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

June 2012
30 Million uninsured Americans? The GOP says that's not the issue. Moonies have mass weddings. Mormons have mass resignations. One Million Moms don't seem to know the bit about "those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Last gay Jewish Holocaust survivor dies.  Conservative author Michael Marin kills himself in the courtroom after being found guilty of arson In totally unsurprising news, Katie Holmes decides to divorce Xenu. Home-birth advocate proclaims: "Free-birthing is beautiful! It's natural! It's how ALL births should be done! (Oh, um, just ignore the fact that I caused the death of my own baby)  The US Supreme Court upholds 'Obamacare' Update: Oh God, the irony, it burns!  Beach Bikini Bonking By Bawdy Bishop Begats Banishment 65 percent of Americans say Obama better suited to handle alien invasion than Romney. 8 TRILLION LEGO!!! That is all. Texas GOP platform opposes the teaching of critical thinking skills. (see p.12 of the PDF, section heading "Knowledge-Based Education" - platform also includes abstinence-only sex ed and teaching the controversy.) The Cost of Same-Sex Marriage Bans Oreo goes badass. Best Comment yet: "Now that I think about it, Oreo cookies are basically gay metaphors anyway. Cream filling stuck between two hard, round, black, flat things? Come on. Someone's got jungle fever." 27 June 12 Germany bans the cutting of foreskin on religious grounds, pissing off Jews and Muslims alike. And so begins the "War on Circumcision!" :) Charles Carreon vs The World takes a turn for the even stranger (Is such a thing even possible? Yes it is!)

<vote poll=world5423 closed="yes"> The U.S Supreme Court strikes down 3/4 of the controversial Arizona immigration law. Pundits explode into confusion and rage <vote poll=world5422 closed="yes">Good news for the 80-odd prisoners sentenced to life without parole for murders committed before their 15th birthday: SCOTUS declares their punishment "cruel and unusual." <vote poll=world5421 closed="yes">If prayer actually worked, don't you think Christians have better things to pray for than "praying Lady Gaga away." <vote poll=world5420 closed="yes">Animals are WAY smarter than we thought. Or we're dumber than we thought. Or both. <vote poll=world5419 closed="yes">Chelonoidis nigra abingdoni - Extinct. Due to goats. <vote poll=world5418 closed="yes"> Mohamed Morsi elected president of Egypt. Will it be able to remain a secular state for long? <vote poll=world5417 closed="yes">Ah, the beauty of knowing exactly what will happen. Enjoy yourself, Benedict. <vote poll=world5416 closed="yes">First? Whatever. [http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120622163509.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29 Congratulations! You came second!] <vote poll=world5415 closed="yes">As part of the commemoration of Alan Turing's 100 birthday, a conference today at Oxford will debate whether his death was a suicide (as per the official findings) or an accident. <vote poll=world5414 closed="yes">Sandusky found guilty on 45 of 48 charges. <vote poll=world5413 closed="yes">Photo of the day. <vote poll=world5412 closed="yes">The Truth About Religion in America: The Founders LOL'D at Superstition and We Were Never a Christian Nation

<vote poll=world5410 closed="yes">Rio +20: Achieving fuck all! <vote poll=world5409 closed="yes">Watch as DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart goes full retard. Drugs are bad, m'kay. <vote poll=world5408 closed="yes">"Doomsday" bird flu data released to the public in full. The verdict? Do not, I repeat, do not fuck with nature. <vote poll=world5407 closed="yes">Want to have a competition and want to give it a cool name? Don't mess with the 'Olympic' brand, or they'll sue your sorry backside for denigrating True American Athletes™. <vote poll=world5406 closed="yes">UK comedian Jimmy Carr admits to using a (legal) tax avoidance scheme, apologies and states he will withdraw from it. David Cameron, who has his family fortune nicely tucked away in an offshore account, calls Carr's action "morally wrong". Also: *cough*. <vote poll=world5405 closed="yes">Andrew Schlafly now apparently writing textbooks for the UK. "Solar Fusion is a Myth" <vote poll=world5404 closed="yes">Awkward turtle... <vote poll=world5403 closed="yes">The T-1000 just became a little bit more possible. <vote poll=world5402 closed="yes">Three Alberta oil spills in exactly 30 days. Just need a little more Harper! Congratulations! <vote poll=world5401 closed="yes">Egypt's Hosni Mubarak dies....oh wait maybe not.. <vote poll=world5400 closed="yes">Adidas fails forever. <vote poll=world5399 closed="yes">More "Christian love:" Christians, carrying pigs' heads and chanting anti-Islam slogans, crash an Arab-American festival in Michigan. <vote poll=world5398 closed="yes">After failing to get Matthew Inman (The Oatmeal) to give him twenty grand, the latest purveyor of the Streisand effect is now suing the National Wildlife Foundation and the American Cancer Society.

