Henry Gass

Why are we going back to the moon? With the Artemis program -- including Artemis II, scheduled to launch tomorrow -- NASA hopes to usher in a new era of space exploration. csmonitor.com/USA/Society/20…

🚨 EXCLUSIVE: As Corpus Christi's water crisis deepens, the state water board, appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott, denies funding for offshore desalination plant houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas…

Thomas (joined by Gorsuch) with a one paragraph concurrence to today's Callais ruling. #Scotus

Kagan: "The majority formulates new proof requirements for plaintiffs alleging vote dilution. Those demands...leverage two features of modern politics: that racial identity + party preference are often linked and that politicians have free rein to adopt partisan gerrymanders."

"Under the Court’s new view of Section 2, a State can, without legal consequence, systematically dilute minority citizens’ voting power," Kagan writes. "Today’s ruling is part of a set: For over a decade, this Court has had its sights set on [gutting] the Voting Rights Act."

Here's a link to the major racial gerrymandering case, Louisiana v. Callais, #SCOTUS just issued: supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf… On to Kagan's dissent...

The majority opinion "is understated, even antiseptic," Kagan adds. It "claims only to be 'updat[ing]' our Sec. 2 law. ... But those 'updates' eviscerate the law."

Sec. 2 of the VRA hasn't been scrapped entirely, Alito notes. But the court must "update the framework so it aligns with the statutory text and reflects important developments [over the past] 40 years."

From Alito's majority opinion: "No compelling interest justified the State’s use of race in creating" the district. "If race and politics are not disentangled and a Sec. 2 claim is cynically used as a tool for advancing a partisan end, the VRA’s noble goal will be perverted."

Major ruling from the Supreme Court just now. In a 6-3 decision along ideological lines, the court strikes down a majority-minority voting district in Louisiana as an unconstitutional gerrymander. The decision is another blow to Sec. 2 of the Voting Rights Act. #SCOTUS

As one of his longest and most vocal critics, I would frankly prefer to crawl into one of Comey's conversant shells than write this column. However, here we are. This indictment is unconstitutional and will not likely survive constitutional challenge...jonathanturley.org/2026/04/29/she…

A federal judge has dismissed the Justice Department's lawsuit seeking Arizona's unredacted voter rolls — ruling the department has no legal right to obtain the records it has demanded from states nationwide.

Temporary protected status has become increasingly less "temporary." But can the president unilaterally revoke it? The fate of Haitians and Syrian nationals in the U.S. hangs in the balance. Preview of a big #SCOTUS argument today from @SarahMatusek: csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/20…

New: SCOTUS has summarily reversed the district court’s judgment against Texas’ redistricted congressional map in an order released this morning. Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson dissent. #txlege supremecourt.gov/orders/courtor…

Only one chance in this lifetime… Like watching sunset at the beach from the most foreign seat in the cosmos, I couldn’t resist a cell phone video of Earthset. You can hear the shutter on the Nikon as @Astro_Christina is hammering away on 3-shot brackets and capturing those exceptional Earthset photos through the 400mm lens. @AstroVicGlover was in window 3 watching with @Astro_Jeremy next to him. I could barely see the Moon through the docking hatch window but the iPhone was the perfect size to catch the view…this is uncropped, uncut with 8x zoom which is quite comparable to the view of the human eye. Enjoy.

If the 1960s space race was a sprint, the contest between the US and China in the 2020s, 30s, and 40s is going to be a space marathon. "Whoever controls access to the lunar surface and lunar resources will for all practical purposes own the moon." csmonitor.com/USA/Society/20…

Republicans currently have an 88-62 majority in the Texas House and have controlled the chamber since 2003. Dems would need to flip 14 seats to reach a majority (two more than the 12 they picked up in the 2018 wave) #txlege

"We're going to have a tough time holding the Texas House," @DanPatrick tells TPPF. #txlege

Trump told Fox News that based on progress in negotiations, he may extend his deadline to escalate against infrastructure targets in Iran. Would be the fourth time he has done so.

Story on Artemis 2 and the potential for a lunar economy: csmonitor.com/USA/Society/20…

Private rocket launches to low-Earth orbit are now routine. When could we see the same with launches to the Moon? “All private space companies are going to rise and sink with the tide.”