False Beliefs Threaten Cancer Patients - Survey
By Maggie Fox
Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=3566218
(see also <http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/139/7/558>)
"Nearly 40 percent of lung disease patients believe that surgery can spread cancer by exposing the tumors to the air -- a false idea that could cost them their lives, U.S. researchers said on Monday."
The Murdered Atheist, Her Rotten Husband, and the FBI
By Stephen Bates
Slate
http://slate.msn.com/id/2089227/
""I'm an atheist," Madalyn Murray told Playboy in 1965, "but I'm also an anarchist, and a feminist, and an integrationist, and an internationalist—and all the other 'ists' that people seem to find so horrible these days." No wonder J. Edgar Hoover's FBI had her on the Security Index, its list of potentially dangerous citizens. But did the FBI go so far as to pay an informant to woo and wed her? That's what Texas-based journalist Ted Dracos claims in UnGodly: The Passions, Torments, and Murder of Atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair, just published by Free Press."
Italian mountaineer challenges Japanese yeti claim
Agence France-Presse
<http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...007/od_afp/japan_nepal_himalayas_031007184640>
"An Italian mountaineer has challenged a Japanese alpinist who claims he was the first person to reveal that the infamous Himalayan Abominable Snowman is in fact a brown bear."
Siberia find revives yeti legends
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3175926.stm
"Siberian scientists say they have a discovery on their hands which raises the possibility that the local legend of the yeti - the abominable snowman - is more than mere fiction."
Bottled water 'may cause illness'
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/3160644.stm
"Bottled water could be to blame for thousands of cases of food poisoning."
Roulette gun stunt 'a hoax'
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3169388.stm
"Jersey police have said the live Russian roulette TV stunt which was broadcast on Channel 4 on Sunday night was a hoax."
"Russian roulette" man thrilled to be called fake
By Peter Graff
Reuters
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=385227§ion=news
"If somebody called you a hoaxer and a fake, you might be a bit upset. If it were printed in all the newspapers in the land, you might be mortified."
Is there any evidence mind-reading works?
By Matthew Davis
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3169044.stm
"Illusionist Derren Brown survived a televised game of Russian Roulette, avoiding a bullet after claiming to have read the thoughts of the person who loaded the gun. There are now claims the whole thing was a hoax... but is there any scientific basis for mind-reading?"
Area has its share of unexplained happenings
By CINDY F. CRAWFORD
Daytona Beach News-Journal
http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Neighbors/DailyJournal/03AreaDJ04100503.htm
"On the Rosenkes' first night in their new house off Faulkner Street, a little boy came over to play."
PROOF OF UFO SIGHTING CAUGHT ON CAMERA
by ROB BURMAN
Grimsby Telegraph
http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/disp...layContent&sourceNode=58907&contentPK=7303755
"Could little green men soon be arriving down Grimsby's Freeman Street?"
Could the NE horseshoe champ be bigfoot? He says no way
By NOAH HOFFENBERG
Bennington Banner
http://www.benningtonbanner.com/Stories/0,1413,104~8678~1681815,00.html
"Well, there's been Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, Larry Talbot and the Wolfman, Bruce Banner and the incredible Hulk ... but what about 2003 New England Horseshoe Champion Gale Greene and Bigfoot?"
Technology, madness and hope
By JACK KAPICA
Toronto Globe and Mail
http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20031007.gtkapicoct7/BNStory/Technology/
"John Robert Colombo, one of our most valued writers and a prodigious collector of fascinating information, once boasted to me that his 1989 book Mysterious Canada contained the only picture in existence of an unidentified flying object that was in focus."
Psychic back in news with tie to Schwarzenegger election flap
by ADAM SMELTZ
Centre Daily Times
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/6952195.htm
"SHE MADE HEADLINES as a Clinton County native and California psychic tracking the case of missing Penn State student Cindy Song."
Bigfoot talk puts town in global spotlight
By Jeff LeMaster
Benton County Daily Record
http://nwanews.com/dailyrecord/story_News.php?storyid=15996
"Decatur has drawn international media attention in the last week because of alleged Bigfoot sightings."
Going on a ghost hunt
By Carol Tannehill
Fort Wayne News-Sentinel
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/6963114.htm
"I wasn't afraid of the ghosts. The Allen County police officers, however, made me a little nervous."
Suspect admits killing man to see ghost
Yomiuri Shimbun
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20031008wo25.htm
"A 54-year-old man who confessed to the 1980 murder of a man police previously thought had committed suicide said he killed his victim to find out whether the dead man's spirit would haunt him, according to Nagano prefectural police sources."
