The Men Who Stare at Goats had so much potential as a film given the bizarre and comical nature of the weird things the United States government believed about the paranormal in its two-decade long secret psychic spy program, so wonderfully captured by the British investigative journalist John Ronson in his book of the same [...]
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. - Carl Sagan Since I started blogging I have written about Carl Sagan on or about his birthday – November 9th. This year Sagan would have been 75 years old – we definitely lost [...]
“Every morning, Jim Stevens of Jonesborough goes out to his vehicle and sees what appears to be the face of Jesus in the condensation on the driver’s side window. When Mr Stevens first saw the image, he expected it to evaporate that day and that would be the end of it. But the next day, [...]
People always used to make fun of me for learning calculus, on my own, for fun. For some reason my formal educational track always managed to swerve around calculus and I missed out, leaving me forever jealous of my friends who knew what integrals were. And so it was with some nostalgia that I recently opened [...]
In Russia, thousands of Muslims are flocking to see a baby who has verses from the Koran mysteriously appearing on his body: I’d like to be very clear here: this is not pareidolia, our ability to see patterns in random objects. The verses are clearly there, and not just random. As one pilgrim said, "It’s proof [...]
Skeptic Bruce Flamm, M.D. is vindicated in his drawn-out court case On Friday, October 24, 2009, a California Court of Appeals vindicated Dr. Bruce Flamm, an OBGYN physician and professor at the University of California, Riverside, and member of the Skeptics Society, by throwing out a defamation lawsuit filed against him by a man who claimed [...]
Have you ever had the chills? You know, the frights, spooks, willies, nerves, jitters, heebie-jeebies? Do you get these feelings when you have to enter a dark room alone, or if you find yourself on a lonely street at night? Even the most hardcore skeptic can still be frightened by dark or scary places. One does [...]
Last weekend I took a few hours to go back in time and see up close and personal an era where death and the hereafter had an integrity and tradition that barely exists in my celebrity drenched neighborhood of Hollywood. I left behind the moral nihilism of Los Angeles for a beautiful afternoon of walking through the fall [...]
Secretly I’ve been holding a public grammar contest, open to anyone who sends me an email. Today, the winner is announced: Mr. Daren Lee of “The Zeitgeist Movement”. Initially, as his writing suggests that Mr. Lee has only a fifth grade education, I was going to disqualify him (must be 18 or older to enter). [...]
A couple of weeks ago, a chiropractor lodged a complaint with the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) against the Australian Skeptics. Why? Because they had reprinted journalist Simon Singh’s article about chiropractic, which said that in the UK they were making bogus claims about how chiropractic can cure all manners of ills such as [...]
In the latest installment of the lame attempts by creationists to stifle and distort the teaching of evolution, Christian evangelists Ray Comfort & Kirk Cameron (yes, that guy on Growing Pains) are giving away copies of Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species. Except they’re doing that thing that too many creationists love to do… they screw up science in an effort to promote their own narrow religious ideology. Specifically, Comfort’s Christian ministry – Living Waters – has begun a new program called “Origin Into Schools” where they are distributing free copies of a special reprinted edition of Darwin’s work, complete with an introduction by Ray Comfort himself.
Living Waters, the evangelical Christian ministry of Ray Comfort (Banana Man) and Kirk Cameron (sitcom star of Growing Pains), is on a mission to distribute 100,000 copies of a reprinted version of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, with an introduction by Comfort attempting to refute Darwin’s theories. You can see Comfort’s explanation of the project on their website. Or, you can download and read the Introduction in PDF form.
The highlights of the introduction, according to Kirk Cameron (who explains the project on YouTube), include “a timeline of Darwin’s life, Adolf Hitler’s undeniable connection with the theory, Dariwn’s racism, his disdain for women and Darwin’s thoughts on the existence of God.” The introduction also “lists the theory’s many hoaxes.”
I wanted to let everyone know about an effort I’m helping to organize to bring a Skepticamp event to the Chicago-area on March 6th, 2010 – we’re calling it Skepchicamp…
We are currently in the early stages of organizing the conference, and one of the things we need most right now are speakers. Please read our latest press release for more information on this, and consider getting involved or at least passing along the news:
Skepchicamp looking for speakers
Skepchicamp, an informal skeptical convention scheduled for March 6, is looking for speakers. Speakers are welcome to give a 15 minutes speech on any topic related to skepticism, followed by five minute of questions and answers. In additions to speeches, demonstrations, magic shows, and panel discussions will also be considered. While speakers are encouraged to focus on women in skepticism or women in science, it is not a requirement. People interested in speaking should e-mail don@skepchicamp.com
Speakers currently scheduled to appear include Hemant Mehta, creator of the Friendly Atheist blog and author of “I Sold My Soul on Ebay” and Skepchick bloggers Bug Girl, Elyse Anders, and Jen Myers.
