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Violence and dozens of arson attacks in Copenhagen after anti-Islam politician throws Koran in migrant neighbourhood
Today's Headlines
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Suspect in MOA attack was 'looking for someone to kill'
[STARTRIBUNE] Minneapolis man said he went to the Mall of America Friday "looking for someone to kill" before throwing a 5-year-old boy nearly 40 feet over a third-floor railing in an attack that shocked the nation.

Emmanuel Deshawn Aranda, 24, was formally charged in Hennepin County District Court Monday with attempted first-degree premeditated murder. He is being held on $2 million bail and is expected to make his first court appearance Tuesday.

The boy, named Landen, fell about 40 feet to a stone floor. According to the criminal complaint, medical responders at the scene said his injuries included fractures to multiple bones, including in his arms and legs. He was bleeding from the head and had massive head trauma.

The boy is being treated at Children's Hospital in Minneapolis, where his condition Monday was listed as critical.

Aranda confessed to the attack, according to the criminal complaint.

"Defendant ... said that he was the one who had thrown the 5-year-old Victim from the balcony and fled," the complaint said. "He said he formed a plan to kill someone at the Mall" on the day before the actual attack, but it didn't work out that day.

Aranda told Sherlocks he returned to the mall on Friday, April 12.

"He said he planned to kill an adult, because they usually stand near the balcony, but he chose the Victim instead," the complaint said.

Aranda told Sherlocks he had been going to the Bloomington mall for several years "and had made efforts to talk to women in the Mall, but had been rejected, and the rejection caused him to lash out and to be aggressive."
Can't imagine why he was so unsuccessful
Aranda admitted to police that he knew what he did was wrong, the complaint said. Surveillance video showed Aranda walking on the third floor and looking over the balcony several times before approaching the victim and his mother, the complaint said.

The victim's mother told police that she and her son were with a friend of hers and her friend's child outside the Rainforest Cafe when Aranda approached them. The victim's mother said Aranda came very close to them, and she asked him if the group should move.

Posted by: Fred || 04/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This animal should never have made it out of there alive.
Posted by: Tyranysaurus Clavith3514 || 04/16/2019 4:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Emmanuel Deshawn Aranda

Ah
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/16/2019 6:43 Comments || Top||

#3  Imagine if a white man had thrown a black child over the rail.
Posted by: Woodrow || 04/16/2019 6:58 Comments || Top||

#4  Suspect in MOA attack was 'looking for someone to kill'

Brave bastid wasn't he, picking a 5 year old. Perhaps he could find a job at Planned Parenthood upon his release from prison...in 6 months.

Minnesota Dem Rep. Ilhan Omar will come to Aranda's defense soon. A well intended 'white privilege' reduction program gone wrong. If simply provided his reparations payment, none of this might have happened.

We really cannot find the true motive.

[sarc switch now in off pos]


Posted by: Besoeker || 04/16/2019 7:07 Comments || Top||


FBI: Company Faked White-Collar Jobs for 1,900 Chinese Migrants
[Breitbart] The U.S. government awarded hundreds of work permits in 2017 to a front company that, according to an FBI statement, trafficked almost 2,000 Chinese graduates into the U.S. white-collar labor market.

The March 28 FBI document alleges that a Chinese migrant named Weiyun Huang took money to issue fraudulent claims of employment to Chinese students who were seeking to get “Optional Practical Training” work permits. Huang was arrested March 26, the document says.

Huang’s firm helped roughly 1,900 Chinese migrants get OPT work permits for various white-collar jobs in the United States, the document said. Other federal data shows the company got 732 OPT workers in 2017.

The alleged white-collar job theft is also tied to national security concerns. One beneficiary of Huang’s alleged OPT fraud was arrested in late 2018 for suspected espionage via the “MAVNI” program, which recruited foreigners for the military.

The federal investigation began shortly after Huang’s California-based company, Findream, was spotlighted in a March 21 Breitbart News article, and it comes as many Senators and Representatives push a bill — H.R.1044 and S.386 — that would help U.S. investors outsource many more white-collar jobs via the OPT program to graduates imported from China and India.

The OPT program allows universities to earn revenues from foreign student customers by offering them work permits for up to three years in the United States for each degree earned at the university. The OPT program is attractive to foreign students and companies in part because it hurts many American graduates.

