Ether and solana extend gains as a short squeeze lifts Bitcoin toward $62,000

Source: CoinDesk

“Ether and solana led crypto higher on Friday as a squeeze on bearish traders pushed bitcoin toward $62,000, capping the market’s first genuinely strong week since mid June. Bitcoin traded around $61,360, up 2.5% over seven days, per CoinDesk data. Ether rose 4.2% in 24 hours to about $1,702 and is up 9.7% on the week, while solana held near $80 with a weekly gain of 18.6%, the strongest among the majors. XRP added 5.7% over the week to $1.09 and Hyperliquid’s HYPE rose 5.1% on the day. Traders betting against crypto lost $281 million to liquidations over the past 24 hours, against $159 million in longs, out of $440 million in total forced closures across 95,690 traders, according to Coinglass data.” (07/03/26)

https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/07/03/ether-and-solana-extend-gains-as-a-short-squeeze-lifts-bitcoin-toward-usd62-000

Thomas L. Knapp

America’s rich tradition of July Fourth protest is worth recalling

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
by M Todd Bennett & David McKean

“No Kings and other protests opposing the policies and executive overreach of the Trump administration continue to draw crowds across the country, most recently on Flag Day, June 14, which was also the president’s 80th birthday. While critics have denounced these demonstrators as un-American — House Speaker Mike Johnson called a 2025 No Kings march a ‘hate America rally’ — those voicing dissent, pushing for change and speaking truth to power are, in fact, participating in a tradition at our nation’s core. That tradition dates back to July 4, 1776, when the Continental Congress, citing a list of grievances, declared independence from the rule of a would-be despot, King George III.” (07/02/26)

https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/july-fourth-protest-20260702.html

Thomas L. Knapp

The Declaration of Independence Versus America’s Immigration Police State

Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger

“This week — the week in which Americans celebrate the Declaration of Independence — U.S. immigration police arrested a Catholic nun in McAllen, Texas, as she was walking to Mass. They handcuffed her, confiscated her rosary, and incarcerated her. But before anyone reacts too harshly to such misconduct, let’s keep in mind some important points. It is the responsibility of the U.S. immigration police to keep us safe. Who’s to say that woman was really a nun? She could easily have been a Muslim fanatic disguised as a nun who was invading America to establish a worldwide caliphate and Sharia law. Indeed, she could have been a terrorist, drug dealer or, even worse, both — a narco-terrorist!” (07/02/26)

https://www.fff.org/2026/07/02/the-declaration-of-independence-versus-americas-immigration-police-state/

Thomas L. Knapp

Man pleads guilty to sending fake ransom notes to Nancy Guthrie family

Source: USA Today

“A Southern California man pleaded guilty in federal court to sending fake ransom notes to Nancy Guthrie’s family shortly after her disappearance, prosecutors announced on July 2. Derrick Callella, 42, of Hawthorne, California, pleaded guilty to two counts of harassment using a telecommunication device at a federal courthouse in Tucson, Arizona, on July 2, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona. The charge has a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a potential fine of up to $250,000. … Nancy Guthrie was reported missing on the morning of Feb. 1 after she failed to show up at a friend’s house to watch a virtual church service. While the FBI obtained footage of an armed and masked individual captured by her Google Nest doorbell camera, investigators for months have been unable to identify a suspect behind her likely abduction.” (07/03/26)

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2026/07/03/nancy-guthrie-disappearance-fake-ransom-notes/90792182007/

Thomas L. Knapp

On the Moral Foundations of America

Source: Cato Institute
by Roger Pilon

“Of all that makes America—the subject of this symposium—nothing has been more crucial or consequential than our having constituted ourselves as a people on sound moral, political, and legal principles—the ‘self-evident truths’ set forth in our Declaration of Independence and then instituted through our Constitution as corrected by the Civil War Amendments—for those principles are the very foundation of our liberty. Yet many Americans today seriously misunderstand them, while still others reject even their preconditions—reason, objectivity, and free speech.” (07/02/26)

https://www.cato.org/blog/moral-foundations-america

Thomas L. Knapp