Skeptics's topics - tribe.net

Mystery Explained: Glow in Night Sky Was Astronaut Urine

2009-09-13T20:27:56Z

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/090911-space-water-dump.html

The beautiful trail in the sky looked like a mysterious celestial event. In reality, it was urine.

Some skygazers were treated to the unexpected view of a bright sparkling glow Wednesday night, created when astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery dumped the waste out into space.

The water dump was a scheduled task for STS-128 pilot Kevin Ford, who poured out urine and waste water stored aboard the shuttle in preparation for a landing attempt Thursday. Weather thwarted that try, but astronauts plan another landing attempt Friday at 5:48 p.m. EDT (2148 GMT) in Florida, though rain and high winds are expected again.

The light show Wednesday was aided by an unusually large amount of water being dumped all at once - about 150 pounds (68 kg), said NASA spokeswoman Kylie Clem. Discovery had just undocked from the International Space Station the day before, and had not been able to unload waste water during the 10-day visit.

"It would have been a large quantity because we don't do water dumps while docked to the station now," Clem told SPACE.com in an e-mail. "That is a fairly new restriction over the last couple of flights in order to prevent potential contamination of the Kibo module."

The Kibo module is a new Japanese-built research lab on the space station that includes an external platform to expose science experiments to the space environment. Water dumps from a docked shuttle could potentially pollute the experiments.

In general, though, spotting space water dumps from Earth is common, Clem said.

Waste water usually freezes upon jettison into a cloud of tiny ice droplets. Then when the sun hits, the ice sublimates directly into water vapor and disperses in space.

A number of people in North America apparently spotted Wednesday's dump, and some sent pictures to the Web site SpaceWeather.com.

One of them, Abe Megahed, photographed the tail at 9:40 p.m. EDT (0140 GMT) Wednesday from Madison, Wisconsin.

"I just watched the shuttle and station flyover (8:40 PM CST 9/9/09) and was surprised to see that the shuttle was sporting a massive curved plume," he wrote. "What could it be? Something venting? An OMS burn? RCS thrusters? A massive, record breaking urine dump?"

It turns out he wasn't wrong about that last one.

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

A Good One From Michael Shermer

2009-08-29T13:51:29Z

http://skepticblog.org/2009/08/25/how-to-talk-to-a-ufologist/

How to Talk to a UFOlogist (if you must)

by Michael Shermer, Aug 25 2009

I’m a big fan of SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intellience) and I think their search program constitutes the best chance we have of making contact. In fact, on a recent Saturday I was rained out of my normal 4-hour bike ride, so I read SETI scientist Seth Shostak’s new book, Confessions of An Alien Hunter (published by National Geographic), a brilliant and fun read. Seth has a fantastic sense of humor and in his book he presents some of great one-liners to use when dealing with UFOlogists, alien abductees, and the saucerites. For example:

Regarding the time it would take to traverse the vast distances between the stars, which would be millions of years (it will take Voyager II 300,000 years to reach a nearby star), Shostak notes: “That’s a long time to be squirming in a coach seat.”

As for the lack of tangible evidence for UFOs: “Physical evidence — a taillight or knob from an alien craft — is in short supply.”

UFOlogists claim that they have tens of thousands of UFO sightings, as if this is a good thing, but Shostak notes that this actually argues against UFOs being ET, because to date not one of these tens of thousands of sightings has materialized into concrete evidence that UFOs = ETIs. It’s counterintuitive, but more sightings equals less certainty because with so many saucers zipping around we would have captured one by now, and we haven’t.

Shostak notes that crop circles are a very poor means of communication because they represent only a few hundred bits of information, 1,679 bits in the most complex crop circle to date, which is less than a paragraph of text! If ETIs are advanced enough for interstellar space travel, why resort to using wheat fields, which are only ripe a couple of months a year, and then the crop-circle communication is quickly mowed down by angry farmers!

As for alien abductees, Shostak points out that Whitley Strieber’s book, Communion, launched the modern alien abduction movement. And guess what Strieber does for a living? He is a SciFi/fantasy/horror writer! Actually, I knew this already because I met Strieber in the green room at Bill Maher’s ABC show, Politically Incorrect, and Whitley and I were chatting it up over coffee and granola bars in the green room before the show when I asked him what he did when he wasn’t writing about being abducted by aliens. He told me that he writes science fiction, fantasy, and horror novels. The show was over right there in the green room! What else is there to say to a guy who writes this stuff as fiction, then slaps a “nonfiction” label on the book jacket?
VN:F [1.6.2_892]

posted in Skeptics - 5 replies

Wake Up Call

2009-08-27T21:11:43Z

Does anybody have anything on this film? "Wake Up Call" by John Nada.

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

Hans Holzer Dies at 89

2009-05-01T16:28:08Z

Saw this this morning.

I haven't read any of his works in years but as I recall he never met a ghost story he didn't want to believe.

At any rate he was one of the major figures in the world of the paranormal.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/30/books/30holzer.html

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

James Randi banned from YouTube

2009-04-05T17:33:13Z

http://www.secularstudents.org/node/2399

http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/jref-news/496-problem-with-youtube.html

posted in Skeptics - 1 reply

The 2008 Pigasus Awards

2009-04-04T16:13:03Z

The Pigasus Awards for 2008 have been announced.

