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CONTENTSCONTENTSCONTENTSCONTENTSCONTENTSNoticesConvention NoticeNews and ViewsVic NewsNoticesA Messiah in our Midst?Are Skeptics Impressed by NostradamusDodgy DevicesEureka & ApologyConfessions of an X-ophileReligious FreedomSpread the WordIf at First You Don't SucceedC for ConspiracyChaos TheoryEnlightenmentWorld Round-upFeature - Natural TherapiesFeature - How Did They BeginFeature - Vinegar can be Used for What?Feature - Questioning OrthodoxyFeature - Medical Response IFeature - Medical Response IIA Case of Artful PretenceThe 2000 ClubObliquity PrizedReview - Totalitarianism and TruthReview - That Shroud ResurrectedForum - Some Thoughts on ThoughtsLittle Miss PsychicForum - Big Bang (second round)Forum - Relativity and Related MattersForum - Questions & ChallengesForum - Rights (and Wrongs)Review - Harry Strikes AgainEgyptian MattersLettersI Want to KnowAbout Our Authors

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t h e s k e p t i c Vol 16, No 14

Editors: Barry WilliamsHarry Edwards

Subscription:1996 - $25.00 pa

the Skeptic is a journal of fact and opinion, published four times per year byAustralian Skeptics Inc.Views and opinions expressed in articles and letters in the Skeptic are thoseof the authors and are not necessarily those of Australian Skeptics Inc.Articles may be reprinted with permission and with due acknowledgement tothe Skeptic.

the SkepticVol 16, No 1ISSN 0726-9897

All correspondence to:Australian Skeptics IncPO Box A2324Sydney South NSW 2000 AustraliaTel: (02) 417 2071Fax: (02) 417 7930e-mail: [email protected]

State BranchesNew South Wales:As above

NSW, Hunter Region:PO Box 166Waratah NSW 2298Tel: (049) 689 666

Victoria:GPO Box 1555PMelbourne VIC 3001Tel: (03) 9850 2816Fax: (03) 9841 0581

ACT:PO Box 555Civic Square ACT 2608

Queensland:5 Lamington CrescentDutton Park QLD 4102

South Australia:PO Box 91Magill SA 5072

Western Australia:PO Box 899Morley WA 6062

Tasmania:GPO Box 1124KHobart TAS 7001Tel: (002) 62 4332

Queensland BranchReconstruction

Queensland is a hot-bed offundamentalism, and its newspapersfeature uncritical reporting onparanormal and pseudoscientificevents. Where is the voice of reason?Where are the critical thinkers? Whois stemming the tide of irrationality?The answer is not that the thinkers andvoices dont exist, they do, but theyappear to lack the incentive and co-ordination to make themselves heard.

Queenslanders form the third highestnumber of subscribers to the AustralianSkeptics journal, the Skeptic, in fact,they constitute the greatest per captiasubscribership of any state in Australia,yet, for the past few years, they havehad no active committee to promote theAustralian Skeptics aims ofinvestigating and reporting onparanormal and pseudoscientificclaims and promoting critical thinking.

Fortunately, one Queenslander notonly felt very strongly about thelethargic attitude of his fellows towardsthe promoters of magic, myth and mis-information, he was prepared tofinancially assist those who would takeup the fight. We refer to the late MrStanley David Whalley of Nambour,

whose substantial fortune was left tothe Australian Skeptics to further theiraims.

The time has now come to honourMr Whalleys wishes by making theAustralian Skeptics presence felt inhis home state and to relieve BobBruce of the pressures of being the soleofficial Skeptical voice in the SunshineState.

To this end, we would like to see theformation of an active committee ofpeople prepared to devote some oftheir time to countering extraordinaryclaims, disseminating sceptical andscientific information, lecturing, andholding the occasional public meeting.

While academics, scientists,teachers, rational thinkers andmagicians with their expertise wouldbe welcome on any proposedcommittee, a lack of thosequalifications and attributes need beno deterrent. A commonsense andcautious approach to extraordinaryclaims are the main prerequisites.

To this end, a meeting of allinterested people has been called to re-form an active Branch structure forQueensland. Details are as follows.

Date: March 12Time: 7.30Place: 5 Lamington Crescent

Dutton ParkContact: Bob BruceTel: (07) 3844 3601

Vol 16, No 1 5t h e s k e p t i c

If you keep up with the evolutiondebate, Richard Dawkins will be aninstantly recognisable name. RichardDawkins is a Biologist who is themost articulate and energetic advocateof gradual Darwinism, a strident criticof fundamentalist thought, member ofthe Great Ape Project and all-roundinspirational powerhouse.

He has just been made Professor ofPublic Understanding of Science atOxford; an interesting thing in itselfbecause the chair is funded by CharlesSimonyl of Microsoft and Richard hassuch a long association with Apple thathe will also be keynote speaker at anApple conference in Brisbane afterours.

Whats more, Richards wife, LallaWard, is coming as well and Dr. Whofans will recognise her as Romana IIfrom the Tom Baker incarnation.Paradox upon paradox.

His books include River out of Eden(Allen & Unwin), Gods UtilityFunction (Collins), The Selfish Gene(Oxford), The Extended Phenotype(Oxford), The Blind Watchmaker(Penguin) and Climbing Mt.Improbable (Viking - Penguin) to bereleased in May.

Annie Warburton from ABCTasmania who will speak onscepticism in journalism. Lesley Vick,president of the Rationalist Society ofAustralia, will look at lessening thepublic impact of misleading ideas. Wehave speakers on pharmaceuticalsorthodox and alternative, cults, falsememory, ecclesiastical opinions onevolution, econometrics or astrology?Pyramids and cricket ... cant mentionany names yet because some of themmight not come off.

When? Where? Sorry, I should havesaid sooner.

September 21,22 (the weekendbefore the grand final) at MonashUniversity, Melbourne. We willprobably use Monashs fabulouscatering as well so that we can be

assured of dinner without disasters. Noticket information yet - watch thisspace.

Richard Dawkins will probably bedoing a tour similar to SusanBlackmores last year. It is very likelythat he will have engagements in someof the other Australian capitals andNew Zealand around the time of theconvention. Again- watch this space.

Pre-convention Data GatheringWere looking for a bit of audienceinvolvement in the run up to theconvention this year. In 1989 someoneasserted that most Skeptics would beGeminis in particular and Earth signsin general (Vol 9 No 4 p 29) so RonEvans canvassed the membership tocheck this. There are a couple of otherquestions that have recently generatedinterest and wed like to hear fromyou. Send your responses to any ofthese to:Skeptics Conference,PO Box 1555P, Melbourne 3001.

How did you become a Skeptic?At the last conference our President,Kathy Butler, opened the conferencewith some of her reminiscences of thejourney. My friend Leigh has alwaysbeen sceptical. I remember a keymoment in second grade duringReligious Instruction, but I only reallymade up my mind after a couple oftraumatic losses in my thirties. MartinGardiner eventually reacted againsthis fundamentalist beginnings andretains a personal God.

How did you become a Skeptic? Wethink it would be interesting to hearsome of your stories. If you feel sodisposed please send us a shortaccount, a paragraph or a page, of howyou ended up joining the Skeptics -and has it been worthwhile? Nowdont expect this to turn into someprize thing, we just intend presentingsome sort of summary at theconference.

Roland Seidel

Richard Dawkins for 1996 ConventionNOTICE

The Language of SkepticismWhen you give a name to something

you define it, it comes into existenceand can be thought about. Epigramsand neologisms give form to ideas.Here are a couple of examples. Do youknow any others?

Epigrams (they make good bumperstickers)

New Age. New Wage?Belief: its what you do when you

dont know.Neologisms (new words or phrases)The Gypsy Effect: a shift of

responsibility. This is where you findmeaning in vague narrative or anarbitrary selection of images, andsomeone else takes the credit. Likeseeing pictures in clouds and payingsomeone for them. Why doesdivination seem to work? The GypsyEffect. Why does Nostradamus soundconvincing? The Gypsy Effect.

Sleight of Healing: another shiftof responsibility. Youre sick, you trylots of things, you get better, youassociate getting better with the lastthing you tried. Magicians are verygood at suggesting false impressionsby sleight of hand. Theres not muchyou can say to someone who is firmlyconvinced that meditation, turnipjuice, rose quartz or whatever it was,actually cured them other than tosay it could be Sleight of Healing.

Whats bad about it?Astrologys just harmless fun, isnt it?Natural medicines cant hurt you, canthey? Scientology doesnt sound sobad. Youve got to have an open mind,dont you? Why do you Skepticsbother? I dont think there is muchformal research on these sorts ofquestions, but Im sure there isevidence that it is worth botheringbeing sceptical. Send in any examplesyou may find but be certain to providereferences that can be checked; wedont want anecdotal evidence, do we?


Readers of the Sydney Morning Her-ald on February 8 might have beenstartled to see a prominently displayedstory on the dangers inherent in thecurrently fashionable practice of in-serting various pieces of metal throughprotruding parts of the humananatomy.

Oddly, the story was not concernedthat followers of this rather grotesqueform of self mutilation were at riskfrom infection from unhygienic toolsor of having open wounds in sensitivebody parts. It was a cri de coeur fromthe practitioners of acupuncture thatinsertions be made in spots so as notto interfere with the assorted merid-ian points , thereby causing perma-nent damage to their health. Anec-dotal evidence was adduced to suggestthat piercing the traditional eye point(about where a normal pierced earringhole would go) caused blurry visionin some people and improved eyesightin others.

Although I am not an expert in suchmatters, I could easily be convincedthat having a needle thrust through anipple or various prominent parts ofthe pudenda would be a real eye wa-terer (to quote Major DennisBloodnock), but I doubt if that is whatthe acupuncturist meant.

As is frequently the case for activi-ties of this kind, proponents of bothsides of the argument claimed antiq-uity as a major factor in support oftheir craft, although why a practicegains credibility simply from being oldis something of a mystery . To be fair,I once had a pimple on that part of myear that is shown to be connected withthe uterus, and since then I have com-pletely failed to become pregnant, soperhaps there is some truth in this an-cient art after all (though I wouldntwager the mortgage on it).

As Skeptics, the story put us in thesame position we often experiencewhen seeing religious fundamentalistsand New Agers battling for the heartsand minds of the gullible. We wouldlove to join in if only we could decidewhich side was less silly.

* * *

Readers may be familiar with a book,published in the USA, entitled MutantMessage from Down Under, in whichthe author, Marlo Morgan, purports tohave visited Western Australia and tohave met with an Aboriginal group.The book states that she met with thetribal elders who took her to a secretplace where their cultural treasures arekept and to have invested her with themysteries and wisdom of the people.

Originally self published as a truestory, the book sold so well amongNew Age types that a mainstream pub-lisher, Harper Collins, bought therights and published a new edition,which they labelled as fiction. TheAboriginal myths and cultural prac-tices portrayed in the book bear noresemblance to any real Aboriginalpractices, and are very typical of thepatronising attitudes taken by NewAge believers to any indigenous cul-ture that happens to take their fatuousfancies.

Not surprisingly, Aboriginal groupsin WA are more than a little incensedby the blatant misrepresentations oftheir culture and have sent a group ofelders to the USA to convince themedia of that country that the book isbogus. A spokesman for theDumbartung Aboriginal corporation,Mr Robert Eggington was reported inthe Sydney Morning Herald (Jan 19)as saying, Its just a fabricated fan-tasy of deceit. If stories like that writ-ten by Marlo Morgan are picked uparound the world as factual, then itsgoing to be much harder for the nextgeneration of aboriginal people to findtheir own cultural identity.

More recently, Marlo Morgan hasapologised to Aborigines for her por-trayal of their culture in a false light,however a film company that hasrights to the story is said to be intend-ing to go ahead, though the story isunlikely to be set in Australia. It wouldappear that the cultural gurus of Hol-lywood have determined that somesort of generic indigenous wisdomis contained in the story, which theythink will sell well. Regrettably, wesuspect they are right.

* * *

On a similar topic, we heard recentlyfrom the Italian Skeptics, who askedif we had any comment on the book,which has also been published in Ital-ian. He also told us that a student athis university had told him the Aus-tralian Aborigines regularly live to120-130 because of the natural medi-cines they use. With some shame,we had to inform him that that wasvery far from the truth and that Abo-riginal Australians had a much lowerlife expectancy than other Australians,nor was it likely that any Australianhad ever lived 120 years.

New Age gurus who use the culturalmyths and practices of indigenouspeople, without even trying to under-stand them, are guilty of the grossestexploitation and are, in our view, tobe deplored.

* * *

Is there some mysterious force ofcoincidence operating whereby mynew Postcode of 2324 is exactly thesame number as the Australian Skep-tics PO Box number? asks subscriberKevin McDonald of East Seaham2324 NSW.

We put this question to our seniornumerological consultant MadameHarry. Her response: There is anunderlying synchronicity which at-tunes with the deeply vibrational na-ture of our spiritual identity, which hasa causational influence on the humancondition, leading to deeply meaning-ful holistic coincidences such as this.This manifests in ...

She is now under heavy sedation andis expected to recover completely intime.

Meanwhile, we urge Kevin to pros-elytise among the residents of EastSeaham and if he succeeds in recruit-ing a mere 1% of times the popula-tion of that locality, then we calculatethat all crime will stop and Australiawill be safe from nuclear attack. (Wethank the Transcendental Meditationmovement and the Natural Law Partyfor giving us this wonderful idea).

* * *

News and Views


As could be expected, many of ourever alert readers discovered the ty-pographical infelicitude in our sub-scription renewal form.

In the space where the headingQualifications normally resides, weinadvertently inserted Qualifictions.It may or may not be coincidence, butthe first two responses we receivedpointing this out came from membersof the legal fraternity.

Others took the trouble to point outthat their qualifications were perfectlygenuine and some even took us at ourword and made claims that lookedsuspiciously fictitious to our Subscrip-tion Czar.

Though it may be possible thatsome of our most eminent scientistshold their positions solely on thestrength of a Doctorate of Divinity, wedoubt that it is all that widespread.And do we really have that many taxidrivers with higher degrees in science?

* * *

Who are the Skeptics? This questionis often asked by journalists or thosewho are thinking of subscribing to ourmagazine. As most people who sub-scribe fill in the optional questions onour subscription form, this gives us anidea of the occupations and back-grounds of our readers and we dis-cover that Skeptics cover a wide rangeof professions and interests.

In very broad terms, our numbersfall into the following occupations.

Education 20%Retired 16%Health 15%Science 13%Public Service 8%Computers 7%Engineering 7%Business 7%Arts & Media 6%Trades 6%Law 3%Primary production 2%

The list totals more than 100% forthe obvious reason that some peoplefall into more than one category. Edu-cation, for instance, covers teachers,professors, lecturers, librarians, stu-dents, university administrators andmany others. Many scientists may

also be included under education,health or public service and many en-gineers or computer people may alsobe included under education, publicservice or business.

Among those scientists who havenominated their specialities, physi-cists, geologists, chemists and biolo-gists are in the greatest numbers, andin that order. Health includes psy-chologists, pharmacists, dentists andveterinary surgeons as well as themore obvious medical practitionersand nurses. The largest single occu-pational category listed by respond-ents is Teacher which gives us agreat deal of satisfaction, while thesecond largest is Medical Practi-tioner. This would indicate that weare having some sort of effect in theareas most likely to come into intimatecontact with irrational practices.

Politically, we seem to be admira-bly non-partisan. Two Members ofParliament subscribe, one a Labormember of the South Australian Par-liament and one a Liberal member ofthe NSW Parliament. Interestingly,both of these MPs are women.

It would seem that men outnumberwomen subscribers by about four toone, although we have no real way oftelling, as lots of people nominatethemselves by initials and without ti-tles. We expect that many of our sub-scribers, of both sexes, share themagazine with their spouses (spice?)but we cant tell what the sex mix is.(We have considered conducting asurvey entitled "The subscribers to theSkeptic, broken down by sex" but re-alising that the great temptation wouldbe to answer, "Most of them", we re-frained.)

The number of Retired peoplewould indicate that our average age ison the high side and that would beborne out by our experience of theSkeptics we meet.

The range of interests is as broad asany among the community at large. Aswould be expected, science (especiallyastronomy) rates highly among thebackground interests of our readers,but music, history, religion and litera-ture are also prominent. Lots of youseem to like bush walking and cricketseems to be the preferred sport ofmany (a sure sign of intellectual su-periority, in the humble Editors view).

There doesn't seem to be anythingparanormal about it, but does anyoneknow why horticulturalists seem tohave succumbed en masse to an almosthysterical desire to attach small ovalplastic labels to the fruits of theirlabours? A straw poll reveals auniversal distaste for this nefariouspractice and it is difficult to imaginewhat commercial advantage this isperceived to confer on the producersand why it persists in the face ofconsumer opposition.

* * *

It was with a great deal of trepidationthat your Editor-in-Chief accepted aninvitation to address the 20thAustralian Condensed Matter PhysicsConference at Charles SturtUniversity, Wagga Wagga in lateJanuary.

In the event, it was a very pleasantexperience, with the scientificallyunqualified E-i-C confronted by 200+physicists from all around Australia,telling them why the Skeptics was sucha worthwhile group and manyconvivial ales were dispatched afterthe talk.

However, I am now undergoing anintensive course in elocution, asseveral of the colleagues I rang afterthe event to boast of my achievementwanted to know just exactly what ismeant by "Condensed Metaphysics".

* * *

The NSW Branch had an enjoyabledinner meeting on Feb 16, with ChrisPuplick, President of the NSW Anti-discrimination Board as guest speaker.

We were delighted to hear that ouractivities in encouraging people to bediscriminating in selecting beliefs didnot conflict with the law.

At the beginning of his talk, Chriscanvassed the topic of a collectivenoun to describe Skeptics, suggestingan 'inquiry'of Skeptics.

This has encouraged subscriberMartin Hadley to give us hissuggestions. Rejecting 'query', Martinconsidered a 'suspicion' (easilycontracted to a 'suss', before plumpingfor a 'Scrutiny" of Skeptics.

We are open to further nominationsfrom our creative readers.


Vic News

Well, the Vic Skeptics end-of-yeartrivia night was a smasher of a success!Hosted by Skeptical Steve Roberts(who has left Mensa three timesbecause he thought they were a bunchof smartarses-true!), the winnerswalked away with a huge bundle ofchockies, Skeptics mags, and a rathernasty second-hand treatise onVelikovsky! The losers were alsotreated to various chockies and ratherdubious loopy literature!

