Blog Heap of Links for the day 1 September 2011

"The interesting question is: What is it about this president that has stripped away the veneer of respect that normally accompanies the Office of the President? Why do Republicans think this president is unpresidential and should dare to request this kind of thing? It strikes me that it could be the economic times, it could be that he won so big in 2008 or it could be, let's face it, the color of his skin. This is an extraordinary reaction to a normal sequence of events," MSNBC contributor Richard Wolffe said on "The Last Word." (Video!) [Orrr. could it be because he's a SCoaMF??]

Don't worry, football fans. It turns out President Obama's planned speech on the nation's unemployment won't conflict with the NFL's opening night after all. The White House and congressional Republicans have agreed on a 7 p.m. ET start time for Obama's Sept. 8 address to a joint session of Congress. The game between the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints won't kick off until 8:30 p.m.

Gallup polling last week showed that only 41 percent of women now say they approve of the way Obama is handling his job as president. That is an all-time low--down from the previous low of 43 percent, which is what Obama's approval had been among women in each of the previous three weeks. [Just who are these 41% of women??]

Solyndra, a major manufacturer of solar technology in Fremont, has shut its doors, according to employees at the campus. ... Solyndra was touted by the Obama administration as a prime example of how green technology could deliver jobs.

Fail -- Because without it you're a SCoaMF [Graphic - warning: disturbing image]

Speaking in an interview with Reuters, Rice rejected Cheney's contention that she misled President George W. Bush about nuclear diplomacy with North Korea. "I kept the president fully and completely informed about every in and out of the negotiations with the North Koreans," Rice said in her first public comments on the matter. "You can talk about policy differences without suggesting that your colleague somehow misled the president. You know, I don't appreciate the attack on my integrity that that implies." Rice, in a telephone interview, also disputed a passage in Cheney's memoir, "In My Time," in which he says the secretary of state "tearfully admitted" that the Bush administration should not have apologized for a claim in Bush's 2003 State of the Union address on Iraq's supposed search for uranium for nuclear arms. Cheney, who opposed a public apology for the unfounded claim, wrote that Rice "came into my office, sat down in the chair next to my desk, and tearfully admitted I had been right." "It certainly doesn't sound like me, now, does it?" Rice said in the interview. "I would never -- I don't remember coming to the vice president tearfully about anything in the entire eight years that I knew him." "I did say to him that he had been right about the press reaction" to the administration's acknowledgment that the remarks about Iraq seeking uranium in Africa should not have been in Bush's speech, Rice said. "And so I did say to the vice president, 'you know, you were right about the press reaction.' But I am quite certain that I didn't do it tearfully," she said.

The Marathon County Labor Council has reversed a decision that excluded Republican politicians from participating in the Labor Day parade in Wausau. Labor Council President Randy Radtke earlier said Republican elected officials were not invited because they supported changes to collective bargaining for public employee unions. Wausau Mayor Jim Tipple responded by threatening to withhold financial support for the parade unless everyone was allowed to participate.

A retired Chinese general recently revealed that his country might be planning a surprise missile attack on the United States. The public comment of Xu Guangyu came in response to WikiLeaks revelations that last year Washington had warned its allies beforehand of China's test of a missile interceptor. ... The Hong Kong paper noted that Xu said that "if China could no longer keep secret its missile launches, it would not be able to launch a surprise attack on the US." Is China really in the process of planning to destroy the American homeland with a preemptive barrage of nuclear-tipped missiles? Xu's comment, of course, is not proof, but it does reveal that Chinese flag officers are thinking about doing so.

'I will never forgive Goebbels for what he brought into this world,' said Frau Pomsel. 'And the fact that he could murder his innocent children in this way.

