June 29th 2002
Do You
Believe? Science versus Seance - Spirit Photographs! - to get the ball rolling is a site brought
to 80's attention by
The Skeptic (a
highly recommended website and magazine). The
American Museum of Photography is showing an exhibition of
Spirit Photography 1868 - 1935. It is worth
a look if only to see the face of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on a blob of
ectoplasm dangling from a medium's nose! These pictures are fascinating and
in many cases unintentionally hilarious. Even at a time when the art and
science of photography were new it still surprises that so many fell for
these images. Well, if you are determined to believe in something facts or
common sense can have little sway. Of course some people are
still at it. Much more credible to 80's
rheumy eye are these
Tall Tales photos by William H. Martin.
July 7th 2002
Free Book Available Online! Is
Scientology a religion? From the current look of
the Scientology
home page it would appear that they are keener than ever to push
this idea. The letter "I" in the logo at the top of the page has mutated
into a cross. Below is a picture of a loving family who thank Scientology
for keeping them "happy and stable" and for
giving them "a strong moral and spiritual base."
(This is, no doubt, interesting news to
those who
portray the late L. Ron Hubbard's organisation as a
dangerous cult).
In fact the overall appearance of the page is reminiscent of various
christian websites - a clue perhaps, as to who they are targeting? Covering
all the bases, this same page promotes
Dianetics, a quack psychotherapy invented
by Hubbard, as a science. This is certainly not the view of
The
Skeptic's Dictionary which, in one withering page, demolishes
such a claim. And the free book? This is a biography of Hubbard by Russell Miller and is called "Bare-Faced
Messiah" kindly made available online by
Operation Clambake.
For a "warts and all" portrait of Hubbard this is highly recommended. Liar,
charlatan, scientist, fantasist, prophet? Read the book and find out! ( see
Time Travel Clams for more on Scientology)
July 13th 2002
Temple
Cure for Depression? Two recent articles
one from
New Scientist
and one from
InteliHealth report that at the temple of
Muthuswamy in South India, 31 people, diagnosed as suffering from various
mental disorders, were treated over a period of a month. The researchers
state that, according to what are termed "standard psychiatric scores", the
subjects showed improvement comparable to that achieved by modern drugs.
(New Scientist notes that the leader of the research team admits there were
no controls and a
double-blind study is needed.) Sundry medical claims are made and with the advent of the
Web many such claims reach a wider audience than ever before. Most people
would like certainty with regard to medical matters but science can offer no
such thing. The answer is to look for the best data and advice to make an
informed decision. An excellent resource for keeping abreast of some of the
more radical claims is
Quackwatch, a site operated by
Stephen Barrett, a retired psychiatrist. There is a huge amount
of information here, much more than a brief mention such as this can do
justice to. Sample headings include Questionable
Products, Services, and Theories, Questionable Advertisements and Nonrecommended Sources of Health Advice. So, if
you have a question about that
magnetic bracelet ,
chiropractic treatment or
aromatherapy take a look at Quackwatch. A
final observation from the late Douglas Adams "If it looks like a duck, and
quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we
have a small aquatic bird of the family anatidae on our hands."
July 20th 2002
To
Catch a Thief? - There is an old saying that you have to set a thief
to catch a thief. This has added meaning when investigating claims of the
paranormal. Scientists examining the universe by and large expect Nature to
be sometimes complex, even obscure, but not deliberately deceitful. This can
place them at a disadvantage when investigating claims of the ability, for
example, to bend spoons by mental power alone. This relatively trivial
conjuror's trick was sufficiently well done by
Uri Geller
to convince two scientists, Puthoff and Targ, that he was using paranormal
powers. Any of the items in a psychic's bag of tricks can be replicated by a
competent stage magician - therefore ANY investigation of such claims must
be able to call upon the advice and skill of such a magician. One of the
first debunking magicians was the great
Harry Houdini
- today's scourge of psychics and the like is
James
"The Amazing" Randi. Not only has he famously offered a
$1
million prize for proof of paranormal powers but he also operates
the James Randi
Educational Foundation. Its "aim is to
promote critical thinking by reaching out to the public and media with
reliable information about paranormal and supernatural ideas so widespread
in our society today." One vital, sometimes angry, sometimes amusing
and always informative part of this effort is
Randi's
Weekly Commentary, a not to be missed look at the world of the
paranormal and pseudoscience. Whether it is Free
Energy scams, medical quackery, astrology or Scientology,
Randi has something to say that is worth hearing. Bookmark the Commentary in
your favorites list to enjoy a weekly dose of waspish sanity.
July 27th 2002
Signs
of the Times - Another persistent modern myth is getting the
Hollywood treatment. After such edifying spectacles as
The Mothman
Prophecies,
The
Philadelphia Experiment , and
Communion here comes
Signs starring Mel Gibson with, wait for
it, crop circles! This at one time uniquely English phenomenon, now
worldwide, is featured in a plot about a small town preacher's (Gibson) test
of faith when a 500 foot crop circle appears on his farm. After the
historical inaccuracies of The Patriot and Braveheart this is a change of
pace (and inaccuracies) for Gibson and yet another chance for Hollywood to
try and make a buck from the public fascination with the paranormal. 80 has looked at circles before in
The Cereal Artists back in September 2000.
There was mentioned the great
Circlemakers site with its collection of pictures which convinced 80 that art rather than aliens is the prime
inspiration here - some of the designs are jaw-dropping (and all completely
artificial). Circlemakers makes
mention of the new movie (also check the
news page for much more) as does
CSICOP
(Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal)
unsurprisingly in a
less than complimentary fashion.
The
Skeptics Dictionary supplies its usual accurate summation of crop
circles. If you still want more,
Crop Circle Connector is a large site with
many images and many links to circle pages.
August
3rd 2002
Vampires and reality - Vampires are
still very much a part of popular culture even in the 21st century. The
success of author Anne Rice (Interview with the Vampire), the
Blade movies, and the ratings of
Buffy the Vampire Slayer show that this
particular myth still has strong appeal for a young audience. Originally it
is likely that the idea of the undead came about because of the difficulty
of being certain that someone has, in fact, died - even today we hear horror
stories of people waking in a morgue after being pronounced deceased. This
basically eastern European peasant folklore received a boost with the 19th
century romances by such as
Bram Stoker (Dracula)
and
Sheridan Le Fanu (Carmilla)
which not only ennobled the vampire but introduced a sexual element. When
movies arrived this facet became one of the reasons for the genre's
continuing popularity, as evidenced by
Universal Studio's pre-war movies and the
later
Hammer revivals. Now and again it is
reported that this old belief is not restricted to works of fiction - most
recently with a
shocking murder in a Welsh town. A young
man, 17 years old, has just been convicted for the murder of his elderly
neighbor, his apparent intent the acquisition of immortality by drinking her
blood and performing other rituals. In the man's home were found books and
other materials on vampires - although a lot of the media were more
interested in the fact he had
visited vampire websites. These certainly
exist in
great number, some of them claiming to cater to "real" vampires and are full of
information about things
vampiric - most of these are no sillier
than a hollow earth or angels site. Doubtless there will be a cry for such
sites to be shut down - the web as scapegoat is popular with certain
sections of the print media, although no one is likely to ban Stoker's
Dracula let alone touch a money and merchandise machine such as Buffy (apart
from the fundamentalist would-be censors). The sad and horrific events in
Llanfairpwll, Wales say nothing about vampires - which do not exist - but do
say a lot about that heady mixture of sin, sex, violence and immortality
that has intrigued, repelled and simultaneously attracted folk for at least
the last century and more. Sadly, once in a while, someone tries to bring
this legend to life - in this recent case resulting in no immortality, the
tragic and violent death of an elderly lady, and the imprisonment of a
deranged and gullible young man - and countless tabloid headlines.
