RationalWiki:What is going on in the world?/January 2012

January 2012
 So, you caused one of the biggest losses in the financial history of the UK, almost destroyed a bank, undermined the financial security of the entire UK and the international financial scene and walked away with a fat pension expecting no repercussions did you? Well take that! No knighthood MR Fred Goodwin! Aha! ...wait, what? 

Indiana Senate Bill 89 has been amended to explictly demand equal time for the creation myth... of Scientology. (Along with every other one under the Sun.) So Virginia wants to pass a bill which would require ultrasounds before abortions, said bill now had a proposed amendment to include rectal exams for men getting erectile dysfunction meds. So some Americans and the Taliban walk into a building in Qatar... and start peace negotiations..

Yet another psychological study on political beliefs. And the same result: conservatives appear to be more fearful of negative images than liberals. Oh, "right-wingers" in France. *swims around* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16756381 Wait, don't hurt us! Nooooooo!] Just don't show to this to the Catholics. Rick Santorum suspends presidential campaign events to spend time with his hospitalized daughter. We at RationalWiki express our condolences and best wishes for her health. [http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2012/01/27/india-factory-workers-revolt-kill-company-president/ Yes. Foxconn? This is RationalWiki. We suggest you give your workers the full right to unionize.] And we shall finally see if all this Iran hype is bullshit or not. Why not bring Hans Blix along? "The kiss of death." Florida's fundies: [http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/28/florida-evangelicals-a-different-breed-of-voter-than-brethren-in-iowa-south-carolina/?hpt=hp_c1 We don't want gays to die. We just hate them a little bit less.] "Allowing gay marriage is what dictators do," says Archbishop John Sentamu, former prisoner of dictator Idi Amin. The beginning of the end? In the midst of yet another bailout, Germany wants Greece to cede its entire budgetary power to the EU. It takes a Democrat to talk sense in New Jersey: "...dear God, we should not be putting civil rights issues to a popular vote subject to the sentiments of the day. No minority should have their rights subject to the passions and sentiments of the majority." North Carolina joins in the crazy. [http://wonkette.com/461652/north-carolina-representative-lets-bring-back-public-hangings Want to scare those "abortionists, rapists and kidnappers?" Bring back public executions!]

The Wall Street Journal publishes climate change denialist garbage but not the letter with the evidence. What else is new? <vote poll=world4658 closed="yes">Two recent stories from the world of sex -- 1. Abortion is now safer than childbirth; and 2. Oral sex can increase your chances of getting mouth and throat cancer. <vote poll=world4657 closed="yes">Twitter digs that censorship thing. “As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression,”. <vote poll=world4656 closed="yes">How can we best train recruits into the NYPD? I know, show them anti-Muslim propaganda videos! <vote poll=world4655 closed="yes">Newt's lesbian half-sister says he probably doesn't believe his own anti-gay rhetoric. <vote poll=world4654 closed="yes">Thanks to climate change, the USDA has changed the planting zone map for the first time since 1990. The next round of global warming denialism shall commence in 5...4...3... <vote poll=world4653 closed="yes">It's OK to feel sad about Steve Jobs' death if you're a Muslim, but for Allah's sake, don't pray for him. <vote poll=world4652 closed="yes">Newt Gingrich, for the love of god, please stop talking. <vote poll=world4651 closed="yes">Next time you're in Oklahoma, avoid the baby back ribs. <vote poll=world4650 closed="yes">According to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, the Year of the Bible is upon us. <vote poll=world4649 closed="yes">New study shows what we pretty much knew all along. <vote poll=world4648 closed="yes">She turned me into on Newt! Coulter and the Rabid Right claim Newt is just what the GOP doesn't need. <vote poll=world4647 closed="yes">In following up their climate change denial, George Monbiot busts the Daily Mail using apparent mail order brides as weather forecasters. <vote poll=world4646 closed="yes">So, I see from your resume that you're about to graduate from Penn State, mind telling us a little about your views on child molestation? Update: Uhh, well... <vote poll=world4645 closed="yes">So how was your Australia Day, Prime Minister? <vote poll=world4644 closed="yes">The biggest stopped clock in a long time. <vote poll=world4643 closed="yes">"Secular elite promoting radical Islam." With Newt the hits just keep coming. <vote poll=world4642 closed="yes">One small step for man, one giant leap for Legokind. <vote poll=world4641 closed="yes">Newt's crazy continues: Having affairs makes him more normal than people who only have sex with their wife. You listenin', Romney? <vote poll=world4640 closed="yes">Florida is rapidly running out of irony meters: Rick Santorum states that Barack Obama's college reforms are part of a dangerous liberal indoctrination plot. <vote poll=world4639 closed="yes">What NASA calls The Most Amazing Highest Resolution Image of Earth Ever. [Note: Earth = North America] It's the only Earth we have, folks. Take care of it. <vote poll=world4638 closed="yes">The moment when billionaires beg to pay more tax. <vote poll=world4637 closed="yes">Oklahoma legislator wants to crack down on cannibalism. Not that it's been a problem, mind you.