It gives companies a tax break for hiring foreigners instead of Americans, and it also encourages foreigners to accept very low wages in exchange for the promise of a huge deferred bonus from the federal government, in the form of a green card. The OPT program helps foreign workers get into the better known H-1B program, which keeps roughly one million white-collar workers in the United States and allows roughly 50,000 H-1B workers and family members to get green cards each year.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  H-1B program is one of the most abused set-ups for keeping American workers down. They've been running it for so long, we're talking decades, that it has depressed any interests in pursuing certain careers. It became self fulfilling for 'not finding any qualified Americans'. Why invest the education years of your life working towards a job you know will be filled by an H-1B?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/16/2019 7:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Apparently we lacking ChiCom spies.
Posted by: Woodrow || 04/16/2019 7:05 Comments || Top||

#3  ^ "Hey, Mei Guo! You need Chinese spies?
What? Can't find enough with round eyes?
That totally crazy...
You people too lazy!
Put sign out and see who applies!"
Posted by: Spavish Tojo6368 || 04/16/2019 19:27 Comments || Top||


-Obits-
Three veterans commit suicide outside VA hospitals across five days in two different states
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news]
  • Three veterans have killed themselves at separate Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals in Georgia and Texas over the past week

  • 29-year-old Gary Pressley was discovered inside car in the parking lot of Carl Vinson VA Medical Center in Dublin, Georgia on April 5

  • 68-year-old Olen Hancock of Alpharetta killed himself outside the Atlanta VA Medical Center on April 6

  • On April 9, a veteran who has not yet been named shot himself in front of hundreds of people in the waiting room of a VA Clinic

  • The chairman of the House Committee on Veteran's Affairs, said the deaths were part of a 'national crisis'

  • Around 20 veterans kill themselves every day - the rate is 1.5 times higher for those who have served in the military compared to those who have not
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Save our BACON! Cost of pork in the US spikes by 25% in just one month after swine fever wiped out a fifth of the pigs in China
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Correlate with "U.S. Farmers Fear China Trade Deal Will Leave Them Worse Off" down below?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/16/2019 6:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Swine flu, swine fever...why does it always start in China?
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 04/16/2019 11:24 Comments || Top||

#3  The most common way for a human to catch swine flu is through contact with a pig.

Make sure your girlfriend is vaccinated.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/16/2019 13:58 Comments || Top||

#4  #2 - there's a youtube vid on that. It's a relationship of concentration between two populations, human and animal. If you are looking to where there is high concentrations of both in close quarters, I'd say the best bet today is on China. London was fun in the 19th Century in playing that game.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/16/2019 18:03 Comments || Top||

#5  The hogs wiped out in China is equal to all the hogs in the United States.. or so I am told.
Posted by: Ebberong Guelph4409 || 04/16/2019 18:53 Comments || Top||


-Land of the Free
AI Is Already Keeping Tabs on 1 Million Clearance Holders
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/16/2019 10:42 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Stay off social media"

What our company rep said and he couldn't have been more correct.
Posted by: DarthVader || 04/16/2019 17:03 Comments || Top||

#2  The Privacy Act and automation are mutually exclusive - Adm Grace Hooper
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/16/2019 17:55 Comments || Top||


Next war location?
[Twitter]


Posted by: 3dc || 04/16/2019 01:45 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If you've not read Adam Makos' gripping book SPEARHEAD, you may wish to give a look:

Dramatic tank duel in 1945: 'Spearhead' author Adam Makos on story of American hero
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/16/2019 3:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Excellent video nicely captioned.
Though I'm not a fan of watching tank crews burned alive.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/16/2019 5:04 Comments || Top||

#3  Next war location?

I'm voting Ukraine, in defense of Poland.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/16/2019 15:28 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Venezuela Sells $400 Million in Gold Amid Sanctions, Sources Say
[BLOOMBERG] Venezuela sold about $400 million in gold despite a growing international push to freeze the country’s assets, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

The amount, which would equal almost 9 tons, was reflected by a drop in the bank’s total reserves, which fell to $8.6 billion on April 12, according to data provided by the central bank. About $5.1 billion of that is gold.

