New blog about the weird Hegseth summons of 800 generals &admirals to a 'meeting' that at-best screws chain-of-command for days. But maybe far worse, now that most counter-terror and counter-espionage groups have been trump-disbanded or neutered. davidbrin.blogspot.com/2025/09/are-...

Note: Before calling this 'meeting,' DF* Hegseth fired most of the JAGs** who advised generals what's legal. JAGs could excuse generals from illegal orders and now they are gone. Without them, the officers coming to Quantico (at great expense) will be helpless. www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjMJ...

Over the years, astronomers have spotted holes and large pits dotting Venus’ surface, suggesting the existence of lava tubes. Venusian lava tubes, may be especially large, arrayed along volcano rims, and the most extensive subsurface cavities in the solar system. futurism.com/space/venus-...

Back to weekend posting while I work on my AI book. This time about the real crimes against America they are distracting you from. No, not Epstein. I mean gutting the JAGs & Inspectors General and esp the counter-terrorism agencies. Now why would they do that? davidbrin.blogspot.com/2025/09/war-...

Texas epic poet Frederick Turner passed, alas. One of the finest male humans I ever knew. Also brilliant: likely the best epic poet since Byron . And brave enough to set his grand works where epics now belong -- in bold futures with science fictional premises. youtu.be/HpCPLGhQooE?...

Having reamed the FBI & demolished our counter-terror and counter-spy agencies, he now needs to ignite vigor into the groups who did 9/11, so that he can have the kind of pretext that worked so well, for Bush. Which this Bagram base drool is meant to accomplish. thehill.com/homenews/adm...

While they distract you by banishing late-night comedians, the Trumpist-KGB gang severs the sinews of Law. I cited gutting of the Inspectors General in most agencies. Now it's JAGs, plus the anti-terror & counter-espionage experts, laying us open to enemy attack. www.military.com/daily-news/2...

Our survival depends on where we are in these 'cylinders.' And those pushing fear are committing suicide. davidbrin.blogspot.com/2015/07/altr...

Suddenly, Trump's Postmaster general is demanding vast info on every person who rents a PO box! Photo ID and eerything but fingerprints. If Biden or anyone else had done this, you'd be screeching tyranny! But the MAGA brown shirts who howled about invasive government are totally okay with it now.

Well, it's sad. The Evpatoria radio telescope should never have been used for military purposes. For two years, Ukraine warned the Russians not to. And their warnings were taken as a sign of weakness and Putin ordered the mis-use continued. And so we all lose. www.space.com/astronomy/dr...

The trajectory to another 9/11 (which empowered GW Bush) is on course. Esp. if the mid-terms seem a likely blow-out vs redders. Be ready. Canned goods and flowers to stick in the barrels of the rifles of the troops (our neighbors' kids) whom he'll try to send against us.

DT is permitted by Putin to YOWL at his master, to maintain credibility. What he will never, ever do is actually and palpably harm his master's interests. In this case, he knows that Europe needs to get through one more winter before lining up full energy independence. Hence DT safely does nothing.

Terry Pratchett's comedy series is now a fun movie www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8Kz... Or so it seems from the first few minutes.

Watching this week's symposium of NASA's Innovative & Advanced Concepts program - (NIAC) - vimeo.com/event/5358801 Come on by today and tomorrow!

Midweek posting is a chapter (from a novel in-progress) set in a near future based upon today. A scene with utter pertinence to current problems! As promised in my previous posting, it shows how one hero might set things in motion to save America. davidbrin.blogspot.com/2025/09/how-...

You're warned. This weekend's post is long, as I dissect what might happen if (when) Trump passes from the scene, and disparate factions in the GOP axis draw their long knives. And why their greatest tool in maintaining GOP discipline might fail suddenly. davidbrin.blogspot.com/2025/09/why-...

Check your registration now! Many red states are purging voter rolls to eliminate Democrats or independents. But there is a way to safeguard your right. Re-register Republican. I did, back when CA was GOP gerryed, to vote in the only election that mattered in my district, the Republican primary.

One of the finest young writers I ever met… and I met her pretty young(!) … has some lovely short works (some of them super-short!) to share with you here: aribrin.substack.com?r=lgm8k&utm_...

Okay, a terrific sci fi reference on Instagram. Watch it play. Of course you'll get the reference to THEY LIVE! But points for anyone citing the brilliant source story by Robert Sheckley! www.instagram.com/reel/DHe2q8P...

My parents in the WWII Greatest Generation knew more about history and re Karl Marx. YOU should have at least a glimmer how stupid aristocrats are now reviving Marx from his crypt. Start here: www.linkedin.com/posts/davidb... ...and dive deeper here: davidbrin.blogspot.com/2007/01/blac...

This is how 9/11 happened. GW Bush diverted counter-terror agents to search (uselessly) for scandals under Clinton. Counter-terror divisions have been stripped bare under Trump. And we need to yell about it. So when bad things happen blame will fall where it belongs... apnews.com/article/trum...?

Actually, I'd love to see AI unleashed on finding uses for the fractional calculus. I have always thought FC to be a supremely elegant and wonderful quirk in math... that has had very few uses, so far. mathworld.wolfram.com/FractionalCa... www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Crj...

My new, weekly posting is about the hot topic of human consciousness, offering not only my own views but a dozen of the best thinkers on the topic. All part of my developing AI book. davidbrin.blogspot.com/2025/08/cons...

As I've been saying...

