One Voice of the JREF
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- Written by Hal Bidlack
- Category: Swift
- Hits: 17772
As part 2 to the follow up to the now infamous Denny's article, I asked Hal Bidlack if I could republish a piece he did in 2003. Instead, he sent this, which encompasses a more up-to-date understanding from him. Hal's voice is not the only voice, but he IS representative of the some of the people involved with the JREF. He has served on the Board of Directors, and has spoken, performed, and hosted at every single Amaz!ng Meeting and an Amaz!ng Adventure or two. His Wikipedia entry is here. Please consider what he has to say. You can also listen at this Skepticality link (scroll down to episode 57 from July 2007.) - Jeff Wagg
As a person who has spent quite a bit of time in recent years working on promoting the skeptical movement, I am troubled by the degree to which I now find myself feeling pushed away from that very thing. In a society in which religious belief, particularly in recent years, has intruded significantly on individual choice and freedom, I have ironically chosen to align myself with a segment of society least accepting on issues of faith.
Randi on Religion and the JREF
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- Written by Jeff Wagg
- Category: Swift
- Hits: 31245
My recent article about Denny's has once again called into question the JREF's stance on Atheism. Rather than go through the issue again, I'm going to post two past Swift articles, one today and one tomorrow, that demonstrate how skepticism - as the JREF sees it - can be a big tent.
On July 25th, 2003, six years and one day before I published my Denny's article, James Randi had this to say about religion. You will note that he says that atheism is normally outside the matters that the JREF handles. - Jeff Wagg
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Why I Deny Religion, How Silly and Fantastic It Is, and Why I'm a Dedicated and Vociferous Bright - by James Randi
Million Dollar Challenge Update: It's not ending!
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- Written by Phil Plait
- Category: Latest JREF News
- Hits: 23844
We have a fantastic announcement to make:
The JREF's famous Million Dollar Challenge will continue!
Last year, we announced that the MDC would end in March 2010 due to the strains on time and effort of the JREF staff. However, after much discussion, we have decided not to terminate the Challenge. Instead, we are in the process of examining how it can be improved, streamlined, and made more efficient so that we can continue to use it to test claims of the paranormal.
However, we haven't made any final decisions about it yet; we're taking our time and making sure we do this right. When next March comes around we will roll out the new and improved Million Dollar Challenge. So never fear! We will continue to test the claims and examine the evidence, and we will always strive to ensure that reality - as it usually tends to do - wins out.
The Latest Gossip about Travolta and Scientology
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- Written by Harriet Hall
- Category: Swift
- Hits: 20940
There are hints that John Travolta may be reconsidering his relationship with the Church of Scientology after his son's death.
The boy was taken off his seizure medication because it was no longer working. Standard practice would be to try a different medication or a combination of medications, but apparently this was not done. Instead, he was treated with saunas, food supplements, Vitamin B and vegetable oils. He died of a seizure.
TAM 7 Vaccine Drive Total
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- Written by Joe Albietz
- Category: Swift
- Hits: 8203
Well, the final tally is in, and the TAM 7 vaccine drive to benefit the Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD) has been an outstanding success.
Our original concept had been to simply collect donations in association with TAM registration, and to present the SNHD with those proceeds at TAM 7. The relatively late conception of the project combined with working to ensure that donated funds would be used to their optimal effect meant that it was an understated affair with relatively little publicity. When combined with the current economy and the fact that attending TAM has never been a cheap affair, we had no idea what kind of response the project would receive.
We need not have worried.
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