As of Tuesday night, protesters set up tents outside the embassy in the Iraqi capital where they said they intended to stage a sit-in “until American troops leave Iraq and the embassy is closed.” About 100 Marines are being sent to the embassy to bolster security and an Army Apache helicopter flew over the premises and dropped flares in a "show of force", hoping to disburse the crowd, a U.S. defense official told Fox News.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/crowd-shouting-down-usa-attempts-to-storm-us-embassy-in-baghdad-report-says

From The NY Times

Posting this while that's still the score. This is not looking good.

Go Hoos!

Clemson Football Wins on the Field But Can’t Compete on Profit

Financially, however, the Tigers aren’t in the same league as others in college football’s royalty. They enter this weekend’s semifinals earning just a fraction of what other playoff teams generate annually.

Clemson made a $7.6 million profit on football in fiscal 2018, according to documents obtained through open-records requests. That’s dwarfed by the University of Oklahoma’s $73.3 million, Ohio State University at $64.6 million and Louisiana State University‘s $55 million.

A number of factors explain the shortfall. Clemson, the smallest of the four schools, sold $24.9 million in tickets in 2018, the lowest total and less than half of Ohio State’s $59.3 million. The school also gets the smallest media payment of playoff teams, by virtue of playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference, which doesn’t attract the same attention as the Big 12, the Big Ten and the SEC.

Clemson also reported the highest football expenses in 2018, according to the filings. Tigers coach Dabo Swinney is the highest paid coach in the country, with a 10-year contract worth more than $93 million.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-27/clemson-football-wins-on-the-field-but-can-t-compete-on-profit

Armed, Vegan Troop of All-Women Bad Asses, Taking Down Poachers along Africa’s Zambezi Left and Right



(EnviroNews World News) — The International Anti-Poaching Foundation (IAPF) has recruited women to protect the world’s natural heritage along Africa’s Zambezi River. The Akashinga, or “Brave Ones,” is a privately-funded, highly-trained, vegan group of local women from extremely disadvantaged backgrounds assigned to protect the Lower Zambezi Ecosystem along the Zambian and Zimbabwean border. The goal is to recruit 2,000 women in an effort to protect 30 million acres of African wild lands by 2030.

Founded in early 2017 by former Australian Special Operations soldier Damien Mander as part of his approach to end poaching in Africa, the Akashinga is the first fully armed, all-women, anti-poaching team in Africa. (The Black Mambas of South Africa are the first female anti-poaching team; they are unarmed.)




The choice for Mander to go vegan, and also insist on his team being vegan, hinged on the realization that they were going out to protect one group of animals and coming back to eat another. He couldn’t live with that hypocrisy, and wanted to protect his team from the scrutiny it would surely receive if members were still eating meat.

His experience in Iraq with American female soldiers helped change his mind. His training experience with the Akashinga solidified his belief.

“Thirty-six women started our training, modeled on our special-forces training, and we pushed them hard, much harder than any training we do with men — we put them through hell,” Mander told The Guardian. “Only three dropped out. I couldn’t believe it.”

https://www.environews.tv/world-news/091319-armed-vegan-troop-of-all-women-bad-asses-taking-down-poachers-along-africas-zambezi-left-and-right/

http://www.youcandealwithit.com/

https://www.boredpanda.com/funny-christmas-fails-accidents/



#2 Gift I Received. Wrapped In A Such A Way That It Appears As If Linus And Patty Are Getting It On In Front Of Marcie




#6 When The Christmas Card Photo Shoot With The Sheep Goes Wrong






#18 Isnt That Called Arson?

The full list is here.
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/28356861/the-all-all-america-team-college-football-150th-anniversary

Most of the spotlight is always on the skill positions. Mostly I agree.

RB's Jim Brown - Herschel | Bo - Archie Griffin ... only four spots so I guess Earl Campbell got left out. WR's Rice - Larry Fitzgerald | Randy Moss - Biletnikoff...... mmm I saw Moss play several times and he was well there are no words. Seems like Rice made it on his pro career because the scouts might have known about him but no one else really did. Biletnikoff seems like a nostalgia pick.

All purpose - Johnny Rodgers | Tim Brown. I'd say Tim Brown was one of the best I ever saw on TV. I'd put him as WR.

QB's. Staubach | Peyton's Manning. Roger seems like a nostalgia pick. Manning? He never won a big game and his record against Florida was the subject of jokes. I know they aren't going to put him on the list but Michael Vick was, to me, the epitome of a college game QB. Run and pass. For all the Tech history under Beamer, Vick is the only one who got them to a championship game.

Deion, Woodson, and Ronnie Lott were always going to be on the list. Nice to see Norfolk's Kenny Easley on the list.

In the Catholic Church’s latest frivolous waste of money, a Louisiana priest got a pilot to fly up and spray 100 gallons of holy water over the city of Cow Island as a way to bless the people.

It was so successful, says Rev. Matthew Barzare of St. Anne Church, that he wants to make it an annual tradition. Maybe next year they can spray 300 gallons! (Who knows how he calculated the success rate.)

“Most parishes have a central location, but my area that I have to cover is a good 30 minutes to the next church, and so by plane, we realized, it might be the easiest way to sprinkle people’s fields, rather than me going in a car to different locations,” he said.

Some churches help the homeless over the holidays. Others are donating money to clear medical debt. This guy’s sprinkling some water on the ground from the air — with all the costs associated with that — and pretending he’s making a difference.

https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2019/12/24/the-catholic-church-out-of-good-ideas-sprayed-a-louisiana-city-with-holy-water/