Agent13
26th January 2004, 09:59 PM
The History of Robots in the Victorian Era
By Jim Regan
Christian Science Monitor
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0116/p25s03-stin.html
"Robots have been making significant inroads into our culture over the last few years. They're roaming on and around distant planets, building cars, vacuuming the rug and even serving as surrogate pets. But it may surprise you to learn that sophisticated androids have been walking the earth since at least the late 1800s - achieving feats that still haven't been equalled in the 21st century. (One prototype actually took part in World War One.) The History of Robots in the Victorian Era follows the careers of these early automatons, and at the same time, tests the limits of human credibility."
Mysterious Object Caught On Video Over Kansas City Sky
WFTV
http://www.wftv.com/news/2780356/detail.html
"A security camera from a downtown energy corporation captured a bizarre sight in the eastern sky over Kansas City last week."
UFO picture a saucer wonder
by Kate Uebergang
Victoria Herald Sun
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,8475447%255E2862,00.html
(See also <http://www.whittlesea.vic.gov.au/content/content.asp?cnid=1545>)
"WHILE man is making his mark on Mars, some humans are wondering if aliens have zoomed into Melbourne."
Whittlesea's alien lies in the eye of the beholder
By Stephen Cauchi
The Age [Australia]
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/23/1074732605811.html
"Is this a Martian payback for NASA's invasion of the Red Planet? If so, they've chosen to land at the City of Whittlesea."
Hunt for UFO clues
By CHRIS TINKLER
Victoria Herald Sun
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,8484016%255E2862,00.html
"DEFENCE experts cannot explain a UFO caught on camera in Melbourne's north, but sceptics believe it is nothing to get excited about."
UFO at the OLF?
By BILL SANDIFER
Washington Daily News
http://www.wdnweb.com/articles/2004/01/21/news/news03.txt
"For those fatigued with fretting over fighters, there was a quiet airshow of sorts over the region Friday and again on Monday night."
UFO frenzy after Melbourne photo
UPI
http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040123-042813-4786r.htm
"A mysterious photo has sparked a UFO frenzy in north Melbourne, Australia."
Telepathy debate hits London
Nature
http://www.nature.com/nsu/040119/040119-7.html
"Scientists tend to steer clear of public debates with advocates of the paranormal. And judging from the response of a London audience to a rare example of such a head-to-head conflict last week, they are wise to do so."
Girl, 6, found dead in motel
By MIKE MORRIS and CRAIG SCHNEIDER and MILO IPPOLITO
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/0104/20childdeath.html
"A 6-year-old girl found dead in an Atlanta motel was the victim of an apparent ritual, police said."
Father hit slain girl, mom told co-worker
By CRAIG SCHNEIDER
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/0104/22deadchild.html
"Years before he allegedly murdered his daughter during a possible exorcism, Christopher Carey was a controlling husband and religious fanatic who once punched the young girl in the chest, a family acquaintance said Wednesday."
Police discount exorcism, but girl's slaying murky
By CRAIG SCHNEIDER and MILO IPPOLITO
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/0104/21deadchild.html
"Atlanta police are downplaying the possibility that the murder of a young girl occurred during an exorcism, but they were still struggling Tuesday to untangle the details of her death."
Police: No Exorcism in Ga. Child's Death
Associated Press
http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=816384&tw=wn_wire_story
"Police ruled out exorcism in the death of a 6-year-old girl whose beaten body was discovered Monday covered in pages torn from a Bible."
Satanic Cult Probed in Monster of Florence Murders
Reuters
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=1&u=/nm/20040123/od_nm/crime_italy_murders_dc
"Almost 20 years after the last murder blamed on the "Monster of Florence," investigators have reopened the case because they suspect a Satanic cult ordered the killings and kept body parts as prizes."
35 years on, murders still bedevil Chianti's rolling hills
by John Hooper
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,12576,1129565,00.html
"The suspects are outwardly respectable professionals. A lawyer, a retired village chemist, a former university medical professor specialising in dermatology and sexually transmitted diseases. The setting is the rolling hills of Chianti. And their alleged crime is one that could lie at the heart of one of Umberto Eco's esoteric thrillers."
Woman Headed for Exorcist with Son in Suitcase?
Reuters
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=9&u=/nm/20040123/od_nm/odd_germany_suitcase_dc
"German police have arrested a Croatian woman who was traveling with her two-year-old son shut up in a suitcase on the way to an exorcist, authorities said on Thursday."
Bin Laden arrest "joke" causes uproar in Lebanon
Agencie France-Presse
<http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1516&ncid=1516&e=1&u=/afp/20040123/od_afp/lebanon_binladen_media_040123150222>
"A television station caused panic in official circles by reporting the arrest in Lebanon of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden ... before admitting the announcement was a "joke" in a comedy show."
Bigfoot strikes In Derry Township
By John Jennings
Blairsville Dispatch
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/blairsvilledispatch/s_175909.html
"Bigfoot sightings were big once again in the Chestnut Ridge area in 2003, according to the annual roundup of the unexplained from word processor of Stan Gordon. The "X-Files" may come and go, but Greensburg-based Gordon has maintained an A to Z compendium of mysteries for lo these many years."
Secret of historic code: it's gibberish
by Robin McKie
The Observer
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1130727,00.html
"It is covered with drawings of fantastic plants, strange symbols and naked women."
A dark lie through the ages
By Hugh Levinson
BBC Radio 4
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3420595.stm
"For hundreds of years, it's been said that Jews kill Christian children and drain their blood for ritual purposes. Why has this myth persisted for so long?"
More than water?
by Ben Goldacre
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/badscience/story/0,12980,1127871,00.html
"What is it with pseudo scientists and water? After last week's cluster nonsense, Caroline Stacey was getting excited in the Independent's Food and Drink section about Oxygizer water."
Bill defines how to teach life's origins
By Carolyn Bower
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
<http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/5D953C9E082AAF2686256E24001748C2?OpenDocument&Headline=Bill+defines+how+to+teach+life's+origins+ ++>
"A handful of Missouri legislators have signed on to a proposal that would change how teachers introduce students to information about the origin of life."
Opponents of origin theories plan presentation
By JENNY JOHNSON
Ravalli Republic
http://www.montanaforum.com/rednews/2004/01/20/build/education/origin-science.php
"The push to broaden the Darby science curriculum and encourage teachers to challenge evolution as a biological origin isn’t over."
Rob Boston
Paul Harris Show
http://www.harrisonline.com/audio/listings/robboston.htm
"The communications director for Americans United for the Separation of Church and State talks with Paul about the attempt by some Missouri legislators to change the way science is taught in public schools, forcing teachers to give equal time to both evolution and creationism."
Californian wants Bibles in schools for academic study
By Vincent J. Schodolski
Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0401260132jan26,1,6447533.story
"A drive is under way in California to have the state government provide a Bible to every public elementary school student in the state and suggest that schools use the books as texts for the study of literature."
Creationist debates Darwinian model of evolution
By LISA BO FENG
California Aggie
http://www.californiaaggie.com/article/?id=2220
""Evolutionary biology doesn't have a clue how the flagellum works," said Dr. William Dembski at Friday night's lecture titled "Detecting Design in Biological Systems.""
