Hawaii is a forgotten First Amendment failure

Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Elyse Everest

“From 1896 until 1986, and over 5,000 miles from where the U.S. Constitution was written, the Hawaiian Islands were subject to one of the most harmful and forgotten large-scale violations of free speech in our nation’s history. Although Hawaii did not become a state until 1959, the Hawaiian language ban of 1896, or Act 57, made English mandatory in all public and private schools. In practice, this meant corporal punishment and public humiliation for children caught speaking the Hawaiian language (ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi) on school grounds, a policy that survived annexation, the territorial period, and statehood itself, remaining on the books until the state legislature quietly discovered and repealed it in 1986.” (07/22/26)

https://www.fire.org/news/hawaii-forgotten-first-amendment-failure

Thomas L. Knapp

Thailand: Regime launches manhunt after 5 soldiers killed, civilians injured in deep south

Source: South China Morning Post [Hong Kong]

“Thai authorities said on Thursday they are searching for the people responsible for an attack in the country’s troubled deep south region that killed five soldiers and injured several civilians. About 10 attackers opened fire and threw pipe bombs at soldiers at a security checkpoint near a residential area in Narathiwat province on Wednesday evening before fleeing, according to the regional Internal Security Operations Command. Six civilians were injured during the attack, including a 10-year-old boy who remains hospitalised in stable condition.” (07/23/26)

https://archive.is/5pQu9

Thomas L. Knapp

Declare Your Independence with Ernest Hancock, 07/22/26

Source: Freedom’s Phoenix

“Dexter Taylor, a Brooklyn-based software engineer, has been sentenced to a decade in prison for building firearms in his home using parts purchased legally. He was arrested after a SWAT raid in 2022, and a jury convicted him of 13 counts last month.” (07/22/26)

https://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Media/398937-2026-07-22-2026-07-22-ernest-hancock-interviews-dexter-taylor.htm

Thomas L. Knapp

Why you don’t really get Homer

Source: UnHerd
by Thomas Peermohamed Lambert

“When you hear the phrase ‘Ancient Greece’, what are the first words that come into your head? The names of a few great thinkers, perhaps: Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Zeno? Or maybe some grand abstractions: democracy, philosophy, geometry, reason? If so, then you are in good company: if there is one thing everyone knows about the Greeks, it is that they forged the great systems of knowledge and philosophy upon which all Western thought depends. But this is precisely the conception you ought to put out of your mind if, like thousands of others this week, you decide to go to the cinema and watch The Odyssey.” (07/22/26)

https://archive.is/SYmZi

Thomas L. Knapp

CA: Protest at C&H Sugar factory turns violent after 2 people reportedly hit by drivers

Source: SFGate

“A protest by warehouse workers at the C&H Sugar refinery in Crockett turned violent after two people were reportedly struck by vehicles and nine people were arrested on Tuesday. The union employees at the 120-year-old factory have been on strike for over a month after contract negotiations broke down over cut benefits. Contra Costa County sheriff’s deputies responded to the refinery on Loring Avenue around 11 a.m. after receiving multiple reports of protesters throwing rocks at trucks and blocking workers and vehicles from entering or leaving the facility, sheriff’s office spokesperson Jimmy Lee told SFGATE in an emailed statement.” (07/22/26)

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/protest-bay-sugar-factory-22356335.php

Thomas L. Knapp