The Houdini Seance Live on the Internet
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- Written by Jeffrey Wagg
- Category: Latest JREF News
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This Halloween, The James Randi Educational Foundation and WeirdThings.com present a never-before-attempted experiment. In front of a live internet audience, a group of prominent skeptics and magicians will try to make contact with the spirit of Harry Houdini, the world's most famous magician and challenger of the supernatural.
What makes this attempt unique is that it's being conducted by skeptics and magicians in the hopes that if contact from beyond the grave is possible, Houdini would prefer to make it with skeptics and magicians like himself.
World famous magician and skeptic James Randi will oversee the seance and will help supervise the attempt to communicate.
The seance will be conducted by magician and publisher of WeirdThings.com Andrew Mayne, WeirdThings.com editor-in-chief Justin Robert Young and magician and Scam School star Brian Brushwood.
The seance will consist of several tests for attempted communication. Words and images provided by prominent magicians and skeptics and held by James Randi will be attempted to be divined through various supernatural means including Ouija boards, automatic writing and spirit photography.
Rehearsals for the event will be held on Friday October 30th at 1 PM and Saturday at 2 PM at the Isaac Asimov Memorial Library. For press access contact Justin at 954-892-5665
Contact information
WeirdThings.com:
Andrew Mayne: Phone: (323) 743-3466 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Justin Robert Young: Phone: (954) 892-5665 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
James Randi and a spokesperson for the James Randi Educational Foundation are available for interview upon request.
Phone: 954-467-1112 Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Strange Animal Sighting Confirmed!
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- Written by Jeff Wagg
- Category: Swift
- Hits: 16000
Recently, a mountain lion was sighted in a wooded area of Kansas. More importantly, it was photographed, and those photos have been authenticated. We can now say that there are mountain lions in Kansas for the first time since 1909.
The Wichita Eagle's report is very interesting, and it tells us a lot about bigfoot sightings. Like bigfoot, there are a number of sightings each year. Also like bigfoot, most of the pictures taken are blurry and inconclusive. So, given that sightings of a real animal bear so much in common with bigfoot sightings, does this lend credence to the theory that there are hairy hominids wandering the Pacific Northwest?
Well, yes, but that's only because many hunters eschew shaving rituals during deer camp.Delusions About Dilutions Never Cease
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- Written by Harriet Hall
- Category: Swift
- Hits: 14626
In "Challenging Challenges" (Swift, Oct 17), Jeff Wagg posted a video with weird sounds and the voice of John Benneth, who is challenging Randi's Million Dollar Challenge. I recently had an e-mail exchange with Benneth that was very illuminating.
A former unsuccessful applicant for the MDC, he is considering re-applying. He thinks he can distinguish between water and homeopathic remedies. He believes a recent study by Montagnier et al. supports homeopathy, and he wants to perform a variant of the same experiment. He is not alone in praising the Montagnier study: homeopaths are touting it as proof that homeopathy works.
Tweet the Dead
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- Written by Jeff Wagg
- Category: Swift
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Copper and Magnetic Bracelets Useless
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- Written by James Randi
- Category: Swift
- Hits: 20071
(Note: an earlier article on this topic has been replaced with this one.)
FLASH! Copper bracelets and magnetic wrist straps are useless for relieving pain in people with arthritis, say University of York researchers! In what they claim was the first tightly controlled trial to look at both alternative therapies, they discovered there was no benefit to their use for pain or stiffness. Though this, to me, is equivalent to announcing that the Titanic has struck an iceberg, I congratulate the York researchers on their bravery in confronting and arousing the ire of the millions - literally - all over the globe who wouldn't be caught without their precious - $40 to $100 - ornaments. Though we wish the data pool had been larger - it was 45 patients - at least it was conducted. The York savants tested a copper bracelet, two different magnetic wrist straps, and a demagnetized version.
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