Another Chupacabra Sighting?
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- Written by Jeff Wagg
- Category: Swift
- Hits: 14194
Reader Mark Hitch sends us the following:
The dreaded Chupacowbra. I found this specimen along the South Platte River near Sterling, CO. I think this is the male because of the crest. The female looked identical, but without the give-away crest. Now, with this irrefutable evidence, will the scientific community name it after me? Chupacowbra shamicus hitchii, perhaps.
So, we should have taken a cruise to Colorado instead...
When Sylvia Comes to Town...
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- Written by Jeff Wagg
- Category: Swift
- Hits: 16716
Derek Rogers ran into the JREF crew at the recent CFI World Congress in DC. He had an interesting answer to the question "What should you do when Syvlia Browne comes to town?" Derek and his friends at the Skeptics and Secularists of Atlantic Canada decided to attend. He gives us this very interesting, if somewhat disheartening report:
Sylvia Browne is well-known to readers of Swift. Like all professional mediums, she makes a living on the grief, pain and desperation of people who are usually blissfully ignorant of cold reading, Barnum statements and the tendency of the human mind to see what it wants to see. The best way to combat ignorance is through education and when Sylvia announced that she would be coming to Halifax, Nova Scotia as part of her latest tour – a farewell tour, apparently (let's hope she's not like Cher) – the Skeptics and Secularists of Atlantic Canada decided to give her audience some information that could save them future heartache and empty wallets.
Return of the Randigram
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- Written by Jeffrey Wagg
- Category: Latest JREF News
- Hits: 7534
Due to popular demand, I'd like to announce the return of the "Randigram." This weekly e-mail newsletter will keep you up to date with the latest JREF News, Randi Speaks videos, and Swift articles written by JREF associates.
To subscribe send a blank e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
To unsubscribe, send a blank e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Our first regular issue will be re-appearing on April 24, 2009.
Comments about the Randigram may be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Thanks to Michael Feldman for originally designing the Randigram, and to Scott for supplying the listserv for many years now.
Opportunity Knocks!
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- Written by James Randi
- Category: Swift
- Hits: 9115
This notice appeared on Craigslist, where stranger things have not often shown up. It purports to be a casting call... I ask you to read it, and make comments on how the beleaguered "world-renown" medium would be able to come up with any details about the subject victim...
CASTING: TALK TO THE DEAD - FREE PSYCHIC READING
WOULD YOU LIKE TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE OTHER SIDE?
IS THERE A DEBATE YOU'D LIKE TO PUT TO REST?
DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION THAT NEEDS AN ANSWER?
Randi Speaks: Charles Lynch
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- Written by Jeffrey Wagg
- Category: James Randi Speaks
- Hits: 17316
UPDATE: According to the LA Times, the sentencing has been pushed back until June 11th. Maybe some sanity will settle out by then.
Randi takes a different tone this time as a recent letter has shown that his adopted country is sometimes less than compassionate. Are politics more important than people? Maybe, but it shouldn't be that way.
From Randi -
Understand this: I heartily endorse and accept marijuana use for medical purposes; research has clearly shown that it works efficiently in that role, and brings comfort and relief to the suffering. As a result of this stated conditional acceptance, I have been approached by those who advocate general use of the substance on the same level that tobacco enjoys. Generally, this makes sense to me, except that if its use were to bring with it the same dreadful health penalties that accompany tobacco, I would be reluctant to accept that. I am not a drug user, I have never even been inebriated. That is my personal choice, and I feel that other persons should also enjoy freedom of choice, even if taxes are imposed on that freedom in order to legislate it; I don’t want out-of-control drivers threatening my safety, for example.
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