Observations and inanities by a second-shift assistant supervisor in the Puppy-Grinding division of the Evil Atheist Conspiracy® (our motto: "Sure it's cruel, but think of the jobs!"), your host, Brent Rasmussen.
Huh?
So, I was listening to NPR yesterday afternoon, and heard their 'letters' bit about the show on Monday (which I missed, due to being out shooting). They had evidently done a segment speculating what would happen were marijuana legalized, and were reading some of the letters that they got in response. Most were about what you would expect - thoughtful observations and critiques of the show. Then there was the last one:
Finally, one of the few letters we received against legalization. It comes from Rose Rosetree in Virginia. She emailed to tell us she reads auras, professionally. She writes: "From my perspective, pot is very dangerous. It is a slow poison that has very specific consequences for all long-term users, as well as individual and heart breaking consequences for each user." Ms. Rosetree goes on to say: " Until all NPR listeners can read auras, invaluable for all forms of holistic healing, as well as many other practical uses, with all respect, non-aura-readers will only perceive the surface problems with marijuana and other recreational drugs."
Hmm. Methinks Ms. Rosetree has books to sell. Surprise, surprise.
Jim Downey
(Cross posted to my blog.)
Bookmark/Search this post with:
Uber-Troll Strikes again...and again...and again.
The link-spammer with the nostradamus delusion is Uber-Troll David Mabus, who is presumably off his meds again. He posts this same link everywhere, again and again. He's an epic of fail by himself and it would be a sort of honor to be spammed by him if it weren't for the fact that he does it to everyone he can find. He recently posted over 160 copies of this at Pharyngula.
Engaging him is more of a waste of time than usual. Ban him now, it will save time.
"reading auras"
What a load of crap. She must be smoking dope herself if she believes that there even is such a thing. And if you morons who believe in that nonsense think that it doesn't merit knee-slapping laughter and scornful derision, you need to bring some fucking empirical evidence to the table beyond your own asinine "feelings" that it's true.
A Daily Kos Reader Should Be Able to Appreciate Aura Reading
Jim, I have managed to survive your scathing words and would like to thank you for introducing your readers to the concept that Aura Reading can actually give practical information that is useful.
If more people did Aura Reading, rather than Aura Scoffing (Admittedly, you have taken this to a fine aurt and I hope you're very, very proud of this)-- guess what? Maybe we wouldn't have gone through the 8-year Dubya nightmare?
Because back when he was running for president, I read his aura in depth and detail -- as I can teach other people to do, if they're interested -- and was immediately alerted to problems like chronic lying, poor leadership ability, etc.
I remember doing an interview with a journalist who had met Bush in person. After hearing my observations, which were very counter-culture at the time, she told me, "Funny you would mention this. Because when I talked with him one-on-one, I was expecting to meet someone very bright and charming. That's what people were saying about him. Instead, it was weird, because talking with him, it was as if nobody was there [inside him]."
So, scoff if you must, Jim, but then I dare you to take a nice deep breath and actually consider that Aura Reading could change your life for the better. Because, if you're willing to learn this skill set, it really could.
yes, the amazing randi has a test for you *already*
The Amazing Randi did this on a television show in the UK, designed to put all sorts of crackpots to the test.
the test is *so* simple, if you can read auras! you will win 1 MILLION dollars (que dr evil expression).
have five people before you so you can read their auras - real easy, you may even take notes about what their auras look like.
Then have these five people stand behind flimsy screens, or in dark alcoves so you cannot see which person is where (and no peeking!)
IF you can "guess" which person is in which spot, you win 1 million dollars!
do that, and I will cease scoffing.
The Randi Challenge Awaits!!
If you can truly read auras, there should be some way to devise a test that could win you the $1 million dollar Randi Challenge. Just off the top of my head: You meet and talk to 10 people face-to-face, and "read their auras". Then the people are made anonymous in some way that doesn't interfere with your ability to read... read their ... AHEM! read their aura. If you can correctly identify, say, 7 or 8 of the people just from their aura, then you win!
How does that sound? I'll list below the reasons you won't accept the challenge, and you can pick the one you like (all frauds pick one or the other.)
1) The money isn't really there
2) You aren't going to sully your "craft" or "art" by using it for personal gain.
3) Randi is a very negative person, and being in his presence would disrupt your abilities.
4) you believe that anonymous idiot who keeps posting links to something that will prove that they beat Randi (though the links never lead to anything.)
5) the challenge is written in such a way that you can't possibly win (which I agree with, because you'd actually have to show that you have the ability, and since that's impossible because there is no such ability, you can't win.)
Or will you surprise me and come up with a different reason altogether?
Rob Miles
--
There are only 10 types of people in the world;
those who understand binary and those who don't.