41-year old Illinois mechanic Michael Allison faces life in jail for recording police officers after authorities hit him with eavesdropping charges based on the hoax that it is illegal to film cops, a misnomer that has been disproved by every other case against people filming police officers being thrown out of court. ... The notion that it is illegal to film police officers is a mass hoax that is being promulgated by authorities, the media, and police officers themselves. [Video]

She let her dogs out as usual but this time, she said there was a black bear outside who took hold of her dachshund Fudge. She said she feared for her pet's life and, in an instant, ran over and punched the bear right in the face to make it let go.

The man, wearing a suit, collared shirt and a tie, climbed on top of the counter at the Family Dollar ... When he realized it was empty, he grabbed some pennies off the counter and took off. The theft was captured on surveillance video.

court documents offer a rare glimpse of the costs and operations of the controversial rendition program. ... The CIA declined to discuss the case. "The CIA does not, as a rule, comment on litigation, especially that to which we are not a party," said spokeswoman Marie E. Harf.

A D.C. lawyer is facing assault charges after he allegedly threatened another man with live power wires.

[large, intriguing graphic]

Jumping off a cliff [Fantastic video h/t Ace of Spades]

Jon Hutt used a 3-inch pocket knife to sever his toes from the machinery after realising no one heard his cries. ... pinned under his six-tonne trailer. ... "It hurt so bad," Hutt said, "I would cut for a while and then I had to rest."

Resembling a futuristic visor, the £480 ($800) device is worn like a pair of chunky goggles and earphones in one. It is equipped with two 0.7in high definition organic light emitting diode (OLED) panels and 5.1 channel dynamic audio headphone. The gadget enables the wearer to experience cinema-like viewing, equivalent to watching a 750-inch screen from 20 metres away.... It seems unlikely that most people - or even technology enthusiasts - will want to buy a product that involves sitting alone and wearing a little helmet. [Oh, REALLY??]

Authorities have charged a New Jersey woman with animal cruelty after her dog hanged itself in her minivan while the family ate dinner at a Chinese restaurant. ... apparently became excited during the family's absence and wrapped the leash around the headrest.

There is so much junk in space that collisions could start to increase exponentially, leading to a continuously growing pile of rubble in orbit

SANTA FE, N.M. -- in uniform ...apparently on duty. But New Mexico State Police said the officer caught on camera having sex with a woman on the hood of a car did not commit a crime. ... "This officer made a horrible personal decision that will obviously reflect poorly on the whole organization." [Y'think??]

Using a powerful laser, researchers have created water droplets in the air. The technique, called laser-assisted water condensation, could one day unlock the secrets of weather cycles and enable humans to decide where and when it rains. [Some long, far-off, distant day....]

In a book due out Thursday, eminent scholars say it's unlikely that Thomas Jefferson fathered Sally Hemings' children, disputing a decade's worth of conventional wisdom that the author of the Declaration of Independence sired offspring with one of his slaves. ... scholars doubted the claim and said the evidence points instead to Jefferson's brother Randolph as the father. The scholars also disputed accounts that said Hemings' children received special treatment from Jefferson, which some saw as evidence of a special bond between the third president and Hemings.

Romney's campaign will argue that Perry is against the very idea of Social Security and Medicare, and that he will use Perry's book to scare seniors in early-primary states with large retiree populations, such as Florida and South Carolina. The Romney campaign also plans to use immigration to drive a wedge between Perry and his conservative base, by highlighting Perry's opposition to a border fence and legislation he signed in 2001 allowing the children of illegal immigrants to attend Texas colleges and universities at in-state tuition.

complete video of Texas Gov. Rick Perry's complete remarks to the National Veterans of Foreign Wars meeting in San Antonio, Texas

"As Chairman of the CBC, I believe it is incumbent on you to both condemn these types of hate-filled comments, and to disassociate the Congressional Black Caucus from these types of remarks. Otherwise, I will have to seriously reconsider my membership within the organization," West wrote

New Mexico's pistol-packin' governor is a sure shot. Gov. Susana Martinez received perfect scores on recertification for her concealed-carry permit over the weekend in Las Cruces. She scored 100 percent with both .38- and .45-caliber handguns [video!]