RationalWiki:What is going on in the world?

Keep up to date with all the interesting world news and current events that relate to RationalWiki's mission here. The most popular entries are found at Best of the world and the older entries found in the archives.

What is going on? World Blogs Clogs Elections The Bar (talk) (talk) (talk) (talk) (hic)

May 2010

13

Same sex love in Malawi - fourteen years jail time

5

A child-minder, who allowed 3 men into her employers' house, whereupon they attacked her and the one-year-old child in her care, putting the child in intensive care, is sacked. Then sues for unfair dismissal.

12

Not content to let the Catholics have all the fun, Scientologists in Australia face sexual abuse charges.

2

Idiotic judge is rebuked... nine months later. Awfully long bollocking.

6

South Korea officially blames North Korea for an attack on their warship. This is Captain Obvious signing off.

21

The British Medical Association say that Homeopathy is witchcraft.

5

More incumbent Republicans take a whuppin' at the hands of the Teabaggers.

10

Another Republican politician is caught with his pants down. Unlike previous philanderers, he made it a point to leave his wife at home when he went public. (And then he called attention to her absence at his press conference. What a guy!) And in the "you can't make this shit up" department, last year he and his mistress made a series of videos touting abstinence-only sex education.

2

Look out! Here comes the Spider-goat!

9

Apparently, "I got knocked up as a teenager" qualifies you to earn $15-30K per speaking engagement. Well, it helps if your last name is "Palin" and your Mom's name is "Sarah".

10

Portugal runs the risk of suffering from earthquakes, tidal waves and collective boils on the botty as their President prepares to sign into power the law legalising same-sex marriage.

13

15 year old Jehovah's Witness refuses blood - dies.

5

Billy Joel's daughter attempted to OD on homeopathic pills.

9

Brit Hume, of the ever accurate Faux News, asks: where the oil in the Gulf is?

10

The Catholic Church has come up with a rather inspired (but not very inspirational) defense in its child sexual abuse scandal. As of 17 May 2010, the Vatican's official position regarding all local priests, bishops, archbishops and cardinals will be as follows: "You can't sue us because they aren't our employees."

4

Attention fundies (and rest of the world) this is what real religious persecution looks like.

5

Being a disgusting beast is natural. Monkeys will pay valuable juice for pictures of female monkey butts.

-1

Do you take the to be thy lawfully wedded ERROR! ERROR! DESTROY!

16

Maine Republicans hold a meeting in a school classroom over the weekend, and decide to search it and remove any "anti-American" items they found. Pure class.

9

Evolution continues to happen. Observing speciation happening in real time.

2

Not even Confucius is safe from commercialism in China.

11

Virginia Attorney General doesn't believe in Global Warming and doesn't like that a University of Virginia scientist does. UVA fights back

3

Some people just don't get it.

9

Sony drops PS3 support for alternative operating systems. US Air Force is unhappy.

5

Contrary to popular belief, weather can get too hot for lizards. And weather that is too hot for too long can kill lizards. Thanks to global warming, many species of lizards are now indeed going extinct. (But, that can't be true! Global waring is just a librul commie myth and scare tactic!)

16

A candidate in the Gubernatorial Primary in Alabama is attacked for possibly believing in evolution and not swallowing Genesis hook, line and sinker. The candidate is forced to respond and affirms he believes in every word in the Bible. This is what passes for politics today in the US.

4

After being deluged with requests from Birthers for Obama's birth certificate, Hawaii enacts a law to allow officials to ignore repeated requests for public records. Crazy - ass response from the Birther movement in 3... 2... 1...

18

Turns out Laura Bush is pro-choice and for gay marriage. Another kick in the nuts for the Republican Party.

0

Indian yogi hasn't been eating for 70 years (aside from all the food he sneaks when nobody is looking).

6

Arizonan school kids are no longer allowed to take "ethnic studies" classes.

11

Hysterical Teabaggers please take note - Americans are paying the lowest level of tax since 1950.

13

Cameron is PM, Clegg is Deputy - now we can all get the fuck on with our lives and watch a new and original government bugger it all up in a new and original way!

11

Pope admits that perhaps internal bad behaviour has something to do with the Catholic Church's current problems. Maybe a little bit.

