Link roundup for 4 May 2008

Sadly No dissects Jonah Goldberg's whitewash of the Tuskegee syphilis atrocity.

Mall-Wart is still stonewalling on the Debbie Shank case (for background, see here and here).

PhillyChief looks at Florida's plan for Christian license plates, and suggests a few of his own.

Republican politician Tony Zirkle might have been wiser to skip this birthday event. British far-right politician Nick Eriksen might have been equally wise to keep his mouth shut.

Democratic superdelegates drift toward Obama even as polls show that voters are moving toward Clinton. Will the pro-Obama party establishment thwart the people's choice? Meanwhile, the North Carolina race is tightening. Keith Olbermann makes a disturbing comment. And I love this cartoon.

Taylor Marsh explains how the Democrats developed their bizarre nomination process.

Do demographic and social changes spell doom for the Republican party?

Heather Mac Donald looks at the cultural forces that undermine the educational prospects of black American children.

Our ongoing crackdown is reducing illegal immigration -- and putting the squeeze on those already here.

Visitors from Britain, with its strict gun laws and pervasive violent crime, are "shocked to the core" by the peacefulness and safety of gun-saturated America.

Daring bloggers defy one of the world's most repressive regimes.

Here's a discussion on religion, atheism, and intolerance.

Some evangelical Christians have produced a manifesto criticizing the entanglement of religion and politics.

In Britain, the "dominant opinion" is that religion is evil.

Sam Harris discusses why non-religious Westerners have trouble understanding the true threat posed by Islam.

Bruce Bawer looks at the West's cultural cowardice.

Muslims in India have adopted the practice of dropping babies from great heights for "health" reasons (found via Ordinary Girl).

It's not only Abrahamic religions that promote and justify evil.

Some once-vanquished epidemic diseases are making a comeback in the United States because of ignorant hostility to vaccination. Here's a reminder of what the pre-vaccination world was like.

A Christian biology student offers some proofs of the truth of evolution.

A new film reveals the surprising intelligence of our cousin species. Read this too (found via Mendip).

Here's evidence of real progress toward limb regeneration. And gene therapy is showing promise against blindness.

This self-reassembling robot seems to me to blur the boundaries between the living and the non-living -- its "behavior" appears comparable in sophistication to that of simple, purely instinct-driven animals such as insects (found via Mendip).

George Dvorsky looks at male contraception and gender power relations.

The Electric Pulse scores a short interview with Aubrey de Grey (found via Fight Aging).

Here's another small step toward a working nano-assembler.

Link roundup for 24 April 2008

The new logo of the British Office of Government Commerce is a little unfortunate (link sent by CP of Portland). And don't forget the immortal logo of the Brazilian Institute for Oriental Studies (scroll down a bit -- it's supposed to be the Sun with an Asian building in front).

The creationist/ID propaganda movie Expelled is turkeying out at the box office.

Read this primer on hiring women employees.

This guy seems to be getting himself pretty worked up.

Here's the world's oldest known tree -- twice the age of the Great Pyramid (link sent by Masterblurber).

An Australian gives his impressions of England.

I bet this kind of thing happens more often than we realize. Give people the benefit of the doubt!

Hot Lard presents the parable of the bird feeder.

After Pennsylvania, Hillary Clinton's case for the nomination hinges on electability. Her strengthening position deepens the superdelegates' dilemma. Jed Babbin says that Obama can't beat McCain; here's an argument that it's time for him to drop out. I'm seeing rising support for the Gore option. Clinton and (to some extent) Obama are moving toward realism on the Middle East.

Britain is allowing cancer patients who are dying anyway to try new treatments even if they're not yet fully approved -- what have they got to lose, after all?

I'm impressed with this guide for distinguishing pseudoscience from real science (found via Handmaiden).

Here's more on why scientists increasingly think that intelligent life is very rare in the universe (I still believe we are probably the universe's first and therefore only intelligent species).

The US military is joining the battle to give humans the ability to regrow lost body parts (found via Sentient Developments).

