Top 5 Ridiculous Comments: Weakly Words

Another week, another batch of ridiculous things people have been saying. This week features statements pertaining to Robin Williams, the public education environment, UFO’s, life after death, and haunted dolls. Without further delay, here were the top 5 most ridiculous comments from the past week:
Our old “friend” Alex Tsakiris delivers the #5 ridiculous comment via his “Skeptico” podcast. For those of you unfamiliar, Alex professes himself a skeptic who is skeptical of skeptics. In other words, he believe in all sorts of unproven and scientifically invalid notions, such as ESP and life after death. On his last show, his special guest was Patricia Pearson, a writer specializing in the notion that there is some sort of life after death. Here is a small sample from the interview:
“So those kinds of experiences, which also turn out to be quite common, again sort of get you away from the scientific frame, because it has nothing to do with whether somebody is or is not flatlined, and that whole debate around the NDE. Rather, it has to do with are there situations of distress in which we somehow manage to transcend – our consciousness begins to transcend our bodies, expands out of it in some fashion, and into this kind of grounded being. And what does that tell us about how potentially not that frightening the actual dying experience it? It looks like people kind of start to bliss out, and that’s very reassuring, actually.”
Has it become entirely taboo to use the word “God” in everyday vernacular? Especially when spoken in a government building, such as a school? The USA is a secular nation, with no government-sponsored religion, and the concept of “the separation of church and state” (thank you, Thomas Jefferson) is a tradition widely upheld in American society. But have we gone too far when a teacher removes a student from her classroom because the student said “God bless you” to another student after they have sneezed? If people are not allowed to utter “God bless you” in response to a sneeze, we’ve gone to a place which focuses more about limiting people’s free-speech rights as opposed to preserving a secular-based government. So the #4 ridiculous comment goes to the (unnamed) teacher who kicked the student out of her class. Of course, there are two sides to this story, and the teacher is claiming the student was disruptive, shouting her “bless you” across the room, but here is the student’s recounting:
“[The teacher] said ‘Why did you say that?’ I said ‘Because it is courtesy.’ She said ‘Says who?’ I said ‘Says my pastor.’ … I asked her why it was a big deal to her. She yelled at me and said ‘We will not have Godly speaking in my class!’ That is when I stood up and said ‘My pastor said I have a constitutional right — 1st amendment freedom of speech.’ She said ‘Not in my class you don’t.”
The #3 ridiculous comment of the week goes to the Committee for the Studies of Anomalous Aerial Phenomena of Chile. They make no bones about their opinion on UFO’s; they are extra-terrestrial crafts. They recently convened a meeting of scientists and other professional advisers. Each participant accepts the “fact” that UFOs are a real phenomenon which needs to be investigated. The director of the agency in charge of the meeting had this to say:
“Until now, in practice, we have seen only the effects. And those we have captured through photographs, videos, official reports, testimonies, etc. And thus, we are able to say the phenomenon exists. But its origin, we have not defined. And without this definition, we cannot establish a strategy to counteract it.”
Houses and buildings are probably considered the most “haunted” objects on the planet. In my experience, dolls are likely second on the list. And why not? They look like little humans and they have those glass-like eyes that stare at you from every direction. Katrin Reedik from Ireland believes that as many as 13 of her dolls are “haunted”. She has earned the #2 ridiculous comment of the week with this one:
“The dolls are not possessed as such, the doll is the spirit’s home. The spirit is attached to the doll and sometimes leaves it in the same way humans go to work every day.”
And for the #1 ridiculous comment of the week, it involves the recently departed actor and comedian Robin Williams. The folks at The National Enquirer are suggesting there could be a very eerie coincidence linking Williams’ death to an old “curse” from Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”. Here are the comments which solidified this as the most ridiculous comment of the week:
“In Sir Laurence Olivier’s film version of HAMLET (1948), Peter Cushing (of Hammer horror films fame) played Osric. Cushing died August 11, 1994. In the Kenneth Branagh’s movie of HAMLET (1996), Robin Williams played Osric. Williams died August 11, 2014. Coincidence or NOT?”
Coincidence!
Regarding #2, you should have put more emphasis on ‘the student’s recounting’ since the school gives a different version of events.
“According to Dodds (the school principal), Turner was not given an in-school suspension. She wasn’t sent out of the classroom, either — she chose to walk out. And, most importantly, she wasn’t punished by the teacher for saying “God bless you” — however, the teacher did admonish her for “disrupting the classroom.””
