Blog Heap of Links for the day 3 December 2008

A document expert contends the "Certification of Live Birth" Barack Obama's campaign posted online to rebut charges the president-elect fails the Constitution's natural-born citizen requirement is criminally fraudulent.

He is said to have told officers the cell was to seek out 'white targets, preferably British and American'. The terrorists thought they would come out alive and had an escape route... He revealed that the ten terrorists, who were highly trained in marine assault and crept into the city by boat, had planned to blow up the Taj Mahal Palace hotel after first executing British and American tourists and then taking hostages. He then added that their intention was to kill 5,000 people. ... As it is, their deadly attacks have left close to 200 confirmed dead, with the toll expected to rise to nearly 300 once the hotel has been fully searched by security forces.... 'I have done right,' he told investigators. 'I have no regrets.'

The country's broadcasters were summoned Friday by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to deal with charges that the live saturation coverage had helped the terrorists. At the same time, however, traditional media were criticized as too slow and inaccurate by legions of "citizen journalists" using Internet services such as Twitter and photo site Flickr. The deputy commissioner of police argued that the terrorists, who were holed up in two major hotels and became involved in floor-by-floor firefights with police, were gaining tactical information from TV. Using powers under Section 19 of the country's Cable Television Networks Act, he ordered a blackout of TV news channels.

By 2010 the US will have invested $4 billion in a research programme into "autonomous systems", the military jargon for robots, on the basis that they would not succumb to fear or the desire for vengeance that afflicts frontline soldiers. A British robotics expert has been recruited by the US Navy to advise them on building robots that do not violate the Geneva Conventions. [Anything that can be programmed can be hacked and re-programmed. And no program can encompass every moral possibility.]

"People can cultivate ways of communicating in online contexts that are equally as effective as those used offline," they write. "The degree to which … individuals develop unique conventions in the medium will determine their ability to communicate effectively." ... "People innovate in response to the challenges of a new context for the communication of essential elements of language...."

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A husband and wife have been charged with torture and other counts after a bruised, terrified 17-year-old showed up at a gym with a chain locked to his ankle, claiming he had just fled his captors

Globally every year, obese people waste billions of pounds on food products that 'imply' that they aid weight loss, but are totally ineffective

Acupuncture works - but it works equally well with or without needle penetration. ... 109 received traditional acupuncture, with needles penetrating the skin in particular points. According to ancient Chinese tradition, the needle is twisted until a certain 'needle sensation' arises. The other 106 patients received a simulated acupuncture instead, with a telescopic, blunt placebo needle that merely touches the skin.

Bone growth is controlled in the gut through serotonin, the same naturally present chemical used by the brain to influence mood, appetite and sleep... could transform how osteoporosis is treated in the future by giving doctors a way to increase bone mass, not just slow its loss....

Faint magnetic signals from brain activity in children with autism show that those children process sound and language differently from non-autistic children. Identifying and classifying these brain response patterns may allow researchers to more accurately diagnose autism and possibly aid in developing more effective treatments for the developmental disorder.

SEDALIA, Mo. — A Sedalia hunter bagged a big buck on the second day of firearms season, but the kill caused him a lot of pain. Forty-nine-year-old Randy Goodman said he thought two well-placed shots with his .270-caliber rifle had killed the buck on Nov. 19. Goodman said the deer looked dead to him, but seconds later the nine-point, 240-pound animal came to life.

The U.S. military expects to have 20,000 uniformed troops inside the United States by 2011 trained to help state and local officials respond to a nuclear terrorist attack or other domestic catastrophe, according to Pentagon officials. The long-planned shift in the Defense Department's role in homeland security was recently backed with funding and troop commitments after years of prodding by Congress and outside experts, defense analysts said. There are critics of the change, in the military and among civil liberties groups and libertarians who express concern that the new homeland emphasis threatens to strain the military and possibly undermine the Posse Comitatus Act, a 130-year-old federal law restricting the military's role in domestic law enforcement.

"It's funny when I get recognized on the train. People either say 'I love your show, dude' or 'Hey, where do you buy good weed?'"

&hellp;it does indeed seem like the cannabis found in a Chinese tomb going back 2,700 years is legit. But this is what struck me: The substance has been found in two of the 500 Gushi tombs excavated so far in northwestern China, indicating that cannabis was either restricted for use by a few individuals or was administered as a medicine to others through shamans

The program also looks at spinoff businesses, including an Internet seed catalogue that offers brands such as White Rhino, Wonder Woman and Haze. Bongs as long as bazookas, and one that looks like an octopus, are also available to aficionados.

Now, Ruth has launched Chia Goodness, a gluten-free breakfast cereal product made with just four ingredients: Chia, buckwheat, hemp seeds and Celtic Sea Salt.