Link round-up for 12 June 2011

TV is getting too complicated.

Nonnie9999 out-does herself, capturing Palinized history in one image (click to enlarge).

Some strange birds have been observed in Oklahoma, planning to migrate to Washington.

Fantasists unleashed -- right-wing blogs accuse Weiner's wife of an extra-marital affair with Hillary Clinton!

ShreddaKJ finds the world's stupidest creationist video. And this argument is all wet. But for sheer dumbth, neither can match this person.

Datamancer offers computers with style (found via Mendip).

Stop in for a drink at the Alien Bar in Gruyere, Switzerland -- if you dare.

Here's an MRA response to the SlutWalks. Bonus: MRA dating chat lines (and these guys wonder why they're unpopular with women).

Orwellian: Palin's fans try to edit Paul Revere's Wikipedia page to legitimize her history blunders.

Here's a shocking case of police stupidity -- I hope the homeowner sues.

Under Obama, the White House website has a page on his work with the LGBT community.

Two construction workers achieve a heroic rescue of a drowning woman.

Sometimes there's justice: homeowner forecloses on deadbeat bank.

And sometimes there isn't: rich killer gets off lightly.

As the struggle for gay marriage grinds forward, this date, June 12, commemorates an earlier victory.

Here's a real case of onerous regulations on business -- imposed by Republicans.

If you attack the job, you attack the worker.

Here's a round-up of Michele Bachmann quotes -- nothing to quite match Palin's greatest hits, but some are pretty out-there.

The battle over abortion isn't really about abortion -- and you can forget about rape exceptions (both found via Republic of Gilead).

Trump is threatening to run for President as a third candidate. Yeah, yeah, wake me up when Mr. Big Talk actually does it.

If Rick Perry runs, he'll have to deal with the ghost of Cameron Todd Willingham.

Gay culture is pretty mainstream these days.

Ex-cop Neil Franklin speaks out on the horrific damage done to American society by drug prohibition.

Home Depot brushes off pressure from the bigots -- so they're going after Old Navy.

Wall Street experts confirm that even a brief default could be disastrous and increase the deficit; top Republican economists agree.

That report back in January of NYC union workers deliberately slowing down snow removal? A lie.

Mesothelioma blog has a good overview of US vs. foreign health- care costs and outcomes.

Congressional leaders take a firm stand on Medicare, and the DCCC holds Republicans accountable for their votes. The more people know about the Ryan plan, the less they like it, but Republican hostility to Medicare has a long history. Next on their agenda: another attack on veterans' benefits.

Republican rigidity is rooted in the political immaturity of the South (must-read article).

The Republican economic strategy has precedents.

Don't be fooled -- a degree still makes a big difference.

A Boston Catholic church scheduled a mass with the theme "all are welcome" -- then was forced to cancel it by the Archdiocese.

Most Americans blame the ballooning deficit on the Afghanistan and Iraq wars (in fact, Bush's tax cuts are the main culprit).

Bachmann calls for more corporate tax cuts -- and higher taxes on the poor.

A lesbian teenager describes her horrific experiences at a religious brainwashing camp in Utah.

Scott Walker doesn't like being reminded of his most vulnerable constituents.

Lady Atheist presents the top ten reasons why religion is bullshit.

Politics Plus finds a land for Republicans to love.

Progressive Eruptions has a round-up of good news.

If all the atheists left the US.....

Jon Stewart is beating Fox in ratings, while NPR far out-draws plummeting Limbaugh and Hannity.

Republicans use dirty tricks to fight the Wisconsin recalls -- and to stage their own. More on all the recalls here.

Ellenbeth Wachs, suing her city for unconstitutional religious rituals at official meetings, has been harassed with strategically- timed arrests (found via Lady Atheist).

The American people no longer care that Republicans caused the economic crash -- they want to know who will bring jobs back.

Is Obama ready to focus on jobs? The signs aren't good; we may be repeating the "mistake of 1937".

German Catholic homeopaths' nutty scheme to "cure" gays draws outrage and ridicule.

Britain continues to slide back into recession under conservative austerity policies, as similar policies imposed by the EU threaten disaster across Europe.

Austerity undermines higher education in Britain (the country is currently a world leader in the field, with 11 of the world's top 100 universities).

The source of Germany's E. Coli outbreak has apparently been found.

Islamists push creationism in France and the British Isles (video here, utter stupidity here), bolstering my point that European Islam is Europe's equivalent of our Christian Right. Maybe the British Prime Minister, campaigning against un-British Islamist ideas, should take note. See also Maryam Namazie's speech on the modern Islamic Inquisition (must-read).

Here's more on those "virginity tests" used by Egyptian soldiers to degrade women protesters.

The rebellion in Bahrain is heating up again.

According to the ICC, the many rapes committed by government forces in Libya were ordered by Qaddhafi himself. The rebels are winning battles in western Libya and pushing toward Tripoli. But Qaddhafi still has friends in Washington.

Terrorist big-shot Ilyas Kashmiri gets an early start on his 72 virgins, thanks to an American drone strike. And Somali police get the credit for this one.

Amina Abdallah, the "Gay Girl in Damascus" recently added to the links list here, has been abducted, apparently by security forces. Ongoing updates here.

As the Syrian regime cracks down in the north, shooting civilians without mercy, thousands flee across the border to Turkey.

Education and economic growth change the lives of Chinese women.

Global warming may be the biggest threat in history, and the Third World is doing more to fight it than we are.

Video of an orangutan saving a bird shows the startlingly human- like character of our fellow great apes.

AI researcher Ben Goertzel interviews Aubrey de Grey.