Let's go through his allegations point by point...
Randi is using his million dollar challenge to bully the psychic community.
Offering someone a million dollars to prove that they really can do what they claim they can do (and charge money for doing) hardly counts as bullying.
The challenge is set up in a way that nobody can beat it.
The challenge is set up so that the person making the claim designs the test protocol, and JREF approves the protocol if it meets the necessary requirements to demonstrate that the ability is real.
The only reason why nobody would be able to beat a test that they themselves designed to demonstrate their own abilities would be if their claimed abilities didn't actually exist.
Nobody has been able to beat the preliminary challenge.
The preliminary challenge is the same as the final challenge, except the final challenge is done under closer scrutiny with more stringent controls to make sure there is no trickery, and that passing the preliminary challenge wasn't just a fluke.
But the test protocol
doesn't change, it's the same test in both cases. If someone can pass the preliminary test, they can just as easily pass the final test. If nobody's been able to beat the preliminary test, that's only because nobody has demonstrated they have the abilities they claim.
Mediums and psychics that have produced paranormal evidence when scientifically tested at the Windbridge Institute.
One of the key concepts in the scientific process is repeatability. If they are getting valid results, then other institutes should be able to get the same results. If their test protocols are valid, then they can submit them as test protocols for the Million Dollar Challenge.
The fact that this one institute is claiming to produce these results while other organizations cannot replicate them casts serious doubt on their findings.
The challenge is not legally enforcible.
To enter into the challenge you sign a legally binding contract with JREF. If you win, JREF is legally required to pay you the money.
If an applicant beats the two tests, Randi can tell the applicant to "get lost, I had the money yesterday but not today".
Randi doesn't have the money, JREF does. Randi has no say as to what happens to it. The details are public record, anyone can verify that the money exists.
Randi makes the applicants sign a document saying that they will not sue Randi or JREF for any reason.
Read the application yourself:
http://www.randi.org/site/images/stories/MDC-Rules-and-Application-2011-03-09.pdf
The applicant waives the right to sue for injury, financial loss, emotional distress, etc. But it specifically states that the applicant
DOES NOT waive the right to sue in order to enforce payment.
The challenge is not put on oath, nor pursuant to perjury laws.
This accusation doesn't even make sense. The applicant isn't standing up in court of law to declare that he has these powers, nor is he signing a statutory declaration that these powers exist. He's
demonstrating that these powers exist.
But then he talks about Randi going to jail if he reneges on the challenge. But that's what a legally binding contract is for. Perjury law doesn't come into it until stands up in court to testify, in which case perjury law does apply.
The challenge is subject to the experimenter effect,
That's why double-blinding exists, to remove experimenter effect from the equation. It's standard procedure in scientific studies. This is built into the test protocols where appropriate, and is not a problem.
The results have to be self-evident. But self-evident to whom?
That's why the protocols are required to clearly define what does or does not qualify as a "pass" or "fail" in a way that can be objectively measured, and is not a matter of subjective opinion.
Evidence is a highly technical matter. You'd need a litigation lawyer to tell you what constitutes admissible psychic evidence.
He's committing an equivocation fallacy here. The evidence doesn't have to be admissible in a court of law. It's a challenge, not a trial. Both parties agree on what they will consider acceptable evidence beforehand, and this is written into the contract. There is no ambiguity.
Randi has exclusive control and ownership of all "evidence".
The application gives JREF the right to freely
use the evidence, not exclusive control and ownership.
There is no mention of the levels of statistical significance required for the results.
This is determined when the protocol is negotiated. Required statistical significance is clearly defined, there is no room allowed for dispute.
Professor Dennis Roys claims that Randy told him that he'd always have a way out of paying off the challenge.
I'd have thought a lawyer would be wary of the pitfalls of hearsay.
Randi is a master of illusion. The money is an illusion. There is no money.
Non-profit organizations such as JREF are required to make their financial statements a matter of public record. The million-dollar challenge bank statement can be viewed here:
http://www.randi.org/site/images/stories/evercore.pdf
Assets: $1,201,027.16
Does he think that Randi would risk imprisonment by providing false documentation?
