I am genuinely baffled by some of the statements made on your website. Perhaps you could explain this one to me:

“There are in print many accounts of how brain activity can produce “thoughts, visions, and hallucinations” that are similiar [sic] in content to the NDE.

That may be true, but the experiencer would be unaware of these since he is out-of-body at this time and thoroughly enjoying his new view of the surroundings.”

I really don’t see how the second sentence goes any way to refuting the first.

The linchpin of your argument for the existence of an afterlife, as far as I can tell, is that people who’ve had a NDE know there to be one because the experience felt more overwhelming than anything they had previously known; enough so to have profound influences on the way they live their lives afterwards. You then say that

“I have never read of hallucinations, delusions, or any other kind of misperception that produced such positive changes in large numbers of scattered individuals. What these individuals experienced certainly had to be real. Only Truth is powerful enough to produce this kind of phenomenon.”

That’s just plain wrong. I’ll give you two examples, which you might choose to see as one, depending on your religiosity. Pick two mutually exclusive religions. Neither is true. Certainly both can’t be true, by definition. They are delusions, and yet both have led to equally “positive changes in large numbers”.

Hallucinations and wishful thinking do not an afterlife make.

Since the 1980s it has been noted that fever may briefly alleviate symptoms of autism. (Google [autism fever research] or look out Dr R.M. Cotterill’s paper in Nature in 1985 and work forwards.) Generally autistic spectrum symptoms develop slowly and it is by no means unlikely that some parents will have come to recognise their child’s autism following a fever. Like various other things, the MMR jab can cause mild fever, temporarily reducing the symptoms. Their relatively swift return as the fever abates may well bring them to notice, in some cases, for the first time.

It would hardly be surprising if parents who have first noticed their child’s symptoms following an MMR jab claim that there is an association. And to deny entirely the association between MMR and autism is tantamount to calling them liars, for this would deny the evidence of their own eyes.

There does seem to be a connection between MMR and autism. But it is a correlation rather than causitive.

http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/24865,news-comment,news-politics,mmr-parents-deserve-an-answer

To be honest, I was unaware that ‘skeptic’ was the proper American spelling of the word. I always thought it more a brand name of sorts, which I think is useful when using Google and the like. I also agree that it is useful to conform to the American spelling in this case, for the sake of unity.

As a Brit I have hitherto used the British spelling, “sceptic”, but as the skeptical movement as a whole is undoubtedly global I’m seriously considering the wholesale adoption of the American spelling (as certain Commonwealth-based publications have already done).

I don’t think that using “critic” means thowing out “sceptic”. I think it can be a bridge to sceptic in the classic A=B, A=C, therefore B=C kind of way. Perhaps your app could focus on how much like a certain person the user is rather than how much of a sceptic they are. People love to compare themselves to other people.

Personally, I’m highly sceptical of any situation in which too many people agree on the same thing. It goes against my sceptical grain. I think the natural state is for people to disagree. It’s only stress and adversity that get people pulling together. In my world view there is really only common thought when there’s a common problem. So I don’t share your enthusiasm for organizing.

I think you may also be surprised by the extent to which many people reject the notion of rational thinking. They believe the world is what it is and no amount of thinking it through will change it. These people believe that life is about action, not thought, that you change the world by acting in it and not by writing about it, or thinking about it.

As you can see, one of the things I am most sceptical about is thinking itself, and it’s cousin, consciousness. We humans are dazzled by our ability to hold thoughts in our heads, to conjure up memories and to learn from them. We love ourselves because of it and use it as an excuse to meddle in all kinds of things. Here’s an example; we recognize that our actions are endangering various species. The rational thought is to take more action to save these species. However, the actions we propose are just more meddling like the meddling that endangered these species in the first place. Who are we to think we know anything at all about these things? Isn’t the MORE rational thought to DO LESS, not more? Wouldn’t doing less have a better chance of success because it leads directly to an environment more like the one that used to support the species in the first place?

Just a couple of things to think about, ironically!

G.

I agree that some users might do that. However, if my quiz idea were to become a reality, I fear that accounting for these criticisms might detract from the extent to which the application is user friendly. To accomodate for Jim’s would, as I see it, mean asking questions such as ‘which of the following is necessary for a fair scientific test?’, which is not the light-hearted kind of quiz people would bother with, and to account for yours would mean asking users to cite their sources, which is ambitious at best. Let me know if you see an easier way around either problem though.

As far as migrating to the term ‘critic’ is concerned, it would be nice, although if I were to change the word I would probably favour ‘rationalist’. However, as I mentioned in the article, I do not believe this to be doable. The ‘sceptic community’ has invested too much in the word. For example, magazines are already in publication with ‘Skeptic’ in the title, and people already know what to google if they want to read up on the latest blog posts and the like. Perhaps most importantly though, I do not believe that we could get everyone to agree on and adopt a new term. Organising atheists has often been likened to herding cats, and the same may be true of sceptics. I believe that in order to get things done and make our voices heard, we need to come together as much as possible, and I worry that a migration to a new term might make this task harder.

Thanks for your (incredibly quick) reply. The point you make is completely correct and in hindsight the quiz idea does need tweaking to accomodate it. The only possible problem I that I can foresee as a result of this is that it might be difficult to retain the pithy feel that makes these kinds of quizzes attractive to Facebook users in the first place.

