RationalWiki:What is going on in the blogosphere?/July 2013

July 2013[edit]

13

Fundie Christians believe in talking snakes and donkeys. Should we be surprised that a growing number of Muslims in the Middle East believe that Israel is using birds to spy on them?

3

Let us remember the time when Saint Ronnie nearly began WWIII for no reason.

20

Come on, whites, get your act together!

14

Meanwhile in Russia... Update: The Daily Mail says what everyone else is thinking.

17

Oh Jenny.

8

Please, Obama, don't let us have to write an article about Larry Summers.

4

An open letter to Trayvon Martin's father: Forget the federal prosecution. Here's why you must sue George Zimmerman.

5

Thanks Christie, we're going to have to differentiate between "civil" and "Rand Paul dreamland" libertarianism again.

12

And there goes a political career.

16

Andrews & Arnold trolls David Cameron.

7

And that is why I consider myself a scientismist. I know it is supposed to be a perjorative, but I am reclaiming it.

15

Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals: you are not going to infringe the viewer's right to skip ads, especially hours after the TV show finishes broadcasting.

-16

A bit of wishful thinking for atheists to indulge: In the developed world, "religion will completely disappear by 2041" and be replaced by atheism. (However, note that the author of the study has a rather limited definition of "the developed world" that doesn't include the richest and most heavily armed nation on the planet, at least when considering its current political and economic climate and its high levels of religiosity.)

-7

Gawker has a warm word of welcome for the royal sprog.

20

"Some Mormons Search the Web and Find Doubt."

15

How economic equality in Canada and Denmark increases social mobility and meritocracy.

7

How to end both Jack Thompson-esque censorship and the basement-dwelling nature of the the gaming world? "We need to find something that resembles the academic environment, someplace where people seem to have endless amounts of free time, where everyone is long-winded, argumentative and encouragely cliquish, someplace obnoxiously elitist and frustratingly male-dominated."

12

First trailer for Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey.

14

NPR Discovers the Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory! And it may just be a positive feedback loop.

22

Neil deGrasse Tyson has a possible explanation of why extraterrestrials have never contacted humanity: We're just too stupid to make contact worthwhile for them.

11

Lakoff, don't stoop down to their level.

-7

What type of atheist are you?

3

Anonymous goes on a fruitful hunt for paedophiles within the English Defence League.

15

Oh yes, blame the intern.

21

XKCD raises a valid point on the absence of evidence.

10

How Intellectual Property Reinforces Inequality.

19

Fred Clark of Patheos spells out the reality of how prominent homophobic and misogynistic churches and evangelists are.

26

Introducing Representative Mark Takano (D-CA).

20

ForwardProgressives: Obama says GWB wasn't all that bad. Read the comments, but for the sake of your sanity, read the article too.

16

This could have all been preventable if the government, not private companies, paid for the majority of health insurance. But no, we're still stuck in square one again, GOP.

16

There's a reason nobody takes you seriously anymore, Krauthammer.

15

Federal judge to the NSA: What State Secret? (Full decision)

16

Apparently, we missed how poorly Bobby Jindal's school vouchers program is working in Louisiana; here, Bill Maher chimes in. Also missing: Proof that voucher money's being used responsibly.

12

VIDEO (documentary film trailer): Ever hear of the tough love programs where parents have their uncontrollable kids spirited away to a juvenile boot camp to receive discipline training? Now imagine what it would be like if the reparative therapy movement used the same tactics. That's the subject matter of the new documentary Kidnapped for Christ.

11

"When Women Used Lysol as Birth Control." (This article about a rather common, yet toxic, birth control method from the Good Old Days was first published more than a year ago. But since it wasn't posted here at that time, we offer it now as Rick Perry yet again calls the Texas legislature back into session to take another swing at passing that anti-abortion bill.)