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A group in France known as the Observatoire Zététique (Skeptical Observatory — and also shortened to "Oz" — for a little "in" joke) has just published the detailed results of a comprehensive experiment designed to test the claims of "Therapeutic Touch" made by a sincere practitioner of this "alternative" treatment who they compassionately refer to only as "Mr. Z." This report, which can be seen in English with full illustrations, is a must-read for anyone interested in the proper way of setting up and conducting a fair, definitive, test. See it at www.observatoire-zetetique.org/divers/oz-tt2004.pdf in "pdf" format, and at http://www.skepticreport.com for the "HTML" version, courtesy of Claus Larsen. I'll only tell you here of their closing statement:
It took nearly one year, from initial contact to final protocol, for this experiment to reach fruition. Upon its conclusion, the satisfaction of having implemented a complete protocol is tinged with sadness. The results, however, can be added to a succession of experiments that, since the 18th century, have never yielded a positive result. Accordingly, we can hardly claim to be surprised. Nevertheless, Mr. Z. practices, seriously and with passion, an activity about which his patients seem to have no complaints. His surprise then, comes on top of disappointment, and since our relationship has been cordial, sincere, and always marked by great mutual respect, we have great sympathy for him. When one considers the distances traversed, the hours spent sharing with us his practice and his personal understanding thereof, his firm desire to comprehend the true basis of his "perception," his perseverance despite a negative preliminary trial and the manifold doubts raised — in addition to his unfailing honesty — we are inclined to say that Mr. Z. truly has courage going for him.
In an e-mail dated May 18, 2004, Professor Henri Broch of the University of Nice, a very prominent promoter of skeptical research in France, and a noted author, expresses a similar sentiment, and writes:
Regarding your testing of the touch therapist, I feel sorry for him…
I urge you to follow the step-by-step procedure by which the OZ people developed their protocol, always bringing into consideration the specific needs and rather naïve notions of the claimant. At the JREF, when we design and conduct tests, we try to have all such matters settled in advance, each small point agreed to and approved by all present — but inevitably, there are matters that were impossible to anticipate before the actual encounter, that have to be accommodated. One difference I see here between our two situations is that at least in this case, the OZ folks had a very co-operative and willing subject — something we at the JREF find only rarely….
OZ was careful to cover every detail of the protocol that might allow for complaints following the expected failure of Mr. Z. They maintained an atmosphere of co-operation and compliance, without compromising the security of the protocol. In summary, this is how a test of such a claim should be done. I'll add that if I had designed the procedure, I'd have done certain things a bit differently, only in order to have more data from the encounter; I always try to provide features in the protocol that can give additional data not necessarily related to the primary purpose of the test.
The OZ group can take top marks for this report. C'était formidable!
You can see the original in French at www.observatoire-zetetique.org
KEEN DISCOVERED BY SCHWARTZ IN HEAVEN
Reader Darryn van Vuuren provides this account of a world-shaking revelation:
As I recall you mentioning both Montague Keen and Gary Schwartz in past commentaries, I thought you'd be interested in this.
True, I had encounters with Keen many times, both in person and on the Internet. He was fond of embracing every canard that he'd heard about either the JREF or myself, and distributing them despite contrary evidence — which he easily ignored. I am no longer a threat to him; he died suddenly just a few months ago. And how could we ever forget Gary Schwartz? This is an academic who has abandoned reason to accept everything and anything offered him by scammers from John Edward to the gypsy down the street, just so long as he can set up a scenario that has the appropriate scientific atmosphere and trappings about which he can publish a "paper" that appears to suggest wonders — so long as you don't look too closely or ask heavy questions. Darryn continues:
And so I didn't think much of it until the guests were introduced. On the left, Veronica Keen, widow of Montague Keen; and on the right, Gary Schwartz, occult investigator extraordinaire.Monday morning, lazing about the house, I turned on the television to [UK] ITV's "This Morning" and was told that after the break I'd hear astonishing evidence of life after death. (Yawn.) This is a daily program that manifestly seeks to satisfy bored housewives with supernatural nonsense. A "past life regressionist" is a regular guest. I recall another occasion when a "white witch" was invited on to advertise some training program in the mystical arts that she had going. And how could I forget the very plump dullard of a presenter Fern Britton primly declaring that astrology now had proven scientific validity.