12

The Tea Party movement continues to shift the Republican Party ever more to the Right, as Senator Bob Bennett, longstanding senator from Utah, is ousted in Republican Primary by Teabaggers.

7

Bye bye Brown. Or not. UPDATE: Bye bye Brown!

4

Elena Kagan is nominated to the Supreme Court. Let the culture wars begin.

13

Newton's apple tree to defy operate under the strict laws of gravity.

12

Welcome to liberal atheist Europe! A Polish pop star faces two years in jail for blasphemy.

10

After the "landslide victory" (hat tip to Andrew Schlafly), the UK Conservative Party grandees aren't exactly happy at what they see as a failure to achieve.

7

Make your own solar water heater from empty Coke bottles.Plans (in Portugese) here.

17

Science fights back Hat tip

8

Danger, Will Robinson!

7

Apple gets mighty touchy.

8

The good news is Tim Geithner did not ask for another emergency bailout today.

16

Non-African humans have some Neanderthal DNA

9

Fox refused to air an advert from VoteVets, veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, asking for clean energy development to reduce dependence upon Middle Eastern oil.

8

Go ahead mock my big ears but they are a life-saver.

5

BNP candidate starts a fight in the street while on camera

6

The world-wide web goes truly global with the first, fully non-latin URLs.

6

Today we're worried about volcanic ash clouds, but 24 years ago, there was an even scarier cloud. How soon we forget.

5

Disneyland Paris, Europe's number one tourist attraction, is of course a great place to go, where a splendid time is guaranteed for all. Unless you work there.

8

Fifteen years into her career, country singer Chely Wright has come out of the closet. She is considered the most successful closeted country artist to come out. Wright now admits that because of the need to please her mostly right wing fans and colleagues, she stuck a 9mm in her mouth and almost blew her brains out.

6

Jerry Falwell Jr's attempt to turn Lynchburg, VA into a fiefdom of Liberty University faltered at the ballot box.

8

The once mighty Jordan River, where Christians believe Jesus was baptised, is now little more than a polluted stream that could die by 2011. Maybe now the fundies will sit up and take note.

6

Pedestrians fight back.

12

Now here's a surprise: "Brain shuts off in response to healer's prayer"

3

And with a regularity that would be boring, if it weren't so sad, another anti-gay crusader is found to be not as anti as he wanted us to believe. This time it's George Alan Rekers, co-founder of the Family Research Council, and his rentboy.

4

At least the Greeks don't take it lying down.

8

Amid allegations of vote fraud, an investigating journalist is attacked and beaten. Not in Afghanistan or Iraq or Zimbabwae, but east London.

5

The Cotswolds are going dogging... I mean to the dogs.

5

The Hutaree terrorism suspects get bail. Why are we not surprised?

1

Life is like a box of chocolates great big oil slick . . . If the oil slick isn't BP's fault (as BP claims), then why are BP's representatives going around coastal Alabama -- particularly the hometown of the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company -- and demanding that local residents settle out-of-court for a measly $5000?

5

Not as inbred as Cain and Eve, but Charles Darwin was sure pushing it.

7

Drunk man has eel inserted into his rectum (by so-called friends), dies 10 days later

7

So, not all terrorists belong to Al-Qaeda after all...

8

A British judge has declared that Christian beliefs have no standing under secular law because they lack evidence and cannot be proven.

8

The latest attempt by conservatives to enshrine President Ronald Reagan on the US currency falls flat.

6

If BP makes the mess, then BP's damn well going to pay to clean it up.

9

Barack Obama... President... Statesman... stand-up comedian?

12

The difference between US and UK conservatives might be less than you think, as it emerges that a "rising star" in the Tory party held prayer sessions to cure gay people.

12

You want more proof right-ringers and TV aren't a good mix? Ok, here's one from your side of the pond.

12

Never a dull moment when you have right-wing fuckheads on live TV.

1

Time Magazine announces their lists of the 100 most and least influential people of 2010.

2

Are full body scanners any use at airports? Nope, says Israeli expert.

6

More Arizona absurdity.

5

Old actors never die, they appear on CNN, talking about alien abductions.

