Author: Thomas L. Knapp

How Covid Transformed Me into a Gardener and Business Owner

Source: Brownstone Institute
by Renaud Beauchard

“When things turned dystopian in March 2020, I was in the middle of a big life change which ultimately led me to create a business coaching families to grow their own chemical-free food. After a decade of international development consulting scouring the African continent to make Africans’ lives more connected to the global economy, and incidentally also more precarious, I had already been slowly seeking an escape route from the abstract world inhabited by the professional managerial class. Covid didn’t create my rupture with this world. It confirmed it.” (05/03/26)

https://brownstone.org/articles/how-covid-transformed-me-into-a-gardener-and-business-owner/

Thomas L. Knapp

North Korea: Regime denies role in crypto hacking cases

Source: United Press International

“North Korea denied allegations that it was behind recent international cryptocurrency hacking and cybercrime cases, calling the claims ‘false information’ and warning that it would not tolerate them. A spokesperson for North Korea’s Foreign Ministry issued the statement Sunday in response to a question from the Korean Central News Agency. The ministry called the allegations ‘absurd slander’ aimed at damaging North Korea’s image for political purposes. … The international community has repeatedly identified North Korea-linked hacking groups as suspects in major cyberattacks and cryptocurrency thefts. The Lazarus Group, believed to be linked to North Korea, has been cited as a possible actor behind an April 18 hack of decentralized finance platform KelpDAO that reportedly involved about $290 million in cryptocurrency.” (05/03/26)

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2026/05/03/denied-cryptocurrency-hacking-cybercrime-cases/9581777849845/

Thomas L. Knapp

The NATO Secretary General is Failing NATO

Source: The Realist Review
by Ted Snider

“U.S. President Donald Trump has been very publicly aggressive in expressing his anger at NATO. He told NATO members they will ‘have to start learning how to fight for yourself’ because ‘the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us.’ … On April 8, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte held a two-hour ‘frank and open’ discussion with Trump to try to heal the rift. Rutte may have failed to soothe the angry Trump, who, following the meeting, posted ‘NATO WASN’T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON’T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN.’ But Rutte may have failed in more than that mission as Secretary General of NATO. He may have failed in that role to represent NATO members and NATO values.” (05/03/26)

https://therealistreview.substack.com/p/the-nato-secretary-general-is-failing

Thomas L. Knapp

Russia: Drone hits upscale Moscow tower as city readies for Victory Day parade

Source: South China Morning Post [Hong Kong]

“A drone hit a residential tower in an upscale Moscow district in a rare strike near the city centre ahead of the traditional World War II Victory Day parade. Moscow air defences repelled an attack by two Ukrainian drones, and one hit the building on Mosfilmovskaya Street, according to a post on Monday by Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. Emergency services were sent to the scene, and there were no reports of casualties. Mosfilmovskaya is about 6-8km (about 4-5 miles) from the Kremlin, and local media showed damage to the upper floors of a high-end residential building.” (05/04/26)

https://archive.is/hWMU2

Thomas L. Knapp

The Murder of Spirit Airlines

Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp

“On May 2, Spirit Airlines ceased operations after it failed to get the US government to bail it out of the latest in a series of untenable situations — at least two of which the US government put it in to begin with. … Maybe Spirit would have failed even absent the massive jet fuel price increases. Perhaps the proposed merger with JetBlue would have dragged that airline down, too, instead of profitably folding Spirit’s assets into a more efficient operating environment. And maybe all of Ted Bundy’s victims were mere moments away from choosing suicide when he strangled them to death instead. We’ll never know, will we? What we do know is that the US government’s murder of Spirit Airlines will almost certainly result in (checks notes) ‘higher fares, fewer seats, and harm [to] millions of consumers.'” (05/02/26)

https://thegarrisoncenter.org/archives/20562

Thomas L. Knapp