RationalWiki:What is going on in the world?/April 2013

April 2013
Five (FIVE!) year old, given gun as gift, shoots and kills 2 year old sister. Bonkers UK councillor hopeful says feminism is evil, gay rights activists are termites, education should be about obedience, and strenous physical activity prevents gayness. Considering he clearly hasn't been watching gay porn, I think we can rule out Haggard's Law this time. Good luck in the election tomorrow, champ! UPDATE Tough luck, old chap. A reparative therapy camp leader in South Africa is on trial for killing 3 gay teens and torturing more over several years. Meanwhile, the Bachmanns are probably thinking "Damn, why didn't we think of that?" Who doesn't like stem cell research now? Obama to send "Lethal Weapons" to Syrian rebels, and he doesn't mean Mel Gibson and Danny Glover. Steve, we can't just keep re-editing your article once a week. Iran arrests thousands of men for claiming to be a fake messiah. Insert Life of Brian joke here. Dear Austrian supermarket, please don't call yourself "Common Sense" and then do this. Republic of Ireland to legalise (limited) abortion.  The dog ate my homework Somebody hijacked my Facebook account. Diary of Anne Frank "too pornographic" for middle school students. Another Republican gets caught out; acts like a petulant asshat in response. Time for more conservative butthurt. Flat screens are just so noughties. Out of the closet, onto the hard court. UPDATE:  A Breitbart editor does his best to launch the blowback on behalf of the right-wing noise machine. UPDATE 2: ESPN's Chris Broussard doubles down: "I would not characterize [Collins as a Christian."]  UPDATE 3:  [http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/jason-collins-matthew-shepard-parents-touched-by-jason-collins-decision-to-wearnumber-98-042913? The parents of Matthew Shepard feel honored that Collins chose his uniform number (98) to memorialize their son's 1998 murder.]

Somebody still doesn't know what blowback means. <vote poll=world6955 closed="yes">Time to write an article on Lamar "I Don't Understand the Nature of Research Grants" Smith. <vote poll=world6954 closed="yes">Mother makes her 13 year old accept a role as her artificially inseminated babymaker. Nice. <vote poll=world6953 closed="yes">[http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/29/17516929-new-study-finds-no-link-between-too-many-vaccines-and-autism? Jenny, it's all a conspiracy against you!] <vote poll=world6952 closed="yes">RINO Alert! <vote poll=world6951 closed="yes">9/11 landing gear appears to have been found <vote poll=world6950 closed="yes">America's answer to school shootings, part deux: bulletproof whiteboards. <vote poll=world6949 closed="yes">America's answer to school shootings: bulletproof school uniforms. <vote poll=world6948 closed="yes">"Were you there?" is the correct answer to this school test's question, "The next time someone says the Earth is billions of years old, what can you say?"

<vote poll=world6946 closed="yes">The price of our cheap clothing.

<vote poll=world6944 closed="yes">After almost twenty years of the bill languishing without a vote, Rhode Island is now extremely likely to pass same-sex marriage, which would bring the number of states that allow it into the double digits. <vote poll=world6943 closed="yes">SOPA II is about to die. <vote poll=world6942 closed="yes">Smartest person in the entire family. <vote poll=world6941 closed="yes">Michele Bachmann's ethical problems worsen, which results in her running away from the media. <vote poll=world6940 closed="yes">Dinner pictures. You're doing it right. <vote poll=world6939 closed="yes">Police threaten woman with eviction for "too many" domestic violence reports. <vote poll=world6938 closed="yes">Britain, France, and Israel claim repeated use of chemical weapons in Syria. <vote poll=world6937 closed="yes">Body of student falsely accused of Boston attacks possibly found Update: Confirmed, police say no foul play involved <vote poll=world6936 closed="yes">Suspect in Canadian terror case bullet proof defense? The Criminal Code of Canada is not a holy book and should not apply to me. You use that defense good sir! <vote poll=world6935 closed="yes">Canadian woman has marker put on her US Customs and Borders Service file. Her crime? Having condoms and traveling with a married man. Follow-up from her <vote poll=world6934 closed="yes">Ireland's coalition government: "How about we get women wanting an abortion to have panel-based counselling from six to a dozen doctors?" The minister for children and the college of psychiatry: "How about no?" <vote poll=world6933 closed="yes">People on US Terror Watch Lists can still buy guns. Of course, no one seems concerned about the arbitrary "enemies list" the US Government has... <vote poll=world6932 closed="yes">NASA (accidentally?) drew a penis on the surface of Mars. <vote poll=world6931 closed="yes">Bret Easton Ellis, The gay author of American Psycho, has been banned from attending GLAAD's Media Awards night on the grounds that "the gay community" responded negatively to his Tweets. Meanwhile, the guest host is that guy who instituted DADT and DOMA. For an extra punch in the gut, head to the comments section and watch them become gradually more and more homophobic with worrying upvote distribution. <vote poll=world6930 closed="yes" closed="yes">French parliament passes law allowing same-sex marriage. 331 votes for and 225 against. The ricin letter charges against Elvis impersonator and conspiracy theorist Paul Curtis have been dropped. <vote poll=world6929 closed="yes">Bitcoin advocates burst into tears as Ron Paul says he isn't a fan. <vote poll=world6928 closed="yes">Bomber in Boston Marathon attack cites the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts as source of grievance against the US (according to The Washington Post and its mysterious sources). <vote poll=world6927 closed="yes">Dear idiots: prayer doesn't work. You might have figured that out by now. <vote poll=world6926 closed="yes">Republican representative Dennis Johnson, of Oklahoma, uses the phrase "Jew me down" on the House floor. <vote poll=world6925 closed="yes">Sorry Sam and Ann: An imam just helped the Mounties prevent an Al Qaeda-inspired terrorist attack in Canada. <vote poll=world6924 closed="yes"> Today we learned that the FBI has no fucking idea what a WMD is. Alternatively the FBI does know what a WMD is, since it is defined in law, and it is Joe Public who does not.

