Blog Heap of Links for the day 8 June 2009

BALL -- 'Where's the Birth Certificate?' is the cryptic message on an electronic billboard at the corner of Tioga Road and U.S. Highway 165.

In his major address to the Muslim world last week, President Obama quoted a verse from the Quran that is interpreted as urging Muslims to follow Muhammad in waging jihad against nonbelievers. The context of the verse first noticed by Rober...

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano swore in to her official advisory council the head of an Arab American organization whose officials have labeled deadly jihadists as heroes and opposed referring to Hamas as a terrorist organization....

When it comes to evaluating and discussing transparency in government, one issue and one issue alone has been deemed out of bounds by a White House website: President Obama's continued concealment of his birth record.

President Barack Obama wants Congress to consider taxing the wealthy instead of workers to pay for a health-care overhaul, as House Democrats discuss a plan to require health insurance for most Americans.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said today that he would like to see such "radical" proposals....

recovered the vertical stabilizer from the tail section... could help locate its black boxes... Eight more bodies also were found, bringing the total recovered to 24...

1974-Jun-8 -- Tornadoes and floods left 13 dead in several state cities and towns, including one in Tulsa where damage was estimated at $20 million.

...to interdict, possibly with China's help, North Korean sea and air shipments suspected of carrying weapons or nuclear technology....

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea, facing U.N. sanctions for last month's nuclear test, on Monday raised the stakes in its growing confrontation with Washington by sentencing two U.S. journalists to 12 years hard labor for "grave crimes."

There comes a time when despite the allure of the market, Western industry should band together and turn its back on China. A time when the computer and Internet industry realizes that the censorship-and-repression tax the government is intent on levying is too high a price to pay. Is this, at long last, that moment? Well, it's doubtful. But it should be. Starting July 1, computers sold in China must include government-provided spyware that blocks pornography and political dissent from Chinese citizens' view

A 43-year-old male from Kay County has died because of the virus.

$1.15 million... guardrail is supposed to replace the old one at Lake Optima in Texas County... lake does not have water in it and there's really nothing there in terms of recreation... The Public information officer with the Corps... says they picked projects based on the ability to quickly award contracts.... [!!!!]

Sweden's Pirate Party, striking a chord with voters who want more free content on the Internet, won a seat in the European Parliament, early results showed on Sunday. The Pirate

Voters could be asked to cast their ballot for European 'groupings' rather than political parties under plans to shake up the electoral system.

Peter Placker, father of Taylor Paschal-Placker, 13, said he can no longer show any of his family members affection because he wonders who among them may be next.

taking public transport may not be as green as you automatically think.... These are hidden or displaced emissions that ramp up the simple "tailpipe" tally.... it could be more eco-friendly to drive into a city -- even in an SUV.... than take a suburban train....

The curtain closed on the National Biplane Association's twenty-third and last Biplane Expo on June 6 at Oklahoma's Bartlesville Municipal Airport, better known locally as Frank Phillips Field. A total of 114 biplanes were on hand for the event's finale, as well as 241 other aircraft, said Charlie Harris, the association's chairman. He estimated that 4,100 to 4,600 people attended the event.

Reiki therapy.... invisible energy fields... acupuncture.... meditation, yoga and massage... herbal supplements... Mainstream medicine and prescription drugs have problems, too.... homeopathy, chiropractic, and native or traditional healing methods.... "We bristle when people talk about us as if we're just fringe...." [That list is such a mish-mash of reality and fantasy!]

A lion that escaped from its cage in a China zoo went for a swim in a local river.

A FROG that constantly changes colour is being worshipped as a GOD in India.... "My one problem is that this frog does not appear to eat. I keep trying to feed it but it doesn't eat anything. I don't know what else to give it...."

As the inventor of Boolean logic, which is the basis of modern digital computer logic, Boole is regarded in hindsight as one of the founders of the field of computer science.

Two reports commissioned by ICANN say new top-level Internet domains will not force trademark owners to make defensive registrations to protect their brands,

The introduction of generic top-level domains (TLDs) could wreak havoc across the internet if they are not implemented carefully and with suitable regulations in place to help minimise the risk of abuse.... most internet users do not believe that the liberalisation will have any discernable benefit to their online experience, and the majority believe it will lead to pointless domains, making the internet more complex, messy and confusing.....

A group of DNS registrars claims that VeriSign's exclusive contract to manage the .com registry is a product of lobbying, astroturfing, meeting stacking, and legal threats—and it has meant that .com domains cost twice what they otherwise would.

Two thirds of businesses are unaware they will be able to use their own name in place of domain extensions such as .com, .org, or .net when Internet domains are liberalized next year... The price of $185,000 [$185,000!!!!!] will initially limit applications to the largest corporations and organizations....

During the 17th century in England, someone urinated in a jar, added nail clippings, hair and pins, and buried it upside-down in Greenwich, where it was recently unearthed and identified by scientists as being the world's most complete known "witch bottle." ...spell device, often meant to attract and trap negative energy....

An appeals court ruled Monday that a Ten Commandments monument at the county courthouse in Stigler violates the Constitution because its primary effect is to endorse a religion.... 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 3-0 in a challenge to the monument brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma and by a county resident....

A Christian evangelical group says it has been prohibited from conducting Bible study classes in public housing projects in Tulsa, Okla., potentially violating a Supreme Court ruling that upheld religious groups' right to the use of public institutions.

The Supreme Court has ruled unanimously in a lawsuit involving an Oklahoma man that the current Iraqi government can't be held responsible in U.S. courts for the acts of Saddam Hussein's regime.

makes first-offense domestic abuse a felony if prosecutors can show a pattern of physical violence... also increases penalties for possession and distribution of child pornography and prohibits sex offenders from being ice cream truck vendors....

In court papers, the administration said the appeals court ruled correctly in this case when it found that "don't ask, don't tell" is "rationally related to the government's legitimate interest in military discipline and cohesion."

Could California become the first state in the nation to do away with welfare? That doomsday scenario is on the table as lawmakers wrestle with a staggering $24.3 billion budget deficit. County welfare directors are "in shock" at the very idea... [boo+hoo]

hundreds of armed Pakistani tribesman are attacking Taliban positions in a remote area in the northwest following a suicide attack last week on a packed mosque that killed dozens of people, including children.... Reports say anywhere from seven to 13 Taliban militants were killed and several of their hideouts destroyed....

A man who used a four-letter word to describe to his neighbors how their cat left feces in his yard was acquitted Tuesday of a disorderly conduct citation... three men and three women deliberated 15 minutes before reaching their not guilty verdict... [What did the jury do with the other 14 minutes, I wonder!]