RationalWiki:What is going on in the blogosphere?/February 2012

February 2012
Sage advice for evolutionary psychologists from Jonathan Marks and Dan Fessler Are we hypocrites when it comes to creativity? Psychic Sally gets trolled by a fictional spirit. Putin's gonna steal your voter virginity.

Cool story, bro. Phyllis Schlafly gets a mention. Right wing groups announce plan to do absolutely nothing pray for the repeal of Obamacare. Kill the poor for Jesus! Paris Lees pens a beautiful and inspiring response to a transphobic Daily Fail hatchet job. A Picture of Rick Santorum... made of gay porn!Too low rsolution to be NSFW, though. Germans and their beer... This does seem to be biased to those with facial hair, though. Teller ponders why "those who fund science research find magicians 'sexier than lab rats'" and the effect this fascination may have on science. The significance of Meryl Dorey’s insignificance. BBC is slowly turning into the next TV Tropes. You learn something new everyday: Greek workers spend the most hours on the job in Europe.  "Has he had the surgery yet?", "I look like such a tranny today", "CIS? What does that mean?", "I'll call you 'she' when you get the surgery". Shit CIS people say to trans people. On comparing the healthcare systems of Los Angeles and London, one woman comes up with a "surprising" result. (And if you check the worst rated comments, you get to see the resident Daily Fail readers trying to figure out exactly how this could possibly have come about) <vote poll=blog2124 closed="yes">President Harry Truman and Mitt Romney have both delivered speeches to an empty stadium. The difference is that Truman was a great president, and Romney is a crass asshole. <vote poll=blog2122 closed="yes">Lewis Black, don't get a heart attack. Also, why is Nancy Grace still on TV? <vote poll=blog2121 closed="yes">Coming soon, to a theater near you...

<vote poll=blog2120 closed="yes">Identical twins not so identical after all. <vote poll=blog2119 closed="yes">TED: Wave of the future or Silicon Valley shills? <vote poll=blog2118 closed="yes">A natural disaster that cost the lives of thousands of people was ignored in favour of a nuclear 'disaster' that never was. <vote poll=blog2117 closed="yes">This is BBC News taken out of context. <vote poll=blog2116 closed="yes">All dead Mormons are now gay. (Unless they died in the Holocaust.) <vote poll=blog2115 closed="yes">Barack Obama is a total failure at all the things conservatives predicted he would do or not do. <vote poll=blog2114 closed="yes">Given the number of comments by Christians, politicians and the Daily Fail clogging up the media at the moment, Martin Robbins suggests that Christians should embrace secularism - because (from the comments) secularism doesn't consist of Richard Dawkins breaking into people's homes and stealing their Bibles at gunpoint, you know. <vote poll=blog2113 closed="yes">Good Guy Bill. <vote poll=blog2112 closed="yes">The punanny state. Also, Stalin-rape. <vote poll=blog2111 closed="yes">Newt Gingrich: "You can't put a gun rack in a Chevy Volt." Vlogger: Oh, really? <vote poll=blog2110 closed="yes">The Onion: One in five Americans believe Obama is a cactus. <vote poll=blog2109 closed="yes">Brian Cox (*swoon*) on why quantum theory is so misunderstood, and why good science should be part popular culture. <vote poll=blog2108 closed="yes">"The Right-Wing Id Unzipped" <vote poll=blog2107 closed="yes">Look how far they've gone...into the ground. And if the worst scenario happens in November, we'll only have one terrible actor to blame. <vote poll=blog2106 closed="yes">Damn you Jon Stewart! <vote poll=blog2105 closed="yes">Some parts of a Catholic sex education programme have been tracked to an unusual source - Beasts of Gor Cue the "One promotes a world where women are secondary and subservient to men in all ways and have no control over there own thoughts and destiny, the other is Chronicles of Gor" jokes. <vote poll=blog2104 closed="yes">A list of UK politicians that stand to benefit from passing a new health reform bill. <vote poll=blog2103 closed="yes">George Takei: [http://www.allegiancemusical.com/video/never-forget-never-again 70 years ago today, the President signed a decree that sent me and my family to a prison camp. Hear my story, and learn how you can help fulfil our pledge: Never Forget. Never Again.] <vote poll=blog2102 closed="yes">How simple patents became the complex clusterfuck of intellectual property. <vote poll=blog2101 closed="yes">Karen Santorum, wife of Rick Santorum, wrote a book teaching children good manners. And its foreword is by Joe Paterno, the guy who knew about, but did nothing to stop, a child rapist. Great pick, Santorum! <vote poll=blog2100 closed="yes">The godly John Cleese responds to YouTube comments. "I think the problem with people like this is that they are so stupid that they have no idea how stupid they are...this explains not just Hollywood, but almost the entirety of Fox News." <vote poll=blog2099 closed="yes">Honestly, Peta's ads make me so angry I could stamp on a kitten. <vote poll=blog2098 closed="yes">This week in Harperland... <vote poll=blog2097 closed="yes">Supposedly professional Politico reporter mistakes the Wisconsin state flag for the local labor union flag. Hail the future of journalism!

