Blog Heap o'Links for March 2015

Kyesha was upset when her son told her what had happened, as any decent parent would be. But most parents would likely reprimand their daughters and move on.

Not Kyesha. She posted this on Facebook….

"At our 14 week ultrasound our baby was clapping, so I sang a song with our doctor as my husband filmed…"

[Video, 0:15, Jen Cardinal, YouTube]

Anyone who is tracking the news these days, and genuinely cares for the security of Israel and the future of the US – not to mention Europe and the Mideast – has got to have an extremely heavy heart. We are facing some very dark times. [Summarizes latest news]

Pete's opinion leads off his collection of worthy pix & linx for today.

"…The other reason,I think,is that none of the other states has what may be a potential presidential candidate in 2016 and this is their way to bloody him preemptively…"

Pawhuska OK - Wesley Jackson was looking for old coins when he unearthed a large metal object… identified as an old artillery shell… about 13 inches tall and weighed around 10 pounds… [possibly] a “non-explosive” training shell from decades ago, possibly World War II-era…

Another reason to not text while walking. [Animated GIF]

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday left intact an appeals court ruling that school officials in California did not violate the free speech rights of students by demanding they remove T-shirts bearing images of the U.S. flag at an event celebrating the Mexican holiday of Cinco de Mayo….

…[man] reportedly appeared intoxicated… [told police] he “had drank 1/4 of a fifth of whiskey,” then led them to the apartment… [police] found [woman] inside, “passed out on the couch” with “a screaming infant right next to her head in a cradle…" 3 weeks old… [woman] “never moved nor heard the small infant…” When [she] came to, she reportedly “began breastfeeding her baby” despite orders from authorities to not do so in her intoxicated state…

One of the most significant leases in the history of the old industry — which in turn transformed Bartlesville into a major energy center — was signed on a brisk spring day in the late 1800s…

…known for her kindness to all kinds of animals and every morning she would feed the stray dogs and cats that would show up at her home.… also known for taking a bag of food along when she went out so she could treat other strays she encountered… the dogs suddenly appeared at the funeral parlor where Margarita's body was being kept… Realizing that the animals had come to pay their respects to Margarita, the staff allowed the dogs to come in and they laid peacefully on the floor near the woman's coffin… On the day of the funeral, March 15, the dogs even formed a procession behind the hearse… [A bird, too, see video.]

Graphics with grit

SAND SPRINGS, Oklahoma …The eagle parents are circling the park with their piercing calls, looking for their nests and their chicks which were all killed. … The EF-2 tornado destroyed a natural habitat for one of our national treasures and protected animals, the bald eagle. … reports that over four nests were destroyed. That resulted in seven baby chicks losing their lives. …

…When Barack Obama came under fire for his mishandling of the horrific treatment of US veterans at the VA in Phoenix, and in fact throughout the entire system, he did what he usually did: deploy Susan Rice to come up with some optics. So we, as a people, were treated to the sight of the Compassionate Leader, who had, after monumental effort and at great personal cost, moved mountains to make sure that No Man Was Left Behind. We were told this action was in keeping with the highest traditions of the US Military, but we were not told that the Man Was Left Behind because he decided to walk away from his post and join the Islamic enemy. Six men, however, were left behind…

BISMARCK, N.D. …Last week, Gov. Jack Dalrymple signed a bill into law authorizing the farming, production, and sale of industrial hemp in the state, effectively nullifying the federal prohibition on the same….

…At 89 years old, Thibault’s health is failing, and she’s ready to leave her perch not far from the bar, but she would like to see the restaurant continue to serve customers. …hopes to sell The Haunted House to a new proprietor at an auction April 16… “I hope to sell it to someone who loves the restaurant business…. This place has been my life for more than 50 years.” … Thibault and her late husband, Arthur Thibault, opened The Haunted House restaurant in 1964, which then sat not far off the old Route 66 highway….

[Oregon-based Presbyterian USA Minister John Shuck:] "We all have been trained to think that Christianity is about believing things," Shuck said in the article. "Its symbols and artifacts (God, Bible, Jesus, Heaven, etc) must be accepted in a certain way.

And when times change and these beliefs are no longer credible, the choices we are left with are either rejection or fundamentalism."

[Emphasis added. Sad. Confused. Dangerous to others. … You'll never hear about "a powerful man of faithlessness."]

…There is very little footage of Hubbard himself, who went into hiding after sneaking back in the U.S. in the 1970s. But Gibney did obtain video of Hubbard being interviewed by Granada Television, and it makes for one of the documentary's most chilling moments.

"Do you ever think that you might be quite mad?" the reporter asks.

Gibney lingers perhaps unnecessarily on Hubbard's yellowed smile. "Oh yes," he answers. "The one man in the world who never believes he's mad is a madman."

…The pachyderm is among a group of tame African elephants helping the U.S. military develop an artificial "nose" that could safely and effectively detect bombs and other explosive devices, officials say.

The U.S. Army Research Office experiments, which take place at the Adventures with Elephants ranch here, are part of an effort to better understand—and eventually reproduce—elephants’ stellar sense of smell.

The objective, says Stephen Lee of the U.S. Army Research Office, is not to put elephants in the field of combat or use them for mine detection.…

Louisiana …The vehicle was pulled over on the side of the road. It was tipping over, but a couple of elephants…

…possibly the most massive single road project in Oklahoma history. …three million cubic yards of dirt is going to be moved during the five-mile realignment effort that started a year ago just to the west of Osage Hills State Park. The $37 million project will level and straighten the dangerous two-lane stretch, in addition to adding much-needed shoulders. … Replacement of three 80-year-old bridges — which transportation recently called “some of the worst bridges we have in the state” — is also being accomplished….

FAIRLAND, Okla. …Missouri man was killed when he was run over by a train… found lying between two sets of tracks… apparently fell off and underneath the westbound train.…

…In a message she posted via Facebook, Shannon Allen, wife of Sgt. 1st Class Mark Allen, wrote 'Meet my husband, injuries directly brought to you by the actions of this traitor. He can't give an account of what went down, because he can no longer speak. Now, which guy is a "hero" again?!? Sick.' …

Rep.Louie Gohmert (TX-01) talked to Tucker Carlson on Fox and Friends about the Obama Administration's prisoner swap and handling of the Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl matter.

[Video, 3:27]

The decision not to charge a Colorado woman with murder for the death of an unborn seven-month-old baby has reinvigorated a debate over when states should legally recognize a fetus as a human being….

[Boener:] …it isn't all that easy to be in public service and have a name that looks like "boner."

…"We enlisted an 8 year old boy, suffering from a rare and life-threatening disorder, into the Texas Army National Guard. His nurse, is one of our guardsmen, and found out that being a Soldier was his dream…."

…"I have never been so proud to be an American in my life. It was just beyond perfect.” – Rowan’s mom…

“Best day ever of my whole entire life”

Hat's roundup of links on Obama Scandals, Gun Rights, Hide the Decline, Obamacare, War & Terror, National News, Economy & Taxes, International News, Opinion

Who needs coffee when Vic's news can get your blood boiling. Starts here today.

"On this day in 1638 Swedish colonists established the first European settlement in what is now Delaware, naming it New Sweden.…"

If you wanted Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers to drop a lot more than the slight amount they have considering that the wonderful e mail debacle, the thing you’d do is launch the singularly most offensive campaign in the history of poor political campaigns… so offensive that it tends to make you believe it to be a dirty tricks ad launched by anti-Clintonistas…

Ted Cruz • Young America’s Foundation • Freedom Conference • New Hampshire • 3/27/15

More and more, posts and commentaries on the Internet in Russia and even abroad are generated by professional trolls, many of whom receive a higher-than-average salary for perpetuating a pro-Kremlin dialogue online.…

There are Islamists living in Tennessee who are top tier leaders in ISNA (Islamic Society of North America), one of the unindicted co-conspirator organizations named by the Muslim Brotherhood in its plan for the U.S.…

A close media aide to Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian president, has sought political asylum in Switzerland after travelling to Lausanne to cover the nuclear talks between Tehran and the West.… “The US negotiating team are mainly there to speak on Iran’s behalf with other members of the 5+1 countries and convince them of a deal…”

Republican tea party favorite hires “special projects manager” for $10,000 a month to work on secret project. Records show Bridenstine’s office spent the most of the five U.S. House members from Oklahoma. …

Rep. Louie Gohmert (TX-01) attended a Judiciary Subcommittee Hearing on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet. He got into a heated debate with one of the witnesses on playing 'God with the Internet.' [Video, 4:21]

Salon.com has declared that if you are white, you are racist. Period. No questions asked.

Vic covers the news of the world, abbreviatedly, starting here today.

"On this day in 1978 the Supreme Court handed down what is recognized as the worst ruling ever done in Stump vs Sparkman. Basically this ruling said that judges were unaccountable for civil suit no matter how wretched or unlawful a ruling they made. This case was absolutely an abomination and travesty of justice…."

The Senate approved a budget amendment Thursday that supports a repeal of the estate tax.

Senators voted 54-46 on the amendment. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) broke rank and voted against the amendment, while Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) voted for it.
The amendment, offered by Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), aims to repeal the estate tax, sometimes referred to as the "death tax." Under the tax, an estate, or assets, have to be worth more than $5.43 million before they are taxed.…

Pistol Pete's collection for today of the best, and worst, of the world.

"Believe it or not but on Fridays I really try to find some relevant political topics to bring you. For some reason people refuse to stop doing really stupid,bizarre things that should be ignored,but it’s almost like a car wreck you can’t help gaping at….

Vic sets them up and knocks them down, starting here today.

"On this day in 1915 Typhoid Mary entered her second quarantine after having been identified as a healthy carrier of the typhoid disease…."

All evidence indicates that the copilot of Airbus machine in his six-months break during his training as a pilot in Germanwings, converted to Islam and subsequently either by the order of “radical”, ie. devout Muslims , or received the order from the book of terror, the Quran, on his own accord decided to carry out this mass murder. As a radical mosque in Bremen is in the center of the investigation, in which the convert was staying often, it can be assumed that he – as Mohammed Atta, in the attack against New York – received his instructions directly from the immediate vicinity of the mosque. [Translated from German, from Speisa.com]

…Bottom line is, you can design this stuff to the nth degree, but fuckups will always go to the nth + 1 degree.

