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  • Contractors Ready to Cash In On ISIS War

    America’s rapidly-expanding war against ISIS won’t involve large numbers of U.S. troops on the ground, President Obama is promising. And it’s clear that airstrikes alone won’t beat back the extremist group. Which means that if the President wants to have any hope of meeting his far-reaching goal of destroying ISIS, he’s going to have to rely on private military contractors.

    At least, that’s what the contractors are hoping.

    At the height of the Iraq war, these firms hired hundreds of thousands of people: guns-for-hire, IT geeks, logistics specialists, interrogators, and short order cooks to ladle out the slop at the military cafeteria. Over time, some of those contractors became the symbol for everything that was wrong with the Iraq war: hugely expensive, ineffective, and indifferent to Iraqi life. Contractors were at the middle of the war’s biggest scandals, from Abu Ghraib to Nissour Square. And it was the abductions and murder of Blackwater contractors that sparked one of Iraq's biggest battles.

    None of the five current and former contractors who spoke with The Daily Beast expected a replay of last decade’s Iraq war. But they all said a major opportunity was coming—both for them, and for Obama, who could use the private armies as a way to conceal just how many people will be fighting in this new conflict.
    “Iraq this time around is not going to be as big as it was before,” said Roger Carstens, a former special operations officer who has served as a contracted military adviser in Somalia and Afghanistan. “That said, this new war will present an opportunity for the companies that have a resident train and advising capability to contribute to this new effort.”

    President Obama has asked Congress to authorize $500 million to train a new Syrian opposition out of Saudi Arabia. That money would be part of a $5 billion fund Obama requested this spring from Congress to help train and equip U.S. allies to fight terrorists.

    One U.S. military contractor working in Iraq who asked not to be named said, “I can tell you the contractor-expat community is abuzz thinking this will lead to more work. We expect a much larger footprint than he is showing right now.”

    Those expectations were whet earlier this summer, as ISIS was gaining ground in northern Iraq and the first U.S. special operations teams were arriving in Iraq, when the Pentagon asked military contractors to participate in two important surveys.

    Why The Internet Thinks Taylor Swift's Song 'Bad Blood' Is About Katy Perry

    Ain't no drama like T. Swift drama cause the T. Swift drama don't stop.

    As cover star of Rolling Stone's September issue, Taylor Swift told the magazine that "Bad Blood," a track off her upcoming album "1989," is aimed at a fellow pop star. Since then, the Internet has run wild with speculation: who in the depths of Hollywood could be, as she put it, "straight-up enemies" with T. Swift?

    Though everyone from Miley Cyrus to Carrie Underwood is considered a possible frenemy, the World Wide Web seems to focus its investigation on one prime suspect: Katy Perry.

    Why? Some have taken the easy route and pointed out that, helllloooooo, they have an ex-boyfriend in common:
    "And it wasn't even about a guy!" she told Rolling Stone. "It had to do with business. She basically tried to sabotage an entire arena tour. She tried to hire a bunch of people out from under me."

    Hmmm. Others have pointed out that, according to an article in the Examiner from December 2013, three of Swift's backup dancers left mid-tour to join Katy Perry's troupe.

    "I was with Taylor for the first six months,'' backup dancer John Brownlie told the Examiner. "It was a great experience and she's a great person to work with, but then Katy contacted us.''

    Brownlie, who had previously toured with Perry on her California Dreams world tour, told the Examiner, "Obviously we were with Katy for two and a half years. She's like family to us, so we were, like, 'absolutely.'"

    'Ray Donovan' Star Steven Bauer, 57, Steps Out With 18-Year-Old Girlfriend

    "Ray Donovan" star and "Scarface" actor Steven Bauer, 57, stepped out for lunch with his 18-year-old girlfriend, Lyda Loudon, on Wednesday, Sept. 10, in Studio City, California. The two were photographed leaving the organic eatery SunCafe.

    Us Weekly confirmed Bauer and Loudon's romance in July after they attended the "Magic in the Moonlight" premiere together.

    At the time, Loudon's mother, Gina Gentry Loudon, wrote a candid blog post about her daughter's relationship with Bauer for WorldNetDaily. She described how their family dealt with the relationship and admitted she wondered "why Mr. Bauer did not walk the moment he realized where all of this was going."
    "My daughter’s choice has challenged me," wrote Gentry Loudon, an author and Fox News contributor. "In perspective, this was a choice regarding love. She did not choose to break the law, harm an innocent or betray our country. Several friends asked us to consider whether love really is a choice. Others beseeched us to embrace that she found a special love with a special, gentle man. These were defining questions."

