Courtesy of atheistcartoons.com
Warning ! Rant Ahead!
Ok people, it’s time to get a grip on reality – THE WORLD IS NOT GOING TO END IN 2012! I’m sorry to have to shout about it, but really, some people have nothing better to do than worry about how we’re all going to die a horrible death because the Mayans/ Nostradamus/ the bible/ or some prophet/psychic predicted it.
From the number of silly comments I’ve been getting about the end of the world, I thought I should go over it again.
So,……….
1. The Mayans DID NOT predict the end of the world, their calendar simply ended on that date. Nothing sinister about it at all.
2. Nostradamus DID NOT predict the future. Nobody can. His quatrains have been consistently changed and bastardized over the centuries to fit famous and infamous events as proof of his prophetic ability.
3. There is NO EVIDENCE of a polar shift ever having happened or ever happening in the future. There is NO EVIDENCE of the earth’s core heating up and causing earthquakes/tsunamis/total and utter destruction of the Earth.
4. There is NOT ANY EVIDENCE of an extra “unknown” planet named Nibiru, or otherwise, entering our solar system and disrupting life on Earth. If the Hubble telescope can see far beyond our own galaxy, then it would have surely picked up a wandering planet. Think about it.
5. NO-ONE knows when or how civilisation will end. If anyone says they “know”, then ask them to give you the winning lottery numbers for the next lottery as proof of their supernatural/paranormal/prophetic abilities. They always have a reason (read excuse) as to why they can’t offer proof, a sure sign they’re full of bullshit.
6. Anyone offering advice/equipment/salvation from being anihilated in 2012, is RIPPING YOU OFF. Wake up! They just want your MONEY/POSSESSIONS/SOUL/SPOUSE (fill in anything of value to you).
Also, this is an ATHEIST blog, read this page. So stop sending me advice about god/how to save myself or telling me to “repent-the end is nigh”. Your god is not interested in saving my ass, so stop it.
If you are reading any blogs/websites that claim any of the above points in 1 to 6, then you can bet they’re talking through their ASSES. The only thing that’s going to threaten civilisation or the Earth is complacency, ignorance and stupidity.
There.
End of rant.
I cannot believe that we’re at the end of another year, each year seems to whizz by faster than the one before.
I’ve already started planning the family christmas get-together and I’ve decided to do a traditional christmas lunch this year, with turkey and all the trimmings. I’ve been feeling a little nostalgic about the wonderful christmas feasts of my childhood, and decided I’d like to create the same sort of memories for my gorgeous little grandson, whose now old enough to start making memories of his own.
December is also a time of reflection for me, I like to take stock of what the year has brought me and hope that the lessons I’ve learned during the last twelve months, have left me a little wiser than the year before.
This year I’ve watched my grandson grow into an inquisitive little boy, whose every sentence ends in a question mark. Who? What? Why? When? The questions are un-ending; I’m not complaining, those questions are like a fountain of youth to my stagnant brain – we’re never too old to learn. The best thing for me is seeing the world through his eyes, and feeling the excitement of new discoveries with him, nor do I ever grow tired of watching the expression on his face as his mind solves a problem.
A couple of years ago I started a little tradition of my own , I buy myslf a hamper of books to read during the holidays and then add them to my small library at home. I have a wide range of interests, as you’ll see by my booklist below:
ISBN/Code: 9781444000276
ISBN/Code: 9780571230310
ISBN/Code: 9780684843322
ISBN/Code: 9781600246661
So, if you don’t hear from me for the rest of the year, you’ll know why……….
Ali Sibat, a Lebanese citizen, has been arrested in Saudi Arabia and sentenced to death. The charge? Witchcraft. He was arrested while on pilgrimage in Medina.
Sibat is a regular on Lebanese television, he gives people advice about life and makes predictions about the future. Apparently, Sibat is not the first person to be charged with witchcraft by the Saudi religious police. Two other people have been arrested on similar charges in the last month alone.
