Also submitted to the Young Australian Skeptics. Via AdelaideNow.
In brief: the South Australian Medical Board has officially condemned ‘bogus practitioners’ for taking advantage of vulnerable people, after a baby was crushed to death by a massage table at the clinic of an alternative therapist, referred to as an unregistered massage therapist, who claimed the ability to shrink cancerous tumors with massage therapy.
“[A]ppreciation of Science is fundamental to the culture of each citizen…” – RiAus
This evening I attended a free talk hosted by the Royal Institution of Australia, entitled ‘Science Fiction to Science Fact’, the talk was given by two excellent speakers: Fred Watson, who managed to convey with humour and jubilation his passion for Astronomy and Sean Williams, my personal favourite (and deservedly so) Science Fiction author and an Adelaide resident. The talk was fantastic; enjoyable and interesting throughout. I left the venue feeling as though I had learned things and, perhaps more importantly, that the seeds of future interests had been planted.
Master Psychic, Gordon Nordstromm delves deep into the aether, lifting questions from the unwilling minds of troubled souls and publishing them for all to see. At the climax of this psychic battle for spiritual wellbeing, Nordstromm answers your unasked questions in a medium understood by all.
To avoid the invasive probing of your unconscious mind in the future, e-mail your questions to Gordon.
Gordon, my home is infested with all variety of vermin and I am ashamed to invite my friends inside. However, the idea of exterminating the vermin makes me cringe. Should I take steps to remove them, or learn to cope?
Ben
Ben, do not kill anything, I can’t stress that enough. The negative vibrations generated by the mass murder of these vermin would make your house a veritable Hell on Earth, even more uncomfortable than it is now, if that is possible. You should attempt to reason with these uninvited guests and reach a consensus through which you can cohabit happily, if not healthily. In regards to your friends, invite them in! The vermin are attracted to you due to your strong positive aura. Wear these animals proudly as a spiritual badge of your overwhelming positive energies.
A short biography of Gordon Nordstromm:
Gordon, known to the æther realm as The Red Rat, is a practicing psychic adept, Hengemage and Eco-Alchemist. Rising to fame in 2005 with his experiment to turn butter into frogs, Gordon has been challenging conventional wisdom at every turn with his keen insight and knowledge of supernatural realms.
At present, Gordon acts as an unofficial psychic stabilizer for the University of Adelaide, routing the institution’s massive psychic traffic through his own sizeable psyche, colander like in his attempt to rid the University of evil. For those young people interested in contacting Gordon for help, electro-mail him at; gordon@detrange.com.
Among his many claims to fame, Gordon was conceived at Stone Henge in 1984 and after his birth, quickly developed an expertise in Hengemagic. Immediately after being born, Gordon shocked and appalled his Russian midwife with ominous predictions of the fall of the Soviet Union. To his parents’ surprise, this came to pass, validating Gordon’s abilities.
Gordon’s true, latent abilities remained undiscovered until 1992 when he was attacked and pursued by a demonically possessed lawnmower. After a lengthy chase through the streets of Bexley, Gordon plunged into the Thames to escape. It was there that Gordon encountered his spirit-guide, the recently discovered ice-man Ötzi. Ötzi awakened Gordon to his psychic potential whilst underwater, and retains partial control of the left side of Gordon’s body.
The ‘City of Churches’ is perhaps not the best place for an Atheist to live, a place where one quickly becomes resigned to seeing at least one church every few streets on the way to work or school. However, the topic of this post is not the sheer volume of steepled worship-dens for which my city is famous, but rather its faux-oriental cousin which is becoming almost as prevalent. I pass at least three of these every morning on my way to 9AM Psychology lectures. They are Acupuncture Clinics.
What concerns me most about these clinics are the bold advertising claims which appear on the building facades. In this post, I consider the claims of one such advertisement and argue that they are ill-referenced, possibly or probably false and worded, whether intentionally or not, in a way that is irresponsible and exploitative. As it is not necessary for the purposes of this article, I have withheld the particular business name.
By Daniel Carabellese.
Source article here.
It’s always a good day when successful Atheist endeavors make (what I catch myself thinking of as) the ‘real’ news, that is to say, the news which is on the television and in mainstream newspapers. In just one such case recently, a young gentleman has (with the help of the English National Secular Society) demanded that his childhood church eliminate the record of his baptism, effectively de-baptising him.
Brel is my favorite French artist thus far. His songs never fail to make me smile and their language is just slow enough that I understand.
Regardez, s’il vous plait.
Recently, while on my way home from University, I was stopped by a young Christian gentleman who forcefully explained that he had a great gift to give to me. Dubious (and suspecting the gift would prove to be ‘Jesus!’), I listened for a few moments before apologizing and explaining that I was an Atheist and that, while I was willing to take one of his pamphlets, I would have to decline his gift. I somewhat reluctantly do my best to be polite to people attempting to ’sell me salvation’ on street-corners, however they rarely extend me the same courtesy, unfortunately. This gentleman, hearing the word ‘atheist’ cross my lips, immediately became visibly agitated and it is his rage-laden ejaculation that is the subject of this post. Read the rest of this post »
The confirmed death toll of the Australian Bushfires is, as I write this, climbing well beyond two-hundred. Some poor, deluded individuals might claim that these bushfires are caused by arsonists and lightning strikes, exacerbated by drought conditions and extreme heat. However, I know better: the bushfires are caused exclusively by the decline of hats appearing in film. Evidence for this view? I have none. But ah, I don’t need any, a giant, talking hat appeared to me in a dream. It was the spirit of all hats and it warned me that the current trend against hats in Australian film was drawing its ire. I also dreamt that a friend built a pipeline of bendy straws to my house, to flood my bedroom. I expect this to come to pass relatively soon.
Please don’t misunderstand me, this post is not intended to make light of the bushfires and the suffering of the people in affected areas. Rather, it is intended to express my baffled hostility towards statements released by ‘Catch The Fire Ministries’, regarding the cause of the current inferno.
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The idea advocated above, of mandatory urine tests for individuals who attempt to obtain Centrelink payments, is an interesting and compelling one. However, it is not without its flaws. In this short essay, I will critically engage with the idea proposed by this ‘hard working Aussie’. It is my conclusion that the proposed concept is evocative and worthy of consideration, but requires substantial infrastructure or alterations to become workable policy and is not suitable for Centrelink services at this time.
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