Blog Heap of Links for the day 2 March 2011

President Obama made an unscheduled appearance to say, "I am saddened and I am outraged by this attack" and U.S. investigators would work with German authorities and "spare no effort" to ensure that "all of the perpetrators are brought to justice." He added that the killings were a "stark reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices" of American servicemembers.... When he opened fire, the gunman shouted "Allah Akbar," according to sources. He fired nine times, killling two and critically wounding two others before the gun jammed and he was subdued by other passengers....

You need to watch only a few minutes of cable news analysis to realize just how ludicrous our national energy policies have become. As escalating tensions and chaos unfold in Egypt, Libya and other Middle Eastern nations, one energy analyst suggested that if Libyan oil supplies were to fail, the United States would rely on Saudi Arabia for its oil needs. If that statement alone doesn't put U.S. leaders on red alert, the looming national energy crisis may soon become reality.

According to the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB), the Wisconsin Retirement System owns $5.5 million in Georgia Pacific corporate bonds. (Georgia Pacific is owned by Koch Industries.) This is the retirement system in which the overwhelming majority of state and local employees participate. These are the pension benefits that public employees are trying so hard to protect. So here's the challenge: Explain to a Wisconsin state worker that they are the ones helping fund the Koch brothers. Then sit back and watch the fun.

GOP Sen. Glenn Grothman was locked out of the building and was eventually surrounded by hundreds of angry protesters, according to the Cap Times. The paper reports that State Rep. Brett Hulsey, a Democrat from Madison, intervened and tried to calm the crowd. The incident lasted 5 to 10 minutes and firefighters eventually cleared a path for Grothman and Hulsey to make their way to a side entrance to the building. "This guy and I disagree on everything, but we're friends," the Cap Times quotes Hulsey as telling the demonstrators. "This is a peaceful protest. You need to back away." [THIS IS A PEACEFUL PROTEST. YOU NEED TO BACK AWAY. PEACEABLE LIKE. UM...]

But despite those historic Republican gains, the early signs suggest that even as the more mainstream political right strengthens, the radical right has remained highly energized. In an 11-day period this January, a neo-Nazi was arrested headed for the Arizona border with a dozen homemade grenades; a terrorist bomb attack on a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in Spokane, Wash., was averted after police dismantled a sophisticated anti-personnel weapon; and a man who officials said had a long history of antigovernment activities was arrested outside a packed mosque in Dearborn, Mich., and charged with possessing explosives with unlawful intent. That's in addition, the same month, to the shooting of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona, an attack that left six dead and may have had a political dimension. [I thought I had the SPLC's number but even I was stunned by the depth of the meadow muffins in the paragraph beginning "But despite those historic Republican gains...." Dumbfounding as the first three perverted examples were, they outdid themselves and 'most everybody else with their weasel-worded insinuated reinforcement of the Sarah Shot Gabby meme!]

Crony capitalism is much easier than competing in an open market. But it erodes our overall standard of living and stifles entrepreneurs by rewarding the politically favored rather than those who provide what consumers want. The purpose of business is to efficiently convert resources into products and services that make people's lives better. [hattip to http://twitter.com/brandondutcher/statuses/42771751410741248]

Nine Afghan boys were killed while collecting firewood on Tuesday in what has been described as one of the worst cases of mistaken identity by the International Security Assistance Force. NATO issued a statement Wednesday apologizing for the killings in Darah-Ye Pech district in Afghanistan's Kunar province. The victims were aged nine to 15 and included two sets of brothers. A tenth boy was injured but survived the aerial attack by helicopter gunners. The boys had apparently been collecting wood to heat their mountain homes

For months now, radical leaders have been urging followers to opt for simple shootings over complex attacks. The shooting Wednesday took place outside a busy terminal at Frankfurt Airport.

