PDA

View Full Version : Skeptic NewsSearch - 10/21/03


Agent13
20th October 2003, 09:46 PM
Schoolhouse crock
by Jim Di Paola
South Florida City Link
http://www.citylinkmagazine.com/coverstory.html

"As a high-level manager for the Miami-Dade County Public Health Department, Lillian Rivera supervised a staff of 150 nurses. Yet she longed for more responsibility. After receiving a bachelor's and master's degree from the University of Puerto Rico in the late '80s, Rivera recently decided to pursue a doctorate in health care administration through an online program offered by Wyoming's Kennedy-Western University."


Benny Smith and Bellesiles: Two of a kind, or one and the same?
by Andrew Ackerman
Emory Wheel
http://www.emorywheel.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/10/10/3f86484674de4

"What do you do when you are about to lose a tenured job, your employer is investigating your fraudulent research and you've alienated a small cadre of supporters in an academic scandal over the explosive topic of guns?"


Ghosts, Angels, Murderers, Deadly Epidemics and other Eerie Buckeye Tales and Haunts
By Hollie Mondok
Cleveland Free Times
http://www.freetimes.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=382&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

"There are places in Ohio where, in the dark of night, when the fog rolls in, ghosts appear."


Vandals, Neglect Damage 'Blair Witch' Church
Associated Press
http://www.thewbalchannel.com/news/2551267/detail.html

"Historic preservationists are making a last-ditch plea to save a rickety old chapel that became a magnet for vandals after the release of the 1999 horror movie, "The Blair Witch Project," which was set nearby."


Woman Says She Captured UFO On Tape
WEws
http://www.newsnet5.com/news/2553384/detail.html

"Gaze into the dark sky and you might be surprised at what is there."


General rebuked for talk of God
By Bradley Graham
WASHINGTON POST
http://www.msnbc.com/news/981411.asp?0cl=c3

"Remarks by a three-star U.S. Army general casting the war on terrorism in religious terms drew rebukes yesterday from politicians and military specialists and calls from religious groups for the officer to be reassigned or reprimanded."


US is 'battling Satan' says general
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3199212.stm

"US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has declined to criticise a senior army officer who told audiences the war on terrorism is a battle with Satan."


The Pentagon Unleashes a Holy Warrior
By William M. Arkin
Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-arkin16oct16,1,4482023.story

"In June of 2002, Jerry Boykin stepped to the pulpit at the First Baptist Church of Broken Arrow, Okla., and described a set of photographs he had taken of Mogadishu, Somalia, from an Army helicopter in 1993."


Rice Avoids Questions on Top U.S. General
Associated Press
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031020/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/general_religious_views_20

"President Bush (news - web sites)'s national security adviser insisted Sunday that the U.S. fight against terrorism is not a war between Christianity and Islam, despite a top general's comments that seemed to say it is."


Pentagon deleted part of official's apology
CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/10/20/boykin.statement/index.html

"An apology from Lt. Gen. William Boykin for casting the war on terrorism in terms that offended some Muslims originally included a promise that he would no longer speak at religious events, CNN has learned."


Conservatives Defend Boykin's War Remarks
By LIBBY QUAID
Associated Press
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031021/ap_on_re_us/general_religious_views_23

"Religious conservatives in Congress are defending a Pentagon general who referred to the war on terror as a Christian fight against Satan."


Torso boy swallowed witchcraft poison bean
By Jason Bennetto
The Independent
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/story.jsp?story=454185

"The boy known as Adam whose torso was found dumped in the river Thames was paralysed and killed by a poisonous bean used in African witchcraft."


UFO still puzzles 30 years later
By Russ Kent
Mansfield News Journal
http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/news/stories/20031018/localnews/476885.html

"Thirty years ago tonight, strange things were happening in the skies over north central Ohio."


Doubt over Mother Teresa's miracle
By Satinder Bindra
CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/10/17/vatican.teresa/index.html

"Mother Teresa, the nun who cared for Kolkatta's poor and homeless, is set to be beatified by Pope John Paul II in a fast track ceremony."


