Link round-up for 12 January 2020

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

o o o o o

Exercise can be difficult.  Reading books should be easier, but will justice prevail?

Obey the pharmacist.

There's a toy in every box!

From perfect picture to almost-perfect picture.

Whoever designed this sign knew exactly what he was doing.

See faces in the snow.

What could go wrong?

Physical books still far outsell their electronic rivals.

Cathedral art celebrates the talented Konrad von Hochstaden.

"Open a channel to the Ferengi vessel....."

A queen's hair is commemorated in the sky.

See Uranus moon the king of the fairies.

Writers, be careful around Dreame.

Prayer and logic don't mix.

Let's dance, retro style.

Insightful words from Alexander Leon apply to many other people as well as gays.

The Iran war is canceled, so Trump is back to his usual telling lies and babbling like an idiot.

The religious nuts are throwing a fit about a kids' cartoon show.

Is it legal?

Blogger Shower Cap has an SF/political comic coming out.

Some fundies have a problem with cats.

Protect internet privacy with lava lamps.

There's a good market for well-maintained decades-old tractors because the newer ones are so hard to repair.

"I am an atheist because....."

For wingnuts, everything is an opportunity to pick fights.

Which group is least humane?

The agenda of the "Make Women Great Again" conference must be seen to be believed.

Sports commentary has a long history of racism.

It's dangerous when the police rely on psychological bullshit.

This Christian author's list of the top three reasons people reject Christianity shows he's completely clueless about the actual reasons people leave Christianity.

Even The History Channel is now catering to the moron demographic.

"The church people gave us that piece of sh*t p***y-grabber?!  Yep, they did" (found via this more recent post which you should also read).

A Trumpanzee prepares for the dawn of socialism.

The Methodist split was largely geographical (African vs. American).

The Jehovah's Witnesses are off the hook for failing to report sexual abuse to the police.

It's absurd to expect Trump to recognize the concept of "too extreme".

True unbiased journalism must reject naïve neutrality.

Republican policy on Obamacare has been reduced to total incoherence (found via Fair and Unbalanced).

Every so often the bigot's mask slips.

The whole country should do this.

Trumpanzees' loyalty is rooted in astonishing ignorance.  They resort to dishonesty and hypocrisy to defend Trump's latest stupid moves.

Boeing hid problems with the 737 Max from the FAA.

Lindsey Graham takes on his character from the biggest shark around him.

Republicans keep trying to use the law to force everyone to obey the Christian taboo system.

Celery can have "negative calories", but only under rare circumstances.

Humpback whales are capable of inter-species altruism.

Lasers are a game-changer in missile-interception technology.

Canada suffered many losses aboard the Ukrainian airliner destroyed over Tehran.

Here are ten countries where you can live well and cheaply (but do some research before actually moving).

In the Netherlands, Catholics have dropped from 40% to barely 20% of the population since the sixties, and only a mainly-elderly minority of those are regular churchgoers.

Łódź, Poland, during World War II exemplified the horrors of Nazi racial policy.

Yes, it's free speech.  Deal with it.

Iranian reactions to the Soleimânî killing are more complex than they look.  The downing of the Ukrainian airliner led to protests calling for the death of the Supreme Leader.

Reminder -- the Iranian regime is a theocracy and behaves like one.

Most of the Western left doesn't understand the Middle East much better than Trump does.

Indigenous Taiwanese, descendants of the inhabitants before Chinese colonization 400 years ago, remain a distinct group in the country.

Trump's fate will be determined by how united Democrats are.

8 in 10 voters say "compromise and common ground should be the goal for political leaders".  Yes, that's impossible, but this is the electorate our candidates need to appeal to in order to win.

Poor Biden, nobody likes him except the voters.

More links here.

[Image at top: part of my own book collection, built up over decades]