In January I noticed, and blogged, that Michele Bachmann is an Unmitigated Idiot and Racist. And I proved it. Also, during the winter of 2010-2011 there were a handful of die-offs of birds and some other critters that happened to get into the news, and for some, caused great anxiety. We explored the question of Why are all the birds dying? and considered Dead Birds in other ways as well.
We also explored the universal question of "Human Universals." Are they real or are they some kind of falsehood? I said that there are Human Universals but that it is complicated, and noted that people may have different ideas of what a "Human Universal" looks like (or is made out of). (See February's retrospective for more on this.)
This was the month that Rickey Gervais got in trouble for hosting the Golden Globes. Lots of people got snooty about his snark. Was that because his snark was so sharp, or because he is an overt in your face Atheist? We argued a bit about that one.
The Julian Assange rape allegations were also a matter of discussion that month.