Artificial eyes are being implanted in blind patients in Britain.

Link roundup for 15 April 2008

Mendip has a couple of good links on Werner von Braun. See also this about Switzerland.

Also found via Mendip: online advertising as Rube Goldberg might have designed it.

Jabberwock has posted another great Chick tract dissection.

Hot Lard posts a passel of Wal-Mart posters (if you don't get the references to the disabled woman's case, read this and this).

The media's interest in this story shows that they don't grasp the concept of coincidence.

A small British village achieves food self-sufficiency.

American-made Skyy vodka responds to the Absolut ad I linked earlier. Here's another reaction.

Los Angeles citizens take a stand against the city's lenient policy on illegal-alien crime.

Republicans now see Obama as easy prey in the general election. Aside from Wright, "Bittergate" will resonate in the swing states. Democratic superdelegates have good reason to wait and watch.

Samizdata ruminates on the significance of Muslims leaving Islam.

He Who Zings Rats is visiting our country this week -- and plans to pray for Muslim terrorists at Groud Zero.

Check out these FBI hate-crime statistics. Contrary to what some might expect, anti-Muslim crimes are still much rarer than anti-Semitic ones.

Outrageous religious bigotry erupts in the Illinois legislature (found via Masterblurber, and don't forget this).

An Olympic torchbearer manages to protest for Tibet.

Here's a report on the FLDS polygamist compound recently raided by Texas officials.

Fight Aging looks at current research on mitochondrial DNA and the aging process.

Even today's crude nanotechnology is showing promise in the repair of spinal-cord injuries and in high-resolution medical scanning.

Here's a form of healthy exercise that shouldn't be too difficult to stick with regularly.

Link roundup for 12 March 2008

Hey Richard Dawkins, is this your teapot? More proof that the Islamists have no sense of humor. At least tea is good for you.

If one takes certain aspects of Christian doctrine seriously, the most fortunate "people" are miscarried fetuses.

Here's a look at the twentieth century -- from 1900.

The special election in Illinois holds ominous portents for the Republicans. Voter self-identification is shifting strongly toward the Democrats (found via Tennessee Guerrilla Women).

"In case you haven't noticed, we in Washington aren't functioning as we should be.....It's getting harder and harder to do the Lord's work in the City of Satan." Mike Huckabee? Alan Keyes? No, John McCain (link sent by Mendip). McCain also seems swayed by junk science, which is a Republican tradition (found via Open Left), and has won at least one scary endorsement. Here's a sober view of his dubious dealings.

Is Obama tough enough? Voters in key swing states don't seem to be enthralled (neither do the British).

Jay Cost looks at a case for Clinton; Marie Cocco looks at the math. Here are some telling quotes.

Some say our society is too litigous, but I don't think this is an improvement.

Self-esteem: the new snake oil.

Canadian essayist Salim Mansur speaks out on multiculturalism.

Life in Iran just gets worse and worse.

Does Hamas want a new hot war with Israel?

An Idaho science teacher finds a way to sneak "intelligent design" into the classroom. With such people "teaching" our children, are these so surprising?

The surprising longevity of birds may hold useful clues.

Genetic engineering creates a new weapon against HIV.

A very simple computer, made of just 17 molecules, has been used to control simple nano-machines -- another step toward the vision of Kurzweil and Drexler.

Here's Kurzweil on the prospects for solar power.

Random thoughts for the day

A few weeks ago a friend, noting how much Republican politicians on TV talk about "values", described the said politicians as "full of values". It was such an apt phrase that, by now, my reaction to almost all Republican rhetoric is to think "what a load of values" or even just "bullvalues!" And of course Huckabee is so godly he thinks his values don't stink.....

= = = = =

Men, women, Jews, Muslims, white people -- I wish I had a dollar for every group which I've seen described as "the last group it's still acceptable to be prejudiced against".

