Link round-up for 8 December 2013

When sending text messages, turn off the autocorrect.

Ostrich gotta get funky.

This could be the perfect gift for your favorite Lady Gaga fan.

Here's some Christmas cheer from Captain Picard and a Klingon show (both found via Mendip).

Bitcointards pwned!  Basics here.

Ranch Chimp has some great photos of Dallas under its ever-changing weather.

Uzza takes a detailed look at the Biblical story of creation.

Yep, Obama is just like Hitler.

Worst pooing-on-a-plane story ever!  Though this is even more disturbing.

Check out these high-resolution photos of snowflakes.

There is a "war on Christmas", and fundie ranting is part of it.

"Spiritual" bullcrap is not harmless.

When using restrooms in stores -- beware.

A few young people escape from an abusive totalitarian cult that thrives right here in the US.

ALEC is determined to sabotage the push for clean energy.

You can have single-payer in 2017 -- if you live in Vermont.

The real issue in the "abortion debate" is freedom.

David Ehrenstein looks at delayed justice for Catholic clergy in California.

A Georgia Republican's gaffe on health insurance suggests the party's PR problems won't be easy to solve.

Banks, whose profits last year topped $141 billion, underpay employees so badly that many qualify for public assistance.

Judgmental, moralistic, sourpuss Catholics are getting nervous about Pope Francis.

The ACA is working better and better, but Republicans' problems with it are just beginning.

If you think racist harassment by police isn't still a problem, check out the cases of Earl Sampson and Landry Thompson.

Careless cops have made at least 100 mistaken arrests in St. Louis alone (found via Fair and Unbalanced).

A Fort Hood sergeant whose duties included sexual-harassment prevention recruited women soldiers for a prostitution ring.

The war of words between Britain and the EU over migration heats up.

Olympic diver Tom Daley came out this week -- here are some reactions.

Andrew Sullivan rediscovers London after a long absence.

German neo-Nazis may be behind hundreds of unsolved murders formerly blamed on immigrants.

Iceland ignores financial pearl-clutchers, gives mortgage-holders relief.

Gaining control of Ukraine is essential to Putin's dream of reconstituting the USSR, but his options are limited if Ukrainians truly commit to democracy.  Former leaders support the uprising.  Today's new demonstrations will show which side is winning.  New internet media are helping to sustain the protests.

The Christian Right wasn't so keen on Mandela back when it mattered most; check out also these comments from NRO and some rank-and-file teabaggers. Mandela responded to the accusations of Communism long ago.  Here's a simple chart that shows one way he changed South Africa.

One group still suffers discrimination and persecution all over the world.

South Korea has just launched the biggest ship ever.

What does it really mean when China copies Western architecture?

Ultra-wealthy Chinese investors want to build their own city in upstate New York -- perhaps a refuge for when the homeland's downtrodden masses finally rise up against them?

The view from an upper-story house window in Nairobi can be.....a little different.

Found:  a supergiant planet in the most far-flung orbit ever seen.

Some effects of global warming will happen soon and be quite sudden.

The NIH will spend $100 million to research this possible AIDS cure.

Sorry, you can't be both fat and healthy.

Daniel Callahan wants you to die, and he and people like him have influence.