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

July 2011
God has a 52% approval rating. Keeping up with Quartzite, AZ? Well, you know you're probably a corrupt government, when WorldNetDaily is agreeing with the liberals! Using Internet Explorer? You might have a low IQ. Alex Trebek kicks some ass. Finally, somebody invents a menstruation machine, so that men can feel what it's like to menstruate. Kucinich speaks some sanity (it's like all the woo has disappeared from him). Would've been better off with the toxins.  So, Apple has more money than the US Government, eh? Economic experts for hire are still failing to make an A in the area of disclosure. "What are you in for?" - "Well, I raped this bitch at knife point." - "I knocked over a liquor store and shot the owner" - "Erm... I put this sex doll in the bathroom..." (Petition at change.org) Italian member of the European Parliament thinks a certain Norwegian's ideas range from "good" to "great". What party? Lega Nord, of course. Fascists recognise their own. Vatican invokes Godwin's law over Irish scandal Herman Cain "apologizes" to Muslims. New plan for Libya being considered: GTFO. Got a smart phone? They can see you. Chris Christie balances his budget: No "millionaires tax" and $900 million in cuts for the most needy. He's just toeing the GOP line

<vote poll=world3841 closed="yes">"People who take part in the Belfast Pride parade are “repugnant” – that’s according to the future Northern Ireland health minister, Jim Wells."

<vote poll=world3840 closed="yes">The latest sex scandal is grrrrreat! <vote poll=world3839 closed="yes">Obama and Boehner trade blows

<vote poll=world3837 closed="yes">It may be time to start holding your breath for the Higgs boson. <vote poll=world3836 closed="yes">Egan-Jones cuts US credit rating. <vote poll=world3835 closed="yes">They do. <vote poll=world3834 closed="yes">Amy Winehouse joins the 27 Club. <vote poll=world3833 closed="yes">Faux News, classy as ever, blames the Norwegian attacks on "Muslim extremists", then segues straight into a story on the Ground Zero Mosque. Here's the twist: the lead suspect is a blond, blue eyed, right-wing Christian fundamentalist with anti-Muslim views. <vote poll=world3832 closed="yes">The Oslo bombings and the shootings at the Norwegian Labor Party outing were all allegedly committed by one man -- a 32-year-old right-wing Norwegian nationalist with anti-Muslim views. <vote poll=world3831 closed="yes">Leonard Boswell (D-IA) was attacked in his home, although there does not appear to have been a political motive. <vote poll=world3830 closed="yes">"Huge" blast strikes Oslo government buildings, including Norewegian Prime Minister's office. PM is reportedly unhurt, but no sources other than Twitter. EDIT Gunman dressed as a policeman opens fire on youth camp nearby, five 80 injured confirmed dead. No one has claimed responsibility yet. Total death toll of both the bombing and the shooting reaches 92.

<vote poll=world3829 closed="yes">The 9/11 phone hacking investigation ratchets up another notch on News Corp as the Justice Dept prepares subpoenas. <vote poll=world3828 closed="yes">Well, this explains everything about Russia... <vote poll=world3827 closed="yes">Fermilab creates a new particle. <vote poll=world3826 closed="yes">Atlantis touches down safely, marking the end of the Space Shuttle program. NASA TV It's Fox vs. Mormons. No doubt this must be the real reason behind their most recent cancellation. A noted hard-core leftie on raising the debt ceiling. <vote poll=world3825 closed="yes">The Tea Party has some challengers. <vote poll=world3824 closed="yes">Pluto may have felt lonely after being demoted to just a "dwarf" planet, but at least it has plenty of company out there. <vote poll=world3823 closed="yes">Mossad suspected of hacking New Zealand's central police computer after quake victim is found with 5 passports. Update New Zealand PM confirms it looks suspect but probably isn't. <vote poll=world3822 closed="yes">Woman turns the tables on TSA gropers. <vote poll=world3821 closed="yes">[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14209268 Murdoch gets pied. Hurray for Looney Tunes inspired retribution!] <vote poll=world3820 closed="yes">Muslim shows Christian America how that "forgiveness" thing works. <vote poll=world3819 closed="yes">Good riddance. <vote poll=world3818 closed="yes">You are witnesses to the birth of Prussian Blue Mark II... hope you enjoy our new direction. <vote poll=world3817 closed="yes">Republican Presidential candidate Herman Cain sides with communities that want to ban mosques, and, in an attempt to break the irony meter, calls one proposed Tennessee mosque an "infringement and an abuse of our freedom of religion."

