Monday, October 15, 2007

Superstition cultivates stupidity

It should come as no surprise that the people kneeling to pray before a spittlebug nest think Jesus is showing them a sign. Teaching people to believe in a 6,000 year old universe, a boat holding all of the creatures on earth, people teleporting and flying through the sky...it leads to the absolute ruin of critical thinking faculties.

What would be really funny is if one of them caught this "water" in their cup and drank it. It's what they deserve:
Spittlebugs are xylem parasites of vascular plants. They tap into the xylem through a proboscis, suck out the xylem sap, and absorb the nutrients within. Xylem sap is very dilute, though, and they must process a lot of the liquid sap to obtain their nutrients. The excess liquid is then excreted from the anus. As the liquid passes through the anus, the spittle bug adds silk-like protein to it. As this emerges from the anus, the spittle bug folds air into the liquid with its legs, producing the characteristic spittle that envelops the insect.
heh.