Wouldn’t actual skeptics be better identified by questions about *how* a person could come to have reliable answers about various kinds of issues? It seems to me that what makes a good skeptic is engaging in skeptical inquiry rather than necessarily reaching the approved skeptical conclusion. What makes some people “deniers” rather than skeptics is that they aren’t consistently engaging in skeptical inquiry and critical thinking–they are directing skepticism against a particular target, but not against the arguments and evidence they themselves are using in the process.

Sorry for the delay in my response. I have been extremely busy lately and I wanted to have read a little around the subject and the literature that you directed me towards before replying to your comment.

Firstly, I would like to reiterate that I have not read ‘The Diet Delusion’, and so I am in no position to attack or defend its claims.

Regarding Bill Lands and his research, at the face of it, it all looks interesting. Having said that, I am always weary of any situation where a person is under the impression that their particular area of expertise is as all-encompassing as Lands seems to think his is. I do not mean to say that his conclusions are incorrect in any way other than perhaps their magnitude, but that is based on nothing other than a gut feeling. Maybe I am being overly cynical. Besides, I am no doctor, and as I’m sure you will appreciate, I have barely begun to scratch the surface of the subject. I promise I will read more into it though.

As a point of interest, Bill Lands’ iteration of the fact that treating secondary biomarkers will not necessarily prevent the related disease reminded me of a discussion between Professor Richard Dawkins and Randolph Nesse that I thought might be of interest to you. The video can be found at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcnCJqDa1us

Consider it a token of my appreciation for your taking the time to comment.

Thank you.

Will

Here are a bunch of facts from the Telegraph but my favourite is that apparently it would take 8 years, 7 months and 6 days of yelling to produce enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee.

I guess it depends on the size of the cup though.

Love the sound of the book. No pun intended.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article727295.ece

http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2009/12/08/premature-ejaculation-marketing-the-condition-before-the-drug/

“My own approach is to test the more promising and widely accepted claims, such as telephone telepathy, as fairly as possible even though I do not expect to get significant results from such studies. As Rupert is well aware, I have tested many of his claims in the past, either through student projects or in direct collaboration with him, and to date we have never found the results supporting the existence of psi.”

I would like to ask you if you take the sheep-goat effect into account.

http://drkaplan.co.uk/2009/12/homeopathy/breaking-news-government-backs-nhs-homeopathy/

Dear Tom,

Many thanks for your email to Mr Lansley. It is estimated that about half of GPs refer some patients to alternative therapists. There are currently five NHS homeopathic hospitals in the UK and you must be referred to these by your doctor. We are aware that there are differing views on the provision of homeopathic remedies, with some arguing that there is not enough evidence to support their availability via the NHS, while others argue that greater access to complementary therapies in the NHS might lead to widespread benefits.

Conservatives see the most effective method of making decisions about what the NHS provides as the cost-clinical effectiveness criteria, which the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) undertakes in the decision-making process on drug regulation and use. NICE believes that homoeopathic medicines should be treated in exactly the same way as traditional medicines in terms of deciding whether the NHS should provide them to the public.

In the case of the public being free to buy herbal remedies, the Conservatives have always said that, as long as a treatment has been proven to be safe then it should be available to buy. Consumers are then free to assess the effectiveness of the treatments which they purchase.

Consequently, we believe that homeopathy and alternative treatments are a valuable resource for doctors to be able to draw upon when offering treatments. Where a doctor and a patient believe that a homeopathic treatment may be of benefit to the patient, I believe doctors should be free to prescribe that medicine. All therapies should be considered equally, and decisions on whether or not to provide them on the NHS should be evidence-based, as is the case with all other conventional medicines and treatments.
kind regards
Connie

Connie Sturgess
Office of Andrew Lansley CBE MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Health

Yeah, not sure it qualifies for the label ‘philosophy’.

How very odd.

I enjoyed ‘so-called stem cell research’ in the original article too. I have always assumed that it is so called because that’s what it is. I wonder what Wilson thinks it really is ? (I suspect he thinks that it’s “murdering God’s children” or something)

http://www.selfdestructivebastards.com/2009/11/organic-myths-and-realities.html

http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v61/n4/abs/1602553a.html

I guess the fact that it was part sponsored by the manufacturers shouldn’t weigh against it.

It’s interesting to see that Lactium is actually marketed as a weight loss tool in their promotional material:

http://www.ingredia-nutritional.com/static/download.htm?doc_id=87

I’m only interested in this as I was in Boots at the weekend, saw the POS material claiming it was “scientifically proven” to reduce stress, and thought there was something a tad fishy about it.

We, Ingredia, have not had any email from UK or indeed from you — where or whom did you email ?

Do contact me via the “contact us” link on the Ingredia Nutritional web site — ask for me by name.… Kaare Axelsen

http://www.ingredia-nutritional.com

Many thanks

I do not know what email address this is but you can contact me directly at ingredia and I shall be happy to deal with this immediately. I shall ask our marketing if anything has come in during the last few days but normally this would come to my attention.

Best
Kaare

Many thanks for your comment. I would like to know more about the product and how it works and would very much like to have copies of the studies demonstrating safety and efficacy. I had a look on the website but a lot of it was under construction. I also e-mailed the address given in the contact info over a week ago but have not heard anything back. Would you be able to assist me in this matter, or perhaps give me contact details for whom to get in touch with? It would be much appreciated.

