GROUP Bonus Assignments: Total 12 Points 2. JAMES RANDI WEEKLY

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GROUP Bonus Assignments: Total 12 Points 2. JAMES RANDI WEEKLY

GROUP Bonus Assignments: Total 12 points These are not required assignments and are ONLY to be completed by the GROUPS. To take advantage of these bonus assignments your GROUP must first meet with your instructor to discuss the due date for completion and other details of the assignment. Only a brief explanation is provided below. Additional details necessary for completion of these assignments will be provided during your meeting with your instructor. There is a matching Grading Form that must be completed for these assignments. 1 A. ASSESSING A CLAIM USING FIVE (5) CRITICAL QUESTIONS (6 points) Using all five (5) “Critical Questions” put one claim (ordinary or extraordinary) to the test. Ordinary claims can include pharmaceutical, vitamin, homeopathy, and health/medical claims, and extraordinary claims include magic, psychics, mediums, conspiracy theories, ESP, and remote viewing to name a few. If you have a claim to test and it appear under one of the categories here, please consult your instructor. After you have met with your instructor regarding completion of the assignment, you will have two (2) class meetings within which to submit your answers. Submissions will not be accepted after that deadline. The five (5) “Critical Questions” can be found at the end of the Critical Thinking PowerPoint slides that were provided with your syllabus and that are available on your instructor’s ACC webpage. At the end of your response you must explicitly state whether you supported or refuted the claim. ------------------------------------------------- OR -------------------------------------------------------- 1 B. ASSESSING A CLAIM USING THE “CRITIC” ACRONYM (6 Points) Using the “CRITIC” acronym put one claim (ordinary or extraordinary) to the test. Ordinary claims can include pharmaceutical, vitamin, homeopathy, and health/medical claims, and extraordinary claims include magic, psychics, mediums, conspiracy theories, ESP, and remote viewing to name a few. If you have a claim to test and it does not fit within one of the categories listed here, please consult your instructor. After you have met with your instructor regarding completion of the assignment, you will have two (2) class meetings within which to submit your answers. Submissions will not be accepted after that deadline. The “CRITIC” acronym and complete explanatory article can be found at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2843/is_5_26/ai_91236229) If there is a problem with this address, please see your instructor for the complete article. At the end of your response you must explicitly state whether you supported or refuted the claim. 2. JAMES RANDI WEEKLY ONLINE COLUMN (6 Points) Review the weekly online column of the James Randi Educational Foundation [JREF] (www.randi.org) and each member selects one different entry to review. Each week’s review consisting of all three member’s individual responses are considered to be one (1) point. Therefore, this can be repeated for up to six submissions. Each individual member must provide the following information in their response: Brief summary of the entry (one paragraph maximum) Reason entry was selected Your reaction to the entry.

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United States District Court District of Minnesota
CASE 0:07-cv-01296-JRT-FLN Document 1 Filed 02/23/07 Page 1 of 4 United States District Court District of Minnesota Christopher Roller (Plaintiff) vs. The James Randi Educational Civil Action No. Foundation, Inc. (JREF) c/o Magician James Randi (Defendant) Complaint I'm thoroughly confused about James Randi. James educates people. I would like James to educate me. James is a magician. The "Amazing Randi". I truly believe Randi is amazing. I believe James Randi has godly powers. I could be wrong. I've been wrong before, but I had a hunch about David Copperfield, and it turned out I was right. Now James doesn't perform many magic shows anymore, but I think he's making money via products made from godly powers. Again, I could be wrong. You see, I now have a patent on godly powers - Pat#20070035812. http://www. objectforce.com/php/MyTrumanShow__/Legal/Patent/Patent.html. The patent gives me exclusive right to the ethical use and financial gain in the use of godly powers on planet Earth. I believe James has been infringing on that patent effective 29July2005 in accordance with U.S.C 35 § 271. Not just for financial gain, but also because I believe he has knowledge of immoral behavior through the use of godly powers. CASE 0:07-cv-01296-JRT-FLN Document 1 Filed 02/23/07 Page 2 of 4 Again I could be wrong. If I'm wrong I will drop the suit immediately. But it's seems like a stubborn game played by lawyers to dismiss the case before I get a chance to ask any questions.
