RationalWiki:What is going on in the world?/November 2010

November 2010
Does this qualify as fellatio? Joe Lieberman tells Don Imus that whatever Rupert Murdoch owns is his favorite. (And, yes, it seems that he'll still be caucusing with the Democrats in the next Congress.) Are YOU male? Are YOU female? Do YOU like things? Do YOU buy stuff? Why not see how YOUR money goes to helping politicians? Want more? Come back after this news story. This is why net neutrality is important: The cable bastards Comcast wants to charge extra for the company that provides bandwidth to Netflix. The American Civil War is being re-branded by many Southern states before the anniversary celebration to be about "States Rights". Many are playing down, or down right ignoring, anything to do with buying and selling human beings. What is publicly emphasized is their fight in order to protect their freedom and independence from invasion from the warring North. Time magazine: Pity poor Leif Ericsson, who is so marginalized that he doesn't even have a commemorative holiday! To which we can only reply: It looks like Time's research department might be a little underfunded. The Russian parliament, after 70 years, admits that Stalin was responsible for the Katyn massacre. Russian Communist Party legislators bawl like babies at the prospect of blaming St. Stalin for anything. Irvin Kershner, director of the best Star Wars film ever, dies at the age of 87. Wikileaks irritates the establishment yet again. US diplomats are presumably having the time of their lives. Pakistani court prevents their President from pardoning a Christian mother, who was sentenced to death for insulting Islam. Original story here. Comic legend Leslie Nielsen dies. Surely he will be missed. Fox passes off an Onion article on Obama as the real thing. Hilarity ensues. Also noteworthy is the fact that instead of admitting to their gaffe, Fox simply memory holed the article and it's related comments. With the economy still in shaky condition, some mainline Republicans are worried that their incoming hard-right colleagues may be more concerned with social issues than with the economy. Or as one newbie put it, "We're not going to spend the next 18 months doing nothing but economic issues." Forty celebrities who are Republicans, including a few that might surprise you. No! Not Buffy! After her infamous N-word rant, Dr. Laura said she was quitting radio so she could "regain her First Amendment rights." At the time, people were puzzled by this seemingly incongruous statement. Now we know what she really meant. (And now a bit of speculation:  Was her rant an intentional means of breaking her old contract so she could sign this no-doubt lucrative "pro-freedom of speech" contract?) Southern Poverty Law Center has named American Family Association and Family Research Council as hate groups. Barbara Bush: Palin should stay in Alaska. Palin: [http://www.wisepolitics.com/sarah-palin-slams-george-barbara-bush-2490.html Oh, it's on, bitch! You betcha!]

<vote poll=world2326 closed="yes">Damage control ahead of next WikiLeaks document release. No news yet as to what trumped-up charges against the founder will be included. <vote poll=world2325 closed="yes">Fall-out from the "Ground Zero Mosque" debacle claims collateral damage. <vote poll=world2324 closed="yes">Facebook is going to destroy marriage, but threesomes are fine <vote poll=world2323 closed="yes">As Cornish Blue wins the top prize at the World Cheese Awards we learn that Britain now has more varieties of cheese than France. Perhaps that is why the UK is becoming ungovernable? <vote poll=world2322 closed="yes">Oxygen scooped from Rhea. <vote poll=world2321 closed="yes">"We've got to stand with our North Korean allies." Sarah Palin, political genius. <vote poll=world2320 closed="yes">Somewhere, over the rainbow (of terror).... it's the end of the colour-coded craziness from the DHS. <vote poll=world2319 closed="yes">You know, it's just so damned rare to run across an argument quite as delicious as this. Theocratic dictatorship angered by Communist dictatorship's ordination of a priest without their permission. Ouch. <vote poll=world2318 closed="yes">Tom DeLay guilty of money laundering. Naughty boy. <vote poll=world2317 closed="yes">Political spacecraft design: <vote poll=world2316 closed="yes">Throw in some striking miners and it would be the '80s all over again (although we'd have to import the miners from Poland along with our coal). A second week of national student protests with more violence in London. <vote poll=world2315 closed="yes">Barbara Bush to Sarah Palin:Stay in Alaska. It's possible that Lisa Murkowski might have the opposite message for the former half-term governor who so enthusiastically backed her. <vote poll=world2314 closed="yes">Dear voters of Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire; why the hell did you vote for this cunt‽ <vote poll=world2313 closed="yes">Homes in Germany which opt out of Google Street