ICYMI: The De-Extinction of the Dire Wolf? Not So Fast…

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Space nuclear power poised for breakthroughs — if NASA and DoD stay committed.

Space nuclear applications often fall into two primary categories: power generation and propulsion.

For power generation, radioisotope thermoelectric generators convert heat from radioactive decay into electricity. These systems are crucial for missions traveling to deep space where solar power becomes impractical.

On the propulsion side, two primary technologies are advancing:

Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP): This uses a nuclear reactor to heat a propellant (typically liquid hydrogen) which is expelled through a nozzle to generate thrust. These systems offer high thrust levels similar to chemical rockets but with improved efficiency.

Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NEP): This process converts thermal energy from a nuclear reactor into electricity as a way to power electric thrusters. This approach provides lower thrust but exceptional efficiency, making it ideal for sustained acceleration on long-duration missions.

Not quite as good as a constant acceleration drive — but those are even further off than NTP or NEP.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: ‘Self-Deport’ Gets My Early Vote for Phrase of the Year. “The lunacy of almost all of the Democrats’ immigration policies is quickly exposed when one attempts to find other countries that do things in a similar fashion. Spoiler alert: you can’t just waltz into another country without so much as a cursory background check and be allowed to work. Next time that an open borders Dem gets in your face, dare them to try it.”

SLOUCHING TOWARD WORLD WAR III: Ukraine says it captured two Chinese nationals fighting in Russian army.

“We have information that there are many more Chinese citizens in the occupier’s units than just two. We are now finding out all the facts,” Zelensky said in a post on Telegram. “I have instructed the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to immediately contact Beijing and find out how China is going to react to this.”

“Russia’s involvement of China in this war in Europe, directly or indirectly, is a clear signal that Putin is going to do anything except end the war. He is looking for ways to continue fighting,” Zelensky said.

It is unclear if the Chinese nationals that Ukraine says it captured are Chinese soldiers or volunteers. Western officials on Tuesday told CNN that they did not see “evidence of state sponsorship” in their cases.

There might be less to this story than the headline suggests — just mercenaries or adventurers rather than PLA troops TDY’d as it were to Ukraine.

DE-CRISIS BY DESIGN: Ending Biden’s Most Outrageous Violations of Immigration Law.

CHANGE: Trump administration to fine illegal migrants $998 a day unless they self-deport.

“Illegal aliens should use the CBP Home app to self-deport and leave the country now,” Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday. “If they don’t, they will face the consequences. This includes a fine of $998 per day for every day that the illegal alien overstayed their final deportation order.”

The administration is using a 1996 law that will allow illegal migrants to be fined if they don’t leave the U.S.

Property can also be seized from illegal migrants who don’t pay the fine.

A flyer was given to Fox News Digital that showed the “benefits” and “consequences” of self-deporting through the CBP app.

Mitt Romney was mocked for suggesting self-deportation in 2012 but change the incentives and it will happen.

THERE AREN’T BOOKS TOO BIG TO THROW AT PEOPLE WHO DO THIS: Justice Is Coming: Florida Busts International Child Porn Ring.

“ARE WE THE BADDIES?” It Would Be Super Cool if the Democrats Weren’t Always Rooting for the Bad Guys.

JOURNALISM THAT DOESN’T FURTHER THE NARRATIVE IS UNWELCOME, COMRADE:

I am literally receiving death threats for doing my job as a journalist and releasing an arrest report.

This in particular destroys their narrative. If you attack a journalist for revealing the truth, you’re on the wrong side. https://t.co/auIE2peBAM pic.twitter.com/xZz7EP6J2K

— Sarah Fields (@SarahisCensored) April 8, 2025

More: “The cowards who are threatening me and sending me death threats to my DMs, especially the one who just sent me my own address, I have gone to the police and filed a report. I’m not going to stop doing MY JOB and I’m not scared of you.”

ESSEX FILES: Service Members Who Left Military Over COVID Mandates: You’re (Re)hired, but There’s a Catch. “The fine print of the Pentagon’s implementation reveals a less generous reality than some might have hoped.”

BANNING THE “SNOW WHITE” REMAKE IS JUST GOOD TASTE:

Guess Disney doesn’t have to edit the black actors from posters anymore. https://t.co/j4KeMAcASg pic.twitter.com/gWM2Y60Dy0

— Prison Mitch (@MidnightMitch) April 8, 2025

I’m not sure what kind of pressure this is supposed to bring on the White House since Hollywood is already as anti-Trump as possible.

Domestic politics aside, kowtowing to the CCP’s tastes and demands has done great harm over the years to the quality of Hollywood’s products.

CHINA IS ASSHOE: China Bans Missionary Activity as Pakistani Persecution of Christians Increases.

