Link round-up for 9 October 2011

Here's why the Pope might want a voodoo doll.

Prison -- your, er, sunflower will never be the same.

Here's some religious logic and religious degradation.

Murr Brewster looks at fashion and gender issues in the reptile- smuggling industry.

There may be more Blackadder on the horizon (found via Mendip).

Tremble, Texans -- PZ Myers is among you.

Yes, this is a real headline. And the comments on the story behind it must be seen to be believed.

Matt Dillahunty puts his own twist on twelve-step nonsense.

Bill Bennett talks rubbish about the "immaturity" of young men.

We'll tell you when to be offended, Herman.

Mendip has some choice words on the day of Steve Jobs's death.

McGinniss's new book on Palin is a hit (found via Progressive Eruptions).

St James Infirmary launches a well-conceived campaign for sex workers.

Right-winger John Jay indulges in violent fantasies.

Read of how one atheist soldier was treated in the US military.

Romney, speaking at the Values Voter Summit, denounces anti- Mormon fundie Bryan Fischer, though not by name (the audio on the video is annoyingly out-of-sync, but there's a transcript). The fundies continue their Mormon-baiting. Andrew Sullivan assesses the religious ugliness that has consumed the party.

Update: Don't miss Republic of Gilead's report, direct from the Summit, on the fundie flap over Mormonism.

Pat Robertson is getting some flack from the right -- for describing Romney as a Christian.

Karl Giberson looks at the insular fundamentalist subculture that formed Bachmann and millions of others.

Fundie nutjob Janet Mefferd claims that homosexuality is a pagan plot to shut up fundie nutjobs (sounds kind of cool, actually).

Christian apologist Matt Slick defends honor killings; atheist Martin Wagner calls him on it.

Bernie Sanders tells it like it is; more here.

The environmental impact statement on Keystone XL may not be worth much.

More austerity madness: Topeka, KS considers decriminalizing domestic violence to save money.

The CBO confirms that the AJA will work and will pay for itself. Obama isn't taking "dead" for an answer; now it's up to the rest of us to get behind him.

We need to keep saying it -- Obama has accomplished a lot. He has the right message for the times.

Osborne Ink takes up the call -- enlist the Occupier movement to help pass the AJA.

Here are some Occupier participants who have prior experience with occupation. Tahrir Square veteran Mosa'ab Elshamy has advice for the movement; an Andrew Sullivan reader has some suggestions for its critics; Manifesto Joe worries about it being co-opted by the right. Nate Silver compares media coverage of the movement with that given to the teabaggers.

The Occupy Portland protest on Thursday the 6th apparently drew at least 10,000 people. Politics Plus has more.

Republican vote-suppression schemes could disenfranchise five million Americans (sent by Shaw Kenawe).

Here's a great state-by-state list of voter ID requirements (found via Parsley's Pics).

Romney's Fox ad may help him win the nomination, but could also come back to haunt him in the general election. More here.

McConnell's latest claim is beneath contempt.

Atheist Zachary Moore attends a Christian men's conference; Don Cook visits another.

FFRF inadvertently helps expose tax evasion by an Ohio church; the church denounces this as an attack by "Satan and his imps".

Mentioned here in passing: even Republican voters prioritize job creation over debt reduction, 51%-to-13%.

Never mind denying certiorari -- this judge clearly has no business even being a judge.

Yet another innocent man in Texas is freed after 25 years in prison for a mistaken conviction. Such cases are not rare.

In Colorado, Charles Farrar is trying to escape a 145-year prison sentence for a crime that probably never happened (found via Preliator pro Causa).

America's founders worried about the political influence of great wealth. More here.

Obama won't do it, but sign this petition anyway.

It's just common sense -- in a global economic slowdown, inflation is practically impossible.

Joseph Cannon has an interesting take on the Amanda Knox case and weird European stereotypes of Americans. Read this too.

The EU threatens to sue to force Britain to let foreigners exploit its social safety net.

Meet Richard Sulik, the Slovakian politician who wants to derail the euro bail-out fund.

Der Spiegel looks at how the euro could end. Daniel Hannan argues that a return to national currencies would be much easier than the alarmists claim.

The mystery of Central America's crystal skulls leads to Germany.

We need to dispel these ten myths about China.

Al-Awlaki wasn't the first US citizen to suffer the consequences of turning against America.

Obama has done more to crush jihad in two years than Bush did in eight.

Will there be a cyber-war someday? Probably not.

Too much alcohol blunts your immune system.

The NCI confirms -- there is no link between abortion and breast cancer.

Japanese scientists discover a possible stem-cell cure for diabetes.

California researchers are making progress on using nanoparticles to fight brain cancer.

As science explains more and more, religion is left with less and less to claim.

[Image at top: Occupy Portland, found via Politics Plus.]