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United States Court of Appeals for the DISTRICT of COLUMBIA
<<The pagination in this PDF may not match the actual pagination in the printed slip opinion>> USCA Case #93-7140 Document #89561 Filed: 12/09/1994 Page 1 of 8 UnitedÿStatesÿCourtÿofÿAppeals FORÿTHEÿDISTRICTÿOFÿCOLUMBIAÿCIRCUIT ArguedÿOctoberÿ6,ÿ1994ÿÿÿÿÿDecidedÿDecemberÿ9,ÿ1994 No.ÿ93-7140 URIÿGELLER, APPELLANT v. JAMESÿRANDI, A/K/AÿADAMÿJERSIN, A/K/AÿDONALD, A/K/AÿTRUTH'SÿBODYGUARD, A/K/AÿTHEÿAMAZINGÿRANDI, A/K/AÿRANDALLÿJAMESÿZWINGE; ÿCOMMITTEEÿFORÿTHE SCIENTIFICÿINVESTIGATIONÿOFÿCLAIMSÿOFÿTHEÿPARANORMAL, APPELLEES AppealÿfromÿtheÿUnitedÿStatesÿDistrictÿCourt forÿtheÿDistrictÿofÿColumbia 91cv01014 RichardÿW.ÿWinelander arguedÿtheÿcauseÿandÿfiledÿtheÿbriefÿforÿappellant. LeeÿLevine argued the cause for appellees. Withÿhimÿo nÿt heÿbriefÿwasÿ James E. Grossberg.ÿÿR. Darryl Cooper enteredÿanÿappearanceÿforÿappelleeÿCommitteeÿforÿtheÿScientificÿInvestigationÿof ClaimsÿofÿtheÿParanormal.ÿÿMichaelÿJ.ÿKennedy enteredÿanÿappearanceÿforÿappelleeÿJamesÿRandi. BeforeÿWALD,ÿSENTELLE,ÿandÿROGERS,ÿCircuitÿJudges. OpinionÿforÿtheÿCourtÿfiledÿbyÿCircuitÿJudge SENTELLE. SENTELLE,ÿCircuit Judge: AppellantÿUriÿGellerÿchallengesÿtheÿdistrictÿcourt'sÿawardÿof monetary sanctions under Rule 11 of the FederalÿRulesÿofÿCivilÿProcedureÿ("Ruleÿ11")ÿinÿfavorÿof appellee Committee for the Scientific Investigation ofClaims ofthe Paranormal. Gellerÿcontendsÿthat the district courtÿerredÿwhenÿitÿtreatedÿaÿmotionÿforÿRuleÿ11ÿsanctionsÿasÿconcededÿbyÿGeller under localÿrulesÿandÿthusÿawardedÿsanctions.ÿÿBecauseÿweÿholdÿthatÿtheÿdistrictÿcourtÿdidÿnotÿabuseÿit s discretionÿinÿsanctioningÿappellantÿunderÿRuleÿ11,ÿweÿaffirm.
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The Chronicle Review
The Chronicle Review January 11, 2008 The Truth Is Out There After a formative encounter with the paranormal, one philosopher embraced the study of it By Scott Carlson The pivotal moment of Stephen E. Braude's academic career happened when he was in graduate school, on a dull afternoon in Northampton, Mass., in 1969. Or, at least, what follows is what he says happened. Readers — skeptics and believers both — will have to make up their own minds. Braude and two friends had seen the only movie in town and were looking for something to do. His friends suggested going to Braude's house and playing a game called "table up." In other words, they wanted to perform a séance. They sat at a folding table, with their ﬁngers lightly touching the tabletop, silently urging it to levitate. Suddenly it shuddered and rose several inches off the ground, then came back down. Then it rose a second time. And again and again. Braude and his friends worked out a code with the table, and it answered questions and spelled out names. Braude says he had not given much thought to the paranormal before that afternoon, but the experience shook him to his core, he says, sitting in an easy chair in his immaculate home in suburban Baltimore. He insists there was no way his friends could have manipulated the table, adding, "I should tell you, we were not stoned." Today Braude, 62, is one of the few mainstream academics applying his intellectual training to questions that many would regard at best as impossible to answer, and at worst absolutely ridiculous: Do psychic phenomena exist? Are mediums and ghosts real? Can people move objects with their minds or predict the future? A professor of philosophy at the University of Maryland- Baltimore County, Braude is a past president of the Parapsychological Association, an organization that gathers academics and others interested in phenomena like ESP and psychokinesis, and he has published a series of books with well- known academic presses on such topics.
