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

What hath Alan Sokal wrought? Over 100 hundred fake computer-generated "science" papers found to have gained publication. (The anti-science crowd are eating this up, sigh.) So Kent Hovind is suing us. (404? Try this.) Turns out the ion cannon to Mt. Gox was even larger: 850,000 Bitcoins, or half a billion USD. Duke professor Campbell Harvey: "If the theft is true, it's the biggest bank heist in history, aside from when Saddam Hussein ordered his son to withdraw $1 billion from Iraq's central bank in 2003." Update: Schadenfreude. Moral of the story: Think twice and plan carefully before you challenge what you would perceive as your enemy's strength. Kepler telescope has identified 715 new exoplanets Jan Batshit finally vetoes Jim Crow in Arizona after humongous pressure from the business community. With two states now humiliated (and more coming up next) we have to ask this: is the GOP full of deep cover liberals? Or just complete heterosexuals? Innocence of Muslims ordered to be taken off YouTube due to copyright violations. Rick Perry, here is America the Free. Update: The Silent Majority is with you, sir! People (especially the young) are leaving religion because of LGBT doctrines. Yet another "religious freedom" act rears its ugly head. This time from Missouri. Paco de Lucia, one of the world's greatest musicians, has died. Arizona Senate panel votes to dump Common Core standards, claiming "some of the reading material is borderline pornographic" and that the program uses "fuzzy math" that "substitutes letters for numbers in some examples." Georgia to join the Anti-Gay Bill club with a proposal dubbed the Preservation of Religious Freedom Act that would allow business owners who believe homosexuality is a sin to openly discriminate against gay Americans by denying them employment or banning them from restaurants and hotels. This bill would also give any individual and for-profit company the right to ignore Georgia laws—including anti-discrimination and civil rights laws—that "indirectly constrain" exercise of religion. *Cue Tchaikovsky* Mt. Gox has flatlined. Estimated Bitcoin losses:  $350 million . ("Converting your life savings to a currency less dependable than Linden dollars? Are you a lunatic?") Update: Potentially $400 million. The largest cybertheft of all time. In an excellent example of a stopped clock, Oklahoma schools are being required to teach personal finance. (warning : autoplay video) Gay farm animals would beg to differ, Museveni. <vote poll=world8181 closed=“yes”>And this is why civilian control of the military exists. <vote poll=world8180 closed=“yes”>The Earth might be more than 6000 years old after all <vote poll=world8179 closed=“yes”>The world's oldest Holocaust survivor has died <vote poll=world8178 closed=“yes”>Arizona is pulling a Kansas. And while the Kansas State Senate was smart enough to kill the Jim Crow nostalgia party, this is the governor of Arizona. <vote poll=world8177 closed=“yes”>"Step 2: Came to believe I didn't need belief in a Higher Power to get sober". Some AA meetings manage to do fine without needing to turn to religion for help. <vote poll=world8176 closed=“yes”>Ukranian President flees offices. If only there was some kind of pun that could be made about chickens and Kiev-Oh wait, there is. Update: "Actually. I'm not even mad.  That's amazing." (And goats!) <vote poll=world8175 closed=“yes”>Residents of an exclusive Dallas neighborhood -- including fracking proponents Dick Armey and ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson -- are opposing the construction of a new storage tower by the local water district in part because (wait for it) they're worried that the water might be used for fracking in their area. Our irony senses are tingling! <vote poll=world8174 closed=“yes”>Ted Nugent finally crosses the line. For everyone except Ted Cruz, that is. <vote poll=world8173 closed=“yes”>Turns out the Nazis did not swim with giant prehistoric sharks. Who'd have guessed? Not Discovery Channel, it seems. <vote poll=world8172 closed=“yes”>Jackie Chan says the Chinese should stop using traditional Chinese remedies, particularly ones made from endangered animals. <vote poll=world8171 closed=“yes”>South Carolina legislators use budget cuts to punish colleges assigning LGBT books. (Warning: autoplay video.) <vote poll=world8170 closed=“yes”>Ontario candidate for premier goes on months-long quest to display the virtue of right-to-work laws. Rest of the party: Are you trying to make us lose an election? Result: Flippity-floppity. <vote poll=world8169 closed=“yes”>Proposed Missouri bill would force schools to inform parents when evolution is taught so they could opt their children out of those lessons. <vote poll=world8168 closed=“yes”>Islamic authority issues fatwa forbidding one-way travel to Mars, because it's "suicide." <vote poll=world8167 closed=“yes”>Putin's worst nightmare wasn't losing a hockey game, nor the gays. <vote poll=world8166 closed=“yes”>Conservative Christian bozo, Brent Bozell is getting