Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

[Barry Karr <SkeptInq@aol.com>]

1) CSICOP Chairman Paul Kurtz on Media Blitz
2) Internet debate on Creation/Evolution
3) Articles of Note


1) CSICOP Chairman and Founder Paul Kurtz has appeared
on numerous radio and television shows in the past month.

(A)    Two BBC Radio World Service interviews (North American and world):
Discovery (June 22, 2002) and Outlook (June 27)
(B)  WDWS Talk Radio with Brad Hansen, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, July
18, 2002
(C)    WBAI Radio, New York City, interviewed by Saia Kaze and Steve
Devries, July 21, 2002, 6:40 p.m. EST.
(D)    Interview: quoted on the skeptical movement in "Was zu beweisen
wäre...," in Sonntags Zeitung, Switzerland, the largest newspaper, on July
14, 2002.
(E)    The interview with Paul Kurtz, which originally appeared in the New
York Times, was featured in the worldwide edition of Le Monde and The Times,
July 1, 2002.
(F)    Phone interview on Australian Broadcast System from Sydney, June 20,
2002.
(G)    KABC Los Angeles (ABC affiliate), June 21, 2002.
(H)  Interviewed by Voice of America for Transmission worldwide June 20,
2002.
(I)    Barry Farber Radio Show, nationwide (65 stations), July 23, 2002.



2) In a message dated 7/18/02 4:29:57 PM Eastern Daylight Time, nmsrdave@swcp.com writes:


> Hi all.  There's an event of possible interest to CSICOP folks coming up in
> August.  It's an internet debate, pitting CSICOP Fellow Dave Thomas (that's
> me!) against Discovery Institute Fellow Walter ReMine, author of "The
> Biotic Message."
>
> Details are on the web sites of New Mexicans for Science and Reason,
> http://www.nmsr.org/tccsadbt.htm ,
> and the Twin Cities Creation Science Association,
> http://tccsa.freeservers.com/ 
> and
> http://tccsa.freeservers.com/debate.html
>
>
> Thanks and all best from New Mexico!
>
> Regards,
> Dave Thomas



3)  Articles of Note


On the trail of China's Bigfoot
By Rosanne Lin
Shanghai Star

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/star/2002/0725/vo2-2.html

"North American skeptics take note - in 1976-77, the Chinese Government 
sponsored a yeren (wildman) - commonly known to the West as Bigfoot - 
expedition to Shennongjia Mountain Forest in central Hubei Province 
consisting of 100 people, including army personnel."



Psychics to be put to the test in experiment
by ORLA HERON
Scotland on Sunday

http://www.scotlandonsunday.com/scotland.cfm?id=783522002

"PERHAPS they already know it will be a success. Psychic volunteers are 
taking part in an experiment to discover whether people really can predict 
the future."


What Buddhists Know About Science
By Daithí Ó hAnluain
Wired

http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,53820,00.html

""I was amazed a couple of years ago when I discovered Thong Len. I had a 
burnt hand, and (when I used) that technique, it was like an anesthetic had 
been injected into my arm," said Jack Pettigrew, a renowned Australian 
physiologist, at a Science and the Mind conference that was attended by the 
Dalai Lama."


Mysterious lights at UFO Daze
By Mary Ann Holley
Sheboygan Press

http://www.wisinfo.com/sheboyganpress/area/072202-1.html

"Six glowing amber spheres lit up the night sky Saturday above a forested 
area on the northern edge of Long Lake, lending credence to the statement, 
"They're out there.""


Reporter not sure what to think
By Mary Ann Holley
Sheboygan Press

http://www.wisinfo.com/sheboyganpress/area/072202-2.html

"In the skewed words of Richard M. Nixon, "I am not a kook.""



A Hotel Stephen King Might Find Just Right
By ABBY ELLIN
New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/23/business/23GHOS.html

"For the weary business traveler, the new executive retreat and inn on the 
old Berry Hill plantation here has it all: meeting rooms, a fitness center, 
a dining room with world-class cuisine, a swimming pool, tennis courts, a 
jogging trail on 700 bucolic acres and a renovated 160-year-old Greek 
Revival mansion with 19th-century chandeliers."



