RationalWiki:What is going on in the blogosphere?/December 2010

December 2010
In Japan, the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly passed Bill 156, which would place heavy restrictions on the distribution of anime and manga that “unjustifiably glorify or exaggerate” sexual themes and works that are “considered to be excessively disrupting of social order.” So how the hell did that happen? America's addiction to belief. Utne Reader has posted a copy of the article here. Have yourself a counterculture Xmas. As the repeal of DADT wends its way through the Pentagon and the LGBT community celebrates this small advance in society, there is still the case of the world's greatest propaganda machine -- a supposedly gay-friendly community that still cranks out movies that ratchet up a villain's evil quotient by queering them up. Skippy (of '213 Things Skippy is No Longer Allowed To Do in the US Army' fame) on why he supports DADT repeal. An uncharacteristically astute and well reasoned Ricky Gervais on "Why I'm An Atheist" Ed Vaizey would like ISPs to specifically filter explicit content on the internet, except just one, tiny, minute, hardly-worth-mentioning point; it just wouldn't work. Garrison Keillor, of A Prairie Home Companion fame, admits that he knows not of what he speaks: "I have more in common with black evangelicals from Barbados than with Catholics from my hometown." "Everyone knows that something is wrong. The politicians say, 'we need higher standards.' The schools say, 'we need more money and equipment.' Educators say one thing, and teachers say another. They are all wrong." Eating turkey and mashed potatoes for Christmas dinner? Pshaw, only rubes and hicks do that. Really sophisticated people eat a "holiday feast" of, i.a., shrimp with blood orange and fennel salad and apple and walnut risotto with gorgonzola. Slideshow: "13 Products Most Likely To (Be) Made By Child Or Forced Labor." In 2008, Sandra Lee "made" a "Kwanzaa cake" that, according to one critic, [http://www.avclub.com/articles/this-cake-will-make-your-eyeballs-burst-into-flame,25176/ "will make your eyes burst into flames." (Videos)] (Best line:  La Lee can't taste sweet, salty, sour, bitter or umami because "she's had her tongue botoxed.")  She also "made" a "Chanukah cake" -- video here -- which, well. . .are blue food dye, canned frosting and marshmallows kosher? Now, another foodie has come forth to claim authorship and to say mea culpa "fuck me" for giving Lee these "ideas". HuffPo has added a new page for atheists - although atheism is not a religion fans will be disappointed to know that its still categorised under religion. Welcome to Hamtramck, Michigan -- A city with a deepening fiscal crisis and no budget items left to cut. Using democracy to dismantle democracy: History repeating itself An alarming new Latin American trend. I wonder what Andy Schlafly would make of this <vote poll=blog1245 closed="yes">A brace of prominent left-wingers, finally making the effort of noticing that President Obama is not one of them, screech at the "left establishment" about the need to Do Something. <vote poll=blog1244 closed="yes">Wisdom, Caribou Barbie style: "If you want to have wild, organic, healthy food, you’re gonna go out there and hunt yourself." The concept of farming is obviously new to the lady; after all, not only does raising a crop take actual work, it takes too much time to be of soundbite value. <vote poll=blog1243 closed="yes">[http://www.dcscience.net/?p=3829 Why should a postman pay for your university education? And why does free education end at 18?] <vote poll=blog1242 closed="yes">We know that "the stupid, it hurts." But, where hurts? And how much? LessWrong investigates! <vote poll=blog1241 closed="yes">Research about biological clocks in mice dramatically affects Mike Adams Sorry 'Health Ranger', scientists have not unintentionally demonstrated that astrology works. <vote poll=blog1240 closed="yes">Over the last two decades a Swedish city has effectively reduced to zero its use of fossil fuels to heat its homes and businesses. <vote poll=blog1239 closed="yes">Another example of the irreparable harm that WikiLeaks does. WL has leaked a U.S. Embassy document about their ongoing study of Hugo Chavez's plan to ensnare Venezuela in a web of freedom-killing socialism. The embassy devoted lots of verbiage to one of Chavez's most sinister plots:  AFFORDABLE PINKO TORTILLAS! <vote poll=blog1238 closed="yes">Fair and balanced? Leaked memos show Fox News deliberately slanted their coverage of the health care debate. <vote poll=blog1237 closed="yes">Did NASA really find New Life?? - Do the claims published in Science justify NASA's press conference? <vote poll=blog1236 closed="yes">Be careful what you let access your Twitter account. <vote poll=blog1235 closed="yes">"Sometime long ago, a writer by the side of Walden Pond decided that middle-class Americans may seem happy and successful on the outside, but deep down they are leading lives of quiet desperation. This message caught on (it’s flattering to writers and other dissidents) ... writers have become trapped in the confines of this orthodoxy." <vote poll=blog1234 closed="yes">What Wikileaks has taught us about the open internet <vote poll=blog1233 closed="yes">In 1960 John F. Kennedy said his faith would be separate from his public role, guess who thinks that's a bad idea. <vote poll=blog1232 closed="yes">Forget the cards and gifts. Get revenge this holiday season! <vote poll=blog1231 closed="yes">Narcissism will not appear in the next edition of the DSM. Of course, in a world where reality TV and Sarah Palin are given legitimacy, maybe narcissism is more of a state of mind than a personality disorder. <vote poll=blog1230 closed="yes">Andy Kroll, although not deviating from the 150-year-old shtick about the rich being responsible for all of America's problems, forsakes the usual route of blaming Ronald Reagan for this and blames Jimmy Carter instead. Specifically, thanks to his policies, campaign money is now coming from the wrong sort of people, in consequence of which the U.S. is no longer a democracy. <vote poll=blog1229 closed="yes">The first atheist in the Islamic Maldives is now speaking out after death threats; he's open to questions via YouTube. (Some background via dprjones) <vote poll=blog1228 closed="yes">Two dispatches from the culture wars: John Boehner wants to lead his battalion against an exhibit of covertly gay art called "HIDE/SEEK."  Meanwhile, Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma is going tête-à-tête with his hometown in the unrelenting War on Christmas. <vote poll=blog1227 closed="yes">[http://blog.movies.yahoo.com/blog/201-christmas-favorite-nutcracker-gone-horribly-wrong Worst. Nutcracker. Ever.] With Nazi rats. And sharks. And Albert Einstein. I am not making this up.