6

Triumph of the spirit - Afghanistan are playing India in the 20/20 Cricket World Cup. Not bad, when you consider 2 short years ago, they were grouped with such cricketing giants as Botswana, Jersey and Japan.

6

The latest threat to US national security? Kids that are too fat to fight.

April 2010

14

The Guardian chooses its side.. The Observer (Guardian on Sunday, but sometimes with a different editorial) follows suit

7

How's that hacky, cracky thing workin' out for ya'?

7

Disaster looms, as a second oil rig overturns off the Louisiana coast.

8

Of all the questions you could be asked when joining the police, "Have you had a penis enlargement?" probably wouldn't be on your list.

4

"We don't have enough officers on the street to look for other stuff like that."

2

If you believe in them, lucky charms really do work.

11

Gary Null, purveyor of "alternative" supplement woo and perennial Quackwatch favourite, nearly dies after eating his own "health mix".

16

Being a Christian doesn't entitle you to discriminate against gay couples seeking help. Of course, the former Archbishop of Canterbury threatens "civil unrest" if Christians are required to behave decently in the workplace.

8

Good News for Mankind from the Catholic Church: 80,000 Vatican Library manuscripts to be digitised for preservation. No word on terms of release as yet.

10

Israelian is jailed for using his holy semen to seduce women

8

Thanks to the birthers, it looks like there will be a legal tug-of-war in the run-up to the 2012 Presidential election. On one side, Hawaii is about to pass a law denying multiple follow-up requests for the same piece of information -- i.e., original birth certificates. On the other side, Arizona -- in a move that several other red states will probably copy -- is about to pass a law requiring that their Secretary of State verify the birthplace of every candidate.

8

Fetch the marshmallows.

3

Pssst! Gordon! Next time you want to insult the voters, make sure your mike is off first.

5

Supreme Court rules on the Mojave Cross, guess how.

4

Ever wondered how a man who can go eight hours without shutting up would cope with a 140 character limit? Hugo Chavez joins Twitter...

14

Remember, the government of fundamentalism must be small enough to fit in your uterus and force you to watch ultrasounds of your fetus before having an abortion. In addition, a doctor doesn't have to tell you that the fetus has a birth defect. This is in the interest of women "being able to make informed decisions".

9

Well, I'll be damned - Tea Partiers are racists, says a new study. Wow! Who knew?!

4

Search for Genes Leads to Unexpected Places Deep Homology.

8

We have met the enemy, and he is PowerPoint.

3

So maybe John Hinckley will find a better way of impressing Jodie Foster.

1

BoobQuake suffers an unfortunate coincidence.

3

Remember that Seinfeld episode when George hit a squirrel with his car and his girlfriend made him rehabilitate it? Yeah, that's kind of real (EXTREME CUTENESS WARNING)

11

Is that a biscuit under the sofa?

10

Born again - virgins?

10

In Lebanon, is there a light at the end of the tunnel?

4

Good riddance: Nazi, preacher, cult leader, child abuser and Pinochetista torturer Paul Schäfer dies in Chilean prison.

5

That sure is a purty picture. Reckon there's some of that there physics attached to it as well.

10

US Air Force launches its first "space plane" although its actual purpose remains classified - i.e., watch out for an increase in earthquakes over the next few weeks. or something.

7

You might not be able to pronounce "Eyjafjallajökull," but you can't deny it's given us some very pretty pictures.

2

Well this ended a lot less bloodily than the last fight over Okinothing

9

Canadian climate change scientist fights back against National Post claims that he's a shill out for government grants.

13

The greatest threat to science education? It's not IDers - it's school principals without backbones.

8

Atheist gets ASBO banning him from "carrying religiously offensive material in a public place".

9

Billy Graham's boy disinvited by the Pentagon to it's National Day of Prayer activities after protests by Muslim service members.

11

The Independent (UK) puts up adverts saying Rupert Murdoch won't decide this election. You will. Next afternoon James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks (News Corps's no. 2 and 3) camp out in The Indy's offices, demanding to see the editor.

10

Arizona (motto:"God Enriches") becomes the "Birther" state

7

What's the number one cause of pedophilia? Sexy kids.

6

Quelle merde!

8

This is not a threat, but a warning.

