Link round-up for 10 July 2011

Two words: giant bubbles.

Product placement gets even more ridiculous (found via Mendip).

ZOMGItsCriss is coming to the US.

Does God exist? (found via Blonde Nonbeliever).

PZ Myers: tough on elves.

There's more to that "Family Leader" pledge Bachmann signed than its outrageous language about slavery -- it also inserts the issue of buggery into the nation's political discourse.

168 million e-mails -- just part of what happens in 60 seconds on the internet (found via Histories of Things to Come).

This week's featured art/photo site is Get Lost and Find Yourself. Hmm, Nazi Cthulhu?

David Futrelle fisks an entertainingly semi-literate MRA.

Vote on A Feather Adrift's first Stupido Award.

Here are some spectacular pictures of the Phoenix dust storm. For calmer scenes, here's the Oregon coast about 60 miles from here.

Why shouldn't porn be allowed in prisons?

I find this story (found via Mendip) genuinely tragic; unlike some priests and politicians in the news these days, the lady did nothing wrong.

Purple Chimp makes the case against gays.

Christian Right thugs announce their plans to harass a Maryland abortion provider (found via Republic of Gilead).

Our two parties' leaders have opposite goals.

John Wayne wasn't so admirable.

Shelley Branine dared question how her church's leaders were spending money -- and got kicked out.

Ed Brayton replies to Albert Mohler's religious alarmism over the gay-rights revolution.

An anti-helmet protest has a sad but predictable result.

A bank's arrogant mistake ruined a man's life -- and a year later it still hasn't even apologized.

Bigots get creative -- thinking of new nasty names to call gays. In other name-calling news, there's a "slut" double standard.

Texas is suffering its worst drought since record-keeping began in 1895, with 213 of its 254 counties declared agricultural disaster areas.

Look at who thinks they aren't getting government benefits.

The Bible is obeyed, by a California student and a North Carolina religious leader.

Jack Jodell profiles Bernie Sanders.

The American right has become dominated by a fundamentalist mind-set -- even on non-religious issues.

If you think it's an exaggeration to speak of a "Republican war on women", read this -- and this.

Christian Right leaders settle on a preferred Presidential candidate (found via Republic of Gilead). And it would be interesting to see how much support this guy gets.

The fall of Glenn Beck should be credited in part to the power of the boycott.

There is some good news on jobs -- but there's a twist, and the government needs to do more.

Remember Jamie Leigh Jones? KBR got away with it.

The Christian Right ignores a lot of the Bible. So does Bachmann.

Don't underestimate Bachmann. She could beat Romney in New Hampshire.

An ex-fundamentalist decodes the frightening implications of the "Family Leader" pledge.

Don't forget Bachmann's history of anti-gay bigotry (found via A Feather Adrift) and her husband's activities. And what exactly does she mean by "Constitutional conservative"?

Here's what Republicans have actually been doing with the power they won in 2010.

The government must serve everyone equally, regardless of religious prejudices.

We should fix the deficit on the basis of justice, not sacrifice. But Obama has failed to demand accountability.

Republican intransigence is rooted in the demands of the base.

The left needs to re-learn some basic political facts -- and stop using stupid analogies.

Teabaggers should consider what the Declaration of Independence really said.

Pelosi declares that House Democrats will hold the line on Social Security and Medicare. It looks like she's made it stick, and Senate Democrats have their own plan. Boehner's actions make sense in light of the Republicans' real goal. Here's another reminder of what the people want.

Arizona activists have succeeded in getting a recall election for state senate president Russell Pearce, architect of the illegal-alien law. Don't expect too much from the actual election, though, since the law has strong support in Arizona (as it does throughout the country).

Compared with other advanced countries, teachers in the US work by far the longest hours, for almost the lowest pay.

Canada prepares to defend its interests in the ice-free Arctic of the near future.

See the magnificent El Ateneo Grand Splendid in Buenos Aires -- a former theater now converted into a bookstore. Also check out the Selexyz Dominicanen bookstore in Amsterdam, formerly a church.

The German professors' lawsuit against further bail-outs of Greece with German money gets its day in court, while one of Merkel's own political allies is trying to stop the bail-outs in the Bundestag (German federal legislature). Greece's best option is to default and quit the euro, but if the crisis spreads to Spain -- a country too large for the EU to bail out -- Germany will face a choice of giving up its economic independence or letting the euro collapse.

Americans who have trouble grasping the sheer arrogance of the EU elite should read this essay, which perfectly expresses that arrogance -- arguing against democratization on the grounds that giving the people more power would lead to the break-up of the EU, and favoring more centralized elite rule so as to keep the floundering amalgamation together.

Another proposal would force athletes from EU member states to wear the EU flag symbol at sporting events.

Religion threatens tolerance, even in Amsterdam.

As an ancient bigotry takes root in Britain's University and College Union, academics abandon it.

Is this apartheid? (found via Daphne Anson).

The Iranian theocracy spreads idiocy (found via Mendip).

Defectors from the Syrian army tell of being ordered to shoot protesters -- or be shot themselves (found via A Feather Adrift).

Al-Qâ'idah suffers from an unexpected problem -- lack of money. Panetta thinks we've got 'em almost beat.

Religion makes Pakistan a nightmarish place -- but one Western politician is popular there.

The US is reportedly cutting aid to Pakistan (found via Politics Plus), having finally seen the fatuousness of viewing it as an ally against terrorism (something India has long known).

Religious bigotry exists in India too.

The obesity epidemic has worsened dramatically in the last twenty years.

The recent increase in extreme weather is as predicted by the global-warming models.

Surgeons in Sweden perform the first transplant of a stem-cell- grown trachea.