Tuesday Links

Here are some things in the news, as the fiscal year comes to an end:

From CBS Houston, the Oklahoma beheading suspect had been in an altercation over his "not liking white people".

From the National Post, Husain Abdullah was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct after scoring a touchdown, for sliding into an Islamic prayer position.

From The Independent, the Aral Sea, once the fourth-largest lake in the world, has been rendered almost completely dry.

From Fox News, the rise of ISIS has become an issue in the Senate race in North Carolina.

From Tech Crunch, Reddit plans to create its own crypto-currency.

From CNET, eBay will spin off PayPal into its own separate company.

From Pantagraph, the foreign minister of the Bahamas tells the UN that his country will crack down on illegal immigration.

From Breitbart California, after California Governor Jerry Brown signed a ban on plastic grocery bags, an effort begins to repeal the ban by referendum in 2016.

From ABC News, Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps is arrested in Maryland for DUI.

From BarbWire, during a moment of silence before a high school football game, cheerleaders lead the crowd in prayer.

From The Washington Post, a recent White House intruder was tackled by an off-duty Secret Service agent.

From ZDNet, tomorrow Microsoft will present a preview of Windows 10.

From My Fox Chicago, Kurdish leaders claim that their fighters have captured a border crossing with Syria from ISIS.

And from the New York Post, the next Star Trek movie might include a vaguely familiar face.

CT State Representative Charged With Voter Fraud

This one seems to have gotten bounced around from the New Haven Register to Weasel Zippers to American Thinker to Fox News.

The old saying "vote early and often" has been commonly attributed to Chicagoans such as Mayor Richard Dailey, but it seems to have been taken to heart by Connecticut state representative Christina Ayala (D-Bridgeport), who has been charged with 19 voting fraud charges, including 8 charges of fraudulently voting.  According to the above-mentioned Register:

Ayala, 31, is accused of voting in local and state elections in districts she did not live, the Chief State’s Attorney’s Office said in a press release.

The next time someone on the left says that requiring voters to show ID suppresses the vote, please tell them about Christina Ayala.

Another Would-Be Beheader In Oklahoma?

From The Oklahoman:

In a bizarre coincidence, a fired Oklahoma City nursing home employee was arrested Friday after a co-worker reported he threatened to cut her head off.

Jacob Mugambi Muriithi, 30, is being held in the Oklahoma County jail on a terrorism complaint. His bail is set at $1 million.

A coincidence, a copycat, or (as I pointed out yesterday) someone answering the call of ISIS?  Back to The Oklahoman:

The co-worker reported Muriithi threatened her while they were both working at the nursing home Sept. 19, a police detective wrote in an arrest warrant affidavit.

The woman was not identified.

She said Muriithi identified himself as a Muslim and said he “represented ISIS and that ISIS kills Christians,” the detective told a judge in the affidavit. The two had not worked together before.

Muriithi is reported to be a native of Kenya.  Read the full story.

"Workplace Violence" Again?

Just as with the Fort Hood shooting, the beheading and stabbing at a food processing plant in Moore, Oklahoma is being treated as "workplace violence", which has some terrorism experts befuddled.  While it's true that the incident occurred at the place where the suspect, Alton Nolen, had been fired, he had disparaged non-Muslims and stated "Sharia Law is coming" on Facebook, where he also posted a picture of a beheading.  The attack occurred just a few days after an ISIS leader called for the killing of "disbelievers".  Nolen is in a hospital recovering from gunshot wounds, and will be charged with first degree murder.

UK Couple Thrown Off Bus For Singing Peppa Pig Song

In England, a young couple from Rotherham riding on a bus tried to comfort their crying autistic daughter by singing the theme song from the TV show Peppa Pig, and were kicked off the bus because of a complaint by a Muslim rider.  Apparently, Muslims in Britain have the right, not only to avoid eating pork, as their religion requires, but also to remove from their environment all references to pigs.

Read the story at the Mail Online.

Oklahoma Man Allegedly Beheads Woman

A man in Moore, Oklahoma, who had been recently fired from a food processing plant, allegedly beheaded one woman and stabbed another, before being shot by an Oklahoma County reserve deputy.  He recently converted to Islam and was reportedly trying to likewise convert his co-workers.

Read more at Fox News, CNN, The Washington Times, KOCO and the New York Post.

UPDATE:  From Heavy, five facts you need to know about the suspect.

Belgian City To Build Beer Pipeline

Via Fox News, from The Telegraph:

Tired of delivery trucks rumbling near its mythic canals, Belgium's medieval town of Bruges has approved the construction of a beer pipeline to link a five-century-old brewery to a bottling factory nearby.

The two-mile underground pipeline will link the De Halve Maan brewery in the heart of the "Venice of the North" to an industrial park where the beer will be bottled and shipped to drinkers worldwide, company director Xavier Vanneste said.

Read the full story.

Full disclosure:  I visited Brugge, Belgium in 2005.  The city is a World Heritage Centre and has some restrictions on motor vehicle traffic.  To learn more about Brugge, go here, here, here and here.

AG Eric Holder To Step Down

Attorney General Eric Holder has announced that he will resign, but will stay at his position until his successor is nominated and confirmed.

Read more at AOL News, The Wall Street Journal, NBC News, ABC News and Yahoo News.

Considering Mr. Holder's opposition to voter ID, which he apparently believes amounts to voter suppression, and the free pass he gave to members of the New Black Panther Party, who really did suppress the vote, I sincerely hope that the door doesn't hit him on the way out.

Wednesday Links

Here in the middle of the week, a few stories in the news:

From UPI, National Security Advisor Susan Rice says that yesterday's air strikes against ISIS "had an impact".

From The Weekly Standard, President Obama brings up Ferguson, MO in his speech to the UN.

From CBS St. Louis, meanwhile back in Ferguson, there was more unrest, including a fire that destroyed a memorial to Michael Brown.

From Real Clear Politics, an excerpt and some video of Obama's speech.

The Daily Caller alleges that White House staff censors press pool reports.

From Chicagoist, former Mayor Dailey and C3 continue to mutually benefit.

From LifeNews, Michigan abortionist Alberto Hodari, who has killed four women in botched abortions, has been denied renewal of his license.

From Legal Insurrection, a whistle blower stands by his story.

From MyFoxChicago, Citizens Financial Group sees its stock price rise during its debut on the NYSE.

From The Local, Germany's attempt to arm Iraqi Kurds experiences technical difficulties.  (via Breitbart London)

From the Washington Free Beacon, Mr. Bill and Ms. Hill appear to have adopted Walls Street's position on inversions.

From the Mail Online, ISIS-linked terrorists in Algeria behead a French hostage.

From Fox News, Charlottesville police have charged a man with abduction in the case of a missing University of Virginia student.  UPDATE:  He has been arrested in Galveston, TX.

From Grantland, a professional athlete gets "the yips".

And from the New York Post, a woman claims that her boobs are real, including her surgically-added third one.

US And Arab Allies Launch Airstrikes Against ISIS In Syria

Late yesterday, the United States, with the participation or support of Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, launched airstrikes against ISIS positions in Syria.  The Syrian government appears to have had no objections to the bombings.  The United States also struck a little-known al Qaeda affiliate known as the Khorosan Group.

Read more at ABC News, The Independent, The Guardian, CNN and Reuters.

UPDATE:  Meanwhile, from CBS News, a Syrian plane enters Israeli airspace and gets shot down.