dropped faster than a hot potato, after it's revealed he put his name to articles and books that he didn't write. <vote poll=world8165 closed=“yes”>The code of the Voynich Manuscript may have been cracked. (Emphasis on the may.) <vote poll=world8164 closed=“yes”>Keystone XL is taking on water. (Obama's mysterious ways.) <vote poll=world8163 closed=“yes”>A disgraced unelected Canadian Senator was suspended from for lying about where he lived so he could steal from the government last year. Guess where he's now working. <vote poll=world8162 closed=“yes”>Fearing (or expecting) arrest? Ask a liar for advice <vote poll=world8161 closed=“yes”>Rupert Murdoch remains a gigantic asshole. (Also, look at every article by The Australian.) <vote poll=world8160 closed=“yes”>WND is usually a Clog, but here it is reporting Actual News: Google Ads is threatening to cut off service to them as a hate site. <vote poll=world8159 closed=“yes”>National Science Foundation pollsters asked 2200 people in the US if the sun goes around the earth of if the earth goes around the sun. The results: 74 percent answered in the affirmative for heliocentrism.  (And if you're gloating about ignorant 'Murikans from Yurp, be advised that only 66 percent of EUers gave the right answer.) <vote poll=world8158 closed=“yes”>If it wasn't for conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxers measles could well have been eradicated from New Zealand <vote poll=world8157 closed=“yes”>Satanic panic alert! The 19-year-old Pennsylvania woman who (along with her husband) is accused of killing a man that the couple trolled for on Craigslist has claimed in an interview "that she has killed at least 22 other people from Alaska to North Carolina in the last six years as part of her involvement in a satanic cult." <vote poll=world8156 closed=“yes”>What mad vandalism is this, O Prince? Here are some of the art objects he would have destroyed. <vote poll=world8155 closed=“yes”>Who would have thought it? Looser gun laws lead to more shootings. <vote poll=world8154 closed=“yes”>Co-pilot hijacks his own plane <vote poll=world8153 closed=“yes”>Mark 16:18 claims another idiot victim. <vote poll=world8152 closed=“yes”>Highly speculative, but the Jet Stream's behaviour could be changing <vote poll=world8151 closed=“yes”>Anders Breivik threatens to go on hunger strike unless he gets to have a Playstation 3 in prison (currently, he has to make do with a PS2) <vote poll=world8150 closed=“yes”>The film Juno became a hub for the Religious Right by presenting a teenager who exercised her choice not to have an abortion. For the second time in two years, watch in schadenfreude as they frown.

<vote poll=world8148 closed=“yes”>Quebec set to become the first North American jurisdiction to legalize euthanasia. <vote poll=world8147 closed=“yes”>Student Protest in Venezuela turns violent. <vote poll=world8146 closed=“yes”>[http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2014/02/13/kansas_anti_gay_segregation_bill_is_an_abomination.html The LGBT Jim Crow equivalent has been proposed in Kansas. Fucking hell.] <vote poll=world8145 closed=“yes”>IP vandalism to the Bitcoin article will begin to decrease for a while. <vote poll=world8144 closed=“yes”>Hindu fundamentalists succeed in getting a book banned in India. <vote poll=world8143 closed=“yes”>Oh, look. Bob Jones University has has joined the list of colleges that looked the other way regarding rape allegations. Except, of course, they took it to the next level by blaming the accusers and telling them not to go to the police because (a) nobody would believe them, and (b) the accusations would "damage Jesus Christ." And then they fired the consulting firm they hired to clean up the mess. <vote poll=world8142 closed=“yes”>So Rand Paul sues Obama over NSA spying. Too bad he can't even do that without plagiarizing the contents. <vote poll=world8141 closed=“yes”>Fusion successfully achieved, still with no net release of energy <vote poll=world8140 closed=“yes”>42% of Americans believe astrology is scientific. That number jumps to 58% among millennials. OTOH, this may indicate literacy issues rather than scientific knowledge issues if the USA is anything like Europe. <vote poll=world8139 closed=“yes”>North and South Korea begin the first high-level talks since 2007. <vote poll=world8138 closed=“yes”>After Teabaggers halt the Orange Overlord from tying a debt ceiling increase with a lifting of military pension cuts, only 12% of standing Republicans vote to keep the economy afloat until 2015. <vote poll=world8137 closed=“yes”>New Zealand has no information to disprove the theory that Mr John Key (the Prime minister) is in fact a David Icke-style shape reptilian shifting alien ushering humanity towards enslavement. Must be a slow news day! Update: I'm not crazy for asking....honest!! <vote poll=world8136 closed=“yes”>London abortion counsellor tells clients "having an abortion might make you a sexual abuser" <vote poll=world8135 closed=“yes”>Now watch closely, I'm only going to do this once... <vote poll=world8134 