https://pjmedia.com/author/charlie-martin/feedPJ Media is a leading news site covering culture, politics, faith, homeland security, and more. Our reporters and columnists provide original, in-depth analysis from a variety of perspectives.en-usThu, 09 Apr 2026 17:33:38 -0400<![CDATA[The last week of January has not been kind to NASA.]]>Fri, 30 Jan 2026 12:17:00 -0500<![CDATA[Charlie Martin]]><![CDATA[Space]]>https://pjmedia.com/charlie-martin/2026/01/30/a-hard-week-for-sky-candy-n4948928<![CDATA[As I've been following more astrophotography, astronomy, and astrophysics bloggers, I'm seeing more and more fascinating stuff. &nbsp;Like this:]]>Mon, 20 Oct 2025 17:37:10 -0400<![CDATA[Charlie Martin]]><![CDATA[Space]]>https://pjmedia.com/charlie-martin/2025/10/20/look-up-in-the-sky-candy-n4945069<![CDATA[You know, sometimes I have to wonder if the Democrats are just nuts. How many times can they shoot themselves in the foot before they run out of feet? You would think the Democrats would learn after shooting themselves in the foot once. But oh no!]]>Wed, 15 Oct 2025 12:44:00 -0400<![CDATA[Charlie Martin]]><![CDATA[Democrat Party]]><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]><![CDATA[Government Shutdown]]><![CDATA[Military]]><![CDATA[Republican Party]]>https://pjmedia.com/charlie-martin/2025/10/15/the-democrats-are-running-out-of-feet-n4944886<![CDATA[As I threatened suggested Friday, I'm going to try a little Sky Candy teaser today. It's going to be a big day for a lot of things.]]>Mon, 13 Oct 2025 10:50:00 -0400<![CDATA[Charlie Martin]]><![CDATA[Elon Musk]]><![CDATA[Green Energy]]><![CDATA[Space]]><![CDATA[SpaceX]]>https://pjmedia.com/charlie-martin/2025/10/13/snacking-on-monday-sky-candy-n4944794<![CDATA[It's not what you think.]]>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 13:03:00 -0400<![CDATA[Charlie Martin]]><![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence]]><![CDATA[Music]]><![CDATA[Space]]>https://pjmedia.com/charlie-martin/2025/09/18/sarah-hoyts-new-book-no-mans-land-its-not-what-you-think-n4943856<![CDATA[So the game is on in the Senate as the fight continues over the Big Beautiful Bill that was passed as a reconciliation bill in the House.&nbsp;]]>Mon, 23 Jun 2025 16:27:00 -0400<![CDATA[Charlie Martin]]><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]><![CDATA[Reconciliation]]><![CDATA[Senate]]>https://pjmedia.com/charlie-martin/2025/06/23/parliamentarian-takes-the-bbb-to-the-byrd-bath-n4941099<![CDATA[Picture this:]]>Wed, 18 Jun 2025 13:24:00 -0400<![CDATA[Charlie Martin]]>https://pjmedia.com/charlie-martin/2025/06/18/iran-cannot-have-nuclear-weapons-a-reminder-n4940922<![CDATA[When there's a big internet outage, there are two major suspects:]]>Thu, 12 Jun 2025 18:23:00 -0400<![CDATA[Charlie Martin]]><![CDATA[Big Tech]]>https://pjmedia.com/charlie-martin/2025/06/12/cloudflare-follies-and-another-big-internet-disruption-n4940745<![CDATA[The Big Beautiful Bill continues to be confusing, and, frankly, I think it’s become confusing because a whole lot of people think it being confusing is to their advantage. So let’s try to drill down into the details and try to sort out the facts.]]>Thu, 05 Jun 2025 13:46:00 -0400<![CDATA[Charlie Martin]]><![CDATA[Congress]]>https://pjmedia.com/charlie-martin/2025/06/05/understanding-the-big-beautiful-bill-and-the-laws-that-surround-it-n4940479<![CDATA[If you’re a person of a certain age — which increasingly seems to mean “older than dirt” — you may remember a Broadway show and movie called “Bye Bye Birdie,” a thoroughly fictionalized account of the fuss around Elvis Presley being drafted into the Army. (He went, by the way. Served his whole hitch. My ROTC sergeant in high school was his platoon sergeant. Spoke very highly of him.)]]>Tue, 03 Jun 2025 20:41:00 -0400<![CDATA[Charlie Martin]]><![CDATA[FBI]]><![CDATA[National Security]]>https://pjmedia.com/charlie-martin/2025/06/03/nathan-laatsch-and-whats-the-matter-with-kids-these-days-n4940420<![CDATA[There's been a whole lot of agita from the right-hand side about the "reconciliation bill" — the Big Beautiful Bill — that passed the House a few days ago. A lot of it is based on the CBO scoring the bill as costing $4 trillion dollars in revenue. And why does the CBO think that? Because the CBO thinks the government is entitled to all the lovely tax money that would come in when the tax cuts from Trump's first term expire. But the BBB went and extended the tax cuts. Those rats.]]