Blog Heap of Links for the day 24 May 2011

the two leaders liken the effort to free Arab people from authoritarianism to the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall in the 1980s. They liken their personal efforts to two leaders who came before them: Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher.

When the president toasted the Queen the orchestra misunderstood a pause and what seemed to be a cue from the president for "God Save the Queen" to begin playing.... "To the Queen," the president finally said. He lifted his glass to her, she smiled a bit uncomfortably. But because the song was playing, no one drank from his or her glass, including the president, who put his glass down on the table. [AFTER being told to by the Queen!!]

Most notable from the wine cellars of the famous palace: A Echezeaux Grand Cru 1990, Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, that goes for $1,000 - $1,700 per bottle in the United States. There were a bunch of other wines, like Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin champagne and a very nice $170 1963 port President and first lady Michelle Obama, who are noted for dinner dates at Washington's finest restaurants, have probably had before.

Vice President Joe Biden did not applaud after Netanyahu called for an undivided Jerusalem.

The White House has named Jesse Lee to a new position within its communications department titled Director of Progressive Media & Online Response. According to The Huffington Post, Lee will essentially be responsible for building up Obama's online presence as he prepares for his reelection bid, and squashing any negative stories....

Something else bothers us about the media mockery of Harold Camping, as justifiable as it may be. Why are only religious doomsday cultists subjected to such ridicule? Reuters notes that "Camping previously made a failed prediction Jesus Christ would return to Earth in 1994." Ha ha, you can't believe anything this guy says! But who jeered at the U.N.'s false prediction that there would be 50 million "climate refugees" by 2010? We did, but not Reuters.

The Afghan intelligence agency said Monday that the reclusive leader of the Taliban has disappeared from a suspected hideout in Pakistan and has been out of contact with his commanders for days — adding further questions about Mullah Mohammad Omar after a media report said he was killed. The Taliban denied the claim on the Afghan news channel Tolo that Omar was shot dead while being moved inside Pakistan with the help of a former Pakistani intelligence official. The Taliban spokesman countered that Omar was alive and was somewhere inside Afghanistan.

The brazen attack on a Pakistani naval air base has sent shockwaves through the nuclear-armed country, raising concerns about the military's ability to protect sophisticated weaponry . The ease with which six Taliban militants stormed the PNS Mehran base in Karachi, close to the city's busy commercial airport, and destroyed two newly US-supplied P-3C Orion maritime surveillance aircraft has unnerved Pakistan's military establishment. The militants held off security forces for more than 16 hours, killed 12 naval personnel and injured 14. Their primary objective appeared to be some of the military's most sophisticated electronic warfare equipment, as they wiped out Pakistan's anti-submarine warfare capability in a single stroke.

"I'm right here, standing right here and I hear a yipe," says Murphy, standing behind his home which sits in a marsh along the St. Lucie River. "I look down. The gator's right here with Doogie in his mouth." Murphy didn't hesitate, after all Doogie is more than a dog, he's a constant companion. "I must have cleared this by a foot," says Murphy, referring to the rope railing that runs along the dock. "I had loafers on and I hit the back of that gator. It was like jumping on a pile of rocks. But when I did, I caught him right behind the head here, I hit him here and his mouth opened and Doogie took off and the gator turned around and went under the boat and out he went." Murphy found Doogie shaking with terror and bleeding from deep gouges the gator's teeth made. He's now receiving antibiotics through an IV. Veterinarian Andrea Pace thinks Doogie will be OK.

The Supreme Court ordered California on Monday to release tens of thousands of its prisoners to relieve overcrowding, saying that "needless suffering and death" had resulted from putting too many inmates into facilities that cannot hold them in decent conditions. It is one of the largest prison release orders in the nation's history, and it sharply split the high court. ... In dissent, Justice Antonin Scalia called the ruling "staggering" and "absurd." He said the high court had repeatedly overruled the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals for ordering the release of individual prisoners. Now, he said, the majority were ordering the release of "46,000 happy-go-lucky felons." He added that "terrible things are sure to happen as a consequence of this outrageous order." Justice Clarence Thomas agreed with him.

seen whipping the leash and dog around while inside the elevator... charged with one count of torturing and injuring animals and one count of unlawful possession of marijuana... after an extensive examination was found to be in good condition with no injuries...

A long commute to work might further job prospects and put more money in the bank but it could also increase the risk for divorce by 40 percent

Nabil Shaath, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Netanyahu's insistence on keeping key parts of the territories the Palestinians want for their state is a "declaration of war against the Palestinians." [HA! Like the declarations of death to Isreal were just sneezes? It's been war all along!]

My Friends, Israel wants peace because we know the pain of terror and the agony of war. We want peace because we know the blessings peace could bring to us and to our Palestinian neighbors. But if we hope to advance peace with the Palestinians, then it is time that we admitted another truth. This conflict has raged for nearly a century because the Palestinians refuse to end it. They refuse to accept the Jewish state. This is what this conflict has always been about.

A newborn tossed down a housing project's trash chute survived the eight-story fall because he landed on a pile of garbage and the compactor was jammed... A maintenance worker heard a baby boy's cries... in stable condition... [Mother], 18, was arrested on charges of attempted murder and endangering the welfare of a child....

The only people who know are Storm's brothers, Jazz, 5, and Kio, 2, a close family friend and the two midwives who helped deliver the baby in a birthing pool at their Toronto home on New Year's Day. "When the baby comes out, even the people who love you the most and know you so intimately, the first question they ask is, 'Is it a girl or a boy?'" says Witterick, bouncing Storm, dressed in a red-fleece jumper, on her lap at the kitchen table. "If you really want to get to know someone, you don't ask what's between their legs," says Stocker. When Storm was born, the couple sent an email to friends and family: "We've decided not to share Storm's sex for now — a tribute to freedom and choice in place of limitation, a stand up to what the world could become in Storm's lifetime (a more progressive place? ...)." Their announcement was met with stony silence. Then the deluge of criticisms began. Not just about Storm, but about how they were parenting their other two children.