August 10th 2002
Chemical Trailer Trash -
After the horrific events of September 11th 2001 one
of the first actions taken was to ground commercial flights across North
America for three days. This coincidentally allowed scientists to assess the
effects on climate of airplane vapor trails or contrails (as reported this
week in
New Scientist,
Scientific American and elsewhere).
Effectively, when a moving aircraft disturbs particles of ice or water
vapor, it causes a pressure reduction above the wing surfaces which, when
combined with water vapor in the engine exhaust gases, tends to condense,
leaving a visible trail of condensed water vapor. Given the right
atmospheric conditions these trails can form artificial
cirrus clouds. Now natural clouds of this
type, by absorbing heat from below and reflecting light from above, can
moderate the extremes of temperature to which planet Earth would otherwise
be subject. The absence of contrails for three days allowed a comparison
with earlier observations showing a quantifiable effect on temperatures
which suggests that contrails contribute to the moderating effect of natural
cirrus clouds on climate. All of which should be reassuring as it suggests
that, if anything, contrails are mildly beneficial (unlike, say,
fuel residues). Such a conclusion is
anathema to chemtrails fanatics - whose
websites are full of
dire warnings about how humankind is being
manipulated by chemicals deliberately and secretly injected into contrails.
(Chemicals plus contrails equals chemtrails - nothing like a snappy buzzword
for your threat when you are trying to scare the pants off people.) Who are
these chemtrails folk? A quick look at their pages reveal most of the usual
suspects - conspiracy theorists who are quick to link their imagined threat
to the "New
World Order", a high level "weather-
war", anti-global warming
climate adjustment, sinister US government
mind control
projects or
Chicken Little. Most of their sites are
adorned with
pictures of apparently perfectly ordinary
vapor trails - until you read the doom-laden captions. Such idiotic
scaremongering is in the main ludicrous but obviously finds enough believers
for the bandwagon to keep rolling. For more information see Past View -
Chemtrails Cydonuts Loons from November
2000 (and also
this from
New Mexicans for Science and Reason).
Many of the links cited by 80 in that piece are
now dead but any of those given above will substitute well enough - new
sites, same old claptrap.
August 17th 2002
The King is Dead - Long live the King!
When someone who has found a place in the hearts of the public dies
relatively young (or from mishap or violence or means other than just old
age) many people do not want to let go, having invested so much hope and
confidence. The wish that in a time of great need a hero of the past will
return to set things aright is a natural one. Just think of the legends that
surround various figures such as
King Arthur, "The Once and Future King"
asleep in a cave somewhere ready to waken should Britain be threatened,
Frederick Barbarossa, also asleep in a cave
awaiting the call to save his people,
Francis Drake whose
ghostly drum can be heard when dire times
are upon England, and the best known of all,
Jesus, with the promise of his "Second
Coming". The modern world too has its great, lost hero (perhaps
idol is more accurate with its overtones of an unhealthy fixation), so loved
that many cannot believe he is really dead - the King himself,
Elvis Presley. The number of websites
devoted to the
reporting and
cataloging of
sightings of Presley is large and seem to
have no
shortage of
material with which to work. These
sightings are reminiscent of the
Acts of the Apostles particularly the
meeting on the
Road to Emmaus - where two people meet,
talk and share a meal with a mysterious stranger. It is only after the
stranger's departure that the truth dawns. This story could almost be a
template for a great number of Elvis sightings which very likely spring from
the same needs. (A funny and to some offensive list of Jesus/Elvis
"similarities" can be found
here.) Presley died 16th August, 1977 and
there are many
news items commemorating the 25th
anniversary of his passing (aided by at least 10 different drugs in his
bloodstream according to the
autopsy.) It will be interesting to see if
this upsurge of media-driven interest will give rise to a parallel upsurge
in reported sightings. If 80 were rash enough
to place a bet this would be a pretty safe one. On the subject of wagers the
British "bookies",
William Hill have odds of 1000 to 1 that
Presley is still alive somewhere. If he is, perhaps he has joined the line
shuffling past the grave in a candle-light vigil at his Graceland home,
which is also graced by the presence of his former wife
Priscilla (with E-meter) and
daughter
Lisa Marie
(with vapid look), stalwart Scientologists both. 80
will find more entertainment elsewhere watching Elvis impersonators,
particularly the
Chinese ones
and also some of
these guys.
August 24th 2002
The Pinocchio Error - Imagine how
useful it would be to have a reliable way of knowing if someone is telling
the truth. The children's fantasy,
Pinocchio, written by
Carlo Collodi, was first published in book
form in 1883. Even those who only know the story through the somewhat
anodyne Disney movie will remember the little wooden puppet that so
desperately wanted to be a real boy, and also what happened when he was
"economical with the truth" - his nose grew, and kept getting longer with
each subsequent lie. Poor Pinocchio's nose was a sure and reliable indicator
of his veracity - plainly visible for all to see. What a boon to crime
detection and national security if a real world equivalent of the little
puppet's nose could be found. (Preferably not in the form of a lengthening
proboscis as 80 can imagine many politicians would be unable to raise their
heads, bowed down by nasal weight.) But hold it, you say, we do have such a
thing - the
polygraph, more commonly known as a lie
detector. Yes, the polygraph exists and is used by some US government
agencies investigating
spy allegations,
anthrax mailings and the like. Now the UK
government is looking at their use in investigating the
lapse rate of pedophiles after punishment/treatment. The worrying
thing is that many very reliable sources can find no merit in the device at
all (this is a comprehensive
website dedicated to polygraph debunking,
which, although somewhat strident, presents a good case). In fact it is very
likely to be
dangerous by engendering a false sense of
security in the authorities or by leading to false imprisonment of a
suspect. Many scientific
organizations have expressed
serious misgivings. The device works by
measuring changes in a subject's heartbeat rate, blood pressure, and skin
resistivity (affected by sweating). Initially questions are asked to which
the answers are already known to "calibrate" the device before the
investigative questions start. For more detail see
here.
The problem is that many other things can cause a change in the observed
reactions other than lying - also a case can be made that a pathological
liar may not even be aware of telling a falsehood anyway. A further
complication is the possibility of a subjective element in interpreting the
results (in fact this process has been described as pseudoscientific and
more akin to an astrological reading). On these grounds alone the lie
detector should be legally inadmissable. An added problem is that some
private companies are using the device with far less scrutiny of how it is
applied than even governments manage. Many of the concerns mentioned above
and others are detailed
here and
here. The bottom line is that too many
sections of society are still enamored of a quick technological fix for
problems and the polygraph fits the bill - even if it doesn't work.
