RationalWiki:What is going on in the world?/March 2011

March 2011
Early, i.e. meaningless, polling on 2012 US Presidential election nevertheless shows Mike Huckabee level-pegging with Obama. Their headline? "Obama on the ropes!!!1" Uterus? Think of the children!!!

The Supreme Court fails at protecting citizens' rights yet again in a prosecutorial immunity case. A possible answer to the Pioneer Problem emerges - discovered using 1970s graphics techniques. According to Indiana State representative Eric Turner, abortion laws shouldn't have exceptions for victims of rape or incest, because then women will just claim they've been raped to get an abortion. FBI unveils wiretap tapes in the case of hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam and his connections with Goldman Sachs. Choice quote: "Oh dude, we're f-." A wingnut think-tank in Michigan, taking a leaf from Wisconsin Republicans' book, has filed a FOIA request for several professors' private e-mails. Members of the Triangle Freethought Society jump on the billboard bandwagon in an effort to gain acceptance. Fox News executive admits to lying repeatedly about Obama. Remember the "Chicken Littles" blowing the Japanese nuclear scare out of proportion? Radiation from Fukushima detected in Massachusetts rainwater. And now it's reached Scotland. SO WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!! The Simpsons get nuked in Germany. Just in case you didn't get the memo: GOP budget cuts are not about the deficit, waste, or red tape. In fact, none of the targeted programs are on the Government Accountability Office's list of "high-risk areas." Obama waffles on war powers and misrepresents NATO involvement. David Weigel: "There is a liberal campaign aimed at getting conservatives off the air, off the Huffington Post front page, off Fox News. It's as blatant as the conservative campaign to dismantle the liberal media." Fox News's Washington managing editor Bill Sammon: 'Before the election I went on the air and speculated that Barack Obama is a Socialist even though I did not believe that.' How's this for political correctness? The governor of Maine feels that murals depicting labor unions in the lobby of the Department of Labor are insensitive to business owners. <vote poll=world3017 closed="yes">China has recently seen a large surge in the number of scientific papers it produces. According to a Nottingham University professor of Contemporary Chinese Studies, the next step for Chinese scientists is actually to put something in the papers they publish. <vote poll=world3016 closed="yes">Donald Trump has been asking over and over again about Obama's birth certificate and released his own... only for it to turn out not to be a valid birth certificate! RationalWiki asks: what is Trump hiding? UPDATE: Trump finally releases the right thing. <vote poll=world3015 closed="yes">Possible GOP Presidential candidate Herman Cain says he won't appoint Muslims to his administration. Aren't Teabaggers supposed to support the constitution? <vote poll=world3014 closed="yes">No wonder some people are convinced Facebook is bound to fail: they've already discovered the next big thing. <vote poll=world3013 closed="yes">Paranoia-peddler extraordinaire Alex Jones gets mainstream coverage thanks to NYMag. <vote poll=world3012 closed="yes">Teenager accomplishes an amazing thing. Although since it has to do with relativity some people might not agree. <vote poll=world3011 closed="yes">The TSA recently fired a Wicca practitioner after a coworker complained that she had hexed the heater in her car not to work. <vote poll=world3010 closed="yes">British academia, threatened with £100m cuts in arts and humanities funding, adopts a new research priority: the "big society". Update: AHRC says "bullshit". <vote poll=world3009 closed="yes">More talk of state government shutdowns, this round from Governors Mitch Daniels of Indiana and Andrew Cuomo of New York. <vote poll=world3008 closed="yes">Waterproof, Louisiana: The town's mayor has been in jail for a year. It is suspected that this is because the parish sheriff was running against him for mayor and decided to play dirty. Some people are using this as a hammer to bash the Republicans, even though both mayor and sheriff are Democrats. <vote poll=world3007 closed="yes">Geraldine Ferraro, first woman to run for Vice-President, dies. <vote poll=world3006 closed="yes">Virgil Peck (R) of Kansas gains the ire of everyone by stating, after an idea to shoot feral hogs from helicopters, "If shooting these immigrating feral hogs works, maybe we have found a [solution] to our illegal immigration problem." 