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

[hcmom]

Gotta love UnderTow, who joined the forum for the sole purpose of taunting someone!

[dglas]

Originally Posted by hcmom

Gotta love UnderTow, who joined the forum for the sole purpose of taunting someone!

Why am I not surprised HCMom woold empathize with such a motivation...

[dglas]

Originally Posted by dglas

Why am I not surprised HCMom woold empathize with such a motivation...

This is a test of HCMoms' wilpower .

[hcmom]

Originally Posted by dglas

This is a test of HCMom's willpower .

Did I pass?

Boy, bunny stew starts sounding more attractive every day....

I wouldn't tempt me if I were you...

[Garb]

Hey nice to be here. The name is Tony, I live in Michigan, and I learned about this forum a couple days ago. I've been active in the "Screw Loose Change" forum discussing fallacies in the 9/11 "truth movement" and whatnot and I hope to continue that here with many intelligent people. I've been browsing the conspiracy forum and it seems like you guys got a great hold on 9/11 so it will be very interesting to discuss these issue with you guys.

[dglas]

Welcome to the JREF boards, Garb. You'll find that we are a very friendly bunch who would never dream of tenderizing, cooking and consuming fellow board members - however atrocious their spelling and grammar.

[Jedi mind trick]
HCMum, the bunney, your looking for, is'nt here.
[/Jedi mind trick]

[hcmom]

.....huh......

Why am I here...or do I mean hare....

...huh.....

[EnergeticChemistry]

Hello!

I'm Andrew, a chemistry major about to finish up his degree this spring (then on to grad school). Unfortunately, none of this is why I am joining this forum. I've heard that there are some people here that are talented at giving advice (I'd get off topic if I started talking about 9/11 conspiracymongers), so I'm going to see what I can find.

I believe it was 2 years ago now that my mother had her thyroid chemically destroyed. Since then, her medication hasn't been doing a good job of keeping her chemical levels stable (she's finally going to a more qualified specialist in December). But here is my problem: Our family doctor, whom i've seen for a good decade, has seemingly gone on a homeopathy kick with my mother. First it was some colon cleansing kit (I won't go there). Then, my mother was recommended to a homeopathy shop downtown (This is in Oshkosh, Wisconsin). At first, she was 'prescribed' some vitamin drops, and something that was supposed to make her feel better (I believe the incredients were water and sodium silicate). Now, I talked to her today and the same specialist gave here an 'electromagnetic sea salt bath' that supposedly was to rid her body of toxins, etc. The specialist pointed out little 'worms' coming out of her feet, and said they were liver parasites that were being rid from her body. Imagine your mother telling you this in the most amazed tone of voice.

I care about my mother very much, and am hoping to find some advice to give her, lest I go downtown to see the specialist and end up in jail.

I was introduced to Randy through my philosophy of science course, which spent a great deal on pseudoscience. I am also a follower of the "9/11 conspiracy theorists are legally insane" group.

I hope to become an active member of this forum.

[borbelly]

Hi, I'm George, and joined because lots of people say that differences in audio speaker cables and interconnects are not audible. I have experienced the contrary, and wish to see if a subject like this is fit for application to the challenge.

Do I just send in the application and worry about the protocol later as it evolves?

[Enlightenment]

Well, I posted a long introduction, but it was erased because I posted a smiley. Heh.

Long story short, I'm a student at the University of Texas majoring in biology and history. I look forward to some inteligent debate on these forums. I've seen many insightful posts on various topics here.

Cheers!

[De_Bunk]

Hi...I'm De_Bunk

I am the current Reverend at a small church in Trumpton and would welcome any questions as to why i know, 100%, without any doubt ( and which i can prove absolutely) that God exists.



DB

[Hutch]

Uuuummppp...grunt...quit poking me in the ribs, youse guys...Oh what--my turn to welcome the newbies again...grumble, grumble, grumble...

Welcome, Energetic Chemistry. There are more than a few people here who know exactly what you are talking about, seek them in the Medical Sub-Forum and maybe they can help out.

