RationalWiki:What is going on in the world?/0002


 * It's been only a couple of months since Larry Craig's rise to infamy. You'd think that guys like this would be more careful.  Here's more from his hometown paper.
 * In Memoriam: Really Old Clam. b. 1602ish, d. 2007.  Motto: Live Fast, Die Young.  Only in death did we discover your incredible age, and realize how much you'd be missed... sort of a Schrödinger's Clam?
 * It's evolutionary theory's fault that Jeffrey Dahmer killed people.
 * Dog shoots man. Will the NRA pitch up in Iowa to support the dog's right to bear arms? If Mr Harris had been packing more firepower, could the tragedy have been averted?
 * Compassionate conservativism!
 * A more reasonable look at Harry Potter master wizard Dumbledore's homosexuality notes how well this new revelation actually fits with the main lesson of the Harry Potter series: that difference is, and ought to be a source of strength, and that the truest evil is that which denies and subordinates the misfits of the world.
 * Dinesh D'Souza's new book claims that Galileo wasn't treated that badly by the church, the Inquisition didn't really affect Jews and Muslims, and that Christianity is the only true religion. I know what I'm getting Andy for Christmas.
 * End times for evangelical conservatism? Cry me a river.
 * Racism in modern America: the Jena Six. If the story presented in the video isn't horrifying enough, look at the comments to it, then laugh at them.  But, most importantly, remember that racism is still a present force in America that all just individuals must fight.
 * Creationist sites like Darwinismrefuted.com and Evolution-facts.org like to quote mine a 1955 paper by Homer Jacobson to justify their position. The result?  Jacobson retracted the paper.
 * Oregon State University employs the self-proclaimed (i.e., unofficial) state climatolgist who is also a global warming skeptic. In response, Oregon Public Broadcasting made this documentary about local climatologists and TV weather reporters who are skeptics of and/or ignore global warming.  OPB also has a permanent discussion page on this subject.
 * Extreme right-wing "news" site WorldNetDaily has been voted the most popular site on the internet every week for two years! The source? Well, WorldNetDaily of course! Where did they get this "figures"? From a site that doesn't seem to exist. Also, WorldNetDaily is apparently one of the internet's "stickiest" sites.  Ewww....
 * JK Rowling didn't out Dumbledore because she had planned it all along; she succumbed to pressure put on her by the homosexualists!
 * The Earth is 6010 years old, as of October 23rd! How do "scientists" know the Earth was created on October 23, 4004 B.C.E.?  Well, thanks to the marvels of 1600s-era "science"!
 * In a move sure to annoy the government of Turkey, George W. Bush has condemned the Armenian Genocide in no uncertain terms.... almost 8 years ago. Think he's going to flip-flop?
 * After apparent "hysterics," Sen. Vitter (R, LA) diverts $100,000 he had earmarked to a pro-creation education group. It's not hysterics, it's sanity!
 * Good news: Many anti-global warming scientists have accepted that global warming is real.  Bad news:  Many of them still claim that it isn't mankind's fault.  Worse news:  Many of them now parrot the claims from Ben Stein's movie Expelled that their colleagues harass them for not accepting mankind's role in the problem.  And as long as John Stossel has his "Give Me a Break" reports on 20/20, they'll have a ready-made forum to broadcast such claims.  (No, John.  Give us a break.)
 * When Rush Limbaugh calls soldiers names, or questions their patriotism, that's okay, and to suggest otherwise is foolish (clearly!). But oooooooh buddy if a liberal does it... hell hath no fury.


 * Romney panders to the religious right by decrying the secular America. After all, nothing brings a country at war together faster than demonizing a harmless minority.  Keep up the good work, Romney - you're on track to fill Bush's shoes nicely.
 * More parents are opting out of vaccinating their children, claiming false religious exemptions. In the words of Lance Rodewald of the CDC, "When you choose not to get a vaccine, you’re not just making a choice for yourself, you’re making a choice for the person sitting next to you."
 * In a blow to Republicans who don't "believe in evolution", Sam Brownback is apparently soon to drop out of the race.
 * Remember, boys and girls, eminent scientists can be massive tools, too. How long until we see this described as an indictment of all science? UPDATE...like this.
 * Conservapedia and Americans For Truth About Homosexuality. A match made in Hell.
 * No global warming? Until the mid-1970s, few West Coast wines were produced north of the Napa Valley.  Now Oregon's Willamette Valley is one of the largest wine-producing areas in the West.  But maybe not for long.  Continued warming may force wine producers to move farther north to British Columbia, whose climate was inhospitable to many varieties of grapevines back in the mid-1970s.  (1) Bloomberg article;  (2) Slate.com article;  (3) USA Today article.
 * Y'all ain't gonna claim that the the worst drought in the recorded history of Dixie is caused by your mythologization of "global warming," are ya?
 * In a particularly insane article, an ex-editor of CreationWiki claims that the reason that "evolutionists" win debates is that they have sneaky underhanded tactics... like always having a good answer ready, even right after creationists post their answers! How devious!  This from the editor of an apparently prestigious creationist website.  Also, a word to the wise creationist - only suppression of free speech allows young earth creationism to blossom!
