RationalWiki:To do list/archive2012

42

The disgrace to civilized society that is Mark Steyn.

44

We tend to mention Roger Ebert a lot around here.

150

The utterly terrifying duumvirate of reactionary state representatives, Charles DavidsonCreate draft and Charles FuquaCreate draft Both of them support slavery and theocracy. In the 21st century, I might point out.

40

The born alive rule, an interesting little bugger.

41

Warren Farrell, top MRA and pedo defender. This extensive series of reviews may be good for cribs.

37

Oryx and Crake - together with its sequel, The Year of the Flood, in which Margaret Atwood shows a near-future dystopian view of bio-technology and religious eco-activists. Move over, Handmaid's Tale, you need bringing up to date with a whiff of cyberpunk.

37

Halos, another art staple that Christianity totally ripped off.

38

Sheldon Adelson - single largest private donor in history... all 8 of the candidates he backed lost, costing him some $50 million.

63

Consumer Reports - The magazine that on occasion exposes woo.

75

Long Island Medium - Insufferable Popular psychic du jour with the housewife crowd

42

Michael Moore Hates America. The title implies that the film consists of an angry wingnut ranting about Moore being a commie and verbally-fellating George W. Bush, but interestingly, the film isn't really anything like that. It's tone is actually very collected and sensible, and most of its criticisms of Moore are valid. Not all people who criticise liberalism are like Limbaugh and Coulter.

60

History of atheism/freethinking/agnosticism etc., rather than just a lowly stub. Also Ibn al-Rawandi.

82

Ordo Templi Orientis. Transformed by Aleister Crowley into an anti-Christian Horus-worshipping cult, this secret society is basically Freemasonrymeets Wicca. It's this, by the way, and not Freemasonry and Wicca, that paranoid fundies should actually be concerned about.

40

beliefnet (lower case), a blogging site composed of erudite fuzzy-mindedness, much-referenced in RW articles.

82

Spanish American War and/or the Philippines War. The parallels with the Iraq War are uncanny and disgraceful. Never forget.

44

Aurangzeb: Thanks a lot for taking the most then-advanced civilization on earth and setting back Middle Eastern and Indian civilization for several centuries, you fundamentalist jerk.

73

An article specifically on Omission bias. Prevalent and potent poison to human thinking.

38

Admiral Hyman G. Rickover. Made the United States Navy, especially the nuclear submarine/aircraft carrier components, what they are today. While he has a ginormous skeptic and extremely critical of the 'blindly follow procedure' mentality that infects the technical departments of militaries, his interest to RationalWiki is that his program was SO successful that much like TJ he inadvertently locked both U.S. commercial and military fission nuclear power firmly into suboptimal pseudoengineering. Why does the United States use light water, partial or completely pressured, highly enriched 2nd-gen nuclear reactors with as much operator-input as possible even though there are better models and methods of maintaining them? Because Rickover's legacy, that's why.

62

Paul Johnson. British triumphalist historian who pushes American exceptionalism as far as it can go without getting into pseudohistory. I've had more than one history teacher/professor push him as the conservative counterpart to Zinn.

45

David Hart. He's this theologist who attacked new wave atheists such as Dawkins and then defined God as: "an absolute plenitude of actuality".

48

An article on state legislative bills intended to push creationism, especially the shitload that have been proposed since the beginning of legislative sessions in 2011

40

Mata Amritanandamayi aka 'The Hugging Saint' with a bizarre cult of personality.

132

George Orwell's Politics and the English Language, arguably the best anti-bullshit guide there is. Update: topic now covered within the George Orwell page.

40

The value added tax aka. sales tax, consumption tax, Pigovian tax, yadda yadda...

73

The Medieval Warm Period. Proof that global warming is fake!

40

Jerry Boykin, for any number of reasons but especially because of his recent role in the Huma Abedin debacle

60

I've been meaning to do this for a while: write an article on vertebrates. There's at least one red link to "invertebrate" (in the mollusc article), and we need to have something good on the "unbridgable gap" between something without a backbone and something with. Helpful link.

82

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), anyone? It's unambiguously homophobic, exhibits rampant double-standards in regards to male and female sexuality as well as sex and violence, and refuses to conclusively reveal who it is composed of, among other things. We might as well have a page on the documentary that points all this out, This Film is Not Yet Rated, too.

71

Esoteric breast massage, an actual alt-med therapy.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

43

Mary Daly. Wrote about misogyny in the Roman Catholic Church and organized religion in general, but also subscribed to lesbian separatist utopia fantasies.

108

If anyone here can speak Portuguese, please enlighten us on the antics of Josue YrionCreate draft.

48

Ageism

90

Solyndra! It's the new ACORN and part of the eco-fascist conspiracy! Run!

40

Christopher Horner, who's quite butthurt over James Hansen.

