Table of Contents:
I'm told by a Danish reader that the alien egg from last week that has Uri Geller so mystified, can be purchased in a stainless steel version for about US$20 at the website www.bahne.dk/store.asp?intCurrentCount=0&intProviderId=6&intProductId=310. We should have assumed that space aliens would also turn out more durable and elegant versions than just common brass!
I've been receiving reports of how Geller has told different versions of the tale of John Lennon's receiving of the brass superellipsoid, so it appears that his "photographic memory" may have developed lapses.
While on the subject, a reader in Germany referred to Geller's recent (November 14th) appearance on German TV. I've not had the time to look at all of that tape just yet, but Geller seems to be doing the same tired old series of demos: moving the compass (www.randi.org/jr/12-29-2000.html and www.randi.org/jr/01-26-2000.html), "Applied Kinesiology," the lifting trick (www.randi.org/jr/05-15-2000.html), spoons — of course! — and then key-bending. That's where we find a delicious moment, one spot in which Mr. Geller does a heavy "take" (see Webster's definition #99 for that word) when a quite unexpected event occurs. He has selected one key out of a bundle of borrowed keys, and told a participant on the show to hold it between his hands, saying:
Here is a key. Try — you're strong — try to bend it with your hands. It's impossible — is that right? It's impossible. No! Keys are impossible to bend!
As he delivers that second "impossible," Geller sees to his horror that the man has visibly bent it! You can plainly see that in the video in a brief extreme close-up. Look at the video frame shown here, in which you'll see — inset at the lower left — a magnified view in which I have accentuated the direction of the body of the key in red lines and the direction of the shank of the key in green lines. The fulcrum for the bend is of course immediately between the man's two supporting fingers, where the force is being applied. That's indicated by the yellow arrow.
Geller snatches the keys away from the surprised man, and loses that key in the dozen or so others on the bundle, looks to select another one, and turns to another participant; it would not be wise to either use the same key or the same person, who might choose to mention that he'd easily bent that key! Geller then does exactly the same thing he has done countless times before (see www.randi.org/jr/070904that.html#12). As he physically bends the key between his two hands, shoulders hunched and gripping it firmly with the owner directly behind him, he declares:
And again, there is no way you can bend a key!
He does the actual bending at the word, "bend." Immediately, he shows the key to the camera, with a slight bend in it.
When I get the time to watch and evaluate that entire program, I'll report here on other exciting discoveries...
Reader Jerry Shaver reveals yet more about "psychic" Char Margolis — mentioned here last week — and how she takes less chances than most with having her methods become obvious:
Just read your commentary about Char Margolis and went hunting around her Web site. Came up on some interesting pieces of advice — if you want to throw down $500 and get a phone reading from her. I'll paste the text below, but it can also be accessed at: www.char.net/Pages/Readings.html
If you have made an appointment, for a phone reading and you have never had a reading with me before; here are several suggestions which will help you to be prepared.
Please be sure to have a notebook and pen or pencil to take notes. For your own benefit, attempts to tape record are very distracting and Char does not want any interruptions for your reading. So Char asks that you do not tape the reading.
1. Please make a list of your priority questions. Char will give you time at the end of your reading to either ask new questions, or to get clarification of something said during the reading.
2. Be sure to make a list of the first names and nicknames of people who have passed on already as well as people you are currently associated with, such as family, friends and business associates.
3. Char usually begins the reading by giving out initials of people. Often people are nervous or anxious and do not respond. With your list in front of you it will help you to respond yes or no.
Relax and enjoy your personal reading from Char. It will be an amazing experience.How to Prepare for a Reading
No recordings? Make a list of questions? Make a list of names? Initials? It will help if you respond yes or no? Who's doing the work here? Guess that's why she fails so miserably on Larry King's show...the callers haven't "prepared" well enough.
And, Jerry, I can't understand why recording the session can be so "very distracting" and can bring on "interruptions." Simply connect the recorder, switch it on, and sit back trying to fit Char's guesses to the list of people you've prepared!
At least Sylvia Browne sends a client an audio tape of her $750 telephone reading — which, as it turns out, is not a very good idea from her point of view. Here are a few selections from just two of those readings — the only two we've been able to get, so far — though we're looking for more. The "formula" aspect of the readings is very obvious, I think.
