Author: Thomas L. Knapp

Labour’s rush to digital ID reveals the idiocy of the technocrats

Source: spiked
by Andrew Orlowski

“The UK scrapped war-time identity cards in 1952. It remains one of the few countries that eschews a ‘papers, please’ relationship with the state. In the 2000s, the 9/11 terror attacks gave Tony Blair’s government a justification to re-introduce state-issued identity cards …. Introduced via legislation in 2004, ID cards became one of New Labour’s most contentious policies, dogging the final years of the government. They were scrapped in 2010 by the Tory-Lib Dem coalition. By then, they had already cost an estimated £5 billion, officially, or between £10 billion and £20 billion, unofficially. Surely no one would want to do that all over again? Almost nobody did, until this year.” (11/18/25)

https://www.spiked-online.com/2025/11/18/labours-rush-to-digital-id-reveals-the-idiocy-of-the-technocrats/

Thomas L. Knapp

TX: Court blocks new congressional map

Source: The Hill

“A panel of federal judges in Texas on Tuesday blocked the state’s new GOP-favored House map from being used ahead of the 2026 midterms by declaring it a likely racial gerrymander, dealing a blow to Republicans who have looked to net extra seats. In a 2-1 vote, the panel ordered Texas Republicans to use the congressional lines they had in place before they redistricted earlier this year. The new map would have offered Republicans up to five pickup opportunities in the House in 2026. … Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) quickly vowed to appeal to the Supreme Court, which is already considering wide-ranging questions about racial gerrymandering lawsuits in a long-running battle in Louisiana.” (11/18/25)

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5611065-texas-republican-redistricting-challenge

Thomas L. Knapp

A Postmortem on the 2025 Government Shutdown

Source: Independent Institute
by Craig Eyermann

“There was a way the 2025 shutdown could have been avoided. Congress could pass a temporary spending bill to fund government operations while continuing to hammer out regular spending bills. The Republican majority in the House of Representatives drafted a straightforward Continuing Resolution to do just that, sending the bill to the Senate, well before the government would shut down. That’s when things went wrong.” (11/18/25)

https://www.independent.org/article/2025/11/18/postmortem-2025-government-shutdown/

Thomas L. Knapp

Lebanon: Israeli forces murder 13 in attack on refugee camp

Source: National Public Radio [US state media]

“An Israeli airstrike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon on Tuesday killed 13 people and wounded several others, state media and government officials said. It was the deadliest strike on Lebanon since a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war a year ago. … The Israeli military said it struck a Hamas training compound that was being used to prepare an attack against Israel and its army.” (11/19/25)

https://www.npr.org/2025/11/19/g-s1-98349/israeli-airstrike-palestinian-refugee-camp-lebanon

Thomas L. Knapp

Remember the great Justin Raimondo, critic of the warfare-welfare state

Source: Orange County Register
by the editorial board

“Justin Raimondo tried to warn us. The co-founder of Antiwar.com devoted his life to warning Americans and particularly the American right against the relentless pull of the military-industrial complex and the bipartisan-established warfare-welfare state. Raimondo would’ve turned 74 today. He passed away on June 27, 2019 in Sebastopol, California at the age of 67 after battling lung cancer. But his legacy lives on and his message is as necessary as ever.” (11/18/25)

https://archive.is/BlTN3

Thomas L. Knapp

US Senate sends bill to release Epstein files to Trump

Source: Axios

“The Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill to compel the Justice Department to release all files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, sending it to President Trump’s desk. Trump said Monday he would sign the bill, but the files still may not be released any time soon. The Senate passed the bill by unanimous consent Monday evening, just hours after it cleared the House via a nearly unanimous vote — and before the bill had even technically been sent over. In a stunning reversal, Trump this week supported the legislation after opposing the effort for months. But his recent directive of DOJ to investigate Epstein’s ties to former President Bill Clinton, officials at JP Morgan Chase and others may cause the files to never see the light of day.” (11/18/25)

https://archive.is/D4yox

Thomas L. Knapp