'Public likes to hear that'

An Iranian-born British lawyer has made history as the UK’s first High Commissioner to come to the country as a refugee. Fleeing the post-revolutionary landscape to arrive in Great Britain without a word of English on his lips, Kanbar Hossein-Bor admitted his mother was rather nervous when she first heard he was planning to join […] The post Refugee Makes History Becoming British Ambassador: ‘Mom Was Worried I Wasn’t English Enough’ appeared first on Good News Network.

Books The Moon Five Sci-Fi Stories About Things Going Wrong on the Moon When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, then explodes. By Lorna Wallace | Published on May 20, 2025 Image credit: NASA/Michael DeMocker Comment 0 Share New Share Image credit: NASA/Michael DeMocker The Moon may no longer have the same mystique as it did before humans set foot on its dusty surface in 1969, but it still makes a wonderful setting for a sci-fi story. And although the Moon being Earth’s closest neighbor may make it seem a bit safer to explore than more distant astronomical bodies, there’s still plenty of opportunity for things to go horribly, catastrophically wrong. Here are five lunar-set stories—ranging from a short story to a TV show—that explore just a few of those terrifying possibilities. A Fall of Moondust (1961) by Arthur C. Clarke Published a mere eight years before Neil Armstrong took that momentous first step for mankind, A Fall of Moondust is set in a future where humans have started colonizing the Moon. Tourists with pockets deep enough to afford a ticket to the Moon can take a tour of the Sea of Thirst, which is filled with a fine dust that is more akin to water than sand (but is far less easy to move through). Captain Pat Harris is driving the Selene—essentially a bus on skis that is able to skim over the dusty sea—on its regular scenic route when an unexpected moonquake disturbs the smooth surface and causes the vehicle to plummet into the dust. The story then flips back and forth between Selene’s submerged crew and passengers doing what they can to survive and the efforts of those on the surface trying to rescue them. While some of the characters (particularly the women) unfortunately feel like a product of the time in which Clarke was writing, the characters aren’t the driving force of the story. What’s actually on offer is a tense tale of survival and realistic problem-solving in an inhospitable lunar environment—and those elements have absolutely stood the test of time. “A Walk in the Sun” (1991) by Geoffrey A. Landis (Collected in Impact Parameter) Another hard sci-fi take on a lunar disaster story comes from NASA engineer Geoffrey A. Landis. In his short story, “A Walk in the Sun,” the spaceship Moonshadow crash-lands, killing two of its three crew members. Sole survivor Trish is able to call mission control to let them know she’s alive, but she’s informed that the rescue team won’t be able to get to the moon for 30 days. Trish is determined to survive; she has enough food and her solar-powered spacesuit is able to recycle her oxygen and water. But lunar night is approaching and Trish needs to stay at least one step ahead of the darkness if she wants to catch the spacecraft home, which spurs her to set off on foot on a perilous journey around the Moon. While the story is fairly straightforward—with the exception of Trish’s mental state—its strength lies in its tense realism. Crypt of the Moon Spider (2024) by Nathan Ballingrud On the opposite end of the spectrum to the previous two hard sci-fi stories is the novella Crypt of the Moon Spider, which walks the sometimes-fuzzy line between science fiction and fantasy. Set in 1923, the Moon is covered in a dense blanket of trees, in the midst of which stands an insane asylum—the Barrowfield Home for Treatment of the Melancholy. Oh, and the imposing facility was built above a cave that was once home to a massive (and now-dead) spider that was worshiped as a god. Veronica Brinkley is abandoned dropped off by her husband for treatment, which turns out to be a body-horror nightmare that involves the use of spider silk. It’s quickly apparent that things are already very wrong at Barrowfield, but new depths of wrongness are soon plunged. The story starts out eerie and gothic, and as Veronica’s treatment continues and she grows ever more curious about the facility, a surreal weirdness creeps into the pages. Moon (2009) Moon, Duncan Jones’ debut movie, is set in a future where Earth is facing an energy crisis due to oil depletion. Thankfully a solution lies on the far side of the Moon, where helium-3 can be mined as an alternative. Sarang Station has been built for this purpose and requires just one (very lonely) person to run everything and send the capsules to Earth. Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) has been that employee for the past three years and he’s now just a couple of weeks away from returning to Earth and reuniting with his wife and young daughter. But with the finish line in sight, crushing loneliness becomes the least of Sam’s problems because he starts having hallucinations, one of which causes him to crash his lunar rover. I’ll leave the description of the plot there to avoid spoilers, but have no doubt that Sam’s life is about to get even more challenging, and that Sam Rockwell gives an excellent performance as the Moon’s sole resident. The Silent Sea (2021) Korean series The Silent Sea also features an Earth in crisis, but this time instead of oil, the problem is food and water shortages caused by desertification. Unfolding over eight episodes, the story follows a lunar mission to an abandoned scientific facility called Balhae Station. Captain Han Yoon‑Jae (Gong Yoo) is in charge of leading the team through the creepy corridors and labs in search of a mysterious—and highly secret—sample, but of course, they encounter a few problems along the way. The station’s original crew allegedly died five years earlier due to a radiation leak, but it quickly becomes clear that lies have been told and secrets kept. And then there’s the issue of that pesky sample that the small crew of astronauts have been sent to retrieve, which itself creates a host of unforeseen complications… The Silent Sea is a slow-burn thriller that, in its moments of intensity, swings between being horrifying and silly. While I’d rather it was more the former than the latter, I enjoyed the journey regardless. I’ve no doubt missed out plenty of great sci-fi stories about lunar disasters. For instance, I’ve not yet gotten around to reading Robert A. Heinlein’s The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (1966), but I assume it might qualify, since the title isn’t The Moon Is a Kind Mistress—something must have gone wrong, somewhere, right? Please feel free to take to the comments to leave your own suggestions of stories about misadventures on the Moon.[end-mark] The post Five Sci-Fi Stories About Things Going Wrong on the Moon appeared first on Reactor.

Ten Democrat members of the Senate Judiciary Committee—including former Chairman Dick Durbin of Illinois—have accused Attorney General Pam Bondi of attacking constitutionally guaranteed freedom of the press by making it easier for the federal government to issue subpoenas to journalists for their testimony and sources. “When asked at your confirmation hearing to commit to ‘respect the importance of a free press,’ you said ‘absolutely.’ Yet your decision to rescind important limits on the Justice Department’s ability to compel information from the press threatens the ability of journalists to fully perform their critical jobs, as guaranteed by the First Amendment,” the senators told Bondi in a May 7, 2025, letter. The senators were responding to the attorney general’s April 25 Department of Justice internal memorandum declaring regulations adopted by President Joe Biden’s administration in 2021 are being rescinded and new ones are being drafted. The Biden regulation barred the DOJ from issuing subpoenas to journalists unless there was a threat of imminent bodily harm or death, and then only as a “last resort.” The revision was made necessary, according to Bondi, because Biden officials weaponized their government positions by frequently and selectively leaking information to favored journalists calculated to “advance their preferred, and often erroneous, narrative about significant matters of public debate,” Bondi said in her memorandum. Such weaponization “included prosecutors trying to muzzle protected First Amendment speech criticizing the Biden administration, including through gag orders targeting not only President [Donald] Trump, but also other criminal defendants,” Bondi continued. “The Biden administration also abused [former Attorney General Merrick] Garland’s overly broad procedural protections for media allies by engaging in selective leaks in support of failed lawfare campaigns. The leaks have not abated since President Trump’s second inauguration, including leaks of classified information,” she said. But the Senate Democrats contend the Bondi revisions represent a serious threat to the ability of journalists to cover government because officials “can take the extraordinary step of subpoenaing journalists merely to investigate ‘unauthorized disclosures that undermine President Trump’s policies,’ extending far beyond disclosures of classified information. In other words, under this new guidance, there is little protection for journalists, who publish any story critical of the administration from being threatened with a subpoena and litigation to enforce the subpoena.” In addition, the Democrats contend that “these factors make it far too easy for the attorney general to compel journalists to reveal sources. This change will also deter whistleblowers from coming forward with information to the news media, depriving