Blog Heap of Links for the day 29 June 2009

U.S. President Barack Obama [SIDING WITH CHAVEZ AND CASTRO] said on Monday the coup that ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was illegal and would set a "terrible precedent" of transition by military force unless it was reversed... Despite Obama's comments, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the administration was not formally designating the ouster as a military coup for now...

The New York Times reported on Monday that it had collaborated with online encyclopedia Wikipedia to keep news of its kidnapped reporter in Afghanistan from going public for more than seven months.... Times reporter David Rohde... and his translator, Tahir Ludin, were able to make a clean escape from their captors at a facility in Pakistan this month. Prior to their escape, Bill Keller, editor of the Times, asked Wikipedia to keep news of his kidnapping from going public.... Times believed that publicity over his kidnapping would worsen negotiations to ensure Mr. Rohde’s safe return....

A Yemeni airliner with 150 people on board has crashed in the Indian Ocean near the Comoros archipelago.

All of the dead were from family groups, including a set of four in Oklahoma City.

Two major computer makers indicate that each will comply with a Chinese law requiring all computers shipped to the country include a particular type of web-filtering software. The recent moves by Acer Inc. (2353.TW) and Sony Corp. (SNE) to comply suggest some PC makers aren't willing to miss out on one of the world's biggest PC markets, despite concerns about abiding by an unpopular government policy, and the potential damage the software itself can do to their computers. [BOYCOTT ACER! BOYCOTT SONY!]

The interim president picked to rule Honduras after the army ousted leftist President Manuel Zelaya said on Monday the coup had saved the country from swinging to a radical Venezuelan-style socialism.... said Zelaya had lost respect for the law.... [Which doesn't bother Obama any...]

Police say a New York man running to the aid of another motorist fell to his death from a bridge, apparently because he didn't know there was a large gap between lanes.

Staff Sgt. Sean Samaroo was inspired to join the military nine years ago by the Army's "be all you can be" TV commercial. It was a prophetic slogan for Samaroo, who last year found himself in the midst of one of the deadliest battles of the war in Afghanistan, tenaciously fighting back an overwhelming enemy onslaught. Earlier this month, Samaroo was awarded the Silver Star, the military's third-highest medal.

...countries such as Iran and China block access to the internet at their peril. "The internet is the strongest force for individual self-expression ever invented...."