They include such luminaries as:

Category #1: To the scientist or academic who said or did the silliest thing related to the supernatural, paranormal or occult:

Dr. Colin Ross, a psychiatrist in Texas. He is a lettered man, having published many articles in peer-reviewed journals, and you might think he would be the last person to earn a Pigasus... until you look a bit deeper.

Dr. Ross claims that he can send electromagnetic beams out of his eyes.

Category #2: To the funding organization that supported the most useless study of a supernatural, paranormal or occult claim:

The Producers of "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed": Logan Craft, Walter Ruloff, and John Sullivan.

Category #3: To the media outlet that reported as factual the most outrageous supernatural, paranormal or occult claims:

The makers of Enzyte.

Category #4: To the Performer who fooled the greatest number of people using the least talent:

Jenny McCarthy, the well-known model and actor, who in recent days is getting far more publicity for her stance that vaccines cause autism.

Category #5: Most persistent refusal to face reality:

Kevin Trudeau. If you watch late-night cable TV, you could hardly have missed our final Pigasus awardee. He hit the airwaves in the 1990s shilling his book "Natural Cures 'They' Don't Want You to Know About", where he claimed eating coral calcium cured cancer.

http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/pigasus-awards.html

http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/component/content/article/3-newsflash/506-randi-speaks-the-2008-pigasus-awards-.html

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

can everyone who is still active here go to this tribe skeptic talk...

2008-11-17T09:18:57Z

http://talkskeptic.tribe.net/

I think the above is much more active?

or drag the others over here.

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

A fight against religion being the root of morality...

2008-11-12T06:31:15Z

http://www.samharris.org/site/full_text/can-we-ever-be-right-about-right-and-wrong/

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

a guy who is documenting people hurt by astrology, veganism.....

2008-07-24T07:05:26Z

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=5420631&page=1

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

"British spiritualists protest change to their legal status"

2008-04-19T20:32:40Z

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080419/ap_on_re_eu/britain_spiritualist_protest_1;_ylt=AukI3vQ.pvnQHcm82BcDgVb0kPUI

"The government says the regulations target "misleading or aggressive" activities and "will not affect the supply of spiritualistic services."

But many practitioners fear they could be sued by unhappy customers, or forced to prove in court that they really have otherworldly powers. Some envision having to make customers sign a waiver before a seance or a sitting. And they fear they might have to advertise that their services are for entertainment purposes only."

They say that like it's a bad thing...

posted in Skeptics - 1 reply

New Tribe check it out

2008-03-19T20:07:08Z

http://tribes.tribe.net/ufodebate

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

Atheist sees Big Bang in toast

2008-02-15T06:54:27Z

http://duggmirror.com/comedy/Atheist_Sees_Image_of_Big_Bang_in_Piece_of_Toast/

This is simply brilliant.

Forget that religious shyster with her toast.

Which shyster is that? All of them!

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

Project Chanology, Anonymous hackers, and taking down Scientology

2008-02-02T18:04:49Z

Taking down Scientology isn't just important... it's fun!!!!!

http://www.partyvan.info/index.php/Project_Chanology
the hackers have a lot of explanation above.....

http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10609174
the economist article about the DOS attacks on Scientology, and the real world protest 10th Feb.

Guys... you could be part of bringing a religion down during your lifetime. You can help destroy a dangerous cult. Read up, think about it, and offer your services where you can.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full Text of Economist Article:

Scientology
Fair game

Jan 31st 2008
From The Economist print edition
An online onslaught against Scientology

A VICIOUS cult run by cynical fraudsters, or a sincerely held religious belief persecuted by zealots? That is the long-standing row about Scientology, founded by the late science-fiction writer, L. Ron Hubbard. In some countries, such as Germany, the group is watched by the security services. In others, such as America and Australia, it has won charitable status as a religion.

Until now the fight could mostly be seen as one-sided. Scientology's lawyers are vigorous litigants. The group argues that its internal materials (which claim, among other things, that expensive courses of treatment can help rid people of infestation by alien souls from an extinct civilisation) are commercially confidential and protected by copyright. They react sharply to any perceived libel.

As a result, public critics of what they derisively term “$cientology” risk expensive legal battles. For example, a new unauthorised biography of Tom Cruise by a British author, Andrew Morton, contains detailed and highly critical material about the film star's involvement in Scientology. It is a bestseller in America but has not been published in Britain. The publisher, St Martin's Press, has even asked internet booksellers not to ship it to foreign customers. Though Scientology representatives vehemently deny breaking any laws, critics have claimed that they experience intensive harassment and intimidation.

Now Scientology is under attack from a group of internet activists known only as Anonymous. Organised from a Wikipedia-style website (editable by anyone) and through anonymous internet chat rooms, “Project Chanology”, as the initiative is known, presents no easy target for Scientology's lawyers. It is promoting cyberwarfare techniques normally associated with extortionists, spies and terrorists. Called “distributed denial of service attacks”, these typically involve using networks of infected computers to bombard the target's websites and servers with bogus requests for data, causing them to crash. Even governments find this troublesome.

Anonymous is also hoping to galvanise public opinion with a mass “real-world” protest outside every Scientology office worldwide on February 10th. But its best weapon may be ridicule. The group got going in reaction to efforts to ban an internal Scientology video of Mr Cruise that leaked onto the internet. The star appears to discuss his beliefs with a degree of incoherence and exaggeration that might lead some to question Scientology's effects on its adherents' sanity. A Scientology spokesman says it has been selectively edited. Several internet sites have taken it down after threats of lawsuits. But it keeps popping up.

