Hufffington Post, January 12, 2012 An Open Letter to Dr. Phil: Get Real (from JREF President D.J. Grothe) “As a T.V. psychologist, your oft-repeated advice to viewers is "get real." But the content of your Jan. 10 show was anything but. Instead of taking your own advice, you gave an uncritical platform to phony 'psychics' who abuse people's emotions in order to fool them.”
The New Statesman, January 12, 2012 Could pseudo-science fund cancer research? “The geeks are on the march with increasingly vocal and co-ordinated calls for an end to crystal healing and the rest.... admirably spearheaded by the likes of Ben Goldacre, Simon Singh and Robin Ince over here, Penn & Teller and James Randi in the US....”
January 21st 2012 is the date for a summer SkeptiCamp in Victoria. It is being run by the Great Ocean Road Skeptics, at the Aireys Inlet Community Centre from 10:30am to 6pm. Registration is free, as per usual for SkeptiCamps, and also includes a BBQ lunch, free coffee all day and a paranormal wine tasting to wrap up the day. I talked to Mick Vagg for the Token Skeptic podcast.
As a T.V. psychologist, your oft-repeated advice to viewers is “get real.” But the content of your Jan. 10 show was anything but. Instead of taking your own advice, you gave an uncritical platform to phony ‘psychics’ who abuse people’s emotions in order to fool them.
About a decade and a half ago, I spent roughly 16 percent of my childhood in Shanghai, China, while my father worked in the leather industry. I would easily recommend that anyone go and see China; for a young foreigner like myself it was quite literally another world and very conceptually broadening. Now in my early 20’s and embarking on what I assume will be a skeptical/scientific journey that will occupy the rest of my life, I had the idea to use my frequent trips to China (to visit my father) to gain insight into what many skeptics surely think is the origin of a multitude of pseudoscientific beliefs, specifically doubtful medical beliefs.
Next week, James Randi returns to the famous Magic Castle in Hollywood. He will be continuing his conversation with magician Max Maven about his remarkable life and work, and he may even share a trick or two. Randi's last appearance at the Castle was standing room only, and this Monday evening's will surely be one of the most well-attended events in the Magic Castle's storied history. The James Randi Educational Foundation is proud to be a co-sponsor.
You can watch part one of Max and Randi's conversation below, and be sure to keep an eye on Randi.org for video of part two very soon.