Finally, when speaking to people about HPV and cervical cancer, please be more careful with your choice of words. For example, there is no “supposedly” when it comes to HPV causing cervical cancer. That is an absolute fact. And it is also an absolute fact that the vaccine protects women, at least for a period of 7 years, against contracting the 2 types of HPV (16 & 18) that cause 70% of all cervical cancer. Even Dr. Harper would agree with me on this.

He is a con-man.

It would have been more productive if you had looked in to the product in more detail and understod what it actually is and how it works rather than make comments based on little information but at the same time trying to give a negative spin to this — this is always easy to do !! even on pharmaceutical drugs.

Due to UK/EU regulations companies are not always allowed to give the full information nor does journalist wish to report on this due to limited space in their articles.

As an exampl then the difference in the dosage between EU and USA is again due to regulation. In the USA they have a 90% material hence they need to use 167mg a day which is equal to 150mg of Lactium as used in the 6 studies available. Simple math !

Contact the manufacturer and we will gladly answer questions

I think the argument for organic is less about nutritional value an more about sustainability and the lack of chemical additives.

The main reasons I buy organic (sometimes) is because of possible residues (pesticides, growth hormones in milk etc) and for environmental reasons. The quoted research didn’t study either of these.

And yet the media reported “no health benefits” when the benefits of not consuming pesticides wasn’t even looked at.

Dear Sir,

It seems that you have confused the meaning of skeptic with dogmatic. Sceptic means some one who has doubts about some dogma advertised by an orthodox base of authorization. Some one who is on the side of that authorization is called a dogmatist. A dogmatist uses all of his energies to prove those powerful dominant dogmas and any dogma that is supposed to be asserted by those centre of powers later, ahead of becoming powerful enough. For example genetic bases of some human features is a dogma (perhaps correctly) advertised by scientists who are centre of power. Ahead, you defend that soon a gene manipulation can make interested paying people a talented musician. Sceptical means that one says that he doubts that genes has any role on any human feature at all (Perhaps completely wrongly). That helps the human society to think more and grow with controversy. You are a group of sycophant cudgel bearers of a new royal court called dorky bullies of fossilized academia. Scientists do not like booing protagonist. Not enough, now you are declaring alliance with Wiki-bully-ia. This tools of superficiality and defender of any authorized nonsense and censor of any controversy. Asking boys to go and give a hand to them. I thought at first from triviality of your name as it should mean that you might give my claim a second thought and you stand to research around it. My claim is that that another [human] is reading my mind remotely with all precision that I read my own mind. I am only ahead of [him]. I put these words in brackets in imitation of chemistry for “radicals” I have an X-file that if you can discover then you understand the meaning of sceptical. I am a retired teacher and they have created a panopticon for me by reading my mind. By reading my mind they have taken my freedom. Stand and do some real research. By that I mean a detective research.

So, you are a group of scientists or orthodox scientific minded and want to prove that there is no UFO. It is called prate and carping quibble of learned people with commoners. You do not know that in philosophy of science we do not have such an investigation. You want to prove that a non-existing phenomena does not exist! Those who believe should prove that it exists. They have two ways: either they should use the scientific method and prove it and publish it with the same criteria and then other scientists around the world and in different times can check the validity of the assertion using the scientific method. Or UFO minded people can ignore that method and just use old widows way of story telling or swearing by the stack of holly books that they are righteous then in this case that UFO theory also becomes part of folklore of a group of people. There might occur side discussions related to philosophy, religions and sub-culture, sociology, and also marginal scientific discussions such as whether there is a likeliness of existing aliens in the universe or not. Then, where is your mission of duty among these, just taking memberships from border lines ufo-not-ufo simple hearted (junior ; -> ) people? As Homer Simpson says to Bart, � My son, there is no such things as ghosts and aliens and Mummies and Eskimos.�

PJ

PS: By the way I can prove that some body�s reading my mind.

pj

As a rescuer of animals for 20 years I have met many dogs of all shapes & sizes, & in that time have seen far too many who have suffered at the hands of humans, those dogs have gone on to become trusted friends with time love & understanding.

When they brought out the dangerous dogs act in 1991 there were less pit bull types than there are now & that is not because of the 1997 amendment they added giving a judge the right to add a confiscated dog to the dangerous dog register allowing an owner to keep their dog under strict guidelines.… I’m talking about in general especially in certain area’s where these poor dogs are seen as a status symbol, some are used for intimidation, & some for fighting.

Section 1 of the dangerous dogs act, Breed Specific Legislation does nothing to stop unsuitable people owning a dog & training them to become aggressive or mistreating them which can create a nervous dog who feels he has to protect that very person who hurts him.

Pit bulls when in a loving knowledgeable family are great companion dogs & have been used as search & rescue dogs in certain states or america earning hero status, just like over her with German Shepherds, fantastic dogs but in the hands of an unsuitable handler can become a fierce guarder should anyone approach that person at the end of the lead… that is presuming they have their dog on a lead!

Section 1 of D.D.A. is persecuting many loving wonderful dogs & families who are devastated when their friend is taken from them.

My opinion as an animal rescuer is to license all breeding of dogs whatever breed & anyone not licensed must have their dog neutered. Every dog should be microchipped & registered to an owner, & that owner be held accountable for their dog.

There are thousands of dogs being killed in council dog pounds as there is no where left for them to go, irresponsible people who got a dog on a whim & either chucked it out or refused to pay the fine to get their dog back & not forgetting the stolen dogs who are taken to different areas & then lost or dumped but are not chipped so cannot be returned to a devastated owner who never quite thought through the importance of chipping.

