Our Wacky World—8/30/2011

Yo

Hurricane Irene  just blew through in the wake of the earthquake. And this guy is saying the same thing I have for years:

'When the storm has passed there will be a wave of sympathy for the many families and businesses that will be affected. In the beach communities, patriotism will prevail, American flags will be unfurled on makeshift flag poles and the dominant attitude will be: "we're tough and were coming back." I've witnessed this a dozen times. A better attitude is "we've learned a lesson, let's build elsewhere."'

Note the brainless comments. Let's rebuild on a flood plain/beach and get killed all over again. (CNN)

"Polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs is being moved to a prison hospital for additional treatment after he became sick while fasting."

ABC


Alien Abductionist extraordinaire Budd Hopkins is dead at 80. I especially like this comment:

'I spoke with Hopkins briefly after a lecture he gave at the 1999 MUFON conference near Washington, DC. I asked him, "You've discovered how to use hypnosis to overcome the aliens' technique of producing amnesia in their abduction victims. You've publicized your ability. Does it surprise you that the aliens continue to use that technique, even though they're probably aware that you've defeated it?"'

I previously covered Hopkins' downfall in this post and alien abductionists here.

“Dr.” Christine Anderson is a pediatric chiropractor in Hollywood who believes a lot of things that are not supported by science or reason. Her website mission statement includes: 

"We acknowledge the devastating effects of the vertebral subluxation on human health and therefore recognize that the spines of all children need to be checked soon after birth, so they may grow up healthy." It also states that “drugs interfere… and weaken the mind, body, and spirit.” 

In her own pregnancies she refused ultrasound and other prenatal screening tests. This was her idiotic reasoning: 

"I trusted in my body’s innate wisdom that if the pregnancy was moving forward, then everything was going OK in my baby’s development." 

Apparently on her planet if a pregnancy has not spontaneously aborted that means the baby is developing normally, and no abnormal child is ever born. And perhaps all the children are above average?

Science Based Medicine

On an equally ridiculous note, here's what your friendly neighborhood chiropractor may well believe:

"Many chiropractors believe that there is a strong link between the birthing process and recurrent ear infection, also known as otitis media. During the birthing process, cervical (neck) vertebrae can become misaligned, disrupting nerve function, which can affect the eustachian tube. This may lead to fluid buildup in the middle ear and cause otitis media."

"Ear infection or otitis media accounts for over 35% of all pediatrician visits in the United States. Antibiotics, the usual treatment, are not always effective and may even lead to a recurrence of ear infections. Many children are dealing with a continuing cycle of repeat ear infections, which lands them back at the pediatrician for more antibiotics. For nearly 100 years, the chiropractic profession has claimed that ear and other upper respiratory infections respond favorably to chiropractic adjustments."

Healthy Child

I guess they'll be claiming the same shit for the next 100 years as well. Please note that not all chiropractors buy into this "subluxation" snake oil and limit themselves to spine cracking. But then there's the other kind:

"Here are some of the pediatric conditions which some chiropractors claim they can help: ADD/ADHD, asthma, autism, bed wetting, “birth trauma,” hypertension, cerebral palsy, Crohn’s disease, colitis, colic, the common cold, constipation, ear infections, epilepsy, headaches, low immunity, sinus and respiratory infections, eczema, psoriasis, sleep disturbances, stuttering, tonsillitis, Tourette’s Syndrome. Impressive list! These guys must be on to something."

WebMD

"...a Texas boy died of dehydration after his parents denied him of drinking water as punishment after he had accidentally wet the bed. The 10-year-old Dallas boy...died...after his parents prohibited him from drinking water in the five days leading up to his death. Temperatures in Dallas soared to 100 degrees or more on each of those days."

eTidbits (includes mugshots)

Perhaps the strangest item found in the compound is the photo album of former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Gadhafi had an affection for the politician he knew as his "darling black African woman," and apparently kept her images close at hand. The album was filled with photos and magazine clippings of Rice collected over the years.

International Business Times

"...high food prices lead to a kind of tipping point when almost anything can trigger a riot, like a lighted match in a dry forest... two main factors have driven the increase in the food price index. The first is traders speculating on the price of food, a problem that has been exacerbated in recent years by the deregulation of the commodities markets and the removal of trading limits for buyers and sellers. The second is the conversion of corn into ethanol, a practice directly encouraged by subsidies."

Technology Review

"What is really impressive is that such admissions will make no difference to Palin’s supporters... It does not matter that she promised the voters to serve as governor and her husband now admits that she simply wanted to cash in... That would appear to me to be a rather dishonest choice for any public figure — particularly given her prior statements denying that she resigned for the money."

Turley's Blog

"All they had to do was convince retirees to let UBS buy life insurance policies on them. When the retirees died, those policies would pay out benefits to Wall Street speculators, and the state, supposedly, would get paid for arranging the bets. The families of the deceased former teachers would get nothing."

Huffington Post

Come again