The last time Baltimore had a Republican mayor was over 53 years ago.

Baltimore Mayor Begs Residents To Stop Shooting Each Other So Hospital Beds Can Be Used For Coronavirus Patients

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Baltimore Mayor Jack Young urged residents to put down their guns and heed orders to stay home after multiple people were shot Tuesday night amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

Young said hospital beds are needed to treat positive COVID-19 patients and not for senseless violence. Seven people were shot Tuesday night in the Madison Park neighborhood, as Baltimore reported its fifth positive coronavirus case Wednesday.

“I want to reiterate how completely unacceptable the level of violence is that we have seen recently,” Young said. “We will not stand for mass shootings and an increase in crime.”

“For those of you who want to continue to shoot and kill people of this city, we’re not going to tolerate it,” Young implored. “We’re going to come after you and we’re going to get you.”

He urged people to put down their guns because “we cannot clog up our hospitals and their beds with people that are being shot senselessly because we’re going to need those beds for people infected with the coronavirus. And it could be your mother, your grandmother or one of your relatives. So take that into consideration.”

 

Another instance of failure in the victim selection process.
But “…investigating to see if the shooting was justified? “SMH”

Woman fights back, shoots suspect after 5 men try to rob her at ATM

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Police said a woman was in her car at a Wells Fargo ATM in north Charlotte when she said five men tried to rob her, but she pulled out a gun and shot one of them.

It happened around 2:30 a.m. at a Wells Fargo on Beatties Ford Road near Interstate 85.

Police said a 17-year-old boy called 911 to say he had been shot and officers found him behind a church next to the ATM.

He was taken to the hospital in serious condition.

Authorities are investigating to determine if the shooting was justified.

Apollo 15 Astronaut Al Worden passes

Former astronaut Alfred M. Worden, command module pilot on the Apollo 15 lunar landing, passed away March 18, 2020, in Texas.

“I’m deeply saddened to hear that Apollo astronaut Al Worden has passed away,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted about Worden. “Al was an American hero whose achievements in space and on Earth will never be forgotten. My prayers are with his family and friends.”

As command module pilot, Worden stayed in orbit while commander David Scott and lunar module pilot James B. Irwin explored the Moon’s Hadley Rille and Appennine Mountains. Apollo 15’s command module, dubbed Endeavour, was the first to have its own module of scientific instruments. During the flight back from the Moon, Worden made three spacewalks to retrieve film from cameras in the module. Altogether, Worden logged more than 295 hours in space.

“The thing that was most interesting to me was taking photographs of very faint objects with a special camera that I had on board,” Worden told Smithsonian Magazine in 2011. “These objects reflect sunlight, but it’s very, very weak and you can’t see it from [Earth]. There are several places between the Earth and the moon that are stable equilibrium points. And if that’s the case, there has to be a dust cloud there. I got pictures of that.”

Like other command module pilots, Worden stayed as busy as his colleagues on the surface. But he also took some time to enjoy the view.

“Every time I came around the moon I went to a window and watched the Earth rise and that was pretty unique.”

After retirement from active duty in 1975, Worden became President of Maris Worden Aerospace, Inc., and was Vice-President of BF Goodrich Aerospace Brecksville, Ohio, in addition to other positions within the aerospace and aviation industries. Worden wrote several books: a collection of poetry, “Hello Earth: Greetings from Endeavour” in 1974; a children’s book, “I Want to Know About a Flight to the Moon”, also in 1974; and a memoir, “Falling to Earth,” in 2011. His interest in educating children about space led to an appearance on “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood”.

Worden was born Feb. 7, 1932, in Jackson, Michigan, on February 7, 1932. He was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduating in 1955. He earned master of science degrees in astronautical/aeronautical engineering and instrumentation engineering from the University of Michigan in 1963. In 1971, the University of Michigan awarded him an honorary doctorate of science in astronautical engineering.

