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

May 2013
The NZ High Court judge that ruled that Kim Dotcom's stuff was seized in an illegal raid hasordered the cops to give him his files back(at the taxpayer's cost). She also ordered that the copies of drives shipped to the FBI must be returned to NZ if they have personal info, and all other copies destroyed. Three guesses on who's going to get shafted in the next ACTA. "An Oxford University researcher and author specializing in neuroscience has suggested that one dayreligious fundamentalism may be treated as a curable mental illness." Cheerios' new commercial features a young, (biracial) girl asking her (white) mother about the cereal's supposedly positive effects on heart health. Then she dumps a dry bowlful of the cereal on her (African-American) father's chest while he's napping. Cute, right? Oh, wait! This here's 'Muricawhere we ain't prejudiced, but...Well, there just ought to be a law. A stark reminder of what a world without vaccines would be like. Curiosity proves its relevance again. John McCain, this is why you're not the President of the United States.

White people of Miami-Dade, do not fear. The police will make sure none of those black teenage punks think about giving someone attitude again. And we threw a felony charge in for good measure. First-ever high-resolution images of a molecule as it breaks and reforms chemical bonds. NRA gives kid lifetime membership for eating pop-tarts like a rebel. Hygiene control and monitoring in hospitals brought to you by outsourced to India. Advice for Cardinal Pell: When you’re talking about coverups of child rape, it’s best to stick with apologizing. Good riddance, expected in 2014. Moore's Law may have just faltered a bit. Assuming gun nuts are to blame, they just gave the gun control movement ammunition(heh) against them. According to the Toronto Star, everyone's favourite alleged crack-addict Mayor is trying toburn the evidence. Update: And now we know why. If you're Canadian and support a woman's right to reproductive freedom, do something to support the cause in memory of Henry Morgentaler.Update: And look at the timing. Anonymous pledgesto bring down the English Defence League. The UK is apparently illegally detaining 85 Afghans under "exceptional circumstances" (Sound familiar?) Let's see how this turns out, in the light of the protest against SOPA and PIPA. Unwanted baby? Flushing it down the toilet is probably not the best solution. "I think white British who have any concerns feel we can't speak freely," says an EDL supporter who lives in a country that has had only one non-WASP Prime Minister in 300 years and supposedly thinks mosques giving her tea and biscuits doesn't mean anything. (Also, good job Help for Heroes.) We can't reduce sales taxes on food, that would cause the poor to spend their money on food... John McCain visits with Syrian rebels in Syria. Elvis leaves guitar pick so Paul McCartney can play in heaven. The media just wants you to think it's the other way around. All that "inappropriate" scrutiny of Tea Party groups by the IRS? As expected,they had "tested the political limits" of the 501(c)(4) status that they had applied for. (The story is in the librul New York Times, so just try to convince a righty that it's true.) Twenty times as many dead as Boston, a million Internets to anyone who can find a front-page story about it 48 hours from now.

A convicted child-rapist whines about feminism. The latest from Eric "I'm Not Evil, I'm Really Not" Schmidt on Google's tax avoidance scheme:We're going to keep up with this shit, so change the law so we don't! France, if you truly care about laïcité and the integration of immigrants into your culture,[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22671572 this has to stop. Now.] The Tories might as well have called this consultation paper How can we really fuck up the lives of the elderly and disabled? Word is that next month's consultation paper is titled Soylent Green - It will slash the welfare bill, but should we charge VAT on its sales? land of the free A 22-year old gay man in Russia comes out to his friends, who then murder him for being gay and are congratulated in the Russian blogosphere. Later, more than 30 gay rights activists hold a protest in Moscow...and are subsequently assaulted by Russian Orthoox Christians and arrested. The beginning of the end for Toronto's lunatic (and potentially crack-smoking) mayor:Rob Ford's two brothers (one a high-ranking Conservative councillor) were ardent drug dealers, his sister closely tied to the Ku Klux Klan. We all know that sheriff Joe Arpaio has a small problem with the Constitution as it applies to brown people, but it's official. Chris Christie's RINO conversion is almost complete. Muahaha! Another freeway bridge in the US has collapsed. Fortunately, there were only three injuries and no fatalities. It could've been worse. It happened on an interstate freeway, but there was still daylight, and it was not yet Memorial Day weekend. Due to the neglect of America's road system, highway engineers are certain that there are more collapses waiting to happen in the very near future. Sorry guys, looks like we (along with all other non-Catholics) are going to hell after all :( Definitive proof creationism, not evolution, is true  The average sentence for a first time non-violent drug offender convicted under federal mandatory minimum sentencing laws is now longer than the average sentence for rape, child molestation, bank robbery, or manslaughter.  Physicists messing with our head, part umpteen: stuff that don't exist at the same time can now be quantum linked.

