Skepticblog

Don't Let the Tarot-rists Win!

I just finished a delightful podcast with the latest dynamic duo in the podcast world: Ross Blocher and Carrie Poppy. These two IIG members have banded together to create a whimsical 45 minute show that manages to trump all the rest of the skeptical podcasts by being both highly entertaining and dedicated to avoiding all mention of the dreaded “S” word: SKEPTIC. Their byline is “We show up so you don’t have to.” Their casual approach to looking into all things wooish is working for them. Forget de-bunking. Those days are over.  Ross and Carrie want to have fun with all the wackiness we encounter in the paranormal world and like The Odds Must Be Crazy www.theoddsmustbecrazy.com website that I mentioned in my last post, using humor and good taste to coax the inquiring minds that shun the dickish approach to thinking rationally, Oh No, Ross and Carrie!” www.ohnopodcast.com treats all subjects with an open mind, paving the way for wider exposure and a surer footing in The Big Pictur (continue reading…)

Treading Another Dark Path

In an effort to get more people pointed in the direction of skeptical thinking without scaring them away by seeming too rationally challenging, The Independent Investigation Group West members have put up a new “gateway” site that’s all about those wacky weird happenstances we call coincidence. (continue reading…)

Which has the Capacity for More Evil? The Creature on the Right or Left?

Haven’t we all had enough of this by now? First we had rabbit’s feet, then Power Balance bracelets came along, now yet another scam. This one gets the media attention on the merit of a dead poodle.

What is wrong with us?

Article quoted from Nina Golgowski:

 Woman blames family’s misfortune on Princess the Poodle who was ‘possessed by the devil’

A New York woman claims her home got more than it agreed to when they brought an adopted toy poodle into their home that was demon possessed. Olga Horvat, a certified Lumia Science Color Therapist and writer of a book Paranormal Pooch writes that her pure-bred dog Princess brought with her a string of bad luck on her home and family.”We had her for four months — May through September in 2006 — and she didn’t want to eat, sleep and she couldn’t be trained to learn simple commands,’ Mrs Horvat told the Huffington Post’s Weird News.’ She was happy, but something was manipulating her,’ Mrs Horvat added. Detailing her efforts to help both her family and her small, fluffy white dog, she asserts in her book, according to the Post’s read, it was not her dog’s fault so they all needed to find help.Her husband next found himself in a serious car accident, nearly lost his job and then fell to a sudden and rare illness almost losing his life, according to her website, RoyalDogsGallery.com. The odds seemed stacked against them ever since Princess entered their household, judging by their timeline, and their woes appeared to be only growing worse. By the time her daughter was nearly expelled from her third-grade classroom for inappropriately touching the arm of a Muslim friend with a glove – according to Mrs Horvat because a voice in her daughter’s head directed her to – her family’s trauma was listless. Perhaps fortunately for Mrs Horvat’s family however, though unfortunate for her dog, Princess died four months after they obtained the poodle. (continue reading…)

A Moment or Supreme Terror

If you get a chance to see myself and Brian Dunning (and the ghostly Susan Gerbic) on the recent episode of “Weird or What?” that is all about “Life after Death,” you will see convincing evidence for how easy it is to convince people that a seance is real. William Shatner is hilarious as the bemused and tongue in cheek host, making at least this episode tilted towards a skeptical viewpoint. Using infrared photography, the television audience sees what to each sitter in the desired total blackness of the traditional seance room never suspected. For those in the circle, the fear is real. For the viewers, the famous Scole Experiments are shown to be what they really were: a badly reported series of un-controlled magic effects that took place in the medium’s own home. Where were the skeptics? Happy Halloween!

And the Darkness Falls... Boom!

Thanks to a brilliant idea from Christopher Brown from “Meet the Skeptics!” and Travis Roy of Granite State Skeptics, here’s the latest project we have been working on. I invite everyone to use this. (continue reading…)

John Edward Bingo Cards

There’s not much I can say to add to the brilliant ploy that The Granite State Skeptics devised and put to work last Tuesday night. I applaud them heartily for their efforts. (continue reading…)

Casting My Spell at SkepticCalCon 2011

SkeptiCalCon 2 is now history and I arrived home last night exhausted but energized. It has been a busy two weeks of GUERRILLA SKEPTICISM. The crowd at SkeptiCalCon was a healthy one and I was delighted to meet many new faces. Lots of younger people are picking up the skeptical ball and running with it. (continue reading…)

Hey Everybody within shouting distance of California (and beyond), The SkeptiCal 2011 Conference is just around the corner! It will be held at the Berkeley Doubletree on May 29, 2011. Tickets are available for purchase now. Last year’s conference sold out past capacity, so please buy your tickets as soon as possible! (continue reading…)