…Part of the roof collapsed as well as parts of the actual building that held 76 people, including more than 25 children. Staff members were able to take the young gymnasts to safety inside the basement. …Jennifer Patterson is credited with directing the building's occupants to the basement for shelter… possibly saved several lives during the building's collapse. … No one was injured. …

The Enemies Within zooms in on the best kept secret of modern politics. Almost no one is aware of the fact that fewer than 20,000 U.S. communists, socialists and extreme progressives are able to influence the politicians, and even write the laws that control the lives of over 300 million Americans. …

[Video, 2:39, Trevor Loudon on YouTube]

Luke Gregory Goodman of Tulsa… on vacation at the Keystone [CO] ski resort… ate four pot gummy bears… became jittery and incoherent… died Tuesday at a hospital after apparently shooting himself in the head. …

[From FOUR GUMMY BEARS? What the HECK are they putting in those things?]

Operation Backbone, a non-profit organization for severely injured active duty and veteran warriors.

Operation Backbone was founded by Navy veteran Mike Sformo after he severely injured his back. The non-profit organization provides crucial brain and spine surgical treatments for the most severely wounded active duty and veteran warriors who need an accelerated substitute to their current care options. Post-surgery physical and mental training is provided by the Buffalo Sabres NHL team.

Currently, Operation Backbone serves the Buffalo, New York area, but Sformo hopes to expand to other cities.

Pete's a family man, personal family, family of mankind, but does not suffer fools gladly.

News, pix, vids, wit, and rage.

Vic takes the world head-on starting here today.

"On this date in 1812 a political cartoon coined the term Gerrymander reflecting the drawing of voting district lines to favor political incumbents. It was named after then MA Governor Elbridge Gerry who signed the redistricting plan into effect...."

[From a Russian correspondent:]

“According to a poll conducted by the most popular pro-democratic radio/Internet-resource in Russia, the majority would like to have Ted Cruz as Russia’s head of state (no fake, no joke)…”

The Pentagon is considering ordering the exhumation of nearly 400 sailors and Marines who died on the battleship USS Oklahoma on Dec. 7, 1941, and were buried as "unknowns" at Punchbowl cemetery, so they can be identified and returned to families.

Those exhumations could be followed by the disinterment of unknowns killed on the battleships California and West Virginia,and other World War II losses, as the U.S. military tries to increase its annual identification of Americans missing from past wars. …

An Oklahoma man is accused of raping and assaulting three teens while holding them captive at his home over a span of two years. …shares the home with his parents. … [??!!??]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is spending nearly $150,000 to test a “mindful eating intervention” on third graders in California.

A grant awarded earlier this month outlined the project that will use the methods of a Zen teacher to try to fight childhood obesity and turn kids into “change agents” to teach others how to eat healthily. …

[FTR: Mindful Webworks has no association with this "mindful eating disorder" thingy.]

The Senate on Tuesday destroyed any lingering hope President Barack Obama might have had for passing his budget plan through Congress this year, by voting down Obama’s plan 1-98. [via The Blaze]

A confirmed, “extremely dangerous” tornado was spotted near Sand Springs in suburban Tulsa, moving east at 45 mph, the weather service said.

A mobile home park southwest of that town was “hit very hard,” said Chief Daniel Bradley of the Sand Springs Fire Department. His office was told 24 homes were damaged, some rolled over. …

A tornado touched down in Moore, Oklahoma in metropolitan Oklahoma City according to KFOR.com. It appeared to take a path similar to a devastating tornado that hit Moore May 20, 2013. …

[Shaneka Monique Torres, twice in one day did not get bacon on her McD’s burger, as ordered. The second time, she went to jail.

I can’t help thinking, though, if Dissatisfying Service Syndrome is widespread enough, a jury might just find in her favor.]

The Pentagon has declassified a document that was once labeled “top-secret,” which goes into sophisticated detail about Israel’s nuclear weapons program. The document was released quietly just prior to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s March 3 speech to a joint session of Congress.

Israel has never officially confirmed or denied the existence of a nuclear weapon’s program within its borders. …

…Would you believe that there’s a presidential election coming up in Nigeria, and Obama’s favored Muslim candidate is in a tight race against the Christian President Goodluck Jonathan?

And would you further believe that a political consulting group founded by Obama confidante David Axelrod is assisting that candidate - Retired Gen. Muhammadu Buhari - who hails from Muslim-dominated northern Nigeria from whence Boko Haram was spawned?

Thanks to the lack of cooperation and assistance from the United States, the Jonathan government has been failing miserably at beating back the terrorist scourge with the president looking weak and ineffectual.

Desperate, the government finally turned to Russia, China and the black market to obtain the much needed arms. …

An Oklahoma teenager was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday, after pleading guilty to his involvement in the 2013 shooting that killed an Australian baseball player in Duncan, Okla.

High school dropout Michael DeWayne Jones, 19, admitted driving the car from which his friend, Chancey Allen Luna, shot Christopher Lane…

A Nashville entrepreneur is trying to launch a weekly 6-page comic page delivered via mail.

Climate change is a moral challenge threatening the rights of the world’s poorest people and those who deny it are not using God’s gift of knowledge, says presiding [US Episcopal]] bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori…

Thank you for the message regarding the report on our billboard in Newtonville. A vast majority of Teakwood’s clients are women. Frequently they are the decision makers about major expenditures. This billboard – and the entire “Your wife wants me” campaign is good-natured, tongue in cheek fun meant to appeal to women who have a sense of humor, a sense of history and healthy self-esteem.

We applaud the students involved in the protest for their excitement about their cause.

And we thank them for drawing attention to the gorgeous Teakwood kitchen on the billboard.”

Variable potency in buds means edible pot products' effects are unpredictable...

and

"...As THC levels climb, the levels of cannabidiol, or CBD, have been declining. That's problematic for medicinal marijuana users since it is more often associated with medical benefits than THC."

and

They've only begun testing for contaminants - "traces of butane... Bacteria and fungi...." [possibilities of] "E. coli or Salmonella...."

An unmanned spacecraft will fly to a nearby asteroid, deploy a robotic arm to take a boulder from its surface, and then make a multi-year journey to put the boulder in orbit around the moon

A black Nebraska state senator... Nebraska’s longest serving senator... compared American police to Islamic terrorists and suggested he’d shoot a cop if only he had a weapon. … During an interview Tuesday, Chambers, who is no stranger to fiery rhetoric and controversy, back-pedaled a bit. …

US food giant Heinz is to merge with Kraft Foods Group, creating what the companies say will be the third-largest food and beverage company in the US.

The fact that people would ask why Lacey and Chris Buchanan didn't abort little Christian is just terrible. …

[News Report, video, 3:20, WZTV FOX 17, YouTube]

[Mother's original video, video, 7:17, Lacey Buchanan, YouTube]

…A senior military official involved in the investigation described “very smooth, very cool” conversation between the pilots during the early part of the flight from Barcelona to Düsseldorf. Then the audio indicated that one of the pilots left the cockpit and could not re-enter.

“The guy outside is knocking lightly on the door and there is no answer,” the investigator said. “And then he hits the door stronger and no answer. There is never an answer.”…

According to Brown, several Somali men were recently apprehended crossing the border into Arizona. …When ICE officials came to pick up the illegals they told the rancher that the aliens were Mexican. The rancher argued that of course the men were obviously from Somalia. That’s when ICE told the rancher that they were ordered to report all illegals as either from Central America or Mexico – including these men from Somalia. It’s the latest trick by the Obama administration to deceive the American public on the calamity at the border. …

Pete once again does the top o' the news round-up, with style.

"There are fundraisers and then there are fundraisers.let me tell you about two that are about as diametrically-opposed as is possible…."

Vic collects the news, lines it up against a wall, and shoots it to you, starting here today.

"On this day in 1634 the first English settlers arrived in St. Mary's County to found the colony of Maryland. It was founded by Catholics who were being persecuted in England at the time. They did not start passing obnoxious gun control laws to hamper the freedom of their citizens until later."

"Today the global warming alarmists are the equivalent of the flat-Earthers," Cruz said. "You know it used to be it is accepted scientific wisdom the Earth is flat, and this heretic named Galileo was branded a denier….

"Anyone who actually points to the evidence that disproves their apocalyptical claims, they don't engage in reasoned debate. What do they do? They scream, 'You're a denier.' They brand you a heretic," Cruz added.

…Thousands of people who were forced to flee their homes after a five foot long unexploded Second World War bomb was discovered under a former pensioners centre have been allowed to return after it was safely removed.

Residents were evacuated in Southwark, south east London, yesterday morning after the 1.000lb German ordnance was discovered by builders under the old site of the Southwark Irish Pensioners. …

Students at a High School in Lexington, MA had to fight to keep a planned American Pride dance celebrating the American revolution. School officials tried to get them to cancel it and hold a "National Pride" dance instead to be more "inclusive". The students refused and finally got their way.…

…Countering the claims of Koran-burning, locals have come forward to say that Farkhunda was brutally murdered after accusing a mullah of encouraging desperately poor women to waste money of charms and amulets at the shrine.

An argument is said to have ensued, during which Farkhunda was accused of not being a proper a proper Muslim and then, most seriously, of burning a copy of the Koran.…

…Taking all of that into consideration together with the statement from the moderator of the A320 Pilots Association that the cause was almost certainly ‘pilot incapacitation’, and the presence of at least two Turks on the passenger list, the most pressing explanation is the one I suspect we will hear last from the Islamophiles that rule us. …

Aircraft and military manufacturer Boeing has been granted a patent on a system that is designed to prevent explosion shockwaves from harming a target.… not designed to prevent direct impact from shells or shrapnel; rather, it is designed to protect a target — such as a vehicle or building — from the damaging effects of shockwaves from a nearby impact.

[I imagine there are good peacetime uses for such technology as well!]

Barack Obama insisted that Benjamin Netanyahu remove his ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer. Netanyahu said he would not. Obama pressed the case. Netanyahu said he will not. [Audio clip at link]

Pete's Poignant Post for today is required reading.

"Woke up this morning to almost 4″ of snow in our driveway…."

Vic corrals the news, hog-ties it, and puts his personal brand on it.

"On this day in 1944 76 allied POWs began breaking out of the German prison camp Stalag Luft III. The event was later made into the movie, the Great Escape. Of the 76 who attempted the escape only three made it all the way out and back to England. 50 were shot and the rest returned to the Stalag."

LEXINGTON, Mass. (WHDH) - A debate over a themed dance is sparking controversy at Lexington High School.

Students said the administration canceled an "American Pride" dance because it excluded other nationalities, despite the theme getting the most votes from the dance committee.

[Emphasis added.]

