RationalWiki:What is going on in the blogosphere?/June 2013

June 2013
How one guy realised the sheer levels of misogyny within gaming: logging in under his wife's gamer tag. Jimmy Carter tells an audience at the Mobilizing Faith for Women conference that the world's religious leaders need to share the blame for their part in the continued mistreatment of women. British Columbia introduced the first revenue-neutral carbon tax in North America four years ago. Guess the results.

How the cell strain of an aborted fetus has saved the lives of millions. Yo, fuck Marat. NMAtv's take on the Wendy Davis filibuster. With dinosaurs. In celebration of the Supreme Court striking down a chunk of the Voting Rights Act, try your hand at this fair and simple literacy test given to black voters in 1960s Louisiana. Is there any need to learn the 12 times table? How things change... ArsTechnica reveals Edward Snowden's past as a goldbug gun nut who thought leakers should be "shot in the balls." Whoops. A 30 Second Guide to How the Gay Marriage Ruling Affects You. UPDATE: A similar list from HuffPo. How to stop the coming redneck uprising following the VRA decision: automatic voting? Potential treatment/prevention for people who happen to validate Salem Hypothesis. A ridiculous claim, substantiated by nothing more than facts. Using the Tabarrok Curve, Tim Worstall explains the problem of too much patent strength. Oh, those whacky red states. Some of them are crafting "federal nullification laws" that they think will empower them to arrest federal agents trying to enforce federal laws within their borders. Sounds like some legislators have been reading the "Citizen's Rule Book" in their spare time. Do not tempt the Darwin Awards, Nenshi. <vote poll=blog3101 closed="yes">[http://www.cracked.com/article_20474_5-shockingly-progressive-ideas-from-primitive-cultures.html? 5 Shockingly Progressive Ideas from 'Primitive' Cultures.] (Monks have some explaining to do.)

<vote poll=blog3099 closed="yes">How Turner Barr got fired from a job he invented. <vote poll=blog3098 closed="yes">Here's some ethical oil at work. <vote poll=blog3088 closed="yes">In 2011, marijuana accounted for 89 percent of all US drug seizure cases (cocaine was second at 7.4 percent), and 99.5 percent of seizures by weight. <vote poll=blog3087 closed="yes">Obama pulls a "Pants on Fire." <vote poll=blog3086 closed="yes">This is how one should respond to cease-and-desist trolls. <vote poll=blog3085 closed="yes">"This extraordinary creature is called the David Attenborough." The rest of Bird and Moon is also worth checking out.

<vote poll=blog3083 closed="yes">Richard Dawkins. GMO. Here combined into one story about the anti-science beliefs of Prince Charles <vote poll=blog3082 closed="yes">"When a Doctor Wields a Bible: The Alarming Rise of Catholic Hospitals." For several years, Catholic hospital corporations have taken over many formerly secular hospitals across America. In addition to seeking a greater profit margin, they also are seeking to impose their sense of morality on women's healthcare. <vote poll=blog3081 closed="yes">It's not a Godwin if you can actually make a link to the You-Know-Whos. "Legitimate rape" and other instances of rape apologetics by the GOP seem to have originated with a 1972 essay by an obstetrician who cited a concentration camp study where many (but not all) women who were told they were going to the gas chamber and then allowed to live missed their next ovulation cycle. That essay was recently republished in a book by Americans United for Life. <vote poll=blog3080 closed="yes">A new horror novel set for release on July 1st tells the alternate history story of what might have happened following a McCain-Palin victory and the subsequent death of President McCain. <vote poll=blog3079 closed="yes">"That awkward moment when the primitive tribe you have come to convert to Christianity, instead converts you to atheism." <vote poll=blog3078 closed="yes">GM feed harmful to pigs? Nope. The real story: anti-GMO activists harmful to pigs. <vote poll=blog3077 closed="yes">The Right's legislative war on women continues with another round of Shit Republican Men Say (about women's health issues). <vote poll=blog3076 closed="yes">American right wing politicians on the issue of safety vs. right to privacy: [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/12/nsa-senators_n_3428074.html?ref=topbar Regarding background checks on guns, the right to privacy is more important than the anticipated safety that the checks will bring. On NSA snooping, the anticipated safety that the snooping will bring is more important than the right to privacy.] <vote poll=blog3075 closed="yes">"Here's a picture of my dick!" "I'm telling your mum!" <vote poll=blog3074 closed="yes">Yesterday's (already disastrous) Microsoft E3 conference is raising even more questions: Rape joke or no rape joke? <vote poll=blog3073 closed="yes">Another intriguing factoid from the NSA fiasco: Germany is apparently more dangerous to warrant spying on than the Ruskies. <vote poll=blog3072 closed="yes">A Turkish game show host pulls a V for Vendetta amidst the media blackout. <vote poll=blog3071 closed="yes">Scientists to Lamar Smith: your previous op-ed is regurgitating political talking points, and none of the implied conclusions is accurate. <vote poll=blog3070 closed="yes">Why we should resist any northward spread of PRISM. <vote poll=blog3069 closed="yes">More proof that the pro-life movement is doing the exact opposite of what it wants to achieve. <vote poll=blog3068 closed="yes">Three professors of religious studies and history from Iowa have written an op-ed for the state's largest newspaper knocking down the appeal to biblical tradition that marriage has always been "one man, one woman." <vote poll=blog3067 closed="yes">Competition is fierce indeed. <vote poll=blog3066 closed="yes">The Crazification Factor to be put on the test again in Virginia. <vote poll=blog3065 closed="yes">"The senior Obama administration official quoted in The Times said the executive branch internally reviews surveillance programs to ensure that they 'comply with the Constitution and laws of the United States and appropriately protect privacy and civil liberties.' That’s no longer good enough." (Also, check out Sensenbrenner calling his own act un-American.) <vote poll=blog3064 closed="yes">"The Right to Evade Regulation: How corporations hijacked the First Amendment" <vote poll=blog3063 closed="yes">[http://www.economist.com/blogs/americasview/2013/06/canadas-prime-minister Teflon? No. At least Reagan had charisma.] <vote poll=blog3062 closed="yes">Ten US states try to force evolution denialism upon their public school students. Failed in nine of those states. <vote poll=blog3061 closed="yes">"Sir! Sir! Our campaign is falling apart at the seams!" "Was it my 47% comment?" "No. Gmail." <vote poll=blog3060 closed="yes">Have one and a half million adults in the UK “stumbled across” online child porn? No, the Internet Watch Foundation are still lying liars who lie. <vote poll=blog3059 closed="yes">Meanwhile in Turkey... Update: <vote poll=blog3058 closed="yes">The best argument for universal health care in the USA: It's the colonoscopies, stupid!