The historic and original "Welcome new posters! Introduce yourselves here!" thread

[LordoftheLeftHand]

Hi all. I'm a novice pendulum channeler who has been interested in 'woo' my whole life. I've tuned into shows like CTC and Rense since 96, and have recently begun to take a more active approach to 'woo'.

I'm just about finished getting my butt whooped over at skepticforum, so I hope to begin taking my licks over here soon, and bounce back and forth between bruisings. heh. :D

Eventually, I hope to hone my talents enough to take the challenge.

Welcome StarSeed ;) ;)

[Pauliesonne]

Dear newbies,
If you feel like you have to hit someone or hug someone just ask me and I'll be at your side to make you feel better. :)

- Pauliesonne

[neon]

Hi everyone. I've enjoyed reading the jref bulletin for a while now. Decided to join the community.

I'm an atheist. Born and raised in New York. Now live in Fla. Studied English and Journalism. Now work for a medical laboratory company.

Looking forward to a good time on the forum. Thanks.


:D

[GregC]

Hi neon.

[Ducky]

Hello Neon.

Welcome!

[Mr. Skinny]

Welcome to the new folks! Sad to say I've been ignoring this thread somewhat.

Should be interesting to talk to the Ouija board guy, and I must say I admire StarSeed for coming here after geting beat up on skepticforum. That's good form!

[SezMe]

I have dubious ISP and piece of Internet software called "AOL."
It's browser wasn't letting me actually join this forum site till I installed Firefox.
Now I'll see if I'm really here. At least my screen name is agknowledeged.

I came to Rand's site for background material for some stories I'm writing and wasn't dissappointed. Bad luck and woo-woo make good stories. And there are already so many more entertaining tales here than I could ever dream of using in stories.

OK, now for the test!
Sorry, didn't work. You only think you see your post quoted above. ;)

[Gosman]

Thanks to the forum for my first Internet foreign visit

[Jonathan Hamilton]

Hello,

My name is Jonathan Hamilton. I'm 25 years old and live in Raleigh, NC. I graduated from North Carolina State University in 2004 with a B.A. in English, concentrated in Creative Writing. I consider myself a writer, but writing doesn't pay the bills, so I work for a specialty coffee roaster.

As far as I can recall, I've been a lifelong skeptic, which seems like a miracle having been raised in the Bible Belt. I'm very encouraged by the polish, poise, and general capability of the skeptic organizations I've learned about since learning of the JREF, and I look forward to being a part of these forums.

[Spidey13]

Welcome, Jonathan! (Dude, that's my first name, too! Do you know what this means? Nothing!)

There seems to be a large influx of North Caolinians lately, though it could just be my imagination. It's good that there are skeptics in the Bible Belt. Now, if we could just get some more Kentuckians on here...

[tim]

Thanks to the forum for my first Internet foreign visit
Welcome, Gosman!
Where do you come from? We have posters from many countries here, from Brazil to Japan!
Jump right in. If you need any help, just ask. Good luck!

[Worm]

Evening all.

My names is James (although everyone calls me Worm - from (book)worm)

I'm 32 and live in Scotland, right on the English border, which is handy, because I am English.

I suppose I have always been a sceptic, although probably not as ruthlessly as some ;) I can be gullible sometimes but I always revert to form and try to establish fact, proof, assumptions etc.

I have a BSc. in Computer Science, and I work for the local Social Work department as an Information Officer, basically doing all sorts of fascinating things with databases and spreadsheets - I love it.

I consider myself to be an idealist, but areligious and fairly apolitical. Last time I bothered to check, I was classified as a libertarian, but I don't relly ascribe to classifications anyway ;)

Looking forward to some good discussions, if the threads to date are anything to go by.

ETA: I almost forgot - I'm in a cult, can't believe I forgot to mention it :)

[tim]

Welcome Worm!
You'll find quite a lot of people from the UK on the forum, some probably not far from where you are.
Excuse me for asking - cult? I like cults. Or perhaps I should say they interest me. Which particular cult would that be?
:D

[Worm]

It's called Join Me. I would give a link but of course, I can't, but if you Google for 'Join Me' it should be the first site on the list - it's a .co.uk address.

We are the least scary cult in the world - mass suicide is, at best, frowned upon.

Basically, we are committed to a single 'cause' - "Carry out one Random Act of Kindness for a complete stranger, each and every Friday"

It makes me smile just to think about it :) All cults have to have a Leader, and we do - but his 'leading' mostly consists of deciding which pub to go to.

I could go on for hours (and often do), but I trust you all to do your own homework if you feel so inclined and see that we are not at all 'culty' :) For a long time, the tagline of the organisation was 'It's Not A Cult - It's A Collective', but frankly, it is a cult, just without the negative connotations (in my opinion).

There are few things that I can say this about, but it has changed my life, and I say that in all seriousness.

[tim]

It's called Join Me. I would give a link but of course, I can't, but if you Google for 'Join Me' it should be the first site on the list - it's a .co.uk address.

We are the least scary cult in the world - mass suicide is, at best, frowned upon.

Basically, we are committed to a single 'cause' - "Carry out one Random Act of Kindness for a complete stranger, each and every Friday"

It makes me smile just to think about it :) All cults have to have a Leader, and we do - but his 'leading' mostly consists of deciding which pub to go to.

I could go on for hours (and often do), but I trust you all to do your own homework if you feel so inclined and see that we are not at all 'culty' :) For a long time, the tagline of the organisation was 'It's Not A Cult - It's A Collective', but frankly, it is a cult, just without the negative connotations (in my opinion).

There are few things that I can say this about, but it has changed my life, and I say that in all seriousness.

That looks interesting, Worm. Several of us here seem to do this in a disjointed pashion and it has been discussed here. I've an early morning tomorrow, so I'm off to bed. Can I ask you to PM me to discuss it, so I don't forget it?
Thanks
Tim

[Jocky]

Hello folks,

I've been signed up for quite some time, but never got round to saying hello :blush:

I hail from North Oxfordshire in England (although of Scottish birth), a hard working dad to two small children (who do not believe in Santa ;) ). I am of skeptical bent, an active member of UK-Skeptics.

I look forward to chipping in from time to time, although mostly I will be lurking and learning. My favourite thing so far has been watching the ongoing war of the Pakistani Homeopaths (well done to Zep in particular for engaging with them so effectively).

[Azure]

Hi guys.

I've been reading through these forums for a while and decided to sign up. I find everyones viewpoint interesting, and look forward to debating although I probably agree with the majority here.

I come from Pincher Creek, Alberta Canada. I just finished high school and am currently working for the summer before I leave for University.

Looking forward to a good time here.

[infornography]

Hi all, as you can probably see from my post count, I have already been fairly active but I felt I should go ahead and say hi formally.

I am an agnostic from Dallas Texas. One of my favorite activities is to spend time in religion forums. I was most pleased to see that we had one here and am already impressed with the general caliber of the inhabitants.

I am a teacher of IT for a trade school so I will probably also lurk around the education and computer forums as well.

I like a good debate but am a lot more mellow than I once was so I rarely get into a really good argument. Fortunately it seems that a lot of the people here hold very strong beliefs/ideals with actual rationales for them.

Also I have a bachelor's in Psychology. As such I have a fairly good background in philosophy and sociology as well.

Main reason I came here was that I was getting bored with my old haunt and stumbled on the JREF by accident. I had heard of James Randi before and his million dollar challenge and I already had a lot of respect for the man.

I'll be around and about, if anyone wants to contact me via IM or send me a PM, feel free. I like to think that I am very approachable.

See you all around
-infornography

[Jas]

Hi guys.

I've been reading through these forums for a while and decided to sign up. I find everyones viewpoint interesting, and look forward to debating although I probably agree with the majority here.

I come from Pincher Creek, Alberta Canada. I just finished high school and am currently working for the summer before I leave for University.

Looking forward to a good time here.

Ooh, you just missed some people meeting up in Calgary (as did I :mad:)

[treble_head]

Ooh, you just missed some people meeting up in Calgary (as did I :mad:) If by "missed some people" you meant "dodged a bullet by not"...

I kid. You Canadians are great, what with your calling ham "bacon" and your cheap yet thrilling beer and all... Happy Canada day, you "extra u" loving freaks! :)

[derset]

Hello and good tidings!

I am a scientist at heart, and, someday, hope to have the Ph.D. to prove it. Next year, I, having finished high school, will continue my education at the University of Kansas with the intended major of "Microbiology and Molecular Genetics." This university certainly has a larger concentration of 'liberal atheist heathens" (like me) than the remainder of Kansas, including other colleges and universities. My home town is full of closed-minded Christians who taught me all about God and lagged in teaching anything quite as well. I DID attend a 1A school, meaning that my graduating class had only 28 people in it, and there were not high-standards. With so few students, everyone tested slightly above average, and that is all anyone ever expected of us.

I have always had a natural affinity towards science. From a young age, I found science class to be the easiest and most interesting. This feeling as never left.

In high school, I did fairly well. I took the most rigorous courses available in an environment in which the most mundane activities took precedence over education. I was rather unlucky in the science classes though. For biology and chemistry, we only had one teacher for all the courses. However, we cycled through them so quickly, I have had a different one almost every year.

My biology class as a sophomore was by far the most trying. My teacher was a 'Mennonite' and publicly displayed his faith and its fundamental ideals. He taught us that the 'gays' were the 'Root of All Evil,' which my peers and I dismissed as members of 'Generation Y.' Along with that, he taught us that evolution had been debunked and that creation was the most plausible explanation for our existence. He did this gradually enough, that it took almost all year for the school board to remove him. And, they removed him for other reasons. It was this year that I started to move from my position as an impressionable and naturally moderate point of view to my current liberal and strongly-convicted one. I had to debate creationism for weeks at one point, and I started to estrange teachers and peers who taught and preached the religious dogma and conservative lies. My connections with various people--scientists, liberals, and other sensible people-- along with a natural thirst for knowledge have helped me develop into the person I am today.

Since that encounter, I have hoped for nothing more than to remove myself from this state as completely as possible. Although I have had that opportunity through college acceptances, I made the decision to stay in Kansas. First and foremost, financial situations have dictated the decision. However, I have the opportunity to influence a larger number of people this way.

An affinity to atheism, which arose through education, also led me to general skepticism. Such, and influence from close acquaintances, have led me to this forum. I have browsed a bit, but I haven't posted. Ergo, this is my first post.

I hope to learn a lot, and maybe a forum like this will help keep me sane in a state full of neo-cons.

--Derset

[Ducky]

Welcome Derset.

Good post! Don't let the bastards get you down.

[Dr Adequate]

Fight the good fight, derset, and welcome to the forums!

[Ashles]

Welcome Derset!

[calebprime]

Hi Derset and others.

I'm new and intend mostly to lurk. Already I've found reading the correspondence around the challenge to be absolutely fascinating. I'm surprised so few people get as far as the actual test. I would have expected there to be more clever charlatans who could fool the Foundation at least for a while.

I was going to say I've been a fan of Randi at least as far back as 1978, but I can't find any reference to Flim-Flam being published before 1980. So any lawyer would make me look pretty silly in court. In '78, I was rooming with a guy who SWORE he could travel "astrally", or whatever. He also swore that Randi must have paranormal abilities of his own. He was totally impervious to anything I said. Otherwise a fairly sane person.

Also, my father is a former scientist who now swears by Edgar Cayce. Just another bright person who is a bit gullible, I'm afraid.

Can anyone here can give me background on the career of Gary E. Schwartz, author of the (fairly silly) _The G.O.D Experiments_ ?