= = = = =

People think that western Europe has no equivalent of America's Christian Right -- a grim religious totalitarian movement seeking to impose its rigid, misogynistic, sex-phobic, homosexual-hating taboos on the entire society. They're wrong. Western Europe does indeed have an equivalent movement -- it's just that it's Islamic, not Christian.

= = = = =

After Archbishop Williams's blather of accepting some aspects of Shariah law in Britain, it was odd to see him being defended by people who would rightly be raising pluperfect hell if a similar suggestion were made about implementing aspects of Biblical law here.

Quote for the day

"The archbishop has been word-bombed with criticism, deserved-ly, though he characterized the response as an overreaction.

No, an overreaction is a man who kills his wife -- or a brother kills his sister -- for dishonoring the family under sharia law. Overre-action is murdering a filmmaker for exploring the abuse of human rights that can be justified under strict interpretations of sharia law. Overreaction is plotting to assassinate a cartoonist for Allah's sake because you don't get it.

Underreaction to radical Islam and jihad gets Paris burned, artists killed, thousands incinerated by detonator airplanes, and arch-bishops advancing religious exemptions to enlightened law."

Kathleen Parker

Link roundup for 14 February 2008

Tengrain presents.....Rapture-Ready Republicans!

Will Jesus return? (Link sent by Mendip.)

Move over, Obama Girl.....Here's Huckabee Girl!

Iowahawk imagines how Chaucer might have portrayed Archbishop Williams. Here's a more serious view, and a look at actual practice in Malaysia.

The Danish media stand up for free expression again.

Sleestak has a curious posting about digital censorship.

John Evo looks at fundamentalists' un-American attitudes.

US drug laws are stupid. Dubai's are worse.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is heading for France.

Darwin, whose 199th birthday was this week, is commemorated by Skepchick, Blurber, and John Evo.

The practice of having sex face-to-face was once thought to be unique to humans, but was later found to be common among orangutans and bonobos -- and has now been observed among gorillas as well. So it is now known to occur among four of the five great-ape species (chimpanzees being the sole abstainers).

Glenn Reynolds looks at anti-aging research. Meanwhile, even now it's easier to live to be 100 than you might think.

Conservative pundit Victor Davis Hanson argues that Clinton would be a tougher opponent for McCain than Obama would be. Jay Cost and Tom Bevan debunk the spin that Obama has the race sewn up. Here's an assessment of the Florida-Michigan problem.

Meanwhile, the Republicans are still plagued by divisions of their own. And conservative essayist George Will takes a gloomy look at Republican corruption.

The Arizona employer-sanctions law has survived another legal challenge.

Link roundup for 8 February 2008

Bubble gum and beans don't go together.

It's an atheist miracle!

The Exterminator notices an interesting pattern in the recent storm disasters in the South.

As Ron Paul continues to go nowhere in the primaries, his followers are going into orbit.

A liberal goes undercover at CPAC: parts one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen.

I reposted my essay on why the election matters at Enter the Jabberwock, where it's garnered some interesting comments.

Robin Morgan points out the vicious sexism and double standards in evidence in the Democratic nomination race (found via Yikes). Update: Here's another example -- what the heck is wrong with these people?

Was Romney's collapse due to anti-Mormon prejudice among fundamentalists?

The Chaplain looks at James Dobson's anti-McCain ranting.

Here's an astonishing case of religious bigotry in Florida.

Ex-Muslim Ibn Warraq defends the superiority of Western values.

Those who think the answer to Islamic violence and intimidation in western Europe is to turn back to Christianity should read this craven wallow in appeasement by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Britain's highest-ranking Christian clergyman. The government's policy is just as spineless. Reaction here (see comments). The most frightening thing about this situation is that apparently the only political force willing to address the public's legitimate concerns is the neo-fascists. Update: The Archbishop's remarks have stirred extensive anger in Britain. More reactions here.

Men, too, can be victims of forced marriage.

Finnish scientists use stem cells to grow a new jawbone for a patient.

