Advanced Groups Search Groups Help Search all groups Search the Web Groups search result 90 for alex constantine Search Result 90From: WWu777 ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Subject: The True Story of Geller vs. Randi Newsgroups: sci.skeptic View complete thread (2 articles)Date: 2000/06/30 The True Story of Geller vs. Randi Check this out. It contains things that Randi and the skeptics never told you about the history of Geller vs. Randi. (http://www.psyzone.freeserve.co.uk/geller1.htm) URI GELLER A Thorn in the Side of the Establishment A story by Wallace James with real events and real people. 'One thing I must state in no uncertain terms: I am probably one of Uri Gellers greatest fans.' (James Randi, The Magic of Uri Geller, 1975) PART ONE In the beginning: Uri Geller demonstrates his psychic powers in a night-club in his home country Israel. He bends metal, copies drawings by remote viewing, causes broken watches to restart, and he also reads minds. Later, the conjuror-cum-escapologist James Randi will claim that Mr Geller was presenting a standard conjuring act. This claim, like every other claim made by Randi, appears discredited by what happened next. ENTER DR. ANDRIJA PUHARICH Dr. Andrija Puharich was sent from the United States of America to Israel to witness a psychic demonstration by Uri Geller. Dr. Andrija Puharich was a veteran of the notorious CIA sponsored MK-ULTRA mind control programme. And, according to the American journalist Steven Levy: 'The details of his [Puharichs] assignment are clouded in a murkiness he has come to wear like some exquisite garment. In any case, his activities have raised the perception among many that under the auspices of the US government, Puharich had been involved in actual experiments in parapsychology and psychedelic drugs.' Also, investigative author Alex Constantine says, about Puharich; 'He was conversant in psychoactive weapons, and his "pet subjects" were mind control and the telepathic effects of extra low frequency (ELF) waves. Alas, he had breached the CIAs code of silence by speaking openly of "weapons systems...that we have no defence against...." Shortly before Puharich vanished, his Ossining home was torched and destroyed. He told Einhort [a former intelligence associate] that the CIA was responsible.' That was 1978. However, according to Dr. Eldon Byrd (e-mail, February 1997), Puharich did not vanish, he simply moved house from Ossining to Devotion, North Carolina, where he lived until his death a couple of years ago. Dr. Byrd adds, 'He was only semi-reclusive and not in hiding and he did not disappear.' Still, if the CIA had torched my house I think I would move, and fast. If Uri Geller was indeed performing a common conjuring act, would Dr. Puharich, given his background, have been sent from New York to Israel to see Gellers demonstration? I doubt it. So we must presume, or at least suspect, that Geller had something that interested certain parties in American intelligence. Puharich soon had Geller's confidence. Geller had no reason not to trust him. He hypnotised Geller, apparently to see if there were any dormant experiences that might explain his paranormal abilities. Lo and behold, a robotic voice emanated from above Gellers stomach saying that it represented 9 beings from a distant planet called Hoova, and that they travelled in a space ship called IS. The hypnosis session was audio-taped. Alas, the tape dematerialised and the evidence was lost. More sessions took place, and more information about these mysterious beings and young Geller was revealed. The only problem being that the evidential tapes seemed to insist on dematerialising! Nonetheless, the young Geller was convinced. However, if such a story got out it would surely damage Gellers future? So what did Dr. Puharich do? Well, he not only publicised the story - soon after, he wrote a book called Uri: A Journal of the Mystery of Uri Geller. More of that in a moment. STANFORD RESEARCH INSTITUTE ENTER - PUTHOFF & TARG During this time, Puharich arranged for Geller to be tested at Stanford Research Institute in America. Geller was not the only psychic being tested - ex-Burbank Commissioner of Police, Pat Price, also underwent tests. Prices claim was to Remote Viewing. The two senior researchers were Dr. Harold Puthoff and Dr. Russell Targ. Randi would later claim that both scientists were incompetent. They have pretty good credentials for incompetents: According to Alex Constantine: '...officers of the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency participated in a series of unusual experiments run by Stanford Research Institute (SRI) to verify claims that certain people have psychic abilities. The results SRI reported were astonishing....Targ and Puthoff - who have disavowed working for the CIA - have in common credentials in advanced laser technology.' 