Thursday, August 31, 2017

Pat Tillman Honored With Statue

Arizona State University has unveiled a bronze statue of ASU alumnus Pat Tillman outside the north end zone of Sun Devil Stadium.  Tillman played football for four years at ASU, and afterwards with the Arizona Cardinals, before leaving the NFL to become an Army Ranger.  He was killed in Afghanistan in a friendly fire incident.

Sadly, I can think of an unfortunate question.  How soon before some SJW finds a reason to attack the statue?

Read more at The News & Observer, NFL(dot)com, AZ Central, 12News and the Sporting News.

A Sasquatch's Dozen For The Morning

It's 8 a.m. EDT as I start to write this, and things are already going on.

Youth gangs sell drugs in Swedish no-go zones.

Also in Sweden, a policeman is stabbed.

Opinion:  Get out of Yemen.

As anticipated, explosions occur at a flooded chemical plant.

If Sheriff Arpaio had to obey the law, what about other sheriffs?

For the love of dog.

Remembering Princess Diana.

Tyrants gonna tyrannize.

"Linguistic McCarthyism"

This month, there's been a lot of "Allahu akbar".

A lefty media site says that President Trump is a zombie.

And finally, I'm not saying it's aliens, but......

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Tuesday Links

How that I've reported some history, here are some things going on today:

From Breitbart London, the town where a Polish couple were attacked by North Africans has become the "crime capital of Italy".

From Breitbart Texas, 350 alligators are on the loose.

From The Daily Caller, a woman rescued from in Texas lets a CNN reporter have it.

From Campus Reform, a professor who Tweeted that Texas deserved Hurricane Harvey for supporting Donald Trump gets fired.  (via Fox News)

From America The Jesuit Review, a former Trump employee gets to meet the pope.  (via The Blaze)

From the New York Post, a parrot witnesses a murder.

From the Edmonton Journal, the Cirque de So Gay float will not be allowed in this year's Vancouver Pride parade.

From WND, an imam in my neck of the woods finances a would-be jihadist in Michigan.

From Gatestone Institute, how we and they see Afghanistan.

From National Review, it's good that Pope Francis is "diminishing the papacy".

From Townhall, calm down, FLOTUS is now wearing sneakers.

From The Federalist, if Mrs. Trump's shoes bother you, maybe you're the problem.

From AhlulBayt News Agency, the Zionist influence in China.  (Zionism is basically support for Israel defending its own existence.)

From Defense Tech, Marine amphibious assault vehicles have been deployed to rescue Hurricane Harvey's victims.

From the Express, 100 migrants arrive on an Italian island that normally has only 400 residents; and French President Emmanuel Macron is accused of putting French interests above those of the E.U.  (He's the, uh, French president, isn't he?  Isn't he, you know, supposed to be advancing the interests of his country?)

From RFI, Macron says that fighting "Islamist terrorism" is his country's top priority.

From Westmonster, Norway's immigration minister complains that the ECHR forces countries to put migrants' rights about citizens' rights.

From Russia Today, German Chancellor Angela Merkel wants Britain to pay up.

From the NL Times, even if it's a toy, when the cops say, "drop it", you'd better drop it.

From Philly(dot)com, Congressman Lou Barletta (R-PA) announces his campaign for the Senate.

And from Only In Your State, here's something that yours truly explored during the 1990's.

Today's Date In History

While browsing around the Interwebs, I ran across a few things related to the date August 29.

On August 29, 1949, the Soviet Union detonates their first atomic bomb.

On August 29, 1958, Michael Jackson is born.

On August 29, 1967, the TV series The Fugitive airs its final original episode.

And on August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina strikes the Gulf Coast of the United States.

Monday, August 28, 2017

Rescuers Gonna Rescue

As the storm Harvey continues to ravage eastern Texas, there have been numerous reports of rescues from the resulting floods.  Government agencies such as the National Guard and FEMA, police units, ordinary civilians, and the Cajun Navy, formed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, were all out trying to do what they could.

