Link roundup for 23 May 2008

Jabberwock has a new Chick dissection up, on evolution.

At last -- a high-tech device which accurately forecasts the weather.

Is this where the Christian Right would ultimately take us? Here's an earlier example of religion vs. sex.

Be kind.

William Shatner recalls his meeting with Koko the gorilla.

What is the right punishment for a lie that kills? (Sent by Ranch Chimp.)

Examples of the disgusting misogyny of the anti-Hillary campaign, here and here -- just imagine the justified outrage if Obama had been subjected to a similar outpouring of racism. Some Obama supporters also think this is funny. And I've seen no sign that this has produced any improvement.

Here's a warning for the general election. Bashed-and-insulted Clinton supporters show little interest in supporting Obama as the nominee. This blogger expresses a view that seems widely held.

Clinton keeps making her case. Read this too.

Latest electoral-vote projections: Clinton 315, McCain 206 -- but Obama 242, McCain 272.

More on the likely Republican implosion in the House and Senate.

A letter reveals Einstein's real views on religion (sent by Blurber).

Horror erupts in Kenya and South Africa.

Will we "just get sick of it all and walk away"?

The pro-illegal-immigration crowd is trying to stop construction of the border fence.

Unfortunate headline of the week

"Clinton creaming Obama in KY"

O'Reilly rocks!

OK, this is all over the 'tubes, but deservedly so.

First watch Bill O'Reilly's original meltdown, a glimpse behind the polished façade of TV (note: foul language).

Then watch the dance remix version, an immortal work of computer art.

It's actually better than most real rap music.

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.

Video break

Because we can all use a laugh.....

Handmaiden presents the perfect sequel to the creationist/ID propaganda movie Expelled.

Vamp's World has an alert about another pedophile cult leader, a chat with Richard Dawkins, and some preachers making more sensible noises than usual.

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 28 February 2008

There's hope for that poor widower in Sudan (found via Mendip), and perhaps for Senator Wide Stance (the best part of this is comment #3).

McCain really is different from other Republicans.

Here's how Hillary Clinton tends to do a bit better than the polls predict, another example of the repulsive sexism which has characterized the campaign season, and a collection of quotes.

Here's a German view of Obama, and a serious look at "change" and his program. In fairness, I was impressed by this.

And here's what the delegate situation looks like.

Is the Christian Right re-inventing the dynastic principle?

The US may be more religious than other advanced nations, but Americans' religious loyalties are volatile.

A look at Christianity and the Nazis -- a subject apparently not well understood by France's President Sarkozy.

More gangster tombs, this time from Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine.

Don't forget about Iran.

Okinawa, Sardinia, and Loma Linda CA offer some interesting data on lifestyle and life expectancy.

Bees have some surprising capabilities (sent by Blurber).

Cryonics is moving forward (found via Mendip).

Ray Kurzweil speaks on near-future technological progress.

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.

The madness of crowds

Florida humorist Dave Barry looks at the nomination process and his state's dubious role in it.

Shooting Moby Dick in a barrel

This is just too good. Bill Maher and Dan Savage discuss Mike Huckabee.

Link roundup for 18 January 2008

This must be the most wonderful panel ever to appear in a Jack Chick tract.

Check out this edible art.

The Ron Paul Survival Report has more newsletters, and a flyer.

Is Huckabee a Reconstructionist? Stephen Bainbridge and Andrew Sullivan make the case. Sullivan also calls out Huckabee for his Biblical inconsistency. RCP says he can't win the nomination; I wish that I could be equally confident. Here's my own take on this extraordinary and frightening man -- and never forget this.

The rather low turnout for the Republican primaries and caucuses (compared to the mostly very high figures on the Democratic side) betrays poor morale and lack of enthusiasm. The party's prospects in the Senate look dismal. The GOP's strongest general-election candidate is turkeying out. The Republicans are divided, and this seasoned British observer of US politics thinks they're crazy. But our victory is not inevitable.

Sadly No digs up some really ugly stuff from the National Review in the fifties and sixties.

Mother Jones takes a look at tomorrow's Nevada caucus.

Democrats must pay attention to the working class. Note: I agree strongly with the views of Artur Davis and Martin Luther King Jr. cited at the end of the essay. Dividing the working class by race (as the essay itself bafflingly does) does not serve its interests, but rather the interests of its enemies.

The New York Sun assesses Obama's views on Israel -- he's much better on the issue than we've been led to believe.

Barney Frank has some sensible thoughts on laissez-faire.

Norman Podhoretz talks sense about Iran.

Matthew Hiasl Pan has lost his battle for legal personhood.

Is the United States heading for a female-dominated economy?

The claim that "intelligent design" is somehow different from plain old creationism is exposed as a flagrant lie.

Minnesota scientists craft a beating heart. Combined with stem cells, the same technique could someday produce made-to-order human organs for transplant.

DNA is helping nanotechnology march forward toward the vision of Drexler and Kurzweil.

Finally, here's an uplifting thought for the day.

A few more links I couldn't resist

Sadly No continues its exquisite smackdown of Jonah Goldberg. Topic of the day: Mussolini.

This list of the top 100 stupid things said by fundamentalists (found via Jabberwock) will make your hair stand on end -- I especially like the second one.

More conservative demolition derby: check out this eruption of abuse directed at John McCain, their own current front-runner.

On the same subject, BAC has a great video up, and the first cartoon here says it all about Hillary Clinton and the media.

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.

Back to politics

Just to lighten things up a bit before the political frenzy once again engulfs us, here's MPS with Romney and Giuliani (read comments too), and Bill Maher on the Republicans and religion.

2007

OK, enough politics for a while. Here's JibJab's look back at 2007.

I'm not going to try to do a summary of the whole year myself. One of the things that does stand out about 2007, though, was how the squeaky-clean plastic curtain of the Republican-fundamentalist Axis of Arrogant Moral Judgmentalism was cast aside to reveal, not a wizard, but something more like Sodom and Gomorrah. It turns out that Mark Foley and Ted Haggard were just a warm-up act. Larry Craig, David Vitter, Gary Aldridge, Bob Allen.....have I missed anyone? The only authority figure who managed to emerge from the closet with his dignity intact was Albus Dumbledore.

Just for clarification, I don't really object to eccentric sexual behavior, so long as it's among consenting adults. What I object to is these people ranting and raving and pushing for laws to limit everyone else's freedom. That's hypocrisy.

The most positive developments of the year? The achievement of two major new breakthroughs in stem-cell technology, and the success of the US change in military tactics in Iraq. We'll probably have to wait until a Democratic President takes office a year from now to see the greatest benefits from these, though.

Demolition derby

Cheer up! For examples of how nasty the internecine squabbling among Republicans is getting, check out the comment threads here and here.

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.

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.