Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

[Barry Karr <SkeptInq@aol.com>]

Woman feels blessed that image of Jesus appears in her tree
by Jim Stingl
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/jan02/15687.asp

"It came to pass that Ella Huffin looked out her kitchen window one recent
morning and saw the image of Jesus on a tree in her backyard."


Seeing the future—or just dollar signs?
By Matt Bean
Court TV
http://www.courttv.com/news/feature/misscleo_ctv.html

"Alone and depressed, Stephen Schwartz was flipping through channels one
evening in late 1999 when Miss Cleo appeared on his television screen. The
49-year-old supermarket delivery man became transfixed as the psychic doled
out insights into love, finance and employment prospects. When she offered
to do the same for him — free for the first three minutes and at a
discounted rate for the rest of the call — Schwartz decided it was a deal
he could not pass up."


Inglis: Mayor acted alone in Satan ban
By ALEX LEARY
St. Petersburg Times
http://www.stpetersburgtimes.com/2002/01/29/TampaBay/Inglis__Mayor_acted_a.sht

ml

"Polly Bowser, a 36-year-old waitress and mother of three, said she has
felt like a pariah ever since she took exception to Mayor Carolyn Risher's
proclamation banning Satan from town."



Potter witchcraft accusation hits Pa. town
Associated Press
http://www.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/books/01/24/us.potter.boycott.ap/index.html

"The police department has refused to direct traffic at a YMCA triathlon
because it says the club promotes witchcraft by reading Harry Potter books
to children."


The Selling of Mothman
By Buck Wolf
ABC News
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/WolfFiles/wolffiles203.html

"Move over, Bigfoot. See ya, Sasquatch. America's new No. 1 monster this
year is destined to be Mothman."


Telehypnosis "more effective" than face-to-face therapy
by Gaia Vince
New Scientist
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991853

"Telehypnosis, conducted via a videolink, is more effective than
face-to-face therapy, a small UK study suggests."



2 bdrms, 10 acres, 1 paleolithic-era cave
By Vincent J. Schodolski
Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-0201290013jan29.story

"Sarah Howard and her husband, John, were looking for a second home when
they ventured from England in the summer of 1999 to the Dordogne Valley, a
place where they could retire one day to enjoy the earthy pleasures of
rural France."


Public can tell NASA where to go
By Becky Oskin
Pasadena Star-News
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/Stories/0,1002,542%257E366033,00.html

"To the moon, to Mars or beyond?"


Some Accumulated Signs of the End Times
By F.N. D'ALESSIO
Associated Press
http://www.calendarlive.com/top/1,1419,L-LATimes-Calendar-X!ArticleDetail-5078

6,00.html

"If recent world events make you wonder if The End is near, take heart. You
have plenty of company."


Scientists find source of Darwin's inspiration
by Roger Highfield
Daily Telegraph
http://www.nationalpost.com/tech/story.html?f=/stories/20020128/1256843.html

"Scientists hunting for studies that influenced Charles Darwin's work on
evolution have rediscovered details of what may be the world's first
ecological experiment."



Little monsters...
by Peter Conrad
The Observer [UK]
http://www.observer.co.uk/review/story/0,6903,639932,00.html

"'Feral' is one of the great Australian adjectives - a term of affectionate
abuse, but also a taxonomically exact definition of the state of nature in
all its rank wilfulness. Every time I go there, I hear of additional
species that have gone feral in the bush: cats, dogs, pigs, camels and (who
knows?) maybe even Tasmanian tigers. Only last week, a friend in Sydney
showed me a swathe of aggressively resilient vegetation marauding across
her trim suburban lawn. 'It's feral grass,' she said. 'It laughs at the
lawn mower.'"


Naturopaths seek license requirement
By Scott Rothschild
Lawrence Journal-World
http://www.ljworld.com/section/stateregional/story/81271

"Naturopathic physicians and their supporters say this may be the year they
win legal recognition from the state.


No Logic in Magazine Jinx
By John Allen Paulos
ABC News
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/DailyNews/Paulos_SIJinx020125.html

"A black cat stares out from the cover of this week's Sports Illustrated,
signaling that the lead article is about the infamous cover jinx."



Billy's story is fiction, but compassion wasn't
by NICK COLEMAN
St. Paul Pioneer Press
http://www.pioneerpress.com/news/mtc_docs/235863.htm

"Sometimes, a story is too good to be true. Sometimes, it's too awful."


Letters scam resurfaces in the High Desert
by JAMIE SANDOVA
Desert Dispatch
http://www.desertdispatch.com/cgi-bin/newspro/viewnews.cgi?newsid1012238568,93

355,

"A Nigerian-based scam that has swindled hundreds of victims for more than
a decade has popped up again in the High Desert."


God, Man of Science
BY PETE KOTZ
Cleveland Scene
http://www.clevescene.com/issues/2002-01-31/kotz.html/1/index.html

"The voice is not what you'd expect. Over the past two weeks, state Board
of Education member Michael Cochran has been pilloried across Ohio for
trying to include "intelligent design," the New & Improved term for
creationism, in the state science curriculum. Cleveland ACLU chief
Christine Link calls it going "back to the 14th century." Newspapers offer
stern, tweed-jacket rebukes that, if distilled to the People's English,
would simply read, "What are you, some kinda $#@&%* moron?""


He’s got spirit
BY TAMARA WIEDER
Boston Phoenix
http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/other_stories/documents/0214

2478.htm

"It may have been 1999 when Haley Joel Osment uttered the now-famous
four-word phrase "I see dead people" in The Sixth Sense, but James Van
Praagh’s been saying it — or something like it — for decades. And despite
the skepticism he often encounters, the self-proclaimed "spiritual medium"
no longer feels the need to prove himself — not after a number-one New York
Times bestseller, Talking to Heaven (Dutton, 1997), and appearances on such
programs as Larry King Live and The Oprah Winfrey Show. Now, with Heaven
and Earth: Making the Psychic Connection (Simon & Schuster, 2001), Van
Praagh seeks to help others awaken their own psychic awareness."


A search for spirits
By ANDREA BROWN-HURLEY
Hagerstown Herald-Mail
http://www.herald-mail.com/news/2002/01/26/local/A_search_for_spirits.html

"The ghost hunters point their digital cameras into a dark corner of the
basement as the room temperature seemingly drops - a sign on their quest to
capture an image of what they cannot see: Evidence of life after death."



Herbal remedy kava linked to liver disorders
By Marian Burros
New York Times
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/food/chi-0201300049jan30.story

"In Europe, the reaction was swift. On Nov. 8, German scientists reported
that kava, an herbal supplement promoted for stress reduction, may be
responsible for 30 cases of liver toxicity in Germany and Switzerland.
Switzerland pulled kava off the market. Britain asked for its voluntary
withdrawal. And Germany warned manufacturers that it may soon ban kava.
Earlier this month, France banned its sale."


Cruise: Scientology Ambassador
by Josh Grossberg
E!
http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,9446,00.html

"Tom Cruise is crusading on behalf of Scientology."


SEC to Naive Investors: 'Gotcha'
Associated Press
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,50125,00.html

"McWhortle Enterprises seems like the perfect investment for the post-Sept.
11 world: a solid company, praised by analysts and customers, selling a
handheld biohazard detector guaranteed to beep and flash in the presence of
anthrax or other deadly germs."