I realize the the "feel-good stuff" label might seem odd in the wake of a natural disaster, but I think that it's deserved by the rescuers.

Read more at BizPac Review, ABC News, The New York Times, CBS News and USA Today.

Sunday, August 27, 2017

European Migration News

Here are some stories about migrants and miscreants in Europe, Tweeted by a single Twitter user called Voice of Europe:

From The Telegraph, it seems that Chancellor Merkel has gotten a clue.

From the Sunday Express, a terror drill reveals that a strike on Parliament could kill over 100 of its members.

From The Local SE, in Sweden, police defend raiding a church activity for illegal aliens undocumented migrants and refugees.

From Breitbart London, the death toll from the recent attacks in Spain rises to 16.

From the Daily Star Sunday, police warn of plot to attack carnival-goers in London with acid.

From the Daily Mail, thousands of migrants have been caught trying to ride ferries from Spain to Britain.

From Ekathimerini, some people in the Greek government think that Turkish President Erdogan is behind the increase in illegal aliens undocumented migrants arriving in Greece.

And from Sputnik International, France offers migrants money to return home.

Friday, August 25, 2017

Trump Pardons Arpaio

In a move that he may have previously hinted at, President Trump has pardoned former Maricopa County, AZ Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who had been convicted of criminal contempt for disobeying a judge's order.  Arpaio was Maricopa County's sheriff for 24 years before losing in the most recent election.  He had previously served as a police officer in Washington, DC and Las Vegas, NV, and in the Drug Enforcement Agency.  During his time as sheriff, Arpaio became controversial for the way he treated convicts, and has been accused of racial profiling.

A Sasquatch's Dozen, And A Bit More

First, the Sasquatch's dozen:

Austria beefs up security at their border with Italy.

A German economist predicts the collapse of the E.U.

In Iraq, Tal Afar matters.

In Spain, police bust a Nigerian sex slavery operation.

ISIS threatens the Pope.

ISIS uses youngsters in their propaganda.

In Britain, a fake Syrian who avoided deportation six times is sentenced for murder.

"The old Western disease"  (I think it might be called "oikophobia".)

President Trump "is winning the statue war".

Could there be (Are you sitting down?) a President Al Franken?  (intermediate source)

South Carolina's governor blocks state money from going to abortion clinics.  (intermediate source)

To finish the dozen, I think this article might be satirical - but all too believable these days.

For a bit more:

I ran across this item yesterday after I finished my post.  A 3,700-year-old tablet found in Iraq appears to show that Babylonians used trigonometry about 1,500 years before the Greeks did.  This means that if you had hard time with high school trig, you've been blaming the wrong civilization.

Thursday, August 24, 2017

Thursday Links

Now that I'm back from my eclipse road trip, here are some things going on:

From Philly(dot)com, the Secretary of the Interior says that no national monuments are going to be eliminated.

From National Review, double standards, anyone?

From PoliZette, the left attacks Thomas Jefferson with a popular but unproven allegation.

From American Thinker, some things that have not made Hillary's skin crawl.

From Reuters, the Japanese utility TEPCO gets sued (again) in an American court.

From CNS News, the Trump administration declines (again) to endorse the "two-state" solution.

From Townhall, what do the "never Trump" Republicans think they are accomplishing?

From SwissInfo, a Libyan "hate preacher" in Switzerland might get deported.

From Arutz Sheva, on the Temple Mount, an Arab preacher calls for annihilating the Jews.

From FrontpageMag, Dutch police foil a terror plot against a concert venue.

From The Sun, shouting "Allahu akbar" in Venice could be your last mistake.

From Gatestone Institute, jihadists regard "our very existence" as unacceptable.

From CNN, hurricane Harvey keeps getting stronger.

From The Washington Free Beacon, the average transgender soldier needs 238 days to recover from sex change surgeries, according to a study made by the Obama administration.

