RationalWiki:What is going on in the world?/August 2014

August 2014
Well, what do you know? Putin is viewing the Ukraine crisis like American conservatives viewed the situation in Iraq. "Bible Belt leads the nation in consumption of gay porn." The joke writes itself. Texas: Axe the tax and let the National Guard visit the food bank. Fox News host wants Putin as president to get things 'done right'Not the Onion A kid tries to come out as gay. His family is less than understanding. Watch the video only if you want to feel depressed. The last couple of minutes are particularly painful. You can help him live without the bigots here if you feel moved enough. Conservative 7th Circuit Judge smacks down the arguments against gay marriage one by one. [http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/28/us-ukraine-crisis-idUSKBN0GS10C20140828 Well, so much for subtlety on Russia's part. Reports suggest that Russian troops are now directly aiding the separatists] Libya is back in clusterfuck mode. In Omaha, Nebraska man committing robbery with airsoft gun fires twice at police. Popular TV "documentary" Cops sound technician dies in torrent of return fire. Blue Brotherhood claims airsoft guns sound real Silicon Valley technolibertarianism and startup culture have your best interests at heart. About SLOG, Uber's program for lying to customers and fraudulently sabotaging competitors. Creative disruption! Westboro Baptist Church decides to visit Iraq to protest ISIS won't be going anywhere after all. Australian comedian offers to pay for trip, changes his mind and donates $100,000 to charity (in Robin Williams' name) instead. Ohio considers a law that will "prohibit political or religious interpretation of scientific facts in favor of another". Think it might be about Global Climate Change and Intelligent Design...? Said law will also de-emphasize teaching of the "scientific process". [http://www.fox5vegas.com/story/26366694/police-gun-instructor-killed-after-shooting-by-girl 9-Year Old Girl Learns to Fire Fully Automatic Uzi at Arizona Shooting Range. What could possibly go wrong?] The heartbreaking dark side of when respected academic journals get bought: The formerly respectable journal Experimental & Clinical Cardiology will print any bullcrap you send them for $1,200. Straight from the wire in Cairo: Israel and Hamas reach another truce. Meanwhile in Oakland, Palestinian supporters are blocking an Israeli commercial ship from entering the port. Vermont plans to scale down the War on Drugs. They also plan to implement a single-payer healthcare system by 2017. We could say they're the liberal's version of Texas. Video of now-suspended St. Louis County police officer telling attendees of an Oath Keepers meeting that (a) victims of domestic violence should save the cops time and commit murder/suicide; and (b) his faith in Jesus makes him a killer who has no qualms about it because "God did not raise me to be a coward." Probably one of the reasons why most religions discourage drinking alcohol. Stefan Molyneux's opposition to copyright law is firm and principled! Except when using said form of state violence to send fraudulent DMCA notices to get criticism taken down. Two of the top remaining Khmer Rouge leaders are found guilty of crimes against humanity. Two Galileo satellites were shot into a wrong orbit. Official New Zealand Govt assessment:"No health risk from Fluoride". Anti-fluoride wackos started making excuses a while ago. Ebola cured in 2 American health workers. Recovered Doctor calls it a miracle, thanks God, asks for prayers for Africa, doesn't seem to remember that there was some science involved. [http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/cop-pointing-rifle-at-ferguson-protestors-i-will-fuck-1624463375/+robharvilla Cop waves rifle at Ferguson protestors and threatens to kill them. Has been removed from duty.] Fidel Castro's niece and Raúl Castro's daughter, Mariela Castro, becomes the first Cuban MP ever to find out that they can vote with 'no' in parliament. What was the issue? A law against "workplace discrimination based on gender, race and sexual orentation", which she perceived as not broad enough. Who wants solarbroiled birds for breakfast/lunch? The rootin', tootin', cowboy Rick Perry turns himself in. Black man is shot to death by cops near Ferguson, appears to be a suicide by cop Ebola clinic looted in Liberia. In other news, natural selection is working in Liberia. The US Government was trolling UFO nuts for decades. Hee! Pastafarian fights for his right to wear a colander on his head in driving licence photo. We're gonna miss you in 2016, Rick. (It's effectively Perry pulling a Cuomo, this time with a drunk-as-skunk DA. Interesting stuff.) So, how bad is it to be an African-American in Ferguson, Missouri? In 2009, the Ferguson PD arrested and (allegedly) beat a man inside the police station after finding out that they had arrested the wrong man. Then they charged him with "property damage" -- Translation: Bleeding on their uniforms after they beat him. How to end a riot? Get rid of the soldiered-up riot police. Ferguson gets worse: police assault and arrest reporters attempting to cover the events unfolding in the city. Additionally, a no-fly zone is established after a police helicopter is reportedly fired upon. Update: Collection of Tweets from military veterans reacting to the police response in Ferguson.

