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

March 2012
Buchanan, Malkin et al...you can crawl right back into the hole you came in from, thanks. VIDEO: Last December, two Trekkers driving through a small town in Illinois were given a first-hand demonstration of how American law enforcement uses the war on drugs to violate people's Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights. We're going to have to double our Eurabia debunking efforts. New experiment shows Einstein was dead on in his view of how the universe is expanding "OK, guys, I cocked up. I'll be off now." MYSTERY: Did Frothy almost drop an N-Bomb on the President?  With a looming petrol delivery strike in the UK, the panic buying starts claiming victims. How DARE those Muslims eat Christian food! Friends don’t let friends use pink balls We all know who's not going to get re-elected. Raise the Titanic Apollo 11 engines! And so begins one of the most important race cases of the 21st century. The 2012 conservative campaign against women reaches absurd new levels. Remember, Repulicans want small government. Very small government. [http://www.activistpost.com/2012/03/america-ranks-1st-among-western-nations.html WE'RE #1! AMERICA #1!] at being a western nation and executing our citizens... Will somebody please get Pat Robertson some meds? His latest claim is that homosexuality is a form of demonic possession. It begins... <vote poll=world4972 closed="yes">Small changes in federal policy...can be interpreted as progress. <vote poll=world4971 closed="yes">The fact that stories like this are happening every week should be enough to raise alarm bells. Hell, does Anonymous even have this kind of power?

<vote poll=world4970 closed="yes">While American right wing politicians do everything they can to starve public education, school officials in South Carolina may have found a way to speed up the process -- make bass fishing a varsity sport with teams, leagues, championship playoffs and varsity letters. <vote poll=world4969 closed="yes">Canada continues the grand military tradition of buying lemons it doesn't need <vote poll=world4968 closed="yes">Not from The Onion: Birthers want proof that Mitt Romney was born in America <vote poll=world4967 closed="yes">US anti-abortion group "40 Days for Life" hops over the pond to protest against the British Pregnancy Advisory Service - including filming staff and harassing women in and around the clinics.

<vote poll=world4965 closed="yes">Just please make a better film than Avatar. - (why isn't this headline "Cameron Sinks to New Depths"?) <vote poll=world4964 closed="yes">"Well, she coulda been related to Saddam Hussein, yah know. Just askin' questions." <vote poll=world4963 closed="yes">Hitler shampoo commercial gets blasted in Turkey Could be worse. They could be advertising soap. <vote poll=world4962 closed="yes">German courts want cisgender purity, and rule that the state can condemn a young trans girl to institutionalization, reparative therapy and foster care simply because her mother didn't try to beat the transgender out of her. <vote poll=world4961 closed="yes">Perhaps the world's only Shiva that has Lender's Bagels. <vote poll=world4960 closed="yes">How does the Conservative Party get around a strike by the guys who drive the petrol tankers? They get the army to fill in for them!