<vote poll=world4636 closed="yes">[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16712488 Kill 24 civilians? Eh, you can go.] <vote poll=world4635 closed="yes">Come along, boys and girls; let's all cross the street, go into the shcool, and learn how to spell. <vote poll=world4634 closed="yes">The real reason Megaupload had to die. <vote poll=world4633 closed="yes">Don't like us banning books? Clean some fucking toilets and learn your place, Mexican! <vote poll=world4632 closed="yes">The Oscar nominations are out. No truth to the rumour that Romney's tax returns are up for a Best Editing award, however. <vote poll=world4631 closed="yes">...*cough* coronal mass ejection *cough*... <vote poll=world4630 closed="yes">The Girl Scouts are faced with a major dilemma about their famous cookies: Bake them with unhealthy trans-fats and have them labeled "Disks of Death," or use palm-oil and be denounced by two of their own for complicity in destroying rainforests? Tricky, tricky. Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum launches C.U.M. <vote poll=world4629 closed="yes">The worst endorsement you can get. <vote poll=world4628 closed="yes">Fox News Shrink: Newt "open marriage" Gingrich's infidelity might make for a better President. <vote poll=world4627 closed="yes">75% probability of another high-magnitude earthquake to hit Tokyo in four years. <vote poll=world4626 closed="yes">Let's sing: I was not a Nazi Polka! <vote poll=world4625 closed="yes">Black swans? That's nothing. <vote poll=world4624 closed="yes">[http://gizmodo.com/5878238/ Holy shit. DELETE FUCKING EVERYTHING. Anonymous does it again ladies and gentlemen!] <vote poll=world4623 closed="yes">This is what Canada has to deal with for the next three years. <vote poll=world4622 closed="yes">In the wake of the Wikipedia-induced SOPA backlash, ex-Senator turned MPAA lobbyist Chris Dodd, upset that his former colleagues aren't staying bought, directly threatens them. A White House petition to investigate this blatant statement of bribery gets over 10,000 signatures in its first 24 hours. <vote poll=world4621 closed="yes">Congresswoman Giffords announces her decision to step down from office.