Are your kids bothering you to buy them the new Call of Duty game? Fly with them to a warzone like Gaza so they know what the Real Call of Duty is like. Sovereign citizen nutcase shoots at police. Amazingly, is not cut down in a hail of gunfire. ZOMG Skynet is upon us! The wife of a Texan anti-LGBT crusader left him... for a woman. Say hello to USB Type-C: It's symmetrical, so you won't be trying anymore to find the right orientation for plugging it in. Now that's a standard migration worth taking!

You know the joke about "good friends help you move bodies?" Seems Siri might just be that good friend. Or not. Hooray for the first woman to get a Fields medal! American police doing a great job this week to show that they don't have a racism problem. Update: And nobody should act surprised.

RIP Robin Williams. (Well, that didn't take long) Texas State Supreme Court to homeschooling fundies: You still have to educate your kids even if you think the rapture is imminent. Guy who thinks recorded history is literally a hoax fails to unseat alien abductee as president of the World Chess Federation. Ultracrepidarianism is a hell of a drug. The things you can do with an old Macca's restaurant and a 40 year old satellite that did not die! [http://edition.cnn.com/2014/08/10/world/meast/iraq-crisis/index.html?hpt=hp_t1 Several thousand Yazidis rescued, though not all. Obama: Air strikes will be 'long-term project'.] Update: Liability to the cause continues to be a liability to the cause. Rick Santorum predicted it. The CEO of a Missouri Baptist conference center tries to make it come true. Cops gun down Ohio man holding toy rifle in Walmart ‘like he was not even human’. (Bonus comment: "Second amendment patriotism if you're white with a REAL AR-15, execution on the spot if you're black with a pellet gun.") After two years, a documentary about vaccination, made by high school students and suppressed by anti-vaxx activists, has finally been released. Berlin Sinjar Airdrop. Update: And Obama will be the fourth POTUS in a row to bomb Iraq. @Armenia #ThisIsWar #MakeUMyBitch #BombsAway #Azerbaijan Vice (of all sites) goes where other man/woman fear to tread: woman in the Mens Right's Movement. Why do House Republicans fail to pass something so obviously in the country's best interest? Who knows. It certainly isn't racism. Uh-oh. Damn scientists have been proving evolution again. Comics artist uses DMCA to try to take down a blog that criticizes the way he draws women. Fortunately, rationality can take place once people talk to each other. Ukrainian crisis goes from "very concerning" to "ridiculous": As invasion fears increase, Russia effectively sanctions itself. A father finds out his 10-year-old daughter has been raped. So he does what any loving father would do - tortures her to death. Selective hearing God timely technical difficulties are essential to maintain foreign relations these days. A glimpse of hope for human decency in Alabama Apparently, God wants food to be cheaper if you pray before eating. Well, that ended quickly. (Experimental, hard-to-produce) Ebola cure fielded. And all it took was two Americans getting infected! (Warning, article is misleading) In the United States people who are openly atheist may be attacked, spat on, turned out of the family home, sent to Bible camp and forced to be religious. there's more. Benghazi: Well, that ended quickly? Senator James Inhofe (R-Exxon-Mobil) gets told off by a colleague about his Global warming denial. "I wonder if it occurs to Israel that Hamas fires from near UN schools because Hamas is trying to get Israel to do exactly what it's doing." Google uses technology to spot child pornography in your email without violating your privacy, then allowing authorities to use a warrant to get confirmation. ♫ Who ya gonna call, ♫ when yer Facebook's down? ♫ 911. Obama tries to defend torture.