RationalWiki:What is going on in the world?/August 2008

August 2008
Barack Obama answers a set of questions from science and engineering groups. McCain's response is still awaited. Sarah Palin's Wikipedia entry gets whitewashed - before the big announcement! Quoted on Dawkins Net The original article shows dung beetles evolving now. Pat Buchanan praises Obama's nomination speech, causing everything from pigs flying to Hell freezing over to occur. John McCain picks Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, as his running mate. Expect an increase in "mooseburger" jokes. According to a John McCain adviser, "everyone in the U.S. has some health coverage" - because emergency rooms are the best place to get preventative care, a physical, advice on how to lose weight...? Need to know where (magnetic) north is? Then align yourself with a cow. An outbreak of listeria kills 15 and hospitalizes another 14 in Canada. For his part, Health Minister Tony Clement thinks that's hilarious, while PETA uses it to jump start their Eat meat and die! campaign. Times are tough all over. Even the price of rat meat has quadrupled. CERN announces the end of the world. September, 10th, 2008. Live webcast here. Well okay they aren't colliding the beams yet, so we have another month to live. The Christian Right's Got a New Stealth Tactic to Smuggle Creationism into Science Class (Christian Science Monitor: August 27, 2008) Hattip Fark.com If the GOP has given McCain priority over some of their favorite topics like oil-drilling in Alaska and denying citizenship to the U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants then you can tell how desperate they are. The Obama assassination threats (big page) have begun. In Sweden schools can't say religion is true. Scandinavia 1 Rest of world 0 LPGA to South Korean players: rearn Engrish! Kansas commentators enthusiastically support the move. In Arkansas an initiative to ban adoption outside of marriage is on the ballot. But we're sure the kids would rather not have parents than have two daddies. Or a mommy and a daddy without a magic piece of paper. <vote poll=world205 closed="yes">Physicists announce that they can reverse the Casimir force producing levitation. <vote poll=world204 closed="yes">Australia's Northern Territory is under attack by not just one UFO, but several. Take cover! <vote poll=world203 closed="yes">[http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080825/wl_nm/britain_thatcher_dc Margaret Thatcher? Crazy?] Who would have guessed?! (Also in WIGO CP) <vote poll=world202 closed="yes">Ah, the maturity of American Voters. Meet Puma, a new political non-party that serves as an outlet for Hillary supporters to bitch about how they had the election stolen from them. (PUMA is an acronym for "Party Unity, My Ass".) Read more about their craziness here. <vote poll=world201 closed="yes">Did dinosaurs help build the pyramids? <vote poll=world200 closed="yes">Joseph Biden announced as Barack Obama's choice as running mate. <vote poll=world199 closed="yes">A set of high quality photos of Barack Obama's birth certificate are released. Is this finally going to shut up the internet cranks (and Fox News)? <vote poll=world198 closed="yes">A report was released about the cause of WTC tower 7's collapse. No controlled demolition, but rather broken water mains. The 9/11 conspiracy kooks are not impressed by mere "science." <vote poll=world197 closed="yes">The Republican National Committee has recommended not seating any of the Nevada delegates. Two warring slates of delegates have been proposed - one by the state chair, another by a group of Ron Paul supporters who hijacked the state convention. <vote poll=world196 closed="yes">A man faces losing everything because he's on the US government's unspecified "watchlist". Kind of sucks for an American citizen with a 13-year military career who happened to convert to Islam <vote poll=world195 closed="yes">Troops may leave Iraq by 2012. <vote poll=world194 closed="yes">Two hot topics combined into one: sex and the Olympics <vote poll=world193 closed="yes">So, John McCain, how many houses do you own? "I've lost count, but I'll have one of my staff tell you." <vote poll=world192 closed="yes">After a lesbian high school student complained to the principal about harrassment he reported her to her parents, suspended students who protested, and caused the school district $325,000 in legal fees. Yet the small Christian community still supports him <vote poll=world191 closed="yes"> How many goats are you worth? Find out! <vote poll=world190 closed="yes">The IOC finally opens a formal investigation into possible probable cheating from the Chinese gymnastics team <vote poll=world189 closed="yes">Darwin gets airtime <vote poll=world188 closed="yes">Two also-rans for the Republican presidential nominee plan to gatecrash the DNC. Whether this is hilarious, sad or just plain annoying is up to you. <vote poll=world187 closed="yes">A preacher from Australia's growing evangelical movement admits he lied to his congregation, friends and family about having cancer - which he had previously claimed gave him divine inspiration to write his hit song. <vote poll=world186 closed="yes">Re-education in China for applying to protest at the Olympics. <vote