As James Randi continues his recovery from heart surgery, he's asked Hal Bidlack to line up some stellar guest writers for Swift.
This Week's Swift was written by Robert Lancaster, Skeptical Investigator.
Hello, and welcome to this week’s column. I’m very pleased to bring to you this week the thoughts, work, and inspiration of the kindly Robert Lancaster of California. Mr. Lancaster has been my friend for quite a while, though I didn’t actually get to meet him until TAM4 this past January.
I’m so very pleased to be able to bring you Robert’s story. I confess to having a very personal reason for admiring his work. I happened to find myself inside the Pentagon on September 11th, 2001, and the things I saw, did, and heard that day continue to haunt me. Like other folks who have a close connection to the attacks, I find it deeply repellant for anyone to claim they were there that wasn’t, or worse, to try to profit from that terrible day through such false and despicable claims. Thus, I feel Robert is doing the world a great service, and me personally one as well.
I asked the gentle and friendly Mr. Lancaster for some biographical information for this introduction. He said I should simply refer to him as “a computer programmer and father of three, living in the Los Angeles area. A member of the JREF forum since 2001, he is perhaps best known there for investigating and debunking the claims of one "Kaz deMille-Jacobsen." This is far too modest for me. I had dinner with Robert and his lovely lady friend, and they are charming, kind, and decent people. You know, the opposite of lying weasel types, such as is detailed below. What I find most refreshing about Robert’s story is that he came to this work, this debunking, through love of family, and intolerance of injustice.
He is the poster child for what one person can do when confronted with deceit and avarice. He used basic research methods, a clear writing style, and a commitment to what was right and just to make a real difference. If you ever are feeling down and think that one person can not make a difference, think about Robert. Plutarch famously wrote that the mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be ignited. Robert is a fire starter, and a good man.
And now, please read and enjoy, the work of Robert Lancaster…
On January 29th of this year, I was fortunate enough to be able to present to the attendees of The Amaz!ng Meeting 4 a paper titled "Stopping Kaz: One Skeptic's Experience Using the Internet to Debunk a Religious Con-artist."
The following is a condensed version of that presentation.
INTRODUCTION: "SOMETHING'S VERY WRONG"
Late One evening in June of 2004, my girlfriend Susan said something odd to me: "You need to talk to your mom. She told me about a woman who was a speaker at her church, and something's very wrong there."
We had no way of knowing it at the time, but that simple statement would lead me into a skeptical investigation which would put me in touch with a wide variety of people in several states and two continents, and still be going more than a year and a half later.
A VERY STRANGE STORY
A woman going by the name of "Dr. Kaz deMille-Jacobsen" had been a guest speaker at my mother's church, and the congregation had been very impressed with her "inspiring" life story.
Among other things, this woman claimed that:
(Is your "baloney detector" going off yet? Hold on, it's about to get much louder and angrier.)
She also claimed that:
As you sweep the broken shards of your baloney detector off the floor, you may be asking yourself: people believed this?
The answer is: Yes. Lots of them.
My mom firmly believed that she could tell when someone was lying to her, and "knew" that Kaz was not lying. Besides, Kaz hadn't charged for her presentation! Not one dime! But had she accepted donations? Of course she had.
THE INVESTIGATION BEGINS
I decided not to press the issue with my mother at the moment, and in fact, I might have even let the whole matter drop at that point, if it hadn't been for the 9/11 part of her story.
If Kaz was gaining money and admiration by lying about that, it was an insult to every man, woman and child who really had been in the Twin Towers and the Pentagon on September 11th, especially the innocent people who had died that day. I had to get to the bottom of this, and soon - Kaz was scheduled to speak at my mother's church again in a couple of weeks.
The first thing I did was look for any information about this woman on the Internet. If she was even a fraction of the things she claimed to be, there would dozens if not hundreds of references to her on the web, right?
There were only three.
There was no mention of her on any of the lists of Oscar winners, Grammy winners, 9/11 survivors, or presidential advisors, and I couldn't even find a list of recipients of rocks from Jesus. Possibly more significant was her total absence from the many lists of people who legitimately make a living as Church guest speakers.
Although I found this lack of information to be telling, I knew it wouldn't convince my mother. I had to dig deeper, but was running out of leads to follow. On July 12th 2004, I turned to the denizens of the JREF Forum for help.
Their help eventually led me to contacts within the real descendants of Cecil B. deMille. They were very clear: Kaz was either a liar or was delusional, but she was in no way related to them. I was told that Kaz was possibly dangerous, and that I should warn my mother and her church. I went straight to my mother's house, armed with printouts of all that I had found.
We sat in her living room, and as gently and matter-of-factly as I could, I walked her through all I had found (and not found), ending with my correspondence with the deMilles. My mother said that she wasn't fully convinced that Kaz was a fraud, but felt that there was definite cause for concern. She asked me to come with her and speak to some other people in her congregation.
Later that evening, Kaz's upcoming appearance was cancelled.
THE WEB SITE
One of the members of my mother's congregation said something which really floored me. He said that he had felt some doubts about Kaz, and had gone to the web to find some evidence to support her story. But, finding nothing, he had decided to simply give up and accept her story!