Human Rights Watch claims that……
…… a lower court in Jeddah started the trial of a Saudi this month who was arrested by the religious police and said to have smuggled a book of witchcraft into the kingdom.
Human rights campaigners claim prosecutors classified the booklet as a “talisman” and the court accepted that as evidence, sentencing him to 20 months in prison and 300 lashes.
In 2006 a Jeddah court convicted an Eritrean national Muhammad Burhan for “charlatanry” because he possessed a phone book that contained writings in the Tigrinya alphabet used in Eritrea.
In another case the religious police are said to have arrested for “sorcery” and “charlatanry” an Asian man accusing him of using supernatural powers to solve marital disputes and induce others to fall in love.
In 2007 , an Egyptian pharmacist working in Saudi Arabia, was executed for “using sorcery” to try and separate a married couple. Victims of these charges are denied lawyers to defend them and are usually tricked or forced into making confessions. The crime of “witchcraft” is being used by the religious police for all sorts of behaviour, and the punishment is usually a death sentence.
People are being persecuted and punished by an antiquated religious system for trivial misdemeanours, sometimes even an accusation will suffice for someone to be charged and sentenced. If you write a blog, please highlight these human rights abuses.
Last night I went to watch psychic John Edward strut his stuff in front of a packed audience, each and every one of them eagerly anticipating a message from a loved one who had crossed over to the other side.
We arrived about 30 minutes before the show started and I waited in the foyer while my daughter got us something to drink and eavesdropped on a few conversations to try and gauge whether there were any other sceptics around. My daughter and I seemed to be the only ones in the area we were standing in.
About 10 minutes before the show started an entertaining young lady came out on stage to lay down the rules for audience behaviour. The show was being filmed so she set about telling people, in a light hearted and humorous way, how to behave if the camera happened to focus on them, and how and where to put the microphone if it was passed to them – apparently people can be quite stupid when they’re given a microphone. There was also a large screen behind John so that we could see who was being read and what their reactions were, we could also see John’s face clearly.
I’m not quite sure what I was expecting, but there was no fancy introduction or drum roll before John Edward strode confidently onto the stage. He went through a brief description of what to expect, and then put the audience at ease by telling us about himself. There was one interesting titbit of information he gave while he was talking about himself and his family that I focused on, and it made me watch him even more closely – but I’ll let you in on it at the end of this post.
John explained that he was going to allow the audience to ask questions and that the questioner may or may not get a reading , that he may instead focus on people within the vicinity of the person asking the question. He then asked who’d like to ask him something and then selected ten or eleven people in various sections of the audience, only two of those questioners got a reading, the others were given answers or advice from John or his guides.
I’m not going to go into the details of the readings. Most of his guesses were “misses” and he had some “hits”. However, the “hits” he had somehow made me feel that he knew something about these people beforehand. One family in particular was related to the murder victim of a well publicised crime, although he had the way she was murdered incorrect, he quickly picked up on the complications of the case and related them to the family, but then all of the information he gave them is already in the public domain. What made me think that he may have had information beforehand, was that one of the conversations I happened to eavesdrop on in the theatre foyer, was between the person who runs the theatre and a woman who was thanking her for organising for her and her family to be there. This woman wasn’t one of the audience members who had a reading, but she could well have been one of those who were given special cards for a private reading after the show – these were handed out to a very few members of the audience, and to some of those who had been given readings during the show.
If you’re wondering how I knew the woman was speaking to the person who runs the theatre, the theatre manager was wearing a t-shirt with the theatre logo on it and her face was shown on the big screen when John Edward specifically thanked her at the end of his show.
