God Answers, Corrections Made, A Justified Complaint, More Cable Nonsense, Re Steiner Schools, This Is Law, Here it is, Randi the Movie, In Closing
Last week’s item at this link was followed by a notice that a response seems to have been sent in by the Defendant – God. Senator Ernie Chambers of Omaha, Nebraska, had filed a lawsuit against God, and the court clerk of the Douglas County District Court has now reported that a document
…miraculously appeared on the counter. It just all of a sudden was here – poof!
Somehow, I doubt that probably-tongue-in-cheek assertion, but that’s the kind of curmudgeon I am. The mysterious document argues that the Defendant is immune from at least some Earthly laws and that, in any case, the court lacks jurisdiction over His home base. Says the document, in part:
I created man and woman with free will and next to the promise of immortal life, free will is my greatest gift to you.
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GOD ANSWERSLast week’s item at randi.org/jr/2007-09/092107packt.html#i6 was followed by a notice that a response seems to have been sent in by the Defendant – God. Senator Ernie Chambers of Omaha, Nebraska, had filed a lawsuit against God, and the court clerk of the Douglas County District Court has now reported that a document …miraculously appeared on the counter. It just all of a sudden was here – poof! Somehow, I doubt that probably-tongue-in-cheek assertion, but that’s the kind of curmudgeon I am. The mysterious document argues that the Defendant is immune from at least some Earthly laws and that, in any case, the court lacks jurisdiction over His home base. Says the document, in part: I created man and woman with free will and next to the promise of immortal life, free will is my greatest gift to you. Gee, sounds just like God, reminding us – as usual – that we owe Him bigtime. There was no contact information given on the filing, probably because God is just everywhere, but St. Michael the Archangel is listed as a witness, which may indicate the importance that God assigns to the matter. He calls upon Saint Michael the Taxiarch Archangel – to give him his full title – one of the chief princes of Heaven, and one of the principal angels in Abrahamic tradition whose name is said to have been the war-cry of the angels in the battle fought in Heaven against Satan and his followers. That’s just awesome. Moreover, police officers, soldiers, and paratroopers regard Mike as their very own patron saint, and he’s known to run about slaying Devils and Dragons – whether organized in a game, or not. So there. This is not a prince/angel/warrior with whom to trifle! For God to call Mike from his assigned duties just to sign as a witness, is an indication that someone is in deep trouble. Ah, but we’re told that two responses were received by the court clerk, which makes us strongly suspect that at least one of them may be a hoax. The second response from "God" disputing Chambers' allegations lists a phone number for a Corpus Christi law office, but a message left for that office was not immediately returned. Reader Kendall Gary comments on this matter from Nebraska: Note, please, the tone of this. The senator's reasoning for the suit is mentioned – properly enough. But god's comments – clearly supplied by a terrestrial source – are given a good deal of play, and the whole thing is treated as something rather silly. And the existence of god is never doubted or argued. I agree. We need more Ernies… |
CORRECTIONS MADEReader Chris Longridge writes, re last week’s item at tinyurl.com/2usrsb, thus rescuing me from two serious errors: Referring to an item on Swift this week about the removal of certain historical figures from the National Curriculum, can I draw your attention to a couple of errors? First you say that "history seems to be a flexible subject of study Down Under." The story may have been sourced from an Australian news feed, but the mention of Ed Balls, the Children, Family and Schools Minister of Great Britain, indicates that it refers to the British education system, not the Australian one. Well and truly observed, Chris, and within hours of the page going up, we made the appropriate corrections, as I’m sure you have now noted. Next…? Second, the "national curriculum" has caused great debate among teachers, government and parents since its inception. The view among many teachers is that the highly prescriptive system restricts their ability as – in theory – experts to teach the subject as they see fit; others, with reason, argue that it prevents bad teachers from deviating from the important topics.
