Islamic Terrorists are Richer than Snot -- How Are the Mermaids Biting? -- Congress Goes Home, but Will They Stay There? -- LA Cops Shoot First and Don't Let Anyone Ask Questions Later.

IRBIL, Iraq — More than a year after the collapse of its self-declared caliphate, the Islamic State is sitting on a mountain of stolen cash and gold that its leaders stashed away to finance terrorist operations and ensure the organization’s survival years into the future, intelligence officials and terrorism experts say.

by Joby Warrick for the Washington Post

Terrorists have got a way

of making all their actions pay.

They rob the poor, they rob the rich;

for gold and cash they have an itch.

It's their belief that infidels

can't spend a dime in their own hells.

And so they rob like Al Capone

while praising Allah on his throne.

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 All told, warming ocean temperatures are pushing hundreds of marine species outside of their traditional ranges, ocean scientists say.

by Robert Lee Hotz for the WSJ

I hope the currents bring to me
a mermaid from the warming sea.
Now that the poles are melting fast,
a water nymph would be a blast.
Who cares that cod play hide and seek?
I'll kiss a kelpie on her cheek!
And maybe dive below the waves
to live among the naiad caves.
I bet the merfolk come to call
when all their fish we cannot trawl.

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Friday evening, House and Senate leaders sent their members home.

by Jennifer Haberkorn for the LATimes

Congress has gone home at last,

having very little passed.

Government shuts down today

(Gee, I hope they stay away . . . )

Peace on earth, goodwill to men

(Till Congress has to meet again!)

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California police have a long history of shredding records to avoid scrutiny of their actions.

by Liam Dillon & Jack Dolan for the LATimes

I think the cops in Inglewood

would likely be misunderstood

if public records told a tale

that proved a law enforcement fail.

And LA gendarmes do not need

to pile up documents, indeed.

Tis better for good law and order

to send that stuff across the border.

In San Francisco I am sure

the constables are clean and pure.

But should there be the slightest doubt,

they'll shred reports like sauerkraut.

So if you want to know what's true

about the boys and girls in blue,

you'd better ask a gypsy crone

to curse them with a cover blown. 

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