>Sun, 01 Jun 2025 16:19:18 -0400<![CDATA[Charlie Martin]]><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]>https://pjmedia.com/charlie-martin/2025/06/01/dont-let-cbo-scoring-fool-you-n4940351<![CDATA["When in the Course of human events..."]]>Mon, 26 May 2025 13:35:44 -0400<![CDATA[Charlie Martin]]><![CDATA[Memorial Day]]>https://pjmedia.com/charlie-martin/2025/05/26/america-is-an-idea-worth-defending-n4940127<![CDATA["Whaddaya want, egg in your beer?"]]>Thu, 22 May 2025 16:02:00 -0400<![CDATA[Charlie Martin]]><![CDATA[Trump]]>https://pjmedia.com/charlie-martin/2025/05/22/bbb-passes-and-mike-johnson-should-get-credit-n4940071<![CDATA[When I was a kid, it was not uncommon to hear "Whaddya want, egg in your beer?"]]>Tue, 20 May 2025 17:13:00 -0400<![CDATA[Charlie Martin]]><![CDATA[Trump]]><![CDATA[Trump Derangement Syndrome]]>https://pjmedia.com/charlie-martin/2025/05/20/pass-the-big-beautiful-bill-or-be-objectively-pro-democrat-n4939992<![CDATA[I bow to no one — well, almost no one, as I suspect Trump and Mike Flynn would beat me — I bow to almost no one in my distaste, disdain, and general disgust with James Comey, going back to when he ignored the actual law (18 USC 793(f) to be precise) to declare that Hillary Clinton wasn't going to be charged with violating the Espionage Act. This even after Clinton kept T//SI//TK//NOFORN on an unsecured email server that was first in her bathroom and later in an unsecured rack in some random mom and pop internet service provider.&nbsp;]]>Fri, 16 May 2025 17:58:00 -0400<![CDATA[Charlie Martin]]><![CDATA[Trump Assassination Attempt]]>https://pjmedia.com/charlie-martin/2025/05/16/lets-86-the-86-thing-mkay-n4939868<![CDATA[So, WIRED Magazine recently ran a story about how HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had halted all research at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) facility at Fort Detrick, in Frederick, Maryland.&nbsp;]]>Fri, 09 May 2025 17:02:00 -0400<![CDATA[Charlie Martin]]><![CDATA[disease]]>https://pjmedia.com/charlie-martin/2025/05/09/wired-would-rather-lie-about-rfk-jr-than-report-a-serious-problem-n4939643<![CDATA[American education is a mess. A disaster. Yes, I'm quoting myself in a VIP piece from a few days ago. That was the start of what I expect will be a long series on how American education can be reformed, or rather, replaced — I don't think the Education Establishment can really be easily reformed, but it can be out-competed.]]>Mon, 05 May 2025 16:38:00 -0400<![CDATA[Charlie Martin]]><![CDATA[Education]]>https://pjmedia.com/charlie-martin/2025/05/05/refactoring-education-focus-on-achievement-not-social-engineering-n4939505<![CDATA[I really wonder who is running the social media for the White House. There have been a number of amusing takes from them, like the Trump as pope image.]]>Sun, 04 May 2025 17:33:46 -0400<![CDATA[Charlie Martin]]><![CDATA[Trump]]>https://pjmedia.com/charlie-martin/2025/05/04/lofi-trump-and-the-humorless-joyless-buzzkill-liberals-n4939483<![CDATA[There's a common term in Washington, D.C. — "beltway bandit." A beltway bandit is any of the thousands of consulting and services firms whose essential business model is to exploit political connections to obtain government contracts. A lot of that business depends on having the customer's confidence that any reports resulting from those contracts will do two things. First, the reports will say exactly what the customer agency thinks is in their best interest, and second, that the contracting agency's goals can only be met if it receives substantially increased funding.]]>Wed, 09 Apr 2025 14:15:30 -0400<![CDATA[Charlie Martin]]>https://pjmedia.com/charlie-martin/2025/04/09/government-climate-propaganda-agency-pushing-government-climate-propaganda-n4938743<![CDATA[Recently, on a 16-person group chat initiated by Michael Waltz and including Pete Hegseth, Jeffrey Goldberg — editor-in-chief of The Atlantic and a vehement critic of both Trump and Hegseth — was inconveniently included. Goldberg stayed on the chat and took screenshots, then withheld reporting the story until, conveniently, the night before Waltz and Hegseth were to testify before Congress.]]>Mon, 07 Apr 2025 10:55:00 -0400<![CDATA[Charlie Martin]]><![CDATA[Trump Administration]]>https://pjmedia.com/charlie-martin/2025/04/07/why-privacy-is-not-security-as-waltz-and-hegseth-learned-n4938663