Recipients will be pleased to knowthat they are helping the Salvos, as theVic Pres (your correspondent)purchased them at a fund-raising 2nd-hand book sale! If you would like acopy of the questions and answers,send a SASE to Skeptical Steve at theVic branch PO Box.

* * *

The BIG news for 1996 is thatRichard Dawkins will be guestspeaker at the 1996 AustralianSkeptics National Public Convention.He and his wife, actress Lalla Ward,will be in Melbourne for theconvention on September 22 and 23.So Should You! Keep these dates freein your calendar.

* * *

Of course Vic subscribers alreadyknew about the convention fromreading their local newsletter. If youare not fortunate enough to live in Vicyou can still read our newsletter-on theWeb! Visit us at:

http://www.skeptics.com.au

and get all the gossip fit to print (orotherwise).

Weve already had messages fromaround the world, including SouthAfrica, New Zealand, Italy, and a greatcongratulatory message from JimLippard of the Arizona Skeptics.

If youd like to send us a messageafter youve looked at the Web page,

email us at:

[email protected].

The contact is in fact our Webmaster, Greg Keogh. Greg says wehave had quite a few new subscribersjoin up after seeing the web-page. Wehad over 400 visitors to the page inone day!

* * *

Our local commercial talk-radiostation recently had an interview witha Queensland naturopath (you banana-benders seem to have more than yourfair share of them!). There isapparently an isolated Peruvian villagewhich is suffering dreadfully from themost severe species of malaria.

VP, Dr Steve Basser, tells me thatfalciparum malaria does indeed kill themost people and is very nasty. ThePeruvian governmen ,according to thenaturopath, is too strapped for cash tohelp so he is going free-of-charge toply the native people withhomeopathic cures.

There are, as he says, no side-effects(indeed!) as compared with thepharmaceutical cures. He admittedthat he himself would be ingesting nonasty antimalarials (such aschloroquine) and the chance ofbecoming infected was great. He doeshowever have antimalarial drugs withhim should the homeopathics fail.

Just for the record, manyantimalarial drugs do have quitedebilitating side-effects. Better,though, than dying of malaria, onemight think. The naturopath claims hehas hard evidence that his remediescure malaria. I have no knowledge ofany documented cure by homeopathicmeans and would be absolutelyecstatic to hear of any. Ratherdisturbingly, the naturopath advisesthat homeopathic remedies work bestif your body is free of any man-madedrugs.

Kathy Butler

The proper digestion of TVadvertising requires a liberal dose ofscepticism, as you would surely beaware. I was interested to see a newTV advertisement which is showingdown here, for a well-known luxurycar. Their boast is that the latest modelhas on board as much computingpower as was used in the first moonlaunch. I am reliably informed by ourcommittee computer-head (youngVincent Butler) that this is about asmuch computer as the old TRS-80(remember them?) and considerablyless than my cheap electronic diary!Scary!

Net NotesSkeptics who have the urge to samplethe sceptical wares of other lands areadvised of two monitored lists origi-nating in the USA that are interestingand informative on matters sceptical.

The first at:

[email protected] run by Taner Edis, conforms fairlystrictly to mainstream sceptical topicsand has some quite serious discus-sions. On this list you will meet manynames that may be familiar to readersof the Skeptical Inquirer, as well asother prominent US Skeptics.

The second list:

[email protected]

belongs to Garrison Hilliard, who likesto cross-post contributions from otherlists. Some of these are extraordinary,to say the least. This list is a bit moreanarchic and can be lots of fun forthose who like to hone their debatingskills on the True Believers.

These matters should only be takenup by those with time to spare, as theycan consume quite a bit of it.


Notices Gold CoastBranch Formed

Request forHelp

We are happy to print this requestfor assistance from our 1995Convention special guest, Dr SusanBlackmore.

As some readers of the Skeptic willknow, earlier this year I was appointedPerrott-Warrick Researcher, andawarded a grant of 20,000 per yearfor three years (with a possibleextension to five years). The grant isfor research entitled Reality andImagination: Psi at the interface? Theresearch will begin with surveys of psiin borderline states of consciousness,including hypnagogia, sleep paralysis,lucid dreams and false awakenings.We are interested in the experiencesof both adults and children. We willthen go on to explore ways of inducingthese states in the laboratory and athome, with the intention of conductingpsi tests in both naturally occurringand induced altered states. Otherexperiments will induce confusionbetween reality and imagination byusing a false memory paradigm.

The funds are being used to employa part-time secretary and a researchassistant. Trudi Osgood has beenappointed secretary and Nick Roseresearch assistant. Both began workon October 1, 1995. Nick will also beworking towards a PhD whileemployed on the project. Severalvolunteers around the country will behelping with collecting data andrunning training groups in their ownareas.

Many sceptical explanations ofparanormal experiences involve oneor many of these states. However,there is little research being done tounderstand the nature and cause ofsuch confusions between the real andimaginary. Thus many believers feelthat current scientific explanations fortheir experiences are simply prosaic,somehow dismissive of events in theirlives that may have profound meaningfor them. We hope this research willprovide a better understanding of boththe experiences and the way peopleinterpret them.

We would welcome accounts of anyexperiences in which you may havefelt that reality and imagination wereconfused. For example in many OBEscorrect observations seem to be mixedwith obviously imagined ones. Otherexamples are hypnagogic andhypnopompic imagery, sleepparalysis, alien abduction experiences,lucid dreams, false awakenings andnear-death experiences. I am sure thereare other states not included here, andexperiences which there is no namefor but which nevertheless involve aconfusion of the real and the imagined.Please write to the address below. Ifyour account is a long one we wouldwelcome it on disk (please state whichformat you have used or convert to textonly) or by e-mail to: [email protected]. Susan BlackmoreDepartment of PsychologyUniversity of the West of EnglandSt Matthias CollegeBristol BSl6 2JP United Kingdom

We are delighted to report that a groupof Skeptics residing in and aroundQueensland's Gold Coast has decidedto form themselves into an AustralianSkeptics Branch.

In a meeting held on Tuesday, Feb-ruary 20, a committee was elected andthe Branch is now in the process ofsetting up certain structures to ensurethat there is a co-ordinated voice ofscepticism in this important region.

Office bearers for the Gold CoastSkeptics are:

President: Graeme LaingSecretary: John StearTreasurer: John Pieri

The interim address of Gold CoastSkeptics is:

PO Box 819Burleigh Heads QLD

4220

Phone: 0418 756 177

Fax: 07 5592 2261

The new branch will hold its firstpublic meeting as follows:

Venue: Bond UniversityDate: Tuesday, April 30

At time of going to press, all fur-ther details have yet to be decided. In-terested Skeptics who would like toattend should contact Graeme Laingat the above contact points.

Here at the Skeptic, we are delightedto extend our congratulations to theactive Skeptics at the Gold Coast whohave taken steps to formalise their ac-tivities and we offer them all the as-sistance we can render. And of course,we also request that they keep us in-formed of matters of interest that aregoing on in their neighbourhood.

There are Skeptic subscribers locatedin all regions of Australia and we canonly encourage those who wish toform a local or regional group to doso.

It is not essential to set up a formalbranch structure in order to arrangeSkeptics get-togethers in your region.If you are an active Skeptic and wouldlike to arrange a meeting with like-minded people in your area, contactyour state branch for assistance in get-ting things going.

A copy of the Aims of AustralianSkeptics, which are subscribed to byall state branches, is printed at the endof this issue.

RegionalGroups


Barry WilliamsA Messiah in our Midst?

NEWS

An article in the West Australian of December 15 informedits breathless readers that an image of Jesus has shown upin a slab of granite found in Beverley, WA. A localbusinessman, Julian Webb, claimed that he had receivedmessages from a voice he took to be Gods, stating Let Ithe Lord show you the way and saw a white light beforefinding the slab on which the image materialised.

We dont like to be overly sceptical (perish the thought)but we would always tend to be wary of messages fromdeities so lacking in grammatical acuity as to say Let Ishow you the way although we are prepared to makeallowances for the fact that English is not Gods nativetongue.

This is, of course, only one of many recent sightings ofimages of Jesus face (more usually in the USA) in suchunlikely media as a barn door, the side of an oil tank and aplate of spaghetti, but we believe this to be an Australianfirst.

Originally, we hadaccess only to a faxed copyof the West Australiansstory, which wasnecessarily somewhatimprecise, but as best wecould tell, the face lookedvaguely like a beardedindividual. It seem to bedrawing a long bow toclaim it looked like Jesus.In history, the numbers of bearded individuals are legion,and include inter alia Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, KingEdward VII, Henry Parkes, Che Guevara, Gareth Evans,Phillip Adams, Abraham Lincoln and the editor-in-chiefof this journal.

However, thanks to WA subscriber John Johansen, wehave been kept current on the story as it unfolds. It seemsthe face on the rock is remarkably similar to a genericJesus face found in a piece of clip art computer softwarefrom Corel Corp of Canada. When taxed with this amazingcoincidence, the discoverer said that although he had hadCorel software at some time, he had dumped it.According to a subsequent West Australian story, he wenton to claim, To believers it proves that the image on therock is an accurate depiction of Christ or that the guy whodrew this [the clip art figure] was having some sort ofreligious experience when he drew it. Well that is alrightthen, though it suggests to us, and we would be supportedby lots of evidence, that to a true believer anything at allcan be taken as evidence for anything they believe.

