Our Wacky World—9/3/2011

1960

James "The Amazing" Randi has been giving the same speech for many years. Here's a version from 1992:

'This is a very carefully engineered chemical which goes directly—please don’t laugh; this is science—goes directly to the speech center of the brain and paralyzes the brain in such a way that two sentences from then on, in any given language, are no longer possible to be pronounced by that person. Those two sentences are, “I don’t know” and “I was wrong”.'

Skeptic

If you read one thing on this blog, read this. It sums paranormal skepticism up as nicely as possible.

On a tangentially related note, it appears that Michio Kaku has stumbled again:

'Physicist Michio Kaku, who is well known for attempting to rationalize the physics of UFOs and of Time Travel, is quoted on the cover of Kean's book declaring it filled with “eye-opening information” that would “set the gold standard for UFO research.” Skeptics should note how easily Kaku has been dazzled by Fool’s Gold.'

BadUFOs

Oh my. It looks like BillO is in a spot of trouble again:

"Last summer, Fox News anchor Bill O'Reilly came to believe that his wife was romantically involved with another man. Not just any man, but a police detective in the Long Island community they call home. So O'Reilly did what any concerned husband would do: He pulled strings to get the police department's internal affairs unit to investigate one of their own for messing with the wrong man's lady."

Gawker

'Proverbs tells us that a virtuous woman "works with her hands with delight," and "does not eat the bread of idleness." The truly beautiful girl is one who sees her life as a mission of service. What others view as a burden, she views as a blessing and opportunity.'

Just looking at the pictures makes me think of Warren Jeffs. (Vision Forum)

"A former U.S. Marine accused of kidnapping, raping and beating a 69-year-old Hawthorne woman into a coma insisted Monday that he acted in self-defense because he feared for his life and believed she was a gang member."

Daily Breeze

"I've been waiting for well financed gangsters to launch a few missiles armed with BBs into LEO [low Earth orbit] in a east to west direction. The warheads would be set to explode and scatter their cargo of BBs if they don't get regular inputs of an ever-changing password. The price for space to stay open would be a billion dollars a month."

Greg Laden

Remember the Tea Party coloring book? (it may have been before I started blogging):

Smells like Obama, er, Osama

'The coloring book includes pages showing the smoking World Trade Center and mourning survivors. Page 19 depicts a Navy SEAL taking aim at Osama bin Laden, who is seen cowering behind a veiled woman as a bullet leaves the barrel of the SEAL’s rifle. Above the drawing is this message: “Children, the truth is, these terrorist acts were done by freedom-hating Islamic Muslim extremists. These crazy people hate the American way of life because we are FREE and our society is FREE.”'

Stripes

'...the school's security officer removed the students from class and held them in another office on campus where there were no other adults present. Carin said the students were handcuffed for hours and told that "they were going to prison and would never see their parents again."'

Chicago Tribune

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