BLOGSERVATIONS

Thought that was a fun title for this post. Unfortunately Robertson is safe, there is no such place as hell. It’s sad, though, that idiotic statements made by Christian evangelists like Pat Robertson aren’t proof enough to believers that they might be following the wrong type of people.

Robertson is one of the most direct, and venomous morons in evangelical history. He’s no stranger to making despicable statements of biblical proportions, if you’ll pardon the pun. For example, when level-headed citizens of Dover, PA voted their school board out of office for supporting intelligent design (bravo Dover, PA!), Roberts made this comment on his 700-Club broadcast:

“I’d like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a disaster in your area, don’t turn to God — you just rejected Him from your city.”

Most recently, again during a 700-Club broadcast, Roberts commented on the earthquake disaster in Haiti:

“They were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon the third, or whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil.”

Now there’s a real genius. If this guy doesn’t sound like a complete idiot to you, you need to have your head examined. Seriously, wake up and smell reality.

Avoiding the PESTS of the World Wide Web!

How these scammers manage to still work their trick is amazing to me. But here is some advice for newbies to posting items for sale on Craigslist. Proceed with caution, for I guarantee that you will receive many responses very similar to the following…

I am interested in buying and i am satisfied with the conditions and the price. Because i read through the AD, i will more appreciate if you can remove the posting from craigslist to avoid any disturbance and I’m glad to let you know am highly interested in buying this items for my Daughter-in-law and i will make my payments with a bank certified check and i will be responsible for the pick up when check clears in your bank. Please get back to me with the following information so that the payment can be endorsed:

1)Full Name to be on the Check,
2)Your Physical Address, City, State & Zip code
3)Your Mobile Phone Number.

After the information is been supplied, i will give you an update upon the payment and once again i will be highly grateful if you can withdraw the ad from craigslist and make me your favorite buyer.

Thanks for your understanding, and will be awaiting your response..

“Make me your favorite buyer?” Really now.

You’ll notice that I’ve italicized some of the more idiotic sounding phrases, as well as phrases to look out for, because they can serve as flags to help you identify a scammer. English is not the native language for most of these scammers, who are most often not even based in the U.S., so misspellings and poor grammar are commonplace.

Use common sense, and deal with people in your local area who are willing to pay cash, and at the very least showup in person!

Sometimes this response will follow an initial inquiry which might seem harmless enough, something like, “is the item still available?”

In the instance that you receive anything resembling that final response mentioned above, disregard it. It’s a scam. First, what kind of purchaser takes control of the sale and demands such things as removal of the ad, or your personal information?

A typical correspondence might go more like this…

“Is the [insert item name here] still available?”
“Yes it is.”
“Would you take [insert dollar amount here]?”
“How about [counter offer]?”
“You’ve got a deal. Can I come take a look to make a final decision?”
“Sure… Let me know when you think you might want to stop by and I’ll give you my address and number.”

And so on. Sometimes an interested buyer will provide you with their number and may want to talk first. That is a good way of getting an idea who you are dealing with.

DO NOT let anyone talk you into anything. YOU are in control of who you sell your item to, and YOU decide when they see it.

I’ve posted so many times on Craigslist that I can tell everytime I get the initial response from a scammer. Most often it is “is the item still available?” or worse, “Is the items still available?”

Think about it. That’s a canned inquiry. “Item.” Who talks like that? I don’t. Do you? A more legit inquiry to an ad would likely include the name of the thing being sold. Look for inquiries like these…

“I’m interested in the bedroom set, is it still available?”
“Is the futon still for sale?”
“Do you still have the microwave available? I’ll give you $50.”

A scammer is not paying attention to what is in the ad, he or she is responding to many ads, constantly, in order to increase their chances of success. They won’t even bother typing a specific item name, it would take too long. Much quicker just to copy and paste, paste, paste, paste.

So, how does the scam work? The only way I can see the scam paying off for the crook, and that is what they are (aside from being plain ol’ scumbags), is in a refund, requested before their check finally bounces in your bank account. I’m amazed at how many people would actually fall for this. At least one line from the X-Files was truthful, “Trust no one!”

There’s NO WAY I’m handing any money, or a product, over to anyone unless my wallet is covered first. Either I bought something and have it in my hand (unless of course your dealing with legit marketers who are shipping the goods), or a check has CLEARED my bank account.

Selling on Craigslist? Use caution, and when you do receive a response from a scammer, and you will, just say what I say…

“Nice try moron [or a fitting moniker of your choice]!”

Sometimes I get a little more wordy and tell them to get a real job and some integrity. Not that it would change anything, but it feels good.

I was laughing my ass off the other night while watching “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” Host, Regis Philbin asked the contestant how she felt about her chances for winning one million dollars.

The woman, Leslie, replied with a little story about her mom’s “vision board” which is a method found within “The Secret” for telling the universe what you want and drawing it toward you. Yeah, I didn’t make this stuff up.

Anyway, she said that as she was gazing at her mom’s vision board a commercial announcement aired on TV, and Leslie could hear the call for contestants. Leslie decided to enter to become a contestant and through the entire process, as she explained to Regis, she just knew she was going to be on the show.

She was right about that, and she probably thought that The Secret would make a her a shoe in for the million dollars too. I wonder why The Secret didn’t magically bring any correct answers to her while she was on the show.

Leslie also merrily shared her idea that she would buy a little fantasy island called “Leslie Land” when she became a millionaire. She seemed fairly certain that she was destined to hit the big jackpot.