CJ Pearson, the pre-teen super-awesome conservative kid who the Chicks have talked about and and talked to before, announced yesterday that he and a group of like-minded and highly motivated young people are putting together a HUGE nationwide election tour in summer 2016. Here's video of his announcement, what their goals are, and how you can help…

[Video, 2:21, CJ Pearson on YouTube]

VALPARAISO, Chile …the hero mom, named Negrita, was unable to move the litter away from danger, so she dug a hole under a metal container and hid them from harm.

It took about half an hour for firefighters to rescue the dogs from their hiding spot and reunite them with their mother, who workers found sheltering in a nearby building. …

[Emphasis added.]

Could Oklahoma’s archaic and cumbersome liquor laws finally be modernized? It appears public demand for change is generating pressure. And lawmakers may finally tackle this tough issue — but not until next year. …

Naval Base Kitsap, a marine base 20 miles from Seattle, may be home to the world's largest single-location arsenal of nuclear weapons, and it's defended by dolphins trained by the US Navy. …

The Navy Marine Mammal Program at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (or SPAWAR) in San Diego, California currently trains 85 dolphins and 50 sea lions for service in the US Navy.

When a dolphin finds a swimmer, the animals swim back to their trainers, who might give them a transponder to drop near the intruder.

Alternatively, according to Clayton Swansen, a dolphin handler who worked in the Navy program between 2003 and 2005, the marine mammals are equipped with a bite plate that holds a shackle that the dolphins can use to disable an intruder. …

Obama’s Chief Of Staff To Anti-Netanyahu Group: Israel’s “Occupation That Has Lasted 50-Years Must End” (via HuffPo’s WH reporter Jennifer Bendery)

[Emphasis added. This administration continues to demonstrate that they are Israel's enemy.]

…Lee says he saw the man reaching for his waistband and believed he had a gun -- so he slammed the guy down to the ground.

Turns out, Lee's instincts were right ... the guy did have a gun -- which was quickly recovered by one of the cooks.

Cops were called to the scene and arrested 18-year-old Arnez Harper on a count of felony aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.

"He (my husband) used to be a bouncer when he was a young lad," Victoria says of her hubby ... "I think that guy crossed the wrong person." …

…At that point, authorities say, another unidentified man took out his own gun and the shot the gunman multiple times in the chest. He was rushed to Presbyterian Hospital where he later died from his injuries.

The man who shot and killed him later surrendered to authorities at 16th District headquarters, but it wasn’t immediately known if he would face any charges.

“The person who responded was a legal gun permit carrier,” said Philadelphia Police Captain Frank Llewellyn. “He responded and I guess he saved a lot of people in there.”

Police say there was a crowd of patrons inside the shop at the time of the shooting, including several children, but no one else was injured. …

Pistol Pete's dose for today of enlightened cynicism and advanced acerbic wit.

"I friended BigFurHat from IOTW Reports on FB yesterday and first thing this morning he was condemning Fat Al Gore to Global Warming Hell as he shoveled three inches of the white stuff.Guess Old Man Winter isn’t quite done with us yet."

Vic brings the headlines together and beats them into submission, starting here today.

"On this day in 1933 the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act of 1933, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany. So you see, contrary to popular myth, Hitler was never elected to anything. The Germans were sold out by their own representatives. Sound familiar?"

Impressive. … Described as a 'superb' constitutional lawyer, the man's considerable skills and laser-like focus were on display for all when he took oily reptile Eric Holder by the neck and made him
answer the damn question. …

Islam has made serious inroads into South America. Hezbollah is know to be active there, particularly in the Tri-Border Area, and Venezuela has been working with Iran for decades. Narco-terrorists and Marxist groups in the region reportedly cooperate with Al Qaeda and other Islamic terror outfits to help smuggle pseudo-Latino operatives across the border between Mexico and the United States. …

"But now I fear that a new missile crisis will happen. Venezuela is getting closer and closer to Iran, and while it seems now to be nearing civil war, there is still the rest of ALBA (Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra América, Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of our America), Nicaragua, Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina… they all could be the next Cuba, holding enemy nuclear weapons targeted at US Cities. …"

Barbaric Islamic State militants have dealt yet another blow to Christian history in Iraq by using explosives to destroy the 4th Century Mar Benham monastery.

The ancient building, built by Assyrian king Senchareb 1,600 years ago, stood in the Christian-dominated town of Bakhdida, just 20 miles south east of oil rich ISIS stronghold Mosul.…

Dozens of Muslim youths attacked police in Wood Green on Saturday.

Members of the Kurdish community clashed with pro-ISIS demonstrators at an Islamic Roadshow stall in High Road, Wood Green, yesterday at around 5pm. Radical Muslim activist Anjem Choudary was among groups hosting the pro-ISIS Islamic Roadshow stall. His followers started the riot when they attacked the Kurds.

A synagogue in the London suburb of Stamford Hill was attacked by a group of approximately 20 youths Saturday night.

The youths, who yelled “we will kill you”, beat worshipers and vandalized property including tearing apart prayer books reported The Jerusalem Post.

[Graphic shows from where in the world ISIS supporters tweet.]

On the night of August 5, 1945, Takashi Tanemori was asleep in a bomb shelter in Hiroshima, Japan, when a bomb went off in his dreams. … Over the next 40 years, Tanemori would go to college, convert to Christianity, attend seminary and become a Baptist minister. Along the way, he also opened a Japanese restaurant in California. But 40 years later, Tanemori was still bitter. …

Scientists have long been puzzled by the difference in topography between different sides of the moon, with the near side being flat and the far side much more mountainous.

Now astronomers believe that the moon was struck by a huge object in a ‘big splat’, which gave our solar companion its giant peaks and coated one side of it with a crust tens of kilometres thick.…

The country's oldest woman veteran has died at home in Texas at the age of 108. …

She was 37 and working at a Dallas grocery store when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and quit to enlist in the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps. She rose to the rank of sergeant, earning two bronze stars during her service and the Philippine Liberation Ribbon during the Battle of Luzon.

After her discharge in 1945, Coffey continued to work as an Army civilian in Okinawa, Japan, for 13 years, before returning to Texas. She worked in the procurement office at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio until her retirement in 1971. …

[Collection of witty and stinging posters and cartoons.]

No news from Vic today. He slept late, leaving only this:

"On this day in 1630 The Massachusetts Bay Colony outlawed the possession of cards, dice, and gaming tables.

"This making an early showing of what fascist liberals will do and MA long term stuff. "

…Like so many Christians in Iraq and Syria who watched ISIS kidnap their leaders, burn their churches, sell their children, and threaten all others with conversion or beheading; the archbishop wonders how it is that these maniacs so easily took his home city this summer?

It is a good question.

Mosul is Iraq's second largest city and was once the home of Iraq's most vulnerable and persistent Christian community, tracing their lineage nearly to the time of Christ.

Now there are no Christians left.

All of this happened under the watchful eye of West, and while you'd hope that the humanitarian threat alone would have motivated the West to act, you would be certain that Mosul's strategic importance would do so. …

Neither proved true.

U.S. is evacuating roughly 100 special forces from Yemen as security situation deteriorates…

IOTO, Japan – Dozens of aging U.S. veterans, many in their early 90s and some in wheelchairs, gathered on the tiny, barren island of Iwo Jima on Saturday to mark the 70th anniversary of one of the bloodiest and most iconic battles of World War II.

More than 30 veterans flown in from the U.S. island territory of Guam toured the black sand beaches where they invaded the deeply dug-in forces of the island's Japanese defenders in early 1945. …

…Although Jastrow was an "agnostic, and not a believer,” in an interview with Christianity Today, Jastrow said "Astronomers now find they have painted themselves into a corner because they have proven, by their own methods, that the world began abruptly in an act of creation to which you can trace the seeds of every star, every planet, every living thing in this cosmos and on the earth. And they have found that all this happened as a product of forces they cannot hope to discover. That there are what I or anyone would call supernatural forces at work is now, I think, a scientifically proven fact." …

Vic's parade for today of the world's best and worst begins here.

"…On this day in 1952 Alan Freed staged the first stadium rock. The Moondog Coronation Ball was held at the Cleveland Arena. Unfortunately only 1 song was allowed to be performed before fire officials shut the show down. They had sold twice as many tickets as the capacity of the arena."

…That said, it is impossible to return to Iraq without a keen sense of opportunities lost. These include the mistakes we, the U.S., made here, and likewise the mistakes the Iraqis themselves have made. This includes the squandering of so much of what we and our coalition and Iraqi partners paid such a heavy cost to achieve, the continuing failure of Iraq's political leaders to solve longstanding political disputes, and the exploitation of these failures by extremists on both sides of the sectarian and ethnic divides.

Having said that, my sense is that the situation in Iraq today is, to repeat a phrase I used on the eve of the surge, hard but not hopeless. I believe that a reasonable outcome here is still achievable, although it will be up to all of us— Iraqis, Americans, leaders in the region and leaders of the coalition countries — to work together to achieve it. …

I think Iraq and the coalition forces are making considerable progress against the Islamic State. In fact, I would argue that the foremost threat to Iraq’s long-term stability and the broader regional equilibrium is not the Islamic State; rather, it is Shiite militias, many backed by — and some guided by — Iran.

[Emphasis added]

Pistol Pete's collection of the amazing for today.

"I was guilty of disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace and verbal abuse of a minor. Allow me to plead my case…."

Vic gathers the threads and weaves the tapestry of today's news starting here.

"On this day in 1854 the Republican Party was organized in Ripon Wisconsin. After all this time it has taken Boner and McConehead only a few short years to destroy it."

A middle school teacher in Louisiana received one of the most disgusting-looking lunches imaginable and posted a picture of it online yesterday. … [Don't be eating when you click the link.]

IDABEL — A Broken Bow man was arrested and charged this week with illegally importing 117 feral swine from Texas to Oklahoma, many of which had diseases that have been eliminated in Oklahoma's domestic livestock population…

A Delaware mom who gave her daughter a backpack filled with heroin and then sent her off to daycare has been sentenced to one year of probation. … [Emphasis added]

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rep. Jim Bridenstine, R-Okla, introduced on Wednesday the “American Energy Renaissance Act” that would rollback or end several federal regulations on the nation’s oil and gas industry.

The proposed legislation, introduced into the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, would leave the regulation of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to the states rather than the federal government.

Additionally, the proposed legislation would speed up the permitting process for new refineries, phase out and repeal the Renewable Fuel Standards over five years, end federal regulation of greenhouse gases that have been linked to global climate change, open up national reserves in Alaska and Native American reservations for oil and coal production, and immediately approve the Keystone pipeline, among others.…

…“If somebody didn’t stop him, he was going to kill her,” said Painter.

