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

February 2011
 The dog ate my homework. Evil spirits stole the court dockets. Buy a genetically modified seed from the Monsanto Company, get a perpetual covenant slapped on your farm. Harry Reid, in an apparent attempt to distract the Nevada Legislature from a budget-crisis, comes out of left field and gets all morally outraged about Nevada's whorehouses. It would appear that a significant number of atheists share C.S. Lewis's sentiment and are very angry with God for not existing. [http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2011/02/man_booked_with_masturbating_a.html Anti-gay protester arrested for... ahem... pleasuring himself in public while watching children.] Publicly funded legal aid defends those who may not deserve a defence. Homeless? One Conservative council knows how to deal with that problem. Healthy christian wholesome family values are alive and well in Sweden. I, for one, welcome our new robotic overlords. A new Gallup poll finds that considerably more Americans self-identify as "conservative" than "liberal".

[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/25/paul-broun-town-hall-who-is-going-to-shoot-obama_n_828047.html Audience member: "Who is going to shoot Obama?" GOP Congressman "Well, I know there's a lot of frustration with this president..."] How bad are America's trade policies with China? Tomorrow (Feb. 25), an Oregon paper mill that specializes in recycling paper will cease operation because Chinese paper mills outbid them for waste paper, ship the waste to China, recycle it into various products (including bags and placemats for McDonalds® "restaurants"), then ship the recycled products back to America and sell these products for less than American paper mills can. This is sadly ironic because it's likely that some of the mill's workers will end up selling Big Macs® and Happy Meals®. "King of the Birthers" fires the first salvo in the battle as to who can look the more stupid come 2012. Girls! Want to that ape that catwalk look? Better get a sex-change then. Science is ... pretty. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy: Indiana's Dep AG loses job, for advocating the use of live ammo on WI protesters. <vote poll=world2876 closed="yes">David Barton: "Christians must take control of the culture and media so that "guys that have a secular viewpoint cannot survive," because Christians will "chop that kind of news off." <vote poll=world2875 closed="yes">Shorter Rick Santorum: Bring back the Crusades! <vote poll=world2874 closed="yes">It won't get far (damnit) but charging the Pope with Crimes Against Humanity seems like a good idea. <vote poll=world2873 closed="yes">The Yes Men do it again. Thinking he's speaking to David Koch, Wisconsin Governor Walker says, "This is our moment, this is our time to change the course of history," in between accepting a trip "out to Cali and really [have] a good time." <vote poll=world2872 closed="yes">An opinion poll in the US shows union-busting is opposed by 61% of the population and supported by 33%. Fox news takes these figures and reverses them - quite by accident, of course... <vote poll=world2871 closed="yes">Breaking news: 6 8 at least 11 slightly hurt in Scottish school airgun shooting. <vote poll=world2870 closed="yes">Ha! Don't these leftist, liberal owls realise there's no such thing as global warming? <vote poll=world2869 closed="yes">New study: Ecstacy doesn't wreck the mind. You still look silly though, gurning and asking for back-rubs. <vote poll=world2868 closed="yes">"I was blind but now can see." A miracle without divine intervention. <vote poll=world2867 closed="yes">Anonymous takes on Westboro Baptist "Church". UPDATE: The Threat is a Lie. It seems WBC faked the whole thing to get publicity. <vote poll=world2866 closed="yes">People throughout the United States and the rest of the world, including China and Egypt, are sending pizza to the protesters in Wisconsin. <vote poll=world2865 closed="yes">The BHA urge the British to just say no <vote poll=world2864 closed="yes">Global Warming? Relax! It's good for you! <vote poll=world2863 closed="yes">Sarah Palin's Presidential aspirations are now only discussed as a joke as one of her most trusted advisors spills the beans behind the scenes in a tell-all book. <vote poll=world2862 closed="yes">The people of Libya, Yemen and Bahrain take their cue from Algeria and Egypt. Sadly, these countries' dictators decide to play hard ball. <vote poll=world2861 closed="yes">Karl Rove: Birtherism is a White House strategy. <vote poll=world2860 closed="yes">Remember the Republicans' recent attempts to redefine what kinds of rape justify the government paying for an abortion ? They had good teachers. Speaker Boehner threatens a Newt Gingrich style budget temper tantrum <vote poll=world2858 closed="yes">Barack Obama meeting with Steve Jobs, Eric Schmidt, and Mark Zuckerberg but what will they talk about? <vote poll=world2857 closed="yes">Palin refudiates her own 2007 statement on being pro-breastfeeding after Michelle Obama comes out as pro-breastfeeding. <vote poll=world2856 closed="yes">Forget "man bites dog." Try "angry homeowner forecloses on bank."

