In my inbox: Save $80 on diet woo!!

Wow! I can save waste $80 on this diet woo offer from Entertainment.com Deals.

I note that "[s]ince HCG is found in human tissue it's perfectly safe to use." Because you know anything found in human tissue is always perfectly safe to use as a diet aid. Consider, for example, cancer cells. Oh, wait...

And look! "[T]he best part is no physical exercise is required." Sounds good for the couch potato set, but leaves me wondering what kind of exercise is required.

It's the "Silver Package"! Plus free shipping and no processing or handling charges! Hard to resist.

And just think of the possibility of losing 20 pounds in 20 days. Why my wallet will be thinner in no time!

Bastion of Sass is back!

My last blog post was in May. That's because my life, like I'm sure yours, has been blissfully woo, religion, and irrationality free.

(Pause. One. Two. Three....)

Bwahahahahahaha!

Yeah, right. Like I'll ever lack material.

My intention, at least at the present, is to try to blog more regularly on the nonsense that assails me daily. In addition, I'll post about some of the more egregious or entertaining nonsense that collected in my "Stupid or Silly Stuff" file during my hiatus.

That's my current intention. Unless. Life.

Don't protest famed creationist commencement speaker; admire his tenancity in clinging to his beliefs

Emory University students and faculty are upset that renowned Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon, Dr. Ben Carson, will be this year's commencement speaker. Why the fuss? Because Carson's a creationist who denies the validity of the Theory of Evolution. 

In an op-ed column in Sunday's Baltimore Sun, Richard Weikart, scolds the Emory protesters. Among other arguments, Weikart claims that Charles Darwin himself would agree with Carson's belief equating "acceptance of evolution with a lack of ethics and morality."

Weikart ends his column with:

Emory University graduates should feel honored to receive a commencement address from Dr. Carson. Aside from the obvious — his path-breaking surgical techniques and medical expertise that landed him a position at one of the most prestigious academic hospitals in the United States — his life story of overcoming poverty and his subsequent dedication to philanthropy are exemplary and inspirational. His willingness to courageously embrace ideas he considers true, despite the ridicule directed toward him, should count as another point in his favor.

Yes! Let's admire a man who despite the advantage of incredible intelligence and a good education, chooses to ignore science and reason in order to cling to a particularly anti-science and anti-education interpretation of mythology.

And, by all means, let's admire a man who adamantly believes in silly things despite ridicule. Because stubbornly refusing to change your views, no matter how ridiculous, is such a virtue.

County commisioner to employees: No pressure, but come pray with me, monthly, in the County Office Building

The Baltimore Sun reports that Robin Frazier, a Carroll County Maryland commissioner, recently "emailed an invitation to about 850 government employees to attend a monthly prayer session, which she will lead." Frazier's "time for prayer" will be held in the County Office Building beginning June 7.

Since Frazier has the right to privately pray, anytime, and anyplace, there must be a reason that she feels the need to ask 850 county employees to join her.

Some possible reasons:

• Frazier is really lonely talking to herself--which is really what praying to a mythological invisible superbeing is.
• Frasier is trying to promote religion as a leader of Carroll County government and pressure employees into participating in a religious practice in contravention of the First Amendment. But Frazier says there is "no pressure," even though the best way to show that she's not attempting to pressure employees to pray with her would be to not invite the county's employees to pray with her every month in the County Office Building. But really, rest assured, Frasier has no intention whatsoever in violating the principle of separation of church and state. She is quoted in The Sun as saying,"The Bible directs us to pray for our country." See? Nothing religious about that, right?
• Frasier wants everyone to admire what a good, pious Christian she is. "Read my email in which I talk about my plan to lead employees in a group prayer. Admire what a good, pious Christian I am. Come witness me praying and setting a good example for you all."
• Frasier is offering to share her special expertise in praying: "Let me lead you in prayer because you don't know how to pray on your own so I have to show you how to do it."
• Frasier is concerned that Carroll County employees no longer have churches or other places of worship to pray in and believes that they cannot pray in their homes or anywhere else outside of the County Office Building. The County Office Building is the only possible venue for prayer.

