I'd Love to Change the World - but I am afraid it is too late!

Shamima Begum who fled UK to join Isis (and now wants to come back) has given birth, says family

"Shamima Begum, 19, who left the UK with two school friends in 2015, spoke to the Times earlier this week from the al-Hawl refugee camp in north-eastern Syria."

Tasnime Akunjee (the family lawyer) said the family had been told Begum gave birth on Saturday to a boy and that mother and son were doing well.

He said the news of the birth had changed the dynamics of the situation and added pressure on the government to let Begum, and now her child, back.

Her family have called on the British government to allow her to return to the UK so her child can be cared for in “peace and security”. But the home secretary, Sajid Javid, said he would not hesitate to block her return.

“My message is clear: if you have supported terrorist organisations abroad I will not hesitate to prevent your return,” he said. “If you do manage to return you should be ready to be questioned, investigated and potentially prosecuted.”

Writing in the Sunday Times, Javid said: “As a father I feel compassion for anyone born or brought into a conflict zone. But in considering what actions need to be taken now, I have to think about the safety and security of children living in our country.”

In a statement issued on Friday, the family said her apparent lack of regret for joining Isis should be seen as the “words of a girl who was groomed at the age of 15”.

What do you think? Should the UK let her back in, now that she has a child?

"10 Financial Choices You'll Regret in 10 Years"

Credit.com: Life is full of financial decisions, some simple, some complex, but all with the potential to make a real impact on your life. In a decade, your world can look quite a bit different than it is today – all because of these decisions.

Today I'd like to focus on some financial choices you're likely to regret in 10 years. I'd like to save you from the pain, the chaos and the heartache that occurs when people make these decisions.

Put these on your not-to-do list. You'll be glad you did.

10. Letting Recurring Expenses Rule Your Budget

Have a high smartphone bill? Paying too much for garbage service each month? How about that cable TV bill – how many channels do you have that you don't really watch?

9. Not Getting on the Same Financial Page With Your Spouse

If you want to crash and burn financially, not getting on the same page with your spouse about money is a surefire way to do it.

When you got married, you became one – one in purpose.

8. Putting Retirement on the Back Burner

Saving for retirement is critical. If you're trusting Social Security to be your sole source of income, think again. It's not likely that you'll be able to maintain your lifestyle with Social Security benefits alone. If you would be able to, congratulations, you're living pretty frugally!

7. Ignoring Your Insurance Options

If you were to die right now, would your family be financially OK? If not, you may need life insurance.

6. Letting Hubris Get in the Way of Smart Investing

If you're not a financial professional or haven't been exposed to financial education, you really can make some huge mistakes by going it alone. That's not to say some people can't do it, but you may regret it down the road when you try to short a stock (a move that the pros make) and end up losing a huge amount of money. Investing in your own financial education by at least meeting with an adviser, however, is smart.

5. Buying a New Vehicle When You Can't Afford It

Vehicles are important for many people, but they can also become a discretionary black hole. If you are planning on buying or leasing a vehicle when you know you don't have the money, please don't.

4. Neglecting Your Emergency Fund

Emergency funds help protect you from the inevitable. You're going to have a financial setback at some point. It could be a few hundred dollars, or a few thousand.

3. Buying a Financial Product Without Doing Your Homework

I know a woman who paid more than $3,500 in variable annuity fees and didn't even know it. Don't think it can't happen to you.

2. Not Paying Off Credit Card Balances Every Month

Credit card debt can pile up fast. If you're not paying off your credit cards every month, you should start. The interest on credit cards can divert money from other important goals like buying a home or saving for retirement. (You can make a credit card payoff plan using this calculator.)

1. Waiting to Start a Budget

Have you procrastinated on starting a budget? It's time to sit down and get your spending under control.

The beautiful thing about a budget is that it not only keeps you on track with your spending, but it tells you what you should feel free to spend. Have you ever eyed a triple-scoop ice cream cone and thought to yourself, "You know what, I'm not sure I should buy this – perhaps I'm spending too much money on little things."

No more, my friend. No more. When you have a budget, you know how much you can spend and still be OK.

The long-term benefits of having a budget are incredible.

Former prosecutor: "She's going to have to be charged with a crime."

"Can Clinton Run The Gov't From A Prison Cell?"

Former federal prosecutor Joseph DiGenova stirred the Hillary Clinton hornets' nest Tuesday when he said on talk radio that he is convinced "she's not going to be able to complete her campaign" because "she's going to have to be charged with a crime."

"Her biggest problem right now is the FBI. They're not going away," DiGenova said on the "Laura Ingraham Show." "They have reached a critical mass in their investigation of the secretary and all of her senior staff. And it's going to come to a head, I would suggest, in the next 60 days. And I predict Hillary will not make it to the finish line."