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

tom cruise... updated

2008-01-24T01:25:59Z

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDw87yZHM3c&feature=related

with subtitles....

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

What the Bleep do we know?

2007-12-01T09:39:51Z

Have any of you seen this film? Several of my New-Ager friends saw it the other day, and are absolutely raving about it.
Sounds like it may be just more newage (“rhymes with sewage“) nonsense to me.

posted in Skeptics - 4 replies

Phenomenon,Criss, Uri, Jim

2007-11-08T16:17:25Z

Once again we see all the old saws being put forth by Uri and Jim on why we should believe and not ask for proof.

Jim and Uri are both catalog magicians asking us to believe that they are the real deal. Chris did what he has always said he would do - he called their bluffs.

Now we get treated to the same old tired ad hominem and straw man arguments they put forth when they can't meet a simple challenge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkyh0ePXqOM

You go Chris

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

Just When Even I Thought It Could Not Get Any Stranger - Salem Again

2007-08-24T13:46:43Z

Just as my morning coffee was beginning to take effect I stumbled on this in my morning paper.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/08/23/witches_charged_after_raccoon_entrails_left_on_doorsteps/

My favorite parts are;

"Graham also was charged with intimidating the witness, allegedly telling him she would "make him pay" if he didn't keep quiet."

"Watson told police Graham hoped to frame a local Wiccan who had fired the woman from his psychic telephone business last spring."

"Watson also said Graham had a disagreement with the owners of the businesses over proposed regulations that would limit the number of psychics who come to the city during the Halloween season."

Funny that no one was psychic enough to divine the perps in this.

The cops solved it the old fashioned way - a stool pidgin.

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

More Psychic Woo Woo In Salem

2007-08-18T15:37:50Z

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/07/22/mixed_forecast_for_fortunetelling_rules/

Again in addressing to licensing of "psychics" the authorities have missed the point by a mile.

>The June 14 ordinance was designed to provide equal opportunity for psychic readers operating in the Witch City, rather than try to identify those who might have the ability to forecast the future.

"It's complicated and tough to quantify," said City Councilor Joan Lovely. "Some psychics claim it's an innate ability with no real schooling requirement. Who's to decide?"<

Innate or learned if people have such abilities and expect to be paid for them (sometimes large sums of money) then these abilities should be clearly demonstrable.

If one wants to be a Lawyer, Doctor, even a plumber the law requires that one demonstrate a level of knowledge and ability. Under the Salem ordinance it seems all that is needed is that you submit a resume and meet a residency requirement.

But then requiring that they actually be able to do what they claim would radically cut back the number of practicing "psychics" in Salem.

At least they kept the criminal background check - one of the stumbling points earlier on for the "psychics" already practicing in the city. Then again I suppose it would be hard to explain why the guy selling hot dogs to tourists needs to pass a background check while the one giving psychic advice does not.

So once again it is the gullible who will pay for this kind of thinking. I guess its OK as long as Salem gets its cut in taxes and licensing fees.

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

Psychic Scam Busted In Australia

2007-08-03T13:40:12Z

This is the type of story you almost never see in the USA but Australia seems to take a different view.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ih2CbttEMrg

Unfortunately this is the same sort of scam run by so many here from televangelists to psychic mediums. If only the media and authorities in the USA would grow some balls when it comes to these heartless frauds.

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

Derren Brown Tonight

2007-07-26T17:20:12Z

Derren Brown starts his run on SfiFi tonight.

Derren is one of the most talented practitioners of mental magic today. He is able to show how easily fooled people can be. Fortunately he has enough scruples to not become a grifter like Sylvia brown, Jonathan Edward and the rest of that lot.

Watch and be amazed.

http://www.scifi.com/derrenbrown/

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

Once Again Sylvia Blows It

2007-07-01T01:21:49Z

Back in 2003 author Janet McDonald wrote this article expressing her displeasure with a reading she got from Sylvia Browne.

http://dir.salon.com/story/mwt/feature/2003/01/08/psychic/index.html

Most interesting is this quote.

>I wrapped it up with a question about my longevity.

"Oh, God, yes, a really long life," said the All Seeing One. "And thank God you won't be stupid or incapacitated. I don't mind living to be old as long as I'm not an idiot."

No danger there, Sylvia. I'm the idiot.<

Unfortunately Sylvia was wrong on that one too. Ms McDonald passed away this past April from cancer.

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6434296.html

More on this can be found here.

http://www.stopsylviabrowne.com/articles/janetmcdonald.shtml

Another question from Stop Sylvia Browne is - Does Sylvia Browne Smoke?

The only reason this matters of course is that she has denied ever smoking on a number of occasions. As you will see numerous people including one reporter who was interviewing her before she added the e to Brown have witnessed her smoking.

http://www.stopsylviabrowne.com/articles/doesbrownesmoke.shtml

This only goes to her over all credibility - or lack there of.

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

Infighting in Salem - Psychics Failed to See it Comeing

2007-06-22T16:38:22Z

Dateline Salem MA:

There seems to be trouble in paradise - well Salem.

