Blog Heap of Links for the day 25 March 2015

The Pentagon is considering ordering the exhumation of nearly 400 sailors and Marines who died on the battleship USS Oklahoma on Dec. 7, 1941, and were buried as "unknowns" at Punchbowl cemetery, so they can be identified and returned to families.

Those exhumations could be followed by the disinterment of unknowns killed on the battleships California and West Virginia,and other World War II losses, as the U.S. military tries to increase its annual identification of Americans missing from past wars. …

An Oklahoma man is accused of raping and assaulting three teens while holding them captive at his home over a span of two years. …shares the home with his parents. … [??!!??]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is spending nearly $150,000 to test a “mindful eating intervention” on third graders in California.

A grant awarded earlier this month outlined the project that will use the methods of a Zen teacher to try to fight childhood obesity and turn kids into “change agents” to teach others how to eat healthily. …

[FTR: Mindful Webworks has no association with this "mindful eating disorder" thingy.]

The Senate on Tuesday destroyed any lingering hope President Barack Obama might have had for passing his budget plan through Congress this year, by voting down Obama’s plan 1-98. [via The Blaze]

A confirmed, “extremely dangerous” tornado was spotted near Sand Springs in suburban Tulsa, moving east at 45 mph, the weather service said.

A mobile home park southwest of that town was “hit very hard,” said Chief Daniel Bradley of the Sand Springs Fire Department. His office was told 24 homes were damaged, some rolled over. …

A tornado touched down in Moore, Oklahoma in metropolitan Oklahoma City according to KFOR.com. It appeared to take a path similar to a devastating tornado that hit Moore May 20, 2013. …

[Shaneka Monique Torres, twice in one day did not get bacon on her McD’s burger, as ordered. The second time, she went to jail.

I can’t help thinking, though, if Dissatisfying Service Syndrome is widespread enough, a jury might just find in her favor.]

The Pentagon has declassified a document that was once labeled “top-secret,” which goes into sophisticated detail about Israel’s nuclear weapons program. The document was released quietly just prior to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s March 3 speech to a joint session of Congress.

Israel has never officially confirmed or denied the existence of a nuclear weapon’s program within its borders. …

…Would you believe that there’s a presidential election coming up in Nigeria, and Obama’s favored Muslim candidate is in a tight race against the Christian President Goodluck Jonathan?

And would you further believe that a political consulting group founded by Obama confidante David Axelrod is assisting that candidate - Retired Gen. Muhammadu Buhari - who hails from Muslim-dominated northern Nigeria from whence Boko Haram was spawned?

Thanks to the lack of cooperation and assistance from the United States, the Jonathan government has been failing miserably at beating back the terrorist scourge with the president looking weak and ineffectual.

Desperate, the government finally turned to Russia, China and the black market to obtain the much needed arms. …

An Oklahoma teenager was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday, after pleading guilty to his involvement in the 2013 shooting that killed an Australian baseball player in Duncan, Okla.

High school dropout Michael DeWayne Jones, 19, admitted driving the car from which his friend, Chancey Allen Luna, shot Christopher Lane…

A Nashville entrepreneur is trying to launch a weekly 6-page comic page delivered via mail.

Climate change is a moral challenge threatening the rights of the world’s poorest people and those who deny it are not using God’s gift of knowledge, says presiding [US Episcopal]] bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori…

Thank you for the message regarding the report on our billboard in Newtonville. A vast majority of Teakwood’s clients are women. Frequently they are the decision makers about major expenditures. This billboard – and the entire “Your wife wants me” campaign is good-natured, tongue in cheek fun meant to appeal to women who have a sense of humor, a sense of history and healthy self-esteem.

We applaud the students involved in the protest for their excitement about their cause.

And we thank them for drawing attention to the gorgeous Teakwood kitchen on the billboard.”

Variable potency in buds means edible pot products' effects are unpredictable...

and

"...As THC levels climb, the levels of cannabidiol, or CBD, have been declining. That's problematic for medicinal marijuana users since it is more often associated with medical benefits than THC."

and

They've only begun testing for contaminants - "traces of butane... Bacteria and fungi...." [possibilities of] "E. coli or Salmonella...."

An unmanned spacecraft will fly to a nearby asteroid, deploy a robotic arm to take a boulder from its surface, and then make a multi-year journey to put the boulder in orbit around the moon

A black Nebraska state senator... Nebraska’s longest serving senator... compared American police to Islamic terrorists and suggested he’d shoot a cop if only he had a weapon. … During an interview Tuesday, Chambers, who is no stranger to fiery rhetoric and controversy, back-pedaled a bit. …

US food giant Heinz is to merge with Kraft Foods Group, creating what the companies say will be the third-largest food and beverage company in the US.

The fact that people would ask why Lacey and Chris Buchanan didn't abort little Christian is just terrible. …

[News Report, video, 3:20, WZTV FOX 17, YouTube]

[Mother's original video, video, 7:17, Lacey Buchanan, YouTube]

…A senior military official involved in the investigation described “very smooth, very cool” conversation between the pilots during the early part of the flight from Barcelona to Düsseldorf. Then the audio indicated that one of the pilots left the cockpit and could not re-enter.

“The guy outside is knocking lightly on the door and there is no answer,” the investigator said. “And then he hits the door stronger and no answer. There is never an answer.”…

According to Brown, several Somali men were recently apprehended crossing the border into Arizona. …When ICE officials came to pick up the illegals they told the rancher that the aliens were Mexican. The rancher argued that of course the men were obviously from Somalia. That’s when ICE told the rancher that they were ordered to report all illegals as either from Central America or Mexico – including these men from Somalia. It’s the latest trick by the Obama administration to deceive the American public on the calamity at the border. …

Pete once again does the top o' the news round-up, with style.

"There are fundraisers and then there are fundraisers.let me tell you about two that are about as diametrically-opposed as is possible…."

Vic collects the news, lines it up against a wall, and shoots it to you, starting here today.

"On this day in 1634 the first English settlers arrived in St. Mary's County to found the colony of Maryland. It was founded by Catholics who were being persecuted in England at the time. They did not start passing obnoxious gun control laws to hamper the freedom of their citizens until later."

"Today the global warming alarmists are the equivalent of the flat-Earthers," Cruz said. "You know it used to be it is accepted scientific wisdom the Earth is flat, and this heretic named Galileo was branded a denier….

"Anyone who actually points to the evidence that disproves their apocalyptical claims, they don't engage in reasoned debate. What do they do? They scream, 'You're a denier.' They brand you a heretic," Cruz added.