Critics of Mother Teresa Question 'Miracle' Cure
by Patricia Nunan
Voice of America
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=9F9890F6-587B-4B07-874EE90B08C5DDBA

"Mother Teresa is revered by millions of people around the world and inspires legions of Christian faithful. The Albanian-born Roman Catholic nun, who dedicated her life to India's poor, took another step closer to sainthood Sunday, when she was beatified at the Vatican in Rome. But some in India question whether the veneration paid to Mother Teresa is in the best interest of their country. But the famous nun has her critics, including some who question the authenticity of a miracle cure that has been attributed to her."


Saint or celebrity? Cult of Mother Teresa faces tough questions
by Phil Reeves
The Independent
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=454851

"Two cities, both former imperial capitals, will today usher the late Mother Teresa along a step on the path to sainthood. One, the headquarters of the Roman Catholic church, will do so with unabashed enthusiasm. The other, her home for 68 years - and the chief beneficiary of her charitable work - will be strangely patchy in its applause."


Mommie Dearest
By Christopher Hitchens
Slate
http://slate.msn.com/id/2090083/

"I think it was Macaulay who said that the Roman Catholic Church deserved great credit for, and owed its longevity to, its ability to handle and contain fanaticism. This rather oblique compliment belongs to a more serious age. What is so striking about the "beatification" of the woman who styled herself "Mother" Teresa is the abject surrender, on the part of the church, to the forces of showbiz, superstition, and populism."


Snuff movies: Fact or fiction?
South African Press Association
http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_1431244,00.html

"Shocked by reports of the alleged filming of the rape and murder of a Johannesburg woman, many South Africans are asking: are snuff movies real or merely an urban legend?"


Chinese Astronaut Didn't See Great Wall
Associated Press
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031017/ap_on_sc/china_space_great_wall_1

"China's first astronaut said he didn't see the Great Wall while in orbit, contradicting a Chinese belief that it is the only structure visible from space."


Taikonaut: great view but no Great Wall
China Central Television
http://www.cctv.com/english/20031017/100157.shtml

"China's first taikonaut Yang Liwei said in an interview with China Central Television on Thursday evening that he could not see the Great Wall from space."


CHINA'S WALL NOT SO GREAT
Sky News
http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-12832797,00.html

"China's small leap forward in space travel has been followed by one giant gaffe."


Bush's "spirit" cursed with black magic, tossed into Thai river
Agence France-Presse
<http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1516&ncid=1516&e=1&u=/afp/20031018/od_afp/apec_thailand_us_offbeat_031018063156>

"US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) has been trapped in a clay pot and tossed into a river in northern Thailand -- or at least his spirit has after being cursed by hundreds of farmers protesting US agriculture policy."


Three wives will guarantee you a place in paradise. The Taliban? No: welcome to the rebel Mormons
by Julian Coman
The Telegraph
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/10/19/wmorm19.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/10/19/ixworld.html

"High in the mountains above the most notorious polygamous community in America, two grim-faced men on horseback have come to meet - but not welcome - me. "This is private property," said one. "No pictures. You have got to leave right now.""


Polygamist cop loses Utah certification; others targeted
Associated Press
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/state/article/0,1299,DRMN_21_2357118,00.html

"Utah authorities have revoked the certification of one polygamist police officer and vow to do the same with others."


Lone Star Lore: The Marfa Lights Mystery
By Doug Johnson
News 24 Houston
http://www.news24houston.com/content/headlines/?ArID=16799&SecID=2

"Everybody likes a good mystery. I especially love them, and Texas is filled with them. That's one of the reasons some people say the state is so large -- to hold all the mysteries that we have."


Psychic to the stars on drink-driving charge
By Deborah James
Liverpool Daily Post
<http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/content_objectid=13524593_method=full_siteid=50061 _headline=-Psychic-to-the-stars-on-drink-driving-charge-name_page.html>

"CLAIRVOYANT Derek Acorah faces an unpredictable future after allegedly driving his car under the influence of wine, beer . . . or even spirits."


Ghost Hunting
by Jac MacDonald
Edmonton Journal
http://www.canada.com/edmonton/edmontonjournal/story.asp?id=B3EDA94B-4031-41B6-BB86-64615DC90F6D

"A convoy of cars wound its way down the deserted river valley road late last Saturday night, headlights bouncing into the lonely blackness that is after-hours at Fort Edmonton Park."