Dublin trustees discuss teaching origin of life
By ANNA BOUDREAU
Stephenville Empire Tribune
<http://www.empiretribune.com/EMPIRETRIBUNE/sites/EMPIRETRIBUNE/1138edition/myarticles921706.asp?P=921706&S=425&PubID=15127>
"A resolution regarding teaching students about the “origin of life” resulted in more than an hour’s worth of discussion during the regular monthly meeting of the Dublin Independent School Board of Education Tuesday night."
Opponents make argument against intelligent design
By JENNY JOHNSON
Ravalli Republic
http://www.montanaforum.com/rednews/2004/01/22/build/education/id-mtg.php
"Hundreds of people got a crash course in biological evolution Wednesday night as opponents of a push to broaden Darby school’s science curriculum presented their case."
Extraterrestrial edge helps the balance sheet
By A. CRAIG COPETAS
Bloomberg News
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/2365195
"A galactic mystery hovers over the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland: How many of the 2,280 global leaders, including 31 heads of state, gathered in this Alpine resort conduct business with extraterrestrials?"
Feuding polygamists prompt investigation
Associated Press
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Southwest/01/23/feuding.polygamists.ap/index.html
"A power struggle has emerged in a small, tightlipped community known for polygamy, with a number of men getting kicked out of the church-owned town and their wives and children being "reassigned" against their will to other men."
From Nazis to Schuller to Arabs
by Stan Brin
Orange County Weekly
http://www.ocweekly.com/ink/04/20/news-brin.php
"He just won’t go away."
Strongest evidence against Zundel found in secret documents, agent suggests
by GREG BONNELL
Canadian Press
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/cpress/20040123/ca_pr_on_na/zundel_security_1
"The strongest evidence that Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel is a threat to national security is contained in classified documents, a government agent suggested Friday during testimony in Federal Court."
Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel prepared to stay in custody: lawyer
Canadian Press
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/cpress/20040122/ca_pr_on_na/zundel_hearing_1
"Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel is willing to remain in custody so that he can have his day in court under a Charter application, his lawyer said Thursday."
A miracle by any other name
By Bruce Nolan
New Orleans Times-Picayune
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1075014836225010.xml
"Deep in the lonely hours of one terrible August night three years ago, Dr. Ann Kay Logarbo quietly slipped to the bedside of her great-niece, Caroline Crouch, in the intensive care unit of Children's Hospital. Sedated and on life-support, Caroline lay near death, probably already severely brain-damaged by a massive viral infection. She was 6 years old."
Bones of contention
By Wendy Thomas Russell
Long Beach Press Telegram
http://www.presstelegram.com/Stories/0,1413,204%7E21474%7E1912977,00.html
"For nearly 27 years, Daniel Sperato's bones have lain beneath a triangular tombstone in an Escondido cemetery."
A baby dragon, or a bad joke?
By Roger Highfield
The Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/01/24/ndrag24.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/01/24/ixhome.html
"A pickled "dragon" that looks as if it might once have flown around Hogwarts has been found in a garage in Oxfordshire."
Delving into the unexplained
By LESLEY TÉLLEZ
Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/news/city/denton/stories/012304dndenparanormal.a180d.html
"In the dark, deep depths, in places where only the spirits tread, ghostly green lights shoot out windows. Elsewhere, winged, mothlike creatures knock on doors and stare with bright red eyes, waiting to pounce."
Alien Effects
By PAUL WINE
Tucson Weekly
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/gbase/Books/Content?oid=oid:52947
"Many early human breakthroughs, such as those of the Neolithic Revolution and the advances of the Sumerians, seem to have appeared practically out of nowhere, simply because our knowledge of what happened before is limited."
Ask Flickchick
TV Guide
http://www.tvguide.com/movies/flickchick/
"Question: I recently read Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, which mentions that the word sex appears in the clouds in The Lion King. I thought the letters were actually sfx and were put there by the special effects team. Is the author wrong or did it really say sex and not sfx?"
The Epidemic That Wasn't
BY TARA SERVATIUS
Creative Loafing Charlotte
http://charlotte.creativeloafing.com/newsstand/2004-01-21/news_citizen.html
"By the time the media was done mangling the story, hundreds of thousands of panicked parents and elderly had spent hours in line at health clinics here and across the country. In North Carolina, they jammed doctors' offices at 10 times the normal flu season rate, dragging sniffling children behind them, terrified that the colds they normally let pass without the hassle of a doctor's visit might be the "killer" flu strain."
Return of the Black Widow
BY GLENNA WHITLEY
Dallas Observer
http://www.dallasobserver.com/issues/2004-01-22/feature.html/1/index.html
"Curiosity--and not a little paranoia--pulled Jaie Benson to her condo's spare bedroom. In the last two months her guest had lived with her, things weren't adding up. Instead of answering questions about her past, the woman quoted scripture. Though she claimed to have three children, they never called. And instead of producing money from her trust fund as promised, the woman poured out excuses."
Watching the Detectives
by Steven Kotler
LA Weekly
http://www.laweekly.com/ink/04/09/news-kotler.php
"Call it the revenge of the nerds if you like, but while Homeland Security pumps Big Brother full of steroids, unlikely heroes in the form of MIT and Johns Hopkins University scientists are starting to fight back."
Regulators End Investigation of Green Bay Doctor
Associated Press
http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=1606027&nav=51s7KGZ7
"A body that oversees doctors in Wisconsin has voted to end its nine-year investigation into a Green Bay doctor without revoking his license, but it will reprimand him."
Acupuncture put under spotlight
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3402709.stm
"Scientists are to investigate whether psychological factors may boost the effectiveness of acupuncture."
Session explores alternative medicine
By Michael Erb
Marietta Times
http://www.mariettatimes.com/news/story/0119202004_new04pbgsesson.asp
"Health care workers, wellness care providers and interested community members gathered Saturday at St. Joseph's Hospital to hear presentations on the healing benefits of energy medicine."
Weil's integrative medicine gathering steam
By Carla McClain
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
http://www.dailystar.com/dailystar/news/6529.php
"Although the launch of the "integrative medicine" movement in this country may have depended on the face and fame of Dr. Andrew Weil, its rapid spread nationwide is now out of his hands."
Indian homoeopaths' cancer cure protocol attracts US attention
Press Trust of India
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_545681,0050.htm
"A cancer cure protocol developed by Indian homoeopaths has attracted the attention of the US National Institute of Health (NIH)."
Natural health show to feature 27 practitioners of alternative medicine
By Jeff Brumley
Fort Pierce Tribune
http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/health_and_wellness/article/0,1651,TCP_1040_2600030,00.html
"Convincing people that there are effective alternatives to antibiotics and surgery can be quite a challenge for practitioners of alternative healing."
Facts about cults
by HARVEY SHEPHERD
Montreal Gazette
http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/columnists/story.asp?id=92A94A74-80B6-4D63-95F3-B37F418F135F
"The broadcast reporter wanted a nice, sharp sound bite about the Raëlians, but didn't get one. In fact, the news conference launching Info-Cult's book might not have made much of a media splash."