August 31st 2002
What's New Pussycat? - The tail end of
the summer is known as the "silly season" for odd, daft or whimsical stories
in the media. So, apparently right on cue, the BBC are reporting
increased sightings of "big cats" in the
British countryside - and by big they mean
something considerably larger than your pet
tabby. This is a subject that has some parallels in the world of UFOs, with
unsubstantiated sightings surfacing intermittently and dutifully trotted out
by the media on slack news days. The only evidence, so far, seems to be a
few photographs and
eye-witness accounts. The pictures, lacking
a definable scale, are practically useless for estimating the size of the
"beasts" shown - cats, unlike say, dogs, have a very similar body shape
whether they are a pussy or a puma. The eye-witness accounts, many of which
are completely sincere, rely upon fleeting views, often at great distance by
non-experts. This is not to belittle the "witnesses" only to say such
accounts are not actually useful as evidence, no matter how sure folk were
of what they saw. Another UFO similarity is the existence of an organization
devoted to such sightings, the
British Big Cat Society (BBCS) which states
"The BBCS has been formed to scientifically identify,
quantify, protect and catalogue the Big Cats that freely roam the British
countryside." An admirable aim, but one that seems to already accept
the existence of these cats which surely does not say much for the group's
objectivity. Many countries have odd creatures that crop up now and again -
generally the result of the loss or deliberate release of someone's
exotic pet - but it seems unlikely as an explanation for the
BBCS's claim that " it has received more than 800
reports of animals including pumas, black panthers, leopards and so-called
Fen tigers over the past 12 months." True, the society acknowledges
many of these are likely domestic cats but they also claim to have "firm
evidence" that the majority are real, evidence which does not seem
convincing enough for local authorities and the police. Again the similarity
to the UFO world is striking. This cat business is, in some ways, a subset
of the non-science of
cryptozoology, a subject 80 has looked at
before (see
Crypto Bamboo Movies - Crouching God Bear Hidden Bunyip). This site,
Cryptozoology Jungle is devoted to the
subject and has a page dedicated to the
British "big cats". 80 found it
particularly fitting that the background sound to the site's homepage is
Johnny Weissmuller's Tarzan cry - famously a fake-up of Weissmuller's own
voice and a mixture of several other animals (if you want to visualize such
an animal do look at
this!). So what IS new, pussycat? On the
face of the evidence offered - nothing much.
September
6th 2002
Do Atheist have Morals?
Back in 1987, responding to a reporter, then US president
George Bush Snr said " No, I don't know that atheists
should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots."
(Richard
Dawkins has pointed out in
Free
Inquiry that to see how outrageous this is, try substituting
'Jews' for 'atheists'.) Bush's statement is part and parcel of an often held
view that one has to be a believer to be a moral person. The christian, for
example, will claim that the ten commandments are essential to lead a good
life - but threats of a vengeful god or eternal damnation should not be
necessary to coerce good behavior. Also if one takes one's moral lead from
the bible "Thou shalt not kill" is fine but how
about "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" -
a cause of torture and death for many women in the past? How about "Ye
shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that
defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work
therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people." Tough on
any who work Sundays, does this include fire, police and ambulance workers?
"For every one that curseth his father or his mother
shall be surely put to death" should help resolve family rows and is
certainly more permanent than being grounded. Yet if you accept the bible as
holy writ who gave you permission to pick and choose which laws and
commandments to obey? (For more on this see past View-
Baneful Biblical Basis?) The atheist is in
no such straitjacket but can establish moral precepts based upon reason.
Richard Carrier, featured in the next View
from Number 80, has a
number of pieces on the web regarding
morality and an atheist world view - a kind of primer,
What is Atheism All About? and
Our Meaning in Life are two, the latter is particularly moving
and and is recommended reading - for believers as much as anyone. A
third essay from Carrier attempts to
formulate in three sentences the values of reason and freethought espoused
by most atheists. Inquiry and doubt are essential
checks against deception, self deception, and error. Logic and the
scientific method is the only way the world can arrive at an agreement on
the truth about anything. It is better to be good to each other and to build
on what we all agree to be true, than to insist that we all think alike.
Precepts such as these should be compared to say,
Joshuah's genocidal campaign in the bible
watched with gleeful approval by the almighty and then you can decide which
has a place in our world. On Saturday, November 2nd there will be a march on
Washington by
"Godless Americans" a large and mainly
ignored citizenry -
amazingly estimated at 13% of the
population, perhaps 30,000,000 people, more than many religious groups. This
will be a chance for such folk to declare their presence, to have a voice in
a country whose current administration seems determined to undermine the
Constitutional separation of church and state. On that November day it would
be instructive for George Bush Snr to look at the folk thronging National
Mall and see just many good citizens he tried to disenfranchise with his
foolish statement. (The above may seem specific to the
USA but take a look at your own country -
for instance.)
September 13th 2002
Tire Tracks To Trash Twerps? - It was reported in the news this week that a La Jolla, California
based company TransOrbital Inc. has succeeded in
obtaining approval from the US authorities
to photograph, explore, and eventually land on the Moon. Due for launch in
2003, the
Trailblazer mission is designed to enter
lunar orbit and after 90 days of high-resolution imaging deposit a time
capsule on the surface.This imaging will consist of pictures and video
capable of 1 meter resolution. Which leads to an interesting possibilty
beyond the obvious exploratory and scientific ones. At the
original announcement of Trailblazer back
in October 1999, Gregory Nemitz of TransOrbital said "We
expect to be able to see the tire tracks from the Apollo-era rovers."
Not only tire tracks but also the descent stages of the Lunar Modules and
abandoned Lunar Rovers and assorted scientific equipment that litter the
Apollo landing sites will be visible. 80 wonders how this will sit with the
"Moon landings were a hoax" twerps who sadly
still abound (see Past View -
Hollow Fox Abduction). Despite the best
efforts of such sites as Phil Plait's excellent
Bad Astronomy and NASA's
The Great Moon Hoax people such as
Bill
Kaysing ,
David Percy and
Bart Sibrel
still peddle their ill-informed, deeply sad little theories about how the
Moon missions never happened and still find many folk ignorant and/or
dupable enough to give them credence. (An interesting and enjoyably caustic
survey of Kaysing, Percy and others is
here, part of
a larger and
very good site by
redzero - recommended.) The suggestion that men of the caliber of
astronauts
Pete Conrad,
John Young and
Neil Armstrong ,to name just three, took
part in such a deception and then maintained a lie for over 30 years is not
only deeply offensive to them, but also to the memory of those who lost
their lives in the drive to reach the moon, including the crew of
Apollo 1. The reaction of
Buzz Aldrin veteran Gemini and Apollo astronaut and tireless space advocate,
reported here, to being accosted by a Moon
Hoax advocate, if true, is entirely understandable to 80. So, is it likely
that Trailblazer's images of Apollo artifacts will change the minds of
dedicated Moon Landing conspiracy nuts? Not these twerps.
Update -
TransOrbital have arranged for
Russian Dnepr rockets to launch their lunar
satellites in 2003, according to
SpaceDaily.
September 20th 2002
Pyramid
Selling - No building has captured the imagination over the centuries
like the
Great Pyramid at Giza. Many theories have
been spun as to its purpose from the relatively mundane idea that it is a
tomb, to Pharoah's biblical granaries, a power plant or even a giant pump (see Past Views -
Birthday Triangle Pyramid and
Don't Mention Atlantis). Recently the
Pyramid was subjected to further investigation by robot. Masterminded by the
publicity savvy
Dr. Zahi Hawass, director of Egypt's
Supreme Council of Antiquities, and shown live on TV, the plan was for a
small robot explorer to investigate a narrow shaft that opens into the
so-called
Queen's Chamber. This followed on from
earlier robotic exploration by German
Rudolf Gantenbrink in 1993. This was
stymied by a limestone block apparently wedged into the shaft. The latest
robot was to was to drill through the block and insert an optic fiber to
reveal what lay beyond. Well hyped beforehand, there was much speculation as
to what would would be found - most of it from the loonier side of pyramid
research. The BBC, in a surprising lapse, turned to
Robert
Bauval, of Orion Mystery fame, for his opinions (perhaps all the
real egyptologists were busy that day). Elsewhere on the web others had
their say, plugging their own ideas about the real purpose of the pyramid.
One such is
Christopher Dunn who predicted that the
findings will confirm his view of the pyramid as a giant power plant, a
theory arrived at by his "engineering analysis".
Crichton Edward McGregor Miller believes
the shafts hold artifacts confirming the pyramid as a sort of protractor, "....
an advanced mathematical device, capable of astronomy, navigation and
surveying."
