Link round-up for 1 September 2013

Murr Brewster's funniest post yet looks at bad English and terrorism.

For geeky kids too, it gets better.

Is there hope of bringing back extinct species?

Burning Man is in full swing in Nevada.

The saggy-pants fad can trip you up.

I normally avoid celebrity "news", but this post on Miley Cyrus makes some good points.  I suspect that the pearl-clutchers' predictable screeching will just boost Cyrus's cred and commercial success.  Meanwhile, here's a really weird form of celebrity sabotage.

Those silly Europeans have strange priorities.

What's the most popular type of porn in your state?

A police sting thwarts a terrorist plot in Nevada.

There's now one less school teaching bullshit in place of science.

Here are some honest shoppers in New Jersey.

Atlanta now has what may be the country's first science fiction strip club (found via Mendip).

A Tennessee policewoman won health benefits for her same-sex partner -- so the church they attended kicked out her entire family (found via Republic of Gilead).

Fox News discovers a non-mysterious mystery.

Karoli at Crooks and Liars fact-checks the IRS / teabagger scamdal.

Amanda Marcotte looks at the Christian Right's delusions of persecution (found via Republic of Gilead).

That story about a large group being asked to leave a South Carolina café?  There's another side to it.

18% of US scientists are seriously considering leaving the country because of shrinking funding.

 A Harvard study shows that gun control doesn't reduce crime, and may do the opposite.

Yes, Keystone XL would contribute to global warming.

Cute little houses are under attack from heartless bureaucrats, in Wales and Texas.

Ania Lisewska has found a worthy mission in life.

Russia's anti-gay laws have prompted a rise in violence.

Fukushima is worse than you think, and if you eat seafood, it affects you.

Kim Jong-un's treatment of his ex-girlfriend seems a tad harsh.

Here's a collection of photos from Afghanistan of the 1950s and 1960s.  The years have not been kind.

The CIA bears some responsibility for the persistence of polio in Pakistan.

Booman Tribume looks at the do-something impulse on Syria.  Stonekettle Station reviews the options and concludes that none of them are good -- not even staying out.

Here's a solar eclipse different from any you've ever seen before.

Poverty damages decision-making ability.

Mother birds password-protect their babies.

The distributed nervous system of the octopus apparently means a distributed mind.

The latest weapon against arthritis is green and tasty.

There's new research supporting the idea that life on Earth originated on Mars.