Possum Point says it may be source of humming noise
By AILEEN STRENG
Potomac News
<http://www.potomacnews.com/servlet/...c=MGArticle&cid=1031773112894&path=!frontpage>
"Dominion Virginia officials believe their Possum Point power plant may indeed be the source of a nighttime hum that has been bothering some nearby residents."
How Satan is propping up Bush's war on terror
By Andrew O'Hehir
Salon
http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2004/01/17/satan/index.html
"Bill Ellis goes to some lengths to convince you that he's a normal American. The biographical blurb in the back of his new book, "Lucifer Ascending: The Occult in Folklore and Popular Culture," assures readers that he's an "active member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America" -- perhaps the most mainstream and least controversial religious affiliation one can imagine."
Girl, 16, Details Sex in Cult Trial
Associated Press
http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=41607
"A 16-year-old girl told a federal jury Wednesday cult leader Malachi York began molesting her at age 5 and would sodomize or have sex with her several times a week over an eight-year period."
Cult leader painted as conspiracy victim
By BILL TORPY
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0104/16nuwaub.html
"Several followers of Nuwaubian leader and accused child molester Malachi York testified Thursday that his organization was designed to "uplift" and that his accusers are part of an ongoing effort to discredit him."
Nuwaubian members testify York's accusers untrustworthy
By Russ Bynum
Associated Press
http://www.athensnewspapers.com/stories/011604/new_20040116032.shtml
"Longtime members of Dwight ''Malachi'' York's quasi-religious cult defended their leader in court Thursday, describing York as a father figure and those who accuse him of child molestation as liars."
Alleged victims deny any abuse by sect leader
By Terry Dickson
Morris News Service
http://www.athensnewspapers.com/stories/011704/new_20040117035.shtml
"Five young women whom the government contends were sexually molested as children by cult leader Dwight ''Malachi'' York all denied Friday that York ever molested them."
Woman fakes cancer in scam for money
By SHAWN ANKROM
Springfield News-Sun
http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/n...ws/2004/01/16/1074314810.26609.4304.1633.html
"A former nursing home worker who feigned having a terminal illness and scammed thousands of dollars from friends and the elderly will spend the weekend in jail."
Woman who faked cancer sentenced
Associated Press
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/LAW/01/17/cancer.hoax.ap/
"A woman who accepted $6,400 in donations after shaving her head and dyeing her skin to make it appear she had cancer has been sentenced to three days in jail and three years of probation."
Nessie-hunter explains away 'mystery' creature
Inverness Courier
http://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news.asp?storyvar=8501
"NESSIE-HUNTER Steve Feltham believes he has solved one mystery of the loch and the identity of a strange beastie found on its shores."
Anaheim psychic group sees miracles in its past
By David Haldane
LOS ANGELES TIMES
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/7725053.htm
"Rich Powers was sitting on a folding chair with his eyes tightly shut when something brought him to full attention."
Lecture to explore statistical corroboration of psychic abilities
Village Soup
http://rockland.villagesoup.com/orgnews/Orgnews.cfm?StoryID=10675
"A professor of statistics from the University of California, Davis, will discuss the surprising degree that scientific testing corroborates the existence of certain psychic abilities, in a talk at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22, in the Keck Classroom (G52) of Pettengill Hall, Bates College."
Big plans to catch bigfoot
By Yunmi Choi
San Mateo Daily Journal
http://www.smdailyjournal.org/article.cfm?issue=01-16-04&storyID=27359
"It’s a master plan that includes global positioning, aerial surveillance and ground patrol."
Water torture
by Ben Goldacre
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/badscience/story/0,12980,1122903,00.html
"You've got to get up pretty early in the morning to catch a Sunday Times beauty journalist out. "Harriet Griffey thought bottled water was a con, until mountain-pure H <->2O healed her senses.""
When the sums don't add up
by Ben Goldacre
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/opinion/story/0,12981,1122915,00.html
"Like most people who know the first thing about science, I don't usually bother to read scare stories in the media, as I know they're not going to tell me anything useful. Parabens from deodorant in breast cancer cells? That sounds interesting. Oh, you haven't measured it in normal cells yet. Thanks for wasting my time. Four minutes poorer, life goes on."
Truth about the cancer trap
by Felicity Lawrence, Ian Sample and Alok Jha
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/feature/story/0,13026,1122913,00.html
"No, you shouldn't. Yes, you should. If it weren't so serious, there might have been something funny about the row between scientists either side of the Atlantic about how much salmon we should all eat."
Get poor quick!
