We don't hear as much about ISIS as we used to, but the fight against their particular brand on evil is still being waged.

In Syria, for example, a Kurdish militia group called YPG is still waging war on the terrorist group. The YPG is composed of volunteers, drawn largely from areas around and in Syria, but also from countries as far away as the United States. As the militia is currently backed by the United States, it's not a crime for American citizens to find their way to groups like the YPG, get trained up and then deploy to the front lines. Caleb Stevens, a 23 year old from Illinois, felt that he wanted to make a direct impact in the world by standing against those who would do harm to unarmed civilians. After talking to YPG representatives online, he made his way overseas and boned up on the use of Soviet-era small arms before heading to the front lines with his unit in Syria. Caleb took the fight to ISIS, fending them off from civilians for months before he was shot in the calf, bringing his war, at least for the time being, to an end.

In the wake of being wounded, he sought out treatment, first at hospitals in Syria, Baghdad and Jordan, before walking into a hospital emergency room in Chicago to be properly patched up.

It's one hell of a story, it's covered, in detail, over at the Chicago Tribune.

Image: Nûçe Ciwan - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5jA7EiXQsc, CC BY 3.0, Link Read the rest

Seeing more kickass women in films is a good thing, but Dominick Nero at Fandor noticed that their fighting style differs from men in one interesting way: their tendency to pinch their opponents in a scissor lock with their strong yet oh-so-supple thighs. Read the rest

This is from a 1994 episode of The Tonight Show host by Jay Leno. This clip begins after Leno interviewed Burt Reynolds, who is sitting to the left of an empty chair reserved for the next guest, Marc Summers (host of Nickelodeon's game show Double Dare). Before Summers comes out, Leno shows a scene from Double Dare where Summers gets repeatedly hit by pies from some kind of pie throwing machine.

Leno asks him about it, and Summers says that it is weird for him to be the host of a messy show because he is a "neatness freak." (Summers has OCD) For some reason, that strikes a nerve with Reynolds, who starts making sourfaced verbal jabs. Summers makes a crack about still being married (Reynolds had just gone through a messy divorce with Loni Anderson) and Reynolds grabs a mug of water and tosses it on Summers. It goes downhill from there. Leno does nothing to stop it because he knows good TV when he sees it.

If you want to know the backstory (and it's fascinating to hear Summers describe it), here's the chapter about the incident from Summers' book, Everything In its Place: My Trials and Triumphs with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

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A Delta flight that departed from Los Angeles and was bound for Minneapolis had to make an emergency landing in Salt Lake City after a fight broke out between two flight attendants.

On Jan 28th 2016 The Aviation Herald learned that two flight attendants disagreeing over work issues engaged in a fist fight, a third lady trying to calm the other two down was hit by the flying fists, the purser informed the flight deck and the captain decided to divert.

Delta apologized for the incident by issuing a statement that read in part, "some of our team members did not display their best behavior. We expect our flight crew to be nothing but courteous and professional at all times and what you experienced was far from that. I am sorry we didn’t deliver on our brand promise for you today."

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This is footage from the 45th annual Junior Boxing Program Championships, held in 1964. From History's Playlist:

The Naval Junior Boxing Program was founded in 1919 by Spike Webb, and was made available to the children of naval Officers and cadets stationed in Annapolis, MD. Children ranging in age from 5 through 11 and weighing 30 to 100 pounds were allowed to enter the ring and fight during these tournaments... This youth boxing club was meant to teach the children sportsmanship and how to have a strong body and mind under pressure.

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[Video Link] "Fight Church is a feature documentary about the confluence of Christianity and mixed martial arts, including ministries which train fighters. The film follows several pastors and popular fighters in their quest to reconcile their faith with a sport that many consider violent and barbaric." Read the rest