The Magic of Sigfried and Rael

In the ancient world temples were the Las Vegas of their day. Priests in the Greek and Egyptian religions used a wide range of theatrical tricks and feats of engineering in order to amaze their followers and get those butts in the seats. How fitting is it then that a religious group wants to create their own Las Vegas attraction? (story here)

One of my favorite groups of delusional lumps of clay are the Raelians. They accept the concept of Intelligent Design but they believe the designers to be other mortals on a different planet. No word on who supposedly created the creators.

In order to spread the good word about promiscuous sex and cloned eternal life, they want to create their own "Mecca" to be called "UFOland"! It will have a 1000 seat theater for their leader Rael (former French sports-car journalist and test driver named Claude Vorilhon) to give lectures on how bad science fiction is a valid way of life.

L. Ron Hubbard is kicking himself right now. I mean really. He's with us.

- Brackish

Plank's for the Mammories

One would expect a scientific institute to know how to do research. However, it would seem Germany's Max Planck Institute, under the influence of tight deadlines or too many lonely nights, forgot to Google.

In the current issue of their scientific journal focusing on China the editors wanted to find a simple yet elegant Chinese poem to adorn their cover, honoring the asian nation. What they got was an advert for "Hot Housewives in action!" (story here).

We all know the old trick of influencing our young subjects to get drunk and pay for an asian tattoo which ends up meaning something quite different than what they intended. It's an old Tempter School prank which results in many a hairless ape promenading around with the Chinese or Japanese words for "Prostitute", "Kung Pow Chicken", or "This is one ugly foreigner" emblazoned on their fragile bodies. But to get a scientific institute to make such an international faux pas, is quite an achievement!

Or perhaps it was an effort to stimulate the global economy by getting droves of quantum physicists to book flights to China. Either way there is one strip club owner in Macau, who will definitely have to learn German.

- Brackish