Mr Webb also asked, quite disingenuously, I dontknow what printer we were supposed to put it through to

get the image off the computer on to the rock. Again, werely on John Johansen to supply a plausible answer. 13years ago I worked for a company called Rank Xerox andthey had a colour copier that could print transfers for ironingonto T-shirts. The same transfer could be made in blackand white and transferred onto a rock using a heat gun.The image is carbonated plastic and extremely durable,does not need varnish and would last for years if not indirect sunlight. Thus far, Mr Webb has resisted any offersby specialist chemists or geologists to test the rock for anytraces of how the image appeared.

Our real concern, however, is how does anyone knowwhat Jesus looked like (we accept for the sake of argumenthe was a real historical figure)? No contemporary portraitsexist and the oldest pictorial representations still inexistence date from several centuries after his death.Although many Byzantine and medieval European

depictions exist, they alldiffer in many respects andthe similarities are betterexplained by convention,rather than knowledge. Weare sure that readers willcorrect us if we err, but weare not aware of anyBiblical descriptions ofJesus appearancesufficiently detailed toallow us to even guess at

his appearance.The story did say From a distance and in shade, it

looks like a face in the most commonly accepted likenessof Jesus (our emphasis). Commonly accepted by whomis not stated. Hollywood, and the illustrators of many aglossy religious tract, show a Jesus with blonde hair andblue eyes, which, if accurate, would surely have attractedthe serious attention of the Gospel writers, if only for thenovelty of such an appearance in a citizen of Romanoccupied Palestine.

We have now obtained an original of the Corel graphicand, to our astonishment, we find that the face bears anuncanny resemblance to a younger Tim Mendham and,while Tim is undoubtedly a sterling chap, he has never, toour knowledge, shown any Messianic qualities. Readersare invited to judge the similarities between themiraculous face and that of Tim, taken when he was muchyounger and much more ethereal. In hindsight, we can onlybe grateful that a subscriber to the Skeptic didnt find therock first or a Tim Mendham cult might, even now, beflourishing in rural Western Australia, a concept that doesntbear thinking about.

Will the Real Tim Mendham Please Walk on Water?


REVIEW

Can it be just a coincidence? Years go by without a TVprogram about Nostradamus, then two come along at thesame time.

One was in the generally acceptable Divine Magic series(SBS), which at least presents its material as This is whatsome people believe to be true, rather than, This is truebecause some people believe it.

The other was Mysteries of the Ancient World/AncientMysteries of the World (the program titles and presenterDarren McGavin disagreed about what it was called). Asthis was on Channel 7, it was another load of drek fromthese folks who gave you Ancient Secrets of the Bible andThe Incredible Discovery of Noahs Ark. Their concessionto fair debate is to have a sceptic make a one sentencestatement The only mystery about the pyramids is whypeople think there is any mystery, and counter this with aslew of the credulous giving their speculations in amazingdetail. Combined with the most unauthentic historicalreconstructions since the Bately Townswomens Guild re-enacted the Battle of Pearl Harbour.

And of course, wild claims without the slightestevidence.

AMOTW: Even the most stubborn of sceptics areimpressed by Nostradamuss ability to give personalnames. [I am not!!]

This was in reference to the assumption that whenNostradamus used the name Castel Franco, he was referringto the Spanish Civil War and the Castilian, Franco. IfNostradamus had ever written maison blanche, this logicwould allow the interpreters to create, according topreference, a prediction about UK censorship advocateMary Whitehouse, the US Presidency, or perhaps the movieCasablanca. In the case given, during the Middle Ages, itwas the custom of the Normans and other French warriorswith nothing better to do, to engage in campaigning in Italy.This resulted in many Italian locations becoming knownas the Castle of the Franks, in Italian, CastelFranco.

Returning to the wonders of coincidence, both programsoffered the same three incidents as their chief proof. Inreverse historical order, they were:

1. The capture of Louis XVI in 1791. What was expounded was that Nostradamus stated theMonk-king would be captured when he made a detourthrough the forest of Reines. The only problem isNostradamus said nothing of the kind.

The following translation is that given in Roberts, which

owes rather a lot to the 1672 edition of Theophilius deGarencieres, which, although it is not particularly good,has the merit of being done before 1791, and thus has noneof the later modifications to make it fit the Louis incident.(Roberts makes it fit the incident anyway, probably by sheerfaith).Quatrain 9:20

By night shall come through the forest of Reines Two parts Voltorte Herne, the white stone, The black monk in grey within Varennes, Elected captain, causes tempest fire, blood running.The only real connection this quatrain can have to Louis

XVI is the mention of Varennes, a French town where,apart from the capture of Louis, nothing of historicalimportance happened. However the significance issomewhat diminished by the fact that there are twenty-five other Varennes, where nothing of historical importancehas ever happened, and on the interpretation of M V Jones,this quatrain is about a Brittany Varennes.

It should also be noted that Nostradamus did not usethe French word for detour - which is detour (dtour ifyou want to be pedantic), but what was possibly his owncreation, the word Voltorte (or Vaultorte - early editions ofNostradamus differ). This allows the various commentatorsto use Old French, Latin, or whatever language takes theirfancy, to produce the translation detour/roundabout route/wrong way.

But what did Nostradamus really mean?It is usually claimed that Nostradamus used cryptic

allusions (some of his own creation) so that the meaningof the quatrains would only become apparent after theevent. This explanation doesnt seem applicable here, useof the common word detour seems unlikely to limit theapplicability of the prophecy.

An often overlooked explanation for Nostradamusscurious diction is that it was done to adjust each line to theten syllable length required by the quatrain form. Againthis is not applicable here, as both the original and assumedtranslation are of the same length.

So it may be that Jones is correct in assuming thatNostradamus wrote exactly what he meant, Vaultorte beinga normal 16th Century spelling of the Brittany town Vautort.

Other modifications sometimes made to fit the quatrainto the incident are: moine noir becomes monk king, andto overcome the slight problem that there is no such place

Are Skeptics Really Impressedby Nostradamus?

Allan Lang


as the Forest of Reines, this becomes door of the Queento signify the party escaped through a secret door in theapartments of the Queen (actually they didnt).2. The death of Henri II in a tournament in 1589.In this segment AMOTW was the most inaccurate, withnot the slightest effort to get the re-enactment right.

Henri was portrayed as a sixtyish Kojak, who arrogantlyrejected the warning of the suave young prophet. But,when they met, Henri had hair, was bearded, and in hislate thirties. Nostradamus was some fifteen years olderthan Henri. [It may be ungallant, but for completeness itshould be noted that Catherine de Medici, portrayed asHenris beautiful younger wife, was the same age as him,and - as a contemporary put it - was beautiful whenveiled.]

Century 1:35 The young Lion shall overcome the old one In martial field by a single duel. In a golden cage he shall put out his eye. Two wounds from one, then he shall die a cruel death.Amazing! Nostradamus predicted two contestants, each

bearing a lion symbol, and that the old (Henri) would bewounded in two places when the lance penetrated the visorof his gold helmet. The Divine Magic version assured us:"Even sceptics find in difficult to attribute everything inthis quatrain to coincidence". However, as Buget pointedout more than a century ago, its not even coincidence.

What has happened is that the boosters of Nostradamushave simply changed the historical facts to fit them to thequatrain. Henri and his opponent were of similar age,neither used the lion as a symbol, Henris helmet was notmade of gold (or even gilded), there was only one wound,and his eyes were not affected (in any case the originaldeux classes means two fleets/armies, not two wounds).

What this sceptic finds difficult in believing is the claimthat, in 1557, Nostradamus was questioned by the Kingand Queen about this quatrain as predicting the death ofthe King. Like all the rest of his work, there seems nothingin this quatrain that would specify any particular incidentbefore it actually happened.

3. Nostradamus picks a young monk, an ex-swineherd,as a future Pope (c.1538-44).

AMOTW declared, without the slightest historicalevidence, that Nostradamus used to embarrass his familyby making predictions in the street. The example shownwas when he addressed a young monk, Felice Paretti asYour Holiness, to the great embarrassment of his sonCsar, a gangling youth in his late teens.

The trouble with this depiction is that Nostradamus diedwhen Csar was only eleven. Most accounts of this incidentplace it during Nostradamuss Italian wanderings, someyears before he married, and so unlikely to embarrass his(then hypothetical) family.

The portrayal in Divine Magic was more accurate inplacing it in the correct period, but introduced its owninaccuracy by saying that Felice was elected as Pope Sixtus

V, nineteen years later. This would have been withinNostradamuss lifetime, and have been convincing proofof Nostradamus' prophetic ability.

However it was actually nineteen years afterNostradamuss death, and when Nostradamus died Felicewas still a relatively modest-ranking churchman. (He wasborn in 1521, became monked in 1533, and was ordainedin 1547. He would not become a bishop until 1566, or acardinal until 1570.) His main claim to fame duringNostradamus life was a stint as Inquisitor-General ofVenice in the late 1550s. He was recalled from this poston the grounds of excessive zeal, which, in its own way,was something of a distinction for a 16th century Inquisitor.

The real problem is how the story is supposed to havebeen transmitted. Anecdotes are stories told about thefamous, and when Nostradamus died he was more famousthan Felice, so is unlikely to be telling anybody how heonce predicted a still-insignificant Italian cleric wouldbecome Pope.

