“It’s disappointing to see the NNSA pushing out a legal fig leaf, with what amounts to a belated justification for decisions taken years before, which violates the intent and purpose of such analyses under the National Environmental Policy Act.”
"Guetlein said external groups are 'not estimating what I’m building.'...'It sure would be good to get that estimation you have,' Carbajal replied, adding that 'to my understanding, we have not seen that whatsoever.'” aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org/lawmakers-se...
The United States Can Still Reach the Stars. President Trump’s New Budget Can’t.
Via The Equation from the @ucs.org by Scoville Fellow ’25 Sean Manning. blog.ucs.org/sean-manning...
Yes, it seems like a really good idea when the President is threatening countries with armageddon for the NRC to end agency-led security drills at #nuclear plants.
Talk about a Good Friday news dump: the NRC has quietly voted to phase out the crucial, force-on-force security inspections that have helped ensure #nuclear plants remain protected against terrorist attacks since the aftermath of 9/11. Worst NRC ever.
www.nrc.gov/docs/ML2609/...
I'll believe it when I see it, but it is nevertheless good to hear the head of the program saying this publicly now, before too many commitments have been made and too much taxpayer money has been wasted. Congress (read: Democrats) need to hold him to this unequivocal declaration in the years ahead.
Given that and Guetlein's repeated statement that those who project higher costs for Golden Dome are "not estimating what I'm building,” it strongly suggests that Guetlein already knows they won't be building space-based interceptors, but he can't say it because the president wants it. Good news?
One question is, what are those other options? Unfortunately, the Trump administration has classified the entire proposed architecture for Golden Dome, so the public - and most in Congress - don't know what it is, even though the administration says it will cost $185B over 10 years. (yah, right)
That quote is interesting, because we already know that space-based interceptors for boost phase defense are NOT affordable or scalable. A full-scale defense would require tens of thousands of interceptors and costs hundreds of billions to trillions of dollar See this:
Today Gen. Guetlein, head of Trump's infeasible, wildy expensive Golden Dome anti-missile program, said this: "If boost phase intercept from space is not affordable and scalable, we will not produce it because we have other options to get after it.” armedservices.house.gov/calendar/eve...
Tucker Carlson: "It's vile. It begins w/ a promise to use the US military to commit a war crime. Those people who are in direct contact w/ the president need to say 'No. I'll resign. I'll do whatever I can do legally to stop this, bc this is insane. And if given the order, I'm not carrying it out'"
First unalloyed pushback from a Senate Republican is, unsurprisingly, from Lisa Murkowski.
Apparently some are not familiar with the story: Croesus of Lydia asked the Oracle what would happen once he attacked Iran. Oracle predicted: "a great civilization will die". Of course it turned out that the one that died was Lydia, not Iran. Seems relevant...
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., attends a news conference in the U.S. Capitol. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
AOC: “This is a threat of genocide & merits removal from office. The President’s mental faculties are collapsing & cannot be trusted.
To every individual in the President’s chain of command: You have a duty to refuse illegal orders. That includes carrying out this threat”
The reason that the US President has the exclusive authority to order the use of nuclear weapons is because Truman set up the system along those lines after WWII. This is often depicted as either a power grab, or because in the nuclear age such decisions "must" be made quickly. This is false.
Nancy Pelosi has called for President Trump to be removed from office
This is my favorite climate change chart. Japanese monks, aristocrats, and emperors kept meticulous records of cherry blossom festivals for 1,200 years and accidentally built the world's longest climate dataset.
My @scovillepf.bsky.social felllow @seantmanning.bsky.social critiques Trump’s proposal to further militarize the US government
The White House has released its 2027 budget proposal – including an astonishing $1.5 trillion in military spending, an unprecedented increase of 66% over the previous year. 🧵
A mass of over 600 people hold up umbrellas across the Burnside bridge to spell out "We Keep Us Safe" in an aerial photograph on a sunny day.
WE KEEP US SAFE
3/28/2026 Burnside Bridge Portland, Oregon
No Kings protest (Photo: @blcksmthapparel.bsky.social)
#nokings #pdx #blcksmth
UCS’s Kendall Fellow Sara Al-Sayed provides historical context on US and Israeli efforts to advance their interests in the Middle East as a necessary foundation for any debate regarding nuclear security in the region. Learn what’s at stake and the multilateral efforts needed for a lasting peace:
A good take on the context of the war in Iran by Sara Al-Sayed for @ucs.org - The US–Israeli History Behind Their War Against Iran blog.ucs.org/sara-al-saye...
Sean writes: "As the Trump administration makes clear its unchecked willingness to attack other countries regardless of legality, the stakes of dumping unprecedented funds into the US military-industrial complex have never been higher."
My amazing @scovillepf.bsky.social @seantmanning.bsky.social has a new @ucs.org piece on what he appropriately calls Trump's "Bloody New Deal," i.e., his proposal to dump $1.5 trillion into military spending, a massive 66% increase. See: blog.ucs.org/sean-manning...
The most effective way to ensure that the HEU has not been diverted for weapons use is through a diplomatic agreement in which Israel & the US would forswear further attacks, and Iran would provide all the information and access to fully account for the stockpile.
thebulletin.org/2025/07/iran...
Finished listening to "Project Hail Mary" on Audible, and in the words of the lead character Ryland Grace,IT IS AWESOME.
The best about science, and a surprisingly optimistic and personal turn on humanity and friendship in the face of apocalypse. What's not to like? Looking forward to the film!
More importantly, Iran’s enriched uranium could be used to make an actual nuclear bomb. See: thebulletin.org/2025/07/iran...
A more important point: Iran’s 60% enriched uranium can readily be use to make a nuclear bomb. No one on a missile but a boat or a truck. See thebulletin.org/2025/07/iran...
Me speaking at the Stand Up for Science rally.
Group posed with UCS posters plus Beaker.
Today we showed up.
Feeling proud of scientists and science supporters in this moment. Thank you all. #Standupforscience