Before becoming an astronaut, Worden was an instructor at the Aerospace Research Pilots School. He had also served as a pilot and armament officer from March 1957 to May 1961 with the 95th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland.

Worden was one of 19 astronauts selected by NASA in April 1966. He served as a member of the astronaut support crew for Apollo 9 and as backup command module pilot for Apollo 12.

After leaving the astronaut corps, Worden moved to NASA’s Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. He was the Senior Aerospace Scientist there from 1972-73, and then chief of the Systems Study Division until 1975.

 

New? Good grief.
We had the 320 in the Army inventory over 10 years ago.

New Marine Grenade Launchers Get Rave Reviews After Field Tests

In its quest to be more lethal than America’s adversaries, the Marine Corps is rolling out a new grenade launcher.

The M320A1 has a range of 150 meters on a single target, which might be a window, and a 350-meter maximum range on an area target, according to The Washington Times.

The new grenade launcher can be used by itself or mounted onto another weapon, such as the M27 rifle.

The new grenade launcher will allow Marines to lob 40-millimeter projectiles at an enemy in either day or night, according to a news release from Marine Corps Systems Command.

The weapon is being issued to Marines from the II Marine Expeditionary Force at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and is expected to go service-wide by 2024.

Too Much Freedom & My Ability to Say, “NO,” & Instantly Enforce It

How do I explain it?

Contrary to leftist dogma, I don’t carry a concealed pistol in public because I secretly harbor some surreptitious desire to shoot criminals, any more than I keep a fire extinguisher in my home and vehicle because I harbor some consuming desire to put out fires.

I consider these practices, both involving sensible emergency/safety equipment, to represent reasonable and prudent precautions. Ones we all sincerely hope never become necessary.

Anyone even vaguely familiar with what we all laughingly call our “Justice System” knows and understands the legal, financial, and emotional trauma that invariably attends any shooting incident, regardless of participants, circumstances, nor outcome. It is the last thing any rational person, including me, ever wants to become involved in!

Yet, I carry a concealed pistol, so that I can place absolute limits on what people can do to me and those in my charge.

So that I can say “No,” and have that single syllable represent more than just platitudinous rhetoric, more than just a “feel-good” cliche.

As a sovereign American Citizen, I can say, “No,” and be in a position to personally, instantly enforce it, with lethal finality, upon my own summary command and judgment.

Few other civilizations trust citizens with such personal authority.

That is because, in most nations, even most Western nations, the term “citizen” is little more than a cynical euphemism! Most “citizens,” even in the West, are actually “subjects.” Subjects who have no rights, and who may enjoy only those precious few “privileges” casually bestowed upon them by the ruling elite, privileges that can be granted, or withdrawn, at a whim.

Not surprisingly, such “subjects” are routinely, arbitrarily crushed to earth and trampled upon by criminals, criminals from both the public and private sectors.

Not here in the United States!

In this Republic, a “Bill of Privileges” is found nowhere in our Constitution.

Here, we sovereign citizens have rights, and our rights are not benightedly dribbled-out to us by arrogant politicians. We are endowed with them by our Creator! Our Founding Documents say so, in unmistakable terms.

So here, self-defense is the right of every citizen. And, not just with fences, locks, alarms, warning signs, and clever rhetoric.

Our personal right of self-defense extends to lethal force.

This right has teeth, and without it, the rest are illusory.

Accordingly, this right must ever be protected from sleazy neo-Marxists who, occasionally peering-out from behind their ecumenical cadre of heavily-armed bodyguards, profess to worry about us mere citizens having “too much freedom!”

Antifa = Enemies domestic, or common criminals….or, for your consideration… both?

Antifa Leader Encourages Lawlessness, Violence During Coronavirus Panic

As the world hunkers down in preparation for the coronavirus pandemic, some social arsonists are taking the opportunity to encourage not social distancing, but social breakdown.

