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Reminder: I will host a livestream on Saturday, April 4, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. Pacific / Noon Eastern. To join the livestream, go to https://roberthubbell.substack.com/ on your computer or the Substack App on your phone at the scheduled time. Post questions here: Reader Questions, April 4, 2026.
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I am taking the opportunity presented by the photo of Earth taken by the Artemis 2 crew to change the focus of today’s newsletter. I will briefly discuss domestic and foreign developments, then discuss what we all can do to help protect Earth.
Developments in Trump’s war on Iran.
On Friday, Iran shot down an F-15 fighter jet. Two crew members ejected. One crew member was rescued; the second remains missing as of Friday evening. See CBS News.
Iran shot down a second plane, an A-10 Warthog, that was involved in the search and rescue mission for the missing crew member from the F-15. Id.
Iran fired on two helicopters involved in the search and rescue mission, injuring some crew members. See WaPo.
Iran has offered a “bounty” to anyone who captures the missing F-15 crew member. See NBC News.
Iran’s ability to shoot down two US planes and damage two helicopters in a single day demonstrates that Trump and Hegseth lied to the American people about US total control of airspace over Iran. See Axios,
President Trump said during his prime time address on Wednesday said there was “not a thing” Iran could do to stop potential strikes on oil infrastructure. “They have no anti-aircraft equipment. Their radar is 100% annihilated. We are unstoppable as a military force,” he said.
Eighteen hours after the F-15 was shot down, Trump has yet to make a public statement expressing concern for the the missing crew member. He has, instead, posted twice about seizing Iran’s oil. See Live updates: Iran war; Two US aircraft shot down, status of one service member still unknown | CNN
Even more worrisome is Hegseth’s statement that the US will “give no mercy, no quarter to our enemies,” a statement that violates international law. Refusing to give quarter means, in part, that a combatant will refuse to recognize a request for surrender or provide aid to injured combatants. See International Crisis Group, Why Pete Hegseth’s talk about ‘no quarter’ could itself be against U.S. and international law.
If Iran follows Hegseth’s policy of giving “no quarter,” the peril faced by the missing crewman increases significantly. If the F15 crew member is injured or attempts to surrender, Iran is bound by international law to accept his surrender and provide medical aid. In Pete Hegseth’s worldview, Iran is under no such humanitarian obligations.
The US or Israel attacked the home of an Iranian moderate political leader who was facilitating back-channel negotiations between the US and Iran through Pakistan. The attack killed the official’s wife and seriously injured the moderate official. See The New Republic, Surprise: Iranian Ex-Official Involved in Peace Talks Was Just Bombed.
Per The New Republic,
Two Iranian officials said Kharazi was attempting to assemble a meeting with U.S. Vice President JD Vance, according to The New York Times, leading many within the Iranian government to believe that the attack was meant to derail peace talks. Did Israel push the button while the U.S. stood by, allowing them to drag out this deadly war? Or is the United States lying about peace talks to locate and assassinate any of the Iranian leaders still willing to negotiate?
“Targeting Kharazi sure looks like an effort to undermine peace talks and prolong the war,” The New York Times’ Nicholas Kristoff wrote Thursday on X. “It would be good to know if the attack was American or Israeli, and if Israeli whether the Americans signed off on it.”
Given that the US is continuing the pattern of killing Iranian officials involved in negotiations with the US, it is bizarre that Trump said on Friday that the downing of the F-15 “Won’t affect negotiations with Iran.” See NBC News, Trump says downed F-15 won’t affect negotiations with Iran in call with NBC News
Let’s hope that rescuers are able to locate and return the missing crew member to safety and that those injured in the attack on the search helicopters recover. The US needs to get out of Iran now, before more lives are lost and further damage is inflicted on the global economy.
Pete Hegseth attempts to adopt hate-fueled Christian Nationalism as US military creed
I don’t usually delve into religious topics, but Pete Hegseth’s promotion of Christian Nationalism in the military makes it impossible to ignore.
As the religious holidays of the Jewish, Islamic, and Christian religions overlap this month, Pete Hegseth is attempting to embed his divisive, hate-filled brand of Christian Nationalism as the “official” creed of the US military. Hegseth’s effort is unconstitutional and insulting to all Americans, including all who practice love, forgiveness, and compassion as a way of life. In contrast, Hegseth has invoked his brand of Christian Nationalism to pray “for overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.”
On Good Friday, the Pentagon invited its 3,000+ employees to a “Protestant” Good Friday service. The invitation dis-invited Catholics, saying, “There will be a Protestant Service (No Catholic Mass) for Good Friday today at the Pentagon Chapel.”
Whoever wrote the disinvitation knows nothing about Catholicism. Good Friday is oneof two liturgical holidays on which Mass is not celebrated! 1 Or maybe they knew but wanted to insult Catholics further by making a comment that pretended to be ignorant of Catholic liturgy.
