Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

[Barry Karr <SkeptInq@aol.com>]

Thanks to Joe Littrell.  For more stories visit:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/skepticsearch/



Puyallup man leading long quest for Noah's Ark
by Bill Hutchens
Tacoma News Tribune

http://www.tribnet.com/news/local/story/1377023p-1495710c.html

"A Puyallup Biblical researcher believes he has discovered the exact
location of Noah's Ark on Turkey's Mount Ararat."


Prophetess Duped of N.65m
This Day [Lagos]

http://allafrica.com/stories/200207150036.html

"A middle-aged woman, Mrs. Oyedele Owolabi of Ikokoro street, Ilorin, Kwara
State, who described herself as a prophetess, has been duped of N650,000 by
a gang of "miracle workers.""


Holy Water Drying Up In Colorado Drought Affecting Historic Shrine Of
Mother Cabrini
CBS

http://wcbs880.com/water/StoryFolder/story_1314749238_html

"It is plain water to some, but to others the Shrine of Mother Cabrini in
Colorado is a source of healing. However, if it does supply miracles, they
may soon be in short supply."


English God promises sex and luck
by Alka Rastogi
Hindustan Times

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/919_19124,001800010001.htm

"After lying buried in a grave near Lucknow for 145 years, an Englishman
has been 'discovered' to have supernatural powers. Local people are today
flocking to the site with hopes of having their most cherished wishes
fulfilled."



The Weekly Scalawag
BY SCOTT HENRY
Creative Loafing Atlanta

http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/2002-07-17/news_scalawag.html

"As our inaugural Scalawag, we'd like to recognize Sid E. Williams, a true
American original -- we can only hope."


State board gets earful about history textbooks
Associated Press

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/1498334

"Some believe there is too much focus on technology instead of history in
the social studies books that could be used in Texas classes. Others say
there is not a fair representation of minorities in the texts."



Kids Books Targets Of Witch Hunt
by DENIS HORGAN
Hartford Courant

http://www.ctnow.com/news/local/hc-horgan0717jul17.story

"While they're at it, why not ban "Macbeth"? All those witches with their
"Fair is foul, and foul is fair" stuff, their otherworldly behavior, their
predictions. Burn "Macbeth.""


Candice Bergen Debunks Pet Psychic!
by Daniel R. Coleridge
TV Guide

http://www.tvguide.com/newsgossip/insider/020716c.asp

"At 52, Murphy Brown star Candice Bergen is taking it easy. No more of what
she calls the "hamster Habitrail" life of headlining a sitcom. She's
content playing mom to daughter Chloe, 15, and taking occasional movie
roles. Come fall, she'll also host Oxygen's Candice Checks It Out."


Medical Myths: Well-meaning parents pass on some scary notions about health
By DEBRA MELANI
Scripps Howard News Service

http://www.naplesnews.com/02/07/neapolitan/d790670a1.htm

"Remember Grandma's foreboding threat that if you stepped outside without a
coat, you would "catch your death of cold"?"


Anti-evolution conservatives plan comeback in Kansas
By DIANE CARROLL
Kansas City Star

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/politics/3666498.htm

"Two years ago, the world watched as moderates and conservatives battled
for control of the Kansas Board of Education."


Element 118 Dropped from Periodic Table
Scientific American

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=00001E33-9B03-1D34-BCD4809EC5880000
&
catID=1

"Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBL) have formally
retracted their claims for the discovery of the most massive chemical
element. The synthesis of the "superheavy" element 118, comprising 118
protons and 175 nucleons, was announced in a 1999 paper in Physical Review
Letters. The results appeared to confirm theories from the 1970s that
predicted heightened stability for nuclei containing around 114 protons and
184 neutrons."


Blind Psychic Feels Buttocks To Tell Future
WKMG

http://www.local6.com/orlpn/news/stories/news-156377520020717-150748.html



The case of the missing code
By Farhad Manjoo
Salon

http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/07/17/steganography/index.html

"If you were a terrorist schooled in fundamentalist Islam, mass violence,
digital cryptography and, not least, the pack-rat ethos peculiar to eBay,
in which corner of that vast auction site might you hide your plans for
America's end?"



Did J. Edgar Hoover Really Wear Dresses?
By Ronald Kessler
History News Network

http://hnn.us/articles/814.html

"In 1993, Anthony Summers, in his book Official and Confidential: The
Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover, claimed that Hoover did not pursue
organized crime because the Mafia had blackmail material on him. In support
of that, Summers quoted Susan L. Rosenstiel, a former wife of Lewis S.
Rosenstiel, chairman of Schenley Industries Inc., as saying that in 1958,
she was at a party at the Plaza Hotel where Hoover engaged in
cross-dressing in front of her then-husband and Roy Cohn, former counsel to
Senator Joe McCarthy."


Science Plus Politics Yields An Explosive Reaction in Capital
By CORY REISS
Lakeland Ledger

http://www.theledger.com/local/florida/21scie.htm

"President Bush gave 19 budding conservationists something to think about
when presenting them with Environmental Youth Awards in April last year at
the White House."



A theory evolves
By Thomas Hayden
U.S. News & World Report

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/020729/misc/29evo.htm

"When scientists introduced the world to humankind's earliest known
ancestor two weeks ago, they showed us more than a mere museum piece.
Peering at the 7 million-year-old skull is almost like seeing a reflection
of our earlier selves. And yet that fossil represents only a recent chapter
in a grander story, beginning with the first single-celled life that arose
and began evolving some 3.8 billion years ago. Now, as the science of
evolution moves beyond guesswork, we are learning something even more
remarkable: how that tale unfolded."


