From #CNN: A Baltic undersea Internet cable connecting Lithuania and Sweden was cut, likely to have been sabotage.

#Russia being the obvious suspect ...

https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/19/europe/sabotage-undersea-cables-cut-baltic-sea-intl/index.html

#Space

#SpaceX will attempt another #Starship test flight today from Boca Chica TX, targeting 5:00 PM EST / 2:00 PM PST. I'll post a video link when available.

Rumor has it that #Trump will attend. 🙄

https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/

#Politics Breaking from #LATimes:

LA Unified School District declares itself an immigrant sanctuary, vows to protect LGBTQ+ communities.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-11-18/lausd-protect-immigrant-lgbtq-students-trump-presidency

In college back in the 1970s (yes, I'm old), I studied Russian for two years and Russian history for a year.

I've decided to delve back into the language and history, for no other reason than we're probably going to be Putin's fiefdom in a few months. 🙄

#Politics Today's "This Modern World" by Tom Tomorrow on #DailyKos.

https://www.dailykos.com/blogs/Tom%20Tomorrow/

#Politics From #WaPo: Two women testified to the House Ethics Committee that #Trump attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz paid them for sex.

https://wapo.st/3YU6Fzh

#StarTrek The Roddenberry Archive released today this ten-minute video that returns William Shatner as Kirk. They used AI CGI to render his face.

The second link is the press release explaining who did what.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgOZFny7F50

https://home.otoy.com/unification/

We all know that Hitler began with rounding up the Jews. Trump might begin with Hispanics, with Muslims, with Chinese -- all sorts of rumors are flying.

If SCOTUS lets him do it, what's to stop him from rounding up, e.g. people registered Democrat?

If SCOTUS lets him do it, I'm seriously considering leaving the US. That poses complications, since my #MAGA wife will be quite happy about all this and won't leave. But I'm already researching nations that take US citizens. (5/5)

"Operation Wetback" was Eisenhower's program to round up Hispanics and dump them across the Mexican border. Some of those detained died while in custody due to sunstroke or disease; how many is unknown. (4/x)

https://www.history.com/news/operation-wetback-eisenhower-1954-deportation

Most of us know that FDR ordered 112,000 Japanese-Americans rounded up during WW2 into internment camps. They had done nothing wrong other than they were Japanese. They lost their liberties and their properties. George Takei is a survivor and often speaks about it. (3/x)

https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/japanese-relocation#background

History gives us several precedents, for example:

In 1932, Hoover sent in the army to round up veterans camped out in shanty towns around DC. Tanks armed with machine guns rolled through DC to roust the protestors. (2/x)

https://www.nps.gov/articles/the-1932-bonus-army.htm

#Politics From #WaPo ... I'm seriously concerned about this. I suspect a quick test case will escalate this to #SCOTUS. If the conservative majority allows him to deploy the US military into the streets, he'll have carte blanche to round up anyone he wants. (1/x)

https://wapo.st/48RwQLH

#Politics Breaking from #Axios:

#Trump confirms he will declare a national emergency to put US military in the streets once he's President.

https://www.axios.com/2024/11/18/trump-mass-deportations-military-national-emergency

#Politics From #Politico:

#Trump nominates Project 2025 co-author to run the #FCC.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/11/17/brendan-carr-fcc-trump-pick-00190075

#Politics #Space #NASA

Elon Musk may have gone full Darth Vader on us, but there was a time when he was apolitical and a friend to the #Obama administration.

This is April 15, 2010. Elon gave President Obama a tour of the Space Canaveral SpaceX launch site. They agreed to work together to achieve rocket reusability.

The #Falcon9 that just launched today and landed for the 18th time? Obama helped make that happen. Otherwise, Elon might be out of business.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKY4DwTDxkc

#Space #SpaceCoast

#SpaceX is targeting 5:28 PM EST for a #Falcon9 launch from #NASA #KSC Pad 39A. The payload is a satellite for an Australian company, rather hush-hush for some reason.

Watch live at Spaceflight Now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9a0aMJ7Lyo

From #NBCNews: #Biden authorizes #Ukraine to strike #Russia with US long-range missiles.

Comment ... Zelenskyy posted on Zombie Twitter this morning that Russia had struck all over Ukraine with a mass attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure. I wonder if that was before or after the US decision.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/biden-authorized-ukraine-strike-russia-long-range-missiles-rcna180547

#CoSoWriters

I've just posted a new article on my #StarTrek blog about the show's second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before." The Written Trek is about the evolution of the Star Trek universe writing. Probably familiar to lifelong Trekkies. For everyone else, lots to learn!

http://www.thewrittentrek.com/

#Baseball From #BostonGlobe:

Minor league manager/hall of fame scout Tom Kotchman retires at age 70.

For most of his career -- mostly with the Angels, then the Red Sox -- he'd scout #Florida for prospects, then after the draft manage the rookie teams, often to titles.

Kotch has the most wins of any manager in minor league history.

He's long been a personal friend as well.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/11/16/sports/tom-kotchman-red-sox-retires/

We saw #RedOne today. A bit of a misfire, in my opinion. Kinda crosses "Grinch" with "Guardians of the Galaxy." There should have been lots of laugh-out-loud moments, but not much to laugh at. Normally Dwayne Johnson is great at improv lines but his character is too determined to air it out.

The premise had lots of potential, including a contrast of North American traditions to other parts of the world, but it barely goes there.