You know how bad the UK Tories are splintering from the whole gay marriage thing? Enough that they're calling Cameron a liberal. It's official: Stephen Harper's Conservatives (probably) committed widespread electoral fraud in the last election. Rescue women, get burgers. The Boy Scouts end the ban on gay members, and Yahoo's far right comment basefreaks out after insisting in previous articles that it wouldn't happen.

Texas Judge competes to be biggest 'roach of the year. He's got some competition, but he's determined to win. The Judge's name is Roach, that's why I described him as a&hellip;nevermind Wal-Mart security called the cops on a white guy because they suspected he'd kidnapped the three young black girls with him. Someone remind Potomac Mills, Virginia that interracial marriages areallowed in 2013. All those dreadful investments the Obama Administration made in green car companies like Fisker - hey what a typical disaster of liberal Govt lending….oh, wait, maybe not… If you're a dentist and this economy's put you out of work,move to Oregon in the next six months and you'll have it made. Alright, the PTC can have this one. Everyone on this website isno longer going to h ell Batshit-crazy-violent murder in London is now a suspected terrorist attack. Update: Fuck off, EDL [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22621833 No shit! Emergency legislation gives Venezuelans some relief.] Oh Jesus Christ, Weiner. After Sandy hit, Republican OK senators Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn opposed federal disaster aid. So, of course, after the Moore tornado, you would expect them to act with integrity and consistency on disaster funding, right? lol no. Far-right French historian commits suicide inside Notre Dame cathedral, apparently in protest against recent gay marriage legislation in France. Screw gun-induced 3D printer control, world hunger is at stake here! Update: 3d Printers for Peace. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/may/21/tebbit-gay-marriage-lesbian-queen Tebbit, we love you. Please continue.] Woman dies after being denied medication, cops thought she was "faking" it Meanwhile, Erick Erickson shows that a bit of Obama-bashing is far more important than being a decent human being. Moore, Oklahoma flattened by "Biggest, Most Destructive Tornado in History". Deathtoll stands at 51, with more than 20 children dead. UPDATE: At least 91 deaths. UPDATE 2:  Did we say at least 91 total deaths, at least 20 of them being children? Oopseys! We meant 24 dead, nine of them being children (as of 2200 UTC, May 21st). The Crazification factor has been proven yet again. A "crisis" over same-sex marriage threatens "to destroy the Conservative Party"? - oh no, whatever we do if that happens? Keeping the Brits in the EU is bad for economic growth?No, not really. Stephen Harper's Chief of Staff resigns after writing a $90,000 check to one of the most corrupt members of the Senate. Whoops. We still have a very long way to go. Hollande signs France's same-sex marriage bill into law after the Constitutional Council decides that gay marriage does not violate the French constitution. The first gay-marriage is expected to be held on May 29th. If the mountain won't come to the Mohammedan, then... Survey finds Christianity in the UK is declining50% faster than originally thought and 1 in 10 under-25s is Muslim. We're totally not Nazis, we swear! George Takei responds to anti-gay marriage protestors. And the calamity in Syria isn't going to end anytime soon. Nobel Peace Prize winner Andrew Weaver is elected in BC, representing the Green Party (sorry Tim!) Is the Vatican about to stop worshipping Mammon and actually spend some of its filthy lucre on helping the poor?  Your local government at work, part umpteen. The FSM doesn't want us to see his tentacle-work on an Earth Analogue, andnixes the Kepler observatory And the creationists rejoiced, for Darwin was wrong! Joe Biden allegedly favours the idea of an extra tax on violent video games. drink! Today on Fox: The OECD is full of communists! Obama fires the IRS commissioner. Second time in a week: U.S. military official in charge of preventing sexual abuse getscharged with sexual abuse. & Fitch don't like "uncool" and "unattractive" people wearing their clothes? -Give them to the homeless! Brazil's National Council of Justice votes with a 14-1 majority in favour of gay marriage, arguing that since same-sex marriage is already legal in some jurisdictions, it cannot be denied in others. According to Wikipedia this means that gay marriage is now legal in all of Brazil, while other sources say that it still may or has to go before the Supreme Court and/or Congress.

