RationalWiki:What is going on in the world?

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What is going on?

August 2009

2

Life imitates Larry Niven: English crime ring murders illegal immigrants for their organs.

2

It's yoga cranks vs. yoga quacks: anyone who engages in yoga for a commercial purpose is threatening to disrupt the good karma that has attracted millions of acolytes to yoga.

2

Big Brother is monitoring your votes.

2

Scheduled to be tested on October 31st, NASA assembles it's Ares I-X.

2

A majority of American conservatives now support gay servicemen

-3

Don't worry Michael soon most Eagles fans will start booing Donavon McNabb again, but you'll still probably have to deal with PETA.

5

Public health care leads to TERRORIST MUSLIM DOCTORS!!!! Oh for fuck's sake fox...

-12

Yes, this is gossip about a Z-level celebrity. Still, you have to chuckle at the thought that two years from now the newest Baptist minister will be Reverend Omarosa.

5

Okay, so conservatives are being overprotective of Sarah Palin's kids, even when liberals are trying to expose them being exploited. Let's see how conservatives feel about death threats against the Obama kids.

1

Arizona man sentenced for leaving water out for illegal immigrants.

2

Christian Creationism Exhibit at Tulsa Zoo a Top Priority for Mayoral Candidate.

2

Godwin's Law. Health care debate is over.

6

Muslim fundamentalists pull gold and silver tooth-fillings from people's mouths, thus getting precious metals to bankroll their war giving people the modest appearance so essential to a good Muslim.

3

The government of Norway imposes a gender quota on corporate boards. This of course makes the situation worse for "gender diversity;" women are drawn out of important managerial positions to fill the quotas, and there rises a cadre of deadwood professional quota-fillers dubbed "the Golden Skirts." Awesome quote: ""From the Viking time, the females had to take a lot of responsibility when the Vikings went away. We have a tradition for that..."

-1

Is Sarah Palin trying to be Phyllis Schlafly?

10

The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is awarding credit if you "provide at least 10 posts defending ID that you’ve made on “hostile” websites". Trolling for credit?

-4

US nuns helping people in the community show "liberal drift", according to the Vatican.

4

Irony at its finest: Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX), one of 11 Republican co-sponsers of the birther bill in Congress will not release his birth certificate.

-6

No miracle on the Hudson: a tour helicopter and a small plane collide in New York City, crashing into the Hudson River.

-1

Ben Stein gets Expelled. Sadly, it's over journalistic ethics, not science.

-7

Bob Herbert: "Life in the United States is mind-bogglingly violent." The New York Times should pack him off to be a correspondent in Darfur; that'd knock the delusions out of him pretty fast.

-2

Hell, no - it wasn't about WMD's - it was Satan! Finally we know why Bush invaded Iraq - "We've got to stop Gog and Magog rising from the Underworld", he told French President Jacques Chirac.

-4

On the lighter side: guy blames his cat for downloading kiddy porn

13

Glenn Beck loses advertisers after calling Obama a "racist" with a "deep-seated hatred for white people"

0

A wise latina gets confirmed to the Supreme Court, and Al Franken announces it.

10

APA rejects Gay Therapy

-1

Creation/Evolution Journal (up to 1996) goes online

-4

Utne Reader: "Creativity it's surprisingly orderly, it can be learned." Scientifically, no less! And to prove it, we note that people were more creative about designing train systems for cities they'd never seen.

-4

Which is scarier: A Neo-Nazi who was trying to make a dirty bomb? Or the fact that the corporate media found it utterly unworthy of attention? Or the fact we have laughed at Conservapedia for faulting the media in a similar manner?

-4

Blackwater founder Erik Prince is implicated in murder. He "views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe...."

6

Bill Clinton goes to North Korea to negotiate for the freedom of detained American journalists and succeeds! Although some people believe we've given them a reward by talking to them, and some people think Clinton was on a secret mission to betray America over there.

-3

Australia votes to extend guaranteed paid family leave to its residents, starting in 2011. This makes Oz the second-to-last industrialized nation to do so. Guess which industrialized nation is now the last?

-4

The New York Times, in a startling turn-around, reports that something good came out of the Iraq War. Unfortunately, this is something that is now under attack from the new government there.

6

Oh, noes. The government seizes Kent Hovind's creationist Dinosaur Adventure Land!

-3

R.I.P. Corazon Aquino

1

Japan switches back to trial by jury for the first time in 66 years

-4

More Sea Org workers come forward with tales of abuse.

0

32 stories; 200 apartments; 1 tenant. The legacy of the foreclosure crisis.

5

Prayer, it really works! Yet another innocent is sacrificed to faith.

0

Liberal bias my ass

July 2009

1

A man retires from his job in order to live an ascetic life of austerity and homelessness. When he dies, he leaves $4 million to public radio and to the homeless shelter where he stayed. Who said atheists can't be charitable?

3

Birds caught evolving into new species. Now try saying no-one's ever seen a species evolve.

-2

Some nice, neutral and balanced reporting from the Daily Mail. Note that they haven't decided whether it cures or causes cancer yet.

