NEWS UPDATE: May 2011

If you missed May's IIG meeting, you missed a lot!

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BRAIN WARM-UP: OSAMA BIN ASKIN’ QUESTIONS

At our May meeting, Jim Underdown led an excellent Brain Warm-Up discussion: “How Do We Prove Bin Laden is Dead?” Members placed themselves in the shoes of the Obama Administration to determine what exactly it would take to convince the world of Osama Bin Laden’s death. How can we know he didn't die months or years ago? Can we be sure that he is dead and not held captive somewhere for questioning? What alternative explanations can be offered, and if he is dead, what evidence could the government reasonably share with the public?

IIG PROMO VIDEO

This month we also welcomed John Rael as an official member of the IIG. John has been working on the IIG promotional video for the last few months, and has interviewed many of our members and IIG’s friend Paul Provenza for our website and media at future events. John also operates the site Skeptically Pwned. Screenings of the promo video have been great and a new one with even more members will be ready for screening at TAM 9. (It will also be uploaded to the IIG West website when completed.)

NICK NELSON UPDATE

Susan Gerbic and Mark Edward put together a six minute video of the Nick Nelson preliminary test, in which Nelson repeatedly failed to defy the laws of physics. Nelson has since written to us with various excuses as to why he was unable to create a vortex. Apparently, once he entered California, his clocks, car stereo, and other electronic devices mysteriously stopped working until he crossed back into Oregon. So somehow California caused him to fail the demonstration.

Even better, according to Nick the IIG is the most powerful occult group in the country, a distinction we leveraged to psychically counter his vortex with our own (evidently, the orthogonal field we created ran perpendicular to, and therefore canceled out, his field). Nick also complained that an image of James Underdown walking with IIG members to lunch afterward was “tattooed” on his brain, noting that at the head of the march, “all Mr. Underdown lacked was a staff and a flowing robe”. Interestingly, Jim drove to lunch that day. Perhaps Nelson’s self-professed near- and farsightedness are to blame. Whatever the cause, should he return to LA we will gladly direct him to the many tattoo-removal shops in Hollywood, one of which would no doubt graciously accept his business.

STEALTH CARDS

In other news, our stealth cards have been printed on beautiful glossy cardstock, beckoning $50k Challenge hopefuls to show us their powers. We have a special website for tracking the hits. These cards will facilitate outreach to potential claimants, and anyone attending an appropriate tradeshow or event should bring along a stack to leave behind. Please contact info@iigwest.org if you need cards. Or better yet, come to a meeting and pick up a few.

TO RAPTURE OR NOT TO RAPTURE?

IIG member Carrie Poppy visited Family Radio's home base in Oakland, CA on May 20th, as a representative of PETA. Her group tried to offer the group’s leader Rev. Harold Camping a vegan last meal, but Camping was a no-show. The media however was in attendance, and Carrie managed to get on the cover of The New York Times!

According to Camping, 6pm on May 21st should have marked the beginning of the Christian Rapture. He estimated that three percent of the world's population would ascend to heaven as the clock struck six in each time zone across the globe.

At 3pm that afternoon, many members of the IIG joined other skeptics on Hollywood Boulevard with signs to counter-protest the rapture spokespeople. Mark Edward's blog tells the full story of amusing protest chants, Scientologists, and general end-of-the-world merriment. And member IIG member Paula posted a photo diary of the event as well. Wikipedia pages for Harold Camping, Mark Edward and the IIG have all been updated with a picture of the counter-protest and related info.

Video courtesy of Susan Gerbic

TAM9 FROM OUTER SPACE

Calling all TAM9 attendees! Send an email to tam9@iigwest.org to be put on our TAM discussion list. The dates are July 14-17th at the South Point Hotel in Las Vegas.

The IIG plans to have quite a presence at TAM9 this year. We have already paid for a table where we will have videos and brochures set up for passersby. We will also be selling IIG necklaces from Surly Ramics. Jim Underdown will conduct a workshop Thursday morning July 14th on identifying and creating hoax spaceships entitled "Making UFOs: Reality and Illusion." We will have a get-together for all the IIG affiliates as well as an open-attendance party. (Sign up at tam9@iigwest.org for more info.) This year’s TAM is certainly not to be missed. The South Point Hotel has already sold out all its rooms, but The Grandview nearby has been recommended as another option for those still seeking a place to stay.

HOUDINI AT THE SKIRBALL

The IIG is planning to visit The Skirball’s Houdini exhibit sometime before it closes on September 4th. After the IIG General meeting on August 20th is a possibility.

ODDS AND ENDS

Make a note that The Skeptics Toolbox held in Eugene, Oregon is quickly approaching and will take place August 11-14, 2011. This year's topic is “How Smart People Go Wrong”. This is hosted by Ray Hyman at the University of Eugene. Several members of the IIG have attended in the past and highly recommend it.