Opera House ghost
by KENNETH FRY
Crawford County Press Argus-Courier
http://www.pressargus.com/archive/2003/October/08/operaghost.html
"Today is the 100th anniversary of the shooting of the young actor who legend believes is the ghost of the King Opera House."
Timing still a mystery for scientists
by Ranjana Wangvipula
Bangkok Post
http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/09Oct2003_news16.html
"Science Minister Pinit Charusombat will lead a ``propitiation'' ceremony tomorrow to pay respect to King Naga, even as research says mythology is unlikely to play a part in the annual fireball display."
Spooked by ghostly goings-on
by Joanna Desira
Teesside Evening Gazette
<http://icteesside.icnetwork.co.uk/0...=-Spooked-by-ghostly-goings-on-name_page.html>
"Spooky snaps are causing a stir across the Tees Valley."
The great crop circle mystery of Blue Grass
By Barb Ickes
Quad-City Times
http://www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1018826&l=1&t=Hometown+News&c=73,1018826
"Jim Hodges remembers the Saturday morning phone call he got 12 years ago as if he got it last weekend."
Myth Match-Scientists weigh in on supernatural theories
By Kyle Oliver
Wisconsin Engineer
http://www.cae.wisc.edu/~wiscengr/Apr03/myth.shtml
"After an encounter with a female bar patron in the opening scenes of The Muppet Movie, Kermit the Frog is confronted by her overprotective boyfriend. "Uch! Go wash," the man scolds her. "You'll get warts.""
Parents upset over occult items in PAWS
By Chuck Allen
Othello Outlook
http://othellooutlook.com/cgi-bin/outlook/get_story.cgi?story=Story_2&dir=10022003
"An addition to the Othello High School’s PAWS (Pathways for All to Work Success) curriculum is causing concern for some parents."
Cash-curse thefts result in arrest of area psychic
by Mike Peters
Greeley Tribune
http://www.greeleytrib.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031007/NEWS/31007003
"A self-professed psychic and Tarot card reader who used the names Victoria and Patricia — but whose real name is Sonia — is accused by Greeley and Longmont police of stealing money and jewelry from victims who believed their money was cursed."
Tarot card reader accused of stealing from clients
By Zachery Kouwe
Denver Post
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~1683678,00.html
"A tarot card reader swindled money and jewelry from at least two victims after telling them she was cleansing the cash and jewels of evil spirits, police said."
Longmont 'psychic' arrested in fraud cases
By Tillie Fong
Rocky Mountain News
http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_2330294,00.html
"Sonia Lorraine Adams should have seen it coming."
For These Believers, the Visions Endure
By COREY KILGANNON
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/09/nyregion/09VIRG.html
"One recent Saturday evening, several hundred Roman Catholics wearing white gloves and clutching rosary beads gathered in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens for a candlelight vigil."
Anyone up for a challenge?
Bad Science
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/badscience/story/0,12980,1058569,00.html
Politics Over Principle
BY RICK BARRS
Phoenix New Times
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/issues/2003-10-09/barrs.html/1/index.html
"Imagine my shock the other Sunday when I picked up the Arizona Republic and there it was on the front page (above the fold, even): "Polygamist sect target of Arizona-Utah inquiry.""
Controversy swirls around climate study
by JAY INGRAM
Toronto Star
<http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...le&cid=1065264690573&call_pageid=968332188774>
"This past summer a Harvard climate study made headlines by claiming that we are not living in the warmest period in recorded history. The paper argued that temperatures were higher in medieval times than they are now, and so claims of recent extremes in global warming were exaggerated. The study has made headlines, but the fallout from it has not, and that fallout is much more interesting."
Doctor struck off, ordered to pay $104,000 in costs
By ELIZABETH BINNING
New Zealand Herald
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3528075&thesection=news&thesubsection=general
"Disgraced Hamilton doctor Richard Gorringe has been struck off the Medical Practitioners Register and ordered to pay more than $100,000 in costs."
Marathon man's Ness triumph
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3176730.stm
"A man raising money for charity by carrying out an underwater marathon in an old-fashioned diving suit has emerged from the depths of Loch Ness, after completing his challenge."
P&G, AMWAY REPRIMANDED IN SATAN WORSHIP LAWSUIT RULING
By Jack Neff
AdAge.com
http://www.adage.com/news.cms?newsId=38922
"A federal court yesterday pleaded for Procter & Gamble Co. and Amway Corp. to stop suing each other as it rejected Amway's appeal, the latest development in seven years of litigation between the two over unfounded rumors linking P&G to Satan worship."
Woman Convicted Of Stealing Teacher's Identity
WEWS
http://www.newsnet5.com/news/2544499/detail.html
"A woman has been convicted of stealing the identity of a friend who died more than four decades ago, reported NewsChannel5's Joe Pagonakis."