In other news, reactionaries everywhere are assholes North Carolina moves to ban sale of the Tesla cars to 'prevent unfair competition'. This would extend to both physical dealers and online sales. Note that Texas already puts heavy restrictions on in person salesmen in their state, but does allow online purchase.

For the math geeks: About 2300 years ago, Euclid hypothesized that there are an infinite number of "twin prime" numbers -- prime numbers that differ by a value of 2, such as 3 and 5, 17 and 19, 2,003,663,613x2195,000-1 and 2,003,663,613x2195,000+1, et cetera. Euclid's hypothesis hasn't been proven yet,but a mathematician has just published proof that there are an infinite number of prime numbers that differ from each other by a value of no more than 70,000,000, which actually narrows down the range by a considerable amount. Republicans: [http://www.upi.com/blog/2013/05/13/Poll-Americans-angry-about-Benghazi-cant-find-it-on-a-map/7321368469022/ Benghazi is worst scandal ever! Uuuuhh... Where is Benghazi?] This has an uncanny resemblance to Republican's "outreach program" when skeletons in the closet are being dug up. Ever notice how quiet it goes when the murdering bastard in question is one of ours? BONUS QUESTION: How many times does the "liberal leftie" BBC tell us who sponsored the fucker? Japan is now the new home for political batshittery. The findings of an 11 year study of 83,000 American men ages 45 to 69, conducted by Kaiser Permanente on the risks of tobacco smoking versus marijuana smoking with regards to contracting bladder cancer: "Cannabis use only was associated with a 45 percent reduction in bladder cancer incidence, and tobacco use only was associated with a 52 percent increasein bladder cancer."  (Emphasis added) Another State joins the 21st century: Minnesota Senate approves marriage equality; governor will sign. And this is why medical clinics need to be inspected. US Department of Justice engages in "massive and unprecedented intrusion" of AP phone records. Update:  Technology was always the issue, or so they think. A movie theatre in Missouri decides to have actors with fake guns storm an Iron Man 3 screening on the weekend.Someone calls 911, police respond to what they believe is an active shooter situation.No injuries, fortunately. (h/t to BoingBoing) FBI investigates Saudi student seen carrying a pressure cooker; it contained rice Transgender marriage allowed in Hong Kong.  Two years after the apocalypse, Harold Camping's Family Radio still exists&mdash;but maybe not for much longer. Snapchat, the social media sharing service that lets you send photos that will automatically delete themselves so you can share your kinky nude shots without them being spread around, doesn't. 17 wounded as gunmen open fire on a New Orleans Mother's Day parade. John McCain can't make up his mind on Benghazi. House Republicans have voted in favor of ending overtime pay, in favor of more days off. Do we need gun control via 3D printer control? Of course it's just microevolution. I mean it's still a fish. That guy with three teenaged girls locked in his basement?  In case you've been living under a rock and haven't seen the viral video of a student standing up to a teacher over lacklustre teaching methods, [http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2013/05/duncanville-high-school-student-lecturing-his-history-teacher-in-the-classroom-goes-viral.html/ here it is. The real news story is that not only has the student not been sanctioned, but the district is actually investigating the teacher to see if she's competent.] And the latest thing that Midas Harper touched and turned to shit is... theNational Research Council! (And that's what happens when you leave a country's scientific direction to a creationist.) 400 ppm. Outsourcing services to the private sector is more efficient and saves money. Now, with that right-wing mantra in mind, here's a case where an outsourced, privately contracted translator refuses to turn up to a court hearing because they wouldn't make enough money for it to be worth it. Update: Not only was this kind of thing seen coming a year ago, it's been happening the whole time, and it's been well-understoodthat the outsourcing program has produced strings of failures. The dominoes continue to fall. Philadelphia's mayor just signed into law the most expansive LGBT rights and benefits program in the country. Nevada is (slowly) heading towards overturning and completely reversing its ban on same-sex marriage.Illinois' governor is pushing the state House to give him the damn bill to sign already. Meanwhile, the emoting turns up to eleven from someone on the wrong side of history in Minnesota. In non-gun news, CERN has discovered atomic nuclei. It's a tricky situation to orange in the lab, but the peachy-keen scientists' mouths were agrape when the data came in. These puns are berry bad, I know. Today's "accidental shooting death by toddlers playing with guns" incident is brought to you by Texas, where a two-year-old shot himself in the head with his father's loaded pistol when dad turned away for a moment. Sidewalk chalk is not a crime. USians - meet your members of the Congressional Science Committee who have no understanding of science. The Heritage Foundation goes from Beltway crank magnetism toall-out eugenics. Minnesota will be the 12th state to pass gay marriage. Bachmann's response will be glorious. Tesla museum is GO! Congressman has a raffle giveaway for the same model of rifle used to slaughter 20 children in Newtown, with the slogan "Grab this gun before Obama does!" Meet Saudi Arabia's first female lawyer.

