Praying for Me? No Thanks.

This may be bordering on blasphemy, but nonetheless a fact worth exploring.

If you're having medical problems and someone tells you they'll pray for your quick recovery, you better think twice...

A recent study shows that praying over a patient dosen't really help, but rather adds complications to their recovery.

In the largest study of its kind, researchers found that having people pray for heart bypass surgery patients had no effect on their recovery. In fact, patients who knew they were being prayed for had a slightly higher rate of complications.


The study involved 1800 heart patients who underwent surgery. Researchers were quick to add that their work does not address the issue of whether God exists or not. They also have no explanation on why patients being prayed over have higher complications that those who only have a slight idea that someone maybe praying for their health.

Naturally, religious folks were quick to retaliate against this findings. As Habakkuk's Watchpost insists:

"This totally means that God doesn't exist, doesn't it! At the very least, there goes a big chunk of the prayers of the people. The studies show that God doesn't take our prayers for health very seriously."

The way I see it, this could really hurt the evangelical business. Imagine those TV pastors asking everyone to raise their hands and pray for so and so, to lift up their souls to god...tearfully asking heaven to heal his brothers and sisters.

Damn, now their saying it'll only make things worse! Oh yeah? well about those testifying they were healed?

I don't know the answers to that. Personally I don't like being prayed over. Freaks me out. God knows that. I can see him chuckling when someone puts his hand over my head and recites a litany. I literally feel like Satan being told to "leave this body!"

We've only touched the tip of this great debate. But science don't lie either. And it's not exactly the evil of our times.

As for my soul, I think God and I are pretty cool. We have this love-hate relationship. I give him a piece of my humongous mind and he, well he could whip my ass when I'm being a total prick. Which is unfair because it's not like I can strike back...

Uhm, i think i better end this post with that note. I think can hear the heavens rumbling again...

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The Vatican Idol

I've always had great admiration for Pope John Paul II, because of his stand on world labor, human rights, and his stance against poverty. For building bridges between religions and faiths, and especially for admitting the Church's impotence regarding historical tragedies such as the Holocaust and the Inquisition.

But I don't think he should be declared a saint. Why? For the following reasons:

1. Although he tried to preach about equality among all faiths and races he failed to put women on equal footing with the men inside his own Church. Women cannot be ordained because those old geezers inside the Vatican still think men are God's special people. Therefore only them are qualified enough to give Catholics blessings, communions, and all those whatnots.

I abhor all forms of religion that think lowly of women.

2. He was against the use of contraception. Therefore he would rather have millions of children be born with AIDS and starve to death. And he would rather have women suffer from husbands who think sex is their god-given right and won't give a shit if she can get pregnant again for the nth time.

Women have the right to protect their body. They have the right to refuse pregnancy. This is beyond the issue of responsible sex. We all know that in many third world culture women have no say regarding this issue.

3. He is against same sex union. It's always been my policy that homophobia reveals the true character of a man. That of a low-life bigot. Do you really think God is that pea-brained to think homosexuals are freaks of nature?

4. Most importantly, he is being used by the Vatican to keep all its faithfuls loyal to the church. We all know many Catholics don't like Papa Razzi. His dogma are obsolete, his preachings should be burned at the stake. Oh wait but that would be an insult to the memory of all those they accused of witchcraft during the Dark Ages.

Young Catholics especially place Pope John Paul on a pedestal. Now that he's gone so is the magic. And that's why they're fast-tracking this sainthood bullshit.

These old school Vatican leaders know of his name's power. They need to install a new icon for the church that is fast losing its significance. And John Paul II is the perfect stooge to play the part.

What I have is a very unpopular point of view. But they need to be said. I still maintain that I admire John Paul for some of his personal convictions, and maybe even partly as a good man. But not as my spiritual guru.

We Have To Carry Each Other...

The Edge was never much of a talker, and now facing probably his darkest moments he chooses to deal with it away from public scrutiny.

Last week U2 announced it is postponing the last 10 dates of the group's Vertigo tour "due to the illness of an immediate family member of one of the band." Fans are now aware that The Edge's 7-year-old Sian Evans is suffering from leukemia.

As expected it was Bono who broke the band's silence on the matter, though, lacking in real detail:

‘I can't really get into details why,’ Bono told presenter Andrew Denton. ‘There was a lot of distress and angst...Our music does come out of (a) very tight community,' he said. 'So if one of us is going through it we're all going through it.' [u2.com]

All U2 fans are saddened by this news, I know I am...

