https://pjmedia.com/author/rand-simberg/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-usSat, 11 Apr 2026 02:49:14 -0400<![CDATA[Sixty years ago on October 4, 1957, much of the world was surprised to learn of a new orb a couple hundred miles over their heads. It was the first artificial moon, a satellite launched by the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War. Many went out to watch it pass over (though what they most likely saw was not the beeping satellite per se, but the upper stage that had placed it in orbit). Sputnik heralded the beginning of “the space age” (what future historians will likely rename the “Government Space Age”).]]>Wed, 04 Oct 2017 11:05:03 -0400<![CDATA[Rand Simberg]]>https://pjmedia.com/rand-simberg/2017/10/04/out-with-the-old-space-age-in-with-the-new-n53917<![CDATA[By all traditional measures, few if any nominees to the highest court in the land are more qualified to become a justice than Neil Gorsuch. In his ten years on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, his opinions have almost never been overruled by the Supreme Court (the exception occurred just a couple weeks ago). He has been given the highest possible recommendation of “well qualified” by the American Bar Association (a traditionally “liberal” group).]]>Thu, 06 Apr 2017 11:48:18 -0400<![CDATA[Rand Simberg]]>https://pjmedia.com/rand-simberg/2017/04/06/make-the-democrats-really-filibuster-n42565<![CDATA[The incessant whining from Donald Trump and his supporters about the presidential-primary process is growing deafening:]]>Tue, 19 Apr 2016 12:38:17 -0400<![CDATA[Rand Simberg]]><![CDATA[2016 presidential election]]><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]>https://pjmedia.com/rand-simberg/2016/04/19/no-mr-trump-we-are-not-supposed-to-be-a-democracy-n43966<![CDATA[At the announcement of his meaningless executive orders on gun control Wednesday, the president appeared to get emotional, tears welling in his eyes at the thought of innocent children being wounded and killed. It seemed out of character for the supposedly “No Drama Obama,” and some questioned his sincerity, provoking the usual outrage from the left.]]>Sat, 09 Jan 2016 20:36:30 -0500<![CDATA[Rand Simberg]]>https://pjmedia.com/rand-simberg/2016/01/09/dont-cry-for-me-syria-n5811<![CDATA[Even before victims’ bodies had attained room temperature Wednesday, or we knew the identity or motives of the attackers in San Bernardino, the metaphorical ambulance chasers were ghoulishly attempting to capitalize on the horrific event in the service of their long-time policy preferences.]]>Fri, 04 Dec 2015 15:40:07 -0500<![CDATA[Rand Simberg]]>https://pjmedia.com/rand-simberg/2015/12/04/san-bernardino-was-preventable-but-at-what-cost-n5834<![CDATA[Bill O’Reilly was figuratively scratching his head last Monday night on his &#8220;Talking Points Memo,&#8221; almost to the point that it was bleeding:]]>Tue, 11 Aug 2015 04:53:53 -0400<![CDATA[Rand Simberg]]>https://pjmedia.com/rand-simberg/2015/08/11/stop-calling-leftists-liberals-n6105<![CDATA[While Kirsten Powers’ outrage at Planned Parenthood is well justified, it’s not anything new to those familiar with the organization’s ugly, racist, eugenicist history. And despite attempts by the group to downplay it, the behavior on display on those videos is (as the president said recently in a different context, but much more accurately in this case) “in Planned Parenthood’s DNA.”]]>Fri, 24 Jul 2015 18:59:52 -0400<![CDATA[Rand Simberg]]>https://pjmedia.com/rand-simberg/2015/07/24/we-shouldnt-be-surprised-at-planned-parenthoods-callous-inhumanity-n6157<![CDATA[]]>Tue, 14 Jul 2015 11:08:37 -0400<![CDATA[Rand Simberg]]>https://pjmedia.com/rand-simberg/2015/07/14/the-last-unknown-planet-n6183<![CDATA[Today was Elon Musk’s forty-fourth birthday. I can’t know for sure, but it was probably the worst one of his life. His company had planned to fly a cargo mission to the International Space Station this morning from Florida, and then attempt to land its first stage on a ship out at sea. Instead, the Falcon 9 rocket blew up a little before two minutes into the flight, losing the cargo &#8212; including a new spacesuit for EVA&#8217;s &#8212; and the landing opportunity. It&#8217;s been confirmed that controllers did not send a &#8220;destruct&#8221; signal.]]>Sun, 28 Jun 2015 13:00:55 -0400<![CDATA[Rand Simberg]]>https://pjmedia.com/rand-simberg/2015/06/28/space-is-hard-spacex-rocket-explodes-after-takeoff-n6221<![CDATA[Eight hundred years and 11 days after the stamping of the Magna Carta, it&#8217;s been an appalling week at the Supreme Court for the Constitution and the rule of law. Today&#8217;s ruling is, in a sense, the Roe v. Wade of our generation. And I would think that even if I were gay and wanted to marry.]]