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

[Dogdoctor]

Don't worry - I do nothing that wives need know. Some of my best friends are wives. And I answer to a higher authority - My Mother! You have to remember - she took on the Germans, on their turf, in their language.

But I have to admit - I'm lovin the attention. Imagine - being admired for your mind.

Namaste
Nitor

That sounds like something and extremely beautiful woman would say. Don't tell me you're a model or something like that also. Woman have admired me for my mind a lot but then if I were good looking no one would notice my mind. The only thing women ever mention physically about me is my eyes or the size of my various parts ......yes I have a very large........nose :)

[elaine]

Nitor,
What an incredibly interesting person... a radioactive chocolate skepchick who sings German drinking songs and uses a hindu signature.

Interesting is an understatement. Come to TAM and fall in love with her.

[Dogdoctor]

Interesting is an understatement. Come to TAM and fall in love with her.

I see. So it is all part of a sneaky plot to get guys to come to TAM. I would go just to meet you elaine (if I could go without causing harm in other parts of my life.)

[Poppythinks]

just finished The God Delusion and want to read something else now that also makes me feel good and expands my tiny brain...any ideas (no godders or religite responses please)
and have a wonderful 2007 with lots of smilies everyone

[Dogdoctor]

just finished The God Delusion and want to read something else now that also makes me feel good and expands my tiny brain...any ideas (no godders or religite responses please)
and have a wonderful 2007 with lots of smilies everyone

You might ask the same question on this forum (History, Literature, and the Arts ) http://forums.randi.org/forumdisplay.php?f=9 I am reading "Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman!" by Richard Feynman . It's leisurely reading material and an interesting insight into the mind of a very intelligent person. What are your interests?

[Eos of the Eons]

I'm reading "The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins. It's a funky rundown of genetics and how life would have started on earth, to how genes get passed around from generation to generation.

Can you tell me right now what the main difference between meiosis and mitosis is? If not, then read the book!

[Nitor]

For those who wish to pierce the veil - I have posted pictures on the TAM5 picture thread.

I don't want to be a surprise - I like being expected.

Namaste
Nitor

[Nitor]

That sounds like something and extremely beautiful woman would say. Don't tell me you're a model or something like that also. Woman have admired me for my mind a lot but then if I were good looking no one would notice my mind. The only thing women ever mention physically about me is my eyes or the size of my various parts ......yes I have a very large........nose :)

if you are old enough, and come to TAM5 - I'll tell you exactly why I didn't get the modeling gig. That is if you come bringing cookies. And you have to bring the right kind.

Namaste
Nitor
PS - I may only think I posted pictures - ELAINE, 'Whoops, I did it again!'

[maffustan]

Hello matthew here from leicestershire uk.

Been looking at these pages for ages :)

Main skeptic interest is the evolution/creation debate

[SusanB-M1]

just finished The God Delusion and want to read something else now that also makes me feel good and expands my tiny brain...any ideas (no godders or religite responses please)
and have a wonderful 2007 with lots of smilies everyone

Definitely 'A Short History of Nearly Everything' by Bill Bryson. As a non-scientist, I recommend reading it straight through to pick up the gist, then go back and read again. I think it was excellent.

[Dogdoctor]

if you are old enough, and come to TAM5 - I'll tell you exactly why I didn't get the modeling gig. That is if you come bringing cookies. And you have to bring the right kind.

Namaste
Nitor
PS - I may only think I posted pictures - ELAINE, 'Whoops, I did it again!'
Well I will take that as a compliment (or if you meant it as a slight then you have to be more clear in your communications.) People used to mistake me for someone much younger than I was till I graduated from college. You are the first person who has made that mistake in years so thanks but if you saw me you likely wouldn't think I was too young. I will not be coming to TAM5 but I do have cookies :)

[Nitor]

Well I will take that as a compliment (or if you meant it as a slight then you have to be more clear in your communications.) People used to mistake me for someone much younger than I was till I graduated from college. You are the first person who has made that mistake in years so thanks but if you saw me you likely wouldn't think I was too young. I will not be coming to TAM5 but I do have cookies :)

You'll find that I don't do anything that anyone would label 'slight' (ask Elaine about where I fall on the subtlety spectrum) - I meant old enough (life experience-wise) for me to be telling you using cultural shorthand/references - it is a tale that relies on context. So, if you are not of a certain age, (my assumption is...) you wouldn’t easily get the why's the gig fell through.

What kind of cookies?

Namaste
Nitor

PS - I don't get carded anymore at the bars, anymore:(

[Dogdoctor]

You'll find that I don't do anything that anyone would label 'slight' (ask Elaine about where I fall on the subtlety spectrum) - I meant old enough (life experience-wise) for me to be telling you using cultural shorthand/references - it is a tale that relies on context. So, if you are not of a certain age, (my assumption is...) you wouldn’t easily get the why's the gig fell through.

What kind of cookies?

Namaste
Nitor

PS - I don't get carded anymore at the bars, anymore:(

I am older than you and I usually have piles of cookies (several different kinds) I have to go to my office and do an inventory on current stocks but people bring me food all the time but especially at Christmas time. And I guess it was a compliment thanks LOL (that I might be too young to understand something that requires older people to understand)

[Nitor]

I am older than you and I usually have piles of cookies (several different kinds) I have to go to my office and do an inventory on current stocks but people bring me food all the time but especially at Christmas time. And I guess it was a compliment thanks LOL (that I might be too young to understand something that requires older people to understand)

Why, yes you are, (some of my best friends are older than me too).

I tend to write, before I look at profiles as I'm trying to get my 50 in.

"And now for something completely different..."

Do you recognize this breed??
http://forums.randi.org/imagehosting/thum_13770459846ca6f717.jpg

She is no longer with me, but as soon as I can I'm going to get another one - I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS BREED!!

Namaste
Nitor

[Poppythinks]

happy 2007 dogdoctor
i'm interested in anything interesting, challenging, thought provoking,
mindset-changing, amusing, myth-busting and no wierd stuff

[Roadtoad]

Would I be out of line in saying to the new Skepchicks, "Be a flirt, raise your shirt"?

(Sorry, it's a trucker thing.)

[Nitor]

Would I be out of line in saying to the new Skepchicks, "Be a flirt, raise your shirt"?

(Sorry, it's a trucker thing.)

Mightly big assumption on your part - that skepchicks have shirts.

Namaste
Nitor

[Dogdoctor]

Why, yes you are, (some of my best friends are older than me too).

I tend to write, before I look at profiles as I'm trying to get my 50 in.

"And now for something completely different..."

Do you recognize this breed??
http://forums.randi.org/imagehosting/thum_13770459846ca6f717.jpg

She is no longer with me, but as soon as I can I'm going to get another one - I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS BREED!!

Namaste
Nitor

I am not sure if I know that breed. Looks like it has a curly tail? Oh and I checked at my office. Wow! My staff actually cleaned out all the food. I told them to take it or I was going to eat it all. Now I know how to get them to take home the food:) The only cookies we have left are macadamia shortbread cookies (half dipped in chocolate.) Anyway about that breed....is it a Hoover?

[Dogdoctor]

happy 2007 dogdoctor
i'm interested in anything interesting, challenging, thought provoking,
mindset-changing, amusing, myth-busting and no wierd stuff

Have you read "Flim Flam" or "The Faith Healers" by James Randi?

[Delusions_O_Grandeur]

:boxedin: Hello there, here's a new woo fresh out of the box. I've believed that humans have powers beyond the physical realms for a long time, it just seemed normal somehow. However, recently I felt compelled to disbelieve. I didn't like it and I couldn't help it. Two things have caused this process:

1) The systematic failure of scientific experiments applied to telepathy, when such study is sufficiently improved to prevent the use of memory (non random guessing patterns), the use of the 5 senses in some way, or fraud.

2) The huge pile of dead and smokin' paranormal claims left by Randi's million dollar challange. (about 680? ouch)

My goal here is to find out how I can be skeptical and still be content with life. The easy escape routes to transcendental ideas have now been blocked...

P.S. There is a typo in my name, could some administrator please replace the first u with an e?

[elaine]

:boxedin: Hello there, here's a new woo fresh out of the box. I've believed that humans have powers beyond the physical realms for a long time, it just seemed normal somehow. However, recently I felt compelled to disbelieve. I didn't like it and I couldn't help it. Two things have caused this process:

1) The systematic failure of scientific experiments applied to telepathy, when such study is sufficiently improved to prevent the use of memory (non random guessing patterns), the use of the 5 senses in some way, or fraud.

2) The huge pile of dead and smokin' paranormal claims left by Randi's million dollar challange. (about 680? ouch)

My goal here is to find out how I can be skeptical and still be content with life. The easy escape routes to transcendental ideas have now been blocked...

P.S. There is a typo in my name, could some administrator please replace the first u with an e?


Welcome Delusions!

If your experience is anything like mine, you'll find your life much improved. I find I have my hands quite full dealing with the one reality, without creating others. And I find I'm much happier as well.

[Dumb All Over]

Ditto, Elaine. Life is better, fuller, richer.
Happy New Year!

[COLONEL]

Wecome and Happy New Year

[Delusions_O_Grandeur]

Thank you. Also, a happy 2007 to you! I see you've given me my "e" as well. Delusions are probably much healthier than Dulusions... Or (high) Dilutions...

[Schnure]

Hello everyone, I'm planning on taking the JREF million dollar challenge and almost have an experiment working that will disprove some of the conventional laws of physics. I've joined up on this forum to get help with the challenge protocols and let everyone know of my upcoming experiment. I have been documenting all of my work online, and you can review the step by step process I have been working through. The experiment shouldn't be hard to demonstrate to even the most skeptical.

Happy New Year!

[Eos of the Eons]

disprove some of the conventional laws of physics

*scratches head*

I think the million is for proving something paranormal, not disproving a law of physics?

Otherwise, welcome!

[Dumb All Over]

You know what? If I didn't know any better I'd say Schnure is the brother of Sinsanity2006. But what do I know. I'm Dumb.

[Eos of the Eons]

You're not just dumb, but dumb all over (looking at your avatar as I say this). Otherwise, you are the least dumb I've ever seen (no longer looking at your avatar). Therefore, we must consider your observation.

[Dumb All Over]

Eos, when I look at your avatar, you're beautiful. When I turn away and look elsewhere, you're still beautiful.

(Didn't I hear somewhere that flattery will get you everywhere?:) )

[Eos of the Eons]

Yeah, but I really needed it today, so Thank You :D

[Reed]

New guy here. Just poking about.

Elaine can vouch for my crazy approach to skeptical activities. I recently dragged her and a few other Denver skeptics into the belly of the beast -- a UFO conspiracy talk given by paranormal researcher Paola Harris.

[Dumb All Over]

Hi Reed! 'Sup, dude?

[Reed]

Hi Reed! 'Sup, dude?

Planning the trip to TAM. Looks like Nitor will be going. She and myself will be driving in to Vegas on Wednesday.

IIRC, you'll be doing the same thing?

[hcmom]

I'm getting really fed up with all you Colorado people and your bragging about getting to go to TAM.... :cry1

[Dr Aardwolf]

Hi! I've just joined the forum and am registered for TAM5. I'm from Brighton, England and eventually arrived at skepticism the hard way, via catholicism and then transcendental meditation (but I'm alright now!) I've been a big fan of James Randi, Phil Plait, Mike Shermer and Penn & Teller for about 5 years and can't wait to actually see them at last and am looking forward to meeting you guys! :)

[kerry]

Hi everyone

I'm Kerry from the UK, been looking around this forum for a while but just joined up yesterday.

I'm a student and work part time at a solicitors office.

Happy new year everyone

[wollery]

Welcome, and Happy New Year to all the newcomers! :w2:

[Dumb All Over]

IIRC, you'll be doing the same thing?

The very same thing. I've got your number. I'll call you within the next week or so. TAM, TAM! Welcome to the forum.

[Dumb All Over]

I'm getting really fed up with all you Colorado people and your bragging about getting to go to TAM.... :cry1

Good, Mom. This means you are at the precipice and you will soon throw up your hands and say, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!" (See you at TAM, Mom! I know it's gonna happen. I feel it in my bones.)

[elaine]

*sniffs back the tears*

This is so beautiful. All my local skepfriends post here. Does my heart good.

[elaine]

New guy here. Just poking about.

Elaine can vouch for my crazy approach to skeptical activities. I recently dragged her and a few other Denver skeptics into the belly of the beast -- a UFO conspiracy talk given by paranormal researcher Paola Harris.

Reed and grayman seem to always know whats going on around Denver. It was interesting and sad at the same time. I really wonder how many of those folks truly are mentally ill.

[hcmom]

Good, Mom. This means you are at the precipice and you will soon throw up your hands and say, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!" (See you at TAM, Mom! I know it's gonna happen. I feel it in my bones.)

...sigh....

I wanna go.....

[Cactus Wren]

Cactus Wren here, posting from Arizona. Agnostic and irritable skeptic. (More irritable than usual right now: I typed in what I thought was an interesting introductory post, but when I tried to post it I was told I wasn't logged in. Then when I hit the Back button my post had disappeared.) I sometimes tell people that reading the Bible was what made an unbeliever out of me.

[Roadtoad]

*sniffs back the tears*

This is so beautiful. All my local skepfriends post here. Does my heart good.

That's great for you, Elaine.

Me? Got no local skepfriends.

[Ducky]

That's great for you, Elaine.

Me? Got no local skepfriends.

That may be, but for what it is worth you have freinds and fans across the world here.

Much love, RT.

[MajorOrgan]

Hello everyone.