Dinner to offer message of peace
By Melissa Evans
Fremont Argus
http://www.theargusonline.com/Stories/0,1413,83~1971~1907189,00.html
"It takes only a few drops of cold water to temper a boiling pot."
House of the temporarily dead
by Steve Rose
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1129295,00.html
"Woody Allen once remarked that he didn't want to achieve immortality through his work - he wanted to achieve it by not dying. Stephen Valentine could possibly do both. A self-professed visionary architect, Valentine has designed what could be the project of his career, and its purpose is to conquer death."
York reported no wages paid
By BILL TORPY
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0104/20york.html
"Nuwaubian leader Malachi York's organization averaged more than $1 million a year in receipts for the six years before his 2002 arrest, according to earnings reported to the IRS."
Family members of alleged York victim testify that they doubt girl's story
By WAYNE CRENSHAW
Macon Telegraph
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/nation/7753086.htm
"The mother and brother of a girl who earlier testified that Malachi York repeatedly molested her said Monday they don't believe her."
Sect leader framed, daughter says
By BILL TORPY
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0104/21york.html
"The defense of Nuwaubian leader Malachi York drew to a close Tuesday as an alleged victim testified that she was not molested by York. And York's daughter said her brother concocted a conspiracy to frame his father."
Malachi York trial goes to the jury
By BILL TORPY
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0104/22york.html
"Prosecutors in closing arguments today in the trial of Nuwaubian leader Malachi York ridiculed defense contentions that York is a victim of a conspiracy concocted by an angry son."
Jury deliberates Nuwaubian leader’s case
By MARK NIESSE
Associated Press
http://www.citizenonline.net/citizen/archive/article3CE8768FAEBF49B485D1E58662681EAF.asp
"Either cult leader Malachi York used his organization to supply him with girls for sex, or he’s the victim of a conspiracy by former members who want to bring him down, attorneys said in closing arguments at York’s trial Thursday."
Conspiracy theories compete in York trial
By BILL TORPY
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0104/23york.html
"Prosecutors, in closing arguments Thursday in the trial of Nuwaubian leader Malachi York, ridiculed defense contentions that York is a victim of a conspiracy concocted by an angry son."
York found guilty of molestation, racketeering
By BILL TORPY
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0104/23yorktrial.html
"Nuwaubian leader Malachi York was found guilty Friday on four counts of racketeering and six child molestation-related charges."
Sect leader found guilty of child molestation
By MARK NIESSE
Associated Press
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/LAW/01/23/nuwaubian.trial.ap/
"The leader of a quasi-religious sect was convicted Friday of molesting boys and girls at the group's ancient Egyptian-style compound."
Sect leader guilty of molestation
By BILL TORPY
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0104/24york.html
"Nuwaubian leader Malachi York has been called Dr. York, Isa Muhammad, Baba, The Master Teacher and The Savior."
Trial puts an end to York's 'regular days'
By Wayne Crenshaw
Macon Telegraph
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/7790963.htm
"The diminutive 16-year-old girl walked up to the witness stand as the last person to testify in the main part of the government's case against cult leader Malachi York."
Show me heaven
By Amanda Hancox
BBC Radio 4
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3429619.stm
"As more and more people come forward with accounts of near-death experiences, new research is about to examine the out of body experience to see whether mind and body really do separate at the point of death."
Police investigating latest pyramid scheme
By TIMOTHY MITCHELL
Ravalli Republic
http://www.ravallinews.com/articles/2004/01/22/news/news06.txt
"A dinner invitation has taken on new meaning for some area residents as police warn of a new pyramid scam in Hamilton."
Allergist Believes Deodorants Can Cause Breast Cancer
KCRA
http://www.thekcrachannel.com/health/2776919/detail.html
"You may have heard the rumors about breast cancer and anti-perspirants, but could they be true?"
Still looking for Laura after 10 years
By Jesse J. Smith
Kingston Daily Freeman
http://www.dailyfreeman.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10860325&BRD=1769&PAG=461&dept_id=74969&rfi=6
"A cold case is heating up again as Ulster County sheriff's detectives, armed with new leads, believe they have a good chance of solving the decade-old disappearance of a Connelly woman."
8 surprising fictions in the Da Vinci Code
By Alyson Ward
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/living/7788428.htm
"Even if you lived under a rock - a rock in a remote area of the Arizona desert - you could not avoid hearing about The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown's runaway bestseller of a novel."
Witches Beat Out Angels In U.S., Russian Surveys
By Kevin O'Flynn
Moscow Times
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2004/01/20/011.html
"Russians are much less likely to believe in angels than Americans but more convinced that witches exist, a new survey indicates."
Star of the stargazers
by Emma Brockes
The Guardian
http://media.guardian.co.uk/presspublishing/story/0,7495,1126226,00.html
"The day I am due to meet Jonathan Cainer, I consult his website for clues as to how it might go. Cainer.com, which is distinct from his syndicated newspaper columns, his 60p-a-minute phonelines and his soon-to-be-built Museum of Psychic Experience, offers daily, weekly and yearly forecasts, as well as relationship guides and a section entitled Ancient Lost Knowledge, in which the astrologer invites us to look at the meaning of a "connected cosmos"."
Bringing fitness to an astral plane
By Jeannine Stein
Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-bodywork19jan19,1,3646139.story
"As the group cycling class settles into a warm-up, the instructor delivers his motivational spiel. But this one's a little different from the usual let's-have-fun-with-fitness speech."
Psychic fair explores the possibilities
By RAMONA TURNER
Santa Cruz Sentinel
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2004/January/26/local/stories/01local.htm
"There was a lot of enlightening going on at Sunday’s Psychic & Healing Arts Fair at the UCSC Inn & Conference Center."
UFO Festival will have a 1940s theme
Associated Press
http://www.myinky.com/ecp/entertainment/article/0,1626,ECP_738_2599633,00.html
"Visitors to this year's UFO Festival in this eastern New Mexico community will have a chance to step back in time - six decades, to be exact."
Quack addicts
by Francis Wheen
The Guardian
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/redbox/story/0,9029,1131916,00.html
"Everyone was at it. In Britain, allegedly the home of the stiff upper lip, the loopier manifestations of soul-baring may have been mocked but managerial mumbo-jumbo found an eager market."
Con's hoax backfires; 'dead' girl alive, well
BY WANDA J. DeMARZO
Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/states/florida/counties/broward_county/7785253.htm
"Hollywood police spent two days digging in a vacant field, running a backhoe, sifting through dirt by hand and leading a cadaver dog named Chico around on a leash -- all because an inmate at Florida State Prison felt homesick."
Imposter dupes Carolinas women
by AMES ALEXANDER, LISA HAMMERSLY MUNN & SHARIF DURHAMS
Charlotte Observer
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/7776320.htm
"The day after Christmas, Gina Newland got an e-mail from a man she had dated who she believed was a Navy SEAL fighting in the Middle East."
Charges in Ohio allege cancer hoax
Associated Press
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/7783798.htm
"A man was charged for allegedly bilking his girlfriend and her parents out of $6,000 by convincing them he had cancer and needed money."
