Skepquote of the day

“It seems that the media is often giving celebrities and actors more authority on this issue than they are giving the experts,” Peet said. “I know it’s a paradox, but that’s part of why I wanted to become a spokesperson, to say to people, ‘Please don’t listen to me. Don’t listen to actors. Go to the experts.'”

Amanda Peet on Good Morning America.

Antivaxxers and the media

I have said this before, and I will say it again many times in the future: antivaxxers are potentially the Number One health hazard in America.

These are people who (very incorrectly) think that vaccines are linked to autism. It has been shown, conclusively, that no such link exists. Every time an antivaxxer is shown this data, they move the goalposts, claiming it’s some other vaccine feature causing autism, or cite outdated and flawed studies. The problem (for them) is, you can show that the number of autism cases diagnosed is totally unrelated to vaccines. They deny this, they spin, they distract, but in the end this simple fact proves them wrong.

We need vaccines. We have stopped smallpox cold with vaccines. Rubella, measles, and pertussis can be stopped. Where antivaxxers have sown distrust in vaccines, these diseases have been making a comeback, and kids have died.

Read the rest of this entry at the “Bad Astronomy” blog.

God in the News – August 06, 2008

Today I was once again googling My Name, as I am wont to do, when I saw this preposterous story:

Senator Suing God Urges Judge to Proceed

What an utterly ridiculous, absolutely frivolous lawsuit. To think, this trifling mortal actually thinks he can sue Me – The Almighty Lord and Ruler of the Entire Universe – for My hard-earned Tithings!

It is blasphemous, idiotic, and completely without logic of any kind.

How can man sue God? You might as well try and sue the wind. For I tell you now, there is no justice without My Say-So! I AM JUSTICE!

And yet this insolent heretic somehow thinks he has the right to accuse Me. ME! The One who gave him his wife and children and a good home. He actually has the nerve to accuse Me of having caused “widespread death upon millions” of humans.

Well….of course I have! What does he expect?! It is My Sacred Duty to mete out death and destruction upon humanity.

Fucking hell! If I didn’t do it, it would never get done!

He also accuses Me of making “terroristic threats” against him and his children. WELL OF COURSE I HAVE! He’s suing Me! That’s what you’re supposed to do when someone sues you.

Well, if this doofus of a senator (who looks homeless) somehow thinks I’m showing up to any of these hearings in a physical form, he’s got another thing coming. Namely, a hefty smiting.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE ORIGINAL ENTRY AT “STUFF GOD HATES”

Skepnews – 8/6/08

• Acupuncture helps shed pounds… says Men’s Fitness magazine – Acupuncture can drastically speed recovery from sports injuries and increase the effectiveness of your workouts. It is also known to help shed pounds, reduce stress, and improve performance in the bedroom—so you can return your body to the temple it’s meant to be. – Temple of stupidity that is! Good thing I don’t subscribe to this garbage!
• Preacher kills 85 year old man after stealing more than $1 million from him – A rural California preacher was convicted Monday of murdering an 85-year-old farmer after stealing more than $1 million from the elderly bachelor’s trust. Prosecutors accused Porter, 57, of staging two auto wrecks to cover up the more than $1.1 million he stole from Craig’s sizable fortune.  The first crash left Craig unable to walk, and the second – in April 2004 – plunged the pair into an irrigation canal where Craig drowned. – Now if he repents does that mean he’ll go to heaven? What kind of BS would that be?
• Iran suspends death by stoning – A judiciary spokesman said four people sentenced to die by stoning had had their sentences commuted and that all other cases had been put under review. Stoning is the penalty for crimes such as adultery under Iranian law, but it is rarely carried out. The last such execution was reportedly last year. The country’s penal code stipulates that before carrying out the punishment, men should be buried up to their waists and women up to their chests. The stones used must be large enough to cause the condemned pain, but not sufficient to kill immediately.– It’s a step in the right direction, but it won’t mean much until it’s completely abolished.
• Couples marrying on 8/8/08 ’cause it’s lucky – The number eight has long been considered fortuitous in China, where people pay extra to have it in phone numbers and license plates – and the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympic Games falls on Aug. 8. “We chose the date because eight has always been our lucky number,” said upcoming bride Denise Becker, 26, a middle school teacher in East Northport, N.Y. She and her fiance always found themselves in Seat 8, Row 8, at movie theaters with eight screens. She started planning her wedding 1 1/2 years ago and was surprised that venues were booked. – Now, just how the hell do you go about figuring out your lucky number? And why do people stick with a number from 0-9? I would like for once to meet a person whose lucky number was something like 3,457,289,004,111! That’s a hell of a lot better than 8, I think!
• Muslim holiday at Tyson pisses off Christians – The union that represents workers at a Tyson Foods poultry plant in Tennessee has negotiated a contract that substitutes a Muslim holiday for Labor Day as one of the eight paid holidays at the plant. “You are a union that is proud of achieving a Muslim holiday and prayer room?” one person wrote the union. “A union in the U.S.A., a country based on Christianity. You call yourselves Americans? Have you forgotten 9/11?” Another wrote: “You had no right to drop Labor Day. Muslim employees must integrate Labor Day into THEIR lives if they are going to live in America.” – Bigotry…check! Hypocrisy…check. Paranoia…check! America, the land of the free? Not if these nut jobs are in charge…wait a minute one of them is! Now, I would expect Tyson to offer the same deal to atheists of course! Wait a minute, that will enrage both the christians and the muslims! Tough!