[d_goddard]

My name is Denis and I'm a skeptic and a Bright.
I was pointed here thanks to SkepticScott, but please don't hold that against him ;)

I have spent a large chunk of my life finding and fixing bugs in software; this has really driven home, to me, the practical importance of critical thinking skills. There's nothing like breaking your head for 2 weeks over a bug, only to discover you failed to check your very first premises -- the Bug in question then becomes immediately obvious, and can be summarily squashed.

I am also an active Libertarian, or as I like to put it, "Freedom-fighter". I suspect you'll find me hanging out on the "Politics Current Events, and Social Issues" board most of the time. Please feel free to criticize, point out fallacies, or just say hello. Fun times!

I'm looking forward to being able to upload an Avatar, as on other Forums. And maybe I'm missing something, but I didn't see anyplace to put a signature, either. I'll poke around some more.

[wollery]

Greetings calebprime & d_goddard, welcome to the asylum. :w2:

You can create and edit your signature by following the link to "User CP". Edit Signature is the first item on the left hand menu.

[Darat]

Greetings calebprime & d_goddard, welcome to the asylum. :w2:

You can create and edit your signature by following the link to "User CP". Edit Signature is the first item on the left hand menu.

But you'll need 50 posts. (Must do something about this .)

Oh and welcome new people :welcome3

[d_goddard]

Groovy. I'm already doing intellectual battle over on the political board :D

It would be nice to let people have a signature from Post #1, as it really just tells others about yourself.
I see you need 15 posts to be able to post URLs, and that seems reasonable as spam-avoidance.
Will I get an Avatar at 50 posts? That seems like a nice treat, a goal to keep people engaged.

ttfn!

[Rabbit]

d_goddard, there is always the Humor Forum. Let's just say someone is in a box, and needs a laugh to get out.

[Geek Goddess]

(I hope this isn't a repeat, my first post vanished or takes a lot longer to show up that I expected)

Hello to all. I am a life-long skeptic, I just didn't know my handle until I read Shermer's Why People Believe Weird Things several years ago, the beginning of a trip that led me eventually to here. I'm a scientist-turned-chemical engineer (job opportunities and money upgrades), and currently in charge of building gas processing plants. I like reading science, history, the history of science, and think a great many people are just plain silly.

About me. I am politically conservative, religiously neutral (veering towards occasional hostility, but don't tell Grandma), intolerant of mindless irrational bigotry (as opposed to rational prejudice), curious, worried about the state of education in the U.S., disdainful of ignorance, turned on by brains and love of learning, shocked, SHOCKED at what ridiculous things people believe, kind to puppies and small children, and concerned that half the people in this country are below average intelligence. I’m going on the Amazing Cruise in August. I’ve never learned to believe seven impossible things before breakfast, and think it’s a very sad commentary on human nature that Congress lets actors testify on apple pesticides and farm aid.

[Rabbit]

...and concerned that half the people in this country are below average intelligence...

That's pretty funny. Welcome. BTW, I love the name.

[Darat]

Groovy. I'm already doing intellectual battle over on the political board :D

It would be nice to let people have a signature from Post #1, as it really just tells others about yourself.
I see you need 15 posts to be able to post URLs, and that seems reasonable as spam-avoidance.
Will I get an Avatar at 50 posts? That seems like a nice treat, a goal to keep people engaged.

ttfn!

Yep avatars and signatures at 50 posts and a bigger PM box - all as incentives to try and get you engaged with the community. We're like vampires we need regular supplies of new blood!

;)

[Dr Adequate]

I am also an active Libertarian, or as I like to put it, "Freedom-fighter". I suspect you'll find me hanging out on the "Politics Current Events, and Social Issues" board most of the time. Yeah, well, I'm gonna whip your ass ... but don't take it personally.

[柳小蟋]

:D i happened to know this website, and i think it is interesting . so i register in and became a member here .
e~~i am not a native speaker(english), if there were any mistakes in what i have posted, please tell me(if you cannot understand) or just forget them, hehe~~~
e~~ i am a new one ,:) i wish i could make friends here, and it is the time for me to get to know this website or bbs.
o~by the way ,i come from China~a far away country from USA

[Rabbit]

:D i happened to know this website, and i think it is interesting . so i register in and became a member here .
e~~i am not a native speaker(english), if there were any mistakes in what i have posted, please tell me(if you cannot understand) or just forget them, hehe~~~
e~~ i am a new one ,:) i wish i could make friends here, and it is the time for me to get to know this website or bbs.
o~by the way ,i come from China~a far away country from USA

Hi 柳小蟋,

Don't worry about your English. You did well.

It's great to have someone from China here. I am sure you will do fine.

I look forward to reading your future posts.

[柳小蟋]

thank you, rabbit,`~ nice to meet you~e~
i think it is also very late in USA, anyway, i just type what i am
thinking, maybe it is very confused , but it is my style~ ^_^

[wollery]

:D i happened to know this website, and i think it is interesting . so i register in and became a member here .
e~~i am not a native speaker(english), if there were any mistakes in what i have posted, please tell me(if you cannot understand) or just forget them, hehe~~~
e~~ i am a new one ,:) i wish i could make friends here, and it is the time for me to get to know this website or bbs.
o~by the way ,i come from China~a far away country from USAGreetings ???.

Where in China are you? I'm living in southern China at the moment.

[gasmonso]

I was in China a few years ago for vacation. I must admit I was shocked at how beautiful it was. I spent serveral days in Shanghai, then several more going up the Yangtze by boat. Then we flew to Beijing to spend a few more day. Great trip and would do it again :)

gasmonso

[柳小蟋]

Greetings ???.

Where in China are you? I'm living in southern China at the moment.

yes~~it is a greeting~
ah~~i am also living in southern China at the moment, Chongqing~
i see that the word under your ID is Chinese pinyin,so ~~??

By the way, is it wee hours in America now??

[柳小蟋]

I was in China a few years ago for vacation. I must admit I was shocked at how beautiful it was. I spent serveral days in Shanghai, then several more going up the Yangtze by boat. Then we flew to Beijing to spend a few more day. Great trip and would do it again :)

gasmonso

ah~~it is nice to hear that you have a good expression of my homeland, but what a pity that i haven't been to Beijing and Shanghai, where i think is far away from here.

e~~i still remember my hard times to prepare the exam which required me to remember the map of USA. ( because when i was in high school , i was a scinece student whose subjects didnot include geography.)hehe~~ especially the east part, so many state crowd in a such a little place on the map.

en~~but i think it is a chance for me to know more about USA, because during the prepareing time i had to inquire the geography knowledge to strength what i had remembered.

and now, the map of USA is the only one which i could remember. But it doesnot mean that i wouldnot lose myself if i went to America, :D even in my hometown i could lose myself because only in the mornig i could konw where is the east in the condition there is sun.

[wollery]

yes~~it is a greeting~
ah~~i am also living in southern China at the moment, Chongqing~
i see that the word under your ID is Chinese pinyin,so ~~??I'm in Kunming. I've only been here a few weeks and I'm struggling to learn Chinese. I think I've just about got the pronounciations right, and I have a list of about 200 words (and expanding) that I'm trying to learn. It's a slow process though!

[柳小蟋]

I think i could know your feeling----a slow process, because also i am studying one of the hardest language-French, which has so many grammar, enough to freak me out, fortunately, i passed the exam.

e~i think Kunming is a nice place which i would like to go there for travelling in my summer vacation, but i could not put in practice because of the exercitation.

Personally, i think it is better that you make friends with local people who coul speak standard Chinese and some English,:D

[wollery]

I think i could know your feeling----a slow process, because also i am studying one of the hardest language-French, which has so many grammar, enough to freak me out, fortunately, i passed the exam.Yeah, French can be tricky, except oddly for people from France. :D

e~i think Kunming is a nice place which i would like to go there for travelling in my summer vacation, but i could not put in practice because of the exercitation.I also think Kunming is a good place. Maybe you'll get to visit soon.

Personally, i think it is better that you make friends with local people who coul speak standard Chinese and some English,:DThat fairly well describes where I'm working. No other native English speakers (unless you count the guy from India), but most people speak a little English, and some speak very good English. :)

[Mechbob]

Hello, I am not new to this site, only to the forum. I live near Buffalo, New York, so I'm well aquainted with CISCOP. I am a retired auto/truck/heavy equipment mechanic, hence the user name. I think I have spent most of my life debunking or arguing against "quick fixes" and "mechanical miracle cures" in my line of work. Magnets for gasoline, super carbs hidden by General Motors (ask me) and fuel additives are among my pet peeves.
I also have a strong interest in computers and the Internet. My first computer was a two-bit Heath-Kit "computer" game I built in shop class way back in 1966.
I started looking for info at JREF when my kids asked serious questions about
a program we saw on the television. I needed proof, drawings, photos, anything that would illustrate the falsehoods they saw. The show by the way, was about ancient pyramids and astronauts by Daniken. I laughed but my kids thought there might be something to it. So,,onto the net, we found CISCOP in our "backyard", and that led to Mr. Randi, and a simple way to debunk Daniken.
I learned in high school about doing research properly, about honesty, and hard work. Strangely, they still teach kids this way, but as most teachers will tell you; they have a hard time competing with television and the internet for their student's attention.
I majored in industrial arts (shop), art, and science. I did horribly in biology, (borrring!) but did well in chemistry, physics, and history. My favorite subjects were shop (electrical, wood, metal and auto), plus introductory drafting (which was cancelled my second year). I took four years of art, and did very well, but never considered it as a career. I took three years of math, and if wasn't for the fact my math teracher was also my track coach, I most likely would have failed algebra. To this day I can't remember a single algebric rule, but I still know how to measure the aproximite height of a tree using it's shadow, and can lay out a set of steps or stairs without looking it up.
So, from time to time I may weigh in with an opinion that seems out of character for a high school graduate. But an education can be wasted on a lazy, and/or dishonest student. Or, as my dad would say, "educated idiots who wouldn't know what to do with an umbrella on a rainy day!"
It does not take a university degree to hold a library card, or to listen carefully to James Randi. It does however, seem to take a great deal of intelligence to admit ignorance and ask questions.
.
Mechbob_ Holley, New York.

[Eos of the Eons]

I did horribly in biology, (borrring!).

Blasphemor!!!

That's okay, we appreciate how folks have strengths and weaknesses, and find a balance here :D I'm sure I would have found shop class boring!

Welcome, and thank you for taking a hands on approach to teach your kids critical thinking.

[Bruno Putzeys]

The forum software handsomely pointed me here to make my first post. For those who are taking the time to read this very long post, I'll try to make it worth it. If at any stage you get exasperated, feel free to peek at the last paragraph to verify it's going the right way.

I'm 33 years old, belgian, electrical engineer by trade (class D audio amplification if you're interested but in that case you'd probably know me already). I'm not sure if it matters, but I've got Asperger's Syndrome (congenital form of high functioning autism).

More to the point, I've spent my first 29 years variously entertaining new-age beliefs, theism through devout christianity all the way to downright religious delusion. Mostly though I simply held such notions as plausible but not very important. You know, that dangerous state of mind that keeps a person open to further indoctrination.

Add to that unresolved solipsism that bothered me for as long as I remember, and you've got a particularly poisonous brew.
Nevertheless I have never doubted for a second the validity of accepted scientific knowledge (what did I know about the scientific method, it was all about knowledge these days) and it was very clear to me that it would be necessary to refine the concept of God to fit the data. After all you wouldn't want to date a girl you call Anita and who you think loves movies only to find out she's called Priscilla and she won't go anywhere near a cinema. Likewise, even in that state of mind I thought it obvious it wouldn't help to pray to a god who made the world with his bare hands 6000 years ago if the real Chap was smart enough just to dial in some carefully chosen fundamental constants and shout BOOM some 13.7 billion years earlier and let it run from thence. I think that's a very powerful theological argument in favour of good science.