Religious conflicts are usually pointless and counterproductive to the values espoused by the competing religions. But here, Hegseth is perverting the essence of Christianity—a point made forcefully by Pope Leo XIV on Palm Sunday (last week). In a statement seemingly directed at Pete Hegseth’s prayer for “overwhelming violence” that will show “no mercy” to America’s “enemies,” Pope Leo said,
Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war. He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.
You must stoop very low to draw a public rebuke from a pope, who frequently speak in generalities and euphemisms to avoid offending anyone. But Pope Leo recognizes the anti-Christian message at the heart of Christian Nationalism. Sadly, many Catholics have supported Trump. Perhaps, just perhaps, invoking Christ to pray for “overwhelming violence” that shows “no mercy” against “enemies” will provoke cognitive dissonance and cause some Catholics to consider whether the Trump-Hegseth brand of Christian Nationalism is consistent with their faith.
Meanwhile, a Pentagon employee who received the invitation should sue Hegseth for religious discrimination and violation of the Establishment Clause.
Daily Dose of Perspective
One of the most frequent constructive suggestions I receive from readers is to provide more coverage of the climate crisis. This week, I received about a dozen emails from readers distraught over the decimation of the US Forest Service. See Government Executive, Forest Service to move HQ out of DC, shutter regional offices in sweeping overhaul.
Per the Government Executive article, the Forest Service will close 57 research and development stations (leaving 20) and close all nine regional offices. The move appears designed to neuter the agency and stop its research into climate change and wildfire management.
The Artemis 2 mission has prompted me to look upward and outward—one of the benefits of space exploration! At the same time, I received a note from Climate Action Now about flagging public interest in the issue of climate change. So, I decided to re-run my “Daily Dose of Perspective” column from January 2025. Here it is, as originally published:
Daily Dose of Perspective, January 2025
One of the challenges we face is simultaneously competing in dozens of “sprints” to react quickly to Trump’s illegal actions while also running a marathon. We can rack up dozens of “short-term” wins, but if we aren’t planning for the long term, we risk losing everything.
As you know, I have recently added a “Daily Dose of Perspective” to each newsletter to emphasize the beauty, size, and age of the universe as a way of reminding us to maintain perspective. Many readers tell me it is their favorite part of the newsletter. Thanks! (I think?)
Focusing on the climate crisis is another way of re-framing our perspective—causing us to consider the long-term future of our nation. After all, saving democracy will be a hollow victory if human-caused climate change creates massive environmental disruptions that deny our grandchildren the ability to enjoy their democratic liberties in a safe, secure, and healthy environment.
I know that many readers of this newsletter are active in the movement to remediate human-caused climate change. Indeed, one of the most frequent constructive criticisms I receive is “Please write more about the climate crisis.” Point taken—until the next political crisis crowds out concern for the climate. And then I need to be reminded again, “Please write more about the climate crisis.”
I suspect that many readers feel the same way I do: They care passionately about the climate crisis but are distracted by the politics of the day. Maintaining focus on the climate crisis is difficult because the crisis is a slow, inexorable global phenomenon that unfolds by millimeters and fractions of a degree over decades—until it doesn’t.
We pay attention when a state experiences back-to-back “thousand-year floods,” when drought threatens entire sectors of the agricultural industry, or when wildfires combine with winds driven by polar vortexes to create unstoppable firestorms. We pay attention when the images dominate our television screens–and then get distracted by the politics of the moment.
The other part of the climate crisis that makes it difficult to maintain focus is that the solutions require collective national and global actions, some of which require daily actions on our part. But when a person can’t “see” how their solo efforts to reduce their carbon footprint are contributing to long-term solutions, maintaining motivation to take individual actions on a daily basis is daunting.
If only someone would create a simple app for our Apple and Android phones that would allow us to engage in impactful, daily political actions. And it would be great if that app could keep track of our contributions to the collective solution so we could “see” how our efforts are making a difference.
It would also be great if there were a daily Substack newsletter that focused on actions we can take to fight human-caused climate change.
And wouldn’t it be great if there were a group of like-minded people to meet with to engage in communal action to fight climate change?
Well, we are all in luck because Climate Action Now has created a phenomenal app for our phones and tablets, has started a daily Substack newsletter, and sponsors “Action Parties” to help us stay focused on the climate crisis on a consistent and long-term basis.
So, today, I am asking you to shift your perspective to the long-term by taking two simple steps: (1) downloading the Climate Action Now app, and (2) subscribing to the Daily Dose of Climate Hope newsletter (free, with optional paid subscription).