Link roundup for 2 February 2008

Check out this amazing secret underground temple complex in northern Italy (found via Mendip).

Think you're psychic? Take the Skepchick challenge and win a date!

A uniter, not a divider: Hillary Clinton gets a surprising quasi-endorsement.

Some of the Paulloons want to hijack some hapless piece of land and turn it into an independent country of their own. Uh, guys, I really suggest you forget about using Texas. They don't cotton much to this kind of stuff down there.

Wonkette showcases a lusty new voice of reason on the Paulist phenomenon here and here, while the Ron Paul Survival Report examines the "Ron Paul Democrats". For anyone who still finds the Kool-Aid tempting, here's ten reasons not to vote for Ron Paul.

Sadly No dissects a flagrant right-wing distortion of Bill Clinton's comments on global warming. Keep this in mind the next time one of these nutjobs claims a Democrat said something outrageous.

Sara Robinson has a great posting on the Republican three-ring circus.

This kind of analysis always annoys me -- why do pundits assume that all Hispanic US citizens support illegal aliens? Notice also the inevitable invocation of the name of Cesar Chavez. Chavez was a third-generation US citizen, a Navy veteran, a fighter for the rights of the poorest working Americans, and an opponent of illegal immigration. We could use more like him today.

Think there are no real differences between Obama and Clinton on the issues? Here's one.

Savor the irony -- the Mexican state of Sonora now fears being overwhelmed by illegal aliens returning from Arizona due to that state's tough new employer-sanctions law.

This capsule history of the British Conservative party suggests that the secret of its 200-year success has been -- progressive legislation.

Putin's bullying foreign policy is starting to have consequences at home.

A sedentary lifestyle may speed up aging.

Jacob Bronowski's illustration of the difference between science and dogma is as electrifying as when I first saw it on TV long ago (found via Masterblurber).

This is the enemy.

Link roundup for 25 January 2008

Mock Paper Scissors has a wonderful dissection of Republican economic plans -- and another fashion fiasco.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

Don't like any of the candidates for President? Consider this guy.

An Apostate's Chapel takes a hilarious and terribly sad look at 19th-century sexuality.

Spanish Inquisitor reveals the ancestor of whales (second item).

Creationist wingnuts lay siege to the school boards of Texas and Florida.

Jay Cost assesses Fred Thompson.

Here's why Super Tuesday could leave the Republicans more divided than ever.

I predicted a few days ago that John McCain's emergence as the Republican front-runner meant he would soon be pelted with mud by his own side, and -- yikes! Splat! Glorp! Splud! Plop! Squelch! Rush Limbaugh and Tom DeLay are pretty down on him too.

Hillary Clinton claims voter intimidation in Nevada.

Christopher Hitchens looks at Mike Huckabee's disturbing affection for the Confederate flag.

NATO generals offer a grim dose of realism.

Things aren't looking good for secularism in Turkey.

I always figured this was fakery.

Black Americans are defying their self-appointed leaders on the issue of illegal immigration.

Exit Zero unveils an especially ugly piece of cultural relativism.

British scientists are testing a breakthrough stem-cell treatment for heart attack victims.

Link roundup for 13 January 2008

Russian hackers make an amusing discovery.

Are we sure he quit drinking?

Australians are the masters at inventing new words (and the BBC apparently doesn't know the difference between a contraction and an acronym).

The Catholic Church, presumably in an effort to show that it is determined to help confront the problems of the modern world, has announced a new emphasis on exorcisms. Don't laugh. The man in this picture sure looks demonically-possessed to me!

Not to be outdone in the race back toward the Dark Ages, Mike Huckabee babbles incoherently (or maybe I should say "speaks in tongues"?) about evolution (found via Pharyngula). Again, don't laugh. The man has won a very high-level endorsement.

Check out the plans for what will soon be the largest building in the world -- Crystal Island.

It's no surprise that Muslims and Slavs don't get along -- an honor-killing-and-headscarf culture doesn't have much in common with a vodka-and-miniskirt culture, after all. But it's kind of weird that this fight is happening in Yorkshire.

