**Wesley’s been on vacation and lost track of time, now I’m on vacation so you get to put up with him today. – DW**
A Couple of the Year’s Best (And Worst)
It seems customary during the last couple days of the year to look back on what has transpired. Walk down the lane with me a stretch.
Jobs Death Due to Bad Apples
Edzard Ernst said Steve Jobs delayed his pancreatic cancer treatment for about a year in favor of homeopathic treatment. This bothers me greatly. A man of obvious intelligence and wicked business sense getting suckered in by snake oil.
Apocalypse Nigh… Not
Harold Camping. Need I say more? Well I am going to anyway. This has been a banner year for Harold. Two failed apocalypse predictions in 2011 and the two previous hellfire predictions back in 1988 and 1994. A civil engineer long gone to the dark side by trying to support his family, I still wonder if he believed his own crap when he started. Based on Camping’s numerology, his “Family Radio” business spent 100 million in advertising the end times in 2011. I do not wish him ill even after many people ruined their lives and spent their retirement funds on advertising the the end time. Scratch that. I can’t wait for him to shed his mortal coil.
Science at It’s Best
When Dario Auterio made the announcement that the Italian OPERA team had found neutrinos traveling faster than light, the team requested trials to be done by others in the physics community. That’s part of the Scientific Method in action and it’s beautiful. Putting their information out to the public to be corroborated or demolished with further testing. In the end, the evidence was against the original findings. Know the neatest part? No fights, no harsh words, no schisms, and no one died.
This Shoe Was Made For Suing
Reebok was fined 25 million dollars by the FTC because the Easytone and RunTone shoes claimed to tighten that tush and firm the legs. If someone you know purchased a pair (I won’t tell anyone that you bought a pair for yourself), send them to this link since they may be eligible for a refund.
Michele Bachmann Causes HPV
Back in September, Bachmann told of talking to a mother in Florida that said the HPV vaccine caused her daughter’s mental retardation. Even though the American Academey of Pediatrics quickly released a statement correcting the completely false claim, the damage was done. This woman commands such an audience that I put this right up there with the MMR “scare” a while back. Anyway, I know it’s poisoning the well, but here is one of my favorite quotes Michele graced us with back in June: “Well what I want them to know is just like, John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa. That’s the kind of spirit that I have, too”. To bad the actor was born in Winterset, Iowa. It was John Wayne Gacy, the serial killer, that was born in Waterloo, Iowa. I guess Gacy will have good company.
The Passing of Hitch
No deathbed conversion. A truth seeker’s hero. Faced death on his own terms. Lucid and quick witted to the end.
Lastly…
This most awesome of quotes has been dancing in my head in the likely scenario that I irked some one: “And if, perchance, I have offended, think but this, and all is mended: it as well be ten minutes back in time, for all the chance you’ll change your mind.” ~Tim Minchin
I hope to see each and every one of you at the Northwest Free-thought Convention in Seattle, Washington next year!
~Wesley