The “misses” were memorable too. There was a woman he was reading who had lost her daughter, John said the daughter was one of three siblings, the woman denied it, saying that she only had two children. John said she must be mistaken because her daughter was insisting that she was one of three and that this woman must have had three pregnancies, miscarrying one. Again this woman said that she’d only ever had two pregnancies and two children, there never was a third. Again John insisted that this woman must be wrong; even I was beginning to get annoyed with him, surely she’d know how many pregnancies she’d had?!
He also got quite impatient and a little aggressive with people when they didn’t understand the message he was giving them, either it didn’t make sense or they were straining their memories to connect what he was saying. He bullied them into thinking that they were stupid for not understanding the message.
John Edward is slick, confident and has been doing his show long enough to come across as someone who is convincing as a psychic medium. If I had been undecided about the existence of an afterlife and if I didn’t know about the cold reading and hot reading methods that these charlatans use, I may have come away from that show as a believer.
I may be mistaken about how John Edward knew some of the stuff he got right, I’m not too clued up on the sneaky techniques psychics use to gather information, but I do know for certain that it wasn’t supernatural. How? Remember I said John Edward was relating some stories about himself and his family? He said that all his friends and family know when he’s receiving a message from the other side because his ears go bright red. I didn’t see his ears change colour once.
Ceragem Massage Bed
Why is it that there are always human vultures ready to prey, and profit, on the sick and dying? The latest scam, reported by the Sowetan, is a clinic claiming to be able to cure AIDS with a heated massage bed. Patients queue from around 2am to have a 40 minute treatment on the bed, which according to the clinic, can cure any ailment, from cancer to haemorrhoids, as well as AIDS. While patients wait for their turn on the bed, they listen to testimonies from people who have been “helped” the Ceragem therapy.
The Korean company that manufactures Ceragem, claims that the heated massage beds combines pressure and heat from Far Infrared Radiation which is emitted through jade by means of moxibustion. Which in plain English means, ” we rip you off by claiming to heal all medical problems by means of incorporating Eastern Woo with modern medical technology”.
This is nothing but a scam. The only thing that the Ceragem bed can do is give you a warm massage , it cannot cure you of any medical problem. Ceragem is not registered with the South African Bureau of Standards. The good news is that the clinic and it’s claims are going to fall under the scrutiny of the National Health Ministry.
Below is a 2005 release from the Texas Attorney General about the improper claims of the Ceragem massage bed.
Attorney General Abbott Stops Improper Sales Of Therapeutic Massage Devices
Ceragem distributors allegedly marketed miracle cures of cancer and improved health, mostly to Hispanic consumers
AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today announced he has halted the unlawful marketing and sales of thermal massage beds sold in Texas that a company and its franchises deceptively claimed would treat or cure cancer and a range of other serious ailments and diseases.
The settlement ends an investigation against Ceragem International Inc. of California, which operates franchises and company-owned stores in several Texas cities, including Houston, the Dallas/Fort Worth area, El Paso, San Antonio, Corpus Christi and McAllen. Most of the distributors sold the beds to Spanish-speaking consumers. Texas is the first state to take legal action against the company for its deceptive marketing practices.
“This company made inflated and unsubstantiated claims about the benefits of its products, which were intended to exploit consumers who may have actually needed professional medical services,” said Attorney General Abbott. “This really amounted to orchestrated consumer health fraud, all without physician involvement, and I am pleased the company will cease these deceptive practices.”
The investigation alleged consumers were falsely led to believe the devices were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a range of ailments such as cancer, epilepsy, heart disease, ovarian cysts and other maladies. The company’s Web site also featured the deceptive use of an FDA seal and, when viewed as a whole, suggested the devices utilized methods of acupressure and acupuncture to accomplish the therapy.
Dr. Eduardo J. Sanchez, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, which referred this case to the Attorney General, concurred with Abbott: “Our investigators documented an alarming incidence of false health claims associated with Ceragem’s beds. Consumers should not rely on these claims. These beds are not substitutes for prescribed medicines and treatments.”