A central bank press official didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on the sale Monday.

The sale could mean President Nicolas Maduro
Venezuela's attempt at producing a Muammar Qadaffy...
has found a way to skirt the economic blockade. Maduro has blown through reserves, selling gold to firms in the United Arab Emirates and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the most dubious NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants...
ally....

, as sanctions increasingly cut off his authoritarian regime from the global financial system. While he maintains a stranglehold on power on the ground -- including the military and government bureaucracy -- opposition leader Juan Guaido is using support from dozens of countries to slowly seize Venezuela’s financial assets abroad.

The U.S., which recognizes Guaido as the nation’s rightful leader, sanctioned state gold producer Minerven last month. It said lucrative trading in the precious metal keeps the military loyal to Maduro.

Posted by: Fred || 04/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Any relation to shipments to Moscow?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/16/2019 7:13 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Satellite images from last week show signs of reprocessing
[twitter]


Posted by: 3dc || 04/16/2019 23:52 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Taiwan 'threatened' but not intimidated by China military drills
[Aljazeera] China said its warships, bombers and reconnaissance aircraft conducted 'necessary drills' around Taiwan on Monday.

Taiwan is not intimidated by China's military drills this week, its president said, after the latest Chinese military manoeuvres were denounced as "coercion" and a threat to stability in the region.

China's People's Liberation Army said its warships, bombers and reconnaissance aircraft conducted "necessary drills" around Taiwan on Monday, although it described them as routine.

Taiwan scrambled jets and ships to monitor the Chinese forces, its defence ministry said, accusing Beijing of "trying to change the status quo of the Taiwan Strait".

On Tuesday, President Tsai Ing-wen said Taiwan was not intimidated by the drills.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/16/2019 04:15 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  China still has a huge transport problem. There is no way it can plop the estimated 2.5 million men it needs on a beach in Taiwan in 30 days with the landing craft they have. Until they can, this is all just pissing in the wind by the Chinese.

I think they are hoping that the Taiwanese will just get sick of it and surrender.
Posted by: DarthVader || 04/16/2019 10:12 Comments || Top||

#2  That would have been a good hope if Hillary or someone like her had taken office. Obama certainly wouldn't have lifted a finger to help Taiwan. That's not a good strategy with Trump in office though. Especially not with the Chinese economy increasingly showing signs of reaching an implosion.
Posted by: Vernal Hatrack2366 || 04/16/2019 15:13 Comments || Top||

#3  Brits gave Singapore to China.
US can give Formosa to China and
ROK to Russia in exchange for Cuba.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/16/2019 15:39 Comments || Top||


Cyber
Google's location tracking designed to target ads is being used by POLICE to solve cold cases - and innocent people are being caught in the 'dragnet'
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Orwell, f-ing scary.
Posted by: Woodrow || 04/16/2019 7:03 Comments || Top||


Economy
U.S. Farmers Fear China Trade Deal Will Leave Them Worse Off
[Bloomberg] Some U.S. farm groups fear that President Donald Trump’s terms for easing his trade war with China risk leaving large swaths of American agriculture worse off than before the conflict began.

Many producers are alarmed by signs that the administration would accept Chinese purchase target pledges for commodities like soybeans and pork without a promise to lift retaliatory tariffs, said industry representatives, some of whom spoke only on condition of anonymity to avoid consequences for publicly criticizing the administration.

"This is of great concern to producers out here facing another year of tariffs," said Mark Powers, president of the Northwest Horticultural Council, which represents cherry, pear and apple growers in the Pacific Northwest. "We’re disappointed. Clearly the priority lies elsewhere."

Farmers are unnerved by Trump’s enthusiasm for tariffs and his tendency to pick industry winners and losers, even as he promises in general terms to put "America first" in negotiations with the U.S.’s largest trading partner.