<vote poll=world2854 closed="yes">Missouri state Senator Jane Cunningham has introduced a bill to eliminate the prohibition of employing children under 14. She states this will cultivate a work ethic in young people, and says to responds to criticism saying that they still can't work in dangerous jobs, like coal mines, with animals, with blades or involving dangerous stunts. <vote poll=world2853 closed="yes">Slow news day? Make some up! <vote poll=world2852 closed="yes">GOP state representative Mike Beard thinks coal mining should resume in the Land of 10,000 Lakes because god will provide unlimited natural resources. Beard told MinnPost. "We are not going to run out of anything." Apparently he doesn't understand that just covering up the mine and praying doesn't make god zap new resources where the old ones were. <vote poll=world2851 closed="yes">Inconsiderate jerk erects 24 foot tall, illuminated, cross on his front lawn and is told to take it down. It's an attack on Christianity! <vote poll=world2850 closed="yes">Guy Who Made Up WMD Story For Iraq Invasion Admits He Made It Up. "Maybe I was right, maybe I was not right," said Curveball. "They gave me this chance. I had the chance to fabricate something to topple the regime." <vote poll=world2849 closed="yes">Rick Santorum addresses his google problem. <vote poll=world2848 closed="yes">Sea Shepherd 1 Whalers 0 <vote poll=world2847 closed="yes">Global warming got you down? No problem, just repeal greenhouse gases! <vote poll=world2846 closed="yes">A Republican-backed legislation put forward in South Dakota shows just how far out of touch with reality pro-lifers are by attempting to legalize any member of a woman's immediate family justifiably murdering her abortion provider in "self defense of the fetus". <vote poll=world2845 closed="yes">In the West, if you want to learn a language, there's an evening class for it. In India, there's a deity for it. <vote poll=world2844 closed="yes">In the wake of the 2007 financial meltdown of the US, the very centre of the US capitalist machine falls to foreign ownership. <vote poll=world2843 closed="yes">American Journalism is Awesome: The editor-in-chief of News Corp's new iPad news thing The Daily declares in memo to staff, "Egypt is over - time for us to get focused on covering America.  We need to get out there and start finding more compelling stories from around the country...Find me something new, different, exclusive and awesome. Find me the oldest dog in America, or the richest man in South Dakota." <vote poll=world2842 closed="yes">Who controls the English language -- corporations or the people? A chain of Iowa convenience stores is suing the Subway sandwich chain over the free and fair use of the word "threehundredfourpointeightmillimetrelong" "footlong" in the description of sub/torpedo/hoagie sandwiches. <vote poll=world2841 closed="yes">After day one of the battle of man vs. machine, so far a draw. Update: Machine won. <vote poll=world2840 closed="yes">ImageShack joins the Good Fight. <vote poll=world2839 closed="yes">Well, at least the Yanks aren't the only ones ignorant about science. 32% of Russians believe the sun revolves around the Earth. <vote poll=world2838 closed="yes">A South African supporter of Robert Mugabe is indiscreet enough as to sing a song entitled "SHOOT THE BOER!" Boers get all offended and sue him. Now the band U2 have dipped a toe in the waters by waxing all gooey about childhoods spent singing IRA songs. UPDATE: Seems Bono didn't really say he thought shooting Boers was a good idea. <vote poll=world2837 closed="yes">The likes of Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh have been repeating the "Obama is a Red" shtick one too many times, and are going the right way to crash and burn. <vote poll=world2836 closed="yes">A new wrinkle in the prosecution of Catholic priest child sexual abuse scandals. The Philadelphia district attorney (a Catholic) is taking a new approach. He has charged Monsignor William Lynn -- who was assigned by the local cardinal to sweep the scandal under the rug investigate the allegations -- with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child