I'm a new atheist/skeptic after years of riding the Christian divide. I'm not entirely sure what finally pushed me over. Currently, I'm moving around Texas for various reasons, and plan to attend the University of Texas at Austin in the fall to study physics.

I've been lurking around here for awhile after a friend gave me a link. I like the skepticism-influenced science discussion. The very logical "common sense" approach. :)

[elaine]

That may be, but for what it is worth you have freinds and fans across the world here.

Much love, RT.

What fowl said.

[Mr. Skinny]

Hello everyone.

I'm a new atheist/skeptic after years of riding the Christian divide. I'm not entirely sure what finally pushed me over. Currently, I'm moving around Texas for various reasons, and plan to attend the University of Texas at Austin in the fall to study physics.

I've been lurking around here for awhile after a friend gave me a link. I like the skepticism-influenced science discussion. The very logical "common sense" approach. :)
Welcome, MajorOrgan. I understand Texas can be a tough part of the country for agnostics/atheists. Glad you joined here. Here's hoping you'll be a MajorOrgan donor.

Ok, that was really bad, but when I saw "New Blood" under your user name, some odd force came over me...

[MajorOrgan]

The Austin/San Antonio area is quite nice, actually. My hometown of Bryan is less than enlightened, and could only be described as "entrenched in Southern Heritage."

On the other hand, I recently realized just how religious this state is on a road trip to Colorado for skiing. There were so many churches in some small towns, I could only assume people attended multiple churches. I even saw one with a drive through (that about did it for me).

[Mr. Skinny]

The Austin/San Antonio area is quite nice, actually. My hometown of Bryan is less than enlightened, and could only be described as "entrenched in Southern Heritage."

On the other hand, I recently realized just how religious this state is on a road trip to Colorado for skiing. There were so many churches in some small towns, I could only assume people attended multiple churches. I even saw one with a drive through (that about did it for me).
Well, we have about 10 regular posters here from TX (Tricky, Geek Goddess, Marquis de Carabas, LeFevre, Unrepentant Sinner, kittykatkarma, scotth, to name a few) , so I'm sure you'll find a sympathetic ear.

[mithunkr]

Hello thinkers of the world,

I'm Mithun, a born atheist (as everyone) who never got converted into any religion...

And looking forward to having some gr8 thought sharing with you all...

[Reed]

I really wonder how many of those (UFO conspiracists) truly are mentally ill.

Some of them, perhaps. However, I suspect that most are as healthy as ourselves.

Note that they might consider us to be mentally ill for not seeing the evidence of conspiracy that is so obvious to anyone who cares to look for it!

[officerdibble]

Newbee here

I hope that the quality of the forum continues since I've taken an interest.

Looking forward to taking part.

Cheers

[Hutch]

Ahem..*clears throat*..Welcome newbies!

Welcome Cactus Wren. Like you, actually reading the Bible made me the man I am today (Deist). And if you're really irritable, don't worry, you'll find plenty to be irritated about...;) :p :D

And Welcome mithunkr, we have a lot of Us/Europe and Australian posters, but not a lot from in-between. Looking forwazrd to your contributions.

Weolcome to officerdibble. I wouldn't worry about you affecting the quality...we survived Iamme, after all...:eye-poppi

[Ducky]

Weolcome to officerdibble. I wouldn't worry about you affecting the quality...we survived Iamme, after all...:eye-poppi

...and me.



Welcome Newbies!

[Reed]

Does anyone have any tips on navigating about and making best use of the Forum? For example, is there a way to conveniently watch specific threads?

[RecoveringYuppy]

Subscribe to the thread using the menu "Thread tools" near the top right of the page. Under "quick links" above that you can view all subscribed threads to see which are active.

[Reed]

Subscribe to the thread using the menu "Thread tools" near the top right of the page. Under "quick links" above that you can view all subscribed threads to see which are active.

Thanks. That's exactly what I was looking for but could not find.

Blood pressure is now returning to normal.

[SezMe]

Hey, mithunkr, welcome. I recently attended a dinner at which an adherent of Sai Baba was in attendance. To remain polite, I did not challenge some of his assertions. I would really be interested in your assessment of how he is received in your country. Is it true he has the ear of the PM? Do "hundreds of thousands" of Indians believe in him? What is the status of the criminal suits against him? And so on....

Don't respond here if you get this message. Start a new thread and let me know if you do.

BTW, welcome to all the other Noobs. I didn't mean to ignore you, I just have a specific interest in India.

[FriendlyAtheist]

Hi! I'm a new guy to the forum... But I'll be at TAM5 :)

Looking forward to meeting all of you!

-- Hemant

[The Atheist]

Hi! I'm a new guy to the forum... But I'll be at TAM5 :)

Looking forward to meeting all of you!

-- Hemant

Well, you won't meet me there, but anyone with atheist in their name suits me!

Welcome!

[Nuncspater]

Hi everyone,

I'm Nunc - I'm here more by accident than design since I found you while searching for something on the placebo effect.
I have been a longtime member of some groups on UK & international politics which seem to be winding down now.
I live in Britain and used to travel quite a lot, but never to North America.
My interests are fairly eclectic so I will spend a bit of time ghosting / lurking and then chip in when I find something that interests (or annoys) me.

Take care,

Nunc

[Reed]

Hi! I'm a new guy to the forum... But I'll be at TAM5 :)

I know you. You're the fella who auctioned yourself on eBay. IIRC, the highest bidder would specify some 50 services that you would attend. I think that was a great thing. I'll watch for you at TAM.

[Yawn]

Hi,

been lurking out here for a couple of years, thought I might as well
nosey on in! Love this site :)


yawn ZZZzzzzz....

[Irony]

Hi, I found the JREF site a few weeks ago by way of BadAstronomy and have been reading through the weekly archives. I started reading the forum and decided to register.

According to my parents I was born a skeptic, though I'm not sure how accurate their testimony is. When I asked them to provide me with evidence they just sighed.

Anyway, I look forward to many entertaining discussions/debates with fellow forum members skeptic or otherwise.

[Coritani]

Hi, I've just stumbled onto the forums when sniffing around 9/11 conspiracy theories (I'm not a conspiracy theorist, I believe in the official story). You may have seen me debating on the Loose Change forums. Now I've been banned for Posting Mark Roberts' rebuttal of Loose Change (I think), so I've come here.

[Nitor]

Does anyone have any tips on navigating about and making best use of the Forum? For example, is there a way to conveniently watch specific threads?


Hey Reed!!!!

What I've discovered, is that you can magically subscribe to a thread by posting. Then, you can use the menu bar up top and click on Quick Links and click on "Subscribed Threads" to quickly go to the threads you want. You can open them in separate windows and multi-task communicate.

Or you can use Search (menu bar) to key word your way to threads. Like search on Elaine, she has 3million-billion-gadzillion posts. Don't know how she does it - she's incredible!

What kind of car do you have??

Namaste
Nitor

[Reed]

What kind of car do you have??

'03 Jeep Wrangler Sport. We can wait until the last minute to decide which vehicle to drive to TAM, the decision based upon the weather and road conditions (Vail pass, etc.)

I haven't talked to Pat yet to find out his plans.

Thanks for the navigation tips!

[Reed]

Hi, I've just stumbled onto the forums when sniffing around 9/11 conspiracy theories (I'm not a conspiracy theorist, I believe in the official story).

We skeptics are hesitant to declare belief in anything. It's too final.

Rather we fancy our beliefs to be entirely tentative, based upon the latest and greatest verifiable evidence, tempered by a liberal use of Occam's Razor.

That said, the 9/11 official story is a slam dunk illustrated by this pity quote:

"Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice."

I wish I had a source for it. Anyhow, welcome to the forum. I'm new here myself.

[Awmte]

Hi,
First post. I guess you'd call me a career lurker. I'm also over at IIDB, where I'm also a career lurker. Witness the length of my membership vice my number of posts.
Anyway, I thought I saw some IIDB regulars here, which is pretty much why I decided to join.

Best,
Awmte

[Darat]

:welcome2

[Dumb All Over]

I haven't talked to Pat yet to find out his plans.



I'm planning on leaving at 5am on the 17th. I switched my rental reservation from a pickup truck to a Taurus. Maybe that was a bad idea given all the snow. Anyway, I'll try to call you tonight Reed. And now, it's snowing again!!

[elaine]

Hey Reed!!!!

What I've discovered, is that you can magically subscribe to a thread by posting. Then, you can use the menu bar up top and click on Quick Links and click on "Subscribed Threads" to quickly go to the threads you want. You can open them in separate windows and multi-task communicate.

Or you can use Search (menu bar) to key word your way to threads. Like search on Elaine, she has 3million-billion-gadzillion posts. Don't know how she does it - she's incredible!

What kind of car do you have??

Namaste
Nitor


You'll find most are on the humor and community threads. Lotsa' "I win" posts.

[Reed]

I'm planning on leaving at 5am on the 17th. I switched my rental reservation from a pickup truck to a Taurus. Maybe that was a bad idea given all the snow.

The snow that's currently falling won't be the problem. Rather, it'll be the 15" that falls on Vail Pass on the evening of the 16th that'll dent your best laid plans.

If that's the case, you're welcome to take a spot in the Jeep. It'll hold four comfortably if we rent a hitch-mount luggage carrier. I can buy tire chains to get us through the worst conditions.

(typo in previous message: pity -> pithy)

[mist]

Hi everyone,

I've read many posts and articles, and I'm wondering are there any success stories of people using fallacy (without being aware) being convinced of the logic? Is there any best way to approach them? It just seems that whenever I provide them with clear logic "there must be another reason i am right" or thinking that I am some kind of evil person who tries to take away their dreams.

I noticed sometimes it works to follow them in their misconsceptions, and prove they can't be right even with their own "facts". But then they mumble, do a small amount of more thinking on one of their facts and devise another wrong theory. It just makes me sad. Isn't there anyway to teach them to take proper references and do a little thinking about them?

Oh, and I'm very happy to be here. :)

- mist

[Dogdoctor]

Hi mist. You should start a thread with this as a topic in the community forum. There have been some stories like that. Some members including myself harbored fallacious beliefs prior to becoming skeptical and some still harbor some fallacious beliefs but don't use the belief system for most of their thinking and some are through and through nuts. My best guess is it is important to not antagonize them but provide a clear logical alternate for their hokum. Some will change and learn and some will pull back into their protective covering that keeps them from seeing the world.
:jrefwelcome

[mist]

Okay, i reposted it.

Thankyou for your reply. I'll have some thought about your comment.

[Doc Daneeka]

Yay, my first post. I've been lurking here forever, but never quite got around to registering.

I love this place. Even as a kid, I always had trouble accepting a lot of things. I was really into Greek and Norse mythology as a kid, so the stuff we learned in Sunday school just seemed to be more of the same. This led to many unpleasant conversations with friends and family. I remember being nearly the only person around who honestly didn't believe that Satanic cults were operating all over the place in the late 80s (thank you so very much, Geraldo Rivera). The entire idea of a conspiracy that big just seemed absurd. Of course, that led to yet more nasty arguments with friends and family. Then, one day, a rather irreverant and perceptive relative lent me a copy of "Flim Flam!", and told me to read it. Then he pointed me to the sci.skeptic newsgroup. It utterly blew my mind. It's always nice to find out that one isn't alone.

[articulett]

Hi! I'm a new guy to the forum... But I'll be at TAM5 :)

Looking forward to meeting all of you!

-- Hemant

Excellent--are you the kid who auctioned off your "soul" on e-bay?.

I heard some great podcasts and recognize the name.

[Qon]

Hi, I'm a psychology student from Poland

[twistor59]

Hello,

this is my first post. I'm twistor59, I found this forum via the richarddawkins.net forum, where I post by the same name. I'm from the UK, and I'm worried about the spread of faith based ideas at the expense of science based stuff.

[roob]

Hi to all; my name is Dave from the UK.

I came across this site by accident and decided to sign up, although I suspect I may be putting my head in the lion's den. However, I trust that you will give me the respect that I will give you and hope that our exchanges can be mutually informative.
My mind is open and questioning; it always has been, and from being a child I realised there had to be more to life than was known. I quickly discounted religion and looked into other ideas. The first law of thermodynamics gave me much food for thought and opened a new line of investigation. My experiences have reinforced my thinking and I now believe that we are so much more than a body and a mind which simply ceases to exist on death. This made no sense to me.
Many of my experiences will be perceived as subjective, but they remain real to me.
I look forward to some interesting exchanges.

[Dogdoctor]

Many of my experiences will be perceived as subjective, but they remain real to me.
Lot's of people will have problems with that statement. Welcome and hopefully you will find some lively conversations here.
:welcomepirate2:

[NewMusic_Jenn]

Hello out there!

I'm new to the forum - I joined JREF last august and have been reading along for a few months and finally decided to join in :)

I'm heading to TAM 5 so hopefully I'll meet some of you then!

Cheers,
Jenn in Newfoundland

[Hutch]

Well, it's nearly my bedtime (when the alarm rings at 5:05am on Monday, early to bed is a necessity), so I'll get my last post for the week in with some welcomes.

Welcome Doc Daneeka. Hopefully you will not have to many unpleasant conversations here..but I wouldn't promise you anything...:eek: :D

Welcome Qon. Not sure if we have other posters from Poland, I know Germany and some of the Balkan areas are represented. Looking forward to hearing your opinions.

Welcome twistor59. Lots of UK folks here already, and you'll find more than a few discussions on Dawkins.


Welcome roob (two UK folks in a row). Yes, you will find, um, "spirited" discussion here, so come ready to defend yourself, but if you can I think you will it a thoughtful experience.

And welcome NewMusic Jen. A Newfie, eh? I'll add you to my list of JREF Forum attendees (155+ and growing) and just look for our Forum badges (hopefully there may be one for you there too, see the threads on The Amazing Meeting subforum.

