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Friday's Mini-Report, 10.16.15

Today’s edition of quick hits.
Today’s edition of quick hits:
 
* Israel: "Dozens of Palestinians set fire at dawn on Friday to a holy site known as Joseph’s Tomb, in the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Nablus in the West Bank, damaging the tiny stone compound that many Jews believe to be the final burial place of the son of the biblical patriarch Jacob."
 
* California: "A flood of mud and debris triggered by heavy rainfall in Southern California rushed onto streets and highways Thursday, stranding hundreds in their cars and closing a major interstate."
 
* Don't be surprised if it turns out to be Russia's: "Turkey said its warplanes shot down a drone Friday near its border with Syria, underscoring heightened hostility in the region’s increasingly crowded airspace. The aircraft was warned three times to turn back before being fired on by Turkish jets patrolling the border, the Turkish military said in a statement."
 
* Oklahoma: "The Oklahoma attorney general’s office has reached an agreement that will effectively bar the state from scheduling any executions until well into 2016, pending an investigation into how the state repeatedly mishandled its lethal drug supply and ultimately executed a death row inmate with the wrong deadly dose."
 
* Arctic: "The Obama administration took a number of actions Friday to restrict future offshore drilling in the Arctic Ocean. The Interior Department is canceling two lease sales it had planned over the next year and a half for Arctic drilling rights and denying two oil companies’ requests to extend the time on leases that they currently hold."
 
* Good piece, good charts: "All the serious people in Washington know we have a debt problem. 'Rapidly Growing Debt Threatens America’s Economic Future' blared a typical press release from Senate Budget Committee chairman Mike Enzi.... There’s just one problem. The numbers relied upon by Enzi and far too many others inside the Beltway, including the Congressional Budget Office itself, are completely bogus."
 
* An amazing accomplishment: "Scott Kelly can now boast that he's spent more cumulative time away from Earth than any other American. Friday marked a record 383rd day living in space for the NASA astronaut and commander of the current Expedition 45 space station crew. The previous record was 382 cumulative days held by American astronaut Mike Fincke."
 
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.