David Burbach 🇺🇸🌹
@dburbach.bsky.social
Prof. National Security and International Relations. Space security, civil-military relations. Cats, science, photography for fun. Providence RI; Oregon at heart! Personal views ONLY; no govt resources used. Assoc Ed @TNSR.org
Pinned
David Burbach 🇺🇸🌹
@dburbach.bsky.social
· Oct 19
My pinned tweet through Presidents of both parties: Sen. Leahy reminds an appointee that federal employees swear an oath to the Constitution, not of personal loyalty to any one man or woman.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlSI...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlSI...
Three different rockets on pads at Cape Canaveral at once, two of them two different crewed spacecraft! Is that a record?
Artemis 2 for Moon (39B), Vulcan with Space Force satellite (41), Crew 12 to ISS (40). And SpaceX has two Starlink waiting for pad 40 as quickly as they can turn it around.
Artemis 2 for Moon (39B), Vulcan with Space Force satellite (41), Crew 12 to ISS (40). And SpaceX has two Starlink waiting for pad 40 as quickly as they can turn it around.
Falcon 9 and Dragon on pad 40 for the Crew 12 mission aiming to launch on Friday (in the last 10 days its launch has gone 14th, 11th, 12th, 13th 🤷♂️)
February 11, 2026 at 1:20 AM
Three different rockets on pads at Cape Canaveral at once, two of them two different crewed spacecraft! Is that a record?
Artemis 2 for Moon (39B), Vulcan with Space Force satellite (41), Crew 12 to ISS (40). And SpaceX has two Starlink waiting for pad 40 as quickly as they can turn it around.
Artemis 2 for Moon (39B), Vulcan with Space Force satellite (41), Crew 12 to ISS (40). And SpaceX has two Starlink waiting for pad 40 as quickly as they can turn it around.
Did we have confirmation (in canon) before that Star Fleet has senior-level PME? Do CDR Spacemander and RedshirtDort poast about how woke it is all day long?
February 11, 2026 at 1:06 AM
Did we have confirmation (in canon) before that Star Fleet has senior-level PME? Do CDR Spacemander and RedshirtDort poast about how woke it is all day long?
This isn't going to win any contests but it beats clearing snow in Rhode Island 🚀😃
February 11, 2026 at 12:54 AM
This isn't going to win any contests but it beats clearing snow in Rhode Island 🚀😃
The hugely popular "Killology" -- yes, really -- training materials used by many law enforcement agencies tells cops you'll never fuck your wife better than the night after you kill someone.
in a text string after the shooting, a fellow agent told Exum he's a "legend"
"Beers on me"
"Beers on me"
February 11, 2026 at 12:34 AM
The hugely popular "Killology" -- yes, really -- training materials used by many law enforcement agencies tells cops you'll never fuck your wife better than the night after you kill someone.
Insanity. Insanity that will kill people. For what???
"At the heart of the dispute is what existing influenza vaccine Moderna should have used as a control when testing the efficacy of its new shot, which utilizes the same mRNA technology the company’s used in its Covid-19 vaccine."
www.statnews.com/2026/02/10/f...
www.statnews.com/2026/02/10/f...
FDA refuses to review Moderna’s influenza vaccine
FDA refuses to review Moderna’s influenza vaccine, which could raise concerns about the agency’s posture toward vaccines and drug approvals more generally.
www.statnews.com
February 11, 2026 at 12:19 AM
Insanity. Insanity that will kill people. For what???
Palantir literally recruits with a "save Western civilization" slogan and warns that college is woke, so if Palantir's own employees are rebelling... Sheesh
SCOOP: Tensions at Palantir have grown in recent weeks over the company's work with ICE.
On Friday, CEO Alex Karp tried to calm concerns in an hourlong video that offered few specifics—instead offering NDAs to workers who want to understand how it's empowering ICE.
www.wired.com/story/palant...
On Friday, CEO Alex Karp tried to calm concerns in an hourlong video that offered few specifics—instead offering NDAs to workers who want to understand how it's empowering ICE.
www.wired.com/story/palant...