Anyway, here's the only story I could find with sufficient info about the Edge's family dilemma: U2: cancer cause of Vertigo '06 Tour postponement >>

Oh My God, No More Chef!

Believe it or not, Chef served as the sane voice in that foul-mouthed fictional town of South Park. At least he's the only one nearest to it.

Now fans are shocked to hear that Isaac Hayes, the voice of Chef since 1997, has quit the show leaving the fate of the ladies' man cum school cafeteria cook hanging.

Hayes, in a statement, says he can no longer take the show's religious bigotry after errr...9 years of making fun of Christians and Jews? Yeah, it just has to stop sometime right?

"Religious beliefs are sacred to people, and at all times should be respected and honored," he continued. "As a civil rights activist of the past 40 years, I cannot support a show that disrespects those beliefs and practices."


But the show's creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone fired back accusing Hayes of only protecting his own religion -- Scientology. It will be remembered that the show had an episode called Trapped in the Closet, poking fun on Scientology and its members including Tom Cruise.

"(We) never heard a peep out of Isaac in any way until we did Scientology. He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin." Parker told AP.

Fans are now popping up different assumptions on what would happen to Chef. Will he be written out of the show? And, will the duo of Stone-Parker create a new character in his place?

However, much as they are saddened by this unfortunate news, most of the show's followers are unsymphatetic to Haye's cause:

Although I've enjoyed the ride, the show has continued pushing the envelope, and it appears as though Hayes could no longer be aboard. Unlike, for instance, the show's send-up of gays or Catholics, the Scientology episode presented no righteous or sympathetic character who embodies all the positive traits of that group - Scientologists are either con artists or idiots in the episode.

Brainpanonline adds:

"I have always maintained that the reason South Park can get away with saying the things that it does it that it is an equal opportunity offender. Absolutely no group, individual, belief, or otherwise is safe, and that reputation is what has allowed the show to be consistently funny."

So looks like it has become a backlash against Hayes. And let's face it, this will hardly affect South Park nor create any dent on its notriety. What doesn't kill you will only make you stronger. And what kills you today won't matter in the next episode.

Ask Kenny.

More sex & bigotry at Oddjack

Fatfingur's World

Check out this blog from my friend, Fatfingur, artist, musician, and philosopher at large..

Click this self-portrait to see...

I've Got Mr. Hanky The X'mas Poo!

First it was the grilled cheese sandwich, then Britney’s pregnancy test, Angelina’s ultrasound. And the most out of this world acquisition of them all, William Shatner’s kidney stone.

Now this GoldenPalace.com online casino has purchased a piece of metal sheet for $1500 because it (allegedly) bears the face of Jesus and the nativity scene. Adding to their collection of, uhm i don’t know, useless junks?

The "sacred" metal sheet was discovered by a hardware employee, who showed it to his friends who countered him and said it’s no Jesus but Jim Morrison’s face that was imprinted on the artifact.

"There is no doubt that an image of a face appears in this item," said GoldenPalace.com CEO Richard Rowe. "Whether it’s Jesus, Jim Morrison, or anyone else is in the eye of the beholder. This item has definitely sparked interest and debate however. It will make a great addition to the collection of religious items we will be taking on tour later this year. People will see and decide for themselves."

So now they’re considered religious items. If that’s the case shouldn’t the church start getting cuts from these holy auctions on ebay?

People who saw a photo of the Jesus sighting on a metal sheet have different opinions. Some totally believe it was indeed Christ, some offered different possibilities:

I don’t know what Jesus looks like, so I really can’t tell you if this is him or not. I’m thinking this is the image of Regis Philbin.

Here’s the point: First, seeing pictures of Jesus on everything from a piece of toast to freeway underpasses to a piece of sheet metal is akin to seeing animals in the clouds. An ordinary imagination can connect those dots, an active one… well, these recurring stories say it all.

I myself looked closely at the pics until my vision went wanko, but I couldn’t see Jesus nor his birthday party. Then again I don’t want to start any blasphemous rumors coz this may be one of God’s sick sense of humor (yeah, yeah I borrowed that from an ’80s song).

BTW, I’ve been looking at my morning discharges lately and I think I’m seeing some famous people’s faces forming on them. Anybody interested?

Feeding Your Friends To The Pigs...

"You need at least sixteen pigs to finish the job in one sitting.