Communist author and Antifa leader Wendy Trevino called on her followers to disregard the law and engage in criminality by shoplifting. It’s an act that would not only damage local groceries and retailers but place a dangerous strain on the supply lines that provide countless Americans with food and lifesaving medication……

Trevino is an author published by Commune Editions, a communist poetry imprint of AK Press, a pro-antifa publishing house that has published pro-anarchist works like Full Spectrum Resistance, and  Andrew Marantz’s Anti-Social: Online Extremists, Techno-Utopians, and the Hijacking of American Conversation, a book touted by leftist journalists that calls for a return to media gatekeeping and the suppression of free speech online.

Two men shot by Washington Park business owner during attempted burglary

Two men were shot by the owner of a Washington Park salvage yard early Tuesday when they tried to burglarize the business, police said. One of the men died.

The dead man was identified as Darnel R. Gully of the 700 block of N. 71st Street in East St. Louis, according to St. Clair County Coroner Calvin Dye Sr.

Gully was pronounced dead at the scene at 7:53 a.m. in the 1900 block of Kingshighway, Dye said.

“We are in the early stages of a police investigation,” Bonds said.

Here’s what police have learned so far:

“Sometime between 1:30 a.m. and 3:30 a.m., two men hopped the fence of a salvage yard in the 1800 block of Kingshighway,” Bonds said. “The owner was at the business and started shooting when the men hopped over his fence. He struck both of them, but didn’t know he did.

“Both suspects ran and hopped over the fence to get out. One ran one way and the other fell the other way,” Bonds said.

One of the suspects fell from a bullet wound and died. The other suspect was shot in the leg. He went to a hospital for treatment and returned to the scene to look for his friend, Bonds said.

Bonds said the owner of the business called police at the time of the burglary.

Man killed in Melbourne home invasion shooting

MELBOURNE, Fla. – A man was fatally shot during a home invasion at Eagle Nest Condominiums Monday night, according to the Melbourne Police Department.

Police said after the shooting was reported around 10:19 p.m., they learned that the isolated incident involved a resident and several others in what is believed to be a home invasion.

The man who was fatally shot — 22-year-old Evan Jackman, of Rockledge — was described by authorities as a suspect.

Detectives are conducting interviews and attempting to identify and locate the others who were involved in the incident, according to a news release.

No arrests have been made.

MODEL NUMBER: 29100 CALIBER: 9MM LUGER
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Weight5.2 lb.
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Suggested Retail$799.00

Top Iranian general Shabani dies of Covid-19.

 

NKARA: Brigadier General Nasser Shabani, a commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, died from the Covid-19 coronavirus on Friday, Iran’s semi-official Fars news Agency reported.

Anadolu Agency quoted Fars as saying that Shabani began his career in 1982 during the Iran-Iraq War.

The commander is one of many leading Iranian political, religious and military figures who have been infected with or died from Covid-19.

4 murdered including 1 police officer, 2 wounded, including another police officer, shooter dead in Springfield Mo.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) – Police say a gunman shot three civilians, a Springfield police officer and then himself after an overnight attack inside a Springfield convenience store.

It happened late Sunday night at the Kum and Go on east Chestnut Expressway. Police say Joaquin S. Roman, 31, burst into the store and opened fire killing Troy Rapp, Shannon Perkins, and Matthew Hicks-Morris.

Troy Rapp, 57-year-old man, worked at the Kum and Go. Shannon Perkins, a 46-year-old man, worked for WCA Waste Corporation. Matthew Hicks-Morris, a 22-year-old man, who was a customer in the store.

One other still unidentified civilian is in critical condition.

Springfield police officer Christopher Walsh was shot when he got to the store, before Roman shot and killed himself. Officer Walsh later died at a Springfield hospital.

Police Chief Paul Williams only spoke to reporters for a few minutes Monday morning, but that was more than enough time to see and feel the pain his department is experiencing over Officer Walsh’s death.

The words were difficult for Chief Paul Williams to deliver for the first time in his 10-year career in Springfield.

