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3990
From: Clarissa Lilywhite, [DNS_Address]
Subject: When antiscience kills: dowsing edition
URL: http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/763-when-antiscience-kills-dowsing-for-bombs.html
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Great news that the conman flogging bomb dowsers has been locked away for a long time - and a warning to all pseudoscientist profiteers. Fake bomb detector seller James McCormick jailed 2013 Fraudster James McCormick has been jailed for 10 years for selling fake bomb detectors. McCormick, 57, of Langport, Somerset perpetrated a "callous confidence trick", said the Old Bailey judge. He is thought to have made £50m from sales of more than 7,000 of the fake devices to countries, including Iraq. The fraud "promoted a false sense of security" and contributed to death and injury, the judge said. He also described the profit as "outrageous". When Antiscience Kills: Dowsing for Bombs 2009 I am no fan of pseudoscience, as you may have guessed. Dowsing is a practice that falls squarely in that field. It’s the idea that you can detect an object — usually water, but sometimes gold, or people, or whatever — using a y-shaped branch, or copper tubes, or some other simple device. Dowsers never really have a good explanation of how their devices work, but they tend to claim 100% accuracy. However, James Randi has tested dowsers many, many times as part of the JREF’s Million Dollar Challenge. Not to keep you in suspense, but the money still sits in the bank. In other words, time and again, the dowsers fail. When a real, double-blind, statistical test is given, dowsers fail. Every single time. That’s all well and good, and you might think it’s just another silly idea that nonsense-believers adhere to despite evidence. If someone wants to waste their money on a dowser, well, caveat emptor. But what if your life depended on it? What if thousands of lives depended on it? Such is the case in Iraq, where the military there is using what is essentially dowsing techniques to try to detect bombs in cars at military checkpoints. Let’s be very clear here: they are using provably useless antiscientific nonsense to try to find terrorists who carry explosives. They may as well use tea leaves, or palm reading, or seances. This story just got major press; a reporter in Iraq wrote about it in the New York Times. It’s impossible to overstress how bad this situation is. Iraqi Major General Jehad al-Jabiri, who is the head of the Ministry of the Interior’s General Directorate for Combating Explosives, is a whole- hearted believer in this crap. He is such a believer that the Iraqi military are abandoning proven methods such as sniffer dogs. Instead, the Iraqi have purchased hundreds of these so-called bomb-detection wands from a company called ATSC in the UK. The cost? Millions of dollars. Millions. On technology that James Randi has come right out and called "a totally fraudulent product". Bob Carroll of the Skeptic’s Dictionary agrees with Randi. The NYT article also has expert advice from several explosives and military authorities (including long-time friend of the JREF Air Force Lt. Col (retired) Hal Bidlack), all of whom conclude that this device does nothing. Given the product description on the company’s own web page, I agree as well. The description makes no scientific sense at all; it claims it can detect ions from a distance without ever coming in contact with them, and that includes through lead, concrete, and more. In other words, it’s magic. This, however, won’t stop al-Jabiri, who chalks up any successes to the detector, and any failures to the operator. In a situation like that there is little hope he can be convinced him he’s wrong, especially when he says things like "I don’t care about Sandia or the Department of Justice or any of them. I know more about this issue than the Americans do. In fact, I know more about bombs than anyone in the world." Really? Then why, as the NYT article indicates, did that dowsing wand fail on October 25, when terrorists detonated two tons of explosives killing 155 people? Four thousand pounds of explosives apparently got right past the magic wands’ sniffer. But at least they’re fast! Again, from the article: Checking cars with dogs, however, is a slow process, whereas the wands take only a few seconds per vehicle. “Can you imagine dogs at all 400 checkpoints in Baghdad?” General Jabiri said. “The city would be a zoo.” I suspect a zoo would be better than a slaughterhouse. It’s arrogance and blind faith like that which has and will get people killed. And the people we’re talking about in many cases are our fighting men and women, people who have to put their own trust in the leaders in Iraq. This is not a game, not some lark. It’s real. And in this case, antiscience kills. |
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4043
From: Las, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: When antiscience kills: dowsing edition
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I was taught dowsing by my grandfather. I watched him do it, locate where to dig for a well, which was their only source of water, because another well had dried up. I watched him go into the underbrush, cut a long spindly willow branch-- willow is best, cut off parts until he ha a giant long " Y ". He handed it to me, said hold on to the two branches, never telling me or showing me anything as to why he was adding me a willow branch, let alone telling me to hold onto it, and walk around with it, parallel to the ground. It suddenly was almost completely yanked out of my death grip, and pulled so hard downwards that I could barely lift it. I was about 9 years old at the time. I was so astounded at what I was physically experiencing. He then proceeded to explain what dowsing was. He then too the branch, walked another 50 feet over, the stick plunged to the ground, and he said "we will dig here." I watched he, and my uncle dig, and within about 25 feet they hit water. It was the dead of summer and it was no joke to live in far out rural areas and have no drinking water. They know. Those who have no awareness, don't. Oh, by the way Clairissa.... We know you're a troll. |
4045
From: JTRIV, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: Las - why do you keep calling people trolls?