"So be wary of any man who keeps a pig farm. They will go through a body that weighs 200 pounds in about eight minutes. That means that a single pig can consume two pounds of uncooked flesh every minute. Hence the expression, ‘as greedy as a pig.’"

That’s a quote from the Guy Ritchie-helmed cult film Snatch. The whole of it has mob boss Brick Top explaining how you can get rid of a body without a trace. And I’ll bet my bottom-dollar this German farmer took that advice by heart.

A German farmer confessed to feeding the corpse of an elderly family friend to his pigs and then stealing from his bank account, police said Monday…He let the corpse thaw, dismembered it and fed it to his pigs. He put the parts the pigs did not eat into a sack and buried it.

The police did not charge the farmer for murder, only improper burial and fraud. Because he didn’t actually kill the elderly who died of natural causes in February 2005.

The farmer, some kind of dumbass friend he is, initially put the body in a freezer and told neighbors that his old friend was in a nursing home while he emptied the poor guy’s bank account. Then put him in the swines’ diet.

Dear god, have we really no respect for the pigs at all?

More odd stuff at OddJack

Oscars End with a 'Crash'

And so it happened. The Oscars has managed to pull the biggest upset of the year by denying Brokeback Mountain the Best Picture award. The small-budget film Crash took home the top prize instead.

Before that, everything else were purely predictable i.e. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Reese Witherspoon getting the top acting accolades. Oh wait, George Clooney was another surprise winner. Loved his speech too.

I've never had much respect for George in his sexiest man alive days, but he's been getting his brain out there so I kinda like him now.

But Ang Lee won Best Director, and this is something I don't quite understand. For me if you win Best Director it should be a total shoo-in that your movie will win Best Picture. Because you're the director and you are the god of your pic, everything in it is your call ('xcept when the producers meddle with it). Therefore if they say you're the best then you're movie's gotta be the best too.

Same with the nominations. I remember a few years back when Baz Luhrmann (did i spell that right) wasn't nominated for Best Director but Moulin Rouge was in the best pic list. I say bets pic and best director nominations should match.

Well anyway, I'm not a Film Academy voter so I have no say in all of these.

Now many are coming up with theories why Brokeback failed to win the Oscar nod. The film's writer, Larry McMurtry thinks Hollywood has finally shown its true face regarding homosexuality: "Perhaps the truth really is, Americans don't want cowboys to be gay..."

Another critic says, "So for people who were discomfited by 'Brokeback Mountain' but wanted to be able to look themselves in the mirror and feel like they were good, productive liberals, 'Crash' provided the perfect safe harbor."

Ouch. That kinda hurt. I wasn't able to see Brokeback yet but I did watch Crash on video. And I can say that the film is deserving to be the Best Pic winner. And that goes for all the other 4 nominees as well.

If Brokeback didn't win this one award doesn't mean all is lost. That its message was snubbed. Maybe it's just a matter of a difference in opinion on who should win a popularity contest.

Besides, isn't it an honor enough to be nominated? Ok, that's really a load of crap...

'Brokeback' Morphs Into a Lingo

You can call it part of Brokeback Mountain's Oscar campaign. Just two months off from the new year and a group called Global Language Monitor already declared 'Brokeback' as Hollywood's word of the year.

Of course it means gay, fag, or girly-man as Gov. Ahnuld would prefer it.

Paul JJ Payack, the head of Global Language Monitor, said the movie became a cultural phenomenon that generated a million jokes, according to Google. Overall, a Google search shows more than 38 million references to the film, although only about 10 million people saw the movie.

The group placed 'Brangelina' in second place although this hybrid name is soo last year. But we agree it sounds better than TomKat for Tom and Katie, or Vincifer for Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn. Really, Vincifer is already stretching our patience a little too much.

A couple of new lingos also recognized by the GLM are 'tuxedo' in reference to the animated flick March of the Peguins, and 'petronoia' the political argot used in Syriana.

Back to our main word, it does seem too early to name it something of the year considering we haven't even reached mid-year. Then again it did convince Willie Nelson to write a brokeback cowboy song That'll claim a spot on E!'s most outrageous happenings of 2006.

And expect more Brokeback-y press to pepper the news as the countdown to the Oscars continues. In case it already slipped your mind, there are other films nominated for Best Pic, one of them has a brokeback theme too. Plus three actor noms for Best Acting played brokeback roles and are hot to take home the golden statue.

Get more crazy Oscar buzz at OddJack