text:
Uri Geller is back in the news, which will please him. His name stands out in the CIA's mass online release of classified documents last week, relating to the testing of him by Russell Targ and Hal Puthoff at Stanford Research Institute in 1972-3, and I'm interested to see how the media is reacting.
In fact there's nothing particularly new here. The documents themselves were declassified some time ago – it's just that they've been placed online where they can be seen without having to go to a library. As for the Geller ESP tests, they were described in Targ and Puthoff's Mind-Reach (1977), and in any number of other books since. The significance is that we can now see the original drawings, which in a few cases show how exactly Geller was able to reproduce images that had been drawn by the experimenters at a distance. The Daily Mail shows several of these.
What struck me especially is that the headlines are all about Geller, and (on the assumption that he's a faker) the remarkable – and allegedly hitherto unknown fact – that the hardboiled CIA itself was convinced he was genuinely psychic. The Stargate programme is mentioned here and there, but the impression given is that Geller was the original 'psychic warrior', as some of the reports describe him. This is quite wrong. The positive tests may have played some role in the initial assessment by the US military intelligence, and encouraged it to give serious funding. But the long-term remote viewing at SRI was carried out by people like Ingo Swann, Pat Price, Hella Hammid and Joe McMoneagle, some of whom are said on many occasions to have provided actionable intelligence. Their collective contribution is far more significant in this field than Geller's and yet, not being world famous, they're hardly ever mentioned.
The sense I'm left with is how extremely primitive the public understanding of these matters is. None of the articles I've seen so far seem to have any sense of context. Some are overtly hostile –a particularly dinosaurish piece in yesterday's Sunday Times stated, among many other untruths, that the psychics 'never provided US intelligence with a single useful piece of information'. If that's the case, why did it spend so much money for so many years? There must have been some reason why the viewers' 'customers' in the intelligence community kept coming back for more.
A lot of this prejudice and misinformation, I'm afraid, has to do with Geller himself. When he came on the scene in the late 1960s it doubtless helped popularise ESP research. But because he's always seen himself first and foremost as a celebrity entertainer – aiming to fascinate and mystify – he's regarded by many people as an especially talented conjurer with a twist, one who (unlike other conjurers) claims that what he does is real. So of course they're puzzled to discover that supposedly tough military types were taken in.
I had some dealings with Geller a few years ago (a writing job for a friend of his, nothing to do with him or psychic stuff), and found him to be charming and empathetic. I think he takes the whole celebrity thing way too seriously, but OK, that's how he makes his living. What's so frustrating is the way his notoriety casts a shadow over psi research. Whenever I discuss it with people who know little or nothing about it – which is not often, being a somewhat unrewarding business – it's always Geller they mention, and since he's been so heavily targeted by the sceptic community, never in a good sense. People seem to think that those like myself who believe psi is real have been 'taken in by Uri Geller', as if he was the sole and single reason for taking it seriously.
The chapter in James Randi's Flim-Flam! that purports to debunk Geller's SRI tests is something that all sceptics know about, as will doubtless be confirmed later in the comments thread. I expect also we'll hear a lot about the 'peep-hole' in the isolation booth that according to Randi could have enabled Geller to see the target drawings, had they also been placed in the line of sight. It may indeed be that the experimenters' methods were less than completely secure, but I've always been sceptical that highly-intelligent physicists could not have spotted something so basic (yes, I know, scientists are supposed not to know about magic tricks, but there's nothing especially magical about a peep-hole).
And why would there be a hole in an isolation booth? I can think of one reason, to carry audio cables, but that's normally done at floor level. So it's no surprise to learn from David Scott Rogo, who took the trouble to visit Stanford to check up on Randi's claim, that that's indeed where the hole is, which means Geller could only have benefited from it if he'd been tasked with divining the colour of the experimenters' socks - if it hadn't also been covered by a metal plate.
Another 'explanation 'of the SRI results, aired in a 1974 New Scientist article is that Geller had implanted a miniature communication device in a tooth, that enabled him to get the details of the drawings from a confederate. But I don't know how much we'll hear about that, as it never really took off.
None of this is to defend Geller, who can look after himself, or the probity of his SRI tests, which could be proved to have been entirely faked without in the least affecting the results of the far greater and multi-faceted remote viewing projects that followed over decades. The Psi Encyclopedia has yet to include a piece on the Stargate project (although one is being written now). But at the weekend, by coincidence, I uploaded a general survey of remote viewing by Stephan Schwarz, one of its most dedicated pioneers. He gives details of projects carried out at his Mobius lab, which included some very striking archaeological finds by a team of viewers that at various time included Ingo Swann, Hella Hammid, and the novelist Michael Crichton.
The piece also includes the unequivocal statement by statistician Jessica Utts:
Using the standards applied to any other area of science, it is concluded that psychic functioning has been well established. The statistical results of the studies examined are far beyond what is expected by chance. Arguments that these results could be due to methodological flaws in the experiments are soundly refuted. Effects of similar magnitude have been replicated at a number of laboratories across the world. Such consistency cannot be readily explained by claims of flaws or fraud.
Surely that's the real story here – it's just not one that's likely to feature in the mainstream press.
Sciborg writes a somewhat incomprehensible comment that, "Leonora Piper was nothing more than a fraud, she was caught three times with cheesecloth ectoplasms. I have never come across a genuine mediums it is nothing more than fraud." Then when challenged he comes back and says, "Amos it was just a joke. Course she wasn't caught with fake ectoplasm lol."
Apparently I am mistaken in that I thought that people who comment here were adults and somewhat honest in their efforts to discuss paranormal topics---but apparently that is not so as Sciborg seems to be a puerile, adolescent who thinks he can spout out lies and then when caught in his lies just says ". . . it was just a joke! LOL!"
It didn't read like a joke to me!
How in the world can anyone believe anything that Sciborg ever says---ever! Unfortunately I think this attitude is common among the so-called Skeptics who not only post on this site but on other internet sites and who believe that they are charged with responsibility to inform the world that anything and everything paranormal is fraudulent. These multitudinous lies test my patience but to allow them to stand is a disservice to the pursuit of scientific truths.
Every one of these lies whenever and wherever they show up should be challenged. - AOD
Posted by: Amos Oliver Doyle | February 03, 2017 at 07:58 PM
" If human really did possess faculties like telepathy and clairvoyance or psychokinesis, it seems to me that after more than a century of research and experimentation we'd all know it by now. "
Argument invalid, because the natural sciences rely largely on repeatability, while psychic phenomena are not usually repeatable at will and under controlled conditions of lab.
"Mainstream science would have embraced it by now if these alleged powers really existed. "
No, because you are underestimating the weight of the metaphysical prejudices of scientists and the problem of repeatability already commented.
"It should be abundantly clear in everyday life but there is no evidence this happens."
Invalid argument. Quantum phenomena have occurred for millennia and hardly impact our diary lives, as psychic phenomena.
Posted by: Juan | February 03, 2017 at 08:04 PM
"How in the world can anyone believe anything that Sciborg ever says---ever!"
Sciborg Patel is a proponent of the psi trickster hypothesis. He uses the motto across the web "Trickster Makes This World". Guy P. Hansen in his book Trickster and the Paranormal also wrote about this. There is a lot of fraud and trickery in parapsychology. Sciborg sees himself as a trickster himself. No need to believe anything he says.
Posted by: LetsEat | February 04, 2017 at 06:50 PM
"he natural sciences rely largely on repeatability, while psychic phenomena are not usually repeatable at will and under controlled conditions of lab."
Yep... and that is why psi can never be demonstrated by the scientific method. It is not empirical or repeatable. The whole concept of psi is in opposition to science.
"Skeptics who not only post on this site but on other internet sites and who believe that they are charged with responsibility to inform the world that anything and everything paranormal is fraudulent."
Do you know of any paranormal cases or individuals claiming to possess psychic powers that have not been proved fraudulent (conscious or unconscious fraud) ? I do not know a single one.
"Yep... and that is why psi can never be demonstrated by the scientific method. It is not empirical or repeatable. The whole concept of psi is in opposition to science."
Why? If I were to say that the continents were moving in the 1800s, citing the similar puzzle curve of South America and Africa, I would be accused of being against science at that era. Same thing with planetary rotations. Or even meteorites. To say the whole concept of psi is in opposition to science is appealing to authority. No different than saying evolution is against the church. When it becomes clear that science institution cannot solve a strange mystery, it has to change to accommodate the new standards. A paradigm shift.
"Do you know of any paranormal cases or individuals claiming to possess psychic powers that have not been proved fraudulent (conscious or unconscious fraud) ? I do not know a single one."
Then perhaps you should open your mind and not assume every person must be a fraud because they claim things you don't believe. That is Trump did when the vote revealed that he lost the popular vote to Clinton. He shouts fraud and tries to delegitimize the research through every little ad hominem attack or any margin of error to prove that he won the popular vote, with his supporters going across the Internet to spread this fraud message. This can go both ways, mind you.
And quite frankly, that's the reason why so many fields have been neglected thanks to this skeptic arrogance. We have videos of people able to have objects be attached on their bodies without any sort of grip. And yet, instead of researching this strange phenomenon, the skeptics have instead dismissed it as a hoax and state it was sticky skin, but never bother to go any further. Such as how were these people able to hold these objects when other people can't? What were the components that allow them to so? And why would these people say they are using their mind have it stick?
In the end, the skeptic explanation doesn't change the fact that there is a person who can have a metal hammer be attached on their forehead.
Posted by: Shadao | February 04, 2017 at 10:17 PM
Patience Worth has never been proven to be a fraud. - AOD
Posted by: Amos Oliver doyle | February 05, 2017 at 04:57 AM
Patience Worth has been debunked. It was unconscious fraud.
"Unfortunately for Spiritualism, Curran's writings failed to provide convincing evidence of life after death. Try as they might, researchers were unable to find any evidence that Patience Worth actually existed, and linguistic analysis of the texts revealed that the language was not consistent with other works from the period. The case for authenticity was not helped by Patience writing a novel set in the Victorian times, some 200 years after her own death. Eventually even the most ardent believer was forced to conclude that Pearl Curran's remarkable outpourings were more likely to have a natural, not supernatural, explanation."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patience_Worth
"The weight of the evidence—the lack of historical record for "Patience Worth," the fantasy proneness of Curran (consistent with producing an imaginary "other self"), the writings' questionable language, and the evidence of the editing and revision process—indicates that Patience was merely a persona of Curran's."
http://www.csicop.org/si/show/ghost_author_the_channeling_of_patience_worth
Posted by: Leuders (rationalwiki editor) | February 05, 2017 at 09:09 AM
" Such as how were these people able to hold these objects when other people can't? What were the components that allow them to so? And why would these people say they are using their mind have it stick?
In the end, the skeptic explanation doesn't change the fact that there is a person who can have a metal hammer be attached on their forehead."
Get over it pal it is indeed sticky skin. That has been debunked here:
http://www.livescience.com/12986-magnetic-people-sticky-bogdan.html
Peoples bodies are different. Look at Hematidrosis, a rare condition where people sweat blood
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hematidrosis
Do you want to claim that is 'paranormal' as well? It isn't. There is no need to resort to the superstitions any longer. Science has come a long way in explaining even rare phenomena. Look at ball lightning for example.
Now I am not being 'too critical' here, I am just am saying how it is. If there was evidence for the paranormal I think it would be cool and mainstream science would have embraced it a long time ago, but there is not any. The real world does not work that way. It is wishful thinking.
And why isn't there more investigations or research of the "sticky skin" people? I've seen the Wikipedia page and it's quality is appalling. The explanation is scant and dismissive. And much of the explanations seems to be conjectures rather than actual experiments. I want a more extensive look at this human magnetism phenomenon. What exactly makes them different from others? Is it a gene or something else? Can it be replicated or not? How could it impact society? And keep in mind, I did not use paranormal to explain this strange ability at all. This is something worth researching and not to be dismissed. When I see videos of human magnets, I don't see people asking how could they have been done it but rather dismissive insults proclaiming they are fake and fraud, citing Randi's mundane explanation and completely ignoring the extraordinary feat that stands before them. This is not healthy science.
And I would be wary about assuming mainstream science is staying the way it is. Before Galieo, people assumed the Sun moved around the Earth. It was self-evident and it would be ludicrous to think the Earth would be moving under our feet. However, there were tiny clues that displayed a problem to that notions even before the telescope. It didn't became mainstream until new technology gradually became available. Paradigm shifts are not so easy to be spotted.
Posted by: Shadao | February 05, 2017 at 10:10 AM
"Science has come a long way in explaining even rare phenomena. Look at ball lightning for example."
Yes, it has but, clearly, it hasn't answered all the questions. Science is a work in progress, it is not an infallible god - despite the fact that the fundamentalist science fraternity clearly regard it as such. Science is a method of inquiry - and not all science revolves around laboratory evidence. It is sheer insanity to say that anything the can't be produced at will simply doesn't exist. The words 'sand' and 'ostrich' spring to mind.
As for ball lightening: yes it's certainly a genuine phenomenon. But then there phenomena similar in appearance that are not yet explained. I have seen, with naked eye, the light phenomena described by the Scole experimenters. It's an apparently intelligently-directed point of light. On two occasions I saw this phenomenon in the presence of others who saw exactly what I saw.
I have also, on two occasions, seen coloured orbs of light: once in the home of a neighbour immediately following his death and once in my own home. Again there is the appearance of some form of consciousness contained within.
To those who experience such things, the idea that they can't possibly exist because science says so is, frankly, risible. While no one can (as yet) say definitively what they are there is no doubt in my mind that they exist.
So, please, let's move beyond the 'we know everything there is to know' stand. At best, it's small-minded arrogance and it's an attitude that has no place in a place of fine-minded discussion such as this.
Ps. I wrote the above very quickly because I was in a hurry to get outside and tend the animals. But it seems that Shadao and I were pixelling at the same time and saying much the same thing!
Anyway, it's a fascinating subject with little room for expressions of closed minded bigotry such as, 'science knows all there is to know' and 'when you're dead you're dead'. It would help the flow of discussion enormously if such comments were left out. So if that's basically all you have to say on the subject then why bother? :)
Leuders:
I anticipated your comment and could have written it word for word myself. It is the same old hackneyed claptrap spouted off year after year by Wikipedia and Rationalwiki editors. Joe Nickell is their only reference and Nickell's 'investigation' of Patience Worth and Pearl Curran resulted in his opinions only! He provided no evidence that Patience Worth and Pearl Curran were frauds (whatever that may mean in this case). - AOD
Leuders (rationalwiki editor) :
"If there was evidence for the paranormal I think it would be cool and mainstream science would have embraced it a long time ago,"
But, surely; it wouldn't be paranormal then, would it?
Posted by: Stuart Certain | February 06, 2017 at 12:54 AM
Psi is not opposed to science, but to strict repeatability. Your problem is to assume that science requires strict repeatability, which is not so, because there we have the field research of human sciences such as history and anthropology that are not strictly repeatable. And that does not say anything about the existence of psychic phenomena.
"Do you know of any paranormal cases or individuals claiming to possess psychic powers that have not been proved fraudulent (conscious or unconscious fraud)?"
Indridason.
"Indridason.
Next?"
Indriði Indriðason was detected in trickery twice. The reference is given on Michael Goss's book "Poltergeists: An Annotated Bibliography of Works in English, Circa 1880-1975", on page 140. His fraud was discussed at a paper read for the Second International Congress for Psychical Research, Warsaw in 1923. The paper notes that the psychical investigators who detected the fraud of this Icelandic medium considered the 'fraud' to be the result of spirit possession. Funny stuff.
In other words Indriðason was detected in trickery moving objects but believers still wanted to cling to their devout paranormal beliefs so made up excuses. It reminds me of the Colin Fry incident, where Fry was seen holding a trumpet in the air, his defenders credulously claimed a spirit had taken control of his body to commit the fraud. You can never win with believers. When various mediums are caught in fraud, the devout spiritualists defend their mediums by claiming 'spirits' were responsible for the fraud. Bottom line however is that that medium was indeed caught in fraud. You are wrong.
"The paper notes that the psychical investigators who detected the fraud of this Icelandic medium considered the 'fraud' to be the result of spirit possession."
Show a link on the paper, because that is not enough to disqualify Indridason.
In addition, the psychic is not only shown in special gifted persons, but also spontaneously to normal people, who are not especially psychic, such as OBEs, NDEs, deathbed visions, crisis apparitions, reciprocal apparitions, ESP and microPK in lab, and so on.
What do you think, Robert, that Indridason was caught in fraud?
There is a photograph in Haraldsson's & Gissurarsson's book Indridi Indridason, on page 63, with the caption "Indridi Indridason photographed with the broomstick on 6 December 1907, when he appears to have resorted to fraud, whether conscious or unconscious" This is discussed under the heading "The fiasco of the photograph experiment" p. 84. It was an unusual séance with only Indridi and a photographer: "The negative showed an arrangement of drapery on a pole ..." such crude trickery would have not been possible during experimental sittings. Indridi's spirit controls blamed a spirit for the incident.
Posted by: NCM | February 08, 2017 at 02:46 PM
"It was an unusual séance with only Indridi and a photographer: "The negative showed an arrangement of drapery on a pole ..." such crude trickery would have not been possible during experimental sittings. "
So other instances were probably not frauds, so it has not been proven that everything about Indridason was a fraud.
"If a medium is caught in fraud once, then Occam's razor says all their mediumship is fraudulent. "
So therefore anyone caught telling a lie never tells the truth?
"I know you are scared of death and want there to be something magical after we die, but reality does not work that way I am afraid."
And it would bring peace of mind to know for sure that what you say above is true. My only fear of death is the process and the possibility that there is more to face beyond.
"All scientific evidence shows us when we are dead we are dead. "
What an ignorant and bigoted statement! There is a huge amount of evidence from NDE studies to the contrary.
"You failed to list a genuine medium. None exist. They were also caught in fraud at some time or another, or suspected of it. There is no medium with an entirely clean record. They are nothing more than con-artists. Look at Mina Crandon or Doris Stokes."
My feeling is that it is you that needs to believe in magic after death. It has often occurred to me that many of the people who make endlessly crass and infantile arguments, such as yours above, simply want others to find them clear cut, rubber stamped proof and understanding of the ineffable.
Well, sorry to disappoint you, Mr. Skeptic, but the finer aspects of life just aren't like that. You'll simply have to man-up and learn to live with ambiguity. So why not just grab your comfort blanket, pick up your copy of 'Lampposts Through the Ages' and toddle off to bed with a nice cup of cocoa.
There, there. No need to fear the dark, it will soon be morning. :)
I know it may be strange to say but I do not regard photographs of psychic phenomena as good evidence of either fraud or evidence of the paranormal since usually the provenance of the photograph is not known. I tend to think that many of the photographs of ectoplasm and apparitions might be reenactments for publicity purposes or to accompany an article about the medium. A sheet on a broomstick or cut-out faces from magazines and swathed in cheesecloth might just be a naive attempt to demonstrate what an apparition looked like. In that sense the photographs might all be 'fakes' but they are not necessarily evidence of a fraudulent medium. - AOD
"If a medium is caught in fraud once, then Occam's razor says all their mediumship is fraudulent."
No, Occam's Razor really doesn't "say' anything about anything. The concept of Occam's Razor is used by simple-minded people, regardless of their education or specialty to sound learned and to reduce explanations of various phenomena to simple materialistic explanations and shut people up. Applying Occam's Razor to mediumship allows Skeptics and believers alike to blow off explanations that require more comprehensive thought structures and belief systems.
Another example of the stupidity of the aforementioned comment is a singer who lip-syncs a performance. Singers that are caught in lip syncing are not by Occam's Razor all fraudulent singers. Many, or shall I say most of them are well paid and provide live concerts and are considered legitimate singers but for one reason or another had a need to 'fake it' on occasion.
I think good true mediums do the same thing when the occasion requires it. - AOD
It is obviously true that when the body of a living organism dies, that body is dead and eventually decays. But I don't think that that is what most people who frequent a site such as this are thinking about when they consider an afterlife. Few if any people here think that they will occupy the same physical body in a spiritual life that they have in physical life. What concerns most of us, is not what happens to the body after death; we know that---but what happens to our consciousness. So that begs the question, "Does the body produce consciousness?" Because if it turns out that it does, then when the body ceases to be alive consciousness ceases to be. But, to my knowledge there is not yet a good explanation of how the body---or the brain--- produces consciousness and there are some signs that perhaps consciousness is not a cellular phenomenon in the brain and that in fact it might exist in some form apart from a material body. - AOD
" "Does the body produce consciousness?" Because if it turns out that it does, then when the body ceases to be alive consciousness ceases to be. But, to my knowledge there is not yet a good explanation of how the body---or the brain--- produces consciousness and there are some signs that perhaps consciousness is not a cellular phenomenon in the brain and that in fact it might exist in some form apart from a material body." - AOD
And that is a *very* scary prospect. We practise for death every night. The dreamless sleeps are the best.
"You first said he never did any fraud, you were then shown evidence and now you shift gears by saying just because he was caught in fraud once then the other times were all genuine. "
Because other instances were made under more rigorous conditions that prevented some of fraud. Neither have you proved that Garrett and Piper were frauds.
I kind of know that feeling, Julie, but the alternative might be scarier even though logically it probably shouldn't be because you wouldn't experience anything bad. Then again, you'd think that as an on-off suicidal insomniac I'd at least logically speaking not suffer such massive death anxiety, but as Michael Prescott's latest post reminds us, life is not fair :(
I suspect you're considerably younger than me Chel. For what it's worth, death anxiety gets less as one grows older. Paradoxical but true. :)
When we die,....does the universe die with us?
I'm 27 and autistic so my emotional processing isn't always the same as someone else my age and I might come across as younger.
Posted by: chel | February 10, 2017 at 10:31 AM
"Because other instances were made under more rigorous conditions that prevented some of fraud. Neither have you proved that Garrett and Piper were frauds."
The burden of proof is always on the paranormal claimant, because you are making the extraordinary claims. It is up to you to demonstrate your claims, not the skeptic to debunk them.
You have failed to provide any evidence Leonora Piper was a genuine mediums. Throwing around names proves nothing. You have not cited any literature. Even some believers were not convinced her mediumship needed a spiritualist interpretation.
"In contrast to the extravagant claims made by the vast majority of mediums, Mrs Piper herself was not convinced that the information obtained through her came from discarnate sources or that her 'controls' were, in fact, the spirits they purported to be. One of her early controls, who called himself Phinuit, was obviously fictitious, for although he claimed to be the spirit of a French doctor who had lived in Marseilles, he knew but little of French and still less of medicine. All statements to verify his statements met with failure. One investigator invented a dead niece whom he named Bessie Beale, and requested Mrs Piper's control to contact her spirit. Messages from the non-existent 'spirit' were duly given."
Simeon Edmunds
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonora_Piper
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonora_Piper
Posted by: Steve001 | February 10, 2017 at 07:24 PM
Amos Oliver Doyle are you still claiming the fraudulent Bangs Sisters were genuine mediums?
They have been debunked on Wikipedia recently with many sources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangs_Sisters
Is the PSI encyclopedia going to create an article on the Bangs sisters?
"I'm 27 and autistic so my emotional processing isn't always the same as someone else my age and I might come across as younger."