Just saw Judy Collins who - 86! A bit warbly. Stories about Dylan, Baez, Joni Mitchell. Sang "Clouds" and "Clowns". Alas, not what I wanted... "Marat"... the anti-oligarchy anthem that conveys the kind of ferocity we need right now for the resistance! Heed it! www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvW2...

Wow. The Spacex Superheavy+Ship mission was spectacular and stunningly competent.  And visually amazing, especially when both parts landed gently in the ocean with pinpoint accuracy on opposite sides of the world. non politically great. Scott Manley is the best: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZw2...

What would Reagan do? What would Reagan think? davidbrin.blogspot.com/2024/09/reag...

I've begun a Substack, since that's the trend. In parallel to Contrary Brin. Free subscribers welcome! And yes, the first topic is how similar are the masked/tattooed ex-cons in ICE to 1850s rampagers who enforced the vile Fugitive Slave Act, radicalizing decent Americans. davidbrin.substack.com

Today only - the entire UPLIFT STORM TRILOGY (e-books) is on-sale for $4.99. That's a trio of great adventures across five galaxies, with wildly original aliens... and dolphins... and 'illegal refugees'... and Big Ideas. www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-uplift...

An interesting story about reforestation in Iceland. www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbkW... ...which reminded me of a poetical interlude in EARTH. Which I read aloud here: youtu.be/bJXXab5ITpM

Hoping hurricane season is mild. ICE grabbed most FEMAs crisis shelters+trailers for illegal Swamp Alcatrazes. If FLA is hit hard, they may let current prisoners go with ankle bracelets and bus tickets, fine! We take care of Floridian refugees. Welcome to the swamp! www.yahoo.com/news/article...

A real-but-not-blackmailed hyper right winger, even Bolton had enough when he realized he was working for an idjut who worked for the slightly relabeled and revived USSR, helping the "ex" commissars wage 5th column war against the USA and the West. edition.cnn.com/2025/08/22/p...

Still can't believe no one is pushing the video and lyrics... and lesson of John Fogerty's song Vanz Can't Dance... about the eponymous thieving pig who stole Fogerty's fortune. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjpA...

Will anyone point to the 'coincidence' that ol Two Scoops declared war on mail ballots the day after his private, no-US witnesses, meeting with his boss?

The meeting is not to solve Ukraine. It is for Two Scoops to have another debriefing/programming by his puppetmaster. Watch. Like every past 'meeting' with Putin, DT will be accompanied by a super-trusted translator and maybe one such 'adviser.' No credible US witnesses. www.ft.com/content/bfce...

Not a single sentence that Trump said about crime in DC was true. Most had not even a glancing acquaintance with reality, as crime rates there - and in most blue cities - have been falling for years, especially after he left office in 2020. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...?

The Lifeboat Foundation* – dedicated to humanity’s survival in worst-case eventualities – has reposted my award-winning essay “Singularities and Nightmares,” now a decade older but still pertinent in almost every paragraph and prediction and warning… lifeboat.com/ex/singulari...

Weekend post offers ammo for a coming 'debate' vs neo-feudalists - which we are bound to lose because of bad polemical skills. The best defense of democracy is not 'fundamental values' but the pure, pragmatic fact that it offers better governance and outcomes. davidbrin.blogspot.com/2025/08/a-de...

Newsom asks voters to let CA+OR+WA re-gerrymander til Tx &Fla stop. Blue voters in the west ENDED the foul crime years ago but may allow temporary retaliation vs confed cheaters. Note: Red states plan to purge voter rolls! So RE-REGISTER Republican! I did. robertreich.substack.com/p/what-blue-...

Why a NASA satellite that scientists and farmers rely on may be destroyed on purpose - NPR apple.news/AxvsT49YMTGy...

Want to know how far back GOP perversion goes? LOOK UP DENNIS 'FRIEND TO BOYS' HASTERT AND BE VERY PROUD.

Today only, the entire UPLIFT STORM TRILOGY is available (e-version) for $4.99. If you want diverse and plausible aliens and FIVE galaxies, there's no better deal. www.amazon.com/Uplift-Storm...

Tariffs explained in Ferris Beuller! And ignoramuses double down on what caused calamities in the past. Worse, they are PROUD to know no history eg why the WWII/GIBill generation adored one living human above others. Franklin Roosevelt. And in the 1950s? Jonas Salk. www.youtube.com/shorts/kR4qN...

All right, it's been 3 weeks without a posting on CONTRARY BRIN. Had reasons. And sure, there's plenty going on in the world. Which I'll comment on soon. Meanwhile, got time for some humor and fun? Come fors a LOT of cool links and laughs! davidbrin.blogspot.com/2025/08/some...

Gross cheating continues. See the map! "Both sides do it?" Bull. Dems have pushed bills to end gerrymandering If science-hating, putin-loving, utter-cheating maroons are left in charge, Earth and America and your children will die. That's it, in a nutshell. www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXAQ...

Today only. The e-book of HEAVEN'S REACH is just $1.99 on Kobo and your favorite sites. www.davidbrin.com/heavensreach...

If Obama had proposed 1/10th of this... www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...?

Today only, my novel EARTH - Hugo runner-up and on all top-10 lists of both 'predictive novels' and ecological ones - is on sale (e-book) for $2.99! Love live Gaia... www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/...

I think I saw it long ago. A WEIRD film with some resonances to Trump's behavior in office. And thank heavens that same year we got FDR instead. And saved the nation and the world. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel...

Today: for just $2.99, the e-book of STARTIDE RISING -my 2nd novel & Hugo winner- featuring dolphins-in-space! Did I mention also Nebula & Locus winner? www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/...