Let me answer a criticism to Ron's post. It is not homophobic. It is about "living a lie."
The "point" is that blind skepticism, even if it manages to expose nasty con-men (or poor magicians) 99% of the time, can be harmful to society in net results - if the 1% of time is so completely in error - that it severs the purpose of greed barons (to wit: OPEC) and jealous competitors in the ranks of science. In fact skepticism, or eve exorbitant levels of criticism, can be devastating to society when it is wrong and yet well-intentioned yet manages to stifle game-changing technology - as almost happened from the shoddy efforts of Randi/Park and their ilk. Neither were qualified to jump onto LENR as "pathological science" - when the only thing pathological could possibly be in the lie they are living in their personal lives. Please do not take this the wrong way - Randi's homosexuality is not the issue. Nor is Park's aversion to doing real science. Make no mistake - these are both "entertainers" not scientists - and neither particularly bright. The MacArthur thing is disgusting. The issue is basic honesty - and pretending to be an expert, or knowledgeable in something which you are not, as both have done over the years . and regrettably to the cheers of some, when they were able to expose a Dennis Lee type of con-man. Cheers. But this kind of minor success lets the "entertainer" think he has real insight and he becomes emboldened and lazy, so that it becomes a reflex reactions - and essentially becomes blind - no longer merely an entertainment shtick. The results can set progress back decades- and this has almost happened since 1989 in LENR. The most ironic thing is that a person who could be a con-man himself, Andrea Rossi, has managed to revive a dying field. I think that the field is past the tipping point now, and yes - we will outlive the Rossi affair in short term. From: Ron Kita Greetings Vortex-L: It was "nice" to see that the McArthur Foundation had sooooo much money that they could bestow James Randi a Fellowship. Nothing worse than wasting money on good scientific research !!! Randi a good magician ...kept his gay-ness hidden until recently- 2010..is this "Great Magic"...hmmmmmm? I wonder about Robert Park..hmmmmmmm..? Could Randi..make Park...disappear??? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Randi Ron Kita, Chiralex