'Puthoff, a high-ranking Scientologist, is the inventor of the tuneable laser. Targ once designed a microwave plasma generator. Twilight zone studies often front for the development of intrusive machines that interact with the cortex.' Both Geller and Price proved remarkable under controlled laboratory conditions. So much so that the two research scientists prepared a paper that they submitted to Nature magazine. In his book The Magic of Uri Geller, James Randi (whom we will meet shortly) makes many incredible statements that at first read like a comedy script. Here is just one example, in relation to one of the tests carried out by Puthoff and targ during which a die (of dice) was secured inside a metal box and the box shaken. Geller was to divine the number on top of the die: 'We are not told whether, as is quite possible, Targ was the one who carefully monitored Geller during the test. If this is so, we must consider the fact that Targ is extremely nearsighted and wears very heavy glasses. [Randis emphasis] Therefore, under those circumstances, Geller could easily have gotten away with a quick peek inside [the box].' I challenge you to read that again with a straight face. It would appear that Randi is completely unaware of the purpose of glasses, despite constantly wearing a pair. Pat Price was not interested in publicity - Uri Geller, on the other hand, was a born showman. He loves to demonstrate his powers publicly as an entertainment, and his charismatic charm made him instantly likeable. PROBLEM Before the Puthoff and Targ paper was published in Nature, Geller, rather presumptiously, stated to the media that he has been tested at the prestigious Stanford Research Institute and they have proved in the laboratory that his psychic powers were genuine. On the 23 November 1973, Geller appeared in the U.K. on The Dimbleby Talk-In. He was an overnight sensation. [AUTHORS COMMENT] I saw that show and have yet to see a conjuror bend a spoon or fork in the way Geller did that night, and I have seen some of the best. Randi managed to simulate the Geller effect on the misnamed TV series "James Randi Psychic Investigator" (1991), but he used a spoon that could not be touched by anyone but him. The year is now 1974. The Stanford paper appears in Nature magazine on 8 October. SOLUTION The Debunking Network is activated. First, Puharichs book (URI) about "Geller and the aliens" was rushed into print. This seriously damaged Gellers credibility - whether the claims of the book were true or not. Second, a conjuror-cum-escapologist by the name of James the Amazing Randi suddenly had massive press and television coverage. Randi was a founder member of (another case of the misnamed) the Committee for Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), the most influential skeptic group in the world, headed by Paul Kurtz; the same Paul Kurtz who is a director of the sinister Secular Humanist Organisation. It is worth noting that Pat Price - who shared the top psychic billing in the Nature paper - was ignored by the debunkers. This is just as well, because Pat Price conveniently died in 1975 - natural causes. GET GELLER .... AT ALL COSTS! With the backing of CSICOP, the Science Establishment, the Roman Catholic Church, other religious zealots, the Secular Humanist Society and other interested groups, Randi as a front personality initiated an immoral and amoral campaign. Not only Geller was in danger - anyone seen to be in agreement with him became a legitimate target. This involved fabrication, ridicule and slander. When Randi slandered Geller in a Japanese publication by calling him a psychopath and a social disease, as well as accusing Geller of being responsible for the suicide of an American scientist, Geller sued Randi through the Japanese courts. It was no surprise when Geller won his case. And YES, Geller DID win the case. In an interview with Twilight Zone magazine, Randi, still an active member of CSICOP, asserted that the U.S. Naval scientist Dr. Eldon Byrd was a convicted child molester. Byrd had carried out tests on Geller, the results of which supported Gellers psychic claims. Randi was forced to resign from CSICOP once the scandalous accusations were printed. The accusations were false and Byrd subsequently sued Randi. He too won his case in a trial before a