MY LATEST SUBSTACK: And Away We Go! Starship Puts Us On The Path To A Kardashev II Civilization.

Plus, thoughts about Jerry Pournelle.

As always, if you like these essays, please take out a paid subscription. I really appreciate it.

IT’S ALL JUST A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY REPEATING: Yadda, Yadda, Yadda: Anti-Gunners Warn of a Bloody Apocalypse if Gun Rights are Expanded…Again.

EXIT TO JUPITER: Just outside Jupiter, one region may have forged six meteorite parent bodies.

WHAT ARE THE DEEP SEVENS UP TO NOW? Earth’s molten outer core is behaving in chaotic, unexpected ways.

AN AMUSING TWIST ON JURASSIC PARK:

I NEVER THOUGHT IT WAS: Eating beef every day may not be as bad for your health as first thought.

UH, NO: Penn State professor: Stephen Colbert ‘one of the most important satirists in American history.’

WELL, HE’S RIGHT:

Elon Musk just put the entire university system on trial.

Not the curriculum. Not the professors. The premise.

Musk: “You don’t need college to learn stuff. Everything is available basically for free. You can learn anything you want for free.”

For a thousand years,… pic.twitter.com/F5FS6lzlts

— Shadow Intel (@TheShadowIntelX) May 22, 2026

“Colleges are basically for fun and to prove you can do your chores. But they’re not for learning.”

NOT ACTUALLY SURPRISING:

Wow! Every female juror voted to acquit Harvey Weinstein! https://t.co/X91fXFbSZI

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) May 22, 2026

HAHA:

Pro tip:

Don't take Pro tips from a Politician who hasn't driven himself anywhere since 2004. https://t.co/3m6Rk7I40u

— US Oil & Gas Association (@US_OGA) May 22, 2026

GOOD NEWS: Popular weight loss drugs may have surprising side effect: stalling cancer. Early results on the Retatrutide phase 3 tests show promise against cancer and heart disease, too.

I tried microdosing Ozempic for these benefits, but it raised my resting heart rate by 10 bpm and though that’s a known side effect that’s supposed to be safe, I quit. Supposedly that doesn’t happen with tirzepatide, but I haven’t tried it.

THE PRESS KNOWS WHAT SIDE IT’S ON:

It's an absurd contention that world power/influence can be gotten via asymmetric tactics…if true then every country would resort to extortion, piracy and terrorism

The only real power Iran has achieved has been via TDS-afflicted media which keeps repeating this propaganda https://t.co/RlbAdXQGEz pic.twitter.com/8wV9BF5Eor

— Gummi (@gummibear737) May 22, 2026

TEACH WOMEN NOT TO RAPE! (CONT’D):

Maris Nichols, the Georgia teacher arrested for allegedly R*PING a student in a classroom closet, has been arrested AGAIN on additional charges after being accused of abusing 5 MORE children.

Nichols allegedly r*ped multiple other children, including at a golf course and in a… pic.twitter.com/a7AgIBh8b6

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) May 22, 2026

This should just be a new section of the NY Post. Like you open it up and have News, Sports, Entertainment, Teachers Having Sex With Students, Editorials etc. https://t.co/8wWUJEuMql

— FischerKing (@FischerKing64) May 22, 2026

OPEN THREAD: Ring in the weekend.

MY LATEST SUBSTACK: And Away We Go! Starship Puts Us On The Path To A Kardashev II Civilization.

Plus, thoughts about Jerry Pournelle.

As always, if you like these essays, please take out a paid subscription. I really appreciate it.

ALIENS: Strange stacked stones spotted on Mars.

OBESITY WILL BE A CHOICE: New Weight-Loss Pill Could Help Solve a Major Problem With GLP-1 Drugs.

A SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH AND SEPARATION:

SpaceX team chanting: "USA! USA! USA! USA!"

🇺🇸🚀 pic.twitter.com/3iQctERDWB

— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) May 22, 2026

SpaceX’s first Starship V3 rocket has just successfully lifted off!

This is the first test flight of Starship version 3, which features thousands of upgrades from V2. With this launch, SpaceX is debuting a new launch pad, booster, ship, engines and much more. pic.twitter.com/mnxXAVBKdo

— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) May 22, 2026

UPDATE:

SpaceX's Starship rocket just successfully performed a flip maneuver and precisely splashed down on target in the Indian Ocean next to a buoy with @Starlink on it.

The SpaceX team ends the stream with a "USA! USA! USA!" chant 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/rKwFHda4Jc

— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) May 22, 2026

Not sure a crew at Boeing would chant “USA!” Or be allowed to. If Boeing could do something like this.

UPDATE: From the comments: “Damn, how I wish Jerry Pournelle could be watching this.”

WELL, GOOD: Breakthrough Parkinson’s Drug Targets Disease at Its Genetic Roots.

JUST LIKE ACID-LOWERING DRUGS PUT ULCER SURGEONS OUT OF BUSINESS: As GLP-1 drugs surge in popularity, bariatric surgery rates plunge across the US.

WELL, GOOD: New and Affordable Vehicles Coming From Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, and Dodge.

OH, I NEVER DID: Don’t Believe Claims That New Jerseys GLOCK Sales Record Subpoenas Are About Crime.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: 7 ways toilets have killed people.

SCIENCE: Why are so many people right-handed? New study sheds some light.

VITAMIN D UPDATE: Higher vitamin D intake in pregnancy linked to some cognitive benefits in children.