for his complicit failure to protect the children in the archdiocese. (This is new because Lynn himself is not accused of molesting kids.) <vote poll=world2835 closed="yes">More financial fraud being uncovered. NY Mets owners and JP Morgan bankers accused of being complicit in Madoff's Ponzi scheme. The SEC has also filed a new suit against Indy-Mac execs for cooking the books. <vote poll=world2834 closed="yes">Just another Catholic child molestation case: this Rev. was appointed to an archdiocesan sexual abuse advisory board, perhaps because he was an authority on the subject? At the time officials at both his order and the archdiocese knew that he admitted his sex addiction caused him to molest little girls. <vote poll=world2833 closed="yes">Now you see it...now you don't! Mitt Romney, creator of an Obama-style healthcare system in Massachusetts, deletes all mention of it from the paperback edition of his autobiography. <vote poll=world2832 closed="yes">A humpback whale with scoliosis??? (A photo is available here.) <vote poll=world2831 closed="yes">"We felt it was unfair for (people) who maintained healthy lifestyles to have to subsidize those who do not." Surprisingly, this is not a Tea Party man squawking about "ObamaCare," but the director of a hospital. <vote poll=world2830 closed="yes">Two guys meet at "ex-gay therapy" group, fall in love, get married. <vote poll=world2829 closed="yes">[http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41526422/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/ JOY! JOY! Hosni Mubarak steps down as President of Egypt] <vote poll=world2828 closed="yes">Why do men lack emotional intelligence? It's the testosterone (partly). <vote poll=world2827 closed="yes">Regarding a new book about sex and the Bible the author says: “I’m tired of watching those who are supposed to care about the Bible reduce its stories and teachings to slogans.” <vote poll=world2826 closed="yes">Justice, Taliban style <vote poll=world2825 closed="yes">Man has heart attack, crashes car in hospital parking garage about 40 meters from emergency room entrance. Police officers emerging from the hospital respond to the situation. They notify the ER staff, only to be told to call an ambulance. <vote poll=world2824 closed="yes">In the old days, to make free long distance calls, you used a Cap'n Crunch whistle; now there's an iPhone app for it. <vote poll=world2823 closed="yes">At CPAC, Ron Paul supporters [http://www.mediaite.com/tv/cpac-civil-war-ron-paul-supporters-scream-war-criminal-at-dick-cheney/ yell "War criminal!" at Dick Cheney.] <vote poll=world2822 closed="yes">Mississippi contemplates a 'Confederacy anniversary' license plate honoring the leader of the KKK. <vote poll=world2821 closed="yes">Being hot does not exempt you from angering your country's tribal leaders. <vote poll=world2820 closed="yes">The Crips, the Bloods, and the Compton Gentlemen's First XI. <vote poll=world2819 closed="yes">Seven-year-old buys £69,999 Harrier jump-jet on eBay. Update : eBay withdraws item as it contravenes their "knives and weapons policy". <vote poll=world2818 closed="yes">Oh dear, the Republicans can't organize a piss-up in a brewery either, as they lose yet another vote that should have been a cakewalk for them. <vote poll=world2817 closed="yes">WikiLeaks publishes cables from U.S. embassy claiming that Saudi Arabia is overstating the amount of its oil reserves by about 40 percent (300 billion barrels). <vote poll=world2816 closed="yes">I'm an upstanding member of a political party that's fully committed to family values. So... fancy an extra-marital affair? Update: He's resigning from Congress. <vote poll=world2815 closed="yes">Gabrielle Giffords is talking. (She asked for toast with her breakfast.) <vote poll=world2814 closed="yes">Hate your job? Hate not having a job? Try this for a living and feel thankful. <vote poll=world2813 closed="yes">Prince Charles: climate skeptics "corrosive" <vote poll=world2812 closed="yes">Dept. of Poetic Justice: [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/08/cock-kills-man-california-cockfight Man dies after being stabbed at a cock-fight... by a cock.]