Cleveland Teacher Not Who She Claimed To Be
Associated Press
http://www.newsnet5.com/news/2542288/detail.html
"Over the past 10 years, Charmaine Woods achieved the impossible."
Reiki—an alternative method of healing the body, mind and spirit
By Joyce Moran
Morrison County Record
http://www.mcrecord.com/MCRECORD/myarticles.asp?P=832534&S=90&PubID=11394
"Hands are often used to heal. When one has a toothache, he/she holds the hurting jaw with his/her hand. When one gets a headache, that individual will often hold his hand to his head. When someone bumps himself, he covers the area with his hand."
Halifax to host UFO symposium
By JENNIFER ROBINSON
Canadian Press
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20031009.wufoo1009/BNStory/Front/
"Pop culture and crackpots have hijacked the scientific study of UFOs, turning it into a running joke, says UFO researcher Chris Styles."
Was Mother Teresa 'miracle' a hoax?
South African Press Association
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=126&art_id=ct20031004102634880I535486&set_id=1
"Indian rationalists have sparked off a fresh controversy over Mother Teresa of Calcutta's miracle, which qualifies her for beatification later this month."
Gas station needles just a hoax
Alliston Herald
http://www.simcoe.com/sc/alliston/story/1406884p-1656857c.html
"A prickly hoax making the rounds in cyberspace has the OPP trying take the gas out of it. According to the e-mail, the OPP are investigating cases of syringes being affixed to gas pumps in order to stick unsuspecting motorists. The OPP categorically deny that is the case."
Lawyers for Smart case defendant Barzee buy more time
By Stephen Hunt
Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Oct/10082003/utah/99860.asp
"The case against alleged Elizabeth Smart kidnappers Wanda Barzee and Brian David Mitchell is on hold for at least another two months because evaluators need more time to prepare mental competency reports."
Psychic offers Dorothy Sherrill help
Lebanon Reporter
http://www.reporter.net/cgi-bin/LiveIQue.acgi$rec=14039?lr_story
"Dorothy Sherrill won't talk about what a nationally-known psychic told her about her missing daughter, Shannon. Instead she's waiting to see if any of the information pans out."
Alleged Satanist Gets Life for Slaying
Associated Press
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031008/NEWS/310080363/1004
"An alleged devil worshipper was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday for killing a college student in his apartment and then setting her body on fire."
Psychic's body of evidence pinpoints bush
By BRAD CLIFTON
Daily Telegraph [Australia]
http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1260&storyid=312709
"MORE than 20 years after she disappeared from her Sydney home, suspected murder victim Lynette Dawson made contact with her family yesterday _ and her message was startling."
Nuwaubian Sect Linked to Fake Checks
WXIA
http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=37408
"Three men tied to a controversial Nuwaubian Nation religious sect are being charged with using fake certified checks to purchase two homes in Stone Mountain, Ga."
Nuwaubian Members Jailed in Homebuying Plot
WSB-TV
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/2527421/detail.html
"DeKalb County police said Thursday that three men, who are alleged members of a religious sect, have been taken into custody and more arrests are likely in connection with a plan to use fraudulent court documents to purchase luxury Stone Mountain homes."
Three accused of scheme to establish Nuwaubian base
Associated Press
http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/ap_newfullstory.asp?ID=21143
"Three men have been accused of using a DeKalb County real estate scheme to re-establish a base for the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors sect in middle Georgia."
The world of Rael
Sun Media
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2003/10/07/219124.html
"A group headed by manipulators thirsting for media attention. A guru who is on the verge of losing his grip. Followers who are ready to give up their lives. If you think the Raelians are inoffensive clowns, you'd better think again."
The world according Rael
by BRIGITTE MCCANN
Sun Media
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2003/10/07/219134.html
"Constantly surrounded by bodyguards, Claude Vorilhon is convinced he's the target of numerous assassination plots."
The world according Rael
by BRIGITTE MCCANN
Sun Media
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2003/10/07/219138.html
"Confidence no longer reigns at the Maricourt camp. Without any notice, the movement puts us to the test. Walkie-talkies in hand, those responsible for security at the entrance to the auditorium examine each of the participants who have stayed for the second week of the annual boot camp in Maricourt."
Rael laughs when he suggests cloning story a publicity stunt
by BRIGITTE MCCANN
Sun Media
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2003/10/08/219916.html
"Almost a year since the stunning announcement they had engineered the birth of the world's first cloned humans, Rael and Clonaid president Dr. Brigitte Boisselier have yet to prove the existence of these babies, even to their own members. In fact, Raelians have made fun of the media that gave such extensive coverage to their cloning story."