Palantir CEO Alex Karp Recorded a Video About ICE for His Employees
In a video shared with Palantir employees, Alex Karp did not explain how ICE is utilizing the company's products. Instead, workers were told they can sign NDAs if they want detailed information.
www.wired.com
February 10, 2026 at 8:45 PM
Palantir literally recruits with a "save Western civilization" slogan and warns that college is woke, so if Palantir's own employees are rebelling... Sheesh
Reposted by David Burbach 🇺🇸🌹
A simple proposal for federal judges frustrated that Trump Regime isn’t freeing people in response to habeas corpus orders:
Order that DHS bring each individual to court for their habeas hearing. If the judge grants habeas, the petitioner walks out free.
Bonus: huge pre-hearing burden on feds.
Order that DHS bring each individual to court for their habeas hearing. If the judge grants habeas, the petitioner walks out free.
Bonus: huge pre-hearing burden on feds.
February 10, 2026 at 12:17 PM
A simple proposal for federal judges frustrated that Trump Regime isn’t freeing people in response to habeas corpus orders:
Order that DHS bring each individual to court for their habeas hearing. If the judge grants habeas, the petitioner walks out free.
Bonus: huge pre-hearing burden on feds.
Order that DHS bring each individual to court for their habeas hearing. If the judge grants habeas, the petitioner walks out free.
Bonus: huge pre-hearing burden on feds.
Navy pushing back on Combatant Command requests for forces is probably a good thing. Not every problem needs a carrier strike group.
www.militarytimes.com/news/your-mi...
www.militarytimes.com/news/your-mi...
Navy leader wants to move faster, leaner instead of turning to carriers in crisis
Adm. Daryl Caudle wants to convince commanders to use smaller, newer assets for missions instead of consistently turning to huge aircraft carriers.
www.militarytimes.com
February 10, 2026 at 12:39 PM
Navy pushing back on Combatant Command requests for forces is probably a good thing. Not every problem needs a carrier strike group.
www.militarytimes.com/news/your-mi...
www.militarytimes.com/news/your-mi...
At some point the claims are so ludicrous you almost give him a bit of credit for lulz. Is this ice hockey thing purely because he imagines that will rile up Canadians or is there actually some maga thing going around about Mao banning it in the Sino Soviet split?
Trump, in the middle of his latest unhinged Truth Social screed, claims that if Canada makes a trade deal with China, "the first thing China will do is terminate ALL Ice Hockey being played in Canada, and permanently eliminate The Stanley Cup."
February 10, 2026 at 11:54 AM
At some point the claims are so ludicrous you almost give him a bit of credit for lulz. Is this ice hockey thing purely because he imagines that will rile up Canadians or is there actually some maga thing going around about Mao banning it in the Sino Soviet split?
Reposted by David Burbach 🇺🇸🌹
Hegseth, among others, is using the school as a punching bag to express the generic social anxiety and status-based resentment that drives much of the MAGA movement.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Pete Hegseth’s Attack on Harvard
The anger at the Ivy League is about status envy, not war-fighting.
www.theatlantic.com
February 9, 2026 at 11:08 PM
Hegseth, among others, is using the school as a punching bag to express the generic social anxiety and status-based resentment that drives much of the MAGA movement.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
33 minutes from opening the Lyft app at my house to sitting at my airport gate, not bad.
For the traffic it has its impressive how compact PVD feels. "Across the street from Wendys" is a reasonable direction to the terminal
For the traffic it has its impressive how compact PVD feels. "Across the street from Wendys" is a reasonable direction to the terminal
February 10, 2026 at 11:08 AM
33 minutes from opening the Lyft app at my house to sitting at my airport gate, not bad.