We'll use two varieties of font here. For the March, 2004, reading, we'll use regular font, and for the earlier September, 2002, reading, you'll see it in italics. Just remember that there's more than a year and a half between these two, yet the similarities are evident. The earlier reading was done for a woman in France, the other for a woman in the USA. It seems amazing that both of these persons, separated by a great distance and time, have such similar needs and characteristics....! These excerpts are taken directly from highly accurate transcripts we've prepared from the tapes.
CLIENT: Excellent. Okay.
SYLVIA BROWNE: And if I talk too fast, tell me to stop. And I'll tell you everything, bad, good, warn you, advise you, but I won't control your life. Because that's between you and God, anyway.
SYLVIA BROWNE: And the only thing I want you to do is when I'm describing something to you, and I will be very specific, tell me whether it's already happened or not. It doesn't mean that I can't go back in the past, but I'd so much like to get to present and future.
CLIENT: Okay.
SYLVIA BROWNE: And if I talk too fast, tell me to stop. And I'll tell you everything, bad, good, warnings. I will advise you, but I won't control your life. You know, because that's between you and God, anyway.
SYLVIA BROWNE: How have you been doing with your upper stomach, your lower back, and frontal headaches?
CLIENT: Oh my God. (laughs nervously) Um, well, I...my back is just a mess.
SYLVIA BROWNE: ...how are you doing with headaches and stomach and lower back?
CLIENT: Umm... okay. I had been having lower back pain...
SYLVIA BROWNE: ...I want you every day on the bed, to do 15 to 20 stomach-crunches which doesn't... and not on the floor, now, on the bed...
SYLVIA BROWNE: ...I'd start doing some, umm, stomach crunches, you know, on the bed.
SYLVIA BROWNE: ...I want you to take 2400 milligrams of lecithin and watch and see in a week's time how much better you'll get. L-e-c-i-t-h-i-n.
SYLVIA BROWNE: ...then I would really start trying to take some lecithin. Yeah, L-e-c-i-t-h-i-n.
CLIENT: Mm-hmm. And what's that for?
SYLVIA BROWNE: That helps your back, honey. That'll help your back and your neck, and everything. It's a natural, umm, lubricant.
SYLVIA BROWNE: And, see, you're not getting any oil in your system... You know, you say, why am I creakin' around here? Yeah... Snap and pop and, yeah, but see, there's no oil... I don't want you, for a while, anyway, not to eat any dairy and stay off your carbonation and caffeine... 'cause your stomach is just getting too acidy.
SYLVIA BROWNE: See, you're really not getting that much oil in your system. Yeah, and who walks around, you know, drinking oil all the time? Yeah, but I would cut down on your dairy products for awhile. You know, 'cause it's going to make you too acidy. And then, I would also up your protein because you're getting a little depressed and tired, and that's your blood sugar. So, I'd really start trying to eat more chicken, more fish, anything that's got protein.
SYLVIA BROWNE: Now who is the dark-haired guy with the pretty eyes and sort of, uh, angular features?
SYLVIA BROWNE: ... Now which one is the darker-haired one?
SYLVIA BROWNE: ...the only thing I want you to do, is when I'm describing something to you, and I will be very specific, tell me whether it's already happened or not. It doesn't mean that I can't go back in the past, but I'd so much like to get to present and future.
Randi comments: I could go on and on about comparisons of these two readings, but I really need other audio tapes to complete the project. Note: Here we see that Browne is doing specific medical diagnoses for clients, as she does in her TV appearances, which she is not qualified to do. For your information, Sylvia, there is absolutely no "back" function for lecithin, which is a source of a "B" vitamin, and a natural emulsifier of fat. It occurs in a wide variety of foods, and hardly anyone is deficient in this nutrient. As for Sylvia's quack ideas on "oil" in the human system, she thinks that intake of oil will actually go toward "lubrication" of the joints! She reasons like a garage mechanic!
From this brief selection of similarities, we can see that those who pay the $750 for a telephone reading that lasts less that a half-hour, are getting at least some material read from a prepared spiel that Sylvia appears to use as a standard item. If any of you reading this know where I can obtain other audio tapes of Browne readings, I'd be happy to prepare accurate transcripts of them, as I have of these two. And, of course, all identities will be absolutely protected.
