Overnight Open Thread (2-4-2015)

Tonight's ONT will be somewhat abbreviated since I'm not feeling well. If I were a movie, the title would be 'Urolithiasis III: The Final Reckoning'. So...um fun fun.

No Empty Chair Here

Jordan's King Abdullah ibn al-Hussein, who has trained as a pilot, may fly a bomber himself on Thursday in the country's retaliation against the ISIS.

Several Arabic-language newspapers reported late Wednesday that the monarch would personally participate in bombing raids on the terrorist group, citing his vow Tuesday to "strike them in their strongholds."

The king was in Washington when news broke Tuesday of pilot Muadh al-Kasasbeh's demise at the hands of ISIS extremists. Meeting with the House Armed Services Committee shortly before leaving for Amman, he reportedly quoted the Clint Eastwood's film "Unforgiven" and said that Jordan would pursue the jihadis until it ran "out of fuel and bullets."

Rep. Duncan Hunter, who was in the meeting, told Fox News that given the ruler's immediate and vehement reaction, "King Abdullah is not President Obama."

Interestingly as a young man Abdullah attended Sandhurst and served as a 2nd lieutenant in the British Army and later was head of Jordanian special forces. So his threat to personally drop bombs on ISIS probably isn't just idle talk.

Heh

Heh Part Deux

We laugh but then wealthy Los Angeles schools' vaccination rates are as low as South Sudan's which means they are less than Nigeria's.

Le Shock: Mattress Girl at Columbia May Be Lying About Her Rape

Given that police refused to pursue any charges and the university - even operating under its own lopsided kangaroo court rules - dismissed her complaint (and appeal) the accused man is probably well and truly innocent. But Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is still determined to ruin his name.

CDR Salamander: Playing Chicken at 10MPH

No, there is nothing to stop the Russians from inching their way to getting their Novorossiya back. The Ukrainians are plucky - but not that plucky.

No one wants a conflict in Ukraine - but the world give you what it wants, not what you want from it. It will be a great shame on the West to not even help someone to fight their own war. History shows us that in the end, someone will have to stop expansionist powers. Time is never the friend of the good in this regard. The longer you wait, the higher the butcher's bill.

Obama's Government Takeover of WiFi

If you like your cronyism, great because you're gonna get more of it.

Industry standardization of emerging technologies helps bring products to market more quickly than ever before. To put this standardization in simple terms, companies gather at standard-setting organizations to pick which technologies work best and should be included in the standard. The result is that consumers have more choices and prices are lower. More money is pumped into the economy because there are more players in the industry.

It's a great system.

But the Obama administration, with its regulate-rather-than-investigate approach, thinks this mutually beneficial and well-functioning system needs to be fixed. Here is where to story gets even wonkier, but stay with me - this is important.

Vox Sets Out To Prove All Religions Are Equally Violent...And Fails

San Diego Cub Scouts Go On a Beach Hike, Discover True Natural Wonders

The Group knows what you did.

Tonight's post brought to you by Stag:

Notice: Posted by implicit permission of AceCorp LLC. Please e-mail overnight open thread tips to maetenloch at gmail. Otherwise send tips to Ace. Just waiting for the drugs to kick in now.

posted by Maetenloch at 10:31 PM

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