For the traffic it has its impressive how compact PVD feels. "Across the street from Wendys" is a reasonable direction to the terminal
For the traffic it has its impressive how compact PVD feels. "Across the street from Wendys" is a reasonable direction to the terminal
This is not good. Trump ordering CIA and other agencies to share anything and everything -- SCI at a minimum -- with a private attorney 'investigating' 2020, a guy with about as much credibility and professionalism as Sydney Powell. Great.
www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
Trump’s ‘Stop the Steal’ lawyer probing 2020 election fraud has access to sensitive US intel
Top U.S. intelligence agencies are cooperating with Kurt Olsen, who worked with Trump to undermine the results of the 2020 election.
www.politico.com
February 10, 2026 at 1:57 AM
This is not good. Trump ordering CIA and other agencies to share anything and everything -- SCI at a minimum -- with a private attorney 'investigating' 2020, a guy with about as much credibility and professionalism as Sydney Powell. Great.
www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
Reposted by David Burbach 🇺🇸🌹
An underrated good the next Democratic administration could do with virtually zero actual political blowback from voters would be to come in with anti-trust laws like a wrecking ball and break up media and tech companies. It would fuck up The Other Side, too.
Brendan Carr is also very excited for more local broadcast TV consolidation at the hands of the right wing!
You know, to improve competition, something Carr (who has rubber stamped every desire media and telecom giants have ever had) genuinely cares about
You know, to improve competition, something Carr (who has rubber stamped every desire media and telecom giants have ever had) genuinely cares about
February 9, 2026 at 4:40 PM
An underrated good the next Democratic administration could do with virtually zero actual political blowback from voters would be to come in with anti-trust laws like a wrecking ball and break up media and tech companies. It would fuck up The Other Side, too.
SpaceX to focus on Moon settlements instead of Mars?!? Wow, it is hard to overstate what a change -- what a climb-down -- this is for Musk. It has always been Mars for him. Full stop. Supposedly the goal behind *everything* he does.
February 9, 2026 at 2:53 AM
SpaceX to focus on Moon settlements instead of Mars?!? Wow, it is hard to overstate what a change -- what a climb-down -- this is for Musk. It has always been Mars for him. Full stop. Supposedly the goal behind *everything* he does.
Reposted by David Burbach 🇺🇸🌹
Hahaha OK that's pretty good.
February 8, 2026 at 9:25 PM
Hahaha OK that's pretty good.
Reposted by David Burbach 🇺🇸🌹
The *best version* of the Epstein scandal is that a wide swathe of American elites was palling around with a known child predator and explicit eugenicist for years on end — and is now closing ranks to downplay the severity of his crimes and their own complicity.
February 8, 2026 at 10:44 PM
The *best version* of the Epstein scandal is that a wide swathe of American elites was palling around with a known child predator and explicit eugenicist for years on end — and is now closing ranks to downplay the severity of his crimes and their own complicity.
This emerging excuse of "everyone but Epstein had sex only with girls who were 18+" is rather at odds with the accounts from victims of, you know, being given to men other than Epstein? You have to say they're all lying, not just that the emails don't explicitly talk about minors
Last week the far right started peddling a narrative that the outrage over Epstein is a moral panic. Today, like clockwork, a more polite version of that narrative appears in the Atlantic.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
February 8, 2026 at 11:11 PM
This emerging excuse of "everyone but Epstein had sex only with girls who were 18+" is rather at odds with the accounts from victims of, you know, being given to men other than Epstein? You have to say they're all lying, not just that the emails don't explicitly talk about minors
Not as horrific as this, but a realization I should have had months ago:
New taco place near me closed last fall, but oddly, left their DoorDash account active, "open" sign up, nothing touched in the bldg after four months
As if the owner just never came back one day.
oh. OH. 😢🤬
New taco place near me closed last fall, but oddly, left their DoorDash account active, "open" sign up, nothing touched in the bldg after four months
As if the owner just never came back one day.
oh. OH. 😢🤬
We are in a small community outside Minneapolis and a child arrived to an empty house on Friday. No parents, ice kidnapped them and just leave children to wander alone after school
February 8, 2026 at 9:37 PM
Not as horrific as this, but a realization I should have had months ago:
New taco place near me closed last fall, but oddly, left their DoorDash account active, "open" sign up, nothing touched in the bldg after four months
As if the owner just never came back one day.
oh. OH. 😢🤬
New taco place near me closed last fall, but oddly, left their DoorDash account active, "open" sign up, nothing touched in the bldg after four months
As if the owner just never came back one day.
oh. OH. 😢🤬
Yrs, what about the 5yo US citizen? Having a playmate suddenly vanish, seeing angry masked men with guns outside their school, wondering if their family could be next. Vs if Liam stays, how, exactly, does it hurt that other 5yo?
