Blog Heap of Links for the day 28 May 2009

A 9-year-old girl whose mother allegedly perpetrated a kidnapping hoax was reunited with her father Thursday in Florida.... told ABC's "Good Morning America" he was "elated" to hear Julia's voice on the telephone....

As a damaging audiotape of Senator Roland W. Burris began playing on seemingly every television and radio station here, he toured his home state Wednesday and portrayed that secretly recorded phone conversation, with the brother of the man who appointed him to the Senate, as proof that he had not tried to trade favors for the post. Related The Caucus: Senator Burris in the Cross-Hairs of 'Hardball' That portrayal astonished many....

Bonnie Sweeten is accused of filing false reports that she and her daughter were kidnapped, and then taking her daughter for a trip to Disney World while using another woman's ID to get there.

20-year-old Aloha man had a sleep-over at the Washington County Jail on Memorial Day after calling 9-1-1 to complain that McDonald's left out a box of orange juice from his drive-thru order.

A chain-reaction collision Thursday involving a school bus [empty], a casino bus and a tractor-trailer injured nearly 60 people and shut down the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway for hours

Scientists have identified a lethal new virus in Africa that causes bleeding like the dreaded Ebola virus. The so-called "Lujo" virus infected five people in Zambia and South Africa last fall. Four of them died, but a fifth survived, perhaps helped by a medicine recommended by the scientists. It's not clear how the first person became infected, but the bug comes from a family of viruses found in rodents....

Four children died when a powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake shook Honduras on Thursday and the death toll could be much higher

Economic hardship in the officially 'self-reliant' North has led to mass starvation, while the South has a vibrant economy able to compete with the best of the world. In 1996, the per capita GNP in the North was $920, while it was $11.270 in the South. A 1999 estimate of per capita GNPs put the South's at 13 times that of the North. More recent figures will probably show an even wider gap. Due to the different economic results on either side of the Demilitarized Zone, the ethnically quite homogenous Koreans have even begun to diversify physically, with the average North Korean male almost 7 cm shorter than his Southern counterpart (165,6 cm vs. 172,5 cm). North Korean females are on average 4 cm shorter than Southern women (154,9 cm vs. 159,1 cm). By 2025, the height difference is projected to increase to 11 cm for men, 6 cm for women. Unless the North's economic situation changes drastically, that is.

A bloody towel, a sharped-edged tool stained with blood and photos of young girls were among the evidence confiscated from the motel room and van of George Kennedy, a "person of interest" in the case of missing Michigan 5-year-old Nevaeh Buchanan.... Sheriff ... stopped short of calling him a suspect ...

While researching this morning's major earthquake off of the coast of Honduras, I came across an interesting story. It was about the fear of a tsunami in Puerto Rico, reported just yesterday. This is on the other side of the Caribbean, but could it be connected? The Tsunami Watch was dropped this morning, but other questions have been raised.

AOL, eight years after the Internet service linked up with Time Warner Inc. in a $124 billion merger, is now worth half as much as Facebook Inc. and less than 5 percent of Google Inc.

General Motors Corp said on Thursday it had reached a deal with some major bondholders that would give them a bigger stake in a reorganized automaker and could pave the way for a fast-track bankruptcy backed by the U.S. Treasury within days. The announcement was the clearest indication yet that GM, the No. 1 U.S. automaker, is close to filing for bankruptcy under the direction of the Obama administration. It would be the biggest-ever bankruptcy for a U.S. industrial company.

Ever since the mid 14th century, Büsingen has had Austrian overlords — at the end of the 17th century, the abduction, trial and death sentence of the Lord of Büsingen at the hands of the neighbouring Swiss canton of Schaffhausen almost led to war between Austria and Switzerland. It's said that due to this near-war, the Austrians decided to never relinquish control over Büsingen to the Swiss, just to spite them. When Austria sold its rights to the nearby villages of Ramsen and Dörflingen to the canton of Zürich in 1770, Büsingen effectively became an enclave within Switzerland.

Sara Jane Moore (born Sara Jane Kahn) tried to assassinate president Gerald Ford in September 1975. This was just seventeen days after Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme had also tried to kill the president. She now speaks out, aged 80 and released from prison 2 years ago, and even offers public apologies for her reaction back then.

Free after 32 years in prison, Sara Jane Moore says she was wrong, "misled" and "mistaken" in trying to assassinate President Gerald R. Ford in September 1975. However, she added: "I still believe if I hadn't done it, someone else would." [What th...?]

some critics charging that its premise is misogynistic [NO DOUBT the SAME people who decry similar women's groups as misandrist!]

told them to "stop religious assembly or apply for a major use permit"

Sonia Sotomayo: I warn Latinos in this room: Latinas are making a lot of progress in the old-boy network. ... ... America has a deeply confused image of itself that is in perpetual tension ... achieving success here is no easy accomplishment for Latinos or Latinas ... I wonder whether by ignoring our differences as women or men of color we do a disservice both to the law and society. ... I accept the thesis.... there is a diversity of opinion because there is both a diversity of experiences and of thought.... feminist theories of judging ... That same point can be made with respect to people of color. ... [Ethnicist, sexist, and racist... what a maroon.]

President Barack Obama's nominee to fill a Supreme Court vacancy has yet another tie to Connecticut. She sided against a student in the infamous "douche bag" case, and that has upset some free-speech advocates.

is listed as a member of the National Council of La Raza, a group that's promoted driver's licenses for illegal aliens, amnesty programs, and no immigration law enforcement by local and state police.

The pharmacist charged with first-degree murder was released today from the Oklahoma County jail after a supporter came up with the money for his $100,000 bail

It was the five shots Ersland fired into 16-year-old Antwun Parker's abdomen that prompted them to file first degree murder charges. ... The Oklahoma County District Attorney's Office released surveillance video from the pharmacy Wednesday. Here is where the debate lies - did pharmacist Jerome Ersland cross the line?

This year, the World Naked Bike Ride happens on June 13. Here's what the 2006 version looked like in one city. [video]

an international clothing-optional bike ride in which participants plan, meet and ride together en masse on human-powered transport (the vast majority on bicycles, but some on skateboards and inline skates), to "deliver a vision of a cleaner, safer, body-positive world."