Blog Heap of Links for the day 21 December 2015

The U.S.-led military coalition in Afghanistan suffered one of its worst days in 2015 on Monday, as six U.S. service members were killed and three more people were wounded when a motorcycle laden with explosives detonated near them in Parwan province in an apparent suicide attack.…

…“She screamed at the top of her lungs and with her two hands pushed him out of the glass door and locked it.”…

Sheet music written by Ludwig van Beethoven and found in a Connecticut home has fetched $100,000 at auction. appraiser Brendan Ryan… recognized Beethoven's handwriting in the German words, directions and symbols on the page… Research authenticated the music and determined it was from a sketchbook dating to 1810 and used by the composer for brainstorming. …

…a veteran who landed in the hospital in September after suffering a heart attack had 2 dogs, Bailey and Blaze, and no one to take care of them. The situation was meant to be temporary. … But after weeks had passed, the dogs were put up for adoption.…a staff member hatched an idea. A volunteer put up the cash. More staffers and volunteers bought food, toys and other supplies. The man came back to the shelter and said he, again, needed a few days to find enough money.
But he was told that wouldn’t be necessary…

…Educators in a small Johnson County [Texas] school district will soon be allowed to carry guns. … When he was hired on three years ago, Superintendent Ricky Stephens was against arming anyone inside schools. Now, he says, the world has changed and so has his opinion.…

Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann says that more illegal immigrants to Austria and the EU must be repatriated. There are too many “refugees” entering the EU, and those who are really economic migrants must be sent back.

In other migration news, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is warning EU member states that if they fail to accept their allotted quotas of “Syrian” “refugees”, legal action will be initiated against them.

In other news, the United Arab Emirates has reportedly hired 300 Colombian mercenaries to fight in the war against the Shi’ite Houthi insurgents in Yemen. The Colombians are said to be prized for their experience in fighting guerillas.

…On this day in 1620 William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims landed on what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts.…

Lindsey Graham Dropping Out Of Presidential Race

…Jeb Bush told Face the Nation he hated being the frontrunner and likes where he’s at in the polls.

“I hated that. I feel much better being back here.”…

…Hillary Clinton falsely claimed that Donald Trump is being used in ISIS recruitment videos.… There is an ISIS recruitment video which features a prominent American politician…"fornicator" Bill Clinton.… Obama and Kerry also were shown in the video - NOT Trump.…