    Bauer was previously married to Melanie Griffith. They have a 28-year-old son, Alexander Bauer.

    Rahul Gandhi Logs More Flying Hours Than Anyone Else, Says His Party

    Senior Congress leader Ambika Soni has described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a "communicator who has changed the agenda" to avoid delivering on the promises he made in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls. (100 Days of Modi Government: His Top 10 Quotes)

    "Mr Modi is a communicator; he plays with words, that's one of his strong points. You saw that from the ramparts of the Red Fort, he changed the agenda. He didn't talk of high prices becoming higher. He talked about girls and boys and how parents should talk strongly to their sons but he didn't talk about the number of cases, where a girl's dignity has been violated, which has gone up," said Ms Soni. (Rate the Government's Performance)

    Like other leaders of her party, Ms Soni too accused the Modi-led government of following UPA's policies. But the former Information and Broadcasting minister on the UPA government admitted that the Congress could not match the BJP-led NDA's campaign strategy.
    "We were not as successful in communicating our achievements as we should have. We realised that during our Lok Sabha campaign. We realise that today much more when we see them using our schemes, changing their names and making different types of allocation and counting it as their own achievement. Our Vice President certainly travels a lot and if you were to count his flying hours, he would out beat anybody," said Ms Soni.

    When asked why the party's top leaders, like vice president Rahul Gandhi, didn't communicate more effectively, Ms Soni came to Mr Gandhi's defense.

    "We have a different way of communicating. It is not necessary that one has to speak only in Parliament. They (Congress leaders) speak in rallies and when they travel to different parts of the country," she said.

    ISIS releases beheading video of another US journalist

    A new video surfacing on Tuesday purported to show the beheading of another American journalist, Steven Sotloff, by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

    Sotloff, who freelanced for Time and Foreign Policy was last seen in August 2013, and has featured in the earlier video of the execution of James Foley.

    “We have seen a video that purports to be the murder of US citizen Steven Sotloff by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).  The intelligence community is working as quickly as possible to determine its authenticity,” said White House spokesperson Bernadette Meehan in a statement.

    “If genuine, we are appalled by the brutal murder of an innocent American journalist and we express our deepest condolences to his family and friends,” she added.

    Looking into the camera, Sotloff said in the video, “I’m sure you know exactly who I am by now and why I am appearing.” He was dressed in the same orange jump suit worn by Foley and inmates of US prisons.
    “Obama, your foreign policy of intervention in Iraq was supposed to be for preservation of American lives and interests, so why is it that I am paying the price of your interference with my life?”

    The ISIS terrorist standing by side then says that as long as the United States continues “to strike our people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people”.

    Foley’s executioner had made a similar threat, but airstrikes against ISIL positions in Iraq have continued, now expanding beyond in and around Mosul Dam to also cover Amirli and Erbil.

    The central command said Monday it had carried out 123 airstrikes across Iraq since the start of the air-campaign on August 8.

    Sotloff’s mother, Shirley Sotloff, had appealed for mercy for her son in a video message last week. “I am sending this message to you, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi al-Quraishi al-Hussaini, the caliph of the Islamic State. I am Shirley Sotloff. My son Steven is in your hands. You, the caliph, can grant amnesty. I ask you please to release my child. I ask you to use your authority to spare his life.”

    “As a mother, I ask your justice to be merciful and not punish my son for matters he has no control over.

     I ask you to use your authority to spare his life and to follow the example set by the Prophet Muhammad, who protected People of the Book. I want what every mother wants, to live to see her children’s children, I plead with you to grant me this.”

    Amber Rose Twerks To Husband Wiz Khalifa's 'Ass Drop'

    Amber Rose is proud of her husband Wiz Khalifa and she's not afraid to show it. The model and mother of one posted a video to Instagram August 29, in honor or her husband's album "Blacc Hollywood" hitting no. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart -- a first for the rapper, Billboard notes.
    Rose captioned the sexy video "In honor of my Hubby's #1 Album #blacchollywood #AssDrop," referencing the track in background.

    Miley Cyrus and Nicki Minaj, take note:

    Mark Wahlberg Missed His Brother's Wedding Photo

    When Donnie Wahlberg and Jenny McCarthy tied the knot on Sunday, at least one famous relative was not on hand for the nuptials.

