Why the U.S Navy didn't shoot down the Russian fighter

A Russian Su-24 attack aircraft making very low altitude pass by the USS Donald Cook on April 12, 2016 

On Tuesday, two Russian warplanes flew simulated attack passes past the USS Donald Cook in the Baltic Sea, and while the move was unnerving and aggressive, it's not the kind of event the Navy responds to with force.

"You don’t get to kill people just because they’re being annoying," retired frigate and cruiser commanding officer Capt. Rick Hoffman told the Navy Times about the incident.

"We’re not at war with Russia," Capt. Rick Hoffman said.

"It would be one thing to be operating and have a threatening attack profile from someone who might not recognize me — that’s not the case here."

As a former commander of a cruiser that protected aircraft carriers and amphibious-assault vehicles from airborne attacks, Hoffman knows how to deal with threatening aircraft.

The Russian planes, Su-24s, had no visible weapons during the passes, and at no point did the USS Cook detect that the Russians were trying to lock onto them with a missile.

(Reuters)
A US Navy picture shows what appears to be a Russian Sukhoi SU-24 attack aircraft flying over the USS Donald Cook in the Baltic Sea, April 12, 2016.

Though the passes likely violated a 1973 agreement between the US and Russia and were a clear act of aggression, downing a plane likely means the death of the pilot, which was simply not warranted given the situation.

According to Hoffman, this stunt most likely took place to generate propaganda for Russian President Vladimir Putin's regime.

"It would be real interesting to see what shows up in the Russian papers in the morning, how they play it," Hoffman said.

"It's not that different from North Korea," he said. "He does something and then he plays it domestically however he needs to play it for the purposes of getting his people energized."

Photos And Video Of The Sex Scene That Took Four Months To Shoot.

Filming a sex scene is usually a nervy affair on set. Most of the crew will be shut out, the heating turned up, and bath robes are always close to hand.

The stars of "Anomalisa" received no such treatment -- and theirs lasted a grueling four months.
Eleven inches high and made from silicon, Michael Stone and Lisa Hesselman are the center of what might just be this year's unlikeliest contender for Academy Awards glory. Nominated for Best Animated Feature, "Anomalisa" enters the fray as winner of The Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival -- remarkable considering it was partially funded by a Kickstarter campaign.
Or perhaps not, considering the wattage behind the stop-motion film's cast and crew. Written by Charlie Kaufman ("Synecdoche, New York", "Being John Malkovich") and co-directed by Kaufman and Duke Johnson ("Frankenhole"), it enlisted David Thewlis and the Oscar-nominated Jennifer Jason Leigh on voice acting duties.

However, arguably the real heroes of this surprise hit are its animators: the tinkerers, the teasers, the artists who after a ten-hour day would walk away with two and a half seconds of useable footage. An animated feature with a distinctly adult tilt, they had to negotiate boobs, bums and detachable penises, whilst remaining true to Kaufman's tender and touching vision.
CNN Style sat down with animation supervisor Dan Driscoll to discover how they created this year's most heartfelt film.
Beyond the frame

Animators construct Cincinnati Airport at Starburns Industries.

Michael Stone, a successful service sector guru, is the disillusioned and chronically lonely pairs of eyes through which we see the world of "Anomalisa." His is a life of business class flights and stops in bland, nondescript hotels. He preaches that the customer is an individual, but to Michael everyone appears the same; an amorphous mob he's forced to negotiate in the lobby and face in conference halls. That is, until he meets Lisa.

American Woman Who Tries To Join ISIS

A Mississippi woman has plead guilty after authorities accused her and her fiance of trying to join ISIS.

Jaelyn Delshaun Young, 20, was charged with conspiring to provide material support to the terror group.
She faces a maximum 20-year prison sentence and fine of up to $250,000.
Her fiance, Muhammad Oda Dakhlalla, pleaded guilty earlier this month.

The two were arrested at a Mississippi airport in February on their way to Syria, according to court documents.

According to a law enforcement official, Dakhlalla is the son of a local imam and Young is the daughter of a police officer. She recently converted to Islam.

Prosecutors say that the FBI held "undercover interactions" with Young on the internet after identifying her as a Twitter user who supported ISIS in May 2015. She told the FBI that she was planning to leave with a partner for ISIS-held territory.

In one conversation, Young said that Dakhlalla's family and the community she lived in did not support ISIS.

"I thought they were wrong so I look up the Laws myself and Alhamdulillah [God be praised] Dawlah is correct."