The only alternative we can imagine is Felice chattingto some other priests over the odd vino or three; You know,when I was a young man, and had just joined the Church,I was walking with some other monks, when this wild-eyed chap in a four-cornered hat jumped out of the crowd,grovelled at my feet, and shouted I must kneel before YourHoliness. Well you can imagine what happened afterthat. All the other monks gave me a lot of chaff over theyears. However, that lunatic is now known as the greatNostradamus. I dont really expect I will become Pope,but it makes you think.

Now, I suppose it could have happened that way, butits unlikely.

However, as all of the early commentaries onNostradamus were highly critical of the uselessastrological predictions (Fulke, 1560) of this lunatic,brainless fool (Videl, 1558), it is unlikely this anecdoteexisted in any form before 1590. As I see it, there are twopossibilities.

One, the incident happened as related.Two, it was fabricated by Chaviny (Nostradamus first

hagiographer) in 1590, as a Nostradamus tale about thereigning Pope, and placed during the only time when ameeting between young principals would have beenpossible.

Which version I favour is left as an exercise for thereader.

References: Jones M V, Nostradamus: Guide to the Centuries(unpublished) Leoni E, Nostradamus and his Prophecies, 1982 Bell Pub.NY Randi J, The Mask of Nostradamus, 1990, Charles ScribnersSons NY Roberts H, The Complete Prophecies of Nostradamus, 1984,Granada


Everyone is done on a grander scale in the United States.Here in Oz I have yet to discover a gadget quite asfraudulent as one which has recently been exposed in theUS. In these pages a couple of years ago we exposed a so-called electronic antenna, marketed by Sterling Mail Orderof Sydney, which is neither electronic nor works any betterthan a plain length of wire a metre or so long. Since ourexpos another of these modern marvels has been offeredto the unsuspecting public by Magnamail Pty Ltd, also ofSydney. Their antenna has even fewer internal parts thanthe Sterling model, which allows them to sell it for less,but offers similar performance: in brief, that of about ametre length of wire.

As devices for parting the punters from twenty dollarsor so, they pale into insignificance alongside a devicemarketed until recently by the Quadro Corporation in theUS at $955 (Aust. $1290) a time. At least the local devicesoffer the equivalent performance of a short length of wire.The American devices offer nothing at all, except promises.

Those who have been following Internet messages fromthe American magician/sceptic James Randi will know allabout this latest scam. On January 13, Randi revealeddetails of his investigations into the Quadro Tracker, adevice claimed to locate guns, drugs, explosives, missingpersons, treasure, stolen cars, US currency and golf balls,and do it from 2000 miles away.

At the same time Randi sent letters to nineteen endorsersof the device, ranging from school principals to police andcustoms officials, asking them to confirm their testimonialsif they would. Randi informed them, they could win a prizeof half a million dollars (offered by the 2000 Club) if theycould support their endorsement and prove that the Trackerworked as claimed. Despite the lucrative offer, Randi wasvery soon deluged by responses denying previousendorsements.

It seems that the Quadro Tracker had quite a lengthyhistory. Four or five years ago Mr Wade Quattlebaum,inventor of the tracker, showed up at the prestigious SandiaLaboratories (a major US government contractor) to haveit tested. They took it apart and found it was nothing but achunk of black plastic with a telescoping radio antennasticking out and would cost a couple of dollars tomanufacture. For revealing the inside secrets of the Tracker,Quadro threatened Sandia with legal action. Sandiaslawyers went to water, blocking release of the officialwritten report and gagging Sandias scientists.

However the City of Albuquerque, who had intendedspending $200,000 on the Trackers, got wind of Sandiasfindings before the shutters came down. They backed rightoff, no doubt sorely upsetting Mr Quattlebaum. Howeveranother reputable organisation, the Interquest Group of

Texas and California who train dogs for contrabanddetection, fell for the Quadro sales pitch and spent $10,000 on the trackers. They became suspicious and had thedevices tested by the Southwest Research Institute of SanAntonio, Texas, who reported that the Tracker was a fakedevice with nothing inside it but epoxied scrambled deadants. Interquest remain ten thousand dollars out of pocket.Ironically, they were one of the original endorsers of theTracker.

To cut a long story short, the FBI Economic CrimesUnit moved in on January 19. From the QuadroCorporation in Harleyville, South Carolina, they seizedrecords and merchandise. They arrested the officers of theCorporation and charged them with fraud. The next daythe FBI sent out a bulletin warning all of their branches tocease the use of the Quadro Tracker!

The next episode in the Quadro drama is so bizarre thatI wont even attempt to relate it in my own words. Here isthe most amazing revelation about the Quadro Trackerexactly as told by Randi himself:

The FBI, during their raid on the Quadro Corporationheadquarters in Harleyville, SC, entered the secretresearch facility, as Quadro president/founder WadeQuattlebaum called it. There they were shown howthe signature cards which are said to be tuned tothe molecular frequency of the substance beingsought were prepared. I hope youre seated as Idescribe this.To prepare a carbocrystalized signature card tunedto cocaine, the white-gloved Quattlebaum took aPolaroid photo of the substance. That photo was thentaken to what appeared, to the uninitiated person, tobe a Canon copier. In actuality, explainedQuattlebaum, this was an electromagnetic frequencytransfer unit. Science marches on. An enlargedphotocopy of the Polaroid photo was made, whichextracted the molecular structure and its subsequentfrequency emission from the photo. That piece ofpaper was then cut into tiny squares, one of whichwas inserted into the plastic signature card chip. Etle voila!But theres more! Aware that some competitor mightcut open the plastic chip and discover this high-techsecret, and sure that foreign governments would wantto steal this technological leap, Quattlebaumcunningly changed over to making the photocopieson black construction paper [!] so that the image couldnot be seen.To turn to a cheerier development in human progress,I [Randi] must tell you of an article in the November,

Colin Keay

TECHNOLOGY

Dodgy Devices


1993, issue of Coonhound Bloodlines, a journal withwhich not many of us will be familiar. Under theProduct Review section, an author named SteveFielder wrote a 5-page analysis of the Quadro QRS550 DL Tracker, a variation on the regular model,designed by the geniuses at Harleyville to locate lostcoon dogs. Mr. Fielder, after three months of tryingto use the toy, did a most perceptive, penetrating andsensible investigation, and concluded, in part:'It is my opinion that as long as the user knows wherethe [target] is, he will be totally convinced that theunit works. I believe that the user can unconsciouslyinfluence the movement of the antenna. The unit isintricately balanced and can be moved from right toleft with the slightest tilt of the hand.'And there, from a non-scientist who has the goodsense to examine the device carefully and withoutbias, is the secret behind the success of the QuadroCorporation in selling their products.Mr. Fielder, my compliments. You have done whatnumerous highly-educated academics, chiefs ofpolice, school principals and journalists have foundto be beyond their abilities. Its called commonsense, and it is not taught at schools.

As a wry comment within Randis informative newsbulletins, which I hereby acknowledge with much gratitude,he quotes a postscript from the last letter which MrQuattlebaum wrote to him before his arrest. Quattlebauminformed Randi "We may be calling upon your magicalpowers to get us out of prison if the Tracker does not workas advertised."

Randi has advised that he is not presently available forthat sort of work, but is sure, using the Tracker, MrQuattlebaum and his friends will be able to find a way outall by themselves.

Now we ask, can the same sort of thing happen here?The answer is yes. I dont know of a rip-off quite asaudacious as the Quadro Tracker, but there are very dubiousdevices on the market which are somewhat moresophisticated than the electronic antennas I mentionedearlier and cost more. But, excepting under cover of athoroughly rainproof legal umbrella, I am not prepared toreveal all I know, except to observe that if the devices inquestion worked as advertised, the huge multinationalplayers in the game would long ago have bought out, for aseven or eight figure sum, the rights to manufacture andmarket them. As a result, the current vendor would now beliving in the lap of luxury.

The Australian devices, claimed to be marketed overseasas well, are certainly selling and will continue to do sountil word gets around from disgruntled buyers reportingthat they do not work. There is only a 30-day money-backguarantee (which is not advertised) so there are manyAustralians, like the Interquest people in the USA, whohave lost their money. Until the name and nature of theAustralian device can be revealed the message is simply" be very cautious about gadgets for which astonishingclaims are made".

A GrovellingApology

We would like, and we mean this most sincerely, toapologise to those NSW and ACT subscribers who recentlyreceived a Dinner Meeting Notice on the back of whichwas a Renewal Reminder Notice. Although the Dinnernotice did say that the form on the reverse was for thosewho had not renewed, several subscribers thought that wewere dunning them and either paid again, or were forcedto advise us that they were still current.

Our intention was to send the Dinner Notice to currentsubscribers,and to include both notices to presentlyunfinancial subscribers. However, in an attempt to savethemselves some extra labour, two members of ouroverworked subscription staff (Messrs Barry Harrison andHarry Barrymore) made an egregious error of judgementand included both notices in every letter.

Some of our more generous readers might consider thisto be an understandable mistake, however, we at SkepticsCentral are uncompromising in the standards we expect ofour minions. We are therefore pleased to report that thetwo offending members, having been appraised of theirunforgivable misconduct, retired to the Library with aloaded revolver and took the only honourable course.

We are delighted to announce that the Australian SkepticsScience and Education Foundation, in keeping with itscharter to support the use of critical thought and scepticalanalysis in science and education, has agreed to sponsoran additional Eureka Prize.