    Mark Wahlberg tweeted his congratulations and posted an Instagram video for the new couple the day before. The actor's rep said his daughter Ella's 11th birthday was scheduled to take place in Los Angeles over the weekend. (The McCarthy/Wahlberg wedding was at Hotel Baker in St. Charles, Illinois, minutes from McCarthy's childhood home.)
    TMZ has another story, though. The site reports that Mark Wahlberg and his wife are not especially close with Donnie and are not particularly fond of his new bride. TMZ also wrote that another Walhberg brother, Bobby, wouldn't be an in attendance either, nor would Donnie's mother, because she's afraid of flying. Brother Paul, on the other hand, was expected to attend.

    HuffPost Entertainment contacted a representative for Mark Wahlberg for comment on the TMZ report; this post will be updated if and when they respond.
    Donnie didn't seem too distraught by his brother's absence, returning his well wishes on Twitter.

    Teen With Amazingly Long Neck To Undergo Surgery

    Surgeons are helping a teenager save his neck by shortening it.

    Fu Wengui, 15, of Beijing, is preparing to go under the knife because he's reportedly caused immense pain by the three extra vertebrae in his neck.

    The teen has 10 vertebrae in his neck while the average person has seven, according to Quirky China, which released photos of him at the hospital. The vertebrae compress his nerves, making it difficult for him to walk.

    giraffe boy
    "When he was six he was diagnosed with congenital scoliosis and abnormal chest frame," Wengui's father, Fu Genyou, told agency.

    Congenital scoliosis is a spinal deformity caused by abnormally formed vertebrae, and usually occurs in early development, according to the Scoliosis Research Society. Wengui's surgery will reduce the size of his neck and hopefully enhance movement and reduce pain.

    A Beijing-based charity will sponsor his surgery at Chaoyang Hospital, which is working on a treatment plan, according to Quirky News' press release.

    "I just hope I can have a normal neck," Wengui said.

    Katzen Hobbes Turns Herself Into Tiger Woman

    When Katzen Hobbes was a toddler, she had dreams where she saw herself covered in tiger stripes.

    When she was 18, she started making that dream a reality.

    Now, at the age of 40, 90 percent of her body is covered in stripes.

    "I still need a little bit of work under the right armpit and right ear, but I'm pretty close to completion," Hobbes told The Huffington Post. "But I might add something more."

    Hobbes considers her body like a sculpture.

    Unlike many people who start with one small tattoo and add others on without a firm goal in mind, she always wanted just tiger stripes.

    "I wanted to be covered in tiger stripes when I was young, but it wasn't until I was 9 and living in Japan that I realized how I could do it," she said. "My mother said, 'Wait until you're 18."
    Most of the feline tatting occurred between the ages of 18 and 28. More than 227 different tattoo artists have inked her up, including 23 at one time.

    Hobbes isn't as catty as she used to be. For 14 years, she had plastic whisker piercings through her facial skin.

    "I had them removed because I started to feel they affected my field of vision," she said. She turned to scarification and had six scars on her face to allude to the whiskers.

    katzen hobbes front

    Hobbes works as a tattoo artist in Austin and as a sideshow performer for the 999 Eyes Freakshow. She feels both jobs allow her to show people that beauty comes from within.

    "Most of us are more than skin deep," she said. "I feel more beautiful this way."

    Hobbes will have a chance to demonstrate that in spades because she is one of the people who has been selected to appear in the newest Ripley's Believe It Or Not! book, "Reality Shock!" debuting Sept. 9.

    Carrie Underwood Announces Pregnancy

    Country star Carrie Underwood and NHL player Mike Fisher chose the Labor Day holiday to announce they are expecting their first child.

    Underwood and Fisher posted the announcement on their social media accounts on Monday. Underwood's publicist confirmed the couple will be expecting their first child in the spring.
    The 31-year-old Underwood shot to fame after winning "American Idol." She has won six Grammys and sold more than 15 million albums worldwide. She was the first woman to twice win the Academy of Country Music's entertainer of the year award.

    She will be co-hosting the upcoming Country Music Association Awards with Brad Paisley this November.

    Fisher, a 34-year-old center for the Nashville Predators, is recovering from a ruptured left Achilles tendon and is expected to miss the start of the season.

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