Blog Heap of Links for the day 1 March 2011

Jennifer Haberkorn reports that President Obama's move to allow states flexibility in spending health care funds is the "most significant change" since the law was enacted, and a potential gesture toward critics. But a source on a White House conference call with liberal allies this morning says the Administration is presenting it to Democrats as an opportunity to offer more expansive health care plans than the one Congress passed.

Anxious to ease deepening political tensions with the states, President Barack Obama on Monday told governors he wants to speed up their ability to enforce his signature health care law on their own terms. But his concession goes only so far: He warned he won't allow states to weaken the law. [Never mind that it's been declared UNCONSTITUTIONAL!!!]

"I don't think it does anybody any good when public employees are denigrated or vilified, or their rights are infringed upon."

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin expressed doubt Monday concerning President Barack Obama's announcement on moving up the date for giving states the right to design their own health-care programs. "I'd like to opt out totally,'' Fallin said

It was the best fake Twitter account ever, deftly satirizing Rahm Emanuel, and elevating the Tweet and the f-word to the level of literature. But the mystery writer was never revealed - until now.

Evidence outlined in a Pentagon contractor report suggests that financial subversion carried out by unknown parties, such as terrorists or hostile nations, contributed to the 2008 economic crash by covertly using vulnerabilities in the U.S. financial system.... "There is sufficient justification to question whether outside forces triggered, capitalized upon or magnified the economic difficulties of 2008," the report says, explaining that those domestic economic factors would have caused a "normal downturn" but not the "near collapse" of the global economic system that took place. Suspects include financial enemies in Middle Eastern states, Islamic terrorists, hostile members of the Chinese military, or government and organized crime groups in Russia, Venezuela or Iran. Chinese military officials publicly have suggested using economic warfare against the U.S....

In a speech to religious broadcasters that received a sustained ovation at his conclusion, he said free expression is under attack by a power structure in Washington populated with regulators who have never set foot inside a radio station or a television studio. "We see this threat in how the FCC is creeping further into the free market by trying to regulate the Internet," Mr. Boehner said. "The last thing we need, in my view, is the FCC serving as Internet traffic controller, and potentially running roughshod over local broadcasters who have been serving their communities with free content for decades...."

A woman who is set to become Britain's youngest grandmother at 29 said it was 'her worst nightmare' when she discovered her 14-year-old daughter was pregnant. Kelly John said she always hoped Tia would not repeat her mistake and become pregnant at 14.

Some surprised drivers were unable to avoid the nearly 200 goats that walked onto the southbound lanes of traffic near the Twin Cities Road off-ramp, causing several accidents and inflicting non-life threatening injuries to one driver.

The irony was that her public image as a sassy sex symbol was belied in real life by Right-wing Christian beliefs and staunch affiliation to the Republican Party.

[Album cover image]

Suze Rotolo was an early girlfriend of Dylan's during his first days in New York. On Thursday, she died in her Manhattan home from lung cancer. But the 67-year-old artist has been immortalized on the cover of the 1963 album A Freewheelin' Bob Dylan as the girl clutching to the singer as they walked through a dreary, wintry Greenwich Village.

publicity shots posing her in a low-cut blouse while reclined on a stack of hay bales

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a victim's statement to the police at a crime scene can be used in court, even if the victim later dies and cannot testify at a trial.

the incredible story of 11-year-old Shaunice Smith, who is thought to be the only person in the world whose heart is both on the wrong side and the wrong way round

"I'm guessing that he hit his head near the top of the well," he said in reference to an injury the child had. "If he would have hit it further down, he probably wouldn't have survived." Luton said a key factor in the rescue was the presence of a wrecker. An Alert Wrecker Service driver was in the area when the call came out and responded to the scene. "When we arrived, he was already there," Luton said. "He backed up and extended the boom over the hole, which gave us a good connection point for our ropes and rigging."

Chitwood said that two of his officers, Eric Colella and Ryan Wiseley, were eating lunch at Verona's Pizza, 8917 West Chester Pike when they saw Galiatsatos walk in carrying a bag. Galiatsatos went into the restroom and left a short time later, without the bag, Chitwood said. The bag was found in the restroom ceiling and contained three white mice, Chitwood said. The officers also watched Galiatsatos walk in and quickly out of Uncle Nick's Pizza, at 9000 West Chester Pike. A bag of containing six mice was found in a trash can in the pizzeria,

They'll be no more milk from mommy for customers of The Icecreamists, after local government officials confiscated ice cream made from human breast milk. The action came on Monday, when representatives of Westminster City Council removed the offending dairy products from the central London store. The infamous "Baby Gaga" ice cream was launched last week amid a flurry of press attention.

Certain types of "fake pot" that can provide marijuana-like highs will be banned under U.S. rules that take effect tomorrow...

A legislative proposal to allow the sale of strong beer and wine in [Oklahoma] state grocery and convenience stores has been put off until next year.

...stuck with an 800-pound pump in his hands for nearly a half-hour... Good thing it was weightless.... "I'm fine as long as it's not too much longer," Bowen radioed. "How much longer?"... perched on a small platform at the end of the 58-foot robotic arm... [All part of the job....]

A lawyer for Sirhan Sirhan, the confessed assassin of Robert F. Kennedy, plans to present new evidence at a parole board hearing tomorrow, suggesting that the Palestinian did not act alone, was potentially brain washed and cannot remember anything about the 40-year-old shooting

Pointing to the growing number of connected devices, from PCs to mobile phones to TVs to medical devices, the two companies have said that today's approach to security isn't enough. And with the mounting threat of cyberattacks, a new security framework that combines hardware, software, and services is needed. [Or, maybe, they just got bought out.]

"When you are looking at purely dollars and cents, it doesn't really make a lot of sense. The Volt isn't particularly efficient as an electric vehicle and it's not particularly good as a gas vehicle either in terms of fuel economy," said David Champion, the senior director of Consumer Reports auto testing center at a meeting with reporters here. "This is going to be a tough sell to the average consumer."

"There is no doubt he does not remember the critical events," said William F. Pepper, the attorney who will argue for Sirhan's parole Wednesday. "He is not feigning it. It's not an act. He does not remember it." Sirhan may not remember much about the night of June 4, 1968, but the world remembers. They have heard how Sirhan was grabbed as he emptied a pistol in the crowded kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel here where Kennedy stood moments after claiming victory in the California presidential primary. They heard how he kept firing even as his hand was pinned to a table. They heard how Kennedy, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, was shot and died, changing the course of American history. Parole Board members are bound to review those facts, but they won't consider the many conspiracy theories floated over the years.

OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma House committee has approved anti-illegal immigrant legislation that would give Oklahoma law enforcement officials new authority to assess the immigration status of motorists.

You may live and work in the cloud, but your data needs protection. We show you how to easily backup your vital information from Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, and other cloud-based services.

A nationwide crackdown targeting gangs affiliated with Mexican drug traffickers has resulted in the arrests of 678 gang members and associates, including 14 in the Chicago area.... The gang members have affiliations with 133 different gangs....

An Oklahoma House committee has approved anti-illegal immigrant legislation that would give Oklahoma law enforcement officials new authority to assess the immigration status of motorists.

A House committee approved a bill Monday that would give law enforcement officials more authority to check the immigration status of motorists. The measure's author said it mirrors some parts of Arizona's anti-illegal immigrant law passed last year.

The capture of a Somali pirate 'mother ship' north of Madagascar, some 2,500 miles from Somalia, has highlighted this impoverished island nation's outdated piracy laws.