<vote poll=world4619 closed="yes">And Mr. Family Values wins! Update: These comments say it all. <vote poll=world4618 closed="yes">We always underestimate the number of stupid people. <vote poll=world4617 closed="yes">Britain's hate crime laws aren't just about Neo-Nazis <vote poll=world4616 closed="yes">The hits just keep on coming. "Limiting child farm labor promotes obesity." <vote poll=world4615 closed="yes">So, you've worked as a public employee for years and are now retired. Instead of a golden watch, you get Orrin Hatch calling you "a crisis plaguing our nation." <vote poll=world4614 closed="yes">Memory a bit rusty? Better get rid of that iron nail. <vote poll=world4613 closed="yes">Occupy Wall Street, to protest high foreclosure rates, decides to occupy foreclosed houses and move homeless families in. They get off to a great start by occupying a house that has not yet been foreclosed on. <vote poll=world4612 closed="yes">RIP Etta James. <vote poll=world4611 closed="yes">[http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-57362990-501465/sopa-is-dead-smith-pulls-bill/ Ding dong the witch is dead! postponed!] <vote poll=world4610 closed="yes">Just when you thought supermodels couldn't get any dumber... <vote poll=world4609 closed="yes">Indonesian man faces jail time for posting on an atheist Facebook page. <vote poll=world4608 closed="yes">Anonymous does what Anonymous does best; attack the US Department of Justice's website and Universal Music's too. CNET calls it "the equivalent of thermonuclear cyber war." <vote poll=world4607 closed="yes">You thought SOPA was scary? <vote poll=world4606 closed="yes">I'm just glad I didn't live to see this day... *checks pulse* Noooooooooooooo! <vote poll=world4605 closed="yes">Republicans sure do like to surge. I, for one, enjoy my serger and miss Surge. <vote poll=world4604 closed="yes">Fox News: [http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/01/poll-americans-trust-fox-news-the-most-least.php The most and least trusted name in news. Simultaneously.] Update: the original poll data shows greater polarity than the TPM article. <vote poll=world4603 closed="yes">"This here is South Carolina. A Christian state.  Don't you be quoting that goddam librul Jesus" <vote poll=world4602 closed="yes">Here's a bright idea: [http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/crime-scene/post/two-metro-employees-accused-of-stealing-thousands/2012/01/19/gIQAhDOdAQ_blog.html?tid=sm_btn_tw steal $28K in change, use it to buy lottery tickets. Oh, and wear your police uniform at the lottery outlet.] <vote poll=world4601 closed="yes">Rick Perry drops out, and endorses Newt. <vote poll=world4600 closed="yes">Remember when we said that if you oppose same-sex marriage, you're contributing to the shortened lives of gay men? Now we can say it with the anti-abortion lobby. <vote poll=world4599 closed="yes">Lamar Smith, author of SOPA, found to be practicing the very same type of piracy that SOPA and PIPA were designed to prosecute. <vote poll=world4598 closed="yes">As if you needed another reason not to vote for Newt. <vote poll=world4597 closed="yes">Marabu stalk nightmares ended. The Marabu, an introduced invasive weed in Cuba, has finally a use - its burnt remains make some of the finest activated carbon. <vote poll=world4596 closed="yes">Why do South Carolina evangelicals hate Mitt Romney? Because he's not homophobic enough.

<vote poll=world4594 closed="yes">A laid-off Wall Street worker, being distraught over the death of her dog, pays $50,000 to have the mutt cloned. They used to write horror stories about this kind of thing. <vote poll=world4593 closed="yes">Scott Walker, Gov. of Wisconsin who tried to ban collective bargaining rights, now faces a recall election, with almost double the number of votes required in the petition having been presented. <vote poll=world4592 closed="yes">Scientists create a multicellular variety of Brewer's Yeast in the laboratory. The Question Evolution! Campaign could not be reached for comment <vote poll=world4591 closed="yes">Big Brother's big brother expects the Kim dynasty to fall soon. <vote poll=world4590 closed="yes">[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16604969 Release the birth cert... I mean, tax returns!] <vote poll=world4589 closed="yes">[http://www.humanism.org.uk/news/view/966 Five minutes before the talk was due to start a man burst into the room holding a camera phone and for some seconds stood filming the faces of all those in the room. He shouted "listen up all of you, I am recording this, I have your faces on film now, and I know where some of you live", at that moment he aggressively pushed the phone in someone's face and then said "and if I hear that anything is said against the holy Prophet Mohammed, I will hunt you down."] <vote poll=world4588 closed="yes">Private Eye editor Ian Hislop says the UK does not need new laws to stop the press bribing police officers and hacking phones because those things are already illegal. (Sounds familiar, actually) <vote poll=world4587 closed="yes">In the wake of the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, a contaminated golf club takes the power company to court to try and get them to pay cleanup costs. The power company claims that the radioactive waste in question now belongs to the golf club. <vote poll=world4586 closed="yes">[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16554357 Spidergoat, Spidergoat, does whatever a spider can. Spins a web, any size, catches thieves just like flies. Look out! Here comes the Spidergoat.] <vote poll=world4585 closed="yes">Oh boy, the hits just keep coming. <vote poll=world4584 closed="yes">Sometimes the apple does fall far from the tree.