<vote poll=world3815 closed="yes">A ruse to avoid Parliamentary scrutiny, or another domino toppling? Rebekah Brooks arrested over phone-hacking allegations. Update: The NotW whistle-blower Sean Hoare is found dead. <vote poll=world3814 closed="yes">Bachmann was asked to leave her church. <vote poll=world3813 closed="yes">A video from the You Can't Make This Shit Up department: Steve Douchey Doocy and another Fox News flak compare News Corp's role in the hacking scandal to corporate and government victims of hacking.  Then, as if that wasn't precious enough, Da Douche brings up China's role in hacking the Pentagon's computers. Then, he trots out this little gem: "We are teetering on default, and what do they do?  They talk about this!" Update: Taking the moral high ground...Larry Flynt? <vote poll=world3812 closed="yes">The Sarah Palin feature film debuts to empty theaters. (Must be those Harry Potter-lovin' surrender monkey ushers.) <vote poll=world3811 closed="yes">One down... Rebekah Brooks falls on her sword. And another - Les Hinton resigns. Update: Metropolitan Police chief quits. <vote poll=world3810 closed="yes">As fine upstanding conservative US citizens, the Murdochs can tell the MPs who want them to answer questions about phone hacking to go fuck themselves. They may not be able to say that to the FBI, though. <vote poll=world3809 closed="yes">Biggest earthquake in 300 years hits the English Channel. Of course, at magnitude 3.9, "biggest" is a relative term. Murdoch's earthquake machine suspected. <vote poll=world3808 closed="yes">Why you can ignore anonymous internet critics. <vote poll=world3807 closed="yes">MASSIVE amount of "model legislation" leaked from ALEC. The whole document dump is here. <vote poll=world3806 closed="yes">Minnesota hurtles toward a state of emergency, as the government shutdown threatens the beer supply. <vote poll=world3805 closed="yes">International House of Prayer, part 2: Oprah is a harbinger of the Antichrist. (Video included, for now at least.) <vote poll=world3804 closed="yes">Computer learns language by playing Civilization. <vote poll=world3803 closed="yes">Climate change is speeding up the rate at which creatures are going extinct. <vote poll=world3802 closed="yes">We're not just getting hotter, we're getting more unjust and more unstable too. <vote poll=world3801 closed="yes">An Austrian atheist and Pastafarian wins the right to wear a colander in his driver's licence photo. <vote poll=world3800 closed="yes">A County Supervisor wants 13 California counties to secede and form a 51st state, South California, in order to escape liberal policies. <vote poll=world3799 closed="yes">Announcing the winners of Google's Science Fair - do check this every time you feel down after one too many 'creationist science fair' jokes. <vote poll=world3798 closed="yes">A US Marine serving in Afghanistan asks out Meg Griffin Mila Kunis via YouTube, she accepts - but for her country, or Justin Timberlake, or what? <vote poll=world3797 closed="yes">Republican presidential candidate speaks sense. (Hey, that's no way to get elected!) <vote poll=world3796 closed="yes">There's an outfit called the "International House of Prayer" (currently being sued by IHOP) hosting an orgy of Christian rock and prayer that goes on nonstop, 24/7. For a dozen years the votaries have sent up their humble supplications against abortion and gay marriage, with remarkable effect. <vote poll=world3795 closed="yes">Skinheads assault Native American family. Guess who gets arrested? <vote poll=world3794 closed="yes">It always pays to read the small print. <vote poll=world3793 closed="yes">The DEA declares marijuana has no medicinal properties. <vote poll=world3792 closed="yes">Smokey Joe is fighting back in the "war on light bulbs." (Update: Mike the Mad Biologist comments.) <vote poll=world3791 closed="yes">Senate GOP leader on why accused terrorists should not be tried in civilian courts: The jury might not find them guilty. <vote poll=world3790 closed="yes">Oh, and the News of the World may have hacked the phones of 9/11 victims.

