ric carter
Fri, 2 Apr 1999 01:01:22 -0500
-Caveat Lector- SkeptiNews 990401b - - - - - - - - - - - All The News That's Fit To Question : Passages starting with ':' are editorial comments to provoke discussion. : Nothing contained herein is ever endorsed for truth, accuracy or meaning. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ # BRAINS: USE 'EM OR LOSE 'EM. The best defense against brain disease in old age? A stimulating childhood environment and lifelong learning. Keep going: www.wired.com/news/news/email/explode-infobeat/technology/story/18892.html # INNER PEACE: WATCH OUT, IT MIGHT BE CATCHING. Beware the plague of Inner Peace - if you catch it, you just might find yourself enjoying life more, and worrying less. And that wouldn't help the economy any, would it now? See http://www.healthcentral.com/drdean/DeanFullTextTopics.cfm?ID=11046 : Do you value your mental health and intelligence? Did you work for them, or evolve them, or were they given to you by aliens? Would you miss them? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ *** Y2K kills promise keepers rally. DENVER (AP) Worried about possible Y2K problems, the men's ministry Promise Keepers is canceling plans to hold ral- lies at state capitals nationwide on New Year's Day 2000. Law enforcement officials in several states have expressed concerns about "the prospects of large gatherings, public safety personnel needs and too many unknowns con- nected with Y2K." Members of the Christian organization are instead being encouraged to stay at home with their families. See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2559019772-047 : Does your belief system encompass The End Of The World? Would you cancel festivities marking your system's culmination, because you might be wrong? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ *** Mammoth bones, other fossils found. HEMET, Calif. (AP) Digging for a new reservoir in Southern California has uncovered a huge array of ice age fos- sils, including a mammoth that may be the best-preserved bones of the eleph- ant ancestor found in the region. "It's huge, it's going to rewrite North American paleontology." Mastodons have been found in the better-known La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, but nobody suspected they would be found so far inland, 75 miles east of Los Angeles. And they call it a cultural waste- land - see http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2559018803-3bd : Are these real fossils, or were they, like all other 'fossils', placed there by the creator deities/aliens, to fool us into swallowing evolution? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ # TWICE IN A BLUE MOON. A "blue moon" is said to occur when there's a full moon twice within a calendar month. That phenomenon happens twice during 1999, although an astronomy magazine says the term is a misnomer -- for which it may be to blame. Well hey, it was an honest mistake, don't sue us. See http://www.wired.com/news/news/email/tip/technology/story/18886.html *** Definition of 'blue moon' corrected. BOSTON (AP) A 53-year-old goof over the term "blue moon" has journalists red in the face. Sky & Telescope maga- zine has admitted it made an error in an article which said "blue moon" ref- erred to the second full moon within the same month; actually, when a season contains four full moons, the third is called a blue moon. The mistake went unnoticed - see www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2559017436-eeb : However it's defined, a "blue moon" is only an artifact of a calendar with irregular month lengths - it's a bookkeeping anomoly, so why the hell does ANYONE get worked up about it, let alone its misdefinition? Do Blue Moon junkies have organic brain defects, misfiring alien implants, fevers? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ *** Pat Robertson eyes 'cooler' bible. NEW YORK (AP) - It was quite a holy coterie: gospel singers, tap ancers and Pat Robertson introducing a "cooler" Bible. In what is eing billed as "the largest Bible-reading campaign in the history of America," the TV preacher hit the stage at Grand Central Termi- nal. "We want to make Bible reading cool in America," said Robertson, introduced by actress Lynn Whitfield as strobe lights flashed across the ceiling of the station's Vanderbilt Hall. TV ads for "The Book" - in both a hip-hop and a country-western version - feature Smokey Robinson, MC Hammer, Chaka Khan, Andrae and Sandra Crouch, Charlie Daniels and Naomi Judd. The ad campaign is costing $7 million. And it's worth every tax-exempt penny - see http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2559011260-2f3 : Which Bible version would you prefer: HipHip, C&W, Pig Latin, DeathMetal, Klingon, Pachuco, ValGal, Beatnik, Techno, Multiple Drug Abuse, Pentagonese, Satanic, BirdCall, Cajun, Tantric, Garlic Lover's, Punk? Which is 'coolest'? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ *** Pacemaker warning. INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Guidant Corp. has asked doctors to monitor patients who wear certain Guidant pacemakers, saying the batteries that power the devices can wear out much sooner than expected. Batteries in the units typically last seven years, but could drain in six months. Oops - see http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2559012120-1f8 : Does battery failure normally ruin your entire day? Do Reptilioid implants have better batteries, last longer? Should Guidant seek alien assistance? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ *** Dolly the cloned sheep has 3 lambs. EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) - Dolly the sheep, the first cloned mammal, has given birth to healthy triplets conceiv- ed the old-fashioned way. Dolly gave birth to two males and one female lamb. It was a second pregnancy for Dolly, who delivered a single lamb, Bonnie, last spring. All four lambs have the same father, a Welsh mountain ram named David. "Dolly and her lambs are in good health. The births were unassisted and all three are suckling well." And they'll make scrumptious lamb chops. See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2559021170-6a3 : What animals would you like to clone? What people? For what purpose? When? For food, sex, replacement parts, reproduction, conversation, manipulation? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ SkeptiLinks: @ Fort's "Wild Talents": http://www.aracnet.net/~fortean/talentei.htm @ ANIMUS - philosophical journal: http://www.mun.ca/animus @ Astrology thesis: file://sites.internetcorp.net/abourque/thesis.html @ Astral travel: http://www.winternet.com/~rsp/ufoobe1.html @ Facilitated Communication: ftp://ftp.calweb.com/users/j/jmprice/fc @ Weird bible stuff: ftp://ftp.calweb.com/users/j/jmprice/bad-bibl.zip @ The Hoax in Amityville: http://www.bgsu.edu/~kevinw/Amityville.html * Devil's Tower: http://www.azstarnet.com/public/dnews/1109cv2.html @ Various Creation Myths: http://www.intrepidsoftware.com/create.html @ Astronomical conversation with creationist: http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/alan_hale/creationist.html @ Dr. Andrew Weil, alternative medicine guru: http://www.thenewrepublic.com/archive/1298/121498/relman121498.html * Dead Cattle Alert Issued to Solve Mutilation Puzzle: http://www.ufomind.com/ufo/media/mailing/archive/iufo/msg01017.shtml # Michael Jackson buys S.Africa parliament for five bln rand (US$809 mln): http://customnews.cnn.com/cnews/pna.show_story?p_art_id=3576433 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ "Fall had come to the city; the trees had turned to yellows and the winos had turned to reds." --James Ladwig * [EMAIL PROTECTED] * http://www.sonic.net/~ric * ICQ# 19633976 * email INFO or SUBSCRIBE SKEPTICHAT to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SkeptiChat archives: http://www.sonic.net/~ric/sc/files.htm DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. 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