James Randi's 2013 Pigasus Awards (Alex Jones) Wins again

Since 1997, the JREF's annual Pigasus Awards have been bestowed on the most deserving charlatans, swindlers, psychics, pseudo-scientists, and faith healers—and on their credulous enablers, too. The awards are named for both the mythical flying horse Pegasus of Greek mythology and the highly improbable flying pig of popular cliche.

Find out more about this year's winners here: www.randi.org...


Hilarious awards and rightfully deserved.

Thanks to James Randi for debunking the hoaxters and frauds like Alex Jones, Syfy channel crap, Therapeutic touch frauds, and the psychopathic Stanislaw Burzynski

As much as I dislike Alex Jones, and enjoyed the video --- He left a bad taste in my mouth with his overall smug behavior.

Good stuff though, thanks for sharing.

The most famous Pigasus I know of was a pig who ran for president in 1968. I wonder if James Randi ever met a psychic, healer, seer, prophet, or person he did find credible. Alex Jones does get a lot wrong, but he goes about his business exposing lots of things that need exposing, and publicizes many good people and theories. If nothing else, even if Jones is wrong 100 percent of the time every time, he at least keeps a few people honest and on their toes every now and then.

Who the hell is James Randi, and why should I care?

Is he somebody who makes a name for himself pretending to be the ultimate debunker and skeptic? Maybe Mr. Randi could win the "head in the sand" award.

I realize that public figures need to be kept honest, but I don't really have a problem with Alex Jones. It was he who "woke me up". He points out things that people need to become aware of. Not every prognosticator can be right 100% of the time.

I know that it is fashionable to make fun of Mr. Jones, but don't count me among them. He may be bellicose and loud, but any alarm clock that is soft and quiet will not do the job, will it?

Originally posted by FissionSurplus
Who the hell is James Randi, and why should I care?

[snip]

I realize that public figures need to be kept honest, but I don't really have a problem with Alex Jones. It was he who "woke me up".

Funny - although I don't think any ATSer can say "who the hell is Alex Jones" (although I didn't know who he was prior to ATS), but I can certainly count James Randi amongst those "who woke me up"... so, two sides to every coin..

Finally watched the whole vid, and the UnAmazing Randi really lays into Dr. Oz. I'm not a fan of Dr. Oz, but he does suggest some very good health food items, and tries to help people in many ways (while always wearing hospital scrubs, saving him a little on laundry bills as he tries to set a fashion trend). If Oz reaches people with new and positive data every once in awhile, that's good enough for me. And it must be fun going through life with a name like "Oz"!

I can't stand James Randi.
And I am not saying this because I am an Alex Jones fan. I am still on the fence with Jones. He often times brings important subjects to light, but does it in such a crass way that it makes me tune him out. He is the CT Rush Limbaugh, more or less.

But James Randi is such a smug prick it makes me sick.

Originally posted by JayinAR
I can't stand James Randi.
And I am not saying this because I am an Alex Jones fan. I am still on the fence with Jones. He often times brings important subjects to light, but does it in such a crass way that it makes me tune him out. He is the CT Rush Limbaugh, more or less.

But James Randi is such a smug prick it makes me sick.

That seems to be a label skeptics get a lot - wonder why that is... it's hard to be a smug prick when you're dealing with vast amounts of uncertainty...

reply to post by redtic


I do not throw those terms out lightly.
He is little more than a nay sayer riding on the coat tails of people who are actually doing WORK (ie; Alex Jones).
What does he contribute other than dumb videos ridiculing people he disagrees with??

One thing I CAN say for Alex Jones is that he SPECIFICALLY predicted 9-11. And no "debunker" can take that away from him.

the JREF has kept 1 million dollars for these hoaxters and frauds to claim as their prize.

many many have tried only to be proven to be hoaxers.

James Randi has exposed frauds like Peter Popoff and faith healing as frauds
exposed Uri Geller as a fraud.

in the 80's him and his foundation started waking up easily brainwashed people into thinking what they saw on tv was the truth. Such as the fraud of astrology, dowsing, psychics, mediums, homeopathy, and has offered the 1 million JREF prize to anyone who can prove their claim. Just prove the claim is all they have to do, yet they all fail when tested, or back out and run at last minute.

Alex Jones won't take his sources to the JREF cause Randi already prove Alex is like a cold reader when he puts facts together, he spits out these "sources" so fast that bits and pieces when added up look like a plausible story, just like a cold reader like John Edwards or Sylvia Browne.


Also we can thank his foundation for the TAM convention where Dawkins, Penn Jillette, and countless skeptics prove the hoaxers, reveal the secrets, and even perform live 1 million dollar JREF prize tests.


Some amazing videos from TAM (The Amazing Meeting)

Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson



also here's and older video where James Randi exposed Peter Popoff ministries as fraud and how faith healing was done thanks to his wife and a hidden ear piece





another old one James Hydrick was so into his own tricks he actually believed he was telekinetic, even fooled many news reporters, and had all this backstory on how he gained powers

until James Randi proved him a hoaxer



There are countless tons and tons of videos on youtube.

