Tom Merkle

Exactly five years ago, NASA selected Starship as the Human Landing System for Artemis, but we are yet to see the glimpse of a flight unit. For reference, five years after selection by NASA, the first Lunar Module built by Grumman was set on top of its Saturn IB before Apollo 5.

JUST IN: New analysis reveals Brits thought the UK ranked 7th against US states in income per person — it actually ranked 51st.

What in the….

December 1944. Aboard the USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62) in the Pacific, Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr. and Vice Admiral John "Slew" McCain, Sr. take a rare moment to sit, talk, and think—while commanding one of the most powerful naval forces ever assembled. The stakes couldn’t be higher. Every decision from spaces like this would ripple across PACFLEET… and the war itself. No cameras. No headlines. Just leadership, responsibility, and the weight of command. If you could step into this room—pull up a chair at that table—what would YOU say to them?

Some absolutely INSANE numbers about the Amish. Average woman gives birth to 6 children in their lifetime. ~4% of first births are to unwed mothers. But here's crazier numbers: They convert virtually NO ONE. 154 total in 100 years. Retention: 85%

Abolitionist John Brown was put to death by the state of Virginia on December 2, 1859.

A reminder that the Roman Catholic church literally has a saint - Joan of Arc - whose whole thing was that God was telling her to go to war to save France. I mean, they did try her in a kangaroo court and murder her, but still.

You have become Roman Emperor in 180 AD. This is your empire. What do you do differently to avoid the upcoming crisis?

Hundreds of millions of people throughout the world are immersed in extreme poverty. Yet, disproportionate wealth remains in the hands of a few. It is an unjust scenario, in the face of which we cannot fail to question ourselves and commit to change things. There is no lack of resources at the root of disparities, but the need to address solvable problems related to a more equitable distribution of wealth, to be achieved with moral sense and honesty.

🙏🇺🇸🙏 HERO 🇺🇸 When Navy sailor Douglas Hegdahl was captured during the Vietnam War in 1967 and dragged into the notorious Hanoi Hilton prison, he made a split-second decision that would alter the course of hundreds of lives. He would play dumb. Not just a little slow. Full-blown, helpless, harmless fool. Hegdahl acted confused, clumsy, simple-minded. He stumbled over his words. He pretended not to understand basic instructions. He smiled vacantly when guards barked orders. His captors ate it up. They mocked him. They called him names. And crucially—they stopped watching him closely. To them, he was too stupid to be dangerous. They were catastrophically wrong. While shuffling around the compound looking lost, Hegdahl was quietly sabotaging their war effort—pouring dirt and debris into enemy truck fuel tanks, disabling vehicles, creating chaos that looked like mechanical failure. But his most dangerous act was completely invisible. The North Vietnamese were hiding the truth about American POWs—denying some existed, refusing to release names, keeping families in agonizing uncertainty. So Hegdahl began collecting intelligence the only way he could: by memorizing everything. Every fellow prisoner he encountered—their names, ranks, capture dates, physical conditions, injuries. Every detail the enemy wanted buried. 256 names. 256 men. 256 families back home who deserved to know their sons, husbands, and fathers were still alive. But how do you remember 256 detailed records without writing anything down, in a prison where guards searched constantly? Hegdahl set them to music. He used the tune of '''Old MacDonald Had a Farm''' turning military data into verse, singing it silently in his head day after day, drilling the information into his memory until it was unshakeable. ''''Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O, and on that farm he had a... Lieutenant Commander John Smith, captured March 1966..."' Over and over. Every day. While his captors thought he was too simple to even remember his own name. In 1969, the North Vietnamese decided to release a small group of POWs as a propaganda move-a show of ''"mercy''' to improve their international image. Hegdahl was selected because they believed he was a harmless fool who'd embarrass the U.S. military. His fellow prisoners, including senior officers, ordered him to accept the release. They knew what he carried in his head was too valuable to risk. He initially refused—he didn't want to abandon his brothers. But they insisted. ''''Get that list home,"'' they told him. '''Tell the world we're here.'' The moment Hegdahl touched American soil, he delivered everything. Every name. Every detail. Every piece of intelligence his photographic memory had stored. 256 prisoners were confirmed alive-men the enemy claimed didn't exist. Families received proof their loved ones hadn't vanished into the void. The U.S. government now had documented evidence to demand accountability. The ''stupid"'' sailor had just pulled off one of the most successful intelligence operations of the Vietnam War. Hegdahl didn't carry a weapon. He didn't stage a dramatic escape. He didn't overpower guards. He simply understood that sometimes the most powerful weapon isn't strength—it's making your enemy believe you're no threat at all. The North Vietnamese thought they were releasing a fool who'd embarrass America. Instead, they released the one man who could expose their lies to the world. Douglas Hegdahl returned home a hero—not because he fought the hardest, but because he was smart enough to let them think he couldn't fight at all. And somewhere in a field, '''Old MacDonald"" still has a farm. But now, that silly children's song carries a legacy of 256 men who came home because one sailor had the courage to be underestimated 🙏🇺🇸🙏

UPDATE: Letters from Leo can now independently confirm that the meeting took place — and that the Vatican was so alarmed by the Pentagon’s tactics that Pope Leo XIV shelved plans to visit the United States later this year. Many in the Vatican saw the Pentagon’s reference to an Avignon papacy as a threat to use military force against the Holy See.