“Officer Christopher Walsh suffered a fatal gunshot wound and passed away at the hospital,” Williams said.

Speaking to reporters just hours after one of his officers died in a gas station shooting, Williams took the podium and didn’t want to go beyond just the terrible facts.

“It’s way too early,” Williams said.

A string of reported shootings across southeast Springfield late Sunday night led up to Walsh’s death, ultimately leading to the Kum & Go near E. Chestnut and Highway 65.

“Officer Josiah Overton and Officer Christopher Walsh were first to arrive and were immediately fired upon by the suspect,” Williams said.

Both officers were hit.

“Officer Josiah Overton sustained non-life threatening injuries and is being treated at a local hospital,” Williams said.

Officer Overton has been with SPD for two years.

Officer Walsh joined the force in 2016. He was from Springfield. He went to Glendale High School before going through an EMT program at Ozarks Technical Community College.

“Officer Walsh was with SPD for three and a half years and was a U.S. Army veteran who remained active in the Army Reserves,” Williams said.

Officer Walsh’s Army supervisor said this is an emotional time and sent KY3 News a statement.

1st Sgt. Jason Vazquez wrote: “The 428th Transportation Company family is completely heartbroken by the loss of one of its members. Sgt. Christopher Walsh was not only a great husband and father, but an outstanding leader and Soldier.”

Officer Walsh was 32 years old. He leaves behind a wife and daughter, and a chief now leading a department that is faced with the kind of tragedy it hasn’t seen in decades.

“Both of these officers showed significant bravery and were heroic in their actions,” Williams said.

 

 

 

Disabled apartment resident shoots burglar to death

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — A disabled woman shot an intruder to death Saturday afternoon at her north Harris County apartment, according to investigators.

Around 2:50 p.m., Harris County deputies responded to the shooting at the Carrington Place Apartments in the 12700 block of FM 1960 West.

When they arrived at the scene, deputies found an 18-year-old male lying in the grass outside of Building No. 13. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Deputies said the 18-year-old and a 17-year-old male broke a resident’s patio door window. The 53-year-old disabled resident was home alone when the teens broke the window and reached inside and unlocked the door, according to investigators.

The resident fired one shot, killing the teen who was in front, deputies said.

The second suspect, Aren Lacour, as well as 18-year-old Ayanna Harrison, were detained at the scene. Deputies said Harrison was the driver of a nearby getaway vehicle.

Deputies said the getaway vehicle, a white four-door Mercedes-Benz, is linked to other burglaries in the area.

The teen who was shot has not been identified.

Felony murder charges are pending against Lacour and Harrison. They’re possibly going to be facing that charge because, according to authorities, they committed the felony offense of burglary of a habitation which resulted in the death of another person.

Harrison is also charged with tampering with evidence because deputies said she tried to conceal the pistol the deceased suspect was carrying at the time of the burglary.

1 dead [Bungler] after home invasion

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – The Lubbock Police Department is investigating a shooting after a home invasion in Central Lubbock that left one person dead.

LPD says police were called just before midnight to the 3200 block of 43rd Street. A person was trying to break into a home in the area.

The homeowner shot the suspected intruder.

That suspect tried to leave the area on a bicycle after being shot. He stopped about four blocks away on 47th Street, and was found there.

The suspect was taken to Covenant, where he was declared dead.

A Lot of People Are Finding Out You Can’t Just Buy a Gun Online

First came the panic buying of hand sanitizer.
Then, people panic bought toilet paper.
Now, food shelves are emptying and  firearm and ammunition sales are through the roof. The COVID19 outbreak might be bad for the stock market, but it’s certainly been a boon for very specific sectors of the economy. The gun industry, used to such boom/bust cycles, knows how to respond – but other sectors might not be so acclimated.