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Hi Las, > Oh, by the way Clairissa.... We know you're a troll. Why do you keep calling people trolls? From the context you use it I'm not sure you even know what a troll is. I think it's great you believe in dowsing... but why do you think no one has ever accepted one of the challenges such as the million dollar challenge? It just doesn't make much sense that so many people have a dowsing story yet no one has ever been able to demonstrate dowsing to objective observers. Cheers Jim |
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4044
From: horst graben, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: well bless my soul ... and your soul too ... good one (NT)
| (NT) |
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4013
From: terra, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: When antiscience kills: dowsing edition-I can dowse for
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water,with a plain old Y shaped Tree Branch!!!i have never tried dowsing for anything else! Love and Light Terra |
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3996
From: jeffersonzuma, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: When antiscience kills: dowsing edition
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you're randi is bombast and illogical pseudoscientific itself.. simply analyzing the diatribe and it's amazing generalities itself.. randi is a fraud.. pseudoscience hypocrite harming life indeed.. it helps learn to and actually practice dowsing.. works through the autonomic response to etheric energies as well as subconcious indicators.. we use it in hypnosis on the same principle (though deep trance is better where there can be fuller and more comprehensive communication before the concious mind interferes with it.. if someone doesn't practice how to ride a bicycle then it is stupid bombastic pseudoscience to deny without true scientific testing process, whether in natural or laboratory.. based on this incidents where the men didn't know what they were doing. Funny how you would deny that monopolies conspire yet without experimenting to understand deeper these pseuds simply declare their bombast.. crap like this is basically propaganda programming to deceive the naive.. a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy that materialists have to impose their pk so that things don't work the way these jerks use their magick. Personally I know that this subcon. reading/energy detection via autonomic processes (like a gut feeling) has to be constantly calibrated and checked like tuning an instrument if you expect it to play right.. people who do this know that energies alter their responses from time to time and that not calibrating this can cause errors.. so try learning how to do something before damning it with pseudoscience illogic bigotry (a tall order, i know). |
3997
From: horst graben, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: "so try learning how to do something before damning it"
| right on |
3999
From: Skywise, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Stop damning science before learning how to do it.
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Lest ye be hypocrites. Brian |
4001
From: horst graben, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: oh ... and we're to suppose you know "how to do it."?
| how many peer-reviewed papers published in recognized scientific journals do you have to your name? |
4006
From: Skywise, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: oh ... and we're to suppose you know "how to do it."?
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You understand math, correct? How many math papers did you publish in recognized mathematical journals? Yet you probably know enough to help a school student with their homework, right? You know how to drive, correct? How many professional races have you competed in? How many have you won? Yet, you are capable of getting in your car and getting to/from work or the store. Your query is a strawman. It's irrelevant. One does not need to be "published in recognized scientific journals" to understand and comprehend science. Science in general and specific subjects more so have been hobbies of mine for decades. I have read books on many subjects particularly astronomy, physics, and aviation. Just as you would with a hobby of yours that you've enjoyed for many years or decades simply because it interests you, over time you become knowledgeable in it's details. You may not be formally educated in the topic or be published in some form, but your knowledge of the subject will be quite proficient. I'm sure you have a hobby or two that you know quite well. As for the relevance of this thread, it is being asked that we ('science types') not dismiss an idea unless we have studied it. Yet, my ideas ('science based') are dismissed out of hand and when it is requested that it (science) be studied just the same, that is also dismissed. You ask "how to do" science. Pick up a science book. Take a class in a local community college. Most of what I know I have learned on my own. I would not expect you to be incapable of doing the same. I firmly believe in the saying that knowledge is power, and as such I have attempted to share the knowledge I have. In the recent discussion over on Earthwatchers I provided references so you can verify my claims, yet you dismissed them saying you don't need my facts. Well, they are not "my" facts. They are JUST facts. I do not own them. They exist independent of me of my views on a topic. Again, I provided sufficient references for you to investigate these facts on your own independently of my views. Use your own reasoning skills to investigate and learn about the subject instead of just dismissing it.  Brian |
4008
From: horst graben, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: "publish or perish" is the mantra in all science disciplines
| if you've not been published why not admit it? |
4011
From: Skywise, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: "publish or perish" is the mantra in all science...
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I appreciate your intentional obtuseness, David, but I didn't deny anything and if you had actually read AND comprehended my post, the answer should be readily apparent from the context. But to be direct, I do not have any "peer-reviewed papers published in recognized scientific journals", not that it matters. What relevance is that to this discussion anyway? (other than just another straw man argument from you) Wait, you might not want to answer that, because...   Brian |
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4015
From: horst graben, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: but you inferred by your post that you "know how to do it"
URL: http://www.earthboppin.net/talkshop/science/messages/3999.html
| but can provide no evidence that you actually do "know how to do it" ... and ... yes ... in all scientific disciplines ... it does matter whether or not your ideas are published in a peer-reviewed journal ... without publication ... in establishment science ... your ideas have no validity |
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3991
From: horst graben, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: gee ... my corpus must be inherently "unscientific" LOL
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i've actually used two bronze welding rods bent at 90 degrees at the 1/3 - 2/3 length mark ... and ... sure as day follows night ... every time i passed over the location of a buried water line ... which i did NOT know was there ... the welding rods turned in my grip ... crossed ... and returned to the neutral position ... i walked all over the ground in a 5 acre pasture ... and ... sure as day follows night ... the welding rods turned in my grip as i crossed the line these phenomena operate outside and independent of the conscious volition of a person as rational a being as you think you are ... your body ... your somatic corpus ... might not "agree" with the conclusion that you hold in your intellect wake up ... and smell the universe ... there more to it than is dreamed in your philosophy "horatio" |
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4000
From: Clarissa Lilywhite, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: One Million Dollars reward for your dowsing skillz
URL: water diviners and dowsers in Sydney, Australia in 1980
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"At May 02, 2013 at 10:04:16, horst graben wrote: i've actually used two bronze welding rods bent at 90 degrees at the 1/3 - 2/3 length mark ... and ... sure as day follows night ... every time i passed over the location of a buried water line ... which i did NOT know was there" Wow! You sound very impressive - I would very much like 10% commission of the prize when you win it One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge At JREF, we offer a one-million-dollar prize to anyone who can show, under proper observing conditions, evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event. The JREF does not involve itself in the testing procedure, other than helping to design the protocol and approving the conditions under which a test will take place. All tests are designed with the participation and approval of the applicant. In most cases, the applicant will be asked to perform a relatively simple preliminary test of the claim, which if successful, will be followed by the formal test. Preliminary tests are usually conducted by associates of the JREF at the site where the applicant lives. Upon success in the preliminary testing process, the "applicant" becomes a "claimant." |
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4029
From: kemokae, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: One Million Dollars reward for your dowsing skillz
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When the Nisqually quake happened up in Washington state some years back...someone had one pendulum positioned over sand...did it ever make an intricate pattern in the sand....it was in the paper back then...I wish someone could explain the energy field in making the pattern... and is it close to the crop circle phenomen? |
4030
From: Skywise, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: One Million Dollars reward for your dowsing skillz
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"When the Nisqually quake happened up in Washington state some years back...someone had one pendulum positioned over sand...did it ever make an intricate pattern in the sand" I remember that sand pattern. I did a little digging and found I have copies of the pictures, and I also found some text description/comments. They called it an "earthquake rose". Apparently I did not save a URL, but since that was nearly 11-1/2 years ago, the website may not exist anymore. But doing a Google images search on the phrase "earthquake rose" (with quotes included) comes up with several hits.  That image inspired me to set up my own pendulum, which eventually caught the San Simeon quake quite nicely.  "I wish someone could explain the energy field in making the pattern" No energy field other than maybe gravity. It's just simple inertia. The pendulum wants to stay still while the ground, the building, the table are all moving due to the earthquake. Literally, the sand is moving underneath the pendulum rather than the pendulum moving over the sand. Although, some motion is imparted into the pendulum, but it is all driven by the ground motions. "and is it close to the crop circle phenomen?" Well, unless crop circles are somehow made by pendulums.... ^_^ Brian |
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4039
