Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

[Barry Karr <SkeptInq@aol.com>]

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/skepticsearch/

Supplement Safety
By Lauran Neergaard
Associated Press
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/living/DailyNews/KavaWarningWire020212.html

"The 45-year-old woman became jaundiced and then, in just months, became so
ill she needed a liver transplant. Her doctor suspects the popular herbal
supplement kava."


Chiropractic treatment linked to stroke
by Emma Young
New Scientist
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99991914

"Neck manipulation by chiropractors could be a major cause of strokes in
young people, say neurologists at the University of Toronto, Canada. They
are now calling for the practice to be banned."


Existence of Virgin's shepherd doubted
by Letta Tayler
Newsday
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/02/10/MN27526.DTL

"When Juana Garay's cousin, Pablo, came down with a mysterious illness that
spread painful lesions across his body, the Mexico City housewife did what
millions of Mexicans do when they face a personal crisis: She prayed to the
Virgin of Guadalupe."


Chinese rush to wed before new year
Reuters
http://www.msnbc.com/news/702240.asp

"Chinese couples are stampeding to get hitched before the Year of the Horse
starts next week, spooked by a cosmological sign that the coming lunar year
bodes ill for newlyweds."


Fortunetellers may be welcome
by Cheryl Meyer
Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/mchenry/chi-0202080229feb08.story

"Village officials recommended that trustees amend the municipal code to
allow fortunetellers to ply their trade."


Return of the Mothman
by Paul Souhrada
Columbus Dispatch
http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/news/news02/feb02/107725

6.html

"There are two kinds of people in Point Pleasant."


Rabbi Says Gays Should Die
Rainbow Network
http://www.rainbownetwork.com/content/NewsLife.asp?newsid=2573

"A leading Jewish cleric has called for homosexuals to be killed. The
statements have come in the week that members of leading lesbian and gay
groups are to meet Israel’s prime minister Ariel Sharon."



It's simply shocking
by Sean O'Hagan
The Observer [UK]
http://www.observer.co.uk/review/story/0,6903,647576,00.html

"In a laborartory at Yale University in 1961, Professor Stanley Milgram
carried out a dramatic and disturbing psychology experiment. He recruited
people from all walks of life, supposedly for an investigation into 'memory
and learning', but, unbeknownst to the volunteers, carried out what has
since entered contemporary folklore as the Milgram Obedience to Authority
Experiment."



The Two Skepticisms
By Kenneth Silber
TCS
http://www.techcentralstation.com/1051/envirowrapper.jsp?PID=1051-450&;
CID=1051-020402C

"Who are "the skeptics" in America today - the defenders of science and
rationality, the scrutinizers and debunkers of dubious and unwarranted
claims?"



Devotion, miracles, prayers for peace
By KELLY CAMPBELL
The Press of Atlantic City
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/cumberland/020702_PADRE.html

"Construction of a 40-foot shrine to Padre Pio, one of the most beloved
figures in Roman Catholic history, is under way."




Mystery Man
By David Templeton
North Bay Bohemian
http://www.metroactive.com/sonoma/talk-pix-0206.html

"Loren Coleman wasn't all that frightened by The Mothman Prophecies, the
freaky new creep show starring Richard Gere as a journalist on the trail of
an eerie supernatural being."



Phone radiation 'shield' claims spur FTC lawsuit
By Denny Walsh
Sacramento Bee
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/scam_alert/story/1628734p-1705203c.html

"The Federal Trade Commission claims in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that a
West Sacramento firm employs false and deceptive advertising for a device
purported to protect cellular telephone users from radiation."



The Kokomo Hum
By Oliver Libaw
ABC News
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/kokomohum020213.html

"Some say it's like a diesel engine idling. Others describe it as a deep
drone or fluorescent light-like buzz. And a great many people don't hear
anything at all."


It's a bird ... It's a plane ... Wait ... What the heck IS that?
By Monica M. Brown
Alamogordo Daily News
http://www.alamogordonews.com/Stories/0,1002,9596%257E398079,00.html

"Those who have spied a strange flash of light on the mountains east of
Alamogordo while traveling home in the late afternoon are not alone."


Unintelligible Redesign
By William Saletan
Slate
http://slate.msn.com/?id=2062009

"According to scientists, teachers, and civil libertarians, the Taliban has
invaded Ohio. Creationists have devised a theory called "Intelligent
Design" (ID) and are trying to get Ohio's Board of Education to make sure
it's taught alongside Darwinism. Unlike creationism, ID accepts that the
Earth is billions of years old and that species evolve through natural
selection. It posits that life has been designed but doesn't specify by
whom. Liberals call ID a menace that will sneak religion into public
schools. They're exactly wrong. ID is a big nothing. It's non-living,
non-breathing proof that religion has surrendered its war against science."


Antiquarian has taste for the unusual
By BRIAN SCHEID
Norwich Bulletin
http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/stories/20020213/localnews/1636624.html

"Vampires in Griswold and the possible remains of a Civil War soldier from
Killingly that may have been found 140 years after he was reported missing
are just two cases that have defined the life of Dr. Nicholas Bellantoni,
state archaeologist."


Mars bares big hearts; one rising, one sinking
By Richard Stenger
CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/space/02/14/mars.hearts/index.html

"A strange mesa really stands out on the red planet on Valentine's Day. So
does a pit that extends more than a mile in length."


New Amityville Film, TV Due?
Sci Fi Wire
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/art-main.html?2002-02/13/09.30.rumors

"The Coming Attractions Web site reported rumors that a new feature film or
television series is in the works based on the Amityville Horror franchise.
Daniel Alter, the manager of screenwriter/director Daniel Farrands,
confirmed to the site that Alter is talking to "several interested parties"
about both the series and the film project."


2) Center for Inquiry Radio Show

The Center for Inquiry is pleased to announce that it is adding an
outstanding radio program to its print and broadcast media offerings
(www.centerforinquiry.net). "Ideas and Issues", a weekly interview show
hosted by the distinguished ethicist Hugh LaFollette, is heard on public and
commercial radio in parts of the mid-South and Midwest, and broadcast
worldwide over the Internet. The show is co-sponsored by East Tennessee
State University (ETSU).

LaFollette, a professor of philosophy at ETSU, is author of Personal
Relationships, co-author of Brute Science, and editor of the Oxford Handbook
of Practical Ethics and the Blackwell Guide to Ethical Theory. His
thoughtful approach has attracted top interviewees from the fields of
philosophy, science, politics, and journalism, including Sissela Bok,
Richard Dawkins, Tom Beauchamp, Stanley Fish, Nat Hentoff, Barry Lynn,
Martha Nussbaum, James Randi, and Matt Ridley.

Topics of past programs include: The Role of the University in Civic
Education, The Public (Mis)Understanding of Evolution, Privacy and the
Media, Business and the Environment, Animal Intelligence and Animal Emotion,
The Birth of Modern Science, Prophecy, Folk Medicine, Spiritual
Communication, Why I am a Secular Humanist, and What Role, if any, Should
Religion Play in Public Schools?

The Center for Inquiry, dedicated to reasoned, critical reflection on
important issues of our time, is proud to support this unique service.
Streaming audio and online archives are available at
www.etsu.edu/philos/wets.htm.