And I am younger than you, but know more about psychical research than any of the believers on here :)
"And I am younger than you, but know more about psychical research than any of the believers on here "
No you don't, Steve001. You're just more stupid than most people on here. :)
I gathered, Steve. I learned to provide actual quotations and references for my assertions in high school and not to start pointless fights on the internet by twelve. However, I don't know a lot about the topic, so if the other users would be so kind, can I get some info on his assertions from a source not just any idiot can edit?
I have always though that Skeptics make too much of the "Bessie Beals" communicator in Leonora Piper's mediumistic sessions. I think that the control at that time was 'Richard Hodgson' who, when alive had spent several years investigating Mrs. Piper during her trance communications with various and sundry personas. One sitter with Mrs. Piper was Mrs. Bessie Blodgett , maiden name Bessie Barr. She met with Mrs. Piper over a period of 4 years I think from 1888-1891. Richard Hodgson was present at those meetings between Bessie Barr Blodget and Mrs. Piper and took notes so he was somewhat acquainted with Bessie Barr Blodgett. It is possible that the Hodgson control confused 'Bessie Beals' with 'Bessie Barr' or 'Bessie Blodgett'. It would be interesting to know if Bessie Blodgett had passed away at the time that the spirit of Hodgson provided communications from ' Bessie Beals, as 15 or more years had passed between the time that Bessie Blodgett and Hodgson sat with Piper and Hodgson died in 1905 so that the Bessie Beals' communicator may have been in fact Bessie Barr Blodgett and Hodgson was just confused about the name. - AOD
Wrong. A lot of lab anomalies trying to reproduce psi have been succesful and repeatable (given their respective statistical power).
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00390/full (a new article replicating it:
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0170370 published 1 month ago)
http://www.ics.uci.edu/~jutts/JSE1999.pdf
http://emmind.net/openpapers_repos/Nonlocality_Fields/Nonlocal_Mind/Various/2014_Explicit_Anomalous_Cognition_A_Review_of_the_Best_Evidence_in_Ganzfeld,_Forced-choice_Remote_Viewing_and_Dream_Studies.pdf
http://www.patriziotressoldi.it/cmssimpled/uploads/Meta_Baptista14.pdf
https://f1000research.com/articles/4-1188/v1
About trance mediums, a lot of important points have been made. But none invalidated the allegedly and well documented anomalous information transfer. There's no evidence that it was spirit communication of other form of psychic phenomena (see Braude 'Immortal Remains' and Sudduth 'A philosophical critique...'). Most of comments I see here are right, the trance personas (like Phinuit) are probably imagined and the fact that a actual communication with spirits took place is questionable (and indeed a lot of mediums admit that they aren't sure that were not talking to spirits), but the fact they were able to obtain information that was almost impossible to be obtained by normal means is unquestionable. (the references can be checked in http://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/leonora-piper,http://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/chico-xavier">http://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/chico-xavier">http://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/leonora-piper,http://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/chico-xavier the articles are very biased, however they have a lot of references.)
The most dramatic case that I know is Amir Amyden. He was investigated by Stanley Krippner (a famous parapsychologist and friend of James Randi) and he found no apparent fraud.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stanley_Krippner/publication/237411055_Physiological_and_Geomagnetic_Correlates_of_Apparent_Anomalous_Phenomena_Observed_in_the_Presence_of_a_Brazilian_CCSensitive/links/56faa3c508aef6d10d904ba5.pdf
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.504.3493&rep=rep1&type=pdf
http://neuroquantology.com/index.php/journal/article/viewFile/408/407 (I hate this journal, I'm only citing it because is an interview)
http://archives.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/the-psychic-world-of-stanley-krippner-a-quest-to-document-esp/Content?oid=2184869
http://boingboing.net/2012/05/01/stanely-krippner-a-parapsycho.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUTzjK_GvdA&t=20s
Posted by: Rodolfo | February 11, 2017 at 03:21 AM
"You have not cited any literature. "
Wrong. I mentioned "The Limits of Influence: Psychokinesis and the Philosophy of Science", by Braude and "If This Be Magic: The Forgotten Power of Hypnotism ", by Playfair, and in other posts, "The Enigma of Survival", by Hart.
"Even some believers were not convinced her mediumship needed a spiritualist interpretation."
And that? There are good reasons to consider that some spirits during Piper's sessions were deceased humans.
"Amos Oliver Doyle are you still claiming the fraudulent Bangs Sisters were genuine mediums?"
That is the fallacy of leaning on a weaker case. There are cases stronger than that as others have commented.
"Most of comments I see here are right, the trance personas (like Phinuit) are probably imagined and the fact that a actual communication with spirits took place is questionable (and indeed a lot of mediums admit that they aren't sure that were not talking to spirits), but the fact they were able to obtain information that was almost impossible to be obtained by normal means is unquestionable. "
There have been sessions where someone has shown the personality and manner of being of a deceased, something hardly questionable as postmortem communications. In addition, there are the drop-in communications. We can question everything because we were not there, but it is useless.
I don't know if the Bangs sisters were fraudulent mediums or not and I don't care. What I do know is that the artistic high quality precipitated paintings of the Bangs sisters (and the Campbell 'brothers') have not been explained as to the method of production to my satisfaction. David Abbott's explanation and others are not reasonable explanations. - AOD
"Wrong. A lot of lab anomalies trying to reproduce psi have been succesful and repeatable (given their respective statistical power)."
Well some of these papers you linked are not arguing for the existence of psi, they are on other subjects. For example one of those papers "Testing for Questionable Research Practices in a Meta-Analysis: An Example from Experimental Parapsychology", is actually a pretty skeptical paper:
"We consider [questionable research practices] in the context of a meta-analysis database of Ganzfeld–telepathy experiments from the field of experimental parapsychology. The Ganzfeld database is particularly suitable for this study, because the parapsychological phenomenon it investigates is widely believed to be nonexistent."
I will have to click through the rest, but looks like flawed statistical arguments to me. Parapsychologists cannot demonstrate psi in the real world so now they have to resort to hiding by statistics.
"He was investigated by Stanley Krippner (a famous parapsychologist and friend of James Randi) and he found no apparent fraud."
Stanley Krippner is not a magician, he has no understanding about deception or trickery methods. So he is not a reliable source on such matters.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Krippner
He claimed the fraudulent psychic Nina Kulagina and other frauds were genuine. He has 0 credibility. His dream telepathy experiments have never been replicated by the scientific community.
As for Chico Xavier he was caught in fraud. Yet Guy Lyon Playfair's Psi Encyclopedia entry doesn't mention this.
http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/spiritualism_in_brazil_alive_and_kicking
There are some embarrassing photographs there of Xavier with someone dressed up in a cloth or towel over their head. The Psi Encyclopedia is written by die-hard believers. They do not cite the negative or skeptical information on parapsychology or spiritualism in their articles. They are not reporting the full side of the story.
Posted by: Sam | February 11, 2017 at 05:40 PM
Let me just clarify I have no problem with statistical science, a lot of valid science is done this way. The problem is that psi effects are claimed by proponents to be real. Yet when it comes to detecting these effects it cannot be done. It can only be shown by disputable statistics in a meta-analysis. There is no evidence any psi effects manifest themselves in everyday life. Nobody has ever provided proof that this can be done.
Juan here is arguing that people can move tables with their minds or communicate with spirits, yet provides no evidence of this that we can actually observe. Why do these things not happen on a regular basis in the everyday world? Why do we not see items in supermarkets floating around in broad daylight or spirits manifesting themselves down our local police station helping us with missing person cases? It blatantly obvious that these do not exist. Believers always have to invent excuses. There never give the null hypothesis a chance.
As Robert Todd Carroll (R.I.P) wrote
"We know that no matter how statistically significant the results are, the actual size of this psi effect is so small that we can't detect it in a single person in any obvious way. We have to deduce it from guessing experiments. What hope do we have of isolating, harnessing, or expanding this power if a person who has it can't even directly recognize its presence?"
There are people on this blog arguing psi is real but they cannot point to any empirical evidence it exists. Why can't a single person ever demonstrate it on camera to millions of people?
"I don't know if the Bangs sisters were fraudulent mediums or not and I don't care. What I do know is that the artistic high quality precipitated paintings of the Bangs sisters (and the Campbell 'brothers') have not been explained as to the method of production to my satisfaction. David Abbott's explanation and others are not reasonable explanations. - AOD"
We are lay-men, not professionals on this subject, so your own opinion is worthless. We have professional magicians and historians of science who have told us how those fraudulent paintings were made, and it is rational to accept those conclusions like I do. It makes no difference if you want to believe it or not.
When you go to the airport, you would want a professional pilot right? So why dispute experts on this subject? Not everything is a conspiracy.
"When you go to the airport, you would want a professional pilot right? So why dispute experts on this subject? Not everything is a conspiracy."
Exactly! There are so many distinguished scientists working in the field present and past - many Nobel laureates - why should lay men and nothing people such as Randi (who has failed, even on TV, to replicate effects that he claims to be false) be given the time of day?
As a layman perhaps you should stick to your field of expertise - assuming you have one. :)
"The problem is that psi effects are claimed by proponents to be real. Yet when it comes to detecting these effects it cannot be done. It can only be shown by disputable statistics in a meta-analysis"
There's no evidence that the statistics are "disputable". They are perfectly sound. You argument can be applied to anything that has small effect size, so you are basically saying that anything that have a small effect in lab tests doesn't exist.
In fact, I invite you to to a meta-analysis of Ganzfeld studies, plot the graphs for the effect sizes, analyse the file-drawer, check the internal consistency, check for diffrent inclusion criteria and try to find any statistical artifact.
"There is no evidence any psi effects manifest themselves in everyday life. Nobody has ever provided proof that this can be done."
Yes, there is. But any proof outside the lab will be labeled as "fake" and Skeptics will invent a bunch of implausible mechanisms to explain away what happend ("it was just an absurdly complex magic trick performed by kids who don't know magic", "the medium is clearly a genius savant able to obtain more information than trained policemen").
A dozen of surveys have been made asking if people had any sort of "paranormal" experience and a lot of them answer positively. But Skeptics also explain away this saying that is wishful thinking, the law of large numbers, deception.
Them you go to the lab and find some traces that these kind of phenomena may be real. And them Skeptics say "Well, but nobody manifest it on their daily lives".
"There are people on this blog arguing psi is real but they cannot point to any empirical evidence it exists. Why can't a single person ever demonstrate it on camera to millions of people?"
I agree with you. This rules out any kind of ostensible on-demand psi. However, this doesn't rule out the possibility that psi effects are small or are residual effects of something else. And this doesn't rule out any spontaneous case of psi.
"We are lay-men, not professionals on this subject, so your own opinion is worthless. We have professional magicians and historians of science who have told us how those fraudulent paintings were made, and it is rational to accept those conclusions like I do. It makes no difference if you want to believe it or not."
Why do you use arguments of authority only when it serves you? If this is a valid argument, so I can say that because people like Alan Turing, Wolfgang Pauli, Charles Richet, Brian Josephson and Freeman Dyson investigated and believed that psi is real them it's "rational" to do so.
Also, any parapsychologist is a professional on the subject and some of them publish their papers in respected peer-reviewed journals. Should we trust them? Or should we trust some random blogger on the internet?
I will not keep discussing this. I already know what is goind to happen because all the 'internet debates' on the subject are the same.
I'll just say that I personally HATE the idea of psi. It disturbs be that some random medium may be accessing my thoughts. Also, the idea is bizarre and doesn't make any sense to me at all. However, I cannot dismiss the evidence and as a scientist, I cannot accusate other scientists to be fraudulent, unless I have a really good evidence for that.
Posted by: Rodolfo | February 11, 2017 at 07:20 PM
I think that Uri Geller 'tricks' are mostly BS. However, because you think that magicians opinions are really important, there are dozens of magicians saying that they cannot explain a lot of Uri Geller's tricks:
http://www.urigeller.com/category/testimonials/quotes-from-magicians/
So this makes Uri Geller real? Well, probably not because I don't know the exact controls used during these pseudo-experiments.
You are so deficient in knowledge about the Bangs sisters that I actually feel sorry for you. Get busy and read all of the reference materials. What kind of world do you live in?
Apparently you have no experience with so-called 'professionals. After more than 50 years hobnobbing with 'professionals' I would no more trust a 'professional' magician, of all things or a "historian of science" (Is there a Ph.D. in that?) to know all of the truth about anything, especially anything paranormal, than I would trust the beggar asking for handouts at an intersection of a busy highway to know anything about it. I defininately would not ask that beggar or a magician to explain the world and reality to me! You need to get out and mingle with people a little bit more and get some experience with educated people and you will soon find out how really stupid many of them are.
Deferring to authority is a child's way of thinking. Abbott's explanation of precipitated paintings of the Bangs sister was unabashedly nonsensical and I have previously discussed that in a previous post. How can anyone with an ounce of brains not see that! I sincerely feel sorry for you.
I don't consider myself a lay-man as I am one of those educated professional scientists you so revere nor do I consider my opinions worthless contrary to what I think about your opinions. - AOD
P.S. Why don't we see rainbows floating around us all the time, in the supermarket and such? Apparently they don't exist.
Here is a relevant funny thing about internet discussions: http://jasper-rolls.tumblr.com/post/156986546446/jasper-rolls-this-exchange-is-like-a-microcosm-of
Sam: "We are lay-men, not professionals on this subject, so your own opinion is worthless."
... by that standard, so is yours.
"Why do these things not happen on a regular basis in the everyday world? Why do we not see items in supermarkets floating around in broad daylight or spirits manifesting themselves down our local police station helping us with missing person cases? It blatantly obvious that these do not exist. "
Quantum phenomena are also not blatantly obvious and we know that they happen, so that argument is invalid.
"There never give the null hypothesis a chance."
Wrong. Parapsychologists often begin as if the null hypothesis were true, to conclude that it is not true either by field research or lab experiments.
"Why can't a single person ever demonstrate it on camera to millions of people?"
That excludes robust psi at will, but not spontaneous and involuntary psi, or weak psi at will.
This skeptical argument is vicious: it is argued that if psi exists, then it has to leave its mark out of the lab, but when evidence is presented outside the lab, the skeptic argues that such evidence is not valid because outside the lab, but when lab evidence is presented, it is argued that it has to leave its mark out...
"This skeptical argument is vicious"
Did you mean vacuous, Juan? Yes, I do agree - but then all the sceptic trolls' arguments are. Furthermore, it becomes more and more obvious to me that responding is akin to swatting flies.
There's is nowhere that an intelligent and thorough discussion can take place when trolls are permitted to take over and direct the proceedings. If they are allowed to remain they will simply continue because a) there is most likely nothing else in their life and b) because their petty disruption gives them a sense of importance that they are unable to achieve by merit.
Obviously, this is Robert's blog forum to conduct in whatever way he chooses. But I would dearly like to see filtered out posts containing phrases such as: 'when you're dead you're dead'; 'James Randi has proven'; 'all mediums are fake' and anything that gives 'wikipedia' or 'rationalwiki' as its source of reference.
"Did you mean vacuous, Juan?"
No, I meant that the argument is a vicious circle, ending where it begins, being logically invalid.
" I meant that the argument is a vicious circle, ending where it begins, being logically invalid."
Yes, that's the most tedious aspect of engaging with these trolls. It relates to the 'plaiting live eels in a bucket' analogy.
Not to mention camera tricks are a thing so even if someone did do it on TV the sceptics wouldn't accept it.
"Quantum phenomena are also not blatantly obvious and we know that they happen, so that argument is invalid."
Quantum phenomena do not cause observable macro-effects. The argument for psi is that these effects should allegedly be powerful macro-effects. You stated you believe mediums can levitate tables and things like that in the past. Then why do these macro-effects not exist in the real world? We never see them happen. They do not exist in reality.
Posted by: Sam | February 14, 2017 at 05:02 AM
Amos Oliver Doyle you are not a professional scientist. You have been around the web for over 10 years or more on spiritualist blogs (Michael E. Tymn, Zerdini etc). You state repeatedly in many blog posts that blatant fraudulent mediums are genuine (Fox sisters, Helen Duncan, Bangs Sisters, Davenport brothers). When you are shown skeptical literature you then go silent or reject that literature.
You stated on Michaels Prescott's blog and this one that God is everything and we live in God and we are all ''consciousness'' (whatever that means), that is religious talk, not science. You stated you believe different races are different species, that is crackpot talk, not science. You have written a lot of pseudoscientific and nonsensical statements all over the web about psychic powers. One has to only Google your name to see the pseudoscience you support. Please do not pretend to be a 'professional' scientist. You have no academic scientific peer-reviewed publications.
I think the Rationalwiki article on Patience Worth summed you up best:
"The only supporters of Patience Worth are devout spiritualists such as Amos Oliver Doyle and Michael E. Tymn. Doyle has an entire website dedicated to Patience Worth and he refuses to accept the evidence which shows she was not in contact with spirits."
You say you read all the literature but you do not. You cherry-pick Walter Franklin Prince's statements on Patience Worth but ignore all his skeptical writings (he dismissed Mina Crandon, Rudi Scheider, Henry Slade) and almost every other physical medium as a fraud but you don't like that.
Joseph Jastrow (psychologist), Richard Wiseman (psychologist), William Sentman Taylor (psychologist), Leonard Zusne (psychologist), Andrew Neher (psychologist), Karen Stollznow (linguist), Joe Nickell (magic historian) have all written about ''Patience Worth'' in their mainstream publications and came to the rational conclusion she was a fictitious creation of Curran.
But everyone of these above specialists has to be automatically wrong according to you, and you are right. You just need to give the game up. Patience Worth never existed, your website which argues she was some sort of spiritual being or is still a 'mystery' to science, has no credibility whatsoever. After I read some old posts of yours on the Fox Sisters claiming they were genuine, I am sorry but I do not believe a word you say.
I am glad most parapsychologists are old and the field is dying out. They have never demonstrated anything.
"Furthermore, it becomes more and more obvious to me that responding is akin to swatting flies."
Right Julie. Everyone is a troll if they even show the slightest ounce of critical thinking. I get it, skepticism threatens your world-view. I am sorry but there is not much I can do about that. Take care now. Let's cease communication. I stated what I wanted to say. If you want to call every skeptic on this blog a troll just for saying something different to what you agree with, that is up to you. You are good at scaring people away, I will give you that. Now excuse me while I levitate to work.
"Right Julie. Everyone is a troll if they even show the slightest ounce of critical thinking. I get it, skepticism threatens you."
Au contraire. Everyone here with a genuine and fair-minded interest in the subject of parapsychology is a critical thinker: a healthy scepticism is the correct approach to scientific study. How can critical thinking be threatening?
See? You're doing it again: ignoring what has actually been said and repeating the same old same old. The people afraid to have their world view shattered are you 'RationalWiki' (an oxymoron if ever there was one) fundamentalist control freaks. I can see you in my mind's eye lying on your backs screaming 'Noooooo' and drumming your little pink heels on the carpet.
It isn't the parapsychologists who are dying out, it's the dinosaurs like you whose days are severely numbered. Now go and do as you promised: levitate yourself away. Go on, off you go. Otherwise aunts Julie will be along to smack your chubby little legs again. :)
Sceptics are critics, nothing more.
They offer nothing but criticism.
They have nothing positive to say.
They are negative entities.
They attack paranormal investigative forums because those forums act as a magnet to them.
If it were not for these forums then they would be lost.
Have sympathy for these negative entities.
They are nothing without us.
I am honored to see that you have such fascination with Amos Oliver Doyle. Of course you do not know me and therefore you can imagine whatever and whoever you want me to be. That is no concern of mine. My comments must hit a nerve in you that you would find it so necessary to attack me personally and so vehemently. I am glad that you have read and apparently remembered my comments on multiple sites and perused the website www.patienceworth.com. I appreciate that recognition and see that what I have written has made a great impact on you. That suggests that your skepticism is beginning to crack and I suspect that in time, after you have matured a bit that you will be able to see past opinions of others and come up with some thoughts of your own.
People I care nothing about and have nothing worthwhile to say fade from my memory as "Sam" will quickly fade away but apparently I will remain in your memory for some time to come.
I would find it interesting to see a listing of your credentials and scientific accomplishments or perhaps your website in which you contribute something worthwhile to humanity. But I suspect that you have contributed nothing! - AOD
Sam, stating things over and over will make them neither true nor believable. Provide actual arguments.
This may not be the time or place to say this but considering "Sam's" comments, there have always been and will always be 'barbarians', that is, uneducated hateful people who seek to destroy anything uplifting, positive and beautiful. Inquiring minds want to know, but barbarians do not want to know, they just want to destroy and spread their ugliness, bringing everyone else down to the muck and mire of their pitiful existence. One only has to think of the crucifixion of Jesus so see how there are some people determined to destroy the good in humanity. Members of ISIS are examples of current barbarians whose only interest is to kill and destroy and unfortunately there are many others in today's society who hate and destroy and those people are not confined to any one culture or country; they are worldwide.
I know that there are some people who do not have the mental capacity to appreciate the writings of Patience Worth/Pearl Curran and marvel at their use of exotic and archaic language. They often say that her writing is not understandable. But to my mind, people who say this really mean that they do not understand it. They may, at no fault of their own, lack the brain development, experience and education to understand it so I do not fault them. I suspect that those who try to debunk Patience Worth have not actually read, to any extent, her poems, aphorisms, novels and plays and contemplated their significance as evidence of something greater in human beings than physical form nor have they considered investigations, comments and opinions of people who actually knew Pearl Curran and Patience Worth.
I will say as I have said many times on many different venues, the source of 'Patience Worth' has not been determined. Contrary to what people like "Sam" might say or any others regardless of how many 'peer reviewed' articles they may have published, there is no evidence to support a view that Pearl Curran made up the Patience Worth personality; that she was an alter ego, that she was a multiple personality, that she was a dissociated personality etc. etc. There is just no evidence! Anyone can have an opinion and many people have one as "Sam" has pointed out, but that is just opinion, not evidence. - AOD
"Have sympathy for these negative entities.
They are nothing without us."
One might say the same of any parasite. But the comparison is a tad unkind . . . . . . to fleas. ;)
"Quantum phenomena do not cause observable macro-effects. "
Wrong. There are macroscopic quantum phenomena:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macroscopic_quantum_phenomena
"Then why do these macro-effects not exist in the real world?"
Do you mean today? They may continue to occur, but not at will and any instance will be characterized as fraud even if it is not so.
Sam, the fact that you don't believe people when they say they witnessed these happenings is not the same as it being fact that they don't occur. You can't simply declare things never happen seconds after people explained why they think they do.
You might be wasting your time, Chel. Apparently, Sam has had a rather unfortunate accident. Seems his levitation skills weren't all they might be and he came down to earth suddenly, with a bump.
Well, when I say came down to earth, he actually landed on top of a Manhatten skyscraper and was promptly arrested on a charge of suspected terrorist activity.
Last I heard he was over at Guantanamo Bay doing his best to explain himself to a couple of rather large, imposing and remarkably sceptical military chaps.
Good luck, Sam! And don't worry, the colour orange looks great on you. :)
"Apparently, Sam has had a rather unfortunate accident. Seems his levitation skills weren't all they might be and he came down to earth suddenly, with a bump."
Julie, maybe he should have asked me? I would have put him right.
"Julie, maybe he should have asked me? I would have put him right."
Yes, well, 'tis easy to be wise after the event. :/
Poor old Sam. Gone but not forgotten. :(
Would whoever the "Paul" is here mind using a different name - the original "Paul" here), to avoid confusion,
Posted by: Paul | February 19, 2017 at 12:00 AM