Sect's promise of limbs irks victim's supporters
by BRIGITTE MCCANN AND MATHIEU TURBIDE
Sun Media
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2003/10/08/219930.html
"Clonaid president Dr. Brigitte Boisselier plans to use her so-called human cloning technique to "generate new arms" for Ali Abbas, a young Iraqi orphan mutilated by a bomb in Iraq. This announcement, in a news release issued by the Raelians Sept. 11, shocked and troubled representatives of Ali Abbas."
Secret hunt for a miracle
by BRIGITTE MCCANN
Sun Media
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2003/10/08/219931.html
"Rael wants my eggs. He needs them to produce his own "Jesus miracle" by healing sick Raelians with the help of stem cells. "The place is upside down," apologizes Brigitte Boisselier as she leads me into her condo at the UFOland complex in Maricourt in July. Among the six Raelians present, four are among Rael's famous angels."
Sensual meditation
by BRIGITTE MCCANN
Sun Media
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2003/10/09/221095.html
"Just like their prophet, the Raelians like sex. A lot. But that's not the only thing that keeps them in the cult."
Nude converts told to love their bodies.
by BRIGITTE MCCANN
Sun Media
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2003/10/09/221096.html
""Get undressed." What? Fellow reporter Chantal Poirier and I can't believe our ears. But the 60 or so Raelians around us obey the seminar leader."
Raelians had chortle over cloning
by BRENDA BRANSWELL
Montreal Gazette
http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/story.asp?id=2B63541F-0154-4454-94D4-CEA6037F954C
"When Clonaid, a fringe scientific group, claimed it produced the world's first cloned baby, international news media jumped all over the story."
Several media, including the 'Journal de Montreal',
have recently published defamatory and insulting articles
against members of the Raelian Movement
Press Release
http://www.newswire.ca/releases/October2003/09/c9598.html
"Here in is a response to the most relevant points to the false and deliberately deceptive attacks raised in this article:"
Scientists seek to ban human cloning
Reuters
http://www.msnbc.com/news/977610.asp
"A group of scientists, doctors and legal experts asked the United Nations Wednesday to seek an advisory opinion from the World Court declaring human cloning to be a “crime against humanity.”"
School District Sued over WLAN Planning
Wi-Fi Networking News
http://wifinetnews.com/archives/002303.html
"A school district is sued in Illinois over planning a WLAN without addressing a group of parents' concerns over electromagnetic radiation's effects:"
Brothel law does not exist, but zoning regulations apply
By Brittany Winkowski
Penn State Collegian
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2003/10/10-07-03tdc/10-07-03dnews-01.asp
"The rumor can now come to an end. The Pennsylvania "brothel" law does not exist."
Tomb guards' hurricane hoopla overblown
by Spc. Chuck Wagner
The Pentagram
http://www.dcmilitary.com/army/pentagram/8_38/local_news/25468-1.html
"Soldiers guarding the Tomb of the Unknowns made waves in national news last week for standing vigil as Hurricane Isabel blew through Arling-ton National Cemetery."
Survey shows Fox led in misleading public
by Kay McFadden
Seattle Times
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/kaymcfadden/2001757992_kay06.html
"Fox News Channel, like the White House, got a ratings boost from the aftermath of 9-11. The tactics were remarkably similar."
Man in snakebite incident has attorney
By Steve Nash
Brownwood Bulletin
http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2003/10/08/news/news01.txt
"Brown County Attorney Shane Britton said he has been in contact with an attorney who will represent Douglas Hatchett if Hatchett's disputed claim of a rattlesnake bite in the Wal-Mart store leads to a criminal charge."
Cops probe 'snuff' killing
By Gill Gifford
The Star [South Africa]
http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=255619
"A pretty Randburg teenager, who was viciously assaulted, raped and murdered, could have featured in South Africa's first known "snuff" movie."
Photo: Bolivia's Golden Streets
by Dado Galdieri
Associated Press
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/031008/481/lpz10510080015
"Juan Luis Condori, right, pushes his brother David on a wheel barrel as they help their relatives to look for gold nuggets in the middle of an Avenue in the city of El Alto, neighboring suburb of La Paz on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2003."
Island's nightmare fears for missing boys
by Richard Luscombe
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1059807,00.html
"At Winn Dixie's supermarket, the five boys were among the regulars who helped customers pack their bags with groceries, a courtesy which earned them a little pocket money."