From the Daily Mail, human bones found in Aruba have been shown to have the same ethnicity as a girl who disappeared there 12 years ago.

From the Evening Standard, young Chinese can't pass an army fitness tests for two reasons.

From the New York Post, Russian bombers flew over Korea.

And from Sputnik News, French President Macron spends a lot of money on makeup.

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Sports Announcer Pulled Because Of His Name

This post is about political correctness devolving into inanity.  According to Outkick The Coverage, MSESPN has removed one of their announcers for the upcoming football game between William & Mary and the University of Virginia because they think that his name will offend somebody.  That's right, his freaking name.  From OTK:
In a story that seems made for The Onion, but is actually true, according to multiple Outkick fans inside ESPN MSESPN decided to pull an Asian college football announcer named Robert Lee off the William and Mary at University of Virginia college football game because they were concerned that having an ASIAN FOOTBALL ANNOUNCER NAMED ROBERT LEE would be offensive to some viewers.
Did I mention that Robert Lee is Asian?
Is this even real life anymore? This might even be worse than MSESPN apologizing for the fantasy football slave draft a couple of weeks ago.
A fantasy slave draft?  Thankfully, I missed that one.  But seriously, anyone who is stupid enough to be offended by this man's name because it coincidentally resembles that of the Civil War general can go fly a kite, as far as I'm concerned.  Read the story at the above link, and also check out the reaction on Twitchy.

Monday, August 21, 2017

The Eclipse Of 2017

As the noted British astronomer Roger Waters once said, "Everything under the sun is in tune, but the sun is eclipsed by the moon."  Today, I got to experience that last line from the Pink Floyd song Eclipse first hand.  It took me two days of travelling, including a stay at my mother's house in west central Virginia, but I was able to make my way to my intended destination within the path of totality.  In Tennessee, there is a small city named Philadelphia, which includes a community park near its eastern boundary.  Since I had stayed in Knoxville, my drive to the park was relatively short.  Although I arrived shortly after 11 a.m., there were at least a dozen cars in the parking lot, and dozens of people already in the park.  Looking at their license plates, I'd say that some of these people had driven from much farther away than myself.

Jerry Lewis 1926-2017

[Note:  I would have liked to have posted this yesterday evening, but the wifi in the place I'm staying in was not working very well.  Conditions seem better today, so let me try again before I check out.]

Jerry Lewis, who had a long career as an actor, singer, producer, director, screenwriter and humanitarian, passed away yesterday at his home in Las Vegas at the age of 91 after a brief illness.

Joseph Levitch was born in Newark, New Jersey to Russian Jewish parents.  His father, Daniel Levitch, was an entertainer who used the name Danny Lewis.  His mother, the former Rachel Brodsky, was a piano player at a radio station.  As he started his comedy career, Lewis decide to use Jerry as his stage name, to avoid confusion with boxer Joe Lewis and comedian Joe E. Lewis.  From 1946 to 1956, Lewis formed a comedy team with Dean Martin, who acted as a straight man.  Afterwards, he appeared in a long list of movies, most recently Max Rose in 2016.  Lewis hosted telethons for the Muscular Dystrophy Association from 1952 to 1959, and again from 1966 to 2010.

Lewis was married twice, first to Patti Palmer and later to SanDee Pitnick.  He and Palmer had six children, one of whom was adopted.  With Pitnick, he adopted a daughter.  His oldest son, Gary Lewis, became the leader of a pop group called Gary Lewis & the Playboys.  During his life, Lewis suffered a series of health problems, including two heart attacks, and recently had a urinary tract infection.  The cause of his death appears as yet unreported.

Read more at Variety, Vanity Fair, CNN, The Hollywood Reporter and E!News.

UPDATE:  The cause of death is reported to be heart failure, as indicated by TMZ.

Friday, August 18, 2017

Friday Links

As the weekend starts and I prepare for some travelling to see the upcoming eclipse, here are some things going on:

From ABC News, White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has resigned.