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An Honest Liar Premieres on Independent Lens Monday, March 28, 2016 on PBS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Lisa Tawil, ITVS 415-356-8383 [email protected] Mary Lugo 770-623-8190 [email protected] Cara White 843-881-1480 [email protected] For downloadable images, visit pbs.org/pressroom/ An Honest Liar Premieres on Independent Lens Monday, March 28, 2016 on PBS Portrait of James “The Amazing” Randi, the Extraordinary Magician Who Dedicated His Life to Exposing Hucksters and Frauds “Magicians are the most honest people in the world. They tell you they’re gonna fool you, and then they do it.” – James Randi (San Francisco, CA) — For the last half-century, James “The Amazing” Randi has entertained millions of people around the world with his remarkable feats of magic, escape, and trickery. But when he saw faith healers, fortunetellers, and psychics using his beloved magician’s tricks to steal money from innocent people and destroy lives, he dedicated his life to exposing frauds, using the wit and style of the great showman that he is. Part detective story, part biography, and a bit of a magic act itself, the award- James "The Amazing" Randi. winning An Honest Liar, directed and produced by Credit: Justin Weinstein, Tyler Measom Justin Weinstein and Tyler Measom, premieres on Independent Lens Monday, March 28, 2016, 10:00-11:30 p.m. ET (check local listings) on PBS. A self-described liar, cheat, and charlatan, Randi embarked on a mission for truth by perpetrating a series of unparalleled investigations and elaborate hoaxes. These grand schemes fooled scientists, the media, and a gullible public, but always with a deeper goal of demonstrating the importance of evidence and the dangers of magical thinking.
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Flim-Flam: the Truth About Unicorns, Parapsychology and Other Delusions Pdf
FREE FLIM-FLAM: THE TRUTH ABOUT UNICORNS, PARAPSYCHOLOGY AND OTHER DELUSIONS PDF James Randi | 357 pages | 31 Dec 1994 | Prometheus Books | 9780879751982 | English | Amherst, United States Psychic Breakthroughs Today - Uri Geller Flim Flam! James Randi. James Randi is internationally known as a magician and escape artist. But for the past thirty-five years of his professional life, he has also been active as an investigator of the paranormal, occult, and supernatural claims that have impressed Parapsychology and Other Delusions thinking of the public for a generation: ESP, psychokinesis, psychic detectives, levitation, psychic surgery, UFOs, dowsing, astrology, and many others. Those of us unable to discriminate between geniune scientific research and the pseudoscientific nonsense that has resulted in fantastic theories and fancies have long needed James Randi and Flim-Flam! In this book, Randi explores and exposes what he believes to be the outrageous deception that has been promoted widely in the media. Unafraid to call researchers to account for their failures and impostures, Randi tells us that we have been badly served by scientists Parapsychology and Other Delusions have failed to follow the procedures required by Flim-Flam: The Truth about Unicorns training and traditions. Here he shows us how what he views as sloppy research has been followed by rationalizations of evident failures, and we see these errors and misrepresentations clearly pointed out. Randi provides us with a compelling and convincing document that will certainly startle and enlighten all who read it. Rhine, on the Frontiers of Science K. Flim-Flam!: Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions by James Randi Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.