Painter is a medic for the Oklahoma National Guard and an assistant Boy Scout scoutmaster.

However, despite that experience, he said the stabbing on I-35 was something he had never seen before.

“We’re trained for combat situations, not your everyday run of the mill stuff. But this was by no means run of the mill,” Painter told KSWO.

Painter says he pulled off the interstate and was able to park between Hillard and the woman.

Other witnesses began to do the same thing.

Painter says that is when Hillard got scared and jumped off the bridge and into the Oklahoma River.…

Vic roars in with the world rounded up, and soundly thrashed. Starts here today.

"…In short, what I see is exactly what the old Farmer's Almanac predicted, an impending ice age. Tell this to the next idiot who spouts the AGW scam.…"

Hillary Clinton: There Should Be “Camps For Adults,” “We Have A Huge Fun-Deficit In America” [UH-oh!]

Nineteen people, including 17 foreign tourists, have been killed in a gun attack on the Bardo museum in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, the PM says.

Those killed included citizens from Japan, Italy, Colombia, Australia, France, Poland and Spain, PM Habib Essid said.

Two Tunisians, one a police officer, were also killed, he said.

Security forces killed two gunmen and were searching the surrounding area for accomplices

A December blackout of North Korea’s Internet was retaliation for that nation’s hacking of computers at Sony Corp.’s Hollywood studio, a top U.S. lawmaker on cybersecurity issues said without identifying who was responsible.

Representative Michael McCaul of Texas, Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, on Tuesday became the first U.S. official to link the outage as reprisal for disrupting computers at Sony Pictures Entertainment.

On January 16, Carlos and Erica Morales welcomed three girls and one boy — Carlos Jr., Tracey, Paisley and Erica. But after delivering four healthy babies via C-section, Erica, 36, went into hypovolemic shock, a condition that involves severe blood loss, and died a few hours after her children were born. Today, Carlos is raising the kids by himself in Phoenix, Ariz., though not without help from his mother-in-law, friends, and now, more than 9,000 strangers.

[Headline c/o The Black Sphere]

In Baghdad, a terrorist who was in the middle of conducting a training for future militants, accidentally blew up an entire class, killing 21 of his students, and himself. The group was part of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, the terror group that has been participating in a string of attacks in the United States.

Mar. 16, 2015 – Today, the North Dakota state Senate gave final approval to a bill authorizing the farming, production, and sale of industrial hemp in the state, effectively nullifying the federal prohibition on the same.

A bill introduced in the Minnesota state Senate would prohibit state and local law enforcement from acquiring certain military equipment provided through the Pentagon’s 1033 program, helping block federal attempts to militarize local police.

The never-before seen image shows a microscopic metal globe spewing out biological material feared to be an infectious agent.

Though the origin or purpose of the mysterious sphere is uncertain, experts say it could contain genetic material - the precursor to life.

They sensationally claim it could have been designed by an intelligent species to “seed” and propagate alien life on Earth.

It is the first time anything like this has been seen and points not only to the existence of extra-terrestrial life, but to complex and civilised beings watching our planet.

[Um… but probably not. However, for contrast, here's Urantia paper 65, Overcontrol of Evolution.]

The commandant of the Marine Corps told lawmakers that Marines who disarmed before departing Sanaa, Yemen during an embassy evacuation last month did so on the orders of U.S. Central Command and State Department officials.

A U.S. Border Patrol agent from the Rio Grande Valley Sector in Texas told lawmakers today that his fellow agents are punished for reporting illegal alien groups of more than 20. “Agents who repeatedly report groups larger than 20 face retribution. Management will either take them out of the field and assign them to processing detainees at the station or assign them to a fixed position in low volume areas as punishment,” Border Patrol agent Chris Cabrera told a Senate panel. “Needless to say Agents got the message and now stay below this 20 person threshold no matter the actual size of the group.”

[Video, 1:41:06, C-Span]

[Video, 1:40:33, Howard Meyers, YouTube]

…Researchers at Brigham Young University studied 3 million people.

They found people who said they were lonely, felt socially isolated or lived alone, had a 30 percent increased likelihood of death. …

…one of only three built by pioneering industrial designer Brooks Stevens… same guy who built the Weinermobile…

[Interior pictures - beautiful vehicle!]

Brett Kimberlin’s lawsuit against Mandy Nagy and other conservative bloggers has been, for the most part, dismissed in federal court.

He will be allowed to file in state court if he chooses.

[Here's a good article in Hillsdale College's Imprimus]

Race Relations and Law Enforcement
by Jason L. Riley, Editorial Board Member, Wall Street Journal

…Underprivileged blacks have become playthings for intellectuals and politicians who care more about revelling in their good intentions or winning votes than advocating behaviors and attitudes that have allowed other groups to get ahead. Meanwhile, the civil rights movement has become an industry that does little more than monetize white guilt. Martin Luther King and his contemporaries demanded black self-improvement despite the abundant and overt racism of their day. King’s self-styled successors, living in an era when public policy bends over backwards to accommodate blacks, insist that blacks cannot be held responsible for their plight so long as someone, somewhere in white America, is still prejudiced.…

[Pretty good speech, Senator. Video, 37:09]

Vic corrals all the wild and stray news and marks it with his own brand, starting here today.

"On this day in 1314 Jacques de Molay, the last grand master of the Knights Templar, was burned at the stake for the crime of loaning King Phillip IV of France more money than he could pay back."

John Kerry summed up in two headlines [see link]

…[Freshman Arkansas Senator Tom] Cotton got 46 other senators to sign this letter in ink. “Because it was an open letter, it was not sent to Tehran but rather posted on Senator Cotton’s website and social-media accounts,” Caroline Rabbitt, Senator Cotton’s communications director, explained to me last week. Cotton & Co. never even dropped an envelope in the mail.

The fact that Cotton and his colleagues created a letter to nowhere seems to have escaped the loudest voices in this national conversation. …

[On CBS's Face the Nation] Bob Schieffer [who is a jerk]: Are you planning on contacting any of our other adversaries around the ‘country?’ For example, do you plan to check with the North Koreans to make sure that they know that any deal has to be approved by the Congress?

Senator Cotton [does not fall for it]: Bob, right now, I and most every senator is focused on Iran getting a nuclear weapon. That’s why it’s so important that we communicated this message straight to Iran because they’re not hearing from Geneva. And remember this is not a parliamentary democracy.

[Video, 0:40, LSUDVM, YouTube]

“I know that the absolute last damn thing in the world you want is to hear from another Irishman, particularly on the telephone,” Biden said, before launching into a yarn about the heroics of Irish immigrants.

“I just hope he wasn’t calling collect.” U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-S. Boston) commented from the stage. “Holy cow, that was painful.”

“Regardless of whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, sometimes you wonder what planet Joe Biden is on,” said GOP strategist Ford O’Connell.

Hundreds of used syringes and blood vials in biohazard containers ended up in the Arkansas River after a private company was hired to dispose of them… biohazard investigators were working to trace the materials — some of which bear labels with patients' names on them — back to their source…

Authorities say they have arrested two men for allegedly stealing jewelry from the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. …

[If you just had their mug shots to go on, I'm not sure your first thought would be "men."]

An annual report delivered recently to the US Senate by James Clapper, the director of National Intelligence, removed Iran and Hezbollah from its list of terrorism threats, after years in which they featured in similar reports… [Emphasis added]

AUSTIN, Texas — Former Vice President Al Gore on Friday called on SXSW attendees to punish climate-change deniers, saying politicians should pay a price for rejecting “accepted science.” … "We need to put a price on carbon to accelerate these market trends… And in order to do that, we need to put a price on denial in politics." (Emphasis added)

A bill introduced in the Texas Senate would prohibit the state from providing resources or personnel for the enforcement of Obamacare within the state…. Practically speaking, this would make it difficult, if not impossible, for the federal government to run Obamacare in the Lone Star State. …

The White House is removing a federal regulation that subjects its Office of Administration to the Freedom of Information Act, making official a policy under Presidents Bush and Obama to reject requests for records to that office. …

[Notice the brain-twisting linguistic convolutions required for pinning this on Bush.]

…these one-of-a-kind properties are sure to make your visit memorable.…

Teleport Back to the 1950s

Immerse yourself in the iconography and style of the 1950s at the Happy Days Hotel in McAlester. Take your pick of the Elvis or I Love Lucy suite or the James Dean or Marilyn Monroe room and spend the night in themed-1950s comfort. Adding to the overall charm, the lobby is decked out with records on the walls, as well as black and white checkered tile. While you’re there, be sure to have a meal or two at Angel’s Diner. Slide into a booth and travel back in time with every bite of delicious, classic diner food.

…

A federal judge in Oklahoma has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a prominent atheist organization that sought to challenge the presence of a Ten Commandments monument in the state capital.

American Atheists, based in New Jersey, had filed the legal challenge on behalf of a woman who complained about its installment on the grounds of the Oklahoma capitol building. The State Capitol Preservation Commission argued that the woman had only seen the monument once and had traveled to the area just to see the display and take offense. … [Emphasis added]

The friendship between Emmett Rychner, a 4-year-old from Minnesota, and Erling Kindem, a [90yo] World War II veteran [c/o The Blaze]

[Video (ad runs first), 1:57, USA Today on YouTube]

Irwin Hasen, the cartoonist and comic-book artist who drew, and helped create, “Dondi,” the widely syndicated comic strip about a lovable, wide-eyed World War II orphan, died on Friday in Manhattan. He was 96. [Quoting New York Times]

The U.S. Army says it will soon be sending armored Stryker vehicles on a 1,100-mile convoy through six European countries to show solidarity to allies in the wake of recent Russian actions in the Ukraine and Crimea that have Eastern Europe on edge. …

Thank you for the campaign support @chucknorris ! -@Netanyahu

[Video, 1:07, chucknorris on YouTube]

[Pete's agglomeration for today of works from around the web to make you wiser; possibly angrier; but wiser.]

…There should be a limit to what ambulance chasers can sue for and medical insurance should be available across any state line.We should open all federal land to oil exploration and we need to begin exporting crude to other countries.Ethanol should be done away with so corn can be used for food for humans and animals as God had intended it in the first place.…

Vic's take on the world for the morning begins here.

"On this day in 1915 US troops under General Pershing entered Mexico seeking the Mexican bandit Pancho Villa. After 9 months Pershing was called back as the US entered WWI.…"

ISIS has blown up a 10th century Chaldean Catholic church north of Mosul. The building that was located in the Ba’werah neighborhood on a hill north of Mosul. ISIS also bulldozed a nearby graveyard. … building was founded by the Assyrian Church of the East in the 10th century. The building was converted into a seminary by the Chaldean Catholic Church in 1846.

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A pair of suicide bombers detonated themselves near two churches in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Sunday as worshippers were gathered inside — killing 15 people, officials said, in the latest attack against religious minorities in the increasingly fractured country.

In the tense aftermath of the blasts, an angry Christian mob turned violent — blocking a major highway, burning cars, ransacking a bus terminal setting two people on fire who the mob suspected of involvement in the attacks. Christian demonstrators blocked roads in other major Pakistani cities as well.

Vladimir Putin is 'alive' but 'neutralised' as shadowy security chiefs stage a stealthy coup in Moscow, it was claimed last night.

Former FSB chief Nikolai Patrushev was behind the plot, claimed chairman of the pro-Kremlin national Islamic Committee, Geydar Dzhemal.

There have been no confirmed sightings of Putin for nine days, while in the febrile atmosphere engulfing Moscow a convoy of large trucks parked outside the Kremlin fueled rumours of a flit by the president. …

Internet gaffe by US government as UK extremist's sharia law photo used in free speech ad
• US government posted a British Muslim extremist's photograph online
• Picture showed veiled women calling for sharia law during London protest
• State Department used photo as an inspirational example of free speech
• But the banner was also used in an extremist campaign for strict sharia law

…Jackson’s detractors often claim that he was a bloodthirsty Indian hater, who really embraced removal because he wanted to wipe out American Indians to please avaricious white frontiersmen. However, this one-dimensional view of Jackson as a Satanic butcher is an incredibly unfair characterization of a man who did not possess the virulent racial animus frequently ascribed to him. …

…The waitress, Claire Hudson, was serving a couple at Mac’s Grub Shak. The couple’s bill came to $28.12. Hudson was startled when she realized they left her a 130 percent tip accompanied by this note. …

[Joe Dan Gorman's latest construction deconstructs candidate Hillary.

"The Clintons are like cockroaches… You can’t get rid of them."

Vic daily battle vs the World begins here.

"On this day in 1956 Lerner and Lowe's musical My Fair Lady began its long time run on Broadway…."

…Sen. Ted Cruz, a likely GOP frontrunner, recently released this ad titled “A Time For Truth,” and I’ve got to say, I’m digging it. It’s not a bunch of mumbo jumbo. I’ve heard him harp on these same points in some of his live speeches over the past couple of years. …

[Video 1:11, SenTedCruz on YouTube]

How do we know the war is coming in the first place? Because the advertising for it is out.

…Authorities said students at Edmond [Okla] North High School began alerting school administration two weeks ago that the 16-year-old boy seemed suicidal. In the days that followed, the school closed because of a snow storm, but the students said they continued to get alarming texts from their friend. … When police searched the boy's home, they found blueprints for explosives and bomb components. Investigators said the boy had no specific day planned to carry out the attack. He was taken to a mental-health facility.

Eight major studies of identical twins in Australia, the U.S., and Scandinavia during the last two decades all arrive at the same conclusion: gays were not born that way. “At best genetics is a minor factor….”

Last night, DNC Chair Debbie McFrizz asked Twitter users to tell her what liberal policies have made them the most “proud.” … Naturally, conservatives trolled her hard. Because that’s what happens when you ask stupid, unanswerable questions, Debbie.

Five drug raids in New Jersey have led to the seizure of the normal assortment of marijuana, ecstasy and guns and the removal of one not-so normal thing: a (small) crocodile. [This is poor reporting. We need to know how "small" before this is news.

Massive cyclone rips across Vanuatu, killing 'at least 40 people and leaving thousands homeless' as it causes CATASTROPHIC destruction on the island nation… expected to bring destructive winds of 250km/h, torrential rain and phenomenal seas to Vanuatu… [Daily Mail - many more links to cyclone news at War News Updates]

Birmingham has been chosen as one of six cities nationwide to serve as a pilot site for a national initiative on restoring relationships between law enforcement and citizens.

Attorney General Eric Holder made the announcement today. The $4.7 million National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice was announced in April and is a partnership between federal officials and criminal justice experts focused on providing training, policy and research to address distrust between citizens and law enforcement.

The other pilot cities are: Ft. Worth, Gary, Indiana, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh and Stockton. The initiative comes after several high profile fatal police-involved shootings.

[Thus, we see why the tyrants in office have been fanning flames of racial discord.]

Former Marine Corps Sgt. Dakota Meyer, whose heroism in Afghanistan earned him a Medal of Honor for his "daring initiative and bold fighting spirit," is engaged to be married to the daughter of a former vice presidential nominee.

His fiancee is Bristol Palin. She is a reality television personality and the daughter of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican nominee for vice president. …

NASA launched four identical spacecraft Thursday on a billion-dollar mission to study the explosive give-and-take of the Earth and sun's magnetic fields.

…quartet of observatories is being placed into an oblong orbit stretching tens of thousands of miles into the magnetosphere - nearly halfway to the moon at one point. They will fly in pyramid formation, between 6 miles and 250 miles apart, to provide 3-D views of magnetic reconnection on the smallest of scales.

Magnetic reconnection is what happens when magnetic fields like those around Earth and the sun come together, break apart, then come together again, releasing vast energy. This repeated process drives the aurora, as well as solar storms that can disrupt communications and power on Earth. …

[bluebird of bitterness posts a second collection of Pi graphics for 3-14-15]

Here is a song based on π

[Video, 5:24, The Ancient Melodies, YouTube]

[bob manages to adroitly merge Albert Einstein's birthday with the regular caturday post]

[Bluebird of Bitterness celebrates 3/14/15 with a sweet collection of graphics]

What’s irrational and never ends? Pi! Hank explains how we need pi to explain some of the most basic but most important principles of the universe, in honor of Pi Day. [Video 4:53]

Texas State Representative Jason Villalba (R-Texas) has found himself at the center of controversy after filing a bill that would make it a crime for bloggers and independent journalists — as well as regular citizens — to film police officers. Despite the backlash from free speech advocates, Villalba is insisting that his bill “does not infringe on constitutional rights” or “limit liberty in any way.” …

[Right. Not in any way. Says Jason Villabra, RINO-Texas. This Dallas fellow does not seem to be a real Texas Republican.]

Something magical is afoot! Cinderella (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Belle (Whitney Avalon) throw down in the fourth Princess Rap Battle. [Video 2:58]

Jerusalem, a mosaic of different peoples, faiths, and nationalities. Nevertheless, despite this diversity, under the sovereignty of Israel, Jerusalem is a city that works. But has it always been this way? [(Spoiler: No.) Quite a whirlwind historical tour. Video 5:15]

…"He started banging on the door really hard, messing with the doorknob, saying, 'Let me in, baby, please. We're OK.'" Allie explained. "I glanced through the peephole and I had no idea who he was at all. So I grabbed my phone, called 911. I ran to the back room to get my gun."

"I heard a loud crash, and by the time I came back to the end of the hallway, he was just a few feet from me. And I had no idea who he was, he kept coming at me. So I shot him twice."

One shot went through the man's hand into his abdomen and the other hit him in the groin.

"The only thought that I had was to make sure he didn't get up again. I kept my gun trained on him. And I was on the phone with dispatch the whole time…."

…[Missouri] Republican Representative Tim Remole has introduced an Anti-Smart Meter bill titled HB 1175. This short (as all bills should be) 3 page bill, if passed into law, would (among other things) prevent utilities from sharing any information collected via the Smart Grid with any 3rd party (without your consent). It would limit the amount of time the utility can keep your information before it must be destroyed. It demands that any information collected through the Smart Grid that is to be used against an individual in a criminal case must be attained through a judge issued warrant. AND (here comes the good part) HB 1175 creates an Opt-Out option for those of us who do not wish to have a Smart Meter on our home by forcing the utility company to replace the Smart Meter with an analog meter at no additional charge. The utility also can not charge you a higher electric rate for opting out. …

"Interesting phone call this morning by the IRS saying they had a warrant for me unless I paid 2000 dollars, total scam of course. Did a little research, next time I'll give give this technique a try . . . S.L."

[Video 3:23, lep094 on YouTube]

[Amusing collection of cartoons and posters. Posted for yesterday, but they're still fresh.]

Vic's list of the latest outrages begins here.

"On this day in 1900 William McKinley signed into law the Gold Standard Act of 1900. The price of gold was set at $20.67 per troy ounce. The US under FDR went off the gold standard in 1933 when FDR signed an EO to outlaw ownership of gold by citizens. This order was obviously illegal but he was a saint by Democrat standards and still is. At the time the price of gold was STILL $20.67. IOW no inflation. …"

“My contacts and friends in newspapers and TV tell me that they’ve been contacted by the White House and offered all kinds of negative stories about us,” one of Bill’s friends quotes him as saying. “The Obamas are behind the e-mail story, and they’re spreading rumors that I’ve been with women, that Hillary promoted people at the State Department who’d done favors for our foundation, that John Kerry had to clean up diplomatic messes Hillary left behind.”

Then, according to this source, Bill added: “The Obamas are out to get us any way they can.”

A leading liberal clergyman has come under fire from traditionalist Anglicans after allowing a full Muslim prayer service in his church. …asked the congregation to praise ‘the god that we love, Allah’…

"A fourth-grade teacher at Rosewood Elementary School in Los Angeles was charged today with a felony count of child abuse for allegedly putting a plastic bag over a 10-year-old girl's head in class. …removed the bag after several seconds… faces up to six years in state prison if convicted. …"

"…So wait - doctors in Wales are NOT allowed to treat a baby born prematurely because he was born before the abortion cut-off? Never mind that his parents were clearly NOT aborting him and they WANTED to keep the baby? What kind of stupid rule is that??? …"

"…The New Mexico House of Representatives has unanimously passed legislation giving women the option to terminate the parental rights of a biological father when the pregnancy results from a rape.…"

…"I have a feeling my pontificate will be brief," the 78-year-old told Mexico's Televisa channel.

"Four or five years, I don't know. Two years have already gone by.

"It is a vague feeling I have that the Lord chose me for a short mission. I am always open to that possibility."

…Despite our lack of a license, my wife and I — both raised in Churches of Christ — saw our marriage as a sacred commitment, as did our families. Not for a second did we consider living together out of wedlock. To say that religion played a key role in our view of marriage would be a huge understatement.

