RationalWiki:What is going on in the world?/April 2014

April 2014
Oh shit! Gerry Adams has been arrested over the 1972 IRA murder of Jean McConville. [http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2014/04/23/1306417111 A new study published in PNAS has found that a minimum of 4.1% of people sentenced to death in the USA are wrongly convicted. Fuck the death penalty indeed.] Cliven Bundy now claims to be receiving messages from God, and more insanity from the Bundy ranch and its cohort of gun nuts. Proof that evolution is a hoax. Fuck the death penalty. A total travesty of a "botched execution" in Oklahoma. Sterling banned for life from the NBA. Cue people not knowing the difference between Congress and businesses. Lavrov: Mr. President, the men we put into Novorossiya still aren't giving up the OSCE observers. *Putin frowns* Lavrov: And the Americans seem to know where your fortune is. *Putin chokes on Chicken Kiev* The trouble with diet woo: Seth Roberts, inventor of the Shangri-La Diet, eater of half a stick of butter daily ... collapses and dies while hiking. Queensland state government goes all-out to market Ben & Jerry's icecream. Frazier Glenn Miller, white supremacist and accused murderer, was once caught being "rather salacious" with a black male prostitute. The next time someone tells you that the cold and snowy winter they just went through proves that global warming is a hoax, kick him in the shins. When you're too much of a racist douche for the UKIP... The legalization of contraception (even for married people). The introduction of no-fault divorce laws. The striking down of anti-sodomy laws. And now, thanks to the advancement of gay rights and gay marriage, more laws (long overlooked) are being changed. Namely, laws in 21 US states that recognize only one type of adultery -- the 100 percent straight type. (It was 22 states, but the New Hampshire legislature just struck down their law, 268-29.) 1. Rome already crushed with pilgrims for historic canonization of Pope John Paul II and John XXIII 2. Falling crucifix of John Paul II crushes man to death in northern Italy. The US [http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2014/04/23/306233248/cia-is-quietly-ramping-up-aid-to-syrian-rebels-sources-say. continues] to support the Syrian opposition, despite the rise of ISIS, Al Nusra and other Islamists amongst the rebels. Last fall, a leader of the "biblical patriarchy" and Christian homeschooling movements got caught with his pants down, although he claimed that he did not "know" the woman (his 29-year-old nanny) in the "biblical sense". Now she is suing him and his now-defunct ministry, claiming that he groomed her starting at age 15, and that his idea of "not knowing her" included [http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/a-masturbation-lawsuit-is-rattling-christian-homeschoolers fondling her and masturbating over her every night while she was in bed trying to sleep. (And begging him to stop.)] The golden age of the internet is over? Comcast and Verizon could be making off like bandits. Case finally being brought up on the possibility of the United Kingdom being divided further. Cue Saxons arguing it's racist somehow. Another Sovereign citizen is going to do jail time. This one's a former child star. It's nice to live in a country where a story like this will probably not last an entire news cycle, have no substantive political repercussions, or lead to anyone's resignation. Canada's middle class income now surpasses the USA's. Now we can afford to eat more poutine eh? Sweden the world leader in the war on drugs, where everyone is suspect.

Ku Klux Klan setting up 'Neighborhood Watch' in Pennsylvania town (Sound familiar?) "Whiskey and water" just took on a whole new meaning... Swedish MP ordered chemtrail probe. Took "a few hours". "The gun was in an unloaded state but did have live rounds in the magazine. We believe the three-year-old had to manipulate the action enough to chamber a live round prior to the incident occurring." How many instances of toddler-on-toddler gun crime have there been since Sandy Hook? Neanderthals share about 99.84 percent of their genetics with humans. Why are we so different from them? Because there are several genetic "switches" turned on in us that were turned off in them, while others that were turned on in them are turned off in us. [http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2014/04/18/limbaugh-right-wing-pundits-try-to-blame-max-blumenthal-for-kansas-rampage/ Rush Limbaugh blames Max Blumenthal for the recent anti-semitic Kansas shootings. ], spiraling off into the deep end along the way. The Westboro Baptist Church plans to protest at the funerals and a counter protest is also planned. Adrienne Wadewitz, who was a more valuable Wikipedia contributor than most anyone, has died. Go fix some citations in her honour. Southern Poverty Law Center: Stormfront is murder capital of the Internet Full report; Guardian summary GOP congressman tells low-income worker: higher minimum wage is ‘not right’. "Oh no, the health care plan people voted for twice is starting to work." The Koch brothers' money jar has surpassed $100 billion. Marionville, Missouri Mayor Dan Clevenger "kind of agreed" with anti-Semitic alleged killer Frazier Glenn Cross. And apparently nobody cared for years.

