Montreal Gazette mentions the Challenge

[DataPacRat]

I have a Google News alert set to let me know whenever Randi's name appears in the media ( news . google . com /news?hl=en&q="james+randi"&output=rss ), and today, that appearance is a mention in the Montreal Gazette article, "How did that clairvoyant know my knees hurt?", by Danielle Murray, about a psychic expo ( www . canada . com /montrealgazette/news/weekendlife/story.html?id=9f7389c3-df9c-48e8-a2f2-afe63f5787b4 ). The article seems to be trying to follow a fine line between being pro-skeptic and pro-woowoo, but I'm fairly sure that the august readers of this forum might find something to disagree with on her description of the Challenge:

So dubious is the Toronto-born magician, he has offered a $1-million "paranormal challenge" to anyone who can prove they possess supernatural powers.

The catch? He gets to control the setting. He says that if one is truly psychic, test conditions shouldn't matter. No applicant has agreed to his conditions.



(Sorry about munging the addresses with spaces, but the forum still doesn't let me post URLs.)

[thatguywhojuggles]

She is right in a way. Randi does have to have some control over the setting of the test conditions. If I told Randi I could turn water into wine, but that I needed him to turn around while I did it, he might be a little suspicious. Both parties have to agree what is a n accurate test of said powers.

The statement "No applicant has agreed to his conditions" is obviously false since many formal challenges have happened (e.g. BBC & homeopathy).

[Gord_in_Toronto]

The url for this piece of fluff is at:

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/weekendlife/story.html?id=9f7389c3-df9c-48e8-a2f2-afe63f5787b4

Can't "reporters" learn how to use Google or telephones?

[Cuddles]

No applicant has agreed to his conditions? That will come as a bit of a surprise to all the applicants who agreed to his conditions.