Remember when ... Kangaroos were spotted in Waukesha County
By CORRINNE HESS
Waukesha Freeman
http://www.gmtoday.com/news/local_stories/2004/January_04/01242004_05.asp
"During the early morning hours of April 5, 1978, Patricia Wilcox called the Freeman to say she saw two kangaroos - a big one and a little one - hopping across Moreland Boulevard on Highway A."
Revealed: the proud history of haggis hurling was just a hoax
By Liam McDougall
Glasgow Sunday Herald
http://www.sundayherald.com/39559
"IT has been marketed as a noble tradition, but in reality it’s just a load of mince. The world of haggis hurling has been rocked to its tartan roots after the “ancient” art was exposed as a hoax, started by an Irishman to gauge the gullibility of the Scots."
U.S. uses Iraqi rumor mills
By HANNAH ALLAM
Knight Ridder Newspapers
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/iraq/7742012.htm
"To Maj. Doug Vincent and other soldiers fighting the information war in this generally tranquil town 150 miles north of Baghdad, there are good rumors and there are bad rumors."
Fraudster lawyer's claim to act for Shipman is bogus, says family's solicitor
by Rosie Cowan
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/shipman/Story/0,2763,1127523,00.html
"The London solicitors who acted for mass murderer Harold Shipman and also represent his family said yesterday they had no links with fraudster Giovanni Di Stefano and that, to the best of their knowledge, he never acted for any of the Shipmans."
FLDS carefully watched
By Pamela Manson and Mark Havnes
Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Jan/01132004/utah/128633.asp
"Residents were fleeing and law enforcement was beefed up Monday in the border towns of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, after polygamous leader Warren Jeffs stripped about 20 followers of their families and priesthoods."
Mayor of polygamist community resigns
Associated Press
http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2004/01/14/news/wyoming/714167c90a03116087256e1b000c83db.txt
"A mayor of the one of the twin polygamist communities straddling the Utah-Arizona border has resigned in an apparent power struggle within a fundamentalist offshoot sect of the Mormon church."
Teens flee polygamist towns
by Mark Shaffer
Arizona Republic
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0119coloradocity19.html
"The anticipated exodus of teenage girls from the strife-torn, polygamist communities of Colorado City and Hildale, Utah, began in earnest this weekend as about 10 fanned out to towns in southern Utah seeking protection, anti-polygamy activists said Sunday."
States brace for trouble in polygamist communities
Associated Press
http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=80561
"A beloved church elder is missing, a former mayor is in hiding with three of his brothers and the town prophet is being protected by a "God Squad" while dispatching his rivals."
Three teens run away from polygamist enclave
by MARK THIESSEN
Associated Press
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/01/20/state1929EST7258.DTL
"Three teenage girls have run away in the past two weeks from the nation's largest polygamist enclave straddling the Utah-Arizona border."
Ousted polygamist church leader to speak
By Linda Stelp
Kingman Daily Miner
<http://www.kingmandailyminer.com/KINGMANDAILYMINER/sites/KINGMANDAILYMINER/0923edition/myarticles882900.asp?P=882900&S=393&PubID=11891>
"An ousted leader of a polygamist church community in the Arizona Strip says he will speak about abuses there at a press conference Friday, an activist against the community says."
Man ousted from polygamy sect snubs order
by Mark Thiessen
Associated Press
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0125polygamy25.html
"A man who openly challenged an order from the fundamentalist church leader to leave this border town has paved the way for other dissidents to come forward, an anti-polygamy advocate says."
Wives 'reassigned' to other men in polygamist town
by Mark Thiessen
Associated Press
http://www.suntimes.com/output/religion/cst-nws-poly25.html
"A power struggle has emerged in a small, tight-lipped community known for polygamy, with several men getting kicked out of the church-owned town and their wives and children being ''reassigned'' against their will to other men."
Tales of fear, retribution at secretive desert church
By Patrick O'Driscoll
USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-01-25-polygamy-church_x.htm
"Mormon outcasts fled here nearly 70 years ago to practice "plural marriage" in Utah's desert borderlands. But a church feud, outside investigations and prosecutions have brought the glare of 21st-century publicity to the largest band of polygamists in America."
Supervisors meet to discuss tension in polygamist community
By JIM SECKLER
Mohave Daily News
http://www.mohavedailynews.com/articles/2004/01/26/news/news5.txt
"Due to continuing tension in Colorado City, the Mohave County supervisors will hold a special meeting this afternoon to discuss the situation."
Leader of Polygamous Sect Faces Rebellion
By NICK MADIGAN
New York Times
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/27/national/27POLY.html?ex=1075784400&en=8adc3757965cab95&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE>
"A power struggle between members of a fundamentalist Mormon sect has exposed deep fissures in the largest polygamous community in North America, a town in which most men have several wives and sometimes dozens of children."
USF scientists solve Chilean “blob” mystery
Press Release
http://isis2.admin.usf.edu/news/2004/2004.1.8.chilean_blob.html
"When a huge, unidentifiable, gelatinous blob weighing 13 tons and measuring 41 feet long and 19 feet wide washed up on a beach in Chile in July, 2003, many speculated that it was the remains of a giant sea monster."
Future told in sacrifices, sacred seeds
by Gary Marx
Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0401200149jan20,1,5399179.story
"President Bush may be leading all his would-be challengers in the polls, but a prominent Afro-Cuban religious leader says the Republican is likely to lose his re-election bid this autumn."
Emotions High as '85 Abuse Case Reviewed
By John Johnson
Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-molest19jan19,1,6438649.story
"Christopher Diuri's temper was smoldering as he sat on the witness stand, enduring a prosecutor's withering cross-examination."
Hypnosis brings writer's forgetful past into focus
By Robert K. Elder
Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/custom/friday/chi-0401230324jan23,1,6785864.story
"When I go home to Montana each Christmas, sub-zero temperatures keep me inside, where I embark on a vacation-long hunt to reclaim bits of my past--including, in this case, some lost precious Pearl Jam negatives."
Treadwell: Naturalist or con man?
By JEREMIAH MARQUEZ
Associated Press
http://www.adn.com/alaska/story/4583318p-4554121c.html
"Timothy Treadwell's death came just the way he had predicted."
Email Hoax Warns of Gang Violence
WTOC
http://www.wtoctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1614340&nav=0qq5KNsj
"As a civilian police employee, Joyce Uribe collects patches from police departments all over. In the last couple days, she's started collecting something else. "I've received several emails and phone calls from friends and citizens regarding the email," she told us, referring to an email circulating around our area a lot lately."
Ministers told child harm theory was flawed
by Jamie Doward
The Observer
http://www.guardian.co.uk/child/story/0,7369,1130834,00.html
"Ministers were warned that the controversial scientific theory Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy (MSBP) was responsible for serious miscarriages of justice as far back as 1996, according to documents seen by The Observer."
Cops say 'oink' to green-clad terror
Jakarta Post
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailcity.asp?fileid=20040127.G03&irec=2
"The Jakarta Police announced on Monday that the talk-of-the-town kolor hijau (green underwear) creature -- believed to be a creature that is half-man and half-pig -- does not in fact exist and is only a rumor."