By A.C. Thompson
San Francisco Bay Guardian
http://www.sfbg.com/38/16/cover_poor.html
"THE SALESMAN IS named Steven Lloyd. Or so he says."
Perpetual Motion is Sunk
By Jay Ingram and David Newland
Jay's Journal
http://www.exn.ca/Stories/2004/01/15/51.asp
"Dunking your doughnut into your coffee is an act so instinctive, you probably don't even think about it. That's too bad, because if you did think about it, you'd probably do it a lot more effectively."
Ghost stories
BY ERICA CURTIS
Rochester City Newspaper
http://www.rochester-citynews.com/gbase/Gyrosite/Content?oid=oid:2330
""I don't know if you've ever had the experience where your eyes are shut but you can still see through your lids?""
Another Dem named Lyndon
Metro Times Detroit
http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=5847
"A group of Democrats — including two former state legislators from Detroit, a state rep from Kalamazoo, a handful of leaders from union locals and a few county-level party officials — wants to know why state party leaders aren’t allowing perennial presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche onto the Michigan ballot."
Gift for finding water flows in preacher
By ALONZO WESTON
St. Joseph News-Press
http://www.stjoenews-press.com/Main.asp?SectionID=81&SubSectionID=272&ArticleID=48977
"The Rev. Sanford Reed Jr. slammed his gnarled hand down hard on the kitchen table and sprung to his feet."
Rumors of Castro's death sweep Miami-Dade -- again
Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/7729760.htm
"Uncorroborated rumors that Cuban President Fidel Castro had died or suffered a stroke buzzed around Miami-Dade County on Friday, with anxious callers inundating police departments, media outlets and exile groups."
Teenage girl's x-ray vision baffles scientists
Ananova
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_855907.html
(Are all Russian psychic girls named Natalia? - <http://www.time.com/time/columnist/jaroff/article/0,9565,199773,00.html>)
"Russian scientists have been unable to disprove a teenage girl who claims she has x-ray vision and can see inside human bodies."
US extremists to be sentenced over bomb plot
by Julian Borger
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1118118,00.html
"Three Americans are due to be sentenced next month for their involvement in a plot to explode a cyanide bomb capable of killing thousands of people, in a case that has served as a reminder that homegrown terrorism is still a menace in a country permanently braced for another attack from abroad."
Engaging in forgetful behaviour
By ANNE McILROY
Toronto Globe & Mail
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040110/MEMORY10/TPScience/
"The courtroom tales were lurid and, in hindsight, difficult to believe. Satanic sacrifices of babies, forced sex with animals, torture and sexual abuse of infants and young children. Victims came forward as adults, saying they had recovered forgotten memories of terrible events that had occurred in their childhood."
Herbal remedies 'threaten plants'
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3377985.stm
"The growing demand for herbal remedies is threatening to wipe out 10,000 of the world's 50,000 medicinal plant species, conservation group WWF says."
Tale of the Tapia treasure continues to tantalize
by TERRY CARTER
Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/rcv/la-rcv-timelines16jan16,1,1607627.story
"By now everybody in Rancho Cucamonga must know the original story of the Tapia treasure, but the sequel is not as well known though equally entertaining. If the original story of the burial rates as "Treasure Wars," then it's time for the next installment: "The Treasure Strikes Back.""
Scientists pour scorn on doctor's human clone boast
by Jo Revill
The Observer
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1125704,00.html
"A US fertility specialist flew into Britain yesterday to announce that he had transferred the first cloned embryo into a woman - but he refused to give a shred of evidence to back up his astonishing boast."
Doctor claims human clone
by SANDRO CONTENTA
Toronto Star
<http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...580&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968350060724>
"A controversial U.S. fertility expert is being widely condemned for sensational claims that he implanted a cloned human embryo into a 35-year-old woman."
Human clone pregnancy bid
Agence France-Presse
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,8424006%5E401,00.html
"A US fertility specialist today said he had implanted a cloned human embryo in a woman's womb, reigniting controversy over attempts to create the world's first cloned human."
Dismay at report of implanted human clone
By Peter Fray
Sydney Morning Herald
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/18/1074360636506.html
"Doctors, politicians and religious and pressure groups have denounced an announcement by a US doctor that he has beaten the world to implant a cloned human embryo in a woman's womb - and wants more volunteers to join her."
Rocky Ryan, scourge of Fleet Street, dies at 66
by Jamie Doward
The Observer
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1125733,00.html
"At first it was thought that Rocky Ryan was up to his old tricks. Rumours of the death yesterday, at the age of 66, of the legendary newspaper hoaxer - who once conned the Sun into leading with a story that Shergar was alive and living in Jersey - sparked suspicions that Ryan was attempting his most audacious joke yet."
