Politician-making-shit-up story of the week:
Republican Congressman Todd Akin has claimed that raped women are very unlikely to get pregnant because the body has defences to prevent it.
He pulled this shit straight out of his backside!
"That is absolutely false," said Dr. George Attia, director of the division of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), which counts 56,000 members, also called the remarks "medically inaccurate, offensive and dangerous."
These repudiations should not be necessary, but we know full well that there will be some authoritarian dimwits who will believe him. Await quotes!
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-truth-akin-rape-hinders-pregnancy.html
'Tanning beds good for you. That’s what they used to say about cigarettes too.'
"Another industry linked to cancer-causing practices pulls a page out of the book of Big Tobacco."
http://doubtfulnews.com/2012/08/tanning-beds-good-for-you-thats-what-they-used-to-say-about-cigarettes-too/
Having mentioned tobacco...
'Epidemic of plain packaging to curb smoking uptake'
This is one epidemic that health professionals have longed for -- when one conforms, the whole industry is expected to follow.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21528794.400-epidemic-of-plain-packaging-to-curb-smoking-uptake.html
Members of Anonymous have hacked the UK Ministry of Justice's web-site, to protest the injustices perpetrated by the UK government, in the way they've treated Julian Assange - the man at the heart of, and symbolic of, WikiLeaks - the organisation that plays such an important role in keeping governments and corporations to account.
The UK government has been complicit in the US' attempts to extradite Assange, by drawing attention to sexual assault allegations, in order to detract from the political importance of Assange and WikiLeaks' work.
Remember -- Assange has not been charged - he is only wanted for questioning - that does not require physical presence - they can only want him for detention. Lesser men have been detained indefinitely [cough: Guantanamo Bay].
http://phys.org/news/2012-08-hackers-uk-justice-ministry-site.html
China has hit back at the US' recent political attacks.
Earlier this year, China restricted the export of precious metals, due to their scarcity, and the fact that China has had to supply to the whole world what they were unwilling to mine themselves.
The US framed this action is a violation of free trade, because some US companies can't do business without cheap Chinese metals.
And now China's framed the US' subsidies to US-based renewable power as a violation of free trade, because foreign companies can't do business with State-backed competitors.
Now -- does this feel slightly rhetorical to you?
Yup - same here.
http://phys.org/news/2012-08-china-energy-violate-free.html
While the industry-corruption-retarded States of the 'West' resist compensation for the damage they have done and are continuing to do, lesser countries are attempting to pick up the slack.
'Philippines sets up climate change fund'
£24 million is a paltry amount, that any US corporation would miss as much as an errant paperclip; but what else can they do? The main offenders certainly aren't setting a good example.
http://phys.org/news/2012-08-philippines-climate-fund.html
'Call to boycott killer robots'
Many of the scientists who worked in the Manhattan Project rued the consequences that the development of nuclear power for weapons had on humanity.
It's true that people are more likely to wage war when they feel invulnerable -- that is how theism has facilitated and exacerbated conflict for so many millennia.
But scientists aren't rich - a call to boycott military drone production is unlikely to result in many rejecting a much-needed wage-packet.
http://phys.org/news/2012-08-boycott-killer-robots.html
SO2 pollution in ports has dropped by 66%, in direct thanks to the EU's regulations. 'Boo' to the Europhobes, who think they do only evil.
http://phys.org/news/2012-08-air-quality-harbours-eu-policies.html
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