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Psychic Can Only Light (One or Possibly) Two Lamps

1/23/2015

 
By Michael Jones 

It can be illuminating to check the primary sources cited by people making extraordinary claims.  Blatant omissions and misrepresentations can distort a kernel of truth into a misleading message.  Sometimes, the source can be quite evasive.  This is a story of my futile effort (so far) to track down such a source.

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‘Brain Porn’ in NBC Nightly News ‘Power of Prayer’ Follow-up

1/21/2015

 
By William M. London


As I previously described, on December 22nd, NBC Nightly News wielded the power of pandering in senior legal and investigative correspondent Cynthia McFadden’s misleading report: “Power of Prayer? 'Miracle' Priest Rises from Wheelchair and Walks.” The report’s only redeeming features were the snippets of healthy skepticism provided by Richard P.  Sloan, PhD. Dr. Sloan is Nathaniel Wharton Professor of Behavioral Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center, chief of the Division of Behavioral Medicine at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, and the author of Blind Faith The Unholy Alliance of Religion and Medicine. 

On December 23rd, McFadden followed up with a two minute nineteen second report, “Power of Prayer: What Happens to Your Brain When You Pray?,” available for viewing online accompanied by an article by producer Jake Whitman. In introducing the report, anchorman Brian Williams said:
 …there’s been a lot of interest expressed in the report we aired here last night about the growing medical evidence behind the power of prayer, inspiring to so many especially given this time of year. But tonight the skeptics get their say in the conclusion of our two-part series on this topic….


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    SWIFT is named after Jonathan Swift, the author of Gulliver's Travels. In the book, Gulliver encounters among other things a floating island inhabited by spaced-out scientists and philosophers who hardly deal with reality. Swift was among the first to launch well-designed critiques against the flummery - political, philosophical, and scientific - of his time, a tradition that we hope to maintain at The James Randi Foundation.

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