Late 2003 I was introduced to a local outpost of the Church of God of Tennessee. It was in Brussels but I really felt instantly transported to the deep south. No kidding. The most harrowing experience I've had there was when one woman came forward to witness (one of those routines where people take the stand to say how God has been intervening in their lives). Her daughter had just had a child with a serious birth defect. The baby was beyond rescue or treatment. So the family gathered to spend the day with the baby until he died. The woman was crying as she then thanked and praised the Lord with all her heart for that one very special day with her family and her baby grandson. My stomach churns even as I write this, three years on.

So I'd go there on sunday afternoon and in the evening, upon my return home, I'd ask God how on earth he could tolerate the nonsense.

Funnily enough, God spoke back.

The voice in my head said I had my work cut out for me. I was sent there to that church just to see how insane people could be and it was my job to put together the Truth and bring it to the People. Yes, folks, I had a calling and I had God's phone number.

Of course, even though God would speak to me in vernacular he wouldn't just tell me how the universe worked and who or what he was. He'd leave it aaallll to me and cheer me on from the sidelines.

So I got hold of every sacred book I could think of, read up on history of religion including books on bible translation, and worked through piles of scientific literature that I thought would help. Ideas like soul and afterlife were the first to evaporate. The laws of physics were sufficient to explain brain function, especially if one was aware of the complex behaviour that can occur in even simple nonlinear systems. There was no need for something on top of neurons for humans to behave the way they do.

And God cheered.

As I progressed I realised that to make the whole thing fit I'd really have to relegate God himself to some fairly obscure corner, at least as far as creation goes, and that he'd make more sense as a metaphysical state to strive towards, not so much as an extant being. So I told him.

But God kept cheering (rather fainter though).

One of the books I came across (thanks to my bro who got it for me for christmas) was Pascal Boyer's "Religion Explained". I read it in spite of its rather less than academic sounding title. Now, as I said earlier I was already fully convinced of facts such as evolution. And there was this book explaining with astounding clarity that evolution accounts fully for the fact that I considered supernatural concepts to be plausible.

I hadn't heard of the term "undercutting defeater" yet, but I could tell one when I saw one. At first, I said it wouldn't affect my faith. But then, three weeks later I was alone. God had left the building. My lively imagination lay there, slain. I had become an atheist.

I spent the following year sweeping out all remaining supernatural beliefs. Hardest to let go of, of course, was the afterlife and reincarnation. I would only live once, age once, die and be erased. In the end I decided that since there was nothing anyone could do to stop it, I might just as well stop whining about it. In the meantime that's become my standard philosophy. Act if capable, accept if not. Not once since that day have I raised my voice. Before I could be taken with rage. It's a nice illustration of how deriving one's philosophy from hard fact is more likely to yield a satisfying outcome than to start from a phantasy.

I also cleaned house in my "audio beliefs". Very effectively it appears. I've never had more compliments about how good my stuff sounds than since I stopped taking all the woo seriously.

In the meantime, I think I'm a full-blown skeptic. Much of my free time goes into looking for ways to explain most clearly the scientific method (and its validity!) to laypeople. But what bothers me is how I, having been a believer, find it so difficult now to empathise with believers. I find myself talking down on them just like the people I hated myself in the old days. Now I really have my job cut out for me. But at least, I'm not on my own anymore.

[De_Bunk]

I'm sure we got someone else on this board with Aspergers...

DB

[dglas]

...glances left and right, with rabbits' eyes....

Are they here? Is it safe?
>phew<

Hi. I know I'm getting in here kinda late, but I've spent most of my time dodging from thread to thread in the humour forums, trying to evade the bad people. They...uh...they want to catch and cook me. I don't know why....

So, hey-there! My name's Greg - I go by two handles online: raeat and dglas. I arrive here via the dark and dangerous route through Skepticality, then the SFN, then here. I'll use dglas here because that's what I started with all those years ago, and because that's what I went by when I was a member of the old Skeptic-L listserv. I'm also using it on the other two skeptic forums.

Anyway, I was not properly socialized. Sadly, I cannot make any of the dramatic claims of being pre-skeptic and transforming majestically into skepticism from (dare I say) dubious roots. Just a childhood of neglect, lots of science fiction and role-playing gaming. Probably the three major influences on my life and thinking are: (1) Dr. Sagan's Cosmos, (2) Being bitten by a chipmunk (it's an anti-Disney trauma thing), and (3) Chapter 6 of Irving M. Copi's Symbolic Logic.

I spent a significant amount of my university time working in the university bookstore (stories I could tell!) and trying to rigorously remove all normative language from my speech. I used to quip that I really felt, very strongly, that we shouldn't, you know, just shouldn't use normative language.

My goals are two-fold. I want to be declared dangerous by the moral majority. I recognize this is not likely to happen, at this late stage, so I will just have to content myself with the title "moral nihilist." I want the neighbours to eventually say of me that they never imagined something like this would happen and that I seemed like such a quiet fellow. Is this too much to ask?

Whu...whut's that noise?
Sounds like zombie-like chanting. "Haw-sen-feff---"
Gotta run!

[The Atheist]

Hi there! He says, belatedly getting to where the first post should have been....

I am, as my name suggests, an atheist.

If you are online at MSN, Yahoo, or many other forums and sites and you see someone called, The Atheist, it is likely to be me.

I am Alan, of Auckland, 47 years old, and between 4 and 9 children, depending on whether you count only the biological ones (3 at home aged 4 - 15), or add in the other 6 that we look after - on a seemingly permanent basis! (yes we do have a large house)

I am first and foremost humanist, trying very hard to improve the lot of the planet's poorest people, while also having time to spend as a rationalist and atheist, debunking and attempting to debilitate the forces of evil which extort money at the promise of an afterlife, or personal relationship with the ghost of a long-dead Jew.

I run www.atheist.co.nz as well as my commercial sites - links to these can be obtained via PM if you wish.

No doubt you'll see my comments as I see yours, I am fairly outspoken!

Live long and prosper

[JLam]

I can't believe that this forum has been around for nigh on 5 years, and "The Atheist" wasn't already taken as a username!

Welcome, heathen!

[The Atheist]

Me neither!

& thanks.

[Mr. Skinny]

Me neither!

& thanks.
For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why Mr. Skinny had not been taken already when I joined up here. :)

Anyhow, welcome newcomers! Good to have you on board.

[coberst]

I am a retired engineer with a good bit of formal education and twenty five years of self-learning. I began the self-learning experience while in my mid-forties. I had no goal in mind; I was just following my intellectual curiosity in whatever direction it led me.

This hobby, self-learning, has become very important to me. I have bounced around from one hobby to another but have always been enticed back by the excitement I have discovered in this learning process.

[Tanstaafl]

Hi folks! I've been posting for a few weeks but only now noticed this thread.

I am a not-yet-retired software engineer, raised Methodist, but in the classic case that fundamentalists fear, learning evolution slowly led me down a logical path that, 20 years later, resulted in Atheism. I'm a slow learner.

I'm also, in terms of hobbies, a ham radio operator and a drag racer. Before that I was a stock car racer until I learned that concrete walls are very, very hard.

[Tanstaafl]

Oh, as this is post #50, do I get to have an avatar now?

[Unholy_Mackerel]

:) I actually registered several weeks ago, but was too busy with another forum, until one day I made the "mistake" of pointing out to someone there that I thought there was something seriously misguided about grown, rational people believing in Ouija boards and psychics. They insisted these things were not to be taken lightly. I kept insisting otherwise.

I left of my own free will before I lost my temper and told them what else I thought of their belief systems (the usual woo-subjects: psychics, tarot, palm reading, etc.)

The bizarre thing: It was supposed to be a forum dedicated to parrot owners.

[Groovydoc]

Hi, I'd like to make my first post after awhile of lurking, then waiting while my spam filter happily dumped my registration requests for a week or two.

I came to the site after re-reading Flim Flam after about 15 years and wondering if James Randi was still around. A quick web search and here I am.

By profession, I'm a physician working in a small Northern California town (see separate humor post coming soon). I've been a cynic and skeptic for most of my life, mostly due to family influence I suppose, and have a background in basic science research before entering medicine.

I don't expect to post much secondary to my busy work/family life, but look forward to making an occasional contribution.:)

[Roadtoad]

Hi, I'd like to make my first post after awhile of lurking, then waiting while my spam filter happily dumped my registration requests for a week or two.

I came to the site after re-reading Flim Flam after about 15 years and wondering if James Randi was still around. A quick web search and here I am.

By profession, I'm a physician working in a small Northern California town (see separate humor post coming soon). I've been a cynic and skeptic for most of my life, mostly due to family influence I suppose, and have a background in basic science research before entering medicine.

I don't expect to post much secondary to my busy work/family life, but look forward to making an occasional contribution.:)

Welcome, Doc. I'm in Norcal, too. Where abouts are you?

[anymouse]

am surprised that this common handle from the old bbs days was available. it is what we all used to call "anonymous" posters who would flame others tho i always had a mental image of a mouse line-up at the police station when i saw the word.

i found this forum quite by accident, was doing some research on amiga software and altavista listed this site and the names/handles of two people i used to know. looked around and saw a lot of interesting convos going on, so signed up. don't have much to say about myself, just a generic(aka boring) sort of person interested in a lot of things.

[CardZeus]

Hi - I'm a newbie here. I'm a physicist currently working in Singapore - nice to see you all.

My first dumb question - whats a 'woo' or what is 'woo'???

[Groovydoc]

@ Roadtoad: Mount Shasta, Woo capitol of NorCal!

[Roadtoad]

Dude! I'm in North Highlands! MEETUP!

Spend much time around Orland?

[Darat]

Hi, I'd like to make my first post after awhile of lurking, then waiting while my spam filter happily dumped my registration requests for a week or two.

I came to the site after re-reading Flim Flam after about 15 years and wondering if James Randi was still around. A quick web search and here I am.

By profession, I'm a physician working in a small Northern California town (see separate humor post coming soon). I've been a cynic and skeptic for most of my life, mostly due to family influence I suppose, and have a background in basic science research before entering medicine.

I don't expect to post much secondary to my busy work/family life, but look forward to making an occasional contribution.:)

:welcome4

One of the crafty techniques I've seen other Members use is to get the rest of their family to sign-up, then you can combine family life with posting!

[Darat]

Hi - I'm a newbie here. I'm a physicist currently working in Singapore - nice to see you all.

My first dumb question - whats a 'woo' or what is 'woo'???
:welcome2

There's this old thread about what is a woo: http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=9466

[Hypernicus]

Hello world

[Darat]

Hello world


Can't speak for the world but I'll say hello and welcome.

And feel free to come and join us for a virtual hug, just click on the banner.

:suphug (http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?postid=1777688#post1777688)

[gannon]

just posting to get rid of that annoying message. Not sure why it is there it just seems to invite spam. (I do love reading the message board though)

[Eos of the Eons]

Cool, spam from newbies! Seriously a good thing, since this thread is so interesting because of the different perspectives each new poster offers. So welcome, and it's good to see any type of "hello".

Virtual hug spam too? I'll have to check it out...

[sgtpepperlhcb2]

Hello to all. I have always had a love of science and debate, so I was naturally drawn to Penn & Teller:BS several years ago. It was through their show that I learned of the many organizations that make great contributions to the spread of logic and critical thinking. I have since joined the Skeptics Society and the JREF and hope to contribute as much as possible to the cause of skepticism and reason.

[tim]

Hello to all. I have always had a love of science and debate, so I was naturally drawn to Penn & Teller:BS several years ago. It was through their show that I learned of the many organizations that make great contributions to the spread of logic and critical thinking. I have since joined the Skeptics Society and the JREF and hope to contribute as much as possible to the cause of skepticism and reason.
Welcome!

