Blog Heap of Links for the day 11 April 2009

During his trip to Europe last week, President Obama announced that the US will host a global meeting this year to address the threat of nuclear weapons. The president called for reinvigorated international institutions to combat the prospect of nuclear terrorism and reverse nuclear weapons proliferation. He agreed to new negotiations with Russia to reduce both countries' nuclear arsenals. These efforts should be made. However, Mr. Obama also announced that the US must "seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons." This is a goal that will undermine global nuclear security.

What America needs, of course, is defense against nuclear weapons, in addition to nuclear deterrent. Nuclear weapons are dangerous if they can be delivered to one's own soil, by missile attack or by terrorist stealth. Such dangers are a great argument for missile defense, and for increased homeland security and counter-terrorism measures. ... Obama can dream of a world without nuclear weapons, but it is not a good idea in the real world. ....

Minutes ago, Twitter confirmed that they have successfully closed the hole that allowed this worm to spread. You're safe to visit Twitter profiles again :)

A worm apparently infected Twitter on Saturday. The worm may originate with the StalkDaily.com site, and Twitter warned people against visiting the site or linking to it. "If you have been locked out of your acct due to the StalkDaily issue, pls do a p/w reset; we may have reset your p/w for safety,"

"I frankly don't understand all the brouhaha lately from Congress and even from some of my colleagues about referring to foreign law...." [Oh, nothing. Just a little matter of CONSTITUTIONAL LAW!]

At least 9 people were killed and more than 20 were wounded, Saturday, when a suicide bomber targeted members of U.S.-allied Sunni militiamen. The explosion is raising questions about the capacity of Iraqi forces to maintain security.

PRESIDENT Nicolas Sarkozy ordered the rescue mission off the Somali coast that ended in tragedy when a young French yachtsman was killed as commandos stormed a vessel being held by pirates, releasing his wife and three-year-old son. For the first time yesterday, details emerged of an extraordinary rescue operation piloted from the Elysée Palace. It involved three French warships, a German frigate and the airdrop of dozens of French commandos some 400 miles off the African coast.

A U.S.-owned, Italian-flagged tugboat reported hijacked in the Gulf of Aden has 10 Italian citizens among its 16-member crew, according to NATO alliance officials on a warship in the region.

now that the CIA has started to declassify top secret programs developed at Area 51, former military officers and engineers are beginning to shed some light on the enigmatic airfield and give the UFOlogists some new information to consider. ... a super-secret spy plane ... "Area 51 was the most boring place I ever worked." No aliens, no spacecraft from far-flung planets, no underground passageways....

Added Monday were nine more members, including the Rev. Sharon Watkins, former Bartlesville clergywoman

It's not exactly a religious-art brouhaha of "Piss Christ" proportions, but a painting that uses popular cartoon characters to parody Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" is causing a bit of a stir in Old Town San Diego. And just in time for Easter weekend. "The Gathering," a new painting by artist Glen Tarnowski, uses Looney Tunes characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Marvin the Martian and Road Runner to stand in for Jesus and his disciples in da Vinci's famous 15th century fresco.

David Lance "Dave" Arneson (October 1, 1947 — April 7, 2009) was an American game designer best known for co-developing the first published role-playing game (RPG), Dungeons & Dragons, with Gary Gygax, in the early 1970s. Arneson's early work was fundamental to the development of the genre, developing the concept of the RPG using devices now considered to be archetypical, such as adventuring in "dungeons", using a neutral judge, and having conversations with imaginary characters to develop the storyline.

MENA, Ark. — The sirens sounded three times across this western Arkansas hamlet, and residents watched several funnel clouds pass harmlessly over the town. The fourth siren was for another twister that ended up being a killer. ... At least three people were killed, at least 30 others injured and 600 homes were damaged or destroyed. ...

Amidst backlash over Time Warner Cable's tentative plan for a 40GB broadband cap, the company said this week that it will offer an additional 100GB tier for heavy users. Pricing for this "super tier" has not been revealed. [Yes, we can, too, fight the rising tides! Sure we can!]

I, like many people, have been subscribing to Internet connection services since the days of 300 baud modems. Then I upgraded to 14.4k, 36.6k, 56k, DSL, and now cable. Unfortunately, due to where I am living today, I'm stuck on 3 Mbit Verizon DSL service, which is often running at less than 1 Mbit. Thankfully, my service doesn't have a download cap on it--at least not yet anyway.

syn·ec·do·che [si-nek-duh-kee] -- noun Rhetoric. a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole or the whole for a part, the special for the general or the general for the special, as in ten sail for ten ships or a Croesus for a rich man.

The regional chain In-N-Out Burger has held its own against giants Burger King and McDonald's by stressing employee retention

Apparently an increasing number of young people enjoy "smoking" crushed Smarties candy. They inhale the candy dust into the mouth and then exhale, producing what looks like thick smoke. (Above is just one of many video demos on YouTube.) Guess what? It's generally a bad idea.

Comedic actress Nora Dunn has frequently played acerbic character roles in films and TV as foils to generally likeable leads.

Hell in a Handbag Productions is thrilled to present a benefit staged reading featuring Hollywood's legendary eye-popping, scenery chewing film divas of all time Miss Joan Crawford and Miss Gloria Swanson in the roles that made them fabulous! See Handbag Artistic Director David Cerda and acclaimed actress and Saturday Night Live alumni Nora Dunn take on Mildred Pierce and Sunset Boulevard as only they can.

Also of note is the supporting work of Nora Dunn as television journalist Adriana Cruz, a headline-chasing nightmare version of CNN's Christiane Amanpour....