Perhaps Tamie and I were — besides being young, in love and stupid — 25 years ahead of our time? …

"…In the midst of Vladimir Putin’s mysterious absence, it appears that the Kremlin is announcing something big. Pictures of Putin allegedly meeting a leading judge today may be formerly staged photos. Beyond this, a large stage is being built in Red Square– right near Boris Nemstov’s murder… The Kremlin has now announced that there will be a major announcement in the next couple of days.…"

…I personally can’t think of any better representation of what it means to serve this country in uniform than this picture. Those of us who have taken the oath “to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic and to bear true faith and allegiance to the same” do so for our nation’s children so they will have a peaceful world and a security that enables them to enjoy the blessings of liberty and freedom this Republic affords.…

Pete's collected posters, links, videos, and whatever he feels like today.

"Take a break from the depressing stuff and check out some of these links.You’ll come away thinking,maybe your not as strange as you thought you were."

Vic unleashes his daily collection of links and commentary starting here.

"On this date in 1963 police in Phoenix, Arizona arrested Ernesto Miranda and charged him with kidnap and rape.…"

"…Mr. Clinton denied having an affair with Ms. Gilmore or being the father of the teenage girl. He adds that the timing of the accusations suggests that they are intended to ruin his wife’s chances in the run for the presidential elections in November.…"

Two brothers… admitting they plotted a terrorist attack on landmarks in New York City… Raees Alam Qazi, 22, and Sheheryar Alam Qazi, 32, both pleaded guilty in federal court in Miami to one count of conspiring to provide support to terrorists… younger brother pleaded guilty to an additional charge of attempting to provide material support to al-Qaida. …

"Officer Stanley Wychock advised Franklin that he was under arrest… Franklin allegedly jumped to the ground and started rolling in dog feces. He then allegedly stated that officers could not arrest him because he is 'covered in $#!+…'"

[Alcohol was involved. The things our peace officers have to face!]

"A deaf 8-year-old boy went on an overnight joyride through Oklahoma City, driving 20 miles before crashing into a curb on the other side of the city Thursday…"

[He couldn't hear the sirens?]

Separate pieces of legislation on a so-called Article V convention advanced through the Oklahoma Senate and House of Representatives on Wednesday. …[House bill] would limit the convention to considering a budget-control amendment… [Senate version] says the convention may propose “amendments to the United States Constitution that impose fiscal restraints on the federal government, limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, and limit the term of office for its officials and members of Congress.” … The two measures now switch sides of the Capitol…

"We are very saddened at the passing of our dear friend and longtime band mate, Jimmy Greenspoon. Jimmy died peacefully at home today surrounded by his family. Please keep him and his loved ones in your prayers and your hearts." … songwriter, composer, manager, travel agent, author and DJ but mostly he was a brilliant keyboardist. Hailed as an inventive player who was passionate about all forms of music, Jimmy also worked with Linda Ronstadt, Lowell George, Chris Hillman, Red Bone, Jeff Beck, Tim Bogert, Carmine Appice, Michael Lloyd, Kim Fowley and was a featured artist on a 2015 release with The Royal Philharmonic. …

["One," 1969, Video, 2:54, Daniel Huerta, YouTube]

…Alex has two favourite things, riding his bike and superheroes. But Alex has a birth defect, his right arm is only partially formed making it difficult to ride his bike. Limbitless… builds 3D-printed bionic limbs for disabled children… enlisted a fairly special friend to [give Alex his bionic arm].

[I can imagine a 7yo thinking, I know he's just an actor who plays genius inventor Tony Stark in the movies, but he brought me a real bionic arm! Don't know which is cooler, that I've got a bionic arm, or that I got it from Iron Man!]

[Video, 2:19, officevideos on YouTube]

They told her that her newborn baby boy was dead…

[Video 4:14, Johnson's Baby, on YouTube]

Pistol Pete's collection of posters, videos, news links, and his own contributions for today.

"I always maintained,if you can’t have fun selling toys,why are you doing it?"

Vic's parade for today of links and disdain for tyranny and twaddle starts here.

"On this day in 1912 the Girl Scouts of the USA (originally named the girl guides) was founded in Savannah, GA by Juliet Low."

[Obama has been blessed in photos with carefully-placed halos and glories. Time magazine now seems to have adorned Hillary with devilish horns. Apparently first noticed by Chris Loesch @ChrisLoesch and Michael Calderone @mlcalderone. "Purely coincidental" says Time. Sure.]

"I couldn’t resist. I had to have some fun with the Mao Suit." —Dianny [Graphics, Funny]

The International Society of St. Vincent de Paul, a Catholic organization, is reporting that some of its members in Syria were kidnapped by the Islamic State last week and told that if the adults do not deny their Christian faith, they will be decapitated and “their children burned alive in cages.”

"A bill introduced in Texas would remove all penalties for the possession and distribution of marijuana from the state criminal code, effectively nullifying the federal prohibition on the same. … 'I don’t believe that when God made marijuana he made a mistake that government needs to fix,' Rep. Simpson said…"

"The New Hampshire state House approved a bill today that would remove the ban on industrial hemp in the state… opens the door for a full-scale commercial hemp market in the state by treating it as any other crop for farming. … now moves to the state Senate for further consideration. …"

"…man attempted to rob a woman at a drive-up ATM in South Carolina by threatening her with a needle. …pulled her handgun on the robber… police were able to track the man down and he has been arrested. …"

"…Human remains and helicopter parts were recovered Wednesday after seven Marines and four soldiers crashed in heavy fog during military training in Florida. All 11 service members were presumed dead after the the Army National Guard’s UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter went down offshore… Despite the human remains washing ashore, the military still called it a rescue mission Wednesday, said Sara Vidoni, a spokeswoman for Eglin Air Force Base, outside Pensacola. …"

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. … Diego Chaar, 24, first yelled out "Allahu akbar" … Rabbi David Weberman and a witness ignored Chaar, at which point he yelled, "Heads will be cut off" and "I will cut your head off." …

…If you dig deep enough behind the radical Islamist groups and behind those moving Europe, you will find Russia. In the end, Russia wants the destruction of Israel and the US. They are in the way and a nuisance to their global agenda. Vladimir Putin has called Andropov an “outstanding political figure.” Along with his admiration of Andropov, Putin is reviving the cult of personality for Communist dictator Joseph Stalin, the restoration of the Soviet Union’s national anthem as the anthem for the Russian Federation, military invasions of Georgia and Ukraine and the erecting of statues to former Soviet Communist leaders such as Yuri Andropov. He is orchestrating intense nationalism within Russia, using the Russian Orthodox Church as an instrument to do so and to justify his aggression in Europe. Radical Islam is another tool being used to clear the way for Russia across the planet. One that is deadly and effective. …

"The United States is sending 3,000 soldiers near Russia’s doorstep for training exercises with the militaries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, the Associated Press reported Monday. …"

"A bill that would nullify in practice some Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rules that prevent terminally ill patients from accessing treatments unanimously passed the Oklahoma House last week. …"

"For his 92nd birthday dinner on Feb. 21, a World War II veteran’s son took him to Outback Steakhouse. When it came time to pay, instead of a bill, the son found a hand-written note that brought 'tears' to his eyes."

Pete manages to make his possibly longest post ever all about the Benghazi Butcher, avoiding typing her name. Links and comments of the day.

"It will be more than a year until the 2016 race begins in earnest. That’s a thousand lifetimes to a citizenry with an attention span of less than thirty seconds. Plus, she is a vicious infighter with an army of attack dogs ready to defend whatever they do, bottom-feeding sludge like Carville, Lanny Davis and Paul “the forehead” Begala. They’ve all done this before. …"

"Hillary said she emailed with Bill, but spokesman claims he only has sent two in his life — both while president… Oh, and then she lied about having two phones. …"

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – ISIS militants have used explosives to demolish a much-loved 19th century mosque in Mosul city, deeming it sacrilegious, a Kurdish official has said.

“Last night ISIS militants blew up the Hamo Mosque at the city center of Mosul. It was the shrine of some revered clerics and local residents used to visit it every Thursdays and Friday,” Saeed Mamuzini, a Kurdistan Democratic Party official in Mosul, told Rudaw on Friday. …

…one man who was detained had ties to Amedy Coulibaly, the gunman who killed a policewoman on January 8 and then four more people at a kosher supermarket on January 9 before being killed by security forces. They said the man’s girlfriend, a policewoman, is also in custody.… has been claimed the policewoman worked at Fort de Rosny-sous-Bois, in north east Paris, which is the location of a police intelligence centre. …

Rouheni adviser: "Iran is an empire and Baghdad is the capital."

"ISIS supporters set up their own rival to Facebook called “Selafabook” recently. The social media site aims to become an alternative to Facebook and Twitter amid the crackdown against the terrorist group’s followers. …" (Middle East Eye report)

It’s a remarkable irony: the same U.S. president whose administration has gone to great lengths to monitor journalists, whistleblowers and the public, claims to be oddly in the dark regarding basic information on some of his biggest controversies.

Here are eight instances in which President Obama said he heard it on the news—or way after-the-fact—just like ordinary Americans.

…"We've gotten together and just talkin' about it, and all four of us can swear that we heard somebody inside the car saying, 'Help,'" officer Jared Warner recalled Sunday.

But when they flipped the vehicle resting on its hood in the Spanish Fork River onto its side Saturday, they discovered there was no one inside able to speak.

"The only people in there were the deceased mother and the child," said officer Bryan Dewitt.

"We're not exactly sure where that voice came from…"

Pete kicks the news around with links and comments that burn like acid.

"In the history of this nation there has never been a single man more successful at fomenting racial hatred than the one who was supposed to bring about racial harmony. And he does so with zeal…."

Vic rounds up the world and gives it a kick, starting here.

"On this date in 1954 CBS television broadcast the See It Now episode, "A Report on Senator Joseph McCarthy", produced by Fred Friendly. …"

Two Brothers Charged In Murder Of Philly Cop…Do You See What I See?

"ISIL elements have today blown up the historical 600-year-old Virgin Mary Church in Tal Kaif, angering citizens who considered it to be the identity of their town and part of their heritage," Ninawa tribal council deputy head Ibrahim al-Hassan told Al-Shorfa.

The church was detonated after ISIL elements looted its contents…

Five people have been killed in a machine-gun and grenade attack on a bar in Mali's capital, Bamako. … witness said an attacker shouted… "Allahu Akbar"… first attack of its kind in the capital. …not clear who carried out the attack, but al-Qaeda-linked Islamist militants have been fighting the army in northern Mali for a number of years.