From The Mirror, an "Allahu akbar" breaks out in Turku, Finland.

From Breitbart London, the Barcelona attackers could have killed many more if their original plans had come to fruition.

From BBC News, "bigger" attacks were planned.

From the NL Times, a Dutch girl had both legs broken in the Barcelona attack.

From Townhall, one American was killed in the Barcelona attack.

From Russia Today, opposing demonstrators clash in Barcelona.

From Yahoo News, Gambrils, Spain "emerges from a terrifying night".

From the Express, a majority of polled Europeans think that their national governments should be able to refuse the dictates of the European Union.

From National Review, being less evil than the Klan or the Nazis doesn't make you good.

From BizPac Review, Sir Charles has something to say about tearing down statues.

From the Washington Examiner, six "bogus" arguments against the RAISE act.

From the Los Angeles Times, would banning neo-nazi websites raise free speech issues?

From the Cumnock Chronicle, a timeline of terror in Europe.

From the Daily Star, a knife attacker is on the loose in Germany.

From Gatestone Institute, is an intolerant culture replacing a tolerant one?

From The Federalist, vandals in Chicago burn a bust of Lincoln.

From The Baltimore Sun, watch the statue of SCOTUS Justice Roger Taney being removed from the Maryland State House.  (via The Daily Caller)

From Fox News, thousands petition for Lehigh University to withdraw President Trump's honorary degree.

And from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Chief Wanna Dubie RIP.

Thursday, August 17, 2017

Van Hits Pedestrians In Spain

Earlier today, a van was driven into pedestrians in the Las Ramblas district of Barcelona, Spain.  In other words, there has been yet another run-over-the-pedestrians style terror attack.   Authorities say the one person was killed, but local media outlets report that 13 people have died.  The driver and possibly another man, both of whom may be armed, reportedly left the van and holed themselves up in a restaurant.

Read more at The Guardian, BBC News, CBS News, the Independent and the Daily Mail.

UPDATE:  Read still more at The Local ES.

UPDATE 2:  The previously reported number of 13 killed has been confirmed by law enforcement.  A man named Driss Oukabir, described as being of Moroccan origin, has been arrested in relation to the attack.  A second suspect was killed at a police checkpoint.  A second van thought to be connected to the attack has been found in the Catalonian town of Vic.

UPDATE 3:  Four suspects have been killed by police in Cambrils, south of Barcelona, as reported by Russia Today.

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Migrants, Memorials And Muslims, Oh My

Some news out there about some specific topics:

From Breitbart London, invaders migrants have found another way into Europe, via the Black Sea.

From Westmonster, the number of migrants arriving in Spain has tripled since last year.

From Ekathimerini, they're still coming into Greece.

From Global News, some migrants from Haiti crossing from New York to Quebec, have allegedly brought some disgusting contraband.

From Fox News, the monuments at Gettysburg are not going anywhere.

From Breitbart's Big Government, if Democrats want to erase memorials to racism, here are twelve that they should remove; and demonstrators in Atlanta can't even properly identify a monument.

From CBS Chicago, a local pastor wants memorials to Presidents Washington and Jackson removed.

From Seattle Pi, Trump supporters in Seattle protest at a statue of Lenin.

From The Daily Caller, a defense of Robert E. Lee.

From Canada Free Press, the alt-left is as bad as the alt-right.

From the Associated Press, the youngest victim of the Boston Marathon bombing is being memorialized with a new park.

From Assyrian International News Agency, Iraq asks for international help to investigate crimes by ISIS.

From the Daily Mail, a Muslim convert in Australia claims that non-Muslims are smellier.

And from CNN, four people involved in the pulling down of a statue in Durham, North Carolina get to wear the bracelets.