 * Ann Coulter: victim..."Frankly, I don’t see Ann Coulter in this interview as being anti-Semitic as much as Deutsch being anti-Christian."
 * Guns don't kill people - feminism and quirky classes kill people! How can we prove this?  I know, let's capitalize on tragedy!
 * Homeopathic medicine is so effective that homeopathic physicians have to sue their critics to maintain their credibility.
 * Bananas are an atheist's nightmare because they are clearly designed to be shaped for the human hand, shaped for the human mouth, curved towards the face to make eating process easy, etc. Also good for testing condoms. (The fact that modern bananas are the result of REAL Intelligent Design (selective breeding) is never mentioned by these guys.)
 * Jews are, after all, just failed Christians. What's the difference between Ann Coulter and the Ku Klux Klan?  Well, not so much.
 * Dear Prudie: My daughter cries because my ex-wife's church has convinced her that I'm going to Hell because I don't believe in God.
 * Scandals are brewing at Oral Roberts U.--everything from the usual massive financial malfeasance we all expect from televangelists to Mrs. Roberts sending entirely too many text messages to "Underage Males".  This could get interesting...
 * At Missouri State University, the second largest religious group is now the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster..
 * A species of bumblebee that was common just five years ago has disappeared and may be extinct. It happened so suddenly that entomologists had no time to fill out the paperwork nominating the species for endangered species status.  Of course, these things happen.  After all, environmental degradation is all just a myth, right?
 * An "article" in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons is being used to justify a petition urging the American government to reject the Kyoto Protocols on global warming.
 * The evangelical movement is losing strength and the heart of the current presidential prospects. Hallelujah!  Also, some good commentary on why it's absurd to say that America is a "Christian nation."
 * Headline: "Coulter Culture - Ann Blames Clinton, Carter for 9/11 and Dreams of Denying Women the Vote."  Nuff said.
 * Hillary Clinton would stop the War on Science... at least someone else has noticed it.
 * 4 October 2007: At the tenth anniversary soire for MSNBC's Hardball, Chris Matthews told the audience that the White House has pressured MSNBC to tone down any criticism of the Bush Administration. (Funny thing is, you can't find this story on any news outlet websites.)
 * California tries to prevent creation biology classes from counting as science credit for state colleges, but Michael Behe to the rescue! We should have an article about this...
 * Americans now live in a country where a man's choice of lapel pin is a "newsworthy" item.
 * If a U.S. combat unit is deployed for 730 days (2 years), its members are eligible for Montgomery G.I. Bill "Chapter 30" benefits, which they may use for up to ten years after leaving the service. If combat deployment lasts 729 or fewer days, the unit's members are eligible for "Chapter 1607" benefits, which have a lower dollar value and which the unit's members may only use while they are still in the military.  The Minnesota National Guard's 1/34th Brigade Combat Team recently completed the longest deployment of any unit to serve in the "War on Terror."  Guess how many days they were deployed when the Pentagon sent them home.
 * According to White House press secretary Dana Perino: "As I understand it, under the Geneva Conventions, every country was supposed to interpret it for themselves, and now we have."  Good lord!  Even the Nazis followed the Geneva Conventions!
 * Did you know the continents didn't separate because of plate tectonics? Actually, it's because the Earth is getting bigger.  Just ask Neal Adams, he has a firm background in geology, from his career drawing superheroes.
 * Why fun holidays and paranoia about evil invisible monsters don't mix: the annual Fundamentalist ranting about Halloween has begun.
 * Many people were surprised when perpetual party girl Jenna Bush recently visited South America on behalf of UNICEF. Now some wonder if her visit wasn't just a cover story for her visit to the100,000 acre (40,500 hectare) parcel in Paraguay that her family has allegedly purchased.
 * Amen! Bush vetoed the expansion to the State Children's Health Insurance Program! Now four million more kids can buy the health insurance that they can't afford!
 * See what happens when you let a Conservative Christian organization run a broadcasting company...
 * Will the rainbow colored school bus take our kids to the land of diversity? This is so stupid its not even funny.
 * English schools drop subjects like the Holocaust and the Crusades, for fear of offending some religious groups (?). Let it never be said that RationalWiki does not fight irrational policies from both sides of the spectrum.
 * This little diatribe is one reason why science and religion are often at each other's necks.
 * The Supreme Court has declined the opportunity to review (legally, denied certiorari) to two religious institutions who sought to push the line of church and state more towards "church."
 * Get paid $125,000 for showing that "humans are causing harmful global warming." Unfortunately, "JunkScience.com reserves the exclusive right to determine the meaning and application of such concepts and terms in order to facilitate the purpose of the contest" and "JunkScience.com, in its sole discretion, will determine the winner, if any, from UGWC entries. All determinations made by JunkScience.com are final."
 * For an amusing list of what (ahem) Some People write, look here.
 * Eight months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hollywood started releasing big-budget World War II films. Today, five years after invading Iraq, Hollywood and the media still wonder "Are we ready to see fictional treatments of a war that is still daily claiming lives and dominating the political landscape?"  Amazing.  Truly amazing.
