Audio Critic

[KRAMER]

What I really, really SHOULD have said:

Perhaps he meant the longest thread pertaining directly to the JREF?

I meant to say that it's the longest thread in the history of the Challenge section of the JREF forum that I am personally aware of but I may be wrong and I often am wrong because I'm only human and if I am wrong about such an utterly trivial thing I absolutely must humbly beg you to forgive me and implore you to try your best NOT to hold it against my descendents and of course I must never forget to beg the forgiveness of (and prostate myself before) any nitpicky forum members who need to go out and GET A LIFE.

That's what I ought to have said.

You re-define the word TROLL, Beleth. You really do.

Revising history, eh? How the hell will I get to sleep tonight if I can't stop laughing?

 

[LostAngeles]

This thread would be a heckuvalot shorter, at least in screen real estate, if some people wouldn't have 7/8 of the post in their signature.

I'm just sayin'.

Hey now

I only have 7 inches to my sig now.

 

[Winny]

Re: What I really, really SHOULD have said:

snipped stuff

Congratulations on securing the 1000th reply to this thread. Please select any toy from the third row.

Winny

 

[Beleth]

Re: What I really, really SHOULD have said:

I meant to say that it's the longest thread in the history of the Challenge section of the JREF forum that I am personally aware of but I may be wrong and I often am wrong because I'm only human and if I am wrong about such an utterly trivial thing I absolutely must humbly beg you to forgive me and implore you to try your best NOT to hold it against my descendents and of course I must never forget to beg the forgiveness of (and prostate myself before) any nitpicky forum members who need to go out and GET A LIFE.

Wow.


What can I say but...


"prostrate".



And also that for someone with such high standards for written communication from others, you sure get tetchy when others hold you to a similar standard.

Revising history, eh? How the hell will I get to sleep tonight if I can't stop laughing?

Make yourself a nice hot cup of chamomile tea,
play an Enya CD,
and reconcile what Randi says at the beginning of chapter 13 of FLIM-FLAM! regarding how many applicants have passed the Challenge's preliminary test with what the official JREF position is now.

That should get you to stop laughing.

 

[alfaniner]

This thread would be a heckuvalot shorter, at least in screen real estate, if some people wouldn't have 7/8 of the post in their signature.

I'm just sayin'.

I don't even see the signatures... not even my own.

I wonder how it would go over if I quoted any one of PianoTeacher's posts in my sig.

 

[jmercer]

This thread would be a heckuvalot shorter, at least in screen real estate, if some people wouldn't have 7/8 of the post in their signature.

I'm just sayin'.

I'm thinking of removing mayday's quotes, anyway... s/he's become such an obvious troll it's not as much fun as when I could take her/him semi-seriously.

 

[BPSCG]

I'm thinking of removing mayday's quotes, anyway... s/he's become such an obvious troll it's not as much fun as when I could take her/him semi-seriously.

While you're at it, there's no evidence that Edmund Burke ever said that or wrote it.

 

[jmercer]

While you're at it, there's no evidence that Edmund Burke ever said that or wrote it.

That's the first time I've heard that, but it doesn't really matter to me. He's widely credited with the remark... no matter who said it, it's still an important statement to make.

mayday's commentary is now gone, though.

 

[KRAMER]

STUPID?

...and reconcile what Randi says at the beginning of chapter 13 of FLIM-FLAM! regarding how many applicants have passed the Challenge's preliminary test with what the official JREF position is now. That should get you to stop laughing.

Do you know how to read, or did you just think I wouldn't research your stupid accusation and let it go unanswered?

Go back to school and study basic reading and comprehension.

Nowhere does it state that anyone has "passed the Challenge's preliminary test", as you so conveniently (and falsely) paraphrase it in support of your own mindless, intellectually impoverished agenda.

The "preliminaries" Randi refers to at the beginning of Chapter 13 of FLIM-FLAM are the preliminary stages of the negotiations, meaning that the 54 applicants refered to actually succeeded in communicating what they claim to be able to do, and how they will demonstrate it. No mention was made of the Challenge's premliminary test. It would behoove you to put some effort into the task of learning how to read. There are special schools out there than can help you with that, if you even care.

I don't know if you're stupid or just a liar (which is worse?), but either way, you won't get any more of my attention, no matter how much you lie. Your effluvium splashes off me and runs down into the gutter from this point forward.

No one has EVER passed the Challenge's Preliminary Test. This is a statement of FACT.

FACT. Look it up.

p.s. I'm still laughing.

 

[jmercer]

Ouch - angry.

 

[Winny]

Does somebody out there want to post what Randi says at the beginning of chapter 13 of "FLIM-FLAM!"? The suspense is killing me...

 

[Sherman Bay]

Does somebody out there want to post what Randi says at the beginning of chapter 13 of "FLIM-FLAM!"? The suspense is killing me...

"During a radio panel discussion back in 1964, I was challenged by a parapsychologist to 'put your money where you mouth is,' and I responded.... In response to that challenge, over 650 persons have applied as claimants. Only 54 (as of this writing) ever made it past the preliminaries, and none of them ever got a nickel." -- Fifth printing, 1986 (1982 copyright)

If you want more, you can always buy the book...

 

[Sherman Bay]

"...54...made it past the preliminaries..." It sounds to me that Randi was saying that 54 applicants passed the preliminary test, but Kramer says that "the preliminaries" is the preliminary negotiation stage, not a test of any kind.

