Link round-up for 8 July 2012

Here's an anthem for the Vatican.

Just how large was Reagan?

I've been there and it really feels like this.

Beware Britain's secret weapon -- the exploding rat.

This is a good person.  And this person will vote Republican.

Gorilla Bananas looks at the Olympics.

Forget the robotic brain, Japanese scientists have perfected the robotic ass (found via Mendip).

Faye Kane looks at the Texas Republican platform (NSFW blog).

Cheap Signals has a round-up of items worth reading.

The Bible is open to interpretation.

Obama has an agenda.

Not everyone's invited to this Christian conference.

Obama needs to focus on Republicans' economic extremism.

Yeesh, are these real quotes?

Olympic officials bully knitters.

Here be monsters.

Compare the Buddhist and the atheist.

Don't be fooled -- Romney is making serious outreach to the theocrats.

Another case of a Christian denying contraception to a rape victim prompts a lawsuit (found via Republic of Gilead).

Some of these black truths will surprise you (found via Smartypants).

When the man you married becomes a control freak, it's time to leave.

YouTube starts to address the cesspit its comment sections have become.

Evangelical infiltration of the US military threatens national security (found via Republic of Gilead).

Here's a liberal Christian view of the transition to post-Christian society.

The AMA supports the Supreme Court's upholding of the ACA.  Green Eagle fisks another crazed right-wing response to the ruling.  Crank right-wing scare e-mails about it are already starting to circulate.  If you're one of the 30 million gaining insurance from the reform, Republicans say you're not the issue.  Support for keeping the ACA is rising, and even many Republicans want to move on.  Stonekettle Station looks at winners and losers.

Which freedom is more worth defending?

When he's not busy wrecking education, Jindal also attacks libraries.

One conservative's path to sanity ran via Orwell.

The parasite class is different from you and me -- we don't get paid $44,400,000 for one day's work.

There's a reason why the Austrian school of economics appeals to right-wingers.

Not all countries are locked into endless cutbacks -- Britain plans humane reforms to care of the elderly.

At least some tourism officials in Northern Ireland are idiots.

Some Brits are holding an alternate Olympics for gentlemen.

The EU rejects ACTA, international successor to the evil SOPA, effectively killing it.  Links and commentary here.

Germany doesn't have power outages.

A vast abandoned military base becomes a ghost town of a vanished empire.

Irena Sendlerowa was a heroine of World War I.

The Arab rebellion is alive and kicking in Sudan.

Women suffer public sexual assault in Egypt and religious murder in Afghanistan.  Even a Saudi princess doesn't feel safe at home.

A religious mob in Pakistan beats a man to death for blasphemy.

For telling the truth, Sanal Edamaruku is a hunted man.

This week's CERN breakthrough evicts God from yet another gap -- so stop this "God particle" nonsense.

As the heat wave continues, with thousands of temperature records broken, the death toll climbs.  Beating global warming may take planetary engineering.

Here's an impressive amateur time-lapse video of the Colorado fires (found via Mendip); the scale of the phenomenon can be seen by contrast with the man-made structures in the foreground.

Funding cuts risk creating a gap in Earth's early-warning system for dangerous asteroids.

Befuddled by bosons?  Here's a primer on particles.