Many thanks for Wednesday's donation to the Skeptic NewsSearch. I appreciate your support.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/skepticsearch/
-------
If you'd like to support the Skeptic NewsSearch, please consider making a small donation via PayPal - <https://www.paypal.com/xclick/busin..._shipping=1&no_note=1&tax=0¤cy_code=USD> or the Amazon Honor System - <http://www.amazon.com/paypage/P1H8VARI20KBKA>
By Maggie Fox
Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=3566218
(see also <http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/139/7/558>)
"Nearly 40 percent of lung disease patients believe that surgery can spread cancer by exposing the tumors to the air -- a false idea that could cost them their lives, U.S. researchers said on Monday."
The Murdered Atheist, Her Rotten Husband, and the FBI
By Stephen Bates
Slate
http://slate.msn.com/id/2089227/
""I'm an atheist," Madalyn Murray told Playboy in 1965, "but I'm also an anarchist, and a feminist, and an integrationist, and an internationalist—and all the other 'ists' that people seem to find so horrible these days." No wonder J. Edgar Hoover's FBI had her on the Security Index, its list of potentially dangerous citizens. But did the FBI go so far as to pay an informant to woo and wed her? That's what Texas-based journalist Ted Dracos claims in UnGodly: The Passions, Torments, and Murder of Atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair, just published by Free Press."
Italian mountaineer challenges Japanese yeti claim
Agence France-Presse
<http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...007/od_afp/japan_nepal_himalayas_031007184640>
"An Italian mountaineer has challenged a Japanese alpinist who claims he was the first person to reveal that the infamous Himalayan Abominable Snowman is in fact a brown bear."
Siberia find revives yeti legends
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3175926.stm
"Siberian scientists say they have a discovery on their hands which raises the possibility that the local legend of the yeti - the abominable snowman - is more than mere fiction."
Bottled water 'may cause illness'
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/3160644.stm
"Bottled water could be to blame for thousands of cases of food poisoning."
Roulette gun stunt 'a hoax'
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3169388.stm
"Jersey police have said the live Russian roulette TV stunt which was broadcast on Channel 4 on Sunday night was a hoax."
"Russian roulette" man thrilled to be called fake
By Peter Graff
Reuters
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=385227§ion=news
"If somebody called you a hoaxer and a fake, you might be a bit upset. If it were printed in all the newspapers in the land, you might be mortified."
Is there any evidence mind-reading works?
By Matthew Davis
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3169044.stm
"Illusionist Derren Brown survived a televised game of Russian Roulette, avoiding a bullet after claiming to have read the thoughts of the person who loaded the gun. There are now claims the whole thing was a hoax... but is there any scientific basis for mind-reading?"
Area has its share of unexplained happenings
By CINDY F. CRAWFORD
Daytona Beach News-Journal
http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Neighbors/DailyJournal/03AreaDJ04100503.htm
"On the Rosenkes' first night in their new house off Faulkner Street, a little boy came over to play."
PROOF OF UFO SIGHTING CAUGHT ON CAMERA
by ROB BURMAN
Grimsby Telegraph
http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/disp...layContent&sourceNode=58907&contentPK=7303755
"Could little green men soon be arriving down Grimsby's Freeman Street?"
Could the NE horseshoe champ be bigfoot? He says no way
By NOAH HOFFENBERG
Bennington Banner
http://www.benningtonbanner.com/Stories/0,1413,104~8678~1681815,00.html
"Well, there's been Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, Larry Talbot and the Wolfman, Bruce Banner and the incredible Hulk ... but what about 2003 New England Horseshoe Champion Gale Greene and Bigfoot?"
Technology, madness and hope
By JACK KAPICA
Toronto Globe and Mail
http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20031007.gtkapicoct7/BNStory/Technology/
"John Robert Colombo, one of our most valued writers and a prodigious collector of fascinating information, once boasted to me that his 1989 book Mysterious Canada contained the only picture in existence of an unidentified flying object that was in focus."
Psychic back in news with tie to Schwarzenegger election flap
by ADAM SMELTZ
Centre Daily Times
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/6952195.htm
"SHE MADE HEADLINES as a Clinton County native and California psychic tracking the case of missing Penn State student Cindy Song."
Bigfoot talk puts town in global spotlight
By Jeff LeMaster
Benton County Daily Record
http://nwanews.com/dailyrecord/story_News.php?storyid=15996
"Decatur has drawn international media attention in the last week because of alleged Bigfoot sightings."
Going on a ghost hunt
By Carol Tannehill
Fort Wayne News-Sentinel
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/6963114.htm
"I wasn't afraid of the ghosts. The Allen County police officers, however, made me a little nervous."
Suspect admits killing man to see ghost
Yomiuri Shimbun
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20031008wo25.htm
"A 54-year-old man who confessed to the 1980 murder of a man police previously thought had committed suicide said he killed his victim to find out whether the dead man's spirit would haunt him, according to Nagano prefectural police sources."