So Weird It's Scary
WYFF
http://www.thecarolinachannel.com/entertainment/1030789/detail.html

"The "hometown" ghost stories have been a little slow coming in, so I thought we'd take a look back this week at an assemblage of some past stories in hopes of inspiring you or jogging your memory. Enjoy!"


'Small town ghosts' inspire book
By JAMES QUIRK Jr.
Burlington Hawk Eye
http://www.thehawkeye.com/daily/stories/ln8_1017.html

"A Monmouth paranormal investigator has never dealt with a haunted house in Burlington, but she's ready for the challenge."


Clairvoyant author recounts tales of ghosts' favorite haunts in Ross County
By DANIEL PRAZER
Chillicothe Gazette
http://www.chillicothegazette.com/news/stories/20031017/localnews/470995.html

"Down a dimly lit set of stone stairs in the Garnet A. Wilson Public Library, one reaches a doorway that's shrouded with thin hangers-on from the doorjamb."


In sports, superstition often the way
By BRIAN ETTKIN
Albany Times Union
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=180914&category=SPORTS&BCCode=&newsdate=10/18/2003

"Baseball superstitions seem as silly as Looney Tunes. As irrational as George Steinbrenner after defeat. They're mumbo jumbo wrapped in omens with a dollop of fear, and they're passed down from one generation to the next."


Living with ghosts: Locals tell their tales
by Eugene Sutherland
Alexandria Town Talk
http://www.thetowntalk.com/html/0A46CD74-98CB-4DED-B152-272D9BBD465C.shtml

"The spectral woman made her way through the 7-year-old girl's room, not looking at the girl, and headed into the adjacent kitchen."


Restaurateur says his place is haunted
By Angela Hill
Alameda Times-Star
http://www.timesstar.com/Stories/0,1413,125%7E1486%7E1709760,00.html

"PAULA, ARE you out there? Francois lives to find you. Sort of. He searches the faces of everyone who comes into the Cafe Van Kleef in downtown Oakland, just in case. Asks about you all the time, although no one listens. Knocks things over and turns off the stereo system, just because he can. He's not melancholy, which is odd considering he's a former lady-loving, party-happy, live-life-to-the-wee-hours French gigolo who's now got no body -- seeing as how he's dead and all."


The legend of Hannah Creek
By Michael Futch
Fayetteville Observer
http://www.fayettevillenc.com/story.php?Template=features&Story=5948313

"On moonlit nights, shadowy figures can be seen hanging from the trees in the swamp on a small, uninhabited island in Hannah Creek."


State penitentiary a hot spot for ghost hunters
By WILLIAM WHITAKER
East Liverpool [OH] Review
http://www.reviewonline.com/news/story/10192003_new03prison.asp

"There is tarot, astrology, healing power of the mind, the Mothman, unidentified flying objects, Bigfoot, crop circles, "Crossing Over with John Edwards," Sylvia Browne, Miss Cleo."


Invisible roomers never complain
By Elana Ashanti Jefferson
Denver Post
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%7E171%7E1698324,00.html

"Walter Keller was barely of legal drinking age on April Fool's Day 1991 when the newlywed sunk his heart and all his money into a dilapidated north Denver mansion."


Bigfoot hunting
By STEPHANIE EARLS
Albany Times Union
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=180633&category=LIFE&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=10/20/2003

"Pitching down a half-asphalt side road in Washington County, into a narrow gully then bump-bump, bump-bump over the railroad tracks, Steven Kulls hits open backroad and jams his cherry-red Suzuki Sidekick into four-wheel drive. The flyweight truck shoots up a rise (Kulls had the engine beefed up for just such feats) and into a clearing, surprising a tumbledown, boarded-up shack that's slowly cooking into the banks above this boggy finger of the Champlain Canal."


SEARCHING FOR SASQUATCH
By ANTHONY DAVIS
Texarkana Gazette
http://www.texarkanagazette.com/articles/2003/10/20/news/news01.txt

"With a stuffed replica of "Bigfoot/Sasquatch" overseeing the proceedings from a corner of the conference meeting room Saturday at the First United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall in Jefferson, Texas, the third annual Texas Bigfoot Conference held the rapt attention of a standing-room-only audience."