The JREF (James Randi Educational Foundation) is really amazing and very much needed. My favorite is a TED Talk where James "overdoses" on bottles of homeopathic sleeping pills and other videos from members of the foundation exposing leaked recordings with members of Syfy channel ghost hunters and such admitting to setting up shots for the show, and admitting it's all fake just to try and get ratings for commercial money.

the foundation spent a little while on Alex Jones and actually digging up all the sources Alex mentioned on a couple of his shows and it was all bullcrap, Alex would cite sources, and would only use single sentences from each source and then reinterpret it all as some super conspiracy omg the end is near which he's been claiming for past 20+ years. They showed his level of interpretation was worse than TV Evangelicals who take bits and pieces of bible scripture and reinterpret it to mean whatever they want it to by not using the entire source, just bits and pieces. They of course leaked his early years how he got started in radio which Alex tried to get taken down but of course he failed at it.

Check out the JREF site for some real denying ignorance. Lots of proofs and as the 'anonymous' would call it "dox" on many of these high profile frauds, from astrology, scientology, to the entire genesis radio network and how it prays on fears and american exceptionalism to bring in the doomsday, religious, prepper group who keep wasting money on colloidal silver generators and dowsing rods while they themself laugh at the people.



There is one thing recently James Randi helped get a Dowsing Rod seller arrested recently by sending all his proof to FBI/CIA about this guy selling a special made dowsing rod claiming it can detect bomb materials, and the sad part is many companies fell for the hoax and bought them.

here's the warning video James made about this bomb sniffing dowsing rod



And here is the result of James work on this guy: www.bbc.co.uk...
finally arrested for his hoax thanks in part to the work of the JREF, James back in 2008ish had offered the 1 million dollar JREF prize to Jim McCormick if he could prove it worked, course he would not prove it, cause it was just a coat hangar type dowsing rod.

huge embarrassment to companies and agencies that bought them, but thankfully for the JREF they ended his career.

The JREF also played a huge part in taking Jon Edwards off the air many years ago, and leaked phone calls after he had made plans to go to 9/11 memorial to contact the dead which got Edwards in huge trouble and shows cancelled.


If you live near where "The Amazing Meeting" is held it's a wonderful convention, from speakers like Penn and Teller, Teller talks more at those conventions than anywhere imo. To Richard Dawkins, Michio Kaku, Neil DeGrasse Tyson and more.

And proves just how gullible people can be, but also shows how to use a little bit of skepticism and common sense to figure out these hoaxers and frauds and expose them for what they are, mentally ill.

do youtube search for TAM 6 or "The Amazing Meeting" also

Here is the JREF's youtube channel: www.youtube.com...

reply to post by JayinAR


Yeah, well, I tend to think that Randi has done more for the progression of science and the regression of frauds, than Jones has done for... whatever it is that he does.. but that's just an opinion

reply to post by Cito


Well, if you wanna talk about million dollar challenges, why aren't the skeptics collecting this money:

www.victorzammit.com...

As for Randi, he's nothing but a pseudoskeptic gatekeeper:

www.dailygrail.com...

Originally posted by FissionSurplus
*single handedly destroying the internet*

I guess when you ask people to prove their claims, you can ignore them. He's no one. Don't mind him.

But if they yell at you what you need to believe, then they're the alarm clock of life, waking you up to the smell of coffee.

Well, I guess if I get a soap box and scream a lot, I too can be taken seriously.

That's how it appears to work.

LISTEN TO ME ALL YOU GUYS!!!!!!!111

Originally posted by TheLaughingGod
reply to post by Cito

 

Well, if you wanna talk about million dollar challenges, why aren't the skeptics collecting this money:

www.victorzammit.com...

As for Randi, he's nothing but a pseudoskeptic gatekeeper:

www.dailygrail.com...

your dailygrail site is wrong and full of lies...


there have been several serious attempts, there was a big one at TAM6 about those bracelets that give balance was proven false on stage but kudos to the inventor to try and prove the hoax.

your site which looks like some geocities kid put it up and nowhere near professional claims the prize ended in 2010, uhm that's again a lie, James Randi has the million in perpetuity and it's no longer in his hands. it belongs as part of the JREF which is a foundation and their board not James Randi personally has control.

It started as James Randi's own money, but it's no longer his cash.

the JREF does support itself from the interest made on the 1 million sitting in a interest bearing account. And the 1 million dollar prize gets testers all the time, the JREF test makes sure the person wanting to be tested agrees 100% with their test first. If the person wanting to be tested has any problems they can request changes and such made.

It happens all the time, there are many many videos of some live 1 million dollar challenge tests already made.


Here is the TAM 6 test participant who failed to test the balance bracelet and was shown that it was a fraud. The JREF people do have compassion and don't belittle the participant and they just tell him he failed and they ask if he agrees that the test has indeed failed, if the tester doesn't agree the test failed they will work with the participant to retest under different circumstances. But as you see with the bracelet guy he admitted the test was legit and walked off stage and did get round of applause for having the nerve to get on stage at TAM 6 in front of an audience to do the test which he agreed to.

Most testers are done in private if they wish.





Direct Link: youtu.be...

