SpaceX Starship V3 debuts, Modi meets Rubio, May 23
SpaceX launched its biggest Starship yet, the upgraded V3, on its 12th test flight from Texas. NASA is counting on the rocket to land astronauts on the moon. (The Guardian) Secretary of State Rubio met Modi in Delhi to sell US energy, filling gaps left by the Iran war. (BBC) A Chinese coal mine blast in Shanxi killed at least 90, the country's worst mining disaster in 16 years. (BBC)
Micro-Sigma: The US is building rockets to leave Earth while buying fuel to keep its cars running. The same war making TP-Link's US router market share jump from 10% to 60%+ between 2019 and 2025 is why your gas bill hurts. (Techmeme)
French far-right Israeli minister Ben-Gvir was banned from France after threatening activists. (Al Jazeera) Israeli air strikes pounded southern Lebanon, killing at least four, reducing buildings to craters. (The Guardian) Uganda confirmed three new Ebola cases, bringing the total to five, including a driver and a health worker. (Al Jazeera)
Quiet.
You wake up, scroll, and the first thing you see is a rocket. SpaceX launched the biggest Starship yet, V3, and NASA is counting on it to get humans to the moon. That's the good news. The bad news is threaded through everything else, invisible but heavy, like the fuel that powers the rocket and the war that sits under every number you're about to read.
The best news today is that someone is trying to leave. The worst news is that someone else can't buy gas to drive to work because of why they're leaving. Before the Iran war, US gas was about $3 a gallon nationally. Kiss that goodbye for 2026. Even if the war ended today, prices won't normalize this year. (The Guardian) Rubio is in Delhi trying to sell energy to Modi to make up for the shortfall. America is building rockets to the moon and running out of gas on Earth.
But let's drop down a level. France banned Ben-Gvir, Israel's far-right minister, for threatening activists. French foreign minister Barrot said France won't tolerate its nationals being intimidated. Israel responded by bombing southern Lebanon again, killing at least four, turning buildings into craters. This is the third month of a war that started with Iran and is now bleeding into Lebanon, Gaza, and the wallets of Americans who never voted for it.
In Uganda, Ebola is back. Three new cases, total five, and one of them is a health worker. The driver who transported the first patient is infected. This is how outbreaks start. Meanwhile, DR Congo won't change its World Cup preparations despite a US warning about Ebola. (Al Jazeera) The same country hosting the tournament is telling one of its teams to isolate. The same country that can't get gas. The same country that just launched a rocket.
And then there's India. Modi ordered the exclusive Delhi Gymkhana Club to vacate its premises in two weeks. (The Guardian) This is a symbolic strike against traditional elites, a move that plays well with the base. But the Cockroach Janta Party -- a protest group that actually calls itself that -- says the government took down its website and hacked its Instagram. (Al Jazeera) The pressure is not just on elites. It's on anyone who makes noise.
The deepest news today is not the rocket or the war. It's the pollution that outlives war. (Al Jazeera Opinion) A piece that says long after fighting is over, the toxic leftovers of war continue to poison communities and the environment. The bombing, the fuel, the chemicals. The stuff that stays in the ground and in the water. The stuff that makes you sick years after the ceasefire.
So here's the connection nobody is drawing: The rocket we launch to go to the moon is made from the same materials that pollute the ground in Gaza. The same fuel that powers the Starship is the fuel that's running out because of the Iran war. The same technology that makes TP-Link routers -- Chinese routers in American homes -- is the technology that makes bombs. There is no clean separation. Everything is made from the same earth, and we are burning it.
The rocket lifted off. The gas stayed in the ground. The paramedics died in Lebanon. The health worker caught Ebola. The club in Delhi got evicted. The website went dark. The rocket is still flying.
Quiet.SpaceX Starship V3 debuts, Modi meets Rubio, May 23
SpaceX launched its biggest Starship yet, the upgraded V3, on its 12th test flight from Texas. NASA is counting on the rocket to land astronauts on the moon. (The Guardian) Secretary of State Rubio met Modi in Delhi to sell US energy, filling gaps left by the Iran war. (BBC) A Chinese coal mine blast in Shanxi killed at least 90, the country's worst mining disaster in 16 years. (BBC)
Micro-Sigma: The US is building rockets to leave Earth while buying fuel to keep its cars running. The same war making TP-Link's US router market share jump from 10% to 60%+ between 2019 and 2025 is why your gas bill hurts. (Techmeme)
French far-right Israeli minister Ben-Gvir was banned from France after threatening activists. (Al Jazeera) Israeli air strikes pounded southern Lebanon, killing at least four, reducing buildings to craters. (The Guardian) Uganda confirmed three new Ebola cases, bringing the total to five, including a driver and a health worker. (Al Jazeera)
Quiet.
You wake up, scroll, and the first thing you see is a rocket. SpaceX launched the biggest Starship yet, V3, and NASA is counting on it to get humans to the moon. Thats the good news. The bad news is threaded through everything else, invisible but heavy, like the fuel that powers the rocket and the war that sits under every number youre about to read.
The best news today is that someone is trying to leave. The worst news is that someone else cant buy gas to drive to work because of why theyre leaving. Before the Iran war, US gas was about $3 a gallon nationally. Kiss that goodbye for 2026. Even if the war ended today, prices wont normalize this year. (The Guardian) Rubio is in Delhi trying to sell energy to Modi to make up for the shortfall. America is building rockets to the moon and running out of gas on Earth.
But lets drop down a level. France banned Ben-Gvir, Israels far-right minister, for threatening activists. French foreign minister Barrot said France wont tolerate its nationals being intimidated. Israel responded by bombing southern Lebanon again, killing at least four, turning buildings into craters. This is the third month of a war that started with Iran and is now bleeding into Lebanon, Gaza, and the wallets of Americans who never voted for it.
In Uganda, Ebola is back. Three new cases, total five, and one of them is a health worker. The driver who transported the first patient is infected. This is how outbreaks start. Meanwhile, DR Congo wont change its World Cup preparations despite a US warning about Ebola. (Al Jazeera) The same country hosting the tournament is telling one of its teams to isolate. The same country that cant get gas. The same country that just launched a rocket.
And then theres India. Modi ordered the exclusive Delhi Gymkhana Club to vacate its premises in two weeks. (The Guardian) This is a symbolic strike against traditional elites, a move that plays well with the base. But the Cockroach Janta Party -- a protest group that actually calls itself that -- says the government took down its website and hacked its Instagram. (Al Jazeera) The pressure is not just on elites. Its on anyone who makes noise.
The deepest news today is not the rocket or the war. Its the pollution that outlives war. (Al Jazeera Opinion) A piece that says long after fighting is over, the toxic leftovers of war continue to poison communities and the environment. The bombing, the fuel, the chemicals. The stuff that stays in the ground and in the water. The stuff that makes you sick years after the ceasefire.
So heres the connection nobody is drawing: The rocket we launch to go to the moon is made from the same materials that pollute the ground in Gaza. The same fuel that powers the Starship is the fuel thats running out because of the Iran war. The same technology that makes TP-Link routers -- Chinese routers in American homes -- is the technology that makes bombs. There is no clean separation. Everything is made from the same earth, and we are burning it.
The rocket lifted off. The gas stayed in the ground. The paramedics died in Lebanon. The health worker caught Ebola. The club in Delhi got evicted. The website went dark. The rocket is still flying.
Quiet.