<vote poll=world5396 closed="yes">Meet DarwinTunes. <vote poll=world5395 closed="yes">So, has post-Arab Spring Egypt become the "Islamic Caliphate" that wingnuts feared? Nah, a possible military coup. <vote poll=world5394 closed="yes">Sheriff Joe keeps fighting the good fight and arrests a six-year-old girl on suspicion of being undocumented. <vote poll=world5393 closed="yes">Glenn Beck is aghast at Glee's message of acceptance and diversity and wants to create a conservative version to destroy it.

<vote poll=world5392 closed="yes">Nun on the run! <vote poll=world5391 closed="yes">Greece will try to stay in the eurozone. <vote poll=world5390 closed="yes">François Hollande unsurprisingly wins a majority in today's legislative election, but strangely (in regards to France's lenient views on sexuality) his former wife Ségolène Royal loses in her riding after Hollande's new partner started a Twitter catfight. Update: In even more strange news, Voldemort is set to disappear from the national spotlight while another Le Pen wins a seat (and another addition to the Evil, but Hawt! list.) <vote poll=world5389 closed="yes">Oh, Jenny, can't find anything else to do with your time, can you? And forfucksake HuffPo, her son doesn't have autism. <vote poll=world5367 closed="yes">In some sick Euro 2012 joke, Greece advances to the quarterfinals before tomorrow's election. In true Philosopher Football fashion, they will have to face their creditors. <vote poll=world5386 closed="yes">Female Michigan House representatives disagree with invasive anti-abortion bill. They are subsequently forbidden to speak at all. Democracy in action, no women allowed. <vote poll=world5385 closed="yes">Hey asshole, you forgot to say goodbye. <vote poll=world5384 closed="yes">Someone could write a thesis on this: Compare the reasonable comments on Obama's illegal immigrant decision today in the Beeb and (shockingly) Reddit to the full-scale batshit insanity on Politico: [http://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/06/obama-interrupted-by-heckling-reporter-126301.html Dey took er jobs! Illeagals can voet! Americahh!] <vote poll=world5383 closed="yes">Plants can talk. The UN is to vote on reclassifying veganism as an act of genocide in an emergency session tomorrow. <vote poll=world5382 closed="yes">Dubya's head was cut off and stuck on a pike. <vote poll=world5381 closed="yes">In a blow to at least one source of bodybuilding woo, it seems Growth-Promoting Hormones Don't Stimulate Strength (note that ScienceDaily's is mostly an aggregator of press releases) <vote poll=world5380 closed="yes">Alexander Aan, the Indonesian atheist who made the "God does not exist" post on Facebook, sentenced to 2½ years imprisonment for blasphemy. <vote poll=world5379 closed="yes">New theory on why the male "gay gene" doesn't bring on its own extinction: 1.) Gay men's mothers and aunts carry the gene; and 2.) these women tend to have more children than average.  Okay, this theory overlooks the number of closeted gay men who have children. But still, it's ironic (not to mention both sad and amusing) to think of all the homophobic dominionists who pop out a dozen or so kids, thus increasing the likelihood that they will produce at least one confirmed bachelor. <vote poll=world5378 closed="yes">Lance Armstrong brought up on new doping charges by the US Anti-Doping Agency

