• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Randi's Connection to 9/11?

AldousO

New Blood
A
Joined
Feb 6, 2007
Messages
1
I was reading the recent George Monbiot Guardian article on "Loose Change" on AlterNet a couple days ago. One of the commenters included a link to the Wiki entry for William Rodriguez, WTC janitor/rescue hero turned 9/11 CT'er/truth activist. I can't include a link because I'm new but if you go to his Wiki biography you'll find it begins with this very curious bit of info:

"When Rodriguez was young, the person known as a "debunker of pseudoscience", The Amazing Randi hired him as an assistant. Rodriguez used the stage name "Roudy" while exposing faith healers and psychics. Rodriguez, as Benjamin Smith explained in a New York Sun article, "proved adroit at insinuating himself into the good graces of Randi's targets and eliciting incriminating information."

Rodriguez claims that he heard an explosion coming from below the building before the first plane hit. Interestingly, in the quote Wiki uses Rodriguez refers to his old job with Randi:

"I was a magician for thirty years. . . It is very easy to do misdirection, to make you look into one place while you're doing the magic with the other hand." Inferring that in plain sight, the planes struck; out of sight, bombs exploded, "It's just a big magic trick," Rodriguez concludes. "It's an illusion."

I just did a search on JREF for any reference to Rodriguez' connections to Randi and came up empty. Did you guys know about this? And what do you think of Rodriguez and his specific claims? Have they been debunked?

If I were paranoid I might wonder if Rodriguez were still on the Randi payroll. After all, he "proved adroit at insinuating himself into the good graces of Randi's targets and eliciting incriminating information." Hmmm....
 
AldousO said:
I was reading the recent George Monbiot Guardian article on "Loose Change" on AlterNet a couple days ago. One of the commenters included a link to the Wiki entry for William Rodriguez, WTC janitor/rescue hero turned 9/11 CT'er/truth activist. I can't include a link because I'm new but if you go to his Wiki biography you'll find it begins with this very curious bit of info:

"When Rodriguez was young, the person known as a "debunker of pseudoscience", The Amazing Randi hired him as an assistant. Rodriguez used the stage name "Roudy" while exposing faith healers and psychics. Rodriguez, as Benjamin Smith explained in a New York Sun article, "proved adroit at insinuating himself into the good graces of Randi's targets and eliciting incriminating information."

Rodriguez claims that he heard an explosion coming from below the building before the first plane hit. Interestingly, in the quote Wiki uses Rodriguez refers to his old job with Randi:

"I was a magician for thirty years. . . It is very easy to do misdirection, to make you look into one place while you're doing the magic with the other hand." Inferring that in plain sight, the planes struck; out of sight, bombs exploded, "It's just a big magic trick," Rodriguez concludes. "It's an illusion."

I just did a search on JREF for any reference to Rodriguez' connections to Randi and came up empty. Did you guys know about this? And what do you think of Rodriguez and his specific claims? Have they been debunked?

If I were paranoid I might wonder if Rodriguez were still on the Randi payroll. After all, he "proved adroit at insinuating himself into the good graces of Randi's targets and eliciting incriminating information." Hmmm....
Click to expand...


Someone asked Randi about this directly, and he gave a reply. I don't recall exactly what he said, so I won't try paraphrase incase I get it wrong, but essentially, yes, Randi knew him prior to 9/11.

You should be able to find the post somewhere in the subforum.

-Gumboot
 
I just did a search on JREF for any reference to Rodriguez' connections to Randi and came up empty. Did you guys know about this?
Click to expand...

Yes, we know about Rodriquez' connection to James Randi as it has been discussed here several times in the past. It is true that Rodriquez worked with James Randi years ago. I don't know about the part where Rodriquez says he was a magician for 30 years, but it could be true - although he didn't work with James Randi for anywhere approaching 30 years from what I recall of the discussions here.

The search function here isn't the greatest but if you do a google search and add "site:randi.org" to your search, you should be able to find lots of references to those discussions.

And what do you think of Rodriguez and his specific claims? Have they been debunked?
Click to expand...

Same answer as above regarding locating the many discussions about Rodriquez and his claims regarding the events of 9/11. There are varying opinions about Rodriquez' claims about 9/11 here. Some think that he is honest but mistaken; some think that he is less than honest and mistaken; some think that he has changed his story so many times that it is difficult to believe him; but I think that most everyone agrees that his efforts on 9/11 to help others were legitimate and worthy of praise, even if his wrongful interpretation of events after the fact are fallacious.
 
Last edited:
AldousO said:
I just did a search on JREF for any reference to Rodriguez' connections to Randi and came up empty. Did you guys know about this? And what do you think of Rodriguez and his specific claims? Have they been debunked?
Click to expand...

The regular forum search function is terrible.

Use the advanced Google search option to get these results.

The third entry talks about the connection.
 
Randi on Rodriguezpost.

Yes, I knew Willy Rodriguez well for many years. He worked many shows with me, but there was never an employer/employee relationship. We have visited often since, and we met recently in NYC. He has now joined the WTC conspiracy crowd, and we disagree on his observations and his conclusions on that matter. I value Willy as a good friend.
Click to expand...
 
gumboot said:
Someone asked Randi about this directly, and he gave a reply. I don't recall exactly what he said, so I won't try paraphrase incase I get it wrong, but essentially, yes, Randi knew him prior to 9/11.

You should be able to find the post somewhere in the subforum.

-Gumboot
Click to expand...

Here's what he said:

Randi said:
Yes, I knew Willy Rodriguez well for many years. He worked many shows with me, but there was never an employer/employee relationship. We have visited often since, and we met recently in NYC. He has now joined the WTC conspiracy crowd, and we disagree on his observations and his conclusions on that matter. I value Willy as a good friend.
Click to expand...

from this thread: http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69904

AldousO,

Randi doesn't make many statements about 9/11 Conspiracy Theories, and reserves his debunking efforts for the pseudoscience and the likes of Sylvia Browne. The people who post on this forum do not represent the JREF, much less Randi himself.

Here are some threads about William Rodriguez, in general:

http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74305
http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70963
 
Randi doesn't believe in the conspriacy theory. Among other things, he believes that it would be too big to cover up.
 
Of course Randi did it...

He made the Twoofers' intelligence, common sense, good taste, and ethics disappear. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom