I've been pretty excited about the mission to rescue the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory satellite, which is why since January I have had a widget in the right-hand column that tracks Swift's position.With the rescue mission on the way, I thought it would be interesting to add the LINK rescue craft as a second widget. Space Force is tracking it, so the data is available. But … [Read more...] about Swift Falling
Renovations
I haven't been blogging very much for the last couple of years. But lately I think I'd like to ease back into it. Maybe get up to a few posts per month.To that end, I wanted to clean up the back-end of the site. The front end -- the part that you see -- may be minimalist and relatively clean, but the back end is a mess. Windypundit has been in operation for over 20 years, … [Read more...] about Renovations
A familiar war in Iran
I am by no means an expert on warfare. What little I know comes from books on the general principles of war and from playing a few war games. It is the latter which are giving me a sense of déjà vu.The war games I play are computerized versions of traditional board games where you move pieces around on a hex grid overlaid on a map. Unity of Command is a good example. These … [Read more...] about A familiar war in Iran
On the shooting of Renee Good
Everybody seems to have an opinion on the shooting of Renee Good, and I'm no exception, but I wanted to think about this a bit before posting. Also, I'm out of practice and don't write as fast as I used to.I'll start with three important points that shouldn't be controversialTo my way of thinking, shootings like this usually end up in one of three broad categories: … [Read more...] about On the shooting of Renee Good
Swift Descending
If you look in the right-hand column of this blog, you'll see a new widget titled "Swift Observatory." That's because of a speedy satellite that is in need of some speedy attention.The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory satellite was originally called the "Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer" when NASA launched it in 2004. It has since been renamed to honor its longtime principle … [Read more...] about Swift Descending