Initiated by Radio Nationals Science Show supremo,Robyn Williams, the Eureka Prizes are administered bythe Australian Museum and seek to reward outstandingendeavours by scientists and science communicators. EachPrize is sponsored by a different organisation.

At present there are five Eurekas covering:Promotion of Science (won in 1995 by Prof Ian Plimer)Environmental ResearchScience Book PrizeEnvironmental JournalismPrize for Industry.As we go to press, the full details of the Australian

Skeptics Eureka Prize are still being negotiated with theMuseum management, but it will be a commitment for threeyears and will reflect our concerns with critical thinking.

In keeping with the other Eurekas, the Prize will be$10,000 plus a trophy.

Further details will be included in the next issue.

Eureka!


This is a self-serving and no-doubt gratuitously offensivearticle on why I am a member of both the X-Files FanClub of Australia and the Australian Skeptics.In my university days, when I told people I was a memberof a science fiction fan club and even used to attend sciencefiction conventions, they would occasionally look at mestrangely.

I dont believe any of that stuff, they would say.What stuff?You know, flying saucers and alien visits n stuff.If I could be bothered and there was time, I would then

point out the vast gulf between enjoying science fiction asfiction and believing in alien encounters as fact. However,the would-be sceptics were far easier to deal with than thesemi-serious believers in UFOs, who would also confusethe two areas and badger me with tales of lights in the skythat travel at incredible speeds, until they realised I wasunsympathetic.

Now, although it has been several years since I wentnear a convention (and then only for one day) and I cannotclaim to be an authority on science fiction fandom, evenfans themselves will agree that their behaviour seems alittle odd to outsiders. They might, say, wear costumes toconventions that can only be described as unfortunate - askintight, leather space pirates costume, for example, onan outrageously fat fan. Younger fans have been known towear cloaks and jump off couches in the foyer, while hotelstaff are elsewhere (conventions are often in hotels), andcrack Star Trek in-jokes only barely comprehensible toardent Trekkies.

I recall a former colleague coming back from anappointment that had taken him through the Southern Crossin Melbourne, just when a major convention was inprogress.

Your people, Lawson, he said, as if I was responsiblefor all of SF fandom, are making a spectacle of themselvesin that hotel.

But despite the occasional eccentricity in behaviour, Idont recall any fans seriously claiming to be abductees orto have seen UFOs. As a group, fans are highly intelligent,well educated, or at least well read, and much more likelyto be sceptics than new age believers. Come to think of it,fans are never really sceptics either, in that they rarelytrouble to debunk outrageous claims. If they happen to meetsomeone claiming to be an abductee, say, their attitude issimilar to that of a botanist encountering a new form ofplant - a self-confessed abductee is a phenomenon to bestudied and observed, rather than debunked. In any case,although I cannot claim to be an expert, I believe there isvery little cross over between New Agers and SF fandom.

Despite all that, I still get the occasional strange look,

even from fans and ex-fans, when I admit to being both amember of the X-Files Fan Club of Australia, as well asthe Australian Skeptics. In certain circles, being a memberof both groups is thought to be going that touch too far.The general feeling is that perhaps I should seekprofessional help.

Well, I dont think so - but first some background.The X-Files is a series about a two member FBI team

that specialises in investigating incidents involving theparanormal or the merely very strange, including UFOabductions, poltergeist murders, strange cults whosemembers have the power to change gender, Bigfoot-likecreatures in the forest, computers that kill because they areself-aware, satanic killings, vampires and almost any andeverything else strange that youve ever heard of and somethings you havent.

However, unlike the real X-Files (FBI agents used tolook at UFO sightings when the craze first hit, but thebureau eventually decided it was a waste of time), agentsFox Mulder and Dana Scully always seem to beinvestigating something more than the ravings of lunaticsand poor, ill-educated fringe dwellers who contradictthemselves and do not have any physical evidence to backup their stories.

Nor is it a matter of discovering the truth through carefulinterrogation - UFOs in the X-Files are very real, andfrequently sighted. Scully and Mulder also often havephysical evidence of alien contact and/or paranormaloccurrences in their hands, but somehow the evidencealways slips through their fingers.

X-Files plots can be difficult to follow but are wellthought out and occasionally strike out into innovative SFthemes. The episodes concerning the ship on whicheveryone aged quickly, the scientist whose shadow killedpeople after he was caught in one of his own experiments,and the episode concerning a squad of ex-soldiers who hadbeen redesigned to kill, all point to a big budget for thescripts - as well as lots of money available for special effectsand actors.

One special twist, and one that truly sets the series apartfrom the other attempts at television SF, is that the pairoften unearth evidence that points to their own government.They find alien craft being test flown from a US Air Forcebase, a plague that seems to have been started amongprisoners by someone deep within the US government, andDefence Department files stating that the government hasbeen covering up its knowledge of UFO contact and itsexperiments with alien technology for decades.

There are other plot strands connecting episodes -Mulders father was deeply involved in the early part ofthe conspiracy, and his sister was abducted by aliens

Confessions of an X-ophileMark Lawson


because of the fathers involvement; an unidentified, chain-smoking man high up in the government repeatedly triesto stop their investigations; and highly placed deep throatskeep throwing out enigmatic clues.

There is also a romantic sub-sub-plot with hints thatScully, the sceptic of the pair, is romantically interested inMulder, but realises he is too bound up in his work, beingdriven by the disappearance of his sister, for anything muchto happen. There is the occasional spark between the twoto keep viewers wondering, but then they are keptwondering.

Will they eventually blow the lid off the governmentscover up? Will Mulder find his sister? Will Scully (whocan investigate me any time she likes) and Muldereventually get together? All those ifs make the X-Files morethan the sum of its many episodes.

Apart from its value as fiction, the series has a certainvalue to sceptics.After all, the X-Files emphasisesthe often difficultissue of how toc o n v i n c i n g l yreconcile all thenew-age and alien-presence theoriesthat eventually findtheir way into theseries plot line andhas two long-standing mottos -Trust No One andThe Truth Is OutThere - which anysceptic can adoptwithout blushing.

Of course truesceptics mighthave a little troublewith the fact thatScully and Mulderare always turningup hard evidenceabout, and areo c c a s i o n a l l yseriously attackedby, aliens andparanormal phenomena.

This surprising ability of the paranormal to reach outand touch investigators extends even to concepts aboutwhich even Mulder (played by David Duchovny) is himselfsceptical - notably satanic cults. In one episode, despitehis well judged scepticism, they uncover a dangerous cultdominating a small town.

However, to belabour the obvious, the show is fictionand as fiction it works quite well. I dont really believethat the US government is really involved in a giganticconspiracy involving alien contact, but it's fun to enter theX-Files universe for an hour a week, and in that universeany and every conspiracy theory is true.

Sometimes the shows writers (who include Duchovny)also have to tweak known facts a little (or a lot) to get towhere they want to go. In the episode The Blessing Way,for example, Mulder is handed Defence Departmentcomputer files that prove the UFO cover-up, only to findthat they are written in Navaho.

Now it's quite true, as the show asserts, that the Navaholanguage was used as a code during World War II, but itwas mainly used as a convenient code below armycommand level. Navaho is a difficult language which isonly known to a limited number of people outside the Indiannation and, at the time of World War II, none of thoseoutsiders were German or Japanese. But the Navaho tribewas still sufficiently large to furnish enough radio operatorsfor the armys needs.

The advantages of Navaho as a code are obviously lostfor domestic files - but from the view of the series the use

of the languageproved an almostplausible way todrag a few nativeAmericans, andtheir wise sayings,into the plot.

As Im sure allSkeptics will agree,however, a fewtweaked facts areneither here northere in a piece offiction which is, ofcourse, well knownto be fiction.Contrast it also withthe rubbish aboutUFOs, angels andthe Turin Shroudpeddled as fact ontelevision specials.

So for the thirdseries, and in theinterests ofenjoying fiction, asharmless, escapistfiction, I shall bewatching for furtherproof of the

gigantic government conspiracy which Scully and Mulderare gradually unravelling. Where do the aliens come from?Do they control the US government? Does the USgovernment control them? Will FBI assistant directorSkinner, the immediate boss of our dynamic duo, meet withan unfortunate accident?

As an X-Files sceptic I will follow two rules.*I will demand positive proof of new episodes - an

episode does not exist until I have watched it.*I will not believe in any strange explanation of

phenomena encountered on any episode until Mulder statesit and, crucially, Scully pours scorn on the idea.

Remember: Trust No-one.


The freedom of the mind is the most important of all liber-ties. An essential element of that freedom is the freedomto practise or not practise religion and this is manifest inthe doctrine of separation of religion and State. People whoadvocate freedom of religion are not necessarily atheists,humanists, anti-Christian, or anti-religionists as may beclaimed but may also be religious and/or Libertarian. Peo-ple in minority religions or who have unconventional viewsof any kind know that the principle of religious freedom isnecessary for their survival since there are people in oursociety, including those who govern it, who would haveno qualms about establishing an official religion if theywere given a chance. Some may interpret this article to bean attack on Christianity, the dominant religion in Aus-tralia. This is not the intention. Rather, this article espousesthe general principle of freedom of religion for all reli-gions. This principle is also espoused in the AustralianConstitution. The Australian Constitution specifically guar-antees free exercise of religion and prohibits enforced reli-gious observance. It says, in part, The Commonwealthshall not make any law for establishing any religion, or forimposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting thefree exercise of any religion ... (Section 116).

