Blog Heap of Links for the day 17 February 2015

"With 10,000 American soldiers patrolling the mountains and deserts of Afghanistan, thousands more deployed to Iraq, and U.S. military aircraft conducting daily strikes in both those countries and Syria, Attorney General Eric Holder claimed the nation is 'not in a time of war.'"

"The Islamic State, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), follows a distinctive variety of Islam whose beliefs about the path to the Day of Judgment matter to its strategy, and can help the West know its enemy and predict its behavior. Its rise to power is less like the triumph of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt (a group whose leaders the Islamic State considers apostates) than like the realization of a dystopian alternate reality in which David Koresh or Jim Jones survived to wield absolute power over not just a few hundred people, but some 8 million."

"A Detroit man stabbed two people at a suburban bus stop after asking his victims whether or not they were Muslim, according to police. Federal authorities are now looking at the case as a potential hate crime, police said on Tuesday." Check out the crazy-eyes mug shot.

Holder said, “We spend more time, more time, talking about what do you call it, as opposed to what are you going to do about it. I mean really, if Fox News didn’t talk about this, they would have nothing else to talk about, it seems to me. Radical Islam, Islamic extremism, I’m not sure an awful lot is gained by saying it. It doesn’t have any impact on our military posture. What we call it doesn’t have any impact on the polices we put in place.”

“The terminology, it seems to me, has little to no impact on what ultimately we have to do.”

Word weaseler gotta weasel words.

Asked about the pope’s reaction in a phone call today with reporters, and asked specifically “does the administration agree” the men were killed because of their faith, Psaki said she was “not going to put new labels or — or, certainly, argue with comments of the pope.”

“But I would say that we have spoken in the past about, you know, our concerns about the, you know, targeting of — of religious groups, and we’ve seen, unfortunately, this happen in Iraq and other places,” Psaki said. “ISIL has gone after not just individuals for religious affiliation but for being a woman, for being — for even people with disabilities. And so we’ve seen the barbarity of their tactics.”

“But, you know, beyond that, obviously, this is simply a horrific attack of terrorism and one that we came out this weekend and joined many countries in the world in commending.”

No mention of the word “Christian.”

Oliver North: “President El Sisi asked for American intelligence targeting intelligence before today’s strikes and didn’t get it. King Abdullah of Jordan asked for Intelligence data on targets to respond to the murder of a Jordanian aircraft pilot. The Kurds are begging for arms and ammo from the United States, not one bullet has been delivered by the United States.” [video]

"An Oklahoma legislative committee overwhelmingly voted to ban Advanced Placement U.S. History class, persuaded by the argument that it only teaches students 'what is bad about America.' Other lawmakers are seeking a court ruling that would effectively prohibit the teaching of all AP courses in public schools."

"…lieutenant was hiking with two classmates at the Wichita Wildlife Refuge when a rattlesnake, which was described as 6 to 8 feet long, bit the soldier on his calf. … flown to a nearby hospital where his leg was amputated. He remains in critical condition."

"This spyware is on all of our computers … we are all being monitored … and there is nothing that you or I can do about it." -War News Updates editor comment

"A U.S. Islamic advocacy group says that Vice- President Joe Biden, addressing a White House summit on 'countering violent extremism (CVE)' on Tuesday, referred to right-wing extremists and supremacists committing violence 'in the name of the Bible.'"

Sometimes FREE isn't free! [Graphic at link]

"…92-year-old man told officers he became confused and panicked behind the wheel."

"…Some may protest that it is not English but Mandarin Chinese that will eventually become the world’s language, because of the size of the Chinese population and the increasing economic might of their nation. But that’s unlikely. For one, English happens to have gotten there first. It is now so deeply entrenched in print, education and media that switching to anything else would entail an enormous effort. We retain the QWERTY keyboard and AC current for similar reasons.

"Also, the tones of Chinese are extremely difficult to learn beyond childhood, and truly mastering the writing system virtually requires having been born to it. …"

"Sunday was Bob’s birthday, so we held a little celebration." Feathered friends featured.

HBD, Bob!

"I truly believe they enjoy rubbing their privelege in everybody's faces."

Pistol Pete's grabbed graphics, linked links, and erudite commentary for today.