RationalWiki:What is going on in the world?/April 2012

April 2012
A top Romney campaign adviser tries to give Romney credit for the GM and Chrysler bailouts. Zach Wahls (this guy) to appear on the Daily Show tonight.

Some billionaires want to mine asteroids. Others want to unironically recreate the subject of one of the worst maritime disasters in human history. Hello, Great (x1000000000) Grandpa! *hysterically shakes American RationalWikians* Don't tell me you've been dealing with shit like this for three fucking decades. 2015, why can't you come any sooner? Egypt may or may not be considering allowing husbands to have sex with their dead wives.  [http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/business/apples-tax-strategy-aims-at-low-tax-states-and-nations.html?_r=2&hp&pagewanted=all Seriously, this needs to stop. Now.] Century old tenet of physics overturned: Light is affected, under the right conditions, by magnetism. Thanks for the 5% tax decrease, Dave! Premier Wen, with great difficulty, I have escaped.

For the first time, a federal commission in the U.S. has ruled that trans people are protected from employment discrimination under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Now we wait for a Supreme Court case and/or ENDA...  LHC destroys the world No, but something just as exciting. UKIP leader Nigel Farage makes some comments regarding horrid darkies immigrants and housing: an audience member who actually works for the London Housing Authority hits him with these strange things called "facts". And we have found our first candidate for Stopped Clock of the Year. Update: This was just before Harpo pulled yet another Godwin, sparking more Twitter hashtag lulz. CISPA manages to do what SOPA didn't - pass the House. Veto time, Obama? Trump demands Scotland not build "ugly, noisy and dangerous" wind turbines, fearing they will ruin the view from his golf course. <vote poll=world5091 closed="yes">Newt throws in the towel. <vote poll=world5090 closed="yes">After a five year trial, Charles Taylor is found guilty of war crimes. <vote poll=world5089 closed="yes">Connecticut to abolish capital punishment shortly, California to ask its citizens in November. <vote poll=world5088 closed="yes">Whoa, Libya, when we asked for secular values in the Middle East, we didn't mean making the GOP look like a fucking jihadist group. Update: The Muslim Brotherhood's response - "We are a nationalist party and Islam is our religion. This law is unacceptable and only suits liberals." Problem bro? <vote poll=world5087 closed="yes">Spain re-enters recession, though not in a way you might expect from countries like Greece. <vote poll=world5086 closed="yes">It seems Santorum has brushed on too many people in Pennsylvania. <vote poll=world5085 closed="yes">Remember, not everyone in the world is a total jerk: donations to the Samaritans, in the name of the woman who died in the London Marathon, exceed £200,000 £400,000  £500,000 £700,000. <vote poll=world5084 closed="yes">Several big wigs wads, including James Cameron, announce an asteroid mining venture. (Update: shiny website!) They must be thankful that NEOs are not guarded by blue-skinned catgirls. <vote poll=world5083 closed="yes">Reports of a Wildrose majority were greatly exaggerated. Alberta abstains from officially joining Jesusland. For now. Update: The two best tweets of the night. <vote poll=world5082 closed="yes">Scientists from 67 countries call to ban all commercial fishing in the Arctic. One psychopath stands in the way. <vote poll=world5081 closed="yes">And Jon Huntsman gets kicked out of the Republican Party in 3...2...1... <vote poll=world5080 closed="yes">Fatal equation: one Easter Passion play + zero safety checks + many inattentive onlookers = one dead actor. <vote poll=world5079 closed="yes">Geir Haarde, the man who left Iceland begging for survival, is given a slap on the wrist. <vote poll=world5078 closed="yes">Another day, another North Korean war threat <vote poll=world5077 closed="yes">Houston to put TSA agents on its buses to conduct random interviews and bag searches. <vote poll=world5076 closed="yes">It is officially legal to abort a fetus without a brain in Brazil. "Pro-lifers" protest, presumably drawing on experiences with pet rocks. <vote poll=world5075 closed="yes">Sweden says hello to Diana Moon Glampers: "Ironically, in the effort to free Swedish children from so-called normative behavior, gender-neutral proponents are also subjecting them to a whole set of new rules and new norms as certain forms of play become taboo [and] language becomes regulated." <vote poll=world5074 closed="yes">Geert Wilders singlehandedly brings down the Dutch government by holding up austerity measures. <vote poll=world5073 closed="yes">US nuns fight the power. <vote poll=world5072 closed="yes">2012 LSEA repeal effort fails, but by a narrower margin than last year. <vote poll=world5071 closed="yes">RUBBER CHICKEN 2012. <vote poll=world5070 closed="yes">You know who else tried to get women health care? Hitler. <vote poll=world5069 closed="yes">Skepticon trolling the theists. <vote poll=world5068 closed="yes">And now, the day before his birthday, HuffPo brings you two entries for the Godwin almanac: Central Illinois bishop claims President Obama is on "a similar path" as You-Know-Who and Stalin; and West Virginia Republican senate candidate says that requiring restaurants to put "no smoking" signs on the front doors is like requiring Jews to wear Stars of David on their lapels. <vote poll=world5067 closed="yes">A Taliban officer learns about the concept of wanted posters the hard way. <vote poll=world5066 closed="yes">Being the "least terrible" candidate may win you the nomination, but it doesn't mean you're likable. Especially if you've got the worst favorability ratings of any major-party nominee in decades. <vote poll=world5065 closed="yes">Louisiana moves closer to allowing guns on college campuses.  <vote poll=world5064 closed="yes">Dick Clark dies of heart attack at age 82. <vote poll=world5063 closed="yes">Oregonians who use faith healing to "treat" their sick children are learning that the state means business when it comes to its new child abuse law that is aimed at curbing this psycho horseshit practice. <vote poll=world5062 closed="yes">Man at Oregon airport sets off nitrate detector, strips naked to prove he isn't carrying a bomb. <vote poll=world5061 closed="yes">This is why we worship Mighty Lord Jerboa... and some other mangy beast. <vote poll=world5060 closed="yes">Need some sausage & mash? Why not nip to the cab rank and pick up a lady godiva? <vote poll=world5059 closed="yes">The (racist) cake is a lie! <vote poll=world5058 closed="yes">Beware of Anders Behring Breivik's fellow travelers. "They are neo-conservatives. They are Christian evangelicals. They are hardline racists. They are football hooligans. They are nationalists. They are populists. They are hardline Zionists. They are former leftists. The 'counter-jihad' movement comes in all shapes and sizes but they are united in a common loathing of Islam." And here we thought the phrase "fellow traveler" went out with McCarthy. <vote poll=world5057 closed="yes">Sexual orientation reprogrammed by a stroke? <vote poll=world5056 closed="yes">Now we can add Earthquakes to the things Fracking bring us. It's fracking bullshit. <vote poll=world5055 closed="yes">The space shuttle goes out in style. <vote poll=world5054 closed="yes">FIFA institutes video review <vote poll=world5053 closed="yes"> Racist cranks absorbed by racist cranks