9

Boo-fucking-hoo. Scott Roeder, the murderer of Kansas abortion doctor George Tiller, wants out of jail because he's being mistreated in prison. (BTW: He started the paperwork for this appeal in February, a few days after his trial ended. He was convicted on 29 January and sentenced on 1 April.)

3

Now clean air causes global warming, too.

10

New research shows that "brain games" don't actually make you smarter, they just help you pass those tests; i.e., playing Brain Training will make you good at Brain Training in much the same way that playing GTA IV turns you into a violent killer makes you good at GTA IV.

9

The US Geological Society publishes a new paper reaffirming its belief in anthropogenic global warming - "rising anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases have been an increasingly important contributor since the mid‐1800s and the major factor since the mid‐1900s" (Link is a PDF).

6

Teabaggers are living in the past (and mostly over 45), while those crazy kids are down with socialism.

8

To combat the surge in the polls for the Lib Dems, the Tories lurch back to the right, and back to 1983.

6

Lets show how bad the Tory party is with some hard-hitting, witty satire on their posters and policies - or we can just look like guffawing idiots by scrawling the word "cunt" on David Cameron's head

2

RIP Doroth Height, the kids in Tylertown, Mississippi could use you right about now.

9

If you were born on Puerto Rico or know somebody who was, you may want to pay attention to this. Thanks to widespread identity theft, on 1 July 2010 the government of Puerto Rico will INVALIDATE EVERY BIRTH CERTIFICATE that it has ever issued.

-14

Some people held a protest. At one some people were arrested, at another some weren't.note

6

George Washington, president, statesman, non-returner of library books.

15

The headline says it all: "Extramarital sex fuels earthquakes, warns Iran cleric."

7

For God's sake: Obama isn't coming to take away your guns

16

One story you probably won't see on CP's broken news. The USA is now being viewed more favourably by the rest of the world.

10

Just because you're a crack baby, doesn't mean you can't succeed.

14

More on the UK Election: Support for the Liberal Democrats sky rockets following the first live debate, we can't be having that now, can we?

6

Do Christian groups on public college campuses have the right to discriminate against gays? Time to find out what the Supreme Court says.

8

If you're on Twitter, be nice. The Library of Congress plans to archive all tweets.

12

Eating black people is wrong. Apparently.

10

Parents! Why not rent an ex-policedog to sniff out drugs in your teenager's bedroom?

9

A Gwent police officer accidentally sent an excel spreadsheet containing full details of everyone who's applied for a CRB check (criminal records check - needed if you wish to work with children or vulnerable adults) since 2001 to The Register, an irreverent (and sometimes irrelevant) tech news site.

11

David Cameron's "40 year old black man who served in the army for 30 years" speaks out.

1

Skillcraft US Government Issue Pens are really that good (also buying them helps to support the blind).

4

Infiltration of the Tax Day teabagger protests was a resounding success!!!

11

9 myths about Socialism in the United States.

3

Quantico blocks Fox. Now to get everyone else to do the same.

6

"Click here to acknowledge you have read and accept the terms and conditions" - 88% of customers unwittingly sell their immortal soul to GameStation

5

Gay swans are expecting babies!

9

A federal judge has found that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional.

5

A meteor is seen over Wisconsin and Iowa, rattling windows at ground level.

3

I'm in the hi-fidelity / First class traveling set / And I think I need a Lear jet.

2

Certainly interesting. Unfortunately tragic.

13

We'll be Singhing when we're winning: The British Chiropractic Association drops its case against Simon Singh. Singh also says he will pursue them for his £100,000+ costs. And all this in Chiropractic Awareness Week.

-2

Yet another gay Christian. When are the rest of them finally going to admit the same thing?

2

Bush nostalgia or does Obama just suck that much?

1

Zimbabwe, home to over 12 million people and believed to have an unemployment rate of over 90%, has the death penalty - but nobody wants the job of hangman.

0

Britain's Ministry of Defence conducted germ warfare tests on millions of Brits between 1940 and 1979.

4

The independent enquiry into climategate concludes: No malpractice or conspiracy whatsoever. The Daily Mail on the other hand, is having none of it, focusing entirely on the criticisms of statistics and with the words "whitewash" appearing several times in the comments at least.

3

Shocking news from the world of mushroom farming.