Violent crime drives away tourists (well, duh.....). If you want subtropical beaches, next time try Hawaii.

Sam Harris discusses the indifference of nature in an essay which shows transhumanist leanings (found via Ordinary Girl).

George Dvorsky posts a fascinating transhumanist view of gender.

California scientists have developed an astonishingly-promising treatment for Alzheimer's disease.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali reviews a new book on Islamic imperialism.

Ms. Magazine disgraces itself.

George Will laments the disarray among Republicans. Those who favor our side will enjoy this video (read comments too).

As Ron Paul circles the drain, here's commentary from Virginia Postrel, David Frum, and Glenn Reynolds. And there's actually a blog for people who are annoyed with Paul.

Here's all the analysis you could ever want of New Hampshire and its implications for the future, and I think Charles Krauthammer has some good points about Obama here. This article takes a look at the Nevada race, while this cartoon from our local newspaper sums up the embarrassment of the media after New Hampshire.

We're seeing a shameful tactic to divide Democrats: unfounded accusations of racism. Here's evidence that the New Hampshire result was not due to racism.

Link roundup for 6 January 2008

Sesame Street's "The Count" zeroes in on the right number.

Bill Maher speaks out on religion in politics and on missionaries.

Mendip notes that today is the birthday of the British comedian Rowan Atkinson, of Blackadder fame.

Jabberwock has a new Chick dissection posted. Today's topic is evolution.

Here's an interesting posting about Darwin and Malthus (found via Apostate's Chapel).

BAC has some noteworthy clips of Hillary at the debate.

Daylight Atheism has some sensible observations about the Bible's most amazing miracle.

Let them come to Sderot.

Mike Huckabee is a little off-target about the Ten Commandments (found via Mike's Weekly Skeptic Rant).

Here's an exhaustive overview of the notorious 2006 Lancet study, the source of the hugely-inflated figures for Iraqi civilian casualties which one still sees cited here and there.

Evolutionary Middleman posts the video of the recent roundtable among "the four horsemen of atheism" -- Dawkins, Dennett, Harris, and Hitchens.

Read this before you click on anything at Sears's website. Note the poll results at the lower right.

This Pakistani cleric is simply expressing the conventional Islamic stance toward non-Muslim societies as it has stood since Islam was founded -- but it's worth being reminded every so often what that stance actually is.

Finally, a very sad link. Andrew Olmsted was a blogger and an American soldier who was killed in action in Iraq this week. Here is his final posting, which has justifiably been drawing a great deal of attention around the internet.

The monstrous evil of Christianity and Islam

Christopher Hitchens speaks in Toronto.

Link roundup for 1 January 2008

Here's a fun nativity scene (click to enlarge) and holiday greeting.

Christians in the Holy Land celebrate the season in their own way.

Check out these ice sculptures.

Nosferatu!

Sadly No has been doing a whole series of postings about Jonah Goldberg's book Liberal Fascism (which sounds preposterous, though I can't say for sure since I haven't read it). Here's the best one, addressing the perennial myth that Nazism was somehow an expression of homosexuality.

Exit Zero presents the wedding photo of the year.

Here's something very rare: an opinion poll of Saudi Arabian citizens. The most prominent result is also the least surprising -- Saudi Arabians really, really don't like Jews. The most surprising -- until you think about it a bit -- is that almost 40% of Saudi citizens favor military action to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons.

Months ago I linked to the great video of the song "Open Season" by Stuck Mojo. Here's an extended remix, with plenty of arresting and didactic visuals added. Stuck Mojo's original video is here.

Christopher Hitchens assesses Benazir Bhutto, and Phyllis Chesler puts her murder in the context of the war on women in Pakistan.

More Hitchens: he's scathing about the undemocratic character of the Iowa caucus process, and he appears with Bill Maher here.

Oderint dum metuant: according to Gallup, Hillary Clinton is the Democrat whom Republicans most fear. E. J. Dionne looks at the looming "civil war" among Republicans.