Generally psychics can never see any wrong in a fellow psychic - until there income is threatened then the gloves come off.

http://www.salemnews.com/punews/local_story_144120150/resources_printstory

>SALEM - Lawyers have the bar exam. Accountants have the CPA exam.

Should Salem's fortunetellers have to pass a test of their own to prove they're psychic?

City councilors, hoping to crack down on fraudulent fortunetellers, are trying to define exactly how a psychic can become licensed to set up shop in the Witch City. They want candidates to undergo a criminal background check and to either live or run a business in Salem for at least a year.

But many psychics want the city to go a step further - make sure they're actually qualified to predict the future.

"It's become a free-for-all," said Laurie Cabot, the official witch of Salem. "Anyone who says they're psychic can come into the city. We don't even know where they come from. We don't know their qualifications."

For more than three hours this week, city councilors listened to two dozen witches and psychics - many clad in black and wearing pentacles - as they explained the tools of their trade.

"There has to be criteria or you're going to get garbage coming here," Barbara Szafranski, the owner of Angelica of the Angels, predicted. "Everybody here is a legitimate person who's worked for years and years. ... When you do a reading, you hold a person's life right in your hands. We have people come to us who are willing to commit suicide, who won't go to a psychiatrist, so they come to us."

"What are the criteria?" asked a baffled Councilor-at-large Joan Lovely. "Is there schooling?"<

So the "genuine" psychics asked the city to stop all those phonies from coming to town for Halloween and taking there income away.

Of course none of them was psychic enough to see that some of those "phonies" might have been a little peeved at this.

http://www.townonline.com/northshoresunday/homepage/x504545030

>Beverly -

The disturbing discovery of raccoon remains gracing the doorsteps of two Salem businesses on Memorial Day Weekend are mere bits and pieces of the real grim stuff going on among those who call themselves witches and psychics in the city of Salem.

With only so many fortunes to tell and only so many palms to read, traditional psychics, occult shop owners and Halloween event organizers are squabbling over a new ordinance that could tighten the rules on who may be eligible for a permit to practice the trade.<

Most notable to me is that none of the proposed standards would in the end actually prove any psychic ability at all.

Of course having lived in Salem I think I could have predicted that.

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

More ESP Evidence

2007-06-09T10:31:31Z

Well, against it, at least.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20070607/sc_livescience/originofdejavupinpointed

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

Sylvia Browne on Exploring Psychic Powers Live!

2007-05-30T03:03:54Z

This is about an appearance Sylvia made back in 1989 - before she added the "E" to her last name.

http://www.stopsylviabrowne.com/articles/exploringpsychicpowerslive.shtml

Sylvia likes to claim that this abysmal example of a cold reading was a set up because the audience to quote her - "And they were all German, and they couldn't understand one word I said. And that was a setup, as you well know."

If you watch the You Tube video you can clearly see that only one respondent was German and he seemed to speak and understand English.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVsNsUBpPrw

Her true believers like to use this as an example of how poorly Sylvia gets treated by the media. It makes one wonder if any of them have actually seen this or if they prefer to take Sylvia's word on the subject.

Of course the other question - Sylvia is your memory that poor or are you incapable of telling the truth about anything?

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

Sylvia And Montel - A question of Honor

2007-05-14T00:38:34Z

Sylvia uses her usual cowardly hyperbole to fight back while a fellow military man asks Montel the hard question.

Sylvia is of course acting like any con artist will. And for that I give her credit for being true to form.

As for Montel to date he has not answered any questions about Sylvia.

If any here are familiar with career military officers one of the most difficult things that one can do is to question another officers honor. In times past officers were known to fight duels even during battles when there honer was questioned.

I hope Montel choses respect the code he has many times claimed to live by and respond.

Sylvia's way of answering critics:

www.stopsylviabrowne.com/artic....shtml

Critics answer to Sylvia:

www.stopsylviabrowne.com/artic....shtml

Open letter to Montel from a fellow officer:

www.stopsylviabrowne.com/artic....shtml

posted in Skeptics - 1 reply

Fairy Mummy a Hoax - True Believers Still Believe its Real

2007-04-11T14:02:34Z

Dan Baines who designs illusions for magicians built a model of a mummified fairy as an April Fools Day prank.

After posting photos to a web sight he received 20,000 hits a day from true believers including some warnings he was in danger for violating the fairies grave.

After exposing the hoax he continued to receive emails from believers who felt that the hoax story was itself a hoax.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/derbyshire/6514283.stm

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

Astrology Bites The Big One Again

2007-04-11T13:41:09Z

In the latest scientific study of astrology Dr David Voas from The University of Manchester has found that "'love signs' have no impact on our chances of marrying — and staying married."

http://www.physorg.com/news94231684.html

This is one of the largest controlled studies of astrology ever conducted. As with other properly controlled studies astrology failed miserably.

Now we wait for the spin from the true believers.

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

This is just too good

2007-04-06T16:46:33Z

Todays lesson boys and girls - when to fold the scam.

If the person you are impersonating confronts you it is time to fold your tents and get out of town.

http://www.houstonist.com/archives/2007/04/04/3_arrested_for.php

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

Now this is just wrong

2007-04-06T03:34:04Z

$12.50 for a four oz bottle of “Tachyonized” Water.

http://www.tachyon-energy-products.com/internals/superconductor_water.htm

Unless I have been misinformed the tachyon is still theoretical. How then can this water be “Tachyonized”?