As China and the U.S. aim to finalize a trade truce within the next month, Beijing is considering a U.S. request to shift some tariffs on key agricultural goods to other products, people familiar with the situation said.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/16/2019 04:35 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  "The policy issues facing the tree fruit industry are well known..., and on the trade front, they are constantly evolving. In June [2018 the Northwest Horticultural Council] led a delegation of growers and industry representatives to Washington, D.C., to meet with Trump admin officials and members of Congress to discuss foreign trade sanctions negatively impacting the industry. The meeting, originally intended to focus strictly on China’s new tariffs on apples, pears and cherries, had been in the works for a couple of months, but India, Mexico, Canada and the European Union later imposed tariffs as well, broadening the focus of the talks."
Posted by: Chereting Pelosi1889 || 04/16/2019 8:14 Comments || Top||

#2  D'Oh! Some helped and some hurt by government distortions of the market -- welcome to the real world of tariffs and subsidies.
Posted by: magpie || 04/16/2019 18:49 Comments || Top||


Europe
Notre-Dame blaze probably accidental, French prosecutors say
PARIS (Reuters) - The fire that tore through Notre-Dame cathedral was probably caused by accident, French prosecutors said on Tuesday after firefighters doused the last flames in the ruins overnight.

More than 400 firemen were needed to tame the inferno that consumed the roof and collapsed the spire of the eight-centuries-old cathedral. They worked through the night to bring the fire under control some 14 hours after it began.

"We are favoring the theory of an accident," Paris public prosecutor Remy Heitz said, adding that 50 people were working on what was expected to be a long and complex investigation.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/16/2019 07:37 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That certainly didn't take long. But then there's the investigation...which could take months, even years.

Posted by: Besoeker || 04/16/2019 7:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Suspiciously rapid conclusion?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/16/2019 7:40 Comments || Top||

#3  Yes, suspicious fire closely followed by suspicious conclusion.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/16/2019 7:42 Comments || Top||

#4  Hope is not a synonym of probably.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 04/16/2019 8:47 Comments || Top||

#5  With French Normals commuting to Paris every weekend to protest their condition and circumstance, I am more than certain they are 'favoring the theory of an accident'. To suggest otherwise might yet prove unwise, even at this late stage.
Posted by: Cesare || 04/16/2019 9:37 Comments || Top||

#6  There was restoration work going on there and an accidental fire fits. I'll lean towards that unless other events/evidence comes to the fore.
Posted by: DarthVader || 04/16/2019 9:53 Comments || Top||

#7  A few years back the historic Cabildo in New Orleans was being renovated and caught fire, apparently due to some metal gutter welding or such, that overheated the old, dry wood behind it, which burst into flames later. The building is a lot smaller than Notre Dame Cathedral and they were able to save it (with much costly repair) but it was a close call. Even if the fire appeared to have started in more than one place that could easily be the result of invisible connections in the sub-roof just popping out where the flame could be seen in multiple places. Or it could be arson (Islamic or otherwise) - I doubt physical evidence will ever tell and even if someone confesses, they could just be brag/lying. I find it amazing they saved anything.
Posted by: Glenmore || 04/16/2019 10:32 Comments || Top||

#8  More recent reports indicate a fire alarm went off 20 minutes before fire was actually seen and was not found in a search. That raises some suspicion given that if someone spotted the fire, why didn't they direct responders TO the fire
.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 04/16/2019 10:57 Comments || Top||

#9  Watch: How the Notre-Dame fire spread throughout the building
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/16/2019 11:12 Comments || Top||

#10  If I remember right, yellow smoke is a bad thing.
Maybe KS can give us a read on that.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/16/2019 11:16 Comments || Top||

#11  French billionaires donate hundreds of millions to rebuild Notre-Dame
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/16/2019 11:25 Comments || Top||

#12  That raises some suspicion given that if someone spotted the fire, why didn't they direct responders TO the fire

If it was a smoke or heat detector on a newer 'addressable' system, it would have been able to pinpoint the exact location of the fire by that particular device's location. Older systems only show alarm in general areas and if this was an older system, it might have just registered 'Attic' (Grenier de Maison). That would be a huge area to check out in a structurally complicated building like this.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 04/16/2019 12:46 Comments || Top||

#13  Just watched Macron speech to the nation about the fire. God, what a load of codswallop. So utterly French and loaded with meaningless drivel, and not a word about religion or God, totally secular.
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 04/16/2019 14:13 Comments || Top||

#14  Paris has a priest firefighter who ran into a burning cathedral to save Jesus's crown of thorns.

