‘Space is one of the few areas of bipartisan agreement in Washington’

‘SpaceX is under a lot of pressure now. It’s not alone.’

Thomas Black at Bloomberg

SpaceX is “under intense pressure to perform this year,” but “it isn’t alone,” says Thomas Black. This year “will be pressure-packed for NASA and most U.S. space companies — whether legacy ones or startups that are struggling to prove themselves.” There is “growing concern, which could turn into alarm, that China will beat the U.S. to the moon.” Just like the “space race with the Soviet Union in the 1960s, this showdown is more about national security than science.”

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‘Conversion therapy kills — put a stop to it, once and for all’

Mark Henson and Hannah Wesolowski at The Hill

Who we are is “not something that needs to be fixed,” say Mark Henson and Hannah Wesolowski. But for “thousands of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender young people across the U.S., conversion therapy continues to send the dangerous message that their identity is a problem.” People “think of conversion therapy as a relic of the past,” but these “discredited and harmful practices are still happening in communities across the country, despite clear evidence of the damage they cause.”

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‘Trump’s proposed battleship is a budget-busting folly that will probably never sail’

Michael Hiltzik at the Los Angeles Times

President Donald Trump “announced a plan to build battleships that would be ‘the largest we’ve ever built,’” and “much of the reportage in subsequent days focused on the impropriety of a president’s naming a military program after himself,” says Michael Hiltzik. But that was “missing the point.” The “cost of the Trump battleships — between $9 billion and $14 billion each — would easily bust the budget for Pentagon procurement,” and would “contradict the Navy’s existing strategic and tactical doctrines.”

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‘After 21 deaths in Uvalde, a jury must weigh one officer’s actions’

Rosie DiManno at the Toronto Star

Everyone is “looking for somebody to blame for the abominable massacre in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022,” says Rosie DiManno. This is the “thrust behind the prosecution” of police officer Adrian Gonzales, who allegedly “didn’t do enough, failed to engage, distract or delay the shooter.” But “falling short of that duty isn’t necessarily a criminal offense. Being a coward isn’t a crime,” and Gonzales’ “defense team is portraying the accused” as a “scapegoat for a much broader failure.”

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