RationalWiki:What is going on in the blogosphere?/January 2013

January 2013
Mercury thiocyanate igniting - enjoy the nightmares you'll have this evening! [http://www.theonion.com/articles/ar15-assault-rifle-beginning-to-worry-it-may-never,31080/ “It’s awful. I mean, what else am I supposed to do with my life?”] The most pro-family values commercial you'll see this weekend. UPDATE:  YouTube yanked (pun intended) the video file that most media sites are linking to. Buy ALL the tissues. More than 40 percent of American children are now born to single mothers. Two law professors/authors propose a new causal factor many right-wingers might disagree with: Working class Christian parents who are happy that their unmarried pregnant daughters (a) didn't have an abortion, and (b) didn't marry the no-good louts who knocked them up. Never start a debate on a perpetual motion forum. Andy Borowitz delivers an exceptionally powerful Poe. Cracked on "5 Staples of the Legal System That Statistics Say Don't Work" -- numbers 5, 3 and 2 discuss types of crime woo; 4 and 1 are just disheartening.

Lawrence Krauss proposes that to match a demand for teachers of science and mathematics, (rather than going into research) we should consider paying them more than humanities teachers. Cracked: The 8 Greatest Wars Ever Fought by Fox News. Prepare for Papa Bear "Pinhead" attack in 3...2...1... VP Joe Biden versus Onion Joe Biden: FIGHT! Zing! The debt limit: The sound of someone hitting themselves...forever. BoingBoing calls attention to a photo copyright watermark by the Daily Mail that's even more Not even wronger than usual. Jazz, fucking over fundamentalism one day at a time. (At the Daily Mail offices...) Britain is full, you darkies! [http://www.economist.com/news/britain/21568746-foreign-born-are-more-successful-britain-most-places-better-billed Wait, you have money? Erm...] <vote poll=blog2822 closed="yes">[http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/opinion/australia-banned-assault-weapons-america-can-too.html?_r=1& The sanest conservative statesman in the gun control debate. (Unfortunately, it's John Howard.)] <vote poll=blog2821 closed="yes">Remember that passive-aggressive ad against same-sex marriage by the Iona Institute in Ireland? Someone decided it was time to respond, and crank up the snark. <vote poll=blog2820 closed="yes">Gilles-Eric Seralini, the professor behind the widely debunked "GMO gives cancer to rats" study, appears to be an ambassador to an alt-med company controlled by a New Age-style faith healing cult that sells homeopathic and detox products. You can't make this stuff up. <vote poll=blog2819 closed="yes">Jason Colavito explains why skeptics shouldn't ignore Ancient Aliens, pointing out the TV ratings of the show. <vote poll=blog2818 closed="yes">A righteous post by PalMD explaining why equating gun control to Nazism is really dumb <vote poll=blog2817 closed="yes">Steven Pinker on why to be skeptical about claims of lead removal reducing crime (PDF). <vote poll=blog2816 closed="yes">As a scientist your job is to bring new knowledge into the world. Hiding it behind a journal's paywall is immoral. <vote poll=blog2815 closed="yes">The best description of herbalism was — guess what — hidden in a 13-year-old Pokemon game. <vote poll=blog2814 closed="yes">After the endless banality of CNN's Belief blog, a New Atheist got her chance in the spotlight. Click the link for the reaction. (Also, it seems we are too way harsh on Comment is Free.) <vote poll=blog2813 closed="yes">If you've ever wondered why the Second Amendment was written the way it was... <vote poll=blog2812 closed="yes">[http://skepchick.org/2013/01/pubic-lice-are-not-going-extinct/ I woke up to 20 emails asking for my opinion on pubic lice. How did your Monday Morning coffee go?] <vote poll=blog2811 closed="yes">Dr Brooke Magnanti (or Belle de Jour, if you remember) lays into lame accusations of "trolling" and second-wave feminism. <vote poll=blog2810 closed="yes">No, you're not a welfare queen - you're just "living on the government plantation!" <vote poll=blog2809 closed="yes">The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gorilla is a good guy with a gorilla. <vote poll=blog2808 closed="yes">This blog post causes cancer.No, not the Daily Mail <vote poll=blog2807 closed="yes">Hey Kerry, maybe if you had such wit back in 2004 maybe we wouldn't be in this shithole in the first place. <vote poll=blog2806 closed="yes">Note to Alex Jones: when Glenn Beck calls you crazy, get help. Soon. <vote poll=blog2805 closed="yes">Rich person gives lowly peasant waitress a tip: rich people are assholes. <vote poll=blog2804 closed="yes">Mark Lynas gives a powerful speech about GM crops and anti-GMO sentiment in the environmental movement. <vote poll=blog2803 closed="yes">Lowest of the low: Congress is less likeable than Nickelback. <vote poll=blog2802 closed="yes">A nice infographic has been going viral - too bad it's a little misleading <vote poll=blog2801 closed="yes">Gabrielle Giffords and Mark Kelly start a new anti-gun violence campaign: Americans for Responsible Solutions <vote poll=blog2800 closed="yes">Cue the hand-wringing. <vote poll=blog2799 closed="yes">The NRA of Counter-Earth. <vote poll=blog2798 closed="yes">Should American Catholics cheer for Notre Dame? <vote poll=blog2797 closed="yes">Yes, science takes sides. So stop asking scientists to not be partisan. <vote poll=blog2796 closed="yes">Why taking ideas seriously is probably a bad idea. <vote poll=blog2795 closed="yes">Race, class and vaccines <vote poll=blog2794 closed="yes">The ongoing witch hunt against steroids in baseball isn't about justice — it's about an older generation preserving their favorite sports icons by attacking younger sports icons. <vote poll=blog2793 closed="yes">We're done with the Internets people. Shut everything down. <vote poll=blog2792 closed="yes">Michigan theologian-cum-social worker: [http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/opinion/sunday/haitis-silenced-victims.html Whaaaa! Nothing's being done to combat rape in Haiti!] Haitian women's rights lawyer: Um, actually, 2012 was a banner year for Haitian rape prosecutions. <vote poll=blog2791 closed="yes">Do-it-yourself abortions are coming back. <vote poll=blog2790 closed="yes">Old, but explains a lot: "a generation of men and women who literally don't understand what sexual consent looks like." <vote poll=blog2788 closed="yes">Civil War in the GOP. <vote poll=blog2789 closed="yes">2012 Wipe - about time, the wankers. <vote poll=blog2786 closed="yes">Organic food and autism. Oh noes!