poll=world185 closed="yes">In American schools, minority and disabled students are more likely to be spanked than white non-disabled students. <vote poll=world184 closed="yes">Toddler starved to death by religious cult because he wouldn't say amen. <vote poll=world183 closed="yes">A Texas school district allows its teachers to carry guns. <vote poll=world182 closed="yes"> You wait decades for a cryptid, then all of sudden two of them come along at once. <vote poll=world181 closed="yes"> Thank God for low petrol prices! <vote poll=world180 closed="yes">James Hoyt, the last surviving of the four initial U.S. soldiers to discover Buchenwald, died this week. <vote poll=world179 closed="yes">Virginia town holds "Sheep and Goat Olympics" - gives a whole new meaning to an awkward dismount <vote poll=world178 closed="yes">Obama and McCain to appear Aug. 16th in evangelical forum at the Saddleback Church in California. <vote poll=world177 closed="yes">On a lighter note - Scottish penguin receives Norwegian military honours. <vote poll=world176 closed="yes">Bad news for journalists which doesn't help anyone interested in the truth. <vote poll=world175 closed="yes">McCain shows his mettle in defending Georgia. Perhaps Fox News is on to something this time? <vote poll=world174 closed="yes">Gunman shoots and kills Arkansas Democratic chairman. <vote poll=world173 closed="yes">Iraq may have a budget surplus of $79 billion by the end of the year. Wait, WHAT THE FUCK?! Content Warning: This is an editorial by Christopher Hitchens, you might not like it, but if you try arguing with him it'll make your head asplode <vote poll=world172 closed="yes">Attorney General Mukasey won't file charges against people that politicized the Department of Justice. Wow, big surprise there... New York Times. August 12, 2008 <vote poll=world171 closed="yes">Federal court rejects lawsuit trying to force University of California schools to accept creationist and ahistorical Christian fundamentalism classes as college credit. And more: the application for a teaching position at the rejected hallowed halls of learning (this takes a while to download). Of particular note: Page 11: "Briefly give your Christian testimony." Page 15: "What is your philosophy of discipline? Your attitude toward physical punishment?" Page 16: "What do you believe about the origin of the earth and mankind?" <vote poll=world170 closed="yes"> Suggesting your opponent either has the support of god, or is the anti-Christ might just show how desperate you really are. The ad <vote poll=world169 closed="yes">The invisible hand of polygamy? <vote poll=world168 closed="yes">Police in Maryland raid the mayor's home, killing his two dogs in the process. His crime? He saw a package on his front porch addressed to his wife and carried it inside. Or is that the whole story?'' <vote poll=world167 closed="yes">Bush might be the first U.S. president to go abroad for the Olympics, but we doubt that's going to overshadow all the other wonderful acts he's (in)famous for. <vote poll=world166 closed="yes">Leader of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Rowan Williams, says that "an active sexual relationship between two people of the same sex might therefore reflect the love of God in a way comparable to marriage, and expressed that he hoped the church might change its stance on homosexuality. <vote poll=world165 closed="yes">Remember the McCain ad that compared Barack Obama to Paris Hilton? Well, Paris Hilton replies.  We can now add "Making Paris Hilton look smart by comparison" to McCain's list of accomplishments. <vote poll=world164 closed="yes">Nebraska State Senator sues God, in an effort to have Him cease making "terroristic threats".  (He's apparently doing it to make a point about frivolous lawsuits, but it's still funny.) <vote poll=world163 closed="yes">War on Terror(TM): New "fake-proof" electronic passports can be easily faked. Back to square one... <vote poll=world162 closed="yes">Catholic Italy tops the wife-swapping league <vote poll=world161 closed="yes">International treaties don't apply in Texas if they get in the way of an execution.

<vote poll=world159 closed="yes">Preacher by day, killer, rapist, sodomist and child abuser also by day. - according to charges. <vote poll=world158 closed="yes">Supporting continuing gas and oil production in Alaska over protecting a threatened species of bear. Seems fair, doesn't it? <vote poll=world157 closed="yes">Another reason to hate the Olympics - it's making work hard for Chinese prostitutes and strippers <Vote Poll=world156 closed="yes">A police officer in Ohio has been acquitted in the shooting death of an unarmed woman holding a baby Hmmm, white officer, black woman, all white jury in a predominently white state.... Why does this not surprise me? <vote poll=world155 closed="yes">Tired of waiting in line for airport security checks? Get the Clear Card, and fly through those checkpoints! <vote poll=world154 closed="yes"> Need an urgent operation? Of course you can have it, but only if you spy for us. <vote poll=world153 closed="yes"> The Church of England welcomes peoples of all nations and colours. But not liberals. <vote poll=world152 closed="yes"> Move over, Muslim extremists; here come the wine terrorists!