Jim Underdown appeared at ReasonFest on May 7th, 2011. His lecture was entitled "How Modern Paranormal Investigations Refute Biblical Miracles" and it discussed similarities between the paranormal claims people make today and the miracles found in the Bible.

The new Power Balance video is now edited and almost ready to be on the website. Big thanks to Jeffery Nuttall for all his hard work!

Brian Hart mentioned that we received an email from Jerrie Dean, who writes a blog about missing persons. She once believed that psychic detectives were helpful to the police, but after reading our Carla Baron report she now knows that they are bogus. She gives us quite a plug on her blog. Awesome. Thanks, Jerrie!

The Skeptic Society will be having its Science Symposium at CalTech at the end of June.

FIRST RESPONDER REPORT

We received an email from a (self-identified) scientist [Name redacted] who said we should not call ourselves scientists – which we don’t – and expressed his views on skepticism. Spencer Marks responded very kindly and told the correspondent more about our approach. It seems this assuaged some of his concerns.

George Rhodes wrote us several emails explaining that he can make it rain. In his own words,“I AM IN CALIFORNIA I WILL MAKE IT RAIN HERE LIKE I ALWAYS DO. I WILL PUT SPIRITUAL FRICTION ON THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE AND BRING IN A STORM. IT WILL COME IN THREE DAYS. I WILL DO THIS EVERY TIME THAT YOU NEED ME TO. THEN I WILL GO TO TEXAS AND END THE BILLION DOLLAR DROUGHT THERE. YOU MAY DOCUMENT AND FILM ME DOING THIS ALL THE WAY THERE AND BACK AGAIN. WE CAN ALSO GO UP NORTH AND CAUSE EVERY RIVER TO CREST WHERE THE SIX RIVERS CAN HANDLE IT IN NORTHERN CA.” (Note: there has been an unusual amount of rain this year; maybe we now know the reason?) The IIG response was to thank him for his many emails and phone call, and ask him to fill out an application. We last heard from Mr. Rhodes on May 12, 2011.

Haidar Ismael wrote to us from Iraq at the beginning of May with this claim: “I Have the ability to making love using parapsychology. I have a method make me effect on any person & make them in love with me during 3 - 6 months.” Jim Newman responded that we do not pay people to travel here for the test, and gave him the names of some skeptic organizations nearer to him. We have not heard back from him.

Joanna from Austria asked us if we would look at some pictures that she has taken from“fine materie world since three years. Orbs, UFOs , AI , Ghosts, Beings from different Planets”. We responded that we would like to see the images, and asked if she could post them on flickr or some photosharing site. We also cautioned her that we put limited trust in photos because there are so many ways for the camera to be fooled, either intentionally or accidentally.

Aquiah23 sent us this: “Hello, I have a question about your challenge. Do any categories involve proving that an occult product set, like a wicca hex or voodoo doll, really works? Has anyone ever tried to prove this through your challenge within the last few years?” Dave Richards responded stating that Voodoo does work if a susceptible person knows they had a curse put on them, because they will attribute anything negative that happens to them to the curse. He outlined a potential protocol involving 100 people who agree to have a curse put on them, of which only 50 actually receive the curse. After a set amount of time, these participants would record their feelings to determine if a statistically high number of cursed volunteers “felt” the curse or not. He also states that it would be unethical to curse people, willing or not. One standout point Dave made was that it would be nearly impossible to ensure someone in the control group (non-hex group) didn't have a hex put on them by someone not connected with the test. We are awaiting Aquiah23’s response.

Shaun Thompson, a telemarketer, wrote to us stating: “I have severe sensitivity to EMFs, feel nauseous sitting next to a computer, tense, heart clamps up etc. Also when I use the phone my ears get red and start making popping noises, which do not go away even when sleeping.” He mentioned that he has spent at least $900 on Aulterra and EarthCalm products as well as supplements, but they didn't seem to help. He wanted to know if we knew anything about Q-Link products, as the makers assured him they were better than the other two.

The IIG response by Dave Richards was very well thought out and included several links where Mr. Thompson could research these products himself. Dave also suggested that some of the symptoms Shaun is experiencing could have a medical cause, and that he should be evaluated by a doctor. One excellent quote from Dave's response sums up the IIG position rather well: “The problem is, since science doesn’t recognize a connection between EMF and the health of the body in the first place, we’re not sure how a supplier could make claims about a product being useful for this – how do you prove efficacy of a product in treating a condition you can’t reliably replicate?” Dave also offered him a few suggestions on how he might test this EMF “sensitivity.” We received a response from Mr. Thompson saying, “Wow, thank you for all the time and effort you put into this email. Many many thanks!”

-IIG