 * Oh, those docile, subservient Muslim women! Muslim men are allowed to take up to four wives.  When a Saudi man told his two wives that he was actively looking for a third, they attacked him and he lost part of his nose in the scuffle.  (Some reports claim that one of the wives bit it off, while others say it was chopped off.)
 * Behold! A model Bill of Rights for the Dominionist wingnut crowd.
 * America might need another kick in the pants, as education (and specifically science education) falls behind.
 * Engaging in homosexual acts is more immoral than taking of a life according to General Peter Pace. "And that is, very simply, that we should respect those who want to serve the nation but not through the law of the land, condone activity that, in my upbringing, is counter to God's law."  Another example of the hypocrisy that is the conservative mind.
 * Ben Stein's movie Expelled had to use a different name, a different director, and a different premise to convince scientists to be filmed for his movie. Once their parts were filmed, they were taken out of context, and everything about the movie was changed... it suddenly became about intelligent design, which the New York Times calls "a cousin of creationism."  Is this bait & switch an example of conservative deceit?
 * What better way to honor the dead of Columbine than by turning their monument into a political statement... Well, when you're the head of Colorado Right to Life, you lose interest after they're born.
 * A.J. Jacobs read the Encyclopedia Britannica in a year, then wrote a book about it titled The Know-It-All. What crazy thing did he do next?  Hint:  His next book is titled The Year of Living Biblically.  (Due 9 October.)
 * Velociraptors had feathers with intermediate uses. Another blow to irreducible complexity, and yet another example of transitional forms.
 * Flat earthers get a plug on national television! When Barbara Walters looks like the resident intellectual you know you have a problem!
 * Newsweek article: Man sets up spoof website allowing people to sell their teenaged daughters to "followers of 'the Biblical tradition' of arranged marriages."  Site receives many hate messages, and many real -- and "creepy" -- proposals.
 * Nebraska state senator sues God. So far, no comment from the Divine One.  (Love the placement of the fan in that photo.)
 * Indian politicians are up in arms over a proposed canal which would damage a shoal between India and Sri Lanka, because the shoal was built by a god and his army of monkeys
 * A Medford, Oregon schoolteacher (and NRA member) with a psycho/stalker ex-husband wants to carry a concealed handgun at work. Conservative talker Lars Larson, quote mining from Luke 22:36, says the school district is wrong to deny her request because it's Jesus' will that she carry a gun at school.  (Oregonian columnist Steve Duin rebuts Larson.)
 * Value voters debate! Alright!  Time for a bunch of elderly white men to define American morality for us.  See our article for hilarity.
 * "Jesus, Dinosaurs and More" Were dinosaurs in the Bible?  You betcha they were!
 * Are gods mythological figures? Apparently, the answer may ruin your career. (Proof that you don't need to be monotheistic to be a religious whacko, in case anyone was wondering.)
 * Good news for humanity: if we can refrain from killing ourselves, our planet will probably be around for another 5 billion years. Here's hoping.
 * The Simpsons takes on creationism. Lisa rocks, and Flanders is ...special.
 * No kill shelters and spaying and neutering your pets is an offense to Texas, will prevent American troops from winning in Iraq, and is also offense to God, since God created the animals with the right to reproduce. Just ask these losers.
 * How can you tell that the Earth is fixed and that the Sun, Moon, and stars circle around it? Just look!  Stare at those time-exposure photographs showing the stars moving in circular tracks.  Keep staring at those pictures until it becomes clear to you.  The camera doesn't lie.
 * Why were so many African-Americans stranded in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina? Because of their "moral poverty!"  Apparently, on Planet Conservative, expecting the government to actually do its job is a sign of depravity.  Michael Williams, the Texas state railroad commissioner, has had this bit on his website since 30 September 2005.  In case you haven't guessed, Dubya appointed him to his current post.  Oh, and he's an African-American himself.
 * Not only an anti-evolution article, but a really bad one at that.
 * Compare this girl to Ann Coulter, and then, vote Democrat. The girls are way hotter on our side. Some more confirmation.
 * Southern Baptist pastor Wiley Coyote Drake used his church's letterhead to endorse Mike Huckabee for President. Americans United (AU) filed a grievance with the IRS.  The far Right wing Reverend Drake then called on all "good" Christians to say imprecatory (cursing) prayers -- like the one in Psalms 109 -- calling on God to kill the people at AU.  Ah, yes, God truly is love.
 * Two thirds of the world's polar bears will die by 2050, thanks to shrinking summer sea ice. Luckily global warming is a liberal myth.
 * Mitt Romney has a rather cryptic position on gay rights. Try to sort out the conservative  [[deceit ]] from the truth.
 * Why do so many dinosaur fossils have their necks arched backwards? Why, because they were drowning in the Flood, and trying to breathe!  It's all so obvious! (See the July 6 item, 2/3rd's of the way down.)
 * One of your airline's two Boeing 757s is on the fritz. Do you trust your mechanics to fix them?  Not if you're Nepal Airlines!  You call in a Hindu priest.  What'll he do?  Sacrifice goats on the tarmac in front of the 757 to appease the sky god Akash Bhairab!  Reuters  USA Today  News 24 (South Africa)