Bigfoot sightings reported
By Jennifer Henion
Crescent City Daily Triplicate
http://www.triplicate.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=1178

"A Pacific Northwest legend lives on in Del Norte County."


Innkeepers Believed To Haunt Ohio Inn
WEWS
http://www.newsnet5.com/news/2565450/detail.html

"If you plan to stay at the 191-year-old Buxton Inn in this central Ohio community, don't ask for Room 9 unless you want some unexpected -- and unseen -- company."


C'mon, Baby, light my ghost
by Dan Tyree
Tullahoma News
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10347150&BRD=1614&PAG=461&dept_id=161058&rfi=6

"It wouldn't be Halloween without some mention of the ghost light of Chapel Hill, Tennessee, in Marshall County."


Enlightening sighting for local family
By KRISTEN ENEVOLD
CALGARY SUN
http://www.canoe.ca/CalgaryNews/cs.cs-10-20-0013.html

"Two glowing clouds that seemed to follow a Bearspaw family around their property Saturday night has the makings of a fictional tale, but Omkar Channan knows what he saw."


Government doing devil's work, says Ontario farmer who fears licence photo
by JAMES MCCARTEN
Canadian Press
http://canada.com/national/story.asp?id=D7E2AF26-DB80-4880-BFEE-C64FCFD805B1

"A farmer and fundamentalist Christian who's convinced that digital driver's licence photos are the work of the devil is taking the Ontario government to court to avoid having his picture taken."


'No health benefit' from prayer
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3193902.stm

"The world's largest study into the effects of prayer on patients undergoing heart surgery has found it appears to make no difference."


'Bizarre' degrees to be targeted
By Samantha Maiden
The Advertiser [Australia]
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,7566055%255E421,00.html

"EDUCATION Minister Brendan Nelson wants Parliament to grant him the power to cut funding to "bizarre" university degrees for such things as surfing, aromatherapy and considering whether Jesus Christ was a homosexual."


Anti-Israel list dead wrong: Jews
by ANN CARROLL
Montreal Gazette
http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/story.asp?id=F97CA7DC-7EB6-4BA1-A50E-55CBE4A69808

"An anonymous e-mail calling on Jewish Montrealers to boycott a list of allegedly anti-Israel businesses is not only irresponsible, but the information is dead wrong, a Jewish community leader says."


Man Given Parole in Mass. Day Care Case
ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Preschool-Abuse.html

"A man convicted of raping eight youngsters in one of the nation's most lurid -- and bitterly disputed -- child-molestation cases has been granted parole and could go free next spring after 17 years in prison."


Heavenly light has Earthly explanation
By RON TSCHIDA
Bozeman Daily Chronicle
http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2003/10/18/news/02weirdlightsbzbigs.txt

"If you saw a strange light in the sky over Bozeman Tuesday or Thursday night, it's OK to talk about it. You weren't hallucinating."


Don't clog up my inbox
By Rachel Pascoe
Sydney Morning Herald
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/10/19/1066502070976.html

"The most annoying thing about chain emails is that people, despite knowing how stupid they are, forward them to everyone they know."


Nobody has to die for Suicide Week to thrive
by Anne Marie Owens
National Post
http://www.nationalpost.com/national/story.html?id=13D0BED9-6C7B-43D7-9320-C5E1E5AFEAFF

"Ask students at Trent University why they will not be attending classes this week, and they will likely convey in hushed voices the grim story associated with their annual fall reading week."



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/business=agent-13%40attbi.com&item_name=Skeptic+NewsSearch&no_shipping=1&no_note=1&tax=0&currency_code=USD> or the Amazon Honor System - <http://www.amazon.com/paypage/P1H8VARI20KBKA>

T'ai Chi
20th October 2003, 11:30 PM
Regarding the Great Wall myth.

It is not just a myth believed in by the Chinese, but many people from all over the world.

From one of the articles:

"It is thought the myth may have begun during the early days of the space race."

Uh, I don't believe so. It has a much older origin. Legend has it that the first emperor, Qin Shi Huang was sleeping when he drempt that he made a trip to the moon. From there he saw his kingdom as a mere dot, so he visualized a boundary around it, and thus began construction of the Great Wall.