In the United States, issues of separation of religionand state are taken very seriously, but they rarely are inAustralia even though Australia is, like the United States,a secular State. There are numerous instances in Australiaof religious imposts of an official nature upon secularaffairs: compulsory religious public holidays such as Christ-mas, Boxing Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday and Sun-days (the US also has official holidays on some of thesedays); an unknown soldier who was presumed to be a Chris-tian although he may have been of many possible faiths ornone; Australia Post providing discounts for Christmascards but not greeting cards of other faiths; Australia Postprinting stamps celebrating Christmas; a head of state whois also Defender of the Faith; a frequent use of the termChristian name on government forms (although, fortu-nately, the option of given name is also usually given);local governments spending thousands of tax dollars onChristmas decorations and other religious icons on publicproperty; the embracing of Aboriginal religious beliefs inthe Hindmarsh Island affair without evidence that the al-leged beliefs were genuine and there are many other ex-amples.

Skeptics should be concerned that undesired observ-ance of a particular religion is unavoidable under thesecircumstances and that religious practice does not remainthe private activity it should. It is also discriminatory againstthose who are not of the religion being promoted, or whohave no religion.

Of course, no one has any problem if religious expres-sion is within private organisations - but governmentsshould be completely neutral and non-participatory withregard to all aspects of religion (except ensuring its free-dom) since, unlike private organisations or individuals, theyare meant to represent all people.

There are other examples of enforced religious observ-ance at a Government level. Of concern to some are exam-ples of religious activity within the work place. ShouldGovernment organisations be permitted to allow the place-ment of religious decorations or other representations inpublic areas of the work place, to send official Christmascards on behalf of a government organisation or to holdChristmas parties when public servants are official repre-sentatives of the secular State? Private organisations arenot so problematic because they only need represent theirown interests, not those of the secular State and freedomof association and thought is their right. (Although, obvi-ously, if they want the best people to work for them, theyshould try and accommodate all religious and non-religiousviewpoints.)

Regarding the topic of Christmas parties which are ofrecent relevance, in order to reflect the diversity of beliefsin Australia, work place Christmas parties might be moreappropriately named End-of-Year parties (although pri-vate organisations should not be compelled to, of course).Unfortunately, most people dont care what these partiesare called as long as they have a good time. Many thinkthat the naming issue is trivial but it is appropriate in oursociety where staff members are likely to be from manydifferent backgrounds to have a secular celebration to markthe end of the now ostensibly secular Gregorian calendar.Clearly, a Christmas party is for the benefit of one particu-lar faith only. A staff Christmas party tends to exclude non-Christian staff members who may feel uncomfortable be-ing involved in the semi-compulsory attendance of a Chris-tian celebration.

Having religious events, religious decorations or othericons within government organisations or on public prop-erty is problematic because public resources will be usedfor the promotion of just one particular religion. The gov-ernment and its employees should represent all citizens(or subjects as politicians think of them). It is thus im-proper for taxpayer resources to be directly or indirectlyused in the promotion of any one religious viewpoint. Ifpublic servants want to engage in religious expression itshould be on their own time and conducted using their ownresources. Celebrating religious festivals using govern-ment resources may lead to the unconscious acceptance ofan official theology, which in turn may bias the decisionmaking of public officials. It is not a trivial issue as some

David Maddison

FORUM

Religious Freedom


continuued on p 19...

may think. The fundamental attitude being tested is: Dowe live in a secular State or not?

In a United States Supreme Court decision 1, which isdiscussed because of the general doctrinal principle it es-pouses, Justice Sandra Day OConnor has proposed a testthat focuses on whether a particular governmental actionamounts to an endorsement of religion. According to Jus-tice OConnor, a government action is invalid if it createsa perception in the mind of a reasonable observer that thegovernment is either endorsing or disapproving of religion.In short, she believes ones standing in civil society shouldbe separate from ones standing in a church. Her funda-mental concern is whether the particular government ac-tion conveys a message to non-adherents that they areoutsiders, not full members of the political community, andan accompanying message to adherents that they are in-siders, favoured members of the political community. Thisdoctrine emphasises that not only must governments beimpartial with respect to religion, they must be seen to beso.

None of this is to say that religious activity should bediscouraged - Australia theoretically guarantees all formsof religious expression that do not impinge on the rights ofothers. Used properly, and within a self-consistent beliefsystem, religion can be beneficial. But such religious ac-tivity should be private in nature and the State should haveno role in it by either encouraging or discouraging it. Ofcourse, the basic codes of morality espoused in some reli-gious systems would not be invalidated by such a separa-tion, and just moral codes remain knowable by all thosewho seek them. But the associated religious expressionwithin an official capacity is what should be prohibited.

In support of recognising religious events such as Christ-mas within government agencies and on public propertyit has been argued that Christmas is not really religiousafter all, that it is merely a commercial or secular event.Certainly, there is a strong commercial component, butundeniably it is based on a particular religious event. Oth-ers argue that it is really a pagan festival and thus does notbear the problem of religious expression. It is true thatDecember 25th was originally associated with the paganrite of Natalis Sol Invictus, the rebirth of the invinciblesun occurring on or near the Winter Solstice, but sun wor-ship was also a religion. (The December 25th date forChristmas is commonly thought to have been instituted byConstantine some time after his conversion to Christianityin 312CE. He moved it from January 6th because he wantedto establish Christianity as the State religion over the ex-istent pagan practices, but the details of this are not clear.He also moved the Sabbath day from Saturday to Sunday(Dies Solis, Suns Day) for the same reasons and de-creed Sunday to be a public holiday in 321CE.)

In the US various regulations and laws prohibit reli-gious expression under state auspices. This includes ban-ning religious decorations on government property. It also,incidentally, relates to a prohibition of naming officialplaces after certain classes of living persons or placing theirimages on coins and other places, lest the living personcomes to be worshipped as an idol or a god, as was Caesar,Hitler or Uncle Joe Stalin, for example. Compare thisphilosophy with the existence of places like Whitlam

Square in Sydney.So far in Australia, there have been few, if any, court

cases concerning the constitutional validity of religiousexpression or representations within government agenciesor on public property. It would be interesting if the Hu-man Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission would ruleon these matters as it would help test the doctrine of sepa-ration of religion and state. This is unlikely to happen how-ever, since it has no interest in this type of thing 2.

There are several outcomes of this relevant to improvedobservance of the separation of religion and state. Firstly,it would be prudent for religious activity and display to beprohibited from government agencies and on public prop-erty. Secondly, religious public holidays should be replacedwith the same number of general purpose vacation days tobe used however one wants, including their use on the tra-ditional days for those who desire this. It is unfair that thoseof the minority faiths have to take vacation leave for theirspecial days whilst those of the dominant faith have theirdays of religious observance provided gratis. Anything elseis incompatible with the doctrine of religion and State sepa-ration under which Australia is supposedly governed.

Those who arent happy with the doctrine of religionand state separation might like to consider the SpanishInquisition or numerous other crimes against humanitycommitted in the name of religion over the past 2000 yearsor the anti-religious activities and associated crimes suchas pogroms in Eastern Europe where religious freedom wasnot (and is largely still not) protected.

It is the unfortunate experience of the author that de-spite the mythical view Australians have of themselves ofbeing tolerant, a recent experience indicates this is far fromthe truth. When it was proposed within a certain highlyscholastic public sector organisation that the ChristmasParty should properly be named the End-of-Year Partythe proposer of this idea (not the author) was subject to atirade of abuse. Apparently doing so was offensive to cer-tain Christians and this wasnt OK, despite the fact that itsoriginal naming was offensive to non-Christians, but thiswas OK. As they say, go figure! One cant help thinkingthat these are the same sort of allegedly civilised peoplewho were putting their fellow citizens into gas chambers alittle over 50 years ago or who 500 years ago were Span-ish Inquisitors.

Incidentally, at the risk of sounding too politically cor-rect, it would be compatible with the aforementioned viewsto wish people Happy Holidays as is done in the USArather than Happy Christmas as is common practice here.

It is clear from examples such as Nazi Germany andthe countries of the former Yugoslavia as well as numer-ous examples from Europe of the tragic effects of religiousintolerance. It is quite disturbing the degree to which cer-tain people, even highly educated ones, will attempt toimpose their religious views upon others when these areprivate issues. It is downright dangerous when governmentsget involved in the business of religion, or are seen to beinvolved either directly or indirectly. Australians are notimmune to religious intolerance and bigotry and despite aself-delusion to the contrary, experience demonstrates that


...Religious Freedom from p 18

Spread The WordMark Dawson

Working in a public library, I see hundreds of new bookseach week. It is unfortunate however, that the number ofbooks we receive on the pseudosciences, alternativemedicine and paranormal seem to far outweigh books of asceptical nature about these same subjects.

As a member of the Canberra Skeptics and a concernedcitizen (we have at least 3 schools that teach creationscience in Canberra), I saw it as part of my responsibilitiesto rectify this imbalance by requesting sceptical books.

I selected most of these books from reviews innewspapers, Scientific America, New Scientist and ofcourse, the Skeptic. Another good source is the booksthemselves as most contain comprehensive bibliographiesas well as details of other titles by the same publisher.