<vote poll=world3789 closed="yes">The final gasps of News of the World. The Guardian, trolling its blog readers as usual: "It was a good day for the bad guys. Villains, paedophiles and corrupt politicians will be able to sleep more soundly now that the greatest investigative newspaper on Earth has gone." In NotW itself, [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/8628690/News-of-the-World-final-crossword-has-a-message-for-catastrophe-Rebekah-Brooks.html a final "Fuck you!" jab at its editor -- in the crossword puzzle.] And on the BBC, comedian Steve Coogan -- himself a victim of phone hacking -- jumps down the throat of a NotW editor who had the nuts (not to mention the nutters) to defend the practice. <vote poll=world3788 closed="yes">Really, at what point did the Church of England's Ethical Investment Committee ask themselves "what would Jesus do?" and get the answer "give £4 million to Rupert Murdoch"? Must have been very sophisticated theology. C of E clergy and lay members are outraged &mdash; just in time for the general synod! <vote poll=world3787 closed="yes">Irony alert: Democratic Senator Patty Murray solicits the Kochs for campaign funds. <vote poll=world3786 closed="yes">New country on the block: South Sudan is now an independent nation. <vote poll=world3785 closed="yes">Malaysia decides it's not having any of this peaceful protesting. Or the colour yellow. <vote poll=world3784 closed="yes">Boys can be girls, and girls can be boys. Sweden opens its first gender-agnostic nursery - Egalia (equality) - <vote poll=world3783 closed="yes">Final hold is removed, Space Shuttle Atlantis is at 8 minutes to launch (11:26 EDT). Update: Atlantis is now in orbit, for the 135th and final mission of the Space Shuttle. Live: NASA TV <vote poll=world3782 closed="yes">Michele Bachmann pledges to ban all forms of female pornography

<vote poll=world3779 closed="yes">Regarding the national debt, the oracle of Utah Gospel according to Orrin sayeth: "The poor need jobs! And they also need to share some of the responsibility" because "the top 50 percent pay somewhere near 98 percent of all income taxes. 51 percent don't pay anything."  (And π=3.) <vote poll=world3778 closed="yes">States with marriage for gays have lowest divorce rates <vote poll=world3777 closed="yes">Surgeons carry out first synthetic windpipe transplant <vote poll=world3776 closed="yes">News of the World to publish its last issue on Sunday. (Rumours that The Sun intends to start publishing a new Sunday edition are entirely unfounded...) <vote poll=world3775 closed="yes">Rupert Murdoch's PR company goes into overdrive (warning: satire) <vote poll=world3774 closed="yes">You thought legalisation of gay marriage in New York was enough of a win? Well, after the vote, some photographer managed to capture Brian Brown of National Organization for Marriage crying in a corner. Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. <vote poll=world3773 closed="yes">Following the phone hacking scandal, advertisers are now hitting Murdoch where it hurts:the wallet. <vote poll=world3772 closed="yes">In Britain; Ghosts and aliens are more believable than God. <vote poll=world3771 closed="yes">Homosexuality is observed in animals, morality is observed in animals, superstition is observed in animals... now emo cam-whoring is observed in animals. <vote poll=world3770 closed="yes">Evolutionary biologists uses creationist techniques to gather evidence for evolution.

<vote poll=world3769 closed="yes">The Vatican announces that it has turned a profit after three straight years of losses. Uh, just a minute there, Ratzo. Isn't the Catholic church tax-exempt in the US because it claims to be a not-for-profit religious organization? <vote poll=world3768 closed="yes">"Physicists: Universe Almost Certainly Not a Hologram" <vote poll=world3767 closed="yes">A recent report on federal wiretaps shows they hit an all-time high under the Obama administration. But, hey, at least they're getting cheaper! <vote poll=world3766 closed="yes" closed="yes">Next GOP hopeful: David Duke? <vote poll=world3765 closed="yes">Shorter Noam Chomsky: Maybe that Hugo Chavez guy isn't so good after all. <vote poll=world3764 closed="yes">If you thought the News of the World couldn't sink any lower&hellip; well, it turns out they can. Google bid Pi for Nortel Networks patents. <vote poll=world3763 closed="yes">Hugo Chavez receives cancer treatment in Cuba, which many Venezuelans see as a tacit admission that Venezuela's health care system is failing. <vote poll=world3762 closed="yes" closed="yes" closed="yes" closed="yes">Give it up, liberals. Part two of Atlas Shrugged is announced. Motorcyclist dies in an accident protesting helmet laws, from an injury he would have survived if he had been wearing a helmet. Surprise, surprise! Climate change denialist funded by Big Oil. It's not Soylent Green. It's much, much worse. <vote poll=world3761 closed="yes">Titanic II sinks on maiden voyage. <vote poll=world3760 closed="yes">And you thought hentai tentacle porn was just the product of fevered Japanese imaginations?