Asked to comment on the quality of the readings, both of these victims were very unhappy.
The woman who received the 2002 reading was told that she and her best friend would be reconciled, that she would meet an exciting "dark-haired guy" that summer, and that her debts would be satisfied. Sylvia assured her that she'd get a job in the Fall, and would pass the bar exams she was about to take. An unfortunate situation with her uncle and grandfather troubled her, and Sylvia said that it would be resolved. She reported, 18 months after the reading, that:
I spent $750 on the reading. As to the predictions, my former best friend and I are no longer friends. My parents and step-parents are well, however, she failed to predict that in July, my step-father would need an emergency triple bypass. I did not meet a dark haired man in the summer. I am further in debt because I still do not have the job she described me getting in the Fall. I just took the bar exam for the second time and did not pass. My uncle and grandfather are still alive, but their situation has not changed.
The second, 2004, reading was no more satisfactory to that client. She was asked to fill out and return a form Sylvia sent to her, and did so. Sylvia asked her:
Would you be willing to allow the contents of this affidavit be made public, such as in a book, television series, or movie? (You will be contacted prior to any such usage)
She answered, "yes," and even added, "I insist on it!" But Sylvia never used the affidavit. Why? See her affidavit:
My experience with Sylvia Browne was similar, I imagine, to those poor, doomed passengers on the Titanic. After waiting two years, and having paid in advance (of course!) I felt myself sinking into embarrassment, shame, and finally anger as the waters of nonsense closed over my head. I knew I had been had, and for a lot of money. Beginning with physical symptoms I didn't have, right through references to "the one with dark hair" (I'm black. Everyone I know has dark hair) and ending on a particularly absurd note about a past life in a millinery shop, everything she said was bogus and absurd. And I even tried to give hints, prompts, and guidance — after all, I'd invested more than $700 and wanted her to be correct. Not! Sylvia Browne should be ashamed, the predator. The only redeeming factor is the hilarity this farce has provided my friends. And the fact that a major magazine has agreed to publish my story. Description of Your Experience:
The story was published, and must have infuriated Sylvia Browne. But I'm sure she doesn't care much. Though this woman requested a refund, and was refused, Sylvia already has the money, and more arrives every day from people who will be advised to consume lecithin and do exercises. That's what psychic readings are all about, it seems. That, and vapid revelations like this one by Sylvia:
You've always been a female entity... You've been a gypsy, you've been an American Indian, you've been an Indian princess, you worked as a high priestess, you were married to a farmer in England that was a blacksmith. Uh, you've never been a man.
Was that worth $750? Or even $2?
Reader Dave Kirkwood makes our day....
Please forgive me for seeming a tad irrational.
I have spent nearly 42 years of my life believing things, that I now know to be fairy tales, lived in fear of hell, divine retribution etc, had my marriage and family nearly destroyed by the influence of a "warlock" and his white witch wife, (I'm not making this up!), and have spent the last five years trying to rebuild all the damage that numerous new age crap has caused. Believe me, it is far from harmless.
I feel I owe you a million thank-you's, as since discovering the JREF website, you have entertained and encouraged me to think critically about all the weird nonsense that is presented to me everyday, and as a result, I am no longer haunted by imaginary damnation and demons. After reading many books that you recommended by Michael Shermer, Carl Sagan, Stephen Jay Gould and of course your good self, I can now sleep at night without fear that my daughter will burn in hell unless I introduce her to a set of inconsistent concepts and rules that no thinking human being could possibly follow........
You have helped me get my life and happiness back, and I can't thank you enough. I hope you truly understand the importance of your work, and the metamorphosis that comes when eyes are opened, especially after 42 years.
Not only that, I find your website hilarious.You may recall a while ago, I emailed you in a bit of a flap in regard to the "exorcism" I witnessed on [a TV] program. After I calmed down a bit, I read a few interviews of the excorsicee,(any such word?), and came to the conclusion that he may have been hypnotized by Bob Larson, or at least "influenced" in the same way as I have seen mentalists perform this trick.
Thank you, Dave, but I must tell you that no "hypnosis" is being invoked here. What you've seen is simply hysteria brought on by irrational beliefs, and a need to "get with" the action. Yes, the victim is suggestible, and that certainly helps, but most people — under similar coercion and with a similar background — will react this way.