Kucinich's own crusade
By Steve Miller
WASHINGTON TIMES
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20040114-113844-3797r.htm
"The smell of incense and cinnamon hangs in the air during a reception for Dennis J. Kucinich at a country mansion outside this "meditation community," a town of 9,500 and the home base of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Natural Law Party."
Peace, and Kucinich, Gets a Chance
By JENNIFER 8. LEE
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/18/fashion/18IOWA.html
"In this little pocket of Iowa, houses are built to face the rising sun, something called yogic flying is a popular pastime and Dennis J. Kucinich is a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination."
Local residents' opinions divided on Ephedra ban
by BRIAN SHAPPELL
Hagerstown Herald-Mail
http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=71279&format=html
"Local fitness industry employees and workout buffs are divided on the use of dietary supplements containing Ephedra in the wake of the Food and Drug Administration's recent announcement that such products will be banned in 2004."
Millions in quest for 'miracle cures'
By MASAMI ITO
Japan Times
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fl20040118a1.htm
"Cocoa isn't exactly the No. 1 drink of choice in Japan, but late in 1995 you would have been hard pressed to find any at all in stores. That wasn't because of a contamination scare or anything -- but because shoppers were clamoring to get their hands on the stuff."
Benefits of alternative medicine presented
By MICHAEL ERB
PARKERSBURG NEWS & SENTINEL
http://www.newsandsentinel.com/news/story/0118202004_new04_alternative.asp
"Health care workers, wellness care providers and interested community members gathered Saturday at St. Joseph's Hospital to hear presentations on the healing benefits of energy medicine."
Calendar showcases former Times chief photographer's favorite subject
By Jack Broom
Seattle Times
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/northwestlife/2001837594_scaylea16.html
"Theirs has been an unusual love affair. For decades, he rushed to see her any time of the day, any season of the year. She, on the other had, never took a step in his direction."
Cardinal takes a crack at 'The Da Vinci Code'
BY CATHLEEN FALSANI
Chicago Sun-Times
http://www.suntimes.com/output/falsani/cst-nws-fals09.html
"Let's corner Dan Brown and noogie him until he tells us the truth about his book The Da Vinci Code."
More answers from George on 'Da Vinci Code'
BY CATHLEEN FALSANI
Chicago Sun-Times
http://www.suntimes.com/output/falsani/cst-nws-fals16.html
"Well, that struck a nerve. As the e-mails poured in from far and wide in response to last week's column about Dan Brown's novel The DaVinci Code (fact, fiction or both?), I started to wonder if I might hear from all of the readers of the 4.5 million copies in print."
Not everyone thrilled about 'Da Vinci Code'
By JEROME WEEKS
Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/texasliving/stories/011604dnlivdavinciside.27829.html
"The Da Vinci Code is not the gospel truth. That hasn't stopped thousands of avid readers, though."
‘Code’ stirs pot of controversy, questions
By Michelle Martin
Catholic New World
http://catholicnewworld.com/cnw/issue/code_011804.html
"When Rosalind Hays first read “The Da Vinci Code,” she didn’t look at it as anything but entertainment."
The Da Vinci decoding: Book sparks a quest for knowledge
by Sarah T. Williams
Minneapolis Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4324362.html
"Pastors Pam Fickenscher and Erik Strand of Edina Community Lutheran Church plugged in the coffee pot last Sunday night and stood ready to greet the 60 or so people they were expecting for a talk on " 'The Da Vinci Code' and the Bible: Sorting Out Faith and Fiction.""
Woman’s murder still haunts family
by LINDA N. WELLER
Alton Telegraph
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10828349&BRD=1719&PAG=461&dept_id=25271&rfi=6
"Nine Christmases have gone by since an unknown man plunged a knife into Felicia Jean Rexford’s heart and liver as she got into her car on the east parking lot of the Alton Target store."
Psychic: Michael Jackson Denied Abuse
Associated Press
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040118/ap_on_en_mu/psychic_michael_jackson_8
"Psychic Uri Geller defended his friend Michael Jackson on Sunday, saying the pop singer denied under hypnosis three years ago that he had sexually abused children."
In theory, it was murder
By COLETTE BANCROFT
St. Petersburg Times Staff Writer
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/01/15/Floridian/In_theory__it_was_mur.shtml
"Before the seas of flowers outside the palaces began to wilt, the conspiracy theories were blooming."