From: kemokae, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: One Million Dollars reward for your dowsing skillz
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Your an clever one...I was thinking earth ground energy with the crop circles...but your right..what would act as the pendulum in that case?...gravity maybe...air pressure...but they seem to complicated for such an answer as that in ways. |
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4002
From: horst graben, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: i never claimed what i did was repeatable
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the only time i did it was the first time i did it my friend handed me the rods ... and showed me how to hold them ... and off i went repeatability would make it seem like a "scientific experiment" ... and it wasn't it was just a friend wanting to know if i could do what he could do nothing more ... nothing less ... so your sneering is unwarranted i claim nothing ... except the experience ... once ... forty years ago what do you have to offer except for your attitude ...?... |
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4003
From: Clarissa Lilywhite, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: i never claimed what i did was repeatable
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horst graben wrote: "Re: i never claimed what i did was repeatable" horst graben wrote: and ... sure as day follows night ... every time i passed over the location of a buried water line...the welding rods turned in my grip as i crossed the line" So whenever over the past 40 years you've tried using your 'special powers' you've failed ..."as day follows night", why am I not surprised at your consistent failure.... :-) |
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4004
From: horst graben, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: try again reading what i wrote ... carefully this time (NT)
| (NT) |
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4005
From: JTRIV, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: You don't seem to understand your own words
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Hi HG, You don't seem to understand your own words. The phrase "sure as day follows night" which you used twice means predictable and repeatable. Could the reason you seem to argue with so many people on these forums be that you have no clue what the words and phrases you type actually mean? Cheers Jim |
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4012
From: terra, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: You don't seem to understand your own words
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I picked up a Y shaped tree branch and it went nuts wiggling, when i got near water, which i didn't know was there!!!I thought many people could do this???Love and Light Terra |
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4014
From: Clarissa Lilywhite, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: terra - Win million dollars and show the doubters wrong
URL: http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/1m-challenge/challenge-application.html
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Hirst chickened out from demonstrating his dowsing skills but I think you may be the real deal from what you say. As I have faith in you terra, I'll only ask for 15% of the prize money as I'm on a sure thing with you. To apply, click here to download the official Million Dollar Challenge application. (PDF) APPLICATION FOR STATUS OF CLAIMANT This document ("The Application") outlines the offer made by the James Randi Educational Foundation ("JREF") concerning psychic, supernatural, or paranormal claims. The Applicant must agree to the conditions, rules, and limitations stated herein and supply the required information before they can be considered for any test. This Application is Version 2.0, dated March 9, 2011, supersedes and replaces any previous version of the Application, and is the only version currently accepted. This Application should be sent to: James Randi Educational Foundation Million Dollar Challenge 7095 Hollywood Boulevard, #1170 Los Angeles, CA 90028-6035 U.S.A. CONDITIONS OF THE MILLION DOLLAR CHALLENGE The JREF will pay US$1,000,000 (One Million US Dollars) ("The Prize") to any person who demonstrates any psychic, supernatural, or paranormal ability under satisfactory observation. Such demonstration must take place under the rules and limitations described in this document. An applicant can be from or in any part of the world. Gender, race, and educational background are not factors for acceptance. Applicants must be at least 18 years of age and legally able to enter into binding agreements. Applicants must state clearly what they claim as the special ability for which they wish to be tested. |
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4018
From: horst graben, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: the James Randi problem ... "longtime partner" arrested
URL: http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/2011/12/22/the-james-randi-problem/
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"James Randi’s longtime partner, known to everyone else as Jose Alvarez, has been arrested and charged with identity theft after decades of causing serious problems for the person whose identity he had allegedly assumed. ... “Alvarez” was really Deyvi Pena, who had been reported as Randi’s companion before he assumed the fake name." |
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4017
From: horst graben, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: James Randi the fake