Live on stage at The Amaz!ng Meeting 2012, we test a claimant for the James Randi Educational Foundation's Million Dollar Challenge. Join Jamy Ian Swiss, Banachek, and Richard Saunders as they conduct a scientific test of the Dynactiv SR wristband. Can the creator of the Dynactiv SR really tell if his wristband has improved someone's strength and balance as claimed? A million dollars is on the line!

your "dailygrail" site got everything incorrect as is usual with hoaxter sites

reply to post by Cito


Did I say there never was any attempts? I don't remember typing that.

Anyway, when taking the Victor Zammit million dollar challenge into account, you could take that information and say, "oh, nobody can debunk the evidence, it's all true", like the skeptics do with the Randi challenge, but it wouldn't really mean anything, these challenges aren't the be all and end all of paranormal research, they're just challenges on the opposite sides of the subject, and they both happen to still be standing. They sort of cancel each other out.

As for Randi and the rules governing the challenge, are you saying the challenge doesn't demand more significant results than what are generally needed in science to prove that something is more than just chance?

And that always seems to be a problem in science, we've got these narrowminded materialists that keep raising the bar, claiming the evidence has to be extraordinary, they're the judge, jury and executioner.
"Oh there must have been some error", "this is not significant enough", "the protocols used were flawed", time aftrer time again.. there's always something, no matter how immaculate the design of the experiment is.
Using that mindset and that attitude you could debunk pretty much everything.

But I don't really care that much anymore, people will think and believe whatever they want to, we can't change that, things are the way they are, so I don't really care because I KNOW beyond the shadow of a doubt how real and how diverse paranormal phenomena really is.. I've seen it and experienced it first hand more than dozens of times.. so you skeptics keep believing whatever you want.
I'm in a whole nother position.

You're on a different road, I'm in the Milky Way
You want me down on Earth, but I am up in space

Originally posted by JayinAR
I can't stand James Randi.
And I am not saying this because I am an Alex Jones fan. I am still on the fence with Jones. He often times brings important subjects to light, but does it in such a crass way that it makes me tune him out. He is the CT Rush Limbaugh, more or less.

But James Randi is such a smug prick it makes me sick.

Perhaps it takes a smug prick to reveal these Aholes that con people everyday. Especially the ones taking advantage of those that are at their vulnerable moments after loosing a loved one.

Penn and Teller discuss magic and also deception used in magic

an entertainment versus someone that uses magic and pretends it's real to deceive others

vimeo.com...

reply to post by FissionSurplus


James Randi was a two bit stage magician that was never going to become famous for magic. So fought the dragons of his day...well one in particular Uri Geller, who was a magician that was going far by changing his act to be a mystic by bending spoons with his mind. Well, actually just bending spoons and claiming he did it with is mind. What you thought Chris Angel was original with his act?

Randi busted his over and over until it finally caught on that Geller was just using stage magic. And so The Amazing Randi hung up his cape, hat and magic wand for good and became a noted debunker of psychics and other paranormal things...pretty much like Houdini. What you thought Randi was original with his act?

In the end, Randi doesn't debunk what he can't debunk so anyone that can give a legitimate threat to his famous million dollar challenge doesn't meet the criteria and is ineligible. Yet anyone Randi can prove a fake, is free to go for the prize just so Randi can debunk them. Thus using a straw man to knock down and prove paranormal is bunk. What, you thought logical fallacies to prove yourself right was original?

James Randi is, in short, a sad man. Rich and famous for sure, but not for following his original dream of being a magician/entertainer. So he picked a different card, so to speak.

And James Randi made Slashdot today

He recently did an interview with Slashdot folks

Source: science.slashdot.org...

This is the second of our two-part interview (part one ran yesterday [science.slashdot.org...]) with Conjurer and Investigator (his words) James Randi, whose organization, the James Randi Education Foundation, has a long-standing offer: prove you have paranormal abilities and they'll give you $1 Million. They say they've recently made this award easier than ever to win. Note that, lower bar or no, Randi claims the last time a conjurer's illusion fooled him was many years ago, when he was very young. It was one done by the famous Chan Canasta -- and Randi claims that in the end he figured it out, anyway. So forget the $1 Million, relax, and enjoy James Randi. He's a great raconteur, so we can all be jealous of interviewer Rob Rozeboom (samzenpus) for having made this great video even as we enjoy watching it.

Link to Interview video : science.slashdot.org...

Originally posted by Ahabstar
In the end, Randi doesn't debunk what he can't debunk so anyone that can give a legitimate threat to his famous million dollar challenge doesn't meet the criteria and is ineligible. Yet anyone Randi can prove a fake, is free to go for the prize just so Randi can debunk them. Thus using a straw man to knock down and prove paranormal is bunk. What, you thought logical fallacies to prove yourself right was original?

Wait - you're saying there are those out there that could scientifically prove a paranormal phenomenon to be true? That's astounding news - please do tell...

James Randi is, in short, a sad man. Rich and famous for sure, but not for following his original dream of being a magician/entertainer. So he picked a different card, so to speak.

If you don't see how what he's doing is good for humanity and that he is actually a good man, then I'm afraid you are the one who is "sad", to be trapped in the world of these frauds he's been exposing..