View are being vandalised. No, really. <vote poll=world2312 closed="yes">The UK braces for an outbreak of global warming denial an early cold snap. <vote poll=world2311 closed="yes">What happened when I went undercover at a Christian Gay-to-Straight Conversion Camp. <vote poll=world2310 closed="yes">Another Catholic priest child sexual abuse scandal, but with a twist. This priest attempted to hire a hitman to kill his teenaged accuser. <vote poll=world2309 closed="yes">In an exercise of psychological projection, a group of Armenian Genocide deniers threaten to sue the University of Minnesota for "violation of free speech" because a professor said their website was "unreliable." <vote poll=world2308 closed="yes">Hello, there! I'm a member of a deposed evil theocratic government, and I was wondering if you'd be interested in buying the Brooklyn Bridge. <vote poll=world2307 closed="yes">Pope Benedict XVI expands on his earlier ruling on condoms: They're OK for disease control only.  Oh, and just to be clear, it's OK if women use them too. <vote poll=world2306 closed="yes">The Korean War redux? After 57 years, 3 months and 27 days, it seems that the cease-fire has ended. <vote poll=world2305 closed="yes">Will Sarah Palin let herself be interviewed again by the journalist who showed her up to be a bubble-headed moron? You betcha life not! <vote poll=world2304 closed="yes">They laughed and told me I was mad, mad they said, to spend $100,000 buying an asteroid that wasn't real... but who's laughing now, bitch! <vote poll=world2303 closed="yes">Southern Poverty Law Center report: Farm workers ought to have the same rights as other workers. Of course, even exploitation can be exploited: When you eat your Thanksgiving turkey, remember that you're worthless capitalist pigs who aren't fit to lick criminals' boots. <vote poll=world2302 closed="yes">That noted socialist magazine, In These Times, makes an unusually open statement about its readership: they are of the demographic that employs those poor oppressed immigrants as nannies, cleaning ladies, and groundskeepers. <vote poll=world2301 closed="yes">Chinese woman makes the wrong sort of tweet, gets sent to the gulag for a year. <vote poll=world2300 closed="yes">Warren Buffett says that trickle down economics doesn't work and that he wants his taxes raised. <vote poll=world2299 closed="yes">The Pope changes his mind, Condoms are okay now, but only in certain cases such as being a homosexual prostitute. More details to come on Tuesday. <vote poll=world2298 closed="yes"> So, now we know the real reason why ducks fly <vote poll=world2297 closed="yes">29 miners trapped after an explosion in a New Zealand coal mine. <vote poll=world2296 closed="yes">Extragalactic planet spotted around a wandering star. Or as the Daily Fail would no doubt put it: ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT BENEFIT CHEAT FOUND IN BACKGARDEN <vote poll=world2295 closed="yes">Sarah Palin: "How dare someone exploit their sudden, undeserved fame!" <vote poll=world2294 closed="yes">As I was saying on Pharyngula the other day - don't use the word spastic, it's a hideously offensive term in the UK. Shame Hasbro wasn't listening. <vote poll=world2293 closed="yes">Turkish oil wresting is a homo-erotic sport worldwide cultural treasure. <vote poll=world2292 closed="yes">A momentous day in history. Future generations will look back and see the exact time when Fox News hits rock bottom. <vote poll=world2291 closed="yes">OMG, A mosque! A dirty filthy mosque! Stand together folks, fight off this menace, we will not be.... Oh wait, that's just a Christian Church with a domed roof. Never Mind. <vote poll=world2290 closed="yes">Man sees Bristol Palin on TV. Man takes a shotgun to said TV. Man then requires a SWAT team to calm him down. <vote poll=world2289 closed="yes">The Tea Party made a blunder: thinking it had things in the bag in the Alaska senatorial election, it forgot to run a sufficiently vitriolic smear-campaign. Lisa Murkowski wins the first successful write-in campaign in over 50 years. <vote poll=world2288 closed="yes">Government by the rich, damned by birth to an incapacity to do anything to help the poor. Half of Congress are millionaires. <vote poll=world2287 closed="yes">Anti-matter caught for the first time. You try and come up with a punchline for that. <vote poll=world2286 closed="yes">The ConDem government of the United Kingdom speaks out against net neutrality. <vote poll=world2285 closed="yes">Unemployed English Girl to Wed Soldier from Welfare Family! Liberal censorship strikes again! Those dirty leftists at PBS edited out Tina Fey's remarks about Sarah Palin! Oh, wait. It was an anti-Palin joke? Nevermind. Who cares what the military leadership says? Sarah Palin (and friends) want their nukes, you betcha! <vote poll=world2284 closed="yes"> Finally! <vote poll=world-2283 closed="yes">Awww, ain't that pretty. Is it a boy or a girl? 'Baby' black hole causes mass reduction in bible reading.