Last week: Yay! No more PQ! No more separatism! No more silly headgear restrictions! This week: Quebecers may want to ask for a do-over. That's nice and all, Finland. But how about finally legalizing gay marriage next? Today in foreign policy: As Ukraine crisis talks begin in Geneva, Putin admits to lying about everything, [http://gawker.com/jews-are-being-ordered-to-register-in-russian-controlle-1564253164? this pamphlet] is going around to Eastern Ukrainian Jews, and Edward Snowden gets pressed into service to shill. New: Jews are probably not being told to register The ACLU: Damn we have the best legal jobs in the land. A bill that declares the Bible as Louisiana’s book of choice. A victory for transgender rights: India's Supreme Court officially recognizes trans people as a distinct gender under the law. [http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/04/14/pastor-john-hagee-tuesdays-blood-moon-eclipse-signals-the-end-of-the-world/?onswipe_redirect=no It's the end of the world as we know it... again.] No Fly List party! (Further proof that Twitter is for idiots.) Canada's most far-right Tory MP - the answer to Louie Gohmert and a former "professional clown" for James Inhofe, named Rob Anders - goes down to defeat in his own party's nomination. UK: So long, farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, goodnight! Farage: Adieu, adieu, to you and you and you. Not content to limit access to abortion, birth control and voting rights, Republican politicians are now targeting divorce laws, specifically no-fault divorce statutes because divorce makes God sad. Another "False Flag Operation"?  2000 Moonies marry in mass ceremony of arranged marriages. Interesting: The CIA appears to have misled Dubya himself on enhanced interrogation techniques that "failed to produce valuable intelligence" and "[was] brutal and far worse than the agency communicated to policymakers." (Full document still undergoing declassification.) 3 shot and killed in a Kansas Jewish community center the day before Passover, perpetrator appears to be a Neo-Nazi in his 70s. Update: This is the wanker. In Florida, the Miami-Dade County Elections Department decides that waiting in line for hours to vote isn't restrictive enough, and thus will close all the bathrooms at polling places. Obviously, if you can't hold it, you're just not fit to participate in democracy. Update: It appears this may have been a matter of misinterpretation. A plurality of surveyed economists agree that raising the minimum wage is a good thing. Only 14% disagree. In Nevada, a brave Patriot a freeloading, self-centered dipshit named Cliven Bundy lets his cattle graze on government land illegally for the past 20 years, and now the government has confiscated his cows. Tea Party and libertarian whackers too lazy to fact-check make him out to be some sort of hero, and a militia group shows up to defend him. Unsurprisingly, Alex Jones is circle jerking to the news. Update: The BLM gives in to armed protesters. Not a good precedent. The Bitcoin train is running out of fuel, as mining becomes way more expensive than the payoff in coins. Bizarro-world diplomacy: UN calls for Kim Jong-un to be summoned to the Hague (which it bloody well won't be able to do without a multilateral invasion force) and China appears to be gullible enough ("because stability") to embarass itself by vetoing it. Manitoba woman demands that she be given the right to put the health of her kids classmates in danger and insists that Homeopathy works. The school and the Manitoba government side with science and public health. Heard about the Heartbleed bug and too lazy to change all the passwords? Do it right now. [http://www.calgaryherald.com/entertainment/pitchman+Kevin+Trudeau+sentenced+years+federal+prison/9635525/story.html Kevin Trudeau goes to prison. Says he's very apologetic.] Sorry, but hate-spewing bigots aren't welcome here. Update: He will be allowed to speak but few are happy about it. Update 2: I guess he can't take a hint. CBS: It's complete! We have harnessed the power of the Truthiness! Update: And the wingnuts are pissed. Remember the "Gospel of Jesus' Wife" papyrus that the Vatican made a tizzy about? Time for more goalpost-moving. 700 scientists from 16 nations used the LHC to observe the beauty quark. They ended up confirming the existence of an exotic hadron that does not fit the standard quark model to 13.9 sigma. At 13.9, winning the lottery five times in one day is more probable than error. (arXiv paper) kluski all round! Poles may now officially enjoy the embrace of His Noodly Appendages. Pat Robertson finally gets what the Bible is about. [http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/09/justice/pennsylvania-school-stabbing Who needs a gun to attack a school? (Warning: Autoplay video)] Seymour Hersh: Turkish secret service carried out the sarin attack in Syria (August 2013) as a false flag operation, trying to provoke U.S. attack; Obama got informed about this and stayed at home for that reason. Turkey and U.S. disclaim, some independent weapons experts contradict Update: Claimed to be absolute bullshit by some bloggers. Mississippi students might honestly be better off with no sex-ed than what they're getting. Minnesota GOP nominee running for Congress because evolution made his daughter cry Quebec referenda + "Charter of Values" + Sun Media + Kosher food tax + voter fraud by Anglophone invaders + Rich Muslims from McGill segregating swimming pools = Don't let your ass hit you on the way out. (McGill: La Liberté!) Star Trek actress appears in movie promoting geocentrism. (Also some people we have articles about: Michio Kaku, Lawrence Krauss, Max Tegmark) Update: She was misinformed about the content, and Krauss has also disowned it. (Expelled, anyone?) The conservative answer to the pro-gay Boy Scouts doesn't like Jews either. Chili's cancels charity event that would have given 10% of sales to an organization that espouses vaccine denialist bullshit. Insert usual expression of shock and horror about American gun culture here. When the international community learns what's in this report, Hayden, we'll see who the 'emotional' one really is. (And with slightly less coverage of Dubya's amateur paintings.) Mississippi Sex Ed in 2014: You don't want to be a dirty peppermint pattie do you? Not realizing what the term "Peppermint Patty" means with respect to sex. GOP candidates continue to reach out to minorities... [http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/04/05/wisconsin-gop-candidate-proposes-doing-away-with-weekends-dismisses-mlk-day-kwanzaa/ oh... wait...]

