Stephen C. Smith
@wordsmithfl.bsky.social
Writing about space policy and politics, from the Space Coast of Florida. Now retired after ten years doing public education at Kennedy Space Center. You can also find me on Counter.Social at the same handle, and on Substack at TheSpacePundit.com.
#Politics #Trump From @nytimes.com: Pirro and Burgum threw each other under the Reflecting Pool in front of Trump yesterday. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/04/u...
Inside the Oval Office Showdown Between Trump and Jeanine Pirro (Gift Article)
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, told President Trump that his interior secretary, Doug Burgum, had misled him with a self-serving cover story for his own mistakes.
nytimes.com
#Politics #Trump From #CNN via Archive.ph: Trump has spent the day throwing Jeanine Pirro to the wolves. Looks like she'll walk the plank for dismissing the Reflecting Pool charges. archive.ph/wZkBR
hey kids it's a quick look at the news www.dailykos.com/stories/2026...
Headline news 2026
A cartoon by Tom Tomorrow.
dailykos.com
Here's an article from the Spokane Spokesman-Review on the wildfires in the Spokane area. (Always check local media for the best coverage.) www.spokesman.com/stories/2026...
'Just smoke and ash and fire': Firefighters trying to contain Fairview fire near Mead
Hundreds of firefighters from a variety of states gathered Sunday morning to stop the forward advance of the Fairview fire in Mead.
spokesman.com
#Politics #Economy #Trump Breaking from Yahoo Finance: In a court filing Friday, Capital One said they closed Trump's real estate company accounts in 2021 due to evidence of money laundering. finance.yahoo.com/markets/curr...
Capital One Cites Money Laundering Review in Trump-Related Suit
(Bloomberg) -- Capital One Financial Corp. said in a court filing late Friday that it closed accounts belonging to President Donald Trump’s sprawling real estate company in 2021 for legitimate reasons...
finance.yahoo.com
#Ukraine #Russia Foreign media report that an explosion ripped through a downtown Moscow restaurant hosting a private birthday event for a Russian air force general. www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/202...
Several dead after explosion at Moscow restaurant where general was reportedly celebrating birthday
An explosion has occurred at a restaurant in central Moscow which had been closed for a private event.
pravda.com.ua
#Politics #Trump From @cbsnews.com: Trump goes after Jeannine Pirro for dropping phony vandalism charges against Olympian for touching the Reflecting Pool. www.cbsnews.com/news/doj-dis...
DOJ moves to dismiss Reflecting Pool vandalism charges against David Hearn, says damage due to "botched installation"
Federal prosecutors moved to dismiss an indictment charging U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn with ripping the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, saying the damage was caused by "botched ...
cbsnews.com
#Politics #Florida From #Spectrum #News13: Florida's attorney general tells Catholic schools to reject vaccine mandates or risk losing eligibility for state scholarship programs. mynews13.com/fl/orlando/n...
Florida attorney general urges Catholic schools to grant vaccine exemptions
AG James Uthmeier shared a letter he wrote to the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops saying they risk eligibility for state scholarship programs if they don't grant the exemptions.
mynews13.com
#Space #NASA #KSC 59 years ago today, the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex opened as the Visitor Information Center. This is a NASA "KSC Reports" syndicated radio program about our opening. www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy4o...
"KSC Reports," Visitor Information Center Opening, August 1967 (Audio Only)
YouTube video by Space SPAN (Space Policy and News)
youtube.com
#Space #NASA Nice of #PBS to put this series about early NASA online for free. "The Untold Story of the Space Race (1957-1963)" www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWmd...
The Untold Story of the Space Race (1957-1963) | Full Documentary | American Experience | PBS
YouTube video by American Experience | PBS
youtube.com
Just watched S1E2 of #StuartFails on #HBOMax. If you're a Big Bang Theory fan, you'll quickly fall in love with this series. This week's episode is particularly timely because it's about an AI that got loose. We just had a second AI get loose in our reality. www.anthropic.com/news/investi...
Investigating three real-world incidents in our cybersecurity evaluations
In a review of our cybersecurity evaluation transcripts, we found three incidents in which a Claude model reached the internet from within or while interacting with a third-party evaluation environmen...
anthropic.com
#Politics #Economy #Trump From Yahoo Finance: US economy in the 2nd quarter slowed to a 1.5% GDP growth rate. finance.yahoo.com/economy/arti...
US economic growth slows to 1.5% in second quarter
US economic growth grew at a slower pace than expected, even as the US consumer remained strong.
finance.yahoo.com
#Russia #Ukraine Breaking from @cnn.com: "Massive attack" on Kyiv and other Ukraine cities launched by Russia. www.cnn.com/2026/07/29/e...
