Charlie Martin

Tampa

Correspondent at PJ Media

Don't come to a battle of wits half-armed. And before you even ask, I am smiling.

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Articles

Sky Candy and a Big Week in Space History

6 days ago | pjmedia.com | Charlie Martin

So, as promised, I'm going to run a soundtrack in the column. Now, this one may not be to y'all's tastes — my musical tastes are eclectic in the extreme. But I liked it. So, to start, what I think is the most interesting space news this week: potential signs of life. I imagine there will be abiotic mechanisms for these chemicals proposed as well, but this is pretty good for 124 light years from here.
LOL: CNN Forced to Explain That It Doesn't Hate the Country

1 week ago | pjmedia.com | Sarah Anderson |Charlie Martin

I dare you not to laugh at this one. Donald Trump met with El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, in the Oval Office on Monday, and during their meeting, they took some questions from members of the press who were in attendance. The meeting was a huge win for El Salvador and the United States, but CNN didn't fare so well.
Sky Candy Near and Far

1 week ago | pjmedia.com | Charlie Martin

... and the view from above. Insane footage from the ISS orbiting over auroras yesterday pic.twitter.com/QGXqBgaYYY— Latest in space (@latestinspace) April 6, 2025Imagine seeing this from above. Aurora seen today from @Space_Station while orbit was passing between Australia and Antartrica; photographer @astro_jannicke now on the private FRAM2 space mission will be having an even better view in their polar orbit.
The Durdle Door and the Stars

2 weeks ago | space2025.substack.com | Charlie Martin

No deep science, this one is just for pretty. The original is from an X post by Matt Pinner. (As the little button says, this is a subscriber-supported publication. When you subscribe, you let me know you like this content. When you buy a paid subscription, it’s even better. All subscriptions are very much appreciated.)
Government Climate Propaganda Agency Caught Pushing Government Climate Propaganda

2 weeks ago | pjmedia.com | Charlie Martin

There's a common term in Washington, D.C. — "beltway bandit". A beltway bandit is any of the thousands of consulting and services firms whose essential business model is to exploit political connections to obtain government contracts. A lot of that business depends on having the customer's confidence that any reports resulting from those contracts will do two things.
In Praise of Longhand

2 weeks ago | medium.com | Charlie Martin

Member-only storyCharlie Martin·Follow4 min read·--In Praise of LonghandI always write morning pages more or less right after I get up — I check my blood sugar, I ask Fitbit about my sleep, I weigh myself, then I shower and take my morning fistful of pills and supplements, and sit down with my morning pages notebook and start to write. My first cup of coffee happens in there somewhere, my caffeinated aqua vitae.
Why Privacy Is Not Security - As Waltz and Hegseth learned

2 weeks ago | pjmedia.com | Charlie Martin

Recently, on a 16-person group chat initiated by Michael Waltz and including Pete Hegseth, Jeffrey Goldberg — editor-in-chief of The Atlantic and a vehement critic of both Trump and Hegseth — was inconveniently included. Goldberg stayed on the chat and took screenshots, then withheld reporting the story until, conveniently, the night before Waltz and Hegseth were to testify before Congress.
The Climber Competence Paradox - And How Trump Is Beating It

2 weeks ago | pjmedia.com | Charlie Martin

The effect of that is that information flowing up and down a hierarchy is increasingly degraded so that the people at the top are working with information that is at best incomplete and often flat-out wrong. Related: Why Governments and Other Big Organizations Act Like IdiotsThis in itself is a pretty good explanation: the bosses don't actually know what's happening, so they make bad decisions.
Sky Candy and the Globs of Mars

2 weeks ago | pjmedia.com | Charlie Martin

I've definitely enjoyed the space news this week. First of all, some pictures of some odd Mars rocks. Remember what Isaac Asimov said: "The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny—'" Oh my glob, what are these lumpy rocks? These oddly-textured rocks are different than anything my team and I have seen on this mission.
Heart of Darkness

3 weeks ago | space2025.substack.com | Charlie Martin

A lot of people are confused by the phrases “dark matter” and “dark energy.” “Dark matter” was named (in German, “dunkle Materie”) by the Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky, who is one of my heros and the Timon of Athens of Astronomy. He observed that the velocity distribution of galaxies orbiting in the Coma Cluster didn’t fit the observed distribution of matter — there was too much gravity, indicating too much mass than the visible stars could account for.