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/skepticsearch/
-------
If you'd like to support the Skeptic NewsSearch, please consider making a donation via PayPal - <http://tinyurl.com/x81m>
By Jim Regan
Christian Science Monitor
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0116/p25s03-stin.html
"Robots have been making significant inroads into our culture over the last few years. They're roaming on and around distant planets, building cars, vacuuming the rug and even serving as surrogate pets. But it may surprise you to learn that sophisticated androids have been walking the earth since at least the late 1800s - achieving feats that still haven't been equalled in the 21st century. (One prototype actually took part in World War One.) The History of Robots in the Victorian Era follows the careers of these early automatons, and at the same time, tests the limits of human credibility."
Mysterious Object Caught On Video Over Kansas City Sky
WFTV
http://www.wftv.com/news/2780356/detail.html
"A security camera from a downtown energy corporation captured a bizarre sight in the eastern sky over Kansas City last week."
UFO picture a saucer wonder
by Kate Uebergang
Victoria Herald Sun
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,8475447%255E2862,00.html
(See also <http://www.whittlesea.vic.gov.au/content/content.asp?cnid=1545>)
"WHILE man is making his mark on Mars, some humans are wondering if aliens have zoomed into Melbourne."
Whittlesea's alien lies in the eye of the beholder
By Stephen Cauchi
The Age [Australia]
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/23/1074732605811.html
"Is this a Martian payback for NASA's invasion of the Red Planet? If so, they've chosen to land at the City of Whittlesea."
Hunt for UFO clues
By CHRIS TINKLER
Victoria Herald Sun
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,8484016%255E2862,00.html
"DEFENCE experts cannot explain a UFO caught on camera in Melbourne's north, but sceptics believe it is nothing to get excited about."
UFO at the OLF?
By BILL SANDIFER
Washington Daily News
http://www.wdnweb.com/articles/2004/01/21/news/news03.txt
"For those fatigued with fretting over fighters, there was a quiet airshow of sorts over the region Friday and again on Monday night."
UFO frenzy after Melbourne photo
UPI
http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040123-042813-4786r.htm
"A mysterious photo has sparked a UFO frenzy in north Melbourne, Australia."
Telepathy debate hits London
Nature
http://www.nature.com/nsu/040119/040119-7.html
"Scientists tend to steer clear of public debates with advocates of the paranormal. And judging from the response of a London audience to a rare example of such a head-to-head conflict last week, they are wise to do so."
Girl, 6, found dead in motel
By MIKE MORRIS and CRAIG SCHNEIDER and MILO IPPOLITO
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/0104/20childdeath.html
"A 6-year-old girl found dead in an Atlanta motel was the victim of an apparent ritual, police said."
Father hit slain girl, mom told co-worker
By CRAIG SCHNEIDER
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/0104/22deadchild.html
"Years before he allegedly murdered his daughter during a possible exorcism, Christopher Carey was a controlling husband and religious fanatic who once punched the young girl in the chest, a family acquaintance said Wednesday."
Police discount exorcism, but girl's slaying murky
By CRAIG SCHNEIDER and MILO IPPOLITO
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/0104/21deadchild.html
"Atlanta police are downplaying the possibility that the murder of a young girl occurred during an exorcism, but they were still struggling Tuesday to untangle the details of her death."
Police: No Exorcism in Ga. Child's Death
Associated Press
http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=816384&tw=wn_wire_story
"Police ruled out exorcism in the death of a 6-year-old girl whose beaten body was discovered Monday covered in pages torn from a Bible."
Satanic Cult Probed in Monster of Florence Murders
Reuters
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=1&u=/nm/20040123/od_nm/crime_italy_murders_dc
"Almost 20 years after the last murder blamed on the "Monster of Florence," investigators have reopened the case because they suspect a Satanic cult ordered the killings and kept body parts as prizes."
35 years on, murders still bedevil Chianti's rolling hills
by John Hooper
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,12576,1129565,00.html
"The suspects are outwardly respectable professionals. A lawyer, a retired village chemist, a former university medical professor specialising in dermatology and sexually transmitted diseases. The setting is the rolling hills of Chianti. And their alleged crime is one that could lie at the heart of one of Umberto Eco's esoteric thrillers."
Woman Headed for Exorcist with Son in Suitcase?
Reuters
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=9&u=/nm/20040123/od_nm/odd_germany_suitcase_dc
"German police have arrested a Croatian woman who was traveling with her two-year-old son shut up in a suitcase on the way to an exorcist, authorities said on Thursday."
Bin Laden arrest "joke" causes uproar in Lebanon
Agencie France-Presse
<http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1516&ncid=1516&e=1&u=/afp/20040123/od_afp/lebanon_binladen_media_040123150222>
"A television station caused panic in official circles by reporting the arrest in Lebanon of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden ... before admitting the announcement was a "joke" in a comedy show."
Bigfoot strikes In Derry Township
By John Jennings
Blairsville Dispatch
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/blairsvilledispatch/s_175909.html
"Bigfoot sightings were big once again in the Chestnut Ridge area in 2003, according to the annual roundup of the unexplained from word processor of Stan Gordon. The "X-Files" may come and go, but Greensburg-based Gordon has maintained an A to Z compendium of mysteries for lo these many years."
Secret of historic code: it's gibberish
by Robin McKie
The Observer
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1130727,00.html
"It is covered with drawings of fantastic plants, strange symbols and naked women."
A dark lie through the ages
By Hugh Levinson
BBC Radio 4
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3420595.stm
"For hundreds of years, it's been said that Jews kill Christian children and drain their blood for ritual purposes. Why has this myth persisted for so long?"
More than water?
by Ben Goldacre
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/badscience/story/0,12980,1127871,00.html
"What is it with pseudo scientists and water? After last week's cluster nonsense, Caroline Stacey was getting excited in the Independent's Food and Drink section about Oxygizer water."
Bill defines how to teach life's origins
By Carolyn Bower
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
<http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/5D953C9E082AAF2686256E24001748C2?OpenDocument&Headline=Bill+defines+how+to+teach+life's+origins+ ++>
"A handful of Missouri legislators have signed on to a proposal that would change how teachers introduce students to information about the origin of life."
Opponents of origin theories plan presentation
By JENNY JOHNSON
Ravalli Republic
http://www.montanaforum.com/rednews/2004/01/20/build/education/origin-science.php
"The push to broaden the Darby science curriculum and encourage teachers to challenge evolution as a biological origin isn’t over."
Rob Boston
Paul Harris Show
http://www.harrisonline.com/audio/listings/robboston.htm
"The communications director for Americans United for the Separation of Church and State talks with Paul about the attempt by some Missouri legislators to change the way science is taught in public schools, forcing teachers to give equal time to both evolution and creationism."
Californian wants Bibles in schools for academic study
By Vincent J. Schodolski
Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0401260132jan26,1,6447533.story
"A drive is under way in California to have the state government provide a Bible to every public elementary school student in the state and suggest that schools use the books as texts for the study of literature."
Creationist debates Darwinian model of evolution
By LISA BO FENG
California Aggie
http://www.californiaaggie.com/article/?id=2220
""Evolutionary biology doesn't have a clue how the flagellum works," said Dr. William Dembski at Friday night's lecture titled "Detecting Design in Biological Systems.""