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Alabama Primary Special Election Results

In the Alabama primary election for United States Senator, former state Supreme Court justice Roy Moore garnered more votes than the current incumbent Luther Strange, who was appointed to replace current Attorney General Jeff Sessions, but did not receive a majority of votes.  As a result, Moore and Strange will face each other in a runoff on September 26, for the Republican nomination.  Among the Democrats, Doug Jones easily surpassed 50 percent, and will thus face either Moore or Strange in the special general election on December 12.

Moore has gained some notoriety for his refusal to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the Alabama Judicial Building.  Strange has received the endorsement of President Trump.

Read more at The New York Times, Fox News, AL(dot)com and ABC News.

Various And Sundry

Some various and sun-dried (and rain-moistened) things going on out there:

A computer glitch shuts down early boarding for Southwest Airlines passengers.

The wrong way to make a state.

Tiger Woods's drugs.

Senatorial candidate Roy Moore (R-AL) goes to the polls on horseback.

The vandals who pulled down the Confederate statue in Durham, NC might be facing charges.  (intermediate source)

The Alt-Right and Antifa movements grow with each other.

A Swiss hotel asks Jewish guests to shower before swimming.  (intermediate source)

Did ISIS find the hanging gardens of Babylon?

A doctor gives a woman an abortion drug by mistake.

Scientists create mutant ants.

Mexican drug cartel members burn the bodies of their rivals.

My governor calls for the removal of one particular statue.

In Georgia, a gubernatorial candidate calls for the removal of the carvings on Stone Mountain.

Where will the protesters show up next?

The Lincoln Memorial and other sites are vandalized.

And to finish, President Trump condemns the "alt-left" for their role in Charlottesville.

Monday, August 14, 2017

Protesters Topple Confederate Statue

Earlier this evening, a group of about 100 protesters gathered in front of a courthouse in Durham, North Carolina, and pulled down a statue of a Confederate soldier.  Some of the vandals protesters placed a ladder next to the statue, which was on top of a pedestal.  One of them climbed the ladder and attached a rope, by which the statue was pulled down.  After the statue hit the ground, some protesters showed their bravery by kicking it and giving it the "we're no. 1" salute.

Read more, and watch the videos, at The Herald-Sun, WRAL, ABC11 and WNCN.

Monday Links

As the workweek starts, here are some things in the news, and some reaction to recent events in Charlottesville, Virginia:

From Philly(dot)com, President Trump, after a bit of delay, names names.

From FrontpageMag, here's how the left can stop the neo-nazis and similar groups.

From Townhall, "the Charlottesville dystopia".

From the Greek Reporter, human traffickers abandon migrants on a Greek island.

From the Assyrian International News Agency, Assyrian face their greatest challenge returning home to places liberated from ISIS.

From AhlulBayt News Agency, over 600,000 Syrians have returned home this year.

From Reuters, fraud against ISIS is still fraud.

From PoliZette, a liberal writer misses the good old days, when America had three news networks.  (Isn't missing the good old days something that conservatives are often accused of?)

From The Baltimore Sun, a Baltimore city councilman call for the city to remove all of its Confederate-era monuments.

From PR Newswire, Feed a Bee announces an effort to plant wildflowers.

From BBC News, don't get drunk while on an airplane.

From LifeNews, the "top 10 reasons why it's good to be pro-life".

From the New York Post, a man gives a highly unlikely reason for his forklift rampage.

From The Daily Caller, white-on-black homicides are much more likely to be justified than those of other racial combinations.

From Kurdistan 24, a look at ISIS's prison system.  (H/T TROP)

From Egyptian Streets, the president Tunisia calls for allowing Muslim women to marry non-Muslim men.

From The Daily Mail, an Australian publisher decides against publishing a book critical of Islam.

From The Indian Express, pamphlets and WhatsApp messages calling for boycott of Muslims raise tensions in Narkhed, India.  (via The Express Tribune)

From The Hill, President Trump is "quietly" putting his stamp on the federal courts.

And from Voice Of America, five weird things you can visit in the United States.