I rescue pound dogs as often as I can but I am a drop in the ocean, something has got to be done to slow down this wanton breeding that is causing suffering to dogs & leading to dog bites through uneducated ownership & the lowest of our society being able to own a dog.

We need our government to change this law & introduce one that works for the good of the human & dog community…

Bruce & his family are being made scapegoats for a massive problem that had nothing to do with them…

Please join us in New York City on July 23rd to support the “Bring Bruce Home” campaign, a peaceful demonstration of protest and enlightenment. We will also be fighting the BSL (Breed Specific Legislation) ordinance that the New York Housing Authority enacted last month, which banned many different breeds from it’s public housing. We want New York City to realize that we will not allow BSL to take the lives of our animals, and we will be armed with educational tools to spread awareness about these ignorant and vicious laws.

Thousands around the world have heard of “Bruce”, a young Staffordshire Bull Terrier rescued from a cardboard box off the streets of Northern Ireland. He once lived in peace with the only family he ever knew – but now lives caged in isolation — abused and neglected for the past 2 years at the hands of Northern Ireland’s government. Bruce’s tragedy is one of many sad tales of an innocent victim falling prey to the horrors of the Dangerous Dog Act and Breed Specific Legislation.

According to the Dangerous Dogs Act in Northern Ireland, if a dog is found by the courts to be of a banned breed then it shall be destroyed.

These dogs are sentenced to die based solely on their physical characteristics, not their deeds. Bruce was not judged on his gentle-loving manner, or for being a family pet and possessing a kind nature and beautiful soul.
Bruce was scheduled to die on July 6th 2009, but was granted a last minute stay of execution. His life still hangs in the balance. After this news went public, there was a massive outpouring of compassionate citizens from all over the world dedicated and united in saving Bruce’s life. His fight has touched thousands and now we are reaching out to touch even more.

Bruce’s family is alone, in terror, in pain, and in devastating silence. Please invite your family, friends and loved ones so that we can be a voice for the voiceless, and speak up for all of the lives lost due to Breed

Specific Legislation and the Dangerous Dog Laws. We will demonstrate against what this law actually is — BREED GENOCIDE LAW.

Be one among hundreds, if not thousands, who are ready and willing to stand up, to be seen, to be heard, and to make a change. We must be united in solidarity to repeal this law of inhumanity.

After the demonstration, we will end the evening by lighting a candle and joining the rest of the world as we pause (paws) shoulder to shoulder, and heart to heart in recognition for all of us fighting to “Bring Bruce Home”. We are uniting to make a change for Bruce and for all dogs – so that no other dog falls victim to senseless animal cruelty, and so that all dogs already victimized by this law did not die in vain.

Meet us on Thursday July 23, 2009 at 6:00pm at the North entrance to Washington Square Park. We will be assembling in front of the arch, at 5th avenue and Waverly Pl. Directions: Take the A, B, C, D, E, F, or Q to the W. 4th St / Washington Square stop. Or take the R, W to the 8th St. stop. Or take the 6 train to the Astor Pl. stop.

Please email Caroline at celtic266@aol.com or Amy at sonicalc727@aol.com or Julie at julie.zigadlo@uconn.edu if you have any questions.

Visit the NYC Pit Bull Group website for additional information — http://www.meetup.com... Thank you! See you on the 23rd!!

http://www.cnn.com/feedback/tips/newstips.html
==============================

Please contact CNN — it’s time to break this story mainstream!!!

==============================

Please, thousands of people around the world are deeply touched and moved by the following story that must now hit mainstream, to expose the shelter, the Mayor, and the laws that may kill this innocent dog — once healthy and loved — now skinny with mange and infections after being taken from his family home.

Bruce the pit bull dog did not bite anyone — it is the laws of Northern Ireland that may lead to his death.
He has been held captive for over 2 years in a shelter now they want to euthanize him, his family is desperate just to get him out of the country to live — PLEASE HELP them and Bruce.

http://www.dogmagazine.net/archives/3045/eleventh-hour-mercy-plea-to-save-death-row-dog-bruce/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRJYVszJ7tE

There is a way to try to help Bruce. A rescue organisation in Galway, over the border in the Republic of Ireland has offered to take him — BUT we urgently need to campaign in order for the authorities to allow this to happen.

It would help greatly if you could please go to these pages, copying the form letter (adding your own name at the end) and sending it to the people at the bottom of each page — contact addresses are provided. It doesn’t take that long and may just save this poor dog’s life. Thank you so much.

Template Letters for Bruce:

Please go to each one seperately as the contact details will differ — Thank You!

http://ddawatch.webs.com/savingbrucetemplate1.htm

http://ddawatch.webs.com/savingbrucevetdraft.htm

http://ddawatch.webs.com/brucetemplategeneral.htm

(Thank you very much indeed for helping to publicise Bruce’s plight in your blog.)

I didn’t hear the previous show but there’s some conflating of NDE and OBE in what was discussed here. NDE seems to be some kind of dream state, and I wouldn’t have thought there was a question of anything paranormal. OBE is testable — if people claim they leave their bodies and gain a (literally) different perspective, they should be able to see things that are out of view when they’re in bed, for example.

In this one he thanks me fro returning the Wheel of Prayer (which I forgot to mention previously) and that now his personal mission for me can begin in earnest.……

Hmmmmmm.….…I DID return the Wheel of Prayer — torn into pieces!