After hearing that, I knew that I had to create a web site about this woman. The next time someone did a web search for "Kaz deMille Jacobsen," they would find something to read. I started gathering as much information as I could the members of my mother's church were forthcoming with flyers, photos and, most importantly, names of other churches where Kaz had spoken. The deMilles supplied me with some Kaz information from back in the 1990s. All of this led me to yet more people, with more information.
On September 9, 2004, www.StopKaz.com opened for business.
INITIAL FEEDBACK
One early email to the site was from a Christian gentleman who had been given a CD recording of Kaz speaking in front of a congregation in Littleton, Colorado. He had thought there was something fishy about her story, and searched the web, finding the StopKaz site. This was exactly what I had created the site for! After following up on the information I provided on the site, he had decided that she was indeed a fraud. Would I be interested in a copy of the CD? I would.
I received another email from a gentleman who attended a church in Lomita, California, where Kaz had recently spoken, and she had mentioned both me and my web site! Would I be interested in a cassette tape of her presentation? Yes, please! At several points in the recording, she addresses me directly, as if I were there in the congregation. I found out much later that she had insisted to the pastor of the church that I was there. Listening to the tape was surreal. But her mentioning me was definitely a sign that I was getting to her.
It should be noted that these recordings - and much of the other evidence I have received in this investigation - were sent to me by Christians. This despite the fact that I clearly state on the site's FAQ page that I am an agnostic.
I find that fact heartening.
MEDIA ATTENTION
Not long after the web site went live, I received an email from Mark Madler, a reporter with the Burbank Leader newspaper. He had found the StopKaz site when following up on a puff-piece article the Leader had done on Kaz in 2002.
Kaz knew this story was coming out, and left the country not long before the article appeared. The story, titled "Survival Story Now in Doubt," ran in late December of 2004.
The following week the Leader ran a political cartoon. It showed a bookshelf labeled "Fairy Tales," on which five books could be seen: Peter Rabbit, Mother Goose, Paul Bunyan, Alice in Wonderland, and "Kaz DeMille Jacobsen."
The Leader article caught the attention of Amanda Spratt, a reporter with the New Zealand Herald. Spratt emailed me, and not long after, they ran a full-page color story on Kaz and her nonsense, titled "Living in a Fantasy."
The following week, the Herald ran a one-paragraph article under the heading "Tour cancelled," saying that Kaz had cancelled her speaking engagements in New Zealand.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
In late October 2005, the Australian television show A Current Affair (ACA) interviewed both Kaz and me for a story they were doing about her. A few days later, a promo for the story was shown. The title: "Cashing In on 9/11."
Within hours of the promo's airing, Kaz was rushed to an emergency room. ACA was subsequently contacted by Kaz's doctor, who requested that they not broadcast the story. Was this all a stunt on Kaz's part, aimed at getting the story pulled? I have no way of knowing. But I have been told that she was released from the hospital soon after ACA went into reruns. I find that more than a little coincidental.
As of this writing, the ACA story has yet to be aired.
STOP KAZ?
From time to time, I am asked "Do you think you will ever really Stop Kaz?" Well, I know for a fact that I have slowed her down. But stop her?
In 1986, James Randi opened a can of skeptical whoop-ass on the career of "faith healer" Peter Popoff on national television. It is the only time I have ever stood up in front of my television set and cheered. Popoff's ministry folded not long afterwards, but he is, sad to say, back on television today.
So, stop Kaz? Maybe not. There will probably always be another congregation willing to buy her nonsense. But whenever that happens, wherever it happens, the internet will be there, and so will www.StopKaz.com.
IN CLOSING
There is a moral to this story.
Actually, there are two. The first is:
DON'T MESS WITH MY MOM.
But there is another. It has been explained to me by several members of the JREF message board. As trite as it may sound, the moral is:
ONE SKEPTIC CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
With the power that the Internet gives us all, every skeptic can make their voice - their skeptical, critical-thinking voice - heard around the world.
And you don't need to be an expert. You don't have to be an astronomer, good or bad, to debunk astrology. You don't have to be an M.D. to keep watch on quacks. You don't even have to be a magician or escape artist to investigate paranormal claims (although having a gray beard does help - I'm not sure why).
The schedule of TAM4 papers lists me as "Robert Lancaster, Skeptical Investigator," and I guess that when it comes to Kaz, that's what I am. But really, all I am is one skeptic who got righteously angered by something fraudulent, and who decided to try and make a difference.
I invite all of you to do the same.
Thank you.
In 2007, the Amaz!ng Meeting 5 will be held at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, January 18-21. This location is very close to the Stardust which will no longer be in operation next year. Mark your calendars now!
Didn't win the auction for the signed TAM4 poster at the last Amaz!ng Meeting? Fear not, as one is now available on eBay, signed by all the speakers who were there! Learn more at: ebay.com
Planning for The Amaz!ng Adventure is well underway, and we're awaiting word on who will be our special guest lecturers for the journey. We'll let you know here as soon as we can. In the meantime, remember that the 10% discount ends in a couple of weeks! Visit www.amazingmeeting.com for the latest on upcoming Amazing Meetings.
NOTE: If you're single and would like to share a cabin with another single traveller, please let me know at jeff@randi.org. Thanks!