Link round-up for 29 September 2013

Alleged photos of space aliens actually depict singers from the Dean Martin show (found via Mendip).

It's Cantonese, I assume -- absolutely positively the greatest rocker/album name ever (found via Mock Paper Scissors).

Don't engage in class warfare (found via Squatlo Rant).

Here's a government shutdown we can all support (found via Politics Plus).

Why did medieval illuminated manuscripts depict knights fighting snails?

Computers will give reassurance.

Male swimmers of New Jersey, beware the bollock-munching kipper (found via Lady Freethinker).

Liberals and conservatives -- there's a difference.

Some nutty "people's court" has "convicted" Obama of some stuff.  These people exist.

Don't be a jerk.

Wrong then, wrong now (found via Squatlo Rant).

Check out the great astronomical photography of Cristian Fattinnanzi.

Some of these travel posters are for places you'll never go (found via Mendip).

Green Eagle has plenty of material for his latest Wingnut Wrapup.

Here are the top 16 myths about Obamacare, debunked.  And shame on those who go along with the lies.  McCain pushes back.  Premium levels are out for 36 states, and the news looks good (found via Progressive Eruptions).  Vanity Fair has a brilliant essay on the Republican opposition; Booman Tribune dissects their response to the "it's settled law" argument.

Billy Graham's grandson says child sexual abuse among Evangelicals could be even worse than in the Catholic Church.  More here.

Republicans sink to silly tactics to sabotage Wendy Davis.

The media still push the California-is-a-failure meme, but the reality is otherwise.

This guy will vote next year.  Will you?

The teabag fringe plunges to new depths of Kenya-related crazy.

We haven't taken as much of the austerity poison as Europe has, but it's hurt us nevertheless.

Wall Street tries to talk sense to Republicans on the debt ceiling.  Michael Tomasky thinks they're finally self-destructing.

Well-meaning regulations make the porn industry more dangerous.

If there's a government shutdown, we need some moments like this.

Brad Paisley isn't a racist, but he doesn't quite get it about the Confederate flag.

Here's a case study of how the right-wing pseudo-media spread false information.

Bill Clinton turns vegan, loses 24 pounds, reverses heart disease, looks healthier than years ago.

NRA lobbyist travels to Botswana, shoots elephant in face, poses with corpse, celebrates with champagne.

Unconstitutional anti-atheist discrimination is still on the books in some states.

Support for the Tea Party is at a near-all-time low.

Pope schmope, the Catholic Church is still a reactionary bastion -- read the comments too.

Republicans oppose Obamacare, but still rely on the savings it will generate to make their proposed budget balance.

Don't be lulled by a few state referenda -- the utter madness of the war on drugs is still with us.

Irish children in secular schools will soon be taught about atheism.

Nitwits who can't tell cartoons from reality have screwed up Japanese agriculture.

Taiwan may soon become the first completely non-Western country to legalize gay marriage, but even there, religious nutters are on the warpath against it.

The religion of peace strikes again: shoppers taken hostage at the Nairobi mall were hideously tortured and mutilated by al-Shabab terrorists.

Just how huge can snakes get, anyway? (found via Mendip).

Here's what the ancestor of English (and hundreds of other languages) 6,000 years ago might have sounded like.

Maria Konovalenko thinks Google's Calico may not be such a great idea.

The sounds of some words may have a psychological connection with their meaning.

Here's a list of rebuttals to standard attacks on science-based medicine (found via Lady Atheist).

Stephen Hawking believes that mind uploading is feasible.

The image of this long-dead bee lives on only in a flower.