Christmas in Laos—What a Foreign Idea!
(LAOS) When you're poor, like people in the remote villages of northern Laos who partner with World Renew, you don't often have the luxury of taking a rest day. But people in the large cities have begun to adopt some of the commercial trappings of Christmas—lights, colors, Christmas trees, sweets, and gifts.
PHILIPPINES - Although I returned home on December 12th, I quickly got a cold which developed into Bronchitis, not surprising as I guess I overdid it on my trip. So I have been under the weather and did not yet get this blog out about my last stop this year in the Philippines. With the Tacloban World Renew/CRCP office now well established with 7 staff and the Guiuan office well on its way, I felt free to go back to the island of Panay and help establish a World Renew/CRCP office there.
(SENEGAL) It is always a joy to receive guests, show them around, introduce them to World Renew's partners and programs, and share experiences. This past summer we received no less than three interns who came to Senegal to learn from World Renew programs and lend a hand. In this newsletter they introduce themselves to you.
Merry Christmas from World Renew Honduras!
Dear Friends and Amigos, Your Honduran brothers and sisters in Christ would like to express their warmest greetings to you all.
(Caspar) Pentecost is the Jewish festival called "Feast of Weeks," celebrating God ́s goodness to the people of Israel, much like our Thanksgiving. The people gathered together in anticipation of hearing stories of God ́s goodness. Their anticipation and gathering was rewarded by an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, God's goodness to his people.
It took me a few days to get this story out because the city of Tacloban is still without electricity. They are hoping by Christmas. Many have no lights and no internet connectivity. I, fortunately, came prepared with a USB modem with a sim card that provides wi-fi, but the 24 hours I purchased eventually ran out, and it took some doing to get access again.
One month ago, the category 5 Super Typhoon Haiyan (locally name Yolanda) barreled into the Philippines archipelago. The typhoon made landfall six times, battering the central islands and leaving a path of almost total destruction in nine of the country's 17 regions. The statistics are daunting: 15 million people affected, 4 million displaced, 5,924 killed and 1,779 still missing, and 1.12 million houses damaged or destroyed.