Ann Walker, "psychic" and co-founder of the
White Arrow Spiritualist Church (named for her spirit guide) has
travelled (in spirit, naturally) beyond the limestone plug and has made
detailed drawings and descriptions of what
lies there including an antechamber with 4 feet high solid gold falcons and,
in a further chamber, a golden statue of a man. Back in the real world, what
did the robot find behind the stone "door" blocking the shaft?
Another stone door, which, it seems, no one
had predicted. So wait for the
next expedition, more hype and more
speculation - this one could run and run.............
September 27th 2002
Velocirapture - a fast track to heaven? It would seem that there is a large number of folk
who can't wait for the end of the world. They have visions of the apocalypse
where they, and anyone else they designate as "chosen" will be snatched away
before the rest of the world's population is consigned to hell. Many of the
loonier christian groups are convinced that the
Last Times are upon us and fill websites
with signs and portents all with the appropriate biblical (invariably the
King James Version) quotations to back them up. That the
believers at the time of the writing of the Christian New Testament thought
they were living in the Last Times either means they got it wrong or the
Last Times should be renamed the Long Times, having lasted over two
millennia. In case you are worried you don't have to keep your own checklist
countdown to doomsday, when the chosen will fly up through the air (raptured)
to meet the Messiah, for handily the
Rapture Index does this for you. These industrious folk assign
numbers to various categories such as how many
False Christs are around,
Beast Government (whether the Beast is
elephant or donkey is not clear),
Wild Weather etc. and arrive at a rating - currently 171 on the "prophetic
speedometer" and the advice is fasten your seatbelts. But hey, all is
not doom and gloom - you can still make a buck or two out of this - why not
sell Rapture
Wear and keep in with Mammon before Armageddon? Another good
market is for Survivalist type
provisions and equipment - for the Last
Times or perhaps if you miss the bus (too busy sinning?) and need to survive
in a post- apocalypse world. Surely you say there will be nothing left? But
there will be those
Left Behind - who incidentally provide
another moneyspinner in the here and now in the form of a series of fantasy
novels written by an evangelist,Tim
LaHaye (whose
website has an impressive first page - an
excellent Last Days primer - and to 80 unintentionally hilarious) and
Jerry Jenkins,
an author who amongst many other accomplishments assisted Billy Graham with
his memoirs. Sadly 80 has yet to find time in a punishing schedule to read
these books but a swift perusal leads to the conclusion that Clancy or King
need not fear the competition. (Here are a trio of
interesting
reviews
contrasting with the mainly breathless
adulation on the Amazon site.) No literary giants, the Left Behind pair at
least know a good opportunity when they see one with a Kids Series, CD
edition, and a Visual Guide with Fold-out Prophecy Chart all pulling in the
filthy lucre. Yes, the doomsday business is doing well and is likely to do
so for a long time yet - after all it has only been 2000 years so
far................................
(afterthought - does Left
Behind plus Right Behind make a Complete Ass?)
October 4th 2002
Shrouded
in Mystery - many thought the Turin Shroud had been debunked beyond
saving but this is far from the truth.To the faithful and the gullible this
medieval relic is supposed to be the burial shroud of none other than Jesus
Christ miraculously imprinted with his bodily likeness, post-crucifixion
wounds and all. Now the Shroud has appeared in the news
once more. Modern scientific carbon dating
of the cloth points to a date in the middle ages, some 650 years old. This
dating has since been challenged by believers although their claims of
contamination of the cloth affecting the dating process do not bear up under
scrutiny. Now an acknowledged expert on ancient textiles has joined the
fray, Mechthild Flury-Lemberg, following her examination of the shroud when
she carried out preservation work this summer. Based on
her examination, which included the
normally unseen back of the cloth she stated that it could be almost 2,000
years old. She related the style of weaving and sewing to known examples
from the 1st century, from
Masada. Though one has to wonder a little
at Flury-Lemberg's scientific objectivity in the light of further remarks. "However,
this cloth left a radiant expression on me," Flury-Lemberg told UPI.
She made it clear she was not a Roman Catholic but a Lutheran, "but
this shroud is not just a Catholic relic but a treasure of all Christendom."
Sounds like objectivity just flew out of the window - a point the UPI
article quoted seemed to miss entirely, it goes on to say "She said
regardless of this impression, she has had to work on the Shroud
dispassionately "like a surgeon operating on his own
wife."" Very reassuring, particularly when the article goes on to
quote Karlheinz Dietz of Wuerzburg University in Germany who trots out what
is little more than hand waving and apparent wishful thinking. "If
you believe that the cloth hails from the Middle Ages then you must also
believe that a man looking exactly like Jesus ... was whipped, crowned with
thorns, crucified and then placed on linen imported from the Middle East and
sprinkled with aloe and myrrh, and that on top of all he had invented
monumental photography." Someone should point out to Dietz that it is
not a matter of what "you believe" , it is a matter of objectively
considered physical evidence Also what does "looking exactly like Jesus"
mean? Has Dietz a photograph? (Other than the image on the shroud itself of
course). A more sober and distanced view of the shroud and the continuing
controversy concerning its age and authenticity is available from the ever
informative Skeptic's Dictionary, which acts as a necessary counterpoint to
the credulity and wishful thinking that surrounds holy relics of all kinds.
But just consider if the shroud were, unlikely as it seems, dated to the 1st
century CE - what does that say about the existence of a historical Jesus
and claims of his divinity? Absolutely nothing. There is a lot in the press
recently about conflicts between science and religion - and when religion
comes up with claims about a physical artifact that can be examined, as
opposed to more nebulous claims of a spiritual nature, then look out - for
this is where the late Steven Jay Gould's "non-overlapping
magisteria" overlap and it is religion that will end up
diminished by the encounter.
(This item has been amended
in the light of feedback received)
October 11th 2002
Saints -
who needs them? Are they a part of the modern world or some ancient
hangover, no longer relevant? Beatification and canonization seem these days
to be the preserve of the Roman Catholic church rather than other christian
denominations some of which are
hostile to the
idea. The process was exercised recently in the case of
Jose Maria Escriva de Balaguer, a Spanish
Roman Catholic priest and founder of the
Opus Dei movement (often seen as a
sinister organization).
Escriva was beatified (declared blessed) back in 1992 but it is the final
stage of canonization that makes a full saint. For this, evidence is
required, although the kind of evidence is unlikely to be of a type
acceptable in a court of law or scientific investigation. So what are the
requirements for the full canonization? This is dealt with in exhaustive
(very) detail by the
Catholic Encyclopedia and more accessibly
here but the one thing that attracts
everyone's attention is the miracles.
This is a neat encapsulation "Miracles:
observable events or effects which — because they cannot be explained by the
ordinary laws of nature — are attributed to direct action of God. Proof of
one miracle is required for beatification; proof of a second miracle is
required for canonization." These miracles seem to be of an
exclusively medical nature, as the days of water walking or changing water
into wine (a surprisingly trivial miracle) are apparently no longer with us
(or because such tricks are too easily tested by the likes of
James Randi). Here many may see a problem - suppose that you have
an illness that has not responded to medical treatment. After praying for
help from the prospective saint to intercede with God to cure you, you are
suddenly well. However, many illnesses and diseases can run their course
dealt with by the immune system. Perhaps the earlier medical treatment had a
delayed action effect upon the condition. Or the condition was misdiagnosed
in the first place. Or the hypothetical soul of a dead person put in a word
with God. (An interesting point is why would God need to have a middle man
or woman ask for help on your behalf - with omniscience it would seem a
little redundant.) Applying
Occam's Razor, which of these four
explanations is the most likely? The latest candidate for sainthood is
Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who did
much work with the poor in crowded slum conditions. (It is a fair question
to ask that if the Roman Catholic church had stopped its opposition to
contraception would there have been quite so many in need of Teresa's
ministrations?) Earlier this month
it was announced that the Vatican has
approved a miracle attributed to Teresa - a 30-year-old Indian woman, Monica
Besra, was allegedly healed of stomach cancer after praying to the nun. This
was declared by Vatican officials as "scientifically
inexplicable" and will likely lead to her beatification. Ultimately
one has to step back into the real world and ask, does any of this really
matter? It merely seems to be a mechanism to create what the ancients termed
demigods, and who believes in them these days? Mmmm, maybe the Parish Church
of Saint Hercules does have a certain ring about it ...................