Russia striking Kyiv with ballistic missiles, after Zelensky warned of ‘massive attack’ | CNN
Russia has launched missiles toward Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, the Ukrainian Air Force said early Thursday local time, in a move that comes just hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky warned M...
cnn.com
#Politics #Trump From @washingtonpost.com (gift article): Trump has decided to personally redesign Dulles airport. Spoiler: lots of gold decor. 🙄 wapo.st/4wvEWEI
Trump set to unveil Dulles makeover after months of personal edits
The multibillion-dollar project to overhaul the airport would replace aging terminals and eliminate its long-disparaged “people movers.”
wapo.st
#Politics From #CNN: Anthony Fauci invokes the Fifth and refuses to testify before Rand Paul's witch hunt committee. Paul had Fauci's attorney escorted out of the hearing room. Fauci says the hearing is an excuse for Paul to trump up perjury charges against him. www.cnn.com/2026/07/29/p...
Dr. Anthony Fauci pleads the Fifth to avoid Senate questions about Covid pandemic | CNN Politics
Dr. Anthony Fauci, who led the US government response to the Covid-19 pandemic, invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, refusing to testify Wednesday just minutes into a Capitol ...
cnn.com
With #Trump driving up the cost of a gallon of gas thanks to his #Iran war, it's time for car owners to consider switching to an electric vehicle. My latest #Substack looks at why you should go EV and what are your options if you don't want a #Tesla. open.substack.com/pub/webought...
Is It Time to Buy an Electric Car?
Global gasoline prices are soaring due to the war on Iran. An electric car frees you from the consequences.
open.substack.com
#Space #NASA #SpaceX has another #Starship test flight scheduled to launch tonight at 6:45 PM EDT / 3:45 PM PDT, from Starbase Texas. As before, these are TEST flights. The vehicles are expendable. Watch live starting at 6:15 PM EDT/3:15 PM EDT at the link. www.spacex.com/launches/sta...
SpaceX
SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft.
spacex.com
#Space #NASA From Spaceflight Now: "NASA evacuated its Madrid Deep Space Network ground station on Friday as wild fires near the Spanish capital city swept through the area. The agency said all personnel were safe and it had yet to survey the site for damage." spaceflightnow.com/2026/07/24/c...
Critical NASA Deep Space ground station in Spain evacuated due to wildfires – Spaceflight Now
spaceflightnow.com
@neildegrassetyson.com Can't wait until you dismantle the Season 4 premiere episode of Strange New Worlds, "Valles Marineris." 😊
A new "Coyote v. Acme" trailer is out. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMsi...
Coyote vs. ACME | Final Trailer
YouTube video by Coyote vs. Acme
youtube.com
#Politics #Trump From #WaPo via Archive.ph: US measles cases hit 35-year high with five months to go in 2026. archive.ph/QqHa3
#StarWars Some serious AI CGI in this one, but it's impressive, most impressive. "Working Temp for Obi-Wan." www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PJi...
Working Temp for Obi-Wan — with TK-42Greg [Stormtrooper Vlog //S3.04]
YouTube video by TK-42Greg
youtube.com
#Economy #Florida #SpaceCoast Convenience stores will always be a bit higher, but just wanted to note that the local Circle K has gone over $4.00/gallon.
#Space #NASA Today is the 57th anniversary of the #Apollo11 moon landing ... Last April I wrote a #Substack about how to prove it happened and how to deal with the attention trolls who claim it was all faked. Read "Phonies, Fakes, and Frauds" at the link. wordsmithfl.substack.com/p/phonies-fa...
Phonies, Fakes, and Frauds
The Artemis II mission is an opportunity for moon landing deniers to seek attention. Don't give it to them.
wordsmithfl.substack.com
And just a reminder if you wish to listen to the Apollo 11 mission as it happened in real time 57 years ago apolloinrealtime.org/11/
Apollo 11 in Real Time
A real-time interactive journey through the first landing on the Moon. Relive every moment as it occurred in 1969.
apolloinrealtime.org
#Politics #Economy #Trump From Yahoo Finance: Home foreclosures at their highest since 2019. Comment ... Who was president in 2019 and also today? 🤔 finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/...
Foreclosures hit highest level since 2019, sparking interest from bargain hunters
Foreclosure sales can mean hefty discounts for buyers willing to brave complex closing process and potential renovations.
finance.yahoo.com
#Politics #Trump #Iran Breaking from @cnn.com: Two US were killed and one is missing after Iran strikes in Jordan. Iran says Trump's ceasefire signature is "worthless and unreliable" and will no longer honor the agreement. www.cnn.com/2026/07/18/w...
Live updates: Iran says it’s suspending ceasefire commitments with US after a week of intensified strikes | CNN
There’s no sign that renewed fighting between the US and Iran will end soon. A week of intensified strikes has left the ceasefire in tatters. Follow for live updates.
cnn.com