-1

Organic food really isn't any better for you (though the taste is still not to be missed). Interesting point: The Soil Association calls for "better" research and you know what that means...

9

We are told that the Bible provides moral absolutes to live one's life by but atheists lead a life of sin because of their moral relativism; we are further told that one can know a Christian by what he does rather than what he says. So why doesn't the perverse behaviour of prominent evangelists strike us as unusual any more?

-2

The dangers of fad diets

-1

The shame of the US health insurance industry.

13

Spy satellite images of climate change kept secret by the Bush Administration are declassified by the Obama White House

-1

Escape from New York!

-1

Last World War One veteran dies in the UK 1 week after Henry Allingham also died. "RIP Harry Patch"

1

Still wondering why we sent troops into Iraq? Be glad you aren't wondering "Why did we send troops into Buffalo?"

2

Insert "largely defensive weapon of gun" reference here

-4

The Dow. IT'S OVER 9000!!@ONE!

-4

The Chandra X-Ray telescope is celebrating its 10th anniversary in space.

-3

Swiss scientists aim to build a synthetic human brain within a decade, cue Terminator references and quoting "The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do." ad nauseum.

-1

An Oregon jury finally decides that refusing medical care to sick children is illegal. UPDATE: Actually, killing your daughter is just a misdemeanor.

1

"Distrustful of experts, many Quiverfull followers are leaving childbirth to God. The recent death of a newborn, however, exposes a growing rift."

-8

The Senate is taking away our guns!

1

Medical science, not prayer.

-3

One of America's most respected historians is arrested for breaking into his own home Is it because he is black?

-12

Big Brother alert: Amazon.com deletes Nineteen-Eighty-Four and Animal Farm from Kindle. Irony meters are now pegged at 110%.

3

The border between South Africa and Lesotho is missing, believed... er... stolen.

-2

An increase in scientific reasearch, can only be a good thing right? Wrong! Those mad scientists can't be trusted with our sea kittens and furry friends. Not like we can't just round up minorities and political prisoners.

-4

Sean Hannity and Faux News go right off the deep-end. Probably time to start adding these to the Clogosphere page.

-1

Oh, those whacky fundamentalists (Part II). A Scottish ferry sails on a Sunday.

-1

Oldest WW1 veteran dies aged 113

1

The moon landing conspiracy dies. Or is this just part of the cover-up?

-1

Purity rings enter the 21st century.

-2

Oh Dear. Yet another Evangelical minister on trial for having sex with underage girls.

-2

CHOMP! Cadaver eating robots might be a part of future battlefields.

-5

Should a court really be listening to a defendant claim provocation when he stabs his girlfriend 216 times? Especially when he is this smug.

-3

Carlsberg don't do 10% discounts, but if they did, they'd probably be the best 10% discounts in the world.

-1

The New York Times takes down the moon conspiracy.

4

Science! News: Cats do control humans, study finds. Cat-owners everywhere unsurprised.

3

Surprise surprise! Only 6% of American scientists identify themselves as Republican, with only 9% of American scientists considering themselves conservative, according to a survey report by the Pew Research Center. This can only confirm that evilution is a liberal conspiracy aimed at subverting America from the truth.

-2

Oh, those whacky fundamentalists - rioting over sacrilegious car parking.

4

A man protesting the denial of his liquor license flies an upside down flag to protest. Police, upset that his protest would upset the 4th of July parade, invade his property and steal the flag. No irony there.

-2

No escape from hate crime: two neo-Nazis convicted of writing and publishing "illegal essays."

-1

Stephen Hawking supports (or, at least, expects) transhumanism. So, not only should humanity colonize other planets, it should be Humanity V 2.0.

-6

How Lance Armstrong is just like Sarah Palin. For starters, "they both react to any criticism with extreme defensiveness."

2

Andy: Competitive medicine works. Real life: Apparently not.

-2

Lost your job? Lucrative witch opportunity awaits!

-2

Evolution rocks!

0

New Bible discovered (well, "discovered" a long time ago and just being pieced together now) - So it has changed over the years. Downside, Assfly may actually be right about the "Adultress Story"...

-7

Another tragic death: Quarterback Steve McNair was found shot to death.

2

Turkish reality TV show tries to convert atheists to one of four major religions, winner gets trip to Holy Land of chosen faith. Why can't we be the competitors?

16

Sarah Palin is resigning. Liberals throughout the USA reconsider their atheism.

-2

New dinosaur species found in western Queensland, Australia. Visit the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum to see more.(This is a REAL dinosaur museum!)

1

Paleontologists visit the Creation Museum and are unimpressed. One says it should be called the "Confusion Museum" instead. (In other news, the sun rose this morning.)

-1

Prominent and influential conservative judge Richard Posner has called for online linking to news stories (even when such links are paraphrased forms of the original story or headline) to be held as a breach of copyright law. Nasty.

3

Ever wondered why The 555 thing exists? Yes, really, people can be dumb enough to do this sort of thing.