[Tuamutef]

Hi all, I found myself here by chance while researching the Great Pyramids, got hooked while reading the posts about everything under the sun and decided to stay! I'm a computer engineer, one of those weird female geeks that company tech guys hate because I know more than them and I really should be at home breeding, feeding and weeding :rolleyes:

[1984]

Hi all, I found myself here by chance while researching the Great Pyramids, got hooked while reading the posts about everything under the sun and decided to stay! I'm a computer engineer, one of those weird female geeks that company tech guys hate because I know more than them and I really should be at home breeding, feeding and weeding :rolleyes:

Welcome Tuamutef! Now stop using your workplace computers for your personal interests and get back to work. :D

[Eos of the Eons]

Yahoo! (sorry, it's westerner week here)

A fresh new skepchick!

Welcome Tuamutef

[DataPacRat]

Yet another newbie. Enjoyed Penn & Teller's BS on DVD, live in the Niagara region, Canada, within driving distance of the Buffalo CSICOP centre, and though I may write about all sorts of supernatural happenings in fiction, do my best to remember the differences between what's possible in the real universe and what isn't.

[Perihelion]

I got my validation, I'm so excited!

[Tripper]

I'm happy to be here with other like-minded folks.

Being a skeptic can feel very isolating in modern American society.

If only we could shake America (and Americans) of their woo-woo so we can get on with taking care of and loving each other instead of finding excuses not to.

Scratch that - let me rephrase:
If only we could shake the world of its woo-woo so we can get on with taking care of and loving each other instead of finding excuses not to.

:)
Tripper

[Hutch]

Well, well, well, it's been a busy Friday morning...

Welcome DataPacRat. A writer, huh? Anything we might want to pickup at the bookstore? (ps, check out a few of the folks here, like Roadtoad-I think you'll find some folks with better than average word-writing skills here).

And welcome to Perihelion, who's so excited!! Well, we're excited too!! :D

And welcome to tripper, who only wants to change the world; well, we'll settle for some steps here in combating the woo that surronds up and work our way up.

Welcome all; now get out there and start posting!

[Matthew Best]

Hello all. Been lurking for a couple of weeks and thought I'd get rid of that message asking me to introduce myself by doing so. I'm an English person living in London and working for MTV. I look forward to much continued lurking and very occasional posting.

[Dave1001]

Hi all, My name is Dave. I'm a law student in NYC and a message board junkie. I found out about this message board from big-boards.com, which lists the most popular message boards. I'm interested in futuristic technology and how it can improve our lives, and I'm a skeptic (including about skepticism). I look forward to participating in what is probably the smartest large message board around.

[hubbub2]

I've been a fan of James Randi since I first saw him perform psychic surgery on TV many years ago. I've been reading his commentary on this site for a couple of years now and decided (finally) to quit being so bashful and join in the fun.

[tim]

Well hello Matthew Best, Dave1001 and hubbub2!
All are welcome here!
We look forward to your posts.
Matthew, look out for Skeptic meets in London - they happen every month or two.........

[Elizabeth I]

...to introduce myself as requested.

I live in San Antonio, Texas, and work for the public library. My favorite activities are riding (on horses:) ) and reading.

I knew about Randi from CSICOP and Skeptical Inquirer magazine, but (go figure!) didn't know anything about his website. Heard about that today - it was listed as the Bonzer website on Randy Cunningham's "This Is True."

Anyway, this looks like it is populated by mostly intelligent, civil people, and will be fun.

[wollery]

Welcome your majesty! :)

[Aqua Blue]

Hello all,

I'm a Sydney sider.

I've been a member (still am, technically) of about five different boards, but this one looks quite good compared to some.

I plan to post some good, positive stuff from the top of the world during the remainder of this winter.

[Gadget]

:yahoo I got validated.

Hello to everyone, I'm a Theatre Technician living in London and am qualified in Reiki although a bit of a skeptic as to what it is, it seems to do something.

Anyway I love Penn & Teller and have seen loads of documentaries with James Randi in and I am hooked, so here I am ready for some chat and debate.

[Dogdoctor]

Welcome Gadget and Aqua Blue.:welcome4
Gadget be prepared to have your Reiki beliefs vigorously attacked.

[steverino]

Just checkin in from West Seattle. I viewed Adam the Healer on TV then heard him on Coast to Coast and he made me puke, offering false hope to the terminally ill for money. So I joined here. Thanks.

[Kopji]

hello and welcome! Yeah, this board is the best. at least it attracts people who post from airports while waiting for flights and stuff. :)

my favorite area of the forum is the paranormal discussions, and a nice place to just read. the community forum is good for meeting various forum members in their bare feet and beers.

The politics forum is filled with kind and polite people. Sylvia Browne got a real job. The Pope expressed doubt that religion might be just a big mistake.

[Gadget]

Welcome Gadget and Aqua Blue.:welcome4
Gadget be prepared to have your Reiki beliefs vigorously attacked.

No problem there, thats why I registered, either you believe or you don't, either it works or it doesn't all I can say is in my experience something happens but your guess as to what is as good as mine!!!:)

[Dogdoctor]

No problem there, thats why I registered, either you believe or you don't, either it works or it doesn't all I can say is in my experience something happens but your guess as to what is as good as mine!!!:)
Not guessing is better than guessing. Anway people may get really nasty so just stick it out and don't be too offended

[Ratatoskr]

Just popping in from Norway (where we contrary to common belief now have a warm summer). A little about me: I'm a physics student, and now, after some months reading Swift, I thought I should join the forum and hopefully be an active member. I still can't remember how I found randi.org, but I think it was when they sent a stupid "phsycic helping the police"-program on tv, and I wanted to find out how "true" these stories were.
To my great pleasure I found this website, and it's a wonderful fealing to see that there is still intelligent people around the world :)

[GregC]

Just popping in from Norway (where we contrary to common belief now have a warm summer). A little about me: I'm a physics student, and now, after some months reading Swift, I thought I should join the forum and hopefully be an active member. I still can't remember how I found randi.org, but I think it was when they sent a stupid "phsycic helping the police"-program on tv, and I wanted to find out how "true" these stories were.
To my great pleasure I found this website, and it's a wonderful fealing to see that there is still intelligent people around the world :)

You haven't been reading the humor threads, have you? Welcome aboard NorwegianSquirrel.

[dglas]

To my great pleasure I found this website, and it's a wonderful fealing to see that there is still intelligent people around the world :)

Part of being a skeptic is reserving judgement on extraordinary claims such as this. :D

Welcome aboard...

[DeepThort]

SO GLAD I found this site. As a child I found I could "dowse", and over the years, have occasionally demonstrated dowsing to the amazement of friends (haha, don't get excited yet!) Unlike so many though, I have always maintained that there must be a scientific explanation behind the dowsing effect. I found that explanation right here (ideomotor effect). I have yet to see whether the ideomotor effect still manifests now I know the secret. Randi is right on the money when he discusses how utterly compelling the ideomotor effect can be. Glad I escaped my brush with the woo :)

[gizmonic]

It's about time I stop lurking and introduce myself.

I live in NE Ohio, so I'm surrounded by woo-woo. This site is a pleasant reminder that I'm not alone!

I've been a fan of James Randi since the Uri Geller nonsense in the 70's.

At the time I remember seeing Geller and thought how cool it was that he could "bend" spoons with his mind (hey, I was only a kid!). But Randi soon taught me otherwise with his tv appearances, books, etc. that it was all bull****.

I have to give Randi a lot of credit for teaching me how be a more informed citizen.

Thanks!

[Bubo]

Yet another "hello" added to the heap.


How do you do the avatar thingy?

[Roadtoad]

Well, first, look in your wallet. See those pictures of dead guys on the paper? Send me those pictures.

[Bubo]

*rummages inside pockets, pulls out a piece of string and an old juicy fruit stick*

But seriously, folks...

[wollery]

You need to amass 50 posts first.

[Bubo]

But gizmonic has an otter...

[Bubo]

... and only two posts!

[wollery]

Hmm, go to User CP, click on Edit Avatar. You may be able to use one of the hundreds of pre-defined avatars.

I was under the impression that you needed 50 posts to have any avatar, but maybe that's only for custom avatars.

[Ronnocosed]

I have been loking at this site and reading its forum for quite some time but never had the urge to contribute until now.

Perhaps my joining in the forum has something to do with a recent experience of somebody’s psychic powers. I use the statement very loosely you understand but this lady and her son have just cost me a substantial amount of money.

A nice couple and a father came by my house the other day and after spending 45 minutes giving it the once over decided that this was the house for them. Yes, mine was for sale and I was delighted that they had offered the full asking price.

The next day, we showed around a mother and her grandson.

The agent has just called to say that this lady and her grandson (who the agent did not know was visiting the house) were the mother and son of the same very nice couple who wanted to buy our house.

Well it turns out she is a Physic/spiritualist. No really she was. She said that the spirits in the house were not right (I told her we were not leaving any of the alcohol – oops, never joke with a Psychic they can always see it coming can’t they?) and she added the spiritual presence was a very negative one. I suggested that she might like to venture into the garden as I am sure that she would get a better spiritual response as all my pets were buried there. She said she knew that too because she could hear them barking at her (this lady was good, how on earth could she know that?, oh hang on why could she not hear my cats too?!). She stood on the Driveway for sometime staring into space and then she vanished. Well actually she walked away up the street its just that I turned away for a brief moment and did not notice her leave.

The upshot of this rambling is that the very nice couple were advised by the negative spirits to withdraw their offer to purchase the house leaving us back at square one!

So, I came on here to bring me back to reality. Has anyone else lost a house sale because of the spirit world? Any suggestions on how to stop this happening in future? Should I take my tongue out of my cheek now?

It’s a true story.

I hope to be part of the community a little more from now on.

Thanks for listening

[Hutch]

Ronno, that is a :jaw-dropp story if I ever heard one. You might want to post it over in the Paranormal or in the Forum Community sub-fora for more comments, not everybody reads here.

Welcome to the Forum and hopefully you'll find folks who can symphazie (for a truly sad/mad story about physics, see Kelly's)

[Hutch]

It's about time I stop lurking and introduce myself.

I live in NE Ohio, so I'm surrounded by woo-woo. This site is a pleasant reminder that I'm not alone!

Whereabouts? I was raised in the Akron area (Wadsworth/Cuyahoga Falls)

I remember seeing Gellar at Kent State, even then I just figured he was another magician.

Welcome to the Forum

[Hawk one]

Hmm, go to User CP, click on Edit Avatar. You may be able to use one of the hundreds of pre-defined avatars.

I was under the impression that you needed 50 posts to have any avatar, but maybe that's only for custom avatars.
Short version: A glitch in the forum software is what causes this to happen.

Ask Darat or Terry or someone for more details if you're actually interested in that kind of thing. Details, I mean.


And welcom to ronnocosed. If I should ever buy your house, I won't withdraw my bid for evil spirits... Unless you count the smells in a badly maintained bathroom for evil spirits; it sure smells like that. ;)

[gizmonic]

... and only two posts!
Yeah, just what wollery said...

I picked the otter avatar from the User CP.

gizmonic *:)

[gizmonic]

Whereabouts? I was raised in the Akron area (Wadsworth/Cuyahoga Falls)

I remember seeing Gellar at Kent State, even then I just figured he was another magician.

Welcome to the Forum
Hi Hutch,

I live in Medina county.

Thanks for the welcome -- I'm settling in quite nicely here :) (the forum that is!)

[Meffy]

[deleted -- I got onto an older page and was responding to an older post]

[Mr. Skinny]

Hi Hutch,

I live in Medina county.

Thanks for the welcome -- I'm settling in quite nicely here :) (the forum that is!)
Welcome, gizmonic. I lived in Cuyahoga Co. for a while (N. Olmsted/Lakewood) back in the late 70's. Back in Dayton now, where it's just a bit sunnier and warmer (but not much).

