Blog Heap of Links for the day 1 April 2011

an incident in Mansfield, Ohio, where the Mansfield High School forced a local Tea Party group to change venues after the group invited an "anti-Islam" speaker. According to the school, the event was canceled not because of the speaker's message but because the school — in consultation with the police — decided that it "could not guarantee public safety...." illustrates the power of "vigilante sharia," the all-too-often demonstrated willingness of radicals to go outside the law to enforce sharia norms on the rest of the community.... Violent or (more commonly) merely threatening radicals should fear law enforcement more than citizens should fear the radicals. [Tweet-linked by Cousin Brandon http://twitter.com/brandondutcher/statuses/53120760369266688]

This inspiring story gives the reader a glimpse into heaven through the eyes of a young boy. Though skeptical at first, parents Todd and Sonja came to realize that more occurred during surgery than ever expected. Colton began to recount his journey to heaven, including descriptions of people met while there: a great grandfather who had died 30 years earlier; a sister that was lost through a miscarriage; and Jesus himself. Colton was also able to accurately describe his parents praying for him in separate rooms at the hospital during his surgery and he related that it was at the hospital that the angels sang to him.

A national bridge study released this week ranked Oklahoma's bridges second-worst in the nation

Pam Perry had a good reason for joining hundreds of people lining the streets Wednesday as an Oklahoma National Guard unit departed for out-of-state training prior to deployment to Afghanistan. "The reason we can stand here is the freedom they are going over there to protect," she said. Another reason: Her son, Patrick Perry, although in a different unit, will also soon deploy to Afghanistan. The Oklahoma National Guard's 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team will send 3,400 troops to that war-torn country early this summer.

In an effort to get closer to the local population, American female soldiers stationed in Afghanistan are being encouraged to wear a Muslim headscarf when interacting with civilians. But some question whether the practice constitutes cultural sensitivity or a form of appeasement that is degrading to U.S. soldiers. [#2.]