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July 2016

Sanctuary cities have long been a problem, but the heightened public awareness in the wake of  high profile murders like that of Kate Steinle has prompted Congress to take action (finally).  To that end, Congress has conditioned DOJ grants on compliance with federal immigration law.  For California, this move puts at risk as much as $135 million in federal grants. Fox News reports:
California state and local law enforcement agencies may have to choose between more than $100 million in federal aid and the “sanctuary city” immigration policies that supporters say are humane, but critics say fuel crime. The policies, whether in writing or just in practice, preclude local law enforcement from working with federal authorities when they catch an illegal immigrant who by law faces deportation. The laws have sparked a national controversy in the wake of dozens of murders and other violent crimes committed by illegal immigrants who local law enforcement did not report to the Department of Homeland Security.

On Saturday night, Turkish forces and protestors surrounded the Incirlik Air Base, which the U.S. uses to conduct airstrikes against ISIS in Syria. The government claims the incident was merely a safety inspection. https://twitter.com/Conflicts/status/759530079076712448

The Olympics start on Friday, but the Brazilian government fired the private firm that should have provided security for the Olympics. The firm Artel needed to hire 3,400 people, but only hired 500. Question is, why did the Ministry of Justice react now instead of earlier? The company also never had experience dealing with a major sporting event.

Last week while all eyes were on the Democratic National Convention, FBI Director James Comey made an alarming prediction about possible new developments with ISIS and terrorism. He suggested that if and when ISIS is crushed in their Middle East strongholds, there will be a terrorist diaspora that will spread terror agents throughout the West. Bloomberg reports:
FBI Chief Warns ‘Terrorist Diaspora’ Will Come to the West Hundreds of terrorists will fan out to infiltrate western Europe and the U.S. to carry out attacks on a wider scale as Islamic State is defeated in Syria, FBI Director James Comey warned.

Minimum wage hikes sound great on the surface, but as we've been reporting here at LI, such hikes tend to do the opposite of their proponents' stated intention.  From forcing businesses to fire employees, cut hours, and find technological replacements for workers, minimum wage hikes are counter-productive, even destructive to low-income workers. For example, a new study from Seattle shows that "there was almost no effect on workers' average total earnings" due to a combination of factors including fewer hours and a more difficult time finding a second job to make up those lost hours. The Washington Post reports:
[T]he actual benefits to workers might have been minimal, according to a group of economists whom the city commissioned to study the minimum wage and who presented their initial findings last week.

Hillary Clinton appeared on Fox News Sunday this morning, and repeated her denial that she told the families of the men killed in Benghazi that the attack was caused by a video. She went one step further, and patronized the families, declaring "I don't hold any ill feeling" towards family members who "may not fully recall everything that was or wasn't said." Later in the interview, Hillary again dodged responsibility. Wallace played the statement by FBI Director James Comey that—contrary to what Clinton had claimed—she did in fact send and receive classified material on her home-brewed email system. This time, Hillary blamed some of the professionals who "made the wrong call" by sending her classified material. "I relied on and had every reason to rely on" their judgment, said Clinton.

A great many Germans seem angry with Angela Merkel and would like her out of office:
Merkel's premiership is hanging by a thread today as thousands gathered to call for her resignation while a key political ally dramatically withdrew his support over immigration policy. More than 5,000 protested in Berlin and thousands more throughout Germany over the 'open-door' policy that many have blamed for four brutal terrorist attacks that left 13 dead over the last month. The Chancellor faced a fresh wave of fury after it emerged that two recent terror attacks and a third killing were carried out by men who entered the country as refugees.

On July 1, 2016, we covered the murder of Rabbi Michael "Miki" Mark, a father of 10 children, in front of his wife and several of the kids, Palestinian War of Terror – Israeli father of 10 murdered in front of his family: MichaelMark1
A Palestinian shot and murdered Michael “Miki” Mark, an Israeli father of 10, as he drove near Hebron. His wife and two of their children sustained injuries in the attack. From The Jerusalem Post:
In Friday’s incident, the rain of bullets against the vehicle caused it to overturn. Paramedics who arrived at the scene found Mark in the upside down vehicle, while the other passengers had been managed to exit the car. Magen David Adom paramedic Zaki Yahav said that it was a “very difficult” scene. Mark “was trapped inside” with gunshot wounds and other injuries form the accident. He didn’t have a pulse and he wasn’t breathing. “We tried to resuscitate him,” said Zahav, but it was not possible they declared him dead at the scene.