(For those seeking advice as to how to
become a saint this
page is invaluable, funny and suitably
irreverent.)
October 18th 2002
Hollow
Promises - What have
Edmund Halley, he of comet fame,
Edgar Rice Burroughs, he of Tarzan fame, and a British Lord (not
Greystoke!) in common with each other and a current item of scientific news?
The answer is something that 80 has looked at briefly before, the Earth's
core and the Hollow Earth theory (Past View -
Hollow Fox Abduction). This belief has been
around a long while and mounting scientific evidence over the centuries of
the impossibility of a vast inhabited void within our planet has diminished
the fervor of believers not one bit - no surprises there then....... Halley
is credited by many as the originator of the idea, although rather than one
large hollow he proposed the idea of four spheres nested within each other.
Others happily adapted this over the years adding their own embellishments
as described at the intriguingly named
UnMuseum.
The idea was certainly current enough to be taken up in their fiction by
Jules Verne and Edgar Rice Burroughs, who
placed a lost civilization there, in the land of
Pellucidar. By the time of Burroughs it was obvious that the
temperature and pressure prevailing within the Earth ruled out such a place
but then ERB was never noted for scientific accuracy. Scientific accuracy
also does not trouble the creators of the
many websites on the
subject overmuch but amongst some of them a
sort of concensus seems to have been reached that the world beneath our feet
is the source of various things, lost civilizations, Nazi enclaves, and most
particularly, UFOs. Which brings us to the late Lord Clancarty, otherwise
known as Brinsley le Poer Trench, author of several books on flying saucers
and the instigator of a
debate in the House of Lords on that very
subject. His contribution to Hollow Earth studies is
acknowledged by Dennis Crenshaw in his well
laid out Hollow Earth Insider website. Now recent scientific
investigations have revealed
new information about the Earth's core,
although the interpretation of the result is a matter of dispute.
Researchers, analyzing data from some 300,000 seismic events, claim to have
evidence of a core within a core, perhaps
shedding
new light on our planet's formation. A
suggestion has been made that this innermost core is the original seed
around which the Earth accreted although there are other less exciting
conclusions that can be drawn, such as a change in density rather than a
discrete core within a core. One thing about these recent discoveries is
that they in no way alter the fact that the temperatures and pressure at
such depths comprehensively debunk a Hollow Earth - which in turn will do
little to dampen the enthusiasm of fervent Hollow Earthers - which seems
more a matter of faith than science. To quote Professor Guy Masters, from
the Scripps Institute of Oceanography in San Diego, "
The core is just so strange that it seems to catch people's attention."
Stop Press - Here is
new information on studies of the Earth's
core and magnetic field perhaps heralding a "pole
reversal". - a subject that gives rise to
much
concern for some and which 80 intends to look at in a future
View.
October 25th 2002
What the
hell are you afraid of? This is a Halloween question addressed to
those Christian Fundamentalists who seem terrified of the supposed evil
effects of this old festival. The name Halloween itself is a contraction of
All Hallow Even, that is the eve before the Christian holy day on November
1st called
All Saints Day. It is also, and this is
what gives some folk the willies, the last night of the year in the
old
Celtic calendar, claimed by so-called modern witches as one of
their celebratory days. These devotees of "Wicca"
are generally as ill-informed and superstitious as their Christian bretheren
(although in the main lacking their self righteousness). Mostly they are
followers of a comparatively recent revival in nature worship who claim an
unsubstantiated link with the old Celtic religions, about which little is
known. To the Christian Fundamentalists
Halloween is condemned because like their
early forebears they view any remnant, however tenuous, of pagan beliefs and
practises as the work of the Devil, as are any other religions and
denominations other than their own narrow interpretation. This accords
nicely with their childish world view divided into Good (us) and Evil
(everybody else). There are a large number of
websites run by
concerned Christians about the
dangers of Halloween and the evil
Satan-worshipping implications of what these days is a
bit of fun. Nauseatingly
over-commercialized like so much in our culture but just fun, no more no
less. The kind of mind set that sees a threat in such a thing is more at
home in the medieval world rather than the multicultural reality in which we
find ourselves. Yes, the world is a dangerous place, with many dangerous
people in it, without introducing supernatural bogeymen to scare children
(and childlike adults) half to death. In the real world we have terrorism,
global pollution, child abuse, starvation and all manner of cruelty between
people and blaming it all on some evil spirit does nothing to fight such
things. Many groups suggest using Halloween as a reason to
go around
your neighborhood and spread the word of the Gospels - although
80 finds the stream of diminutive, scarily-dressed trick-or-treaters far
less of a doorstep annoyance than some earnest evangelists desperate to
share their delusions. What these people are afraid of is the demons and
evil spirits they have conjured up all by themselves. To quote the late
Rod Serling, of
Twilight
Zone fame, who managed to scare the pants off a good few people
himself, "There is nothing in the dark that isn't
there when the lights are on."
additional - and it's
not just the christians who object to
Halloween
November 1st 2002
Get Your
Scam Patented! Recent budget cuts in several countries have led to
less than stringent scrutiny of patent applications particularly those that
claim to produce more power than is put in - so-called "over
unity" devices but better known to the skeptical as
perpetual motion machines. Whilst many a
lighthearted piece can be written about
wacky patents those that put forward these
over unity devices and the like are wonderful news for the conmen who make a
rich living duping folk with their
free energy scams and apparently
more respectable businesses peddling
pseudoscientific gobbledegook which does not bear
close examination. Also see the excellent
What's New
for
more on this.
A country that has come under the spotlight recently is Indonesia after the
appalling terrorist attack in Bali. In an otherwise good
piece from the BBC about religion in
Indonesia, emphasizing the number of religions and their "tolerant nature" -
80 found one paragraph disturbing reading although it obviously did not
bother the reporter. "The founding principles of
Indonesia, the Pancasila, include a belief in God. But beyond this,
religious tolerance is seen as the cornerstone of relations between
different faiths - even though almost 90% of Indonesians are Muslim.
Moderation is therefore built into the country's constitutional framework."
Moderation yes, but apparently only for believers in God, according to these
principles. If the recent atrocity is what can be done to fellow believers
then 80 thinks any atheists should give the country a very wide berth
indeed. (Christian victims of earlier bomb attacks would also view these
words with a somewhat jaundiced eye.)
In an echo of an early
Robert Heinlein (?) short story where a
fiercely anti-space politician changes his views when he is told the
treatment for his heart condition is available only in freefall in Earth
orbit Nancy Reagan is now said to be
privately lobbying for
stemcell research. It is believed such
research could benefit Alzheimer sufferers such as her husband. How this
will sit with the current
administration's attitude to the subject
remains to be seen as Mrs Reagan is held with great regard in such circles.
Update -the
Washington Post notes the US administration
has redefined human embryos as "human subjects" in what is seen as victory
for those campaigning for greater rights for the unborn. This would appear
to be a religiously rather than scientifically driven move which may have
far-reaching implications in many medical fields including fertility clinics
and particularly stemcell research. This redefinition seems to blur any
distinction that may be made between
embryos and
fetuses.
