Blog Heap of Links for the day 16 February 2015

Pope: Today I read about the execution of those twenty-one or twenty-two Coptic Christians. Their only words were: "Jesus, help me!". They were killed simply for the fact that they were Christians. You, my brother, in your words referred to what is happening in the land of Jesus. The blood of our Christian brothers and sisters is a testimony which cries out to be heard. It makes no difference whether they be Catholics, Orthodox, Copts or Protestants. They are Christians! Their blood is one and the same. Their blood confesses Christ. As we recall these brothers and sisters who died only because they confessed Christ, I ask that we encourage each another to go forward with this ecumenism which is giving us strength, the ecumenism of blood. The martyrs belong to all Christians.

Sarah Palin and Al Sharpton, photographed together, at the 40th anniversary of Saturday Night Live.

As more fresh fruits and vegetables are being introduced into school lunches, students are reporting that they’re finding more unintended protein in the items….

"We need to remove ourselves from a different kind of slavery. What I’m talking about is a slavery that comes from being dependent on people in power." -Mia Love

"There were a handful of delusional tweets, but as I read on I started chuckling. Clever and competent conservatives totally hijacked the hash tag, and it’s AWESOMESAUCE."

…We used to be able to blame the Monarch's decline on Mexican farmers, who cut down the trees in the butterfly's over-wintering grounds.

But in this country, in just four years, we've lost an area of conservation, and wild lands larger than the state of Texas, to corn conversion because of the ethanol boom.

…his backroom blossoms with great fluffy bags and tidy little boxes of possibility, milkweed seed.

The seed, gathered by volunteers across the country who are taking a stand alongside Taylor, will be taken to a greenhouse in Baldwin City where, by spring, he'll pop milkweed plugs to plant in Oklahoma, and Kansas and Iowa.

"The Greenwood section of Tulsa, Oklahoma — a prosperous black-owned business district — was destroyed and some 300 blacks were killed by white mobs in the Tulsa race riot of 1921.

"Olivia Hooker, whose father owned a department store, was just 6 years old…."

Amusing collection of graphics and stories.

"…on Valentine's Day and These 19 People's Hearts are Broken—Read Their Reactions!" (or not)

Posted as a public service announcement.

Fascinating pictures show birth of Lockheed's top secret SR-71 spy plane - which is STILL the fastest plane ever built after 39 years