Like the grifters say. "If god didn't want them shorn he would not have made them sheep."

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

That Wacky Guy Uri geller

2007-04-05T18:47:27Z

Uri is at it again. In an attempt to be the ultiamate control freak he has been using what amount to empty threats to get sight like YouTube to remove videos he feels are less than flattering to him.- even those he produced himself but where his slight of hand is so poor that the trickery is obvious.

You can read about it here;

http://www.randi.org/jr/2007-03/032307hope.html#i9

Randi in the interest of full disclosure is including some of these videos on his web sight:

http://www.randi.org/uri/index.html

Oh what a tangled web Uri weaves.........

Have fun.

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

Sylvia Brownes Best Evidence? You Decide

2007-04-03T16:57:54Z

Back in January after the Hornbeck reading was shown to be a complete debacle Anderson Cooper asked Sylvia Browne to provide what she thought was the best evidence of her claims.

Here is an analysis of what she provided.

http://www.stopsylviabrowne.com/articles/ac360_brownesbestevidence.shtml

Unfortunately for Sylvia she ran into someone in Cooper who actually does what a reporter is supposed to do. He checked the facts.

So is this the best Sylvia can do? How much does she charge for a reading again?

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

JREF Pigasus Awards 2006

2007-04-02T18:05:31Z

The Pigasus awards are here. The Pigasus awards are here.

http://www.randi.org/pigasus/index.html

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

Sylvia Browne Fan Sight?

2007-03-26T15:42:37Z

Seems like Sylvia finally has a fan sight to support her. That is if a fan sight is something run by a person who is living with her son and has benefited financially from Sylvia.

What is scary is that some of the sheep are OK with the nepotism involved in this her latest scam.

You can view the sight here.

http://www.gosylviabrowne.com/

Here is the web masters spin on her connection to Sylvia.

http://gosylviabrowne.com/blog/2007/03/23/mucho-gusto/

And some skeptical sights.

http://www.mondoskepto.com/node/98

http://www.stopsylviabrowne.com/articles/gosylviabrowne.shtml

Now that Sylvia is spinning like a top over her constant and spectacular failures its a wonder she is able to keep fleecing the sheep. OK perhaps not.

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

Celestine Prophecies

2007-03-03T03:57:04Z

looking for feedback on the book 'celestine prophecies' if any of you skeptics have read it. i have not read it yet but it seems to be a bunch of simplistic new age hippie brainwashing propoganda b.s. (your 'cliff notes' would be appreciated). :)

my daughter just read it & 'now everything makes sense' & she wants to be part of 'the revolution.'

in the 'what the bleep' thread, captain had some great objective links .. any good links addressing the c prophesies?

posted in Skeptics - 7 replies

Even Skeptics have a sense of humor

2007-02-09T16:49:58Z

Or is that a sixth sense of humor?

These are to funny not to pass allong.

www.skepticreport.com/lighter...list.htm

Top 10 Psychic Powers That James Randi Has Yet To Investigate
#10. The ability to cause Osama Bin Laden and the CIA informant to vanish off the face of the Earth.
#9. The power of those Queer Eye guys to make straight guys think they're cool when they actually look gay, too.
#8. The psychic ability to "become invisible" while waiting for help at the post office or other government office.
#7. The power of making woo-woo believers' money disappear from their purses and turn up on the practitioners' purses.
#6. The mysterious force that makes Lucky Charms "magically delicious".
#5. The amazing ability to make even the coolest item of clothing look like a tramp's castoff.
#4. The supernatural ability to wear any old rat eaten sack and make it look like the coolest item on Earth.
#3. The power to keep water in a pot from boiling just by watching it.
#2. The mysterious force behind Justin Timberlake's popularity.
#1. The miracle that Conan O'Brien is still on the air.

Top 10 Sylvia Browne Excuses For Not Taking the James Randi Challenge
#10 "Carl Sagan keeps telling me not to."
#9 Fears secret desire for Randi will keep her from concentrating properly.
#8 Psychic knowledge that that day is going to be a really, really bad hair day.
#7 Seven-figure income making it difficult to maintain pained facial expression.
#6 Psychic knowledge that she will fail.
#5 Already committed to do Larry King live that day, if you know what I mean.
#4 Worried about possible attack of honesty.
#3 Keeps hearing a voice from somebody, telling her something about the position of Uranus--well, anyway, that's what it sounds like. Anyway, it's very distracting...
#2 Afraid of being confused with scum-sucking, low-life charlatans who do exactly the same thing that she does.
#1 Four words: "No cake served afterwards".

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

Heartless Harpie Sylvia Brown Does It Again

2007-01-04T15:44:57Z

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dU0Q208HKI

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

What if UFOs were scientifically proven to be really of alien orgin?

2006-09-12T03:05:26Z

What if UFOs were scientifically proven to be really of alien orgin? I'm not saying they are. I'm just asking.

posted in Skeptics - 8 replies

The Worst Religion

2006-09-09T05:10:50Z

Please go to the Secular Humanism tribe for this.

posted in Skeptics - 3 replies

Kansas; Creationists Defeated!

