RationalWiki:What is going on in the blogosphere?/February 2014

February 2014
Fareed Zakaria: Governing like FDR? Carter? If you really want to compare Barack Obama, start looking at Eisenhower. The Tea Party is five. We still wouldn't trust them with scissors. It's a strange day when Mother Jones and the Cato Institute agree with each other on economics. Numerous threats and verbal attacks from Christians bully a fifteen-year-old girl into dropping her attempt to start an Atheists' Club at her high school. Way to show Jesus's love, folks. China: Intimidating superpower wannabe, or barely breathable and in serious economic trouble? This guy is compiling the best reactions to the Great Bitcoin Blowup. ("Dear Senator Carper, I lost $285K with Gox. I still don't want your protection.") Also, what the Bitcoin theft might look like if it happened in the real world. [http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/02/23/police-arrest-jogger-jaywalking/ Austin, TX police arrest jogger for jaywalking. Chief says be glad officers didn’t sexually assault her] Rachel Maddow: North Carolina Republicans put a believer in abiotic oil in charge of natural resources. A blogger reviews, with mounting horror, homeopathic first aid kits. (August 13, 2013) Why Yellen's nomination as Fed Chair was vital. Just when you thought it was safe to go back in Louisiana, Edwin Edwards is running for office again. A fascinating article analyzes the way we talk about moral issues in movies, especially Oscar-nominated movies. And the way we talk online in general, honestly: "Never has it been so easy to get close to so many other people for the purpose of not really listening to the ones who disagree with us." One-year-old story, but very prescient for this week: RedState, Breitbart, Pajamas Media, Canada Free Press, Family Security Matters and Human Events all took bribes to write pro-Yanukovych propaganda. Dear Abby does it again. (perhaps you remember this response to a similar question) The Onion: "US advances to women's hockey... hey, get the fuck back here, sexist asshole!"

Role reversal French film (sort of) touches on how women are treated in society <vote poll=blog3479 closed="yes">It turns out that the Crystal Skull vodka bottle is Zippy the Pinhead (or, perhaps. Smeagol). <vote poll=blog3478 closed="yes">American family values. (The study in question) <vote poll=blog3477 closed="yes">Please show consideration for fellow passengers by not reading The Daily Mail here. <vote poll=blog3476 closed="yes">Times were, conservatives were more understanding of human weakness. <vote poll=blog3475 closed="yes">There's still sanity in Texas! <vote poll=blog3474 closed="yes">Don't worry, there's a cure for it, isn't there? <vote poll=blog3472 closed="yes">Comics journalism about privately-run immigration detention centres in Australia. <vote poll=blog3471 closed="yes">"Cyber-trolling appears to be an Internet manifestation of everyday sadism." <vote poll=blog3470 closed="yes">Disney Channel adds a lesbian couple to their family sitcom "Good Luck Charlie". The usual traditional-family idiots react with maturity and... what do you mean the sitcom's five-year-old star has received death threats? <vote poll=blog3469 closed="yes">Ken Ham: The making of an American religious huckster. <vote poll=blog3468 closed="yes"> One or more nerds did a against Freethought Blogs, Skepchick and Feminist Frequency. Jason Thibeault has Thoughts on a DOS attack. Is this anything to do with it? <vote poll=blog3467 closed="yes">A Marxist critique of intersectionality <vote poll=blog3466 closed="yes">Creationist Questions translated. <vote poll=blog3465 closed="yes">It's scapegoating time! The winter storms in the UK have finally severed the main rail link to the biggest city on the south coast after years of everybody knowing it was almost inevitable a minor delay for an environmental impact assessment, if you believe the Daily Telegraph. <vote poll=blog3464 closed="yes">[http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21592626-not-long-after-voting-tony-abbotts-team-australians-are-having-second-thoughts-false-start I warned you, but did you listen to me? Oh, no, you knew it all, didn't you? Oh, he's just a harmless little bunny, isn't he? Well, it's always the same. I always tell them--] Shut up! <vote poll=blog3463 closed="yes">Because morally aggressive cant is really that important. <vote poll=blog3462 closed="yes">Phil Plait: "About last night’s debate, my colleague Mark Stern at Slate argues that Nye lost the debate just by showing up, and I see that same sentiment from people on social media. But I disagree. We’ve been losing this debate in the public’s mind all along by not showing up." <vote poll=blog3461 closed="yes">Australia apologizes for Ken Ham. <vote poll=blog3460 closed="yes">[http://www.cmpa.com/study-lenos-top-joke-target-was-bill-clinton/ Liberal media! Liberal media! Liberal media! Oh.] <vote poll=blog3459 closed="yes">As a prelude to tonight's debate between Bill Nye and Ken Ham, HuffPo has published this article (with infographics) regarding American's views on creationism, guided evolution and unguided evolution. (The circular infographic at the end has extra info if you run your mouse pointer over it.) <vote poll=blog3458 closed="yes">A Republican: So much for any moral high-ground on Benghazi. <vote poll=blog3457 closed="yes">Internet Comment Etiquette with Erik: a video on how to correctly leave a comment on a YouTube conspiracy theory video. (December 31, 2012)