<vote poll=world5052 closed="yes">Twitter has a picture of the Taj Mahal on its homepage. English Defence League leader Stephen Lennon cites this as another example of creeping sharia, starting a comedy Twitter trend in the process. <vote poll=world5051 closed="yes">Lord Carey, former Archbishop of Canterbury, argues that British Christians are being persecuted, driven underground and "framed by homosexual activists". <vote poll=world5050 closed="yes">Socialist Obama! *shakes fist* <vote poll=world5049 closed="yes">If you can't beat 'em, pose as 'em. <vote poll=world5048 closed="yes">Nobel Prize winner, Chairman of the Elders, one of the most respected men worldwide, but we don't want you to talk here because you're not pro-life! <vote poll=world5047 closed="yes">North Korea doesn't actually lie to their people concerning their rocket test. Up if you think it's progress, down if you think they couldn't really cover it up.

<vote poll=world5046 closed="yes">I am not a Nazi Polka! <vote poll=world5045 closed="yes">Physics professor successfully fights ticket with knowledge of physics <vote poll=world5044 closed="yes">Kirk Cameron's child-star peers rip him a new one. <vote poll=world5043 closed="yes">Just because the Shuttle program has ended, doesn't mean NASA aren't covering up UFO stories. <vote poll=world5042 closed="yes">North Korea finds out that it is rocket science. <vote poll=world5041 closed="yes">Not from The Onion: Tennessee Senate warns hand-holding is a 'gateway sexual activity' <vote poll=world5040 closed="yes">Arseholes not allowed a bus advert <vote poll=world5039 closed="yes">Author of Leading Ex-Gay Study Admits Findings Were Flawed <vote poll=world5038 closed="yes">Male congressmen being inundated with handmade vaginas. <vote poll=world5037 closed="yes">Even Republicans don't want to be in Afghanistan anymore. <vote poll=world5036 closed="yes">Tennessee takes a giant leap into the darkages as the anti-evolution "Monkey Bill" becomes law. <vote poll=world5035 closed="yes">A recent study links low-effort thought with political conservatism. <vote poll=world5034 closed="yes">Zimmerman to be charged. <vote poll=world5033 closed="yes">Remember a few years ago, when "tsunami" was just a word in a book?