This article says that the Anglican Church has lost its dominant position in Britain to the Catholic Church, in the sense that the average attendance at Anglican religious services has now fallen slightly lower than at Catholic ones. But clearly the real story here is how low the figures are in absolute terms. Average attendance at Catholic Sunday Mass was 861,000, while that at Anglican services was 852,000 -- in a nation of sixty million. (The figures may be for England rather than the whole of Britain, but even England has over fifty million people.) I don't know how many British people are self-acknowledged atheists, but true believers are clearly a small minority now.

You Made Me Say It blog has plenty to say about this "creepy archbishop" and about some Christians' Christmas spirit.

Deeply Blasphemous debunks the delusion that science and religion are not in conflict.

Orcinus views the poisoned fruits of "free-trade fundamentalism".

Arizona's tough new employer-sanctions law to discourage illegal immigration has been upheld. And it's working.

Scientists at MIT have taken an important step toward artificial capillaries.

Quotes for the day

"Benazir was a secular woman who vowed to fight the terrorists more aggressively than the Pakistani male leaders had. In the jihadis' universe, nothing more terrible could be imagined than a secular woman waging a potentially victorious war against them. The freedom of women in the world—with the frightening prospect of the domination of men by women in any form, from the class-room to the ballot box—drives them around the bend. As she knew. She was one of many women in the front lines of the war against the terror masters, and I often think that, after the American armed forces, brave women are indeed the greatest threat to our fanatical enemies. And they know it, which is why they killed her."

Michael Ledeen

"This is not some extraordinary event. This is not the work of some lone madman. This is how militant Islamists contest elections – not just in Pakistan but also in Lebanon and Gaza and wherever they they get a foothold. Why bother with opeds, TV commercials, high-priced campaign strategists, spin doctors and pollsters when with one suicide bomber you can eliminate your opponent entirely?"

Cliff May

Link roundup for 19 December 2007

I know, postings have been sparse lately -- I was stressed out
with various issues last week and busy this week. But the wacky world of the internet never rests.....Just to start with, check out Edinburgh's latest tourist attraction.

Everyone likes to share a good laugh -- even orangutans (yes, apes have a sense of humor).

This must be the world's classiest-looking computer.

Here's a review of a new book on the absurd sexual paranoia of the Christian Right -- the statistics on abstinence-only sex education are especially interesting.

See some interesting views on the Huckabee phenomenon here and here. Religious issues are now so dominant in the Republican party that it's even starting to bother Charles Krauthammer. Andrew Sullivan points out that the GOP has only itself to blame for what it has become.

"Qatif girl" has received a royal "pardon",which just shows that bleeding-heart-liberal political interference in the justice system is not confined to the West. What's Shariah law coming to, when even the most flagrant rape victims go unpunished? In other Middle Eastern rape news, right-wing bloggers are swinging into action on the Halliburton/KBR case I linked to here. Meanwhile, Islamic justice and blogging are both alive and well in Iran.

Black Sun Journal denounces ridiculous Islamic rationalizations about the Aqsa Parvez murder. And the Toronto Sun isn't afraid to name the real problem.

Evangelical pastors lead the fight against witchcraft in Nigeria (found via Apostate's Chapel).

Iraq's oil output now exceeds pre-invasion levels. There's good news from Afghanistan too.

There's a new paper out on the brain processes which underlie belief -- by Sam Harris, who is planning a similar study on religious faith. That should be interesting.

The struggle against stupid pro-death platitudes goes on.

Here's a German view of America's turn away from globalization.

Pundits keep telling us that the illegal-alien issue won't sway many votes in next year's election. The facts are otherwise.

Link roundup for 12 December 2007

If you're not sure which candidate for President to support, check out Tengrain's guide to the Republicans and Democrats.

Want to write a letter to God? Now you can!

If this is what Texas suburbia is really like, I'm less worried than ever about Huckabee becoming President.