[tim]

Hi Hutch,

I live in Medina county.

Thanks for the welcome -- I'm settling in quite nicely here :) (the forum that is!)

You sure that's not a ferret? :p ;)

[SusanB-M1]

Help! Help! I've worked out how to read messages, but I can't work out how to introduce myself. So I thought I'd use this panel to make contact. SusanB-M1
OK - having done this with friend's help, I'll now edit it later!

[Darat]

Help! Help! I've worked out how to read messages, but I can't work out how to introduce myself. So I thought I'd use this panel to make contact. SusanB-M1
OK - having done this with friend's help, I'll now edit it later!

Now you've worked that out here's a welcome :

:welcome2

[she_val]

Hello all fellow skeptics! Looks like the moderators decided to approve my registration on the second try. (Still can't figure out what happened with the first try, but no use worrying about it now.)

So here's post number one... on my way to "earning" an avatar, etc. (49 to go!)

A little about me for anyone who may be curious...

I'm currently in a PhD program studying marine microbial ecology while simultaneously finishing up a Master's degree in the same area. So, I may not post often, but hopefully the posts will be worth the wait. ;)

I'm looking forward to participating in some discussions in my areas of expertise (evolution, global climate change, etc.)

If anyone wants to know about the bacteria or viruses in the oceans, feel free to send me a message!

[SusanB-M1]

This is a reply to the post about the psychic who caused the loss of the house sale.

I have just listened (literally - as I use Supernova Auto Virtual Focus) and I am replying first of all because it was an interesting story and secondly because I've just joined this board too, and am wondering where this response will show up! Hope that's okay with you.

[GhostDiva]

Well, let me introduce myself!
Titled a "ghostdiva" (we have been mentioned here before) I have been investigating reports of ghostly phenomenon for about 8 years. Countless hours of field work and common sense has led me astray from stereotypical "ghost hunting". Unlike most, I have become skeptical over such things as "ghosts".

The past few years I have stopped the maddness and have started researching the ghost hunters. I have learned a lot in my research so far... and it continues.

The GhostDivas were formed because we are tired of the crap that these self proclaimed ghost hunters are throwing around and claiming to be extraordinary. We call BS on those teams and we are not afraid to stirr things up. We have learned that only the guilty will respond in a negative fashion.

I have first hand witnessed the hysteria behind ghost hunting over the past years and now I find it rather amusing. Im here to share what I have witnessed and how ghost hunters will stop at nothing to get on TV and to find proof of "ghosts".

Personal note: I have witnessed 2 apparitions in the past years, do I believe? Yes I do. But I know that just because it could be haunted, does not make it haunted.


Ah... the stories I can share.

People want so much it clouds the mind.

[orgrid]

re: saliva browne: she is trying to be a jewish comedian and a bad one at that-- no respect! Anyhow, it is always interesting when reading John Edward or Browne or Dubois that they constantly are justifying what they do. It is just a bunch of apologies all the way through the books. Some of the testimonials seem so convincing, however. I have not ever had a psychic esperience so I am not a real believer at all. Maybe someday and I think that is what it will take for me to see the "white light" at the end of the tunnel. I just hope it is not too crowded over there as I really hate crowds!

Orgrid (short for church organist!)

[Dogdoctor]

Wow! A marine microbial ecologist, a ghost buster/beleiver and a church organist, what an assortment!!
Welcome!!!!
:welcome3 :welcome5 :welcome4

[illuminatedwax]

Greetings,
I am a computer programmer with an MS in Computer Science living in Japan, and I am more interested in exercising my brain by disproving ideas born of people's insanity than being a skeptic. I think that one of the best ways to make yourself smarter is to allow people to play devil's advocate, and there are no better advocates against logic than mystics and the like! I am an Orthodox Christian, which basically means that I'm like a Catholic, except with a brain. (Example: we allow birth control.) This place fascinated me partly because I have several friends who swear in ghosts, eastern mysticism, and such. I also came here in part because I am a big fan of a Japanese drama called Trick, each episode of which is dedicated to two characters disproving some mystic. Perhaps I'll start a thread about that later, but for now I was directed here to make a first post.

Hello!

[tim]

illuminatedwax, welcome! we look forward to your posts!

[Tanstaafl]

Has anyone else lost a house sale because of the spirit world? Any suggestions on how to stop this happening in future? Should I take my tongue out of my cheek now?

It’s a true story.

Well, it's not quite the same, but I know a real estate agent in NJ that looked long and hard to find just the right house for a couple. She did it, and they fell in love with the place. But they couldn't actually buy it until God told them that it was the right thing to do. So they went home and prayed. And prayed. Weeks went by and no answer. Finally the house sold to someone else. They were totally distraught.

Oh, and welcome to the forum!

[jonronson]

Hello,

Chipmunk Stew was thoughtful enough to invite me to join this forum, so I have. So, hello. I write books and make documentaries about the kinds of subjects discussed on this forum.

So anyway, hello.

Jon Ronson

[Dr Adequate]

Welcome to the forums!

I loved "The Men Who Stare At Goats".

:dl:

[Cynric]

Welcome to the forums!

I loved "The Men Who Stare At Goats".

:dl:

What about the one with lots of important men standing around in the woods praying to a big owl?

That was an good one.

I personally found it strangely reassuring - the black helicopter-controlling evil geniuses of the world's governments are actually a bunch of childish nobs.
I mean, surely one of the world leaders must have wanted to stand up and shout "what the hell are you clowns up to?"


Welcome Jon. You are most welcome.

[wollery]

Hey! Why shouldn't people pray to me?

[Ducky]

Hey! Why shouldn't people pray to me?


Because of the shirts you choose to wear. No one should have to pray to someone wearing prints like that.

[tim]

Hello,

Chipmunk Stew was thoughtful enough to invite me to join this forum, so I have. So, hello. I write books and make documentaries about the kinds of subjects discussed on this forum.

So anyway, hello.

Jon Ronson

Welcome! I rather liked "Them" as well. In fact, I'll go and dig my copy out now..........
I am assuming you are this chap........ http://www.jonronson.com/
Or are there two of you? Welcome, anyway!

[SusanB-M1]

I think I've worked out how to do this now, so here goes:

Secretary > wife/mother > primary school teacher > retired. All the way along 'Is this TRUE?' has been my theme, even whilst enjoying digressing into Velikovsky, von Daniken et al. I like a good mystery, but its logical, scientific resolution I like even better.

The older I get, the more I realise that I don't want to miss anything, so keeping fit, going to the gym and walking started being central to my life over 30 years ago, as well as, for the last dozen years, weekly swimming and tap dancing. I bought a computer five ears ago and, having discovered what lively discussion there was to be had on message boards, recently upgraded to XP and Dolphin Supernova and, of course, broadband. Love travel, but also coming home again here on the south coast where, from the cliff top, the Isle of Wight is just across the Solent.

Some years ago I joined the British Humanist Association because I feel it is important to have a structured group to which people moving away from religious organisations can move (if they so choose).

Now, all I have to do is read through the other 90 pages ......

[tim]

Welcome, SusanB-M1! Can we just call you Susan?
You'll find a wide range of opinions here and some interesting people. Hmmm - just across from the Isle of Wight, eh? There are a lot of UK posters here, and we sometimes meet up, generally in London, but other places too. Keep your eyes peeled on the community section........

[SusanB-M1]

Welcome, SusanB-M1! Can we just call you Susan?
You'll find a wide range of opinions here and some interesting people. Hmmm - just across from the Isle of Wight, eh? There are a lot of UK posters here, and we sometimes meet up, generally in London, but other places too. Keep your eyes peeled on the community section........

Thank you, and yes, please call me Susan. I'd like to be clever and think up an interesting nickname, but I'm afraid it's beyond me. The B is for my surname and the M1 a house I lived in long ago.

How do I reply without quoting, so that it is evident which one I'm replying to? Is there a way?
I certainly like the idea of meetings. I love a good discussion - don't mind what the conclusion is, but love the discussion. I haven't found the community section yet - can you point me in the right direction? Thanks.

[tim]

Thank you, and yes, please call me Susan. I'd like to be clever and think up an interesting nickname, but I'm afraid it's beyond me. The B is for my surname and the M1 a house I lived in long ago.

How do I reply without quoting, so that it is evident which one I'm replying to? Is there a way?
I certainly like the idea of meetings. I love a good discussion - don't mind what the conclusion is, but love the discussion. I haven't found the community section yet - can you point me in the right direction? Thanks.

Erm, your in it here! Forum Community. Just monitor the main section and look for thread titles that suggest meetings, eg http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=56046&highlight=birmingham+bash

[jonronson]

Well that's a nice welcome. Nicer than the one I got on the 9/11 truth campaign forum. They practically whacked me. Yes, that website address for me is the correct one.
I noticed that pretty much ever subject I've been exploring these past years - from craziness in the military through Bilderberg, etc, through to Indigo kids and Noel Edmonds (two stories I'm working on right now) have been chewed over here. This is obviously a great talking place for interesting weirdness that tells us something about the wider world, etc.

[tkingdoll]

Welcome to Susan, it's always nice to meet another skepchick.

And welcome to jonronson, I too have read The Men Who Stare At Goats and enjoyed it very much. Nice to see you here.

Ah, Noel Edmonds. He's just a turquoise tracksuit away from huge overseas book sales :D

[SusanB-M1]

[QUOTE=tim;1803308]Erm, your in it here! Forum Community. Just monitor the main section and look for thread titles that suggest meetings,]

Ah, right! Thanks again.

[RemieV]

Hi, I'm Remie. A pleasure to meet you all I'm sure ;)

[tim]

Hi, I'm Remie. A pleasure to meet you all I'm sure ;)
Hello!
Would you like to tell us a little about your interests?

[tim]

Well that's a nice welcome. Nicer than the one I got on the 9/11 truth campaign forum. They practically whacked me. Yes, that website address for me is the correct one.
I noticed that pretty much ever subject I've been exploring these past years - from craziness in the military through Bilderberg, etc, through to Indigo kids and Noel Edmonds (two stories I'm working on right now) have been chewed over here. This is obviously a great talking place for interesting weirdness that tells us something about the wider world, etc.

Your post prompted me to look out my copies of your books. Last October I went with my wife Lynn (also a poster here) to Rio de Janeiro to see Luciana - http://forums.randi.org/member.php?u=93
and Jens - http://forums.randi.org/member.php?u=131
and gave Jens a copy of "Them".
We met up with Jens in France last week.
JREF folk meet up in the UK fairly often. PM me for details..................

[Hutch]

Tim, you think Mr. Ronson would be a potential speaker at TAM5??

Mr. Ronson (I'm a formal sort at the start, but I loosen up pretty quickly) :) Mr. Randi has an annual conference called The Amazing Meeting in Jauary in Las Vegas. We've had a lot of interesting speakers in the past, and I have a hunch you would fit right in. So maybe go to the main site, look at who and what has happen at previous Meetings, and maybe drop a note to Mr. Randi?

[jonronson]

Hi there,

I'd be delighted to do it, but it seems too forward to email James Randi and offer myself. I have asked Michael Shermer's advice!

Best

Jon

[Dr Adequate]

Well that's a nice welcome. Nicer than the one I got on the 9/11 truth campaign forum. They practically whacked me. Displaying Common Sense While Being Jewish. Yeah, that's a capital offence.

I noticed that pretty much ever subject I've been exploring these past years - from craziness in the military through Bilderberg, etc, through to Indigo kids and Noel Edmonds (two stories I'm working on right now) have been chewed over here. This is obviously a great talking place for interesting weirdness that tells us something about the wider world, etc. Yes, we know all the best whackos. I suppose you couldn't get an interview with Fred Phelps, could you?