<vote poll=world4958 closed="yes"> Canada's New Democratic Party elects a new leader. <vote poll=world4957 closed="yes">Alberta continues to live with the times. <vote poll=world4956 closed="yes">Does getting a heart transplant not imply that you have a heart to begin with? <vote poll=world4955 closed="yes">Starbucks is being boycotted, of all things, for being pro-gay. <vote poll=world4954 closed="yes">Random cloud shows up on Martian scanners. Ready, set... <vote poll=world4953 closed="yes">Everyone on me: Galactic facepalm. <vote poll=world4952 closed="yes">You know how conservative politicians like to talk about how state intervention in the economy is ultimately destructive? Yeah? Well they might try following their own advice when it comes to private-sector labour disputes. <vote poll=world4951 closed="yes">Now it's official: Watching Fox News can be bad for your health, and may even lead to your death. <vote poll=world4950 closed="yes">After a year or so of making more off-the-wall statements than usual, should we ask ourselves if Pat Robertson is losing his mind? The most recent example: Because the Denver Broncos signed Peyton Manning and traded Tim Tebow to the Jets, "it would serve them right" if Manning re-injured his neck. <vote poll=world4949 closed="yes">Bizarro World: Santorum endorses Obama. Sort of. Update: a pro-choice GOP congressman (not ironically) recommends giving money to Democrats. <vote poll=world4948 closed="yes">Coercive vaginal ultrasound scans count as rape, according to some wild-eyed liberal do-gooder a doctor planning to organise his profession against the procedure. <vote poll=world4947 closed="yes">Kakistocracy - Rule by the utterly, surreally ignorant. He just doesn't stop. <vote poll=world4946 closed="yes">Ironic news item of the day: Two gay men on a gay cruise arrested for having gay sex while in a port where gay sex is illegal. <vote poll=world4945 closed="yes">A new petition attempts to place Alan Turing on the next £10 bank note. <vote poll=world4944 closed="yes">...Zombies? <vote poll=world4943 closed="yes">Awesome but impractical: Scientists send message with neutrinos. <vote poll=world4942 closed="yes">Aha.In meme form... <vote poll=world4941 closed="yes">So now we know why Sarkozy wanted to get this killer so badly... <vote poll=world4940 closed="yes">Privatise ALLLLLLLL the things!!!Comme ça! <vote poll=world4939 closed="yes">Sweden begins transitioning to a cashless economy. <vote poll=world4938 closed="yes">Fucking hippies <3 <vote poll=world4937 closed="yes">Lesbian proposal at an Ottawa Senators game. Make sure you have Kleenex within easy reach. <vote poll=world4936 closed="yes">[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/19/rick-santorum-economy_n_1363138.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009 Never mind the economy; contraception and pornography... there are more pressing concerns for the populace.]

<vote poll=world4935 closed="yes">From the even evil has standards division, part deux: Rush Limbaugh refused to take ads from the Westboro Baptist Church. <vote poll=world4934 closed="yes">Castration time!

<vote poll=world4932 closed="yes">From the even evil has standards division: Al Qaeda on Fox News: "falls into the abyss as you know, and lacks objectivity, too.” <vote poll=world4931 closed="yes" closed="yes">Bolton football player Fabrice Muamba suffers a heart attack in the middle of a game.

<vote poll=world4930 closed="yes">Socialist Ken argues for less government: "I could have paid £50,000 more tax. I could. Or I could use it, as I have done, to employ two people" <vote poll=world4929 closed="yes">This American Life let themselves get taken in.... <vote poll=world4928 closed="yes">(Coptic) Pope Shenouda III dies. <vote poll=world4927 closed="yes">Stephen Harper: How are you doing today, friends? Former aides: ... <vote poll=world4926 closed="yes">Nope, Obama's right wing detractors are not racist.

<vote poll=world4925 closed="yes">ICARUS: Neutrinos do not travel faster than light. Case closed? <vote poll=world4924 closed="yes"> shrinks a little. <vote poll=world4923 closed="yes">And Kony 2012 comes crashing down: Here comes Fapgate. <vote poll=world4922 closed="yes">If you want a vision of the future, imagine a privately owned boot voluntarily stamping on a human face - forever. <vote poll=world4921 closed="yes">UK MP to Canada: [http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2012/03/15/ns-british-mp-questions-sub-deal.html You know those subs you bought from us? They might have been lemons. You should ask for your money back.] <vote poll=world4920 closed="yes">Science uses a fish gene to protect strawberries from freezing. There's just one small problem... <vote poll=world4919 closed="yes">Ann Coulter on Sandra Fluke: "liberal women are only pretending to be offended by the word 'slut'.” Also, "As if her haircut isn't birth control enough." Stay classy America. <vote poll=world4918 closed="yes">That was quick! Sheriff Joe's lead investigator publishes an e-book, titled "A Question of Eligibility," co-authored with WND's Jerome "Where's the birth certificate?" Corsi. <vote poll=world4917 closed="yes">Is it too early to order some Mammoth steak? <vote poll=world4916 closed="yes">The Kony 2012 backlash worsens, as even Kony's victims hate the film. <vote poll=world4915 closed="yes">28 Belgians, 22 of them chirldren between the ages of 11 and 12, are killed in a coach crash in Switzerland. All our thoughts are with the families of the dead, and those still waiting for news. <vote poll=world4914 closed="yes">Print is Dead, says Encyclopaedia Britannica.