Wait! This isn't just any old Gary Schwartz. It's the Dr. Gary Schwartz, Ph.D. from Harvard University, Professor of Psychology, Medicine, Neurology, Psychiatry and Surgery at the University of Arizona, Director of the University of Arizona Human Energy Systems Laboratory! This man says he has already established the verity of life-after-death! Let's know who we're dealing with, here! Continuing:
Apparently, the couple had devised a password, in Houdini fashion, that Monty would try and send to the wife after shedding his mortal coil. Oddly the details of this weren't revealed on the show but Veronica did assure us all, that she'd got the message. How could we not believe? For those that were upset to hear of [Montague's] death, you should not be, for we have had assurances from Veronica that Monty is living it up in the afterlife, occasionally making trips to our plain old world to bear the Good News.
Hold on. I want you to notice that the secret password arranged by Montague and his wife was completely ignored by Schwartz! That would have been the one piece of evidence to go after, the absolute proof that Montague had survived death, the key to the entire project. Was it pursued by this prominent scientist, this fearless investigator of the paranormal, the academic who has appeared on countless TV shows and in hundreds of newspapers around the world, trumpeting that he's proved the case? No.
Why? We'll never know, but I'll put forth a few guesses based on extensive past experience with these mealy-mouthed "experts." I'll bet the "medium" told them that asking direct questions was just not done, that Montague's spirit just wanted to blather on and on about how happy he is in Never-Never Land, how much he misses Veronica, that he's hovering over her, how glad he is to know his friends are well, etc., etc., etc., — the same old claptrap that Montague so much admired and embraced while he was still "here" with us. Darryl continues:
We were also told that dogs are able to send messages back too. Good to hear they pass over. I wonder about termites though? What of bacteria?
A recorded message was played — purportedly of the medium channeling Monty's spirit. What followed was a blatantly affected voice guaranteeing us that everything is OK in the universe and that we have nothing to fear. Veronica opined that the voice reminded her much of Monty after he'd had his heart operation. She also reminded us that the medium had received the message, "I love you from the bottom of my heart" for Veronica — proof incontrovertible — as this is something that, according to her, "only Monty used to say." At this point the presenter asked how the medium's sincerity might be assured. Gary Schwartz proposed a lie detector test.So, apparently she visited a highly skilled medium in Oxford, one she'd visited with Monty on one occasion in the past, this time with Gary Schwartz at her side. The medium had received much scintillating information. Thankfully, Gary had the good sense to record these revelations for posterity. Amongst them; Monty's declaration that the afterlife is everything he had expected and much, much more — apparently if you wish to communicate with someone you merely think of them and they are there. Time doesn't exist either, in this place, though oddly enough in the later recorded message played on air, his invoked spirit mentioned the date. Much other information was revealed to Veronica, but this remains, unfortunately, in her own words, "information I do not understand...I'm not a scientist." Surely we should get our most brilliant minds onto this, pronto!
All this was mixed in with "information" that Veronica did "not understand," because she's "not a scientist." So much for evaluating that data, though I'm sure Gullible Gary had no problems with it, because he is a scientist, don'tcha know. As for his proposal to use a "lie detector," that's just what I'd expect of a PhD from Harvard who doesn't know how to do an experiment. He opts to use a totally discredited method — the polygraph — probably because it looks "scientific," can be manipulated easily through interpretation of the results, and he'd look great in the photos, beaming over the jumping needles and graph paper. Pseudoscience has found its king….
I think you better get writing that cheque right away!Mention was made of a tribute held in honor of Montague at the Royal Society of Arts on July 27th. The place was apparently swarming with mediums, all of whom noted that Monty was present, walking about on the stage, along with Arthur Conan Doyle. The wife said something about Conan Doyle helping Monty whilst he was still alive. Don't ask me...! The website of that despicable ignoramus Victor Zammit (http://www.victorzammit.com/) reports that Monty actually became visible and embraced his wife. Oddly enough, no mention was made of this on the TV interview...wonder why?
Darryn, Zammit and Schwartz are soul brothers, doubt it not. They belong together in the same loony bin. With enough coaxing, Gary will recall that Sir Arthur, Montague, and the Cottingley Fairies were all tripping the Light Fantastic onstage at the tribute. But he won't bring up the secret password that was supposed to be revealed through the medium. That would be real evidence, something that Gary Schwartz eschews..