England: Island Of The Sodomite Damned (http://www.godhatesfags.com/featured/20050707_subway-bomb.html)

[misterious]

Hello all! I'm new and i'm from all over the United States. I've lived in Detroit, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Chicago, and Philadelphia. I'm a believer and a skeptic at the same time (depends on the subject and circumstance).

[Dogdoctor]

Hello all! I'm new and i'm from all over the United States. I've lived in Detroit, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Chicago, and Philadelphia. I'm a believer and a skeptic at the same time (depends on the subject and circumstance).
Hopefully not about the same subject:)

:welcome3

[The Pro from Dover]

Hello. I've actually been here for quite some time, previously on a different ID that somehow got wiped out during a forum upgrade. I'm doing this to get rid of the nag message.

[Ian Ballantine-Gray]

Just a quickie to say hi to everyone and remove the 'you aint posted' message.

[wollery]

Greetings to The Pro in Dover (Pro at what, and in which Dover) and Ian Ballantine-Gray.:w2:

[SusanB-M1]

Starting at page 81, I have reached 87, following a link to Roadtoad's Blog and another to an article on fire-walking on the way; all very interesting. Pause to say:
- I realise I should have asked my granddaughters how to make a more casual intro!
- Agreed with Diakaryu about how satisfying it is to know there are so many very vocal sceptics everywhere.
- Haven't worked out what WOO is yet so I'll have to look it up.

[tim]

Starting at page 81, I have reached 87, following a link to Roadtoad's Blog and another to an article on fire-walking on the way; all very interesting. Pause to say:
- I realise I should have asked my granddaughters how to make a more casual intro!
- Agreed with Diakaryu about how satisfying it is to know there are so many very vocal sceptics everywhere.
- Haven't worked out what WOO is yet so I'll have to look it up.

A woo, or woo-woo, is someone who holds paranormal or pseudoscience beliefs.
As you mention fire walking, last year Darat (forum administrator) and I did one. Yes, the coals were at around 1200 degrees F, and no, we didn't burn our feet. The guy who was in charge believed that chanting and drumming and meditation made all the difference to our ability to do it. He could be described as a "woo". (Although quite a nice bloke). We didn't believe that, because we believe in a scientific explanation. We are therefore sceptics. Or skeptics if you come from the US.

[Hutch]

Greetings to The Pro in Dover (Pro at what, and in which Dover)

I believe if you can find a copy of the Original Movie "M.A.S.H." or the novel it was based on, the Pro from Dover will be explained.

[The Pro from Dover]

I believe if you can find a copy of the Original Movie "M.A.S.H." or the novel it was based on, the Pro from Dover will be explained.
You would be most correct. The book more so than the movie. I believe in the movie it's only used the one time when they go to the hospital to save the congressman's kid.

[ptimkey]

Hello from Western New York. Been a fan of James Randi for years and wish I can here sooner. It was Penn and Teller that are my gods. Would like some advise about attending psychic fairs, link me. timkey2@novocon.net

Is it OK to had out Million Dollar Challenge app's?

[Ducky]

Hello from Western New York. Been a fan of James Randi for years and wish I can here sooner. It was Penn and Teller that are my gods. Would like some advise about attending psychic fairs, link me. timkey2@novocon.net

Is it OK to had out Million Dollar Challenge app's?



Welcome. While I am a big fan of James Randi, and P&T, I can't say I've ever been to a psychic fair, nor do I have any interest in one.

I would imagine the answer to your question about handing out actual JREF applications would need to be answered by the JREF staff proper, not the forum members. You could, however, hand out any literature you feel is sufficient to describe the JREF and its mission.

You could email Jeff Wagg, or Linda (Jeff@Randi.org or Linda@Randi.org) to see if they have any specific application forms (I doubt there actually is a specific form, though they should make one imho) or what they would like to see handed out at the fair.

Cheers.

[De_Bunk]

Hi...

I'm De_Bunk...Long time lurker...didnt have the confidence to post much until now.

A bit about me...

I'm a lovely, fluffy, new age kinda guy...and a member of the clergy...who's not afraid to cry.

I like the Ballet, flower arranging, shopping and keeping house...

I'm hoping some of you will find salvation in the Lord God Almighty.

Hope i fit in here.

Amen

DB

[Kelly]

Hi...

I'm De_Bunk...Long time lurker...didnt have the confidence to post much until now.

A bit about me...

I'm a lovely, fluffy, new age kinda guy...and a member of the clergy...who's not afraid to cry.

I like the Ballet, flower arranging, shopping and keeping house...

I'm hoping some of you will find salvation in the Lord God Almighty.

Hope i fit in here.

Amen

DB

(Irish Brogue) I'd like to confess my sins to ya, Father.

[De_Bunk]

Kelly...

Say three 'Hail Mary's' and you will be forgiven...

DB

[Kelly]

Kelly...

Say three 'Hail Mary's' and you will be forgiven...

DB

Oh, thank you, Father! You're a wonderful confessor.

And look, it helped up your post count, too. :)

[De_Bunk]

Kelly...

Yes...being a noob poster...all i can do is spread the word of God...and hope people see sense.

DB

[Limbo9]

I'm ready for my skeptic training!

[Jon.]

I'm ready for my skeptic training!

Welcome, grasshopper. Soon, you will be educated in all the ancient secrets of skep-fu. In the meantime, please wax my car.

[The Atheist]

Oh, I like De Bunk already!

All those years and only 9 posts?

Pas possible! Get on that keyboard!

[Naranek]

Hello from Belo Horizonte, Brazil! For all of you how dont speak Portuguese Belo Horizonte means beautiful horizon and we mean it, if any of you ever comes to Brazil I recommend visiting us. And by all means visit us! There is a serious lack of skeptics here. I was so glad to find a community of like minded people to talk to. I am ashamed to admit that the infamous "John of God" is not an isolated case and represents the kind of garbage I have to deal everyday. As you can see I tend to talk too much so I am just cut it short here. I am pleased to meet you all.

[Luciana]

Hello, naranek! From Rio here. <<=== :) Don't be shy, just keep posting! PM me if you need any help. Até mais!

[Roadtoad]

A woo, or woo-woo, is someone who holds paranormal or pseudoscience beliefs.
As you mention fire walking, last year Darat (forum administrator) and I did one. Yes, the coals were at around 1200 degrees F, and no, we didn't burn our feet. The guy who was in charge believed that chanting and drumming and meditation made all the difference to our ability to do it. He could be described as a "woo". (Although quite a nice bloke). We didn't believe that, because we believe in a scientific explanation. We are therefore sceptics. Or skeptics if you come from the US.

Part of what is being referred to, Tim, is that I linked to your article on fire walking.

[GregC]

Hi De_Bunk. Welcome to the forum.

[SusanB-M1]

A woo, or woo-woo, is someone who holds paranormal or pseudoscience beliefs.
As you mention fire walking, last year Darat (forum administrator) and I did one. Yes, the coals were at around 1200 degrees F, and no, we didn't burn our feet. The guy who was in charge believed that chanting and drumming and meditation made all the difference to our ability to do it. He could be described as a "woo". (Although quite a nice bloke). We didn't believe that, because we believe in a scientific explanation. We are therefore sceptics. Or skeptics if you come from the US.

That fire-walking was definitely some achievement. I think I might, just possibly, perhapd, if it was a matter of life or death, walk across, but otherwise no. Mind you, I would remember the advice given in the article.

Is WOO an acronym, or, as I suppose is more likely, a sound?

[SusanB-M1]

Gosh, that might be the best introduction post I have ever read.

The term "woo" can be looked up in a site called the Urban Dictionary, a great reference site.

BTW, there are many movements. Some people focus on witchcraft, some on the trouble in Iraq, some just stick to the humor section. JREF is if nothing open minded.

Look around, go to places that you might not have. I can't tell you how much I have learned by just wandering around this forum.

Good luck, have fun, and welcome!

--Rabbit

I have just looked at the Urban Dictionary and was astonished to find that just the letter w has umpteen pages; and the word itself many definitions.

[Naranek]

Hello, naranek! From Rio here. <<=== :) Don't be shy, just keep posting! PM me if you need any help. Até mais!
What a nice surprise, I wasn't expecting to find others Brazilians here, but now that I think about it, it would be odd not to find any. Do you have any idea of how may others are here? By the way are you related to a Marcelo Nery? He was a teacher in PUC.

[De_Bunk]

Thanks for the welcome guys...

I think God has given me this opportunity to spread his word in a civilised manner.

Please, if any of you have questions about my faith in God, feel free to ask...

I wont be offended if you have doubts.

Rev.DB

[garrk]

hello all, just introducing myself.

name is garr, psychologist from ireland. seen and heard alot in the new age scene in the last few years and am in need of conversations with people with level heads.

:confused:

[Meffy]

How do, garr. Welcome to the forums. I've such a level head you could call it flat. =^_^=

@D_B: I see your posts have... mysteriously unvanished.

[Luciana]

What a nice surprise, I wasn't expecting to find others Brazilians here, but now that I think about it, it would be odd not to find any. Do you have any idea of how may others are here? By the way are you related to a Marcelo Nery? He was a teacher in PUC.

Not many Brazilians... there is Lux Ferum (in the South), Correa Neto in Niteroi... and a few others. Oh, no, not related to Marcelo Nery, I almost wish I was. :)

Now start posting all over the forum! Welcome! :fg:

[De_Bunk]

Meffy...

I think it must be the work of our Lord...

Possibly even a miracle...Right here on the JREF...

DB

[SusanB-M1]

Thanks for the welcome guys...

I think God has given me this opportunity to spread his word in a civilised manner.

Please, if any of you have questions about my faith in God, feel free to ask...

I wont be offended if you have doubts.

Rev.DB

I am a Humanist, brought up in CofE but, happily, moving long ago to atheism. By ascribing your evolved, human ability to think ALL the thoughts that you, yourself, think to a supernatural deity, you are, it seems to me, underestimating such human ability.

[wollery]

DB, I think someone's failing to get your sense of humour! :D

[SusanB-M1]

DB, I think someone's failing to get your sense of humour! :D

Ah, right! The mistake comes of being newish here!

[SusanB-M1]

I have just looked at his home page! How can I stop him 'singing' so that I can use my screen reader to read the rest?!!

[YonderPonder]

Hi there. I'm new.

[De_Bunk]

Susan...

The words play along at the same time...

DB

[De_Bunk]

Hi 'New'..

Are you psychic..???

DB

[Roadtoad]

Susan...

The words play along at the same time...

DB

Obviously something created for Interesting Ian.

[YonderPonder]

Are you psychic..???DB
Actually, I am only physic, except on Thursdays.

[xipe totec]

xipe totec, this is the second of your posts I've had to edit in five minutes. Please cease this sort of comment.

[Kelly]

I think the Mods need something to do. :confused:

[bob_kark]

Ba weep gra na weep ninny bong

[Kelly]

edited.

[xipe totec]

You've gotta be kidding. Who's the moderator here, Irma Pince?

Yo, Tim. I was making a funny involving my screen name; Xipe Totec, the "flayed god" of Nahua culture. You know, the one who wears human skins.

If I give you a nickel will you buy a sense of humor?

[tim]

You've gotta be kidding. Who's the moderator here, Irma Pince?

Yo, Tim. I was making a funny involving my screen name; Xipe Totec, the "flayed god" of Nahua culture. You know, the one who wears human skins.

If I give you a nickel will you buy a sense of humor?

No.

[1984]

:w2:

Adios amigos.

We've had some fun.

Thanks.