"Dawlah" is a reference to "ad-Dawlah al-Islamiyah," which translates to Islamic State, another name the terror group uses.

Court documents said that the couple planned to use their wedding and subsequent honeymoon as a cover to travel to Syria.

Authorities also allege that:

-- The couple described their skills and asked how they could help the terror group's efforts. "I am good with computers, education and media," Dakhlalla allegedly wrote in one message to an undercover FBI employee. "What could I contribute?" Young also allegedly told an undercover FBI agent that her skills would be useful. "I am skilled in math and chemistry and worked at an analytical lab here on my college campus. My partner is very good with things like computer science/media. We learn very fast and would love to help with giving medical aid."

Inside the Amazing U.S Army's War Machine

This initial contract calls for delivery of some 17,000 vehicles between 2018 and 2022, but it could ultimately be worth some $30b to the company, as the JLTV gradually replaces the US military's ageing fleet of 280,000 Humvees.
It's no small sum, but the Oshkosh JLTV is a thoroughly modern war machine, one that outperforms the Humvee in every way. Design requirements called for a new vehicle that was tougher, more capable, more versatile, easier to transport, easier to fix and above all, more protective of the soldiers and Marines who will operate it.
All it needs now is a catchy name. On that front, "Hummer" will be hard to beat.

PHOTOS: Armored Russian Fire Truck is Ready for the Actions

Most fire trucks are sturdy vehicles built to take a beating. This one, however, looks more like something sent to destroy your town rather than save your home from a fire. The Omsktransmash СПМ is a Russian fire truck that puts all others to shame.

According to the Jalopnik, this monster fire truck debuted at the 2013 International Exhibition of Russia Arms and people have been placing orders to own one. Despite its size, if requires a crew of only three people. Like any modern tank (pictured below), it looks like it can handle any sort of terrain, but will do so in style.

They’ve built two so far, and will be shipping them out to the Russian military this month. This isn’t an ordinary fire truck, but one designed to handle the absolute worst. It can put out fires, conduct rescue operations in warehouses and arsenals, and even lay firebreaks for forest fires.

Its exceptional abilities come from its sturdy build, which includes parts of T-72 and T-80 tanks and an armored cab. It holds 882 cubic feet of water that can spray that water up to 328 feet. With the pressure coming out of that nozzle, mere humans better be sure to stay the heck out of this thing’s way.

Jungle justice for Taiwan beheading suspect

A man suspected of decapitating a four-year-old girl was beaten by an angry mob as he was detained in Taiwan, with parliament saying it would debate tougher sentences for child-killers following the shocking crime.

The killer grabbed the child from behind as she cycled to a metro station in Taipei with her mother to meet relatives on Monday, police said.

Pushing away the mother of the girl, who had rushed forward to save her daughter, he beheaded the child with a kitchen knife.

Seven bystanders were unable to stop the man, who was arrested at the scene, police added.

The girl has been identified only by the surname Liu.

Police said the suspect, a 33-year-old man surnamed Wang, had been arrested in the past over drug-related crimes.

Taiwan's Apple Daily reported that he was unemployed and living with his parents, and had previously been hospitalised with mental health issues.

The case, the second child killing in Taipei in less than a year, has sparked widespread public anger and criticism of calls to abolish the death penalty.

Following the attack, parliament announced Tuesday it would bring forward a review of a bill that would ensure those convicted of killing children under 12 were given the death penalty, and at minimum a life sentence in the case of severe mental illness.

The review will now take place on Thursday, according to lawmaker Wang Yu-min, who proposed the bill.

"I am deeply saddened by the case ... (the suspect) should be sentenced to death in the case of a stranger killing a child," Wang said in a statement posted on Facebook.

The White Rose Social Care Association is planning to hold a mass rally in Taipei on April 9 to push for enforcement of capital punishment in the wake of the crime.

"This kind of random killing shows that Taiwan cannot afford to abolish the death penalty," said Eva Liang, chairwoman of the association.

"Since Taiwan seldom enforces death sentences now, the criminals are not afraid and similar crimes keep happening."

Television footage on Monday showed dozens of angry people gathering outside a police station in Taipei.

Some attacked the suspect as he was being transferred to the prosecutor's office for questioning. He pleaded with them to "stop beating".

Others came to lay flowers and toys at the spot where the girl was killed, near an elementary school, while a children's welfare group urged the public to join a rally next month in memory of the child.

A district court ruled that Wang was a flight risk and ordered him to be detained.