Blog Heap of Links for the day 25 April 2011

n an extraordinary outburst, Republican Sam Slom said the 'real issue' behind the reluctance of the President, who says he was born in Hawaii, to release full details from his birth certificate was unlikely to be because he wanted to hide his place of birth. 'My particular point of view... is that [Obama] probably was born [in Hawaii] and that the real issue is not the birth certificate, but what's on the birth certificate,' Slom said in an interview on New York's WABC 770 AM radio station.

Obama.2008 was engaging, patient, open, optimistic and a self-identified conciliator. Obama.2011 has been something else—testy, petulant, impatient, arrogant and increasingly a divider. Never forget: That historic 2008 victory came with 52.9% of the total vote and 52% of independent voters. David Axelrod recently noted "how small the margin for error is." Presidential personality is well inside the margin of error for 2012, but the one on display recently has not been attractive. And it's happening a lot.... ...suddenly he's sounding more like Travis Bickle ("You talkin' to me?") than the president of the United States.,,,,

Daniel Raphael Viflic, the 16- year-old who was critically wounded in an anti-tank missile attack on a school bus in the Negev by Hamas terrorists 10 days ago, died on Sunday after a steady decline in his condition. The missile hit the bus moments after most of the children got off, while it was traveling near Kibbutz Sa'ad, about 2.5 km. from Gaza. Just two people were on the bus when it was hit — the driver, who was lightly injured, and the boy, who was en route to visit his grandparents.

His face was bloodied and bruised. His $3,500 camera had been impounded by police, and he faced criminal charges for battery on a police officer. One month later, things have changed for Crooks. The Clark County district attorney's office has dropped all charges, and Crooks has retained an attorney of his own. The Metropolitan Police Department has opened an internal investigation into the Las Vegas police officer, Derek Colling, who Crooks says falsely arrested and beat him for filming police. And his camera -- which captured the entire March 20 altercation between Crooks and Colling -- has been returned.

CHICAGO - A man who tied sheets together and used them to try and lower himself out a window of a nursing home accidentally fell and died Wednesday morning in the Logan Square neighborhood on the Northwest Side.

A 2-year-old girl fell from a fourth-floor hotel balcony in the tourist district of Orlando on Wednesday night, but she was caught by a hotel guest and was not injured

The bees struck as William Steele, 95, and his wife, Myrtle, 92, were cleaning their hunting cabin outside Harlingen, Texas. They moved a wood stove, which disturbed a colony. Mr Steele tried to escape from the cabin, but the bees chased after him, stinging him hundreds of times. He was pronounced dead at the scene. His wife, who was stung more than 300 times, was airlifted to a hospital 100 miles away, where she later died. Their son, Richard, who was also stung, and his wife, Judy, were with them at the time. The cabin was in such a remote location that there was no mobile phone signal and 67-year-old Richard had to drive several miles before he was able to call for help.

A 73-year-old grandmother who was dropped into freezing Arctic waters during botched rescue attempt has died... Richardson reportedly began to feel dizzy and ill on the Ocean Countess cruise along the coast of Norway last month. After she was examined by the ship's doctor the captain decided to transfer her to shore for treatment. Another passenger on the ship, Colin Prescott, said both the ship and the lifeboat "were steaming at ten knots" when paramedics tried to move her on a stretcher.... "The vessels, which hadn't been latched together, suddenly moved apart by several feet as they were transferring her, which caused the rescue crews to drop the stretcher into the sea...." the water was -3 degrees Celsius (26.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and that it took paramedics around 8 minutes to rescue her from the frigid waters.... "Janet had always wanted to go on a cruise to the Norwegian Fjords so she could see the Northern Lights," her husband said. The couple share eight grandchildren between them through previous marriages....

British media on Monday described Sathya Sai Baba, who passed away in Andhra Pradesh's Puttaparthi on Sunday, as one of the most enigmatic and remarkable religious figures of the last century. "Sathya Sai Baba, who died on Sunday, probably aged 84, was India's most famous, and most controv ersial, Swami or holy man, and one of the most enigmatic and remarkable religious figures of the last century," the Daily Telegraph reported. "To his followers, Sai Baba was a living god; a claim he did nothing to disavow. He would frequently liken himself to such figures as Christ, Krishna, and the Buddha, claiming that he was the avatara of the age - an avatar being a living incarnation of the divine," the report said. To his detractors he was a charlatan, albeit one of considerable ingenuity and enormous personal charisma and power," it said. Describing Sai Baba as one of India's most popular and controversial spiritual leaders, The Times said: "Sai Baba claimed to teach messages of truth, peace, love and non-violence and maintained that he did not require followers to give up their previous religious beliefs." "His popularity was huge across India, where his following included Bollywood stars, the cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, prime ministers, judges and civil servants.

Thousands of Sri Satya Sai Baba's followers flocked to Puttaparthi where public mourning will continue until Tuesday Continue reading the main story Related Stories Obituary: Indian guru Sai Baba In pictures: Guru Satya Sai Baba Tens of thousands of mourners have been visiting the south Indian ashram where the body of revered guru Sri Satya Sai Baba is on display. The body of Sai Baba, who died in hospital of multiple organ failure at 84, is being kept in a transparent box at the temple complex in Puttaparthi.

Hundreds of Sathya Sai Baba devotees gathered at Sai Sankalp Hall at Omkar Nagar on Sunday to condole the death of their spiritual leader. A few others even left for Puttaparthi to have his last darshan. Baba, who died at the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences at Puttaparthi in Andhra Pradesh this morning, will be cremated on Tuesday. Devotees here held special bhajans and prayers, and a 'Narayan Seva' by distributing fruits and food packets to the poor in morning. "Bhajans and Narayan Seva will be conducted over the next few days too," said BS Choudhari, president of the local Sathya Sai Seva Sanghatan. One of the devotees, Abhay Bhakre said that he had huge belief in Baba. "It is as if a member of our family has passed away,'' he said. Another devotee said that he was confident that Baba would take rebirth and return to serve the society, and take care of his followers.

Controversial Quran-burning Pastor Terry Jones left Dearborn Saturday after unsuccessfully staging a protest outside of the Islamic American Center, but not before vowing to return the following week for another protest. Jones and his associate Wayne Sapp left for Florida, but say they'll hold a protest at 5:00p.m. next Friday. This time, however, it will not be at the Islamic center, it will be at the courthouse. Jones says his constitutional rights were denied when he was arrested and unable to protest on Friday.