… occurred over four hours in locations from a busy fish market to a crowded bus station… fifth explosion from a car bomb at a military checkpoint 75 kilometers (50 miles) outside the city wounded a soldier and two members of a civilian self-defense unit. … No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks but they bear the hallmarks of the Boko Haram Islamic extremist group. …

"Officials in the northern city of Mosul, which is under the control of the terror group, reported jihadists have begun destroying the archaeological site of Hatra in northern Iraq. …"

Do you see what I see? Both brothers look like they have Muslim ‘prayer bump’ impact on their heads, particularly Hipps on the left. Not been able to verify this yet, as there is no mention of it in media.

Meanwhile there’s a good officer, Robert Wilson, who protected the lives of store patrons, who will not be going home to his family.

…new series of interviews conducted by Dale Hurd, a senior reporter for CBN News. …collectively entitled “Warnings,” feature people who are confronting Europe’s Islamic future. …begins with George Igler of the Discourse Institute in the UK. …recorded in London in January, a week after the Charlie Hebdo and kosher supermarket massacres in Paris.

[Video, 9:32, Dale Hurd on YouTube]

"…Nuclear weapons seems like an old issue, from a previous generation and time. Plus, we have our own causes and as the argument often goes, 'no one is ever going to use one anyways, right?'…"

"I dispatched the scissors-jack altogether, and got a 2 ton hydraulic bottle jack which you simply place under the lift bracket along the frame and pump up and down. 16 bucks at evil walmart. 4-5 ton rated ones are only 29."

You know those scissor jacks that most cars come with? They have that articulated crank thingy that invariably leads to scraped bloody knuckles? Takes forever to get the car high enough to remove the tire?

Toss the crank thingy, and use a cordless impact wrench, and suitably sized socket instead. (Those universal sockets, with all the pins inside, work rather well).

Even at home, when rotating, or swapping winter/summer tires, it works better than my hydraulic floor jack.

A typical show opens with a six-canary choir accompanying Mrs. Hansen (on the vibra-harp) in "The Star-Spangled Banner," while an oriole pulls a string that hoists a flag on a tiny pole and a parakeet shinnies to the pole top to pose as an American eagle…

Amazingly, Hansen was able to continue putting on his Bible Birds show for 60 years…

Vic jumps right into the news with guns blazing.

"Today is International Woman's Day. And lest you think this a good thing, remember this. It was developed in 1911 International Women's Day and was launched on this day in Copenhagen, Denmark, by Clara Zetkin, leader of the Women's Office for the Social Democratic Party in Germany. IOW a hard left Marxist/Communist."

Gowdy: "There are gaps of months and months and months" in the emails Hillary turned over to Congress. "There are huge gaps."

MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Fla. (WSVN) — A woman arrested at Miami International Airport after she allegedly, with intent, rammed her car into a police cruiser in an attempt to crash into the terminal … "They ran over to where the subject was, and that's when she began to yell in what appeared to be an Arabic language… and then in English told the responding officers she had a bomb in her possession." … No explosives were found… 33-year-old Honduran citizen…

[From reports, she sounds a bit whack; or, could be a security test? Second incident at MIA recently.]

A Palestinian man rammed into a cyclist and four Israeli border police… in Jerusalem on Friday… drove off the side of the road to hit his victims. … light to moderate injuries. Authorities are treating the incident as a terror attack… suspect tried to escape, but was shot by a security guard and severely wounded before being taken into custody… in his early 20s from East Jerusalem.… Hamas applauded the attack.

"ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI)- ISIS appears to have targeted organizations in our area. The MERS Goodwill and Elasticity websites have been hacked by someone claiming to be with the terror group…."

"Hillary Clinton and The New York Times are already in cahoots. Seems that the New York Times posted Hillary Clinton’s state about ‘releasing all her e-mails from the State Department’ before the actual tweet from Hillary Clinton. Busted! …"

"On Tuesday, a former Department of Justice prosecuting attorney said that he believes then-Secretary of State Clinton — probably using her unofficial and illegal email system — was complicit in the leaking of classified intelligence regarding military operation plans formulated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) to destroy Iran's nuclear weapons program. …" [Emphasis added.]

…I'm sure you have seen the video of the Jewish man who walked around Paris last month. The guy had to hire a bodyguard, for crying out loud. … There's a new video that shows a Christian walking… around the streets of Haifa with a big ol' cross around his neck, just struttin' his stuff… know what happens to him?

[Video, 1:32, Christian Empowerment Council, YouTube]

…8,000 fans at a concert in Leipzig jumped so energetically that they set off a "mini-earthquake".… strong enough to rip the wall paper in houses in the Waldstrassen neighbourhood. …Geophysical Observatory in nearby Collm was alerted.…

"An Oklahoma lawmaker is moving forward with a bill that would allow businesses to refuse service to potential customers if they find their 'sex, gender, or sexual orientation' offensive due to their religious beliefs…."

Pete takes a day off from his serious side. Somewhat.

"I tried without success to send LOL back in a text message. So I asked the dentist's receptionist if she could do it for me.After looking at me as if she were incredulous that: a., I didn't know how to text and, b., I still used a flip phone, she did it."

Today according to Vic. Starts here.

"On this day in 2014 the news was that unidicted felon Eric Holder's corrupt DOJ had started a civil suit against the Philadelphia school district for religious discrimination against a muzzie who had been told to trim his beard to meet the school's dress code (or else)."

“They have a small, vocal, right-wing, somewhat strange minority they have over there [and it] shouldn’t be running the House of Representatives.”

[Video, 1:00, Roll Call on YouTube]

"The Islamic State jihadist group began bulldozing the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud in northern Iraq on Thursday, the tourism and antiquities ministry said.…"

…Police officers representing local, state and Federal agencies rounded up everyone in attendance, confiscated their cell phones, laptops or other recording devices and then fingerprinted each person. All this was done with a search warrant signed by a judge for an alleged misdemeanor committed by two of the attendees who were present at the meeting.

Tell me it isn’t just me… that this entire event come across as bizarre… to the point of making your blood pressure elevate? …

For some reason I found myself checking a map of Texas. Bryan is not too far from Waco…remembering a different show of force wherein the Federal government decided to overplay their hand. …

"GALENA, Ill. — At least eight railcars derailed this afternoon south of Galena, sparking a massive fire and smoke that can be seen for miles. … No injuries have been reported…."

"The U.S. government yesterday denied ever having had contact with alien lifeforms. The White House insisted there was no evidence extra-terrestrials have visited Earth or made any manner of contact. …"

[Oklahoma] HB1125 would accomplish two things.

First, it would render void the edicts of federal judges that have overturned state laws defining marriage. The founding generation never envisioned unelected judges issuing ex cathedra pronouncements regarding the definition of social institutions like marriage and the Constitution delegates the federal judiciary no authority to meddle in the issue. Marriage is a realm clearly left to the state and the people..

Second, the bill would get the state government out of defining marriage entirely as well, ending the squabble between factions that seek to harness the power of the state, thereby taking the burden off government officials who may be torn between what is legally required of them and their religious convictions.

The intent or motives behind this bill are a moot point. By removing the state from the equation, no one can force another to accept their marriage, nor can they force another to reject that person’s own beliefs regarding an institution older than government.

…“My heart goes out to the people of Boston,” Levin, who is also president of the Landmark Legal Foundation, told the Washington Examiner Thursday. “It’s obvious their political leaders don’t care that they have been suffering so much this winter. They want to make energy more expensive and keep people freezing and miserable. I am hoping to start this movement in the coldest areas, the bluest areas. I want to encourage people to drive their cars more often, keep their lights on, and use more energy, which is what gives us life.”…

Cushing, Oklahoma, 70 miles northeast of Oklahoma City, is a sleepy town with a population just under 8,000. It's also the intense focus of every major player in the American oil market right now.

North American crude oil is pouring into Cushing, where dozens of steel storage tanks fan out from the outskirts of town, tank farms that march on for miles and connect to every major oil patch in North America through an maze of pipelines. Cushing's nickname is "The Pipeline Crossroads of the World." …

But with WTI prices plunging by half since last summer, more crude has been coming into Cushing since late 2014 than has been flowing out. And storage capacity has been filling up—fast.

"Ten sheriffs from three different states sued Colorado Thursday for legalizing marijuana. The sheriffs from Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska say that Colorado's 2012 marijuana legalization vote violates federal law and shouldn't be permitted. …"

[They've certainly got a point there!]

…new insights into the life of the world's oldest and most primitive primate. …Purgatorius… tiny and agile animal spent much of its time eating fruit and climbing trees 66 million years ago… first known below-the-head bones for Purgatorius… previously only teeth… 'The ankle bones show that it had a mobile ankle joint like primates today that live in trees…. This mobility would have allowed for rotating the foot in different directions as it adjusted to different angles presented by tree trunks and branches. It also shows that the first primates did not have elongate ankles that you see in many living primates today that are thought to be related to leaping behaviours….'

"… So now… while you are sitting in solitary confinement, (awaiting the verdict on your life), I will be actually ENJOYING everything this beautiful world has to offer. And guess what else? I will do so without fear… of YOU. Because now to me you’re a nobody, and it is official that you have lost…."

"Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Tuesday offered the latest in a series of Republican ObamaCare alternatives… Health Care Choices Act would allow people to buy health insurance across state lines… would also repeal Title I of ObamaCare, which would undo much of the law, including the mandate to buy insurance, the insurance marketplaces and subsidies to help people afford coverage. … "

Pete's collection for today of graphics, videos, links, and wit.

Vic covers the world and then tells it how to behave, starting here.

"On this day in 1770 the Boston Massacre occurred. Five Americans were shot by British troops in an event that would contribute to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War."

"… Now, as for the ‘clintonemail.com’ domain — DomainTools.com tells me quite a few things about it, but tells a different story. … it’s the hosting/IP information that’s curious. … on Dec 22, 2011 — the hosting IP address changes to 208.91.197.27, which is hosted by Confluence Networks — and this is where we start down the rabbit hole. …"

"The Egyptian Ministry of Religious Endowment has shuttered 27,000 local places of worship under the pretext of fighting terrorism, while awarding 400 preaching permits to Salafists."

