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From Belgium: My schedule here has been heavy indeed. In Brussels at the moment, I'm off to Ghent within the hour. I'm staying at the Club de la Fondation Universitaire, a magnificent edifice that hardly reminds me of the typical academic "digs" I've sometimes been asked to endure. This morning I scurried down to enjoy another breakfast, with a croissant-made-in-heaven exploding in my mouth, and a camembert cheese that had reached its peak of perfection only minutes before I unwrapped it. No more cornflakes for me....
The lectures here have all been jam-packed, and well received. The various organizations who organized this trip did well by me, and I trust that they are satisfied with their respective investments. CNN has kept me up with the news from back home, and I can tell you that Europeans are as much concerned with the November elections as Americans are — and should be.
After Ghent, it's Dublin, Ireland, where I'm scheduled to examine the claims of yet another strange person who believes he can project thoughts to others. He has already projected a few notions into my head.... Then I'm in Venice, at the World Congress hosted by CICAP. Busy, busy....
I've already had several encounters with eager applicants here in Europe, none of which have put the JREF prize in any danger. Dowsers, psychic diagnosticians, object-movers, and flavor-improvers (?) have walked away shaking their heads in disbelief that their awesome powers failed simple tests. In the accompanying photo here you see a chap who is staring at the video of his attempted psycho-kinetic moving of an object, trying to determine why it kept moving vigorously after he turned off The Force....
From back home, reader Keith Taylor reports that the San Diego Association for Rational Inquiry has examined another claim for us:
After a couple of postponements, we had the screening yesterday. It was conducted by SDARI president Richard Uhrich, Bertha Taylor (my wife), and me. Robert Shaeffer, who helped James Randi on another experiment years ago, videotaped the whole thing.
The agreed protocol was for Bertha and I to randomly place a penny, a nickel, a five-dollar gold piece, a silver dollar, and a hunk of aluminum, one each, in five bags. Then Mr. Blount used a homemade sensing device to determine which was which. He had three tries to conduct this experiment.
I must say the results were astounding and it looks like you're out a million bucks. If you'll send it to me in small, unmarked bills, I'll see that Mr. Blount gets what's left of it after Bertha and I buy a few things we've had our hearts set on for a long time.
Mr. Blount was right on the money two of fifteen times.Some time back I was contacted from your office by Kramer. He asked that SDARI do a preliminary screening of James Blount. Mr. Blount claimed to be able to discern low radio frequency emanations from various types of metals, and to determine where the metals were.
I was really worried for a moment there, Keith....
We regret to announce that Dr. John Mack, tenured professor at Harvard University — someone we've encountered and know of well — was recently killed in London, hit by a drunken driver as he crossed the street. Mack was the author of books dealing with supposed abductions of humans by aliens in UFOs, and enjoyed considerable fame for his claims. I believe those claims were fanciful, and that Dr. Mack had an overactive imagination.
TAIWAN PERFORMER FAILS TO PERFORM
Reader Andrew Norris reports:
The more prominent followers of this guy include Frank Hsieh, the mayor of Kaohsiung. Basically, the significance of this is that he's President Chen Shui-bian's preferred successor!
However, all is not lost: one of the major TV networks is now redefining its news coverage to leave out things like: patients receiving emergency medical treatment, the faces of crime suspects, car accidents, roadside alcohol breath tests, family disputes, crime scene simulations and superstitions — such as people who claim to be possessed by spirits.
Not to sound too critical of the local people, but a lot of them outside of Taipei are fairly superstitious. More than a few of the locals refuse to travel in Ghost Month, which is believed to be the time when the dead escape hell and spend their time walking around wreaking havoc. It corresponds roughly with late August.There's a "guru" from Kaohsiung (Gaoxiong), basically Taiwan's second city. His schtick is doctoring photos of himself to make it look like an "aura" is surrounding him. There's even a museum that's been built containing nothing but doctored photos of the man, whose name is Sung Chi-li. The best part is when he was tried for fraud and defended himself by claiming magical powers. He tried to prove this in court by making a cop sit down (the police determined this test), but luckily the policeman refused to do so.
Reader Ed Graham keeps us abreast of the latest in Japanese technology.
I love your site and thought you might be interested in this Japanese discovery. It appeared in the Washington Post Express which is a little free tabloid for commuters, printed by the Post. Japanese women are clamoring to download a mobile-phone ring tone developed by counselor Hideto Tomabechi, who says that the tune increases the breast size of users, a Japanese newspaper — the Express — has reported:
"I listened to the tune for a week expecting all the time that I was being duped," said Chieri Nakayama, 19. "But, incredibly, my 87-centimeter bust grew to 89-centimeters! It was awesome!" Tomabechi's tune, which he said is based on "known techniques," attracted more than 10,000 paid downloads in the first week it was made available.