<vote poll=world6922 closed="yes">How about the Higgs Englert Gurainik Kibble Brout Hagen Particle? <vote poll=world6921 closed="yes">Serbia and Kosovo sign a historic agreement. <vote poll=world6920 closed="yes">Another disturbing ethical oil statistic: Alberta, which consists of only 10% of Canuckistan's population, now contributes to half the country's AGW emissions. <vote poll=world6919 closed="yes">Attention Cranks: this is how academia works <vote poll=world6918 closed="yes">Apparently 10 seconds on Google is too hard for a number of people, forcing the Czech Republic's embassy to clear things up <vote poll=world6917 closed="yes">Meet Ruslan "Badass" Tsarni. UPDATE: It's over, final suspect in custody. One seriously fucked up week. <vote poll=world6916 closed="yes">Paul LePage, the Republican Governor of Maine, believes that windmill generators are actually "powered" with electricity when no wind is blowing to convince people clean energy works. <vote poll=world6915 closed="yes">Meanwhile in Michigan, a church minister who has two prior convictions for attacking women is convicted of killing his fiance's 24-year-old daughter because he was jonesing for some necrophilia. Memo to churches: (1. BACKGROUND CHECKS, dammit! 2. If you did a background check and hired him anyway, this is why they included -16 in that book you're always shoving in everybody's faces.) <vote poll=world6914 closed="yes">Advertising Standards Authority has to tell a quack that you can't claim sitting in a cave will cure asthma. (HT Quackometer.) <vote poll=world6913 closed="yes">The FBI has released images of Marathon suspects Update: It appears Boston Police have killed the first suspect after a firefight and explosions at MIT and Watertown. Update II: The entirety of Boston is shut down. Update III: Lockdown lifted, manhunt continues. <vote poll=world6912 closed="yes">Second bombing in a week in Iraq, with a death toll nine times higher than the Boston Marathon bombing <vote poll=world6911 closed="yes">Android app is developed to help the population of Iceland (300,000) avoid accidental incest. <vote poll=world6910 closed="yes">Well, this is disappointing: more coal power plants are being installed than renewable ones. <vote poll=world6909 closed="yes">The guy who sent the ricin letters is apparently a [http://wtop.com/209/3289189/Ricin-suspect-is-Elvis-impersonator nutcase. And an Elvis impersonator.] <vote poll=world6908 closed="yes">US Senate (y'know, the one the Dems control) rejects gun background checks. <vote poll=world6907 closed="yes"> Arrest over Boston bombings: more details to follow Wait a sec. (CNN fucked up big time again) <vote poll=world6906 closed="yes">First a Mississippi Senator, now a package containing ricin just got sent to Obama. <vote poll=world6905 closed="yes">Wait for it, wait for it&hellip; New Zealand set to pass gay marriage. (Live stream.) Update: bill passes with 77 votes for to 44 against - and the chamber breaks out in song. Update II: Conservatives Chris Auchinvole and Maurice Willaimson deliver the awesome. <vote poll=world6904 closed="yes">A Dutch company is now accepting applications for a 2023 one-way colonisation trip to Mars, which will be filmed for a reality TV show. <vote poll=world6903 closed="yes">[http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ap-ex-wife-says-former-sc-gov-sanford-trespassed Baby, I want to hike the Appalachian Trail again! I don't care if Colbert's sister beats me!] <vote poll=world6902 closed="yes">A nonpartisan review confirms everything we already know. <vote poll=world6901 closed="yes">Kickstarter rejects all manner of sane pledge drives, but accepts a pledge drive for an anti-gravity device from someone who rejects mere current physics and compares himself to Copernicus. Here's the paper ... on viXra. <vote poll=world6900 closed="yes">Belief in an angry God correlates with poor mental health. <vote poll=world6899 closed="yes">You're too handsome to live in Saudi Arabia. <vote poll=world6898 closed="yes">The Harper machine is beginning to fray at the edges. <vote poll=world6897 closed="yes">How dare you ask me not to be an autocrat! Jail for you!