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“The Amazing” Randi
Page 1 Phactum April 2013 Phactum “Mind, like para- Phactum chute, only function The Newsletter and Propaganda Organ of the when open. “ Philadelphia Association for Critical Thinking ~ Charlie Chan April 2013 editor: Ray Haupt email: [email protected] Webmaster: Wes Powers http://phact.org/ Come to the Philadelphia Science Festival with PhACT Our April Meeting will be at the Franklin Institute and our special guest will be James “The Amazing” Randi Saturday, April 20, 2013 at 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM This event is Free and Open to the Public but you must register at: http://www.philasciencefestival.org/event/79-science-pseudoscience-and-nonsense-a-clarification-by-james-randi More information on Pages 2 and 3 "Do not expect to arrive at certainty in every subject which you pursue. There are a hundred things wherein we mortals. must be content with probability, where our best light and reasoning will reach no farther." ~Isaac Watts~(1674-1748), English hymnwriter, theologian and logician. Page 2 Phactum April 2013 2013 Philadelphia Science Festival April 18 – April 28 PhACT’s contribution to the 2013 Philadelphia Science Festival will be, in partnership with the Franklin Institute, to host James “The Amazing” Randi who will present a program of science and magic to mystify, amuse, and to educate. At the Franklin Institute Saturday, April 20, 2013 at 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM Free and open to the Public. Seating is limited. James "the Amazing" Randi has an international reputation as a magician and escape artist, but today he is best known as the world’s most tireless investigator and demystifier of paranormal and pseudoscientific claims.
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Griffin Nov 20
November 2020 Sad News - James Randi, famous for breaking Harry Houdini’s submersion record, dies aged 92 Via AP News Wire Thursday 22 October 2020 James Randi, a magician who later challenged spoon benders, mind readers and faith healers with such voracity that he became regarded as the country’s foremost sceptic, has died, his foundation announced. He was 92. The James Randi Educational Foundation confirmed the death, saying simply that its founder succumbed to “age-related causes” on Monday. Entertainer, genius, debunker, atheist ̶ Randi was them all. He began gaining attention not long after dropping out of high school to join the carnival. As the Amazing Randi, he escaped from a locked coffin submerged in water and from a straitjacket as he dangled over Niagara Falls. Magical as his feats seemed, Randi concluded his shows around the globe with a simple statement, insisting no otherworldly powers were at play. The magician’s transparency gave a glimpse of what would become his longest-running act, as the country’s sceptic-in-chief. In that role, his first widely seen exploit was also his most lasting. On a 1972 episode of “The Tonight Show,” he helped Johnny Carson set up Uri Geller the Israeli performer who claimed to bend spoons with his mind. Randi ensured the spoons and other props were kept from Geller’s hands until showtime to prevent any tampering. The result was an agonizing 22 minutes in which Geller was unable to perform any tricks. Randi had bushy white eyebrows and beard, a bald head, and gold-rimmed glasses, and bounced his 5-foot-6 (1.6 meter) frame energetically, even in his final years.
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The Confessions of a Leading Psychic
The confessions of a leading psychic MERE PUFFERY THE CONFESSIONS OF A LEADING PSYCHIC If one of the "world's leading psychics" confessed to being a hoax what would he or she say? Seldom does the world find out because leading psychics seldom ever reveal to the public the tricks of their trade. In 1981, however, one of this country's leading psychics did confess to being a hoax. That confession, unfortunately, took place during a television special which was aired only once and never repeated (a transcript was never published). SCS is pleased to publish here for the first time excerpts from that rare and fascinating television interview with confessed psychic James Hydrick. First some background information on James Hydrick. Hydrick rose to national fame after appearing on a December 1980 taped broadcast of ABC's popular program "That Incredible." Hydrick appeared to demonstrate for the viewing audience very strong psychokinetic powers. These powers enabled Hydrick to flip the pages of a telephone book (without touching the book) and cause a pencil to turn on a table merely by the power of his will. The tabloid newspaper The Star quickly ran an article on Hydrick labeling him "The World's Top Psychic." The glowing account labeled Hydrick's powers as "incredible and staggering." Other newspapers revealed that Hydrick could cure headaches and colds with a touch and answer questions before they were asked. A scientist and electrical engineer from the University of Utah after much testing also concluded that Hydrick's psychic powers were indeed authentic. Hydrick claimed that he had learned these powers from special training in the martial arts and that he could teach these powers to anyone.