Here at Omaha Outdoors, we’ve been inundated with inquiries from out-of-state folks – many from California – asking if we can ship them a gun directly. The answer is, of course, no. Despite what politicians and many in popular media claim, you can’t buy a gun online and have it shipped to your house. Well, you could, if you were a federally licensed firearm dealer (or federally licensed curio and relic collector) and your home was your place of business. Other than that, no, you can’t buy a gun online and have it shipped, especially across state lines, to your home.

What you’ll need to do to buy a gun from us is order it on our online store and select an FFL, a federally licensed firearm dealer, during the online checkout process. We ship the gun to the dealer near you – presuming the firearm and its accessories are legal in your area – and you visit the dealer to fill out the required ATF Form 4473 and undergo the federal and any applicable state background checks. Some states might require a waiting period – sure to be a sore point at a time when people feel the need for a gun to protect themselves NOW. Only then can you take your new firearm home.

We’re not alone in noticing that usually anti-gun people are suddenly very interested in having guns. On Twitter, Robert Evans wrote, “The sheer number of normally anti-gun people who have reached out to me about buying a firearm in the last week is wild.”

And my friends who work at other gun stores have seen a crazy surge in gun buying too, with one noting that their one-day sales total exceeded Black Friday by 25%, and that 75% of buyers were purchasing their first gun. He said, in explanation, “People need to protect their toilet paper.” Another friend noted that the amount of brass cased 9mm they usually sell in a month was gone in the first week, and that everything else would be sold out soon too if things continued at this pace.

We’ve all been told to practice “social distancing” in the coming months. Firearms are, in a way, the ultimate method of enforcing social distancing. I just hope all these new gun owners learn how to safely use their guns – and that they never need them for their intended purpose.

Isis issues coronavirus travel advice: terrorists should avoid Europe

The Isis terrorist group is steering clear of Europe because of the coronavirus. Having previously urged its supporters to attack European cities, the group is now advising members to “stay away from the land of the epidemic” in case they become infected.
The group has issued a new set of “sharia directives” that instruct followers to “cover their mouths when yawning and sneezing” and to wash their hands regularly. Isis militants have plenty of experience in covering their faces, though previously they did so to hide their identities when beheading hostages on camera.
In the latest issue of its al-Naba newsletter, the group refers not to guidance from the World Health Organisation or other medical experts, but to recorded quotes by the Prophet Muhammad, known to Muslims as hadiths.
The newsletter refers to a “plague” described as a “torment sent by God on whomsoever He wills”. Another message notes: “Illnesses do not strike by themselves but by the command and decree of God.”
Isis has lost almost all its so-called caliphate in the Middle East after a string of defeats , but its fragmented remains are still active in Iraq and Syria.
The newsletter warned that the “healthy should not enter the land of the epidemic and the afflicted should not exit from it”.
But it may not be safe in the Middle East either — Iraq has already reported 101 cases of the coronavirus and 10 deaths.

Gunman killed after shooting at people during gathering in SW Houston

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A man was shot and killed after opening fire on a group of people at a gathering in southwest Houston.

Houston police responded to reports of a shooting on Oakside Drive near Anderson around 2:30 a.m. Saturday.

Police said three men got into a fight at the gathering, and one of the men started shooting.

Another man who lives at the home returned fire, shooting and killing the gunman.

Police said the two men knew each other and have hung out before. The shooter was taken downtown for questioning.

Suspect dies in shooting after robbery attempt at Radcliff pharmacy

Lived there when  I was stationed at Knox. This really doesn’t happen much there.

RADCLIFF, Ky. (WAVE) – The Radcliff Police Department are currently investigating after a suspect died during a robbery attempt at a pharmacy store.

Police headed to the scene around 9:30 a.m. Saturday morning on reports of a shooting at Apothecare Pharmacy on East Lincoln Trail Boulevard, according to The News-Enterprise.

Radcliff Police Chief Jeff Cross confirmed with WAVE 3 News that there had been a robbery attempt at that location, where an employee of the store shot the suspect.

