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RationalWiki:What is going on in the world?/August 2011
August 2011[edit]
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Christine O'Donnell's book sells 2,200 copies. Only 700 being legitimate. |
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Obama nominates Alan Krueger of Card and Krueger fame as his next top economic adviser. |
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A new report finds that the next terrorist attack might come from Iraq. Let's go kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. |
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Why North Korea's government shouldn't have internet access. |
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Time-Warner certainly remembers the Fifth of November. |
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Syria has a few things slightly more potent than teargas which might, um, go missing. |
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"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable." - The LHC may be about to kill off supersymmetry |
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According to right-wingers, the (innocent) Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi has been living the good life in Tripoli. In reality, he's comatose, and in an oxygen mask and hooked up to a drip. PARTY!!! |
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I'm a maverick who opposes President Obama's campaign against Libya, largely because I've been trying to arm Gaddafi for years. My name is John McCain, and I approve this message. |
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Vermont towns vote to arrest Bush and Cheney. The charge is "crimes against our Constitution," presumably because the townsfolk are unfamiliar with the word "treason." |
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Apparently beauty and brains do go together. (Besides the Daily Fail, consider the source.) |
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As Hurricane Irene moves up the East Coast, New York City issues its first-ever mandatory evacuation for 276,000 people living in low-lying areas, a major headache considering that 54 percent of NYC residents (and 78 percent of Manhattanites) don't own cars. The public transit system will also shut down Saturday with all routes starting their final runs at noon. (It seems that Hurricane Katrina has spooked many American politicians. Irene has already weakened to Category 2 after peaking at Category 3, and will likely hit New York as a Category 1. In 1960, Donna -- one of the strongest Category 5 storms in history -- hit the NYC area as a Category 2. Yet a mere 30,000 NYC and Long Island residents evacuated.) |
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The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has ruled that police departments in the U.S. should be required to enforce restraining orders in domestic-violence cases. |
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Who says they're all bad? Man regains hearing during earthquake. |
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Sex with Neanderthals was good for our immune systems. |
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Get ready for Condi/Gaddafi fanfic. This may be the freakiest thing to come out of the political scene so far this year. |
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East Coasters, did you enjoy the weather this week? |
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"Cannot be a long time sugar daddy, but can for tonight. Would you be interested in keeping me company for a while tonight" and I'll tip you $50 or $60 "for a really good time." But I'm a GOP State Rep so how DARE you suggest I meant sex! I'm married with two kids! |
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Joe the |
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Weiner replacement candidate: "I'm not saying 'Fuck all the 9/11 responders' like those other Republicans did, just the volunteers!" |
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The "not this shit again" file got closed. Again. |
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Rebels liberate Gaddaffi compound. Also liberate valuables from Gaddaffi compound (let's get on the golf cart!) |
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8.7 million species on Earth, and that doesn't include bacteria. |
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A 5.9 earthquake hits Virginia, can be felt all the way up the East Coast. |
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The GOP presidential field summarised: Rick Perry is a dope, Michele Bachmann is a joke, and Mitt Romney is a fraud. |
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Creationism is religious, superstitious nonsense, and teachers can't be sued for saying so. |
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Cameroon lurches into the 16th century, as they introduce tougher anti-gay laws. |
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"Act of God" disrupts Ratzinger's anti-gay speech. |
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Reports about Saif al-Islam Gaddaffi's capture slightly premature. |
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Book bannings: Coming to a school near you. Who's surprised that Harry Potter isn't there? |
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Canadian opposition leader Jack Layton passes away from cancer just after winning a historic total of seats for the social democratic NDP, possibly giving free rein to this idiot. Hang on to your seats. |
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Republicans are against everything the Dems are for. Including Ken Ham's Ark. |
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Libyan rebels meet light resistance as they enter Tripoli. Saif al-Islam Gaddaffi has been captured and his remaining soldiers are deserting (no word on the bodyguards). |
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The GOP finally acquiesces to raising taxes? Oh. Not on the top 2%. On workers... |
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Time to finally observe full-on libertarianism in reality. Who wants to bet on a BioShock ending in less than a few months? |
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Global warming? Yup! (The team found that on average organisms are shifting their home ranges at a rate of 17km per decade away from the equator; three times the speed previously thought.) |
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Ecstasy. Fights cancer? |
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The amazing Jon Stewart talks about taxing the lower 50% and we get some disturbingly Randroid like clips from Fox News people. |
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Ever see the 1949 MGM movie Battleground? At the end of the movie, as the platoon marches triumphantly away from Bastogne after the Battle of the Bulge, they gave this cadence count that ends with these words: "You ain't got nothin' to worry about./ He'll keep her happy 'til I get out./ And you won't get out 'til the end of the war./ In Nineteen-Hundred-and-Seventy-Four." The Daily Telegraph reports that the troops in Afghanistan might be able to update that last line to "In Two-Thousand-and-Twenty-Four" -- and they won't be joking. |
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Rick Perry has invested at least $10,000 in Movie Gallery stock. Movie Gallery has been known to rent out such blockbuster epics as "Big Tit Brotha Lovers 6" and "Bisexual Barebacking" Vol. 1. We may conclude that Rick Perry is not one of those "conscientious investors." |
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Beware of aliens, say scientists. (ArXiv has a free copy of the paper.) |
   | 6 | Three men convicted in a high-profile, satanic panic-driven multiple-murder case have been freed after 18 years in prison |
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Welcome to 20 years ago. According to Michelle Bachmann, Americans fear "the rise of the Soviet Union". |
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Top Ten ways you know you've ticked off Al Qaeda. |
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Out with the church dining halls, in with wine tastings and fresh fruit wraps: This is not your grandfather's State Fair. |
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A stonkingly big Noah's Ark will be added to CMI's list of Truthy Attractions. |
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Rick Perry doesn't believe in Global Warming, bitch. |
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The Tea Party is now less popular than Muslims and atheists. |
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No joke: Stephen Colbert's super-PAC treasurer quits to work for Rick Perry. |
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Oh noes! Ace is screwed! Or not, as it were. Update Telecom back down after the public screams "FAIL" which was followed by a massive drop in the company revenues |
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News of the World scandal gets funnier and funnier. |
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Happy birthday Elvis!!! Let's celebrate! What's that? It's actually the anniversary of his death? Wow, Michele Bachmann can't get anything right. No, Michelle, not that John Wayne. |
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Damned if you do... San Francisco Bay area's transit agency comes under fire for shutting off wireless services in order to prevent a protest. |
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Chupacabra alert! Like other species from the desert Southwest, they seem to be moving north ahead of the effects of global warming, like this specimen that was sighted in Maryland. |
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You can ask your Congressman a question... for a fee. |
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Iran's news media reports the recent UK riots as "an uprising against the monarchy" - illustrated with photographs from all over the world and back through time. |
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Palestine begins UN statehood process. |
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Bachmann wins! a poll with no bearing on anything, anywhere |
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I never wanted to say I'm not a witch: the top 10 Juicy Bits from Christine O’Donnell’s book |
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GOP state Rep. Phillip Hinkle, who recently voted for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, offered a young man him cash up front, with a tip of up to $50 or $60 "for a really good time." |
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Blasphemy: Now UN-Approved. |
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13,000 MPH, slightly faster than DARPA seems to think it is. |
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Perry announcing he will run for president on Saturday HIT THE DECK. |
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Woman mauled by chimp looks normal with face transplant. Modern medicine FTW!! |
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Tea Party Downgrade? S&P seems to think so. |
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Hundreds of children abused by 20 priests The Irish Catholic church strikes again. Should be an interesting report when it's published. |
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China has been using currency manipulation to try and undermine U.S. industry. The plot is now threatening to go belly-up due to the debt crisis, so the Chinese government claims a right to demand that the U.S. foot the bill for the failure. |
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Biter bit. A bible is burned outside Terry Jones (he of the Koran burning threats) church. |
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Al Gore summarizes the climate "debate" in the simplest terms possible. (Cue "Gore-bull warming" jokes from the deniosphere.) |
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Iran decides to help Britain out with its riots by suggesting that the British government stop using violence against the protesters, and instead talk and listen to them. Oh the irany. |
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London Burns: Third night of rioting is the most extensive so far. Attacks and violence across many areas of London and into Birmingham, with hotspots in Liverpool, Leeds and Bristol developing overnight. David Cameron to chair a COBRA meeting in the morning as the Met Police appear to be stretched to thinly to cope. Update: Police to put 16,000 officers on the streets tonight. |
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The Globe and Mail: A new study suggests that more sex occurs in countries with greater gender equality. Therefore, the increase in sex is caused by the gender equality. |
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Shorter S&P: Close enough for government work. |
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School bans book; library hands out free copies |
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Cuba is soon to allow private home sales. There are concerns at the New York Times that this will promote "gentrification," which seems to mean "opportunities for people other than government officials to live in houses that are not falling down." |
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The Air Force educates its nuclear officials about just war theory to address any religious scruples they might have before sending them off to take charge of the nukes. Mikey Weinstein objects to this; but what really bothers him is not the religious content, but the heretical suggestion that war is ethical. |
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Child protection officer caught with child porn and (surprise! surprise!) he was employed by the Catholic Church! |
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One of the credit rating agencies that gave AAA ratings to securitized mortgages has downgraded the credit rating of the US from AAA to AA+, just as they threatened to do back in April. France, however, begs to differ. UPDATE: S&P doesn't understand all the fuss. In fact, they say that the may downgrade America's credit rating again in the near future. |
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Unlicensed raw milk peddlers? Holy shit, call in the SWAT team! (Naturally, this is driving Mike Adams completely nuts.) |
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Time for some more publicity whoring: The Phelpses are going to Norway! |
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Did Earth, at one point, have two moons? Based on differing compositions, some scientists say yes. |
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UK Parliament publishes the first "e-petition" results, showing that people seem to care most about bringing back hanging and keeping Formula 1 on the BBC. |
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Chief UK Government advisor demands scientists be "grossly intolerant" of abuses of science by quacks and religion (from February, though) |
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Swede is arrested for trying to achieve nuclear fission in his kitchen |
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Duncan Bannatyne gets all Ransom after his daughter is threatened: "I offer £25,000 reward for the capture of the coward who calls himself @YuriVasilyev_ Double if his arms are broken first." |
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A new, albeit underpowered, Gallup poll shows an interesting result regarding Muslims and violence. |
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Faith based pregnancy counselling found wanting. Well, there's a surprise! |
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David Norris drops out of Irish Presidential race, thanks to the crime of an ex-boyfriend from 23 years ago. Somewhere, evangelists are yelling "SEE? WE TOLD YOU DEM GHEYS R EVIL". |
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The final version of the debt ceiling |
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In Indonesia, the buzz is all about Railway therapy. |
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Prepare to headdesk: The debt ceiling debacle has already cost |
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It's official! Faux News viewers are the most misinformed of any news consumers. |
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Gabrielle Giffords returned to Congress to vote on the debt ceiling limit. |
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American Atheists suing over proposed Ground Zero Cross display at 9/11 memorial; AA national legal director Edwin Kagin and Andrew Schlafly debated that issue on the radio program Legally Speaking on The Voice of Russia network. |
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What needs to happen for the debt ceiling deal to become law. |
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| 11 | Your browser history could be open for, ahem, "police review." |