URL: http://jamesrandifake.blogspot.com/2008/01/james-randi-fake.html
| is the "prize" cash money or worthless bonds? |
4023
From: JTRIV, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: James Randi the fake
URL: JREF Challenge FAQ
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Hi HG, > is the "prize" cash money or worthless bonds? Apparently neither. I was curious so I did a little research. They have provided financial statements showing James Randi Educational Foundation Prize Account and that it exceeds the million required should anyone be able to complete the challenge. It's not in cash, no large stack of $100 bills gathering dust in a vault. But it's not worthless bonds as that idiot had claimed. See below and link above where the financial statements can be found. Cheers Jim 3. Prize Money 3.1 I heard the prize money doesn’t really exist and that it’s all just a scam. The short answer: The money is real. The medium-length answer: The money is held with the Evercore Trust Company. Anyone can verify that the money exists by requesting the information in writing from the JREF. They will in turn forward you the most recent account statement from Evercore Trust. The long answer: The JREF is a 'tax exempt' organization, so they are required by law to have a level of financial transparency. That means that the public can request things like an annual report and copies of JREF's 990 (the tax return non-profits file). Go to http://tfcny.fdncenter.org/990s/990search/esearch.php (search for Randi, 2005 is here.) to look up JREF's 990. Contained within these types of documents is enough information to verify that the organization does indeed have special assets in a reserved account to cover the prize, should it ever be won. The contract between the claimant and JREF is binding enough that the JREF must pay the prize if someone wins it. This is a published, legal obligation, not just a casual offer. We have no choice in the matter. As a savvy applicant, all you need to do is verify that the organization has the funds to cover the prize. Also, if JREF were not able to hold up its end of the bargain, the IRS would investigate and pull the JREF's tax exempt status. It would mean severe penalties for the JREF, and Randi himself would also be personally liable and subject to potential incarceration. Rest assured: The money is there. Long answer, continued: The JREF prize fund is maintained in a way that is similar to an endowment fund. Non-profits often create reserves of assets called endowments to build up enough money to take care of the organization in the case of bad financial times, or to save up money for a project down the road, like building a new facility or starting a large new program that would require a lot of capital. Endowment funds are held in a separate account designated, "James Randi Educational Foundation Prize Account." This prevents the JREF from accidentally spending the prize money. It is never a good idea to just let large sums of money sit in a savings account for years and years, so most non-profits invest their endowment funds. The way they invest it is really not important. JREF invests in bonds, which is fine. If a claimant wins the prize, it must be awarded within ten days, as per the Challenge rules and the legally binding contract entered into when the application was signed. I know you are going to ask, "What if the bonds cannot be easily liquidated?" If the JREF did not pay a winning claimant in a reasonable amount of time, we would be open to a lawsuit for breach of contract. The claimant will be paid. The JREF states that the funds are held in immediately negotiable bonds so that a claimant can feel at ease about the ability of the JREF to pay. The fact that the JREF will do so is going above and beyond the requirements of the law and the generally accepted practices of good, responsible non-profits. It is an enormous act of good faith on JREF's part. The million dollars exist. Arguments to the contrary are utterly pointless, and they will not be entertained by the JREF. 3.2 I still don’t buy it. It's important to realize that if at this point you still doubt that the money exists, your doubt is in the entire American bond system in general, and not with the JREF. There is really no more evidence the JREF can provide you. Should you remain unconvinced of the existence of the prize funds, you are free to choose not to apply. The JREF will under no circumstances go beyond the aforementioned measures in providing proof of the prize fund's existence. As stated clearly in the Challenge rules, "The JREF will not cater to such vanities." 3.3 If I pass the formal test and win the Challenge, how will I be paid? The first $10,000 of the prize money will be paid by check, as stated in the Challenge rules, immediately upon successful demonstration of the claim. Arrangements will be made to liquidate the remaining $990,000 and present it to the winner within ten days of passing the formal test. |
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4020
From: Clarissa Lilywhite, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: horst graben the fake
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Win it and find out - does the money or the principle that you are 'special' matter more which could effect your claimed dowsing skills? Funnily enough all the folk who claim to be able to predict earthquakes come up with similar excuses about why they remain a million dollars poorer. |
4026
From: horst graben, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: put your slander where the sun don't shine (NT)
| (NT) |
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4024
