Blog Heap of Links for the day 26 June 2009

The South Korean military plans to speed up efforts to deploy ground, air and naval weapons systems for use in strikes against key facilities in North Korea in the event of war, the Ministry of National Defense said Friday.

Arizona school officials violated the constitutional rights of a 13-year-old girl when they strip-searched her on the suspicion she might be hiding ibuprofen in her underwear, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday. The decision put school districts on notice that such searches are "categorically distinct" from other efforts to combat illegal drugs.... What was missing, Souter wrote, "was any indication of danger to the students from the power of the drugs or their quantity, and any reason to suppose that Savana was carrying pills in her underwear."... Justice Clarence Thomas was the lone dissenter. "Judges are not qualified to second-guess the best manner for maintaining quiet and order in the school environment..." [Oh, go back to your hairy Coke, Clarence!]

A body found in rural northern Indiana may be that of missing 2-year-old Jada Justice... police started questioning [babysitter's] story last week, and began investigating both [her] and her boyfriend... Neither has been cooperative with the authorities...

Sri Lankan police say they have arrested an astrologer after he predicted serious political and economic problems for the government of President Mahinda Rajapakse. [Not so dissimilar to some things happneing in America now...?]

President Barack Obama's signature on a bill this week to grant the US Food and Drug Administration regulatory authority over tobacco was historic, and represents a step in the march to eliminate tobacco use in this country by 2047, two national tobacco experts said today. [AAAHHHHH! "TOBACCO EXPERTS!" BEHAVIOR NAZIS! STOP THE TYRANTS! I hate tobacco, but SAVE US FROM SUPERNANNY!]

The New York City health department is moving forward with a plan that would require about 12,000 cigarette retailers to post large anti-smoking signs. [I hate tobacco, but GOD SAVE US FROM BIG NANNY GOVERNMENT!!]

Soraya, a woman brutally slain because her husband wanted to marry a 14-year-old girl, refers to herself as an inconvenient wife in the shattering and powerful drama The Stoning of Soraya M.

A booby-trapped motorcycle loaded with nails and ball-bearings exploded in a crowded bazaar Friday in Baghdad, killing at least 15 people

Republicans' opposition to the climate change bill... [is] playing into the hands of the Iranian regime and the Saudi Arabian kingdom, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) argued Friday. [WHAT AN EVIL MAN!]

The United States may have been behind the killing of Neda Agha-Soltan, the 26-year-old Iranian woman whose fatal videotaped shooting Saturday made her a symbol of opposition to the June 12 presidential election results, the country's ambassador to Mexico said Thursday. [The CIA should only be so clever! What a bunch of propaganda loons -- do even the stupidest, most brainwashed Iranians (or anyone else) really buy this nonsense?] In response, CIA spokesman George Little said, "Any suggestion that the CIA was responsible for the death of this young woman is wrong, absurd and offensive."...

for the Chinese government there really is no difference. Political dissent and pornography are two sides of the same coin — negative forces that disrupt "wholesome society." That's why the same ministry deals with pornography and political speech.

Google Inc. said it's investigating reports that its Google.com Web site is inaccessible in China, a week after the company was criticized by the government for spreading pornography in the biggest Internet market by users.

Eight young Cherokee bicyclists will tackle a nearly 1,000-mile Remember the Removal Ride, which follows one of the Trail of Tears routes, in the searing summer heat. But it's a chance for them to see the same countryside their ancestors saw when they were forced at gunpoint to abandon everything.

A local couple arrested on domestic assault charges Sunday had an unusual choice of alleged weaponry -- Cheetos. [To accompany the "Frito Lay" bust in OKC.]

Tulsa businessman Dewey Bartlett, Junior, announced he will be seek the Republican nomination for Tulsa Mayor.

The Democrat-led House pressed Thursday for enough votes to pass landmark legislation that would combat global warming by forcing U.S. companies to reduce their carbon-dioxide emissions, expanding expensive renewable-energy sources and trimming consumers' choices on new light bulbs and hot tubs. [WHERE'S G BUSH WHEN WE REALLY NEED REGEIME CHANGE?]