the public of valuable information about its government.” Bondi’s memorandum and the Democrats’ response are the latest salvos in an increasingly intense struggle between DOJ and journalists that began under then-President Barack Obama nearly two decades ago. There were multiple examples of the Obama administration’s DOJ withholding information that had previously been routinely available to journalists. As a result, in 2013, the Committee to Protect Journalists said that “with some exceptions, such as putting the White House visitors’ logs on the whitehouse.gov website and selected declassified documents on the new U.S. Intelligence Community website, it discloses too little of the information most needed by the press and public to hold the administration accountable for its policies and actions.” And in 2014, the Obama administration’s DOJ threatened New York Times journalist James Risen with substantial fines and imprisonment for protecting a source. Similar abuse was aimed by the DOJ against then-Fox News White House reporter James Rosen, and at least two months’ worth of telephone records of multiple Associated Press reporters were secretly obtained by the government. The Washington Stand repeatedly asked spokesmen for each of the 10 Senate Democrats whether they had expressed concerns similar to their present criticism of Bondi during the Obama administration. None of the 10 responded. Seven of the 10 Democrats were senators during either all of Obama’s tenure or during his second term. Two of the 10, Sens. Peter Welch of Vermont and Adam Schiff of California, were members of the House of Representatives throughout the Obama era. Sen. Alex Padilla of California was first elected to the Senate in 2020 and held multiple local and state offices during the Obama presidency. The Washington Stand also asked each of the 14 GOP members of the Senate Judiciary panel for comment on the Democrats’ letter to Bondi, but none responded. Institute for Free Speech President David Keating told the Washington Stand that the actual content of the Bondi revisions cannot be judged until they are published. “Government ‘policies’ are barely worth the paper they are written on. They don’t give citizens or journalists any rights, and employees are rarely punished for violations. Bondi can change the policy, with no public input or recourse,” Keating said, adding: “We don’t know Bondi’s new policy because she hasn’t written it yet. We’ll have to wait and see how the current policy will change and if the department will follow it.” Originally published by The Washington Stand The post Senate Dems Critical of Bondi’s Easing of Journalist Subpoena Rules Were Mum on Obama, Biden Actions appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Jeffries: No One Is Above the Law! (Except Dems)

The unusual pattern is likely the result of a genetic mutation.

Credit: USAFA UFO struck a U.S. fighter jet over Arizona, cracking the pilot’s canopy and forcing the $63 million F-16 Viper to land. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported the jet was hit by an “orange-white UAS” (uncrewed aerial system, or drone) on January 19, 2023. Within a day, three more unidentified aircraft were spotted over Barry Goldwater Range, a military training area near the Arizona-Mexico border. The FAA stated the F-16 was in restricted airspace near Gila Bend when the object struck the rear of its canopy. No injuries were reported, but the jet needed repairs. This incident is one of 22 involving Air Force pilots encountering strange objects between October 2022 and June 2023, many near Luke Air Force Base. A recent Pentagon report from the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) reveals hundreds of UFO sightings, with Arizona emerging as a hotspot. From May 2023 to June 2024 alone, there were 757 global Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) reports—only 49 were solved. Over half (410) occurred in the U.S., mostly documented by the FAA. While the FAA found no evidence of extraterrestrial activity, Arizona has seen multiple UFO incidents, including swarms of up to eight mysterious objects near military bases. Between 2016 and 2020, pilots reported eight drone-like sightings over the state. Whistleblowers claim Arizona’s border region is a UFO hotspot. However, officials suspect many sightings are linked to Mexican drug cartels using drones for surveillance. “We’re seeing drones… used as scouting patrols, to watch Border Patrol,” reporter Ali Bradley explained. These drones are harder to detect and may carry drugs. Former border official Tom Homan believes cartels are spying on military bases to evade patrols. Of AARO’s resolved cases, all 49 were identified as planes, balloons, birds, drones, or satellites—not aliens. Another 243 cases may close with similar explanations. The post UFO Collides With US Fighter Jet in Arizona—New Details Revealed appeared first on Anomalien.com.