"The U.S. Agency for International Development masterminded the creation of a "Cuban Twitter," a communications network designed to undermine the communist government in Cuba, built with secret shell companies and financed through foreign banks." Also, the White House claims this wasn't a secret program, and that Congress was made aware and consenting. Congress's side of the story is very different. Conservatives launch boycott of Mozilla after gays press CEO to quit CBS exec #1: Well, David Letterman's retirement will leave us in a bind. Which comedian do you think can go the long-haul? CBS exec #2: The only man who can tear apart Bill O'Reilly by telling Brian Williams to fuck off. To all them freedom lovin' folks in Georgia: Don't even think of trying to feign shock when the inevitable happens. Guess who profits from "abortion." Hang in there, Anayasa Mahkemesi. Brendan Eich steps down from Mozilla. No Rick Scott, you can't remove voters from the voter rolls right before an election. That's not ok. Daylight saving claims another victim. Dietary supplement linked to almost 100 cases of hepatitis. Toxic mix of two of the US' unresolved crises: an Iraq veteran with PTSD buys a .45, then kills three people at Fort Hood, wounds 16 and commits suicide. Uh oh. All non-ISS related NASA-Roscosmos ties have been severed. The Roberts Court is now in extreme retrograde.

Affluenza may be becoming a pandemic Right-wing nutter arrested for planning a bombing campaign "to restore America Pre-Constitutionally and look forward to stopping the Regime with action by bloodshed."

Glenn Beck's chickens are coming home to roost.