Reader Rick Jette recalls:
For all I know the entire scene might have been a put-on with a hired actor, but I enjoyed the punch line.Several years ago the PBS show "This Old House" was running a series about building a vacation house in western Massachusetts. Bob Villa was still the host. When it was time to drill the well, the producers thought it would be interesting to get an old time dowser to find the best spot. An older man arrived in a beat-up old truck and was dressed in overalls and checked shirt (suggested by the producers perhaps?) He took out his pocket knife and cut a forked stick from a handy tree. He spoke sparingly, just as you'd imagine an old Yankee farmer would. The answer to all questions was "ay-yup" or "nope." When he got down to business he held the stick awkwardly and walked slowly around the desired area with Villa asking questions and him responding "ay-yup." Finally the stick started pointing down and he said, "Drill here." Villa was impressed with the performance and asked how often he correctly predicted finding water. He said "'Bout 85% of the time." Villa said that was quite impressive and the dowser then salvaged the entire episode when he replied, "Not really. There's water under 85% of the land anywhere in New England. It'd be hard to miss."
There is a strange chap named Ray Stanford who is a leading light in paranormal and UFO circles, and has written a book on the "Fatima" miracles — in which the Earth stood still. Sure. He also — of course — endorses anything that psychics claim, enthusiastically. He says he was contacted by "The Brothers," who announced that "Stanford's unconscious being could, when given appropriate suggestion, give medical clairvoyance and describe former life personalities and activities for individuals." He says that in April of 1961 he saw one of the Brothers, who had frequently spoken through him, suddenly materialize as a visible, glowing form over seven feet tall, complete with robe and metallic-like headpiece. That experience convinced him once and for all that the Brothers were something other than unconscious masquerades. Well, I should hope so!
One Brother who speaks through Ray is known as Kuthumi and appears to be a Mahatma once referred to by Madame Blavatsky, of Theosophy fame.
His son and a reader of this page, Joel Stanford, sends me "A Warm Thank You":
My father, Ray Stanford, (who really does not like you) was a close friend of Uri Geller's throughout the 70s, and he, along with my mother are absolutely taken by him. They attributed anything weird that happened, to him, and even to this day swear to his authenticity. What they did not do, was take a skeptical approach to the "phenomena" that happened around him. From their stories, I have noticed that in each circumstance there are other, non-supernatural explanations for these things happening. Particularly of note was the classic trick of using associates. My dad has numerous stories of spoons bending in other people's hands or bent keys appearing in purses. I wonder then, how much did Geller pay to have these people do this for him?
Randi comments: Joel, I would be astonished if Geller were to resort to using "outside" confederates other than his brother-in-law Shipi or a family member. Because there are always willing believers present, he doesn't need to pay anyone. The believers will do anything to earn a nod of acceptance from their deity-of-the-moment, and putting a bit of pressure on a spoon to help it along, can't hurt, can it? I recall that some years ago I was picked up at the airport by a scientist friend who discovered that after delivering me to my hotel, having lunch with me, and returning to his car, all the keys on his keychain were bent — and that was not a paranormal event…. Nor did I have a confederate….
To date I have used a complex toolset of books, thinking, online resources, and so forth, (of note are Sagan, Dennett, and Dawkins) but your name stands out as a key to getting rid of supernatural garbage, and for once and for all confirming my tremendous doubts about psychics and spoon benders that I have had from an early age. I have become an avid reader of your newsletter and it often brings a very satisfied smile to me. You do a damn fine job of exposing hoaxers and loonies for what they really are.Up until eight months ago, I would have left some room for Geller's being genuine, open, but one thing changed that, an e-mail reply I received... I had e-mailed Geller telling him who I was, and I thought that since this guy was a close friend of my father's he'd be open and candid for conversation. What I got instead was a Geller book-and-product pitch, along with a short acknowledgement of my dad being "very dear" to him or some such muck. Really, Geller, if I had wanted to spend $50 for an autographed and "energized" copy of your book, I'd have asked. This did me a lot of good, however. I embarked on a personal campaign to rid myself of any beliefs that did not lean on reason, logic, and science.