The equipment is manufactured by Ceragem Co. Ltd., of South Korea, which provides machines to Ceragem International and independent franchises. According to the investigation, distributors host up to 14 live presentations per day for up to 50 consumers each.
The Attorney General’s undercover investigation and video revealed speakers repeatedly claiming the $2,400 “Ceragem-C Thermal Massager” was instrumental in the treatment of a range of medical conditions, including diabetes and obesity. “Testimonials” about cures by previous customers were encouraged.
Although the FDA has approved the device for the temporary relief of minor muscle and joint pain, and pain associated with arthritis, the agency has not approved the device for most of the uses described by the distributors during presentations in Spanish about the product. Representations regarding the treatment and cure of diseases was evidence the company misled consumers and marketed what amounted to an illegal device.
According to the investigation, the defendants transformed retail locations into the equivalent of large therapy clinics without physicians involved at any point. The practice increased the risk to consumers who may have had serious ailments because they were led to believe the devices could take care of health problems, and as a result, they might not have sought the medical attention they actually needed.
The settlement also provides for restitution to compensate consumers for losses based on false claims about the health benefits of Ceragem’s beds.
Ceragem Co. of South Korea sells the thermal massage beds in 22 countries and supports more than 500 independent retail distributors worldwide. California-based Ceragem International, which authorizes distributorships for North America, reported sales of $18 million a year, according to a 2004 Dunn & Bradstreet report.
Below are five video’s of Sky 1’s Michael Jackson – The Live Séance. Apart from the interesting bits about Michael writing his last album in Ireland and finding some sense of normality there with his children; the rest of the program is tacky and cringe worthy. Why four fans were chosen to sit in on the séance is beyond me, perhaps they were chosen for their gullibility , which became obvious once Derek Acorah began his performance. Derek Acorah’s act is appalling and if the subject wasn’t so tragic, I’d have probably been laughing at the whole ridiculous farce. Instead it made me very angry. I think Sky 1 showed extremely poor taste in organising and broadcasting this séance, it wasn’t a tribute to Michael Jackson – it was an insult to his family and to his memory. Everyone involved, and especially Derek Acorah, should be ashamed.
I knew it wouldn’t be long before some slimey psychic did a séance to contact Michael Jackson. Enter Derek Acorah. Sky1 will be screening two shows, Michael Jackson: The Live Séance and Michael Jackson: The Search For His Spirit, in November
Please follow this link to Derek’s official website, I have purposely linked to the page where Derek describes how he met his spirit guide Sam – it’s the best laugh I’ve had in weeks – but I digress.
Derek Acorah is an English medium who is best known for co-presenting a television series called Most Haunted, in which he frequently became “possessed” by some of the spirits he encountered on the show’s investigations. He left the show in 2005 when it was discovered that one of the spirits he was possessed by, an entity called “Kreed Kafer”, turned out to be a fabrication by the programme’s parapsychologist, Ciaran O’ Keeffe. The name “Kreed Kafer” is an anagram for Derek Faker.
I think the whole idea of doing this séance is blatant greed; Sky1 knows the shows will get high ratings, and Derek Acorah will probably get some new gullible customers – it’s disgusting.
For those of you living in Johannesburg and wondering about the crazy weather we’re experiencing, I can now inform you of the cause. Today a major miracle occurred and it involved Telkom !!!
This afternoon I received a call from a Telkom technician asking me if I wanted a new wireless phone installed, and if he could do it today? I almost put the phone down thinking it was a joke, but Lo and Behold, there was a Telkom van at my gate within 3 minutes of the call……a minor miracle in itself.
After being with out a phone for 21 months now, Telkom has finally got around to installing wireless technology in our area and they updated all their existing customers free of charge – another miracle!
So a big THANK YOU Telkom, it’s great to be in contact with the rest of the world again without having to pay the exorbitant fees charged by my mobile service provider.
Now, if only you could do something about your download times so that I don’t have to resort to using Winston’s friends and relatives.