2006-08-02T15:16:19Z

Supporters of evolution defeated the creation myth supporters. A huge setback for the christian jihad, a major victory for science and reason.

check CNN site for details

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

"Protocols of the Elders..." A BIG LIE

2006-07-24T14:15:01Z

Article from the Skeptic's Dictionary
www.skepdic.com/protocols.html

There is not and never was a "Jewish conspiracy" for world domination. If you believe one word of "Protocols" I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

posted in Skeptics - 2 replies

JFK

2006-06-29T18:32:57Z

Lone gunman? Government Conspiracy? Mafia? Castro?

Despite my strong distrust of the state, I tend to believe that Oswald acted alone.

Abe

posted in Skeptics - 2 replies

Them bible thumpers is smart

2006-04-21T14:38:51Z

Check these guys out:

http://www.lookinguntojesus.net/answering.htm

What I find funny is their "mission statement"

"If one ignorantly believes the Bible is full of contradictions, there is little we can do to help. Even if we 'solve' a few supposed contradictions, opponents of the Bible have amassed a seemingly endless supply of apparent discrepancies. What is most unsettling to me is that Satan may gain the victory over a child of God overwhelmed by a myriad of assumed inconsistencies. Thus, we have determined to create and maintain Answering The Atheist.
We pray the material presented will be helpful in solidifying the perfect nature of God's word in the minds of the elect, and that it will enable us to defend Scriptures effectively against Bible antagonists. And perhaps, by the grace and mercy of God, those who resist the truth might be silenced and come to glorify God. "
-------
Translation: We don't care how much them ignernt athiests find wrong with the Lords book, they's just satan's agents. So we can just perty much ignores what they's gots to say. But we'll laugh at their pitiful attempts anyway.

posted in Skeptics - 1 reply

Noah's ark

2006-04-21T14:36:03Z

Any views on the alleged recent discovery of Noah's ark?

posted in Skeptics - 5 replies

What's up with the end of the world?

2006-04-20T18:06:17Z

Ever notice how these doomsday folks are consistently wrong about when the end of the world will happen? For example, certain folks have said with considerable confidence that the Earth's axis would suddenly shift on May 5, 2000 and cause massive global disasters. Of course when that didn't happen, many of these folks said something like, "Oh, we never said it would happen on that date." Their denial of their own statements doesn't compute to me. What's up with that?

posted in Skeptics - 8 replies

UFO show on ABC

2006-04-20T17:59:54Z

Anybody see that UFO report on ABC?

posted in Skeptics - 1 reply

GEORGIA SCHOOLS TO STOP TEACHING LAW OF GRAVITY

2006-04-20T17:36:08Z

Thought this was cool...

http://www.borowitzreport.com/archive_rpt.asp?rec=1008

GEORGIA SCHOOLS TO STOP TEACHING LAW OF GRAVITY
Murphy’s Law Could Be Next, District Warns
A suburban school district in Georgia has thrown itself into the vortex of a legal controversy after deciding to stop teaching the law of gravity as part of its science curriculum.

The Dunnsville Unified School District fired the first salvo in the ongoing debate over the law of gravity last year when it mandated that stickers be affixed to all science texts in the district’s schools indicating that “the law of gravity is a theory, not a fact.”

District superintendent Charles Leverall said that initially it was not Dunnsville’s plan to eliminate teaching the law of gravity altogether, but merely to inform students that there were other equally plausible explanations for why things fall down.

“The law of gravity supposedly began when Sir Isaac Newton saw an apple fall off a tree,” Mr. Leverall said. “We think students are entitled to know that another way an apple comes off a tree is if a talking serpent tells a naked woman to take a bite from it.”

But after coming under fire for the stickers, Mr. Leverall said that the district decided to stop teaching the law of gravity entirely, and was now moving to ban the teaching of the law of supply and demand, as well as Murphy’s Law.

“There’s absolutely no proof that Murphy’s Law is true, except maybe Iraq,” said Mr. Leverall.

Elsewhere, CBS apologized for interrupting a broadcast of “CSI: New York” last week to announce the death of Yasser Arafat, and promised to interrupt the next death of a foreign leader with a broadcast of “Everybody Loves Raymond.”

--

posted in Skeptics - 7 replies

Prayer for the weak and the dying

2005-09-08T01:26:43Z

Hi.

I'm new to tribes so firstly I wanted to say hello. Secondly, I wanted to say I have enjoyed reading the posts in this group.

Finally, I wanted to post something that I felt might be worthwhile discussin in this tribe.

One of my sister passed away recently due to an aggressive form of breast cancer, she was only 37. I could write a book of her story and what happend but what I wanted to discuss here is that from the time she was diagnosed up until her last 6 months she had accpeted her fate and had prepared herself and the family for her possible death. Unfortunatley, about 6 months before she passed away, one of my family member- a cousion, who call himself a minister (doesn't belong to any church- but rather to some sect-like group called God's Church of Redemption and Deliverence) began to speak to her and slowly converted her to into his beliefs. At first we all thought it was harmless enough but as his grip on her became tighter and tighter her attitudes changed so much to a point that he had her almost stopping her chemo/radiation and instead just praying. There is just so much he did that was so beyond belief that I don't know where to start. He even had her believing that we (her other family memebers that he had not converted) were killing her by no believieng in his god and that becasue we didn't believe in him and his healing powers, that she was dying. It just got so sick and twisted it felt like I was caught up in some cheap b-horror movie. Ultimately, he had her believing the she would not die and that even if she did that she would riase from the dead in 3 days like Jesus etcl. Like I said, the whole thing was quite sickening. So instead of the family uniting to support my sister his control over her and his actions divided the family when we needed eachother the most. She died in my arms as I watched her take her last breath. We have not spoken to him since her death and the other family members who were temporarily 'converted' are normal again but this has left a deep wound in us and I have heard from others that he is continueing to do this kind of things to other proclaiming himself as a healer. I don't want what happend to us happen to other families and I think something/someone must expose this person.