54,000 signatures for his resignation have already been collected. <vote poll=world3005 closed="yes">Donate money to Madonna's Kabbalist charity, help buy a golf club membership for her trainer's boyfriend education for starving Malawian girls. <vote poll=world3004 closed="yes">After two and a half months of therapy, Congresswoman Giffords is now able to walk and speak. <vote poll=world3003 closed="yes">7.0 Quake shakes Myanmar, Thailand. <vote poll=world3002 closed="yes">Liz Taylor unwittingly gets the last laugh on the WBC. They were going to protest her funeral because of her long-time support for gay rights and AIDS activism. However, because she had converted from Christian Science to Judaism 52 years ago, she was in the ground before they could book passage to L.A. <vote poll=world3001 closed="yes">Apple pulls an Exodus International iPhone app for misrepresenting research. Exodus International is appalled at the suggestion that they are "demonizing" gays or something like that; no, it's just that "the opposite of homosexuality is not heterosexuality, it is holiness." <vote poll=world3000 closed="yes">In Nepal, women are still being put apart for their uncleanness, often in very unclean settings, causing depression and death. <vote poll=world2999 closed="yes">A foxhole-atheist has taken the U.S. Army to task about a mandatory program of Spiritual Fitness Training and a $30 million Spiritual Fitness Center being built at the government's expense. <vote poll=world2998 closed="yes">Wisconsin Republican Party wants to abuse open-records laws and go on a nasty, nasty fishing expedition. (Note to all folks with a .edu or .gov e-mail. DO NOT use it for anything not directly work-related). <vote poll=world2997 closed="yes">Sarah Palin: "Though it often seems like I’m armed with just a few stones and a sling against a media giant, I’ll use [my small resources to...set the record straight"]. Small Resource Item #1, this Fox News Front Page item on 3/22. Small Resource Item # 2, its Front Page follow-up on 3/24 from the largest news organization on Earth, and the most watched cable news network in US. <vote poll=world2996 closed="yes">Gun-toting newsreader makes bizarre vow to defend Gaddafi <vote poll=world2995 closed="yes">A nominee for an Alaska government position thinks sex outside of marriage should be a crime.

<vote poll=world2993 closed="yes">More We-Told-You-So-News: Donald Rumsfeld put "Crusades-like" Biblical messages on the cover of George Bush's Worldwide Intelligence Briefs, top-secret documents circulated only amongst those with the highest security clearances in the US Govt. <vote poll=world2992 closed="yes">This just in. Get as much as you can done before May 21st, and keep your calendar clear after that.  Update at 11. <vote poll=world2991 closed="yes">Scientists find the chemical that makes you gay lack sexual preference. Well, in mice anyway. <vote poll=world2990 closed="yes">Hugo Chavez has told the world that there was life on Mars, and capitalism destroyed it.

<vote poll=world2988 closed="yes">A new poll highlights the difference between US chalk and British cheese. <vote poll=world2987 closed="yes">Evangelist leader (and Watergate co-conspirator) Chuck Colson seeks to clone himself. <vote poll=world2986 closed="yes">Religion could become extinct in nine countries. <vote poll=world2985 closed="yes">Boy that's going to make for excellent relations with the Middle East if she ever got to be President. Sarah Palin makes a U-Turn. <vote poll=world2984 closed="yes">Stop the discrimination and persecution of Creationists! A Texas lawmaker defends his bill to ban discrimination against Intelligent Design. <vote poll=world2983 closed="yes">Invasion of the King Crabs! <vote poll=world2982 closed="yes">Arab League condemns bombing of Libya, then supports it. <vote poll=world2981 closed="yes">Yet more people who were not responsible for the 2007 financial crisis are losing their jobs and seeing their pensions threatened, while those who were actually responsible rub their hands with glee. <vote poll=world2980 closed="yes">Want to stop being gay? There's an app for that! <vote poll=world2979 closed="yes">Obama to Gaddafi: Stop shooting people or we'll start doing it instead. <vote poll=world2978 closed="yes">UN approves no-fly zone in Libya. Update: France and the U.S. begin strikes.