text:
Chandler Eaton (left), Alex Smalley
Eaton, Smalley Highlight Big Weekend for Men's Golf
DURHAM, N.C. – Duke men's golfers Alex Smalley and Chandler Eaton capped an impressive weekend for the program with Eaton making the cut and placing in the top 60 at the U.S. Open and Smalley winning the Sunnehanna Amateur.
Eaton posted rounds of 72-70-73-74 on the famed Pebble Beach Golf Links, finishing at 5-over 289 for the championship – tied for 58th overall and the third-lowest amateur in the field behind Viktor Hovland (4-under) and Brandon Wu (1-over).
A Duke rising senior with dad Scott as his caddie, Eaton hit 71 percent of the fairways for the week (t-26th in the field), hit 61 percent of the greens in regulation (t-32nd) and was 20th in strokes gained putting (+1.07).
Eaton earned his spot in the U.S. Open by surviving a playoff in the local qualifier at the Duke Golf Club, then posting a top-four finish at the sectional qualifier at Hawks Ridge outside of Atlanta.
Smalley, who is two years removed from playing in the U.S. Open at Erin Hills, ran away from the field on Saturday to win the prestigious Sunnehanna Amateur at the Sunnehanna Golf Club in Johnstown, Pa., for the second consecutive year.
The recent Duke graduate fired a pair of four-under 66's in the final two rounds to win the tournament by five strokes at 10-under par. Smalley became Sunnehanna's first repeat winner since Rickie Fowler in 2007 and 2008.
Smalley (10-under) out-paced Oklahoma's Garrett Rebrand (5-under), Yale's James Nicholas (4-under) and Florida State's John Pak (3-under) at the top of the leaderboard.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Christopher Ward is a British watch company that specialises in online sales. More than a microbrand, the company is increasingly mentioned in the same breath as the big Swiss brands.
Back in 2004, three Brits – Christopher Ward, Mike France and Peter Ellis – had a great idea: to bring Swiss watch quality to consumers at a lower cost by cutting out the middlemen and selling direct to customers over the internet. That sentence has become a stock-in-trade for every internet watch brand since, but this where the idea originated, and they continue to sell only through online channels to this day.
Although Christopher Ward is a British company, their watches are made in Switzerland. They predominantly use ETA movements (or their Sellita equivalents) but since merging with Synergies Horlogères SA in 2014 they have gradually introduced a number of watches with their own in-house calibre SH21.
Are Christopher Ward Watches Any Good?
The most common criticisms of Christopher Ward's watches are that the company's designs can be divisive: they started out making some slightly gaudy quartz dive watches; many are put off by the fact the brand's logo has changed almost annually; and the logo's new position at "9 O'clock" is not universally popular.
What few of the brand's detractors can take issue with is the quality of the products. Their watches use tried and tested Swiss movements, their cases are made in the same place as Oris and TAG Heuer and their watches genuinely feel like products that cost three or four times their asking price. Here at WRUK we are big fans of the brand's latest designs – especially the new Trident range.
Click here to see our reviews of Christopher Ward watches.
Christopher Ward's Loupe magazine is sent out to its customers every few months and, despite being essentially a marketing pamphlet, is a really good read. We highly recommend signing up to the company's mailing list to get a copy – which usually arrives along with a second envelope containing discount vouchers for up to £150.
As well as Christopher Ward's own website, there is a thriving second-hand trade on eBay. Our buying advice for a used Christopher Ward is to pay no more than half retail value for anything but the latest models, as the company has regular voucher events and an annual half-price stock clearance sale in January.


