Random links of interest, concern or curiosity from the past week or so, that deserve at least a SHORT mention:

 
The Justice Department’s Hillary Investigation Reeks Of Corruption ~ The sad truth: Clinton and her cohorts are above the law ~

She was never going to be indicted. And now we know none of her friends had to worry, either.

Laws are for we-the-peasants.
 
Universities offer segregated back-to-school events ~ Go figure. Fifty years ago they were rioting against this sort of thing. Why do leftists want to separate us based on skin color again?!

 
Religion Boosts US Economy More Than Apple, Amazon, and Google Combined ~ Might be worth reconsidering before we push God out the public sphere altogether.
 
#BlackLivesMatter seems more bent on destroying the economy – and the country ~ Violence on Charlotte’s Streets Began with Chaos in Hearts, Homes — and, Yes, Bathrooms ~ John Zmirak at The Stream with a thoughtful reflection on the meltdown in North Carolina ~

In his classic “The Roots of American Order,” Russell Kirk observes that harmony, order and freedom in society are not something imposed from outside by police or the national guard. Armed guards are the backstops, the last resort, which we call in for emergencies, when chaos is breaking out.
 
Those great good things make up the social peace that St. Paul, and all Christians since him, have prayed for in their time. They emerge from a much more intimate source than government agents with guns. They flow from the human heart and well-ordered minds, then play out in everyday life, especially in the home. That same order radiates organically through society, as honest people interact with each other, compete fairly, cooperate for mutual benefit, and when need be sacrifice their personal interests for the sake of the greater good.

 
You Can Be Jason Falconer ~ … by developing the mindset of a sheepdog.
Falconer was a guy you probably didn’t hear about because he disrupted the anti-gun crowd’s narrative; he was the one who took down the knife-wielding terrorist in the St. Cloud, Minn mall last weekend. But it sure was a good thing for shoppers in that gun-free zone that the part-time, off-duty police officer (former police chief), happened to be there with his weapon on Saturday.

 
Fake News Site National Report Admits to Setting Traps to Damage Conservatives ~ I’ve posted about this before, but conservative Christians really need to be careful of these phony sites if they want to maintain their credibility on social media and elsewhere ~

Sites like National Report and Christwire are successfully fooling conservatives into spreading their articles […]
 
This is becoming a serious problem as these sites multiply, and 30 percent of adults now get news from Facebook. While Snopes is the best known myth-debunking site on the internet, it leans to the left. Fortunately, Fake News Watch has compiled a list of fake news sites.

 
Global Cigarette Smuggling Is So Profitable – The UN Is Getting In On It ~ It’s a vicious cycle; the more government tries to control us the more corrupt they get ~

So after decades of the War on Tobacco, we’ve arrived at some really high tax rates – and some really restrictive, ridiculous regulations. And the results – the unintended consequences – are pretty predictable.
 
Born is a global cigarette black market. An international underground used to not only duck the governments regs and taxes – but to profit from them. And it ain’t…the best people on the planet running and using it.

 
Funny what happens when the free market is left alone ~ UK government cuts electric car subsidies by half, sales mysteriously fall 75% ~
 
The Garbage Philosophy Behind The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Myth ~ The entire global warming scare is essentially built on a bunch of B.S. ~

(I)t’s okay to lie and exaggerate about the garbage patch, and it’s okay to oversimplify and exaggerate about the ozone hole. Because, hey, people are stupid and you have to come up with an image that will play on their imagination in the press. Naturally, it follows that we need to come up with a similar way to lie and exaggerate about global warming: “it could only help to have a better metaphor for climate change—something more evocative than the threat of shrinking ice caps, and longer-lasting than a violent storm.”

 
Dems hijack IRS hearing to ask about Trump’s taxes ~ Why should we be surprised though? This whole sorry episode is a travesty. Justice will never be done.

 
What this 89-year-old Chicago popsicle vendor can teach us about American values ~ Inspiring, on several levels ~

Woven into Fidencio Sanchez’s story are two key lessons from which every American could benefit. The first is that communities are invaluable in caring for the general wellbeing of their residents, and that flourishing begins on the ground level. Who understands the poor paleta vendor’s story better: Mr. Macias driving by on the street, or Washington policymakers attempting to draft comprehensive aid packages to cover poor communities?
 
This story is also a testament to the incredible power of a strong work ethic. Sanchez was going to provide for his family, regardless of any support he received, because, like he said, “We have to pay the bills.”