This letter contaoins a exhortation that I consider making a Will — in order to prevent Satan laughing as my estate is divided up by cold-hearted judges and my family weep!

Ha! They’ll have to FIND my estate first, since I’m unlikely to have anything to BE divided up when I die!

I’m waiting now for the suggestion that I leave part of my estate to Popoff’s mission.….

I’m now saving the opening of the letters till my husband and son are at home, so thatI canread them aloud and give some entertainment around the table!

Disturbing image.

One Saturday morning, while reading my newspaper (the prestigious Times)I came across an advert, offering prayer services for those suffering. There was a website address.

I am a Christian — and I was at such a low ebb, I thought it worth trying, even though I’d normally be sceptical about such adverts.….….….

I went to the website and submitted a request for prayers to be offered that I could find the strength to overcome the pain and depression.

Couple of weeks later, I received a letter from the Reverend Popoff, assuring me that my request had been noted and prayers were being said for my, ‘deliverance.’

The letter made many outlandish claims concerning the reverend’s powers — which I dismissed, of course.

Enclosed in the letter was a, ‘golden’ cross, in the centre of which was a vial holding water — which, the letter claimed, had been taken from a Sacred Spring in the Holy Land.
Also enclosed was a sachet containing a small amount of the same.
With the latter, I was instruted to annoint myself and the door frame of my bedroom before retiring and to repeat the process on the following two nights. In doing this, I was assured, I would begin to be healed.……

At the end of the letter was a request that I make a donation — of £20, or more — toward the ministry of the reverend.

I consigned the whole lot to the bin and thought no more of it.

To cut a long story short,soon afterward, my situation began to improve. Not in any miraculous way, rather that a new drug has helped to ease my pain somewhat, I’ve been awarded a disability allowance and a wheelchair and adpatations around my home have made my life a good deal easier.

However, the Reverend Popoff has become, in effect, a stalker!
Not a week passes that I don’t receive another letter. Each makes a more outrageous claim as to the visions he has received on my behalf.
Enclosed in the letters have been such things as sand from the Holy Land, mustard seeds from the same, a sliver of wood (resembling a blunted toothpick!)which is claimed to be from the Rod of Aaron and lastly, a sachet of the Green Oil of Prosperity!

Each letter claims that I am beset by Satanic forces, intent on dragging me down and causing me to be bereft of love and money.….

Each letter has contained a further request for a, ‘donation,’ the amount suggested increasing each time.
The latest suggestion is for any sum between £35 and £120!

I’ve written twice, asking that the correspondance cease, but to no avail.

Despite my disablement — with which I’ve come to terms — my life is happy.

It troubles me that there will be vulnerable, perhaps gullible, individuals receiving these letters, who will feel compelled to send money to this charlatan.

I shall write to the Times, advising them not to carry any further adverts, but thereafter, I don’t see what we can do to stop this predator.

Delighted to hear that your tumour has shrunk. As good skeptics we will be absolutely thrilled if you can provide any evidence at all, other than personal testimony which has no value whatsoever, that Gary Mannion achieved this ‘miracle’ via his so called ‘psychic surgery’.

While considering your reply you will of course include all the information regarding ongoing treatment by other means.

Thank you,

DD

P.S. Can you please provide you CV regards your background as a Journalist i.e. do you have any scientific or medical expereince that would qualify you to judge the success of the so called ‘psychic surgery’?

On the topic of misleading, I’d pedantically note that it is not a truly “vertical traction kit”. Vertical would be this:
http://www.activeforever.com/p-70-overdoor-home-cervical-neck-traction-kit.aspx

In any case, it would seem that some chiropracters would not endorse the product, instead offering an alternative:
http://www.chisoftnecktraction.com/necktraction/neck-traction.shtml

Thanks for the great tip, I’m downlaoding all of the old episodes as we speak.

–Petey

That’s a shame — unlike most of you who post remarks on this website, who are not qualified to judge him one jot, I am. I am a broadcaster and consumer journalist with many years’ experience dealing with crooks and Gary is not a crook.

I developed an aggressive breast cancer and was not likely to live this Spring. Gary took away the pain and substantially shrunk the tumour in 3 weeks. I did not expect anything when I met him. I did not know what to expect, but went along in the ‘try anything’ spirit. He did not ask for money. He was modest. He was decent. He praised my doctors and my hospital. He is a sincere and talented person. He is also young and sensitive. He is not a financial rip-off merchant — he works by donation only and does not check what you give. I saw people donate £1.50 and he booked another appointment to help them again. I saw desperate people, come away with some pain relief.

Which of you, who scoff and spend your time thinking you are superior and the rest of us are fools, can say that you took away someone’s pain?

I am shocked and appalled that people like those who write on your sites, can think themselves clever and superior when actually they are just unpleasant and come over as highly malicious wreckers. I cannot work out why anyone wastes their time jeering. You do no one any good, you harm yourselves and waste substantial amounts of time which you could use for something more constructive.

A really good night and so pleased to see so many people supporting Simon. Whether he appeals or not, he’s made a strong point, and we need to ensure that the point is heard beyond the science and skeptics communities.

I would like to address the final line form Mr. McKain however. I have not tried to set up tours in the past with little success. I currently run (and have done for only a fortnight) The Beginners Guide to Edinburgh free tour at the weekends which considering we are new and the time of year, we are accually doing quite well.

