RationalWiki:What is going on in the blogosphere?/August 2011

August 2011
Who wants a random taste of Canadian comedy? Are anti-science conservatives out of step with mainstream America? We certainly hope so. Internet memes have been on a roll recently. Hitch riffs on Perry. Krugman nails it. Here's an interesting role-reversal: Big Pharma homeopathy shills are suing a skeptical blogger. This user likes to call it The Proxmire Effect. John Mashey dissects the denialist echo chamber. PalMD moves to a new location. Two words: PETA porn. "America is choking on the edifice of empire....If this is what global dominance looks like, who needs it?", per an opinion piece at Reuters. NASA animation shows what it would look like when a black hole eats a star. Religious people are just another form of geek nerd. If conservatives have nothing else to do, they try to smear Paul Krugman on the East Coast Earthquake. Per PZ Myers: A bunch of "science-denying wackaloons." (except Jon Huntsman) Advertising copywriters are unable to understand basic mathematical concepts. <vote poll=blog1701 closed="yes">Damn you, you snobby French! Always getting things right these days... <vote poll=blog1700 closed="yes">The tax the moochers poor meme spreads. <vote poll=blog1699 closed="yes">Rick Perry made $990 in Bisexual Barebacking venture. <vote poll=blog1698 closed="yes">"if social conservatives take power we might have government policing our bedrooms." <vote poll=blog1697 closed="yes">From the Department of Failed Predictions: [http://www.theagitator.com/2011/08/20/luddite-time-machine/ Buying stuff on the internet? That's crazy talk!] <vote poll=blog1696 closed="yes">Long live our Soviet motherland! <vote poll=blog1695 closed="yes">Weird Homeopathy - Oscillococcinum. Made from a bacteria that does not exist. <vote poll=blog1694 closed="yes">There really needs to be a "Thalidomide Gambit" or a "Vioxx Gambit." <vote poll=blog1693 closed="yes">An academic look at Tea Party members. <vote poll=blog1692 closed="yes">Giorgio A. Tsoukalos becomes a full-fledged meme. Aliens. Update: More Giorgio mocking here. <vote poll=blog1691 closed="yes">PolitiFact tests Warren Buffet's "Tax me!" editorial. Correct, as expected. <vote poll=blog1690 closed="yes">Religion losing significant ground in Canada, New Zealand, Finland, The Netherlands, and other various nations. <vote poll=blog1689 closed="yes">Can godless heathens secularists be more ethical than pure and moral religious folk? <vote poll=blog1688 closed="yes">Climate denier Joe Bastardi delivers a truly epic Gish Gallop. <vote poll=blog1687 closed="yes">Potholer54 shows us how dishonest TV producers fool you. <vote poll=blog1686 closed="yes">The late, great Molly Ivins talks about Rick Perry. <vote poll=blog1685 closed="yes">Stephen Colbert exposes the truth about thermodynamics. <vote poll=blog1684 closed="yes">Warren Buffett: "Stop coddling the super-rich!" Let's see how Fox handles this. Calling one of the top wealthiest people on the planet a socialist? Update: Awww yeah. <vote poll=blog1683 closed="yes">But, but, but...wind power kills birds! <vote poll=blog1682 closed="yes">Dennis Markuze (David Mabus) gets featured on the news after Montreal police finally begin a formal investigation, after 18 years of death threats and internet spam made to PZ Myers and other atheists.Update: He has now officially been arrested.

<vote poll=blog1681 closed="yes">Teens try to hack Koch brothers site, get the FBI on their asses! <vote poll=blog1680 closed="yes">Those bond vigilantes will strike any day now...any day now... <vote poll=blog1679 closed="yes">Why looters aren't SCUM and answering them with violence is the worst idea ever. <vote poll=blog1678 closed="yes">The Onion: New GOP strategy to make Obama's life miserable? Reelecting him.

