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For part 1 of this article, click here.

In this video, the pastor with an image of Jesus on his robe went into a trance. Claiming to be speaking in the voice of the Holy Spirit, he said that the two children were possessed by the evil spirit of witchcraft, and the stepmother believed him. Of course, not believing him or making confessions contrary to the voice of the Holy Spirit could earn her a slap as you can see in another video clip from Nigeria. Meanwhile, the stepmother of the children confirmed the accusation. She claimed that one of the kids had been stealing the stepsister's blood, which she used to fly at night. And the pastor went ahead with the deliverance, for which he charged $50. Children accused of withcraft are tortured, torment, starved, chained, or beaten in the name of exorcism, because torture is believed to be an effective way of expelling the witchcraft in them or of disabling their "witch powers", whatever that means.

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Ever ordered Sea Monkeys from the back of a comic book? They are not monkeys at all, but brine shrimp, tiny creatures whose eggs survive long periods in a nearly-dry state.

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Here is a recap of the stories that appeared last week at Science-Based Medicine, a multi-author skeptical blog that separates the science from the woo in medicine.

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  • Hufffington Post, January 12, 2012
    An Open Letter to Dr. Phil: Get Real     (from JREF President D.J. Grothe)
    “As a T.V. psychologist, your oft-repeated advice to viewers is "get real." But the content of your Jan. 10 show was anything but. Instead of taking your own advice, you gave an uncritical platform to phony 'psychics' who abuse people's emotions in order to fool them.”
  • The New Statesman, January 12, 2012
    Could pseudo-science fund cancer research?
    “The geeks are on the march with increasingly vocal and co-ordinated calls for an end to crystal healing and the rest.... admirably spearheaded by the likes of Ben Goldacre, Simon Singh and Robin Ince over here, Penn & Teller and James Randi in the US....”

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SkeptiCamp is staging its fortieth event worldwide with the SurfCoast SkeptiCamp– and it’s all thanks to the Great Ocean Road Skeptics.

January 21st 2012 is the date for a summer SkeptiCamp in Victoria. It is being run by the Great Ocean Road Skeptics, at the Aireys Inlet Community Centre from 10:30am to 6pm. Registration is free, as per usual for SkeptiCamps, and also includes a BBQ lunch, free coffee all day and a paranormal wine tasting to wrap up the day. I talked to Mick Vagg for the Token Skeptic podcast.

  1. An Open Letter to Dr. Phil: Get Real
  2. Skepticism on the Road: A Glimpse of Traditional Medicine in China
  3. James Randi Returns to the Magic Castle
  4. Obituaries in Skepticism in 2011