Blog Heap of Links for the day 14 December 2015

…Two more Walmarts reported bulk cell phone purchases by Friday night. …A picture from a Missouri trail camera is spreading like wildfire in Mid-Missouri.… man was reportedly acting erratically.… “He came out of the woods, screaming arms wailing, making a fist just screaming…”

Thousands of shoppers were evacuated from malls in at least three states on Saturday as bomb threats or scares disrupted one of the busiest days of year for holiday shopping.… Florida… New Jersey… New Mexico… no bombs were found…

Students were evacuated at Warren Central Junior High in Vicksburg, Mississippi Wednesday after a student informed authorities that another student brought a "homemade IED" to school in a backpack. … Police Department bomb squad … said had it gone off inside the school, it would have caused "little to no damage." …two students had been detained, one of them aged 13. No other information about the students have been released. It is noted that the kid with the bomb also had several knifes on him…

Santa Claus is banned. The Pledge of Allegiance is no longer recited. “Harvest festival” has replaced Thanksgiving, and “winter celebrations” substitute for Christmas parties.

New principal Eujin Jaela Kim has given PS 169 in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, a politically correct scrub-down, to the dismay of teachers and parents.…

In front of a capacity crowd of more than 450 students, an Otay Ranch High School administrator dismissed students from conservative powerhouse Ben Shapiro’s speech… After Shapiro explained the power of America’s free market system, noting it could lift anybody out of poverty if they’re able to manage their money, an administrator seized the microphone… and said he was going to have to “dismiss the students” because Shapiro had “crossed a line.”…

…In honor of my friend @realDonaldTrump and good-hearted #Maniacs everywhere: https://t.co/KOPIi4XTVt

— Ted Cruz…

…On “Fox News Sunday” this weekend, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said his opponent Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is not “qualified to be president” because he is “a bit of a maniac.”…

An Indian-origin husband and wife, believed to be the world’s oldest married couple, celebrated their 90th wedding anniversary in the UK.

Karam and Kartari Chand, 110 and 103 respectively, tied the knot in a traditional Punjabi ceremony in India on December 11, 1925, during the British Raj and moved to England 40 years later.

“It is a blessing to have been married and to have lived this long. Life and marriage is all about happiness, it is what is most important,” said Karam.…

Marine Le Pen and the Front National failed to win any region in today’s run-off election in France. After taking the largest number of votes in the first round, the Socialists withdrew and recommended that their supporters vote for Nicolas Sarkozy’s party, the Republicans, to keep the FN out of power. The tactic seems to have worked.

In other news, a Russian destroyer in the Aegean had to fire warning shots to force a Turkish fishing vessel to stop approaching. The Russians attempted to make radio contact, and then tried visual signals. When those failed, they resorted to small arms fire to get the Turkish crew’s attention. …