40

Margaret McBride, excommunicated for allowing an abortion on a woman who would have died should she have remained pregnant

44

RW, I am disappoint. Why no Ernst Haeckel?

126

Gay adoption is a civil rights issue that currently redirects to same-sex marriage. Might need a better title, like same-sex parenthood.

43

Feminists For Life arguably an oxymoron as it contains Caribou Barbie multiple ideologues against women's rights.

68

Jihad Watch, one of Breivik's enablers

92

Hippotherapy?

47

Paul Cameron - anti-gay loony and "expert" used by American Family Association

70

Origin of deluvian myths. There are flood myths from around the world, not just the Noachid one. Creationists unsurprisingly jump on this as "proof" the Deluge was global.

41

For our economics fans, Dutch disease.

37

British People's Party: this lot, another bunch of white supremacists. Allied with World Union of National Socialists (maybe they need an article too).

70

The awesome developments at Vostok Station probably merit an article. It even has its own Hitler conspiracy.

44

All this talk of the Higgs boson reminds me of Marietta Higgs, a dodgy UK paediatrician who promoted some dubious diagnostic technique to do with poking kid's bums and seeing how much their sphincter dilated, as an indicator of whether child abuse had occurred. This led to a great many children been taken away from their parents and a general scandal. It was also tied to general ballyho about alleged ritual child abuse in the Orkney islands and something sinister to do with Thomas the Tank Engine. Thoroughly Bad Medicine.

73

The Baby Tooth Survey, which lead to several environmental regulations

80

An analysis and description of deprogramming

47

Nexus Magazine. It's a vast collection of conspiracy theories, alt medicine, stories from readers about "what is really going on", and of course, ads selling just about every crank product you can imagine. A good example of Crank magnetism, I thought it should have an article.

68

Income inequality was already requested below - why not the Gini coefficient?

126

Sinéad O'Connor, a perfect example of how the Roman Catholic Church can still psychologically destroy the life of someone who tried to speak the truth to the ignorant majority.

62

Henry Hyde, one of the most heartless figures (and that's saying something) in the history of the GOP.

62

Bright green environmentalism.

67

DSHEA, the Dietary supplement health and education act of 1994, which regulates what claims supplement/alternative medicine medicine products can make. Also codified the unregulated nature of supplements.

74

Depression, especially the purported connection it has with atheism and liberalism and everything else.

76

Hipsters.

48

Ho'oponopono, a Hawaiian cultural practice appropriated by woosters. In its wooish incarnation, it was allegedly able to "heal a ward of mentally ill criminals".[7] Endorsed by Law of Attraction proponent Joe Vitale.

55

I think someone should make an article on the Congo, considering how utterly devastating that war was and how few people in the First World know about it.

68

A look at infanticide, the pro-lifers' main snarl word.

45

The Health and Social Care Bill, David Cameron and co.'s attempt to reform the NHS. It has the wonderful status of having zero support by the medical establishment, who are sure it's a mass privatization scheme.

63

Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, the 2005 landmark case on banning inappropriate video games to children without parental supervision. Assfly and the PTC went on a tirade when it didn't go their way.

68

The Setsuden movement, basically Earth Hour on steroids (and more effective) in the wake of Fukushima.

84

Cold-EEZE, as in that new common cold medication. Not sure what to think of this: it says it's homoeopathic but also approved by physicians. Is this just the placebo effect or what? I'm not sure.

61

John Cook, the evangelical owner of award-winning climate denial-debunker Skeptical Science. Yes, you heard that right.

83

Do Not Open (2007 book). Provides a kind of an "at a glance" view of various pseudosciences and conspiracies (sans anti-allopathy), although it sometimes reads like an Ancient Aliens episode.

44

Might be relevant to FCC/censorship discussions: shock jock radio host Howard Stern.

78

Time zero, i.e. the time "before" the Big Bang. Not the Doctor Who thing. That is, use this article to discuss naturalistic hypotheses on the cause of the Big Bang.

72

Brominated flame retardants.

37

Gabriel's Revelation

86

The Black Sea deluge in 5400 BC. I've heard it may have had some relation to the origin of the myth of the Ark, despite being some 3000 years apart.

48

We need an article specifically on organized religion. That or I need to stop playing Civ4.

40

The Science Wars - Science (and Alan Sokal) vs. postmodern drivel. (Note: This is not the same thing as the War on Science.)

45

The ousting of secular, pro-Western Mohammad Mosaddegh, one of the dumbest foreign policy decisions ever made.

41

Groups like Veterans for Peace, the moral opposite of Chickenhawks.

40

Patrick Moore (environmentalist), founder-turned-critic of Greenpeace and staunchly anti-science.

36

R. Joseph Hoffmann, an "unbelieving" scholar of theology who has attracted recent attention for blog posts flinging dung at the New Atheists, but whose history of suck goes back much further.