Blog Heap of Links for the day 7 April 2009

President Obama has not attended church services on any of the 11 Sundays since he took office, despite his pledge to find a new church after quitting Trinity United nearly a year ago because of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's incendiary rhetoric. "We probably won't make any firm decision on this until January, when we know what our lives our going to be like," Obama told reporters last May at a press conference that he called to announce his break with Trinity. But the president made no decision in January, February or March. And now, with Easter just days away, Obama has yet to reveal what church he may have chosen or when he might attend his first Sunday services as president. [No suitable mosque nearby?]

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi Tuesday called Barack Obama a "flicker of hope in the middle of the imperialist darkness," but said he feared the president could be assassinated. [Gaddafi will regret his friendly remarks.]

Barack Obama's never had more foes -- or less clothing -- than in two comics about to hit the stands.

Cheered wildly by U.S. troops, President Barack Obama flew unannounced into Iraq on Tuesday and promptly declared it was time for Iraqis to "take responsibility for their country" after America's commitment of six years and thousands of lives. "You have given Iraq the opportunity to stand on its own as a democratic country," the president said as he made a brief inspection of a war he opposed as candidate and now vows to end as commander in chief. "That is an extraordinary achievement." [Which he will do his best to wreck. Just watch.]

ordered a criminal investigation into alleged misconduct by the prosecutors... "I've never seen anything approaching the mishandling and misconduct that I've seen in this case."

Activists seeking to eliminate the Electoral College in favor of a popular vote to elect the president boast that their movement is almost one-fifth the way to its goal.

GREEN HILL, ALA.: Authorities say four people have been found shot to death in rural north Alabama ... investigators are seeking a man for questioning.

The Pentagon spent more than $100 million in the last six months responding to and repairing damage from cyber attacks and other computer network problems, military leaders said Tuesday. Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, who heads U.S. Strategic Command, said the military is only beginning to track the costs, which are triggered by constant daily attacks against military networks ranging from the Pentagon to bases around the country.

At least 207 people have been killed by Monday's earthquake in central Italy, with 100 residents critically injured ... 150 people had been rescued alive ... About 1,000 people were injured and 17,000 were left homeless....

The Canadian man who led fighter jets on a chase across six states Monday flew his stolen plane into the United States. in hopes the military would shoot him down and kill him, according to a Missouri state trooper who apprehended the rogue pilot. Missouri state trooper Justin Watson told "Good Morning America" today that 31-year-old Yavuz Berke, formerly known as Adam Leon, wanted to commit suicide, but didn't have the courage to do it himself.

A small but growing number of cash-strapped communities are printing their own money. Borrowing from a Depression-era idea, they are aiming to help consumers make ends meet and support struggling local businesses. The systems generally work like this: Businesses and individuals form a network to print currency. Shoppers buy it at a discount — say, 95 cents for $1 value — and spend the full value at stores that accept the currency.

In what could be a prelude to making the Beatles catalog available as digital files at on-line stores, the band's entire collection of compact discs will be digitally remastered for the first time in two decades and re-released Sept. 9.

GM and Segway unveiled the Project PUMA, a two-seat rickshaw minus a rick that uses the Segway's electric systems to glide around on two wheels. Capable of carrying 700 pounds in a frame about half the size of a Smart car, the PUMA (Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility) can spin on a pin and "bows" to let passengers in and out.

Chief Executive Eric Schmidt sought to allay newspaper industry executives' concerns on Tuesday, telling them they need to work together with the Internet giant while downplaying recent indications of growing friction between Google and the Associated Press.

Here is a listing of same-sex marriage license laws in the U.S.

A couple who disappeared with their children, leading to a search of the South Dakota wilderness, turned themselves in to authorities near their Nebraska home on Monday.... Matthew Schade was arrested on a warrant for a probation violation in neighboring Antelope County, and his wife was being held by order of the Nebraska Department of Probation

When a Fairfax County mother got an urgent call from school last month reporting that her teenage daughter was caught popping a pill at lunchtime, she did not panic. "It was probably her birth-control pill," she thought. She was right. Her heart dropped that afternoon in the assistant principal's office at Oakton High School when she and her daughter heard the mandatory punishment: A two-week suspension and recommendation for expulsion.

The Manhattan district attorney's office has smashed a sinister plot to smuggle nuclear weapons materials to Iran through unwitting New York banks

After years of non-stop growth, global wine consumption started to retreat last year, along with the rest of the world economy... latest figures on wine making and drinking around the world reveal a few key shifts. For the first time, the United States surpassed Italy in terms of total wine consumption, with 27.3 million hectoliters compared to 26 million for Italy, the group said. On the vineyard end, European vineyards accounted for less than half the world's grape production for the first time last year.

A WOMAN was pulled out alive yesterday after 42 hours buried beneath the rubble of the Italian earthquake. Eleonora Calesini, 20, had been trapped beneath a toppled pillar but was able to speak to rescuers.

A baby miraculously survived a Baghdad car bombing cradled in his mother's lap as she was burned alive in a blast that claimed the lives of eight people on Tuesday....

"How much responsibility, if any, do you have for the financial crisis?" ... Frank can't answer because he's never admitted an ounce of wrongdoing. He's a disgrace and should have the decency to resign in disgrace. In fact, if he admitted what everyone already knows about his involvement, I'd have more respect for him. Watch as Barney Frank, among many others, claim that nothing is wrong at Fannie/Freddie....