<vote poll=blog1677 closed="yes">People are fed up with Mabus, now there's a poll to make the Montreal Police take "Mabus" death threats seriously. <vote poll=blog1676 closed="yes">What can the police do in London? Well... nothing that we haven't already banned, aren't equipped for or would risk making things worse. <vote poll=blog1675 closed="yes">The Metropolitan police are starting to make good on their promise to publish photos of the London rioters. <vote poll=blog1674 closed="yes">July's heat records visualized. <vote poll=blog1673 closed="yes">How to succeed in banking without really trying. <vote poll=blog1672 closed="yes">The sad truth behind London riot: '...The TV reporter from Britain's ITV had no response. So the young man pressed his advantage. "Two months ago we marched to Scotland Yard, more than 2,000 of us, all blacks, and it was peaceful and calm and you know what? Not a word in the press. Last night a bit of rioting and looting and look around you."'

<vote poll=blog1671 closed="yes">Everything you wanted or didn't want to know about Michele Bachmann courtesy the New Yorker. <vote poll=blog1670 closed="yes">The abortion that Mitt Romney doesn't talk about anymore <vote poll=blog1669 closed="yes">A HuffPo religion writer makes a list for other Christians of what he thinks are "4 good reasons not to read the bible literally." (Of course, being a Christian religion writer, he doesn't include the best reason -- i.e., it's all ancient mythology.)  BTW, he wrote this article because he was shocked to find out that about 30 percent of all Americans take the bible literally.

<vote poll=blog1668 closed="yes">Ha-Joon Chang economist at the University of Cambridge says things that conservatives don't like to hear, comments are already ripe with butt-hurt, enough said. <vote poll=blog1667 closed="yes">Slate: Antioxidants don't work, but no one wants to hear it. <vote poll=blog1666 closed="yes">Refuse to be terrorized. <vote poll=blog1665 closed="yes">[http://whiskeyfire.typepad.com/whiskey_fire/2011/08/spongebob-hitlerpants.html Dora? Spongebob? Lefties.] <vote poll=blog1664 closed="yes">Murdoch hacked us too <vote poll=blog1663 closed="yes">Survey reveals most British people should be executed <vote poll=blog1662 closed="yes">"Republicans fit the profile of a classic abuser."

<vote poll=blog1661 closed="yes">Governor Rick Perry's "Texas miracle" includes crowded homeless shelters, low-wage jobs and worker deaths. <vote poll=blog1660 closed="yes">How marathon running is an affront to the Good Lord. <vote poll=blog1659 closed="yes">Boobs Don't Work That Way! <vote poll=blog1658 closed="yes">Christopher Monckton: Past his use-by date? Update: His "reputation for being mad as a snake clearly remains intact." <vote poll=blog1657 closed="yes">Like with Sarah Palin, Matt Damon destroys Reason's logic.. <vote poll=blog1656 closed="yes">Paul Simms from the New Yorker reveals God's Creation Blog - with comments. <vote poll=blog1655 closed="yes">What does the debt deal mean? Felix Salmon attempts to provide some answers. More: A good summary by Stephen Squibb. <vote poll=blog1654 closed="yes">If a married couple saved forty people from the Norwegian massacre, they'd be widely reported as heroes... unless they were a gay married couple, that is. <vote poll=blog1653 closed="yes">A list of people (and their quotes) who are okay with murdering Julian Assange. <vote poll=blog1652 closed="yes">VIDEO: Keith Olbermann's Special Comment (1 August 2011):  "The Four Great Hypocrisies of the Debt Deal" <vote poll=blog1651 closed="yes">[http://sensuouscurmudgeon.wordpress.com/2011/08/01/icr-attacks-discovery-institute-again/ It's the Disco 'Tute versus... the Institute for Creation Research?] <vote poll=blog1650 closed="yes">Obviously, UFO conspiracy kiddies will go nuts on this, but very interesting indeed. <vote poll=blog1649 closed="yes">Need some cheering up? Enjoy the delights of the Cartoon Colour Wheel, from the blue of the Smurfs to the green of the Ninja Turtles.