Thanks, Joel.
Recently I quoted Intellectual giant Wayne Dyer as saying that in order to invoke miracles:
I use the Lord's Prayer and the sound "ah" or one of the names of God. The sound of "ah" is not only within the name of God; it is also in the sound of Allah, Krishna, Jehovah, and Ra.
Now comes UK reader Ian Williams with this observation:
As a British English speaker, I had a wry chuckle at Mr. Dyer's assertion that the sound "ah" is present within the word "God"! Over this side of the Atlantic a "Guard" is someone who stands unsmiling and be-buzbied, outside Buckingham Palace and gets photos taken of him by tourists. We prefer to refer to our deity of choice as "G-ohhd!" but try as I might I can't think of anyway that I can demonstrate how this sounds! Does this mean that "a fox barks in a box" is actually "a farx barx in a barx"? Anyway, curious semantics aside, the sound "ah" is not only in the name of God, but in Darwin, garbage, nonsense, Neanderthal etc. etc.
Randi adds: And in farce, charade, false, awful, obtuse, baloney, twaddle, and balderdash, to name a few more. Hey, I think that Dyer's finally on to something significant here!
"Inventor" Joseph Newman delights in listing "scientists" who have endorsed his claptrap "free energy" machine, and I mentioned one in my www.randi.org/jr/070204another.html page, a Dr. Roger Hastings. Newman advertises him to be "Principal Physicist, UNISYS Corporation," and quotes him as declaring that:
The future of the human race may be dramatically uplifted by the large-scale, commercial development of this [Newman's] invention.
Remember? Well, now here is reader Bruce McGlashan of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, who did a bit of research:
A quick Google search showed that Dr. Hastings might have worked for Sperry-Univac before they merged with Burroughs to form Unisys. My Unisys colleagues work for the Burroughs side of Unisys. I also found references to Hastings working for North Dakota State University, so I went to their website and looked for him in the online phone directory. Other faculty appear in the directory, but there is no Roger Hastings listed.
I have to wonder what Unisys and the North Dakota State University would think of the use of their name in this manner.I work for a customer of Unisys, and I've never sensed any woo-woo tendencies in that company. I talked to one of our Unisys support staff members, and he looked up this Dr. Hastings for me. Hastings' name does not appear on either the internal Unisys corporate directory or the internal e-mail system. The staff member also has never heard of anyone at Unisys being referred to as "Principal Physicist."
A rightly angry Unisys employee also wrote to me:
In your commentary you refer to the citation of "Dr. Roger Hastings, Principal Physicist, UNISYS corporation" on Joseph Newman's Website and also repeated all over the web. I actually work for Unisys, and so I searched our internal directory and found no listing for Roger Hastings. He may have worked for Sperry Corp at one time, and is sometimes cited as such, but the merger of Sperry & Burroughs to form Unisys happened in 1986. Let's nail this canard that Unisys Corporation has any connection with pseudoscience.
So, Dr. Hastings, just where and who are you? Do you exist? If so, what part of your expertise qualifies you to assert that the Newman "discovery" could "uplift" the human race?
I urge readers to do a search on "Dr. Roger Hastings" and find, as I did, that almost every reference to him is found in data published by or about the Newman device! Interesting….
Our friend Linda Rosa has been battling the Attachment Therapy (AT) practitioners for years now. This is a total quack procedure that has actually killed children. I haven't the heart to go into it, but I refer you to www.kidscomefirst.info to see what it's done to innocent kids. The Candace Newmaker case, alone, should convince you that we're dealing here with unthinking savages, potential murderers who get away with this "therapy" because it's accepted pseudoscience.
Now there's a crisis for those fighting the scam. A small but dangerous band of Attachment Therapists, and a cult of mothers have been defying regulators and frustrating attempts to legislate protections for the children they put at risk, the "Cascade Center for Family Growth" (http://www.attach-bond.com) has tried to drag AT critics into state court and silence them. A Cascade front-group sued Alan Misbach, a long-time critic of AT, for being one of the contributors to the www.kidscomefirst.info (KCF) website, which provides a unique public service by making original public documents about AT (and its proponents) readily available on the Internet. This AT group fears this information being made known, and wants the website shutdown immediately.
