Sometimes, living here in the Boston area and spending so much time with the Boston Skeptics can have an insulating effect, to the point where you almost forget that weeds of woo might be growing in your own back yard.

A few months back, I was riding the T when I noticed ads for something called The Lydian Center just down the road in Cambridge. At first glance, these ads (promoting information sessions about health issues) seemed innocuous enough. My BS detector started to go off when I saw that one particular session advocated natural medicine’s role in pregnancy and childbirth. Once I dug a little bit deeper, it became clear to me that the Lydian Center was far worse than those seemingly-benign ads let on.

Games are meant to be fun. I am a teacher (and therefore am constantly on the lookout for so-called “teachable moments”), but even I know that not all kids’ games need to have some underlying educational goal.  Socialization and entertainment are perfectly legitimate goals.  However, when an educational theme is introduced into a game, some measure of intellectual responsibility must be accepted. I have been thinking about this subject frequently during my time working as an aide for children with special needs at a summer recreation camp in Brookline (a town known for quality education), particularly after one bizarre experience.

Sports are always difficult for my children, so imagine my delight when the sports teacher at the recreation camp announced the name of our next game: Evolution. Evolution?! My skepdar gave a momentary squee—until I realized that the odds of this game being a scientifically accurate portrayal of evolution were about the same as the odds of a homeopathic cure for…well, anything besides thirst. I expected inaccuracy.  What I got was a truly spectacular display of ridiculousness.

So, apparently, an abortion clinic run by Women’s Health Services is moving into an empty building in Brookline, which used to house a Hollywood Video. Some asshats brought up a lawsuit to prevent them from doing so. What may surprise you is the justification:

“If you ever have observed protesters at an abortion clinic, they carry signs, which are alarming in their graphic detail of aborted fetuses. They have life-sized statues of the Virgin Mary, and they usually have somebody dressed as the grim reaper,” said May. “I don’t know how the town could have overlooked the emotional harm that could come to children by allowing the clinic to operate at that location.”

Yes, that’s right. Women’s Health Services can’t put their clinic there because ZOMG ABORTION PROTESTERS ARE SCARY THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!