Blog Heap of Links for the day 29 July 2016

…In a crowded street in Baghdad's Karrada neighborhood, a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, or VBIED, detonated after midnight, causing nearby dwellings to be engulfed in flames.

Many residents were trapped inside the inferno — it was estimated that 20 to 30 people died from the initial explosion.

But investigators at the scene are now concerned with another potential threat: The terrorist group may have developed and used a new type of bomb.…

A seven-year-old girl has died after being hit by a stone thrown by an elephant from its enclosure at Rabat Zoo in Morocco.…

On the last night of the Democratic National Convention, a retired Navy four-star took the stage to pay tribute to veterans. Behind him, on a giant screen, the image of four hulking warships reinforced his patriotic message.

But there was a big mistake in the stirring backdrop: those are Russian warships.…

Rabbit vs. Squirrel game of tag

…On his way to the office, he encountered a group of animal rights activists protesting unethical donkey rides. Convincing the activists that he was trying to liberate a “fabulous donkey named Milo” from captivity, the protesters agreed to be led in a chant of “Free Milo!”…

A pilot from 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California, was killed in an F/A-18C Hornet crash Thursday night.

The crash was during a training mission around 10:30 p.m. near Twentynine Palms, California…

Health officials are reported a brain-eating amoeba was found in the Rio Grande River along the Texas border with Mexico. Mexican health officials in Tamaulipas warned people to refrain from swimming in or bathing in the river that is used by many to illegally enter the United States.…

ICRC: Anti-'IS' fight could displace 1 million in Iraq…
North Korea threat prompts Japan to upgrade Patriot batteries in time for Olympics…
Summer of fear: the anxious mood in Germany and France…

I gave them a ten-question American history test…
Most vulgar presidential candidate was Bill Clinton, not Trump…
Why These Union Members and Lifelong Democrats Are Voting Trump…

Organizers of a dance music festival in Austria have tightened security for the event after recent terrorist attacks in Europe. And Spain has increased security at popular tourist spots for the same reason. Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel says that she will not reverse her migration policies — she still thinks that “Wir schaffen das” — “We can do that.”

In other news, a cook in an Alexandria, Virginia restaurant refused to prepare food for a policewoman in uniform. When the story made it into the media, two employees at the restaurant were fired.…

This woman is stupid & dangerous…
Smile worthy…
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…On this day in 1976 David Berkowitz (a.k.a. the "Son of Sam") killed one person and seriously wounded another in the first of a series of attacks in NYC. Amazingly despite being sentenced to 6 life sentences he is up for parole now every 2 years. He is claiming to be a "born again Christian" now.…

…This was a speech that could have been given in Moscow during the Cold War. Instead it was delivered to an enthusiastic audience of Democrats who love the idea of taking away someone else’s money. Beneath all the distractions, the celebrities and family stories, is the fundamental idea that Hillary has more of a right to your money than you do because she is “humbly” more enlightened than you are.

There’s a name for that ideology. It comes with a hammer and sickle, with the color red, with gulags and firing squads, with little red books and big black prisons, and the death of the human soul.…