RationalWiki:What is going on in the world?/January 2015

January 2015
Bulgaria's first democratically-elected president Zhelyu Zhelev dies. Mitt Romney will not run in 2016. Yet another media triumph for GamerGate Texas, where teachers are allowed to shoot students. Utah parents murder children, then commit suicide, because they feared a looming apocalypse. President Castro says Obama needs to return Gitmo 7 years after he was elected promising to close it down. Jewish Leader accidentally gets trapped in AuschwitzNot The Onion The American Family Association has fired Bryan Fischer for comments regarding teh gayz and Nazi Germany (Update: but only "as a spokesperson and director of issues analysis", he still will host his AFA talk show). Hey kids! Let's smoke some astro turf and huff moon gas! BENGHAZI WAS A COVER-UP! Of course, we mean the Republican manufactroversy. Conspiracy theories might be right, if they involve waging war for oil. (This apparently came as news to someone, somewhere.) The Nightly Show tackles vaccines and the measles epidemic. At age 86, James Randi finally retires from the James Randi Educational Foundation. Feminists are just a bunch of ‘hatchet-faced miserable' women so I'm standing for parliament, here's my manifesto, (tl;dr: "Waaaa, waaaaah, whaa!") (Incidentally he's a big fan of Paul Elam) Australian anti-vaxxers are encouraging parents to join a fake church to avoid vaccination requirements for daycares

We're shocked! A fad diet supplement woo meister Dr. Oz has been pushing is "a total hoax." Also found on this page: ads for various questionable weight-loss treatments. Russia takes another financial hit. Mass surveillance is a fundamental threat to human rights, says a report by the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe. The myth of a Good Guy with a Gun is statistically wrong on every level. The anti-austerity, anti-capitalism party, Syriza, wins the Greek general election. Euro plummets amidst talk of renegotiating the bailout and reversing austerity measures. The North Korean government has been opening North Korean-themed restaurants all over the world, setting off a debate over (irony meter alert) who has the property rights to the Korean culinary tradition. A simple graph shows the increasing effect of vaccine denial.

[http://www.buzzfeed.com/jimdalrympleii/sarah-palin-seriously-interested-in-2016-white-house-run#.yf2aBQ4Zr ahahahaha... hahahahah... BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...] (Warning: Contains Sarah Palin.) Senate Republicans remove "civil rights" and "human rights" from subcommittee name, stating that the subcommittee would be a "watchdog against unconstitutional overreach and will hold the Obama Administration accountable for its actions." Long live the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights. Oklahoma state legislators are pushing for bills that would: require a confirmed religious official to perform a wedding, removing judges entirely from the process; remove any official who grants marriage licenses to gay couples; and legalize antigay discrimination. Alabama joins other states where gay marriage bans have fallen as everybody looks to the Supreme Court's decision this year. When a deep south Shrub appointee calls you out on your bullshit, you may need to rethink your arguments. Thatcher knew about the Westminster pedophile ring. The evidence was found in a place where the Government denied there being evidence when they looked. Hmmm. Cooperation between British spies and Gaddafi’s Libya revealed in official papers. It's ugly. Meanwhile, the inquiry into the Iraq war by the British parliament gets delayed until after the general election in May 2015. Tennessee woman freaks out over "pentagram" on school bus. Not sure what's dumber, her reaction or that this gets reported as news. Even other Southerners mock her. The King is dead. Western leaders pay tribute and overlook the poor Saudi Arabian human rights record. The Doomsday Clock moves closer to midnight, citing Climate Change and stasis on Nukes. Internet reaction is to reference an Iron Maiden song. King Tutankhamun's Burial Mask, the most famous archaeological relic in the world, has been "irreversibly damaged" during a botched cleaning attempt. German court rules that men are allowed to stand and deliver. Yes this is taking the piss! In the face of Shi'ite Houthi rebels, the Yemeni federal government has stepped down. Bakery facing religious discrimination complaint for refusing to make anti-gay cake, despite offering a workaround. Dianne Feinstein denounces Republican attempt to claw back copies of CIA torture report Republicans (Even James Inhofe!) admit Global Warming is happening, but deny it's human-caused Mike Huckabee, a potential presidential candidate for 2016, says that if the SCOTUS rules for Gay Marriage, the states can just ignore them Yemen's presidential palace attacked by Shia Houthi rebels. 50,000 gallons of oil spill into Yellowstone River after a pipe line bursts. Remember the First Nations girl who chose traditional medicine over conventional chemotherapy for her completely treatable leukemia back in October? Her health made a turn for the worse, and she has passed away following a stroke indicative of the cancer spreading to her brain. Her parents blame the chemotherapy.

