It has been a little quiet around here since Part V of Allison DuBois Week and the Fourth Edition of the Skeptics' Circle both came out on Thursday. The push of getting those posts out the door, combined with the NCAA Tournament (which rendered one of our members completely unable to think about anything else), and a touch of flu-like symptoms for another member created some roadblocks to Ranting.

This coming week will be a little light as well, as part of our contingent will be traveling for most of the week. We will have some Rants up over the course of the week, but in order to bridge the gap from our Thursday Rants to our next ones, we present Some Sunday Links. If you haven't already read these items of interest, you should do so post haste.

A Skeptic's Answer to the Usual New Age "Stumper"
One of the persistent whines that we hear from the purveyors of New Age Bullshit is that their abilities transcend our simplistic requests for proof. They say that trying to prove their powers to us is like trying to prove photography to a blind man. Well, Skeptico shows us exactly how he replied to someone who tossed this softball at him by outlining a perfectly functional test to prove photography to a blind man.

Taking the Fight to the Creationists in Dover
Over on the Panda's Thumb, Wesley Elsberry points out an interesting development. Lenny Flank from the DebunkCreation Yahoo Group has donated a host of excellent science books to the Dover, Pennsylvania High School Library, one of the primary battlegrounds for creationism in America. The Dover School Board members are now uncomfortably dancing around whether they will accept the donation or not. The post contains the list of books, as well as letters that Lenny has sent to Dover. We can't wait to see how this one turns out!

Examining the Logic of Justice Antonin Scalia
Ed Brayton from Dispatches from the Culture Wars has an interesting piece up on a Supreme Court decision he learned something new about. To us, the commentary on Scalia is of the most interest. Yes, we disagree vehemently with Scalia's rationale for many of his decisions, and we think he is damn near batshit insane when he spits out some of his opinions. However he is pretty near 100% consistent in the logical application of his positions, which is something that many of his colleagues cannot say.

A New Spin on a Billy Joel Classic
DarkSyd of Unscrewing the Inscrutable presents an updated version of the Billy Joel song We Didn't Start the Fire, complete with topical political references. Now if only they'd record it, and post the mp3... Hey, we can dream.

How Would Jesus Smell?
When we read this post on Dispatches from the Culture Wars, we didn't know how to react. The first part deals with a lesson taught in a public school which asked "Could someone find Christ by the scent trail you are leaving behind you?" This is a serious breach of the church/state separation as it applies to schools. The second part expands on this by once again reminding us that we can find anything on the internet these days, including Jesus Scented Candles. You can't make this stuff up, folks.