closed=“yes”>"Michael Sam. He's here. He's queer. Get used to him sacking your quarterback." <vote poll=world8133 closed=“yes”>Today's right-wing government move against democracy in order to better secure re-election when public opinion is against them is brought to you by... Canada? <vote poll=world8132 closed=“yes”>Ireland just started WW III. <vote poll=world8131 closed=“yes”>The GOP's latest dirty trick: Setting up fake websites, to con donations from Democrats. <vote poll=world8130 closed=“yes”>Pensacola, Florida passes an ordinance making it illegal for homeless people to use blankets. <vote poll=world8129 closed=“yes”>A Red Dawn looms for America, as the Iraaanians are coming. Alternate text:Iran makes one of its regular shows of force, no shots will be fired. <vote poll=world8128 closed=“yes”>New law giving government more control over the internet causes trouble in Turkey (It gives the police another opportunity to be the private security firm of stupidity) <vote poll=world8127 closed=“yes”>Britain's immigration minister resigns after being caught hiring an illegal immigrant cleaner. <vote poll=world8126 closed=“yes”>Head of the Mormon Church, summoned to appear before UK court, to defend claims that the organisation's teaching amounts to "fraud." <vote poll=world8125 closed=“yes”>Go to jail. Get freed. Get kicked out of the band. <vote poll=world8124 closed=“yes”>Japan's nationalist love-in is getting even more terrifying. <vote poll=world8123 closed=“yes”>An online poll asked who won the great debate. The results: 92 percent of respondents give Bill Nye the victory.  And which website conducted the poll? Christianity Today!!! An evangelical website called Christian Today, presumably so-named to cash in on the popularity of Christianity Today, but which based on its design elements has more in common with the Christian Post. <vote poll=world8122 closed=“yes”>Greece's athletes give the Russians the finger, wrapped in a rainbow glove. Or, maybe those are just the colors of the Olympic rings. Update: [http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/02/germany-debuts-totally-awesome-rainbow-outfits-at-opening-ceremony/ And also this totally coincidental German uniform... It may be just that their fashion designer was mentored by Toucan Sam.] <vote poll=world8121 closed=“yes”>All while the world is mesmerized by War and Peace re-enactments and a three-storey hammer and sickle, this shit again. <vote poll=world8120 closed=“yes”>Seems mankind was leaving footprints in the UK 801,654 years before the Flood. <vote poll=world8119 closed=“yes”>Google to Russia and the IOC on the eve of the Sochi opening ceremonies: Shame on you. Update: UK's Channel 4 also show their support for gay-rights with a satirical Sochi anthem <vote poll=world8118 closed=“yes”>Hacked phone call embarrasses US Assistant Secretary of State as she's caught saying "Fuck the EU" <vote poll=world8117 closed=“yes”>Christians, Muslims unite in censorship. <vote poll=world8116 closed=“yes”>Sochi Demonstrates the successes of purging all aspects of homosexual propaganda from the public view. <vote poll=world8115 closed=“yes”>Homophobia: a tale of two Canadian cities. <vote poll=world8114 closed=“yes”>Anti-immigrant, or anti-science? <vote poll=world8113 closed=“yes”>A Nazi law, that's still active, means battered women are more likely to be charged with murder than violent men <vote poll=world8112 closed=“yes”>The UN: So, Holy See, when you discovered that your priests were involved in sexual abuse for decades on end, why on earth did you go to such lengths to let it continue? Vatican: Our non-existent gay lobby did it. <vote poll=world8111 closed=“yes”>The much anticipated debate between Bill Nye and creationist whacker Ken Ham finally unfolds. Nye and science won. <vote poll=world8110 closed=“yes”>At this rate UKIP won't have any candidates left. Perhaps somebody should ask him to sign a special code of behaviour forswearing him from acting like a Nazi and see what his reaction is. <vote poll=world8109 closed=“yes”>Microsoft names new CEO while the world of non-technophiles (and many of the technophiles) speaks a collective "Who?" <vote poll=world8108 closed=“yes”>Noah's Ark Zoo Farm wins an award from Learning Outside The Classroom for its educational programme. (Apparently decided on whether the field trip is safe for kids.) <vote poll=world8107 closed=“yes”>A pastor at a Colorado Springs homeless ministry is caught after trolling Craigslist for a male prostitute, then having sex with him impersonating a U.S. Marshall, after which he handcuffed, kidnapped and robbed him. <vote poll=world8106 closed=“yes”>Goodbye Bernanke, hello Yellen. <vote poll=world8105 closed=“yes”>9/11 truther gatecrashes the Superbowl. <vote poll=world8104 closed=“yes”>Al-Qaeda cuts links with 'hardline' Syria group, claims they are too brutal. <vote poll=world8103 closed=“yes”>Adderall for everybody! <vote poll=world8102 closed=“yes”> Having gay parents is not actually a problem for the kids involved. It's a shame more supposed-adults can't accept the concept.