<vote poll=world2975 closed="yes">Facebook: Bigger than Jesus porn. <vote poll=world2974 closed="yes">Ann Coulter's stupidity shocks even Bill O'Reilly while speaking on his show. She claims that "scientists consensus" has changed about radiation, it's healthy for you. O'Reilly even started mocking her to her face by stating "So by your account we should all be heading towards the nuclear reactor". <vote poll=world2973 closed="yes">Another reason your health insurance is rising all the time - drug companies bribe doctors to prescribe their drugs. <vote poll=world2972 closed="yes">House Republicans vote that Earth is not warming. Since when is science a democracy? <vote poll=world2971 closed="yes">The anti-tax, small government party wants the IRS to audit abortions. <vote poll=world2970 closed="yes">For the first time, a majority of Americans support gay marriage, and now in a shockingly hypocritical ironic twist, Republicans complain that the Democrats might be using this as a wedge issue against them <vote poll=world2969 closed="yes">Newt Gingrich: "Obama shouldn't have released his NCAA tournament bracket during a time of crisis. Now, take a look at my NCAA tournament bracket." <vote poll=world2968 closed="yes">The Democratic caucus has introduced legislation for the repeal of DOMA. Of course, they had to wait until they had nothing further to lose, but... <vote poll=world2967 closed="yes">The first X-Ray machine, built in 1896, is fired up to test it - but since it requires a radiation dose 1500 times that of a modern instrument they have to use a cadaver, rather than a young lady's hand. <vote poll=world2966 closed="yes">Angry squirrel terrorizes Vermont town <vote poll=world2965 closed="yes">After 18 teenage boys gang raped an 11 year old girl, Florida Rep. Kathleen Passidomo takes blaming the victim to a whole new level by deciding the best course of action to prevent it in the future is to introduce a dress code for young girls. <vote poll=world2964 closed="yes">A documentary filmmaker pretends to be a yoga-guru, Borat style. Some suckers fall for it. <vote poll=world2963 closed="yes">Massive pedophile ring busted. Hundreds of arrests expected. <vote poll=world2962 closed="yes">University saves $100,000 by using Microsoft's Kinect to diagnose OCD and ADD in children. <vote poll=world2961 closed="yes">A Wisconsin-based bank, M&I (now Canadian owned), has been made the target of a boycott for employing 10 people who donated to the Scott Walker campaign. <vote poll=world2960 closed="yes">Union supporters to Tea Party: Our rally is bigger than your rally.

<vote poll=world2958 closed="yes">The International Commission of Labor Rights has served notice that Scott Walker's recent actions in Wisconsin are illegal. <vote poll=world2957 closed="yes">Kingshurst Kops raid the wrong house. For the fortieth time <vote poll=world2956 closed="yes">A day after Fidelity posts that many millionaires believe that $7.5 million in assets is "Wealthy", CNN posts research that 56% of Americans have $25,000 or less in retirement and investments (not including of homes). In the same study, 27% reported that they did not think they would be able to ever retire. <vote poll=world2955 closed="yes">Criticism is emerging of the design of the damaged Fukushima Nuclear Power plant, citing spent uranium pools being placed close to the tops of the buildings and other flaws <vote poll=world2954 closed="yes">UK Libel Law will be reformed by an Act of Parliament - a positive step for science, journalism, medicine and the anti-crank movement. Public interest will now be a defence. It will likely end libel tourism too. <vote poll=world2953 closed="yes">Democracy in action, GOP style: Wisconsin's Senate Majority leader refuses to count the votes of Democratic senators. <vote poll=world2952 closed="yes">One of the anti-union Wisconsin Republicans is so popular even his own wife and maid are supporting his recall, but he's too busy shacking up with his mistress to care. <vote poll=world2951 closed="yes">A Fidelity Investments survey of U.S. millionaires may show more reasons why the rich bitch and moan if they don't get tax cuts. Most think they aren't wealthy because, to them, $7.5 million in assets -- more than double the assets of the average respondent -- is the bare minimum needed to be considered rich; they tend to compare themselves only to other millionaires, not to average Americans; and they continually want more money because they are afraid of "outliving" their wealth. <vote poll=world2950 closed="yes">The UK sets a sad world record: Youngest alcoholic ever. <vote poll=world2949 closed="yes">A significant leak of radiation has occurred from the stricken reactor 2 at the Fukushima Number One nuclear plant. Residents within 20 KM have been encouraged to evacuate, those within 30 KM are advised to remain in their home. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has requested calm amongst efforts to prevent further leakage

