Link round-up for 28 October 2018

Various interesting stuff I ran across on the net over the last week.

o o o o o

Is there marriage in Heaven?

This person takes tootsie rolls far too seriously.

Be safe crossing the street.

Write carefully.

Romance can be awkward when lovers are from different worlds.

See if you can figure out why this guy's drone doesn't work.

Farting has consequences.

Temperature rising -- engage heat-dissipation device.

It is not permitted.

Vote for the candidate you prefer.

Debra She Who Seeks celebrates cat Halloween.  Professor Chaos hosts a dance party.  Others carve idiosyncratic pumpkins.  Sail to the land of your dreams on this evil ship (found via Calvin); enjoy the holiday even if the fundies don't like it.

Some great Moon photos here.

There's a new whacked-out wingnut artist on the scene.

"Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin."  Okay.....

This live stream from a Norwegian train cab is oddly soothing.

Guess what it is.  Answer here.

She made time to vote -- will you?

For a simple but elegant outfit, go Greek (see also my post on this from 2014).

That's one way to stop a bully.

If you are this dumb, please don't leave the country.

I kinda hope the spiders survived.

It's not killing, it's suicide.

Imagine Star Wars taking a different path.

High culture is pop culture that lasted.

Americans are rejecting the Biblical God.

Here's a service guide for when prominent Republicans come to your restaurant.

Don't swim in this pool.

I ran across this "alien mysteries" post and was inspired to look into a couple of the "mysteries".  Here are the real explanations for the Baigong pipes and the Betz mystery sphere.  No doubt with a little digging you can find the true stories behind any of the others that interest you.

If you can't make your case without saying things like "ontic" and "epistemic", maybe you don't have a case.

Blogger Harry Hamid gets his payday.

Religion poses a test of integrity.

Very fine people on both sides (found via Frances Langum on Twitter).

Trump scammed gay people -- well, I don't think many were fooled.

Even Satan has his limits.

"Taylor Swift, voix de l'Amérique."

Fundies are getting nastier as they lose power.

Anti-science wingnuts win one in Arizona, but lose one as well.

I think he's busy -- try again later.

The shutdown of Backpage.com has driven sex workers back into dangerous street work and subjugation to pimps.

We knew all along that the mail-bomb terrorist must be a right-winger, because he was dumb.  Green Eagle takes a look at the "vanifesto", which reminded me of this intriguing post.  Here's what we know about the guy, and here are some Twitter reactions.

Is the economy booming?  Not the economy most Americans live in (found via Hackwhackers).

Republicans hate abortion, but they're fine with destroying pregnancies you want to keep.

Professor Taboo massively debunks the idea that the US was founded as a "Christian nation".  Bookmark this one for the mountain of relevant quotes from the Founders and from Supreme Court rulings.  It's from 2015, hence the references to the gay marriage struggle.

Just use goddamn paper ballots like we do, these machines are hopeless.

Jerry Coyne says "misguided", I just say "bullshit".

Correct, both these statements are true.

Here are some tips for dealing with the police.

Green Eagle posts another huge round-up of wingnut insanity.

Religion leads to terrible parenting.

"When highly committed parties strongly believe [in] things that they cannot achieve democratically, they don’t give up on their beliefs -- they give up on democracy."

Here's what's known about the Pittsburgh mass murder.  Even before the attack, anti-Semitic hatred was on the rise (found via Earth-Bound Misfit).  Update:  Don't be an asshole.

Republicans want to give religio-wingnuts sweeping rights to disregard the law.

It's not both sides.

It's the American way.

Religious "morality" is crazy.

False or mistaken accusations do happen.  So do false convictions of the innocent.

This is what fascism looks like.  And this is what a fascist sounds like.

A rapist was sentenced to a women's prison, with predictable results.

It's been a week of Saudis and Republicans trying to out-bullshit each other.

Remember Mary Anning, who didn't receive the honor she deserved in her own lifetime.

Moline Skeptics looks at the stupidest anti-science conspiracy theory ever (this is real -- I've seen videos on YouTube).

Elephants may have language and a degree of personhood.  They're also rhinoceros molesters.

Here is our eye on the universe.

How deep is the ocean?  This deep.

While Americans struggle to save net neutrality, Europeans are building technology to make the internet truly immune to spying, even by governments.

Maybe Canada gets the Bible right.

The Irish people have voted two-to-one to abolish laws against blasphemy.

A Dutch company which provides abortion pills to women in countries where abortion is illegal is now beginning to serve the US.  The enemy is not happy.

In Europe, too, anti-Semites are blaming Jews for unwanted immigration.

Here's more on the Austrian religious-censorship case.  The law has been used before to harass people who speak out against religion as I do.  I notice the court said that Mrs. S's statements were "aimed at demonstrating that Muhammad was not worthy of worship."  Careful, assholes, in Islam the idea of "worshiping" Muhammad is considered blasphemous too.

China's fear that Trump is trying to isolate it is driving it to reconcile with Japan.

Support is growing for an EU arms embargo against the Saudi regime.

On election night, watch Virginia.

Here's a state-by-state overview of vote-suppression schemes.  Note how in Washington state, they're actively promoting voting for a third candidate to take votes away from the Democrat.

Josh Marshall isn't buying reports of a last-minute Republican resurgence.  And Trump is revving himself up to be a bad loser.

There are signs that "generation Z" is more politically engaged than millennials (found via Fair and Unbalanced).

This election is not about choosing the lesser evil.

60% of Americans would rather roll back tax cuts for the rich than cut Social Security and Medicare.  Here's more positive polling news.

Voters in Idaho, Nebraska, and Utah overwhelmingly support Medicaid expansion (found via The Mahablog).  If we win big in November, it will be because of voters like this guy (found via Miss Cellania).

Fight as if we're losing.  One election won't fix everything, but it will make things less terrible.

Shower Cap reviews the week in politics.

Rick Scott's Trump-style disaster management isn't fooling anyone.

Heitkamp's vote against Kavanaugh has been rewarded with a flood of donations.

The outcome of these races will shape our 2020 strategy.  Next stop, the Supreme Court.