Blog Heap of Links for the day 25 April 2012

“I think [Obama] is our president. I think he was duly elected, and I believe he is a citizen. And I do believe [the eligibility question] is a distraction,” Flake responded. “My job is to make sure we beat him in November.” Not content to let the matter lie until November, Ballantyne asked the assembly, “How many here would like to see Congress investigate the president? Please stand up.” A hidden video camera revealed many, if not the majority, of the participants stood up to signify their demand. [Videos]

Dodd-Frank... gives dictatorial power to new agencies and allows unlimited collecting and sharing of your information. The agencies have no accountability to congress or voters. [Video]

"If a robot in combat accidentally kills a civilian, who is to blame? This isn't as straightforward of a question as it sounds. A team of scientists presented a study at the International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction and found that although robots don't have free will, people sometimes treat them as if they do. ..."

An operator anywhere within 2,500 feet of the robot directs its four cameras to locate IEDs and its gripper arm to dismantle them. ...can be blown up and repaired about a dozen times before being decommissioned....

“It seems to me the federal government just doesn’t want to know who’s here illegally,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said at one point.

The Supreme Court appears likely to side with Arizona over a key part of its controversial anti-illegal immigration law, rejecting the Obama administration’s claim that the state overreached its authority by requiring local police to check the immigration status of people suspected of being in the country illegally. However, during oral arguments Wednesday, the court’s liberal justices and some of its conservatives expressed concern that holding people who have been arrested until a check of their immigration status is complete could violate their rights by prolonging their detention.

Abandon antiquated notions of liberty! [Graphic]