Eerie X-File of the pampas
By Reed Lindsay
Baltimore Sun

http://www.sunspot.net/news/nationworld/bal-te.journal23jul23.column

"Daniel Belot has seen his share of dead cows."



Paranormal beliefs linked to brain chemistry
by Helen Phillips
New Scientist

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992589

"Whether or not you believe in the paranormal may depend entirely on your 
brain chemistry. People with high levels of dopamine are more likely to 
find significance in coincidences, and pick out meaning and patterns where 
there are none."


Monster Hunter
CBS

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/12/05/60II/main320219.shtml

"There are hundreds of lakes in Scotland but only one of them, Loch Ness, 
is known throughout the world. Submerged in its waters may be a dinosaur, 
popularly known as the Loch Ness Monster."


The So-Called 'Face on Mars' in Infrared (Released 24 July 2002)
NASA

http://themis.la.asu.edu/zoom-20020724A.html


Was it an encounter with the paranormal or a Web site glitch?
By Jane Holahan
Lancaster New Era

http://www.lancnews.com/newera_features/july24co.shtm

"I don't want to make anyone paranoid, but something incredibly strange 
happened when I tried to get on the Web site for the new movie, "Signs.""


Sometimes, the March of Science Goes Backward
By GEORGE JOHNSON
New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/23/science/23ESSA.html

"No one is quite sure why they call themselves the Sheiks, but according to 
one theory the name was coined by Glenn T. Seaborg, the great nuclear 
chemist, as a whimsical acronym for Super-Heavy Element International 
Kollaboration."



The End, To Be Continued
By Linton Weeks
Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47488-2002Jul22.html

"What on earth is going on?"


Encounter
by Neil Swidey
Boston Globe

http://www.boston.com/globe/magazine/2002/0721/encounter.htm

"Is John F. Kennedy's assassination always on your mind?"


Hypnotized out of fortune, man's suit claims
By HELEN PETERSON
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/5404p-5052c.html

"An eccentric millionaire philanthropist who kept his eye on the swinging 
watch now says he should have been watching his wallet."



Virgin window owner keeps experts away
Ananova

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_635332.html?menu=

"The owner of a window in Brazil where an image of the Virgin Mary is said 
to have appeared is refusing to let experts examine it."


Laundering the 'Truth'
by Cynthia Cotts
Village Voice

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0230/cotts.php

"According to the back cover of Forbidden Truth, a bestseller published in 
France last fall and released in this country last week, a round of "secret 
diplomacy between the Bush administration and the Taliban" may have 
provoked Osama bin Laden into launching the September 11 attacks."


Is It A Ghost?
KFSN

http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/news/072502_nw_ghost.html

"If you don't believe in ghosts, here is something that may change your mind."



Sammo Hung Plans TV Comedy About 'Feng Shui'
Reuters

http://news.lycos.com/news/story.asp?section=Entertainment&storyId=474059

"Sammo Hung , actor of American television series "Martial Law," said 
Thursday he was planning a drama comedy for U.S. television about a master 
of "feng shui," or Chinese geomancy."


Shroud of Turin analyst dies at 86
Associated Press

http://www.chieftain.com/monday/news/index/article/9
http://www.mcri.org/WalterMcCrone.html

"Walter C. McCrone Jr., whose analysis confirmed the Shroud of Turin was 
created 13 centuries after Jesus Christ was buried, has at 86."


Naperville farmer calls mysterious crop circle 'a malicious prank'
By Susan Stevens

Daily Herald [Arlington Heights, IL]
http://www.dailyherald.com/main_story.asp?intid=37463117


"When he stepped out of his truck, the first thing Ed Corrigan noticed was 
the aroma coming off the Naperville soybean field he came to inspect for 
bugs and weeds."