And welcome, borbelly. I believe (and I am not a member of the JREF so I cannot speak for them) that this would be a legitimate challenge. But if it is just a matter of you saying "I can tell the difference" it might need a particualr protocol. There is a Sub-Forum for Challenges where you can discuss what needs to be done to make a valid challenge. Be aware that with Randi's recent health problems the Challenge may take awhile to be answered.

And welcome enlightenment (finding Texas and Enlightenment mentioned together is a rather rare occurence here... ). Plenty of intelligent debate here--but not much intelligent design.

And to all newbies: Beware De_Bunk; Beware the Thane of Middle England!

[Larry O'Hara]

I just posted half a page, but it was erased because I used a smiley...Will try again, but not just yet...Annoying.....

[hcmom]

Originally Posted by Larry O'Hara

I just posted half a page, but it was erased because I used a smiley...Will try again, but not just yet...Annoying.....

Well, there you go...that's what you get for trying to smile in your first post!

[Marquis de Carabas]

Originally Posted by Enlightenment

Well, I posted a long introduction, but it was erased because I posted a smiley. Heh.

Long story short, I'm a student at the University of Texas majoring in biology and history. I look forward to some inteligent debate on these forums. I've seen many insightful posts on various topics here.

Cheers!

\m/

[Minadin]

Hey guys, I'm a new registrant to the forums also.

I mostly signed up today because I wanted to post on the thread for what you won't hear CT'er say, but hopefully I'll be able to chime in with some professional insight from time to time as well. I heard about you all because I've been following the ScrewLooseChange blog for a bit, after being confronted with that awful "documentary".

As far as a little background on me, I'm a graduate architect, which means that I have a professionally recognized degree in architecture, and am working toward a professional liscense, but am not liscensed yet. I do work in the construction industry as a building designer, however, and have for a couple of years now. Which means I'm still relatively fresh, and under-experienced, but knowledgeable enough to be "dangerous", and I also have access to resources and people with experience (experts) in the field, such as (real) architects, civil and structural engineers, and the like, as well as all of the current and most of the past building codes and standards in the US.

I was still a student in college when the disaster of 9/11 happened. I recall the morning very vividly, as I had fallen alseep in my apartment with the TV on, and woke just prior to the 2nd plane hitting the WTC. I had to go to class later that morning, and instead of learning about HVAC design, those of us who bothered to go, spent most of our time discussing the events of that day. Which, consequently, was pretty much the status quo for the next few weeks. Our structures professor in particular went into an in-depth analysis of how the towers were built, and how they failed.

So anyway, that's pretty much my story.

[crucial_fiction]

Hey all long time lurker...

Just a little about myself,

I think I've been a skeptic all my life, however I've been used to people just calling me a pessimist. I'm currently serving as a PO1 in the US Navy. I've found many articles and papers posted here on the forums EXTREMELY informative and helpful.

I found this place mainly in my interest over the ongoing evolution/id debate and have found/read many interesting viewpoints...

Hopefully I'll have the time between school/work to add to the community, thanks for the reads thus far, it has been interesting to say the very least!

[Tanstaafl]

Originally Posted by LaPalida

Who says I have to compete anything! I say we're all on the same side... the skepchick side

...boobies win.

Well, I certainly can't argue with that!

And welcome!

ETA: And welcome to minadin and crucial_finction too! And Wow, I was a whole page farther behind here than I though. I'll just have to give a generic welcome to everyone else.

[Gaspode]

I've been viewing this forum for a few months now so thought it was about time I said 'Hi'.

How did I get here? It started with a story I read on the BBC News website one lunchtime in January 2006 titled "Britons unconvinced on evolution". The story reported that just under half of Britons accepted the theory of evolution. This precipitated an argument with my devout Muslim colleague which lasted over two hours and ended (amicably) in stalemate.

I've been a sceptic for as long as I can remember but was always content to go 'er, yes' everytime one of my friends mentioned 'astrology', 'crystals', 'energy', etc. But that argument led to a greater interest in the sceptical movement and eventually to the JREF forum. And wat a great place it is! An island of sanity in a mad world!