From: JTRIV, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: horst graben the fake
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Hi Clarissa, In researching this a bit I found there are many such challenges and none have ever been claimed. Large excerpt below and link above to the skeptics dictionary page. Cheers Jim ______________________________________ There are others offering prizes to anyone who can demonstrate psychic powers. After collecting the million dollars from Randi, successful psychics might go to India and contact B. Premanand who will pay Rs. 100,000 "to any person or persons who will demonstrate any psychic, supernatural of paranormal ability of any kind under satisfactory observing conditions." Also, "Prabir Ghosh will pay Rs. 20,00,000* to anyone who claims to possess supernatural power of any kind and proves the same without resorting to any trick in the location specified by Prabir Ghosh." The Australian Skeptics offer $100,000 (Australian), $80,000 for the psychic and $20,000 for anyone "who nominates a person who successfully completes the Australian Skeptics Challenge." If you nominate yourself, and are successful, you get the whole hundred grand. The Association for Skeptical Inquiry (ASKE), a U.K. skeptic organization, offers £12,000 for proof of psychic powers. The Independent Investigations Group "offers a $50,000 prize to anyone who can show, under proper observing conditions, evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event." The North Texas Skeptics offer $12,000 to any person who can demonstrate any psychic or paranormal power or ability under scientifically valid observing conditions. The Quebec Skeptics offer $10,000 to any astrologer who can demonstrate her craft according in a formal scientific experiment. The Tampa Bay Skeptics offer $1,000 to anyone able to demonstrate any paranormal phenomenon under mutually agreed-upon observing conditions. A group in New Zealand calling itself "Immortality" is offering a prize of $NZ2,000,000 to anyone "who can display an actual paranormal ability, under controlled conditions." One million goes to the successful applicant and one million to the charity of his or her choice. Finally, conjurer Chris Angel offered $1,000,000 of his own money to Uri Geller and Jim Callahan if they could psychically determine the contents of an envelope he held in his hand. The offer was in response to Callahan's claim that his performance of a trick on a TV show called "Phenomenon" was aided by spirit guide. The offer of cash prizes as an incentive to so-called psychics to prove their claims is not new. In 1922, Scientific American offered two $2,500 awards, one for the first person who could produce an authentic spirit photograph under test conditions and the other for the first medium to produce an authentic "visible psychic manifestation" (Christopher 1975: 180). Houdini, the foremost magician of the period, was a member of the investigating committee. Nobody won the prizes. The first to announce she was ready to be tested was Elizabeth Allen Tomson, but after she was caught with twenty yards of gauze taped to her groin, flowers under her breasts, and a snake in her arm pit, she was never formally tested (Christopher 1975: 188). The honor of being the first medium tested by the Scientific American team went to George Valiantine. He didn't know that the chair he sat in during his séance in a completely darkened room had been wired to light up a signal in an adjoining room every time he left his seat. Oddly, phenomena such as a voice speaking from a trumpet that floated about the room happened only at the exact moments the signal lit up. The Reverend Josie K. Stewart also failed to produce handwritten messages from the dead brought to her by her spirit guide Effie. The committee members marked their cards and she failed three times before declaring success at the fourth trial. But, since the messages she produced were not on the cards that had been supplied by the Scientific American committee, it was determined that she had tried to trick them! What a shock. Another contestant, Nino Pecoraro, claimed to have Eusapia Palladino as his spirit guide. He was doing well fooling some of the committee members until Houdini showed up during a séance. Houdini took the sixty-foot long rope being used to tie up Pecoraro and cut it into many short pieces and tied up "the psychic's wrists, arms, legs, ankles, and torso." Houdini, the master escapologist, knew that "even a rank amateur could gain slack enough to release his hands and feet" when tied with a long rope (Christopher 1975: 191). The great Pecoraro couldn't perform that night. The fifth applicant for the Scientific American prize was Mina Crandon, known in the occult world as "Margery." She didn't collect the prize, either. (For more on "Margery," see the entry on ectoplasm.) In the 1930s, Hugo Gernsback offered a $6,000 prize for any astrologer who could accurately forecast three major events in one year. He never had to pay anyone a cent.* One would think that after more than 150 years of scientific testing of psychics, there would be at least one who could demonstrate a single psychic ability under test conditions. Parapsychologist Dean Radin claims the evidence for psychic phenomena is so strong that only bias and prejudice keep skeptics from accepting the reality of ESP or PK. Why doesn't he claim the million dollar prize, then? According to Radin: for the types of psi effects observed in the laboratory, even a million dollar prize wouldn't cover the costs of conducting the required experiment. Assuming we'd need to show odds against chance of say 100 million to 1 to win a million dollar prize, when you calculate how many repeated trials, selected participants, multiple experimenters, and skeptical observers are necessary to achieve this outcome, the combined costs turn out to be more than the prize. So, from a purely pragmatic perspective, the various prizes offered so far aren't sufficiently enticing. (Radin 2006: 291) The fact is that most parapsychologists have given up trying to find a single person with a single paranormal ability. They study groups of people and collect gobs of data, hoping to find a statistic not likely due to chance, which they then declare to be evidence of psi because it is their hypothesis that if the statistic is not likely due to chance then it is reasonable to conclude that it is due to psi. In other words, they've gone from being duped by con artists to duping themselves. |
