As Harriett reported in this Swift article, sometimes an individual can make a difference. In this case, an Australian woman outraged by ridiculous claims for a pocket sex drive enhancer successfully campaigned to have the device removed. Now the company who promoted this worthless item displays the following banner at the top of its site:
I'm always on the lookout for skeptical depictions of mediums in fiction, such as Robert Browning's delicious poem "Mr. Sludge the Medium." I just found another example where I least expected, and I wanted to share it with readers of Swift.
Latin American literature is famous for "magical realism" and its fiction is replete with ghosts and spooky doings. Yet I found a thoroughly skeptical view of a medium in Mario Vargas Llosa's novel "Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter."
The protagonist is taken to a séance by a friend. The medium is a widower who discovered the spirit world during a phase of abject loneliness after his wife died, and he comments that séances not only allow one to continue seeing and hearing departed loved ones, but they are entertaining and are a great way of killing time. His description makes it sound like a séance is comparable to watching a movie or a sports event, only more boring. In his unimaginative version of the other life, the spirits get sick, fall in love, get married, reproduce, travel... the only difference is that they don't die. He calls up several spirits from Purgatory and engages in stunningly inane conversations, "How are you? It's so nice to hear you. Pray for me. Give my regards to X."
NOTE: A few hours after this article was published, metaphysicalbridge.com was redirected to another site. I don't think this article had anything to do with it, but who knows?
I've stated many times that what makes skeptics special is not what they believe in, or what they DON'T believe in, but that they're always willing to change their opinions in the light of new evidence. That said, I'm a bit upset with a site I recently found. There is no new evidence here.
Metaphysicalbridge.com claims to offer free readings about the missing and unsolved crimes. The main site is merely a modified version of shopping cart software, which leads me to believe that their main priority might actually involve the selling of their woo-woo products rather than actually helping people with their "gifts."
In this episode, James Randi discusses parapsychologists, ghost hunters, PhD's with whacky ideas, and demonstrates how a competent magician can make the impossible appear before your very eyes.
As I've said before, UFO's are real! Yes, there are Unidentified Flying Objects. They may be extraterrestrial, but before we draw that conclusion, maybe we should look at some terrestrial explanations?
Consider this link. 19 articles refer to the UFO in the video at the right. What could it be? News articles appeared in India, Croatia, the UK, the US, and many other places. Seems like a big deal! Could this be the smoking gun that UFO buffs have sought for years? Do we finally have proof positive that we're being visited by otherworldly creatures?
Consider this bit from the Telegraph UK article:
... the unidentified black metal object stands out clearly against the blue sky, where it can be seen darting up and down for more than 10 minutes.