November 8th 2002
Box of
Hot Air? - Recently there
came to a light in a private collection an
ossuary,
or "bone box", which has
caught the attention not only of "biblical"
archaeologists but the general public. The limestone box, dated from between
the 1st century
BCE and 70
CE,
is of a type used to contain the bones of the deceased after the flesh had
rotted away. What made the item newsworthy was the
Aramaic inscription it bears, given in most
reports as "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus". A more accurate
rendition would be "Ya'akov bar Yosef ah.uy de-Yeshu'a" or "Ya'akov son of
Yosef, brother of Yeshu'a" -
all common names at the time and not
necessarily connected with the characters mentioned in the New Testament.
The popular translation has been enough to
spark speculation about whether this box
can be taken as evidence of a historical Jesus. Many commentators are quoted
as saying that James and Jesus were real people, their reality being
attested elswhere, outside the New Testament. Whilst this may be true of
James, in early and not just late
documents, it is not true of Jesus. The only reference of a supposedly early
date by
Josephus, a Jewish historian and apologist,
is
suspect and most likely a later Christian
addition to the text. The earliest Christian writings, the
letters of Paul, predate the first Gospel,
Mark, by some decades. In his letters Paul refers to James as the "brother
of the Lord" and met with him - in fact it appears they had a
somewhat
rancorous relationship. The Jesus that Paul
refers to seems to be of a different order, more some sort of spiritual
being rather than the itinerant preacher painted by the
Synoptic Gospels. (Bear in mind the "Apostle to the Gentiles"
never met Jesus in the flesh but only in a vision. Also the reference to
James as "brother of the Lord" may not necessarily imply a blood
relationship.) In fact a very good case can be made for there having been no
historical Jesus at all, as has been convincingly argued at Earl Doherty's
excellent
Jesus Puzzle website. So where does this
leave the ossuary and its inscription? Given these names were of no special
significance at the time the only unusual aspect seems to be the mention of
the deceased's brother - it is difficult to draw any conclusions (perhaps
this Yeshu'a/Jesus merely paid for the tomb and rated a mention on those
grounds). At least it gives the
theologians (surely one of the most useless
occupations humans have dreamed up) a chance to argue pointlessly about
Jesus' supposed relationship with both Joseph and James. A good example is
that of
Roman Catholics, trying to perpetuate the
frankly loony dogma of
Mary as ever virgin, even after her giving
birth. To them, James, and other
brothers and sisters referred to in the
Gospels must be either from a previous but unrecorded marriage of Joseph, or
else the siblings were in fact cousins.
Amazingly it now appears that such an
interesting artifact was inadequately packed when sent for its first public
viewing and is now
cracked - although not as cracked, 80 would
suggest, as those that believe this ossuary is evidence for a historical
Jesus, let alone a supernatural being of any kind.
November 15th 2002
Sites
for Sore Eyes - We humans are very much creatures of habit and even
with a relatively new technology such as the World Wide Web and the surfing
thereof patterns of regular behavior soon develop. There are certain web
sites that act as a welcome counterbalance to the flood of nonsense coming
from the TV news and tabloid (read gutter) press. Some are updated weekly,
some monthly and some not nearly often enough. The first ones are
New Scientist
and Scientific
American. Inevitably in the reporting of current news items there
is some duplication but not to the point of redundancy. For anyone wanting
to keep reasonably informed on scientific developments both can be
recommended. Scientific American does get one demerit - no one likes pop-up
ads - but then gains a point for Michael Shermer's monthly Skeptic article -
this month intriguingly titled "The
Captain Kirk Principle". For more on Shermer's activities visit
Skeptic.com
and sign up for his email newsletter, E-Skeptic.
Bob Park's online newsletter
What's New appears weekly on
The American
Physical Society's site although there is a typical Parkian
disclaimer on the page - "Opinions are the author's
and are not necessarily shared by the American Physical Society ....... but
they should be." Park takes no prisoners, particularly when dealing
with what he terms "Voodoo
Science" - highly recommended.
Another item on a seven day schedule which 80 has mentioned before and
doubtless will again is James "The Amazing" Randi's
Weekly
Commentary on the
James Randi Educational Foundation site.
Randi is not one to suffer fools and scam merchants gladly and 80 has
previously described him as waspish but his
Commentaries are unmissable, covering a great range of topics
with much input from his readers. Excellent stuff.
Also well worth a regular look is the
Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims
of the Paranormal's pages which features items of current news
and affairs. Currently in the
Doubt and About section is a piece by Chris
Mooney, "Harry
Potter and the Chamber of Skeptics". (Because the plot of the
current Potter movie is discussed there are blacked out Spoiler sections in
the text but these can be dispelled by a magic wand that appears in lieu of
your mouse cursor!) The whole piece is a spirited defense of Rowling's books
against those who despair of the current craze for fantasy fiction.
Recommended.
Update - a while ago the Weekly Glance in "To
Catch a Thief?" (July 20th) pointed out how effective a good
stage magician is at seeing through trickery which has suckered many a
trusting scientist (spoonbending anyone?). The above mentioned Randi is a
very good example of such a magician and 80 thinks he may well approve of a
new web-enabled experiment open to all. Just cut along to
Nature to participate in
Richard Wiseman's online poll on the
detection of deception - can you tell the truth from the lies?
November 22nd 2002
The
Miracle of St Rorschach - Human beings are pretty good at spotting
patterns on the basis of very little coherent visual input. Whether the
pattern is real or not is another matter. It is easy to imagine this ability
could be of great use in certain circumstances. If one of our distant
ancestors saw a dappled outline in the bushes and resolved it into a lurking
leopard then it would make sense to give those bushes a wide berth. If it
was only sunlight on the leaves and not a predator, erring on the cautious
side would seem to be a safe evolutionary bet. Much better to avoid a
hundred bushes in such a situation than to become prey just once. This
ability to make something distinct out of what may be random effects of
colors, light and shade rejoices in the name
pareidolia (here is more
detail).
It can have some odd effects in our everyday world, far removed from ancient
game trails, particularly when combined with religious fervor, gullibility,
or a wish to believe. The latest example to hit the headlines recently is
the "miracle
chapati" of Bangalore, India. A woman saw the burn marks on the
surface of a freshly-baked chapati (unleavened bread) as the face of Jesus.
She managed to convince others of this miracle - the bread is now in a glass
case and church officials claim nearly 20,000 people have paid homage to it.
(Certainly a very handy crowd-puller for the
Catholic Charismatics who are displaying
the thing.) It seems the Creator of the Cosmos has a fondness for appearing
on foodstuffs, most famously tortillas in various places and at least one of
these too has been
enshrined. But if God is into miraculous
comestibles the Virgin Mary does windows - as evidenced by her
glassy manifestation in Clearwater, Florida. This singularly
unconvincing apparition was visited by thousands of the devout, incidentally
making a few bucks for local entrepreneurs selling Virgin Mary T-shirts.
Lest you think such tomfoolery is exclusively Catholic, or even Christian
here is a page detailing similar "miracles"
that have been witnessed by Muslims such as the tomato that, when sliced in
half, revealed a message from God in Arabic (naturally). Interestingly these
miracles too have a strong food connection, involving a melon and eggs and
beans. Again, lest you think these delusions are the special preserve of the
religious what about the so-called
Face on Mars? This and the other imaginary
"artifacts" dotting the
Cydonian landscape are again the result of
pareidolia.(see Past View -
Aliens about Face) Psychologists have even
tried to use this effect in an analytic procedure, the famous
Rorschach
Inkblot Test, although there is little or no evidence of its
effectiveness.
It would seem to this cynical observer that the only modern benefits of this
pattern recognition effect is not for the beholders so much as for those
cashing in on the naive and susceptible by waving a collection box under
their noses, selling T-shirts or
peddling Mars conspiracies.