I appreciate your expression of appreciation. Such comments really make it worth doing what we do, and they keep us going. Subscribers and donors to the JREF are the people who make all this possible, and we thank them for their continued support.
Reader Monica Pignotti read the reference I made two weeks ago to Kaiser Permanente Northwest (www.randi.org/jr/121004science.html#12) and adds this:
They neglect to put the disclaimer the journal required them to have on the article, that it was not peer reviewed. Dr. Sakai is a very persuasive person and has sold many of the previously skeptical doctors at Kaiser on TFT.
TFT claims to be able to cure most psychological problems in minutes by finger- tapping on various "acupressure points" on the body in specified sequences, and also makes big claims about physical conditions, as well. Dr. Roger J. Callahan, the founder of Thought Field Therapy, claims that it is superior to acupuncture or acupressure because of these specially derived sequences. The sequences (which he refers to as codes that unlock "nature's healing process") are derived from a muscle testing Applied Kinesiology procedure Callahan took from chiropractors, as well as a "top secret" procedure he developed called Voice Technology (VT) whereby he claims he can cure people over the telephone in minutes.
He charges people $100,000 to train in VT and their clients are typically charged $300-$600 per hour for this. He also makes bogus claims about TFT and heart rate variability, misinterpreting the literature on this and claiming that TFT can prevent heart and other health problems, and increase longevity. Some of his most recent claims are that TFT played a role in the remission of his wife's stage-4 cancer and that TFT increased t-cell counts in an AIDS patient.I . . . wanted to make you aware that there is a third form of quackery that has been practiced at the Kaiser facility in Hawaii for at least 4 years now: Thought Field Therapy (TFT). Kaiser's name was even included in an article on TFT by Caroline Sakai et al that made its way into a special, non-peer-reviewed issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychology on TFT where proponents were allowed to publish articles without peer review, which were then critiqued. I am a former top practitioner of TFT and am now a skeptic, after having done a controlled experiment that refuted TFT's basic premise. Some of my writings about TFT are on this website: www.geocities.com/health_index/thought_field_therapy.html. The Sakai article from the JCP on how she used TFT at Kaiser, is available here: www.tftcenter.com/article1.html.
I'd like to hear from other readers who have been involved with this quackery, to develop a fuller picture of it....
Bob Park of the APS tells us that the Wall Street Journal has offered heavy medical advice to us. If we can't get flu vaccine, they say, there are other means to help victims. "Oscillococcinum" is a favorite homeopathic quack "cure" made from duck liver. Note that I use the singular, "liver," because just one such object would serve to make all the homeopathic water needed to serve all of mankind for several thousand years. The "200C" dilution called for means that one duck liver would be mixed with a volume of water equivalent to billions of times more water than can be found on Earth... Said Bob about the WSJ report:
After hand washing, WSJ lists Oscillococcinum. WSJ checked with a "research methodologist" at Sloan-Kettering. He said it probably doesn't prevent flu but may cut its duration by 6 hours. Six hours! They can tell that? WN [World News, Bob's web site] bought a 6-dose carton, a three-day supply. Of what? Boiron, the maker, says it's from duck livers, but the homeopathic dilution is listed as 200C. That's gotta be a record. It's also impossible. Maybe they could help Balco with a homeopathic performance enhancer.
Isn't there anyone with the Wall Street Journal who would be aware of just how stupid this is? How can a major newspaper not know about these facts? Makes one wonder how much they know about the other subjects they handle. That's not as alarming as the fact that a Sloan-Kettering authority also thought it works! Does S-K also endorse eye-of-newt and/or toe-of-frog?
Reader Karl Black recommends an article to all of us:
I stumbled across this article recently and enjoyed it immensely. It is a brief, but excellent bit of history, and very telling in regards to human misunderstandings. We humans often fall for something unproven because there is a loose association of "facts" discovered that prompts the less critical of us to make that giant leap...the one we call "jumping to a conclusion." Theodore Gray wrote an article (Popular Science, August 2004) regarding the early 1900's fad of exposing yourself to radiation! Yes, intentionally! His article starts:
A century ago radioactivity was new, exciting and good for you, at least if you believed the people selling radium pendants for rheumatism, all-natural radon water for vigor, uranium blankets for arthritis and thorium-laced medicine for digestion (you don't even want to know about the radioactive suppositories).
