ChaoSkeptic

I know I've been blogging about Facebook stuff too much lately, but this is too good not to share. Unless you are living under a rock, you already know about the situation over in Japan. Earthquake, tsunami, possible nuclear meltdown. Horrific stuff. "Pray for Japan" was a popular topic on both Twitter and Facebook this weekend. You can imagine how I feel about that. I posted "Prayer: the original slacktivism. Get off your knees and give to the Red Cross" to both Facebook and Twitter to get the word out that the Japanese people need food, shelter, and clothing more than they need prayer and empty platitudes. Got a pretty good response although I have no idea how many people took my advice.

About 24 hours after I posted that status on Facebook I got a notification text on my phone that one of the three preachers that I'm friends with had posted a response to my status. I was busy playing Wii bowling with my daughter so I just glance at it, see that it's a Bible verse and expect the worst. I didn't check my Facebook wall until several hours later because getting into a public theological debate in front of most of my friends and family is not exactly my idea of a fun time. When I finally did check it, I was pleasantly surprised:



Everything went better than expected. Sometimes it's good to remember that not all Christians are evil conservative bastards who ironically hate the poor and meek.

Sorry for the smudging in the picture, btw. I decided to share this with Reddit before I put it here. (Upboat if you love me.)

At any rate, go donate to the Red Cross RIGHT NOW. Give whatever you are capable of. You can even specify that your donates go towards Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami. If you have a cell phone you can Text REDCROSS to 90999. If you don't have money then give blood. Every drop helps.

If you haven't been following the crazy situation in Zimbabwe over the last couple of years here is all you need to know about their financial troubles: Because Robert Mugabe was printing so much money in order to keep the country afloat that in July 2008 their inflation rate was 231,000,000%. A single egg cost ZW$50 billion. By all measures, their system of currency completely failed. It got so bad that the government was printing ten, fifty and one hundred trillion dollar notes, which thanks to the miracle of eBay I now have in my possession:



Before you go hitting me up for a loan though, realize that these bills are now worth (almost) nothing. The Zimbabwean government abandoned its currency in April 2009. At the time it was the Zimbabwean dollar was the least valued currency in the history. One Zimbabwean dollar was literally worth less than a piece of toilet paper.

The lesson we should learn from this is that money only means something when there is something tangible behind it. Everyone has to agree (more or less) on what is worth how much. If you break the illusion for even a brief moment then all you are left with is funny looking paper that isn't worth wiping your ass with.

Looks like that nice little Jew girl Sarah Silverman has finally come upon a brilliant plan to feed everyone in the world: Sell the Vatican. How could the Pope pass up such a huge opportunity to end hunger forever? Besides, he took a vow of poverty. At the very least he could sell some of his fancy Prada shoes and feed a village or two for a year.



(Hat tip to both Skepchick and Friendly Atheist)

Oh ho, those crazy East Europeans! According to an article in something called Mosnews (it's on the internets, so it's gotta be true!) a Latvian finance company is offering loans with a very interesting catch. You can use your immortal soul as collateral:

Riga-based firm, named Kontora, does not require credit history record or proof of employment. It grants loans of 50 to 500 Latvian lats ($100 to $1,000) to any adult after he or she signs the a very short agreement.

According to the agreement, the only security required of the borrower is their immortal soul, which they are asked to confirm as their previously unmortgaged property.

As the song goes, "If I sold my soul for a bag of gold to you, which one of us would be the foolish one?" Plus I'm sure you could default on the loan if you can convince the courts that you are morally bankrupt.

Looks like the Federal Trade Commission finally found the balls that Dubya hid in the basement of the Smithsonian. They are close to passing a rule that would ban commercials that use the phrases"results not typical" or "individual results may vary."

Updated guidelines on ad endorsements and testimonials under final review by the Federal Trade Commission—and widely expected to be adopted—would end marketers' ability to talk up the extreme benefits of products while carrying disclaimers like "results not typical" or "individual results may vary."

Instead, companies would be allowed to tout extreme results only if they also spelled out typical outcomes."

For a good part of the last decade, we have noticed a problem, particularly with consumer testimonials," said Richard Cleland, assistant director of the FTC's division of advertising practices. "The use of consumer testimonials had become almost a safe harbor for companies as long as they threw in some sort of disclaimer about results not being typical."

The tougher rules, the first update to the guidelines since 1980, are designed to make it easier for consumers to judge the credibility of marketers' claims. The changes would affect all forms of advertising and marketing, including blogs and company Web sites. The FTC could bring legal action against firms that don't comply.

That means no more Jared Fogle ads, no more body builders hocking diet pills, no more guys in Ferraris telling you how they made millions overnight in the real estate business. Late night cable TV will have to find a whole new batch of advertisers who will have to think of some other loophole to defraud people with.

Jonathan Jarvis, a graduate student at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, has put together a great video explaining exactly why our current financial meltdown happened and why we will all be living in dumpsters in the near future. FUN!


The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.