Link round-up for 17 February 2013

Murr Brewster looks at cheese and its impact on Norwegian traffic.

The Dunning-Kruger effect explains a lot about Republicans these days.

Radio isn't what it used to be (found via Mendip).

Here's the difference between insanity and religion.

FreedomWorks ventures into panda/Hillary porn.

This is what a trillion dollars looks like (found via Uzza).

Yep -- they taste better that way.

Welcome to the Bible Belt.

The TSA keeps the change.

Monsanto has a voice in the halls of power.

You go lady!  Elizabeth Warren gets to work.

Is Spanish challenging English for dominance in the US?  Not as much as another language did a century ago.

Another bunch of Republicans is pushing forced ultrasounds. In fact, it's their priority (found via Lady Atheist).

Nice picture, nice smackdown.

The youth vote is pushing yet another red state toward the left.  The right's sole remaining strategy is rigging the electoral system.

To get money to pay the latest child-molestation legal settlement, the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles robs the dead.

The sad story of Julia Pastrana illustrates how racists lie.

The Republicans' 2012 defeat wasn't due just to demographics.

Rosa Rubicondior looks at some miracles. She also has a message for Christians.

Students in southern Indiana want a separate prom that excludes gays (found via Republic of Gilead), but they didn't count on getting world-wide publicity.

The right wing is jumping a lot of sharks these days.

The Vatican obstructed one Archbishop's efforts to remove molesting priests (found via Lady Atheist).

The Justice Department will hold S&P accountable.

Here's why it's nonsense to claim that gay marriage interferes with religious freedom.

Andrew Sullivan is massively unimpressed with Rubio -- he's no savior for the Republicans.

Who was more dangerous to the public -- Dorner or the police hunting him?

Could religion get any more trite?  27% of Americans believe God plays a role in the outcome of sporting events.

Mainstream Americans aren't fooled by Fox any more -- but Republicans still are.

Obamacare will secure access to birth control.

Arizona teabaggers plot intimidation against the Arpaio recall campaign.

The Christian Right's political roots are even uglier than we think.

Some Republicans are trying to de-stupidize the party, but the base won't let them. Rove's plan to stop the teabaggers from nominating more sure losers seems to have energized the Nutty faction to fight back to overthrow the Sane faction. Even if the Sanes win, a Nutty third candidacy could split the party.

Yet another falsely-convicted man goes free in Texas.

Here's how the death penalty stands around the world.

A stint in prison wised up this guy so he wouldn't cause any more trouble.

Ratzinger is a monstrously evil man, but he will escape justice.

Glasgow is ready to welcome tourists from far away (found via Mendip).

Europe's new anti-Semitism is a more complex issue than some Americans realize.  Neo-Nazis -- and Islamotards -- use soccer to promote it in Germany and beyond.

Hell hath no fury like an Englishman fighting for his fish and chips (found via Mendip).

As Christianity dies out in Germany, churches are being sold off en masse.

Here are some videos of the Chelyabinsk meteor.  The Russians are starting to clean up the mess.  The great number of videos of this event calls attention to the new Russian trend of dashboard cameras.

Chechnya's Islamotard leader threatens a crackdown on wizards while promoting exorcisms (found via Mendip).

Tim McGaha has more on that fake Iranian stealth fighter.

Turkish Airlines flight-attendant uniforms tell a disturbing story about the country's social trajectory.

Al-Jazeera's best journalists are leaving.

The Chinese regime is losing patience with its North Korean ally.

International pressure pushes the Pakistani government to move against "compensation marriage".

Here's more on how brave people in Timbuktu saved the city's medieval manuscripts from the Islamists.

Islamic business-as-usual:  Muslims in Pakistan slaughter other Muslims for being the wrong kind of Muslims.

Take a look at the world's largest cave (click on picture for full size).

Anti-depressants help victims of medical experiments overcome their trauma.

Arctic ice is vanishing faster than the climate-change models predicted.

What would happen if you tried to fly a Cessna on another planet or a moon?

Meet the world's biggest earthworm.

Bill Gates, put your money where your mouth is.