Wrong end of stick?

[Richard]

The James Randi Educational Foundation's "million dollar psychic challenge," has, if nothing else, succeeded in garnering Randi a great deal of publicity.

more..

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=25099035&blogID=264783391

[Hitch]

I wonder if Randi doesn't have days where he gets tired of the woos and indulges in the pleasant little fantasy of how fun it would be to watch a few breatharians starve themselves to death.

There's just no way to legally lock someone in a room without food until they die of starvation. Pity.

I guess we could save some expense by conducting a mass test with all of the breatharians in the same room with no food. "Claimanats A, B, and C failed the claim because they died. Claimants D through G failed because they ate claimants A, B, and C." Good times -- in a sick, cynical fantasy.

[MelBrooksfan]

I read that whole thing. I read every word and I regret doing so. But, in the comment at the end something caught my eye.
I think Sylvia Browne's religion is cool, I like the picture of the feminine light being on your page.
I thought Sylvia's schtick was that her powers came from god. What's this about her having her own religion?

[wahrheit]

I must again remark on the irony of self-described magicians trying so desperately to debunk paranomal phenomena. After all, Magic in its purest form is an embracing of the Unknown, and these people run from it every chance they get.

OMG. :rolleyes:

I actually read the entire blog entry. What a silly person.

[Niobe]

What's this about her having her own religion?

She leads her own gnostic church, Novus spiritus.
Read all about it on the stopsylviabrowne.com (http://stopsylviabrowne.com/home/) website.

[opqdan]

These are always the most annoying criticisms of the JREF challenge, and is always based on the assumption that the claimant could actually survive but the mean old JREF won't give him a chance.

What if an 'anti-hemo-arian' wanted to take the test, and proposed that all the test would involve would be him cutting open his own throat and wrists, then surviving without his blood. What about 'bullet-to-the-head-arians', do they get to be tested? Are these claims that JREF can responsibly test? I doubt even this "psychic" would think so.

So she does draw the line somewhere, she just puts it at a different point on the scale than JREF does. Yes these are just some made up extremist examples, but they show that JREF needs to draw a line somewhere.

Also, she talks about a hospital that watched a man who did not eat or drink for 10 days. Can a hospital really do such a thing? Why would he not have been hooked up to an IV of some sort?

[casebro]

Also, she talks about a hospital that watched a man who did not eat or drink for 10 days. Can a hospital really do such a thing? Why would he not have been hooked up to an IV of some sort?

That is the way we die of intractable diseases these days. My nieghbor just died that way. Many strokes, infections, nobody home, no hope. So the hospital "unplugged" him. No food or water, only pain meds. His heart kept going for 3 days. The patient in the next bed made it 7 days. Breatharians claim normal or extreme life spans.

[sophia8]

Also, she talks about a hospital that watched a man who did not eat or drink for 10 days. Can a hospital really do such a thing? Why would he not have been hooked up to an IV of some sort?I read about that a couple of years ago. It was in India and this swami claimed he could survive without food or water. The hospital "tested" him by putting him in an unlocked room with somebody standing guard to make sure he didn't sneak anything in or drink from the toilet provided.....

[Soapy Sam]

Funny how there don't seem to be so many bullet proof "ghost shirt" wearers around these days.
Even in the paranormal, natural selection culls the least fit.