Skepchicamp is an informal convention with the goal of promoting skeptical thinking in the Chicago area. Unlike formal conventions, everyone who attends Skepchicamp is expected to participate in some way. That can include giving a speech, serving food, helping to set up a room, or donating money. The goal is to create a laid-back event driven by the participants.
Skeptics believe that everything should be examined with scientific rigor, and generally choose to suspend belief (or agree to append beliefs) based on the availability of adequate evidence. Many skeptics do not believe in the supernatural simply have not seen enough credible evidence to convince us that they exist. They are not curmudgeons who dislike ghost stories. There are, however, many things that skeptics do believe in. Like love, the power of beauty, art, friendship, humor, and sports because we know these things to be true. Nothing falsifiable is exempt from scrutiny.
November 7th is the birthday of that great communicator of science & skepticism, Carl Sagan. In a time when many of his fellow scientists were loath to communicate directly with the public, Sagan was a unique link between the scientific community and the general populace. He communicated the power, joy, and importance of science to us through lectures, books, and television. In particular, I think I can honestly say that an entire generation of scientists were inspired by Carl Sagan’s book and television series Cosmos(which aired in 1980) – I count myself among them. Were it not for the inspiration provided to me in my teenage years by my beat-up copy of the book Cosmos, I may have never pursued a career in science…
And a recently auto-tuned remix of Carl Sagan’s dialog from Cosmos, called “A Glorious Dawn (featuring Stephen Hawking)”, is also available on Youtube. Check it out…
**Note: You can download your own copy of “A Glorious Dawn” from its creator’s website – SymphonyofScience.com
- where there are many other cool videos & music files available.
On Tuesday, Nov. 3rd, psychic Sylvia Browne made a surprise guest appearance on The Jay Leno Show. This is very surprising, seeing as how Leno is a definite skeptic when it comes to psychics & their woo (he coined the now famous phrase “Why don’t you ever see this headline: ‘Psychic Wins Lottery‘?”). So why was Browne there in the first place?
What happened is that his show has a segment called Earn Your Plug, whereby celebrities who wish to have their TV show or movie plugged have to do something on the show to merit the advertising. Well, last night the celebs were Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat of the movie “Paranormal Activity”, and for the Earn Your Plug segment they decided to surprise Leno by having Sylvia Browne give him a reading. See for yourself how it went…
Right off the bat, Leno was completely blindsided by the fact that a psychic like Browne was even on his show. Notice how he makes the crack at the beginning of the reading about replacing some employees in the near future; something tells me that this is one prediction which is likely to come true. Had he known that Featherston & Sloat had wanted to bring Browne onto the show, Leno would have likely stopped it from happening.
In addition, I want to point something else out that Leno did – he was openly, though playfully (his show is about entertainment, after all), skeptical of what Browne was attempting to do. Whenever she made a claim, rather than allow her to prattle on and on with all manner of nonsensical “predictions” (often known as cold reading), he would stop her and challenge her on specific points. It is also worth noting how she reacted to Leno not simply believing what she said or at least playing along with her: she got angry with him. She didn’t get screaming mad, but watching her demeanor and body language speaks volumes about how upset she was that he even dared to question her supposed divine prowess (she did claim, after all, that her “abilities” were “from God”). Essentially, she was doing little more than making a blatant argument from authority in this regard, and it was painfully (for her) obvious that Leno wasn’t having any of it.
I think a good example was this exchange:
Browne: “Do you know how many people over the years have told me that I’m wrong about something, but came back later to tell me that I was right?”
Leno: “No. How many?”
In the end, I think that while it was a negative that a psychic scumbag like Sylvia Browne even got onto Leno’s show in the first place, Leno himself turned it into a more positive experience by not treating her seriously & acting openly skeptical and asking questions. The result was, in my opinion, that by the end of the reading – which was mercifully short – the vast majority of the audience was laughing at Ms. Browne and not with her. And if there’s anyone who deserves to be laughed at, it is Sylvia Browne and her ilk.