The lawsuit by Cascade and its minions is a classic SLAPP tactic. A "Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation," or SLAPP, is one that attempts to shut down public debate by using the courts. It attempts to judicially force a financially weaker opponent into silence. Misbach has been SLAPPed — forced by a meritless lawsuit into having to defend the right to speak out under the First Amendment, and into paying for that defense out of his own pocket. Defense lawyers don't work on contingency.
Misbach shouldn't have to bear the entire burden of defending children and the First Amendment. He's right on the First Amendment. He's right on the AT issue. He's right on the treatment of children. None of these positions should be lost solely for the reason that he can't afford to carry on a legal fight, or alternatively that he and his family should be financially drained to defend the right of all of us to speak out. A legal defense fund for him has been established. We at JREF have reached into our defense fund and sent in $1,000 to help. Will you join us? Please….
Contributions should be mailed to:
Alan Misbach Legal Defense Fund
c/o Hill Johnson & Schmutz, LLC
Jamestown Square, 3319 North University Avenue
Provo, UT 84604
Or use the paypal link to the right. We will forward all donations made for this purpose.
I've been sent this hilarious spoof — http://zapatopi.net/mindguard.html — from which I give you an example of the delicious pseudoscientific language they have invented:
MindGuard is fully configurable and can be customized for the individual user using biorhythmic and eponymologic settings. MindGuard also includes an advanced DePsych utility, allowing the removal of almost all deep-burned memetic patterns — including even commercial jingles.
With MindGuard, you can rest assured that your most valuable possession — your mind — is safe from the nefarious tinkering of evil-doers.MindGuard works by leveraging your computer's aluminum-based innards to both detect and emit psychotronic energy using advanced quasi-quantum techniques. Once a mind-control signal is identified and analyzed, MindGuard can generate a specially tuned anti-signal that will jam the incoming signal. If MindGuard is unable to properly identify the signal, it will generate psychotronic white noise to ensure the signal's harmful message is scrambled.
Yep, I'll just bet that if you use this device, not a single shred of mind-control signal will get through to you! And those deep-burned memetic patterns will just be gone, gone, gone! I don't know who got this clever hoax together, but it's obviously someone who is familiar with the kind of nonsense that Lewis Carroll so well expressed when he wrote of borogoves, mome raths, and slithy toves….
Reader John Kuharik knows a little about basic chemistry, it appears; the "experts" at the website he cites, know zilch. The excerpt he gives us here is just so chock full of errors, that it would be a major project just to analyze it. But, the believers out there will gasp and tremble after reading the site, and rush off to warn the world about so much NaCl? (sodium chloride gas!) floating about in our atmosphere. Says John:
I saw a comment on your site from one of your readers regarding the ridiculous concept of "organic" salt. It caused me to recall a website I recently came across on the subject (www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/salt.htm). Here's an excerpt:
The problem with salt is not the salt itself but the condition of the salt we eat — refined! Major producing companies dry their salt in huge kilns with temperatures reaching 1200 degrees F, changing the salt's chemical structure, which in turn adversely affects the human body. The facts are that in the heating process of salt, the element sodium chloride goes off into the air as a gas. What remains is sodium hydroxate which is irritating to the system and does not satisfy the body's hunger and need for sodium chloride. Sodium chloride is one of the 12 daily essential minerals. In countries which do not alter their salt supply, heart disease and arthritis are so rare that many doctors have never seen a case. Their salt is dried from the ocean by the sun. Many people believe that salt is harmful to the human body. The truth is we cannot live without salt (sodium chloride). From salt the body makes hydrochloric acid which is one of the essential digestive fluids. There is not enough natural salt in our foods, so we must supplement our diet. When salt is withheld, weakness and sickness follow. Try this experiment: Mix a spoonful of salt in a glass of water and let it stand overnight. If the salt collects on the bottom of the glass, it has been processed. NATURAL SALT DISSOLVES! Salt that will not dissolve in water cannot dissolve in your body. Any foreign substance that collects in the body organs and tissues will eventually result in malfunctioning of essential body processes: heart disease, arthritis, hardening of the body tissues and arteries, calcium deposits in the joints, etc. Natural organic salt (saline) will not cause calcification in your body. REAL SALT can dissolve damaging calcium deposits in the body.
