Here is a rundown of the whirlwind week in weird, the paranormal and questionable claims from the past week courtesy of Doubtful News.

It was a HUGE week for skepticism. Great press was had all around from the big story of the week: Amanda Berry found and the humiliating epic fail, once again, of Sylvia Browne. Every skeptic and not so skeptic on the planet had something to say about this example of how psychics are unhelpful and downright hurtful.

While we had this bit of good press, there was bad news - the planned departure of Eugenie Scott from the National Center for Science Education. Genie is the thinking parent's angel on earth and we're all so grateful for all she has done.

Friends,

Last year we at the JREF decided to test the waters with a year-end fund-raising campaign to help raise awareness both of our mission as well as new ways to advance it. We were inspired by your response to our appeal, so much so that this year we hope our Season of Reason campaign will continue to support the bright future for skepticism and critical thinking.

We are focusing on our new educational efforts, as you will see here. But we now have a secret weapon that we're hopeful will make this end-of-year fund-raising campaign even more effective. An anonymous JREF member has made a very generous challenge donation to the JREF of up to $100,000. This means that whatever support you feel motivated to give to the JREF, this donor will match dollar-for-dollar up to a $100,000 limit!

Simply put my friends, there's never been a better time to put your money to work for skepticism and critical thinking, not only because every dollar you donate now doubles its value, but also because the JREF is doing more now to increase critical thinking in education than we've ever done in the past. The Amaz!ng Meetings are growing in size and number internationally, with record attendances, and we're seizing new opportunities to make a difference, such as digital publishing and smartphone "apps."