Cheers

Alex

No doubt the various Darwin events have given the movement a big boost recently.

Kelly Media’s website states,”Why would you chance the future of your business on an advertising company that has to outsource your mailing campaigns to a 3rd-party fulfillment house. It is imperative that you place your direct mailing endeavors into the hands of a proven direct mailer, like Kelly Media Group.”

Why would you chance your future of your business on a fraudulent bag of manure like Jason Cardiff is a better question.

One of the areas specifically mentioned on Kelly Media Group’s website is “Church Marketing”. And boy does Kelly Media know how to market for the church. You see, the founder of Kelly Media, Jason Cardiff, also happens to be the son-in-law of Peter Popoff.

Peter Popoff, who in 1987 was making $4.3 million per MONTH, is a self proclaimed televangelist and claims to be a faith healer. He was a widely popular minister in the 1980s.

Yes, Peter Popoff, disgraced faith healer, and his collaborator wife, Elizabeth, are on the air trolling for dollars. On cable infomercials, Popoff promotes the Peter Popoff World Outreach Ministry, pleading for viewers to order his book, Prosperity Thinking: God’s Dynamic Forces That Bring Riches to
YOU! and get his new free, tiny vial of “Miracle Spring Water.” Intercut is scenes from his revival show where he lays hands on the afflicted, allegedly curing all sorts of medical problems (wink! wink!) and, oddly, supposedly freeing a woman’s jailed son.

Also intercut are scenes of Elizabeth reading “testimonials” of the cures from viewers healed by the
water or by Popoff through the TV.

Popoff, was exposed by James Randi on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1986. Randi and friends found out that Elizabeth was transmitting information to Peter, who wore a hidden earpiece
camouflaged as a hearing aid (very strange for a man who could supposedly cure all manners of illness).

Randi said, “I explained how Popoff had sent Reeford Sherrill (his ‘front man’), Volmer Thrane, and his wife, Elizabeth, into the audience in advance, equipped with transmitters to gather and broadcast the needed data backstage to the reverend.”

During the show, Elizabeth would prompt him again on the problems claimed by certain people in the audience. It then looked like he knew a person’s name and affliction as if given the information by
God! During one part of the revival section of the new show, Popoff gets worked up and touches the foreheads of afflicted persons, who usually fall backwards into the arms of one “volunteers”.

Youtube hosts numerous videos of this fraud, including James Randi on the Johnny Carson show in which Popoff’s wife Elizabeth, can actually be heard revealing audience member’s names and their illnesses to Peter via radio signals sent to the earpiece. Elizabeth can be heard to say, “Hello, Petey. I love you! I’m talking to you. Can you hear me? If you can’t, you’re in trouble, ’cause I’m talking as well as I can! I’m looking up names right now.”

In one recorded session Elizabeth Popoff speaks: “Reeford’s got a hot one!” (Laughter.) “Reeford’s so excited! He came running in back here and scared us half to death! You ready for a hot one? Okay! Want a hot one? Hot one! Hot off the press! Ruby Lee Harris. Ruby Lee. She is standing in the far back where there’s no chairs. (Long pause) “…Ruby Lee Harris. She’s against the back wall. She’s got lumps in her breast. You might want to whisper it — have her walk down! Have her run up there. Run! Oh! Look at her run! (Loud laughter) “she’s got knots in her breast.” (Laughter and giggles.) A home run! A home run!” (Then, later on, giggles are heard, and Pam speaks.) “At any rate, she should kick him in the face!” (giggles) (Elizabeth speaks.) “Pam says to make her — Pam thinks that you should have her kick him in the face (Giggles.)

Elizabeth Popoff and several aides would scout the audience looking for “hot” ones. They would ask them, “Is Jesus going to heal you? And what’s your name, and where do you live? Have you had this condition long?” They would write all this information down on cards, which later on Elizabeth would recite during the service via her concealed transmitter. She carried the power source in a large handbag, and the transmitter and microphone were hidden under her blouse.

Peter Popoff claimed that the video footage shown on Johnny Carson was a fake and that the woman who was said to be his wife Elizabeth was really an actor hired by NBC.

When the Popoff ministry was asked whether Popoff used a secret receiver in his ear, Janice Gleason, a public relations consultant for the Popoff organization, said that the electronic receiver in Popoff’s ear was used only to keep in touch with the television crew. (In the hours of taped transmissions, there was not one communication with the television crew.) Gleason said she believed that the woman’s voice heard on the Tonight Show was faked. But Popoff later admitted that it was his wife who was communicating with him

Peter Popoff also declared bankruptcy when his viewers began leaving him in droves after the revelation of fraud.

So it’s now 2009 and how does all of this tie in with the Kelly Media Group?

Nick Popoff, the son of Peter “fraud” Popoff works as consultant for Kelly Media, and Peter’s son-in-law Jason Cardiff is the founder of Kelly Media Group. Furthermore, the PeterPopoffMinistries website was created by Kelly Media Group.

If you make a donation on Popoff’s website (to “fulfill our mission of proclaiming the gospel of Jesus to the world” of course), take a look at whose e-mail account (now closed) the funds are processed with:

This is the actual code from the website donation page:

Yes, Jason Cardiff handles donations sent to Peter Popoff. This entire family is crooked and fraudulent.

Let’s take a look at how much money this family made in 2005. The information comes from Ministrywatch.com which tracks questional religious organizations.

