Link roundup for 5 December 2009

In Florida, sorry, wrong number (sent by Ranch Chimp).

As usual December brings hideously tacky Christmas decorations and music. Middle of Nowhere is on the case.

France's governing party's heartwarming video about the joys of life in France was filmed in, uh, oops (found via Mendip).

"He was a marvel, they logged."

I'd like to vote for this party, but I can't because it's in Australia.

Has Obama finally brought the left and right together?

The Copenhagen climate conference has already led to one case of government interference in free enterprise, but the entrepreneurs aren't taking it lying down -- or maybe I should re-phrase that.....

Rogert Ebert thinks anyone who believes certifiably nutty things shouldn't be President. (But the situation is not as symmetrical as he paints it. Most Republican Presidential aspirants right now are creationists, but I don't think many major Democrats take New Age drivel seriously.)

I don't know if this idea will work, but I love the picture.

What have the Democrats accomplished since taking over? More than you think.

David Frum looks at the Christian Right and Romney's prospects in 2012.

Republican voters are angry, but the reasons are not so clear.

Is Obama too intelligent and logical? (Isn't it a relief having a President of whom one can seriously ask that question?)

Oliver Willis looks at the American dream.

Palin joins the ranks of the birth-certificatards, then backs off.

Bankers' screwing of the public is no longer just metaphorical.

The Nietzschean home-owner! Break the chains of mortgage morality.

Well, what would Jesus do?

Part 4 of Jack Jodell's progressive manifesto, on religion, is up.

Some claim that Genesis is a metaphorical but somewhat-accurate account of the Earth's real history. Bull.

A bare 51% majority of Americans support Obama's Afghan plan.

A US soldier in Iraq assesses the surge there, while another in Afghanistan gives his views on Obama's plan.

Over the last two years the Taliban have destroyed 473 schools in the parts of Pakistan they control (including the Swat valley which they temporarily occupied earlier this year).

A suicide bomber hits a medical students' graduation in Somalia.

Jihadists claim responsibility for the Russian train bombing. Putin promises tough action.

Captain Fogg hopes for some reasoned discussion after the Swiss minaret ban. Most Muslims in Switzerland come from Bosnia or Kosovo, where Muslims have destroyed almost 150 Serbian churches and monasteries since 2000.

Irish nuns offer compensation to molestation victims.

After Dubai's collapse, Marty Peretz has an "I told you so".

Superstition makes it dangerous to be an albino in east Africa.

Eastern Europe before the Aryan conquest was surprisingly advanced.

Who is the real target of creationist propaganda?

Ranch Chimp posts two arresting videos of the effects of global warming in the Himalayas.

Several of Andrew Sullivan's readers analyze the CRU files. Liberal Values links to two solid articles on the "controversy", and looks at the psychology behind denialism. More here.

Global warming could paradoxically trigger an ice age (this would actually take much more melting ice than is expected in the near future, but the post is worth a look).

French scientists use stem cells to create fast skin grafts for burn victims.

The change in administrations bears dividends for science: federal funding for stem-cell research moves forward.

Aubrey de Grey's magnum opus Ending Aging has now been published in German (it has been available in Russian for some time). For my review of the book see here.