Please forgive my spelling errors or grammer as I 'm typing this as fast as I can.

posted in Skeptics - 7 replies

chalk art

2005-07-23T04:44:03Z

came across this in another tribe .. can this reeeeally be just a chalk drawing on the sidewalk? fuckin amazing, if so!!! hmm

img.photobucket.com/albums/v...fransesca/pic-infern.jpg

posted in Skeptics - 2 replies

How do you even argue with this kind of stuff

2005-07-18T05:43:24Z

This is a post from a girl in another tribe in which she defends their full moon beliefs which I had posted some links to evidence about most of it being mythical.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Personally, I don't need science to explain my relationship to the moon, or to know that my body most definitely cycles with the moon and always has...perhaps I am just a lunar deity more closely tied than the average earthling....and I feel my intuition and astrology tells me more about my body's relationship to the planets than 1,000 scientists could.....Most of the women I know who follow the moon relate to their cycles in time of the moon. "Oh, I get my period on the full moon..." To hell with the 29.5 days or whatever...this is the way women have been relating to nature for centuries.

Scientists just like to strip anything mystical from the books. People like to make a habit of disproving legends and such because they think it's fun to try and "disprove" spiritual beliefs...or just to be contrary. Why do people do anything? Why research something so useless in the first place?

In my mind, if you feel something intuitively, that's proof enough. Most of my greatest feelings come with no back up...but are usually wise.

I'm just a daughter of Diana and I feel my pull strongly. What is my truth is not the same truth for everyone. My beliefs allow room for different truths for others...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

posted in Skeptics - 5 replies

Another one of those Virgin Mary sightings

2005-05-26T06:23:36Z

I heard on the news this morning that some woman found an image of the Virgin Mary on a piece of bread or some such thing. Now I have to ask, what makes her think its the Virgin Mary? I mean, couldn't it just as likely be an image of Selma Hayek?

posted in Skeptics - 1 reply

BRAIN, MIND, & CONSCIOUSNESS

2005-04-21T01:09:30Z

Sorry to spam, but I noticed that this wasn't mentioned anywhere here. This event is happening soon. So if you are in the LA area, this is something you all would probably be interested in attending.

James Randi will be there!!!

---
http://skeptic.com/conf/conference.html

BRAIN, MIND, & CONSCIOUSNESS

THE SKEPTICS SOCIETY ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2005
ON WHAT NOBEL LAUREATE FRANCIS CRICK CALLED
“THE GREATEST UNSOLVED PROBLEM IN BIOLOGY”

“I wonder why, I wonder why. / I wonder why I wonder. / I wonder why I wonder why / I wonder why I wonder!”
—Richard Feynman, as a young student

Research on the brain, mind, and consciousness was given a significant boost by Nobel laureate Dr. Francis Crick in 1994, when he wrote in his book, The Astonishing Hypothesis, “that ‘you,’ your joys and your sorrows, your memories and your ambitions, your sense of personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules.”

This is what is called “the hard problem”—explaining how billions of neurons swapping chemicals give rise to such subjective experiences as consciousness, self-awareness, and awareness that others are conscious and selfaware; that is, not only the ability to wonder, but the ability to wonder why we wonder, and even onder why others wonder why….

Explaining each of the functional parts of the brain is the easy problem, such as the differences between waking and sleep, discrimination of stimuli, or the control of behavior. By contrast, what has come to be known as the hard problem in consciousness studies is experience: what it is like to be in a given mental state? Adding up all of the solved easy problems does not equal a solution to the hard problem. Something else is going on in private subjective experiences—called qualia—and there is no consensus on what it is.

Dualists hold that qualia are separate from physical objects in the world and that mind is more than brain. Materialists contend that qualia are ultimately explicable through the activities of neurons and that mind and brain are one. Our speakers, some of the top neuroscientists in the world, will address these and other problems, such as the evolution of the brain, and how and why it got to be so large. Skeptics will get a chance to interact with these world-class scientists on the breaks, during meals, and in a formal discussion period. We will also consider the implications of this new brain research to better understand apparent paranormal phenomena, as well as how and why people believe weird things.

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

What's a resologist?

2004-09-11T00:55:08Z

www.resologist.net/index.htm

I like Charles Fort's style. He never made any claims about what he reported, he just reported it.

Back in my pseudo-science days (my teens) I used to lap this stuff up. Ahh, the good old days when I was full of hormones and gullibility....<sigh>

Bob "Just pretending to be nostalgic" Betz

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

Bush and 9/11

2004-08-29T01:08:07Z

What's up with Bush withholding documents from the investigating committee? What's he got to hide?

Where were the fighter jets that should have been scrambled when the Airline flights went off course and incommunicado? When the FAA lost contact with Payne Stewart's jet in 1999 there were 2 fighter jets scrambled within minutes. Why not the same when 4 passenger airlines went off course, with one going into our nation's capitol? It really bothers me that there were no fighter jets--at least flying escort, if nothing else.