Dublin trustees discuss teaching origin of life
By ANNA BOUDREAU
Stephenville Empire Tribune
<http://www.empiretribune.com/EMPIRETRIBUNE/sites/EMPIRETRIBUNE/1138edition/myarticles921706.asp?P=921706&S=425&PubID=15127>
"A resolution regarding teaching students about the “origin of life” resulted in more than an hour’s worth of discussion during the regular monthly meeting of the Dublin Independent School Board of Education Tuesday night."
Opponents make argument against intelligent design
By JENNY JOHNSON
Ravalli Republic
http://www.montanaforum.com/rednews/2004/01/22/build/education/id-mtg.php
"Hundreds of people got a crash course in biological evolution Wednesday night as opponents of a push to broaden Darby school’s science curriculum presented their case."
Extraterrestrial edge helps the balance sheet
By A. CRAIG COPETAS
Bloomberg News
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/2365195
"A galactic mystery hovers over the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland: How many of the 2,280 global leaders, including 31 heads of state, gathered in this Alpine resort conduct business with extraterrestrials?"
Feuding polygamists prompt investigation
Associated Press
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Southwest/01/23/feuding.polygamists.ap/index.html
"A power struggle has emerged in a small, tightlipped community known for polygamy, with a number of men getting kicked out of the church-owned town and their wives and children being "reassigned" against their will to other men."
From Nazis to Schuller to Arabs
by Stan Brin
Orange County Weekly
http://www.ocweekly.com/ink/04/20/news-brin.php
"He just won’t go away."
Strongest evidence against Zundel found in secret documents, agent suggests
by GREG BONNELL
Canadian Press
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/cpress/20040123/ca_pr_on_na/zundel_security_1
"The strongest evidence that Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel is a threat to national security is contained in classified documents, a government agent suggested Friday during testimony in Federal Court."
Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel prepared to stay in custody: lawyer
Canadian Press
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/cpress/20040122/ca_pr_on_na/zundel_hearing_1
"Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel is willing to remain in custody so that he can have his day in court under a Charter application, his lawyer said Thursday."
A miracle by any other name
By Bruce Nolan
New Orleans Times-Picayune
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1075014836225010.xml
"Deep in the lonely hours of one terrible August night three years ago, Dr. Ann Kay Logarbo quietly slipped to the bedside of her great-niece, Caroline Crouch, in the intensive care unit of Children's Hospital. Sedated and on life-support, Caroline lay near death, probably already severely brain-damaged by a massive viral infection. She was 6 years old."
Bones of contention
By Wendy Thomas Russell
Long Beach Press Telegram
http://www.presstelegram.com/Stories/0,1413,204%7E21474%7E1912977,00.html
"For nearly 27 years, Daniel Sperato's bones have lain beneath a triangular tombstone in an Escondido cemetery."
A baby dragon, or a bad joke?
By Roger Highfield
The Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/01/24/ndrag24.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/01/24/ixhome.html
"A pickled "dragon" that looks as if it might once have flown around Hogwarts has been found in a garage in Oxfordshire."
Delving into the unexplained
By LESLEY TÉLLEZ
Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/news/city/denton/stories/012304dndenparanormal.a180d.html
"In the dark, deep depths, in places where only the spirits tread, ghostly green lights shoot out windows. Elsewhere, winged, mothlike creatures knock on doors and stare with bright red eyes, waiting to pounce."
Alien Effects
By PAUL WINE
Tucson Weekly
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/gbase/Books/Content?oid=oid:52947
"Many early human breakthroughs, such as those of the Neolithic Revolution and the advances of the Sumerians, seem to have appeared practically out of nowhere, simply because our knowledge of what happened before is limited."
Ask Flickchick
TV Guide
http://www.tvguide.com/movies/flickchick/
"Question: I recently read Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, which mentions that the word sex appears in the clouds in The Lion King. I thought the letters were actually sfx and were put there by the special effects team. Is the author wrong or did it really say sex and not sfx?"
The Epidemic That Wasn't
BY TARA SERVATIUS
Creative Loafing Charlotte
http://charlotte.creativeloafing.com/newsstand/2004-01-21/news_citizen.html
"By the time the media was done mangling the story, hundreds of thousands of panicked parents and elderly had spent hours in line at health clinics here and across the country. In North Carolina, they jammed doctors' offices at 10 times the normal flu season rate, dragging sniffling children behind them, terrified that the colds they normally let pass without the hassle of a doctor's visit might be the "killer" flu strain."
Return of the Black Widow
BY GLENNA WHITLEY
Dallas Observer
http://www.dallasobserver.com/issues/2004-01-22/feature.html/1/index.html
"Curiosity--and not a little paranoia--pulled Jaie Benson to her condo's spare bedroom. In the last two months her guest had lived with her, things weren't adding up. Instead of answering questions about her past, the woman quoted scripture. Though she claimed to have three children, they never called. And instead of producing money from her trust fund as promised, the woman poured out excuses."
Watching the Detectives
by Steven Kotler
LA Weekly
http://www.laweekly.com/ink/04/09/news-kotler.php
"Call it the revenge of the nerds if you like, but while Homeland Security pumps Big Brother full of steroids, unlikely heroes in the form of MIT and Johns Hopkins University scientists are starting to fight back."
Regulators End Investigation of Green Bay Doctor
Associated Press
http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=1606027&nav=51s7KGZ7
"A body that oversees doctors in Wisconsin has voted to end its nine-year investigation into a Green Bay doctor without revoking his license, but it will reprimand him."
Acupuncture put under spotlight
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3402709.stm
"Scientists are to investigate whether psychological factors may boost the effectiveness of acupuncture."
Session explores alternative medicine
By Michael Erb
Marietta Times
http://www.mariettatimes.com/news/story/0119202004_new04pbgsesson.asp
"Health care workers, wellness care providers and interested community members gathered Saturday at St. Joseph's Hospital to hear presentations on the healing benefits of energy medicine."
Weil's integrative medicine gathering steam
By Carla McClain
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
http://www.dailystar.com/dailystar/news/6529.php
"Although the launch of the "integrative medicine" movement in this country may have depended on the face and fame of Dr. Andrew Weil, its rapid spread nationwide is now out of his hands."
Indian homoeopaths' cancer cure protocol attracts US attention
Press Trust of India
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_545681,0050.htm
"A cancer cure protocol developed by Indian homoeopaths has attracted the attention of the US National Institute of Health (NIH)."
Natural health show to feature 27 practitioners of alternative medicine
By Jeff Brumley
Fort Pierce Tribune
http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/health_and_wellness/article/0,1651,TCP_1040_2600030,00.html
"Convincing people that there are effective alternatives to antibiotics and surgery can be quite a challenge for practitioners of alternative healing."
Facts about cults
by HARVEY SHEPHERD
Montreal Gazette
http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/columnists/story.asp?id=92A94A74-80B6-4D63-95F3-B37F418F135F
"The broadcast reporter wanted a nice, sharp sound bite about the Raëlians, but didn't get one. In fact, the news conference launching Info-Cult's book might not have made much of a media splash."
Dinner to offer message of peace
By Melissa Evans
Fremont Argus
http://www.theargusonline.com/Stories/0,1413,83~1971~1907189,00.html
"It takes only a few drops of cold water to temper a boiling pot."