Message Ministries & Missions Inc. - "Sharing God's Message of Hope in Action"
and trains the reached to do likewise.
Message Ministries & Missions is an evangelical non-profit missions organization. We exist to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and His saving power and grace throughout the world.
Jesus died to save a world lost in the darkness of sin. We place the message of Jesus' salvation at the forefront of all we do. We reach the lost through local churches, dedicated evangelists, special outreaches and by evangelism training.
Jesus commands us to make disciples, not merely converts. We help Christians to grow in friendship with God, obedience to His Word, and action in His mission through local church relationships and special discipleship programs.
1 John 3:18 says, "let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth." We seek to love the whole world by providing their practical needs. We do this through feeding centers, orphanages, job training, emergency relief and more.
The most effective way to reach a nation is by the loving labors of its native Christians. For this reason, we choose to preach the gospel through indigenous partnerships rather than through unneccesarily expensive American missionaries.
40.6% of the world's population lives in unreached people groups. That means that approximately 2.76 Billion people have never heard the gospel once. We dedicate the majority of our work to reaching those who have never heard the name of Jesus Christ.
Christ commands us both to preach the gospel and to carry His miraculous power to the nations (Matthew 10:7-8). For this reason, we preach the gospel in its' entirety and seek to demonstrate the gospel's power through the gifts of the Spirit.
Curious how you can get involved with Message Ministries & Missions? Check out Join Arms to discover 4 ways you can share God's hope alongside us.
Want to learn more about Message Ministries & Missions? Check out Where We Work to take a virtual tour of all of our ministries worldwide!