There's hope.
Posted by: European Conservative || 04/16/2019 15:13 Comments || Top||

#15  Older systems only show alarm in general areas and if this was an older system, it might have just registered 'Attic'

Or the firestarters may just have pulled the alarm on their way out to make sure someone saw their work.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/16/2019 15:23 Comments || Top||

#16  Maybe KS can give us a read on that.

First, the vast majority of my experience, what that is, is grassland. Quite a bit of those fires trace right back to carelessness, such as grinding/welding on a gate by them self or Carl was the hand that day. Fire starts, worker doesn't notice until the weld/grind is done on account of the safety equipment and focus on the job. If Carl is paying attention and remembered the fire extinguisher, they catch it, no big deal, laugh about it at the tavern. Say three minutes goes by, and what was a spot fire is now too much for the personnel at hand. By the time they call it in, we show up twenty minutes later and the fire is 100 acres.

Point is, even if it was called in right at the point the personnel knew it was out of their control, the fire had bit before the first hose was laid.

At this point, we need to visit SteveS link from yesterday or grab a copy Macaulay's Cathedral to understand the structure.

The pitch is such that a fire could have started at any point along the truss and it would have self ventilated out the top. It had been burning for a while to self ventilate, especially a massive structure like this (not a trailer home's thin roof, for example). I have not seen any footage of the structure leading up to the self ventilate. But of course, the roof is made to keep rain out so it will keep smoke in.

The investigators are going to have to find out if there was enough available oxygen for the fire load to burn hot enough to find (breach a wall) enough oxygen. I don't have a blueprint in front of me, I don't know. Other questions would be, if indeed this was an attic fire, is what all was in storage, how long ago if at all fire retardant was applied and where, and does our construction company have in their SOPs an overwatch with a fire extinguisher ready at all times when performing fire-risk operations especially say using a grinder in a wooden attic full of oil soaked canvas.

And the work crew, I think they are going to rather have a series of amateur colonoscopies compared to this investigation. And the poor slobs who came up with the SOPs better lube up.

Remember, this is a science, and there may be variable which may or may not be solved but can be guessed. Take all this information, and find if the fire burned hot enough long enough before the oxygen was used up, to find enough oxygen to self sustain.

So even if you have a recording of Carl calling in the fire, "Merde, I set the room full of old Christmas trees on fire and need help now!" still going to check it out for accelerates.

I will make the prediction that the identities of the work crew will remain secret for their own protection I bet that has been made quite clear to everyone involved, and this will official be a work accident no matter what. Now, if there are leaks, or if shit start blowing up places and nobody knows who or why, well then....
Posted by: swksvolFF || 04/16/2019 16:52 Comments || Top||

#17  Thanks Kansas.
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/16/2019 18:07 Comments || Top||

#18  Two world wars and no problem, no fire in hundreds of years. Suddenly a work crew shows up and everything goes to kak. You have to wonder.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/16/2019 18:29 Comments || Top||

#19  Best I can do with 48 hour information and not-a-professional. For instance, there is a somewhat different account of a smoke/heat detector tripping and being investigated. What I find interesting about this, is when I'm cooking steak and peppers in the kitchen and the smoke detector goes off, its pretty obvious that the kitchen is smokey. Heat detector, I would hope the inspectors had thermal cameras because that is what we use and they are fantastic and affordable nowadays, where you can zoom in and where the little plus is, is the displayed temperature. Long gone are the days of having the non-smoking firefighters walk the building touching walls for heat and sniffing the air.

That there were heat/smoke detectors seems consistent and connected to a system. What information they keep track of can be used to help recreate the spread of the fire. Important if the first time anyone knows something is wrong is when the flames breach to roof or embers are falling on the attendees.

Even if Carl phoned it in right away, still good information if just to confirm the call.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 04/16/2019 18:38 Comments || Top||

#20  If you take a look at the structural elements of the interior (basically a bunch of timber), I think you'll conclude that this was a conflagration waiting to happen. The miracle is that it did not happen sooner. They should probably have retrofitted some fire prevention measures, including perhaps halon and sprinkler systems. Given the historical value, anything more than fire alarms would have been controversial. After this fire, I expect resistance to such measures for other similarly antique and fire-prone structures to be much more muted.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 04/16/2019 19:18 Comments || Top||


French billionaire pledges €100 million to rebuild Notre Dame
[The Hill] A French billionaire has pledged to donate 100 million euros to help rebuild the Notre Dame Cathedral after the historic building was engulfed in a fire Monday.

