Link round-up for 24 December 2010

(Doing it a day early this time.)

Ranch Chimp responds to the Repent Amarillo Santa firing squad video (my "video of the week" this week).

What if math were taught like biology?

Some personal ads are a bit confused.

Differences of opinion are expressed in the Ukrainian parliament.

I've never understood people who refer to vehicles as "sexy", but crocodiles may disagree (found via Mendip).

Jesus, who's your daddy?

Godless Girl shows how to get snow cleaned off your car for free.

.....because they work.

Fort Worth's mass-transit system is trying to avoid religious squabbles.

The "professional offended religious people" are getting more and more touchy, and they have a new recruit in Spain (but see here).

PZ Myers receives a stupid e-mail and another stupid e-mail.

'Twas around winter solstice, alone in the house.....

America is full of idiots, many of them fat.

Those who jump to conclusions about the Assange sex charges are betraying important principles.

Phillip Greaves, author of a notorious how-to book for pedophiles, has been arrested (sent by Ranch Chimp).

The casting of Idris Elba isn't the only thing white supremacists hate about the new Thor movie.

Is the right wing turning pro-obesity and anti-vegetable?

Conservative blogger Confederate Yankee rebuts Bryan Fischer's crazed anti-gay rant -- but Fischer has more. As for Tony Perkins, he's sunk to sniping at Lady Gaga.

The NAACP will protest a celebration of treason.

There are now 308,745,538 of us, but growth is slowing.

California is a dysfunctional mess? Wrong.

Current polls suggest problems for Republicans in 2012. But David Frum sees moderates making a comeback.

Obama has already accomplished most of his first-term agenda. Congress deserves credit too.

Senate Democrats unanimously support filibuster reform (found via Politics Plus).

RNC Chair candidates support the essence of modern right-wing ideology: increasing state control over the individual.

Republicans block a proposal to outlaw child marriage (found via Republic of Gilead, who has more).

Wikileaks debunks conspiracy-style crackpottery.

Hispanic population growth is nothing to worry about (link is to a conservative blog, but if you ignore the leftist-bashing, his basic point is correct -- I made a similar point here).

Signs point to continuing economic recovery. More here.

The tax/unemployment-benefits compromise will help Obama politically.

Yet another slimy criminal tries to blame society for the actions of himself and his gang.

NCSE lists the year's top news stories from the struggle against creationism.

There exists a privileged class which can enjoy high incomes without paying the same taxes you or I would.

Oklahoma banned Sharî'ah, but another theocratic menace looms.

Get a crash course in Mormonism in six minutes (found via Plead Ignorance).

The latest anti-abortion propaganda echoes the Satanic Ritual Abuse Myth of decades past.

End-of-the-world crackpots become a pain in the ass for a small French village (found via Mendip).

The war on Christmas spreads to Britain (don't miss this site). Update: According to this, the organization has been banned in Britain for almost a year; if so, it must be operating illegally.

Germany's success is a challenge to American right-wing ideology.

Europe's last dictatorship resorts to the typical shabby brutality of authoritarianism.

The interminable euro currency crisis is Europe's problem, not ours.

Some Europeans complain that Germany has lost interest in EU integration and is simply trying to strengthen its own dominant position.

British police foil a terrorist plot.

There was never any real hope that Sweden would avoid becoming a jihadist target.

The New Humanist (UK) announces the 2010 Bad Faith Awards.

Iraqi secularists assert their presence with billboards.

Religious mob violence mars a Shiite holy day in Saudi Arabia.

Mumbai is on terror alert again.

Companies involved in the BP Gulf disaster may have tampered with evidence.

The Obama administration broadens protections for wilderness.

Rejecting science is easier when you don't bother to understand it.

A new Japanese invention aims to make the internet more touchy-feely.

The future of cars lies in lighter, stronger materials.

A burial ground from the Wars of the Roses offers clues about 15th-century life.

A tiny bone from Siberia suggests the existence of a previously-unknown human sub-group (sent by Ranch Chimp) -- but see if you can spot the technical error in the article.

The teenage birth rate is at an all-time low, mainly due to high rates of contraceptive use.