Blog Heap of Links for the day 18 December 2015

…Paul M. Winistorfer, the dean of the College of Natural Resources and Environment at Virginia Tech…

The expressions "silver bullet," "pull the trigger," "shoot from the hip and "under the gun" are used in everyday language across our campus, and commonly even by those in leadership positions. I hear these and similar terms at least once a week, if not once a day. It always makes me cringe.

I cannot help but reflect on the pain and suffering inflicted on so many in our country and around the world by violence involving guns and bullets. …

Police had to fire warning shots into the air when thousands of Dutch protestors stormed the site of a planned asylum centre, shortly to open for 1,500 refugees. … in the small town of Geldermalsen… A planned discussion about the imminent arrival of the migrants, staged by the town council, was abandoned in the chaos as the mob outside tried to storm the building. Councillors were forced to flee out of rear exits into police vans. …

Two Muslim employees say they were fired from their jobs at a Paris airport because of their long beards. The two workers, both men, say that their beards are just “hipster fashion”. In possibly unrelated news, some employees and union officials believe that Air France has a problem with religious fundamentalism at Charles de Gaulle Airport. The imposition of halal food in the staff cafeteria was one of the issues cited.

In other news, a Washington think tank reports that Hamas and the Islamic State in the Sinai have been cooperating for the last two years against their common enemy, Egypt. …

Hillary Assures Supporters TWICE IN ONE DAY She Does Not Have Horns…