Stiff competition

Talking of homeopathic bullshit (which, if you remember, I recently was):

iAfrica.com: Russian men seek sex salvation
…Impaza is one of a new generation of medicines using homeopathic doses of antibodies to control the behaviour of certain molecules in the body. It takes effect earlier in the erection process than Viagra, stimulating the production of a gas—nitrogen oxide—in the cells of the penis.

But the really frightening thing about this article is the opening paragraph: "Why is the lion the king of the animals? Because of his tufty tool. And what makes a man really a man? You know perfectly well."

Just for the record, I do not now have, and never wish to possess, a tufty tool.

Diet

Text message from Carolyn:

Do u remember that beetroot, pickle and ice-cream diet that u made me go on - the one that gave u heart failure?

The really weird and frightening thing about this text message is that I honestly don't have the foggiest idea what the hell Carolyn is going on about. Nothing new there then.

Published
Filed under: Nonsense

The 'C' word

BBC: Pope presses EU on constitution
Pope John Paul II has urged the European Union to include a recognition of Europe's Christian heritage in its first constitution, which is due to be signed next year.

Let's see, Europe's Christian heritage: the cruisades, the Spanish Inquisition, papal infallibility, book burnings, witch trials, millennium cults, the belief in miracles, the rhythm method, papal bulls, priests and nuns, Northern Ireland, Bosnia, the Thirty Years War, Inca gold, the Society of Jesus, the Vatican Secret Service, missionaries, kill them all—God will know his own, genuflection, transubstantiation, Puritanism, the poor are always with us, church fêtes…

Don't quite see it myself.

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Filed under: Nonsense

…and statistics

BBC: Burgled pensioners 'die early'
Pensioners who are burgled are far more likely to die earlier than others of a similar age, a Home Office study suggests. The Home Office research, seen by BBC News, shows [my emphasis] burglary has a greater impact on the elderly than previously believed.

Shame on you, BBC: you should know that a correlation doesn't prove a causation. Yes, it's possible that being burgled might lead to an earlier death, but isn't a more plausible explanation that people who live in deprived areas are (a) more likely to die earlier, and (b) more likely to be burgled? The Home Office is creating an agenda, and the BBC isn't being nearly sceptical enough.

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Filed under: Nonsense

On this rock I will build my church

BBC: Space impact 'saved Christianity' [23-Jun-03]
Did a meteor over central Italy in AD 312 change the course of Roman and Christian history? A team of geologists believes it has found the incoming space rock's impact crater, and dating suggests its formation coincided with the celestial vision said to have converted a future Roman emperor to Christianity.

So, first they wiped out the dinosaurs, then they saved christianity… These meteors are a bloody menace. Someone should start a petition.

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Filed under: Nonsense

Getting beyond a joke

Homeopathy for Children signPlease, for once in your sad, inadequate, gullible lives, listen, you stupid, naïve dupes—homeopathy doesn't work; homeopathy can't work because it's pseudo-scientific bullshit. These charlatans are fobbing you off with snake oil and taking your money. It won't make your kids any better. You are being irresponsible with their welfare, and if the government really cared as much as it claims to about children, the social services would break into your homes, take away your children, and give them to somebody at least vaguely in touch with reality.

I'm sorry if your children are ill, I really am, but stop pissing about and take them to a doctor.

Give us this gay…

BBC: Gay bishop 'catastrophic move'
Evangelical and conservative Anglicans have described the appointment of a gay bishop as "catastrophic" for the Church of England.

Who'd have thought it? Evangelical and conservative Anglicans bashing the bishop together.

Apparently, the bishop was once a bit of a loose canon.

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Bra-dinage

Text message from Carolyn:

Just noticed one of my bras hanging in an apple tree - slightly worrying!

To which there could be only one reply:

Are you sure it isn't a hammock?

…OK, I admit it, my puerile sense of humour soon got the better of me, and I quickly fired off a second reply:

It will make a perfect home for a pair of great tits.

Who says satire is dead?

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Filed under: Nonsense

Letting rip

BBC: Blair defends 'essential' shake-up
Tony Blair has defended himself against Tory charges that he "ripped up the constitution in a matter of hours" in last week's controversial cabinet reshuffle.

That would be the UK's famously unwritten constitution that he's ripped up.

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Filed under: Nonsense

Das Boot

True story: Carolyn and her three children got trapped inside a WWII German U-boat last weekend (U-534, to be precise). To those of you who know Carolyn, this will come as no great surprise. Getting trapped inside a U-boat is a very Carolynish thing to do.