<vote poll=world5031 closed="yes">Could anybody have seen this coming? Frothy is suspending his campaign! <vote poll=world5030 closed="yes">No psychiatric care for you. <vote poll=world5029 closed="yes">They keep playing that one note. Anti-Evolution ‘Monkey Bill’ Poised To Become Law In Tennessee. <vote poll=world5028 closed="yes">I knew it all along! Heavy metal killed Jesus! That's why we have Easter! <vote poll=world5027 closed="yes">If you repeat a lie often enough, it will become the truth.

<vote poll=world5025 closed="yes">Haggard's Law: Scientifically Confirmed. <vote poll=world5024 closed="yes">100 internets if you resist reading this in Palpatine's voice. <vote poll=world5023 closed="yes">John Derbyshire leaves his dog-whistle at home in his latest racist rant and gets fired from the National Review. (See also a fisking by Angry Black Lady.) <vote poll=world5022 closed="yes">Project Steve tops 1200 signatures. <vote poll=world5021 closed="yes">The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act; because privacy on the Internet is dead, remember? <vote poll=world5020 closed="yes">Christmas: Gifts, carols and decorated trees. Easter and Good Friday: Colored eggs, chocolate bunnies and batshit crazy fools reenacting the Passion.  Here's a more Life of Brian-ish photo. <vote poll=world5019 closed="yes">Why you shouldn't date a feminist, by America's leading Lady Against Women. <vote poll=world5018 closed="yes">Those lovely folk at Focus on the Family say that anti-bullying laws are a threat to their religious freedom. <vote poll=world5017 closed="yes">Fluffy! One-ton fuzzy theropod dinosaurs once roamed the earth! How adorably terrifying and extinct! <vote poll=world5016 closed="yes">If you couldn't love Sweden any further: Metro asks why children there enjoy Easter. In translation... <vote poll=world5015 closed="yes">U.S. drone attacks inside Pakistan were supposed to be secret from their start in 2004 until President Obama announced them in 2009. Too bad MADE IN USA was printed on the missiles. <vote poll=world5014 closed="yes">What we knew all along: Conservatives' Trust of Science Hits All Time Low <vote poll=world5013 closed="yes">Jim Marshall unplugs for the last time <vote poll=world5012 closed="yes">Watch out, we're dealing with a badass here.

<vote poll=world5010 closed="yes">This is why I like having Barack Obama in the White House: President meets Nichelle Nichols, both give the Vulcan hand salute.

<vote poll=world5007 closed="yes">Alas, the Republicans have finally entered Canada with a clone of Caribou Barbie. Why should you be shitting bricks? She will have near-full control of the US/Canadian oil supply if elected Premier. <vote poll=world5006 closed="yes">The end of the internet as we know it (at least of Arizonans)? <vote poll=world5005 closed="yes">Ann Romney: "Unzip him and let the real Mitt Romney out." <vote poll=world5004 closed="yes">[http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article3276994.ece But... but Tunisia, Libya and Egypt were supposed to be the one we should be afraid off!] <vote poll=world5003 closed="yes">Miss Universe Canada reverses its prior trans rights fail. <vote poll=world5002 closed="yes">So much for abstinence education... <vote poll=world5001 closed="yes">Mitt Romney: Obama wants to establish a hair color called "bald". <vote poll=world5000 closed="yes">First there was #TellVicEverything, now a certain Brit has spawned a sequel. <vote poll=world4999 closed="yes">Science and best practices be damned, in AZ, women may soon be defined as pregnant 2 weeks before conception. <vote poll=world4998 closed="yes">We can now confirm that the Supreme Court is completely off the rails. (and no, not talking about Obamacare) <vote poll=world4997 closed="yes"> Five seven dead at in a school shooting in Oakland. <vote poll=world4996 closed="yes">Syria: The next Libya? <vote poll=world4995 closed="yes">A Catholic priest forgets the golden rule of giving a Power Point presentation: Make sure the presentation is up, and your gay porn folder is properly closed before switching on the projector. (He remembered to ask the kiddies for their money, though.) <vote poll=world4994 closed="yes">Pro-life terrorism in Wisconsin <vote poll=world4993 closed="yes">More sudden outbreaks of common sense: Tunisia shows the middle finger to Sharia. <vote poll=world4992 closed="yes">Unbelievable that people are surprised by this. <vote poll=world4991 closed="yes">Thanks Dave! <vote poll=world4990 closed="yes">Man whose WMD lies led to 100,000 deaths confesses all. <vote poll=world4989 closed="yes">Veteran dissident Aung San Suu Kyi appears to have won her seat in a by- election in Burma. Will the country's repressive military regime recognise this victory?