I would not have interpreted the text that way, although that might have been Randi's intention.

 

[KRAMER]

Kramer didn't say it. Randi said it, and I then offered it here as clarification, at least for those reasonable enough to accept it. I knew for certain that at least one forum member would reject it.

The explanation came directly from Randi. The sentence in question in FLIM-FLAM made no reference to the preliminary test, and although his use of the word "passed" may today seem to be potentially misleading (as a test is either passed or failed), only a woo-woo would continue to argue about this after a clarification was offered, especially since everyone knows that no one has ever passed the preliminary test.
To accuse Randi of lying or "revising history" based upon semantics is just stupid, and I called it just that.

"Why are you asking me this, Kramer? You know perfectly well that no one has ever passed the preliminary. It's common knowledge."

Perhaps Randi ought not to have used to word "preliminary", or should have used the term "preliminary stage of the negotiations" instead, but he did not. When I told him my reason for asking (and of the debate in the forum), he looked at me blankly for a moment, and then turned back toward his computer and the work at hand.

I deserved that, just as Beleth deserved my nasty admonition.

Most importantly perhaps is the simple fact that FLIM-FLAM was written prior to the Million Dollar Challenge, and prior to any so-called preliminary test. At the time of FLIM-FLAM there was only a $10,000 prize, and there was no preliminary test. So the discrepency in nomenclature is, I think, entirely understandable. Except of course to a woo-woo.

Without the existence (at the time the sentence in question was written) of any preliminary test, the use of the word "preliminary" is no crime, and is certainly not misleading in any way.

The clarification offered here ought to put an end to this. I hope it does.

In case you need more...from Randi's Personal Challenge FAQ:

(3) To date, how many persons have been tested for the million-dollar prize offered by JREF?

That's not a simple question to answer. Many hundreds have applied, and most have had to be instructed to reapply — sometimes several times — because they did it incorrectly or incompletely. There are, at any given time, about 40 to 60 applicants being considered, but from experience we know that the vast majority will drop out even before any proper preliminary test can be designed. Of those who get to the preliminary stage, perhaps a third will actually be tested, and some of those will quit before completion. To date, no one has actually passed the simple preliminaries and arrived at the formal test stage, though a couple hundred have completed and failed the preliminaries. So, no one has been formally tested for the big prize, though we're ready and willing.

 

[webfusion]

a Challenge FAQ written by...

Beleth, who apparently (and this FAQ adopted by JREF is evidence) can both read and write clearly enough.

Now, I have a real question for KRAMER.

Was Mr Anda notified by eMail that his Challenge Application was rejected? I asked the Applicant directly here, but he was suspended, so the issue remains up in the air.

Just curious.


[[[[[[ ETA --- I am just wondering if notification in the Forum is sufficient, or does a personal communication need to be made to make things "official"? ]]]]]]]

 

[jmercer]

Re: a Challenge FAQ written by...

Beleth, who apparently (and this FAQ adopted by JREF is evidence) can both read and write clearly enough.

Now, I have a real question for KRAMER.

Was Mr Anda notified by eMail that his Challenge Application was rejected? I asked the Applicant directly here, but he was suspended, so the issue remains up in the air.

Just curious.


[[[[[[ ETA --- I am just wondering if notification in the Forum is sufficient, or does a personal communication need to be made to make things "official"? ]]]]]]]

Is notification by email a requirement? I don't recall seeing that, but I may have missed it.

He was told here in the forums by Kramer in the massive thread... plus his application was closed over in the Apps sub-forum. Even if no email was issued, that's a pretty clear shutdown to me.

 

[KRAMER]

What "issue"?

Now, I have a real question for KRAMER.

Was Mr Anda notified by eMail that his Challenge Application was rejected? I asked the Applicant directly here, but he was suspended, so the issue remains up in the air.

Just curious.

Yes.

Although there is no rule regarding a requirement for any notice in writing to be submitted by the JREF to an applicant notifying them that their claim is being rejected, Mr. Anda is aware that his claim was rejected, as evidenced here in his MY STRUGGLE thread. There is no doubt that he is aware. None.

All we really need do is be sure that the applicant knows of it.

And he knows it.

We are not required to submit a rejection letter to him via post or email, if that's what you are asking, but we always do, regardless.

 

[Wellfed]

Bullwinkle! Just test me.

How've you all been?

I am not a profane person, but let me state in my first post back from vacation (which I did in fact enjoy) that I sincerely apologize for my use of profanity. I wasn't cognizant that I was breaking any rule. Had I been, I would have behaved myself appropriately. I simply view myself as having followed precedent.

BTW, I never did receive a single cease and desist order despite Kramer's assertion to the contrary. Hmmm, now why is that doesn't surprise me?

 

[-42-]

Re: Bullwinkle! Just test me.

BTW, I never did receive a single cease and desist order despite Kramer's assertion to the contrary. Hmmm, now why is that doesn't surprise me?

Guess you didn't read the threads where you spammed profanity, huh?

Or did you go such on a profanity spree you don't even recall the number of posts that you suddenly used it in?

 

[webfusion]

I strenuously object...

Hey, Anda, can you please find another euphemism for your profanity? It bothers me to see you bringing one of the most lovable and innocent characters of cartoondom into this discussion as a substitute for a "curse word" ----

• Gee, Rocky, when do ya think that Wellfed will come to realize that he isn't going to be tested? He even got the eMail telling him so! What a maroon!