In a meeting of 800 skeptics and freethinkers at the Riviera, the taboo topics of polite American life, the stuff no one in their right mind brings up at the office or at a family dinner, were open for discussion.
And everyone pretty much agreed with each other at Saturday's "The Amazing Meeting 5," sponsored by the James Randi Educational Foundation. It brings together skeptics from across the country - and a handful from abroad - for three days of lectures and socializing.
Determined to show, "that geography can be a fun and relevant subject,"
Dr. Charles "Fritz" Gritzner, Professor of Geography at South Dakota State University has begun a new class called, "Geography of the Paranormal".
DALLAS, Texas -- Joe Bieger walked out his front door with his two dogs one morning last fall as a beloved husband, father, grandfather and assistant high school athletic director.
Minutes later, all of that -- indeed, his very identity -- would seemingly be wiped from his brain's hard drive.
A Chinese man has married himself to express his "dissatisfaction with reality".
Liu Ye, 39, from Zhuhai city, married a life sized foam cut-out of himself wearing a woman's bridal dress.
"There are many reasons for marrying myself, but mainly to express my dissatisfaction with reality," he said.
Comment: Only a bit narcissistic?!
Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball
NewsWeekMon, 29 Jan 2007 09:55 UTC
After his secretary conveyed psychic Jeane Dixon's prophecies about terrorism, President Nixon ordered Henry Kissinger and others to prepare for attacks
|
| ©Jeane Dixon Museum and Library, Strasburg, VA
|
| Dixon greets Nixon in this undated photograph from the 1960s. The psychic's husband, James Dixon, stands behind her.
|
Reports about a study that found microwave ovens can be used to sterilize kitchen sponges sent people hurrying to test the idea this week -- with sometimes disastrous results.
A team at the University of Florida found that two minutes in the microwave at full power could kill a range of bacteria, viruses and parasites on kitchen sponges.
They described how they soaked the sponges in wastewater and then zapped them. But several experimenters evidently left out the crucial step of wetting the sponge.
Ron Bousso
AFPWed, 24 Jan 2007 11:08 UTC
TEL AVIV -- A war between magicians is raging in Israel, pitting Uri Geller and his aura of supernatural powers against those who see in him nothing but an unending lust for fame.
Geller, the world-famous Israeli spoon-bender, decided last year to do a television program in Israel in order to name an heir.
"Uri Geller Looks for a Successor" was an instant hit - with viewer ratings of nearly 40 percent. More than 1 million people tune in to see conjurers compete by performing stunts ranging from stopping watches to reading minds.
Wax doubles of David and Victoria Beckham have been unveiled at the New York branch of Madame Tussauds ahead of the couple's impending move to the US.
The figures, draped in the stars and stripes, were placed next to a waxwork of George W Bush holding a sign saying "Welcome to America".
David has signed a five-year, £128m contract with LA Galaxy football team.
Victoria has already been seen on the celebrity circuit, partying with the stars after the Golden Globe Awards.
David's move has caused a flurry of excitement, with the footballer being described as a "celebrity supernova" and the biggest British invasion "since the Beatles" by the press.
The waxwork couple stand arm in arm, with David dressed in a black tuxedo and Victoria wearing a pale green sparkling evening gown.
Visitors are encouraged to embrace and kiss the figures as well as take photos.
Comment: The reason we included this spurious article in today's news is in order to highlight the following sentence:
"Visitors are encouraged to embrace and kiss the figures as well as take photos"
which we feel is a perfect example of the incredibly vacuous nature of modern culture.
"Kiss and embrace the plastic celebrities! Maybe you'll be famous too!"
If you hear a long drawn out wail in the next few moments, don't be alarmed, that'll be us plummeting towards the bottom of the cliff over which we are about to throw ourselves.
After a long day hunting, there's nothing like wrapping your paw around a cold bottle of beer. So Terrie Berenden, a pet shop owner in the southern Dutch town of Zelhem, created a beer for her Weimaraners made from beef extract and malt.
"Once a year we go to Austria to hunt with our dogs, and at the end of the day we sit on the verandah and drink a beer. So we thought, my dog also has earned it," she said.
Comment: Only a bit narcissistic?!