<vote poll=world4583 closed="yes">Persecution complex in full effect here. As ye sow, so shall ye reap. <vote poll=world4582 closed="yes">Titan, you sexy beast. <vote poll=world4581 closed="yes">Tea Party speaker invokes both Godwin's Law and Poe's Paradox in a speech which criticizes Barack Obama and modestly proposes to disobey minimum wage laws and force illegal immigrants to build a border fence and undocumented immigrant detention center before expelling said immigrants from the country. <vote poll=world4580 closed="yes">Late to the meme, a Labour MP's 'downfall'. <vote poll=world4579 closed="yes"> [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-16579015 Yo, ho, ho. LMFAO!]

<vote poll=world4577 closed="yes">So you think it's bad in the US that corporations can give unlimited amounts of money to political campaign SuperPACs? Well, imagine if drug dealers got involved. Bienvenido a México! <vote poll=world4576 closed="yes">Want to teach intelligent design in public school science classes? No problem! You just want to teach the controversy. Want to run a music workshop where third graders write songs "about the holidays, laughter, daffodils, best friends — and the divisive Occupy protests that have spread across the country"? Then you're indoctrinating helpless children and you must be stopped! <vote poll=world4575 closed="yes">Wikipedia considering a blackout to protest SOPA. (But you knew that.)  Vote there, not here. OK, you can vote here too. UPDATE: They're going for it. Let's hope the world takes note. <vote poll=world4574 closed="yes">Huntsman quits the race <vote poll=world4573 closed="yes">Mitt Romney -- serial killer. <vote poll=world4572 closed="yes">10 years since the ousting of the Taliban and virtually no progress on women's rights. <vote poll=world4571 closed="yes">Where's your god now? The Reign of Terror Tebow is finally over. <vote poll=world4570 closed="yes">Good news, everyone! Mohamed ElBaradei, maybe the last rational politician in Egypt right now, is opting out of the upcoming presidential race. <vote poll=world4569 closed="yes">Christian Voice: Tesco share drop is divine intervention due to a gay pride event. <vote poll=world4568 closed="yes">US Congress backpedals on SOPA. Update: The White House expresses objections to SOPA and PIPA. <vote poll=world4567 closed="yes">President Obama asks for the power to merge federal departments in aid of making the government more efficient and saving money. Republicans are not overly enthusiastic about the plan. <vote poll=world4566 closed="yes">For you, the funeral is over! North Koreans face 6 months in labour camps, for not mourning Dear Leader's demise. <vote poll=world4565 closed="yes">In order to keep out ethnic studies, an Arizona school district decides to toss out The Tempest, by well known English chicano author William Shakespeare. <vote poll=world4564 closed="yes">Oh yeah, you just had to announce this on Friday the 13th. <vote poll=world4563 closed="yes"> The Union of Myanmar Burma experiencing a sudden outbreak of common sense. "Why did you say Burma?" "I panicked!" <vote poll=world4562 closed="yes">It seems we all have a moral compass... and magnets can fuck it up too. <vote poll=world4561 closed="yes">In the most insane bout of anti-intellectualism in the Republican nomination yet, Mitt Romney is attacked for speaking French by a guy who wrote a Ph.D. dissertation on educational policy in colonial Belgian Congo. Guess what language the guys who created those policies wrote them in. Here's a hint: The archives are in Brussels. <vote poll=world4560 closed="yes">Ben Stein of Expelled fame is now suing a printer company because of his global warming denialism. To quote: "as a matter of religious belief, he believed that God, and not man, controlled the weather." <vote poll=world4559 closed="yes">Pancreatic cancer and eggs. Breakfast of champions. Reports of jihad against health officials are unconfirmed. <vote poll=world4558 closed="yes">Rick Santorum's family in Italy are a pack of communists who are largely embarrassed by him. How do you like them family values? <vote poll=world4557 closed="yes">Stephen Colbert transfers his Super PAC powers to Jon Stewart and is [http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/13/idUS165624806120120113 