Manufacturing a Menace

Source: Libertarian Institute
by Joseph Solis-Mullen

“In their latest Foreign Affairs essay, National Security Council official Kurt Campbell and State Department China policy director Rush Doshi argue that the United States is underestimating the strategic threat posed by the People’s Republic of China and must build a vast, integrated coalition to confront it. They present an image of an ascendant, industrially and technologically superior China, one capable of overwhelming the United States unless Washington retools its alliances into a cohesive, scaled-up security and economic bloc. It is, in many ways, a polished version of the same alarmist narrative that has animated American grand strategy since the end of the Cold War — this time with China cast in the role of existential adversary.” (05/15/25)

https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/manufacturing-a-menace

Thomas L. Knapp

Going, Going, Gone! The World According to Donald Trump

Source: TomDispatch
by Tom Engelhardt

“I remember the phrase from my boyhood, listening to baseball games on the old wooden radio by my bed. A major hitter would be up and — bang! — he’d connect with the ball in a big-time fashion. The announcer in a rising voice would then say dramatically: ‘It’s going, going, gone!’ It was a phrase connected to success of the first order. It was Duke Snider or Mickey Mantle hitting a homer. It was a winner all the way around the bases. Today, though no one may say it anymore, somewhere deep inside my mind I can still hear it. But now, at least for me, it’s connected to another kind of hitter entirely and another kind of reality as well. I’m thinking, of course, about the president of these (increasingly dis-)United States of America …” (05/15/25)

https://tomdispatch.com/going-going-gone/

Steve Trinward

SpaceX Fires Up Starship Upper Stage for Ninth Test Flight in Static Fire Trial

Source: Gadgets 360 [India]

“SpaceX’s next-generation Starship spacecraft has fired up in another test as the company prepares for its ninth flight. Starship conducted a full-duration static fire of its upper stage at the Starbase facility in South Texas on May 12th. The 171-foot-tall (52-metre) vehicle fired all six of its mighty Raptor engines for the full-duration burn, which took about 60 seconds. This marked the third such static fire for this specific ship, which is now undergoing final checks. SpaceX shared video and images of the trial in a post on X the following day. As per a Space.com report, the static fire is one of the last key milestones before the vehicle’s upcoming launch, though no date has yet been announced. … Starship has completed eight test flights to date, two of them in 2025. Though the missions themselves blasted off without a hitch, the ship’s upper stage flubbed both times shortly after arriving in space.” (05/16/25)

https://www.gadgets360.com/science/news/spacex-launches-28-starlink-satellites-to-orbit-in-second-mission-within-six-hours-8411118

Thomas L. Knapp

Trump’s economic roller-coaster is not for the faint of heart

Source: The Hill
by Bruce Yandle

“We have now been riding President Trump’s economic roller coaster for more than three months. With wind in our hair and seatbelts fastened, we have yet to arrive at the ‘golden age’ touted by the president as our ultimate destination. Many riders have been feeling queasy. Some insist that the fun part is still to come. Preliminary announcements of pending trade deals with United Kingdom and China suggest the worst of the trade wars may be behind us. Still, to paraphrase Elvis, we’re ‘all shook up,’ and it’s a good time to take stock.” (05/15/25)

https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/5299214-trumps-economic-roller-coaster-is-not-for-the-faint-of-heart/

Thomas L. Knapp

Federal judge dismisses trespassing charges against 98 people arrested in new military buffer zone along Southwest border

Source: ABC News

“A federal magistrate judge has dismissed trespassing charges against 98 people who were arrested along the Southwest border for entering the newly created National Defense Area in New Mexico that the Trump administration considers an extension of an Arizona military base. U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory B. Wormuth ruled Wednesday, in 98 separate filings, that the federal government had failed to demonstrate that the individuals, who were undocumented migrants, knew they were entering the New Mexico National Defense Area that stretches along 170 miles of public land in New Mexico and is considered a part of the Fort Huachuca Army base in Arizona.” ()5/15/25)

https://abcnews.go.com/US/federal-judge-dismisses-trespassing-charges-98-people-arrested/story?id=121855842

Thomas L. Knapp