Blog Heap of Links for the day 2 July 2012

Remember Obama is a jerk who threw away 5.2 Trillion to no effect; wouldn't even allow people to put out deterrents in the water to stave off oil from reaching the shore after the big spill in the Gulf; terminated the U.S. Space Program; sent U.S. troops into Libya without Congressional approval; helped arm the Muslim Brotherhood in Libya; gave almost a billion, probably more to the Palestinians/A.K.A. Hamas; didn’t do a thing when the Iranian people rose up against their Islamic regime; is dismantling the U.S. nuclear program and nukes; gave Russia military secrets; abandoned Poland; is allowing Russian troops on American soil; Russia/U.S. joint military exercises on land and sea; allowing illegals the right to stay in America, despite Congress saying they can’t… on and on and on and on.

Al Qaeda intended to use a radicalised Norwegian Islamic convert to attack U.S. planes in the build-up to the London Games - which start in 26 days on July 27 - it is understood. The plan centred on using the so-called ‘clean skin’ – a terrorist with no previous criminal record and are unlikely to raise suspicions among the security services – in order to evade airport security.

Bartlesville police found two dead dogs – a pit bull and a shepherd mix – upon arrival at the home… A shepherd mix dog in the yard was alive, but emaciated… owner… told police he knew one of the dogs was dead and he did not want to move the others because he didn’t want to bring “sickness” to his new home.… claimed he fed the dogs six cans of food the day before… but an autopsy showed only dirt, plastic and wood in the canine stomach… [Our dear dog is a pit bull shepherd mix with a bit of chow, and a wonderful, wonderful guy. This tears me up!]

Pottery fragments found in a south China cave have been confirmed to be 20,000 years old… oldest known… Earlier theories have held that the invention of pottery happened during the period about 10,000 years ago when humans moved from being hunter-gathers to farmers. … These pots push the invention of pottery back to the last ice age… [Perhaps agriculture arose earlier, or even on and off throughout ten thousand years of change, rather than just at the 10K-years-ago threshhold? H/t again to commenter "FizViz, Brighton UK," whose use of the term "Urantia" brought this to my attention.]

Federal regulations can be maddening, but none more so than a current one that demands oil refiners use millions of gallons of a substance, cellulosic ethanol, that does not exist. "As ludicrous as that sounds, it's fact," says Charles Drevna, who represents refiners. "If it weren't so frustrating and infuriating, it would be comical." …they might as well tell us to use unicorns." And yet, they still have to pay what amounts to fines… And Tom Pyle of the Institute of Energy Research says, "the cellulosic biofuel program is the embodiment of government gone wild." Refiners are at their wit's end because the government set out requirements to blend cellulosic ethanol back in 2005, assuming that someone would make it. Seven years later, no one has.

Once again, Barack Obama stands alone, outside the gates of common sense. Only 18% of Americans agree with Obama that the US should not approve the Keystone Pipeline.

Two men who allegedly tried to hijack a plane in China were beaten to death by passengers and crew… part of a six-strong gang, aged 20 to 36… [Wow, that's really, really sad, isn't it. Only two of them! Oh, wait... alternative claims:] it wasn't a hijacking attempt but an in-flight [possibly ethnic-tension enhanced] brawl over a seat dispute.

Chief Justice John Roberts initially sided with the Supreme Court's four conservative justices to strike down the heart of President Obama's health care reform law, the Affordable Care Act, but later changed his position and formed an alliance with liberals to uphold the bulk of the law, according to two sources with specific knowledge of the deliberations. Roberts then withstood a month-long, desperate campaign to bring him back to his original position, the sources said. Ironically, Justice Anthony Kennedy - believed by many conservatives to be the justice most likely to defect and vote for the law - led the effort to try to bring Roberts back to the fold.