Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

[Barry Karr <SkeptInq@AOL.COM>]

For More Stories Visit: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/skepticsearch/


The bull fighter
BY RON NETSKY
Rochester City Newspaper   Part 1
http://www.rochester-citynews.com/gbase/Gyrosite/Content?oid=oid%3A1461

"Last week, on the anniversary of September 11, religious organizations all
over the United States commemorated the events of last year with prayer
services. But in a modern building in a suburb of Buffalo, a small group
gathered for a secular commemoration."



SEPTEMBER 25, 2002
Shooting down UFOs, stamping out Bigfoot
Part 2   By Ron Netsky

http://www.rochester-citynews.com/gbase/Gyrosite/Content?oid=oid%3A1479




As Chairman of the Center for Inquiry in the Buffalo suburb of Amherst, Paul Kurtz has a big job. His organization hunts down and attempts to annihilate fraudulent ideas. Last week, Kurtz shared his skeptical ideas about religious beliefs and other aspects of our culture. Our discussion continues with a look at some of the more absurd claims that have nevertheless gained a firm foothold in the public consciousness.


Christian networks trying to snuff out public radio
By Blaine Harden
NEW YORK TIMES
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/news/nation/4078125.htm

"The Rev. Don Wildmon, founding chairman of a mushrooming network of
Christian radio stations, does not like National Public Radio."


No Charges Filed Against Aldrin
Associated Press
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020921/ap_on_re_us/buzz_aldrin_2

"No charges will be filed against Buzz Aldrin for allegedly punching a man
who called him a liar and demanded that the former astronaut swear on the
Bible that he'd been to the moon."


Top scientists rip Cobb evolution disclaimer
By MARY MacDONALD
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/metro/cobb/0902/19evolution.html

"One of the most prestigious science organizations in the nation urged the
Cobb County school board Wednesday to drop its effort to encourage
discussion of disputed views of evolution, which could include versions of
creationism, in science classes."



Cell phone-cancer link not proven
ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.msnbc.com/news/810220.asp

"A review of cell phone studies commissioned by the Swedish Radiation
Protection Authority has found no “consistent evidence” of an increased
risk of cancer from usage, the agency said."


Magnetic mattress pads are a fraud, lawsuit claims
By Edgar Sanchez
Sacramento Bee
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/scam_alert/story/4435645p-5456749c.html

"A seminar on the purported health benefits of magnetic mattress pads drew
20 senior citizens, including a widow named Del M."



'Sorcerer' killed in Mexico
BBC World Service
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2260518.stm

"Officials in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas say at least four
indigenous people were killed and five injured when a group of men attacked
a house in the town of Chamula."



Carcass thought to be basking shark
By Brian Medel
Halifax Herald Limited
http://www.herald.ns.ca/stories/2002/09/18/f186.raw.html

"The discovery late Monday of an unusual-looking carcass, some six to seven
metres long, on a rock beach in Annapolis County has residents talking."



Bigfoot's toehold on region up for debate at conference
By Carl Prine
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/s_92639.html

"He stinks."



"Of Moths and Men" by Judith Hooper
Review by Alison Motluk
Salon
http://www.salon.com/books/review/2002/09/18/hooper/index.html

"Almost everyone is familiar with the magnificent story of the peppered
moth. In the second half of the 19th century, lepidopterists in Britain
began noticing that a dark version of a well-known pale speckled moth,
Biston betularia, started appearing in great numbers in the industrialized
regions. The more polluted the area, the more they seemed to thrive. Soon,
they outnumbered their pale cousins, and Darwinists, eager for a real-life
example of evolution at work, suggested the color change might be due to
"natural selection.""



Doctors create out-of-body sensations
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2266740.stm

"Doctors say they have triggered out-of-body experiences in a female
patient by stimulating her brain."



Area 51, truth seekers 0
By Alex Johnson
MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.com/news/809766.asp?pne=msn

"For more than four decades, an unusual alliance of mainstream lawyers,
conspiracy theorists and UFO enthusiasts has tried to find out just what is
going on at Groom Lake, Nev. — the top-security Air Force facility better
known to fans of “The X-Files” as Area 51. Now they will have to wait at
least another year after President Bush reissued an executive order
Wednesday barring the disclosure of any information about the site."


Would you choose to be frozen after death?
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/2268354.stm

"One lucky New Scientist reader will win the chance to have their body
frozen after death in the hope of being brought back to life in the future."



Indian police crack down on fake holy men
By Jayashree Lengade
Reuters
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=1467655

"In tradition-bound India, if someone claims to be able to exorcise ghosts,
levitate or pull a gold chain out of thin air, it does not take long for
him to become known as a "godman"."


Religious Group Seeks To Raise Girl From Dead
Associated Press
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/sh/news/stories/nat-news-167645620020919-100911.html

"Members of a Tennessee religious group were hoping for a miracle at a
teenage member's funeral."



Vatican scientists accused of destroying Turin Shroud
By Bridget Morris
Glasgow Sunday Herald
http://www.sundayherald.com/27941

"MICROSCOPIC particles that could have proved whether or not the Shroud of
Turin could be dated to around the time of the death of Christ have been
destroyed by Vatican scientists."


Mushroom are sign from below
By George Rowand
Fauquier Times-Democrat
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=5402464&BRD=1904&PAG=461&dept_id=127458&rfi=6

""It's been a curiosity," Eustace said, pointing to a seemingly endless
number of perfectly circular markings on his land. "It looked like the
fleet had landed.""



Couple Defend Selves in Girl's Death
By PAUL FOY
Associated Press
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020918/ap_on_re_us/therapy_death_7

"A couple charged with killing their adopted daughter by forcing her to
drink large amounts of water said Wednesday they were treating her "severe
problems of sneaking and lying" with rules to promote family bonding."


"Strange Matters" by Tom Siegfried
Review By Thomas Wilson
Salon
http://www.salon.com/books/review/2002/09/24/siegfried/index.html

"In the fourth century B.C., the Greek philosopher Democritus postulated
the existence of atoms, indivisible particles of matter that formed the
basis of all reality. Although none of his writings have survived, many of
his views were taken up and refined by Epicurus and his followers. Ancient
atomic theory reached its zenith in Rome shortly before the birth of
Christ, when Lucretius published his magnum opus, "De rerum natura "("On
the Nature of Things"), possibly the only epic poem about theoretical
physics. Two millennia later, some of the 20th century's greatest
scientific minds, including a young Albert Einstein, finally succeeded in
conclusively establishing the existence of atoms. Of course, the particles
turned out to be rather different from Democritus' conception, but the
episode remains one of the most remarkable stories in the history of ideas."



9-1-1 Numerology
By LANE DeGREGORY
St. Petersburg Times
http://www.sptimes.com/2002/09/24/Floridian/9_1_1_numerology.shtml

"When the winning number in the New York Lottery came up 911 on 9/11,
statisticians assured us it was a coincidence. A 1-in-1,000 chance, they
said. Not bizarre. Just random."



Beware the Coconuts
By Buck Wolf
ABC NEWS
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/WolfFiles/wolffiles.html

"They laughed at Copernicus. They laughed at the Wright Brothers. And they
laughed at Kligerman — who eventually laughed all the way to the bank."