text:
Q: Spring test failed when calling static method inside POJO I have a test which worked using spring and mockito
@Test
@WebAppConfiguration
@ContextConfiguration(classes = { MockConfiguration.class }, loader = AnnotationConfigWebContextLoader.class)
@ActiveProfiles(profiles = { "mock" })
public class TestMock extends AbstractTestNGSpringContextTests {
   @Autowired
   private ApplicationContext context;
   @Test
   public void testRule() {
         // test code calling context.getBean
   }
}

The problem after code changes the test is now using the following POJO which calls static getSingleton method which returns null
public class Rule {
   private MyObject myObject;
       public Rule(int id) {
           myObject = Cache.getSingleton().getObjectCache().getObjectById(id);
       }
}

Can I mock it without any code changes?

A: Mockito has enabled mocking static methods since version 3.4.0, so if you're using a matching or newer version, you can use it. See the docs.
It would look like this:
// create mocks
Cache mockedCache = mock(Cache.class);
ObjectCache objectCache = mock(ObjectCache.class);
MyObject myObject = new MyObject();
// define the non-static behavior for the mocks
when(mockedCache.getObjectCache())
    .thenReturn(objectCache);
when(objectCache.getObjectById(anyInt()))
    .thenReturn(myObject);
// mock static call: Cache.getSingleton()
try (MockedStatic mocked = mockStatic(Cache.class)) {
    mocked.when(Cache::getSingleton)
          .thenReturn(mockedCache);
    // run rest of the test
 }

It would be best to avoid mocking static methods and try to resolve it otherwise, e.g. add an object to the cache before executing the actually tested code, but if it's not possible - use the example above.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
William Henry Mounsey (1808 – 3 December 1877) was a British army officer and antiquarian with an interest in Persia and Jewish culture. He visited Egypt, the Middle East and other regions.

Early life
William Mounsey was christened on 25 January 1808 at St Cuthbert's Church in Carlisle, Cumberland. His father Robert Mounsey was a solicitor. The family home, Rockcliffe Manor, was at Rockcliffe, north-west of Carlisle.

Army career
Mounsey was intended to be a solicitor, like his father, but first had a military career. He purchased a commission as an ensign in the 15th Foot on 28 May 1829. He was promoted to lieutenant on 4 January 1833 and to captain on 14 April 1837. In 1838 he transferred to the 4th Foot and retired from the army in 1844. He sold his captaincy, returned to England and took over the family business as solicitor, possibly after his father's death.

Antiquarian

Circa 1850 he became an amateur archaeologist. In his civilian life he was a solicitor. He spoke fluently Greek, Latin, Persian, Welsh and of course English. According to the 1851 census, he was living in Castle Street, Carlisle with his sisters Margaret, Mary and Ann, and was the holder of property chiefly vested in landed security. After his retirement he wandered in the UK dressed in a Jewish outfit and was known as the "Jew of Carlisle". During military service in the Middle East he had become fascinated by Jewish culture. Mounsey himself designed his priestly costume and had a long beard. It has been claimed that he worked as a spy in Persia and Afghanistan and this is how he mastered the Persian language.

He is known for a carved inscription he left on the Dwarfie Stane, a Neolithic rock-cut tomb in an erratic block on the island of Hoy in Orkney. Mounsey camped here in 1850 and inscribed in Persian script in the sandstone: "I have sat two nights and so learnt patience", this is taken to be a reference to the Highland midge. Above the Persian is his own name written backwards in Latin script as 'YESNUOM SUMLEILUG'. There is an information sign with remarks about the Persian inscription and Mounsey; his surname is wrongly spelled 'Mouncey'. To the right of the Persian text is another one, possibly with the same quotation, but largely obliterated. The combination of the Persian text (right to left) and his own name written in the same way is striking.

He also left his mark on ancient sites in Cumberland. In 1850 he traced the course of the River Eden from the Solway Firth to its source in Mallerstang and set up a monument to mark the source of the river. It was an inscribed Dent Marble pillar with Hebrew, Greek and Latin elements. The Star of David was depicted. The pillar was smashed in 1870 by railway workers. In Outhgill (Cumbria) there is a replica made of limestone, called the "Jew Stone", placed in 1989 after the visit of a Jewish traveller, named Shalom Hermon, who saw the broken original in 1984. The Latin inscription translated reads: "William Mounsey, a lone traveller, commenced his journey at the mouth and finished at the source, fulfilled his vow to the genius and nymphs of the Eden on 15 March 1850".

He carved a 9th-century Welsh verse on the walls of a pre-Roman archaeological site in 1852 and left other inscriptions near the river Eden. Letters carved in reverse are typical for Mounsey.

Probably, he was the sculptor of a series of five enigmatic faces cut into the sandstone cliffs of Eden gorge near Armathwaite. Possibly the faces were a kind of self-portrait. There is a similarity between the faces, especially between the nicely worked out ones with moustache. The heads are middle-aged, like Mounsey at that time. Supposing that inscription and faces are contemporary and both done by Mounsey in 1855. This is certainly a possibility or more, considering the already mentioned arguments, pointing to his eccentricity with his urge to leave his mark during his wanderings. The inscriptions on Hoy (with his name and 1850) and near the river Eden (with 1855) are in the same bold style, have curious texts and are from the same period. The inscription near the river Eden consists of a quotation from Isaac Walton's Compleat Angler. So the nearby carved salmon could be done by Mounsey too. The carving of the heads by him is at least plausible. There are five heads, between them is a carved salmon and above them are some lines of poetry. All in soft sandstone and presumably done by Mounsey. In the book The Eden Way (Charlie Emett; 1990) two of the carved heads are depicted with the text: "Rock carvings by William Mounsey" but this is contrary to text elsewhere in the book; for instance: "The faces do not appear to carry the Mounsey stamp". There is a Stuart fireplace overmantel with similar faces, in the possession of Peter Ecroyd, who owns the part of the river near the faces (1990). He believes that the carved heads are older and not carved by Mounsey. But an older fireplace overmantel does not mean that the carving is earlier, because it could be done later. A carved head close to the end of Mounsey's inscription near the date is a striking fact.