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Fraud: Just Fraud
Bard College Bard Digital Commons Senior Projects Spring 2016 Bard Undergraduate Senior Projects Spring 2016 Fraud: Just Fraud Reeves David Ion Morris-Stan Bard College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_s2016 Part of the Acting Commons, and the Dance Commons This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. Recommended Citation Morris-Stan, Reeves David Ion, "Fraud: Just Fraud" (2016). Senior Projects Spring 2016. 321. https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_s2016/321 This Open Access work is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been provided to you by Bard College's Stevenson Library with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this work in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights- holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Fraud: Just Fraud Senior Project Submitted to The Division of Arts Of Bard College By Reeves Morris-Stan Annandale-on-Hudson, New York May 2016 Acknowledgements I would like to start out by thanking my mother, father, and sister who shown given me nonstop support throughout the years. You are the reason I make art. I would like to thank Kedian Keohan, my amazing collaborator, for putting up with my crazy ways and for exposing my dark side. You made fraud make sense.
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Jose Alvarez
Jose Alvarez THE KITCHEN In 1988, Jose Alvarez toured Australia channeling the spirit of “Carlos,” a 2,000-year-old shaman who held forth on Atlantis, “corrected” the date of Jesus’s birth, reported on the movements of UFOs, and divined other sundry matters before capacity crowds at the Sydney Opera House. In the voluble tradition of fundamentalist televangelists, healers, and cultish gurus of all stripes, Alvarez charismatically staged the visionary with the help of his mentor James Randi, himself a debunker of paranormal phenomena, who also appears in the recent video Dejeuner Sur Le Dish, 2007, playing chess with Carlos; besides conducting séances, Alvarez peddled vials of tears and potent crystals and proliferated his message via the mass media. But even stranger than Alvarez’s initial hoax was the fact that scores of people were persuaded by it. Indeed, so convincing was his act that its influence survived its debunking. In laying bare the structure of such presentations, Alvarez counterintuitively reaffirmed the possibility of conviction. Even though the aim of his deception was ultimately to enlighten, Carlos’s moral is that people believe against their better judgment in matters of both lesser and greater consequence. Taking this as axiomatic, Alvarez’s first New York solo exhibition, “The Visitors,” furthered his quasi-sociological research into mysticism and magic. Having quit live performance in favor of video and collage, in this show he expanded upon the promise of his earlier work through a range of media. Placed at the gallery’s vestibule, A Separate Reality, 2007, comments on the spectacle of the earlier communions— eventually executed in Europe, Asia, South America, and the United States, as documentary photographs of Alvarez in Italy and China installed alongside the monitor suggested as well—with Alvarez inhabiting the role of the medium and of the whistleblower in turn: Clips corroborating past Carlos embodiments alternate with others culled from CNN, the Today show, and 60 Minutes, where Alvarez affirms his position as a conceptual artist.
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Quantum Randi Challenge
Quantum Randi Challenge Sascha Vongehr National Laboratory of Solid-State Microstructures, Nanjing University, Hankou Lu 22, Nanjing 210093, P. R. China Violations of Bell type inequalities in quantum physical experiments disprove all relativistic micro causal, classically real models. Desperate attempts at saving classicality have retreated to claiming what A. Shimony calls a conspiracy at the intersection of the measurements’ past light cones. It is time to embrace the quantum paradigm instead of being stuck in defending it against positions on par with the creationist belief in divinely planted fossil records. The Quantum Randi Challenge is designed to help scientists and educators discredit local realistic models and related attacks against quantum physics. Its ‘Randi-type’ properties are ensured via a simple computer game that can be made attractive and understandable to lay people. We introduce the general concept of a ‘James Randi type’ challenge as a tool for science outreach aimed against the spread of pseudoscience. This is a challenge which, according to the laws of nature as known to science, is impossible to meet. Randi challenges work simply by being known to exist while never having been overcome, despite the large rewards which would follow from meeting the challenge. This effectively refutes pseudoscientific claims according to which the challenge could easily be met. Pseudoscience exploits well meaning engagement in argument in order undermine science by artificially creating the appearance of a dispute between experts where there is none. Randi challenges allow scientists to publicly refuse to give a platform to pseudoscience without strengthening the perception of censorship and establishment conspiracy.
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[ Paul Kurtz in Memoriam
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