Adds John:
For those who don't know, table salt (NaCl) has a melting temperature of approximately 1400°F, and a boiling temperature around 2600°F. There will be very little of "the element sodium chloride" going off into the air as a gas at 1200°F!
What a relief!
The web site www.alienrockwherediditcomefrom.com is astonishing. The lotus-eater who created this fantasy claims to possess an "alien gemstone" — however he chooses to define that — which emits a "non-ionizing radiation"
. . . 24 hours a day 7 days a week. This gemstone stops ice melting at room temperature or any temperature, melts glass with no heat, kills insects instantly, and causes damage to all electronic equipment. These are only a few of the mind boggling effects it produces. All of the experiments mentioned can be repeated any time and I do mean any time.
On this web site it is claimed that the "NASA Johnson Space Center for geology testing" and "John Glenn Research Center," the "US Department of Energy," the "US Food and Drug Administration" and the "US Department of the Army," all put this mysterious rock through procedures. Now, writes the swindled owner:
An aide in Senator Carl Levin (D Michigan) office discovered NASA was keeping a secret file on the gemstone. This caused me to file the freedom of information act lawsuit. I had to allow the case to dismiss because I found out Senator Levin would not allow his aide to give testimony about what she had discovered.The government has refused to release their official test results. The gemstone was returned to me along with bogus and contrived test results. . . . I have polled the public and the public agrees the government should release test results paid for with tax payer money. This is the only way the public would know if their tax money was wasted testing a worthless rock. . . . The scientists refused to share any of their test results and stopped answering all of my questions.
As you might suspect, I put in inquiries with Senator Levin's office, and so far there's been no response. I also responded to this man, saying:
If this "gem" does ANY of the four things that you claim, it will CERTAINLY win the JREF million-dollar prize. See www.randi.org. We are prepared to test it. Contact Mr. Kramer at: Kramer@randi.org. We await your response.
Big mistake. The site owner has flooded us with huge postings explaining theories, making changes and exceptions in his claims — the "instant" killing of bugs sometimes takes from 30 minutes to 48 hours, for example — and we can't stop him. But we'll keep you apprised of this adventure….
Reader Shaun Dawson comments on last week's featured "psychic" Pezaro, and provides this good tip:
http://web.archive.org/web/20030207055718/www.psychicnikki.com/predictions.html
There are some really funny ones:
MOHAMMED ALI WILL RECEIVE THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
CLONING OF HUMAN BEINGS ON A LARGE SCALE
A QUASY MISSILE WILL HIT NORTH AMERICA (Hey, at least she learned how to spell 'quasi' between 2003 and 2004)
There must be 50 or 60 predictions on that page, but only 13 are mentioned in the "Past Predictions" sections. Wait, she makes 60 predictions a year, and only has 13 that in retrospect appear to be true? I could do better than that, and I don't claim to be a psychic — yet.Just a reminder that the folks at archive.org give us a wonderful tool to allow us to check the accuracy of past predictions by psychics who are confident enough to go on record on the Internet, and too stupid to set up a robots.txt file. Ms. Pezaro's 2003 predictions are available through that service at the following URL:
Is that a threat….? Note, folks, that no number of absurdly failed predictions of this sort will ever diminish Pezaro's reputation one whit. Again, no amount of evidence, even of excellent quality, will ever un-convince the true believer….
Last week, as several readers noted, my computer's sound system misinformed me about what Uri Geller actually said to his Italian audience as he made bending motions with the key. It seems that he actually said, "It's impossible to bend it like this (garbled) It's impossible!" Perhaps it is, but I've never had any trouble doing that by simple hand moves of exactly that sort, Uri….!
My 22-day European trip in September and October has shaped up nicely. I'll be visiting Germany (Frankfurt, Cologne, Rossdorf, Heidelberg), Italy (Padua, Milano, Venice), Ireland (Dublin), Sweden (Gothenburg, Stockholm), and Belgium (Brussels). Unfortunately, though Denmark and Hungary were also on the list, my schedule filled up rather quickly, and those will await another trip.
Next week, a direct challenge to pseudoscience as practiced by Stereophile Magazine, an update on the Theodore Karavassilis "Energia" project, and "vibrations" from ancient ancestors….!