People United for Christ, Inc./ Peter Popoff
Known Compensation per IRS Form 990:
Peter Popoff: 2005: $686,932
Elizabeth Popoff: 2005: $261,146
Nickolas Popoff: 2005: $189,293
Amy Cardiff (daughter): 2005: $183,330
Kelly Media Group, Inc./ son-in-law to Peter Popoff: $1,948,458
Other organizations: (1) Peter Popoff Ministries, LTD, (2) First Point (United
Kingdom), (3) Word for the World, (4) Peter Popoff Evang. Assoc-Canada.

Peter Popoff made $686,932 from donations received. His wife made $261,146.

Kelly Media Group made $1,948,458. That’s almost TWO MILLION dollars for web-hosting and direct mail services???

2006 incomes were slightly less for the Popoff family:
Peter Popoff Ministries $23,556,469
Peter Popoff .… .… . 628,732
Elizabeth Popoff $203,000
Nickolas Popoff $182,000
Amy Cardiff $176,000
Taking a closer look at the direct mail services of Kelly Media Group. People who sign up at Peter Popoff’s ministry website, are asked for their mailing address and email address. Once the information is filled out, people begin to receive up to two-dozen postal letters from Peter Popoff.
Each letter is personally addressed to the person (ex: “Robert, God has given me something that I must give you,” the letter begins). Computer-generated type is made to look like handwriting and only the names are changed from one letter to the next.

A former Kelly Media Group employee states, “while working for Kelly Media, which is an advertising agency owned and operated by Peter Popoffs son-in-law Jason Cardiff, it was my job to enter prayer requests and donations into a database. These entries into the database would generate a letter to be sent back to the person who wrote in. It would print up a detailed letter, which appears to be handwritten by Peter Popoff himself telling people that he was praying for them, and their particular problems.

The letters begin, ‘The other day I was praying for you, and decided to go to a coffee shop where I knew I could focus, and everytime I said your name I was embraced by the holy spirit.’

Do you really think Peter Popoff spends even 15 seconds reading through the hundreds of letters that he receives?

Popoff’s staff take the money out that Peter Popoff has asked the people for, writes the prayer requests on the envelope, and sends them to Kelly Media Group who type them into the database. The coffee shop line quoted above will be mass produced, word for word on each letter for about sixty thousand people at a time. All the while people think that they are sending him money to advance the work of god, and that in return he is praying for them. Peter Popoff is not only not praying for these people, he doesnt even know who they are.

Peter Popoff, Elizabath Popoff, Jason Cardiff are enjoying the good life for now, based on the dollars donated by people who don’t know any better. This family engage in fraud and questionable practices to conduct their business.

As a final testimony to the dishonest and questionable practices of Kelly Media Group and the Popoff’s, let’s take a look at the Direct Response Advertising Watch Dogs Of America. This group is touted as “a high-end elite group of executives that watch and study advertising executives around the globe for performance and client results.” Their website is here: http://www.directresponsewatchdogsofamerica.com

Imagine that, a group that takes time to watch and study advertising executives to see their performance and results. What would be the motivating factor here? How would this group earn an income? What else do they do?

The website for DRAWDA really doesn’t say much else about them. Portions of the website are incomplete as if the web developer stopped halfway through designing the site.

DRAWDA does mention though, Jason Cardiff. In fact DRAWDA actually names Jason Cardiff as an “up and coming direct response television advertising executive for 2008.”
Here is what they have to say about Mr. Cardiff:

Jason is President and founder of many companies Worldwide but best known for Kelly Media Group. Kelly Media Group is a California based direct response marketing think tank responsible for some of the most impressive successful marketing stories of the past 5 years. Jason Cardiff will tell you that he is only as good as his weakest link on his team, but his team consists of some of the brightest minds in the Unites States or perhaps the world. Offices are strategically located worldwide with the head office in Upland (California), Dallas (Texas), Vancouver (Canada), London (England), Sydney (Australia) and the newest office KMG Asia in Da Nang (Vietnam) http://www.kmgasia.com
That’s quite the honorable mention for someone who is engaged in defrauding religious worhsippers.

If you do a WHOIS of the website you will find that the website’s registrar has been hidden from public view.

DomainsByProxy.com
15111 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
United States

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: DIRECTRESPONSEWATCHDOGSOFAMERICA.COM
Created on: 27-Aug-08
Expires on: 27-Aug-09
Last Updated on: 27-Aug-08

Administrative Contact:
Private, Registration DIRECTRESPONSEWATCHDOGSOFAMERICA.COM@domainsbyproxy.com
Domains by Proxy, Inc.
DomainsByProxy.com
15111 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
United States
(480) 624‑2599 Fax — (480) 624‑2598

Technical Contact:
Private, Registration DIRECTRESPONSEWATCHDOGSOFAMERICA.COM@domainsbyproxy.com
Domains by Proxy, Inc.
DomainsByProxy.com
15111 N. Hayden Rd., Ste 160, PMB 353
Scottsdale, Arizona 85260
United States
(480) 624‑2599 Fax — (480) 624‑2598

However if we pull up the WHOIS record for DRAWDA **BEFORE** they hid their domain’s registration information, we find this:

:
Kelly Media Group

2022 W 11th St
Upland, California 91786
United States

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: DIRECTRESPONSEWATCHDOGSOFAMERICA.COM
Created on: 27-Aug-08
Expires on: 27-Aug-09
Last Updated on: 27-Aug-08