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[4025]
4025
From: horst graben, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: get you head out of your ass before you suffocate
| and pack your stupid accusation where your head was |
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4016
From: horst graben, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: James Randi et alia sued for fraud
URL: http://www.bolenreport.com/feature_articles/Doctor's-Data-v-Barrett/milliondollarsuit1.htm
| the so-called "Million Dollar Challenge" is alleged to be a "fraud" |
4019
From: Clarissa Lilywhite, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: James Randi et alia sued for fraud - Complaint Dismissed
| Your point? |
4021
From: jeffersonzuma, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: James Randi et alia sued for fraud - Complaint Dismissed
|
judicial fraud also.. also controlled by evil hierarchism.. just like the medical monopoly and mainstream media. And before you start with the 'conspiracy theory' stupid slur, remember that we all cooperate. When it is criminal, immoral, treasonistic, it is technically conspiracy. The truth as I see it is that the failure to accept responsibility for the benefits of self-government is a heavy karma for the USA and nature shall take her course.. the denial is sloth and bigotrous, that only intensifies the karma. Unfortunately we here live in the same country. Ironically, it is the people who betray whistleblowers (not to mention the very concept itself of america) who will tell you to love it (the evil corruption and injustice, etc) or leave it. This is very bad juju.. |
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[4022]
4022
From: jeffersonzuma, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: James Randi et alia sued for fraud - Complaint Dismissed
| and i think that people who know how to intuit and reason out the patterns etc have some inkling as to who is self-interested in keeping true spiritual science, and I mean science.. away from most of the people.. while keeping them on the stupid superstitious materialism while they play with their negative e.t. masters in their secret space navy (as well as skirmish with them). It is the same implication as "disclosure" regardin free energy and healing modalities that have been kept from we the people while we are subject to the disease of whoever our bastards (that most of the people karmically do not want to take responsibility for giving permission to by their denial [passive acceptance-approval] are terraforming this planet for. Remember, "as above, so below". Or you can be stupid-superstitious while pretending to be scientific (same ol b.s. for the people as the corrupted religions). |
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4009
From: horst graben, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: it's the context of my words you misrepresent (NT)
| (NT) |
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4007
From: Redhart, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: You don't seem to understand your own words
|
hmmm...kind of like "dormant" and "extinct"? Or, "Volcanic Venting" and "cloud"??? Seems a pattern has emerged. |
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[4010]
4010
From: horst graben, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: what ... did you think you smelled blood in the water? (NT)
| (NT) |
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3995
From: horst graben, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: just in case you "missed" the source of the quotation
|
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. -- Edward de Vere, 19th Earl of Oxenford |
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[3998]
3998
From: horst graben, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: ooops ... Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxenford
| from the link, "1578 - Edward de Vere is eulogised before the royal Court during the Queen's summer progress by aspiring Cambridge scholar Gabriel Harvey who praises him as a prolific poet and as one whose "countenance shakes speares". His eulogy, in Latin, is published." |
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3994
From: kemokae, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: gee ... my corpus must be inherently "unscientific" LOL
|
First time I used an dowsing rod I was at "Gold Hill" the weird vortex place in southern Oregon...but they did admit that there's an small stream runs though the area in the winter time. I had no problem dowsing at all. I think underground there's perhaps an meteroite from the past there...they claim an huge Gold nugget...maybe...whatever.. it distorts an person's perspective in an illusionary way. Area was at one time being mined for Gold..but not much found. |
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