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2014/08/19/did-a-high-school-student-really-get-suspended-for-responding-to-a-sneeze-with-bless-you/
And doesn’t “we will not have godly speaking in my class” sound like a Christian’s idea of what an atheist WOULD say instead of what any sane person actually would say?
The Scottish Play (or the play that shall not be named) is Macbeth, not Hamlet!
I always thought “The Play that Should Not be Named” or “The Scottish Play” was “Macbeth”, not “Hamlet”.
Thank you, Fett
MacBeth is the play with the curse, not Hamlet. And even then, the prohibition is only on speaking the title in a theater.
Regarding #1, the Shakespeare play which “should not be named” is Macbeth (usually referred to as “The Scottish Play” in theatres). Doesn’t have anything to do with Hamlet!
The Shakespeare play which Name Shall Not Be Spoken By The Superstitious is “The Scottish Play,” a.k.a. Macbeth, not Hamlet.
Is the National Enquirer not confusing Hamlet with Macbeth? I am unaware of the reference to Hamlet being a play whose name will not be spoken. The Scottish Play and the The Bard’s Play are euphemisms for William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The first is a reference to the play’s Scottish setting, the second a reference to Shakespeare’s popular nickname. According to a theatrical superstition, called the Scottish curse, speaking the name Macbeth inside a theatre will cause disaster. A variation of the superstition forbids direct quotation of the play (except during rehearsals) while inside a theatre. This would make the strange coincidence they draw between the demise of Robin Williams and Peter Cushing as ridiculous as you rate it.
Shouldn’t #1 be, “coincidence”? “Not!” implies that it is not coincidence, but has some implied special meaning. Just saying 🙂
Actually for #1 it is exactly a coincidence. But nothing more.
Actually, the play which should not be named isn’t Hamlet, it’s Macbeth. Referred to as “The Scottish Play” by British actors
Erm. It is MacBeth that is supposed to be cursed.
Just saying.
Umm . . . in number 5 I hope by replying “Not” you were being sarcastic.
A “coincidence” when used in the context of the NE story means “a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection.”
In other words, in this case if Williams and Cushing’s death were “caused” by the Hamlet curse, that would not be a coincidence, the supposed causal connection being the “curse.” And since I was born on August 11 in a year in which the play Hamlet was performed (somewhere) . . . oh, Dear God! What does that mean for me???????
YES of course. And not even a particularly remarkable coincidence – it’s a 1 in 365 chance.(Without even taking into consideration the possibility that Williams might have been aware of the significance of the date.)
The Hamlet curse… Lol! I
The Shakespeare play whose name actors try not to say is Macbeth!!!!
I hate to be pedantic (no I don’t, I love it really) but
“The Play Which Should Not Be Spoken” is Macbeth, not Hamlet. And, your final line? Are you saying it’s NOT a coincidence? That would imply there IS a curse or connection wouldn’t it?
The correct answer to #1 would be “yes”. It IS a coincidence. Saying “not” implies it’s something more.
You would be more believable and trustworthy if you would edit your comments and get your facts straight.
The play is MacBeth, not Hamlet
The plural for the word “craft” is “craft” not crafts…..
FYI The supposed cursed Shakespeare play that is not to be spoken in a theatre is Macbeth.
Number 5,
The play that should not be spoken is Macbeth, not Hamlet.
Isn’t Macbeth “The Play Which Should Not Be Spoken” ?
I’m sure the National Enquirer is “The Piece Of Crap That Should Not Be Read”.
I thought Macbeth was the play the “curse” originated from. I could be wrong but that’s what I remember from high school literature.
You would think that the Enquirer would know that Peter Cushing died because his lack of faith was disturbing, not due to some silly curse.
The fifth quote on the list is also ridiculous because the Shakespeare play that should not be named is “Macbeth”, often referred to as “The Scottish Play” to avoid naming it. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scottish_Play
(This article does state that “Hamlet” has had more accidents during its production than “Macbeth”, but only to illustrate that the superstition about “Macbeth” is wrong.)
MacBeth.
And there I was, thinking it was the Scottish Play that was bad luck! All more demonstration that the world is getting more stupid by the day.