Help this blogger name his teddy bear.

Here's yet another Republican freak.

Can animals get into Heaven? Apparently some Christians are surprisingly confused.

A study of Shakespeare shows how language affects thought.

Christopher Hitchens declares that we should abolish the CIA.

A Muslim talks about his life in Israel.

Exit Zero offers a trip to the Dark Ages.

An Apostate's Chapel has an arresting posting on the ugly concept of "secret sin" -- the fundamentalist's all-purpose excuse.

Here's a short life sketch of the world's most courageous atheist.

Islamic culture asserts itself in Canada and Britain.

Prepare to be shocked at this Halliburton/KBR story from Iraq.

The National Intelligence Estimate on Iran (2)

An essential read about this document. It doesn't say what the media commentators have been saying it says.

Link roundup for 8 December 2007

When I noticed this headline, "San Francisco Offers Gift Cards for Guns", I thought, "What a great idea! If you're not sure what kind of gun your beloved would like for Christmas, just give a gift card for one instead." Then I read the article. Never mind.

"They call me....."

Think your last vacation was a disappointment? Check out what these Chinese tourists had to put up with.

Evolutionary Middleman reminds us that there's almost nothing Christian about "Christmas".

This posting on real vs. ersatz paganism has been attracting a lot of positive attention from pagan bloggers.

Check out the strange art of Eric Feng.

Will 2008 be the year DRM finally dies?

An Arizona scientist takes another step toward brain-computer integration.

An anti-aging drug which mimics the beneficial effects of calorie restriction is about to begin testing on humans. However, a Texas researcher claims there's another option (found via Mendip).

Aubrey de Grey expounds "our duty to fight aging to the death" and debunks some of the common deathist arguments (found via Sentient Developments).

Christopher Hitchens reviews (perhaps "disembowels" would be a better word) Romney's speech on religion; TCS is almost equally unimpressed.

Several atheist bloggers have posted their personal stories of "deconversion", the process of breaking free from religion. Having grown up without religion myself, this is an experience I never had, but it's clear that the psychological struggle involved is often intense, even though the reward more than repays the effort. See postings by JP, the Chaplain, the Lifeguard (the latest addition to my links list -- see The Meme Pool) and also this posting by the Exterminator.

Michael Newdow is back in action against the Christian slogans which were added to US currency and the Pledge of Allegiance a few decades ago (found via Chell's Roost).

Secularism is more important than democracy.

Free expression is under attack in Canada.

These days, it takes a big man to admit that he was wrong about something. John Murtha is such a man.

American workers are not getting their share of our country's growing prosperity, and suffer increasing abuses in the work environment. RCP argues that it's time to re-open the debate on free trade.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali speaks the harsh truth about the barbarism of Islamic law and the myth of "moderate" Islam. Read this too.

Britain's House of Lords confronts the European Union's onslaught against national sovereignty and democracy. Of particular interest is the claim that 80% of the British would favor leaving the EU "if that meant regaining control of our borders."

The National Intelligence Estimate on Iran

Just as November's breakthrough in cell reprogramming triggered a fusillade of right-wing declarations that "the stem cell wars are over" because embryonic stem cell research is no longer needed, so the recent release of the NIE alleging that Iran suspended its nuclear-weapons program in 2003 has now prompted a similar barrage of assertions that the option of an airstrike against Iran is off the table. The intent in both cases is the same: to narrow the range of the politically possible by drowning out anyone who tries to remind the world of the reality of the situation.

The best overview of this particular situation that I've seen so far is here; this comment is also worth reading. The Israelis, who for obvious reasons have the best intelligence-gathering capabilities where the Middle East is concerned, aren't buying the new NIE's claims; France and Germany don't seem impressed either. Here's a sober assessment of the implications for US politics; here's an even more sobering assessment of the implications for Iran.

Remember, we can't afford to be wrong about this one. The likely consequences of misjudgment are too horrifying to contemplate.

Update: The US public isn't buying it either.