I would also take issue with the satirical comment you quote – and endorse? "I sure am glad William Wilberforce will not be forgotten." Wilberforce was not merely instrumental in ending the practice of slavery in the British Empire, he was practically solely responsible for it. He is a greatly overlooked historical figure. I'm not arguing that Churchill and the Tudors were historical minnows, here, you understand – but if you're looking for historical figures to celebrate, Wilberforce deserves to be counted among the significant. Point made, Chris. I was only pointing out the great difference in rank between the major historical characters who had been – almost – demoted, and Wilberforce – who is, as you say, a much-overlooked actor in the world drama. Your comments are happily received and noted. Which makes me once more acknowledge the debt the JREF owes to the 20,000+-a-week readers of SWIFT; without you riding herd on our items, we’d have – inadvertently – misinformed the public, on occasion. We thank all of you for watching the contents of SWIFT, and you’ll note that we make corrections as soon as we possibly can. |
A JUSTIFIED COMPLAINTReader Rob Green tells us: It is hard to believe that a credible organization like thestreet.com ran an article like this, but then again, perhaps not. In any event I sent them the comment below which you might appreciate. Rob saw the article in a stock-trading publication – to be found at tinyurl.com/329nru – and here’s what he wrote to them in response:. Nice job promoting quackery aka Homeopathic "medicine"! It is absolutely irresponsible for you to promote Homeopathy as a viable medicine. There has been, to date, not one iota of scientific proof of any Homeopathic "cures." In fact, when most are scrutinized using actual scientific methods, they fail. “Scientific” means double-blind testing. Feeling better does not constitute a proof, ever. The author of this puff-piece in The Street, Penelope Dane, is described as a “writer and sociologist living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, currently working on her M.F.A. in fiction…” Perhaps Ms. Dane’s skills do not encompass non-fiction, since she has also raved in print over the “Feldenkrais Method” – another “alternative” notion that parallels Reiki and various other quack ideas. In fact, Penelope seems here to have taken her material straight from the standard homeopathic literature, without question or qualm. She expresses not the slightest doubt about either homeopathy or the Feldenkrais idea, and we can expect that she’ll next be extolling palmistry, Tarot reading and astrology as established facts about the universe she so blissfully inhabits. |
MORE CABLE NONSENSESeveral readers alerted us to yet another hilarious and preposterous situation in the “audiophile” business, which we have referred to frequently simply because if some of their claims were true, they would be paranormal. Here’s another such. Monster Cable – a company that turns out a fine line of products, but not untinged with the woo-woo flavor, sells a set of $80 HDMI [High Definition Multimedia Interface] cables, designed to handle new signals brought about by the advent of High Definition TV. I thought that was a heavy price to be asking – no, I didn’t invest! – but now we see that the Pear Cable company is advertising a pair of 12-foot “Anjou” audio cables for $7,250; that’s $302 a foot! And, as expected, “experts” were approached for their opinions on the performance of these wonders. Excerpts: …way better than anything I have heard…Simply put these are very danceable cables. Music playing through them results in the proverbial foot-tapping scene with the need or desire to get up and move. Great swing and pace – these cables smack that right on the nose big time. …simply way better than anything I have heard prior to their audition. Well, we at the JREF are willing to be shown that these “no-compromise” cables perform better than, say, the equivalent Monster cables. While Pear rattles on about “capacitance,” “inductance,” “skin effect,” “mechanical integrity” and “radio frequency interface,” – all real qualities and concerns, and adored by the hi-fi nut-cases – we naively believe that a product should be judged by its actual performance, not by qualities that can only be perceived by attentive dogs or by hi-tech instrumentation. That said, we offer the JREF million-dollar prize to – for example – Dave Clark, Editor of the audio review publication Positive Feedback Online, who provided the above rave review. If Mr. Clark should choose to apply for the prize, he would be unlike John Atkinson of Stereophile Magazine – see randi.org/jr/121004science.html#11 – who made great noises about being ready to snap up the million, then got distracted by things such as gullible readers who accepted his claimed abilities, and backed out. But we’ll see… |
RE STEINER SCHOOLSReader Andrew Kelly – apparently resident in Australia – comments on last week’s Steiner Schools discussion: Always a great great pleasure to drop in to Swift every week to see what’s happening in the wider world. I’ve long recommended your website to my secondary science students, and must have printed out Kari Coleman’s "My Psychic Adventure" a dozen times to give to various students. Umm, Andrew, James Hydrick was defeated by my use of Styrofoam packing “peanuts,” and that personal reference might be taken incorrectly, since I don’t know the man quite that well – but I’m flattered that your obviously well-educated and perceptive kids are aware of my work. Also, your reference to schools being run under the “Victorian education system” might be misconstrued by the average international reader who fails to place you in Australia, and might therefore believe that your present educational system is stuck about a century in the past… As for your interesting and informative description and evaluation of the Steiner schools, I must say that it differs refreshingly from my personal experience with such outlets in Europe – and peripherally, in the USA – which gave me a very poor impression indeed. As I mentioned, astrology was being taught as a legitimate field of study, there were forays into the woods to discover spirits and “vibrations” in trees and under rocks, and woo-woo was generally rampant. I appreciate that the Victorian acceptance of Steiner methods appears to have provided a much different picture from that which my impressions provided in Europe, and I must say that this would not be the first time that a rather shaky premise has given rise to a firm, useful, and legitimate discipline. I am much edified. Certainly, self-reliance, individuality, and deep curiosity about the world should be encouraged in children, and now that certain problems such as objections to childhood immunization and the old separation-of-Church-and-State contention – parts of the muddled public view of the schools – are being handled to everyone’s satisfaction, I applaud the fact that you have a viable Steiner system in place and at work in Victoria. Australia, that is! |
