Sunday Linkblast - July 18

• Utterly inflexible
  It doesn't matter how many oppose it, how many experts say it's a huge mistake, the census decision won't change.
  
  
• Israel abandons the rule of law
  The Israeli government routinely ignores court decisions it doesn't like. Where Harper learned it from?
  
  
• The Aggressive Iran myth
  A spirited debate at Andrew Sullivan's place while he's on vacation lays down some perspective on the scary Iranian boogieman.
  
  
• Jonathan Kay on the denialists
  Conservative columnist calls on Canadian conservatives to abandon kook stance. Analogous to Buckley VS the Birchers?
  
  
• The Religious Right VS Birth Control
  "Given the choice between reducing abortion rates and controlling female sexuality, they will always choose the latter. Thus the idea that contraception can be a means of achieving a ceasefire in the culture wars has always been a fantasy. Liberals and conservatives aren’t just divided by abortion but by broader questions of female equality and sexual freedom."
  
  
• The Puzzling Collapse of Earth's upper Atmosphere
  The thermosphere that protects us from solar radiation has collapsed to the lowest level since we started recording it and a new cycle of increased solar activity is starting.