Author: Thomas L. Knapp

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell to donate stock to Trump Accounts

Source: CNBC

“SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell announced she would donate to the Trump Accounts program on Monday, joining a growing list of companies and billionaires pledging to support the investment accounts for American children under 18. The gift, which includes shares of Shotwell’s and her husband’s SpaceX stock, will go to around 2 million Trump accounts, with a ‘bit more emphasis’ on children who live close to their home in central Texas, Shotwell wrote in a post on X. … Shotwell, who is also SpaceX’s chief operating officer, is one of its largest individual shareholders, with a stake worth roughly $2.4 billion following its record-breaking IPO last month.” (07/06/26)

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/06/spacex-spcx-gwynne-shotwell-stock-trump-accounts.html

Thomas L. Knapp

Thinking twice about that US-China superwar

Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Doug Bandow

“President Donald Trump has proved, yet again, why America’s founders wisely insisted that only Congress could declare war. The legislative branch must empower the government’s chief executive to, in the words of Constitutional Convention delegate James Wilson, ‘involve us in such distress.’ Had Trump followed the law, he may never have launched his disastrous attack on Iran. Yet much worse would be a conflict between the U.S. and People’s Republic of China.” (07/06/26)

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/us-china-war-taiwan/

Thomas L. Knapp

Scrutinizing the Unpardonable: The AUKUS Public Inquiry So Far

Source: CounterPunch
by Binoy Kampmark

“In the annals of policy, strategy and budgeting, the AUKUS pact comprising Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States will be seen as one of the most mindless, absurd projects of tiny, poorly furnished minds. Not for those in the UK and US, with both receiving Croesus-rich dollops of Australian cash for stuttering submarine programs. Not for flabby think tankers who repeatedly run out bills on the advisory circuit lauding the importance of costly boats and the China threat. It will be down to Australian government officials, elected and appointed, who seek the imaginary assurance of nuclear-powered submarines that they do not need, expending money they can scarce afford (AU$368 billion), while surrendering the country’s sovereignty in carefree, even treasonous manner.” (07/06/26)

https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/07/06/scrutinizing-the-unpardonable-the-aukus-public-inquiry-so-far/

Thomas L. Knapp

TN: National Guard members murder man during pursuit

Source: Associated Press

“Two Tennessee National Guard members assigned to a crime-fighting patrol in Memphis fatally shot a man Sunday who turned toward the soldiers with a gun during a downtown pursuit, authorities said. The Guard members are part of a federal task force in Memphis created by President Donald Trump, who last year sent troops and federal agents to Democrat-run cities that he described as overrun with crime. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, had deployed the Guard to support the effort.” (07/05/26)

https://apnews.com/article/memphis-tennessee-national-guard-shooting-0ee15a07db84a17d709a1f0345858465

Thomas L. Knapp