Administrative Contact:
Cardiff, Jason jasonj@kellymediagroup.com
Kelly Media Group
2022 W 11th St
Upland, California 91786
United States
(877) 788‑8463

Technical Contact:
Cardiff, Jason jasonj@kellymediagroup.com
Kelly Media Group
2022 W 11th St
Upland, California 91786
United States
(877) 788‑8463

Domain servers in listed order:
NS25.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
NS26.DOMAINCONTROL.COM

Registry Status: clientDeleteProhibited
Registry Status: clientRenewProhibited
Registry Status: clientTransferProhibited
Registry Status: clientUpdateProhibited

Way to go Jason Cardiff, inventing a bogus group and registering it in your OWN COMPANY’S NAME just to present yourself with an even more bogus mention as an up and coming executive.

Finally, if you visit Youtube you will find videos of Cardiff giving a “tour” of the KMG warehouse and product fulfillment center. In the video, shot by an amateur cameraman who clumsily holds a camcorder, Cardiff touts his business while the cameraman pretends to be impressed with the otherwise boring warehouse. The entire video is clearly orchestrated and the cameraman is really another employee of KMG.

Avoid the Kelly Media Group at all costs or anything with the Popoff name.

i’m dying to see it!

Well, I’ll be damned. I was looking for posts by Robin and completely missed it. Don’t I feel the fool now, eh? Thanks for pointing that out, though. It certainly is happy news.

Emma Gee

I went on friday and sunday. I loved both nights. I’ll start with a quick critisism if I may, I bumped into Chris French at the friday show, it’s a shame he didn’t do a turn on the stage. Robin, I know the schedule was tight so please consider him and Richrd Wiseman for next year (you better be doing it again next year!!!!).

I rate the acts on a sliding scale from awesome all the way down to amazing. Of particular note was Ben Goldacre’s speech. It was trememdously moving and reminded us all why it’s important to keep a rational head on, always. Of course Gervais was funny (I expected nothing less going in), but a few newcomers to me were exceptional too, I don’t remember the names but the couple who sang the Anna Curtain song, I’d like to see more of them. That crazy dude from the 60’s 70’s and 80’s (you’ll know who I mean if you were at the show), Josie Long twisted an anecdote into an hillarious punchline (good luck with the math exam Josie (Dara O’Briain sounded like he could help you out with that)). I’m still laughing now at Jo Neary’s pastiche of the top of the pops dancers. The other ‘classic comics’, if you will, of course didn’t dissapoint. Mark thomas, Phil Jupitus, Stewart Lee, Chris Addison, all very very funny. Simon Singh missed his vocation in life, he should be a stand up comic. This physics thing is going nowhere mate, get yourself down to Jongleurs. The night was filled with great music too, the orchestra the singers and songwriters, really the icing on the cake.

It’s a shame to pick a higlight from an entire night of them but, for me, it was always going to be seeing ‘the professor’ in person, that’s the number one highlight, no question. The passages he read were wonderful, especially “Gerin oil”. However a couple more highlights… The man himself, Robin Ince, left me breathless from laughter with his routines on the creation/evolution youtube cycle one often finds themselves in. I’d have to agree with him on his 2 televisual higlights of the year, Dawkins’ on Big Question and Stephen Green’s baptism of guano. The perfect end to the evening was Tim Minchin and his poem “Storm”. Wow it blew me away, if anyone knows if that’s on a DVD somewhere please let me know, it was fantastic. If I had a pound for the amount of times I’ve been in that situation. The argument sounded much better in rhyme though.

I wish I had time to write a more comprehensive review but suffice to say, I had a wonderful time at both shows. Well done. I’m going to write a pro-science, atheist, chrismas song now so that I might get on next year’s bill.

Cheers

Jamie

Looking for 2 more tickets for the 21st show– standing or seating is fine.
Please comment if you can help!

Milt

Looking for 2 more tickets for the 21st show? Can anyone help?

Milt

You can hear it at http://www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable

Listen to the show of 13th Dec — he has a good chat with fellow comedian (and Christian) James Cary and they debate whether things like the Virgin birth could be true.

I don’t want two empty seats next to me!

Thanks, Simone

The seating plan can be found here, which includes the standing allocation for the venue.
http://www.eventtravel.com/events/concert_images/Carling_Apollo_Hammersmith_seating_plan.jpg

A reasonable man (once) who still knows in his heart what is right allows his church to tolerate homophobia. This he does in the interests of unity of his church.

IF he had stood on his principles and taken his church to schism on this issue, he would have done more for the moral integrity of his religion and its worthiness of respect from ALL, unbelievers alike.

He had the very real power and opportunity to do good. He showed the political expediency, and the sheer moral bankruptcy of even the most moderate, God-of-Love religions.

Even Vicar of Dibleyism is dead.

You can contact me via the “Contact” page on the top links.

I would hate to have your email spammed for no reason.

Thanks

All three events are open to anyone who has sprouted pubic hair– and those who have a condition where they can’t sprout pubes, like that guy out of Little Britain.

Hope that allays your fears.

because its highly unfair to think that to be an atheist/agnostic rationalist you have to be over 18, sounds like the best nigth ever and definatly want tickets

any helpfulness to TOPASSASINXBL@hotmail.com

(despite the email i am not a crazed fundamentalist)