jury. However, because Byrd did not receive any payment for damages, Randi declared that he had won the case and not Byrd! Before you believe Randi please check the court records. As the litigations against Randi mounted, and having been ostracised by CSICOP, panic set in - he needed money and he needed it fast. He still had many friends on CSICOP, but, under the circumstances, they could not be seen giving him financial assistance. A leading conjuring journal Magic ran separate interviews with Geller and Randi. These appeared in the December 1991 and January 1992 issues respectively. To the surprise of many, the subsequent response by the majority of Randis fellow conjurors supported Geller. This caused the amazed Randi to desperately respond. In the March issue of Magic, Randi submitted a begging letter in which he opened by saying; I should like to respond to the "letters" column of the February issue. Im grateful to the minority of your readers who supported me, but Im rather puzzled and alarmed by the rest. A fund was set up and appeals placed in the leading conjuring journals. The following example was submitted to the letters column in the April 1992 issue of Magic: Send donations to: The James Randi Fund, c/o Robert Steiner, PO Box 659, El Cerrito, CA 94530. Another fund was set up for the gullible - those wishing to send money direct to Randi: 3555 West Reno Street, Suite L, Las Vegas, NV 89118. The latter fund is in fact the address for the comedy-magic duo, Penn & Teller. I wonder what happened to the $270,000 dollars given to Randi by the MacArthur Foundation? (http://www.psyzone.freeserve.co.uk/geller2.htm) PART TWO - FINAL PART CONCLUSIONS? It is now more than two decades since the CIA operative Andrija Puharich fetched Uri Geller from Israel. That Geller has made a success of his life is almost as remarkable as some of his phenomena. So what conclusions can one draw? Perhaps Uri Gellers psychic powers are a reality. Why else would a CIA - black budget - funded programme investigate an Israeli psychic? Claims by CSICOP that the conditions were not controlled lack foundation when you look at the facts. Claims by Randi that the video is actually a reconstruction made after the real tests was instantly demolished when the camera operator testified and proved that this was a lie. Randi then changed tact. He next claimed that the film was edited to erase the cheating. Here we see how the pseudo-sceptic, when confronted with something they cannot explain, change course and accuse the scientists of collaborating in a grand deception. In The Skeptics Handbook of Parapsychology, Randi further asserts that Geller demanded the laboratory conditions be such that it suited him - the mice-running-the-experiment procedure he calls it. How does he know this? He further claims that Geller was allowed to touch and pick up a box containing a die, something that Puthoff and Targ deny. Randi says, we now know that not only did he touch it, he was also the one who shook it to randomize the die... Again, who told Randi this? The truth is Randi knows nothing about the SRI procedures because he was never consulted before, during. or after the proceedings. Why would they consult James 'The Amazing' Randi? He tried desperately to gain access to the building during the series of tests, but was denied entry every time. But, soon after, he was under instructions to destroy Gellers credibility. At that point in time, the truth became redundant, and it has been suppressed or manipulated ever since. The claims by Randi and his fellow debunkers do not stand up to examination. In fact almost every one can be demolished after investigating the facts. That is the reason Randi has never stopped the harassment of Geller. If Geller is a fake, he would have been exposed and discredited years ago. That Randi has failed to expose just one of Gellers demonstrations as fraudulent, and he has had over 25 years in which to do so, says it all. I must mention one other claim (again from the Skeptics Handbook) that surely shows up Randi as the myth-maker that he is. He is discussing a TV demonstration at which he only managed to get in by disguising himself - apparently the organisers had banned him. According to Randi, Geller made little attempt to cover his moves, and the trickery was very evident to us. He goes on, But Geller saw to it that a team from BBC-TV that was there to capture metal-bending on film, missed doing so. They ran out of film seconds before the "move" was made. I challenge you to accept that. If Geller was indeed able to predict the very second that