<vote poll=blog2096 closed="yes">Every climate denial argument debunked, in one 50 minute presentation. If there's one video to spread around the Internets, it's this. <vote poll=blog2095 closed="yes">If movie posters were a bit more descriptive. <vote poll=blog2094 closed="yes">I suppose they'll come back for us. Basic civil rights for trans people sidelined again for the sake of same-sex marriage in Maryland. <vote poll=blog2093 closed="yes">Charles Murray isn't racist -- he also hates (poor) white people! <vote poll=blog2092 closed="yes">The climate inquisition continues, including death threats. <vote poll=blog2091 closed="yes">Why don't Americans elect scientists? For lulz, see the comments, where one retard said "Solyndra." <vote poll=blog2090 closed="yes">Ah, the good old days...when there were none of those pesky institutional review boards or ethics committees and scientists could deliberately infect subjects with STDs. <vote poll=blog2089 closed="yes">The greatest movie trailer of all time? <vote poll=blog2088 closed="yes">America, Fuck Yeah! <vote poll=blog2087 closed="yes">Shut up and take my money! <vote poll=blog2086 closed="yes">The YouTube guide to parenting. <vote poll=blog2085 closed="yes">[http://www.peterdavid.net/index.php/2012/02/10/hi-im-a-jehovahs-witness-and-i-run-a-faith-based-business/ I'm a Jehovah's Witness and I run a business. Can I deny insurance coverage for blood transfusions?] <vote poll=blog2084 closed="yes">The "best" swag at CPAC. <vote poll=blog2083 closed="yes">The "Every Sperm is Sacred" Lady speaks out.

<vote poll=blog2082 closed="yes">The Onion: Iran Worried U.S. Might Be Building 8,500th Nuclear Weapon. Invade! Invade! <vote poll=blog2081 closed="yes">Dilbert drops the f-bomb in a comic. Kinda. <vote poll=blog2080 closed="yes">Ellen pwns the wingnuts. UPDATE: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qHEVu64pZsA#! Bill O'Reilly has something to say on the matter. In Ellen's favour.] <vote poll=blog2079 closed="yes">"WikiDate" - a privacy clusterfuck. <vote poll=blog2078 closed="yes">Five big lies about the phony 'war on religion' <vote poll=blog2077 closed="yes"> What liberal bias? The CBC's latest literature panel includes a fascist crank who defends Augusto Pinochet's regime and considers Nelson Mandela to be a terrorist. <vote poll=blog2076 closed="yes">The despicable behavior by some, including but not limited to psychic frauds, towards families of missing persons.

<vote poll=blog2075 closed="yes">Bill Nye (the science guy) is at the Second White House Science Fair - and not a single creationist in sight! <vote poll=blog2074 closed="yes">Why people still use Facebook. <vote poll=blog2073 closed="yes">Charlie Brooker on the two Daily Heils. <vote poll=blog2072 closed="yes">Neo-phrenology and neurobabble. <vote poll=blog2071 closed="yes">Even the creationists don't like Indiana Senate Bill 89. <vote poll=blog2070 closed="yes">Comments speak for themselves. <vote poll=blog2069 closed="yes">Protip: Never give this kind of power to the Internet. <vote poll=blog2068 closed="yes">A visualization of the 2011 Japanese earthquakes. Just keep watching... <vote poll=blog2067 closed="yes">Paul Krugman: Despite recent offshoring of U.S. manufacturing to China, 85% of U.S. consumer spending still makes its way to U.S. firms. <vote poll=blog2066 closed="yes">The actual gay agenda vs. what conservatives think is the gay agenda. <vote poll=blog2065 closed="yes">The Onion: "Look, one-third of the human race has to die for civilization to be sustainable, so how do we want to do this?" <vote poll=blog2064 closed="yes">A Hitchslap from beyond the grave: Christopher Hitchens on why William Lane Craig's brand of pernicious nonsense is not merely foolish, but dangerous. <vote poll=blog2063 closed="yes">So, a Catholic, an Anglican and a humanist walk into a bar say what they would put on their cards, if they carried them.