Police said that the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.

 

‘Dead Sea Scrolls’ at the DC Museum of the Bible are all forgeries.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On the fourth floor of the Museum of the Bible, a sweeping permanent exhibit tells the story of how the ancient scripture became the world’s most popular book. A warmly lit sanctum at the exhibit’s heart reveals some of the museum’s most prized possessions: fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, ancient texts that include the oldest known surviving copies of the Hebrew Bible.

But now, the Washington, D.C. museum has confirmed a bitter truth about the fragments’ authenticity. On Friday, independent researchers funded by the Museum of the Bible announced that all 16 of the museum’s Dead Sea Scroll fragments are modern forgeries that duped outside collectors, the museum’s founder, and some of the world’s leading biblical scholars. Officials unveiled the findings at an academic conference hosted by the museum.

“The Museum of the Bible is trying to be as transparent as possible,” says CEO Harry Hargrave. “We’re victims—we’re victims of misrepresentation, we’re victims of fraud.”

In a report spanning more than 200 pages, a team of researchers led by art fraud investigator Colette Loll found that while the pieces are probably made of ancient leather, they were inked in modern times and modified to resemble real Dead Sea Scrolls. “These fragments were manipulated with the intent to deceive,” Loll says.

The new findings don’t cast doubt on the 100,000 real Dead Sea Scroll fragments, most of which lie in the Shrine of the Book, part of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. However, the report’s findings raise grave questions about the “post-2002” Dead Sea Scroll fragments, a group of some 70 snippets of biblical text that entered the antiquities market in the 2000s. Even before the new report, some scholars believed that most to all of the post-2002 fragments were modern fakes.

“Once one or two of the fragments were fake, you know all of them probably are, because they come from the same sources, and they look basically the same,” says Årstein Justnes, a researcher at Norway’s University of Agder whose Lying Pen of Scribes project tracks the post-2002 fragments.
Since its 2017 opening, the Museum of the Bible has funded research into the pieces and sent off five fragments to Germany’s Federal Institute for Materials Research for testing. In late 2018, the museum announced the results to the world: All five tested fragments were probably modern forgeries.

But what of the other 11 fragments? And how had the forgers managed to fool the world’s leading Dead Sea Scroll scholars and the Museum of the Bible?

“It really was—and still is—an interesting kind of detective story,” says Jeffrey Kloha, the Museum of the Bible’s chief curatorial officer. “We really hope this is helpful to other institutions and researchers, because we think this provides a good foundation for looking at other pieces, even if it raises other questions.”

Under the microscope

To find out more about its fragments, the Museum of the Bible reached out to Loll and her company, Art Fraud Insights, in February 2019 and charged her with conducting a thorough physical and chemical investigation of all 16 pieces. Loll was no stranger to fakes and forgeries. After getting her master’s in art history at George Washington University, Loll went on to study international art crime, run forgery investigations, and train federal agents on matters of cultural heritage.

Loll insisted on independence. Not only would the Museum of the Bible have no say on the team’s findings, her report would be final—and would have to be released to the public. The Museum of the Bible agreed to the terms. “Honestly, I’ve never worked with a museum that was so up-front,” Loll says.

Loll quickly assembled a team of five conservators and scientists. From February to October, the team periodically visited the museum and pulled together their findings. By the time their report was finalized in November 2019, the researchers were unanimous. All 16 fragments appeared to be modern forgeries…….

The Art and Science of Stick Fighting: Complete Instructional Guide

‘Sticks and stones may break my bones……..’
And ‘Cane-Fu’ is pretty good too:

“Simplicity is the shortest distance between two points.” ― Bruce Lee, The Tao of Jeet Kune Do

The best of both Eastern and Western stick fighting techniques

The Art and Science of Stick Fighting is a unique, non-style specific, approach to fighting with the short stick. Its curriculum is streamlined and divided into nine logical stages of training that allow the reader to quickly and methodically learn and develop the skills needed for fighting with the stick. Whether you are just starting out, or have been practicing stick fighting for years, there is something for everyone in this book. Also included are systematic workouts and descriptions of how to make and use specific training equipment as you learn and master The Art and Science of Stick Fighting.

