her kits somewhere else in the garage.

Facing the demographic cliff no one wants to admit to, Houston ISD is closing 12 of the 30 schools it doesn't need, making residents go nuts. How about we convert these into the clinics and housing we actually need?

Wow. I wish I'd seen this (reposted by @presjr88.bsky.social ) during the mission. It's far superior to the NASA tracker. Direct link to the tracker track-artemis.com

It's come to my attention this was lifted from Amos, who appears to have uploaded a few days ago. So go give him some love.

The release said it's out now in electronic and head to the printers.

Cover of the May/June Analog magazine.

I may be familiar with one or two of these names.

Kamala might have won had she had a platform more sophisticated than "My old boss capped insulin prices and I'm not Trump." Honestly, I think Pete would have a better chance.

The moon and Earth from Artemis II. This is not AI.

The moon and Earth from Artemis II. This is not AI.

A real (non AI) image of Earth, shot from Artemis II shortly after TLI.

A real (non AI) image of Earth, shot from Artemis II shortly after TLI.

Why does Microsoft go to such enormous effort to make their software unusable? Note to the developers: Sharepoint is an office worker tool. Almost no one uses it on a phone or ever will. Stop "optimizing" it for smartphones.

So, you've met raccoons then.

I moved a camera to get a better view of how the racoon mom is coming and going. She took offense and threw the camera down on the floor.

The key isn’t what’s failing, it’s what will fail next—the other shoe.

Render

To whoever needs to know: Artemis II will pass around the FAR side on the moon. There is no permanently DARK side. That's what the far side was metaphorically called before being extensively studied over the last half century, including by human eyes.

To whoever needs to know: Artemis II will pass around the FAR side on the moon. There is no permanently DARK side. That's what the far side was metaphorically called before being extensively studied over the last half century, including by human eyes.

Integrity aimed not for the moon but where it would be in three days. It's elongated Earth orbit is now deflecting toward the moon and will flip around it on closest approach.

This morning, NASA sent up a message recorded by Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell before his death: “Hello, Artemis II! This is Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell. Welcome to my old neighborhood! When Frank Borman, Bill Anders, and I orbited the Moon on Apollo 8, we got humanity’s first up-close look at the Moon and got a view of the home planet that inspired and united people around the world. I’m proud to pass that torch on to you — as you swing around the Moon and lay the groundwork for missions to Mars … for the benefit of all. It’s a historic day, and I know how busy you’ll be. But don’t forget to enjoy the view. So, Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy, and all the great teams supporting you – good luck and Godspeed from all of us here on the good Earth.” Jim Lovell Jim Lovell Gemini VII, Gemini XII, Apollo 8, and Apollo 13 Astronaut

This morning, NASA sent up a message recorded by Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell before his death:

Any that the media is ignoring that he's advertising his plan to commit literal, actual war crimes on a large scale.

I keep coming back to stories where the outcome isn’t guaranteed—but the effort is.

One of the key differences between American conservatives and American liberals is that conservatives look for allies while liberals look for traitors. There is nothing American liberals despise more than someone who agrees with them on 99.5% of everything. If you look at who votes Republican in national elections, it’s weird. Really, really weird. Trump supporters are a bizarre mix of actual literal Nazis, Evangelical Christian Dominionists, techbros, homophobes, uber-rich oligarchs, dirt-poor meth-addicted ex-coal-miners, White Nationalists, and suburban tradwives. These people don’t even like each other. Some of them despise each other. None of them looks at Donald Trump and sees someone who will give them everything they want. But conservatives look for allies. Conservatives will say “this candidate will give me 10% of what I want. The other candidates will give me 2% of what I want. I’ll vote for the guy who gives me 10% of what I want.”

Seen on Quora today: