May 30, 2025

MARK JUDGE: Robert Novak and the Problem of Contemporary Conservative Media. “I’m going to be leaving journalism this year, so in reflecting on this decision and the state of our media, particularly conservative media, I found myself recalling the work of Robert Novak. While conservative media has exploded since Novak’s death in 2009, his tenacious style of reporting has not expanded along with it. As revealed in his 2008 autobiography The Prince of Darkness, Novak was conservative, but one who insisted on digging for new stories and not just spouting off in response to stories reported by the liberal media.”

Posted at 8:53 am by Glenn Reynolds 4

TURNAROUND? Boeing CEO says company is ‘pretty confident’ it is ready to increase 737 MAX output.

Boeing is currently trying to stabilize production at 38 per month, where it was capped by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration in 2024 after a midair accident put the planemaker’s safety and production quality program under new scrutiny.

After the FAA approves Boeing increasing output to 42 a month, “we do have subsequent rate increases in our plan,” which will typically be in increments of five aircraft a month and at least six months apart, he said.

Ortberg has previously stressed that production must be stable before any rate increase.

Production defects on the 737 program are down by 30%, Ortberg said. “Virtually every one of our customers is reporting a higher quality of airplane at delivery.”

Increasing production is critical in getting Boeing back to being cash positive, which Ortberg has previously said he expects to achieve in the second half of the year. The company burned through $2.3 billion in cash during the first quarter.

“I think the financial performance will follow the production performance … and I think we need to think about it that way,” Ortberg said.

Focus on the quality and the profits will follow.

Posted at 8:38 am by Stephen Green 14

THERE’S STILL SOME LIFE LEFT IN THE LEAD SLED: F-4 Phantoms Sought By Private Space Launch Company Starfighters International.

The Kennedy Space Center-based research, test, and now space launch company Starfighters International, which has been flying F-104 Starfighters privately for decades is now, is in the process of acquiring a dozen F-4 Phantoms. The deal would see the iconic third-generation Cold War fighters fly primarily in service of the firm’s space launch operations, which aim to provide rapid and flexible access to low Earth orbit (LEO) for small satellites, as well as suborbital offerings.

Starfighters International began as a company around three decades ago, and grew from doing air shows to becoming largely a research and development support firm with a very unique address. The company and its fleet of antique Mach 2-capable F-104 Starfighters, which includes seven airframes today, moved into Kennedy Space Center in 2007. There they would have access to arguably one of the most famous and largest runways on earth, the Shuttle Landing Facility. Now they are in the process of building a 150,000-square-foot facility in Midland, Texas, to support the firm’s more ambitious space launch aims.

And this is precisely where the F-4 Phantoms come into play.

While the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is capable of zooming up into the stratosphere at high speed, they cannot carry heavier, outsized launch vehicles at the required performance that will allow larger payloads to be inserted into low Earth orbit. The F-4s — at least in concept — can.

More lift is always better.

Posted at 7:36 am by Stephen Green 40

I’D LIKE TO SEE AN IRS RULE ON TREATMENT OF EXCESSIVE UNRECOUPED ADVANCES:

Posted at 7:24 am by Glenn Reynolds 38