Francois-Henri Pinault, who owns the French luxury group Kering, made the pledge to AFP. Kering owns luxury fashion brands including Gucci and Saint Laurent.

"My father [Francois Pinault] and I have decided to release as of now from the funds of Artemis a sum of 100 million euros to participate in the effort that will be necessary for the complete reconstruction of Notre Dame," Pinault said in a statement, according to BuzzFeed News.

Monday's massive blaze destroyed much of the cathedral, including its spire and stained-glass windows.

After originally believing that the fire would destroy the entire building, authorities later said that the cathedral had been saved from "total destruction" and that the structure's iconic bell towers were intact.

Police told CNN on Monday evening that the fire was under control.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/16/2019 03:45 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ...The pictures coming from Notre Dame this morning are, quite frankly, amazing - the roof, spire, and rose windows of course are gone, but the interior looks intact and undamaged to an extent that I simply would not have believed last night. It's going to take every cent (or Euro) of that money to get her back to normal, but it could have been far, far worse.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 04/16/2019 4:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Mike, it will still be worse when the politicians get there look in.

I'm still not ruling out a mosque attachment somehow.
Posted by: AlanC || 04/16/2019 7:11 Comments || Top||

#3  They don't make them like they used to.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/16/2019 7:15 Comments || Top||

#4  I'm still not ruling out a mosque attachment somehow.

My guess is you'll not be waiting long.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/16/2019 7:17 Comments || Top||

#5  It seems that - and it would be a miracle - that the priceless 13 century roses are still intact. At least this is what one eyewitness, the speaker of the cathedral, says:

"De ce que j'ai pu voir, les vitraux n'avaient pas été touchés, les trois belles roses qui datent des 12e et 13e siècle étaient encore là", explique sur BFM Paris André Finot, porte-parole de la cathédrale, qui a pu pénétrer dans la nef durant la nuit."

https://www.bfmtv.com/culture/notre-dame-de-paris-les-vitraux-des-rosaces-intacts-l-orgue-epargne-par-les-flammes-1674129.html#page/contribution/index

This would be fantastic.
Posted by: European Conservative || 04/16/2019 8:02 Comments || Top||

#6  linky at Instapundit - “But because it survived largely intact into the digital era, Notre Dame lives on in the virtual world, too—and that may make its restoration all the more complete. For the last half-decade or so, an architectural historian named Andrew Tallon worked with laser scanners to capture the entirety of the cathedral’s interior and exterior in meticulous 3D point clouds.”

If you don't have the architects' drawings, you do have a backup.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/16/2019 8:21 Comments || Top||

#7  I'm just glad it wasn't worse. Props to the firefighters on saving most of the building.
Posted by: DarthVader || 04/16/2019 9:01 Comments || Top||

#8  "On Tuesday, the family of his arch-rival, Bernard Arnault, who owns the luxury group LVMH, announced a €200 million donation. Others raised the total to nearly $700 million, including $50 million from the City of Paris." Reported at Drudge.
Posted by: JohnQC || 04/16/2019 17:44 Comments || Top||

#9  Some of the politicos have ruled out arson before the investigation has started.
Posted by: JohnQC || 04/16/2019 17:54 Comments || Top||

#10  I finally found out why I lost Salma Hayek to this clown
Posted by: Frank G || 04/16/2019 19:31 Comments || Top||


'We WILL rebuild Notre Dame': French president Macron
[Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News] French President Emmanuel Macron has vowed to rebuild Notre Dame with help from the international community after a devastating fire gutted the famous cathedral on Monday night.

Speaking just hours after the roof of the 850-year-old building caved in, Macron told the world's assembled press that a national fundraising campaign to restore Notre Dame would be launched Tuesday, and he called on the world's 'greatest talents' to help.

The French leader credited the 'courage' and 'great professionalism' of firefighters with sparing Notre Dame's facade and two landmark towers from being destroyed.