<vote poll=world2281 closed="yes">Rush Limbaugh ripped into a "stupid babe" for writing an article insufficiently condemning of Obama. Problem? The "babe" is a man. <vote poll=world2280 closed="yes">One of the right wingers elected to the next Congress is an anesthesiologist who vowed during the campaign to repeal the new health care law. (No doubt "Obamacare" -- or is it "Pelosicare"? -- would cut into his salary.) During an orientation meeting, the newcomers were informed that their publicly funded Congressional health care package won't kick in until 28 days after they are sworn in. Can you guess what his reaction was to that bit of information? Fortunately for him, the COBRA law -- which his party has also recently used as a political football -- will allow him to keep his current health care benefits until his new coverage takes effect. <vote poll=world2279 closed="yes">Another megachurch preacher exits the fabled closet. And he wasn't even caught with a rent-boy first. <vote poll=world2278 closed="yes">Minnesota's military-grocery-industrial complex: the army is sustained by the best gas-station food money can buy. We have come a long way from when the ration people just picked it up from Witt's Grocery downtown. <vote poll=world2277 closed="yes">Congratulations to Sarah Palin. "Refudiate" was named the OED's "Word of the Year". <vote poll=world2276 closed="yes">If you're a South American drug kingpin and you're having trouble moving your product to Europe, what do you do? Build your own ersatz cargo airline! <vote poll=world2275 closed="yes">If you read this, would you electrocute yourself? Information gets turned to energy. <vote poll=world2274 closed="yes">Are the CIA using pirated software in their UMV's? <vote poll=world2273 closed="yes">Oklahoma death penalty: "We're going to kill you like dogs."

<vote poll=world2271 closed="yes">Suffer the little children. Catholic priest caught with 21,000 child-porn images on his pc. <vote poll=world2270 closed="yes">One amazing woman walks free. But for how long? <vote poll=world2269 closed="yes">Dubya's memoir 3: It's one thing when famous people have ghost writers write their memoirs. But only a special breed of sociopath would also plagiarize content from other writers for his memoirs. <vote poll=world2268 closed="yes">In their ongoing attempt to take over the world internet, Facebook get ready to announce their new email service. <vote poll=world2267 closed="yes">Guess who opposes Don't Ask Don't Tell? <vote poll=world2266 closed="yes">I'd like to buy a letter of admonition please Pat. <vote poll=world2265 closed="yes">With a title like The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: a Child-lover's Code of Conduct, you'd think that Amazon.com would've rejected this self-published Kindle title before it reached #96 on its download list. <vote poll=world2264 closed="yes">To all you Wiki editors out there: You too can win the top French literary prize; all you have to do is rip off Wikipedia. <vote poll=world2263 closed="yes">The people of the website "TreeHugger," taking a break from hugging trees, are now cheering on as many are chopped down to build the world's tallest wood building. They praise wood as "naturally renewable," "high strength," "low weight," and "highly combustible" (okay, we put that last one in there). <vote poll=world2262 closed="yes">Even George W. Bush thinks Sarah Palin is unqualified for public office. <vote poll=world2261 closed="yes">People in the U.K. will now have to work for a living. <vote poll=world2260 closed="yes">A study says that American creativity may be in decline. (Also, some scientists think that gravity might tend to make things move downwards on occasion.) <vote poll=world2259 closed="yes">Dear Stu, my name is Tucker Carlson, but I want you to think I'm really Keith Olbermann, and I'd just like to say that my boss is a complete shithead and I hate him. <vote poll=world2258 closed="yes">Italian woman who "thought about an affair" gets nothing in marriage annulment case. Don't expect the same to apply to Italian men.

<vote poll=world2251 closed="yes">Student protests in London begin to go awry. <vote poll=world2250 closed="yes">Dubya's memoir 2: [http://news.yahoo.com/s/dailybeast/20101109/ts_dailybeast/10876_thestrangebushfetussecretbarbarabushshowsgeorgewbushtheresultsofhermiscarriageinajar_1  Jesus Holy Fucking Christ!!! This would make Oedipus' and Jocasta's jaws drop!] <vote poll=world2249 closed="yes">Dubya's memoir 1: He claims that waterboarding foiled terrorist attacks on Heathrow and Canary Wharf. The Brits respond: Not so, guv. <vote poll=world2248 closed="yes">The UK Government pledged to scrap ID cards - but as they start the process of deleting it, it turns out that fdisk just isn't enough. <vote poll=world2247 closed="yes">Mystery missile launches off the coast of California. Rumours of it involving Sean Connery, an elaborate underwater lair, a man stroking a white cat or are considered greatly exaggerated. <vote poll=world2246 closed="yes">...and the universe is still here. <vote poll=world2243 closed="yes">Michigan assistant Attorney General fired for targeting gay student leader. <vote poll=world2242 closed="yes">[http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/pope-calls-his-cardinals-to-rome-for-sexabuse-summit-14999107.html Pope calls his cardinals to Rome for sex-abuse summit. Do