I Overdosed on Homeopathic Sleep Aid

Ok, maybe not so much overdosed as took-a-lot-of-pills-and-nothing-happened. At my Freethinkers meeting this Wednesday, we discussed alternative medicine. As a part of that, we talked homeopathy and I thought this was a good show of its ineffectiveness. I didn’t die (obviously) and it didn’t cause me to become sleepy or calm in the least (after this was filmed, we have a very lively debate, during which I was far from calm or sleepy, which is normal for our meetings). I’d also like to point out that not only are these pills just sugar pills, but they’re also expensive sugar pills (over $5 for a small bottle).

This demonstration was inspired by James Randi.

Republican Racists Strike Again

This campaign season is already starting to get nasty. Especially when it comes to racist bullshit, like when Newt Gingrich said that Obama is a “food stamp president” and said that black people “should demand paychecks instead of food stamps” . Or when Santorum said he doesn’t want to “make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money.” (Oh, sorry, he meant “blah” people, not black people). And, as you would (sadly) expect, bigotry in the Republican party isn’t just limited to the idiots running for president: former Rep. Peter Hoekstra had to jump into the cesspool with this ad (above). And wait until you read the explanations from the campaign:

The Hoekstra campaign called the advertisement “satirical” and explained the broken English in the video as a reflection of China’s increasingly competitive education system.

Yeah… Do I even need to explain why this is utter bullshit? No? Good. I’ll be in that dark corner over there morning the death of our society.

Weekly Links: Volume 12

I’ve been busier than ever this week. With having exams and other school work, organizing my Freethinkers group and trying to become affiliated with a humanist group, and organizing a trip to a CFI conference this spring break, I’ve been a very busy atheist. But I do have links for this week, so that’s something.

• Those darn nagnostics, always telling us that we can’t prove god doesn’t exist.
• I often have mixed feelings about Cracked.com. Sometimes that have really stupid, sexist shit, and sometimes they’re awesome. This is a time when it’s the latter: The 5 most Ridiculously Sexist Superhero Costumes (pro tip: Don’t read the comments… you’re better off without them).
• This is so much win. But, as usual, the point is way over the heads of anti-choice Republicans.
• Have a bit of time on your hands? Lean more about humanism!
• Did you hear that the Romneys had Mitt’s dead atheist father-in-law baptized into the Mormon church? Well, Bill Maher wasn’t going to stand for that.
• If you’re going to read this Rolling Stone article, make sure you have a box of tissues: “One Town’s War on Gay Teens.”
• Have you heard about the Komen Foundation’s cluster fuck with defunding Planned Parenthood? Did you hear about them backing down?
• Above: Darwin Day is February 12th. Celebrate by handing out these Darwin valentines to your friends or find a Darwin Day event near you!