In an impassioned speech outside the cathedral, Mr Macron said: 'We will appeal to the greatest talents and we will rebuild Notre-Dame because that's what the French are waiting for, because that's what our history deserves, because it's our deepest destiny.'

Late on Monday evening fire chiefs confirmed that the structure of the cathedral has been saved, despite initial fears it may be entirely destroyed.
Posted by: Fred || 04/16/2019 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  As a mosque, Emmanuel?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 04/16/2019 6:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Daily Mail has good coverage and lots of photos.
Posted by: JohnQC || 04/16/2019 17:53 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Jewish Leaders Invited to WH as Dems Face Accusations of Anti-Semitism
[Daily Caller] The Trump White House will host more than 70 Jewish community leaders to discuss "pertinent issues" on Tuesday as the Democratic Party faces accusations of anti-Semitism.

American Jewish leaders recently received an invitation to meet with key White House officials for a "discussion" "pertinent issues impacting the community," Jewish Insider reported on Friday.

A White House official confirmed to The Daily Caller that the event would be taking place.

"On Tuesday, April 16, the White House will host more than 70 Jewish non-profit leaders, business leaders, and rabbis to meet with senior administration officials. This is part of our ongoing and regular engagement with community and business leaders," the official told the Caller.

The official did not say which issues would be discussed during the meeting, although it will occur as President Donald Trump prepares to release his plan to bring peace to the Middle East. The plan has been one of the key projects for White House senior aide and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and few details have been made public.

The meeting will also take place as freshman congresswomen in the Democratic Party face accusations of anti-Semitism. In 2012, Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar accused Israel of "hypnotizing the world," and since taking office has used several anti-Semitic tropes to denounce Israeli influence on American politics.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/16/2019 04:25 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Huge change compared to Barry's guests stacking pray rugs in the oval.
Posted by: Woodrow || 04/16/2019 7:06 Comments || Top||

#2  That Trump! Worst Hitler Ever(tm)
Posted by: SteveS || 04/16/2019 11:20 Comments || Top||


Five reasons why campaign cash is rolling in for Trump and even Goldman Sachs is forecasting victory
[American Thinker] Here's something to give the Trump-hating left some heartburn, from Axios:
The Trump campaign told the AP on Sunday that it raised more than $30 million in the first quarter of 2019, bringing its total cash on hand to $40.8 million.

Why it matters: The AP notes that this is "an unprecedented war chest for an incumbent president this early in a campaign," especially with the Republican National Committee also raising $45.8 million in the first quarter ‐ bringing the pro-Trump effort's total cash on hand to $82 million. 99% of donations were $200 or less, with an average contribution of $34.26.

Massive money amounts. Tiny dollar increments. For every $100 check, there were probably a dozen $5 checks based on an average like that. It spells massive grassroots support. The deplorables are roused.

Axios thinks it's because President Trump started his fundraising early. I am sure it was an advantage, and good leaders always plan ahead.

But more likely, other factors, far more painful for leftists to accept, are at work:

One, the Trump economy is spectacular. After being ignored and patronized for decades by Republican and Democratic presidents alike, workers are now in charge of the job market under President Trump's policies and leadership, seeing an array of jobs before their eyes. Not only do they now have jobs after a long, long drought, but they have their choice of jobs. The jobless numbers are at record lows, and it extends well into the disadvantaged groups in the job market, who always see less ‐ blacks, Hispanics, women, handicapped people, ex-convicts. They're all seeing record-low unemployment. That's empowerment unlike anything a welfare "program" can hand out. It's also reason enough to re-elect anyone. Free-market economics works every time you try it.

Two, the Democratic clown car of candidates keeps driving ever more crazily. The now twenty-some Democrats seeking to unseat Trump are all offering extravagant new government programs as a substitute for jobs, in an amazing array of virtue-signaling flavors. They're all selling the same socialism, yet the only contest between them is to see who can be more socialist. They're also running on identity politics, with Democratic leaders blatantly manipulating these cookie-cutter socialists in a bid to present just the right black-woman-gay-Latino-Asian combination for the Trump-toppling vote. Already Democratic voters themselves seem to be resisting that cynical packaging, because the top Democratic candidates, according to the polls, are all white males ‐ Bernie Sanders, Beto O'Rourke, undeclared Joe Biden, and Pete Buttigieg. Something is falling flat for the puppetmasters.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/16/2019 03:58 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Much of what Goldman Sachs says (or does, just ask the Greeks) is a contrarian signal.
Posted by: Clem || 04/16/2019 7:03 Comments || Top||

#2  The Dems keep digging - searching for the Oak Island treasure. I remember reading about that 40-50 years ago. Now it has its own Teevee show!
Posted by: Bobby || 04/16/2019 8:58 Comments || Top||

#3  Now it has its own Teevee show!