House of the temporarily dead
by Steve Rose
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1129295,00.html
"Woody Allen once remarked that he didn't want to achieve immortality through his work - he wanted to achieve it by not dying. Stephen Valentine could possibly do both. A self-professed visionary architect, Valentine has designed what could be the project of his career, and its purpose is to conquer death."
York reported no wages paid
By BILL TORPY
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0104/20york.html
"Nuwaubian leader Malachi York's organization averaged more than $1 million a year in receipts for the six years before his 2002 arrest, according to earnings reported to the IRS."
Family members of alleged York victim testify that they doubt girl's story
By WAYNE CRENSHAW
Macon Telegraph
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/nation/7753086.htm
"The mother and brother of a girl who earlier testified that Malachi York repeatedly molested her said Monday they don't believe her."
Sect leader framed, daughter says
By BILL TORPY
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0104/21york.html
"The defense of Nuwaubian leader Malachi York drew to a close Tuesday as an alleged victim testified that she was not molested by York. And York's daughter said her brother concocted a conspiracy to frame his father."
Malachi York trial goes to the jury
By BILL TORPY
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0104/22york.html
"Prosecutors in closing arguments today in the trial of Nuwaubian leader Malachi York ridiculed defense contentions that York is a victim of a conspiracy concocted by an angry son."
Jury deliberates Nuwaubian leader’s case
By MARK NIESSE
Associated Press
http://www.citizenonline.net/citizen/archive/article3CE8768FAEBF49B485D1E58662681EAF.asp
"Either cult leader Malachi York used his organization to supply him with girls for sex, or he’s the victim of a conspiracy by former members who want to bring him down, attorneys said in closing arguments at York’s trial Thursday."
Conspiracy theories compete in York trial
By BILL TORPY
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0104/23york.html
"Prosecutors, in closing arguments Thursday in the trial of Nuwaubian leader Malachi York, ridiculed defense contentions that York is a victim of a conspiracy concocted by an angry son."
York found guilty of molestation, racketeering
By BILL TORPY
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0104/23yorktrial.html
"Nuwaubian leader Malachi York was found guilty Friday on four counts of racketeering and six child molestation-related charges."
Sect leader found guilty of child molestation
By MARK NIESSE
Associated Press
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/LAW/01/23/nuwaubian.trial.ap/
"The leader of a quasi-religious sect was convicted Friday of molesting boys and girls at the group's ancient Egyptian-style compound."
Sect leader guilty of molestation
By BILL TORPY
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0104/24york.html
"Nuwaubian leader Malachi York has been called Dr. York, Isa Muhammad, Baba, The Master Teacher and The Savior."
Trial puts an end to York's 'regular days'
By Wayne Crenshaw
Macon Telegraph
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/7790963.htm
"The diminutive 16-year-old girl walked up to the witness stand as the last person to testify in the main part of the government's case against cult leader Malachi York."
Show me heaven
By Amanda Hancox
BBC Radio 4
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/3429619.stm
"As more and more people come forward with accounts of near-death experiences, new research is about to examine the out of body experience to see whether mind and body really do separate at the point of death."
Police investigating latest pyramid scheme
By TIMOTHY MITCHELL
Ravalli Republic
http://www.ravallinews.com/articles/2004/01/22/news/news06.txt
"A dinner invitation has taken on new meaning for some area residents as police warn of a new pyramid scam in Hamilton."
Allergist Believes Deodorants Can Cause Breast Cancer
KCRA
http://www.thekcrachannel.com/health/2776919/detail.html
"You may have heard the rumors about breast cancer and anti-perspirants, but could they be true?"
Still looking for Laura after 10 years
By Jesse J. Smith
Kingston Daily Freeman
http://www.dailyfreeman.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10860325&BRD=1769&PAG=461&dept_id=74969&rfi=6
"A cold case is heating up again as Ulster County sheriff's detectives, armed with new leads, believe they have a good chance of solving the decade-old disappearance of a Connelly woman."
8 surprising fictions in the Da Vinci Code
By Alyson Ward
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/living/7788428.htm
"Even if you lived under a rock - a rock in a remote area of the Arizona desert - you could not avoid hearing about The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown's runaway bestseller of a novel."
Witches Beat Out Angels In U.S., Russian Surveys
By Kevin O'Flynn
Moscow Times
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2004/01/20/011.html
"Russians are much less likely to believe in angels than Americans but more convinced that witches exist, a new survey indicates."
Star of the stargazers
by Emma Brockes
The Guardian
http://media.guardian.co.uk/presspublishing/story/0,7495,1126226,00.html
"The day I am due to meet Jonathan Cainer, I consult his website for clues as to how it might go. Cainer.com, which is distinct from his syndicated newspaper columns, his 60p-a-minute phonelines and his soon-to-be-built Museum of Psychic Experience, offers daily, weekly and yearly forecasts, as well as relationship guides and a section entitled Ancient Lost Knowledge, in which the astrologer invites us to look at the meaning of a "connected cosmos"."
Bringing fitness to an astral plane
By Jeannine Stein
Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-bodywork19jan19,1,3646139.story
"As the group cycling class settles into a warm-up, the instructor delivers his motivational spiel. But this one's a little different from the usual let's-have-fun-with-fitness speech."
Psychic fair explores the possibilities
By RAMONA TURNER
Santa Cruz Sentinel
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2004/January/26/local/stories/01local.htm
"There was a lot of enlightening going on at Sunday’s Psychic & Healing Arts Fair at the UCSC Inn & Conference Center."
UFO Festival will have a 1940s theme
Associated Press
http://www.myinky.com/ecp/entertainment/article/0,1626,ECP_738_2599633,00.html
"Visitors to this year's UFO Festival in this eastern New Mexico community will have a chance to step back in time - six decades, to be exact."
Quack addicts
by Francis Wheen
The Guardian
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/redbox/story/0,9029,1131916,00.html
"Everyone was at it. In Britain, allegedly the home of the stiff upper lip, the loopier manifestations of soul-baring may have been mocked but managerial mumbo-jumbo found an eager market."
Con's hoax backfires; 'dead' girl alive, well
BY WANDA J. DeMARZO
Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/states/florida/counties/broward_county/7785253.htm
"Hollywood police spent two days digging in a vacant field, running a backhoe, sifting through dirt by hand and leading a cadaver dog named Chico around on a leash -- all because an inmate at Florida State Prison felt homesick."
Imposter dupes Carolinas women
by AMES ALEXANDER, LISA HAMMERSLY MUNN & SHARIF DURHAMS
Charlotte Observer
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/7776320.htm
"The day after Christmas, Gina Newland got an e-mail from a man she had dated who she believed was a Navy SEAL fighting in the Middle East."
Charges in Ohio allege cancer hoax
Associated Press
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/7783798.htm
"A man was charged for allegedly bilking his girlfriend and her parents out of $6,000 by convincing them he had cancer and needed money."
