Are you all enjoying the Randi thread in GD?

[edhopper]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5969645

Love it when the loonies come out to play.

[Archae]

1. Yeah, and I noticed the "sources" used...

A hack job from a dubious "newspaper," and a blog run by a conspiracy theorist who is a vicious anti-Semite.

The original post reminds me of something from a fictional character, Frank Burns from "MASH."

He saw some Koreans burying a kimchee pot, while he "tested" his toothpaste for explosives.
In his eyes, they were burying a bomb.

[zappaman]

8. It also reeks of homophobia.

[Ron Obvious]

2. I stopped reading at "Sheldrake".

I got his morphic resonance right here.

[AlbertCat]

3. How you know Randi is correct:

You get the same kind of complaints (actually the same complaints exactly!...over and over) from the likes of Sheldrake AND Sylvia Brown.... and Uri Geller...and.... and


They are all knit-picky-esque "he wasn't nice to me" and "he lied about (usually something he never said)!!!!"


It, of course, is not up to Randi to prove others' extraordinary claims. When said claims are debunked.... attacking the debunker is a sure sign he is on to something!

[edhopper]

4. If you every read any of the stories

about the people who try for the $1,000,000 challenge and their complaints when they fail, it is enlightening and funny.

[trotsky]

5. Definitely hilarious.

They all agree to the terms of the test beforehand, so when they fall short the excuses start. Generally culminating in accusing Randi of cheating, etc. Or hell, just fabricate a quote out of thin air that he endorses genocide. Doesn't matter that it's utterly false, once you've established that James Randi is a horrible, terrible person to expect people who make promises to actually deliver on them.

[edhopper]

6. This was my post about the mindset of the Randi detractors

"People who spend their time looking for Bigfoot, UFOs, Ghosts or ESP are harmless folks enjoying a personal pursuit. No matter how irrational or imaginary these things are.

People who spend their time showing how these things aren't real and debunking the claims are mean spirited and full of hate who should find better uses of their time.

Even though the subjects are the same, Bigfoot, UFOs, etc...it is only acceptable if the people involved are believers."

Of course there are also those that are enraged that he has shown their favorite woo is bull crap.

[Archae]

7. In Randi's book "Flim Flam"

Randi details how he debunked a playing-card reader that invokes religion and starving kids to try to excuse her failure, another "psychic" that claimed to "see through a blindfold," and a number of Italian fakes.
The funniest one was the "mummifier," he claimed to "mummify" food, but failed completely.

[LeftishBrit]

9. Enjoying isn't the word...

it makes me depressed and angry. Especially when the anti-Semitic scumbag Christopher Bollyn gets quoted as a serious source.