It has been a little hectic here lately, and we haven't had a lot of time for anything in depth. So, to keep you thinking (and probably in some cases grimacing), here are some Monday Links.

First, Ed Brayton pointed us to some interesting news on the Ten Commandments cases which are currently before the Supreme Court. It seems that the fundies defending the Commandments are being allowed a do over. In short, the counties in question are being allowed to refile their briefs to now ignore the fact (and it is a fact) that their motives for posting the Commandments were originally religious in nature. Since intent is a key facet of the Lemon test which the Supreme Court has traditionally used in church/state cases, this allowance is incredibly significant. This brief explanation really doesn't do the issue justice — check out Ed's post for more information. We've also posted about these cases before, here and here.

Over on Pharyngula, PZ has been kind enough to compile a list of books on evolution, including books suitable for laymen, children, and those who are fighting the good fight against the creationist insurgency. Check it out!

On a lighter note, Skeptico will be posting about astrology all this week. A while back, he sent out a challenge to a group of astrologers asking them to explain where the hokey bullshit that makes up astrology originally came from. He will be sharing the replies he received over the course of the week. So far, the "rationales" are about what we expected. Go get 'em, Skeptico!

If you've turned on the television or surfed the internet at any point over the past few days, we're willing to bet that you've been inundated with news of the Pope's passing. The bad news is that this will likely continue through the week. The good news is that God is for Suckers pretty nicely summed up how we feel about the whole thing. This pope had some good points, but he also had some incredibly bad points (anything to do with sexuality leaps to mind). No, we didn't wish him dead, and death is never a fun topic, but do we really need wall-to-wall coverage like this? Ron of GifS also points us to a rational look at the pope entitled John Paul II kicks the bucket located on Gullibility isn't in the dictionary, which we'll be visiting regularly from now on. Well worth a read.

Finally, the laughably idiotic religious right propaganda mill the WorldNetDaily has actually been referred to as a "Top news website." This would be even more amazing if not for the fact that the news agency that paid them this compliment was, um, them. In other news, the Two Percent Company, a top religious website, is calling the WorldNetDaily a bunch of simpering morons.

That is all.

Thanks for the mention guys - glad you're liking it. A lot more to come this week.