[http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jan/19/global-wealth-oxfam-inequality-davos-economic-summit-switzerland?CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2 Same old, same old. *sigh*] Liam Neeson criticizes America's gun culture during a press tour. No points for guessing what happened next. Saudi national, Raif Badawi was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for setting up a liberal blog and criticising Saudi religious authorities. The first 50 lashes were carried out but the second 50 were postponed twice because the wounds had not healed and further lashings might kill him. Future lashings are planned every week after Friday prayers till the sentence is complete. There are Five suggested ways you can help Raif Badawi and an online petition that Amnesty hopes can help. Remember Civil Forfeiture? Eric Holder has now somewhat prohibited it. It's happening: the SCOTUS has granted writs of certiorari (an announcement of a plan to review lower court findings) to the same-sex marriage cases in Ohio, Michigan, Tennessee, and Kentucky, and will decide if the 14th amendment protects it. One of the boys who claimed to have visited and returned from Heaven recants his tale. Mohamedou Ould Slahi's Guantanamo Diary is finally published. WARNING: the extracts are not easy reading. Miami cops are using the mugshots of black teenagers for target practice. And yes, they defend it. New York mayor Bill de Blasio says he'd veto a bill by city lawmakers that would make it illegal for a police officer to put a person in a chokehold during an arrest. Japan asks U.S. publisher to ‘correct’ textbook references to 'comfort women', the Japanese euphemism for the women forced into prostitution during military conflicts. Ross Ulbricht, a.k.a. Dread Pirate Roberts, drug-dealing money-laundering hitman-hiring proprietor of the Bitcoin-powered Silk Road, who was busted by feds using a library computer logged into the Silk Road admin panel, puts forward as his defence that he started the site, but handed it over to someone else, who only talked him into coming back in time to be busted by the feds. This is literally his defence. But wait! He's just claimed that Mark Karpeles, of massively-failed Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, was the real Dread Pirate Roberts! But wait, there's actually links to Karpeles in the story. Good Lord. Clemson University in South Carolina begins process of renaming building dedicated to Benjamin Tillman, virulent 19th-century racist. Well, better late than never. So, Pope Francis has developed a reputation as an enlightened breath of fresh air in the Vatican. Except when it comes to Charlie Hebdo, free speech and satirizing or insulting someone's faith and belief. In that case, Papa Frankie thinks that there are limits to questioning the "dignity" that he says every religion has. The dumbest man in Congress is named "Legislator of the Year" by Texan judges. Mike Huckabee questions Obama's parenting skills for letting his daughters listen to Beyonc&eacute;. Of course, Huckabee's kid had hung a stray dog, slit its throat and stoned it to death. March for solidarity in Paris? Cool! Just keep those nasty vaginas out of it! | Map of literally every goat in the United States Meanwhile, winning the award for fewest fucks given, Charlie Hebdo's next cover features Muhammad holding a "Je suis Charlie" sign. Also considers a run of  three five million copies. David Cameron: If we don't ban encrypted messaging apps like Snapchat, then we can't read your messages, and the terrorists win! Antivax parents spread disease through Disneyland Sri Lankan astrologer didn't have the heart to tell the president what the stars really said. Old school RatWiki goats! New Charlie Hebdo cover revealed. Muhammad appears again. South Dakota's ban on Marriage Equality is declared unconstitutional, as the bans of the deep south are under review as well Is the security of the West in competent hands? Yes, of course it is! Meanwhile in Nigeria, Boko Haram has massacred an estimated 2.000 people. Not heard about it? Under Abbott's education "reforms", the Australian government will fund education in homeopathy, iridology, naturopathy, and other forms of alt-med nonsense. Not all Muslims are terrorists: the brother of the murdered Paris policeman speaks. Update: Lassana Bathily: the Paris kosher supermarket hero Winfield, Alabama city council announces that God now owns their town. God was not asked if He wanted it. Reconstruction of the face of a Native American girl who died 12000 years ago reveals a face that doesn't match contemporary ideas about race, though genetic tests confirm she's related to the ancestral population. Due to high rate of road accidents, Russia has announced tightened medical restrictions and contraindications to driving, encompassing those with hereditary eye disorders, severe epilepsy, dementia... compulsive gambling, PTSD, transvestism, and transgenderism? Oh dears.