The Art and Science of Stick Fighting features
Nine levels of instruction, progressing from easy to expert
Over 700 photos with motion arrows
A “nondenominational” approach to the stick, utilizing the best of Eastern and Western arts
A comprehensive, methodical approach to building stick fighting skills
This book stands apart from other stick fighting training manuals because it emphasizes the dynamics of combat. Many other books focus on forms and twirling. The author draws on thirty years of martial experience, presenting the best of both Eastern and Western traditions.

The Art and Science of Stick Fighting begins with the basics, upon which everything else relies.

A stable stance
Basic footwork
An effective guard
From there you learn different types of strikes and how to practice them in helpful, easy-to-learn patterns. The aim is to grow so comfortable wielding a stick that it is as though the stick has become an extension of your body.
Once the basics are in place, you learn the strategies and tactics of fighting with the stick at long, middle, and close range. By controlling the distance, you control the fight!

Learn important guidelines for sparring, from light contact up to full-contact training.
Learn how to construct your own padded weapons.
Learn effective fighting tips that will rev up your game.
Also included are chapters on advanced techniques; combating short ranged weapons such as a knife to long range weapons like the staff. Even detailed techniques to use when your opponent is armed but you are not!

Whether you already study the stick or are just starting out, if you want to learn how to get an edge , The Art and Science of Stick Fighting is for you!

Wash Your Hands, but Also Take a Nap

Now it’s naps too? Okay. I think I can handle this one as well as the others.

As our campuses prepare to close and plans are developed to move our courses online, faculty, staff and administrators are moving into crisis-management mode. At my institution, Duke University, our team has quickly come together, by circumstance and by choice. Emails are flying, spring breaks have been forgone, phone calls are being taken in the carpool lane and so forth. We are on it!

Except how long can we sustain this?

We already know that work-life balance is a myth in the academy, and it certainly gets skewed in times of crisis. But COVID-19 threatens to be a long-term crisis. We’re not just closing campuses now but also canceling important events in the future (even graduation, maybe?), impacting enrollments in the fall and beyond, for example. We can expect many continuing reverberations.

How are we going to sustain ourselves now and for the long term?…….

We can also remind each other to take breaks, to reassure each other that it is okay to log out of email once in a while. In my case, I reminded my colleagues to pay attention to nearby Duke Forest, where there are more trout lilies than I’ve ever seen! We need to get outside and breathe deeply of our spring air before pollen descends.

Given that we are responding to a public health crisis, it only makes sense to prioritize our personal health. Yet for many of us, that is the first thing to go.

Three U.S. troops wounded in renewed rocket attacks on Iraq’s Taji base

I guess Hezbollah needs the lesson repeated.

BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Three American troops and several Iraqi forces were wounded on Saturday in the second major rocket attack in the past week on an Iraqi base north of Baghdad, U.S. and Iraqi officials said, raising the stakes in an escalating cycle of attacks and reprisals.

Iraq’s Joint Operations Command said 33 Katyusha rockets were launched near a section of the Taji base which houses U.S.-led coalition troops. It said the military found seven rocket launchers and 24 unused rockets in the nearby Abu Izam area.

The Iraqi military said several Iraqi air defense servicemen were critically wounded. Two of the three wounded U.S. troops are seriously injured and are being treated at a military hospital in Baghdad, the Pentagon said.

Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman declined to speculate on potential U.S. responses but, in a statement, cited Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s warning last week: “You cannot attack and wound American Service Members and get away with it, we will hold them to account.”

The rocket attacks came less than two days after the United States launched retaliatory air strikes at facilities in Iraq that the Pentagon linked to the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia, which it blamed for Wednesday’s attack on Taji…..