Abe

posted in Skeptics - 6 replies

WOMEN'S RIGHT TO VOTE

2004-08-24T07:51:56Z

-----

It makes me sick to know that this happened anywhere in the world, much less here in the US.

--

Women's Right To Vote

It is important we remember (no matter who we vote for) women fought for the right to do this. please read and then go to the poles and cast your important ballot.

How Women Got To Vote

A short history lesson on the privilege of voting.

While the women were both innocent and defenseless, by the end of the night, they were barely alive.

Prison guards, wielding clubs and with their warden's blessing, went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of "obstructing sidewalk traffic."

They beat Lucy Burn, then chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air.

They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold.

Her cellmate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack.

Affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.

Thus unfolded the "Night of Terror" on Nov. 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote.

For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food which was just colorless slop, was infested with worms.

When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured the liquid into her until she vomited.

She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press.

So, refresh my memory. Some women will not vote this year because --well why, exactly?

We have carpool duties?

We have to get to work?

Our vote doesn't matter?

It's raining?

Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of HBO's new movie" Iron Jawed Angels"

It is a graphic depiction of the battle these brave women waged. Just so that I could pull the curtain at the polling booth and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder.

Voter registration is my passion. The actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote. Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege. And some- times it was inconvenient.

My friend Wendy, who is my age and studied women's history, saw the HBO movie, too. When she stopped by my desk to talk about it, she looked angry.

She was upset with herself.
"One thought kept coming back to me as I watched that movie," she said.
"What would those women think of the way I use, or do not use, my right to vote?

All of us take it for granted now, not just younger women. The right to vote", she said, "had become valuable to her all over again."

HBO will run the movie periodically before releasing it on video and DVD. I wish all history, social studies and government teachers would include the movie in their curriculum.

I want it shown on Card night, too, and anywhere else women gather.

I realize that while this is not our usual idea of socializing, we are not voting in the numbers we should be. So I think a little shock therapy is certainly in order.

It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized.

And it was inspiring to watch the doctor refuse.

He said, "Alice Paul was strong, and brave. That didn't make her crazy."

The doctor then admonished the men: "Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity."

Please pass this on to all the women, and men who support them, you know.

We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so hard for by these very courageous women.

posted in Skeptics - 0 replies

Multi-level "network" marketing

2004-08-04T19:44:55Z

Does anyone know of a good website with information debunking "Network Marketing" as a viable way to make money (for those not at the top, anyway)?

Abe

posted in Skeptics - 9 replies

Is Heaven Hotter Than Hell?

2004-08-04T09:58:29Z

Snooping around at the Christian Tribe (yes, I have too much time on my hands), I found this interesting post. Of course, the responses to it are also quite interesting...

=============
Hi all... Any thoughts on the following?

The temperature of Heaven can be rather accurately computed. Our authority is Isaiah 30:26:

"Moreover, the light of the Moon shall be as the light of the Sun and the light of the Sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days."

Thus Heaven receives from the Moon as much radiation as we do from the Sun, and in addition 7*7 (49) times as much as the Earth does from the Sun, or 50 times in all. The light we receive from the Moon is one 1/10,000 of the light we receive from the Sun, so we can ignore that ... The radiation falling on Heaven will heat it to the point where i.e., Heaven loses 50 times as much heat as the Earth by radiation. Using the Stefan-Boltzmann law for radiation, (H/E) temperature of the earth (-300K), gives H as 798K (525C).

The exact temperature of Hell cannot be computed ...

[However] Revelations 21:8 says

"But the fearful, and unbelieving ... shall
have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone."

A lake of molten brimstone means that its temperature must be at or below the boiling point, 444.6C. We have, then, that Heaven, at 525C is hotter than Hell at 445C.
============

Jim, I can't seem to remember whether you had something about this in your pamphlet from years ago. If not, it would have been perfect to include it.

Abe

posted in Skeptics - 9 replies

David Blaine

2004-04-20T18:33:54Z

So, what do you think? It was a trick, right?

If it wasn't a trick, why would he need to be suspended and 100 feet from anybody?

Abe

posted in Skeptics - 3 replies

911 on 911

2003-11-22T13:44:06Z

What I want to know is, in an hour and a half from highly visible explosion to collapse, where were the rescue helicopters?

We have air-taxis, air-ambulances, fire-fighting choppers (tho maybe not close to NYC), private copters, doubtless the national guards & coast guard have them. The NYC area, the richest city in the richest country, probably has more choppers per square mile than anywhere else on earth.

hundreds of people were trapped on those upper floors. With bodies raining out of the sky, (and then a building collapse!) there was absolutely no doubt that all were in mortal danger. There is absolutely no reason to believe that, in the capitol of the world, a chopper couldn't be found that either already had or could have been quickly loaded with rescue eqipment - winches, cable, etc. People could have been transfered to nearby rooftops (without landing) in probably five-ten minutes per trip.

somebody -almost certainly somebody in uniform- made the decision not to allow this to happen.

posted in Skeptics - 4 replies

man or myth?

2003-11-05T03:06:44Z

so, has anyone proved the existence of Bob?

and what about that whole satellite thing?

jvol

posted in Skeptics - 1 reply