Link round-up for 18 March 2018

Worst pirate ever!  I wonder if anyone ever found all that dumped silver.....

This teacher may be a furry (found via Why Evolution Is True).

Cats confront snow.  Dogs confront snow.  But the cold never bothered him anyway.

Not the switch!!!

Guess the answer.

There are no pictures of penises at this link.

Not everything should be defragged.

Rule 34 is apparently true (NSFW).

Mark Hamill went glam for German TV (here's the context).

Cool street art.

Here's the definition of the word "militant".

Be careful wearing this ring (found via Mendip).

Computer games must not contain unrealistic elements.

The enemy bitches and moans about The Shape of Water.  But Guillermo del Toro knows what a monster is.

Professor Chaos reviews NRO's review of A Wrinkle in Time.

Crazy Eddie observes St. Patrick's Day.

Rock = right-wingers, monster = Democratic party, castle = ideological purists.

Crime drops when a new violent video game is released, and the reason is obvious.  But one thing does correlate with increases in real-world violence.

You'll hardly believe this school mural is real.

I'm not quite forgotten on F169, apparently.

Come to Oregon -- it's almost like this.  Well, we do do freedom and democracy pretty well.

Legalize prostitution and to hell with the hypocrites.

The two books are not even comparable.

Don't apply for a job at this funeral home (found via Mendip).

Jeff Bezos makes as much money every 15 seconds as you do in a year.

If atheism is a religion.....

Stephen Hawking sings Monty Python (found via a comment by "Sirius Lunacy" on Mock Paper Scissors).  His last public statement was on robots and socialism (found via Miss Cellania).  Here's a little story showing something of his character.  Here is another (from a comment by Shaw Kenawe).

Some Christians stick to their principles.

For the Ides of March, Crazy Eddie has songs inspired by Pompeii (the Roman city, not the new Secretary of State).

Opponents of the student gun protests cast themselves as cartoonish villains. And sometimes the crap runs in the family.  But maybe they should worry.

Perhaps the stupidest of all taboos is the one on masturbation.

This gay "conversion therapist" had a little secret.

West Virginia got it right (found via Yellowdog Granny).

I totally saw this coming:  Fundies gloat that Stephen Hawking is in Hell.  If you read only one link from this round-up, let it be this one, and spread it around.  Everyone needs to see the ugliness of these people and their beliefs.

Joy Behar's comment about Mike Pence's religion prompts a flood of hypocritical outrage.

Don't tell me not to laugh at them.

It's obscene to sympathize with the tormentor rather than the victim.

Some people hold self-contradicting opinions.

Least-surprising news ever:  blacks are leaving white Evangelical churches, especially since the rise of Trump.

Islam is like the 1950s (well, with more executions).

Steven Pinker states some obvious truths and everybody gets mad at him (I need to read this book).  Andrew Sullivan clings desperately to tired old bullshit.

Looks like God was giving them a sign.

The gun debate is a form of culture war.

What is Islamophobia?

It's OK to resist capitalism on an iPhone.

Bible fetishism is not good preparation for understanding US history.

"Ignorance is strength!"

Our leaders must not make nice with anti-Semites.

These people exist.  And these people exist.

Mock Paper Scissors looks at the new CIA director.

Stop pretending the wingnuts are arguing honestly.

Sometimes the truth hurts.

Are there more stars than grains of sand? (found via a comment by W Hackwhacker)

In Hildale, Utah, it's 2018.....BC.

Most of what's going around the internet about the long-distance effects of Fukushima is hugely exaggerated.

Yes we can, and no we shouldn't.

The US demand for commercial electricity is falling for the first time in a century.

Printed houses are getting better, bringing us closer to a solution for the insane cost of housing.

These people exist.

Despite differences over Brexit, the EU stands with the UK on the Skripal poisoning. The UK has already begun retaliating against Russia and protecting its infrastructure against possible Russian cyber-attacks (a striking contrast with US inaction on threats to our elections).

Australia, land of dinosaurs.

How many migrants have you resettled in the Vatican, you hypocritical shithead?

Support for Israel is increasing among Americans, both Democrats and Republicans.  The countries Americans like the most are Canada, the UK, and Japan.

Catholics cheer as the Polish government imposes one of their taboos on the whole country, including non-Catholics.

Schrödinger's human?  Constantin Reliu is biologically alive, but legally dead by court ruling.

This sour old asshole created a regime that arrests people for dancing.

Theocracy means prison if you don't dress the way the thugs demand.  And it's getting worse.

This hypocrisy needs to stop.  Religion promotes sexual abuse on a huge scale -- notably if you refuse to convert.

The US-backed Turkish military commits ethnic cleansing against our Kurdish allies in Syria.  What is Trump going to do about this?

Getting justice for rape is difficult in a conservative society.

A religious leader presents an intriguing new hypothesis on the roots of homosexuality.

Religio-nutters are lying about Stephen Hawking.

This really is a shithole country.

If true, this story of corporate crime sounds almost like an act of war (more details here).

The trend toward sclerotic autocracy will weaken China.

Countries worth living in don't do this kind of crap.

A new wave of racist violence is sweeping South Africa, and so far only Australia is taking any action.

In PA-18, Lamb showed how to win marginal Trumpanzees without sacrificing liberal values.  Republicans are suffering the effects of their disastrous mishandling of Trump.  They're also bad losers.  NRO is gloomy about the party's November prospects.  Apparently the "President" will spend campaign season publicly fighting with a porn star.

Here are three views on Democratic primary challenges (Kleeb's is the most realistic).  We need candidates who can not only win seats now but hold them in future elections.  Here's a case where a primary challenge makes sense, since there's no risk of losing the seat.  And Democrats may be less divided than some believe.

Trump (if he's still in office) probably won't face a primary challenger in 2020.

Different Presidents, different approaches (found via Yellowdog Granny).

At Shower Cap's Blog, it's just another week in Trump's America.

Republicans are just nasty.

Jasper Ward thinks he has an issue that can help Democrats win in red states.

Bob Felton thinks Trump is fatally dividing Evangelicals.

We're the real values voters.

Reminder:  Hillary would have gotten the nomination even without superdelegates.

House Republicans are realizing they blew it with their whitewash of Trump, and they're already backing down.

Worst political ad ever!

The enemy understands the importance of this year's election.  So must we.  Voting makes a difference.

Want more links?  Try Perfect Number, Miss Cellania, and Fair and Unbalanced.

[Image at top:  ruins of Pompeii]