He was fascinated by a maze or labyrinth near the boathouse in Rockcliffe marsh. It was one of a number that have been cut on the marsh in the peat at different times. He believed these to represent Caerdroia, or the Walls of Troy, and to be restricted to land occupied by Celtic people. In 1858 Mounsey drew attention to the description in a Welsh book Drych y Prif Oesoedd (Mirror of the Early Centuries) by Theophilus Evans (1716) of a custom formerly prevalent among Welsh shepherds of cutting in the turf a figure in the form of a labyrinth, a turf maze, which they called Caerdroia.

His study Tales – The Children of Lir and Cath Cluana Tairbh, (1859), and his Welsh version of Purgatorium S. Patricii, c.1860, are held in the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth. These are examples of his fascination for the Celts, but he was also interested in other cultures. Three books, one about Spinoza (Exposition des sentiments de Spinosa) and another about Persia (Curiositez inovyes) and one about ancient grammar (Institutiones grammaticae Anglo-Saxonicae et Moeso-Gothicae), are now in the Dutch Royal Library and Open Library and State Library of New South Wales with 'W. H. Mounsey' stamped in them.

He lived for some time with his brother George Gill Mounsey at Castletown House near Carlisle. Their father, Robert Mounsey, had bought the Castletown estate at Rockcliffe in 1802. William Mounsey died on 3 December 1877 at Rockcliffe Hall, near Carlisle. He did not marry.

Bibliography

Tales – The Children of Lir and Cath Cluana Tairbh (1859)
Welsh version of Purgatorium S. Patricii (c.1860)

Editions with work of Mounsey (National Library of Wales)

Papers of Evan Davies ('Ieuan Myfyr') (1829)
Gwaith Ieuan Brydydd Hir-I (1853)
Barddoniaeth (1859)
Testunau Cymraeg,etc. (1859)
Testunau Cymraeg yn llaw (1860)
Gwaith Ieuan Brydydd Hir-II (1861)
Letters from members of the Mounsey family (1862-1891)
Gwaith William Llŷn (1867)
Testunau Cymraeg yn llaw (1867)
Gweithiau Iolo Goch gyda nodiadau hanesyddol a beirniadol (1896) [Wiliam Henry Mounsey, 1859]

Castletown House
The Grade II* listed Castletown House, where Mounsey lived around 1870, is still owned by the Mounsey-Heysham family. William Mounsey's father bought Rockcliffe manor and built a large villa, Castletown (completed in 1811) by Peter Nicholson and William Reid. According to Historic Houses, Castles and Gardens, it was built in 1809 by architect Peter Nicholson.

Notes

References

1808 births
1877 deaths
British antiquarians
People associated with Orkney
People from Carlisle, Cumbria
East Yorkshire Regiment officers
King's Own Royal Regiment officers

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Illinois Domestic Workers Bill of Rights
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We at AFIRE believe in building power from the grassroots. With your support, together we can build the capacity of the Filipino immigrant community to advocate for racial, social, and economic justice. Your generous support will ensure that we continue to uplift the stories of the most marginalized members of our community and empower them to fight for equity and access.
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I started this post on December 14th, and couldn't finish it. I'm going to leave the opening as I wrote it then: By now, everyone has heard of the tragic school shooting in Connecticut. My heart goes out to everyone touched by the events. But this isn't the first school shooting on a December 14th. I went to a tiny school, Simon's Rock, and on December 14, 1992, Wayne Lo murdered my friend Galen Gibson and Professor Ñacuñán Sáez. He also shot my friend Tom McElderry. I can still remember the phone call from my friend Chi, telling me that Tommy had been shot and was in the hospital. I remember being up all night, spreading what little information we had by phone, and wondering what the hell was going on. I remember that weeks later, I'd get emails from co-workers whose local papers in places like Japan finally carried the story. For years after, I took December 14th as a day off, because it was hard to handle life with that weighing on you.
It's a sad reality that we now have enough school shootings that one of them was going to fall on an anniversary of another. (Statisticians call this the birthday problem.) It's also a sad reality that we have enough of them that schools, police and emergency responders have plans for them.
Some people like to say things like "time heals all wounds," but you know? Greg Gibson isn't going to get his son back. Ñacuñán's family isn't going to get him back. And twenty or more families in Sandy Hook will never again be the same. I'm having trouble editing this more than a month later because of how the memories flood back.
All that to say that I have some understanding of these events, and I think I can talk about them differently than a random observer.
A lot of people are using this tragedy to say we need gun control. I understand where they're coming from, and I disagree. We've had a lifetime of marijuana control, and it didn't work. We suffered under crypto controls, and they didn't work. Assholes who want a gun will likely to be able to get a gun whatever regime we put in place. There's some truth to the claim that if guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns. Maybe we'd gain some ability to catch these nuts early, but maybe not. Those who say that easy availability of guns drives murder rates must do better than simply cherry picking data. What makes the US worse than Switzerland or Israel?
Yesterday, the President outlined a set of proposals including expanded background checks, and signed executive actions including one to "encourage federal agencies and state governments to share more information." And now I find it hard to speak, and hard to remain silent.
Infringing privacy would not have stopped the events at Sandy Hook, and I worry that reducing privacy around mental health care is going to deter people who need health care from getting it. That may mean that more people will end up hurt or dead. I'm confident that no one wants that, and we need to rationally consider the tradeoff.
I also see a lot of people who are worried about gun control being so strident that they're undercutting their own case. I agree that gun control is a poor response, and I think the NRA are coming off like a bunch of idiots. I'm trying not to be strident, just add a voice to say that even from a position of grief, it's possible to see that what's proposed probably will not meet the goals.
I don't know what we should do. I do think that taking the entire TSA budget and moving it to mental health care would be a fine start.
Another fine way to proceed would be to threat model and try to judge the efficacy of the mitigation techniques. (For those who don't know me, I spent a few years designing threat modeling tools and techniques which you can read about here.) Perhaps that starts from data on how people who use guns to hurt themselves or others get them. There's an easy trope of "buys a gun and shoots someone." Is that because it's common, or because the stories are highly "available" and spring to mind? I don't know, and in that vein, more studies of gun ownership and gun violence are probably going to help. Whatever approach to threat modeling we take should also include the hundreds of millions of guns owned by hundreds of millions of people and not misused.
We can and should do better than bringing back ideas that didn't pass muster in calmer times. We should be cautious about trading a little liberty for a little safety. And whatever we do, we should do so respectful of the victims.


A LOAL Chapter is simply two or more certified teams who would like to participate, individually or in groups, in making visits. Chapters often set up regular visits at various facilities. Members may then choose to visit with the group or visit on their own. A chapter can be organized very loosely, or be more structured. LOAL was started with the idea of making it possible for people with qualified pets to participate.
A chapter provides support, motivation, and social interaction for you and your pet. More teams mean a greater variety of pets, talents, and interests. Visiting together can also help to relieve the sometimes stressful aspect of the work. Sharing your visit experiences helps to de-stress, and also educates others as to what works and what doesn't. It is good to know someone else will be there when you are unable to complete a visit.
Word spreads when the community begins to see therapy pets at work. One facility hears about the benefits and fun and wants a program for their facility. Pet owners hear about pet therapy or see a team at work. The local papers and TV stations like to share the "feel good story" on the news.
If you would like to offer pet therapy visits to a facility, an Introductory Letter and a brochure explaining Love on a Leash® can be downloaded here.
Depending on the community, as a chapter grows outward it may make sense to become two neighboring chapters. Each Chapter has a regular visit schedule and shares resources when there is a larger event like a Fair. Chapters keep in contact with each other and share each other's news when appropriate. It would be against our purpose and philosophy to become cliquish or selective in chapter formation. Any qualified team should be welcomed and encouraged.


We are going to take a look back at events that happened on this day, October 18th, in sports that either shaped the way sports are today, set records, or were extremely memorable. Thanks to On-This-Day.com and Baseball-Reference.com for the information.
1873– The first rules for intercollegiate football were written up. Representatives for Rutgers, Yale, Columbia, and Princeton universities. This went a long way in shaping today's college football and the NCAA.
1924- Illinois Running Back Red Grange ran for four touchdowns in the first 12 minutes in a game against Michigan. He ended with five touchdowns, an interception, and a touchdown pass. He went on to play for the Chicago Bears and the short lived New York Yankees of the NFL.
1956- NFL commisioner Bert Bell disallowed radio equipped helmets, which quarterbacks would use.
1967– Major League Baseball approves the relocation of the Kansas City A's to Oakland, and established a new team in KC and one in Seattle.
1968- The U.S Olympic Committee suspended two black athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, for giving a "black power salute" during a ceremony in Mexico City.
1968- Bob Beamon's long jump of 29'2″1/2 set a new record at the 1968 Mexico Olympics. The record remained unbroken for almost 23 years until it was broken by Mike Powell in 1991.
1977- Reggie Jackson ties Babe Ruth for most homeruns hit in a single World Series game with three, only the second active player to do it at the time.
And that is what happened on This Day In Sports. Follow The Athletes Hub on Twitter @HubOfAthletes and follow me personally @SickeningSum86.
Next Top 5 MLB players by position.


