Blog Heap of Links for the day 17 March 2016

Secretary of State John Kerry declared Thursday that the Islamic State is committing genocide against Christians and other minorities in the Middle East, after facing heavy pressure from lawmakers and rights groups to make the rare designation.… Kerry's finding will not obligate the United States to take additional action against ISIS militants and does not prejudge any prosecution against its members…

According to the Obama administration, the Islamic State is committing genocide against certain religious minority groups — excluding Christian minorities. But ISIS is on record saying that its eradication of Christians is due to their religious identity.…

Tel Aviv University unveiled a remote-controlled, bionic heart patch, which researchers say could become a revolutionary alternative to heart transplants for patients whose hearts have been damaged by heart attacks or cardiac disease.…

Yes, it’s been a while — life interfered — but I’m back with a wonderful illustrated edition. They are in exciting random order because I’m too lazy today to sort them by topic…

The Electric Vehicle Mileage Fraud Update: Singapore Figures It Out

How the American hamburger came to rule the world

11 Of The World's Coolest Offices…

When Belgian police raided a residence thought to be a hideout for terrorists connected with last year’s massacre in Paris, they got into a gun battle with the mujahideen living there. An Algerian named Belkaid Mohamed was killed, and two police officers were wounded. Next to Mr. Mohamed’s body was a Kalashnikov, ammunition, a Koran, and the flag of the Islamic State. The incident carries a tentative Mohammed Coefficient of 100%, but may be subject to revision when the other suspects are captured and identified.

In other news, since yesterday the Italian coast guard has rescued almost 2,000 migrants and recovered two corpses from traffickers’ boats off the coast of Libya.…

ICYMI Obama names SCOTUS Nominee
No surprise Garland is anti-gun
What is over/under on GOP waffling on SCOTUS pick? …

This video shows a side of Kasich I wouldn’t want being president. There is something to be said about how people treat “the little people” in life.…

Former presidential candidate Marco Rubio told a group of Minnesota supporters Wednesday he is hoping one of the remaining candidates for president will stop Donald Trump from winning the Republican nomination — and that Texas Sen. Ted Cruz could be the best option for conservatives.…

Heidi Cruz, the wife of GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz, is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations [CFR] Task Force of the North American Community.… Cruz co-authored… "Building a North American Community.”… The report calls for ending US sovereignty and merging the US with Canada and Mexico.… for the “elimination of most controls” on the borders between US and Canada and the US and Mexico.… for a Marxist style sharing of wealth and resources to even out the standard of living in Mexico, America, and Canada.… for a massive North American Development Bank… for a massive North American bureaucracy that would manage land and resource in all three nations.… for a North American wide environmental bureaucracy.… for a bureaucracy to oversea the development of energy resources. It evens calls for a North American wide bureaucracy to manage tax policies.…

Former Speaker of the House John Boehner called Republican presidential candidate and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) “Lucifer”.… “If we don’t have a nominee who can win on the first ballot, I’m for none of the above. They all had a chance to win. None of them won. So I’m for none of the above. I’m for Paul Ryan to be our nominee…"

Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe endorsed Republican John Kasich for president on Wednesday.…