Blog Heap of Links for the day 19 August 2011

Israeli Air Force strikes numerous sites in Strip overnight, Palestinian sources say; Hamas targets hit, casualties reported. Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority warns Israel to act 'responsibly' in wake of terror offensive that left eight Israelis dead

Security tape allegedly shows a group of police officers beating two Chicago brothers Wednesday after apparently mistaking them for robbers while one was closing the store at which he worked.

out of the 13 items for sale, seven are Obama-related, in addition to the late Sen. Ted Kennedy's memoir, "True Compass." The only CBS-related item is a DVD copy of "60 Minutes Presents — Obama: All Access — The Road to the White House."

reducing our emissions might just save humanity from a pre-emptive alien attack, scientists claim. Watching from afar, extraterrestrial beings might view changes in Earth's atmosphere as symptomatic of a civilisation growing out of control — and take drastic action to keep us from becoming a more serious threat, the researchers explain. [AND THE ALIENS ALL VOTE FOR DEMOCRATS? Sheesh!]

A man herding reindeer in Russia's Arctic found the perfectly-preserved, 40,000-year-old body of a baby woolly mammoth. The creature's carcass was sticking up out of the permafrost

altering chicken DNA to create embryos with alligator-like snouts instead of beaks. Experts changed the DNA of chicken embryos in the early stage of their development, enabling them to undo evolutionary progress and give the creatures snouts which are thought to have been lost in the cretaceous period millions of years ago. The scientific revelation of 'rewinding' evolution could pave the way for scientists altering DNA in the other direction and use the same process to create species better able to adapt to Earth's climate. [Yeah, right. Or, they could just be mucking things up for fun and profit. Which is more likely?]

Sarah Palin's Sept. 3 event has been relocated from Waukee to Indianola to better accommodate a larger crowd, organizers said.Palin is the keynote speaker at the Tea Party of America's 'Restoring America' event, which is free and open to the public.The event was originally scheduled at Hawkeye Antique Acres in Waukee. The event is now scheduled from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the National Balloon Classic field, east of Indianola.There has been speculation that Palin, a former governor of Alaska and 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, could use the event as an opportunity to announce whether she plans to run for president in 2012.