Earthquakes, Hurricanes, and Boobs

On April 19, 2011, Iranian cleric Kazem Sedighi said, “Many women who
do not dress modestly lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity
and spread adultery in society, which increases earthquakes." I guess
if enough people are committing adultery simultaneously, it could
cause an earthquake, but I doubt it. As a species, we are getting more
rotund, but not nearly enough to move the Earth, if I may wax poetic
for a moment. Regardless, the cleric is actually blaming immodestly
dressed women as the primary cause.

On the same day, Jennifer McCreight, then a senior in the Purdue
University College of Science, proposed an experiment, appropriately
named Boobquake, to test the cleric's hypothesis. The experimental
protocol called for women to dress immodestly on a predetermined day
so that "with the power of our scandalous bodies combined, we should
surely produce an earthquake. If not, I'm sure Sedighi can come up
with a rational explanation for why the ground didn't rumble."

Boobquake was scheduled for 1 P.M. on April 26, 2011 with the
epicenter at the Purdue Bell Tower in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Amazingly, earthquakes did occur throughout the world. Not so
amazingly, there were fewer than average, showing that -- thankfully
-- scantily clad women do not cause earthquakes. (See Wikipedia for
details.)

Hurricanes may be another matter. Michelle Bachmann recently said that
Hurricane Irene was a message from God that politicians spend too
much. And it probably won't be too long before someone blames
hurricanes on scantily clad women too. Therefore I propose an
experiment -- appropriately called Boobicane. On September 15th,
everyone -- why leave men out -- should dress immodestly. Then we can
determine if there is an increase in tropical cyclones, as
meteorologists call them. However, there is a possibility that an
earthquake may result from hordes of scantily clad people shivering in
the cold.

JLF

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