He goes on to point out how this idea became popular. To skeptics like us the story certainly sounds familiar, but it does point out that it is not always due to sheer gullibility as we (or I) often think. The historical perspective he gives is really rather fascinating:
Natural hot springs have been used as health spas for thousands of years; even today, vacationers flock to their healing (well, maybe) waters. When scientists went around with radiation detectors, they discovered that the waters from quite a few well-known hot springs were radioactive. (Radon gas produced by the decay of thorium and uranium deep in the earth permeates the water at many natural hot springs.)
Sitting in my hot tub is certainly enjoyable, but I don't assign healing qualities to it. Mr. Gray does an excellent job, throughout the article, of noting spurious claims that people have assumed are true yet he doubts. He tells how most of the quack industry that popped up around the enthusiasm about radiation actually failed to produce products with radiation in them and simply made false claims (lied) about their "effectiveness" — sound familiar? Unfortunately there were a few products that actually did deliver what they promised and thus claimed victims:
. . . well-known industrialist, playboy and three-bottle-a-day Radithor (radiation infused water) user Eben Byers. Byers's gruesome death in 1932 inspired the Wall Street Journal headline "The Radium Water Worked Fine until His Jaw Came Off."
And, as we all know, when a high profile person dies, the public and the government will finally have no more of that! The FDA was brand-new back then and told the companies to put up or shut up: prove your products are safe and effective or quit making them. Another aspect of his article that I found interesting was his look at the advertising claims. Guess what? If it's all natural, it must be good for you. He goes on:
"Is radio-activity dangerous to the health? Most everyone offers this questions [sic] because it is only natural to regard this as a drug or medicine. The answer is that radio-activity is not a medicine or drug, but a natural element of water, and that since practically all spring and well water that Nature herself gives for drinking purposes contain this highly effective beneficial element, it is but common sense to restore it to water that has lost it just as we restore oxygen to a stuffy room by opening a window. . . . The United States Government says that the radio-activity of natural water is never strong enough to be injurious."
These fads, old and new, tend to make remarkably similar claims, using the same arguments and marketing methods. Take a look, for instance, at the following passage, from a 1928 Radium-ore Revigator brochure, and see if it has a familiar ring:
He also laments the fact that the FDA was handcuffed in 1994 regarding herbal supplements by our wonderful congressthings — my word for them, they can't be human/persons when they err so badly. A pet peeve of yours (and mine) also. Mr. Gray's last point is more on the humorous side and I'm sure is of great interest to you. The first people to try to profit by selling radioactive water from natural springs ran into a little problem. The radon in the water, having a half life of less than 4 days, was pretty much gone by the time consumers got it. He chuckles that this is just like homeopathy today, selling impotent "medicine" that is nothing more than plain water.In short, (1) what we're selling is "natural," unlike those potent medicines your doctor prescribes; (2) maybe you are not getting enough of this natural substance; and (3) the government hasn't stopped us (yet). Remember, they're talking about radon gas. I have pointed out to some of my doubt-challenged friends that arsenic and hemlock are "all natural" too. I will be sure to include radiation in that challenge the next time I get to use it.
You can check this out at www.popsci.com/popsci/science/article/0,20967,670526,00.html. And look at www.mtn.org/quack/devices/revig.htm for a 1925 account of the "Revigator" described above....
Reader Lawrence Cuthbert in the UK tells us:
Just a short note about a story which indicates the current state of people's minds. In the story at: www.theregister.com/2004/12/14/aol_most_searched_2004/ it is reported that the most searched word on AOL is "horoscopes." So, you have all of these people using technology created by years of careful, logical, scientific progress to gather information on a system of beliefs which has no basis in fact. I believe, although I have no proof, that the word most found in association with "horoscopes" is "cobblers."
Just go to www.marigoaudio.com/vtstuningdots.htm and see what reader Rich Andrews has found. Seriously, the decision here is whether or not the site owners are really serious. I'm afraid that they are, and we can expect to see glowing reviews of this farcical item, soon enough.
Registration for The Amaz!ng Meeting continues to grow, and as a result we've had to expand a few of the provisions at the Las Vegas Stardust! We're heading for 500! If you're still planning on attending, get that information to us real quick. Next week, a reader's predictions for 2005, and general year-end stuff....