The Libyans watched from an open window of the immigration post, leaning out to see the 20,000 fleeing Egyptian, Bangladeshi, Chinese and Iranian workers heaped up against the border wall. They seemed quite unconcerned, shirt-sleeves rolled up, moving to a window closer to this crowd. Already up to 75,000 have struggled into Tunisia, but yesterday the crossing system collapsed as thousands of men, almost all Arabs desperate to escape Muammar Gaddafi's state, fought with local Tunisians who — under the eyes of the army — attacked them with stakes and iron bars.

A passenger managed to waltz past JFK's ramped-up security gantlet with three boxcutters in his carry-on luggage -- easily boarding an international flight while carrying the weapon of choice of the 9/11 hijackers... Once aboard Santiago-bound Flight 837, flight attendant Fausto Penaloda, 40, asked him to stow his luggage in the overhead storage bin. As Peraltalajara's shoved it into the compartment, Penaloda saw the boxcutters fall out of the bag, according to a police report. He grabbed the boxcutters and alerted the captain and first officer.... told authorities that he used the boxcutters for work at a Secaucus manufacturing plant and simply forgot that they were in his luggage. He was not charged..

He said he assumed Via had moved away when he began to pull the car, but the woman's husband approached him and said his wife was trapped under the Buick.

His wife clung to the minivan's windshield wiper and side mirror as the vehicle accelerated to more than 100 MPH. Carroll allegedly didn't slow down until he reached Pleasanton, more than 40 miles away, according to witness reports to police "There's a purpose that I'm still alive, because it was a miracle," the victim said. The woman was able to roll off the hood safely when Carroll finally pulled over, and due to the 45 degree temperatures and high speeds, she was suffering from hypothermia when emergency crews found her.

The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum announced Tuesday... Barbara Pierce Bush and Jenna Bush Hager [will] be in Oklahoma City on April 20 to receive the [2011 Reflections of Hope Award] on behalf of their family at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum... George W. Bush, then-governor of Texas, and Laura Bush came to Oklahoma City for the memorial service the Sunday following the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, which killed 168 people. On Feb. 19, 2001, Bush, then president, and Laura Bush, came for the dedication of the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum....

Lyndsey Dawn Fiddler... now being charged with first degree murder... in the death of her 10-day-old infant in November 2010....

When asked how he felt as his children were taken from him by U.S. website, Radaronline, the 45-year-old Two And A Half Men star said bizarrely: ' My fangs are dripping tiger blood.' [Uh, yeahhhh... they just might've made the right decision....]

Republican state Sen. Josh Brecheen is sponsoring a bill to prohibit protests for two hours before and after a funeral and to no closer than 1,000 feet of the service. Current law prohibits protests within 500 feet and an hour before and after a funeral.... he doesn't think a U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing a fundamentalist church to protest outside military funerals will affect his bill....

"Speech is powerful. It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and - as it did here - inflict great pain. On the facts before us, we cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker," Roberts said. "As a nation we have chosen a different course - to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate."

Is a greener future just around the corner for the automobile? Or is it last call — and while you're pouring, let's make it a double — at the horsepower party?

Sen. Tom Adelson offered an amendment to abolish the state's personal and corporate income tax.... Senate Minority Leader Rice said he expects the amendment abolishing the state's income tax to be removed by the House.... "All we are doing is forcing them to keep their word," Adelson said. "What is wrong with that?"

A laptop that will recognize your eyes and the movement you make with them, to open emails, browse online, scroll through websites, among other small tasks. There is also a green feature built in that would brighten the screen once the user looks at it.

On Sunday morning, an animal control officer looked into the bin and discovered that the one pup somehow survived. "He was just as healthy as could be...."

Two people were shot and killed Wednesday in an incident involving a U.S. military bus at Frankfurt Airport in Germany.... troops killed and injured are U.S. Air Force airmen from Lakenheath base in the United Kingdom, the U.S. official said, emphasizing that the information was only preliminary.... It's believed the German police have a young Kosovo national in custody

And I'm like, 'You're barking up the wrong tree. I already know I could win.' That's not the issue."