Blog Heap of Links for the day 10 October 2012

Goodman asks, “so why is he running for re-election”. Here’s a politician who doesn’t like politics and doesn’t like people?

See title. It’s good to be the top dog and enjoy all the perks. Work?

Yeah, see, that’s for the little people. I mean he’s never had to work before, why would he want too now?

But give him 4 more years, will you? He hasn’t had all the Wagyu beef he wants at this point. And it’s cool having your own airplane at your beck and call if you want to jet off somewhere for dinner. How cool? $1.4 billion cool … the cost to taxpayers to keep the president in the style to which he’s become accustomed.

The more we learn about this guy, the less he seems right for the job.

North Korea on Tuesday warned that the U.S. mainland is within range of its missiles, and said Washington's recent agreement to let Seoul possess missiles capable of hitting all of the North shows the allies are plotting to invade the country.

The unmanned aerial vehicle that was shot down by the IDF on Saturday came from the direction of Gaza – but it does not appear that Palestinian groups are behind it.

Young conservative Samantha Pawlucy was ridiculed this week for wearing a pro-Romney T-shirt to class. The teacher even compared Samantha to the KKK. [Video]

Committee Chairman Mike Rogers did not specifically identify the purported new threat nor its origin but referred several times to what he described as Iran's growing cyber espionage capabilities.

"I think they're (Iran) closer than we'd all like them to be to come in and cause trouble on our financial services networks," the Michigan Republican told a cybersecurity conference hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

More than half the people I asked, who thought the president could have done better, said “it wasn’t fair” that President Obama was not allowed to use his teleprompter in the debate. And while a handful of supporters did say teleprompters had no place in the debate, one thought it was not only unfair to President Obama but both candidates. [video]

Professor of food physics at Leeds University Malcolm Povey said liquid nitrogen should not be consumed while still liquid, as it turns into a gas inside the body and causes the stomach to swell and burst.

"The liquid nitrogen would rapidly change into gas and blow the stomach up like a balloon...the idea that people put this stuff in drinks is just unbelievable," Povey told Reuters.

The bar which served the drink has stopped selling all liquid nitrogen drinks, said police, who are investigating the incident.

built with $150 million in taxpayer funds is putting workers on furlough before a single battery has been produced

Iranian consumers are confronted with the spectacle of petty factionalism and political haymaking. The powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps is exploiting the current crisis to settle scores with President Ahmadinejad by publishing articles and caricatures on its affiliated news sites. Meanwhile, the president and his parliamentary rival, speaker Ali Larijani, are each using the crisis to publicly criticize one another.

That said, many in Iran worry what would be on the other side of regime change. They fear Iran devolving into an Iraq, or Syria: a precarious state, plagued by sectarian violence. “Better the devil you know than the devils you don’t,” the small business owner said. “At least this is a system we know how to game.”

The Romney campaign doesn't talk publicly about its broader transition-planning effort -- "Project Readiness," led by former HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt -- but the effort is moving along steadily. … chose former World Bank President Bob Zoellick to lead the national security transition planning … campaign senior advisor for defense and foreign policy Rich Williamson has been named the head of the transition team for the National Security Council, giving him a prominent role should Romney win. Two other officials who are leading the national security transition effort are former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Eric Edelman and former New Jersey governor and co-chair of the 9/11 Commission Tom Kean. Some inside the campaign believe Williamson's new role as head of the NSC transition team could place him in line to be national security advisor in a Romney administration. …

Army Staff Sgt. Travis Mills had been a lot of places since losing his four limbs in Afghanistan. The one place he hadn't been was where people knew him best.

He finally returned to his Michigan hometown this week -- six months after the explosion that cost him his arms and legs -- to serve as the grand marshal of his old high school's homecoming parade.

In the very near future, someone will be killed with a gun not bought from a dealer or a dodgy bloke in a pub, but printed at home in metal and plastic with a 3D printer. The tools necessary to replicate a deadly weapon will soon be affordable to someone toiling away at home. [The slant may be anti-gun, OMG! Someone could get killed! (Yeah, like an armed intruder!), but the technology is very cool. Same slant/cool goes for the video at the War News Updates link.]

Mornin' all. A little wisdom:

If we can control spending and shave a few points off the inflation rate, we can do more good for the poor, the elderly, and the finances of State and local government than any package of Federal programs ever could.
Ronald Reagan 3/9/1981

It’s been more than 80 years since Armistice Day, in 1918. A lot of water has trickled down that stream at the bottom of the Herring hill since that time. The Dean girls moved on from Herring and raised their families and lived their lives. Ralph and Alice have since passed away. Dorothy, the eldest daughter, passed away in 2009.

It is the same hill, but, Herring has changed. It is not the same country Iowa town.

In fact if you were driving west of Wall Lake, Iowa and didn’t know when or where to stop, you would drive right past Herring, Iowa. The only remnant of Herring left standing was put up on an Armistice Day nearly a century ago. The flag pole,… the one that was spliced together to celebrate the end of World War I, still stands tall in the town center, now a meadow.

Obama's major US campaign donations website is specifically designed not only to accept unverified donations, but to make donations unverifiable, by mechanizing the falsification of IP addresses from which those donations have been received. The Obama campaign has specifically encoded its website so as to make the commission of fraud a matter of utmost simplicity, rendering those donations untraceable.

The Denver debate, however, showed that Obama, constantly reinforced by people agreeing with him and seldom engaging in the cut and thrust of political discussion with opponents or even allies in Washington, does not take kindly to being challenged.

Having rarely exposed himself to tough questioning from interviewers because the White House prefers to arrange chats on entertainment shows, Obama was blindsided by an energised, well-prepared Romney hitting with with a barrage of facts and forensic argument.

Addressing Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Romney said he is committed to stopping the radical regime from developing a nuclear warhead.

“There’s no daylight between the United States and Israel,” he said. “We’re both absolutely committed to preventing Iran from having a nuclear weapon. My own test is Iran should not have the capability of producing a nuclear weapon… I can’t speak for the president in this regard.”

The GOP nominee also said he would have Israel’s back both at the U.N and “militarily.” He said Israel attacking Iran would not surprise him if he were president.