a camera would run out of film he would have proved his psychic abilities there and then! Randi seems to treat his readers like idiots. I have seen Mr. Geller, only recently, demonstrate a prediction of one of four geometric ESP symbols that appeared to be a blatant psychological force. I know that because I am a conjuror. However, because it looked like a trick does not mean that Geller employed such a subterfuge. When Uri Geller appeared on BBC 2s Best of Magic, some conjurors cited this as the required proof that Geller was indeed a conjuror! Really? I would say that it could have been a risky career move, but nothing more. If a Member of Parliament can appear on the same series with a Book Test that must have bored the nation to death, then why not a psychic? At least the Geller performance was well done. Mr. Geller recently attended a stage show in London, a psychic-spoof based on the Geller-Effect. After the show, he went back-stage to congratulate the three conjurors who presented the show. While there, he asked them if they had seen him bend a spoon. They had not, so he offered (note he offered and was not coerced) to bend a spoon. The three conjurors are experts in their field - I have known two of them for over 20 years and can personally vouch for their knowledge and sleight of hand ability. Not one of them detected any trickery. Not one of them is able to say how Mr. Geller caused the spoon to bend. They still think it was a trick, but cannot say how it was a trick. When I asked one of them, Chris Power, about the event, he said, "I can see now how people think Geller is genuine." Uri Geller has been tested in no less than 17 different laboratories - Stanford is remembered more that the others because of the CIA-instigated smear campaign that followed the Geller publicity. Here are two further examples: Dr. George Owen of the of the New Horizons Research Foundation in Toronto pronounced Gellers abilities as paranormal and totally genuine (Strange Talents, Parrallel, 1995): Dr. Eldon Byrd of the US Navy Research Center in Maryland, stated that Geller had bent metal under observation in ways that cannot be duplicated. This is why Randi smeared Eldon Byrd (see part 1) and lived to regret it (Strange Talents, Parrallel, 1995): WILL THE REAL PRINCE IBIS PLEASE STAND UP! When Randi states, as he likes to, that he is a charlatan, liar, thief and a fake,' he is not joking. However, he always states that these are terms that define a conjuror. Is there perhaps a hidden meaning? Well, yes. Perhaps he would explain how he came to terms with his early career? According to Marcello Truzzi in a science paper dated 1996, and titled, Reflections on the Sociology and Social Psychology of Conjurors and Their Relations with Psychical Research. In it Mr. Truzzi states: 'Even arch-debunker James Randi, at the beginning of his career, worked in carnivals as the apparently psychic Prince Ibis, wrote a horoscope column (cf.. Anonymous, 1987)... '...In 1950 the Toronto press reported his saying he could predict the future (Wessely Hicks, Toronto Star, 1950, under the heading, He Sees the Future)... ...that he possessed "a combination of telepathic, clairvoyant and prophetic powers" and "he first became aware that he had Extrasensory Perception when he was nine years old" (Wessely Hicks, Toronto Star, 1950, under the heading, Snoops on Minds'). Randi actually provides copies of the latter two newspaper articles in his book The Magic of Uri Geller (Ballantine Books, 1975). Randi was 22 years old at the time and went under the name of Jim Zwinge (his real name). He states that he made these claims so that he could later announce that he was a fraud and to demonstrate how easy it is to trick a gullible public. The problem is he did not do this. As far as I have been able to gather, Jim Zwinge never declared himself a fraud after these two articles were published. Does Randi expect us to believe that he was a anti-paranormalist crusader at the age of 22? Perhaps James Randi is suffering from a guilty conscience. However, I doubt that very much. I think he lost his conscience to Prince Ibis in 1950, when he needed the money and would do anything to get it........even if that meant cheating (charlatan) the public out of their hard earned money (thief) by falsely posing (fake) as the very thing he constantly says he despises - a clairvoyant - who had developed ESP at the age of nine (liar). copyright 1997 Peter Duffie Google Web Directory - Cool Jobs - Advertise with Us - Add Google to Your Site - Google in your Language - All About Google ©2001 Google