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) slowed Democrats' attempt to pass a sweeping climate-change legislation Friday evening, reading page-by-page through a 300-page Democratic amendment before allowing a roll call vote.... "...the House is going to spend a whopping five hours debating the most profound piece of legislation to come to this floor in 100 years. And the chairman has the audacity to drop a 300-plus page amendment in the hopper at 3:09 a.m. this morning. And so I would ask my colleagues, don't you think the American people expect us to understand what's in this bill before we vote on it?"

wind speeds across the country have decreased by an average of .5 percent to 1 percent per year since 1973.... more in the East than in the West, and more in the Northeast and the Great Lakes.... [Researchers "think that global warming will cause lighter winds" but there's no mention in this article of the range of variability, shorter-term or longer-term trending, or the margin of error. But of three possible causes, "There are some good theoretical reasons to think that global warming will cause lighter winds"... yeah... like US Gov funding? Oh, pardon my cynical and suspicious nature....]

As the U.S. House of Representatives prepares to pass a climate-change bill, the Australian Parliament is preparing to kill its own country's carbon-emissions scheme. Why? A growing number of Australian politicians, scientists and citizens once again doubt the science of human-caused global warming. Among the many reasons President Barack Obama and the Democratic majority are so intent on quickly jamming a cap-and-trade system through Congress is because the global warming tide is again shifting. It turns out Al Gore and the United Nations (with an assist from the media), did a little too vociferous a job smearing anyone who disagreed with them as "deniers." The backlash has brought the scientific debate roaring back to life in Australia, Europe, Japan and even, if less reported, the U.S....

an umbrella term for a number of psychological techniques that share a theoretical basis in behavioristic learning theory and cognitive psychology.... In cognitive oriented therapies, the objective is typically to identify and monitor thoughts, assumptions, beliefs and behaviors that are related and accompanied to debilitating negative emotions and to identify those which are dysfunctional, inaccurate, or simply unhelpful. This is done in an effort to replace or transcend them with more realistic and useful ones.....

not only is CBT ineffective in treating schizophrenia and in preventing relapse, it is also ineffective in preventing relapses in bipolar disorder.... has only a weak effect in treating depression, but it has a greater effect in preventing relapses...

A Columbus firefighter admits that he took his two dogs to the basement, tied them up and blasted them with a rifle so he and a girlfriend could vacation without paying to board the animals. "He said chunks of concrete were flying everywhere...." 90 days in jail, pay $4,500 to cover the cost of his investigation and serve five years' probation.... [sick]

Passing President Obama's "cap and trade" energy program would cost the average Oklahoma family $3,200 a year, Sen. Jim Inhofe said Friday, but he's confident the measure will be killed in the Senate no matter what happens in the House of Representatives.

Darren Brazeal has a spectacular backyard with an outdoor kitchen, fireplace and a beautiful pool and spa. He has created his perfect environment and he's done it in the most energy efficient and environmentally safe way he could. Dennis Daniel with Vivian Pools designed the pool system. "Instead of using chlorine in this pool, it doesn't use chlorine at all it uses purified water softener salt.... And, the other cool thing is it monitors itself...." The pool and the house are heated and cooled geothermally.....

The country's smallest state has the longest official name: "State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations." A push to drop "Providence Plantations" from that name advanced farther than ever on Thursday when House lawmakers voted 70-3 to let residents decide whether their home should simply be called the "State of Rhode Island." It's an encouraging sign for those who believe the formal name conjures up images of slavery, while opponents argue it's an unnecessary rewriting of history that ignores Rhode Island's tradition of religious liberty and tolerance.

An Emergency Room source at UCLA hospital said Jackson aides told medics he had collapsed after an injection of potent Demerol — similar to morphine.

hasn't aged in the conventional sense... body is not developing as a coordinated unit, but as independent parts that are out of sync... still has baby teeth at 16... bone age is estimated to be more like 10 years old... mental capacity of a toddler...

As a woman gets older, physical problems are less likely to influence whether she is sexually active than her partner's health or interest in sex, according to a new study.

As I told CNN on April 22, 2004, "My great fear, and why I felt I had to be distanced from Michael … was that he would not live long. My fear was that Michael's life would be cut short. When you have no ingredients of a healthy life, when you are totally detached from that which is normal, and when you are a super-celebrity you, God forbid, end up like Janis Joplin like Elvis… Michael is headed in that direction."

The dollar dropped after China's central bank reiterated a call for a worldwide currency. [THE COLD WAR CONTINUES.... WILL FREEDOM SURVIVE ON THIS PLANET??]