12

Expelled with a goatee: Old Testament scholar "resigns" from seminary for endorsing evolution. "If the data is overwhelmingly in favor of evolution, to deny that reality will make us a cult." So it seems.

-2

More teabagging shenanigans as a teabagging teacher uses his school district email account to organize a teabagging protest.

0

Don't these idiots know that pride is a sin and only gays can be proud of their sexuality?

10

Oh yeah, this will end well.

8

Easily preventable conditions in children like tooth decay, obesity and passive smoking damage are reaching epidemic levels say Alder Hey Children's Hospital.

9

No Governor. Gay people know that children aren't puppies. Teenagers are the ones you're looking for.

3

If you're going to kill someone as a Wiccan sacrifice, you probably shouldn't make it so obvious. [/sarcasm]

21

The Sunday Times: "Richard Dawkins intends to arrest the Pope.". Richard Dawkins: "Come again?"

9

"Even after death, abuse against gays continues".

-6

Peaceniks move on to supporting juvenile delinquency.

8

Wearing fakes turns you into a faker.

6

Business executives take acting lessons. (The most important thing in acting is sincerity. If you can fake that, you've got it made.)

11

Probably the best strike in the world?

14

A new great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-ok, you get the point - grandmommy found

8

So, you're the British army, and you're fighting in Afghanistan. What do you put in your English firing range for realistic target practice? A Taliban camp? A roadside bomb? How about a mosque?

8

The Germans are well-known as sticklers for precise measurements. Too bad they've been getting the length of their biggest river wrong. By 90 kilometres. For the last 50 years.

8

Krazy Kon '10

6

This is what happens when you put a Randroid in charge of the Fed

4

Hail Mary! gOD's mommy's coming back!

9

In the Civil War Virginians fought for the states' right to do what Governor McDonnell?

12

In the US, the future of net neutrality is now in doubt.

12

Thanks to a triple whammy of Soviet era irrigation projects, global warming and population growth, the world's fourth-largest lake is 90 percent dry.

15

The UK General Election has been announced for May 6th.

41

Developing story: Wikileaks has released a 2007 gunsight camera video showing two Reuters journalists being killed by a US Apache helicopter crew. Roughly a dozen died, most unidentified Iraqi citizens, including some who arrived in a van and attempted to help one of the journalists escape the scene. The only known survivors were two children, wounded when the helicopter destroyed the van during the rescue attempt. Currently reporting indicates that the exact details of the incident were covered up, even after Reuters submitted a FOIA request and received documentation about the incident. The video and Wikileak's account can be found at collateralmurder.com, and you are urged to follow the story in your favored media outlets.

10

Australian wazzocks at their best

3

Tests of the U.S earthquake bomb continue, this time triggering a 7.2 on the U.S - Mexico border.

7

After running into trouble with its Christmas bill board, St Matthews in the City church has another crack at it.

17

The Climategate report is in - and shows no fraud. The deniers' Dover moment?

6

Dying? That light at the end of the tunnel isn't Heaven, it's a chemical-neurological event.

11

The British National Party even hate each other.

14

Seffrican racist leader and alleged human being Eugene Terre'Blanche beaten to death. But there's no link to the ANC's "Kill the Boer" song.

5

Guardians of the Free Republics (their site) send letters to 30 governors demanding they resign within 3 days.

1

Did Democratic Congressman Hank Johnson forgot to say "April Fools"? Did the term "tipping point" confuse him? Or he really is afraid that Guam might tip over?

10

Sorcery!

11

The Westboro Baptist Church decide to picket Jewish institutions and Bay Area High Schools. The result; Booya!

10

The former Parliament speaker, Lord Martin, defends current UK libel laws and is against the change brought about by the Simon Singh case. The same Lord Martin who used those laws and £21,568 of public money to defend against negative press back in 2007.

7

Pirate skiff vs. Oliver Hazard Perry Class destroyer, who do you think won?

19

Simon Singh wins a landmark victory against the British Chiropractic Association and is allowed to use the defence of "fair comment" in his statements. The BCA maintain that "their reputation was damaged" in the incident, which is very true, just not in the way they think.

3

Tired of friends not having benefits? Get a sex robot for $7000!