Blog Heap of Links for the day 25 March 2011

President says neither he nor Eric Holder approved ATF operation called 'Fast and Furious' [It was just one of those things that magically happened. Unicorns. Rainbows. Look! Over there!]

Authorities in Japan raised the prospect Friday of a likely breach in the all-important containment vessel of the No. 3 reactor at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, a potentially ominous development in the race to prevent a large-scale release of radiation.

CAPROCK CANYONS STATE PARK, Texas — Six years ago, inbreeding threatened to destroy the last herd of southern Plains bison. Only 53 were left, and breeders were having trouble getting females to carry their calves to term. Tests showed that unless something was done to increase the diversity of genes in the historic herd, all the animals would be gone within 50 years.

With appearances on Oprah and across the U.S. it has certainly been an eventful first year for Einstein, the world's smallest horse, as he approaches the big day.

why add <3 as a word? A spokesperson clarified, "While symbols do become spelt-out words relatively frequently, it is usually only with a mundane meaning as the name of the symbol… It's very unusual for it to happen in such an evocative and tangential way." [Could you repeat that again in, say, plain English?]

The dictionary says that although the terms are associated with modern electronic communications, some are surprisingly old. The first confirmed use of "OMG" was in 1917.

The U.S. Defense Department is expected to issue an order today for General Electric Co. and Rolls-Royce Group Plc to halt work on a second engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter .