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

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September 2011

10

China launches its first space station already, managing a repeat of the Soviet Salyut program 40 years later (though it probably has better electronics). Crazy commies.

13

While neutrinos might disagree, clusters of galaxies still back Relativity.

12

Jehovah's Witnesses to apostates in the July, 2011 edition of the Watchtower: "You are mentally diseased." British apostates reply to Witnesses: "You better have a good lawyer."

15

"Under the Conservatives’ omnibus crime legislation, a person growing pot plants in a rental unit would receive a longer mandatory sentence than someone who forces a five-year-old to have sex with an animal."

13

Study finds that most young evangelicals have pre-marital nookie.

11

Six reasons young Christians leave the church. The more you tighten your grip, the more young people slip through your fingers.

8

First Osama and now Anwar Al-Awlaki. Obama may be a lot of things but soft on national security he is not

18

Al-Qaeda to truthers: fuck off.

11

A court in Bahrain has jailed 20 medics who treated protesters to up to 15 years - What? Nothing to see here, move along.

11

It's not just the fundies who have unaccredited diploma mills.

6

The oil propagandists spread to Toronto.

7

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement rounds up and arrests 2900 illegal immigrants who are also convicted criminals.

10

Mission accomplished!

7

Fiddling while Rome burns...

15

In order to prove that the poor are more likely to abuse drugs, Florida's Republican governor Rick Scott goaded the state legislature into passing a law requiring all welfare recipients to submit to drug testing. Can you guess the preliminary results?

7

In other WTF news, Facebook forms a PAC.

12

What you've just said...is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

5

Is this man speaking the truth? UPDATE:It depends on whether you want to hear it from the horse's mouth or Guy Goma's.

15

"It contradicts everything [we are] in business to do – provide therapies that improve people's lives", says a Danish drug company protesting its drug being used to systematically kill people in US prisons.

8

ITV airs a documentary showing "secret IRA footage" of terrorists shooting down a helicopter. With one small problem...

5

Obelix finally hangs up his menhir.

6

Tricky Dick No. 2 enters into Canada shortly after Dubya, defying protests in Vancouver calling for his arrest. It is expected that Stevie to the H. does nothing.

15

Go to Jesus or go to jail

14

Scientists turn to the Best of the Public some gamers to help them map a critical HIV protein that they'd been working on for 10 years. The gamers crack it in three weeks.

15

A new renewable energy source? Shit!

8

Score one for Monkey typewriter theory

8

To show affirmative action is flawed, Republicans at UC Berkley organized a bakesale where prices were determined by race and gender.

5

Larry Flynt continues the lulz. Wanna guess another Bob Livingston?

8

"Take four Jesus's and call me in the morning." British doctor starts prescribing Christianity. Come on, what about music or something?

11

Rick Perry wants to talk to the people! Just not the inconvenient ones.

33

Women to be allowed to vote in Saudi Arabia. Good grief, we'll be letting them drive next!

2

Ah, the wonders of the recent advancements of technology! That state-of-the-art flat-panel set that cost you an arm and a leg and a butt cheek may be "unrepairable."

17

Medvedev does his job.

11

Australian Aborigines branched off 62,000-75,000 years ago, pushing back the date of anatomically and cognitively modern humanity.

8

Another day, another walkout at an Ahmadinejad speech.

5

Buy gold! Wait, what gold?

12

The recent discovery on neutrinos gets even more entertaining: University of Surrey physicist and BBC scienceman Jim Al-Khalili says that he will eat his boxer shorts on live TV if the particles have truly broken the speed of light.

8

Neurologists reverse-engineer what the brain is currently seeing using preset patterns and some extrapolation. The media reports it mind reading device, the comments field draws the conspiracy nuts out of the woodwork.

7

Richard Dawkins writes a children's book.

6

Ireland finally gets its first case of spontaneous human combustion.

-1

Barack Obama inadvertently ruins a photograph

13

New York MTA tells Pamela Geller to fuck off.

22

CERN reports neutrinos traveling faster than light. WTF? Yep, that's what they said too.

12

New Scientist reports that gene therapy "clears HIV from body".

10

The US Department of Defence, the Chinese People's Liberation Army and Walmart - the three largest employers in the world.

19

You can't try a President and his staff in America for war crimes, but you can legally murder a black guy for little to no evidence.

14

Bill Clinton: "We look like a joke (on climate change)."

6

Is this the last delay for Troy Davis?

9

An evangelist who claimed to have created miraculous pregnancies through prayer is to be sent back to Kenya to face child abduction charges.

5

Mohamed El Naschie announces his candidacy for president of Egypt.

25

Rick Santorum to Google: "Fix your filthy search results for my name!!". Google: "Meh, fix it yourself".

28

If you support capital punishment, go fuck yourself.

7

Is this by any means rational?

17

From "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" to "I do".

2

Coptic Christians wonder will the revolution in Egypt make their relatives there more or less safe?

7

Paulbots strike again. The facepalms continue.

7

Is a World Net Daily crank writing training manuals for the FBI?

21

Share the pain of GOP Rep. John Fleming: By the time I feed my family, I have maybe $400,000 left over.Here is the world's smallest violin, playing the world's saddest song, just for you John!

8

More great news from Canuckistan: A Christian university in Toronto kicks out Dubya from making a guest appearance. Sun News (Canada's barely-alive equivalent of Faux) responds by calling the evangelical seminary "Marxists."

9

Anonymous stages mass protests against Wall Street.

7

Spongebob doesn't rot your brain after all

4

People who "suffer" from electromagnetic hypersensitivity run off and hide in the woods.

4

Just because the name of the sea has China in it doesn't mean the whole sea belongs to China.

8

Ginger sperm not wanted here.

5

Louie Gohmert pranks Obama with a "jobs" bill repealing corporate income tax.

16

The UK government is committed to changing the law to allow gay marriage by 2015.

-12

In Italy, six scientists are charged with manslaughter for failing to predict an earthquake in 2009.

4

A new way to encourage exercise: running from zombies

20

Denmark elects its first ever female prime minister, a lefty. The party that lost is called "Left, Liberal Party of Denmark". The party that won is called "Social Democrats". Welcome to the left version of the USA! Hey, it helps with shrinking the influence of the racist Danish People's Party!

8

NASA's Kepler mission observes Tatooine a planet in a binary system, in a galaxy far, far away in our own galaxy.

26

Professors put their money where Bachmann's mouth is.

20

Wife got Alzheimer's? Pat Robertson says you can divorce her.

10

Not sure if you're a Bloke or a Sheila? Congratulations to Australia for recognising that that's OK

9

Me am play gods! Lee Cronin of the University of Glasgow attempts to start an evolutionary process in metal-based "cells."

16

The United States of Liberty and Education wins again.

8

The Northwest Passage is still open for business.

17

It's hard to know which is worse: Michele Bachmann saying that the HPV vaccine causes retardation, or Rick Perry for apologizing for supporting it before now.

5

The attempt to "Americanize" Canada begins.

1

"Happy Feet" goes missing.

14

Ron Paul and the audience bring the crazy at GOP debates. Let's hope that "let him die" will shun some of the Rondroids (It's a good nickname, right?)

10

Here's what happens when you privatize counter-terrorism operations: The Mall of America's private counter-terrorism program appears to favor swarthy-looking men with beards rather than actual terrorists.

6

There are now more practicing Christians in China than in Europe: [1]

9

As the US remembers 9/11, the GOP's Eric Cantor wants to cut the benefits for that day's first responders, to pay for hurricane disaster relief.

2

The best tribute to George Lucas' recent failure. Even Hitler doesn't like the changes. Oh, and it's our 4000 entry, everyone!

14

Wikipedia to truthers: Look, just bugger off.

6

Wait, so why haven't we sent Dubya and his cronies to Switzerland?

11

United States marks 10 years since the terror attacks of September 11th.

8

Rick Perry: Social security is a ponzi scheme.

6

Imagine you were an F-16 pilot ordered to shoot down United Flight 93. Now imagine you had to do it without your missiles or cannons.

18

Skeptics, behold! You have been proven wrong as God rewards Texas' faith with lots of bright sunshine, so they can tan and stuff. Update: God has given Texas free heating!

6

Brits have problems with torture as well.

22

Want to see why the United States has become one of the largest disgraces of the modern world? (Yes, they're cheering.) See the following comments for even more headdesk.

11

Some new evidence in the story of human evolution.

11

Cenk Uygur leaves MSNBC. But with The Young Turks attracting a million viewers a day, he can afford to leave with a big FUCK YOU.

9

A viral flash game named "Tea Party Zombies Must Die" is attracting attention, with criticism from the Right and Left.

5

A court rules that Carl Lewis can't run.

7

67 more events point to the existence of dark matter.

18

The State of Georgia, for the fourth time, moves closer to executing a man that is almost certainly innocent. Time is running very short for Troy Davis!

23

The defeat of Flood Geology... by Flood Geology.

8

The number arrested at the White House pipeline protest reaches over 1,000.

14

An electric motor made out of a single molecule.

27

Further proof that libertarians are talking bullshit: even a small county can save $1 million by "de-privatizing" its jail.

9

Can US foreign policy get any funnier?

7

In a protest against austerity measures, a small town in Italy declares independence.

7

The Gibson raid: Guitar enthusiasts and conspiracy theorists alike don't quite know what the mythical-hot-place is going on.

9

The frothy mixture of lube and feces that is sometimes the by-product of anal sex can't even form a proper argument against homosexuality.

13

George Lucas fucks about with Star Wars. Again.

7

The editor-in-chief of Remote Sensing resigns when a GW denialist paper is published. Update: Commentary at Skeptical Science.

17

Federal Court Rules Videotaping Police Is A First Amendment Right.

15

Wikileaks leaks all of the 250 000 unedited US diplomatic cables due to some idiotic security failures and a conflict of egos. Ooops!