We’ve got a brand new, fun interactive series for the new year called Worst Media Take of the Week, where you — our loyal NewsBusters visitors and MRC supporters — get to vote on which leftist journalist or celebrity had the worst media take of the week.   Much appreciation to all who voted last week via NewsBusters and the MRC’s various social media sites (Facebook, Instagram and X.com).   The results of the Worst Media Take of the Week are in and the winner is… Bruce Springsteen! The singer and longtime left-wing activist won with a whopping 62 percent of the vote! “The Boss” took first place with his on-stage rant against the “corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration.” PBS contributor and Washington Post associate editor Jonathan Capehart finished in second place with 20 percent of the vote. Former NBC’s Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd finished third with 18 percent.  The following is a montage of all the nominees:      WINNER (62 percent of the vote)   Bruce Springsteen Bashes Trump’s “Treasonous Administration”  “In my home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration. Tonight, we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experience to rise with us, raise your voices against authoritarianism, and let freedom ring.”— Singer Bruce Springsteen live from the Co-Op Live stage in Manchester, England on May 14.   SECOND PLACE (20 percent of the vote)   How Can American Catholics Support a President Who is “Antithetical” to “Teachings of Jesus Christ?” “What do American Catholics do when they have an American pope who speaks - you know - the teachings of Jesus Christ….and yet they’ve been supporting a man [Donald Trump] who is antithetical to all of those things?” — Washington Post associate editor/PBS contributor Jonathan Capehart on PBS’s News Hour, May 9.   THIRD PLACE (18 percent of the vote)   Chuck Todd: Donald Trump Has Turned GOP Into a “Kleptocracy”  “The Republican party right now is a kleptocracy. He [Donald Trump] has not turned the country into a kleptocracy yet....This is worse than Teapot Dome. This is worse than Watergate.”— Former NBC’s Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd on CNN Saturday Morning Table for Five, May 10.   Thanks again to all who participated!    Funded by James P. Jimirro

Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart was not happy with CNN on Monday’s edition of The Daily Show as the network continued to promote Jake Tapper’s book about the cover-up of President Joe Biden’s mental decline amid his cancer diagnosis. The fact that the two could be related was not something Stewart even considered as a possibility. Introducing a video montage of CNN anchors, Stewart wondered, “But now doing the story seems almost disrespectful. Can CNN thread the needle? How do you pivot from excitedly promoting your anchor's book to somberly and respectfully promoting your anchor's book?”     After the clip package, Stewart mocked what he considered CNN’s insufficient empathy for the situation, “It's so hard, it's such a difficult time, so unfathomable in terms of the pain his family must be feeling. And yet, if you act now, and use the code 'Backslash tap that book,' you will—obviously, this 20 percent off, offer's not available in for some reason in Tennessee.” Stewart then briefly made one valid point, “Forgetting about the fact how [bleep] weird it is that the news is selling you a book about news they should've told you was news a year ago for free!” However, he then veered off course again, “It's just fun to watch them not only continue to push the book in light of this difficult news, but to actually frame this difficult news as perhaps even more of a reason to buy this book.” In another clip, CNN chief media correspondent Brian Stelter declared, “The timing of former president Joe Biden's cancer diagnosis is certainly dramatic, coming on the eve of a blockbuster new book about his health and his time in the White House.” After Stewart interrupted, urging Stelter to “go on,” the clip resumed, “I'm sure some observers will say that the reporting in the book is even more important now.” Stewart mocked the idea, “Yeah, nobody is saying that. No observers will say it is more important now. Some observers might think, ‘Do these CNN people work on commission? Like, why are they hawking this [bleep] thing so hard?’ Is this a Girl Scout cookie situation? "Whoever sells the most Tapper books gets a Schwinn?"  In words probably never written before on NewsBusters, Stelter is right. Medical experts have said that the type of cancer Biden has does not just suddenly appear, so further questioning is needed of all those involved. And in other late night-Jake Tapper news, Tapper was scheduled to be on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday, but the entire show without providing a reason, although some industry reporters have guessed it might have to do with Kimmel’s daughter being due to give birth. Here is a transcript for the May 19 show: Comedy Central The Daily Show 5/19/2025 11:06 PM ET JON STEWART: But now doing the story seems almost disrespectful. Can CNN thread the needle? How do you pivot from excitedly promoting your anchor's book to somberly and respectfully promoting your anchor's book? RACHEL SOLOMON: Biden's health was very much in the news even before the cancer diagnosis was announced on Sunday. That's because of a new book by CNN's Jake Tapper. DANA BASH: This was already going to be a tough week and this makes it much harder. And that is a reference to the fact that our colleague, Jake Tapper, and Alex Thompson have a book that's set to publish on Tuesday. JESSICA DEAN: This very tough news, this very challenging news. And at the same time, the backdrop of [jump cut] our colleague Jake Tapper's book with Alex Thompson coming out this week. STEWART: It's so hard, it's such a difficult time, so unfathomable in terms of the pain his family must be feeling. And yet, if you act now, and use the code "Backslash tap that book," you will—obviously, this 20 percent off, offer’s not available in for some reason in Tennessee, but the point is— Forgetting about the fact how [bleep] weird it is that the news is selling you a book about news they should've told you was news a year ago for free!  It's just fun to watch them not only continue to push the book in light of this difficult news, but to actually frame this difficult news as perhaps even more of a reason to buy this book. BRIAN STELTER: The timing of former president Joe Biden's cancer diagnosis is certainly dramatic, coming on the eve of a blockbuster new book about his health and his time in the White House. STEWART: Go on. STELTER: I'm sure some observers will say that the reporting in the book is even more important now. STEWART: Yeah, nobody is saying that. No observers will say it is more important now. Some observers might think, "Do these CNN people work on commission? Like, why are they hawking this [bleep] thing so hard?" Is this a Girl Scout cookie situation? "Whoever sells the most Tapper books gets a Schwinn?" 