November 29th 2002
In God's
Name? - If you click on the banner at the top of this page you can
then sign a
petition organized by
Amnesty International to protest at the barbaric sentence of
stoning to death of a young woman in
Nigeria according to so-called
sharia law. Nigeria has also been witness to the most
violent rioting over the last week
triggered by an alleged insult to Islam by a journalist reporting on the now
aborted Miss World competition. Now the northern Nigerian state of Zamfara
has endorsed an Islamic judgement calling on Muslims to
kill the fashion writer who wrote the
offending article. This is part of an increasing trend of intolerance from
Islamic fundamentalists by no means
limited to northern Nigeria, as noted
here (registration may be required) by one
who knows a thing or two about fatwas - Salman Rushdie. One thing puzzles 80
- if you believe god is the supreme ruler and creator of the universe and
all living things why would he need you commit murder in his name?
On a much lighter note it looks like Disney have some explaining to do -
Mickey Mouse's first appearance was not, as we all thought, in the animated
short Steamboat Willie in 1928 but rather in a
small church, St Christopher's, in
Carinthia, Austria, in about 1300. One commentator has tried to pass off a
recently discovered fresco as possibly a "beaver or a
weasel" - if so it is a beaver or a weasel wearing a Mickey Mouse
costume. Given Disney's fierce defense of what they regard as any
infringement of their trademark characters perhaps they in turn can expect a
letter from the church's lawyers.
Recently in the news was pop singer Michael Jackson. The
strangely metamorphosed star was the center
of a row when he
apparently dangled his baby son, Prince
Michael II, out of a third floor window. Later Jackson explained he was
overcome by "the excitement of the moment" at
seeing his fans flocking below. Never one to miss getting into the news was
Jackson's friend spoonbender Uri Geller who had this to say- "I
think it was a silly thing to do. He probably did it because he was
overwhelmed emotionally by the fans." But Geller had suspected the
baby was a fake, saying he (Jackson) was "too
protective" of his children to do something like this. Suspected the
baby was a fake? Surely his psychic powers should have told him for sure one
way or the other?
It is dead but it won't lie down - the
Roswell
saucer crash makes the news again. Apparently a team of
archaeologists
have been investigating the crash site. Who
bankrolled this waste of time? The
SCI FI Channel of course, who have a
special coming out on the Roswell bunkum which they say has new evidence and
a "smoking gun" revelation described as "fascinating
and compelling". Just bear in mind before you bother to tune to the
SCI FI channel those same masters of probity are also responsible for such
televisual gems as
Crossing Over from John Edward and an upcoming series of paranormal tosh, "Taken"
featuring UFOs, Roswell (yawn) and alien impregnations. "Taken" is the
subject of a good piece by Chris Mooney in Slate entitled
Getting
Taken - Steven Spielberg, paranormal huckster.
Finally
here is a page that is absolutely the last
word on the Apollo Moon Landing Hoax - definitive images that finally dispel
any doubts.
December 6th 2002
British
X-Files UFO - Recently
released under the Freedom of Information
Act is the UK Ministry of Defence's so-called Rendlesham File. The
Rendlesham incident has a treasured place
in the hearts of UFO fans, some claim second only to Roswell (and everyone
knows how convincing that case is). Apparently, back in December 1980, a
glowing triangular flying object was sighted near a USAF base in Suffolk,
England by several service personnel. Over time, like other supposed
sightings and helped by the usual bureaucratic reticence of the authorities,
the story has been embroidered and expanded. Now with the release of the
file it can be seen, again like many other sightings, that confusion, a lack
of information and, above all, wishful thinking inflated a minor story into
an X-Files type mystery. In fact Rendlesham was pretty thoroughly
debunked years ago by
Ian Ridpath, but as can be seen from the
Roswell story this has little effect on "true believers" and also
those
that have a nice little industry going trotting out variations on the same,
tired old stories. A bracing antidote to such drivel is provided by the BBC
News Online Science Editor Dr David Whitehouse in a piece uncompromisingly
entitled "Why
I Believe UFOs are Bunk". For a more detailed look at the subject
there is Robert Sheaffer's
UFO Skeptic page (with some of his own
"saucer" photos!) which is a rich source of information and links. Highly
recommended also are the
Klass Files, a collection of reports by Philip Klass, perhaps the
world's foremost UFO investigator and skeptic. His tireless efforts to
reveal the truth about many sightings have resulted in a huge body of
information for the would-be researcher and have also earned him infamy
amongst the believers - in fact
this page asserts that Klass (and
CSICOP for that matter) are "not true
sceptics, but rather a clandestinely controlled false propaganda operation
of the OSI (Office of Scientific Intelligence, a branch of the CIA’s Science
Directorate under its Clandestine Services, Operations Division). Their
operations within the continental U.S. are illegal. Their job is the
evaluation of conditions, collection of intelligence, and dissemination of
disinformation, in a program designed primarily to conceal the reality of
and technology behind man-made flying saucers." Somehow 80 finds the
"UFOs are bunkum school" just a tad more believable.
Back in the world of Identified Flying Objects the
U.S.
Centennial of Flight Commission (along with NASA and others)
begins a year-long celebration of the centenary of powered flight. December
17th 2002 is the 99th anniversary of the the Wright brothers' first powered
flight above the sands of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, USA and the day chosen
to start a series of events and commemorations of this engineering feat and
its far-reaching legacy.
December 13th 2002
Horizontal Homeopathy - The long running BBC tv documentary series,
Horizon, has a distinguished record for maintaining a high
standard and is not afraid of exposing sloppy thinking and sloppy evidence.
A notable
previous episode focused on the imaginings
of cult archaeology figure Graham Hancock and now, with the able assistance
of James "The Amazing"
Randi the claims of homeopathy were
scrutinised in a recent program. The full
story is
here, the verdict being no great surprise.
As the case for homeopathy seems to rely upon blind faith and the placebo
effect 80 doubts whether any minds will be changed - certainly not the minds
of those who make a living peddling water to the gullible.
There are a couple of deaths to report - that of
Ray L
Wallace, credited by many as one of the main perpetrators of the
Bigfoot hoax, who apparently strapped big wooden feet on his boots and
stomped around much to the mystification of Sasquatch fans. Naturally the
believers think there is more to the legend
than Wallace's antics - 80 is inclined to agree, if only on the grounds he
cannot have been the only faker. The second passing was that of
Santa Claus according to an English
clergyman. It seems he upset many very young members of his congregation by
debunking the Santa story, saying the jolly fat man was dead and claiming
that if the reindeer flew fast enough to deliver gifts to all households
they would burst into flames. If the Reverend Lee Rayfield thinks he is
unpopular for destroying belief in old Santa wait until he starts on really
crazy stuff like someone raising the dead and walking on
water.............................
Another unwilling figure in recent news has been the wife of the British
Prime Minister. The story is only of interest to 80 for the spotlight it
incidentally throws upon Cherie Blair's New Age
predilections. The fact that she is an
intelligent woman with a successful legal career makes such beliefs a little
puzzling - then 80 remembered a piece by
Michael
Shermer, entitled
Smart People Believe Weird Things, and it
all became a little more understandable, still regrettable, but
understandable. It is a pity she does not apply her legal mind with its
ability to sift evidence to find the truth to some of her other activities
which are looked at by the British press
here,
here and
here . It is
interesting to speculate how, as a practising Roman Catholic, she squares
New Age flummery with her faith. (Not that 80 distinguishes much between old
or new irrational beliefs.)
Here
is a thoughtful piece by Chris Mooney on the latest Spielberg "masterpiece",
the Sci-Fi channel's mini-series,
Taken. On the way he takes a well-deserved swipe at
Signs,
Dark Skies
and purveyor of alien abductee twaddle,
Whitley Strieber.