Opera House ghost
by KENNETH FRY
Crawford County Press Argus-Courier
http://www.pressargus.com/archive/2003/October/08/operaghost.html
"Today is the 100th anniversary of the shooting of the young actor who legend believes is the ghost of the King Opera House."
Timing still a mystery for scientists
by Ranjana Wangvipula
Bangkok Post
http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/09Oct2003_news16.html
"Science Minister Pinit Charusombat will lead a ``propitiation'' ceremony tomorrow to pay respect to King Naga, even as research says mythology is unlikely to play a part in the annual fireball display."
Spooked by ghostly goings-on
by Joanna Desira
Teesside Evening Gazette
<http://icteesside.icnetwork.co.uk/0...=-Spooked-by-ghostly-goings-on-name_page.html>
"Spooky snaps are causing a stir across the Tees Valley."
The great crop circle mystery of Blue Grass
By Barb Ickes
Quad-City Times
http://www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1018826&l=1&t=Hometown+News&c=73,1018826
"Jim Hodges remembers the Saturday morning phone call he got 12 years ago as if he got it last weekend."
Myth Match-Scientists weigh in on supernatural theories
By Kyle Oliver
Wisconsin Engineer
http://www.cae.wisc.edu/~wiscengr/Apr03/myth.shtml
"After an encounter with a female bar patron in the opening scenes of The Muppet Movie, Kermit the Frog is confronted by her overprotective boyfriend. "Uch! Go wash," the man scolds her. "You'll get warts.""
Parents upset over occult items in PAWS
By Chuck Allen
Othello Outlook
http://othellooutlook.com/cgi-bin/outlook/get_story.cgi?story=Story_2&dir=10022003
"An addition to the Othello High School’s PAWS (Pathways for All to Work Success) curriculum is causing concern for some parents."
Cash-curse thefts result in arrest of area psychic
by Mike Peters
Greeley Tribune
http://www.greeleytrib.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031007/NEWS/31007003
"A self-professed psychic and Tarot card reader who used the names Victoria and Patricia — but whose real name is Sonia — is accused by Greeley and Longmont police of stealing money and jewelry from victims who believed their money was cursed."
Tarot card reader accused of stealing from clients
By Zachery Kouwe
Denver Post
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~53~1683678,00.html
"A tarot card reader swindled money and jewelry from at least two victims after telling them she was cleansing the cash and jewels of evil spirits, police said."
Longmont 'psychic' arrested in fraud cases
By Tillie Fong
Rocky Mountain News
http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_2330294,00.html
"Sonia Lorraine Adams should have seen it coming."
For These Believers, the Visions Endure
By COREY KILGANNON
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/09/nyregion/09VIRG.html
"One recent Saturday evening, several hundred Roman Catholics wearing white gloves and clutching rosary beads gathered in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens for a candlelight vigil."
Anyone up for a challenge?
Bad Science
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/badscience/story/0,12980,1058569,00.html
Politics Over Principle
BY RICK BARRS
Phoenix New Times
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/issues/2003-10-09/barrs.html/1/index.html
"Imagine my shock the other Sunday when I picked up the Arizona Republic and there it was on the front page (above the fold, even): "Polygamist sect target of Arizona-Utah inquiry.""
Controversy swirls around climate study
by JAY INGRAM
Toronto Star
<http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...le&cid=1065264690573&call_pageid=968332188774>
"This past summer a Harvard climate study made headlines by claiming that we are not living in the warmest period in recorded history. The paper argued that temperatures were higher in medieval times than they are now, and so claims of recent extremes in global warming were exaggerated. The study has made headlines, but the fallout from it has not, and that fallout is much more interesting."
Doctor struck off, ordered to pay $104,000 in costs
By ELIZABETH BINNING
New Zealand Herald
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3528075&thesection=news&thesubsection=general
"Disgraced Hamilton doctor Richard Gorringe has been struck off the Medical Practitioners Register and ordered to pay more than $100,000 in costs."
Marathon man's Ness triumph
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3176730.stm
"A man raising money for charity by carrying out an underwater marathon in an old-fashioned diving suit has emerged from the depths of Loch Ness, after completing his challenge."
P&G, AMWAY REPRIMANDED IN SATAN WORSHIP LAWSUIT RULING
By Jack Neff
AdAge.com
http://www.adage.com/news.cms?newsId=38922
"A federal court yesterday pleaded for Procter & Gamble Co. and Amway Corp. to stop suing each other as it rejected Amway's appeal, the latest development in seven years of litigation between the two over unfounded rumors linking P&G to Satan worship."
