Blog Heap of Links for the day 29 April 2015

The Israelis will destroy several Iranian nuclear facilities and my educated guess is that they will do so before the end of this year. Israel has no margin of error when it comes to nuclear reactors in nations that threaten its existence.…

Minneapolis-St Paul Intl Airport… As the officers were walking on the second level of the parking ramp, a vehicle deliberately drove at them. A press release states that police shot at the vehicle. The driver was taken to a nearby hospital. His condition is not known. Authorities identified the suspect Sunday as 36-year-old Abdulkadir Sheikh Mahmoud. Once he’s out of the hospital, he’ll be facing aggravated assault charges.

Mortar Rounds on Golan Heights Were Fired by ISIS … 'Spillover' from Syria fired by ISIS group, after it conquers closest post to Israeli border yet just 1.5 miles away. …ISIS-linked Jaish al-Jihad has captured the border town of Qahtaniya in southern Quneitra province on the Syrian Golan, thereby taking up its closest position to Israel yet at a distance of just 2.5 to 3 kilometers (1.5-1.8 miles)…

The Nigerian army says that it has rescued 200 girls and 93 women in the Sambisa Forest, but it could not confirm if any of those freed are the schoolgirls kidnapped a year ago. … now screening and profiling the girls and women.… [AP]

The American Stars and Stripes and the yellow-and-red flag of the Republic of South Vietnam will fly across California this week as many of the 2.7 million Vietnam War veterans join 1.7 million Vietnamese-Americans in remembering the 40th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, which took place on April 30, 1975….

Geert Wilders… will be speaking about the dangers of Islamization to members of Congress at the invitation of Rep. Louie Gohmert …What I find entertaining about this Foreign Policy article is the following assertion made by the author of the article, rather than some anonymous source quoted by him: “…foreign-policy hands on Capitol Hill widely view Wilders as an obscene bloviator”. Now, that’s what I call objective reporting!…

Secretary of State John Kerry told his Iranian counterpart that he wished the United States had a leader more like Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, according to comments made by a senior Iranian cleric and repeated in the country’s state-run media. …

When he stood on his toes, leaned his head back and began to incoherently shout "Louie Louie" into a microphone 52 years ago, Jack Ely had no idea he was creating a rock 'n' roll classic.… Ely, who died Tuesday at age 71, had simply walked into a tiny Portland recording studio with his band one day in 1963 to cut an instrumental version of a song that had been a hit on Pacific Northwest jukeboxes — one that kids could dance to.…

Fossil hunters in Chile have unearthed the remains of a bizarre Jurassic dinosaur that combined a curious mixture of features from different prehistoric animals. The evolutionary muddle of a beast grew to the size of a small horse and was the most abundant animal to be found 145 million years ago, in what is now the Aysén region of Patagonia. … one of the most remarkable dinosaur finds of the past 20 years, and promises to cause plenty of headaches for paleontologists hoping to place the animal in the dinosaur family tree. … “I don’t know how the evolution of dinosaurs produced this kind of animal, what kind of ecological pressures must have been at work…” a horny beak, flatter teeth for chomping plants, a small head and slender neck. “It’s a therapod that turned vegetarian….”

…After being clinically dead for 45 minutes, Stoneking’s heart started to beat. The paramedics – and the doctors who treated him afterwards - were amazed at his recovery. One doctor even told him that his DNA had been altered to strip heart disease from his genetic makeup. …

Then Stoneking told the U.N. General Assembly what he thought could be done to end the violence around the world. “The answer, your excellencies, to the violence of our day and to the human atrocities of our day is Jesus,” he said. “He is the prince of peace,” Stoneking said. “I give you Jesus. …

Citizens lining up to protect police in Baltimore [photo]

Incredible images have emerged of the moment a four-month old baby was rescued from the rubble of a building devastated by the Nepal earthquake, 22 hours after the disaster struck. …reportedly in a stable condition in hospital… condition and whereabouts of his parents are unknown.

…planet Earth is in the process of forming one monumental supercontinent… [land masses imaged from 150M years ago to 175M years from now]

…Why was government invited to regulate marriages but not other interpersonal relationships, like friendships? Why does every religion hold marriage to be a sacred and divine institution? … When a heterosexual couple has sex, a biological reaction can occur that results in a new human life. Government got into the marriage business to ensure that these new lives are created in a responsible manner. This capacity for creating new life is what makes marriage special. No matter how much we try, same-sex couples will never be able to create a new life.…

…"Newsflash to CAIR: Because of years of death threats against me by muslims, I have been under the watchful eyes of federal law enforcement authorities for a long time… LONG BEFORE I EVER OWNED A GUN RANGE.

"Due to those threats, I live my daily life under a federal microscope. I have nothing to hide. I have no secrets from the federal government.

"Agents with the counter-terrorism unit of the FBI call me on my cell phone about my public activities and islamic militants who might want to kill me.

"So, do you really think the idea of 'more monitoring' of my daily life is somehow a threat to me in any way?…"

—Jan Morgan, owner of Gun Cave Indoor Shooting Range in Hot Springs, Arkansas

…Neither severe weather nor a shattered wrist suffered in a fall just a few days prior to this spring’s show has stopped Wanenmacher from hosting his event. Roughly 35,000 people attend the show during its two-day run — a far cry from the days of a show that actually lost/cost money from 1955 through the early 1970s. But he said he never expected to have his name on the world’s largest gun show. “Not in my wildest dreams!” he said, laughing, and explained that watching the faces of visitors is like seeing wide-eyed kids in a candy store for the first time…

…the man was shot after he and group of men approached a couple as they were returning home. The group of men was allegedly armed. … husband then fired one shot at a group of men, hitting one in the nose. His injuries are non-life threatening.…

…“He stood there and we talked for a while, [him] just asking for directions and me giving them to him…. Never thought that when I turned my head that that young man would stick a knife to my throat.” … Turner remembered that earlier that very day she felt the need to bring her small pistol along with her…. “I just reached down, got the gun and turned around and pointed it to his face. And I told him, I said, ‘You back off, or I’ll blow your head off.’ And his eyes got big and he just backed up and he took off walking down the street like nothing happened.”…

International Froglegs Strikes Again… or Back… or something.

"…This episode is a salute to those of you kind enough to support the show—including that elite group known as The Producers Club! Thank you.…"

A Marshall Islands-flagged cargo vessel with an American crew was intercepted today by Iranian warships in the Straits of Hormuz. The warships surrounded the vessel, fired warning shots, and then escorted it into an Iranian port. U.S. officials said they are monitoring the situation.

In other news, after a night of violence and mayhem, the city of Baltimore was relatively calm today, although a state of emergency and a 10pm curfew remain in place.

[News links]

The Return of Vic, Master of the News

"…On this day in 1992 we had riots in Los Angeles, California, following the acquittal of police officers charged with excessive force in the beating of Rodney King. Over the next three days 53 people were killed and hundreds of buildings were destroyed. This occurred because…"

Lake Texoma, Okla. … Paul Easley caught an 8-foot long alligator gar. …254 lbs …44 inches around …largest fish ever caught in Oklahoma waters. The fish was not hurt and was released back into the water. [Sounds like a big fish story to me!]