I'm confused:

Some of the bills advancing in the House and Senate would exempt religious objectors from mandates to obtain health coverage. More controversial is Christian Science's wish to see its prayer-based healing approach covered like conventional medical treatment. And they want spiritual options to be available to all Americans, not just those who follow their religion.

Leaving aside the issue of whether "spiritual options" even work AND the problematic church/state issues...isn't prayer already free? I'm unclear on how it could be "covered" by health insurance in the first place, unless it's just a case of paying clergy with Medicare funds (in which case, um, no). Charging someone to pray for their health seems pretty scammy to me, but maybe I'm just missing something.

Happy birthday, Calli and Burrell!

tommy, I hope your kitty comes home today.

Jessica, I'm confused, too. I don't even come close to understanding that argument.

Leaving aside the issue of whether "spiritual options" even work AND the problematic church/state issues...isn't prayer already free? I'm unclear on how it could be "covered" by health insurance in the first place, unless it's just a case of paying clergy with Medicare funds (in which case, um, no). Charging someone to pray for their health seems pretty scammy to me, but maybe I'm just missing something.

If prayer isn't free I have over three decades of back pay coming to me.

I wonder if they have special healers?

Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone!

Ugh msbelle, I'm sorry you had such a night! I wish I lived nearby so I could bring you hugs and cupcakes.

Allyson, you may be interested in today's TeeFury shirt. Today only.

I wonder if they have special healers?

The are called practitioners.

Charging someone to pray for their health seems pretty scammy to me, but maybe I'm just missing something.

It seems that way to me too.

My grandmother was a Christian Scientist all her life. She worked with a local practitioner until that lady became too feeble and had to retire. The guy who replaced her lived in a city over two hours away, and while he came through town on a regular circuit, usually they would just talk briefly on the phone every few weeks. Sometimes she would just call and leave the practitioner a message, and later he would send a bill.

If he had spent more time with her I might have thought of it as something more like counseling and therapy, but really it seemed more like Dial-A-Prayer.

I didn't fuss at her about it because, well, it was her money to spend, it wasn't straining her budget, and it did seem to give her some comfort.

ION, this video is so gorgeous, I want it as a screensaver. (Youtube link, so there's audio attached)

Recycling taken too far?

The Swedes, those latter-day descendants of bloodthirsty Vikings, have found a new use for rabbits: heating fuel. According to Der Spiegel, stray rabbits in Stockholm are being shot, frozen and then shipped to a heating plant to be incinerated.

In the Swedes' defense, the bunnies are a menace; a plague of wild and stray pet rabbits is devouring the city's parks. Some 3,000 have been killed thus far this year, down from 6,000 last year, Tommy Tuvunger, a professional hunter who works for the city, told the German news magazine.

Bunnies, despite a felicity for breeding, are not quite abundant enough to be a reliable fuel so Stockholm also ships dead cats, cows, deer and horses to the plant for processing, Tuvunger told Der Spiegel.

I've been horribly tired and keeping my head down. And I'm a bit blue.

I am going out tomorrow night, though. There's a Science of Zombies thing at the DGA theatre. A panel of neuroscientists and epidemilogists are doing a talk with George Romero after a screening of Night of the Living Dead, and I volunteered to help herd cats into the building. FUN!