:th:

[Eos of the Eons]

Get back here 1984, and explain yourself! *stomps floor* *pouts*

[tim]

Get back here 1984, and explain yourself! *stomps floor* *pouts*

Oooh, a pouting Eos! What a thought to conjure with........... :D :D :D

[Eos of the Eons]

If this doesn't get 1984 to 'splain himself, then I don't know what to do :(

[X-COM]

So my membership finally got approved and I can post. I am Swedish guy that try my best to have a skeptical look on any extraordinary claims so I should fit in here. I love Star Trek but know better then to belive in the "science" presented there (don't let a good story be spoiled by reality :p ). I got sisters that belive that they predict the future using a deck of cards and they belive in other odd things as well while I try my best to take care of the reality department (someone has to). I am politically far to the left so I expect to be thorugly flamed from time to time (hey where are my asbestos coat?)

For those that doens't know what "X-COM" means: IT's the name of a fictional alien hunting organisation in a computer game made by Micropose many years ago. I am sorry that I cannot link to it thou but I need more posts before I can make links.

[The Atheist]

I am politically far to the left so I expect to be thorugly flamed from time to time (hey where are my asbestos coat?

Welcome in!

Any time you need a fire extinguisher, call me, not many proud lefties left.

[JohnM307]

Hello, I am new here, having just registered last night (early this morning). I am somewhat leftist, and somewhat of a conspiracy theorist about certain issues. (So there :-P) I am just as likely to be jumped on by someone on my side of the political spectrum as by someone on the opposite side. I really hope that I don't encounter here the mauling I received a year ago by a crowd who couldn't collectively read and comprehend a simple direct statement.

I teach physics and astronomy at the local community college, and don't have any real career ambitions beyond that for now.

[Hutch]

Welcome, JohnM. We have a brand new Conspiracy sub-Forum just waiting for you, along with the Political forum and all the rest.

I will not promise you that you won't be mauled; you will be asked to back up your statements with evidence and clear reasoning and folks will not hesitate to disagree with you...but in general, they stay on topic and not the Ad Homs (however, if you get involved in an Arab-Israel thread, all bets are off) :eek: :covereyes

Welcome to the Forum

[bob_kark]

For those that doens't know what "X-COM" means: IT's the name of a fictional alien hunting organisation in a computer game made by Micropose many years ago. I am sorry that I cannot link to it thou but I need more posts before I can make links.
I used to play that game until my eyes bled. Ahhh, the memories.

[bob_kark]

Hello, I am new here, having just registered last night (early this morning). I am somewhat leftist, and somewhat of a conspiracy theorist about certain issues. (So there :-P) I am just as likely to be jumped on by someone on my side of the political spectrum as by someone on the opposite side. I really hope that I don't encounter here the mauling I received a year ago by a crowd who couldn't collectively read and comprehend a simple direct statement.

I teach physics and astronomy at the local community college, and don't have any real career ambitions beyond that for now.
Don't let the flamers get you down too much. However, be prepared to have plenty of evidence to support any claims you make. I would certainly advise you to read through the Loose Change threads before attempting to debate the events which occured on 9/11 as a lot of ground has already been covered. I wish you well JohnM307.

[DrCron]

Need to make a few posts to get to URL posting access.

[DrCron]

So I'll do this in one sentance per post (then delete).

[DrCron]

I've followed swift for a while, and have seen some videos of Mr. Randi's apperances on google video (yay google!).

[tim]

Welcome, DrCron!

[David Swidler]

I've never introduced myself. Why start now?

[tim]

I've never introduced myself. Why start now?

Well then, don't! :p ;)

[Darth Rotor]

Now that I can finally get the forum to let me post on this thread

Hi! :D

I am Darth Rotor, and I'm an alcoholic!

*Looks at all the people staring at him*

Oops, wrong forum.

*slinks away foolishly*

DR

[Tanstaafl]

Ah, you were looking for the humor forum... I'm sure you'll fit right in there.

Welcome, DR.

[Roadtoad]

As long as he's not driving, he's cool by me.

Welcome, DR.

[Brainache]

Hello all. Brainache here.
I heard about this place on the Loose Change Forum (of all places) and since the Conspiracy Theorists over there spoke with such vitriol about JREF I figured it couldn't be all that bad.
I only went to LC to see what kind of lunacy was happening online and by golly it appears to be rife.
Since having seen Mr Randi on TV many years ago debunking Uri Geller and his ilk I have been a big fan.
So here I am and I'll probably see you round about the place as I explore.
Cheers.

[wollery]

Greetings Brainache! :w2:

Sound's like you'll fit right in here.

[TK0001]

Hi.

I only heard of this place due to bouncing around the INTER-nets soaking up all I could about debunking the 9/11 conspiracy. I'm ashamed to admit I also found the LC board before stumbling upon this place. I registered there, completely unaware of the Lord of the Flies mentality going on over there, and attempted to drop some knowledge on dey asses (as the kids say).

I was banned 2 days later.

So here I am! Please direct me to the Dylan Avery fan club forum poste haste!!!

[wollery]

Greetings TK001. :w2:


Get yourself over to the Conspiracy Theories section, they all hang out there. :rolleyes:

[TK0001]

Greetings TK001. :w2:


Get yourself over to the Conspiracy Theories section, they all hang out there. :rolleyes:

I'm more than just a debunker. I think I'm a bit psychic too.

Got anything for that??! :hyper:

[wollery]

I recommend a course of De_Bunk, or CFLarsen, TID for one week.

They'll either cure you or kill you! :D

[JohnM307]

Don't let the flamers get you down too much. However, be prepared to have plenty of evidence to support any claims you make. I would certainly advise you to read through the Loose Change threads before attempting to debate the events which occured on 9/11 as a lot of ground has already been covered. I wish you well JohnM307.

Thank you and the other person who replied for your welcome. I will probably read considerably before posting much. And yes, you got it in one. I am a 9/11 skeptic. I have read some of the Loose Change threads, and viewed a couple videos linked there. I may comment later.

[Skeptic Guy]

Hello Peoples,

This is my first post as well as the first Forum that I have "participated" in, so be gentle. I'll get better as I go along.:rolleyes:

I have been reading Randi's commentaries for quite a while and have learned so much from him. I can't remember what led me to his site, but as soon as I was there I was hooked.

I think it is safe to say that politically I am left of center, but not quite Maoist. :) I bounce between being an Atheist and an Agnostic and practically worship (pardon the pun) Carl Sagan and his writings (as well as Randi's!).

I look forward to discussing with you this 9/11 conspiracy bunk, religion and the scientific method in general.

After reading a lot of this forum, I think I have "found my people".

[wollery]

After reading a lot of this forum, I think I have "found my people".
Welcome to the promised forum! :D

[Skeptic Guy]

Can I have a "WITNESS"!:D

[Meffy]

Hi, Skeptic Guy. Will a witless do? If so, I can fill the bill (as the sea bass said to the pelican).

[Skeptic Guy]

Hi, Skeptic Guy. Will a witless do? If so, I can fill the bill (as the sea bass said to the pelican).

Works for me. In context I think it means the same thing.

Cool Avatar by the way!

[Meffy]

*bow* Thank you. It's a portrait of me by the talented Maciek Korzeniowski, a Warsaw feline of my acquaintance. The full image from which I excerpted it shows me reading and dismissing a dialog box: "SETI@home -- Extraterrestrial found."

[boloboffin]

I post a lot at DU and the Smirking Chimp, and we get a lot of 9/11 CT stuff over there. Wow, it's really nice to come in out of the cold here!

:D

[Meffy]

"Come in out of the cornstarch and dry your mukluks off by the cellophane."
-- Catherwood

[robinson]

I know I prolly should be all nice and sweet and try to get on everybodies good side, but that crap won't last more than a couple of stupid flames from some Bozo woo lover here, and then there will be the running and the screaming and the yelling, so I'm not even going to try.

I'm such a damn skeptic I suspect sceptics, especially the ones who try too damn hard to make a point. I make friends easy, too easy, so don't try cuddling up to me thinking we are going to be new best buds just like that, cause it ain't gonna happen.

Yeah yeah, behind the tough guy is an old softy, all weepy eyed ready to let you soak my shoulder with all the troubles of the world, but you better buy me a drink first.

Its morning right now, and I feel like that first guy who crawls out of the deep freeze tube on "Alien" the original movie, and bleary eyed finds that rather than being at home he is way the F out in space and not only am I not at home, there is some creepy damn spaceship and we have to go investigate it.

And you are the aliens.

heh

So good morning, and the only reason I am attempting some kind of introduction is I made a comment somewhere else and realized I better back up my BS real quick, cause this ain't no tea party.

[wollery]

Welcome robinson (I think :D )



Are you De_Bunks sock puppet? :p

[robinson]

Damn, I meant to speak to that issue in my first comment here. I am really really aware of sick puppetry, sock puppets, banned members crawling back in, and many other F'd up actions by the insane, the deluded and the self obsessed online.

I have been using forums since 1996, and have admin powers at several right now. (yeah right, prove it!)

I am nobodies puppet, but I can and will mock and joke about the concept, because I think its funny.

Pathetic idiots who get banned, then come back and do the EXACT same thing, deluded enough that they don't even know how obvious they are.

But give me a day or two, and I will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt you never ran into me here before. In the spirit of old dead Sam -

"I'n not going to screw around with you like the last person did. No, I AM GOING TO TAKE THINGS TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL OF INSANITY!"


heh

Just kidding around. But there will be fun, cause I am all about fun. And reality. I know from experience that I got to pay the dues, better bring something to the table, and I already put on my flame proof full body armour.

But reality calls, and I can't slog on from work, so see you in another time zone.

[robinson]

Are you De_Bunks sock puppet? :p

I have to admit, I don't know who that is, so can you point me to a link? Will try to catch up, cause I don't even want to SOUND like some woo from the past here.

[De_Bunk]

Robinson...

I love you.

DB

( and everyone...I wouldnt last beyond two posts here as a sock...you know it and so do i )

[wollery]

DB isn't a woo, he's a very outspoken skeptic. Often too outspoken for many peoples' taste.

[wollery]

Robinson...

I love you.

DB

( and everyone...I wouldnt last beyond two posts here as a sock...you know it and so do i )Good point! :D

[robinson]

Robinson...

I love you

OK De_Bunk, before we get a room, you are a female right? :)

heh

In regards to getting my back up, my bad of course. I just assumed a sock puppet would be a bad woowoo, but I know from experience that anything is possible on a forum. I mean, I could be somebody else, but I KNOW I am not, but how to prove it?

To expand upon your knowledge and help ease the tension, (:eek: ), I will tell you a short story, real story, about my F'd up introduction to Forums.

OK it isn't really short but I will try. I was getting hammered and spewing high level crap without knowing what I was doing, being a badass who clearly didn't care if he got banned, and I was assumed to be a sockpuppet of one of the most famous/loved/hated long time members of the forum, who happened to be offline/out of town at the time, so I got way more attention than any clueless newbie should ever recieve, and it really really escalated into a big old flame war, and then by chance something happened to the software itself, and nobody would believe I was a real person, and then it got ugly.

But that is enough for now. I only tell this so you might understand I know a lot about social dynamics, forums, admins, software, and those quirky twist of fate that cast the unwilling into the harsh glare of the limelight.

















Where many crosshairs are aimed, with much malice.

[Bododio]

While I may be new to these forums, I'm an old atheist from way back. I'm also a devout skeptic. I doubt everything and everybody. I'm not sure I exist, and I have the same doubts about you. ;) The only thing I am sure about is that I love Brazilian music and caipirinhas. :faint: But then, a couple of those and I love just about anyone. I'm certain that all religion sucks, no matter what the headgear is or how cool the invisible people are supposed to be. :( I live over here on the left US coast :boggled: , the center of the universe. :eye-poppi

[The 3rd eye]

Spawned into this world for god knows what reason i am forced now more than ever to belive in precognition. I have no belive in god or more to the point that no religion on earth has any relasionship with god (if hes exsists ). I have come to this forum to help under stand my problem, by getting some sence of weather it is supernatural or not.