Welcome one and all. Now off to bed.

[Doc Daneeka]

Well,
Welcome Doc Daneeka. Hopefully you will not have to many unpleasant conversations here..but I wouldn't promise you anything...:eek: :D


Don't worry. I am past the age of unpleasant conversations. Everyone who knows me well knows that i am an atheist and a skeptic (i came out of the closet, as it were). The only way that people here could give me an unpleasant converstion would be to either A) refuse to use logic in their arguments or B) turn out to be a religious person who is also close family. No worries as far as the latter goes. As for the former, we shall see :)

[FriendlyAtheist]

Excellent--are you the kid who auctioned off your "soul" on e-bay?.

I heard some great podcasts and recognize the name.I never know if this is a good or bad thing to admit to, but yes, that would be me :)

I can't wait to meet people at the conference!

(And then promptly beat them in the poker tournament)

[Tanstaafl]

Cactus Wren here, posting from Arizona. Agnostic and irritable skeptic. (More irritable than usual right now: I typed in what I thought was an interesting introductory post, but when I tried to post it I was told I wasn't logged in. Then when I hit the Back button my post had disappeared.) I sometimes tell people that reading the Bible was what made an unbeliever out of me.

I've been preoccupied with other things, and hadn't checked this thread for a while, so here's belated welcome from a fellow Zoni.

[Inquisitive Raven]

Hi, I'm one of those people who jumped in and started posting before introducing myself. I'm a former EMT (cert. expired last July), and the owner of a New Age store, so if anyone wants to know what kind of woo is popular, I'm in a good place to find out.

It's not a business that I think I would have gotten into on my own, but I had a far more credulous business partner who sucked me into it. If Yahzi is lurking this thread, that's the person I was referring to when I said that I'd found the NPD discussion useful. I consider myself a pantheist, but I don't tend to be strident about it.

BTW, anyone who's in the Philly area is welcome to visit my shop, but please don't tease the woos. :D Please PM me for directions.

[billyb1012]

Hello to all. Sorry for the prosaic nickname (it's my real first name, my real first initial of my surname, and my birthdate [ m / d ]), but I am so anchored in common sense that I lose all imagination when faced with creative tasks such as dreaming up clever aliases. I'm much more comfortable being who I am and saying what I think. I am sinfully proud of my ability to construct a coherent sentence, and to weave said sentence into a paragraph, and thus creating a clever and readable essay on how I feel about a given topic at a particular time.

And there is much to write about here. I am particularly distressed about the amount of words devoted to the conspiracy theories attendant to the events of September 11, 2001. I find it amazing and disturbing that so many intelligent and literate people, most of whom seem quite rational, can so flippantly disregard the most obvious interpretations of what happened that horrible day.

As a lifelong questioner of the "revealed truths" I was brought up to believe in, and as one who has only in the new millenium, and in the second half-century of my own life, come to firmly doubt the existence of God, I look forward to lively discussions with others of an opposing view. I also anticipate, whenever possible,









trying to disabuse others of beliefs not based on evidence, when the evidence to the contrary is available. Above, we can see the comments of a skeptic[?] who is part owner of a "New Age" business. What is the philosophical basis of such a seemingly contradictory notion? Yes, indeed, there is much to talk about here; I wish only that time allows me the opportunity to explore these ideas, and that my rhetoric doesn't fail me.

I love words almost as much as as I love ideas, and I hope I can use them here (and their traffic cop -- punctuation) as well as is possible to express my views. I try to be open minded (but not so open-minded that one's brains fall out: I forget who said that first -- it wasn't me), and as respectful as possible, but if I think you are wrong, I will tell you so, and if the situation calls for such tools as irony, sarcasm or facetiousness, do not doubt I will use them.

A little about me: I'm 52 years old, I've lived all my life in a town of 7,000 people, in rural Illinois, something of a renegade free-thinker in a community that's pretty staunchly republican and religious ( although you'd be surprised at the number of people who have an agnostic bent but who don't say so for fear of incurring the wrath, and the attendant economic penalties that might result, of their neighbors ). I'm a blue-collar worker, on a swing shift, and crimony, it's very late, and I must be off to bed. Thanks for reading, if you got this far, andI hope we meet again soon.

[solbol]

I am a filmmaker making a documentary film about Traditional Chinese Medicine (or TCM). Are there any health professionals out there based near London (or visiting in February)who are strongly opposed to the supposed benefits of TCM and would like to use my film as a platform, if so I would very much like to talk to you. I'm new to this forum but hopefully you will know how to contact me. Cheers and best wishes for the New Year.

[dotalbon]

I love the word "skepchicks" -- my daughter is one, and I guess that makes me one too. I introduced said daughter to the wonderful world of James Randi, CSICOP, et al. several years ago and now she attends skeptics conventions, lectures and the like. This may be my single most important contribution to the world!

I'm 58 years old, read voraciously (for fun) in astronomy, general science, art history, mystery and crime fiction, movie and theater criticism, and music. Timothy ferris' Coming of Age in the Milky Way is my favorite book of all time. I believe in science as an enterprise, and defend it as the underpinning of a highly moral worldview, for which it receives insufficient credit in my book. Understanding science teaches us about human commonality (our biological similarities are much deeper than any differences) and instructs us in humility by teaching us our place in the universe and showing how fallible we all are as human observers. The procedural core of science -- reliance on double-blind testing and experimentation, fortified with a healthy dose of Occam's Razor -- combined with the sheer joy in understanding the world around us, offers a superb toolset to ward off ignorance and superstition.

I look forward to reading up on other forum contributors and joining the fray on controversial threads (LOVE those!)

[Dogdoctor]

Welcome new posters

Inquisitive Raven, I guess you already know your way around

billyb1012, no need to apologize for your name and I am sure you will lots of lively discussion and people with similar thoughts

solbol, I hope you find the help you want although you probably worded your request wrong. You won't find many people here "strongly opposed to the supposed benefits of TCM." What you may find is people who oppose claims of benefits of TCM. I am not sure how many people are doctors here but hopefully they will reveal themselves for you.

dotalbon, I look forward to your contributions. I love skepchicks too

[196]

Hello, I'm a teacher. I've always loved reading and learning. As a kid I read books by Asimov, Clarke, and Tolkien. Over thirty years later, I still remember the thrill of reading "The Bog People" by P.V. Glob. I was also captivated by von Daniken's "Chariots of the Gods", and books about UFOs and the Bermuda Triangle. I had good teachers who encouraged me to think critically, and equipped me to sort out fact, fiction, and fantasy.

I spend a lot of my free time learning to be a better teacher. I enjoy number theory and puzzles. My school is a hotbed of chess activity, so I am exercising my long-atrophied game.

[Foolmewunz]

Welcome 196 - your location inspires this message. Are you a teacher in Kashechewan or a local (or both - nothing mutually exclusive about the two, naturally).

I'm always amazed at coincidences. Kashechewan might be an obscure topic to other posters, but I keep up with Canadian news, having lived there for ten years ('70 to '80), and you are in the hotbed of a rather large concern/story for a couple of years. Once you've gotten your "sea legs", so to speak, I'd be curious to hear something of the conditions, past and present, in the area. Was the reserve really moved because of mineral rights, or is that urban legend? What are the conditions for the water supply now? Etc.... The story died on me about a year back (as news stories seem to do).

BTW, numerous Canadians in JREF forum....


Oh, and WELCOME to all the other newbs.... I guess it's getting to the time that I shoud do some Welcome Wagon duty. Take your shoes off 'n set a spell!

[196]

Are you a teacher in Kashechewan or a localI'm a "white teacher". The people of Kashechewan are going through some very difficult times, but the courage and commitment of the members of this community is awe inspiring. Thanks for the welcome!

[Greatest I am]

I would need many replies for all of you. I just hope you all will forgive my franglais spelling.
I am beginning to wonder if my being here with you is a good idea. I have just recently come out as it were to the world of the net.
I thought that I had information that all would like to here.
I was wrong.
From Hero to Fool in one Giant leap.
My only claim to faim as it were since cmming to your town is being kicked out of the religious forums that I have frequented or tried to frequented. Save one.
I hope that my little message is recieved here better than at other places.

We have been called the net of lies by some. I would like to at this point in time swear to you all that I will never lie or try to misleed you.

Regards
DL

[Eternal Gaijin]

Just a quick note to say that I'm lurking around. Just an occasional poster however.
I'm a displaced Canadian locked in the dungeon that is Wandsworth, London. Hooray for the UK; I'm glad I found a place that's rainier than Vancouver.
A friend of mine got me turned onto the Randi site and it's been no looking back since. Love the site, love getting SWIFT and love the debates in the forums.

[hilliag]

I've been meaning to attend, since I live in Phoenix and it's so close, but this will be my first visit. Is there anything I should prepare for? I especially look forward to this TAM because I have dealt with a lot of media issues as a newspaper editor, pseudoscience and psychics in particular.

[The_Fire]

I would need many replies for all of you. I just hope you all will forgive my franglais spelling.
I am beginning to wonder if my being here with you is a good idea. I have just recently come out as it were to the world of the net.
I thought that I had information that all would like to here.
I was wrong.
From Hero to Fool in one Giant leap.
My only claim to faim as it were since cmming to your town is being kicked out of the religious forums that I have frequented or tried to frequented. Save one.
I hope that my little message is recieved here better than at other places.

We have been called the net of lies by some. I would like to at this point in time swear to you all that I will never lie or try to misleed you.

Regards
DL

There will be a level of mistrust unless you present scientific evidence to back up your claims.
Otherwise to you and everyone else:
Welcome.

[Patsy]

Hi everyone!

My name is Patsy, no, I wasn't named for Patsy Cline, and no, I can't sing at all :-D

I'm a voracious reader and autodidact with a massively overdeveloped curiosity bump. I've always felt that "I don't know, let's go find out" was a better answer to any question than "goddidit, don't ask questions."

I enjoy listening to and asking questions of those who have more expertise or knowledge in a field than I do in order to learn new things. I also take perverse pleasure in asking persistent and pointed questions of those who are talking out their arse or who don't understand their own positions well enough to defend them.

On the personal side, I live in Tucson, where I pursue a passion for photography and work as Executive Assistant to the CEO of a large software company. I get cranky when not fed or when exposed to fuzzy thinking and mystical mumbo jumbo.

Talk to you soon!
Patsy

[Tanstaafl]

Yay, another Zoni!

Welcome, you're gonna like it here.

[RecoveringYuppy]

Another Tucsonan here. Working as a software developer in a small company being gobgled up by a large company.

[nescafe]

I wrote a lenthy post, but everything got deleted when I couldn't post URLs and hit the back-button to return to edit them out. Your forum software sux, I don't have the energy to retype everything again.

That does suck. Sorry about the lost post.

Good to see you on the JREF, tho -- how is life on SFN these days?

[Dr. Mabuse]

That does suck. Sorry about the lost post.

Good to see you on the JREF, tho -- how is life on SFN these days?
Life is good. A little slow though. Our current Christian fundie is not a prolific poster.
And then, the Skepticality Forum is down... Our host seems to have realised that Derek decided to change to another (better) host, and doesn't seem cooperative anymore. The SQL server is acting up, and we cant get it running again.
Derek wanted to switch from phpBB to vBulletin, but with my experience here, I'd rather stay and work on modifying phpBB...
The mods I made stopped spam-registrations cold. We went from 60 spam-registrations/week to only two in one month. I just wished someone had told me earlier that Skepchick also used phpBB, I could have fixed them up as well.

[viccro]

Hello! My name is Vicki; I'm a high school student taking college classes. I'm in a math/science program, and am not really majoring in anything...but I'm looking at aerospace engineering and materials science in the future. I'm from San Antonio, but attend school in Denton. I'm a relatively new atheist, of just over a year. And that's about all there is to know about me...
And no, I don't go around saying 'Howdy!' :)

[Layla]

Hi, I'm Layla, lifelong atheist & critical thinker (I hope!). I'm currently a student raising 2 kids to think for themselves too. I've lurked on this site for years - I thought it was time to bite the bullet and post.

G'day!

[Patsy]

Tanstaafl, Yuppy, thanks for the welcome. It's always nice to meet more of my fellow Desert Rats.

[leucanthemum]

I guess it's time to quit lurking, pop my head up and prairie dog for a moment.

Just to introduce myself, I'm from the rural midwestern US, an underpaid would-be artist/writer, agnostic daughter of an atheist physicist (not so uncommon) who once was a seminarian (making him more than slightly less common). In my rebellious years, in order to irk the parents, I refused to learn math & science, but now that I'm more mature (snicker snicker), I'm coming around to appreciate scientific inquiry.

I don't really know enough to be certain of anything, and am enjoying the discussions at this site, for the perspective I'm gaining.

[Missis]

I'm finally posting because the JREF sent me my only birthday greetings this year (sniffle).

That sounds too sad-arse. I'll try again:

My name is Missis and I'm an alcoholic.

WHOOPS sorry wrong forum!!

Third time lucky:

I want all the nonsense to stop NOW. I'm going to make a big pile of Feng Shui toys and burn them. I'm going to make trains run on time with common sense and appropriate use of space-age alloys! I'm going to tell dowsers where to stick their sticks!! For every religious image imagined in a natural or unnatural object I'm going to find 50 equivalent Elvises!!! No more magic tarot remote-viewing rune stones, no more Palmer-blooming-method chiropractic and no more backwards, mindless, god-bothering HYSTERICAL SUPERSTITIOUS ROT!!!!

