Blog Heap of Links for the day 11 June 2009

A Chicago police officer caught on video beating a stabbing victim who was handcuffed and shackled to a wheelchair was sentenced Thursday to more than three years in federal prison.

The Senate struck a historic blow against smoking in America Thursday, voting overwhelmingly to give regulators new power to limit nicotine in the cigarettes that kill nearly a half-million people a year

A move by the IRS to tax the use of company-issued mobile phones is spurring efforts by the wireless industry and others to kill the idea.

He was speaking Thursday in Rome, where he is on a three-day official visit... likening the 1986 U.S. Strikes on Libya to Osama bin Laden's terror attacks on the United States in 2001... [Wouldn't do much harm to bomb the jerk again, maybe?]

A woman and three children were killed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, when a suspected robber fleeing in a car jumped a curb and struck them, police said Thursday.... He literally cut a tree in half..."

The five-year-old Great Pyrenees is credited with saving the lives of Moss and her son David, 19, by alerting them to an early morning fire.... Smelling smoke and hearing the crackle of fire, mother and son fled the house around 6 a.m. with Jeter following. For an unknown reason, the 120-pound dog went back into the house and perished.... "He'd had such a tough time. He'd been starved, beaten and abused," Glenda Moss said, sobbing as friends and neighbors stopped by after hearing of the fire. "My dog was just amazing."

Four people originally arrested on marijuana, distribution of marijuana and child neglect related charges will instead face formal charges of possession of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a park or school and paraphernalia.

An advocacy group for online poker said Tuesday that the federal government has frozen more than $30 million in the accounts of payment processors that handle the winnings of thousands of online poker players.

Gov. Palin pushed back at Letterman again this morning, issuing a statement via Palin PAC spokesperson Meghan Stapelton. "The Palins have no intention of providing a ratings boost for David Letterman by appearing on his show," Stapelton said in an email to ABC News. "Plus, it would be wise to keep Willow away from David Letterman."

New York City plans to trap and kill up to 2,000 Canada Geese this summer in an attempt to avoid the type of collision that caused an airliner to ditch in the Hudson River last winter. The hunt will take place on dozens of city properties located within five miles of Kennedy and LaGuardia airports. Aviation officials have culled the bird flocks on airport property for years, but this will mark a major expansion of the effort into other parts of the city, including about 40 public parks.