Life's Grand Design
By Holly J. Morris
U.S. News & World Report

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/020729/misc/29design.htm

"Two people come to your door with a petition to give evolution some
competition in the science classroom. One is a biblical literalist who
wants genetics out and Genesis in. The other is a science professor with
exquisite academic credentials, championing a compelling theory called
intelligent design. He speaks in painful detail about the bacterial
flagellum, whatever that is. Though many may prefer old-style creationism,
nowadays the scientist in the suit is getting the most signatures."


The truth is out there ... but not as far as some would like us to think
By BEN BOVA
Naples Daily News

http://www.naplesnews.com/02/07/perspective/d800617a.htm

"I've enjoyed several of Mel Gibson's films, but his latest, "Signs," which
deals with "mysterious" crop circles, worries me."


Crop Circle Confession
By Matt Ridley
Scientific American

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=00038B16-ED5F-1D29-97CA809EC588EEDF
&
catID=2

"On August 2, Touchstone Pictures released Signs, starring Mel Gibson as a
farmer who discovers mysterious crop circles. Directed by Sixth Sense
auteur M. Night Shyamalan, the movie injects otherworldly creepiness into
crushed crops. The truth behind the circles is, alas, almost certainly more
mundane: skulking humans. Herewith is the account of one such trickster."


Mob storms house of witch doctor in Bandra
Chalomumbai

http://in.news.yahoo.com/020721/57/1sbt1.html

"On Friday night a  mob of 50 to 60 people attacked the Bandra (East) house
of the witch doctor who had instigated an Ambernath resident to do a human
sacrifice in June to tide over his personal problems.  Police said that the
mob, mostly local residents attacked the house of Abdul Sattar Malik also
called Baba Rajak Bangali in Bharat Nagar, a sprawling slum near the
Bandra-Kurla complex. “They were local residents and they were angry that
the incident had spoilt the reputation of their locality,” a policeman from
Kherwadi police station said."


Psychologist studies mystery of stigmata
By BRIAN LEWIS
The Tennessean

http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/02/07/20134669.shtml?Element_ID=20134

669

"A local psychologist is investigating the causes of stigmata, the
mysteriously appearing wounds resembling those that Christians believe
Jesus received when he was crucified."


A Spiritual Awakening at ABC
By Diane Werts
Newsday

http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/ny-steph2792625jul19.story

"God in politics and prime time? At ABC this fall, spiritual thinking is
definitely in the mix."


Hollywood's Alien Obsession
Entertainment Tonight

http://www.etonline.com/celebrity/a11452.htm

"Look, up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's an alien? For years,
Hollywood has been obsessed with aliens and the supernatural, from 'Close
Encounters' to 'Signs,' MEL GIBSON's mysterious new movie about crop
circles. Now, the producer of FOX's "Alien Autopsy" is back with shocking,
all-new footage of U.F.O.s, and ET has your exclusive sneak peek!"



Wheat Graffiti
By Daniel Pinchbeck
Wired

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.08/crop.html

"THEY SHOW UP EVERY SUMMER: spirals and interlocking rings, alchemical and
shamanic symbols, massive mandalas and Mandelbrot sets, all cut into swaths
of land — some as large as two football fields set side by side. These
patterns, made from swirled wheat and flattened rapeseed, first appeared in
the fields of southern England 30 years ago. Their mysterious origin caused
a media frenzy until 1991, when two local farmers claimed responsibility
for a few of the early formations. The press, satisfied that the whole
thing was a hoax, decamped. But crop circles never went away. From the
Netherlands to Japan to the farmlands of Canada and the Midwest, hundreds
of new glyphs materialize every year — and they're growing in both size and
complexity."


Debating September 11
The Nation

http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=special&s=web20020712

"David Corn's May 30, 2002, "Capital Games" article, "The 9/11 X-Files,"
debunking what he saw as the numerous conspiracy theories that have sprung
up purporting to explain what happened on September 11, generated numerous
letters. We've printed five of them below along with a response from Corn."



Mystery of Delhi's Iron Pillar unraveled
Press Trust of India

http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=12824

"Experts at the Indian Institute of Technology have resolved the mystery
behind the 1,600-year-old iron pillar in Delhi, which has never corroded
despite the capital's harsh weather."



ROUND IN CIRCLES
by Jason Zasky
Failure Magazine

http://www.failuremag.com/arch_science_crop_circles.html

"On August 2 Touchstone Pictures will release M. Night Shyamalan’s "Signs,"
a star vehicle for Mel Gibson, who plays a farmer that becomes famous after
crop circles begin appearing in his fields. For the uninitiated, crop
circles are patterns—man-made or the work of non-human, intelligent beings
(depending on who you believe)—created by flattening crops in a
pre-conceived fashion so that a recognizable design becomes evident.
Determining the true nature of crop circles is difficult because crop
circle artists (a.k.a. hoaxers), researchers, historians and enthusiasts
rarely make definitive claims. While "Signs" isn’t likely to clarify any
hot-button crop circle issues, it promises to be entertaining and will
certainly add fuel an already lively debate."



Alien Armada!
By Peter Carlson
Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31625-2002Jul19.html

"In the control tower at Washington National Airport, Ed Nugent saw seven
pale violet blips on his radar screen. What were they? Not planes -- at
least not any planes that were supposed to be there."