[Hutch]

Welcome Gaspode, and glad that you found us. But regarding one of your comments:

Quote:

...An island of sanity in a mad world!

Well, you haven't been to our Politics area yet, have you?

Welcome again.

[Dogdoctor]

Originally Posted by Hutch

Welcome Gaspode, and glad that you found us. But regarding one of your comments:



Well, you haven't been to our Politics area yet, have you?

Welcome again.

I think you misunderstood him. What he meant to say somewhere in JREF there is an island of sanity amoung the madness

[Gaspode]

I see what you mean.

I think in this case 'sanity' should be considered a relative term.

[switchtech]

And I don't want any 12-step program to cure me!

I've been reading James Randi's Commentaries on JREF for a while - though I didn't join the forums until today. I first heard about James Randi on the Tonight Show. Johnny's greatest legacy may not be his extraordinary volume of comedians he introduced to the world, but that he was a consistent friend to critical thinkers.

I have to admit I've come to the world of skepticism late in life, raised in a deeply religious Nazarene family group. As a teen Uri Geller, Van Daniken, and the like filled much of the reading material in the house. Crystals, pyramids, and other New Age paraphernalia now populate my parents homes.

I tried many times to accept God and Jesus - and every time I still felt empty - no change. Eventually, I realized it wasn't me, it was the faith that wasn't right. I've studied theology at University and understand the roots of the religion so many blindly accept. Finally, as part of the Philosophy courses I learned how people professionally think about thinking. The combination of courses led to a radical realization that all this supernatural stuff is bunk.

Now I see superstition and foggy thinking everywhere I turn. Knocking on wood to fend off bad luck, belief in UFOs, ghosts, and all sorts of other untruths now stand out so clearly that I wonder I never noticed how prevalent superstition really is.

Imagine my horror to find nearly everyone around me believe in horoscopes. I'm haunted by the persistence in the believe in an afterlife in the people I know. I can't identify with the sincere belief in UFO as alien spacecraft. It scares me how many live with the phobias surrounding of 666 or the number 13 (and here i've included them both in one sentence!).

So I began to search for a refuge from the insanity. I found the Bad Astronomer, Skepticality, JREF, and a few others that sooth my ruffled sanity and clear my thinking (you don't think I come to clear thinking willingly or easily do you?). So here I am. I choose the label skeptic.

Regarding the attempt at setting the Bright meme. Few people outside the Bright movement even know about it, or apparently care. And perhaps I'm a bit put off because growing up I was always the "bright kid" despite my continuous belief in things that aren't (how bright is that?). I come to the term with negative connotations already! Perhaps in twenty years that will all change. Today I'm a skeptic.

Outside the skeptic world I'm interesting in Aviation, Photography (my web photo album is filled with photo's I've taken of aircraft). At middle age I find myself with a small family in South Central Texas (San Antonio), working on voice technology for a locally large company. I'm planning to build a small experimental airplane in the next few years and get my sport pilot license and make it back to Oshkosh, Wisconsin for the Annual Pilgrimage to Airventure (I've made the pilgrimage once so far, years ago).

You'll find my spectre haunting the Internet as switchtech nearly everywhere I go.

Cheers!

John B. Sandlin

[george001]

Hello,

I'm an atheist / humanist currently in Philadelphia. Been involved in atheist meetups for several years now. Having lurked here for quite awhile, I decided to sign up.

I also started contributing to Wikipedia this year, and recently removed some nonsense from the James Randi page.

[george001]

Originally Posted by Larry O'Hara

I just posted half a page, but it was erased because I used a smiley...Will try again, but not just yet...Annoying.....

Note: all you need to do is press the "back" button to get back to your text.

[wollery]

Greetings switchtech, that was quite an intro, and george001, do you have a licence to kill?

[george001]

Originally Posted by wollery

george001, do you have a licence to kill?

You lost me.

ETA: Oh I get it, James Bond reference.

[ail]

Greetings,

I come from Melbourne, Australia and have recently become a member to support this worthy foundation.