officially running for President of the United States. Again.] <vote poll=world4556 closed="yes">Fiji's military dictator calls the Wahmbulance after failing to win a television text message competition for personality of the year. <vote poll=world4555 closed="yes">And here we go again. <vote poll=world4554 closed="yes">Stephen Harper bans the marriages of thousands of gay couples currently not living in Canada. Discuss the legality of this here. Update: Dan Savage has lost his marriage. <vote poll=world4553 closed="yes">While one Republican governor seems intent on executing everybody, another is granting pardons to murderers. <vote poll=world4552 closed="yes">One allows for free and fair elections, the other is an authoritarian single party quasi-police state. And the latter is upset when survey results say that Hong Kongers don't really see themselves as Chinese. <vote poll=world4551 closed="yes">Churches have a new group to discriminate against, the disabled. <vote poll=world4550 closed="yes">Yes people, The Rev. Sir Dr. Stephen T. Colbert, DFA is currently polling higher than Jon Huntsman in the South Carolina Republican primary. Update: Colbert to make a "major announcement" on Thursday; you know where this is going. <vote poll=world4549 closed="yes">If this isn't irony, I don't know what is. <vote poll=world4548 closed="yes">Right wing "journalist" James O'Keefe tries to prove voter fraud exists by having lackeys actually commit voter fraud, said lackeys could go to jail. <vote poll=world4547 closed="yes">Better than Nostradamus? <vote poll=world4546 closed="yes">Crazy conservative widowed in the Arizona tragedy blames Gabrielle Gifford's husband for Jared Loughner's actions. <vote poll=world4545 closed="yes">Not the US. Seriously, not the US. <vote poll=world4544 closed="yes">Starting during the Nixon Administration, federal health officials have repeatedly claimed that smoking one joint does the same amount of damage to one's health as smoking 16-20 tobacco cigarettes. (That number has gone up and down several times over the past four decades, so you can probably guess where this is leading.) <vote poll=world4543 closed="yes">The Doomsday clock moves from six down to five minutes to midnight. <vote poll=world4542 closed="yes">The best way to get sweatshop owners to listen? Threaten factory-wide suicide. <vote poll=world4541 closed="yes">If Israel wants to remain the most progressive country in the Middle East, it has to stop doing stuff like this. <vote poll=world4540 closed="yes">Gallup poll finds record-"high" percentage (just over 50%) of Americans now support legalization of marijuana. <vote poll=world4539 closed="yes">Well, that puts the blocks on teaching creationism and I.D. in British schools. (Shame! snorkle!) <vote poll=world4538 closed="yes">Where do I start with this one? Psychic powers? Monkeys? Bananas? The primary/caucus polls? Newt Gingrich? <vote poll=world4537 closed="yes">Here's a nice little statistic on renewable energy in Germany. <vote poll=world4536 closed="yes">Is this guy asking for an Internet war? <vote poll=world4535 closed="yes">So...who wants to edit the Stephen Harper article now? <vote poll=world4534 closed="yes">Yes, Roland Emmerich? <vote poll=world4533 closed="yes">If you missed Stephen Colbert running last election cycle, here's another prankster "candidate" one-upping the crazy. <vote poll=world4532 closed="yes">Only in the South.... <vote poll=world4531 closed="yes">And here we were, thinking it couldn't get much worse than birtherism... <vote poll=world4530 closed="yes">...is there any chance that this woman can get elected in this day and age? <vote poll=world4529 closed="yes">Santorum gets photobombed. <vote poll=world4528 closed="yes">In unrelated news, Goldman Sachs and Facebook! <vote poll=world4527 closed="yes">WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!!!! P.S. Evolution works! <vote poll=world4526 closed="yes">FBI updates its rape law definition to include males, a move made thanks in part by pro-feminist Joe Biden. Happy now, men's rights activists? <vote poll=world4525 closed="yes">Santorum compares (not for the first time) homosexual marriage to polygamy, gets booed. <vote poll=world4524 