Woman Convicted Of Stealing Teacher's Identity
WEWS
http://www.newsnet5.com/news/2544499/detail.html
"A woman has been convicted of stealing the identity of a friend who died more than four decades ago, reported NewsChannel5's Joe Pagonakis."
Cleveland Teacher Not Who She Claimed To Be
Associated Press
http://www.newsnet5.com/news/2542288/detail.html
"Over the past 10 years, Charmaine Woods achieved the impossible."
Reiki—an alternative method of healing the body, mind and spirit
By Joyce Moran
Morrison County Record
http://www.mcrecord.com/MCRECORD/myarticles.asp?P=832534&S=90&PubID=11394
"Hands are often used to heal. When one has a toothache, he/she holds the hurting jaw with his/her hand. When one gets a headache, that individual will often hold his hand to his head. When someone bumps himself, he covers the area with his hand."
Halifax to host UFO symposium
By JENNIFER ROBINSON
Canadian Press
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20031009.wufoo1009/BNStory/Front/
"Pop culture and crackpots have hijacked the scientific study of UFOs, turning it into a running joke, says UFO researcher Chris Styles."
Was Mother Teresa 'miracle' a hoax?
South African Press Association
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=126&art_id=ct20031004102634880I535486&set_id=1
"Indian rationalists have sparked off a fresh controversy over Mother Teresa of Calcutta's miracle, which qualifies her for beatification later this month."
Gas station needles just a hoax
Alliston Herald
http://www.simcoe.com/sc/alliston/story/1406884p-1656857c.html
"A prickly hoax making the rounds in cyberspace has the OPP trying take the gas out of it. According to the e-mail, the OPP are investigating cases of syringes being affixed to gas pumps in order to stick unsuspecting motorists. The OPP categorically deny that is the case."
Lawyers for Smart case defendant Barzee buy more time
By Stephen Hunt
Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Oct/10082003/utah/99860.asp
"The case against alleged Elizabeth Smart kidnappers Wanda Barzee and Brian David Mitchell is on hold for at least another two months because evaluators need more time to prepare mental competency reports."
Psychic offers Dorothy Sherrill help
Lebanon Reporter
http://www.reporter.net/cgi-bin/LiveIQue.acgi$rec=14039?lr_story
"Dorothy Sherrill won't talk about what a nationally-known psychic told her about her missing daughter, Shannon. Instead she's waiting to see if any of the information pans out."
Alleged Satanist Gets Life for Slaying
Associated Press
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20031008/NEWS/310080363/1004
"An alleged devil worshipper was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday for killing a college student in his apartment and then setting her body on fire."
Psychic's body of evidence pinpoints bush
By BRAD CLIFTON
Daily Telegraph [Australia]
http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1260&storyid=312709
"MORE than 20 years after she disappeared from her Sydney home, suspected murder victim Lynette Dawson made contact with her family yesterday _ and her message was startling."
Nuwaubian Sect Linked to Fake Checks
WXIA
http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=37408
"Three men tied to a controversial Nuwaubian Nation religious sect are being charged with using fake certified checks to purchase two homes in Stone Mountain, Ga."
Nuwaubian Members Jailed in Homebuying Plot
WSB-TV
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/2527421/detail.html
"DeKalb County police said Thursday that three men, who are alleged members of a religious sect, have been taken into custody and more arrests are likely in connection with a plan to use fraudulent court documents to purchase luxury Stone Mountain homes."
Three accused of scheme to establish Nuwaubian base
Associated Press
http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/ap_newfullstory.asp?ID=21143
"Three men have been accused of using a DeKalb County real estate scheme to re-establish a base for the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors sect in middle Georgia."
The world of Rael
Sun Media
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2003/10/07/219124.html
"A group headed by manipulators thirsting for media attention. A guru who is on the verge of losing his grip. Followers who are ready to give up their lives. If you think the Raelians are inoffensive clowns, you'd better think again."
The world according Rael
by BRIGITTE MCCANN
Sun Media
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2003/10/07/219134.html
"Constantly surrounded by bodyguards, Claude Vorilhon is convinced he's the target of numerous assassination plots."
The world according Rael
by BRIGITTE MCCANN
Sun Media
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2003/10/07/219138.html
"Confidence no longer reigns at the Maricourt camp. Without any notice, the movement puts us to the test. Walkie-talkies in hand, those responsible for security at the entrance to the auditorium examine each of the participants who have stayed for the second week of the annual boot camp in Maricourt."
Rael laughs when he suggests cloning story a publicity stunt
by BRIGITTE MCCANN
Sun Media
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2003/10/08/219916.html
"Almost a year since the stunning announcement they had engineered the birth of the world's first cloned humans, Rael and Clonaid president Dr. Brigitte Boisselier have yet to prove the existence of these babies, even to their own members. In fact, Raelians have made fun of the media that gave such extensive coverage to their cloning story."
