First known congressional SpaceX stock buys surface after record IPO

Source: CNBC

“Two members of Congress — Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., and Rep. Gil Cisneros, D-Calif. — have disclosed that they or their family members bought SpaceX stock in the days after the company’s historic initial public offering, according to publicly accessible House financial documents. Meuser recently disclosed that his dependent child made a June 15 purchase of between $15,001 and $50,000 of stock in the company. According to financial disclosures, it was the first time in several years Meuser or one of his family members has bought stock in an individual company. Cisneros disclosed a June 18 purchase of between $1,001 and $15,000 in SpaceX stock. SpaceX, Elon Musk’s aerospace and satellite company, went public on June 12 with a $2 trillion-plus market cap.” (07/03/26)

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/03/spacex-stock-congress-meuser-cisneros-ipo-disclosure.html

Thomas L. Knapp

These Difficult States

Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob

“I’ve been a U.S. citizen for more than a quarter of the 250 years that there has been a United States.
Proud to be an American? Yes. Not because my country, or more specifically our government, has always been spectacular, or even in the right. I’ve taken a few lumps battling against the government. More than ‘proud to be an American,’ which was admittedly an accident of birth, I’m proud of America.” (07/03/26)

https://thisiscommonsense.org/2026/07/03/these-difficult-states/

Thomas L. Knapp

Our university is trying to discredit our paper, but that won’t stop us from telling the truth

Source: Expression
by Dylan Hembrough

“Southern Illinois University Edwardsville claims it believes in free speech, but its administrators are disparaging the student press.” (07/03/26)

https://expression.fire.org/p/our-university-is-trying-to-discredit

Thomas L. Knapp

Lawyer warns abducted Palestinian doctor Hussam Abu Safiya is in critical condition

Source: SFGate

“The lawyer for a prominent Palestinian doctor who was [abducted] by Israeli forces 18 months ago said his client has been abused in captivity and is in critical condition, according to the human rights group representing him. Hussam Abu Safiya who served as director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, became the face of health workers struggling to treat patients throughout the Israel-Hamas war. He led the facility through an 85-day siege by the Israeli military, releasing videos in which he pleaded for help before he was [abducted] in December 2024. He has not been charged.” (07/05/26)

https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/lawyer-warns-detained-palestinian-doctor-hussam-22333019.php

Thomas L. Knapp

Marco Rubio’s Dangerous Diplomacy in Lebanon

Source: The American Prospect
by Nathan Thompson

“While Secretary of State Marco Rubio seemed to maintain a low profile while the Iran war’s violence was at its apex, content to focus on projects closer to his heart in the Americas, he has now re-emerged at the helm of Israel-Lebanon diplomacy. That diplomacy has produced an agreement that is roiling Lebanese society, perceived as a functional surrender to the ongoing Israeli occupation. Many commentators were impressed by Vice President JD Vance’s candid rebukes of Israeli excesses, but Rubio’s Lebanon track demonstrates how the pro-Israel wing of the White House is reasserting itself, peace with Iran be damned. The Lebanon front may receive far less media attention than the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and its economic fallout, but it has been no less central to the helter-skelter effort to end Trump and Netanyahu’s war.” (07/03/26)

https://prospect.org/2026/07/03/marco-rubios-dangerous-diplomacy-in-lebanon/

Steve Trinward

Monaco: Regime IDs suspect in bomb attack on Ukrainian oligarch

Source: Deutsche Welle [German state media]

“Monaco authorities have issued an Interpol Red Notice for a Ukrainian woman believed to have carried out a parcel bombing earlier this week that seriously wounded a Ukrainian-born oligarch and two others, including a 13-year-old. An Interpol Red Notice is a request to locate and provisionally arrest a suspect. It is not an international arrest warrant. The alert lists three charges: ‘attempted murder, placing an explosive device in a public place with criminal intent’ and ‘criminal conspiracy.’ The Red Notice identifies the suspect as a 39-year-old woman, Anastasiia Berezovska, a Ukrainian national.” (07/03/26)

https://www.dw.com/en/monaco-ids-suspect-in-bomb-attack-on-ukrainian-oligarch/a-77814163

Thomas L. Knapp