It's strange to hear a female barrister suggesting that the law should be changedto accomodate old men with pedophilic tendencies. NH rep Stella Tremblay isn't done being an attention whore yet. Stephen Hawking is boycotting the Presidential Conference in Jerusalem due to the Israel-Palestine conflict. Cops visited Cleveland kidnapper-captor Ariel Castro's dungeon-housethree times in the last ten years and left when nobody answered, unaware of three women bound in ropes and chain inside. This is the same police dept thatheld an unauthorized 59-vehicle police chase in which 137 shots were fired and two unarmed people were killed. That's some fine work, boys. The only thing worse than banning a YouTube video, is banning a YouTube video of David Bowie harshly criticizing the Catholic Church. Enjoy the Streisand.(Alternate link) Disney and Pixar are working on a movie inspired by Mexico's traditional Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) holiday, so naturally, Disney tried to trademark it for themselves. They backed off after loud public outcry made them realize how insane that was. Member of a Christian heavy metal band isarrested for attempting to hire a hitman on his wife. Sometimes, the headline is enough: Deadly giant snail found in Houston The Internet is down in Syria. Update: State media - "Oh, it was just a fault in the optical fibre cables!" Laugh-inducing hypocrisy thy name is Wayne LaPierre. Time to start hiking the trail again...and right back into court! Obama announces "End of concessions" to North Korea whenever it starts trying to threaten war Delaware becomes the eleventh U.S. state to legalize same sex marriage. Rick Perry's advice to the Boy Scouts of America on a Family Research Council webcast: Oppose "gay pop culture" Sam Houston opposed slavery. Okay, in two weeks teh gheys have been compared to cheaters,smokers and now slavers. What's next? UPDATE: Pat Robertson answers the "what's next" withthieves, and murderers". In predominantly Muslim Indonesia, non-Muslim children are routinely taken from their parents so that they may receive some "education" that they can (attempt to) pass on to the folks back home. "A generation of untrained scientists" in New York and New Jersey... and across the United States. File under "I can't possibly see what could go wrong". Those missing women in Cleveland that were found? Sylvia Browne previouslysaid one of them was dead. American Air Force official in charge of preventing sexual assault, well, you can guess where it goes from here. Update: Arguably, this really isn'tall that remarkable. Three Ohio women were from a Cleveland house where they'd been kidnapped and held for about a decade. Bonus: The neighbour who helped rescue one of the three and called 911 gives an interview that ends up getting way too real for the local news. The NRA a three year old lifetime member (and outdoes a joke fromThe Simpsons) Eugenie Scott to retire from the NCSE.Anyone up to try to fill those shoes? Anyone? In case you somehow thought we were living in a just society, here's a reminder thatgets free airport parking and you don't. The Roman Catholic Church in Ireland is threatening to excommunicate Taoiseach Enda Kenny for trying to passwell-needed abortion laws. His response is for the win. An elementary school's cafeteria in New York has been America's first 100% vegetarian public school for five months, with great results. High school track team wins relay, one member points to the sky to thank divine intervention...andthe entire team is disqualified from the next round on grounds of "excessive celebration"...in Texas?! What?! Update:It wasn't a religious gesture. Rich 20-something in Mexico walks into a packed trendy cafe, is unable to get the exact table she wants. She has a tantrum and makes a phone call to her daddy. Daddy is the attorney general of consumer protection and has the place immediately shut down on bogus infractions. The Streisand effect kicked in, the story quickly went to Twitter, and you can guess the rest. A former Mayor and councillor of a Greater London borough passed unpopular, strict parking laws. Caught by a citizen recording him while he was illegally parked in a loading bay, he decided that the best decision was to assault her. NH State Rep Stella Tremblay, Tea Party member, birther, and idiot. Not content, she doubles down by JAQing off about one of the bombing victims supposedly faking a double amputation. After everyone goes after her for her disgusting insensitivity, she issues an apology, and then goes onto Boston radio to continue JAQing off about his "suspect" injuries. Bonus: She doesn't want the FBI investigating it, but an "unbiased" group like Sheriff Joe Arpaio's cold case posse! Solar powered plane to cross the United States. As of this writing, it is in Phoenix, Arizona. Another nasty episode of the UK's Colonial past comes back to haunt it.

