Another Panic Averted?
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- Written by James Randi
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Damn! Every time we look forward to The End of the World, we're disappointed! What could be the problem...?
Well, here’s another news flash: While the world – it’s true – is inevitably coming to an end, that event’s not due for several billion years. Unless paper has a far longer life than I ever imagined, no reader of my books need fear being consumed by a Black Hole or vaporized by a visiting galaxy. Being pursued by lawyers or asked to visit your IRS office, are far more likely and dangerous fates to expect. Certainly, we should relax the popular notion that all – everything, toute le monde – ceases in this year 2012, largely based on the delusion that the Mayans, in the still-unsolved cessation of their highly-developed community, chuckled their way to extinction knowing that we were doomed to follow them in 2012. No, their very complex calendar does not end on December 21 or 23, 2012. They just ran out of room on the big chunk of stone on which they incised the calendar, and that was also the end of one major "epoch" in their calendar system... And, in any case, if they were so damn smart, why weren’t they able to discover that those Spanish chaps who showed up on their shores in 1524 were not really so friendly…?
Another very popular belief is that the 2012 End will be brought about by a rogue planet colliding with the Earth. NASA has an excellent grasp of such a possibility. They tell us that if such a collision were really coming up, astronomers would have been tracking it for at least the past decade, and it would be visible by now to the naked eye. Obviously, it does not exist. NASA insists, succinctly and definitively:
Credible scientists worldwide know of no astronomical threat associated with 2012.
I suggest that any of my readers who doubt this assurance sit through the next few days, see what doesn’t happen, and vow that they’ll not panic when the woo-woos ring this tired old alarm again. But they will raise another alarm, be sure of that…
While the initial wild theories had set this disaster to happen back in May of 2003 – and nothing happened then, either – the prophets moved the date forward to the winter solstice of 2012, which conveniently coincides with the end of a cycle on the ancient Mayan calendar. Now, I hate to disenfranchise the doomsayers, but the Mayan calendar in fact does not end on December 21, 2012. Another period begins immediately afterward, which the artists of the Yucatan peninsula didn’t get around to carving into stone, perhaps because they didn’t have a bigger stone, or maybe they just didn’t care. Come to think of it, have you ever seen a printed 2030 calendar? If not, will you decide that the world will end in 2029…?
Relax, folks. We'll still have taxes, war, upheaval, crime, and trouble to deal with...
There! Isn't that comforting news...?
James Randi is founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation
A Skeptical Gag Gift That Might Actually Work
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- Written by Kyle Hill
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There is no easy way to say this, so I will just come out and say it:
there is a balance bracelet cock ring. I don’t mean to be vulgar, but these are their terms. I’m serious, look:
The fine print states:
Power balance hologram increases your blood flow, energy and stamina levels through strong ion particles.
I received this as a “gift” from a family member of another skeptical colleague. I laughed incredulously at first, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized the velocity at which I had to thrust my head against an available desk.
Balance Bracelets By Any Other Name
Principally, balance bracelets do not work. No study has found any effects beyond placebo, they contradict scientific principles that are tremendously more rigorous, and the demonstrations used to prove their efficacy are unabashed parlor tricks. Moving on.
Without an evidential leg to stand on, it’s pointless to argue the supposed benefits of “Power balance technology”—a hollow marketing ploy. Pseudoscience like this is a pinch in the ribs—the actual harm is minimal, but the irritation ceaseless. It’s like getting your ear flicked on a cold day, by nonsense.
The Mojo band is not a Power Balance band, yet the print notes that it has a “power balance hologram.” This is shameless piggybacking: one pseudoscience hiding in another’s shadow. Can you imagine the marketing meeting (if there even was one)?
The Christopher Columbus Contradiction
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The following is a contribution to the JREF’s ongoing blog series on skepticism and education. If you are an educator and would like to contribute to this series, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
I've usually found that the class sessions that most effectively push the conversation about skeptical inquiry forward are a happy combination of careful planning, quick connections, and a dash of luck.
Take one Thursday in early October. "Why don't we have class next Monday?" someone asked, innocuously enough.
Several students muttered, "It's Columbus Day," and everyone settled down for the work of the day.
A Great Cruise Experience...!
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- Written by James Randi
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I just recently returned from the latest JREF cruise (our sixth such Amaz!ng Adventure!) to Belize, Mexico, and the Yucatan Peninsula in the company of some seventy JREF supporters exploring the idea that despite widely reported "Maya doomsday prophecies," the end of the world is not imminent. It was a week of delight, and though I’d at first pictured it as one of those rather duty-free periods, I, D.J., and his partner Thomas, put in some long but very useful and satisfying hours with the skeptics on board, in which we exchanged many good ideas and all learned from one another. Jamy Ian Swiss was – as always – a star, and Ben Radford provided several appearances that recounted his experiences investigating – in depth – a number of puzzles, enigmas, and just plain hoaxes of the region. Toni van Pelt lectured on complementary and alternative medicine funding and shared her experience as a Washington lobbyist and political activist for pro-reason causes. Jennifer Michael Hecht dazzled all with her talks on the intellectual history of doubt, and D.J. gave eye-opening talks on magic and skepticism, prophecy (and his experiences in a doomsday cult!) and an inspiring talk about skepticism around the world. A surprise presenter was the great Dr. Harriet Hall, who gave an excellent talk about various aspects of scientific misbehavior with which she’s become familiar. I butted in from time to time, of course, and gave a couple of well-received talks myself.
Probably the best aspect of our week together was the important group discussion sessions. A really grand time was experienced by all. Of the cruises we have done so far, I’d say that on this one, there was the strongest feeling of camaraderie and community. One of our Amaz!ng Adventurers described it as one of the peak experiences of his life!
This Week In Doubtful News
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12.12.12 passed with no catastrophes this week. Sadly, 12.14.12 was horrible. The DN page went quiet for Friday afternoon but the week before had it's good, bad and strange moments. Here is a rundown of the top stories in pseudoscience, hoaxes, and the paranormal and associated skeptical commentary from the past week courtesy of Doubtful News.
Big news out of Australia as the Australian Vaccination Network, an anti-vax group, was ordered to change their name and quit misleading the public.
After the circus of the Denver UFOs video (insects), we came across another really awful news report. Why is every single blob on camera a ghost?
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