02 November 2014

Link round-up for 2 November 2014

Blog post of the week:  Hiba, an atheist from Lebanon, celebrates her exuberant self-liberation from the fetters of Islam and embraces "Let It Go" as a personal anthem (found via Kaveh Mousavi) -- much in line with my own interpretation of the song.

Here's a look at the physics of R'lyeh (found via Mendip).

This dog's bark drowns everything else out.

The TSA apparently doesn't realize that ray guns aren't real.

Don't even think of trying to stop the rise of AI.

Somebody from F169 found my recent post about that board and copy-pasted it on F169 without my knowledge -- and somehow the resulting thread turned into yet another sewer of anti-Semitism.

Bloggers posting for Halloween, each in their own way, include Histories of Things to Come, Ranch Chimp, The Immoral Minority, and Politics Plus.

The number of non-religious people in the US might be as high as 38% -- and the decline of religion among the young heralds the doom of the Christian Right.

Gosh, why would anyone think this Halloween display was racist?

Murr Brewster looks at Oregon's Measure 92, which would require labeling of foods with genetically-modified ingredients.  As I suspected, there's some very big money fighting to defeat this.

It's not just gays and abortion -- the enemy hates porn too.

Do all deeply-held beliefs deserve respect?

American Christianity has changed.

Here's another sensible take-down of Ebola hysteria.

One of those sleazy online-dating sites finally gets nailed by the FTC.

By hook or by crook, Republicans keep the advantage in Texas.

Ed Brayton is fed up with the intrusive proliferation of ads across the blogosphere.

Right-wing obstruction of voting has a long history, but it's getting more outrageous.

That "10 hours" catcalling video is now being accused of racism.

Shaw Kenawe remembers Boston's longest-serving mayor.

Most Republican politicians are quietly backing down from the threat to repeal Obamacare.

Even cigarette companies are now banning workplace smoking (found via Fair and Unbalanced).

Green Eagle has a photo report on the vast groundswell of national support for impeaching Obama.

Take an in-depth look at the mentality and aspirations of the enemy.

My alma mater is overrun with idiots, apparently.

Sometimes the police are useless when you really need them.

In a few years, the marijuana industry could be bigger than the NFL (found via GoodShit).

Tim McGaha looks at the largest naval battle in history.

England has some strange and ancient Halloween traditions.

A sex worker in Northern Ireland talks about her life, but can she make herself heard?

Don't be fooled -- Pope Francis is just another ignorant and muddled religious crank.

See the otherworldly Blue Grotto of Capri, Italy (found via GoodShit).

Switzerland used abducted children as forced labor on farms well into the 20th century.

Kaveh Mousavi contemplates teaching his future children about religion -- more here and here.

There's something the Kurds need even more than airstrikes.

This is the reality of ISIS.  This is what the anti-interventionists would let engulf millions of people.

Atheism is on the rise in Egypt.

Here's an expressive moment from Turkish history.

It's not just Africa -- modern witch-hunts happen in India too.

Our genetic history suggests that the boundaries between human and non-human were once very fuzzy.

A substance found in chocolate (and tea) can fight age-related memory loss.

If you want to avoid acid reflux, here's some straightforward advice.

Scientists in Massachusetts develop stem cells that can destroy brain tumors.

9 Comments:

Anonymous Ahab said...

The LifeSite news article was nauseating. "Homosexual pseudo-marriage"? The "LGBT dynasty"? Comparing LGBTQ equality advocates to Marxists and Soviets? Self-pitying victim rhetoric? I need some ginger ale.

The BBC article on the use of child labor on Swiss farms is another reminder that the good ol' days weren't so good. Right-wingers pine for the imagined era of "family values", but the ignore the fact that anyone who didn't fit a certain image of "family" was treated poorly. The use of abducted Swiss children as child labor is one example, but the U.S. is brimming with examples too. Pregnancy homes and enormous pressure on single mothers to surrender their children were ugly realities of past eras.

http://www.penguin.com/read/book-clubs/the-girls-who-went-away/9780143038979

http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415926768/

02 November, 2014 08:46  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you SO much for hearing and listening

02 November, 2014 09:24  
Blogger Infidel753 said...

Ahab: I read LifeSite pretty regularly to keep up with what the enemy is thinking and doing, and to make sure I never forget that these people exist. We need reminders of the magnitude of the arrogance and hypocrisy and totalitarian mind-set that's still out there.

The "good old days" were horrific in so many ways -- not surprising when you consider that the type of people who post on LifeSite were pretty much in charge back then.

Mythbuster: And thank you for speaking out when so many who should know better don't want to hear.

02 November, 2014 09:43  
Blogger Comrade Misfit said...

Thanks for the link!

02 November, 2014 18:36  
Blogger Infidel753 said...

Thanks for your work!

03 November, 2014 05:27  
Blogger Woody said...

My prophecy as a teenager was that one day while I am alive, the Catholic dude in the funny hat would try to squeeze previously denied shown science (even evolution) somehow into line with the church's MO, as it many times has, keeping masses convinced that these beliefs and customs are still entirely relevant (in highly questionable terms).
I was right, unfortunately.

04 November, 2014 05:01  
Blogger Infidel753 said...

The Catholic Church has actually accepted evolution for generations. My guess is, the Church hasn't forgotten how they ended up looking like complete assholes after their fight with Galileo, and decided to avoid any more unwinnable crusades against verifiable scientific reality. The really important thing is control over people and enforcement of the taboo system, so that's what they're focusing their energies on.

05 November, 2014 04:24  
Blogger Ahab said...

Oh, I went from the Mental Floss piece on R'lyeh to the Popular Physics article, and loved how it described the Lovecraftian city in terms of curved spacetime. The way Tippett starts the article with cheerful shout-outs to Lovecraft quotes ("The most wonderful thing in the world, in our opinion, is the ability of the human mind to correlate many seemingly unrelated pieces of information...") really tickled me.

07 November, 2014 18:54  
Blogger Infidel753 said...

Indeed, such references can crop up anywhere. The Cthulhu Mythos, like the Monty Python dead parrot sketch, has become part of our culture and language now.

08 November, 2014 01:17  

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