>Sat, 27 Jun 2015 08:58:19 -0400<![CDATA[Rand Simberg]]>https://pjmedia.com/rand-simberg/2015/06/27/how-republics-die-n6224<![CDATA[Twenty miles west of London, in Surrey, lies a quiet meadow along the Thames River. It is a centuries-old place deep in the heart and soul of England, though no formal memorial to it was placed there until the middle of the last century by (ironically) the American Bar Association. Almost a century ago, Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem about it:]]>Mon, 15 Jun 2015 16:03:11 -0400<![CDATA[Rand Simberg]]>https://pjmedia.com/rand-simberg/2015/06/15/runnymede-n6261<![CDATA[On May 16th, a Russian Proton booster delivered what remained of a Mexican communications satellite to the turf in Siberia, rather than to its intended orbit. On the same day, there was a failed reboost attempt of the International Space Station (ISS) by a Russian Progress cargo vehicle. Those failures occurred less than three weeks after the failed mission of a Russian Soyuz launcher to deliver a fresh Progress vehicle with its supplies to the ISS, on April 28th. That failure caused a supply shortage, and delay of at least one month in the rotation of our astronauts currently on the station, originally scheduled for the 26th of May. It has also increased pressure on SpaceX for a successful cargo delivery in an uncrewed Dragon capsule to ISS late this month.]]>Sat, 06 Jun 2015 22:22:13 -0400<![CDATA[Rand Simberg]]>https://pjmedia.com/rand-simberg/2015/06/06/congress-fiddles-with-monster-rockets-while-human-spaceflight-burns-n6279<![CDATA[People are starting to take the notion of large-scale habitation of space seriously, and some of the Social Justice Warriors, fresh from their recent bloodying with GamerGate and the Hugos, seem to be switching their sights to a new target. A few weeks ago, Elon Musk, Bill Nye and Neil DeGrasse Tyson had a conversation about (among other things) the importance of becoming a multi-planet species (one of Musk’s driving concerns, and the reason he started his company SpaceX).]]>Thu, 07 May 2015 18:25:36 -0400<![CDATA[Rand Simberg]]>https://pjmedia.com/rand-simberg/2015/05/07/social-justice-warriors-make-their-claim-on-space-n6357<![CDATA[Over two hundred million years ago, there was a large island, what is today the subcontinent of India, in what would be today’s Indian Ocean, separated from the Eurasian continental plate by the (no longer existing) Tethys Ocean. It lay on a different plate, and slowly moved north toward Eurasia, eventually colliding.]]>Sun, 26 Apr 2015 17:59:46 -0400<![CDATA[Rand Simberg]]>https://pjmedia.com/rand-simberg/2015/04/26/the-tragedy-of-nepal-n6395<![CDATA[With Hillary Clinton’s official entry into the 2016 presidential contest, expect to see a lot of bowdlerization of her past, like this from Vox:]]>Wed, 15 Apr 2015 09:47:28 -0400<![CDATA[Rand Simberg]]>https://pjmedia.com/rand-simberg/2015/04/15/rewriting-the-history-of-whitewater-n6423<![CDATA[The decibel level of Leftist outrage over Indiana’s desire to prevent the persecution of Christians (and those of other religions) there is becoming ear-splitting. As usual, the hysterical cries of “Hate” and “Bigotry” appear to be projection. As Rush Limbaugh correctly noted recently, the Hoosier State has become the new Ferguson, Missouri, and the lies about the law are starting to exceed “hands up, don’t shoot” heights. So on fire has the Leftist hair become, that Governor Cuomo of New York has banned “non-essential” travel to that backward benighted state (which raises the questions of what travel to Indiana is ever essential, or why there is so much non-essential government travel going on in New York).]]>Thu, 02 Apr 2015 13:55:43 -0400<![CDATA[Rand Simberg]]>https://pjmedia.com/rand-simberg/2015/04/02/the-real-hate-and-bigotry-in-indiana-n6457<![CDATA[Most reports of Saturday morning’s flight by SpaceX to the International Space Station note that the primary mission was successful, but that the company “failed” to stick the landing. For example, Andy Pasztor at the Wall Street Journal once again lived up to his reputation of a willing (and often unfair) basher of the company, and initially used the word “botched” to describe it in the lede graf. (&#8220;It now says &#8220;spoiled,&#8221; though the headline still says the company &#8220;stumbles,&#8221; but here is a version of the original from Marketwatch.) Though, to be fair, the rest of the piece seems well reported.]]>Mon, 12 Jan 2015 19:24:36 -0500<![CDATA[Rand Simberg]]>https://pjmedia.com/rand-simberg/2015/01/12/the-spaceship-that-almost-landed-n6671<![CDATA[I don’t know what it is that makes so many supposed conservatives insist on being ignorant about space policy, but it’s even more annoying when they share their lack of knowledge with the rest of us. The latest example is over at The American Spectator, titled “America Aced In Space.” The author is a “Hal G.P. Colebatch,” an Aussie lawyer with whom I had not previously been familiar (and thus, by whom, not been previously dismayed).]]>Sun, 04 Jan 2015 14:50:40 -0500<![CDATA[Rand Simberg]]>https://pjmedia.com/rand-simberg/2015/01/04/the-latest-conservative-commentary-misfire-on-space-policy-n6691<![CDATA[Do you think you know how to eat healthy? Your friendly neighborhood federal government doesn’t think you do. And they’re here to help.]]>Thu, 25 Dec 2014 23:15:02 -0500<![CDATA[Rand Simberg]]>https://pjmedia.com/rand-simberg/2014/12/25/the-nutritional-junk-science-of-our-government-nannies-n6710<![CDATA[For historical reasons, October has always been a notable month in space activities, and the one that just ended started off well.]]>Wed, 12 Nov 2014 16:40:07 -0500<![CDATA[Rand Simberg]]>https://pjmedia.com/rand-simberg/2014/11/12/commercial-spaceflights-terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-last-week-of-october-n6839