<vote poll=world5377 closed="yes">Former Mobster and inspiration for the film Goodfellas, Henry Hill, dies at 69 <vote poll=world5376 closed="yes">This stretch of highway brought to you by...the Klan? <vote poll=world5375 closed="yes">The Internet, done right. <vote poll=world5374 closed="yes">It was a dingo. <vote poll=world5373 closed="yes">TERRORISM: Now with a sense of humour! <vote poll=world5372 closed="yes">Democracy in Canada takes another brutal body blow, as "embarrassment to the government" is declared to be a national security threat. <vote poll=world5371 closed="yes">How fucked is the Euro? Fucking Bitcoin is preferable. <vote poll=world5370 closed="yes">Greek fascist finds himself at the bottom of a hole, keeps digging. <vote poll=world5369 closed="yes">Ok...did anyone consider the implications of leaving a full city-state to the Roman Catholic Church? We might be en route to a scandal worse than 2010's. <vote poll=world5368 closed="yes">Holy crap. Mr. President, we suggest you stay away from Jesusland. (as if he wasn't already) Hey look, it's God denying that he's God! <vote poll=world5366 closed="yes">Details on the Stuxnet attack on Iran's nuclear program leak. <vote poll=world5365 closed="yes">Terry Jones (no, not the funny one) hangs an effigy of Obama outside his church. <vote poll=world5364 closed="yes">Dirty socialism caused Greece to go (almost) bankrupt … oh, wait! <vote poll=world5363 closed="yes">Support for gay marriage comes from a surprising quarter. <vote poll=world5362 closed="yes">Alberta oil spill #2 Keep going Harper! You can do it! <vote poll=world5361 closed="yes">Nothing to do while detained in Wal-Mart for shoplifting while the police are on their way? Cook some meth. <vote poll=world5360 closed="yes">Y'all lookin' fer the ideal place fer y'alls lil'uns birthday party? Come on down to our shootin' range. <vote poll=world5359 closed="yes">Giant venomous spiders attack a village in northeastern India. Anti-venom is slow to arrive; in the meantime the locals seek assistance from witch-doctors, who bleed them to death. <vote poll=world5358 closed="yes">Denmark legalizes same-sex marriage. Helle! :) <vote poll=world5357 closed="yes">Greece lurches even closer to chaos as a newly elected, neo-nazi, Golden Dawn MP assaults two female communist MP's live on air and then goes on the run. <vote poll=world5356 closed="yes">Update on a previous WIGO: After DOMA forced a legally married widower to pay $363,000 in estate taxes, a New York district judge rules the law unconstitutional and calls for laws that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation to be "subject to a heightened form of judicial scrutiny." <vote poll=world5355 closed="yes">Philip Tobias, renowned palaeo-anthropologist, passes away. <vote poll=world5354 closed="yes">Enjoy the cognitive dissonance, FBI. <vote poll=world5353 closed="yes">Why worry about coal mining's massive environmental impacts to nearby communities when SOMEONE TOOK A PHOTO OF THEIR CHILD IN THE TUB! <vote poll=world5352 closed="yes">Private Christian school hires music teacher, then immediately fires him when they find out he's gay. <vote poll=world5351 closed="yes">Stephen Harper's go-to guy for questions on the robocall affair faces investigation for possible electoral improprieties. <vote poll=world5350 closed="yes">Call the wammmbulance! For the love of all that is holy, Canuckistan! <vote poll=world5349 closed="yes">Republican spokesman calls for acid to be thrown in the faces of female Democrats. <vote poll=world5348 closed="yes">Fox News babe by the end of the year, guaranteed. <vote poll=world5347 closed="yes">RIP Ray Bradbury <vote poll=world5346 closed="yes">Waiting for her with what, Marine? <vote poll=world5345 closed="yes">South Korean creationists win a petiton to get the teaching evolution banned in S. Korean schools. <vote poll=world5344 closed="yes">Louisiana continues its slide into ruin with a voucher system for schools, most of which are religious. <vote poll=world5343 closed="yes"> Biden Clinton smash! "Who would have ever thought that the Republicans who made a living for decades deriding 'old Europe' would embrace their economic policy?" Which brings up the question: with 30 years of military deficits in the US and 30 years of welfare deficits in Greece, are they really that different? <vote poll=world5342 closed="yes">Barack Obama: encouraging TRUANCY!