Beyond Five
There's always:
6) Planetary alignment is unfavorable at this time.
7) I did that already, twice, but they refused to recognize my accomplishments.
8) I can't take you seriously as long as you refuse to call me by my spirit name.
9) They're already doing it in Russia, with children.
10) I can reveal my abilities only to those few "evolved" people who are truly sensitive and spiritually advanced.
11) Cameras and recording devices disrupt the subtle energies.
12) You're such a negative person, I could see at once that your aura is very dark. I feel you'll soon suffer an extremely negative life consequence if you don't wake up to the spiritual truths.
13) Squanto-Ramtha has cautioned me against sharing my abilities with those still enslaved to The Darkness.
Bush's Aura
I knew Bush was a liar and an idiot from the beginning. I didn't know he would be SUCH a disaster, of course. But I didn't have to read his "aura" to see it. I just had to look at him, to hear the things he said.
He isn't just stupid and small, he is completely aware of it. Much of what he did in public during his presidency was an effort to hide it, to divert attention away from it. The man is an empty box, with almost nothing inside him. I'll bet there are 5-year-olds out there with more courage and compassion.
.......
My only real experience with the mystical was when I lived in the Eastern Sierra mountains in California, where a friend taught me rock dowsing. You hold the Y-shaped stick in your hands, and when it points downward, you're sure to find rocks. It never failed.
Besides, nobody can really read auras. They're all written in ancient Etruscan.
Aura Reading Rainbows
What - exactly - is an "aura"? Where is it located? How is it generated? What is it composed of? (If you answer "energy" to the preceding question, please specify in great detail exactly which kind of "energy" you are talking about. Kinetic or potential? What type of kinetic or potential? Etc.) What is the mechanism by which it interacts with a human being? What is the communications method that it uses? What are it's biological components? How did they evolve? Why did they evolve? Do you have a chunk of aura in a petri dish somewhere so that I can take a good, long look at it through a microscope? What exactly does the aura-reading "skill set" (that you refer to in your comment above) consist of?
In other words, how would I be able to tell an "aura" apart from:
Thanks!
Oh, please -
Ms. Rosetree, I'm glad you thought Bush was the disaster that most of us understood him to be. But it didn't require esoteric knowledge to come to that conclusion, your anecdotal information notwithstanding. And yes, I will scoff - unless and until some objective scientific evidence comes to the fore establishing that such skill actually exists. Before then, it might as well be reading tea leaves.
Jim Downey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like Science Fiction? Read *or listen to* my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
Hey Anonymous, For people
Hey Anonymous,
For people to take you more seriously, you need to use Comic Sans in your text body. Then they wont be as likely to censor your.
Rock on and dont forget your meds.
Yeah!
And all-caps! Nobody messes with a big block of text done in all capitals, ESPECIALLY if it's in Comic Sans.
Re
hey jim, what you on about...
atheist?
We can fix that...
http://nostradamus.atspace.com
By the curly beard of Zeus . . .
. . . that's a pretty pathetic way to troll for hits to your site. Sheesh. Your comment doesn't have anything to do with my post - it's just the usual SPAM like you dump in my mailbox every week.
Jim Downey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like Science Fiction? Read *or listen to* my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
Dang.
"Anonymous User," in response to this quote from your site:
The First Amendment really applies to public spaces, don't you think? I mean, if you're in my house and I tell you to shut up, that's not really a First Amendment issue, is it? It's just a private disagreement.
It's also not a First Amendment issue if you DO get to have your say, but everybody listening laughs at or ignores you. That's just a personal judgment call on the part of the listeners.
I disagree with you. I think you're funny, in a pathetically dull sort of way. But you DO get to have your say over there on your own site, however silly it seems to me.
See? No First Amendment issue, no censorship.
If I were you, I'd be more worried about the Black Helicopters and the socialist brain-control devices they carry. My sources tell me everyone in your neighborhood is on the list to be Liberated in the next two weeks. Too bad, really, when the control wave is so easily "foiled" by wrapping your head in Reynolds Wrap. I only wish I could get to you in time and show you the proper way to apply the foil.
(Sure, it looks like I'm having a bit of fun at your expense. ... But what if I'm deadly serious?)
Beautiful phraseology
"I think you're funny, in a pathetically dull sort of way"
I yearn to be in a social gathering and have the chance to say this to the person next to me-- deservedly, of course.
Frank Moorman, skeptic
"what is the point of giving persons Freedom of Speech... if you then say they must not utilize same? And is not the Power of Speech the greatest Power of all? Then surely it must be exercised to the full." --Salman Rushdie
Ha!
You're welcome to use the phrase on any occasion.
Let me know how it goes. :-)