I am a professional engineer and have always tried to be a critical thinker and use the scientific method in both my work and life. I have found it has helped me determine fact from fallacies and right from wrong without needing to follow supernatural or paranormal beliefs.

Like many others in Australia I was introduced to Mr Randi via that entertaining incident on the Don Lane Show in 1980 which led me to try to find out what made the host so upset. At the same time I had an interest in conjuring tricks (still do). I was 13 and found that at school I would perform simple watch stopping tricks, simple guessing games, moving compasses etc. My classmates assumed I had special powers and the increase in popularity and attention could have easily turned me to the dark side. I recall one particular teacher was encouraged by my performance as confirmation of her woo woo beliefs. Thankfully my science teachers had a greater influence on me. They taught me to find out the facts (an test them) myself rather than rely on others opinions.

This is why I am a strong supporter of the "educational" aspect of the JREF and feel more needs to be done, around the world, regarding teaching critical thinking principles particularly in early childhood.

Wishing all JREF supporters the strength to carry on.

[Dogdoctor]

Sounds like you will fit right in

[Trigood]

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to say 'hello' and let you all know why I'm here. I really started getting interested in 9/11 last summer, and at first, sad to say, I was taken in by the CTs. Due to learning more about 9/11 (now I pretty much read whatever I can get my hands on and have time for), I've 'switched sides,' so to speak. A large part of my learning process was the blogs, as well as here on JREF Conspiracy threads, as well as the Physics forums. So, here I am signing up to join in the fun.

I've posted quite a bit on the Mike Malloy 9/11 forum. As one among a drove of CTers, it was sometimes not a pretty sight, although I learned a lot from having to vigorously defend my position. However, fighting for what one believes in, against multiple posters who can just lie and call one names, at a certain point, loses its appeal. At least here, I'll be in the majority! LOL...

Why do I fight the 9/11 CTs? Gravy's list was great. I'd like to add one reason, I'm not sure if this one was on there. I know so many really great people who are being roped into believing that 9/11 was some version of an 'inside job.' Just this morning, I ran into a great guy, we worked together on the Kerry campaign and he's a great Democrat working for reform, but he believes in this stuff. Someone even closer to me in my life has some belief in these CTs as well.

I just feel like it's important that there's a presence out there, a community if you will, of people who rely on evidence, not speculation. And I find it very sad that these people, great people, nice people, are getting fooled by so-called 'evidence.' These folks don't really have the time to investigate 9/11 carefully, so they're relying on some video on the internet, or some book that reads convincingly, and it really steers them down the primrose path, a path devoid of context and reality.

And, I also know that I can't really change another's beliefs (learned that real fast on the Mike Malloy site). So, it's a push-pull kind of thing. I want to be a presence out there for true context and evidence and science, but I know I can't push too hard. Everyone arrives at things at their own pace.

Because of my own experience, I'm almost as interested in understanding why people believe in conspiracies, than in debating the conpiracies themselves. Although I guess it goes hand-in-hand.

As for my academic background, I have degrees in both chemistry and English. As you might expect, I have a strong desire to write clearly about things scientific (and, VERY occasionally, I succeed, LOL).

So, thanks for being here and letting me join in. I also want to explore other topics in these forums, as well.

Trigood

[wollery]

Welcome Trigood, go get 'em tiger!!

[Trigood]

Originally Posted by wollery

Welcome Trigood, go get 'em tiger!!

Thanks, Wollery. Good to be here. I may still go back and have some 'fun with CTers,' but I've given my pound of flesh. There's only so many times you can post reasoned arguments to be met with 'but I KNOW building 7 was demolished, you government shill' till you give up and call it a hayride.

Trigood

[ClintonHammond]

Greetings all

I've ghosted the Randi web site for a while now... Finally got around to 'joining' after talking about the place in RL with a chum at the pub.

So here I am.

:-)

[Miss Anthrope]

Hello!

I was attracted to the forums due to being a big fan of Randi's work for a very long time. I don't have a lot of time to post often, but when I can I'm lurking and gobbling up so many of the great posts and debates here.