Requesting new books for purchase at most publiclibraries can usually be done by any member of the public.Of course in this time of government funding cuts not alllibraries will do this but it is worth asking, so please go toyour local public library and request sceptical books andthe Skeptic if they dont already subscribe.

If you are unsure of what to request, here are a fewrecent titles that I have found to be very good:

Telling Lies For God : Reason Vs Creationism.Ian Plimer Random House Australia, 1994.ISBN:009182852XNote: First of course, I know for a fact that Carl Wielandhas taken personal offence to this book.

How To Think About Weird Things : CriticalThinking For A New Age.Theodore Schick and Lewis Vaughn; Mayfield, 1994.ISBN:1559342544Note: Brilliant book.

Science Versus Pseudoscience.Nathan Aaseng; Franklin Watts, 1994.ISBN:0531111822Note: A childrens book to help them think critically

The Making Of The Messiah : Christianity AndResentmentRobert Sheaffer Prometheus Books, 1991.ISBN:0879756918Note: Caution, this book will probably offend mostChristians.

The Mythmakers Magic : Behind The Illusion OfCreation ScienceDelos B. McKeown Prometheus Books, 1993.ISBN:0879757701

Dictionary Of Science & CreationismRonald L. Ecker Prometheus Books, 1990.ISBN:0879755490Note: Actually any book published by Prometheus Booksis good to get.

What Johnny Shouldnt Read : Textbook CensorshipIn AmericaJoan Delfattore Yale University Press, 1992.ISBN:0300057091Note: Shows us what could happen if Fred Nile had hisway.

Looking For The Aliens : A Psychological,Imaginative And Scientific InvestigationPeter Hough & Jenny Randles Blandford, 1991.ISBN:0713722142Note: Perhaps not sceptical enough but infinitely moresensible than most others on this topic.

So once again, please go to your local public library, joinif you havent already, and get busy spreading commonsense.

religious tolerance in this country goes only so far.It is up to sceptics to promote the doctrine of separation

of religion and state and to ensure governments keep wellout of the business of religion. History teaches that gov-ernmental religious impositions and doctrines can havedevastating effects.

References:

(1) Justice OConnors concurring opinion in Lynch v.Donnelly, 1984, United States Supreme Court.

(2) Telephone conversation, 17-1-96.Internet Resources

Suggested sites on the separation of church and state tovisit on the Internet (these are mainly US based as there are nosites in Australia on this topic, but some material is of rel-evance for Australia). Note that not all of the content on all ofthese sites is endorsed by the author.http://apocalypse.berkshire.net/~ifas/index.htmlInstitute for First Amendment Studieshttp://www.fac.org/default.htmFirst Amendment Centerhttp://www.netplexgroup.com/americansunited/Americans United for Separation of Church and Statehttp://www.kosone.com/people/ocrt/Ontario Centre For Religious Tolerancehttp://northshore.shore.net/rf/Religious Freedom Home Pagehttp://www.power.net/users/aia/str/america.htmAmericas Unchristian Beginnings?http://www.louisville.edu/~tnpete01/church/index.htmSeparation Of Church And State Home Pagehttp://www.intr.net/tialliance/index.htmlInterfaith Alliancehttp://www.mindspring.com/~edge/separate.htmlThe Edge of the World web site


Harry Edwards

Readers may recall some time ago, Australian Skeptics wasapproached by a Dr Jamal N. Hussein PhD., Director ofthe Paramann Programme Laboratories, located at Amman,Jordan, to enlist our co-operation in the testing of an allegedphenomenon called The Deliberately Caused BodilyDamage, wherein volunteers would insert sharpinstruments, such as knives, spikes and daggers into variousparts of their bodies, without apparent pain, harm orinfection. Furthermore, it was alleged that this ability couldbe controlled (i.e., switched on and off, and also transferableto others). [Refer Volunteers Wanted, Vol 14. No 2] Inthe absence of a promised video tape of the experimentsand any evidence of standard abdominal surgicalprocedures which one would assume to be the logicalextension of such experiments, and which may have beenconducted by Paramann Laboratories, I terminated thecorrespondence by concluding that the paranormal abilitiesclaimed were merely examples of those acts performed incircuses and carnivals.

On March 18, 1995, the Canberra Skeptics received aletter from Dr Hussein outlining the programme andenquiring whether they (Canberra Skeptics) would like toconduct joint research. The letter was identical in everyrespect to that received by me (and other like-mindedgroups around the world) over two years ago , includingthe sentence this project was started ten years ago by....Whether or not Dr Hussein had forgotten our previouscorrespondence or perhaps believes in the old adage if atfirst you dont succeed, try, try, try again, I can onlyspeculate. However, in September 1995, another letter wasreceived from him, reiterating many of his original claims.

He also asked if the Australian Skeptics would like tobe listed in the first Arabic directory of societies, researchcentres and institutes around the world, interested instudying anomalies, paranormal and parapsychologicalphenomena, subtle energies, bioelectromagnetics,exceptional medical phenomena, complementary andalternative therapies, energy medicine, unconventionalhealing, holistic medicine, info-medicine and relevantsubjects. As we are of course, although I doubt from thesame side of the fence, I replied yes; and cognizant ofpossible beneficial results of advertising our existence inthe Arab domain, supplied some relevant informationregarding the establishment and activities of the AustralianSkeptics Inc. Im keeping my fingers crossed hoping therewill be no request forthcoming for the back issue containingmy article Volunteers Wanted.

According to Skeptical Briefs, (5[2]:1) a newsletterpublished by CSICOP, Dr. Hussein has also been in touchwith the Tampa Bay Skeptics as well as with other USSkeptics groups. In April the TBS informed Dr Hussein

that if he could demonstrate to them that the claims in hisletter were true then he would qualify for their $1,000challenge award. Gary Posner (chairman TBS) added thatif Dr Hussein would visit Florida they would increase theiraward to $10,000 if he were to exhibit no signs of pain orinjury as we pass a knife through your body. Gary Posner(a doctor) also added ...that the police would be presentto verify that we were doing this at your request, and despiteyour claimed 100% success rate, as a physician I would beable to properly dress your wounds.

A letter from Louay J Fatoohi of the physics departmentat Durham University, Durham, England, on behalf of hiscolleague Dr Hussein, informed TBS on May 10, that DrHussein was prepared to take up the challenge and askedhow to arrange the meeting. Nothing more was heard untilJuly 25, when TBS received a mailing from Paramanncontaining seven snapshots of skewered bodies and thesame three part article as had been received by theAustralian Skeptics. Dr Hussein evidently doesnt have thecourage of his convictions. A recent update from the TBSadvises that the PPL is now interested in taking up JamesRandis 2000 Club Challenge for $US 550,000. GaryPosner suggested a test along the following lines:

A PPL swami/guru will pass a skewer entirely throughthe abdomen of another person, entering and exiting withinone inch of midline. Alternatively, daggers would behammered into the skull of another person such that thedaggers stay in place without being held. In either case,the subject will exhibit nearly no pain or bleeding and theexternal wounds will heal within ten minutes.

Paramann has now been in business for at least thirteenyears, and since I last corresponded with them early in 1993,no progress seems to have been made, with one exception- the alleged piercing the vital organs is now includedamong the claims. Given the dramatic increase in thenumber of knife associated crimes in this country over thepast couple of years, I felt any information on this oneaspect was at least worth the price of a postage stamp, andreopened the correspondence file with Dr Hussein. I alsoasked for further details of Paramanns experiments andwhether a video tape of them was available.

While there is no progress to report as far as Paramannsexperiments were concerned, there was an improvementin the public relations department. Formerly typewritten,the latest correspondence was composed in better Englishon a computer and laser printer, and in addition to theoriginal PO Box address, Paramann now has a fax numberand an e-mail address!

Perhaps Dr Hussein has checked his correspondencefile - there has been no further communication.

If at First You Dont Succeed ...UPDATE


As an hereditary aristocrat, I am not one to get exercisedabout the democratic process. Indeed, I am frequentlyseized with the urge to bemoan the demise of the feudalsystem, which seems to me to be a far more appropriatemethod of maintaining a stable polity. Be that as it may,recent political events have forced me to cast my thoughts(albeit unwillingly) towards this unedifying spectacle.

Much to my surprise, this close scrutiny has revealedto me one of the most insidious and vicious conspiraciesever to be perpetrated against the unsuspecting public ofAustralia. A conspiracy, moreover, which has permanentlydiscriminated against at least half of this good, solid,yeoman population. Noblesse oblige requires that I bringthe ramifications of this dastardly plot to your attentionand to this end, the Editor-in-Chief, in his typically cringing,forelock-tugging manner, has acceded to my forthrightrequest for space in his tear-sheet.

Let me begin at the beginning. Browsing through analmanac, I came across a list of all Australian PrimeMinisters and something struck me as being a little peculiarabout the list. I wasnt certain what it was until I jottedthem down in alphabetical order.

Barton Bruce Chifley CookCurtin Deakin Fadden FisherForde Fraser Gorton HawkeHolt Hughes Keating LyonsMcEwen McMahon MenziesPage Reid Scullin WatsonWhitlam

Now there are some obvious anomalies in that list -they are all men for a start - but it is not a conspiracy againstwomen that I am addressing here. It is a far more insidiousform of discrimination that is revealed.

As any over-educated mathematician or linguist willacknowledge, the Engli

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