Sect's promise of limbs irks victim's supporters
by BRIGITTE MCCANN AND MATHIEU TURBIDE
Sun Media
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2003/10/08/219930.html
"Clonaid president Dr. Brigitte Boisselier plans to use her so-called human cloning technique to "generate new arms" for Ali Abbas, a young Iraqi orphan mutilated by a bomb in Iraq. This announcement, in a news release issued by the Raelians Sept. 11, shocked and troubled representatives of Ali Abbas."
Secret hunt for a miracle
by BRIGITTE MCCANN
Sun Media
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2003/10/08/219931.html
"Rael wants my eggs. He needs them to produce his own "Jesus miracle" by healing sick Raelians with the help of stem cells. "The place is upside down," apologizes Brigitte Boisselier as she leads me into her condo at the UFOland complex in Maricourt in July. Among the six Raelians present, four are among Rael's famous angels."
Sensual meditation
by BRIGITTE MCCANN
Sun Media
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2003/10/09/221095.html
"Just like their prophet, the Raelians like sex. A lot. But that's not the only thing that keeps them in the cult."
Nude converts told to love their bodies.
by BRIGITTE MCCANN
Sun Media
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2003/10/09/221096.html
""Get undressed." What? Fellow reporter Chantal Poirier and I can't believe our ears. But the 60 or so Raelians around us obey the seminar leader."
Raelians had chortle over cloning
by BRENDA BRANSWELL
Montreal Gazette
http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/story.asp?id=2B63541F-0154-4454-94D4-CEA6037F954C
"When Clonaid, a fringe scientific group, claimed it produced the world's first cloned baby, international news media jumped all over the story."
Several media, including the 'Journal de Montreal',
have recently published defamatory and insulting articles
against members of the Raelian Movement
Press Release
http://www.newswire.ca/releases/October2003/09/c9598.html
"Here in is a response to the most relevant points to the false and deliberately deceptive attacks raised in this article:"
Scientists seek to ban human cloning
Reuters
http://www.msnbc.com/news/977610.asp
"A group of scientists, doctors and legal experts asked the United Nations Wednesday to seek an advisory opinion from the World Court declaring human cloning to be a “crime against humanity.”"
School District Sued over WLAN Planning
Wi-Fi Networking News
http://wifinetnews.com/archives/002303.html
"A school district is sued in Illinois over planning a WLAN without addressing a group of parents' concerns over electromagnetic radiation's effects:"
Brothel law does not exist, but zoning regulations apply
By Brittany Winkowski
Penn State Collegian
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2003/10/10-07-03tdc/10-07-03dnews-01.asp
"The rumor can now come to an end. The Pennsylvania "brothel" law does not exist."
Tomb guards' hurricane hoopla overblown
by Spc. Chuck Wagner
The Pentagram
http://www.dcmilitary.com/army/pentagram/8_38/local_news/25468-1.html
"Soldiers guarding the Tomb of the Unknowns made waves in national news last week for standing vigil as Hurricane Isabel blew through Arling-ton National Cemetery."
Survey shows Fox led in misleading public
by Kay McFadden
Seattle Times
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/kaymcfadden/2001757992_kay06.html
"Fox News Channel, like the White House, got a ratings boost from the aftermath of 9-11. The tactics were remarkably similar."
Man in snakebite incident has attorney
By Steve Nash
Brownwood Bulletin
http://www.brownwoodbulletin.com/articles/2003/10/08/news/news01.txt
"Brown County Attorney Shane Britton said he has been in contact with an attorney who will represent Douglas Hatchett if Hatchett's disputed claim of a rattlesnake bite in the Wal-Mart store leads to a criminal charge."
Cops probe 'snuff' killing
By Gill Gifford
The Star [South Africa]
http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=255619
"A pretty Randburg teenager, who was viciously assaulted, raped and murdered, could have featured in South Africa's first known "snuff" movie."
Photo: Bolivia's Golden Streets
by Dado Galdieri
Associated Press
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/031008/481/lpz10510080015
"Juan Luis Condori, right, pushes his brother David on a wheel barrel as they help their relatives to look for gold nuggets in the middle of an Avenue in the city of El Alto, neighboring suburb of La Paz on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2003."
Island's nightmare fears for missing boys
by Richard Luscombe
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1059807,00.html
"At Winn Dixie's supermarket, the five boys were among the regulars who helped customers pack their bags with groceries, a courtesy which earned them a little pocket money."
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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/skepticsearch/
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