I'm female, in my 30's, in the Seattle area. I'm a "recovering type-a" who gave up the business world to telecommute in a new field, tech related. Working from home, I also home school my children, and when time and resources allow I produce theater, as well as catch the odd vocalist and voice-over gig.

I'm an atheist, a skeptic, and have no official political affiliation. I'm somewhat libertarian in my views, but decide each issue on a case by case basis--that pretty much can put me all over the map most of the time. My primary philosophy is that I'm not fond of politicians in general, and don't trust most in the major parties more than my 2 year old can throw them.

Ok, now you know enough about me to slam me when I argue later!

[Tanstaafl]

Welcome Miss Anthrope! I love the screen name.

[Oxymoron]

Sorry didn't mean to be rude by not introducing myself. Just kind of jumped into the posting bit. I've seen a lot of interesting discussions going on, and will try to keep my own rambling nonsense to a minimum. A family member introduced me to this site because he knows my salivary glands go into overtime at the idea of questioning the existence of just about everything. (Even more so for the idea of the supernatural)

I can't say at this point I'm for or against things supernatural but I do keep an open mind to both sides of the fence. I think it's necessary. After all, there are three sides to everything, your's, mine, and the truth somewhere in the middle!

I look forward to learning a lot from this site and hopefully expand my own intellectual capacity! Look forward to sharing!
Cheers!

[HeyLeroy]

Originally Posted by ClintonHammond

Greetings all

I've ghosted the Randi web site for a while now... Finally got around to 'joining' after talking about the place in RL with a chum at the pub.

So here I am.

:-)

Hey. Clinton, glad to see you aboard. About time.

Another Windsorite. Yay!

(ETA) Ail, Trigood, Miss Anthrope and Oxymoron, my apologies, I didn't mean to ignore you guys, welcome to the forum.

Oh, and Clinton?

[skullerello]

I may have stated this before, but I merely joined these forums to wish Randi a speedy recovery. 'Cause I was entertained as a child, and shown that "conjuring" is just that: conjuring.
I've always enjoyed coming here just to peek in on what was going on; and, now, I'm hooked.
I used to believe that I was a fairly intelligent, well-versed individual.
But the folks on here blow me away.
Surgeons, lawyers, engineers, etc...

Plus, we have a lot of fun...

[Trigood]

Originally Posted by HeyLeroy

Hey. Clinton, glad to see you aboard. About time.

Another Windsorite. Yay!

(ETA) Ail, Trigood, Miss Anthrope and Oxymoron, my apologies, I didn't mean to ignore you guys, welcome to the forum.

Oh, and Clinton?

Thanks for the welcome, HeyLeroy. I'm jealous of you Canadians -- you have a health care system that doesn't totally s*** (in terms of access). (Oops, hope I didn't violate rule 8 out of the gate there, so to speak...)

I'd also like to say hi to Clinton, Miss Anthrope (love that name too!), Oxymoron (close second), Joseph, Andrew (another chemistry person, yeah!), Ail from Melbourne, George001, switchtech (John - sounds like you have a lot of neat interests), Gaspode, Crucial_Fiction, and Minadin (yeah! A real architect posting reality on the 9/11 boards! I've enjoyed your posts there).

Skullerello (weird name, reminds me of Barbarella!), I agree, there are really intelligent people here. Kinda scary but also exhilarating!

And, I'm going to lose my habit of always "signing" my name. It apparently annoys some people (as I was forcefully told on Mike Malloy).

(Lookin' for an avatar, this'll be my 6th post... hmm, maybe I'll go with Wollery's allusion and look for a tigress!!)

[BrianSI]

Originally Posted by Trigood

...
As for my academic background, I have degrees in both chemistry and English. As you might expect, I have a strong desire to write clearly about things scientific (and, VERY occasionally, I succeed, LOL).
...
Trigood

Actually, well before this part of your post, I was thinking, "wow, that's some good writing." So, this maybe isn't highly scientific, but you succeeded in writing clearly.



Everyone else as well ...