I'm mad as he11 and I'm not going to take it anymore
[wow - I think I broke the exclamation points, or used up my quota or something]

Well not take it lying down, anyway. I do have to work with these lower life forms, you know, can't throw the boss out with the Penta bathwater.

I'm done hyperventilating now. NEXT!

[Rubystars]

I'm not an atheist but I do consider myself to be a skeptic. Regardless of the fact that those who hold to a theistic philosophy tend to be regarded with some degree of ridicule among atheist circles, I like to participate in these kind of forums anyway because I feel like they do some real good in the world, steering people away from money draining scam artists.

Unlike many here, I do think that paranormal events are possible, but I am just as interested in seeing them successfully demonstrated in a controlled situation as anyone else here is.

I hope I can make some meaningful contributions and that a certain level of diversity is welcomed here. Some people might be familiar with my postings on the newsgroup talk.origins.

Anyway, I'll be glad to meet some of the folks on the forums and I hope it will be a chance to learn more and to help others to learn more too.

[Geee]

This is my first post here. I was born, live and work in Malta within the Banking sector. Looking forward to getting to know some of you guys.

Thanks

[hilliag]

Thanks for the welcome, Tanstaafl, if that was indeed meant for me. And to Rubystar, I appreciate your feeling that theists are held to a bit of ridicule in skeptic circles, although in my case I try to hold my tongue. That is sometimes difficult in that as much evidence exists for our modern deities as for the long-ago ones like Thor (and, Mr. Chick's work excluded, they don't even have decent comic books about the modern ones!).
You also note that you think paranormal events are possible but want to see one demonstrated in a controlled situation. I think that goes for a lot of us here. But it's likely going to be a long, long wait, given what we've seen for eons. Why, you might as well expect the Arizona Cardinals to win the Super Bowl!

[Missis]

I apologise for trying to be funny. Being skeptical is serious business. Hyperbole undermines open discussion and provokes only ridicule instead of thoughtful debate.

It won't happen again. I SAID it won't happen again. RIGHT?
[brief tussle] [argument][sound of alternate personality being chucked into dungeon]
Apologies. Does anyone else have this problem with their online personalities?

[hcmom]

Missis...please come visit the sane section of the forum, Community. You'll discover that being skeptical isn't a business at all, but more of.... um...... well... maybe you should just learn for yourself.

[SkeptiKilt]

Welcome aboard, Missis. You might find the odd humorectomy survivor here and there, but I'm not one of them, and I appreciate someone who isn't afraid to get snarky and sarky in her first post(s).

[Fitter]

I apologise for trying to be funny. Being skeptical is serious business. Hyperbole undermines open discussion and provokes only ridicule instead of thoughtful debate.

It won't happen again. I SAID it won't happen again. RIGHT?
[brief tussle] [argument][sound of alternate personality being chucked into dungeon]
Apologies. Does anyone else have this problem with their online personalities?
I believe the Revolution may have a new soldier.

[Esperdome]

Welcome, Viccro, Rubystars. There are plenty of Texans here so make yourselves at home.

Welcome, Leucanthemum, you have a very interesting background.

Welcome, Geee. I don't recall seeing anyone else here from Malta. I heard you guys have neat falcons. :D

Welcome, Layla. Since you already have an avatar you must have some special superpowers.

And welcome to all the other new posters.

[Roadtoad]

I would need many replies for all of you. I just hope you all will forgive my franglais spelling.
I am beginning to wonder if my being here with you is a good idea. I have just recently come out as it were to the world of the net.
I thought that I had information that all would like to here.
I was wrong.
From Hero to Fool in one Giant leap.
My only claim to faim as it were since cmming to your town is being kicked out of the religious forums that I have frequented or tried to frequented. Save one.
I hope that my little message is recieved here better than at other places.

We have been called the net of lies by some. I would like to at this point in time swear to you all that I will never lie or try to misleed you.

Regards
DL

Welcome, Dude. Best I can tell you is don't be afraid to get your feet wet. You just might be surprised at what you find!

[tandem]

Hi. This looks to be an interesting site. Most of the folks here are probably much more educated than I am. I will read more than post.
I live in Kansas and yes "set back your watch fifty years" is appropriate for here.
Havng posted this, I think I will take a quick look around.

[Rubystars]

Thank you Esperdome for the warm welcome. :)

[Kopji]

wow, lots of new people from all over. Welcome all!

Layla
I confess that Adelaide is one of the places I've always wanted to go but probably never will.

Dr Mabuse
Welcome anyway. Just click those ruby slippers together and repeat there's noplace like home.
The admins here seem to enjoy adding and playing with new features, there is a forum for making suggestions.

Patsy
Welcome, there are several forum posters from the Tuscon area. The CT forum offers several opportunities for high crank.

[Myth Buster]

I am here to set the record straight where malice is wrapped in deception to mislead the gullible and the unaware. What folk believe or don't believe is entirely their business. Purposely maligning and misrepresenting those who are not even aware of the poison being fed about them to the public is another matter and needs to be addressed whenever possible.

[Sneblen]

Hello everyone,

I am currently an education major. I would like to teach in technology applied to business. I came across this site many years back when my mother wanted to hire a physic to find my sister. She was desperate. I did a little research, generally don't like physics, and told her about what I found on your site. It convinced her not to use a physic.
Currently I am a Christian, looks for the touches, but I have always fell inline with the skeptic mindset. Don't take things for face value and learn what you can about the world. I have wanted to some how resolve my worldview. I am sure you all don't want to here me drone on about that.
Anyhow, the reason for me to message you is to thank you for the information. I don't know if I did or not before and it does not hurt to do it again. Your site is informative about the supernatural and saved my mother, who is retired and does not have much money, from spending the money on Sylvia Brown.

Why isn't there a spellchecker? Is there some grammar and spelling test to post here?

[Eos of the Eons]

Welcome Sneblen.

I think some folks type into Word, then do a spell check. Finally, the post is copied and pasted to JREF. Otherwise, I think there are a few other ways to work in a spell check.

Other Christians here are MLynn and Kittynh. I'm sure there are more :)

[hcmom]

Why isn't there a spellchecker? Is there some grammar and spelling test to post here?

There's no test... You'll just find yourself avoiding some of us!

I've learned to control myself with intro posts mostly, but one thing you should know...you can't really get away from physics but Kelly here in the forum is recognized for her work against psychics preying on families of missing people.

[Dogdoctor]

Sneblen, you can go here for a free spell checker that works with internet explorer http://www.iespell.com/

[Dr. Mabuse]

Sneblen, you can go here for a free spell checker that works with internet explorer www iespell com
IE-Spell is great and easy to use (I use it myself), but unfortunately, it doesn't do grammar.
My only tip there is to copy the post into a word-processor like Microsoft Office Word. It will catch misses like replacing their with there. Unfortunately, it won't catch if you type physics instead of psychics.
Just consider hints like these learning experiences, and you'll be just fine.

[Dr. Mabuse]

Dr Mabuse
Welcome anyway. Just click those ruby slippers together and repeat there's no place like home.

When I click those ruby slippers and repeats "there's no place like home" I end up at either Skeptic Friends Network (no link because of my post count) where I moderate, or Skepticality Forum where I'm an admin.

I drifted out of the Pentecostal church in Sweden about 15 years ago. They didn't seem to want to have me around, I suppose I was too scientific-minded for their taste. (I always loved science, even as a devout Christian)
Once I started to question my Christian brothers' and sisters' friendship, and found it to be bunk, I was on a fast track to questioning other things about the church. Pretty soon I was a questioning Religion and found it bunk too.

And here I am, foremost a Skeptic.
Agnostic.
However, every once in a while the Pentecostal brainwashing gives me flashbacks of magical thinking, which in turn reminds me of the betrayal of church. This temporarily kicks me into anti-theist and anti-religion mode which ends with me either shouting "Up yours Jesus! F**k you!" or "There is no GOD! (and if there is, he's a sadistic f**kup)"
When I calm down again, I return to what I consider the most intellectually honest position:
Agnostic.

When I'm not wasting time on the Internet, I work as an electronics engineer for Ericsson Mobile Systems. On my free time I enjoy music (used to play blues-rock in a band), movies and TV, especially Sci-fi. Secondary Osteoarthritis in my left hip as a complication from a sporting accident is keeping me from riding my motorcycle.

[Kopji]

When I click those ruby slippers and repeats "there's no place like home" I end up at either Skeptic Friends Network (no link because of my post count) where I moderate, or Skepticality Forum where I'm an admin.

I drifted out of the Pentecostal church in Sweden about 15 years ago. They didn't seem to want to have me around, I suppose I was too scientific-minded for their taste. (I always loved science, even as a devout Christian)
Once I started to question my Christian brothers' and sisters' friendship, and found it to be bunk, I was on a fast track to questioning other things about the church. Pretty soon I was a questioning Religion and found it bunk too.

And here I am, foremost a Skeptic.
Agnostic.
However, every once in a while the Pentecostal brainwashing gives me flashbacks of magical thinking, which in turn reminds me of the betrayal of church. This temporarily kicks me into anti-theist and anti-religion mode which ends with me either shouting "Up yours Jesus! F**k you!" or "There is no GOD! (and if there is, he's a sadistic f**kup)"
When I calm down again, I return to what I consider the most intellectually honest position:
Agnostic.

When I'm not wasting time on the Internet, I work as an electronics engineer for Ericsson Mobile Systems. On my free time I enjoy music (used to play blues-rock in a band), movies and TV, especially Sci-fi. Secondary Osteoarthritis in my left hip as a complication from a sporting accident is keeping me from riding my motorcycle.

Seriously, much welcome!
I've occasionally lurked on both SFN and Skepticality and wish them well. There's a small forum called Atheistparents I like too. I have a lot of respect for anyone who can/will devote the time and effort to moderate or otherwise manage forums. It is easy to forget the mods it for free, and they can take that as a complement.

[shadow23]

Hello everyone!
I am a new member here and this is my first post. I hope I am doing this right. I first became interested in skepticism at a very young age. My father was a magician, he belongs to (not sure of name) International Society of Magicians, and even wears his ring to this day. Often, he would let me be his assistant, which opened my mind up to the world of illusion. i share his interest in anything along those lines. We constantly e-mail interesting videos of various illusions to each other and try to figure them out. Obviously, he usually knows, but seeing me try provides us with many discussions and laughs. He will never tell me how things are done, his excuse being that it is an oath he took and will never break. He will tell me if I figured it out correctly though. I have some great online videos, if anyone would like to see them, please let me know. I have many favorite magicians, due to my exposure at a young age. I won't reveal my age but, has anyone else seen Harry Blackstone Jr.? I also like David Copperfield, Cir-something (the japanese magician who puts his hand in a fishtank), Cris Angel (at times, but I wish he would cut off those dreadlocks!), P&T and many others. If any of you are living in the Los Angeles area, I would highly reccommend going to the Magic Castle. A group of magicians are in individual rooms, performing in an absolutely perfect setting of a castle designed specifically to cater to the concept.
I am a full time student, yes at my age :eek: , but it has always been a dream of mine. I am going for my masters in English Literature, with a minor in Sociology, or visa versa, I am not sure yet. I love educating my mind and I have a curious nature, so school is the perfect place for me.
I was wondering what some of the other members interests are, and what religious or political beliefs you have, if any. What are your previous experiences that lead you on this path and to this site?
Sorry for being long winded, but I love to write and as I said before, I have an inquiring mind.

I am looking forward to sharing this site, and meeting you.
Shadow23

[Foolmewunz]

Doc Mabuse,
If you're the Doctor Mabuse from SFN and other sites, please don't let the idiosyncratic behavior of the software deter you from participating.

I think you bring a lot to the tabe.... We could use a few more like you.
Work your way into the system... There are some good conversatiions available, and I look forward to your participation. (I'm Master Yoda on SFN)

[fuelair]

I apologise for trying to be funny. Being skeptical is serious business. Hyperbole undermines open discussion and provokes only ridicule instead of thoughtful debate.

It won't happen again. I SAID it won't happen again. RIGHT?
[brief tussle] [argument][sound of alternate personality being chucked into dungeon]
Apologies. Does anyone else have this problem with their online personalities?

Relax on that one - we have many here who warp out nicely from time to time - definitely not a problem. Weird is frequently fun!!
So, did you watch Hex?

[Aggs]

Greetings! I first found this site while searching the web for data related to the 9/11 conspiracy theories. After Loose Change came out I found myself arguing with CT's on message boards just trying to get them to understand the manipulation of facts within the movie, never mind the accuracy.

I watched Gravy's debate on Hardfire and decided to take a closer look at what you guys were all about. That's when I realized who James Randi was and recalled seeing him in a documentary years ago. I never realized how dedicated he was to debunking frauds like this.

I've been trolling for a little while now and decided it was time to register and, hopefully, assist in the important topics.

Thanks!

Aggs

[Andúril]

Hello everyone!

My (nick)name is Andúril (meaning "Flame of the West" :D) and I was directed here from another forum to which someone had posted a link to a hilarious message concernig those 9/11 conspiracy lunatics.

I'm an engineering student from Finland. I'm a some sort of sceptic, preferring science and opposing religions, but also valuing arts and culture. My hobbies include classical music (particularly Wagner ;)), medieval swordsmanship and armour-making in local medieval history groups, plastic model kits (mainly battleships/starships) and some RTS computer games from Age of Empires to Empire Earth.

This seems to be a very high-level forum and I'm looking forward to many interesting debates.

Andúril

[Dr. Mabuse]

Thanks for the welcome everyone!

[fuelair]

Hello everyone!

My (nick)name is Andúril (meaning "Flame of the West" :D) and I was directed here from another forum to which someone had posted a link to a hilarious message concernig those 9/11 conspiracy lunatics.

