Blog Heap of Links for the day 22 May 2009

Obama White House officials decided to do their own media report on the visit, complete with cuts, interviews, and chyrons identifying who's speaking. Also, just like a network, they have their own little logo! Cute!

The buses from Conway Elementary arrived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue a little later than planned, and they were locked out. "We were going to the White House, but we couldn't get in so I felt sad...." Parents say they were just 10 minutes late for their scheduled tour. School officials say White House staff said they needed to get ready for the president's event with the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers, so they couldn't come in.

The California Sunday school teacher accused in the shocking kidnap, rape and murder of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu now is being accused of secretly poisoning two people, including another little girl.

BROKEN ARROW, OK -- "No veteran should ever be forgotten." That's the theme for Floral Haven's annual Memorial Day Observance. A nearly forgotten veteran of the Vietnam War will be given a special place of honor in Saturday's ceremonies. A bench will be the final resting place for Private Warren Nicholls at Floral Haven Memorial Gardens. Don Clapsaddle is with the Military Order of the Purple Heart. He has led an effort to properly honor a nearly forgotten Viet Nam veteran...

The term Aspect Ratio refers to the width of a picture (or screen) in relation to its height. Ratios are expressed in the form "width x height". For example, a 4x3 ratio means the picture is 4 units wide by 3 units high. Alternatively a colon may be used (e.g. 4:3 or 16:9) or a ratio to the number 1 (e.g. 1.33:1 or 1.78:1). Note that the actual physical size of the picture is irrelevant — aspect ratio refers only to the relationship between width and height.

"Twinkie defense" is a derisive label for an improbable legal defense. It is not a recognized legal defense in jurisprudence, but a catchall term coined by reporters during their coverage of the trial of defendant Dan White for the murders of San Francisco city supervisor Harvey Milk and mayor George Moscone. White's defense was that he suffered diminished capacity as a result of his depression. His change in diet from health food to Twinkies and other sugary food was said to be a symptom of depression. This defense is a claim that sugary food was not itself responsible for White's criminal behavior, but rather that it was a symptom of depression, which was the underlying cause. White was convicted of voluntary manslaughter.

Daniel James "Dan" White (September 2, 1946 — October 21, 1985) was a San Francisco supervisor who assassinated San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, on Monday, November 27, 1978, at City Hall. In a controversial verdict that led to the coining of the legal slang "Twinkie defense," White was convicted of manslaughter rather than murder in the deaths of Milk and Moscone

A former reserve police officer charged with impersonating a police officer is contending that prosecutors failed to state a crime. According to a motion to dismiss filed this week in the case against Eric Evans, the state "failed to state a crime, under the circumstances of this action, which constitutes a crime."

The Last Supper (Italian: Il Cenacolo or L'Ultima Cena) is a 15th century mural painting in Milan created by Leonardo da Vinci for his patron Duke Ludovico Sforza and his duchess Beatrice d'Este. It represents the scene of The Last Supper from the final days of Jesus as it is told in the Gospel of John 13:21, when Jesus announces that one of his Twelve Apostles would betray him.

Visible Leaders Shamsi Ali, Marc Schneier Come Together At 96th Street Mosque To Denounce Terrorism

new service in Northwest Houston, uses a water-based cleaning solution that is non-hazardous and biodegradable.

Last month, a Swedish court found the four men behind the popular Pirate Bay website guilty of assisting copyright infringement, sentencing each of them to one year in prison and a $905,000 fine. Shortly afterword, Pirate Bay lawyer Peter Althin demanded a retrial due to bias -- given the trial's judge is a member of the same copyright protection organizations as several of the main entertainment industry representatives. A second judge was tasked with determining bias has themselves been removed from said task -- for bias....

Dozens of soldiers will make return home in time for Memorial Day. There are 120 Oklahoma National Guard troops that will land on Sunday; 80 of those will return to Tulsa. They've been in Iraq for the past eight months.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday she won't talk any more about her charge that the CIA lied in 2002 about using waterboarding on terrorism suspects.