Finally, are you stuck for a seasonal gift idea for the person who has
everything? Look no further,
this is the answer which would also make a
fine addition to any Christmas crib scene. If stock has run out there are
still plenty of
these available for the discerning.
December 20th 2002
Indispensable Division - One principle vital to democracy is the
separation of church and state - or more accurately religion and the
government. Most western democracies tend to have people of many faiths (and
none) and the choice of just one of these, sanctioned by government, is a
recipe for social disaster. Currently the US administration's espousal of
so-called
faith-based directives whereby tax dollars
will be used to award funds and government contracts to churches and other
religious groups with no apparent safeguards against the discriminatory
policies of such groups is worrying many. Organisations, such as
Americans United for
Separation of Church and State, and the
Freedom from Religion
Foundation find common cause and concern over the increasing
attacks upon secular government and the
First Amendment of the US constitution. Many of the websites promoting religious
involvement in the state don't mean ANY religion - they mean
THEIR religion - with no room for other
faiths or the god-free. All the debate and contentious interpretations of
the First Amendment may seem dry and academic to some , but to see the
outcome of the melding of politics and religion one only needs to look at
the recent
election result and its consequences in the
Indian state of Gujarat - and don't think "it can't happen here". Most
religions taken at their fundamental level are authoritarian and intolerant
of other's beliefs and such fundamentalism allied with political power is a
disastrous mix- the
Taliban were not an isolated case as
Iranian students also know too well.
There is some hope after the above gloomy prognostication - apparently the
Barna Research Group, a (Christian)
marketing research company that "has been providing
information and analysis regarding cultural trends and the Christian Church
since 1984." has came up with what to the
American Family Association is less than
good news. As
this page puts it, "The
American Family Association, a far right lobbying group in Washington,
released results from a recent survey that shows mainstream Americans see
evangelical Christians as one of the least likeable groups in the country.
Researchers from the Barna survey asked respondents how they felt about
evangelicals, born-again Christians, ministers, and other groups of people
in society. According to the survey, evangelicals came in tenth out of
eleven, narrowly beating out prostitutes.". Now this is probably no
great revelation to regular readers of 80 but it is nice for folk like the
AFA to see it for themselves. Just to push the point a little further, "Affirming
results from other studies, the Barna survey also found the more highly
educated non-evangelicals are, the less likely they are to have a positive
view of fundamentalist Christians." So all is not doom and gloom but
a powerful reason for the highest possible quality of secular education,
leaving religious beliefs or none as a matter of personal choice.
Still with the wacky world of religion last week Mexicans gathered on
December 12th in honor of the
Virgin of Guadalupe, the country's patron
saint. The date supposedly commemorates the day in 1531 when a native
peasant, Juan Diego, saw a vision of the Madonna. The pope
canonised Diego this July, notwithstanding
that his claims to sainthood are a subject of some controversy (see
Backwards Glance -
Saints- Who needs Them?) . The Vatican
view is that Diego not only was
vouchsafed a vision but an image of the Madonna miraculously imprinted
itself on his cloak. The
awkward facts that the image appears to be
nothing more than a painting, and a retouched one at that, and that poor old
Diego likely never existed have done nothing to dampen the fervor of
believers. Most importantly the usefulness of a native Mexican saint and an
accompanying miraculous image in helping the Vatican counter the success of
Protestant evangelicals amongst Mexican Indians is not to be dismissed
lightly.
Michael Shermer's latest Scientific American essay is now online, asking
Is the Universe Fine-Tuned for Life?
Lastly, is this worrying
piece about the predicted end of the world
(again!)
according to one interpretation of the Mayan Calendar - worrying in that
this bit of non-news (which is
far from new) seems to be a thinly
disguised puff for author Steve Alten's novel
Domain, which features "The Great Pyramid
of Giza, Stonehenge, the Nazca Drawings, the Pyramid of the Sun and the
temple of Angkor Wat. How are they related to Humanity's prophesied Doom?"
Far from being intrigued by such blurb 80 reckons that Alten has been
hanging around with the cult archaeology nuts a little too much.
December 27th 2002
A New
Year's Resolution to Keep - with just a dollar - assuming you have
not blown all your money over the festive season. After the Bush
administration, in its short-sighted and callous way has
cut funding for the
United Nations
Population Fund, it is worrying to think how the huge shortfall
can be made up. To quote
Jane Roberts on such an uncaring attitude,
''More women die in childbirth in a few days than
terrorism kills people in a year. Ho hum. Some little girl is having her
genitals cut with a cactus needle. Ho hum.'' If you feel you want to
do something about this outrageous situation yet feel helpless there is a
very simple solution. To compensate for the $34 million (how many bombs does
that buy?) that the Bush administration denied the international family
planning group why not send a dollar (or more!) to US
Committee for UNFPA, 220 E. 42nd St., New York, NY 10017. Make it the
top item in your New Year's resolution list.
Bring on the clones
- a
real human clone or just a
publicity stunt by the
Raelian cult? Known for their belief in humans being the
product of alien science, the "scientist" who announced the news is one of
their bishops - that should help with credibility.......For more background
on the Raelians check out the ever useful
Skeptic's Dictionary and
this from the BBC. Anyone reading the
Raelian view of history will find much
familiar material, with a spooky similarity to the
imaginings of Erich "Chariots of the Gods" von Daniken plus New
Age elements such as
crop circles and more than a dash of
pseudoscience. The effort to achieve human
cloning is "irresponsible and repugnant and ignores
the overwhelming scientific evidence from seven mammalian species cloned so
far," Rudolph Jaenisch, a cloning expert at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology told
New Scientist.
A short while ago 80 looked at the weird world of saints and canonization
and Mother Teresa - now more information is available about the deceased
nun's alleged ability to perform miracles (a necessary step toward
full-blown sainthood - see
Backwards Glance -
Saints-who needs them?). It seems not everyone is that convinced -
firstly the
husband of Monica Besra, the woman "cured"
by Teresa who says "It is much ado about nothing, my
wife was cured by the doctors and not by any miracle." Also weighing
in is
Dr Manzur Murshed, who treated Besra for
her cancer for nine months "With all due respect to
Mother Teresa, there should not be any talk of a miracle by her." Not
that it is likely the Roman Catholic sect at the heart of the matter, the
Missionaries of Charity, will listen to any such naysaying, or
the Vatican's
Congregation for Causes of Saints, both of
whom have too much of a vested interest. (For an excellent overview of the
miracle mongering see
this from
The Valley
Skeptic and
this from the Indian Rationalist
Association.)
One old chestnut being laid to rest (again) in recent news is the
Curse of Tutankhamen. Mark Nelson, of
Monash University in Australia, followed the subsequent histories of those
connected with the opening of the royal tomb in 1923 and found nothing to
confirm any curse story. Howard Carter, the archaeologist who led the
excavation team had this to say on the subject "all
sane people should dismiss such inventions with contempt". Despite
the work by Nelson debunking the mumbo-jumbo 80 can safely predict this
story will never go away.
San Francisco, always ready to enhance its "progressive" and somewhat
bohemian image has
passed legislation requiring psychics,
fortune tellers and other purveyors of bunkum to obtain permits in order to
practise their trade. The worrying thing here is that it seems to give some
kind of legitimacy to the whole deceitful business. Supervisor Aaron Peskin
is quoted as saying that he did not want to discourage legitimate, modestly
priced psychics, seers, tarot card readers or sellers of fortune cookies.
Legitimate psychics? Now there's a nice new oxymoron for you. Sounds like
Peskin ought to start testing these folk for results before issuing permits
- 80 is sure
James Randi would be delighted to help.