Frasier contends that she has the right to use the County Office Building for religious purposes because "[o]ther groups use this same building for noncounty business." So, I'm sure local Muslims, Wiccans, Pagans, Rastafarians, and Pastafarians could start meeting in the building every month, and Frasier would have no problem with that. Some non-Christian religious group needs to test that. Soon. Really. And don't forget to request the use of the County's email system to invite 850 County employees to attend!

Or better yet, since "other groups" can and do meet in the Carroll County Office Building according to Frasier, local atheist groups, humanists, skeptics, pro-choice and gay-rights groups, and organizations like Americans United for Separation of Church and State should start meeting there every month. Because that would be an awesome way for Frazier and the other county commissioners to show that the County Office Building space really is a forum open to all, and that they aren't mixing their personal religious beliefs in with every resident's government.

Doggone it! Baltimore Humane Society promotes animal woo

Doggone it! The Baltimore Humane Society is now promoting woo. Its latest newsletter contained the following announcement:

There's a disclaimer: "The workshops (and Reiki in general) is presented only as a complement to traditional veterinary care to encourage more hands-on bonding time. It is not meant to replace traditional veterinary medicine."

However, the host of the workshops, The Animal Reiki Alliance, promotes reiki for more than encouraging more hands-on bonding time.

According to the Reiki Healing for Our Animal Companions brochure on the ARA website:

Reiki helps animals in many ways:
• Aiding in pain management for animals who
are ill or injured.
• Promoting relaxation and calm for animals with
emotional issues, anxiety, separation anxiety
or stress.
• Increasing the bond between human and
animal - a great way to ease an animal’s
transition to a new home environment or
to enhance training your pet.
• Bringing peace and comfort to a dying pet by
easing the transition into death.
• Facilitating other healing responses, including
reduced tumor sizes.

$125 seems like a lot of money to learn more hands-on bonding, even if the workshop does include an "attunement."

However,  if you want to spend even more on learning hands-on bonding, and you've already been attuned,  there's a Level 2 Workshop

Reiki must be super special since it apparently can promote hands-on bonding from a distance.

Unbelieveable! Psychic wrong regarding missing woman

Christine Jarrett disappeared more than 20 years ago. Two days ago, police found remains, now confirmed to be Christine Jarrett's, buried under a shed in the yard of the home she had shared with her husband, Robert Jarrett. Police had long suspected Robert Jarrett of his wife's murder, but lacked the evidence needed to charge him or the probable cause needed to search the property. Police have now charged Robert Jarrett with first- and second-degree murder.

According to The Baltimore Sun, at the time of Christine Jarrett's disappearance:

Worried friends hoping to find leads reached out to a local psychic, who told them she had visions of Jarrett willingly climbing into a light-blue car with an unidentified man. "She did not have her purse on. No woman goes anywhere without her purse," the psychic said, predicting that Christine was still in the area, within a 50-mile radius.

OK, let's give the psychic some credit. While the psychic was wrong about Christine Jarrett's leaving with a man in a light-blue car, the psychic was right about her still being within a 50-mile radius of her home. 

Uphold the sanctity of divorce with SODA!

First the gays wanted the right to marry. Now they want the right to divorce! Will they never be satisfied until they have the same rights as straight people?!
 

"Maryland threatens the sanctity of divorce" by Ralph E. Shaffer sets out the compelling argument that same-sex divorce, an issue now before Maryland's highest court, the Maryland Court of Appeals, threatens the sanctity of the traditional, Biblical view of divorce--the severing of a marriage between one man and one woman.

Shaffer warns that without legal protection preventing gays from divorcing, straight couples will no longer file for divorce. And, in my opinion, that obviously spells doom for the entire institution of divorce! What dire consequences will straights not-divorcing have on the fabric of our society?

Shaffer urges the adoption of the "Sanctity of Divorce Act" (SODA) to defend traditional, God-approved divorce from the threat posed by same-sex divorce. SODA would go beyond allowing each state to decide whether or not to permit same-sex couples to divorce in that state, permitting states to nullify same-sex splits legalized by other states. Just the type of bold and noble legislation needed to save the sacred institution of divorce!

Help save divorce as we know it. Help save the American family by not allowing gays to divorce. Help save children from the stigma of having divorced, gay parents. Help save the U.S. Help keep God in divorce. Support SODA!