<vote poll=world2948 closed="yes">Why your health insurance just keeps going up and up, with the insurers blaming "ever increasing costs of medical care". <vote poll=world2947 closed="yes">Goopers introduce another bill making English the official language of the US. No furriner speak in 'Murrica! <vote poll=world2946 closed="yes">400 year old king signs autographs in front of painting of self <vote poll=world2945 closed="yes">Leading Christian and Humanist organisations join forces to call bullshit on claims of unfair religious persecution. <vote poll=world2944 closed="yes">One in five California voters now "decline to state" a political affiliation to either of the two main parties in the US, and the bleeding seems mainly to come from the Republicans. <vote poll=world2943 closed="yes">The sun sets on Broderism — David Broder: 1929-2011 <vote poll=world2942 closed="yes">Taxed Enough Already? The GOP want to tax you MORE! <vote poll=world2941 closed="yes">Was Michelle Bachmann homskolled? <vote poll=world2940 closed="yes">One for the Economics geeks: fascinating Powerpoint economic analysis of the state of USA Inc., by noted Powerpoint guru Mary Meeker. <vote poll=world2939 closed="yes">Otherwise mild-mannered and completely unprovocative One Show presenter Matt Baker to David Cameron: One quick question, how on earth do you sleep at night? <vote poll=world2938 closed="yes">Nuclear emergency declared at Fukushima and a second nuclear plant in Japan. Update: A large explosion at Fukushima-Daiichi, but nuclear materials may not be involved. <vote poll=world2937 closed="yes">Oregon votes to remove legal defense of "we wuz doin' faith healin'" if you happen to have killed your children by not letting the doctors help with their fatal condition. <vote poll=world2936 closed="yes">Woman Forced To Watch Her Baby Die Because Nebraska Anti-Abortion Law Prohibited Doctor From Acting <vote poll=world2935 closed="yes">Hundreds killed in Japan but no mass devastation elsewhere: Hawaii reports no major damage (if one calls an estimated $75 million in damages "no major damage"), French South Pacific lifts tsunami alert, Pacific Rim and west coast of USA largely spared. <vote poll=world2934 closed="yes">Fukushima Nuclear Plant hit by earthquake in Japan. Industry Minister tweets that any radiation released will be low-level. Let's hope he's right. <vote poll=world2933 closed="yes">Tennessee birther legislator: "I'm not sure what a 'long form birth certificate' is, but I want Obama to provide one!" <vote poll=world2932 closed="yes">Massive earthquake and tsunami strike northern Japan. Tsunami warnings around the Pacific. <vote poll=world2931 closed="yes">Sir Fred Goodwin is a banker an utterly incompetent shit. "I am not a banker, I am a free man!" <vote poll=world2930 closed="yes">The gubernatorial administration in Wisconsin claims it will cost $7.5 million to clean up after the union protesters. PolitiFact says: Liar, liar, pants on fire! <vote poll=world2929 closed="yes">State Rep. Martin Harty of New Hampshire has stated he suggests sending the mentally disabled to Siberia to freeze. When questioned on it, the senator confirmed he said it and left it at that. While Republican House Speaker William O'Brien states at 91 the senator has earned the right to say what he thinks, but he wishes he phrased it more carefully. <vote poll=world2928 closed="yes">That's right, Libertarians and Tea Partiers, the Gubmint should get out of people's business because there's no need for Govmint regulation, none whatsoever, no Siree Bob. <vote poll=world2927 closed="yes">Wisconsin Tea Party Governor's move against public sector unions is not popular with Americans, with 64% of them disapproving of the direction. <vote poll=world2926 closed="yes">While instigating debates in the House today during a hearing about American Muslims who have committed terrorist attacks, Rep. Peter King vows to get to the bottom of the issue by conducting a thorough witch hunt investigation. <vote poll=world2925 closed="yes">Senator Waxman says it like it is: "The Republicans in Congress have become the party of science deniers, and that is profoundly dangerous." Newt Gingrich: "I cheated on two wives... for America". <vote poll=world2924 closed="yes">U.S. intel suggests they may be hiding a "secret stockpile of non-conventional weapons." Hey, the excuse worked for Iraq, why not Libya? <vote poll=world2923 closed="yes">UN Security Council member France becomes the first to recognise Libyan rebels as the country's legitimate government. <vote poll=world2922 closed="yes">Wisconsin Republicans finally railroad through their public union busting bill. <vote poll=world2921 closed="yes">NPR CEO sacked after being set up in right-wing snare. Where are all the left-wing snare artistes? <vote poll=world2920 closed="yes">The world this year has been graced by the appearance of 214 new billionaires, six of whom come from the ranks of Facebook. <vote poll=world2919 closed="yes">Death