With very poor acting.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/16/2019 10:59 Comments || Top||

#4  I am on Trump's email list. He has a hyper active fund raising effort. But the emails don't just ask for money, they ade full of news about issues, places to go online that are Trump friendly sites, congressmen to call about this or about that, surveys about decisions Trump made.

These emails are aggressive in not supporting the pubs or the dims. They are a means of building a new hyper-active Trump political organization.
Posted by: Ebbavirt Clunk4147 || 04/16/2019 14:02 Comments || Top||

#5  ..from what I see, it looks like a family business. At least in their favor, they appear to be competent. I think we may have found our Vespasian.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/16/2019 18:07 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Rough seas (> 10) cause SpaceX to lose Falcon Heavy center core.
[The Verge] SpaceX successfully landed the center core of its Falcon Heavy rocket on a drone ship last week, but the vehicle accidentally fell into the ocean while in transit to the Florida coast. The company blamed the loss on choppy seas.

“Over the weekend, due to rough sea conditions, SpaceX’s recovery team was unable to secure the center core booster for its return trip to Port Canaveral,” SpaceX said in a statement to The Verge. “As conditions worsened with eight to ten foot swells, the booster began to shift and ultimately was unable to remain upright. While we had hoped to bring the booster back intact, the safety of our team always takes precedence. We do not expect future missions to be impacted.”
Actual deleted Musk tweet said 10 meter swells
Posted by: 3dc || 04/16/2019 01:08 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  autonomous spaceport drone ship (ASDS)
Posted by: Skidmark || 04/16/2019 6:37 Comments || Top||

#2  Amazing rockets.
Posted by: Woodrow || 04/16/2019 7:01 Comments || Top||

#3  Always a risk when you recover rocket parts at sea. It does suck, but itsn't the end of the world for SpaceX.
Posted by: DarthVader || 04/16/2019 9:24 Comments || Top||

#4  Excuse me, but hasn't SpaceX heard of tie-downs or maybe a framework that holds the booster on the platform?
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 04/16/2019 10:05 Comments || Top||

#5  May make it top heavy and in danger of losing the platform as well if it capsizes. Just my speculation but it makes sense they would prefer to lose the rocket rather than the whole enchilada.
Posted by: DarthVader || 04/16/2019 11:08 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2019-04-16
  Violence and dozens of arson attacks in Copenhagen after anti-Islam politician throws Koran in migrant neighbourhood
Mon 2019-04-15
  Notre Dame Cathedral is burning
Sun 2019-04-14
  Taliban’s shadow governor for Helmand succumbs to injuries sustained in an airstrike
Sat 2019-04-13
  Algerian police fire water cannon at protesters
Fri 2019-04-12
  Sudan President al-Bashir officially arrested
Thu 2019-04-11
  Ecuador withdraws asylum from Julian Assange, arrested by UK police
Wed 2019-04-10
  Election Council Rejects Erdogan's Party Demand for Full Istanbul Recount
Tue 2019-04-09
  Maryland man accused of stealing U-Haul truck in 'ISIS-inspired attack'
Mon 2019-04-08
  Major showdown brewing in Tripoli as rival Libyan forces clash near capital city
Sun 2019-04-07
  Libya U.S. forces supporting U.S. Africa Command temporarily relocated
Sat 2019-04-06
  Egypt kills hundreds of suspected militants in disputed gun battles
Fri 2019-04-05
  German police arrest teen who says he planned shooting
Thu 2019-04-04
  Libya’s General Haftar marches on Tripoli
Wed 2019-04-03
  Bouteflika resigns
Tue 2019-04-02
  US suspends F-35 deliveries to Turkey over Russian S-400 deal

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