I'm an engineering student from Finland. I'm a some sort of sceptic, preferring science and opposing religions, but also valuing arts and culture. My hobbies include classical music (particularly Wagner ;)), medieval swordsmanship and armour-making in local medieval history groups, plastic model kits (mainly battleships/starships) and some RTS computer games from Age of Empires to Empire Earth.

This seems to be a very high-level forum and I'm looking forward to many interesting debates.

Andúril
Well, some members do their most interesting writing when they're high - and some don't. I'm sure you will figure out which is which in a bit!! Enjoy!!:)

[Galois]

This is just to say hello. For thirty years I have taught an undergrad course in critical thinking. Its target includes the merry pranksters of Academia–the Deconstructionists, the Postmodernists. I am especially fond of those who don't believe in the validity of mathematics. Oddly enough, undergrads seem to have no difficulty in locating the logical fallacies of this bunch. I realize that these are not the usual targets of the skeptical community, but I'm interested in those too–in particular, the intelligent design community. Cheers, Galois

[Barbula]

Hello all.

New member, longtime fan of Randi.

[Rahne Everson]

Hi everybody. Pleasure to meet you all.

I'm Rahne, an independant researcher who likes learning about pretty much anything. I like figuring out how things work and, most importantly, how they work together. Not surprisingly, my major fields of study are science, history, and sociology.

See ya around!

[Wolfman]

Greetings, all :-)

A quick intro...I'm Canadian, but have been living/working in China since 1993. I began as an ESL teacher in university, then moved on to being a cross-cultural researcher and consultant, eventually working for many of the Fortune 100 companies seeking to establish themselves in China, and developing some unique new tools for understanding cultural differences.

My abiding passion is culture, and with that in mind, two years ago I established a non-profit organization (with the rather lengthy name of "Lugu Lake Mosuo Cultural Development Association" to work with one of the most unique cultures in the world, the Mosuo, who are a Chinese minority living in the Himalayan mountains on the border with Tibet. Among the unique aspects of their culture are the fact that they are matriarchal, and do not practice marriage. To find out more information, just look up the Mosuo on Wikipedia (most of the information was written by me), you can also find a link to our organization's website there.

I am currently in the middle of a new venture, starting a company to bring infant signing (using sign language with children before they can speak) to China; I will be one of the very first people to bring this fascinating and very useful early childhood tool to China.

And...well, I'm an atheist (born and raised with an Anglican priest as a father), a Humanist, and an existentialist. I enjoy debate/discussion on a wide range of topics, and am very tolerant of differing views; but rather intolerant of beliefs based on ignorance or refusal to listen to other opinions.

For the rest, you'll just have to get to know me as I spend time here!

[Scotty B]

Hello folks. Thought I'd stop in and introduce myself. I found this through listening to the Skeptic's Guide to the Universe and the Skeptoid podcasts. I am a Biotechnologist (sp?) by training, but a Chemist by trade. My hobbies include reading and making homebrew (and listening to podcasts I guess). I also enjoy spending time with my two-year-old (of course).
Ok, so that's a quick overview of me. It is early and I am tire...zzZ

[billyb1012]

Missis, don't ever apologize for humor. It's either God's gift to us humans, if you're inclined to believe that way, or one of humankind's most effective coping mechanisms (I prefer the latter). Welcome here, and welcome all my other fellow newbies. I can't wait until I get enough posts to qualify for a signature, I got a bitchin' one in mind (imho), and to be able to post URL's, and use smilies, and, and, and, oh GOD yes!!!!


Oops. Sorry, got carried away.

[rightshu]

Hello all!

I decided today, after a couple of years of reading SWIFT, that I would register for the forums. I've often wondered if there were a place where people could discuss hot-button issues in an atmosphere of civility and rationality, and lo, I think this might just be the place. :)

I grew up in a home that puts the "mental" in "fundamentalist dogma": young-earth creationists, biblical literalists, the whole kit and caboodle, really. For the first 20 or so years of my life, I swallowed it all, hook, line, and "second law of thermodynamics". Or at least, I tried to do so.

It always bothered me that my youth group leader, when trying to teach us why "evolution is the mother of communism" (yes, that was an actual "discussion" he led), couldn't explain to me why fossils of humans and dinosaurs never showed up in the same stratum. I wanted to believe so badly, but I couldn't satisfy my own gnawing doubts.

I grew up (as children are prone to do), joined the Air Force, and was still attending the base chapel every Sunday when I was assigned a roommate who was a member of the local skeptics' society. He loaned me his copy of Dawkins' The Blind Watchmaker, I read it, and things started to make sense.

Of course, after creationism was "weighed in the balance and found wanting", I started questioning a lot of the other tenets I held dear, and trying to find a framework for making decisions that wasn't filtered through "the grid of biblical perspective". It was tough, and I got very angry at my parents for damaging my critical thinking skills by replacing them with dependence upon a (frequently inaccurate) book. Eight years later, I still occasionally catch myself being lazy or sloppy with my conclusions, and I have to work hard to ensure that I'm not letting superstition or tradition make my decisions for me.

I'm thrilled to have joined a community as impressive as this one, and I hope that I'll be able to contribute in some small way to its impressiveness.

[korenyx]

I am Kore and I am a Red Letter Christian which means I read what Jesus said and try to make the world a better place for people who are already here. I work in a bookstore and read women's studies, science and left-wing politics.

[Esperdome]

Welcome to all you new members. :welcomee:

Sorry you're stuck with being greeted by me, but all the clever greeters must be attending some silly party in Vegas. :alc:

[seekinshadows]

Hey all. Joined because of my meeting up with a bunch of skeptics here in Colorado that are members here. Hope to have ton of good conversations!


Misty

[Blight]

Hi,
I'm blight. I've heard of randi many years ago, but only started reading the forum recently after several different subjects intersected on Randi's site (cold reading, over unity energy, etc...).

I'm an auto-deduct that sort of see's himself as a philosopher (of sort), but in real life I'm a jack of all computer things, including programming, graphic design, web design, etc...

I have a very logical outlook toward life, which makes me a big skeptic where it comes to spiritual things, even though I have good friends that are very into the mystical.

I believe some people need these things, believing helps them move through the day and I'm not an in your face type of skeptic.

[Saifuddin]

Hi all,

I'm Saifuddin from Singapore. I would like to share with you all my haiku blog at this link:

haikunomics.blogspot.com

Hope you would take a look and leave some comments if you like.

Thank you!

[fezzic]

Hello all, I just wandered over from the BAUT Conspiracy Theories forum where I heard so much about you all and wanted to see for myself.

[Mat3k]

Err, I mean, Hi. Yeah. That's it.

Matt here in South Jersey. Just wanted to say "hello" to everyone. My better half and I will be attending TAM 5 in less than 24 hours, so hopefully we can meet some people who won't look at us cross-eyed when we say stuff like: "No, she wasn't a psychic, it's called cold reading" or "If angels do exist why aren't they constantly being sucked into airplane engines like geese."

And remember, if I say something strange, it because I was born that way...

[Serrin]

Hello, I'm a skeptic and a computer science guy. I know that Delphi Ote guy.

[asimov_1]

Hey all :) New here and well, about as skeptical as they come.

Lawyer, techie, trekkie, world traveller and general nut ;)

One of these days I'll figure out why I am on this planet, at least untill Scotty comes to beam me off

Seriously though, I am fairly skeptical of the claims of "paranormal"

-Martin

[SkipTic]

Hey Everyone,

Glad to be part of an awesome crimefighting clan: fighting charlatans by night and discovering things that actually exist in the day.

I am a secular humanist from Melbourne, Australia and I look forward to discussing important things with anyone that is interested.

SkipTic

[Rockingham]

A quick first post just to say 'hi'.

Hi.

I appear to be the only person in the world who is not at TAM.

Hmmmphhhh.

Talk to you all when you return from having fun.

*goes and sulks in the corner*

[Protocol53]

I've been reading this board for a long time. I ran across it, in fact, while researching an alleged "homeopathic" panacea. The JREF thread on the topic had me in stitches.

I eventually ventured out of that thread, and starting browsing the entire board. I come here for a moment of respite, as, like many of you, I am surrounded by gullible idiots. I enjoy coming here for a few moments to recover my sanity, and perchance, to enjoy some juicy, sarcastic humor.

And I started wasting so much time here, reading the threads and laughing; I decided I may as well waste a little bit more time posting to them. So I've thrown my hat in the ring!

[hcmom]

A quick first post just to say 'hi'.

Hi.

I appear to be the only person in the world who is not at TAM.

Hmmmphhhh.

Talk to you all when you return from having fun.

*goes and sulks in the corner*

I think if you look around, you'll find that your corner is pretty crowded...

Makes it sound like a great forum... Half of everyone is gone, the other half is sulking! Welcome (this is inclusive for seekinshadows, Blight, Saifuddin, fezzic, Mat3k, Serrin, asimov_1, SkipTic and Protocol53 as well) anyway!

[UnrepentantSinner]

Howdy and welcome to all the new members that have signed up in the past few days.

I am Kore and I am a Red Letter Christian which means I read what Jesus said and try to make the world a better place for people who are already here. I work in a bookstore and read women's studies, science and left-wing politics.

I'm glad to read this Kore. I've been pushing for Organized Skepticism to get more Christians involved since you guys are the majority in the U.S. Hope you find an interesting place to discuss things here.

[Captain Moose]

Hi all,
I found your community via Wikipedia and am damn glad I did.

Me? Hmm.. Some have called me poet, loony, comedian, guru, and even genius. But then again, a Valentines card from me mum don't make me Mr Popular with the Ladies.. Most just call me Hairy, or Moose.

I like to think I have an open mind, thankfully I've not found any walls yet.


Advice to Londoners: Work to Live, don't Live to Work

[asimov_1]

A quick first post just to say 'hi'.

Hi.

I appear to be the only person in the world who is not at TAM.

Hmmmphhhh.

Talk to you all when you return from having fun.

*goes and sulks in the corner*

Hey :)

Not at TAM either.....Work kind of sucks that way.

-Martin

[Soma]

Hello, Good Evening, and Welcome.

I've decided that I've lurked here long enough, and it's now time to start posting. As my work PC only lets me read, not post, I won't get the stellar post count of some of the members here, but I do read a lot of this site. Often I can't think of anything to add because the replies and smackdowns already posted put things far better than I could!

I am really happy to see some of the skeptical attitudes on this board finally break through into the mainstream media, and actually make a difference out in the real world. This, more than anything else has turned me from lurker to poster.

A bit about me, in case anyone is interested. I am a Physics graduate from Imperial College, London. I now as a research scientist for the UK MoD. Yep, I am an Evil Government Lackey even before I start posting here :) . Doing this job grants me unrestricted access to all of the secret plans involving the Illuminati, reptoids, joooooz, other NWO agencies, all in league with the reverse vampires. (Level 6's and above, The Silent Whistle is in the back of the Yellow Convertible. You know what to do;) )

Anyway, I have some things to say, but they will require their own threads in the GSatP forum, so I'll see you there.

--Soma

[Darat]

Welcome new ones!

[mollyblack]

I'm exhausted. I've got Fibromyalgia, among other conditions, but I've modeled for two days, been photographing the event, seen Penn & Teller at the Wednesday night show (with Mr Randi sitting behind me *insert fan grrrl squeal of delight!), saw the show last night (Hal as Alexander Hamilton and "The Jill & Julia show" - both of which were excellently done and I would recommend to anybody and caused several more fan grrrl moments what with a Mythbuster and lady friend being there, not to mention getting my photo taken with both Jill and with Julia, though sadly not with both of them at once).

So I slept in today for a bit since I can wait until brunch to head downstairs and over to the conference. It's been insane.

Me? Disabled housewife, happily married to an exceptional man who is a geek at all hours and 13 years younger than me. I specialize in photography and once in a while still model. I also do music with my husband when we have the time (never lately, but that's due to his book writing schedule) and lover of videogames of the Final Fantasy nature (though I've come to LOVE Ratchet & Clank as well - the whole series now I've beaten, at least on the lower levels of difficulty).

When I have the requisite number of posts, I'll make sure to link to the images I've gotten so far, though I've been sharing a room with Curt of this same forum and he's getting better shots (he's got better glass in his lens and a longer range, but he didn't go to the show & concert last night so I've got those at least).

Hello all and I look forward to finding my way through these forums in a manner that is polite, respectful and fun(ny).

Cheers, Molly

[DickNJo]

Howdy all, I met Randi's work abouy 30 years ago in a little brown magazine called , I believe, The Skeptical Inquirer. Have read Schermer's in Sc. Am.and I believe one of his pages mentioned Randi,and led me to seek out Randi's webpage and this forum.
About me, I'm 81 years young, ( I claim 45 until proven otherwise, and its getting easier to prove) a BS Mech. Engr.( Univ. of Wash., 1950, cum laud). I've been an agnostic since I took comparative religion classes in college, and became aware of the vast variety of beliefs, practices and Dogmas. and reached the personal conclusion that they can't all be right. At that point I became a secular humanist, and remain so to this day.
Recently I was an a trip on the Missouri River with my second wife and her grandson who, during a discussion of the rock formations and there relative ages, quite gravely told me I had Better read my bible. This left me dumfounded, but I later found that his father, a Mech Eng'r, and his Grandfather, an MD were both young Earth Creationists. This and the emerging batlle of Creation vs Evolution causes me to seek arguments in support of evidence vs myth that I can use to arm my descendents against the return of the Dark Ages. This forum and other similiar ones looks likes a firtile ground for that endever

[clarsct]

Heya all.


Been a bit since I checked this thread...my my..look at all the new vic....erm valued posters.