closed="yes">"And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords." <vote poll=world4523 closed="yes">iPads, so simple a monkey could use them. <vote poll=world4522 closed="yes">After bullshitting that "Islamism is the greatest threat to Canada," Legohead has to condemn the fourth hate crime in six months at a Gatineau, Quebec mosque. <vote poll=world4521 closed="yes">With crap like this in bookstores, one has to wonder why there isn't more anti-American sentiment around the world; everyone knows that American soldiers aren't allowed to fight when they get in a battle. So let's keep bragging about it in a Geneva-violating war! <vote poll=world4520 closed="yes">While Iran postures in the Strait of Hormuz, United States naval forces rescue an Iranian fishing boat from pirates. Expect more global warming. <vote poll=world4519 closed="yes">Archie Comics features an inter-racial same-sex military wedding. <vote poll=world4518 closed="yes">So farewell then, Bob Holness, you didn't play the sax on Baker Street but you always gave a 'P' when asked. <vote poll=world4517 closed="yes">6 Mayan apocalypse myths debunked by National Geographic. <vote poll=world4516 closed="yes"> Mitt Romney: Well since the poor have so little money, lets give them more taxes!. <vote poll=world4515 closed="yes"> Wikileaks Nazileaks. Just imagine the horror on every Stormfront/Metapedia user's face. <vote poll=world4514 closed="yes">A file-sharing religion called the Missionary Church of Kopimism has been recognized by the Swedish government. <vote poll=world4513 closed="yes">Montana tells Citizens United exactly where to stick it. Not that it will make a difference unless Antonin Scalia has a fatal heart attack in the near future... <vote poll=world4512 closed="yes">Peter Duesberg unfortunately gets his denialism of the AIDS-HIV link published in a peer reviewed journal (on the fourth or fifth try). <vote poll=world4511 closed="yes">"Frothy Mix's" wife's abortion was different. <vote poll=world4510 closed="yes">Republicans complain about the US' lack of "rags to riches" economic mobility, then ironically cite Canada, Norway, Finland, and Denmark as countries to envy. <vote poll=world4509 closed="yes">Geneticist has died. <vote poll=world4508 closed="yes">Andrew Wakefield rears his scaly head once more and sues the British Medical Journal, its editor and a journalist. Update: The suit (PDF). <vote poll=world4507 closed="yes">Um, isn't this what Scientology is for? <vote poll=world4506 closed="yes">Google - ever watchful in the fight against paid links and other search engine cheating. Such as, erm, this one pushing Google Chrome. <vote poll=world4505 closed="yes">After doing badly in the Iowa caucus, Michele Bachmann backs out of the runnings. <vote poll=world4504 closed="yes">Romney wins by only 8 votes in the Iowa caucus. His challenger? Rick Santorum. The Internet rejoices. <vote poll=world4503 closed="yes">God reveals to Pat Robertson who the new President will be. <vote poll=world4502 closed="yes">Zom bees ? Update: And hybrid sharks. <vote poll=world4501 closed="yes">The end is nigh! #1 in a series (expect a lot more before 2012 is done). <vote poll=world4500 closed="yes">After 18 years, the killers of Stephen Lawrence finally brought to justice <vote poll=world4499 closed="yes">Mitt Romney channels Sarah Palin. <vote poll=world4498 closed="yes">Faux News apologizes to Juicy Santorum for actually telling the facts for once: that playing around with a dead baby is NOT normal behaviour. Update: Well, the frothy mixture isn't going away any time soon. <vote poll=world4497 closed="yes">If there are any RationalWikians in Iowa right now, we pity you. A Globe and Mail commenter: "That sound you hear coming from Washington is Obama's reelection team rolling on the floor laughing hysterically." <vote poll=world4496 closed="yes">Canada's batch of Tories get nuttier and nuttier everyday: Harper wants to create an "Office of Religious Freedom," its purposes hazy at best. <vote poll=world4495 closed="yes">Why not start 2012 with a bit of gloom and doom, will ya? <vote poll=world4494 closed="yes">Welcome to Israel, land of the holy war culture war! <vote poll=world4493 closed="yes">Japan gets a New Year's wake-up call. No major complications, but watch out for the conspiracy theorists.