Funny, The Secret fell short on this one. Leslie only won $1,000. Hey I’m all for the power of positive thinking as it relates to mental health and wellbeing. But believing your way to being a millionaire is not going to happen. In Leslie’s case, knowing a few of the right answers would have helped.

Better LUCK next time!

James Randi, aka “The Amazing Randi” — magician, skeptic, and founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation, an organization aimed at promoting rational thinking and understanding of why people believe in supernatural or paranormal phenomena — frequently uses the terms “woo” or “woo-woo” when referring to erroneous beliefs.

I contacted Randi regarding a recent woo-full encounter and he directed me to the JREF website where, among other woo, I found many references to a belief that has garnered more attention due to the current real estate slump. St. Joseph and his apparent desire to play realtor from beyond.

My realtor had suggested that I bury a statue of St. Joseph in my yard to help with the sale of my home, and to bury it upside down no less, whatever difference that would make. I replied with a rather pointed email inquiring “what are realtors for!?”

While I do feel a little bad about responding so harshly, I did not apologize. In this day and age rational people should not sit idly by as superstitious baloney continues to seep through our society. Ignorance should be dwindling, not growing, but we see that just the opposite is true.

Believe what you want, but I will not walk on egg shells or humor the magical thinking that drives ridiculous superstitions like burying a statue in the yard to help sell a home. The mechanisms behind such superstitions are known and easily explain why people believe them.

The Facts…
First, a logical fallacy is at work called the “post hoc” fallacy, or “post hoc, ergo propter hoc,” which describes the misconception that “A came before B therefore A caused B.” In our example, “I buried a statue upside down in my yard and the following week someone was interested in buying my house.” One cannot draw the conclusion that the statue made it happen.

I could bury a rock in my yard. If someone subsequently became interested in my home, does that mean the rock made it happen? No. This situation is what one would consider coincidence, nothing more.

The second thing at work here is confirmation bias. That is, someone will confirm their belief in the statue’s effectiveness when they get a potential buyer, whether it takes one, two, three, or fifty people to walk through the home before someone becomes interested.

Eventually they’ll get a buyer, but the statue will get the credit, not the improving real estate market, or other logical possibilities. People are quite willing to delude themselves in order to justify their beliefs.

So I was annoyed, and amazed that this seemingly childish superstition would even be suggested to me, but what amazes me even more is how many people actually believe it, and what a huge market there is for this bunk! They’re selling St. Joseph Home Sale Kits on Amazon.com for crying out loud. No joke!

Some may say, “well, if there is such a big market for it, it must be true.” No, there’s a big market for it because if there is someone gullible enough to buy the bunk, there is someone unscrupulous enough to sell it.

Sorry if I offended anyone. The truth can hurt sometimes.

I just saw this article online and had to share it, included are my comments in italics.

Christian Symposium Offers Different Take on Aliens at Roswell UFO Festival.

ROSWELL, New Mexico, May 12 /Christian Newswire/ — Alien Resistance, a Christian counter-cult outreach ministry, will hold an all-Christian-speaker Symposium on aliens during the annual Roswell UFO Festival July 3-5th, 2009. The 11 participants include 4 PhDs, 2 doctorates of ministry, 2 pastors, 2 ordained ministers, and several pastoral counselors, with 12 books written between them on the UFO/Alien topic. The Symposium will educate on the UFO/alien topic from a Biblical Christian perspective, with emphasis on counter-cult evangelism, creationism, and spiritual warfare [educate?]. The event is free for the public to attend, and will be held at the Best Western Sally Port Inn Ballroom. Tens of thousands of people interested in the UFO/Alien topic are expected to attend the Roswell UFO/Alien Festival this year.

Organizers assert that, “From a Biblical Christian perspective it becomes clear that ‘aliens’ are actually the evil spirits of the Bible. This idea is backed up experientially with the evidence of numerous testimonies of ‘abductees’, which show that ‘alien abduction’ experiences stop in the name and authority of Jesus Christ [There is SO much wrong with that statement!].

Also the sinful behaviors of the ‘aliens’ behind abductions, the false gospels and new age messages they proclaim, and their supernatural powers so very reminiscent of those described in the Bible as being had by angels, all adds up to make clear that ‘aliens’ are in fact the evil spirits of the Bible.” [I can safely say that aliens are NOT, IN FACT, evil spirits of the bible, because there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever to suggest that either exists. Why do believers keep missing, or avoiding the obvious?]

Here are the facts as we know them: The Roswell UFO crash of 1947 has been sufficiently explained. It was the crash of one of many high altitude balloons carrying equipment used to detect low frequency sound waves which would have been created by missile launches from the Soviet Union. It was kept top secret because it was part of our national defense.

UFO believers twist the facts, misplace details and blur the edges of the truth to make it fit in with their tall tale of a crashed flying saucer from outer space and the great fantasy that they refuse to grow up and out of.

Cases of alleged alien abduction have been examined by psychologists and specialists in sleep disorders, and are found to be consistent with known conditions, such as sleep paralysis, waking dreams and hallucination, that can create the kind of experience shared by so-called abductees. Keep in mind that similar experiences have been described throughout history, but in the past they were attributed to ghosts or demonic possession.

This is not to belittle those who think they have been abducted, or the seeming reality of the experience. But the experience is not supernatural or alien.

Now a subculture of exceptionally delusional Christians are keeping the torch of ignorance lit for millions of exceptionally gullible believers to see, and follow. Caral Sagan wrote a book called “The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark” If you think you might believe that aliens crashed in Roswell, and that aliens are demons in disguise, I suggest you avert your gaze from the torch of ignorance and turn to the light of science. It’s a much more entertaining place, really.