Welcome all.


And what ARE you doing to Jo?

[yairhol]

Hi to all... My name is Yair pronounced "Yah' ear" and I am 31 from Israel. I must admit that Uri Geller gets on my nerve every saturday with his show "seeking a successor". I don't watch it anymore but from time to time when I zap through the channels I stop to look at 3 minutes of the show and it gets my blood boiled up hearing the contestents saying things like: "I will now guess the number you chose with the powers of my mind" or "I can feel the energy you're sending me...".
Anyway, I have only heard of James randi just recently as he is not known in Israel at all (at least not to the people I've talked with). Only now with the Uri Geller show, James is being mentioned at on-line Israeli news sites and anyone interested can look him up on the net.
I've watched most of Randi's videos posted on the net and loved every single one. I even did a spoon bending trick inspired by how Randi said it should be done... "Look, it's getting softer and softer and....finally it breaks" which stirred up quite a conversation of how I did it. Of course I said it was all pure energy and heat coming from my hands :-) But at the end I confessed.
Hope to meet you guys at the forum.
Best Regards,
Yair

[Roadtoad]

Howdy all, I met Randi's work abouy 30 years ago in a little brown magazine called , I believe, The Skeptical Inquirer. Have read Schermer's in Sc. Am.and I believe one of his pages mentioned Randi,and led me to seek out Randi's webpage and this forum.
About me, I'm 81 years young, ( I claim 45 until proven otherwise, and its getting easier to prove) a BS Mech. Engr.( Univ. of Wash., 1950, cum laud). I've been an agnostic since I took comparative religion classes in college, and became aware of the vast variety of beliefs, practices and Dogmas. and reached the personal conclusion that they can't all be right. At that point I became a secular humanist, and remain so to this day.
Recently I was an a trip on the Missouri River with my second wife and her grandson who, during a discussion of the rock formations and there relative ages, quite gravely told me I had Better read my bible. This left me dumfounded, but I later found that his father, a Mech Eng'r, and his Grandfather, an MD were both young Earth Creationists. This and the emerging batlle of Creation vs Evolution causes me to seek arguments in support of evidence vs myth that I can use to arm my descendents against the return of the Dark Ages. This forum and other similiar ones looks likes a firtile ground for that endever

Welcome, Amigo. A former YEC myself. The best advice I can give you is to use the YEC's "evidence" against them. They provide more than enough contradictions and logical twists to counter what they spew to the general public. Don't know if I'll be of much help to you, as I drive long-haul, but PM me if there's something I can do.

[Georgie]

Greetings all sceptics around the world! In my experience, too few women think critically about the beliefs that circulate in our society. I suspect it's part of an informal 'women's culture' going back perhaps millions of years, with slightly different concerns and methods from the equally ancient 'men's culture'. I hope the 21st century sees more coming together of men's and women's culture - which would require as much jettisoning of ancient culture by men as women. I'm making this up as I go along, and I can see I've only succeeded in raising a lot more questions!

[ShowerComic]

Ok this is weird. It took three tries, and an e-mail to one of the moderators to register. And I couldn't preview the last message. I knew you were having issues.

so: Hi I'm alias: ShowerComic.
- insert: long story of how I came up w/ alias.

- insert: joke

- insert: comment about aliases and anonymity in cyberspace

I had a great time at TAM-5. To be continued...

[ShowerComic]

Ok, sorry about that. no this isn't a sneaky attempt to get 50 posts.

So a little about myself for those who don't know me, yet. Some of you met me at TAM-5, and in talking to one of you I explained why I picked this alias.

Some people sing in the shower and are afraid to sing in public. I tend to do that with jokes. I tend to find humor in everyday things (like the airline delaying my baggage, on that trip) -- but I don't think you'd get the same joke I see in the circumstance. --- For those of you who buy the TAM-5 DVD when it comes out, I'm the one always wearing the same pants.

Now to the first Joke, to introduce myself (and claim originality on the quote) In regard to Philip Plait's talk on the "alleged" moon landing, remember the "allegedly doctored" photos. - If extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence then ridiculous claims require ridiculous evidence.

Ok now I said it.

See you in the forums.

[noblecaboose]

I'm doing this all out of order!

First, I went to TAM 5, now I'm actually posting. Crazy. Well, I met a lot of you at TAM, and promised I would start posting, so I thought I might as well introduce myself here to those who weren't at TAM.

Hi! I'm Elizabeth. I'm from Oakland and I found out about the skeptical community last year for the first time. I listen to podcasts all day, and have found that skeptics, free-thinkers and scientist are really my people. I decided to learn more about it and I met Phil Plait at a meeting of the Bay Area Skeptic's Society (about 10 people). He told me to definitely go to TAM and so I did. It was the best time of my life and I totally felt welcomed into the loving arms of those who doubt. While at TAM, everyone told me I should stop lurking on the forum and come on out and post. SO here I am. Ta-da!

Some more about me: I'm supposedly an actress. I'm an atheist. I was voted Most Unique in High School and I was the only person who understood why that title didn't make sense. I like squirrels. I don't like it when people tell me they'll pray for me. I grew up in Sonoma, CA. I went to college in Santa Barbara, CA. I used to be a Christian, a Wiccan, and a Chaoist. I have a cat named after a sci-fi character. I wish I had studied something more useful than acting. I like other skeptics.

Happy to meet you,

Noble Caboose

[Cheeseman531]

Hey there, my name is Alex, but I go by Chewie, just wanted to say hi, and ask the candian guy if he likes the band Rush?

[Eos of the Eons]

Welcome to TAM goers, lurkers, and newbies. It's great to see folks finding "home", since these forums and TAM are certainly that to myself and many others. Great thing happen when we get together, so Thank you for joining!

[Tanstaafl]

Arrrrghhh! What's with all these newbies at TAM, and I wasn't there?


But really, welcome everyone, and I'm glad some of you jumped right in to the TAM end of the pool.

But I'm still jealous...

[Juustin]

Hi,

I'm Ju(u)stin, I'm 26 and from Upstate NY. I've been lurking for a while, and decided I should stop in and introduce myself. I probably won't post much, as there are a ton of really intelligent people on here and I don't want to clutter it with unnecessary babbling (not that I'm saying I'm not intelligent, I'm just a believer in not saying something unless it needs to be said and hasn't already been said).

I'm intereted in just about all the topics covered on here, but the main ones I've been focusing on lately are: the Conspiracy Theories (mainly the so-called "Truth" Movement), silly Creationist ranting/pseudoscience in general, and the debunking of ******** in general (psychics, etc..)

I'd also like to add that I'm really looking forward to April 1st so I can enjoy the media blitz the JREF plans on laying down on high profile frauds.

Keep up the good work.

[hcmom]

... and I don't want to clutter it with unnecessary babbling (not that I'm saying I'm not intelligent, I'm just a believer in not saying something unless it needs to be said and hasn't already been said).

Just that makes you so unique here that you should definitely post often!

[Mr. Skinny]

Welcome to all the noobs! Good to see you.

Too many of you to welcome individually, really.

I did want to ask noblecaboose if she knew Girl6 though.

[Kilgore Trout]

I'd been lurking awhile, finally made an account, then checked out a few threads that caught my eye to try and post, but like Juustin above, didn't want to reply for the sake of replying and not add to a thread that was already loaded with stuff. So I figured I'd post here; at least I could add something (such as it may be).

I've known about the Million Dollar Challenge for awhile (I recently learned that Johnny Carson contributed greatly which gave me a good smile). Not sure how I came upon the JREF site originally, but I think it was at the end of following links learning more about Scientology curiously enough (or, more specifically, learning about some of the truly bizarre things in that..belief system).

I was raised Catholic, though my parents aren't what I'd call religious. I had some unanswered questions, but always generally thought the Bible wasn't to be taken so literally. I remember seeing The Exorcist at a very (and too) young age and was incredibly spooked by it, thinking it was possible. I also remember watching In Search Of religiously (pun shamelessly intended). I later read several books about the occult and paranormal and tried astral projection, Ouiji boards, etc. Anyway, long story short, I did believe there was something "more". I'd say I kept this attitude into high school, but probably not out of it. Getting interested in science (namely astronomy) I became a much more critical thinker about it (probably owing to never having even a self-deluded success) and sort of brushed all that aside. Not all, actually; I think the best way to describe my (current) religious belief is deism.

I think I can somewhat relate to some of the believers in the paranormal for having believed some of it myself, though I wasn't very old at the time. I also see the Million Dollar Challenge in a more positive way than a big "well if psychics are real, why haven't they won?" proof but a little hopeful. I really don't believe anyone will win, but entertaining a huge 'if', if it were won it would have immense ramifications in a great many areas. Sort of like if SETI were to find something. (and yes that huge 'if' is sort of like saying 'if 6 were 9' to borrow a little from Jimi Hendrix)

[Mr. Skinny]

Welcome, Kilgore.

My experience parallels yours a bit, except mine included Kirlian photography, Bermuda Triangle, Von Dannaken (sp?), sharpening razors in pyramids, etc.

Fun stuff at the time, but going to engineering school made me realize what bull it was.

[arthurchappell]

Born in Manchester England on 9/2/1962. Arthur has a degree in literature and philosophy. . Arthur was brainwashed into a cult, Divine Light Mission, aka Elan Vital, which he escaped from in 1985, . He writes to prove that he is more than just a brainwashing victim, Arthur has several articles, poems and stories in print and an extensive website. . Arthur is a member of an English Civil War Re-enactment society, which he serves as a pikeman on the field of battle. arthur@chappell7300.freeserve.co.uk (arthur@chappell7300.freeserve.co.uk)

[ShowerComic]

[D]on't ever apologize for humor. It's either God's gift to us humans, if you're inclined to believe that way, or one of humankind's most effective coping mechanisms

Welcome billyb10112, I tend to agree. Though I've never seen it phrased non-theistically before.

[HistoryGal]

I signed up here after attending TAM 5 with my friend, who goes by the name of Gilmar. Had a blast and plan to attend next year.

[UnrepentantSinner]

Hello there History Gal. I was a history major in college and one of the resident JREF forum history geeks. Do you have a particular area/era that is your favorite?

[ShowerComic]

I signed up here after attending TAM 5 with my friend, who goes by the name of Gilmar. Had a blast and plan to attend next year.

We may or may not have met, then. But we are much alike, you and I. Well ok maybe not much alike, but can't resist the Trek Quote :)_

I also had a blast at TAM - 5 , and signed up just after joining. I had met Paul C. A. , one of the moderators and we got to talking on the flight home.

[bonnie]

Hi,

I'm Bonnie. Just wrote a post about projecting chi and it seems to have projected itself right out of here.

I'll try again tomorrow as I'm beat, but I'm looking forward to digging into this forum.

Nighty-night

[Pro7]

Hi

Im a hard nosed skeptic. Im also a investigator. I became fascinated with this forum and decided to join up. Thanks for having me here ..

[Pro7]

I saw alot of cat avatars on here.. I got 3 cats of my own.. cute calicos.. they are fun to watch sometimes..

[HistoryGal]

Hello there History Gal. I was a history major in college and one of the resident JREF forum history geeks. Do you have a particular area/era that is your favorite?
Sigh.

I wrote this lovely response, which disappeared when I had to log in again. I will try to reconstruct it:

Hi!

I'm a bit of an Anglophile and my interest in English history is bracketed between Henry II and Richard III. I even have a portrait of the last Plantagenet hanging in my living room. Of course, I also have a 2-gallon Starbucks mug in my living room. And a 1920s cash register.

I have a strange living room.

Actually, what gets me interested often springs from an item I own or from books I've read. I collect 19th century correspondence - not anyone famous, but, rather, letters that tell interesting stories. My favorite letter is an absolutely fascinating 8-pager from 1856, which I have been researching for years.

So, what period/era do you like?

[HistoryGal]

We may or may not have met, then. But we are much alike, you and I. Well ok maybe not much alike, but can't resist the Trek Quote :)_

Never pass up a chance to quote Star Trek. Or, in my case, Firefly/Serenity.

I also had a blast at TAM - 5 , and signed up just after joining. I had met Paul C. A. , one of the moderators and we got to talking on the flight home.

Sucking up to a moderator, eh? Spoonbender!

(Sorry - couldn't resist.)

My companion and I sat at John Rennie's table on Friday at lunch. Much to my embarrassment (and I'm blaming it on needing new glasses), I didn't make the connection to who he is, and we wound up having a very pleasant chat about how close he lives to my great-aunt. No. Really.

HG

Shiny!

[UnrepentantSinner]

I'm a bit of an Anglophile and my interest in English history is bracketed between Henry II and Richard III. I even have a portrait of the last Plantagenet hanging in my living room. Of course, I also have a 2-gallon Starbucks mug in my living room. And a 1920s cash register.

Interesting. Do you have a copy of Shaama's History of Britain? I've never read the book but I loved the series when History Channel ran it on Sunday mornings a while back.

So, what period/era do you like?

My artifacts are very limited. If memory serves me correct I only have two fossils to my name currently, and I guess they technically fall outside of the perview of History.

My areas of Interest are the major ancient western civilizations (Sumer through Rome, with a focus on Egypt, I just saw the Hatshepsut exhibit in Fort Worth around Christmas), post-Roman Europe, China and Japan, Mayan Mesoamerica and pre-history as known through Archaeology. I also have an appreciation, though an appalling lack of knowledge for Persia since I lived in Iran as a kid.

[krelnik]

Like several others posting recently, I attended TAM5 last week (my first). I was at the forum party and hung out in the bar at the Riviera most nights. I enjoyed meeting all of you.