Farfetched conspiracy theories always find ears
by Jeff Guignard
The Silhouette
http://www.msu.mcmaster.ca/sil/oped/011504far.html
"This week U.S. President Bush reached out to Star Trek fans and space geeks everywhere by announcing that he’ll ask congress to spend untold billions of dollars to set up a permanent base on the moon, and to one day send our skinny bipedal asses all the way to Mars."
Kill Bill
by Greg Stacy
Orange County Weekly
http://www.ocweekly.com/ink/04/19/film-stacy.php
"Brian Flemming’s Nothing So Strange is set in a parallel universe identical to our own, save for one detail: in 1999, a mysterious assassin killed Bill Gates. The film purports to be a documentary following Citizens for Truth, a ragtag crew of conspiracy theorists determined to uncover the true identity of Gates’ killer. The film is based on a lie (Gates is alive, last we heard) in order to explore larger truths about conspiracies and people who lose themselves in them. Gates surely wouldn’t agree, but we’d say Flemming writes a great wrong."
Doctors baffled by hermit who shuns food and water
by DAVID ORR
Scotland on Sunday
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=63392004
"THE winter months are the time when India’s hermits and holy men leave their freezing mountain retreats and come down to the towns to gather their devotees and collect alms."
Sharpton must admit fault in Brawley hoax
By PHIL REISMAN
Weschester Journal-News
http://www.nynews.com/newsroom/011304/b01p13reisman.html
"Pete Rose admitted he lied and bet on baseball."
Telstra warns of hoax SMS message
The Age
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/16/1073878003508.html
"Telstra has advised its customers that an SMS encouraging people to send a particular message to eight people, so they would receive free SMS text messages for a month, was a hoax and should be ignored."
Who's in Billy the Kid's grave?
by Bob Boze Bell
Arizona Republic
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/viewpoints/articles/0118bozebell0118.html
"While everyone's attention has been glued to the Mideast, some of us here in the far West have our own spider hole controversy brewing. As you may have heard, the governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, is supporting an effort to dig up Billy the Kid and find out once and for all if Pat Garrett really shot and killed America's favorite outlaw on July 14, 1881."
That persistent pucker problem
By Stephanie Shapiro
Baltimore Sun
http://www.sunspot.net/news/health/bal-hf.health18jan18042307,0,7536619.story
"Ask self-professed lip balm addicts about their habit, and they tend to answer sheepishly."
Psychic phenomenon
By Dayna Harpster
New Orleans Times-Picayune
http://www.nola.com/living/t-p/index.ssf?/base/living-2/1074323035299470.xml
"Sylvia Browne doesn't believe in death."
Winery puts squeeze on 'haunted' mansion
By Tom Hartley
Business First of Buffalo
http://famulus.msnbc.com/famuluscom/bizjournal01-17-010103.asp?bizj=BUF
"A historic Niagara County landmark which gained a reputation 100 years ago as a haunted house and in the 20th century became a summer retreat for nuns is being reincarnated as a winery."
Two local tragedies share premonitions
By PETE BOSAK
JOHNSTOWN TRIBUNE-DEMOCRAT
http://www.tribune-democrat.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10828189&BRD=2332&PAG=461&dept_id=484742&rfi=6
"Dawn Golby had a chilling premonition."
Local naturopath will pack up shop and head to Oklahoma
By JOSEPH G. COTE
Brattleboro Reformer
http://www.reformer.com/Stories/0,1413,102~8862~1892308,00.html
"One of Vermont's few naturopathic physicians, Jody Noé, is set to leave Brattleboro for Tulsa, Okla., later this week."
Canada's top soldier in Afghanistan bids farewell to departing troops
By TERRY PEDWELL
Canada Press
http://www.canoe.com/CNEWS/World/WarOnTerrorism/2004/01/15/314180-cp.html
"The top Canadian soldier in Afghanistan said farewell Thursday to troops at Camp Julien near Kabul as they near the end of their six-month rotation, and questioned them on whether they'd be willing to return to the war-ravaged country."
Sale of book at park ignites debate over Grand Canyon's age
By ADELLE M. BANKS
RELIGION NEWS SERVICE
http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Jan/01172004/saturday/129896.asp
"Traditional scientists and Christian creationists have lined up on either side of a dispute over sales of a new book at Grand Canyon National Park that claims the canyon dates to the biblical flood of Genesis rather than millions of years ago."