On April 2 — Liberation Day — Donald Trump did exactly what he had promised for over a year: He imposed a slate of reciprocal and punitive tariffs on America’s trading partners. The left and corporate left-wing media erupted in predictable fashion, and the stock market plummeted. Before a single tariff was announced, doomsayers in the press predicted economic collapse. CNN warned the economy was “flashing yellow lights,” and the BBC claimed Trump’s move risked “economic turbulence — and voter backlash.” A former Biden economic adviser forecast disaster. Confidence among working Americans remains high. And that confidence will continue driving this economy forward. When first-quarter GDP numbers showed a 0.3% contraction, the media pounced. They blamed the tariffs — despite the fact that none had taken effect by March 31, the end of the quarter. While liberal economists celebrated the downturn and declared a recession imminent, they failed to look at the numbers. A closer analysis shows the economy remains fundamentally strong. The GDP dip came primarily from a 5.1% drop in federal government spending. In other words, a major cause of the decline was the one thing fiscal conservatives have long demanded: smaller government. Isn’t reducing government spending, or at least the growth of government spending, a good thing? Meanwhile, the rest of the economy showed strength. A Harvard University/HarrisX poll released Monday found that 51% of registered voters believe the economy is "strong" for the first time in four years. The numbers back up their belief. Nonfarm payrolls rose by a seasonally adjusted 177,000 in April. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%. The household survey — used to calculate the jobless rate — showed an even larger gain, with 436,000 more Americans reporting that they held jobs. All told, the economy added 556,000 jobs in the first three months of Trump’s second term. That growth comes despite the Department of Government Efficiency cutting more than 120,000 federal jobs. Private-sector employment continues to expand even as Washington shrinks — a trend critics said was impossible. RELATED: Debt spiral looms as Trump tests tariffs to tame rates NiseriN via iStock/Getty Images What about inflation? Didn’t the media insist tariffs would bring back the dreaded 1970s stagflation? Instead, the Consumer Price Index in April came in at 2.3% — the lowest level since February 2021, just before “Bidenflation” took off. The drop came as prices fell for food, gas, used vehicles, and clothing. Grocery prices alone dropped 0.4%, the sharpest decline since late 2020. Egg prices plummeted 12.7%, their biggest single-month fall since the Reagan era. In other words, the items working families care about — food, fuel, and clothing — are more affordable now than under Biden. Meanwhile, Trump’s trade strategy is forcing results. The United Kingdom quickly reached a trade deal. Other countries have accepted temporary “tariff holidays” in exchange for coming to the negotiating table. China and the United States agreed to a “tariff truce.” Canada slashed its U.S. tariff rate to nearly zero. According to Bloomberg, U.S. exports and manufacturing should surge in coming quarters. Since Trump’s return to office in January, his critics have eagerly predicted economic doom. They cheered “transitory” inflation. They hyped “Bidenomics.” They got both wrong. They’re wrong again. Confidence among working Americans remains high. And that confidence will continue driving this economy forward — tariffs, tantrums, and all.