<vote poll=world6895 closed="yes">Two explosions at Boston marathon. Update: The NY Post brings the lies and islamophobia. <vote poll=world6894 closed="yes">Someone put the von Mises Institute on suicide watch. <vote poll=world6893 closed="yes">It appears a combination of prayer and inhuman treatment cures mental illness (If you're a wing nut) <vote poll=world6892 closed="yes">"It's as though the Tories have fingerpainted 'FUCK OFF AND DIE' on Parliament in heavy crude." <vote poll=world6891 closed="yes">Good news: Same-sex marriage in Ireland is headed to referendum in 2014 after being cleared by the constitutional convention: 100 votes break down as 79 yes, 18 no, 1 abstain, 2 spoiled. Better news: said referendum looks set to be a landslide. The writing is on the wall, and it spells "Equality". (clip of in-house announcement here.) <vote poll=world6890 closed="yes">The Bitcoin network uses 982 megawatt-hours a day just computing hashes. That would power 31,000 American homes or half a Large Hadron Collider. <vote poll=world6889 closed="yes">Look what you just did, Kim. <vote poll=world6888 closed="yes">Thought racial segregation was a thing of the past? Think again. <vote poll=world6887 closed="yes">The callous, dishonest bastard strikes again, only to have the Dept. of Health tell him to fuck off. <vote poll=world6886 closed="yes">Ireland's constitutional convention starts discussing same-sex marriage today, and voting to clear it for referendum tomorrow. Links to live stream, timetables (in PDFs) and where the clips will be archived all here. <vote poll=world6885 closed="yes">Welcome to North Carolina. Papers, please. And none of that prayer terrorism, you hear? <vote poll=world6884 closed="yes">Hi, my name is Joe Oliver, and now I will show you why I shouldn't be in charge of Canada's natural resources. <vote poll=world6882 closed="yes">Liz II: You do know that the Queen didn't die, right? <vote poll=world6881 closed="yes">Senator Feinstein blames video games for mass violence. <vote poll=world6880 closed="yes">Don't even think about speeding in Dubai <vote poll=world6879 closed="yes">Is North Korea trolling us? <vote poll=world6878 closed="yes">It was inevitable. (It's actually topped the UK iTunes chart, too) UPDATE: The sound of free speech <vote poll=world6877 closed="yes">Looks like Mars might be a quicker trip than we thought.

<vote poll=world6875 closed="yes">During a committee hearing, Joe Barton actually said the following for the record: "I would point out that if you're a believer in the Bible, one would have to say the Great Flood is an example of climate change and that certainly wasn't because mankind had overdeveloped hydrocarbon energy." <vote poll=world6874 closed="yes"> DEFCON Watchcon 2. <vote poll=world6873 closed="yes">A non-US gun tragedy: 13 people killed in a shooting spree in Serbia. <vote poll=world6872 closed="yes">April 9: Bitcoin is soaring! April 10: Maybe not... <vote poll=world6871 closed="yes">Russian parliament moves ahead on don't hurt God's feelings anti-blasphemy law <vote poll=world6870 closed="yes">France is finally going to get gay marriage. Update: And Uruguay! <vote poll=world6869 closed="yes">In Texas, a community college student stabs 14 people before being wrestled to the ground by two other students. <vote poll=world6868 closed="yes">Today's US gun tragedy is brought to you by New Jersey, where a four-year-old shot a six-year-old in the head. <vote poll=world6867 closed="yes">Blue Angels and Thunderbirds grounded by sequestration. *cough* the Washington Monument tactic *cough* If only they flew F-35s...