Saturday, August 12, 2017

Music Break

For this month's music break, let's start with one relevant to an upcoming celestial event.  Back in 1973, Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon album featured the two-part song Brain Damage / Eclipse.  The video shows members of the band in the studio, the band in concert, and some then-notable public figures.  Due to some reformatting at YouTube, I can't easily change the size of the videos, so I'll put it (and the rest, of course) below the fold.

Friday, August 11, 2017

A Sasquatch's Dozen

As the weekend starts, here are twelve things in the news:

According to a survey, 7 out of 10 Britons want a "hard Brexit".

In Germany, it's "almost impossible" to deport failed asylum seekers.

Albanians are caught trying to stow their way into Britain.

Opinion:  President Trump should not criminalize opioid addicts.

The President isn't ruling out military action on Venezuela.

An abortionist wants to do "tel-abortions".

Yes, it's true.  They blow up so fast.  (H/T here)

The migrant crisis brings more slavery to Europe.

In Burma, Buddhists block Muslims from travelling to the Hajj.

Christians are again fleeing Iraq.

No, the firing of James Damore was not done by conservatives.

And to finish, Italy's garden of monsters.

Thursday, August 10, 2017

Thursday Links

Some things going on out there:

From ANSA, the number of migrants entering Europe is down from last year.

From Breitbart London, the contempt "grooming gangs" have for white women; and in Germany, a fireman is fired and fined for an anti-migrant Facebook post.

From Radio Poland, Poland keeps defending itself from the E.U.

From the Associated Press, migrants keep trying to enter Spain through its two African enclaves.

From The Local SE, a hostage survived by pretending to be Muslim.

From the Daily Star, a London bus crashes into a kitchen shop.

From the New York Post, a New York bus driver is attacked with coffee.

From The Atlantic, 2016 was hot and weird.

From Global News, some Somalis migrating illegally from the United States to Canada have criminal records.

From The New York Times, in Indonesia, a statue of a Chinese deity gets covered up.

From the Daily Mail, a Muslim sues Virgin Airlines claiming he was removed from a plane after casually mentioning 9/11.

From AOL, recently ousted white House Communications director Anthony Scaramucci finds an interesting person to compare himself to.

From the Express, German police search for a man who killed a prostitute and cut her body into pieces; and ancient Egypt was ruled by a giant (for the time) pharaoh.

From KGW, the name "Lynch" will be removed from two schools in Oregon.  (via The Blaze)

From the Independent, a British Labour MP tells the truth about how people regard "grooming gangs".

From PopZette, musician Charlie Daniels has some words for our politicians.

From National Review, "is California cracking up?"

From FrontpageMag, the media isn't saying much about the RAISE Act.

From Free Malaysia Today, an elementary school religiously segregates drinking cups.

And from Variety, the White House area is visited by a Trump Chicken.

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Glen Campbell 1936-2017

Singer-songwriter-guitarist-actor-TV host Glen Campbell has died of Alzheimer's disease, from which he had suffered for about six years, in an assisted living facility in Nashville.  He was 81.

Glen Travis Campbell was born on April 22, 1936 in Billstown, Arkansas.  He was one of the twelve children of John Wesley Campbell and the former Carrie Dell Stone.  He learned guitar during his childhood, and in 1954, moved to Albuquerque to join a band that included his uncle.  In 1960, he moved to Los Angeles to work as a studio musician, eventually joining what would later be called the Wrecking Crew.  Starting in late 1964, Campbell spent several months as a touring musician for the Beach Boys, filling in for Brian Wilson on bass guitar and harmony vocals.

As a solo artist, Campbell struggled for several years before having a huge hit in 1967 with Gentle On My Mind, written by John Hartford.  He had several major hits that were composed by Jimmy Webb, including By The Time I Get To Phoenix, Wichita Lineman and Galveston.  He co-starred in the John Wayne movie True Grit, and sang its title song.  From January 1969 to June 1972, he hosted The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour.  He would later host several TV specials.  During the 1970's, he continued to have hits, such as Rhinestone Cowboy, Southern Nights and Sunflower.