In unusually strong language, he told members of Congress that Judea and Samaria are part of the ancient Jewish homeland that our forefathers walked in and that the 650,000 Jews living there "are not 'occupying' the region." He strongly criticized the changed versions of history that are being promoted by others. Interrupted dozens of times by standing ovations, after minutes-long applause as he entered the chamber, Netanyahu also said that there are 300 million Arabs in the MIddle East, but the only ones who are free are Israeli citizens.

Engineers at Ford have developed a prototype car seat that uses electrocardiograph (ECG) technology to monitor the heart's electrical impulses and detect signs of irregularity, resulting in an early warning that a driver should seek medical assistance, such as for a heart attack, high blood pressure, electrolyte imbalances or other cardiovascular issue.

Bartlesville Police Chief Tom Holland announced that local emergency personnel working in Joplin have recovered five bodies. The Fire Department located two dead and one survivor of the storm while members of the Police Department found three bodies in a nursing home.

Several crews from Washington County left Sunday night for the Joplin, Missouri area to help with the search and rescue effort after the devastating tornado hit there. Crews from Washington County Emergency Management, Bartlesville Fire Department, Bartlesville Police Department and numerous other volunteers were on site Monday morning.

Several crews from local agencies are assisting in search and rescue efforts in the Joplin, Mo., area after a devastating tornado hit the city. Crews from the Bartlesville Fire Department, Bartlesville Police Department, the Washington County Sheriff's Office and Washington County Emergency Management are all on the scene. According to BPD Capt. Jay Hastings, the department sent six or seven members of the Special Operations Team (SOT), as well as several reserves. "I'm not sure how many reserves went right now," he told the Examiner-Enterprise today. "They are going to work security." According to Washington County Undersheriff Steve Johnson, the sheriff's office has two deputies there right now.

Bartlesville police have joined other Oklahoma police departments to lend a helping hand in tornado devastated Joplin, Mo,. through which a tornado Sunday evening tore a path of destruction and left more than 100 people dead.

last year the rabbi of the synagogue, David Twersky, announced no one should pray outside the main synagogue. That day, Rottenberg's car windows were broken, then his house windows, then 100 people chanted outside his home "Aron Rottenberg, leave the neighborhood," then the attempted firebombing. Police acknowledged that these incidents occurred but have made no arrests in any of them

Two liger cubs - a cross between a male lion and a female tiger - are being nursed by a dog at a zoo in Weihai, eastern China.

An animal welfare group is investigating the treatment of a panhandling dog often seen holding a pipe in its mouth for hours outside New York City's professional baseball stadiums.

forecasters predict a towering plume of Icelandic ash could cover the whole of Britain by the end of the week.

At least 122 people died, a number that seems likely to rise. An additional 1,500 people remained on the official list of those who remained unaccounted for, which ballooned in a flood of worried phone calls but is gradually shrinking as the names of the living and the dead are scratched off. The police said two people were found alive Tuesday, in addition to seven found on Monday. Because cellphone service was knocked out by the storm on Sunday and remained spotty two days later, many residents were unable to contact friends and relatives who may still be alive. Residents' frustration and fears grew as officials declined to share the names of the dead and the missing, and they have turned to local radio and Facebook.

A monster tornado killed at least 116 people in Joplin, Missouri when it tore through the heart of the small city, ripping the roof off a hospital and destroying thousands of homes and businesses. Weather officials said the tornado that hit the city of 50,000 at dinner time on Sunday was the deadliest single tornado in the country since 1947 and the ninth-deadliest tornado of all time, they said. Emergency officials said on Monday 116 people were killed and about 400 were injured. According to local officials many had massive internal injuries.

The twister brought death and destruction with a fast fury that was hard to escape.

Have there been more tornadoes in 2011 than previous years? Short Answer: No, the tornadoes are just hitting populated areas. Carbin: "There is no indication of an upward trend in either intensity or numbers.

In his commencement speech at Hamilton College on Sunday, former Vice President Al Gore told the graduates that global warming is "the most serious challenge our civilization has ever faced." But as an undergraduate at Harvard University in the late 1960s, Gore--one of the most prominent spokesmen on climate change today--earned a "D" in Natural Sciences.

Spirit has been incommunicado for more than a year despite daily calls by NASA. The cause of Spirit's silence may never be known, but it's likely the bitter Martian winter damaged its electronics, preventing the six-wheel rover from waking up. The space agency tried every trick to listen for Spirit to no avail. Project manager John Callas of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said the last commands will be sent up Wednesday. Though orbiting spacecraft will continue to listen through the end of May, chances are slim that Spirit will respond.

Shortly after Republicans swept last November to a historic victory in which Sarah Palin was credited with playing a central role, the former Alaska governor pulled aside her close aide, Rebecca Mansour, to discuss a hush-hush assignment: Reach out to conservative filmmaker Stephen K. Bannon with a request. Ask him if he would make a series of videos extolling Palin's governorship and laying to rest lingering questions about her controversial decision to resign from office with a year-and-a-half left in her first term. It was this abdication, Palin knew, that had made her damaged goods in the eyes of some Republicans who once were eager to get behind her potential 2012 presidential campaign. The response was more positive than Palin could have hoped for. He'd make a feature-length movie, Bannon told Mansour, and he insisted upon taking complete control and financing it himself -- to the tune of $1 million. The fruits of that initial conversation are now complete. The result is a two-hour-long, sweeping epic, a rough cut of which Bannon screened privately for Sarah and Todd Palin last Wednesday in Arizona