Good move, Jay, for educating people on how to deal with such supernatural claims. Johnny Carson would be proud of you
Many Anonymous protesters wear the Guy Fawkes mask when peacefully picketing CoS centers & passing out information to passersby about the cultish practices of the Church. Contrary to CoS propaganda, these are peaceful protests which are designed to get out the truth about the Church and its practices; in no way, shape, or form do I, nor does Anonymous, encourage or condone any kind of violent or illegal action against the Church of Scientology!
So what’s with the Anonymous wearing the Guy Fawkes masks? The answer is twofold: they do this not only to make a statement but also to protect themselves from the Scientologists who would attempt to ID them & label them as “suppressive persons” (SPs) and therefore target them for harassment. Believe me, even though I’ve never participated in an Anonymous event nor have I ever had a run-in with the CoS, from what I understand you do not want to be on that SP hit list. So if you’re going to participate in one of these events, protect yourself (and others) and conceal your identity.
Anonymous tends to get its message out via the Internet, specifically through using online video. For example, below are two Youtube videos: one of the first videos ever released by Anonymous back in January 2008…
… and a very recent video about the upcoming worldwide protests of the Church of Scientology on November 5th…
If you want more information regarding these protests, then check out the WhyWeProtest.net website. For more information on Scientology in general, it’s hard to find a better site than Xenu.net, also known as Operation Clambake. Spread the word.
The audio file is available at the Skeptic Zone podcast website; it’s their October 30th recording. Hat tip to Kylie Sturgess at Podblack Cat for passing this along to me
If you’ve never seen the entire video, I strongly encourage you to watch it all. In addition, if you really want to get a good look into real paranormal investigation, take some time to check out one of the best skeptical books on the topic: James Randi’s “Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions”
Last May, I blogged about a story on how the French government was pursuing a court case against the Church of Scientology for fraud. Well, today the verdict is in: guilty. And what was revealed during the course of the trial was very interesting…
A French court has convicted the Church of Scientology of fraud, but stopped short of banning the group from operating in France.
Two branches of the group’s operations and several of its leaders in France have been fined.
The case came after complaints from two women, one of whom said she was manipulated into paying more than 20,000 euros (£18,100) in the 1990s.
A Scientology spokesman told the BBC the verdict was “all bark and no bite”.
France regards Scientology as a sect, not a religion.
Prosecutors had asked for the group’s French operations to be dissolved and more heavily fined, but a legal loophole prevented any ban.
Instead, a Paris judge ordered the Church’s Celebrity Centre and a bookshop to pay a 600,000-euro fine.
Alain Rosenberg, the group’s head in France, was handed a two-year suspended jail sentence and fined 30,000 euros.
Three other leading members of the group were also fined.
I have to admit, given the Church of Scientology’s overly litigious nature and proclivity for targeting their critics as “fair game” for a number of aggressive strong-arm tactics, it is refreshing to see someone stand up so strongly to them. I suppose that more and more people are getting tired of the CoS cult and their quest for brainwashing & manipulating their members. But, you can expect the CoS to continue their loathsome practices for as long as they are able.
Despite the crudeness & vulgarity of their criticism, the South Park guys aren’t that far off the mark in pointing out the logical fallacy (basically, arguing from ignorance – a LOT of ignorance) committed by these lame-o doofuses who stumble around in the dark, scaring themselves for the cameras. For a more detailed critique of “ghost hunters” and their pseudoscience, see my earlier blog post on the subject.
Most recently, there was an embarassing batch of news coverage from a recent ABC Nightline investigation which featured a lot of things about the organization that the CoS wishes people didn’t know. Here’s a Youtube link to the Nightline story…
Worse yet, just in the last few days there was the defection of high-level Scientologist and Oscar-winning director Paul Haggis from the Church. And, from all appearances, he’s publicly digging up lots of dirt in the process; below is a blog post by Marty Rathbun, also an ex-Church member, which outlines the letter that Haggis sent to the Church announcing his plan to leave. I have reproduced the text of Haggis’s letter below in its entirety…
Living Waters, the evangelical Christian ministry of Ray Comfort (Banana Man) and Kirk Cameron (sitcom star of Growing Pains), is on a mission to distribute 100,000 copies of a reprinted version of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, with an introduction by Comfort attempting to refute Darwin’s theories. You can see Comfort’s explanation of the project on their website. Or, you can download and read the Introduction in PDF form.
, and Jen Myers.