(Page 17 of 17) - EVALUATION OF A BOLIVIAN RADIO BROADCASTING CAMPAIGN: 'FOR STRONGER AND HEALTHIER CHILDREN' authored by Maxwell, Kimberly., Borwanker, Reena. and Gonzalez Yucra, Oscar.
Unformatted Document Text: Bolivian Media Campaign: For Stronger and Healthier Children 15 References Academy for Educational Development. World LINKAGES. Bolivia Country Report, Sep 2002. Cole TJ in Margaretts BM & Nelson M, eds Design Concepts in Nutritional Epidemiology, Oxford Medical Publications, Oxford, 1991. Hornik, R. Development Communication: Information, Agriculture, and Nutrition in the Third World,NY: Longman, 1988. Hornik R. ed, Public Health Communication: Evidence for Behavior Change, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2002. Kincaid DL, Meritt AP, Nickerson L, Buffington S, de Castro MP & de Castro BM, Impact of a mass media vasectomy promotion campaign in Brazil, in Hornik, R. ed. Public Health Communication: Evidence for Behavior Change, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2002. Lande R. Controlling sexually transmitted diseases, Population Reports, 21(1), p 27, June 1991. McCauley AP, Robey B, Blanc AK & Geller JS. Opportunities for women through reproductive choice, Population Reports, 22(1) p 39. July 1994. McDivitt JA, Zimicki S, Hornik R & Abulaban A. The impact of the Healthcom mass media campaign on timely initiation of breastfeeding in Jordan, Studies in Family Planning, 24(5), p. 295, Sep-Oct 1993. Ojeda G, Vernon R. & Murad R. IEC service delivery and condom distribution through family planning organizations for AIDS and STD prevention. Bogota, Association pro-Bienestar de la Familia Colombiana and the Populations Council, 1989. Valente T & Saba WP. Reproductive health is in your hands: The national media campaign in Bolivia. SEICUS Report, vol. 25(2), pp 10-13, Dec1996/Jan 1997.
Academy for Educational Development. World LINKAGES. Bolivia Country Report, Sep 2002.
Evidence for Behavior Change, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2002.
Lande R. Controlling sexually transmitted diseases, Population Reports, 21(1), p 27, June 1991.
Population Reports, 22(1) p 39. July 1994.
timely initiation of breastfeeding in Jordan, Studies in Family Planning, 24(5), p. 295, Sep-Oct 1993.
Colombiana and the Populations Council, 1989.
Valente T & Saba WP. Reproductive health is in your hands: The national media campaign in Bolivia.
SEICUS Report, vol. 25(2), pp 10-13, Dec1996/Jan 1997.


text:
The Next Big Fish To Be Hauled – Hishammuddin Indirectly Admits Involvement In Dubious Land Swap Deals
Hishammuddin Hussein, the cousin of Najib Razak, the former prime minister who faces a total of 42 charges of criminal breach of trust (CBT), money laundering and abuse of power linked to 1MDB, was once a rising star groomed to become Malaysia's next leader. After all, he belongs to the "bangsawan class" of politicians or the political elite.
As the son of the country's third Prime Minister, Hussein Onn, he didn't have to work very hard to get where he was before the stunning downfall of the previous Barisan Nasional government. He had been already a minister since 1999 at the age of 38, until last May, when the government his cousin was in charge lost power for the first time in 61 years since 1957 independence.
Even at the height of 1MDB scandal, there were rumours that Najib Razak might step down to rescue the plunging popularity of UMNO party, and hand over the baton to his cousin. The rumours went hyper-drive when Mr. Hishammuddin was appointed Special Functions Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in April 2017, something that had happened only to Daim Zainuddin ages ago.
As everyone fought for the UMNO presidency left vacuum by the disgraced Najib Razak, Mr. Hishammuddin had chosen a different path of abandoning the sinking ship – at least temporarily. As the people demanded justice, it was the clever thing to do to prevent him from being one of the hottest targets of investigations over wrongdoings during the 61 years of previous corrupt administration.
To rebrand his image as the good guy, Hishammuddin had even offered to find his cousin's partner-in-crime, Jho Low, to appease and suck up to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. He has also been linked to be the man behind Sabah UMNO defections. At the peak, to save his skin, Hishammuddin was suspected to have turned UMNO traitor who would leave the party with 30 MPs.
Once an arrogant and racist UMNO warlord, Hishammuddin's past corruption and abuse of power have slowly but surely emerged to haunt him. When Defense Minister Mohamad Sabu and deputy Liew Chin Tong revealed on Feb 19 that more than RM500 million from some land swap deals worth RM4.75 billion was lost, Hishammuddin was immediately caught with his pants down.
Like his cousin Najib, Mr. Hishammuddin rubbished allegations of abusing MINDEF (Ministry of Defense) assets, despite the fact he was the Defense Minister from 2013 to 2018, during which 13 of the 16 dubious land swaps involving 2,932 acres of land were carried out during Barisan Nasional government. The despicable Hishammuddin told the new defence minister to stop politicking.
But the MINDEF land-swap scandal involving project development cost of RM4.886 billion was simply too massive to be swept under the carpet. On May 13, when the fiasco refused to go away, Hishammuddin Hussein challenged Defense Minister Mohamad Sabu and deputy Liew Chin Tong to prove he benefited from land swap deals.
Apparently, discrepancies were found in the Defense Ministry's 59-page audit report, including the sale of land below market value or granting of projects to unqualified developers. The suspicious land swaps were also done to illegally shift military voters to constituencies of four Barisan Nasional warlords – Hishammudin Hussein, Ahmad Zahid, Ismail Sabri Yaakob and S. Subramaniam.
The cousin of Najib declared – "I challenge Mohamad and Liew to prove that I have personally benefited financially and politically. My advices to them both, if they live in glass houses, don't throw stones." Without Hishammuddin realizing it, his declaration of challenge is an indirect admission of wrongdoing, and he was betting Mahathir government would not dare touch him.
Yes, the cousin of the crooked Najib thought he was untouchable because the controversial land deals had started even from 1997 when Mahathir Mohamad was the prime minister. So, Hishammuddin's belief was that if the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigates him, they would have to also investigate the 93-year-old PM who ruled the country for 22 years from 1981 to 2003.
To Hishammuddin's horror, PM Mahathir said nobody is above the law and the police will investigate anyone, including former prime ministers, over the Defense Ministry's controversial land swap deals. Perhaps Hishammuddin should do his homework before throwing half-baked challenges to the new government.
Sure, Mahathir was the man who walked the corridors of power when dubious land swaps had started from 1997. But the defence minister from 1995 to 1999 was Syed Hamid Albar, not Mahathir. In contrast, Najib Razak was defence minister from 1999 to 2008, follows by Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (2008-2009), Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (2009-2013) and of course, Hishammuddin himself (2013-2018).
Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu revealed that 13 of the 16 land swaps carried out during the Barisan Nasional's administration involved Hishammuddin and his cousin Najib Razak. Hence, over 80% of the misappropriation and abuse of power were committed by both cousin-brothers during their tenure as defence ministers. The rest 3 cases could have been committed by either Albar or Badawi or Zahid.
Regardless, Mahathir was not involved. If the old man was somehow involved, either directly or indirectly, both Najib and Hishammuddin would have told all and sundry that it was Mahathir who gave the instruction for the land swap deals, no? Najib would have taken to social media Facebook and shouted his lungs out that Mahathir told him to swap the lands.
Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu and deputy Liew Chin Tong have not actually made any allegation that Hishammuddin had personally benefited "financially". However, Mr. Hishammuddin, infamous for his "Keris (Malay dagger)" waving stunt in an attempt to intimidate non-Malay into kowtowing to the supremacy of UMNO-Malay, has clearly "benefited politically."
Both Hishammuddin and Najib could have abused their powers, working hand-in-glove with the previous corrupt Election Commission and illegally shifted military voters to vulnerable constituencies to ensure unfair victory for Barisan Nasional. This is not the first case of abuse of power allegedly committed by the so-called "bangsawan" politicians though.
Last December, the same cousin brothers of Najib and Hishammuddin were exposed to have had secretly deployed the military boys to Saudi Arabia, exposing them to unnecessary risks in their involvement in the "Yemeni Civil War". Since June 11, 2015, about 27 officers and 62 rank-and-file troops were deployed to Saudi for "Ops Yemen 2" – without approval from the Cabinet.
Hishammuddin had previously shamelessly continued using the military bodyguards, despite losing power and was no longer a defence minister. He claimed that the bodyguards were part of his security detail for a "temporary period". He was also responsible for the deaths of 6 civilians and 10 Malaysian military forces, when the braggart mishandled the 2013 Lahat Datu invasion by militants from the Philippines.
For a very long time, Hishammuddin had freely abused his power because of his elite family background. It's time Mahathir government catches the next big fish. The MACC should start investigating the RM4.886 billion worth of the scandalous land swap deals. Even if former defence minister Syed Albar, a member of Mahathir's Bersatu political party, is implicated, so be it.
Act Of Treason – Cousin Brothers Najib & Hishammuddin Deployed Military To "Yemeni Civil War" Without Approval
Help Yourself To The Cash – Najib's Top Spy Girl Hasanah Was A Shameless Thief After All
Hishammuddin's Military Bodyguards – A Result Of 61 Years Of Abuse Of Power & UMNO Supremacy
CIA Letter Authenticated!! – Meet Hasanah, The Intelligence Agency Chief Who Isn't That Intelligent
Liar Najib Admits Authenticity Of CIA Letter – Here's Why He Should Be Interrogated & Charged For Treason
Facing Up To 20 Years In Jail, Najib Loses A Vital Witness As Traitor Zahid Hamidi Changes His Arab Donor Story
Ex-Police Chief Khalid In Trouble – The Traitor Who Tipped Off A.G. Gani's Charge Papers On Najib
Did Najib Pawn & Drag Malaysian Soldiers Into Syrian War For RM2.6 Billion?
Corruption, Military, Real Estate Properties, Scandal
Comment by Taib on May 16, 2019 at 6:48 am
Dumb opinion by writer here. This guy is not a racist but rather his allegiance is to the any leader of the day. A racist will not have a son completing his studies in China! His loyalty to the Malay leadership is unquestioned leading him to become abrasive to some UMNO leadership. If you color him as a racist by your yardstick, M Kula the Ular is racist. Waytha Moorthy is another. Indians will disagree but to a Malay listening to a speech by say, Kula, they'll say this guy's dangerous.
Comment by Rosnah on May 16, 2019 at 12:41 pm
Hishamuddin is amongst the best minister BN malaysia ever had. Experienced and capable. Esp.pn his handling of theh370.It is total crab about corruption on his part he comes frm a decent military family bbackground.