Author: Thomas L. Knapp

Turkey: Regime bars American LGBTQ+ cruise from ports, citing “moral values”

Source: New York Post

“Turkey has reportedly blocked an American LGBTQ+ cruise from docking at two of its ports, citing ‘moral values’ in the latest sign of the Islamist-run government’s increasingly hardline stance toward the LGBTQ+ community. The ‘Athens to Venice’ voyage organized by Los Angeles-based Atlantis Events was scheduled to stop in the western Turkish port of Kuşadası on July 7 before continuing to Istanbul. Instead, the cruise will now visit Cairo, Egypt, and the Greek island of Crete, according to CNN, which first reported the ban.” (07/04/26)

https://nypost.com/2026/07/04/us-news/turkey-bars-american-lgbtq-cruise-from-ports-citing-moral-values/

Thomas L. Knapp

Foreign Policy Restraint Is an American Promise

Source: The American Conservative
by Reid Smith

“Hours before Iran’s national soccer team took the pitch in Seattle for its group-stage match against Egypt, the U.S. Central Command announced further strikes against the Islamic Republic. This sequence was without obvious precedent. A World Cup host nation had never bombed a participating country during the tournament. Fortunately, FIFA had already provided the punchline by awarding President Donald Trump the FIFA Peace Prize just over six months before the tournament’s opening kickoff. The scene is absurd, but the paradox is typically American. As we reflect on the anniversary of our independence, we may confront the fact that America has always struggled to reconcile words and deeds. We are an ambitious country littered with contradictions between the tales we tell ourselves and the actions that we take.” (07/03/26)

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/foreign-policy-restraint-is-an-american-promise/

Thomas L. Knapp

CA: Paul Pelosi investigated in hit-and-run

Source: Politico

“Paul Pelosi, husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is suspected of crashing into a parked car and leaving the scene over the Fourth of July weekend, law enforcement officials said Saturday. The Napa County Sheriff’s Office said that on Friday in Yountville, California, a witness reported a brown convertible striking a legally parked, unoccupied vehicle, stopping briefly and driving away. The parked car sustained major rear damage.” (07/04/26)

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/04/paul-pelosi-investigated-in-hit-and-run-00987120

Thomas L. Knapp

Tracing Jefferson’s Libertarian Thought in the Declaration of Independence

Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Joshua Mawhorter

“Humans, by their nature, have rights that exist prior to and independent of the state and other people. These rights cannot be surrendered, transferred, sold, or legitimately taken away because they are inherent to human beings by nature. These rights are negative in that they restrict aggression against them. These rights include life, liberty, and the limited, non-aggressive pursuit of happiness, as well as the right of self-ownership and property rights, which are inferred from the previous rights. Jefferson may not have followed John Locke’s triad—life, liberty, and property—exactly because of the issue of slavery. If what Jefferson said about rights is the case, then slavery would be an evident denial of self-ownership.” (07/03/26)

https://mises.org/mises-wire/tracing-jeffersons-libertarian-thought-declaration-independence

Thomas L. Knapp

Peru: Fujimori declared winner of presidential election weeks after vote

Source: BBC News [UK state media]

“Right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori has been declared the winner of Peru’s tight presidential election, nearly a month after the vote took place. The 51-year-old won 50.135% of voters’ support in the runoff, held on 7 June, to 49.865% for left-wing candidate Roberto Sánchez – a margin of less than 50,000 votes, figures certified by Peru’s electoral court show. It is the fourth time the daughter of disgraced former President Alberto Fujimori has sought the South American nation’s presidency, promising this time to oversee a crackdown on organised crime.” (07/04/26)

https://archive.is/fN2oj

Thomas L. Knapp