San Diego may have joined Dallas and Baton Rouge as cities who have lost police officers in a deliberate attack.
San Diego police were trying to determine whether a shooting that killed a veteran officer and wounded another was a deliberate attack. Jonathan DeGuzman, a 16-year veteran of the force, died Thursday night when a gunfight erupted after he and his partner stopped someone on a street in a blue-collar area of town. Hours later, a trail of blood led to a wounded suspect who remained hospitalized in critical condition, while a second man described only as a potential suspect was captured after an hours-long SWAT standoff Friday.
San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman held a press conference, during which she described her work with the slain officer.

Here at Li, we've been covering the failure of socialism unfolding in Venezuela.  Toilet paper, sugar, and food shortages have resulted in violence and thus far unsuccessful attempts to oust President Nicolas Maduro.  With the country's citizens tired, hungry, and angry, Maduro has landed on a "solution" that would make Pol Pot proud:  forced labor. CNN reports:
In a vaguely-worded decree, Venezuelan officials indicated that public and private sector employees could be forced to work in the country's fields for at least 60-day periods, which may be extended "if circumstances merit." . . . .  President Nicolas Maduro is using his executive powers to declare a state of economic emergency. By using a decree, he can legally circumvent Venezuela's opposition-led National Assembly -- the Congress -- which is staunchly against all of Maduro's actions.

I predicted earlier this year that our country would start seeing cases of "home-grown" Zika sometime this summer. Sure enough, Florida is reporting four cases of locally-contracted Zika.
Four individuals in Miami-Dade and Broward counties have been infected with the Zika virus by local mosquitoes, Florida health officials said Friday. These are the first known cases of the virus being transmitted by mosquitoes in the continental United States. "While no mosquitoes trapped tested positive for the Zika virus, the department believes these cases were likely transmitted through infected mosquitoes in this area," according to a statement from the Florida Department of Health. ...Officials believe the local transmission is confined to a small area north of downtown Miami within a single ZIP code. However, local, state and federal health officials are continuing their investigation, which includes going door-to-door to ask residents for urine samples and other information in an effort to determine how many people may be infected. Additional cases are anticipated.

Now that Hillary Clinton is the official Democratic nominee, a significant number of Bernie Sanders supporters are gravitating to Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who seems happy to have them. The question is whether support for Stein will have any impact on the outcome of the election and if she's capable of picking up where Bernie left off. Clare Foran writes at The Atlantic:
Can Jill Stein Lead a Revolution? Jill Stein takes public transportation to the Democratic National Convention. On the day after Hillary Clinton made history as the first woman to win a major party presidential nomination, the Green Party presidential candidate is on the subway en route to the Wells Fargo Center. Adoring fans spot her on the way over and demand selfies. A heavily tattooed woman complains to Stein: “It’s been a Hillary party the whole time. It’s like brainwash, like waterboarding. It’s awful.”

One year after saving her life, Officer Patrick Ray joined a tea party with 2-year-old Bexley. He answered a 911 call after the girl choked on a penny. https://twitter.com/Welcome2Hou/status/759121730967220225

Somerville, Massachusetts is an interesting city just outside of Boston. The densely occupied community is home to lots of old school Boston blue-collar types while also being extremely diverse. It's also hipster heaven, as anyone who's ever been to Davis Square can tell you. A Black Lives Matter banner has been hanging on Somerville City Hall for a while, but after the recent rash of shootings directed at police, the Somerville PD asked to have it taken down. The mayor declined the request and tensions are now mounting.

I have documented how some Palestinians, such as Bassem Tamimi, have created an industry of exploiting children for the cameras in a very dangerous way. They have the children confront soldiers with the cameras rolling, hoping for a reaction and viral video or image. The video and images are crucial in the propaganda war on Israel. Here is another example. A young child, maybe 3 years old, was photographed heroically confronting Israeli border police. It had all the hallmarks of a viral shot, tweeted by anti-Israel Twitter account Abbs Winston and retweeted by "Hamas Lawyer" Stanley Cohen and over 150 others: https://twitter.com/AbbsWinston/status/759052506605293569