Blog Heap of Links for the day 31 December 2011

Iran's navy does not have the size for a sustained physical blockade of the Strait, but does have mine-laying and missile capability to wreak some havoc, analysts said. ... the Bahrain-based U.S. Fifth Fleet is nearby and keeping a close eye on Iran's activities in the Strait....

Two northern Arizona parents have been arrested after photos of their children allegedly being abused were posted on Facebook. ... children, ages 2 years and 10 months... bound with duct tape around their wrists and ankles. Their mouths were taped shut, and one of the children was hung upside down by some exercise equipment.... "The photos depicted the children's faces in sheer terror," says Cmdr. Gilliland....

A Swedish woman's recent toiling in her garden turned up a rather unexpected harvest when she pulled a carrot out of the ground 'wearing' the wedding ring she had lost back in 1995. ... “Our daughter Anna was at home at the time and she heard an almighty scream from the garden...."

t was Google co-founder Sergey Brin who warned that the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act "would put us on a par with the most oppressive nations in the world." Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, Twitter co-founders Jack Dorsey and Biz Stone, and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman argue that the bills give the Feds unacceptable "power to censor the Web."

But these companies have yet to roll out the heavy artillery.

When the home pages of Google.com, Amazon.com, Facebook.com, and their Internet allies simultaneously turn black with anti-censorship warnings that ask users to contact politicians about a vote in the U.S. Congress the next day on SOPA, you'll know they're finally serious.