IT’S THE GOOD LIFE: AOC flies first-class to Bernie Sanders’ ‘Fight Oligarchy’ rally as critics pan lefty pol for battling inequality one ‘mimosa at a time.’

JAW, JAW IS BETTER THAN WAR, WAR: Trump Says U.S. and Iran Will Hold ‘Direct Talks’ on Tehran’s Nuclear Program.

COME SEE THE VIOLENCE INHERENT IN THE LEFTISM, PART II: Portland leftist charged over using lasers to injure eyes of Tesla staff. “A radical Portland leftist named Davis Loren Nafshun was arrested on March 29 after allegedly trying to blind staff working inside a Portland Tesla showroom using a powerful green laser. The laser, which Antifa also used in 2020 at the riots to injure the eyes of officers protecting the courthouse, can cause blindness.”

He was released without bail because Portland.

WELL, BYE:

BREAKING: Per report, Navy Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield refused to put up POTUS & SECDEF pictures in NATO HQ. Also held an “all hands” where she said “we will wait them out 4 years”

She has been relieved of duty

— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) April 8, 2025

“Commander-in-chief” is not a difficult concept, Admiral.

MEANWHILE, OVER AT VODKAPUNDIT: The De-Extinction of the Dire Wolf? Not So Fast…

THE NEW SPACE RACE: Space Force missile-tracking “Foo Fighter” satellites clear design milestone.

Eight satellites designed by Millennium Space Systems with sensor payloads from L3Harris Technologies have cleared a key design review, paving the way for production and a planned late 2027 launch, the companies announced April 7.

Millennium Space, based in El Segundo, California, is building the satellites under a $414 million contract awarded last year by the Space Development Agency for a constellation known as “Foo Fighter” — short for Fire-control On Orbit-support to the Warfighter.

The satellites will form part of the SDA’s Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, an extensive constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites designed to provide continuous tracking, targeting and communications support for U.S. military operations.

Dave Grohl could not be reached for comment.

COME SEE THE RACISM INHERENT IN THE LEFTISM: Jasmine Crockett on Immigration: ‘We Done Picking Cotton.’

BLUE STATE BLUES:

BREAKING🚨🇺🇸 Madison Square Garden Entertainment has Filed to LEAVE Delaware and Redomesticate in Nevada

Another Day, Another Departure… pic.twitter.com/iMkdjuGuJc

— Leave Delaware (@LeaveDelaware) April 7, 2025

More: “In the official proxy statement, reasons for leaving include more predictability and certainty in decision-making; and reducing the risk of opportunistic litigation against the Company, and its directors and officers, which can be time-consuming, burdensome, and expensive.”

#METOO: Trump’s Painful but Necessary Scorched-Earth Approach Is Precisely What I Voted For.

WELL, THEY’RE CERTAINLY ASKING FOR IT: French far right floats toppling government in wake of Le Pen verdict.

Two high-ranking officials from France’s biggest far-right party publicly opened the door on Monday to bringing down the government a week after Marine Le Pen was convicted of embezzlement and subsequently barred from running for president.

National Rally President Jordan Bardella and party Vice President Sébastien Chenu revealed in separate interviews that the party is contemplating ousting Prime Minister François Bayrou, just four months after backing the French left’s effort to take down his predecessor, Michel Barnier.

Both National Rally politicians framed their party’s decision as a response to Bayrou’s supposed failures to act on their legislative priorities, such as lowering energy prices or adopting a proportional voting system. Bardella told RTL that “this government isn’t doing much” while Chenu accused Bayrou trying to kick the can down the road and “wear out members of parliament.”

The timing of their messaging, however, is unlikely a coincidence.

You can either have free and fair elections or you can eventually have lampposts. Europe’s elites seem to have forgotten that.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Dare We Dream About Lasting Improvements in Election Integrity? “For far too long now, American elections have been a hot mess of ‘anomalies,’ as the defenders of the status quo like to put it. You and I, of course, would say ‘deliberate fraud.’ I would prefer to say something much worse, but this is a family site.”

SO NOW NPR WANTS YOU TO KNOW: Tariffs are fueling fears of a recession. What does it take to actually declare one?

A recession refers to a period of decline in economic activity. It’s one of the four stages of the economic cycle: growth, peak, contraction (or recession) and trough.

Some analysts use a rough rule of thumb to identify recessions: Two consecutive quarters of decline in a nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) — the broadest measure of economic activity.

But the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) — the nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization that has become the semi-official arbiter of recessions — uses a somewhat squishier definition. It calls a recession a “significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and that lasts more than a few months.”

The definition doesn’t seem to have become squishier until the old definition happened on Biden’s watch. Now it will be as squishy as necessary to hang it on Trump.

THIS IS WHAT FAILING STATES DO TO DISTRACT FROM THEIR FAILURES: South Africa Continues Anti-Israel Hate As Kids Parade With AKs.