Nobody's Business

The Power of Prayer (To Make You Sicker)

As I wrote last week, the government has spent millions of dollars in the past five years trying to prove that distant healing through prayer works. Well, no dice. In fact, prayer sometimes makes things worse, a new study finds. So I appreciate the good intentions, but you can stop keeping me in your prayers now:

Prayers offered by strangers had no effect on the recovery of people who were undergoing heart surgery, a large and long-awaited study has found. And patients who knew they were being prayed for had a higher rate of post-operative complications like abnormal heart rhythms, perhaps because of the expectations the prayers created, the researchers suggested.

Whole thing here.

[thanks Abigail]

Borders, Waldenbooks Join Chorus of Cowards

"We'll do whatever you want, please don't hurt us," is Borders' and Waldenbooks' official response to radical Muslims and their worldwide intimidation campaign.

Borders and Waldenbooks stores will not stock the April-May issue of Free Inquiry magazine because it contains cartoons of Islam's Prophet Muhammad that provoked deadly protests among Muslims in several countries. "For us, the safety and security of our customers and employees is a top priority, and we believe that carrying this issue could challenge that priority," Borders spokeswoman Beth Bingham said Wednesday. The magazine, published by the Council for Secular Humanism in suburban Amherst, includes four of the drawings that originally appeared in a Danish newspaper in September.

You Can't Handle the Truth!

Tobacco kills. More precisely, according to this spoof commercial, overzealous anti-tobacco crusaders do.

[hat tip: Reason]

Vote For Me, I'm Dumber

Finally, an honest politician. Michigan challenger Jim Rinck is running for Congress because:

"Our congressman [Vern Ehlers] is the smartest person in the district, and we might be the only place in the country that can say that. But he falls somewhat short on the charisma meter. And it might take a somewhat less intelligent — although much noisier — person to get some things done for this district."

Your Cheatin' Heart

What's the definition of 'literal?' To Dutchman Johan Huibers, who is building a replica of Noah's Ark to show his belief in the "literal truth" of the Bible, the word has a special meaning.

As described in Genesis, Noah used "gopher wood" to build his ark. Johan's Ark is constructed with American cedar and Norwegian pine — on top of a seaworthy steel hull.

Because having faith in the Good Book's literal truth is fine, but not at the expense of, you know, saving your own hide. Next up: an on-board GPS system?

Sticker Shock, Part Deux

"I'm Tired of All the Bushit," reads the sticker on Denise Grier's car. So she got pulled over by a Georgia cop and given a citation for "lewd decals."

For other sticker fiends, see here and here.

8.3 Trillion in Debt, But Who's Counting?

Republicans set themselves apart from Democrats by being fiscally responsible and insisting on smaller government. Right? Right? Ah, but five-plus years into the reign of King George, someone noticed that the national debt clock will soon be running out of digits.

The national debt clock, as it is known, is a big clock. A spot-check last week showed a readout of $8.3 trillion — or more precisely $8,310,200,545,702 — and counting. But it is not big enough. Sometime in the next two years, the total amount of US government borrowing is going to break through the $10-trillion mark and, lacking space for the extra digit that such a figure would require, the clock is in danger of running itself into obsolescence.

The clock's owner, real estate developer Douglas Durst, knew such a problem could arise but had not counted on it so soon. "We really expected it to be quite some time," Durst said. "But now, with the pace of debt growth only increasing, we're looking at maybe two years and certainly before President [George W.] Bush leaves office in 2009."

You can watch the nation's solvency fade away — at a clip of $21,000 per second — here.

[hat tip: Sploid]

North Country, Illinois Senate Edition

I saw North Country on DVD the other night (fairly engrossing movie spoiled by hokey ending), but sexual innuendo and unwanted advances aren't confined to the mining business. Sometimes, they're on full display in Illinois' State Senate.

That Pesky Constitution

Invading Iraq to bring democracy? Democracy is plenty elusive here at home.

In the Name of God, Unspeakable Torture

Corpses were found with fingers and toes sawn off, with disfigured faces after an acid treatment, with the marks of drills and other power tools all over. But it was all done in the name of God, so of course it's atheists who deserve America's deepest scorn and distrust, more so than murderous Muslims.

Insane.