Gonzales on Liam Ramos and his family: "They're not gonna qualify for asylum. So what do you do with all the people that go through the process and do not qualify for asylum? You deport them. I understand that 5-year-old and it breaks my heart. I also think, what about that 5-year-old US citizen?"
February 8, 2026 at 5:19 PM
Yrs, what about the 5yo US citizen? Having a playmate suddenly vanish, seeing angry masked men with guns outside their school, wondering if their family could be next. Vs if Liam stays, how, exactly, does it hurt that other 5yo?
I hope the airline doesn't lose him 😯😺🐼
February 8, 2026 at 1:43 PM
I hope the airline doesn't lose him 😯😺🐼
Wow. Was already D seat despite voting Trump, but huge increase in the margin
Final results in the Louisiana #HD60 (Trump+13) special election:
Chasity Martinez (D)- 62%
Brad Daigle (R)- 38%
Martinez holds this Trump+13 seat for the Democrats and puts in a nearly 40 point overperformance from 2024 in the process
Chasity Martinez (D)- 62%
Brad Daigle (R)- 38%
Martinez holds this Trump+13 seat for the Democrats and puts in a nearly 40 point overperformance from 2024 in the process
February 8, 2026 at 5:19 AM
Wow. Was already D seat despite voting Trump, but huge increase in the margin
Reposted by David Burbach 🇺🇸🌹
And never forget. These are asylum seekers. This is what the USA is doing to the most vulnerable people on the planet who we promised to protect.
Concentration camps: stories of as many as 50 people to a cell — men and women in some cases — with no windows and limited airflow, a single camera-monitored toilet, aluminum blankets, no showers and poor quality food.
ICE detainees from Maine being held under ‘inhumane’ conditions in Mass. facility, attorneys say
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson said the allegations of overcrowding and lack of access to lawyers are false.
www.pressherald.com
February 7, 2026 at 4:42 PM
And never forget. These are asylum seekers. This is what the USA is doing to the most vulnerable people on the planet who we promised to protect.
One question this avoids is, would Musk simply flout US standards on 'planetary protection', ie keeping Earth life off Mars, and if so would anyone do anything about that?
How would you even sanitize a whole Starship if you wanted to?
How would you even sanitize a whole Starship if you wanted to?
"SpaceX has put off a mission to Mars planned for this year, shifting its focus to a long-promised lunar voyage for NASA."
"Last year, Musk called the moon 'a distraction' and said SpaceX is going 'straight to Mars.'"
"Last year, Musk called the moon 'a distraction' and said SpaceX is going 'straight to Mars.'"
SpaceX Delays Mars Plans To Focus on Moon
Elon Musk’s rocket company had aimed to reach the red planet in 2026
www.wsj.com
February 7, 2026 at 9:51 PM
One question this avoids is, would Musk simply flout US standards on 'planetary protection', ie keeping Earth life off Mars, and if so would anyone do anything about that?
How would you even sanitize a whole Starship if you wanted to?
How would you even sanitize a whole Starship if you wanted to?
Put an ICE official in jail for contempt until she's back 🤷♂️
New: Trump's administration tonight told a Boston judge that his proposal that it issue a student visa to a Babson College student it deported to Honduras in violation of a court order is "unfeasible" and said ICE declines to facilitate her return. www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
Trump administration won't let student deported to Honduras return
President Donald Trump's administration on Friday called a judge's proposal that the government issue a student visa to a college student it deported to Honduras in violation of a court order "unfeasi...
www.reuters.com
February 7, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Put an ICE official in jail for contempt until she's back 🤷♂️