I came to JREF via Penn & Teller. I've been a big fan for years, seen them live about 6 or 7 times. I always liked the skeptical attitude they project in their shows, and Penn of course mentions Randi alot.

I had considered coming to TAM4, but work conspired to prevent me. This year, I'm on "sabbatical", trying to concoct a career change, so I had no excuse. I thought, why not go?

I'm a software engineer by trade (so far, see previous paragraph). Most recently I've worked on computer security type stuff, building tools that stop hackers. I live in Atlanta, Georgia.

I can't promise I'll be super-active on the forums, but I will try to drop in now and then.

--Tim Farley

[Show me]

Hi all,

First time poster, long time reader. I'm Al, an aging computer guy from beautiful New Jersey and ten year refugee from Mormonism, now committed skeptic.

I'm really jealous of all of you who got to go to TAM!

Show Me!

[UnrepentantSinner]

How cool. One of our oldest members and one of our newest members have similar User IDs.
http://forums.randi.org/member.php?u=16
Welcome Show Me, make sure you say hello to ShowMe the next time he posts.

[largeprimenumber]

Hello. My name is Dennis. I'm 28 and live in Chicago. Some backstory follows.

I was raised without any religion, which is rare in the US in general, and even rarer among first generation Korean immigrant families like mine, who tend to be strongly Christian. I became a de facto Christian during part of my childhood while in middle school, between the ages of 11 and 13, simply because I lived in the Bible Belt at the time, and everyone else went to church, and assumed I did the same.

The same family friends that tried to push Amway on us also took us to a Catholic mass, which I found quite strange. My parents enrolled me in a Catholic Sunday school so "I would have something to do on Sunday." They eventually found out I wasn't even baptized, and asked us to leave, which I gladly did.

During high school, I embraced atheism, and embarassed myself several times by declaiming that "religion is stupid" as often as possible in biology class, taught by a Creationist teacher, but since this was the mid '90s, he was perfectly fine with teaching evolution.

On the first weekend of college, I was tricked into going to a Protestant youth group meeting under the guise of "going to a party with fellow Korean-Americans". They drove us 30 miles out to the suburbs of Durham, NC and held us captive for the duration of the meeting, which consisted of proselytizing and many, many praise songs in the key of C.

In college, I worked for the student theatre, were I saw several employees converted to Orthodox Christianity due to the influence of a charismatic, but arrogant and smug Anglophile.

I used to agree with Gould's "non-overlapping magisteria" argument, but after reading Harris and Dawkins, as well as seeing lots of Randi media, I am of the opinion that religion and faith are not and do not deserve to be on a pedestal, out of the reach of rationality. This puts me in a quandary, since I have many religious friends and acquaintances who would be insulted to know that I think they're crazy, even if benignly so.

I'm interested in meeting skeptics and atheists in the Chicago area, as well.

[mpeacock]

Hi all -

I also joined after attending TAM5 with my wife. We're both living in Mobile, AL - which is not known as the critical thinking hub of the world. Still, we know a number of people here in town that are scientists and free thinkers, though at times, we feel a bit overwhelmed by all the magical thinking here.

Anyone else from Mobile?

[Show me]

How cool. One of our oldest members and one of our newest members have similar User IDs.
Welcome Show Me, make sure you say hello to ShowMe the next time he posts.

Ah, thats funny, didn't realize there was another user with a similar name or I'd have picked something less confusing. I picked the name because I was born in St. Louis. Mo, the "show me state". Moved out when I was 2 years old though.

Al "Show Me"

[UnrepentantSinner]

Anyone else from Mobile?

I spent about 2 years in Ozark, does that count for anything?

Show Me, we have a number of Missourians who are very regular posters here. Just a word of warning: avoid The Central Scrutenizer. ;)

[arthurchappell]

Sigh.I'm a bit of an Anglophile and my interest in English history is bracketed between Henry II and Richard III.
So, what period/era do you like?

Good period to go for H G - My own main area of interest is the Stuart Period, especially the English Civil War as I'm a re-enactor, though I am interestedin the wholerangeof history, and Manchester Local history too. Best wishes, AC

[wizzertz]

First Post, hello all.

-wizz

[offchops]

Hello to all,

New here and am mainly interested in reading/posting in the conspiracy theories forum. Put together a post which included links to articles, then lost the whole damn thing because apparantly you cannot post links till you've made 15 posts. Anyway around this, or do i have to dribble for 15 posts?

Cheers from Australia.....

[SezMe]

offchops, just mimic the links by including spaces in the url or some such scheme. An old-timer will pick up the link and post the url for you. In no time at all, you'll also be an "old-timer".

And welcome.

[offchops]

Thanks for the tip sezme

[offchops]

Well i've tried a couple of options but they are still picking up that i am posting links, don't want my links to end up looking like a dogs breakfast, so i think i'll just cheat here.

[offchops]

Hmmm, that ain't working either.
Lost interest for now, perhaps some other time.

[hcmom]

Offchops, probably the easiest place to pad you post count is TLPTPITTW (http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=48975&page=333)
No need to even read the OP, just a quick scan of the last page should allow you to figure it out!

[offchops]

Ahhh yes, the old last person to post thread, what forum would be complete without one. ;)

Thanks hcmom

[HistoryGal]

Interesting. Do you have a copy of Shaama's History of Britain? I've never read the book but I loved the series when History Channel ran it on Sunday mornings a while back.
Once again, I wrote a long, even eloquent, reply, only to have been timed out of my session. I see this may be an ongoing problem.

I haven't read Shaama's book, but I have many others, including the Thomas B. Costain series on the Plantagenets. What got me started, however, was a mystery novel by Josephine Tey, "The Daughter of Time," which I read when I was about 12. It got me started on English history, and once could say it got me started questioning "conventional wisdom."

My artifacts are very limited. If memory serves me correct I only have two fossils to my name currently, and I guess they technically fall outside of the perview of History.
Not ancient history, surely! I've come across fossils now and again - leaf impressions, mostly - which I've either given away or sold. Nothing terribly valuable.

My areas of Interest are the major ancient western civilizations (Sumer through Rome, with a focus on Egypt, I just saw the Hatshepsut exhibit in Fort Worth around Christmas), post-Roman Europe, China and Japan, Mayan Mesoamerica and pre-history as known through Archaeology. I also have an appreciation, though an appalling lack of knowledge for Persia since I lived in Iran as a kid.

Wow - I'm exhausted just reading that! I know just tiny bits about Rome, China and Japan, but almost nothing about any of the other areas you mention.

HG

[HistoryGal]

Good period to go for H G - My own main area of interest is the Stuart Period, especially the English Civil War as I'm a re-enactor, though I am interestedin the wholerangeof history, and Manchester Local history too. Best wishes, AC
Thank you! What I've learned about the Stuarts (and the '45) comes from novels, I'm a bit embarrassed to admit. The Gabaldon "Outlander" series, to be precise. Oh, and the actor Gerard Butler (guilty pleasure). :blush:

HG

[Kopji]

Welcome all!

There is a TAM section for those lucky enough to have attended. Reading about the forum party, I'm glad everyone seems to have generally returned safely and are not stuck to a cactus somewhere.

Hitting the ESC key erases everything. If you are typing something really profound and suddenly everything vanishes - that is probably it. My cat loves the key. If a post will be long just do it in Notepad or simple text editor (what do Mac's have?) and cut and paste.

[JanisChambers]

First off I would like to say I am very glad to find a sight of free minds (not just 'open minds') who have formed a community of honest questioning. I personally think that our faiths are killing ourselves and taking away focus of human potential.

I am not the most educated of skeptics, so forgive me if anything I say may sound narrow minded, I hope to keep a solid attitude free of bias so that I may learn from those who are greater than myself. As for me, I can not really call myself an atheist and have to use the word Agnostic. Honestly I don't even know if that is the right word for it, I simply wish to build onto what I already know and not base anything on presumption. To some, God is this emotional well they can drink from, a crutch many people lean on. To me, God is the summation of the universe, that's far more than any one of us knows. If the universe is simply the result of chaos, or if there was some form of intelegence involved we cannot explain involved, I do not want to be one of those who so firmly holds on to pre-conclusion that I can not accept the truth when it is found.

I guess I am one of those who doesn't care what the truth is, only that it is the truth. There is only three things I am fairly sure of. 1. No one knows everything. 2. People who say the word impossible are in time normaly proved wrong. i.e. Sound Barrier, Flight, Proving the world was round. 3. 'Fairth' is a great way to get others to do what you want *snickers*

[Lisa Simpson]

Once again, I wrote a long, even eloquent, reply, only to have been timed out of my session. I see this may be an ongoing problem.

To avoid this problem, make sure you click the box that says "remember me" when you log in.

[Darat]

Once again, I wrote a long, even eloquent, reply, only to have been timed out of my session. I see this may be an ongoing problem.


...snip...

Just click on the "remember me" box in the login section and you'll not seem to be logged out again.

[Margaret Schwarz]

I am a latently developed self employed writer. I have written an article and managed to get it published in a magazine, some newspaper columns, a few movie reviews, a screenplay that I can get no one to read, and am currently working on several books. None of the above pays the bills; consequently, I am a ghost writer and fill in gaps in that endeavor with odd jobs. I have always dabbled with the paranormal ever since I moved into a "haunted" house 27 years ago. Over the years my interest has grown, peaking upon the sudden death of my cynical son at 37 years of age. I guess you could say I am a believer now and look forward to reading up on debunking procedures to see if my beliefs can pass the tests..

[HistoryGal]

Thank you both!

[Phalen]

Hi fellow Randi fans
I am the wife of another member on here mrwiffen.
I look foreward to adding myself to this smart and witty environment. ;)
Cheers!
Phalen

[arthurchappell]

I am a latently developed self employed writer. I have written an article and managed to get it published in a magazine, some newspaper columns, a few movie reviews, a screenplay that I can get no one to read, and am currently working on several books. None of the above pays the bills; consequently, I am a ghost writer and fill in gaps in that endeavor with odd jobs. I have always dabbled with the paranormal ever since I moved into a "haunted" house 27 years ago. Over the years my interest has grown, peaking upon the sudden death of my cynical son at 37 years of age. I guess you could say I am a believer now and look forward to reading up on debunking procedures to see if my beliefs can pass the tests..

Hi Margaret - keep perservering on the writing - plug your work on your web site - if you don't have one - make one. Add a My Space blog too - get somethhing like Google Ad Sense ads which will help your page pay you - the ghosting is a good idea - i do that too. Look at some e-zine online markets - they don't pay much but some do pay - check their rules carefully though. You'll get there - you'll see. Best wishes, AC.

[Cabby]

Hi to everyone I met at TAM 5 and to those of you I didn't!
If you were at TAM I was the short (well, compared to ohp anyway) British guy wandering around and no, I didn't just register so I could go to the forum party. Do say hi if I met you there tho! (I'm afraid I'm hopeless with names so I'll just apologise now for not remembering them...) For anyone I didn't - maybe I will at TAM 6! I'll certainly be doing my best to go back and that cruise to the Galapagos sounds intriguing too - better start saving now!

I can see I've got loads of catching-up to do with old forum posts so I'll do my homework, catch up on my reading and then hopefully be able to add something vaguely intelligent to the discussions (there's always a first time ;-) ).

[ChainLightning]

Hi everyone! I live on the far north-side of Chicago and visit the site often. Mostly to read the Swift on Fridays and recently to check out some of the Forum. Don't know on what I'll stick my two cents on but I'm signed up. Does being a Cubs fan lead to skepticism?

[Eos of the Eons]

FYI: The forum party at TAM is not just for furumites, it's just hosted by forumites. They are considering renaming it because of this.
It's for anyone who wants to go. Forumites try to make sure the forum party doesn't cost JREF anything, since it is not really a "JREF thing, and is not affiliated with JREF or the conference as a whole. So anybody is welcome, whether they are part of the forums or not.

Now, the PJ party is supposed to be just for girls, but not just forumite girls. Any skepical type woman or anyone interested can don pjs and have a girl night to themselves.

So, welcome, and come to any gathering you wish to take part in, whether or not you sign up on the boards.

[RogueWave]

I saw alot of cat avatars on here.. I got 3 cats of my own.. cute calicos.. they are fun to watch sometimes..

Hi everyone. I own three cats, too! One calico.

[ShellyD99]

Hi, I just joined this forum after spending lots of time at Julia Sweeney's (which I recommend, btw). I'm a fan of Michael Shermer, get Skeptic magazine and heard Randi interviewed on Skepticality. Also, I'm so jealous of everyone who went to TAM5! I must go next year!

[crayola]

Hello all. First time poster, but i've poked around here a bit, and i was at TAM 5. Came on tonight to find photos to swipe for a piece of work so i can write off the Vegas trip. Mission accomplished, thank you!

Agnostic, Angeleno, cartoonist. three Ws, a dot, waylay, a dot, and com.

so there.

[Gilmar]

Hey, Carol! Welcome to the Forum! (I'm the guy at TAM5 who saw you in the hall and asked if you were THE Carol Lay, or something like that.)

[krelnik]

Hi, Carol! I was at your table at lunch once at TAM5, good to see you on the forum.

[jday]

Hello!

I'm pretty new to this forum thing, but am absolutley head-over-heels for the practice of science and skepticism. Only recently have I become active in spreading the good word (when it comes to critical thinking and reason, of course!) and figured that I could benefit greatly from opening my ears to a larger portion of the skeptical community.

[Tanstaafl]

Hi everyone! I live on the far north-side of Chicago and visit the site often. Mostly to read the Swift on Fridays and recently to check out some of the Forum. Don't know on what I'll stick my two cents on but I'm signed up. Does being a Cubs fan lead to skepticism?

