2028 IndyCar Formula Announced - Road America IndyCar Day 2 Report

Meanwhile, back in North America, three bits of news at Road America during this weekend's IndyCar race at Road America: (1) RLL rookie drive Louis Foster will start tomorrow's race on pole, (2) IndyCar announced their next-generation engine/chassis formula starting in 2028 - a 2.4L turbo engine w/a Dallara chassis and (3) former Penske managing director Kyle Moyer has landed over at Arrow-McLaren to work w/Nolan Siegel for the remainder of the season.

U.S. Strikes Iranian Nuke Facilities

Quoting the BBC... Donald Trump says the US has completed strikes on three nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordo, Natanz and Esfahan. "We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. All planes are now outside of Iran air space," he wrote on Truth Social.

Trump added that a "full payload of bombs" were dropped on Fordo and all planes were on their way back to the US.

This isn't a surprise; as strong as the Israeli Defense Forces are they simply didn't have the capacity to hit the big 3 nuclear weapons sites inside of Iran (especially the underground facility at Fordow, though Israel has struck areas near Natanz and Isfahan in recent days) and the only ones who could were the USAF's B-2 stealth bombers with their 15-ton bunker-busters.

Now the questions becomes several: (1) what follow-up strikes will the U.S. carry out? (2) related to 1, will it involve a second round of B-2 strikes or could we see the Air Force's fast strategic bombers, the sleek-as-hell B-1 Lancers, go in with their strike packages? (3) What will Iran's response be against us - will they move to close off the Strait of Hormuz, convince outside agitators to act agst. the West, etc.?

Right now it is anyone's guess.

🔴LIVE - TORNADO ON THE GROUND - With Storm Chasers - Live Weather Channe...

You know its' summer when a derecho strikes on the summer solstice...and what d'ya know; we have a derecho! ☔☇☇☇🌀

In all seriousness though, everyone stay safe in the Dakotas and Minnesota tonight and through the overnight into Saturday morning...🙏🙏

Happy Sabbath, 20 June 2025

As we begin another summer here in Western North Carolina, let us enjoy the blessings of the Sabbath that God provided to us.

Update on Ship 36's Static Test Stand Explosion

Late last night Ship 36, undergoing a final static-fire prior to launch of Flight 10 later this month, suffered a catastrophic failure resulting in destruction of the upper stage along with damage to Massey's Test Stand where the test was to be held.

According to reports out of Texas, the explosion looks to be the result of a failure in the Starship COPV (Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel) near the methane header tanks, resulting in a leak of superchilled methane that later ignited and caused the explosion. Thankfully, there were no casualties but Massey's Test Stand will have to be rebuilt extensively.

Now the question becomes "when will SpaceX launch Flight 10? At the time of this post, no one knows.

BREAKING: Iran Missile STRIKES Israeli Hospital; IDF Hits Iran Nuclear, ...

We're now one week into the conflict between Israel and Iran and Israel pretty much has what in the West is known as "Air Dominance" meaning the IDF Air Force can operate at-will anywhere over western and central Iran (I didn't include Eastern Iran principally because Iran has enough problems already btwn. them and Pakistan concerning Balochistan terrorists Pakistan has long-accused Iran of supporting).

Meanwhile all eyes continue to watch Whiteman AFB in western Missouri for flights of B-2 Spirit stealth bombers; these are the only ones with the ordnance capable of striking Iran's Fordow underground nuclear facility, weapons the Israelis do not have at present. Reports are the bombers are on what back in the Cold War would've been akin to a cocked pistol situation, needing only a Go order from Washington to be on their way. It is a 30-hour round trip to and from Fordow from Whiteman and would require multiple refuelings' - hence last week's deployment of refueling aircraft to Europe and the Mediterranean. 

SHIP 36 EXPLOSION! Something Weird Happened to S36 Static Fire Test! Mas...

Within the spaceflight community, "Go Fever" is regarded as a nasty bitch (apologies for the language there) and late Wednesday night it struck SpaceX hard with the explosion of Ship 36 during a static fire test, with subsequent destruction of the Massey's Test Site at Starbase.

First reports are a burst rupture in the methane tank of Ship 36 but again, that is a first report; nonetheless, it is almost certain Starship's next flight (currently Flight 10) won't be for some time to come, if at all this year.

Israel Attacks Iran - Missiles Hit Israel - LIVE Breaking News Coverage

We're now one week into the direct conflict between Iran and Israel and today's major events include (a) continued Israeli strikes on Iranian defense and weapons infrastructure and (b) an apparent Iranian ballistic missile strike in Beersheba which struck a hospital. 

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump is still considering whether to use bunker-buster ordnance against Iran's Fordow underground nuclear complex. Reports are unconfirmed but the consensus is that he has tentatively approved such a strike; the question will be whether there will be direct Iranian retaliation agst. American forces in the Middle East.

SCOTUS Affirms Ban on "Gender Affirming Care" for Trans Youth

You know, if someone comes out as transgender and wants to live as such, I have no problem with it (including everything that goes with it, including "gender-affirming care') so long as they're over the age of 18 - you know, an adult?

But under 18? That's a hard pass and thankfully SCOTUS agreed.... The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a ruling upholding Tennessee’s ban on “gender-affirming care” for minors suffering from gender dysphoria. The ruling solidifies laws that shield children from being subjected to questionable medical treatments such as puberty blockers, hormone treatments, and surgery.

It was, as expected, a 6-3 decision with Chief Justice Roberts authoring the decision, affirming the state of Tennessee's (and by extension, about 20 other states') ban on "gender-affirming care" for trans youth, ruling the ban didn't violate the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause and that it was enforced based on age and medical purpose, not gender or sex.

This is a good decision; now, I put the words "gender-affirming care" in quotation marks because, as country after country in Europe is now confirming, there is nothing affirming about what is essentially gender mutilation. 

Plus, how can a child consent to anything? I mean, an adult can consent to it as a medical necessity but unless the child has asked for their independence from their parents isn't it the parents responsibility to consent in their stead?

🔴BREAKING: U.S. Deploys Stealth Bombers; Iran Top General ELIMINATED; Te...

Things continue to intensify in the Middle East; at this point, the question's becoming not whether Iran can block Israel's continued attacks but now (a) will the U.S. step in and assist and (b) whether the mullahs in Tehran will continue to rule afterward...

Apologies...

...for not having any posts the past few days; given all the inclement weather we've had I decided to take both a mental health self-care weekend and a social media detox. I'm feeling much better at the moment and should be back up to my usual self this week.