THIS IS LAW?Law student and reader Nathan Hendrickson reveals to us just how frivolous the law can appear to be, to the rational observer. By the way, in this text, to “estop” means to prevent a person from asserting a claim that is inconsistent with a previously taken position. Just so you know… Says Nathan: I ran across this case during my spring semester “property law” class. A "legally" haunted house. In a nutshell, the fact that the house was "haunted" should have been made known to a potential buyer, as this affects the value of the home. Here is the Legalese provided by Nathan that expresses the court’s handling of the case: Stambovsky v. Ackley, July 18, 1991. Purchaser of home brought action against vendor and broker for rescission [revocation] and damages. The Supreme Court, New York County… dismissed, and purchaser appealed. The Supreme Court, Appellate Division… held that: (1) vendor was estopped to deny existence of poltergeists on the premises, so that house was haunted as a matter of law; (2) equitable remedy of rescission was available; (3) vendor who had undertaken to inform the public at large about the existence of poltergeists had a duty to inform purchaser; (4) haunting is not a condition which can and should be ascertained by reasonable inspection of the premises; but (5) there was no cause of action against the broker. Since the court chose to quote a ghost from Shakespeare – 1564-1616, I will invoke the wisdom of a perhaps better-informed author, Horace Smith (Paul Chatfield) 1779-1849: The appearance of a ghost is the result of a disordered nervous system, or a vivid imagination, assisted by a little credulity and judiciously mixed with a moderate dose of mental anxiety. Please note that though the court language plainly refers to the local “folklore,” it also uses the terms “poltergeist,” “possessed,” “haunting,” “divination,” and “spirits” as if these were established facts, rather than terms of superstition. The cutesy puns and bad jokes, and the trivial handling of the facts, seems out of place in a serious document that announces a legal decision affecting the assets of both the defendant and the plaintiff, regardless of how hugely amused the decision-makers were. If they want such amusement, they should look for it in Judge Judy’s court… However, with the present administration, I’d not be at all surprised to learn that a ghost-buster could actually be called upon to declare on the existence of a spirit entity that might affect – negatively or positively! – the value of a property. I can’t resist placing my own bad joke here: Could it not be argued, in this case, that possession is nine-tenths of the law? You see, there is another meaning to “possession”… Sorry… |
HERE IT ISOur most excellent Aussie friend Richard Saunders has prepared a wonderful video - to be seen at in all its glory - giving explicit instructions on how to make your very own Pigasus origami figure. We're most grateful to Richard for this tribute to flying pigs everywhere, and we thank him for his work in inventing and designing this remarkable figure. Have fun with it! www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmAS6Am94I0 |
RANDI THE MOVIEWhat you’ve all been waiting for, breathlessly! Here’s an animated sequence - generously prepared by astronomer Rick Johnson - of fearless asteroid Randi touring the constellation Aquarius and all the rest of the planetoids in that crowded belt. Heedless of the possibility of colliding with another such object, sailing on bravely in space, here’s a brief glimpse of what was previously known as “QM 1981.” The brief flash across the upper left of the frame is a passing satellite or bit of space junk...
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IN CLOSINGFinally, I ask you to sample some of the stunning material that Robert Lancaster has up on his page about Sylvia Browne. Go to tinyurl.com/2mf6yg and prepare yourself for a ride through reality, an adventure in dismay at the true character of Browne and her minions. And, please recall, Robert will be a major speaker at TAM 5.5 – which can be reviewed at tinyurl.com/2fs6gr. This dedicated man will have startling facts about Browne to reveal to us, and I must say that he has pretty well taken on the role of Nemesis for this woman. You’ll be able to question Robert personally at TAM 5.5, so come prepared to be astonished. I’ll be doing a special session at TAM 5.5 in which I’ll perform ALL of Uri Geller’s routines, as well – in detail, with complete explanations. Since Geller first came upon the woo-woo scene – 34 years ago! – he has generated millions of words of media attention, all based on a handful of simple tricks that some magicians have since adopted into their repertoires. I’ll go into the psychology of the deception, how the TV hosts and media were bamboozled, and how the teeny-boppers got captivated by the Israeli Wonder. You’ll be able to ask questions, get specifics, and see – up-close – just how these flummeries were accomplished. So get your applications in for TAM 5.5, and be equipped to bore your family and friends with Stupid Psychic Tricks…! Finally, I’m sure you’ll recall that President Jimmy Carter is supposed to have seen a UFO back in 1969. He described it as bright point of sparkling light. Just to show how even an honest man can change a story, read this most recent account: The town hall ended with an off-beat question about UFOs and Playboy magazine. Amid the audience’s laughter, Carter described the encounter with a UFO that he had mentioned in an interview with Playboy magazine. He said the UFO had a disk-like shape and changed colors, going from red to blue to white. “Disk-like shape,” Jimmy…? We’ve read many different dates and several different descriptions of that specific event, but this is the first time it had a shape…! “Disk-like shape,” Jimmy…? We’ve read many different dates and several different descriptions of that specific event, but this is the first time it had a shape…! THIS JUST IN: For readers of SWIFT only: Todd Robbins’ show The Charlatan's Seance is opening at the Two River Theater Company in Red Bank, NJ. They will be doing previews this week Tuesday through Friday at 7pm, and he’s arranged for free tickets to these performances. All JREFers have to do is call the box office at 732.345.1400 and say "Houdini". For more info about the show go to www.trtc.org/pages/1season/tartuffe.html |