DiGenova said that investigators have found more than 1,200 classified emails from the private Clinton account, and he indicated that they are likely to recover more from her hard drive. The evidence that the FBI is finding against her is so compelling that Attorney General Loretta Lynch will have no choice but to charge Clinton, he believes. If Lynch resists, "there will be a massive revolt inside the FBI, which she will not be able to survive as an attorney general. It will be like Watergate." 

So overwhelming is the evidence, explains DiGenova, that if there's no indictment, the FBI "will never be able to charge another federal employee with the negligent handling of classified information. The intelligence community will not stand for that. They will fight for indictment."

Meanwhile... Joe Biden on 2016 decision: 'I regret it every day'

What's the easiest way to ruin your life in one move?

Reddit top voted answers...

Taking a semester off to go work in San Antonio for cable auditing company that promised $1500 per week in commissions.

Duck driving shit drunk.

Relying on other people for happiness, as soon as you give people that power, you will forever be chasing happiness and you will never fufill it.

Get a tattoo of a swastika on your forehead.

"I do".

There were other top voted answers in this Reddit thread I left out. Let's just say it's really easy to ruin your life. And now I'm wondering maybe I shouldn't have posted this. How do I turn this post around...

I ate everything

This sounds like a wise girl. Hilariously wise girl. 

The key frame says, "Peanut butter and raisins" and that right there puts me in stitches all over again. Her list went on and on and on. I picture a girl-vacuum cleaner going around sucking in everything edible. I have no idea how old she is, as for myself by way of comparison, I was very late on the uptake, slow in making the connection between what I ate and poo that comes out. Until very late it was all just some mysterious thing I'd rather not think about, part of the tragedy and part of the unfortunate comedy of the human experience. A thing between my relationship with deity. Sometimes I would pray, "Lord, why did you make me, an angel, start out in human form? Why such low estate? Why the people of the mud? It's embarrassing. And as far as I can tell the Lord's all, "Oh, get over yourself already, that's part of it."  From my point of view this girl is philosophically advanced.

If only she had mentioned habanero chile sauce competition, double stuffed burritos, feast things like turkey, ham and lamb, tamales and guacamole salsa, soul food like black eye peas with smoked ham hock and chard. She paints a vivid picture.

It sounded like a girl to me, I suppose it could be a boy talking. 

Adam Lanza's father: “I want people to be afraid of the fact that this could happen to them,”

"Since the shootings, Peter has avoided the press, but in September, as the first anniversary of his son’s rampage approached, he contacted me (New Yorker writer Andrew Solomon) to say that he was ready to tell his story..."

Peter hadn’t seen his son for two years at the time of the Sandy Hook killings, and, even with hindsight, he doesn’t think that the catastrophe could have been predicted. But he constantly thinks about what he could have done differently and wishes he had pushed harder to see Adam. “Any variation on what I did and how my relationship was had to be good, because no outcome could be worse,” he said. Another time, he said, “You can’t get any more evil,” and added, “How much do I beat up on myself about the fact that he’s my son? A lot.”

 

Interview subjects usually have a story they want to tell, but Peter Lanza came to these conversations as much to ask questions as to answer them. It’s strange to live in a state of sustained incomprehension about what has become the most important fact about you. “I want people to be afraid of the fact that this could happen to them,” he said.

Skipping down to the last two paragraphs...

The last time I saw Peter, he had taken out a picture of himself at the beach with his two sons. “One thing that struck me about that picture is that it’s clear that he’s loved,” he said. Peter has dreamed about Adam every night since the event, dreams of pervasive sadness rather than fear; he had told me that he could not be afraid of his fate as Adam’s father, even of being murdered by his son. Recently, though, he had had the worst nightmare of his life. He was walking past a door; a figure in the door began shaking it violently. Peter could sense hatred, anger, “the worst possible evilness,” and he could see upraised hands. He realized it was Adam. “What surprised me is that I was scared as shit,” he recounted. “I couldn’t understand what was happening to me. And then I realized that I was experiencing it from the perspective of his victims.”

I wondered how Peter would feel if he could see his son again. “Quite honestly, I think that I wouldn’t recognize the person I saw,” he said. “All I could picture is there’d be nothing there, there’d be nothing. Almost, like, ‘Who are you, stranger?’ ” Peter declared that he wished Adam had never been born, that there could be no remembering who he was outside of who he became. “That didn’t come right away. That’s not a natural thing, when you’re thinking about your kid. But, God, there’s no question. There can only be one conclusion, when you finally get there. That’s fairly recent, too, but that’s totally where I am.”

The New Yorker