Campbell was married four times and had eight children, but was also known for his relationship with fellow country singer Tanya Tucker, which attracted some attention from gossip columnists.  After being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2011, he went on his "goodbye tour", which finished in November 2012.  He is survived by his fourth wife Kimberly Woollen, whom he married in 1982.

Read more at Rolling Stone, Variety, TMZ, The Hollywood Reporter and Us Weekly.

UPDATE:  Glen Campbell is remembered by his golfing buddy, Alice Cooper.

News Of The Weird

Here are just a few weird stories in the news:

First up, when HotAir links something under the title "Dude", you know it's weird.  (When they put a question mark after "Dude", it's even weirder.)  The story comes from the Chicago Sun Times, in which a burglar learns the hard way that solid waste contains DNA.

From the Los Angeles Times, jury selection continues in the Taylor Swift "groping" trial.  In this suit, someone alleged that she falsely accused him of groping her.  In a counter suit, she makes that very accusation.

As reported in Fox Carolina, a group claims to have spotted a Bigfoot in North Carolina.  Due to the fact that I live in Maryland, I'll give them credit for being only two states away.

And to finish, from ForTheWin, NFL teams have used these eight "totally weird drills" in their training camps.

Monday, August 7, 2017

Various And Sundry Stories For A Rainy Day

If rainy days and Mondays get you down, as in the Carpenters song, today is both.  Among other things, this means that today, "sundry" cannot be understood as "sun-dry".  But in any event, here's some various and sundry things going on out there:

From Twitchy, some of our friends on the left still haven't figured out that the Twitter account Sean Spicier is parody.

From The Daily Signal, some of our friends on the left things that conservatives shouldn't be allowed to conduct an orchestra.

From Russia Today, video surfaces of the capture of the German teenage "ISIS bride".

From Defense Tech, better keep your drones away from military bases.

From The New York Times, New York's subway hasn't been doing very well these days.  (via The Daily Caller)

From PopZette, one comedian should be careful what she asks for.

From the Express, Germany wants to seize money from Romania and Bulgaria that was supposed to be used to help the Roma.

From Deutsche Welle, Germany has lots of "frustrated young refugees".

From Sputnik International, almost 200 illegal aliens invade Spain.

From The Local DK, almost 80% of Danish adults receive money from their government.

From USA Today, Ohio State develops a device that can greatly aid healing.  (via The Blaze)

From the Miami Herald, Miami-Dade prisons will cooperate with the federal government on immigration detention requests.

From FrontpageMag, California won't be so cooperative.

From Yahoo News, the real tension between China and India might be at sea.


From Townhall, one CNN host thinks that the Democrats are out of touch on immigration.

From One News Now, Facebook appears to be censoring "anti-Islamic" content.

From Asian Correspondent, the Malaysian government investigates an atheist group.  (The last two stories come via The Religion Of Peace.)

From Assyrian National News Agency, who cite Newsweek as their source, ISIS makes $100 million every year by smuggling ancient artifacts.  (The artifacts they don't destroy by blowing them up, anyway.)

And from the Observer, Brexit might be good for Detroit.

Sunday, August 6, 2017

Illinois To Observe Barack Obama Day

Two days ago, I noted the birthday of former President Barack Obama, but his adopted home state has gone much farther.  The Illinois legislature, of which Obama was once a member, has designated August 4th as "Barack Obama Day".  Governor Bruce Rauner (R) signed the bill, which received no negative votes.  The day will be a commemorative holiday, which does not involve state government offices taking a day off.

Read more at the Washington Examiner, WGN, ABC7 and NBC5.  NBC5 has been cited by The Hill and The Blaze.

