Blog Heap of Links for the day 6 August 2015

A suicide bomber killed at least 15 people in an attack on a mosque used by members of a local security force in southwest Saudi Arabia on Thursday, the interior ministry said, an assault that an online statement said was carried out by Islamic State.

The attacker struck as men were praying…

LAGOS, Nigeria – Nigerian troops rescued 178 people from Boko Haram in attacks that destroyed several camps of the Islamic extremists in the northeast of the country, an army statement said Sunday.

Spokesman Col. Tukur Gusau said that 101 of those freed are children, along with 67 women and 10 men.…

ISIS executes 19 girls for refusing to have sex with fighters as UN envoy reveals how sex slaves are 'peddled like barrels of petrol'…

Discussing the means that brought the War in the Pacific to an end…

…“The number of Muslims is expect to increase by 73% from 2010 to 2050.” That is from 1.6 billion to 2.8 billion. “Muslims will grow more than twice as fast as the entire world population” between those periods and “will likely surpass Christians as the world’s largest group.”… This is not genuinely a peaceful religion and their goal is undoubtedly to eventually give us all a choice; be Muslim or be dead. Hey, I guess it is a choice. …

Perhaps to the casual observer President Obama appears cool and in control – confident of his positions and the success of his “diplomacy.” But it doesn’t take an advanced degree in psychology to figure out that he’s worried – really, really worried – about what’s going to happen at the end of the day, when Congress votes on the Iran deal, and votes again after he vetoes the Congressional rejection of the accord.

He has never been one who was, shall we say, scrupulous in presenting matters with factual accuracy. But now he has moved so far from the truth that I hope even his supporters are saying, “Wait a minute, that’s not how it is.” Just possibly, in his attempt to paint a rosy picture he is overplaying his hand – distorting reality in a way that works against him. …

A priceless violin made in 1734 was returned Thursday to its rightful owner — 35 years after it was stolen.

The Stradivarius violin was swiped from renowned violinist Roman Totenberg in 1980 after a concert in Cambridge, Mass. Roman's daughter, NPR correspondent Nina Totenberg, said the thief was who her father always suspected: an aspiring violinist named Phillip Johnson.

"It had been in the same guilty hands all those years," Nina said.…

A Shreveport police officer was shot and killed answering a call at a home in the Queensborough neighborhood late Wednesday night.…

Richard Glossip, a man who is scheduled to be executed by the state next month.… Hollywood actress Susan Sarandon…

A new report says Oklahoma has seen an overall decline in its infant mortality rate in recent years… still remains above the national average… rate among black babies was almost twice that of white babies…

…On this day in 1819 Norwich University was founded in Vermont as the first private military school in the United States.…

Last night almost all of the major candidates were in NH for a really weird "candidate forum." The format involved a local moderator who asked some strange questions to each candidate in blocks of about 3-5 minutes before the candidate was kicked off and another came in before the seat could get cold. It turned out there were two rounds of this and candidates sat in the front row watching the others while they waited their turn.

It was...weird. …