(Official Russian Gov Doc with ICD-10 references can be found at http://government.ru/media/files/A5X9GSAYrpA.pdf) Charlie Hebdo: What do you do after much of your staff is murdered on the job? Cease publication? Suspend operations temporarily? How about publish next week's issue on schedule and print over 20 times the standard run. Judge overturns California ban on pâté de foie gras. Receiving food stamps objectively boost academic performance and IQ in children compared to children living in poverty who don't receive assistance. Filipinos may lose bladder and bowel control during Papal visit. Plop open some vials of penicillin and gulp it down in celebration! We need space for our new antibiotic, defeating all tested mutants of Staphylococcus aureus and Mycobacterium tuberculosis! Another stupendous victory for Gamergate! Intel announces a $300 million diversity initiative, directly inspired by Gamergate fooling them into pulling an ad campaign. And Anita Sarkeesian and Feminist Frequency are directly involved. (Gamergate are evidently deep cover cultural Marxists.) NAACP office bombed in Colorado Spring, no deaths or injuries to be reported. Charlie Hebdo's Paris office was attacked by Islamists, 12 people dead. UPDATE: The shooters have reportedly been identified; one has reportedly turned himself into the police, claiming he was not in Paris the day of the shooting. British farmer forced to turn murderous Nazi cows into sausages. A story that gives HuffPo a chance to talk about Streisand effect: At a recent county council meeting in Frederick County, Maryland, councilman Kirby Delauter [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/06/kirby-delauter-name-reporters_n_6424252.html got upset at the local newspaper for publishing the name Kirby Delauter without first getting the permission of Kirby Delauter to publish the name Kirby Delauter in the paper. Aw, that Kirby Delauter. He's such a Kirby Delauter.] Update: Mr Delauter realises what a huge dick he was being and properly apologises. Mommy Dearest Phylis Schlafly says college women are being raped because they go to college, duh. South Carolina legislators file bills to teach gun rights in school, with help from the NRA on defining just what those rights include. Problem: People keep robbing stores. Solution: Ban guns. Ban hoodies everywhere in Oklahoma’s public! [http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jan/04/pittsburgh-police-chief-end-white-violence-photo-angry-officers?CMP=share_btn_tw Three cheers for Pittsburgh Police Chief Cameron McLay! ...And three more jeers for the Fraternal Order of Police.] The dumbest man in in Congress believes [[global warming] will lead to more plants.] For context, the decrease in plant biomass from deforestation is one of the primary anthropogenic causes of global warming. The dumbest man in in Congress wants John Boehner's job. John Boehner - Scalise's 10-year association with KKK Grand Wizard was an "error in judgement," but GOP top brass are happy to have the totally-not-a-white-supremacist as their majority whip. Randy Andy has allegedly gone way beyond the Koo-ee I'm Stark-ers stage. We don't know the truth but court cases are pending and there may be a book. This will run and run. The Queen is not amused. Researchers find the ancient genetic link between fish fins and animal hands. You just can't start early enough to find out potential terrorists. Evolutionism goes on beyond zebra mere Darwinism! (actual title far more inflammatory) “Under certain conditions, matter inexorably acquires the key physical attribute associated with life” In the past 24 hours, Bitcoin has dropped from US$310 to US$260. Follow the carnage live on Coindesk! Update: Bitstamp? Aaaand it's gone. What an amazing coincidence they got hacked the day after a price crash! It turns out that, even in terms of revealed preferences, Uber-style price gouging means the free market doesn't trust you after you burnt them once. "Just the way she goes sometimes". Actually 2/3 times, apparently. Recent studies suggest that about 2/3 forms of cancer are not preventable, so sit back, crack open a beer, and let the chips fall where they may. The Bible - so misunderstood it is a sin. Pull up the deck chairs, get a beer, let's watch the fun....right on time! Sony tries to use the DMCA to suppress people reposting leaked documents detailing their financial malfeasance. We're sure that will work just fine. Starting off the New Year, the man who helped inspire Viagra and the creator of the "Periodic Table Videos" have been knighted.