I can't imagine that the "tune" works, but everyone knows that American diets are responsible for breast growth. I would suggest that any young Japanese women who would like to increase their breast size, visit McDonalds every day, buy two Big Macs — and stuff them in their bras.Couple of things — for the metrically impaired, that's 34.25" to 35" which could be attributed to arousal, water retention, or faulty measuring techniques.
Ed, this is just another example of the naivety of the general public, and the callous opportunism of the scam artists. No surprise at all. Hey! Is that the phone ringing....?
Reader Ken Roberts tells us:
I work tech support at a library in Ohio and subscribe to several list servers that relate to that field. This morning I received this little item in my mail box. I also include my response which I hope you find interesting, If perhaps not surprising.
What are our one, five, and ten-year goals? Can feng shui help? Some buildings are more conducive for financial support than others. How can that improve consistently? Timing is an important factor. A neighborhood that once was thriving, might now be struggling. How does this affect membership and learning? Humans can be preoccupied with particular influences during certain times. What's in store for libraries in the next 20 years?Diana Garber, President, Intuitive Concepts, Inc.: Learn how to maximize the external and internal flow of a library by utilizing the East/West theory, yin/yang, and much more!
Ken responded:
I don't generally respond to the list, though I read it regularly. Frankly, I am stunned that this codswallop could be given time and space on the list, even more so that libraries and librarians would spend good money to learn about it. How about a course on how astrology can help your hiring policies? Or tea leaf reading and the long-range planning committee?
Ken, do tell us if they reply....!
Reader Sven wants to draw our attention to a site that really deserves it: http://abeiez-tachyon.com/en/fs.htm. He says:
The title says it all: Tachyon technology. It's good for everything! Makes your car run better, cleans your food and drinks, but best of all: everything is scientifically waterproof. What bad luck that the whole scientific world is ignoring these findings. But please read for yourself, it's so amusing. I'm sure they're a worthy candidate for the one million dollars.
THE UNSINKABLE GELLER IS ALSO BACK
Reader John Atkinson sends us, from the Daily Mail of Tuesday, 28th September, 2004:
Uri Geller has put his 22-bedroom Berkshire mansion on the market for £7 million. The Israeli spoon-bender, who claims he has already turned down a £5 million offer from an unnamed celebrity, says: "I am open to offers from someone who is seriously, seriously wealthy. I have always loved living here and if I were to move it would be close and somewhere much smaller, because my children have all grown up."
John adds: "Funny, in 1991 he was selling it for £10,000,000. What did he do, knock half of it down? Reader Paris Laskaris adds to the story:
Geller also drew 5 different shapes (the star, wavy lines, cross, etc. used in psychic tests) and sent one of them through the television to the viewers (he had secretly drawn a shape that turned out to be the most of the audience watching the show picked). Furthermore, people kept coming in the show holding bent spoons as well as hair driers, laptops and watches that Geller's magic powers had allegedly repaired. Finally he tried using his powers to make viewers quit smoking (let's hope that the placebo effect will result in people actually quitting).
As you can probably imagine, the show itself never questioned Geller's abilities in any way and instead featured quotes from scientists that were endorsing him, as well as an interview with an astrologer (!) who also vouched for Geller.
In conclusion, if you were worried that Geller might go hungry due to his track record in assisting soccer teams, you'll relieved to know that he's gone back to the tricks that made him a celebrity in the first place.I thought you might be interested in Uri Geller's current whereabouts. It appears that he's given up on trying to help soccer teams to win, because he appeared on Saturday the 2nd of October on a television show called "The Gates of the Unexplainable" that was shown in Greece. I missed part of it, but the segment I saw had Geller "repair" clocks that had stopped working by standing next to them, change the orientation of a compass by holding his clenched fist next to it (possibly a magnet?) as well as causing a radish seed to sprout (he had a rather thick layer of seeds on his palm which he moved around before the stem appeared from underneath the seeds). Other tricks performed included the guess a drawing sealed in an envelope trick (the person stated that there were two people looking away from her while she was doing the drawing), and the old levitation trick (using four people to lift another off a chair). Geller took part in this one, and only the second attempt, after Geller had performed a little ritual, succeeded. I assume that Geller didn't help the other three people the first time, who therefore weren't able to lift the other person.
Yep, the same tired old routines, though they've been boring people for more than 30 years now. Mr. Geller hasn't learned anything new in all that time! Even Pavarotti added "Torna a Surriento" to his repertoire rather than depending on "Nessun Dorma" to pay for the groceries....
If you want to get your 90th-birthday wishes sent in time for Martin Gardner's surprise, please send a card TODAY, addressed to:
Martin Gardner
c/o JREF
201 S.E. 12th Street
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA
33316
I'm short on time — and thus on text — for this week. Must rush away to tour Magritte's home before driving off to Ghent; I deserve a bit of touring, right?