Anyone who belives or knows thay have Precognition please feel free to contact me. Always looking for insight.

[Jon.]

Welcome, The 3rd eye! About what kind of matters are you precognitive? Are your precognitions always accurate? Perhaps you should start a thread over in General Skepticism and the Paranormal to discuss your gift/burden.

[Van]

Hello everybody. Nice to finally be here, it has taken me a few days. You seem like a friendly lot. I'm not sure what I am, apart from young, Christian and willing to learn.

[Foolmewunz]

Hi, I'm Buffy. I like warm puppy kisses and walks on the beach and candlelit dinners.... Oh, this isn't "Findadesperatedate.com"? Sorry.

Actually I'm a reformed hippie (as in couldn't find anything "hip" to make money at so got into an actual career of sorts) living in Asia. I do actually have 1 x Nicole Wu and 1 x Agnes Wu on my staff, so when and if I post an avatar, I'm thinking of a snap of the two of them falling out of bed ...... "Debunking Wu Wu".... Get it! Yuk Yuk! (Not infringing on member "DB" copyright material, I hope. But, but the pun honestly did come to me from his user name.)

Not easy being a skeptic over here. Generally, the expats are neither woo nor skeptic. They're here for the money. The occasionally non-corporate-stooge type is generally teaching English (rather poorly, I'm afraid) and looking for Xanadu. Discussing anything critically with them is much akin to discussing Chaos Theory with a geranium. (Not that I'm sufficiently grounded in either to handle the discussion, myself... it's just a cute turn of phrase.) Their arguments usually consist of variations on "I know you are, but what am I?".

The locals? They're so steeped in Asian cultural woo that you sometimes want to tear your hair out.

In search of coherent discussions, I've been a "lurker" for a while(is that the correct term?) and occassionally wanted to chime in to shut some stupid train of thought down. (Not that it'd work.... e.g. Christophera showing the Vesey Street external concrete staircase coming down from WTC Plaza and claiming it as part of his invisicrete core comes to mind... Convincing Christophera of ANYTHING is obviously not possible. But while I was reading the string, no one else seemed to have spotted that shot, so I actually might have been able to add something of "value".)

After about the elventy-seventh such frustrating moment, I decided to join up. Really pleased to see the delay in joining! I have nothing against security... it makes one feel 'secure'.

Would that this board (or computers for that matter) had been around during the 60's. By ancient analog methods it took almost two weeks to trash the "Paul is Dead" CT. I'm guessing it'd been about twenty minutes today!
Actually, that was my skeptic epiphany, of sorts. Or more accurately my anti-CT epiphany, I guess.

I guess I'm not supposed to write a novel, eh? Thanks for listening....

[wollery]

Greetings Van, all we generally ask is for people to be willing to learn, so welcome.

Welcome FOOLMEWUNZ, can I call you Wunz? We already have a poster called The Fool. Which part of Asia are you in? I'm in southern China.

[Foolmewunz]

Hong Kong

[Cainkane1]

I'm a skeptic. I don't believe that ghosts are souls of the dead come back to haunt the living but something does exist. I've seen videos that have ghosts and I know that "something" is there. Maybe they are living things? MaYBE THEY ARE SCIENTIFICALLY EXPLAINABLE BUT THERE IS SOMETHING TO GHOST HUNTINGS. Most photos are laughable fakes but are they all fake? What about moving videos and EVP'S? Also included in your challenge is stigmata. That phenomena isn't fake. Its not supernatural but its not fake either. You migh lose some moneey if you accept a challenge from a stigmatic. They are usually sonambulists but it still exists. In a trance they bleed. Scientists haven't found an explanation but it isn't supernatural. However these people can actually bleed in a trance. I've seeeen it myself. I've also seen a ghost and I wasn't on dope or drunk and I felt fine. So what did I see? No carbon Monoxide was in my home either.

[De_Bunk]

No...I just can't....

I really can't...

I'll get a flaming for it...

I gotta stay strong and overcome the urge....

:D


DB

[Foolmewunz]

Sorry, Wollery, I didn't respond... Yeah, "WUNZ" is okay.... So many members and so many cool names already taken, so I went with Grandma's Wisdom - "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." It seems rather a "common sense" (eeek! not homeopathic, surely) description of the learning curve of a skeptic.

[Skeptic Guy]

Welcome, FOOLMEWUNZ, from a fellow NewBe. I spent a couple of years in Singapore and know some of the woo woo stuff you experience. Reflexology, accupunture, ear candling, Chinese medicine...etc.

But I find the US has its own wackiness too.

Let's go get 'em...

[Skeptic Guy]

I'm a skeptic. I don't believe that ghosts are souls of the dead come back to haunt the living but something does exist. I've seen videos that have ghosts and I know that "something" is there. Maybe they are living things? MaYBE THEY ARE SCIENTIFICALLY EXPLAINABLE BUT THERE IS SOMETHING TO GHOST HUNTINGS. Most photos are laughable fakes but are they all fake? What about moving videos and EVP'S? Also included in your challenge is stigmata. That phenomena isn't fake. Its not supernatural but its not fake either. You migh lose some moneey if you accept a challenge from a stigmatic. They are usually sonambulists but it still exists. In a trance they bleed. Scientists haven't found an explanation but it isn't supernatural. However these people can actually bleed in a trance. I've seeeen it myself. I've also seen a ghost and I wasn't on dope or drunk and I felt fine. So what did I see? No carbon Monoxide was in my home either.


DB - I am proud. I am new here but having read a lot of old posts, you have shown remarkable restraint!

CaineKane 1 - Welcome! I think you will generate some interesting discussions here. I am new here too, but if you take a look around you will find most of your points above discussed and I think you are going to have to come up with some pretty substantial evidence to support your claims.

Why don't you wonder around and jump into a discussion and watch out for some of us, we take our critical thinking seriously...

[Skeptic Guy]

Sorry, Wollery, I didn't respond... Yeah, "WUNZ" is okay.... So many members and so many cool names already taken, so I went with Grandma's Wisdom - "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." It seems rather a "common sense" (eeek! not homeopathic, surely) description of the learning curve of a skeptic.

If only our dear President could have said it so eloquently. But your Grandma certainly had it right!

[Foolmewunz]

A quick poll of fellow newbies....
Background: We all have likely been lurking for a while, hopefully enjoying some of the exchanges and exercising a few of the 'little grey cells', to cop Hercule Poirot's metaphor. Further, we all look back in this section to see if anyone's responded to our humble introductory missive, right?

The Poll: How many beats did your heart skip when you saw "Latest = DeBunk" and you wondered if you'd done something to raise the hackles of the FPE (Flamer Par Excellence). As someone mentioned above, and knowing the source, the restraint shown in the above post by DB is just short of saintly! I guess that avatar is appropriate. ;)

Poll Answer: About 2 beats, on my part.... "Oh, noooo Mr. Bill - you've awakened the local bete noir!" (Even not having said anything particularly stupid or onerous...)

[BrianSI]

I killed him. Or actually, Darat killed him. I couldn't do my own dirty work.

If you have to say, "I was only joking," it wasn't funny. So, since Skepticool was supposed to be a fictional persona that people didn't take seriously, and they took it seriously, I need to have a take two. Back to one people.

The first step is to change my username. Not to fool anyone. Just to signify that I'll be more myself (until there's a clear difference, at least). Since no one knew me in real life, you couldn't imagine the smirk on my face as I made each non-sequitur post. I thought posting them in "Humor" would do the trick, but here I am saying, "I was just joking."

JREF is my first forum participation, so chalk that up as a noob mistake, if you can be so generous.

I'm here to learn.

Brian

[Hutch]

bododio, it appears you got missed in the Official "Welcome to the Forum" Derby, given the number of new posters and greeters. So allow me to fomally welcome you to the JREF Forum, you old doubter you.

So BrianS1 = skepticool? Was trying to figure out how somebody I plan to meet on the Amazing Cruise and with over 400 posts suddenly showed up and I'd never seen him before. Mystery solved.

Welcome to the Forum in this persona.

[Here_to_learn]

I'm here to learn.Now, talk about causing even more confusion! I'm Here_to_learn (and so's my wife?), and I'm not a sock! At least not that I know...

[f0rTyLeGz]

Hey,

Ive been reading this forum off and on for quite a while, and Ive been aware of and respected Randi,... wel,l from way back when he was amazing. I've been living in Jamaica for the last 12 years, and recently moved back to the US.

Lately, Ive been over at the courttv.com website, and locking horns with the woo woos that are using their magical powers in solving crimes. Im talking about the awful show called Haunting Evidence. I cant post a url here yet sheez... I could use a little help... Im not so eloquent and funny like so many of you all.

They booted me and another skeptic off for a few days... no reasons given. However, it now seems some people that are connected to the show have arrived to put down the skeptics. They are rude, and seem to make only ad hominum replies. They really want us to leave.

My gripes are that the show sucks on a production level, AND it is pathetic that Court TV would invest money in esp crap when forensics... SCIENCE has taken the leading edge in crime solving.

I question them about why they dont go pick up the mil from Randi, haha. TangledWishes bless her heart, is too poor, and too busy helping people to go out to California to do the test. Plus, mean Randi wont pay the air fare or hotel, and demands a whole week. Say what!! But Randi is in Flordia, and they'll come to you for the pre lims... but maybe she didnt really have time to even read the rules? Im so awful, how dare I put her down!!?

Mike

[no one in particular]

I've been living in Jamaica for the last 12 years, and recently moved back to the US.
I visited Jamaica once for a day. Can't remember the port (yeah, it was for a cruise), but the area was beautiful and I'd love to go back for an extended visit at some point.

But one thing I couldn't figure out: On which side of the road are they supposed to drive?

[Mr. Skinny]

I killed him. Or actually, Darat killed him. I couldn't do my own dirty work.

If you have to say, "I was only joking," it wasn't funny. So, since Skepticool was supposed to be a fictional persona that people didn't take seriously, and they took it seriously, I need to have a take two. Back to one people.

The first step is to change my username. Not to fool anyone. Just to signify that I'll be more myself (until there's a clear difference, at least). Since no one knew me in real life, you couldn't imagine the smirk on my face as I made each non-sequitur post. I thought posting them in "Humor" would do the trick, but here I am saying, "I was just joking."

JREF is my first forum participation, so chalk that up as a noob mistake, if you can be so generous.

I'm here to learn.

Brian
Well, let's just say "we'll see" and leave it at that.

Welcome back, Brian.

P.S.I do sorta remember you from humor, so that can't be all bad..

[gdtbiker]

Hi everyone!

I've been led to believe that new users are encouraged to make their first post here. This is an indirect result of being nagged by that "Hello gdtbiker, We notice you haven't yet posted . . .Why not make your first post .... in the Welcome new... thread?

I say indirect because I must have clicked that pseudolink a dozen times only to get some such nonsense about "If you have followed a valid link to get here, please notify the administrator". Now, the problem on my end, as I see it, is that I was somewhat taken aback by the nagging suspicion that I obviously did NOT follow a Valid link and yet I was still being presented with the distinct implication that somehow folks sometimes get to that point by following a Valid link. I was confused! How is this possible? Hmmm....

And then it hit me! Slapped me right upside the ole noggin it did! This is the entry level test for all new posters!! Sadly, I am ashamed to say, my critical thinking cap was shrinking in the wash at the time and would not be available for donning in time to apply to this puzzle.

So, I winged it. And ended up here finally, after tracking down the appropriate thread the hard way - by looking. Of course that was after considering one of mottos: "It at first you don't succeed, try it again - you never know when the laws of physics and the universe might change!