penalty banned in Illinois; all death row inmates' sentences commuted to life without parole. <vote poll=world2918 closed="yes">Don't worry Moammar, somebody still likes you <vote poll=world2917 closed="yes">Parent company of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity hires people to call the radio shows they syndicate. Limbaugh and Hannity both deny their own shows use the service. <vote poll=world2916 closed="yes">Cookies will need explicit permission in Europe after 25 May this year. <vote poll=world2915 closed="yes">Mike Huckabee has decided the best course of action after last weeks 2 incredibly embarrassing comments, to go completely nuts. He firstly blames the interviewer for bringing up Natalie Portman's pregnancy, which is very clearly disproved by audio transcripts. He then states that he is not responsible (everyone else is) for his idiotic fiction about Obama growing up in Kenya, because "I can't be the dumbest guy in the room and the smartest guy in the room at the same time". Sane people are scratching their heads at this. <vote poll=world2914 closed="yes"> Any way you count it, that's a lot of fuckin' pedophile priests. <vote poll=world2913 closed="yes">We are not alone <vote poll=world2912 closed="yes">Michael Moore makes a fine polemical speech to the Wisconsin public service workers - "America is NOT Broke....400 Americans today together have as much money as half of all Americans combined"  (Speech starts at 5:20 in the clip). <vote poll=world2911 closed="yes">Republican plan to ensure aristocracy part II, make it harder for those who disagree with you to vote. <vote poll=world2910 closed="yes">Jon Stewart calls out Fox's hypocritical statements regarding the "poor destitute" $250,000 a year earners, while raging against the "greedy overpaid" teachers earning $50,000 with benefits. <vote poll=world2909 closed="yes">Scientist at NASA claims he has found evidence of alien life on a meteorite. "No other paper in the history of science has undergone such a thorough vetting," he says. Warns another NASA scientist: "It’s an extraordinary claim, and thus I’ll need extraordinary evidence." Update: Not three days later, NASA disavows the findings, in part applying Occam's razor: "Just because it looks as though the holes were made by bacteria doesn't make them fossils of extraterrestrial microbes." <vote poll=world2908 closed="yes">Priest sentenced to 15 years for abusing boys. <vote poll=world2907 closed="yes">Peter Chan's Thai airline, PC Air, moves to become even more PC by recruiting transsexual cabin staff. <vote poll=world2906 closed="yes">In 2008, an environmental activist joined in on the bidding for oil leases outside two Utah national parks. He has been convicted of "interfering with an auction" and could face up to ten years in prison and a $750,000 fine. <vote poll=world2905 closed="yes">Life imitates The Meaning of Life: Man slides dildo into fiancee as a demonstration for a Northwestern University class. NWU defends the display, right up to the point at which an alumnus gets all offended and threatens to withhold a donation, at which point it immediately becomes Troubling and Disappointing. <vote poll=world2904 closed="yes">West Indians stoned, but not in a good way. <vote poll=world2903 closed="yes">"Mainstream Media" in Britiain gets, errrr, more mainstream. <vote poll=world2902 closed="yes">Phoenix Police have been forced to admit that their kidnapping statistics were doctored. <vote poll=world2901 closed="yes">Investigations continue at Portland's Adventist Medical Center in Oregon where a man died in the emergency department parking lot. Officer Andrew Hearst stated that emergency personnel refused to come and help the man who had a heart attack and should call an ambulance. Security footage shows an emergency medical team was organized and sent in 47 seconds of learning about the incident, along with an ambulance arriving less then 3 minutes later. Police have refused to comment after this footage was released. <vote poll=world2900 closed="yes">Mike Huckabee proves that being a moron doesn't exclude you from being the "GOP frontrunner." <vote poll=world2899 closed="yes">Supreme Court upholds Westboro Baptist Church's right to stage anti-gay protests at funerals of U.S. troops. But only 15% of Fox News fans, normally big on First Amendment rights, support this First Amendment decision.   Finding that "Fair & Balanced" thing kinda hard today, are we? UPDATE: WBC vows to "quadruple down" on their hate message. <vote poll=world2898 closed="yes">[http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/03/01/texas.immigration.bill/index.html Texas proposes a $10,000 fine for hiring an illegal immigrant... unless it's your maid.]

<vote poll=world2895 closed="yes">Apparently, corporations don't have a right to personal privacy, but you can hurt their feelings. <vote poll=world2894 closed="yes">An EU ruling on gender equality may see the end of that annoying Sheila's Wheels advert.