<vote poll=world4912 closed="yes">Meet the new boss / Same as the old boss. <vote poll=world4911 closed="yes">Cue the redneck jokes. Update: Mitt, just stop. <vote poll=world4910 closed="yes">Sarkozy: Shut down our borders! No more immigrants. Make sure multiculturalism and Islam never spreads again! Angie, do you agree with me? Merkel: Er, about that... <vote poll=world4909 closed="yes">March 12, 2012: The Great Black North officially enters the deep end, adopting the very same policies that has made the United States the crime capital of the world. <vote poll=world4908 closed="yes">"O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!"

<vote poll=world4907 closed="yes">[http://boingboing.net/2012/03/12/kony-2012-invisible-children.html Invisible Children primarily backed by fundies. A shitload of fundies.] To that we say... <vote poll=world4906 closed="yes">[http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/dick-cheney-deems-canada-too-dangerous-for-speaking-visit/article2366950/ Fuck off, Senator! I'm not scared of those liberal pussy wimps in Canada!] <vote poll=world4905 closed="yes">Quebec man barred from filing lawsuits without authorization after he demanded sole ownership of the Earth, the other planets and several moons. <vote poll=world4904 closed="yes">And the US army has fucked things up again. <vote poll=world4903 closed="yes">Well, at least they finally stop pretending intelligent design as a science by suing for discrimination on religious grounds. <vote poll=world4902 closed="yes">Mississippi and Alabama prove just why we think of them every time we hear "Dueling banjos." <vote poll=world4901 closed="yes">What's the best way to observe Lent? Take your money out of Wall Street banks and put it into small local banks and credit unions. <vote poll=world4900 closed="yes">Heard of soccer football hooligans? Now we have symphony hooligans! <vote poll=world4899 closed="yes">The man who brought about the end of CFCs, passes away. <vote poll=world4898 closed="yes">Pussy Riot vs Putin. Sometimes the papers write the WIGO for you&hellip; <vote poll=world4897 closed="yes">Coal produced less than 40% of electricity in the United States last year, the lowest percent in 33 years. <vote poll=world4896 closed="yes">Ice coverage of the Great Lakes down by as much as 71% since 1973. <vote poll=world4895 closed="yes">Mission accomplished! <vote poll=world4894 closed="yes">What's worse than letting a penis decide what happens to a uterus? How about your experience with livestock deciding what happens to a uterus? <vote poll=world4893 closed="yes">Harold Camping admitting he's wrong? That's new. <vote poll=world4892 closed="yes">Not being used to morbidly obese people, Britain's mortuaries take on the new policy of leaving fat guys to decompose for a while before trying to fit them into an enclosed space. <vote poll=world4891 closed="yes">"Affirm or deny that forcing Scientology employees to lick bathroom floors is a religious practice of the Church of Scientology"

