Link round-up for 16 March 2014

Here's some Christian tolerance -- and check out the artist here.

Sadly No's Cerberus has a reply to Douthat's "surrender" essay.  Douthat continues to fret, and another religion-based anti-gay law suffers defeat.  But Satan has one more trick up his sleeve.

Cosmos is back, and the nutbars are unhappy.  If you missed the first episode, you can watch it here -- without censorship.

Charles Pierce ruthlessly pwns Sarah Palin.

Racist rallies attract huge crowds. More here and here.

Yet another study shows that kids raised by same-sex couples do just fine (found via Progressive Eruptions).

Here's the definitive word on Paul Ryan's "inner city" statement.  He knew exactly what he was doing.  Booman explains why he's really wrong.

Glenn Ford is found innocent and set free after 30 years on death row.

Chad Roberts wants Christians to quit stiffing waitresses.

Fair and Unbalanced dissects a dishonest anti-ACA ad.

Atheist Oasis looks at Americans' accelerating rejection of religion.

Pharyngula looks at the "long, rich, and complex" relationship between religion and science.

The comment thread here illustrates how divided Republicans are.  And Cardinal Dolan isn't homophobic enough for these commenters.  Even the Pope isn't evil enough for theologian Kelly Bowring (found via Mock Paper Scissors), but make no mistake -- he's still a lying scumbag.

When you get rid of regulations, you tend to quickly find out why they were enacted in the first place.

In Indiana, creationists get state legislators to do their dirty work.

The financial parasite class is still doing very well.

Who wouldn't be "outraged" at Michigan's rape-insurance law?

A Christian writer finally takes clerical abuse seriously -- but blames demons.

Why do we find some languages pleasanter-sounding than others?

A doctor corrects some myths about health care in Canada.

A top official involved in the British government's plan to block internet porn is arrested for kiddie porn.

Britain's new top vet challenges the cruel practices of kosher and halal animal slaughter.

Fifty thousand Russians rallied in Moscow yesterday against Putin's invasion of Crimea, many chanting "Russia without Putin".  The regime's absurd lies are proving counter-productive.  Ukrainians are mobilizing to fight, while Central Asians worry about the precedent and Germany, formerly taking a soft line, talks tough.  Don't be fooled -- eastern Ukraine is still Ukraine.  Scott Lively, as always, stands on the wrong side of history (found via Republic of Gilead), as does Franklin Graham.

Japan is stockpiling nuclear material under grossly-inadequate security.

Elephants can tell different human languages apart (found via Ranch Chimp).

Many factors played a role in the development of the human mind -- but all are explainable via evolution.

Here's another look at out-of-body experiences.

[Image at top:  Pussy Riot members address the huge anti-war rally in Moscow.  The banner behind them shows the Ukrainian and Russian flags and the words "For your and our freedom" in Ukrainian.]