I love reading these comments and always agree that they are ridiculous except this time. No.3 the person quoted clearly says that the phenomena exist but the origin is unknown. Thus unidentified He is not saying they are aliens but it is implied that ufos are not real by calling this statement ridiculous. Anything can be a ufo if it is flying but unidentified. So you would be insulting and offending anyone that has ever seen any ufo in the sky and they are all crazy because ufos don´t exisit? Astronauts Edgar Mitchell and Gordon Cooper to begin with you would be saying they were seeing things in their mind along with countless professional people and high ranking military men and women. And like you say if this group is convinced that most of these objects are alien it´s for good reason. Once you eliminate the probable you are left with the impossible. Do some research look up the Disclosure Project to start and listen to their witnesses than go from there to listen to government figures, top, military people etc. I am one of those people.
Am I missing something about #5 as the “Hamlet Curse”? I thought TheThe Play Which Should Not Be Named (not Not Spoken) was MacBeth. Google search reveals nothing about a Hamlet curse. Unless OP is just quoting the original article?
re #5 – as I understand it, the ‘cursed’ Shakespeare play is actually Macbeth and it is his name that should not be spoken (oops) …
I thought that the Shakespeare play, “The Play Which Should Not Be Spoken,” was Macbeth, not Hamlet. If so, then this stuff about Cushing and Williams is even more nonsensical.
The play that should not be named is Macbeth not Hamlet, kinda fu**s up their story don’t you think ?
I am sure the play that should not be named is ‘MacBeth’ (i.e. ‘The Scottish Play’) and not ‘Hamlet’. Unless I am mistaken! Are they doubly wrong in number 5?
#1 being all the more ridiculous for the fact that the play which must not be spoken is in fact Macbeth (usually referred to as “the Scottish play” or “the Bard’s play” instead), and nothing to do with Hamlet.
Shakespeare’s play is not Hamlet. It’s Macbeth.
I think what you mean is that the play to which many of the ‘curse’ myths are associated is Macbeth and not Hamlet. They are both plays by Shakespeare. The speaking of the name of the play specifically referred to in the article is a superstition that surrounds Macbeth and relates to a spate of deaths and injuries relating to a troupe in the early 20th century. It is of course nonsense but further reason why the Robbin Williams theory is full of holes.
The Play The Name Cannot Be Spoken is Macbeth (you should famously say Scottish Play), not Hamlet.
The God-bless-you presentation was already discussed above, but in this light the student’s claim is ridiculous indeed. It is typical of believers to charge everyone of hate against them with no apparent reason. If you do not pamper them, they immediately go with the phrase “why do you hate me so much?”. Well, that is ridiculous.
UFO – no evidence they stated it is extraterrestrial. Maybe they did, but we are skeptics, so excuse me I will not take your word for that. What they stated is reasonable. UFO’s are real – they are simply flying objects, real physical phenomena, that went unidentified through airspace. As they were not identified and no one could establish radio exchange with them, their intentions were not clear thus making hazard to aerial traffic. UFO need to be investigated simply because they are possible harm to your holiday trip. Would you really like your pressurized tube to be taken down by radio controlled model of Spitfire that will stop engine #1 when inhaled by the pressure? Would you really like to experience landing on grass meadow because some people put some flying lights that accidentally were projected on pilot’s eye as runway lights? UFO’s are real, very terrestrial, and have to be investigated. Did Chileans took them to be out of this world? Well, they may investigate that too if they have too much time in their hands.
As far as my personal taste haunted dolls and life after death are cream of the cream.
The Play Not To Be Spoken Of is actually Macbeth, not Hamlet. It’s often referred to as “The Scottish Play” to avoid saying its name.
Doesn’t anybody read the previous comments before posting? Still, confusing stage tradition about Hamlet and Macbeth…henceforth to be known as Hamburger and McDonald’s
Hamlet? I thought he-who-is=not=to=be named was Voldemort.
I find the lack of reading comprehension apparent in many of these comments disturbing.
Oh, and speaking of Scottish: the doll lady is from Glasgow, so not Irish. Just clearing it up because I wouldn’t want anyone thinking that there are superstitious Irish. 😛
I would comment that people should read the comments before stating simple fact many times over. But trialnerror got there before me 😉
Thank you Trial nerrror and Japp.
And for those who comment on the coincidence or not, IT´S a quote from the National Enquirer not the author of this article
Was the play MacBeth or Hamlet? I’m left a bit unsure…
My grandmother died August 11, 2004. She never left her village, but I guess she found the way to play Osric in any Hamlet film and never told anything to me.
The plural of UFO is UFOs. There is no valid reason to insert an apostrophe.