As one who lives two miles from the Cubs' spring training home, my impression is that being a Cubs fan tends to lead to blind faith.

But it need not be so for all! :D

And welcome to the forum.

[Elvisneverdidnodrugs]

Name's Neill. I joined up after TAM5. I was coerced into being social by BOO and hope to attend every TAM, Amaz!ing Cruise, and local skeptical get together/BBQ/drinking binge I can get to. You guys are my kind of people.

[crayola]

Hey, Carol! Welcome to the Forum! (I'm the guy at TAM5 who saw you in the hall and asked if you were THE Carol Lay, or something like that.)

actually, THE is my middle name.

waitaminnut -- that didn't turn out right.

--cl

[The Grave]

Hi Dennis. Neil here from UK. If you are a bit of a skeptic, try 'skeptoid' podcast. God be with you --not!

[Dave Rogers]

Hi there, another new member introducing himself.

Blame my brother, really, who watched a 9-11 conspiracy DVD about a year ago and then started telling me all about the contradictions in the official story. That led me to start looking into them, finding out that in general they weren't contradictions at all, which led me to a variety of highly informative conspiracy debunking sites, including the Conspiracy Theory forum right here. The upshot of this is that I now disbelieve the JFK conspiracy theory as well, which up until recently I was never really sure about. (I can supply a list on request of all the CT's I don't believe.)

Useful bits of personal info, in no particular order:
Professional scientist (semiconductor physics, >20 years experience)
Married, four children 8-18, one with autism
Born and have always lived in England
Strong case atheist (yes, I know that believing there is no God is no more supported by the evidence than believing in any specific one, it's just my belief, OK?)
... and if I have a really fundamental belief, it's that knowledge is better than ignorance. My impression of the forum is that that's a common belief round here.

I may be active on the CT forum, may not have time. We'll see.

Dave

[flute]

Hi there, I'm a long time lurker but thought I'd say hello after my psychic experiment last night. I figured that with the billions of people in the world, there might be one that gets a slightly higher correct guess of coin tosses than fifty-fifty by pure damn luck. So I thought, wow, if it's me, I could win Randi's million bucks with no psychic ability whatsoever. After 50 tosses and 26 correct guesses I realised that lucky person was not me.

Anyhows, I write a blog in Australia called dailyflute.com. It's mainly political, but there is a strong skeptical streak running through it.

[FaisonMars]

Hello all. First time poster, but i've poked around here a bit, and i was at TAM 5. Came on tonight to find photos to swipe for a piece of work so i can write off the Vegas trip. Mission accomplished, thank you!

Agnostic, Angeleno, cartoonist. three Ws, a dot, waylay, a dot, and com.

so there.

Hey Carol! I love your work, and I noticed your "Blasphemy Challenge" strip last week. I hope to meet you some day.

[aliden]

Hi, I'm new here. I LOVE science fiction, but only when written by scientists who see possibilities, NOT Fantasy. I collect Dragons, but not because they are "good luck", but because I am fascinated by the diversity in conceptions all over the world of a non-existent creature. I was taught to listen to anything, but just ask for the proof of what you are being told.
I am Australian, I have a 17 yo son who wants to be an astrophysicist, with whom I discuss many of the thoughts in your forums. It is nice to know we are not alone in being skeptics. Sometimes you question your own sanity when you are surrounded by people who believe in Psuedosciences!

[humhead440]

Hello everyone. I've been reading the weekly commentary for a couple of years & lurking on the forum for almost a year. Couldn't find the right thread to "break the ice". I think I see my opportunity now..........I'm off to post a REALLY bad joke ;)

Terry

[Tanstaafl]

Welcome humhead440, you might want to try the prescription drug thread in humor, that seems to be the perfect place for bad jokes.

And welcome too to aliden, mfaison, flute, Dave Rogers, polaristutoring, crayola and Elivisneverdidnodrugs (sure he didn't).

[flute]

Thanks Tanstaafl. I'm eagerly awaiting a Banachek spoon bending DVD so the million dollars is as good as mine anyway.

[crayola]

Hello Gilmar, krelnik, and mfaison!

so yesterday i had to listen to some hammerhead tell a captive audience there were poltergeists in the house he grew up in (this is after he admitted to taking a LOT of LSD), and saying before the phone rang "Will someone pick up the phone? it's Leslie -- she's been in a car accident and needs help." He swore there were people who would verify he said it before the phone actually rang and there was, indeed, Leslie with a problem. He didn't say if the witnesses, too, were on another astral plane.

i considered telling him about the million dollar challenge, but decided to keep my distance from him and his poltergeists. besides, i want it.

[krelnik]

I've been thinking about getting a shirt made that says:

"I don't believe in ghosts, but I do believe in Carbon Monoxide poisoning."

Recently read of one or two haunted houses that turned out to have defective heating systems. Turns out the symptoms of long-term CO poisoning (other than death) have a huge overlap with what is reported by folks living in "huanted" houses. What a coincidence!

[hcmom]

i considered telling him about the million dollar challenge...
...besides, i want it.
This is the real, secret reason that all the "skeptics" on the forum are here. We're just looking for a way to get the million...
:halo:

[warren sinden]

Hi to everyone.I used to be a member in 2002 but then moved to a plot & was unable to obtain a land line so Aquila & I were unable to have Internet access.
Returning to this forum is like meeting a long lost friend(just great).
One person I would like to thank in Mr Randi,Please keep up the good work this forum is great!!

[spiteme]

Hello all. Long time lurker, working on become a poster. Have TAM4 and TAM5 under my belt, which explains why my pants don't fit.

Met some interesting people at TAM5. Hope to meet more at TAM6 and on this very forum.

[nowoo]

Hi everyone. TAM5 was my first JREF event, but I had such a great time that while I was in Vegas I signed up for The Amazing Adventure 2 cruise from Vancouver to Alaska. I really enjoyed talking to everyone I met at TAM5 and I'm looking forward to getting to know more of you through the forum and in person at future events.

I've considered myself a skeptic all my life, and I've always been interested in science. I rejected psychics, UFOs, astrology, spoonbenders, conspiracy theories, alternative medicine, and (almost) all the other "woo", but I didn't realize I had a huge unskeptical blind spot when it came to the Big Imaginary Friend my parents and teachers taught me to believe in.

A couple of years ago (with some help from the most obnoxious true believers and their politician friends) I finally got sick of all the contradictions, bigotry, and nonsense in religion, so I looked into everything I'd been taught to believe, but with a more critical eye. It took a while, but I finally understood that people created god(s) and not the other way around, and I became an atheist and a more skeptical skeptic.

TAM5 was my celebration of being myth-free for a year, and now I'm looking forward to more skeptical years ahead. I thank CFI's Point of Inquiry, Skepticality, The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, the SETI Institute, the Bad Astronomer, Penn and Teller, Julia Sweeney, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, of course James Randi himself, and all the other skeptics who helped me find my way to TAM5. Let's have lots of fun together understanding this wonderful thing called reality.

[Smidge]

Hello to those you bother to read new mems intro posts. If being a sceptic means questioning, analysing, thinking and re-thinking then I suppose I fit into that category.

[shadow7]

Egad, Darat... you're the image of my late, departed, wonderful Rocky cat....who actually made intelligible sounds... I kid you not. Perhpas there's an incarnation here.....:-)

I'm connected to TvNewsLIES.org, a non profit alternative news site....and hope to share some of our views here.

I'm a retired educator and professional writer, - trying to fight the good fight one more time.

Nice to have such a warm welcome here.

[Mauberly]

I joined this site because some of the threads have very informed conversations.

I am wary of this site because the Group think/belong thing runs deep. I also am fearful of converts to anything since they seem to simply exchange one unhealthy belief for another, like the alcoholic whom exchanges booze for 2 packs of cigarettes and a 120 oz. of coffee a day.

But as a true skeptic, I have a very open mind so I made the leap since I can always dismiss it later if it turns out to be full of it.

Being a Gemini, I have many interest. Thank GOD I was not born 15 days later. Are there any forums detailing how to reverse the bad luck caused by breaking a mirror? The last 4 yrs. have been tough on me - I can't bare the thought that I have 3 more left. Luckily, my dead mother has been watching over me or it could be worse.

I am most knowledgable on the subjects of 19th/20th century literature(in English) although I generally do not participate in conversations about books because I believe that the act of reading is very private and inaccessible. I also know quite a bit about 20th century furniture design becauser it is my business.

I won't see you at TAMMY's for the sleepover but I do look forward to using the site to further my interest and knowledge of the hard sciences.

[zevick]

Greetings fellow members! My name is Zevick and I'm a husband and father of 5. I'm a religious Jew and live in Israel, and I work in a religious science and technology college as a maintenance man. The past 10 years has seen more and more people selling themselves as possessing some kind of supernatural powers, some of them ostensably, even ostentatiously, religious. Though Jews all over the world have lore about miraculous events, this phenomenon of billing oneself as a miracle man is new and, in my opinion, dangerous to our religion. The Rabbinic dictum "Never rely on miracles" strengthens my skeptical streak and makes me want to know enough to uncover "miracles" for hire.

Be well,

Zevick

[Darat]

Hi to everyone.I used to be a member in 2002 but then moved to a plot & was unable to obtain a land line so Aquila & I were unable to have Internet access.
Returning to this forum is like meeting a long lost friend(just great).
One person I would like to thank in Mr Randi,Please keep up the good work this forum is great!!

Glad you are back with us all.

Hello all. Long time lurker, working on become a poster. Have TAM4 and TAM5 under my belt, which explains why my pants don't fit.

Met some interesting people at TAM5. Hope to meet more at TAM6 and on this very forum.

Why did the (urban myth) Chinese curse of "may you live in interesting times" come to mind - you've met some of the weirdos Members from here at TAMs and you still joined.... :)

Hi everyone. TAM5 was my first JREF event, but I had such a great time that while I was in Vegas I signed up for The Amazing Adventure 2 cruise from Vancouver to Alaska. I really enjoyed talking to everyone I met at TAM5 and I'm looking forward to getting to know more of you through the forum and in person at future events.

...snip... Let's have lots of fun together understanding this wonderful thing called reality.

I think we can guarantee fun, I mean there are some very funny Members and some of them are even humorous!

Hello to those you bother to read new mems intro posts. If being a sceptic means questioning, analysing, thinking and re-thinking then I suppose I fit into that category.

I'm sure everyone reads the welcome thread and can't wait to start discussing stuff with new meat Members.

Egad, Darat... you're the image of my late, departed, wonderful Rocky cat....who actually made intelligible sounds... I kid you not. Perhpas there's an incarnation here.....:-)

I'm connected to TvNewsLIES.org, a non profit alternative news site....and hope to share some of our views here.

I'm a retired educator and professional writer, - trying to fight the good fight one more time.

Nice to have such a warm welcome here.

He's called Jasper and is about 10 years old, if he's a reincarnation do you have his missing eye? When we got him he only had one.

I joined this site because some of the threads have very informed conversations.

I am wary of this site because the Group think/belong thing runs deep. I also am fearful of converts to anything since they seem to simply exchange one unhealthy belief for another, like the alcoholic whom exchanges booze for 2 packs of cigarettes and a 120 oz. of coffee a day.

But as a true skeptic, I have a very open mind so I made the leap since I can always dismiss it later if it turns out to be full of it.

Being a Gemini, I have many interest. Thank GOD I was not born 15 days later. Are there any forums detailing how to reverse the bad luck caused by breaking a mirror? The last 4 yrs. have been tough on me - I can't bare the thought that I have 3 more left. Luckily, my dead mother has been watching over me or it could be worse.

I am most knowledgable on the subjects of 19th/20th century literature(in English) although I generally do not participate in conversations about books because I believe that the act of reading is very private and inaccessible. I also know quite a bit about 20th century furniture design becauser it is my business.

I won't see you at TAMMY's for the sleepover but I do look forward to using the site to further my interest and knowledge of the hard sciences.

Being a fellow Gemini I can say for both of us you aren't/are welcome. :)

Greetings fellow members! My name is Zevick and I'm a husband and father of 5. I'm a religious Jew and live in Israel, and I work in a religious science and technology college as a maintenance man. The past 10 years has seen more and more people selling themselves as possessing some kind of supernatural powers, some of them ostensably, even ostentatiously, religious. Though Jews all over the world have lore about miraculous events, this phenomenon of billing oneself as a miracle man is new and, in my opinion, dangerous to our religion. The Rabbinic dictum "Never rely on miracles" strengthens my skeptical streak and makes me want to know enough to uncover "miracles" for hire.

Be well,

Zevick

I presume you've been following Geller's latest exploits... ?

Welcome to you all!

:welcome5

[jacque]

Hi,
I have so much to say here. :)
I have led a very interesting life. Kind of like that proverb.
One of my children attended the McMartin preschool and was molested there. More about that later in my posts.
Yes, several parents hired archaeologists who found evidence of tunnels. More about that, too, if you'd like.
The worst for me was when ted l. gunderson latched on to me. I was naive back then. I hadn't been around scam artists and child molesters until then. ted lived at my house for almost 4 years. Geeze..another long story that I'd like to tell.
That is probably enough for now, huh?
Now, on to reading your posts.
Jacque

[JQH]

Hi, JQH here. Found out about this site fro badsciece.net.

I live in Sar Flandan (South London to English speakers) with my fiancee, step-daughter and insane cat.

[Luke T.]

Hello, everyone, and welcome aboard. Here is your name tag, decoder ring, and coffee mug. We currently have a backlog on portable skeptical wave generators, so it may take 4 to 6 weeks before you get yours. Just remember when you finally receive your generator to adjust the setting to "Random Chance" to ensure all paranormal quantum effects are properly dampened in your vicinity.