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July 2017

Richard Dawkins is a writer, biologist, and outspoken atheist. He has long been a hero of the left and was scheduled to do an event at Berkeley hosted by a local progressive radio station. The event has been cancelled however, due to some tweets by Dawkins which were critical of Islamism.

There has been a lot of attention in the past couple of days to the statistical disconnect between what is of importance to the media versus what is important to the public. Not surprisingly, the media is all Russia, Russia, Russia. The public not so much. Jon Gabriel at Ricochet originated the analysis, though many outlets ran with it, What Americans Care About vs. What the Media Cares About:

The FBI and Dutch authorities have successfully shut down AlphaBay and Hansa, two of the largest marketplaces on the dark web, which sold drugs, firearms, malware, and forged documents. AlphaBay, which the FBI seized, "allegedly serviced some 200,000 users and 40,000 vendors." It disappeared earlier this month with Attorney General Jeff Sessions describing the seizure as "one of the most important criminal investigations of the year."

The State of Hawaii and the Trump administration have jointly requested that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals expedite consideration of the Trump administration's request for a stay of a Hawaii District Court preliminary injunction that significantly curtailed the implementation of Travel Order No. 2. The request comes just days after the Supreme Court ruled on the Trump administration's request for "clarification" and a stay. The Supreme Court denied the request for “clarification,” granted a stay of the Hawaii Order on refugees, and was silent (de facto denial) of a stay as to relatives:

The Department of Justice decided to eliminate the $3 million fine that Harley-Davidson received from President Barack Obama's administration to fight pollution. The money was supposed to go "to an American Lung Association project promoting cleaner-burning cook stoves." The company reached an agreement with the government last August to pay that fine along with a $12 million fine for the "manufacture and sale of around 340,000 illegal motorcycle tuners."

We reported a week ago about an Arab terrorist attack at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. It started with weapons hidden at the Al Aqsa Mosque, which then were used by three Israeli Arabs to carry out the attack on Israeli policemen just outside the compound. Two Israeli Druze policemen were killed. The terrorists fled back to the Temple Mount, where they were shot dead. One of the attackers even played dead, only to leap up with a knife in hand to stab more policeman, before he was shot.

Asked by Fox News' Martha MacCallum whether he's bothered by the fact that some of the lawyers hired by special counsel Robert Mueller made donations to Hillary Clinton's campaign, Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein responded:

"At the Department of Justice, we judge by results, and so, my view about that is, we'll see if they do the right thing."

Fidget spinners -- a $5 annoyance that can be purchased at gas stations, grocery stores, and every other place things are sold. I can only assume they were invented by grandparents in what they believed was a hilariously vengeful move. Teachers hate them, kids love them. Contrary to some claims, there's zero evidence these spinning gadgets help youngsters with difficulty focusing.

Yvette Felarca, leader of the Antifa organization BAMN (By Any Means Necessary) has been arrested for inciting a riot. The charge stems from an incident in Sacramento last year.

New York City users of the pet-sitting app Rover have discovered that dog-sitting without a kennel license is illegal in the city. New York Daily News reported:
The health code bans boarding, feeding and grooming animals for a fee without a kennel license — and says those licenses can’t be issued for private homes.