Remember when ... Kangaroos were spotted in Waukesha County
By CORRINNE HESS
Waukesha Freeman
http://www.gmtoday.com/news/local_stories/2004/January_04/01242004_05.asp
"During the early morning hours of April 5, 1978, Patricia Wilcox called the Freeman to say she saw two kangaroos - a big one and a little one - hopping across Moreland Boulevard on Highway A."
Revealed: the proud history of haggis hurling was just a hoax
By Liam McDougall
Glasgow Sunday Herald
http://www.sundayherald.com/39559
"IT has been marketed as a noble tradition, but in reality it’s just a load of mince. The world of haggis hurling has been rocked to its tartan roots after the “ancient” art was exposed as a hoax, started by an Irishman to gauge the gullibility of the Scots."
U.S. uses Iraqi rumor mills
By HANNAH ALLAM
Knight Ridder Newspapers
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/iraq/7742012.htm
"To Maj. Doug Vincent and other soldiers fighting the information war in this generally tranquil town 150 miles north of Baghdad, there are good rumors and there are bad rumors."
Fraudster lawyer's claim to act for Shipman is bogus, says family's solicitor
by Rosie Cowan
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/shipman/Story/0,2763,1127523,00.html
"The London solicitors who acted for mass murderer Harold Shipman and also represent his family said yesterday they had no links with fraudster Giovanni Di Stefano and that, to the best of their knowledge, he never acted for any of the Shipmans."
FLDS carefully watched
By Pamela Manson and Mark Havnes
Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Jan/01132004/utah/128633.asp
"Residents were fleeing and law enforcement was beefed up Monday in the border towns of Colorado City, Ariz., and Hildale, Utah, after polygamous leader Warren Jeffs stripped about 20 followers of their families and priesthoods."
Mayor of polygamist community resigns
Associated Press
http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2004/01/14/news/wyoming/714167c90a03116087256e1b000c83db.txt
"A mayor of the one of the twin polygamist communities straddling the Utah-Arizona border has resigned in an apparent power struggle within a fundamentalist offshoot sect of the Mormon church."
Teens flee polygamist towns
by Mark Shaffer
Arizona Republic
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0119coloradocity19.html
"The anticipated exodus of teenage girls from the strife-torn, polygamist communities of Colorado City and Hildale, Utah, began in earnest this weekend as about 10 fanned out to towns in southern Utah seeking protection, anti-polygamy activists said Sunday."
States brace for trouble in polygamist communities
Associated Press
http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=80561
"A beloved church elder is missing, a former mayor is in hiding with three of his brothers and the town prophet is being protected by a "God Squad" while dispatching his rivals."
Three teens run away from polygamist enclave
by MARK THIESSEN
Associated Press
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/01/20/state1929EST7258.DTL
"Three teenage girls have run away in the past two weeks from the nation's largest polygamist enclave straddling the Utah-Arizona border."
Ousted polygamist church leader to speak
By Linda Stelp
Kingman Daily Miner
<http://www.kingmandailyminer.com/KINGMANDAILYMINER/sites/KINGMANDAILYMINER/0923edition/myarticles882900.asp?P=882900&S=393&PubID=11891>
"An ousted leader of a polygamist church community in the Arizona Strip says he will speak about abuses there at a press conference Friday, an activist against the community says."
Man ousted from polygamy sect snubs order
by Mark Thiessen
Associated Press
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0125polygamy25.html
"A man who openly challenged an order from the fundamentalist church leader to leave this border town has paved the way for other dissidents to come forward, an anti-polygamy advocate says."
Wives 'reassigned' to other men in polygamist town
by Mark Thiessen
Associated Press
http://www.suntimes.com/output/religion/cst-nws-poly25.html
"A power struggle has emerged in a small, tight-lipped community known for polygamy, with several men getting kicked out of the church-owned town and their wives and children being ''reassigned'' against their will to other men."
Tales of fear, retribution at secretive desert church
By Patrick O'Driscoll
USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-01-25-polygamy-church_x.htm
"Mormon outcasts fled here nearly 70 years ago to practice "plural marriage" in Utah's desert borderlands. But a church feud, outside investigations and prosecutions have brought the glare of 21st-century publicity to the largest band of polygamists in America."
Supervisors meet to discuss tension in polygamist community
By JIM SECKLER
Mohave Daily News
http://www.mohavedailynews.com/articles/2004/01/26/news/news5.txt
"Due to continuing tension in Colorado City, the Mohave County supervisors will hold a special meeting this afternoon to discuss the situation."
Leader of Polygamous Sect Faces Rebellion
By NICK MADIGAN
New York Times
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/27/national/27POLY.html?ex=1075784400&en=8adc3757965cab95&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE>
"A power struggle between members of a fundamentalist Mormon sect has exposed deep fissures in the largest polygamous community in North America, a town in which most men have several wives and sometimes dozens of children."
USF scientists solve Chilean “blob” mystery
Press Release
http://isis2.admin.usf.edu/news/2004/2004.1.8.chilean_blob.html
"When a huge, unidentifiable, gelatinous blob weighing 13 tons and measuring 41 feet long and 19 feet wide washed up on a beach in Chile in July, 2003, many speculated that it was the remains of a giant sea monster."
Future told in sacrifices, sacred seeds
by Gary Marx
Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0401200149jan20,1,5399179.story
"President Bush may be leading all his would-be challengers in the polls, but a prominent Afro-Cuban religious leader says the Republican is likely to lose his re-election bid this autumn."
Emotions High as '85 Abuse Case Reviewed
By John Johnson
Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-molest19jan19,1,6438649.story
"Christopher Diuri's temper was smoldering as he sat on the witness stand, enduring a prosecutor's withering cross-examination."
Hypnosis brings writer's forgetful past into focus
By Robert K. Elder
Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/custom/friday/chi-0401230324jan23,1,6785864.story
"When I go home to Montana each Christmas, sub-zero temperatures keep me inside, where I embark on a vacation-long hunt to reclaim bits of my past--including, in this case, some lost precious Pearl Jam negatives."
Treadwell: Naturalist or con man?
By JEREMIAH MARQUEZ
Associated Press
http://www.adn.com/alaska/story/4583318p-4554121c.html
"Timothy Treadwell's death came just the way he had predicted."
Email Hoax Warns of Gang Violence
WTOC
http://www.wtoctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1614340&nav=0qq5KNsj
"As a civilian police employee, Joyce Uribe collects patches from police departments all over. In the last couple days, she's started collecting something else. "I've received several emails and phone calls from friends and citizens regarding the email," she told us, referring to an email circulating around our area a lot lately."
Ministers told child harm theory was flawed
by Jamie Doward
The Observer
http://www.guardian.co.uk/child/story/0,7369,1130834,00.html
"Ministers were warned that the controversial scientific theory Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy (MSBP) was responsible for serious miscarriages of justice as far back as 1996, according to documents seen by The Observer."
Cops say 'oink' to green-clad terror
Jakarta Post
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailcity.asp?fileid=20040127.G03&irec=2
"The Jakarta Police announced on Monday that the talk-of-the-town kolor hijau (green underwear) creature -- believed to be a creature that is half-man and half-pig -- does not in fact exist and is only a rumor."
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/skepticsearch/
-------
If you'd like to support the Skeptic NewsSearch, please consider making a donation via PayPal - <http://tinyurl.com/x81m>