I hear the stable door being shut? ] <vote poll=world2241 closed="yes">A financial manager for wealthy clients will not face felony charges for a hit-and-run because it could jeopardize his job. <vote poll=world2240 closed="yes">Man Dressed As Jesus Kicked Out Of Church <vote poll=world2257 closed="yes">September's earthquake in the south of New Zealand shakes the dead awake <vote poll=world2256 closed="yes">Pointless old relic opens pointless old relic. <vote poll=world2255 closed="yes">"Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them." - Jesus, as quoted in Matthew, chapter 6. Pretty sure a 106 foot statue with a crown of gold counts as a public display. Just saying <vote poll=world2254 closed="yes">Pope warns of "aggressive" anti-clericism in Spain. Maybe it's to make up for the aggressive pro-Catholicism in Spain during the 1400s. <vote poll=world2253 closed="yes">Nobody expected the Spanish Inquisition anti-Pope protests. <vote poll=world2252 closed="yes">MSNBC host Keith Olbermann makes contributions to Democrats in violation of network policy; gets suspended indefinitely without pay. MSNBC host Joe Scarborough makes contributions to Republicans in violation of network policy; crickets chirp. <vote poll=world2239 closed="yes">"No Clive, just&hellip;no." The C5 is back bigger and better than ever, not much different to what it was before. <vote poll=world2238 closed="yes">"&hellip;out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see". But solely through the efforts of science and an implanted chip. <vote poll=world2237 closed="yes">Vote for me or I'll pop a cap in yo ass. Mugabe decides to add rap to his list of crimes. <vote poll=world2236 closed="yes">Why the UK doesn't see attack-ads. Former Home Office Minister Phil Woolas is suspended from the Labour Party, barred from being an MP for three years and sees his seat go to a bye-election, all because of the way he smeared his opponent during the general election. <vote poll=world2235 closed="yes">PARIS' photos are unleashed upon the world. More (a lot more) about PARIS can be found here. <vote poll=world2234 closed="yes">Surf's up, dude. From one participant's point of view, quite literally. <vote poll=world2233 closed="yes">Point after touchdown, and definitely the two point variety. (Warning: Might be NSFW, Depends how much of a zealot your employers are.) <vote poll=world2232 closed="yes">Sarah Palin, to the reality show crew she allowed to film her every move: "Loss of privacy stinks, you betcha!" <vote poll=world2231 closed="yes">If Obama is going to be assassinated on his Asian tour, it won't be by coconut, that's for sure! <vote poll=world2230 closed="yes">Not a Cyberman in sight, but Europeans want the right to be deleted. <vote poll=world2229 closed="yes">The anti-science mob are so predictable, you can use a chatbot to put them down. <vote poll=world2228 closed="yes">Hartley 2 poses nude. But don't worry, it is SFW. (More pictures and some video at NASA and EPOXI's website.) <vote poll=world2227 closed="yes">What do you if you win over $11M (Canadian) in the lottery? Give it all away. <vote poll=world2226 closed="yes">The Republicans are now learning the downside of pandering to kooks. <vote poll=world2225 closed="yes">"Did somebody just try to buy the British government?" <vote poll=world2224 closed="yes">Popular election of judges: maybe not such a good idea. <vote poll=world2223 closed="yes">Your kids will meditate in school! <vote poll=world2222 closed="yes">Was it 9/11? No, although I'd've liked to finish reading My Pet Goat. Was it not finding any Weapons of Mass Destruction? Nope. Hurricane Katrina? Uh-uh. The soaring deficits, banking crisis and financial collapse after eight years of deregulation and wartime tax cuts? Oh, please. Almost choking to death on a pretzel? Close, but no cigar. So what does Dubya consider to be the worst moment of his presidency? Being called a racist by Kanye West. As Sharron Angle would say:  Man up, George. <vote poll=world2221 closed="yes">I would say: "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope," but I've been beaten to it. Over and over again. <vote poll=world2220 closed="yes">Virgin birth; and it's a load of serpents. <vote poll=world2219 closed="yes">Neanderthals? Buncha sluts. <vote poll=world2218 closed="yes">Is the American dream over? <vote poll=world2217 closed="yes">Sharron Angle and Christine O'Donnell are defeated in their quest to restore insanity to Washington.

<vote poll=world2215 closed="yes">Memo from the corporatist GOP to those corporations who broke lockstep with us helped Obama and the Democrats over the last two years: We are vindictive as hell, and we don't easily forget or forgive. <vote poll=world2214 closed="yes">Water shortages are only a 3rd World problem, right? Wrong. <vote poll=world2213 closed="yes">Next thing you know, you'll be going down to Kinko's and printing yourself an open-source car. <vote poll=world2212 closed="yes">Brazil elects its first female president, [http://thenewsoftoday.com/dilma-rousseff-becomes-first-woman-president-in-brazil-election/4439/ leftist, pro-choice, former guerrilla member and former marxist militant Dilma Rousseff. God help Brazil.] <vote poll=world2211 closed="yes">A new paper by David Nutt suggests that alcohol is the most harmful drug when social effects are taken into account (As reported in The Lancet)