<vote poll=world2810 closed="yes">Read it and weep. 72% of US Biology teachers fail to describe straightforwardly the evidence for evolution and explain the ways in which it is a unifying theme in all of biology. <vote poll=world2809 closed="yes">Broken the 6th Commandment? There's an app for that! <vote poll=world2808 closed="yes">An anti-vaccination fest is about to begin; swine flu vaccine causes narcolepsy. <vote poll=world2807 closed="yes">Last tango for Schneider. <vote poll=world2806 closed="yes">George W. Bush avoids potential arrest by skipping a talk he was to give in Switzerland. <vote poll=world2805 closed="yes">Bad timing dept: On the day the English Defence League hold a march in Luton (with several euronazis in attendance), David Cameron declares multiculturalism to have failed. <vote poll=world2804 closed="yes">Tea Partiers want a "Christian conservative" as speaker of the Texas House of Representatives; not the Jew who is there now. <vote poll=world2803 closed="yes">Mark Kelly, Gabrielle Giffords' husband, will command the final Space Shuttle mission. <vote poll=world2802 closed="yes">"The Conspiracy Channel": A Russian propaganda station is able to make the U.S. look bad just by reporting the news about, e.g., birthers and truthers. <vote poll=world2801 closed="yes">British Advertising Standards Authority: A doctor of 'Essential Oils' or 'Natural Toiletries' is 'a Scientist'. What next? Psychics? <vote poll=world2800 closed="yes">Immigration no, but something is allowed across the border: Texas scrounges power from Mexico. <vote poll=world2799 closed="yes">Sarah Palin&reg; and Bristol Palin&reg; <vote poll=world2798 closed="yes">Calling all trolls! Fox News issues a public cattle call for global warming denialists. More on this here and here. <vote poll=world2797 closed="yes">A Bombay court has ruled that Astrology is a 'time tested science more than 4000 years old' <vote poll=world2796 closed="yes">UK spent foreign aid money to bring Joe Ratzenberger for a visit. <vote poll=world2795 closed="yes">Egyptian Christians are protecting Muslims while they're at prayer. <vote poll=world2794 closed="yes">So, you thought Katrina was big? She's just a pussy compared to Yasi <vote poll=world2793 closed="yes">Vodafone claims that the Egyptian government hijacked their network to send pro-Mubarak SMS messages. <vote poll=world2792 closed="yes">After a UK pub landlady was convicted for not using Sky to show football matches European Union legal advice now says that this was wrong. <vote poll=world2791 closed="yes">A collection of photographs from Cyclone Yasi which beat up the Far North Queensland (Australia) coast last night. A landfall of 200km north or south could have been a lot worse. <vote poll=world2790 closed="yes">We may soon be spared those nude TSA scanner photos of Michele Bachmann. The TSA has just unveiled a new security scanner that indicates suspicious materials on a generic outline of the person being scanned. (Video included.) <vote poll=world2789 closed="yes">WikiLeaks is nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by Norwegian Politician Snorre Valen. <vote poll=world2788 closed="yes">South Dakota law makers: We are going to require South Dakotans to buy guns to make a point about how unconstitutional is ObamaCare. Reality: It is Constitutional for a state to require everyone to buy guns; the question with ObamaCare is federal government powers (not state); and George Washington signed the 1792 Militia Act mandating citizens purchase weapons and ammunition. Update: SD law's proponent: "I was not aware of that...I'm not a history major, though" <vote poll=world2787 closed="yes"> Fox News ratings way down, Glenn Beck especially. <vote poll=world2786 closed="yes">Text generators could make journalists redundant. Where've I heard that before? <vote poll=world2785 closed="yes">Atheists raise over $3 million to help alleviate poverty. <vote poll=world2784 closed="yes">Michele Bachmann is worried that if she goes through an airport full-body scanner, naked pictures of her will show up on the Internet. Bachmann thinks that this question is "on everybody's mind." <vote poll=world2783 closed="yes">Just how bad is life under Mubarak? <vote poll=world2782 closed="yes">Having an abortion may be less traumatic than childbirth. <vote poll=world2781 closed="yes">Google & Twitter set up a voice-to-tweet service for Egyptians. Suck on that, Mubarak. <vote poll=world2780 closed="yes">Egyptian police forces loyal to Mubarak were some of the looters, in order to create the appearance that only Mubarak can guarantee stability. <vote poll=world2779 closed="yes">George W. Bush's daughter, Barbara, backs same-sex marriage