<vote poll=world4890 closed="yes">Freshwater appeal denied. <vote poll=world4889 closed="yes">What is it about conservatives and predictions? Santorum makes his own. In honor of this, I shall engage in a little hypocrisy and predict that he will continue to be a total douchebag. <vote poll=world4888 closed="yes">Have alcohol problems? Get high. <vote poll=world4887 closed="yes">[http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/03/pizza-goat-famous-famiglia.html Pizza Goat, Pizza Goat, does whatever a Pizza Goat does. Can he swing from a web? No he can't, he's a goat.] Update: Guess which restaurant this is too. <vote poll=world4886 closed="yes">More Republican representatives are abandoning Grover Norquist's no-tax-raise pledge, calling it irresponsible. <vote poll=world4885 closed="yes">Broken Clock Syndrome strikes again <vote poll=world4884 closed="yes">WE'RE DOOMED! <vote poll=world4883 closed="yes">The incredibly difficult and traumatic experience of explaining their gay uncle to my children. <vote poll=world4882 closed="yes">For 26 years, Joseph Kony has been leading the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda and committing every war crime imaginable, completely invisible to world interests. On April 20, 2012, the small campaign against him is going to try for mass exposure. <vote poll=world4881 closed="yes">Romney 6, Frothy 3, Newt 1, and... well, whoever that other guy is 0. <vote poll=world4880 closed="yes">Canada's robocall scandal expands as voters in Ontario report being issued a false voter ID card with the Elections Canada letterhead, directing them to a false polling station. Update: The NDP to Harpo: Check. <vote poll=world4879 closed="yes">FBI arrests Sabu, then Sabu rolls on the identity of 300 LulzSec. <vote poll=world4878 closed="yes">Republicans: [http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/06/obama-challenges-republicans-on-iran/?hp Nuke Iran! Nuke Iran!] Obama: <vote poll=world4877 closed="yes">For the ninth year in a row, PBS is "the most trusted institution in the US', and is considered an "excellent" use of tax dollars, according to a new national poll. <vote poll=world4876 closed="yes">Rush Limbaugh update: He's properly fucked this one up. Additional: ThinkProgress is keeping a tally of the advertisers that have dropped him, and one lawyer states that Sandra Fluke has sufficient grounds to pursue a libel/defamation suit. And what the hell does "overeducated" mean? <vote poll=world4875 closed="yes">Laurens County, South Carolina GOP: You can't be a Republican if you've had sex outside of your marriage. Oh, Newt... <vote poll=world4874 closed="yes">Really. <vote poll=world4873 closed="yes">The president of the Australian Medical Association distances himself from the anti-quackery Friends of Science in Medicine, claiming that it casts its criticisms too wide. <vote poll=world4872 closed="yes">Like we all know this is legitimate. <vote poll=world4871 closed="yes">Er, Republicans, do you support your wealthy donors, or support illegal immigrant slavery? Conundrums, conundrums. <vote poll=world4870 closed="yes">Let's see the NFL do this. <vote poll=world4869 closed="yes">Well, Rush, you really are sensitive to these things, aren't you? It's not like we need to get President Obama to offer support or anything. <vote poll=world4868 closed="yes">Bite my shiny metal school board ass! <vote poll=world4867 closed="yes">Saturn's moons continue to be in the spotlight. <vote poll=world4866 closed="yes">“I did veto a bill on gay marriage, not on gay rights”. What? <vote poll=world4865 closed="yes">For you, no playing with pussy after 8!

<vote poll=world4864 closed="yes">Looks like you shouldn't trust Newt with your wife... or your money. <vote poll=world4863 closed="yes">Mississippi police shut down an LGBT parade, on the grounds it's "illegal to be openly gay in the state". <vote poll=world4862 closed="yes"> UPDATE: Our friendly Arizona sheriff, who happens to be under investigation for bias against Latinos on the grounds of race, really wants to believe that thinks that Obama's birth certificate is forged. <vote poll=world4861 closed="yes">Gay marriage has been signed into law in Maryland. 8 states down, 42 to go. <vote poll=world4860 closed="yes">Oh, for crying out loud. Gay teacher fired on his wedding day for the crime of being homosexual. <vote poll=world4859 closed="yes">So. Birthers. WorldNutDaily. [http://www.wnd.com/2012/02/wnd-tv-to-live-stream-arpaio-eligibility-report/ “When I took this mission on, I took it on to possibly be able to clear the president,” Arpaio said during a speech in Maricopa County. “I was doing him a favor. We’ll see what happens.”] Yeah... <vote poll=world4858 closed="yes">Even in China, internet activism works.

<vote poll=world4856 closed="yes">Andrew Breitbart is dead De mortuis nil nisi bonum.