Friday, August 4, 2017

Links For Obama's Birthday

Yes, it is the birthday of our most recent former president.  This, of course, sets aside the objections of the "birthers", which were mainly about where he was born, not when.  So as Barry enjoys his birthday cake, here's some of what's going on out there:

From Breitbart London, the E.U. sends money to refugees in Turkey.

From Russia Today, that burkini is gonna cost you, lady.

From the Express, a shopping center in England is evacuated due to a bomb threat.

From the Independent, the U.N. tells the U.K. to take in more refugees.

From The Old Continent, a refugee and his friends visit a Swedish family who had sheltered him, which results in a rape.

From Mediaite, Representative Maxine Waters (D-Cal) supports the White House leakers.  (via The Blaze)

From PoliZette, Attorney General Sessions has four alleged leakers in his sights, and an interview with my favorite convicted felon.

From the New York Post, the "Mona Lisa" of dinosaurs.

From NewsBusters, NBC's Today advises shoppers to throw groceries at robbers.  (This makes me wonder.  If a robber just happens to be Muslim, would throwing bacon at him be a hate crime?)

From Campus Reform, a professor warns that "social justice warriors" are "ruining" engineering.

From FrontpageMag, a look at President Trump's proposed immigration law.

From National Review, a look at our current immigration system.

From Townhall, why West Virginia Governor Jim Justice switched parties.

From The Express Tribune, a 12-year-old seminary student is tortured and injured.

From the Deccan Chronicle, a Pakistani textbook blames Hindus for the violence accompanying the 1947 of British India.

From AhlulBayt News Agency, a new resort in Saudi Arabia will allow bikinis.

From NBC News, Baltimore starts its "Nobody Kill Anybody" weekend.

From The Guardian, a gallery of wildlife pictures.

From Yahoo News, when and how to see the Perseid meteor shower.

And from Fox News, O.J.'s Bronco is back on television.

Thursday, August 3, 2017

Thursday Links

Now that I'm back home, it's once again time to pass on things in the news, such as:

Spanish police break up a smuggling operation that brought Iranians to the United Kingdom.

Look who causes over half of the terror in Germany.

Nie, wy zapÅ‚acicie!  (No, you will pay!)

Unionists are racists?

Roscoe P. Coltrane would be envious.

Migrants literally set up camp in Brussels.

A black conservative sounds off on Al Gore.

President Trump has lots of supporters in a surprising place.

The father of a girl visiting the United States to attend a robotics contest is killed in Afghanistan.

In Australia, a local council bans the construction of a synagogue because it could become a target for terrorism.

In Great Britain, a lack of proportionality.

No drawing allowed!

People are leaving the State Department, which might be a good thing.

"Time to end DACA"

The NAACP issues a travel advisory.

Audit: the IRS "misled" Obamacare customers.

Turkey wants to clear the evidence of ancient peoples.

And to finish, some weird weed news.

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Mars, Pennsylvania

The last place I got see on my latest trip was Mars.  Not the planet, mind you, but the borough in Pennsylvania.  Mars is located roughly between Pittsburgh to the south and Butler to the north, about a half mile off PA 228, between PA 8 and Interstate 79.  When I arrived, it was too early for lunch, but I did pay a visit to the local coffee shop, thus buying a cup of java from a real live Martian.  A nearby park included this flying saucer.

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Fort Ligonier

Fort Ligonier is located just off U.S. 30 in a borough named, you guessed it, Ligonier.  The fort was built by the British in 1758 during the French and Indian War, and abandoned in 1766.  It was attacked by the French and some Delaware Indians while still under construction, but was not taken.  More recently, the fort been reconstructed, and now serves as a museum.  To see the fort, you pay your admission fee at the visitor's center, and walk to the west side entrance.

Bedford, Pennsylvania

For my latest road trip, I decided to go into southwestern Pennsylvania, and make a quick stop in Bedford, which I've driven through a few times, mostly on the PA Turnpike.  This time, I drove into town on U.S. Business 30 and turned off to see Fort Bedford.  This is the northern side of the fort, which faces the Juniata River.