The rest of us agree, but would the word "off". So, a new principal takes over at a failing school, and fires all the security guards and uses the money to reopen the arts wing. Three years later, that school is one of the most improved in the state. Niall Ferguson has launched off the deep end... for real this time. The opponents of a proposed New Jersey law that would ban reparative therapy have come up with a new tactic. Nickname it (unofficially) the "Jerry Sandusky Victimization Act" after the child molesting former assistant football coach at Penn State. Fucking pricks vote in fucking scumbag Teen arrested for science experiment gone wrong Muslim taxi driver is assaulted and called a terrorist in his own cab. The reality? He's an Iraq vet. Naturally, the assailant's a chickenhawk to boot. JPMorgan can't outrun the consequences forever. However, the punishments mentioned in the artcle are "fines" and "reprimands", because those alwayswork. Howard Kurtz gets fired for not knowing how to read. Same-sex marriage legalized in Rhode Island, with a 56-15 vote, set to be implemented in August. After being held hostage for seven weeks by Somali pirates, a merchant naval captain gives talk to Women's Institute about his ordeal  and is then asked to pick the best-dressed pirate. Former Green Bay Packer LeRoy Butler was scheduled to give a lecture at a local church on Tuesday night. Butler's presentation was cancelled after he tweeted congratulations to Jason Collins for coming out of the closet. The pastor told Butler that he would only be allowed to give his presentation if he retracted the tweet and asked Gawd for forgiveness. The subject of that night's discussion? Bullying. Marvin the Martian imperils plane Homosexual civil unions in Colorado are nowlegal and celebrated. Atoms star in smallest ever film