<vote poll=world6864 closed="yes">Rather than tackle any kind of actual issue, Oklahoma's house is busy making it perfectly clear they hate marriage equality to send a message to the Supreme Court. 84 vote in favour of a "one man one woman" affirmation, every democrat in favour of gay marriage walks away. <vote poll=world6863 closed="yes">Putting the "Vice" in "Vice-Mayor" <vote poll=world6862 closed="yes">Those lovable loonies from Westboro Baptist Church get set to picket Roger Ebert's funeral. Start taking bets on the possibility of Ebert rising from his coffin just to tell Steve Drain all of his videos are shit. <vote poll=world6861 closed="yes">Evolution can work much faster than previously thought? <vote poll=world6860 closed="yes">As one of Pinochet's friends passes away, one of his victims is exhumed <vote poll=world6859 closed="yes">It would appear that "the ethical treatment of animals" includes the slaughter of nearly 2700 house pets per year. "...[I]n the last 11 years, PETA has killed 29,426 dogs, cats, rabbits, and other domestic animals." <vote poll=world6858 closed="yes">Florida woman finds "sign from God" on Goldfish cracker. <vote poll=world6857 closed="yes">Margaret Thatcher is dead. <vote poll=world6856 closed="yes">You will be pleased to note that the Vatican does not seem to consider torrenting movies to violate "thou shalt not steal". <vote poll=world6855 closed="yes">WikiLeaks unleashes the motherlode on Henry Kissinger: 2 million classified US documents from 1973-1976, five times the size of Cablegate. Have fun! <vote poll=world6854 closed="yes">The US makes a smart military decision. Hard to think the Bush Administration would've played it this way. Update: Start laughing. <vote poll=world6853 closed="yes">Fucking Andrew Wakefield rears his scaly head once more. <vote poll=world6852 closed="yes">Fuck the Establishment Clause <vote poll=world6851 closed="yes">Fundamentalist Muslims in the hundreds of thousands from Bangladesh: "Hang atheists for hurting our feelings over the internet! Update: Bangladesh's PM: Fuck off. <vote poll=world6850 closed="yes">"Millionaires are raking in unemployment benefits." The number of unemployment claims for US households earning more than $1 million jumped 44% in 2009-10.  (Considering how often right-wingers call working class people on the dole "leeches," it's kinda heartwarming to read the comment section and see them jumping to the defense of all these rich people sucking on the public teat.) <vote poll=world6849 closed="yes">"It's time to redraw the map of the world during the reign of the dinosaurs." <vote poll=world6848 closed="yes">Brooklyn judge declares birther "delusional", fines him $177K. In other news, Terry Hurlbut explodes. <vote poll=world6847 closed="yes">North Korea declares that it can't guarantee the safety of British diplomats after 10 April, in the event of war. Update: Warns all embassies. Update II: A SK official actually predicted this beforehand. <vote poll=world6846 closed="yes">Cameron, the minute you turn into a Blair clone is the minute your government will fall. Remember that. <vote poll=world6845 closed="yes">The Human Rights Campaign shows its uglier, appearance-obsessed side once more. Last I checked, immigrants and transgender people are humans too. <vote poll=world6844 closed="yes">Rest in peace, Roger Ebert. You will be missed. UPDATE: The official obituary posted to his blog Update II: The Onion's obituary for Ebert, that manages to be both classy, and The Onion, at the same time. <vote poll=world6843 closed="yes">The US military discovers $900 million worth of misplaced equipment that it originally lost due to "accounting error." <vote poll=world6842 closed="yes">Not April Fools: Apple's text messaging system is effectively PATRIOT Act-proof. <vote poll=world6841 closed="yes">Suddenly the US debt outlook doesn't look so bad. <vote poll=world6840 closed="yes">Virginia Attorney General and Gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli wants to ban consensual oral and anal sex. <vote poll=world6839 closed="yes">Got Bitcoins? <vote poll=world6838 closed="yes">Enbridge: Shit, Obama's serious about rejecting Keystone. What are we going to do? Alberta: Carbon...taxes? <vote poll=world6837 closed="yes">HIV vaccine possible? <vote poll=world6836 closed="yes">RationalWiki thrilled as North Carolina seeks to declare an "official state religion", because mocking Texas gets boring after a while. <vote poll=world6835 closed="yes">Public Policy Polling surveys belief in conspiracy theories, finds 4% of the US thinks the lizard people are real. <vote poll=world6834 closed="yes">Iain M Banks: less than a year to live! <vote poll=world6833 closed="yes">With a kid spouting rhetoric like that, someone's trying to impress Westboro Baptist Church... <vote poll=world6832 closed="yes">North Korea is currently denying entry into the Kaesong Industrial Park. We could be in all-out war within days. <vote poll=world6831 closed="yes">Brain mapping proposed by Obama Will this bring out the cranks? <vote poll=world6830 closed="yes">...they didn't call her Sleipnir? <vote poll=world6829 closed="yes">The scientific establishment lets down Henrietta Lacks again. <vote poll=world6828 closed="yes">Georgian Republican senator: We need, uh, to stop gay marriage because, um, um, um, only gay people are the ones who'll get married just for legal benefits! Wait, what? <vote poll=world6827 closed="yes">Where the hell were you for the past three years? <vote poll=world6826 closed="yes">Lech Walesa, champion of human freedom disgusting homophobe. <vote poll=world6825 closed="yes">Try out Google Nose