Anti-Lubrication Movement

I came across this the other day, and it was so good that I had to post it.  Thanks to jer_j.

Awareness of Lubrication Controversy Growing 

Backed by famous actress, movement picks up momentum 

Associated News Service, September 2009

For years, the conventional wisdom had been taken for granted: putting oil into your car will protect it from the effects of friction and maybe even increase its lifespan.

But now, in this era of ever-increasing consumer awareness, more and more drivers are questioning the value and the safety of this practice.

"Everybody's just always assumed they're supposed to lubricate their cars," said Big Tom, owner of Big Tom's Automotive and one of the few experts who's spoken out on this issue. "But is it really that smart to take the most important part of your car, with all its complicated little moving pieces, and fill it with this goopy black sludge? Most people never really gave it any thought. They just did it because they were told they should - because it's what everybody was doing."

So what's the harm? "You just don't know what that stuff is doing to your vehicle," Big Tom adds.

Dumbfuck of the Week

Awarded for amazing stupidity/bigotry, the first Dumbfuck of the Week award goes to jojame for his work over at Pharyngula.  A few samples:

There is a difference between the traditional nuclear family and a family with homosexual parents.
Either one or both of guardians of the child is essentially a stepparent. There is less stake in the child where there is no blood relation.

Children is the reason sex feels good similar to how fat and sugar is the reason cheesecake tastes good.

Congratulations jojame! You earned it.

The "Pro-Family" Movement

How many families in Maine were strengthened and helped last night?
How many were harmed?

The "pro-family" movement hurts families.

A great quotation from MAJeff over at Pharyngula that perfectly sums up the actions of the religious right.

Ray Comfort: Moron, Plagiarist

Ray Comfort is an absolute moron who is trying to make money off of the work of Charles Darwin.  He has released a version of the On the Origin of Species with an introduction written by him. Never mind that in his first 'edition,' Comfort removed large portions of the text (especially parts that contradict his idiotic claims).  Now, it turns out that the only part of the book that he actually wrote, the introduction, is at least partly plagiarized.  The rest consists of old and tired creationist ramblings.  We can't really expect much more from Comfort though; aside from assisting Kirk Cameron with Crocoducks, Ray came up with the banana argument for God's existence.

Atheist Blogroll

Illustrated Stupidity has been added to The Atheist Blogroll, which you can now see in the sidebar. The Atheist Blogroll is a community building service provided free of charge to atheist bloggers from around the world. If you would like to join, visit Mojoey at Deep Thoughts for more information.

Crocoducks!

I just came across these shirts, and they are awesome.  It's probably the only thing for which we can be grateful to Kirk Cameron.

http://store.richarddawkins.net/products/crocoduck-t-shirt

Dallin H. Oaks is a Bigoted Asshole

Dallin H. Oaks, one of the Mormon church's self-proclaimed apostles, recently gave a speech to the students at BYU-Idaho that was mentioned in the media because he compares the treatment of Mormons after the vote on Proposition 8 to the treatment of blacks during the civil rights era. But, what the media surprisingly missed, is how absolutely stupid the rest of the speech was. It's like 'Elder' Oaks sat down, took a list of discredited right-wing talking points, and created his speech by randomly stringing them together. Seriously. Here a few examples:

Atheism has always been hostile to religion, such as in its arguments that freedom of or for religion should include freedom from religion.

Apparently, Oaks (who, by the way, was a lawyer before he jumped on the full-time crazy train) thinks that the Constitution does not give people the freedom to choose no religion. The First Amendment says that

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;

We obviously can't force people to be religious because that would violate the first clause of the amendment. Thus, people who want no part of any religion have this right guaranteed to them as well. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean that it isn't true, asshole.