"John Sylvan is the creator of the Keurig instant coffee brewing system that most anyone who drinks coffee uses pretty regularly. But now he's saying that he wishes he never invented it because the plastic pods are impossible to recycle…"

[Remarkably humorous environmentalist anti-pod video, 2:27, Kill the K-Cup on YouTube]

…Traveling over boat and foot through the dense foliage of the vast, lightly inhabited 32,000-square-mile Mosquitia region of Honduras – known as Central America's Little Amazon – the team of scientists surveyed and mapped a collection of plazas, earthworks, mounds, and even an earthen pyramid belonging to a culture that thrived between 1,000 and 1,400 AD – paralleling the Mayans – before the culture apparently vanished into the jungle.

In what is speculated to be an offering to the gods, the scientists say that the find of a non-looted and pristine site is incredibly rare. …

World's oldest person, asked how she felt about living for 117 years: "It seemed rather short."

After being diagnosed with terminal cancer and given only three weeks to live, a beloved Marine had one last wish: to be buried in uniform, along with a Marine Corps flag.

Donnie Loneman had loved being a Marine…. But the veteran, who was homeless for the past decade, did not own a dress uniform. He also could not afford to buy one…. After hearing his story, the Oklahoma City VA and several veteran’s organizations came together to honor Loneman’s dying wish, providing the dress uniform and flag that he had requested… also cover his funeral cost and give him an honor guard. …

"…4 years ago, but could have been today."

[Video, 5:33, JewTube on YouTube]

"In just over the past week, 16 state bills to reject aspects of unconstitutional federal power have moved forward. From legislation dealing with Common Core to mass surveillance programs, FDA restrictions and more…"

Pistol Pete's latest collection of graphics, videos, links, and wit that kills.

"…The left has been playing more than half the country for willfully ignorant,apathetic,gullible consumers of all the free government stuff that the dwindling pool of working,taxpaying people provide for decades.They’ve never been disappointed.…"

"…there’s a ‘country song’ about supporting Hillary Clinton for president… You can tell how clever the writer is by how he masterfully rhymed the word “lady’ with the word ‘lady’…"

Joe Dan Gorman's latest batch. [Video, 17:46, on Vimeo]

Vic lets us know what's up and why today, starting here.

"On this day in 1789 the first US Congress met in NYC which was the first capital. The Bill of Rights was written and submitted as agreed during the debate on ratifying the Constitution...."

"China is developing space technologies aimed at blocking U.S. military communications and destroying its ability to win conflicts, according to a report commissioned by a panel created by the U.S. Congress."

"A [non-critical] US military satellite exploded after detecting an unexplained “sudden spike in temperature”, sending dozens of chunks of debris tumbling into different orbits around Earth. … While operators were deciding how to “render the vehicle safe” they detected a debris cloud which indicated that the satellite had been destroyed. …caused at least 43 pieces of debris to scatter into orbit…"

[Sudden spike in temperature? Hmmmm.]

…The problem, the scientists report Monday in Nature, is that while the tiny galaxy dates from just 700 million years or so after the big bang, it's far more dusty than something this young and small has any right to be. …

"…the last thing you'd likely expect is for a new experimental array to literally light nearly 130 birds in mid-flight on fire. And yet, that's exactly what happened near Tonopah, Nevada last month during tests of the 110-megawatt Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project. …"

[Actually, that's just what anyone who's been paying attention would expect.]

"An Oklahoma House committee last week passed a bill that would prohibit the state from helping the federal government implement and/or enforce any federal action that 'exceeds the authority of Congress granted in Section 8 of Article I of the Constitution of the United States.'"

"Oklahoma would become the first state to allow the execution of death row inmates using nitrogen gas under a bill overwhelmingly approved on Tuesday by the House of Representatives. The House voted 85-10 for the bill by Oklahoma City Republican Rep. Mike Christian, who began studying alternative methods after a botched lethal injection in the spring that led the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the constitutionality of Oklahoma's current three-drug method."

…dogs (and other non-human animals) are missing something we take for granted: episodic memory. Dogs don't remember what happened yesterday and don't plan for tomorrow.

In defining episodic memory, Endel Tulving argued that it is unique to humans. Experience influences all animals. Most mammals and birds can build complex sets of knowledge or semantic memory. You and I also remember the experience of learning these complex sets of information. Dogs don't.

…in order to experience episodic remembering, an individual must have a sense of self. Most non-human animals have a dramatically different experience of self than we do. …

"Our national soul is being corrupted by Washington’s unhindered and unconstitutional overreach. Our Founders anticipated the federal government might get out of control at some point, and they gave us a constitutional mechanism to rein it in. It’s called a Convention of the States, outlined in Article V of the Constitution."

Pistol Pete covers the world as it is and tells it how it ought to be.

"Netenyahu… treated the Kenyan half-breed, Popeye Reid and the rest of that pack of gargoyles with far more respect than they deserved or they returned. …"

Vic's morning load of links & comments start here.

"On this day in 1931 the United States adopted The Star-Spangled Banner as its national anthem."

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi recently appointed Rep. André Carson (D-IN) to a coveted position on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. This panel is charged with oversight of the United States’ most sensitive national intelligence capabilities and operations…. the Indiana congressman has an extensive record of involvement with, support of and support from a virtual Who’s Who of Brotherhood front organizations in America and leading figures in the jihad movement in this country.

On Friday, C.J. Pearson, a 12-year-old conservative from Georgia who posted a viral video supporting Rudy Giuliani, discovered that his personal Facebook page was locked. In an exclusive interview with Examiner.com on Saturday, Pearson said he received a message from someone about 6 a.m. Friday. That's when he learned his account and page had been locked for "suspicious activity." …

As is so often the case in these situations, Facebook did not respond to his requests for help. Nor would they tell him what the alleged suspicious activity was. We reached out to Facebook, but the social media giant has so far refused to respond to our request for comments.

"…'Music of Italy' will be the theme for this year’s festival set for June 6-13. The 2015 season, OKM’s 31st consecutive year, which makes it a legendary phenomenon in national music festival history…"

"Dick and Edna Lutz, 94 and 92, celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary on Jan. 27. The couple are a fixture at The Civic Center Music Hall, having spent about 33 years volunteering at the shows there. …"

Ted Cruz: "We must refocus our investment on the hard sciences, on getting men and women into space, on exploring low-Earth orbit and beyond, and not on political distractions that are extraneous to NASA’s mandate. I am excited to raise these issues in our subcommittee and look forward to producing legislation that confirms our shared commitment to this vital mission."

A Tulsa woman who was five-months pregnant when she was [accidentally] shot, died Sunday, March 1. …on life support since the shooting last June. …baby girl was born healthy and is doing great.

"Last week, an Oklahoma House committee passed a bill that would nullify in practice some Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rules that prevent treatments from being used by terminally ill patients. …pushes back against the FDA and their controversial methodology of withholding experimental treatments from people on their deathbed."

…artist Nelson Shanks… [spoke] about a hidden secret in his portrait of President Clinton… "I put a shadow coming into the painting… literally represents a shadow from a blue dress that I had on a mannequin… [also] represents a shadow on the office he held, or on him." … And so the Clintons hate the portrait. They want it removed from the National Portrait Gallery.

Vic rolls out the links and acid commentary for the day starting here.

"On this day in 1983 Compact Discs and players were released for the first time in the United States and other markets."

ISIS supporters on Sunday called on jihadists around the world to kill Twitter employees because of the company’s frequent blocking of their social media accounts.

“Your virtual war on us will cause a real war on you,” reads an online post addressed to Twitter founder Jack Dorsey and shared by ISIS supporters.

The post, whose authorship is unclear, was accompanied by a digitally altered image of Dorsey in the cross sights of a gun.

[Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott] said new laws would remedy failings on the immigration, welfare, policing and intelligence fronts by clamping down on supporters of radicals, especially welfare recipients. … The laws will also target so-called "hate preachers", Abbott said, citing as an example the radical but non-violent Islamist group Hizb-ut-Tahrir. … He explicitly linked welfare to terrorism, accusing dozens of Australians fighting in Syria and Iraq of having been on the dole, and adding that payments to "individuals assessed to be a threat to security" could soon be cancelled.

"People who come to this country are free to live as they choose. Provided they don't steal that same freedom from others," he said.

"The Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) has decried as unconstitutional the distribution of Bibles in several public schools in Oklahoma. Freedom from religion is a non-profit organisation that advocates the Constitutional provision on the separation of Church and State as well as educating the public on nontheism. … Andrew Seidel, staff attorney of the organisation… said that under the Constitution, Bibles can only be given to students after they leave campus." (He must have a different copy of the Constitution than mine.)

"On almost every measure, things are looking good for polar bears. Scientists are finding that they are well distributed throughout their range and adapting well to changes in sea ice. Health indicators are good and they are benefiting from abundant prey. …" [Quoting GWPF Report - PDF file]

SEATTLE - Like the Supersonics, Seattle's two remaining elephants are being relocated to Oklahoma City. …Oklahoma City Zoo was selected as the Asian elephants' new home after a careful selection process over the past three months. The Oklahoma facility has a family of Asian elephants including multi-generations. … a state-of-the-art facility with a healthy environment free of active infectious disease, a high-caliber elephant keeper and veterinary staff, a restricted contact management system and an established history of stable finances and leadership.

“We are delighted to be able to provide Bamboo and Chai a great new home with a family,” said Woodland Park Zoo Board Chair Laurie Stewart. “They will be with a larger, multi-generational herd, which is a primary recommendation of our Elephant Task Force."

[Video]

Archaeologists have unearthed an ancient bathtub in a first-century mansion… situated on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, would have belonged to wealthy owners, signified by its size and features such as intricate carvings, a luxurious oven and the bathtub… built close to the walls of the Second TempleL… could have been home to… a man belonging to the Sadducees class… another expedition has found a town where Jesus is believed to have stayed following the feeding of the 5,000 miracle… Dalmanutha…"

"On the eve of his Washington trip Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the strength of US-Israeli relations will prevail over current disagreements.

"PM Netanyahu went and prayed at the Western Wall before his speech before historic speech before Congress in Washington DC. …"

[Video, 1:05, Reuters on YouTube]

The Bethlehem-based news agency Ma’an has cited a Kuwaiti newspaper report Saturday, that US President Barack Obama thwarted an Israeli military attack against Iran's nuclear facilities in 2014 by threatening to shoot down Israeli jets before they could reach their targets in Iran.

Following Obama's threat, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was reportedly forced to abort the planned Iran attack.…

Vic does not cool off for Sunday. Links and comments begin here.

"…We have learned two things from this. (1) Democrats do not give a damn about the law or the Constitution and Congress even then would not hold their feet to the fire and (2) for the Ukraine; never trust the word of a lying Democrat."