The app is called Climate Action Now and is a simple, powerful, and effective tool for taking action on a daily or weekly basis. Devoting just a minute a day to the app can help you do something meaningful *every day—*and you can see how your action is additive to the actions taken by others.
To date, the Climate Action Now app has helped concerned citizens to take over 3 million actions to fight the climate crisis. The app is here: Apple and Android.
The Climate Action Now app makes it easy to take climate action. With just three taps, you can send well-written climate advocacy messages to your elected officials, business leaders, and media sources. With most actions you take, you earn points, and those points translate into real trees that are planted by the EarthLungs Reforestation Foundation in Kenya. The Climate Action Now community has taken over 3 million actions together.
Download the Climate Action Now app today to start taking action:
If you’re not already subscribed, check out Climate Action Now’s Substack newsletter: Your Daily Dose of Climate Hope!
[Note: the Daily Dose of Climate Hope is not affiliated with this newsletter, despite the similarity in the name to my daily closing astrophotography image.]
Concluding Thoughts
We are truly fortunate to be living on a small planet near a hospitable, middle-aged star in the Orion Arm of the Milky Way. We should pause more often to reflect on that fact.
I hope that each of you has a peaceful weekend of renewal and community.
Talk to you Saturday at 9 am Pacific, Noon Eastern on Substack livestream!
Daily Dose of Perspective
Below is a photo of Earth taken by the Artemis 2 crew, credit NASA.
The photo is both inspiring and interesting. The photo features the West Coast of Africa, with the Strait of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea visible at the bottom left. (South America appears in relief on the right side of the photo, covered in clouds.) The prominence of the Atlantic Ocean and swirling clouds remind us that the Earth is a “watery world.”
The photo may be unique because it shows a hemisphere of Earth “at night.” In the photo, the Sun is directly behind Earth. Why, then, is the Earth not a pitch-black orb, as is the Moon during a total solar eclipse? Answer: The Earth is illuminated by reflected light from the Moon, which sits behind the Artemis crew as they look back to Earth.
Thus, the Earth is illuminated by Moonshine—sunlight reflected from the Sun by the Moon onto Earth. See European Journal of Physics, Earthshine and moonshine are equivalent astronomical phenomena
A related phenomenon, Earthshine, illuminates the far side of the Moon when it appears as a crescent. Logically, we should not be able to “see” the far side of the Moon when it is not illuminated by the Sun. But sunlight reflects off the Earth and dimly illuminates the far side of the Moon. See the second photo below.
I have seen other versions of the photo below in which the Earth is considerably darker. I suspect NASA may have boosted the photo’s exposure to show greater detail and color. Boosting exposure is a standard astrophotography technique.
Regarding Earthshine (illustrated in the photo below), see Scientific American, Earthshine Lights up the ‘Dark Side’ of the Moon. Leonardo da Vinci is credited with the first explanation of “Earthshine.” For centuries, Earthshine was referred to as “the da Vinci glow.” What Is Earthshine? Earth’s Light on the Moon - ScienceInsights
Here’s the point: We often think of Earth as the center of our personal universe. In fact, it is part of a three-body system—Earth, Moon, Sun—that is engaged in a complicated dance of gravity and light—a dance that literally creates the conditions for life on Earth.
Pro-democracy protest photos
Prescott Valley, AZ. A tremendous turnout; Almost double from last protest.
Weekly bridge standout in Greenfield, MA. We heard lots more honking horns from both the bridge road and the highway today,
Stops along the way from Minnesota to Mobile, AL for a No Kings Day protest:
Richmond, CA photos. No Kings 3
Gorman Road Overpass (over very busy I-95 - northbound and southbound) in Howard County, Maryland.
Wilder, VT, 4/3/26
1,000 estimated participants in Asheville, NC for NoKings3.
This is the banner for the Asheville Crone Collective.
At the ICE detention center on Good Friday in Burlington, MA.
Silver Spring, MD
Saturday’s Protest in Lakewood, CA
Sharing below a few photos from the NO KINGS March in San Francisco on March 28.
NK3 in Key Center, Washington.
No Kings 3 Parade Grand Rapids, MI
Albany California on NKD3
We have been holding protests on and off in Falmouth, MA on Cape Cod since the first Trump administration. Now organized as Indivisible Falmouth and attracting about 100 people each week, we have been at the town green every Saturday since March 2025.
3/2/2026 Hartford CT VB
Small town Sparta, NC in the Blue Ridge Mtns
Collage of photos from 3 of the 14 protests in Orange County California attended by our Fullerton Unitarian Universalist Congregants.
These protests were in La Habra, Anaheim, and Whittier.
It is true that pre-consecrated communion hosts can be distributed as part of a Good Friday observance in Catholic parishes. But Good Friday is not a holy day of obligation, so attending a “Protestant” observance would not violate an obligation to attend Mass.
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