Critics Say the Park Service Is Letting Religion and Politics Affect Its Policies
By MICHAEL JANOFSKY
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/18/politics/18PARK.html
"To halt the removal of a cross placed in the Mojave National Preserve almost 70 years ago to commemorate World War I veterans, a Republican lawmaker from California has proposed swapping the land it sits on with a private group."
Bet on an Eagles win - it's in the stars
By ERIN EINHORN
Philadelphia Daily News
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/7714472.htm
"The Eagles have a lot going for them when they take the field Sunday against the Carolina Panthers."
Birds soar to the stars
by DAVE SOMMERS
The Trentonian
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10819336&BRD=1697&PAG=461&dept_id=44551&rfi=6
"If the Eagles really want to beat the Carolina Panthers this Sunday, they’d better be extra nice to animals over the next few days, especially dogs, cats, mice and pigs."
On the trail of bin Laden and your Bichon Frise
By PATTY RYAN
St. Petersburg Times
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/01/17/Columns/On_the_trail_of_bin_L.shtml
"My friend chats with her cat."
Britney prank puts local DJs on ice
WKRN
http://www.wkrn.com/Global/story.asp?S=1604212&nav=1ugFKF2N
"It may be the biggest uproar over singer Britney Spears since her recent quickie marriage. The pop princess is all over the front pages of national magazines, and just a mention of her name provokes strong emotions from many. So when Nashville DJ's Billy Breeze and Marco announced that Britney was at their Murfreesboro Road studio Thursday morning, the effects were immediate."
Local psychic fair sheds light for some
By Mike Baird
Corpus Christi Caller-Times
http://www.caller.com/ccct/local_news/article/0,1641,CCCT_811_2586294,00.html
"One man didn't want to go for a psychic reading. But after his wife dragged him to the psychic fair Saturday and a psychic told him about his future, he left to get more money and came back for another reading."
Is Your Psychotherapist Qualified?
CBS
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/16/eveningnews/consumer/main593790.shtml
"Carol Diament thought her problems were over when she read about a cutting edge marriage counselor in the local paper."
Woman branded witch for discoloured eye
Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/425550.cms
"A 60-year-old woman, Chokli Ratansinh Kanasia, of Jambusar village under Devagadh Baria taluka, branded as witch by relatives, was attacked by villagers forcing her to run away from her house on Thursday."
Utility company calls ad about holiday lights phony
Associated Press
http://www.kobtv.com/index.cfm?viewer=storyviewer&id=7793&cat=NMTOPSTORIES
"The Public Service Company of New Mexico is warning people about a recent radio ad officials say is a hoax."
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/skepticsearch/
-------
If you'd like to support the Skeptic NewsSearch, please consider making a donation via PayPal - <http://tinyurl.com/x81m>
By AILEEN STRENG
Potomac News
<http://www.potomacnews.com/servlet/...c=MGArticle&cid=1031773112894&path=!frontpage>
"Dominion Virginia officials believe their Possum Point power plant may indeed be the source of a nighttime hum that has been bothering some nearby residents."
How Satan is propping up Bush's war on terror
By Andrew O'Hehir
Salon
http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2004/01/17/satan/index.html
"Bill Ellis goes to some lengths to convince you that he's a normal American. The biographical blurb in the back of his new book, "Lucifer Ascending: The Occult in Folklore and Popular Culture," assures readers that he's an "active member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America" -- perhaps the most mainstream and least controversial religious affiliation one can imagine."
Girl, 16, Details Sex in Cult Trial
Associated Press
http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=41607
"A 16-year-old girl told a federal jury Wednesday cult leader Malachi York began molesting her at age 5 and would sodomize or have sex with her several times a week over an eight-year period."
Cult leader painted as conspiracy victim
By BILL TORPY
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/0104/16nuwaub.html
"Several followers of Nuwaubian leader and accused child molester Malachi York testified Thursday that his organization was designed to "uplift" and that his accusers are part of an ongoing effort to discredit him."
Nuwaubian members testify York's accusers untrustworthy
By Russ Bynum
Associated Press
http://www.athensnewspapers.com/stories/011604/new_20040116032.shtml
"Longtime members of Dwight ''Malachi'' York's quasi-religious cult defended their leader in court Thursday, describing York as a father figure and those who accuse him of child molestation as liars."
Alleged victims deny any abuse by sect leader
By Terry Dickson
Morris News Service
http://www.athensnewspapers.com/stories/011704/new_20040117035.shtml
"Five young women whom the government contends were sexually molested as children by cult leader Dwight ''Malachi'' York all denied Friday that York ever molested them."
Woman fakes cancer in scam for money
By SHAWN ANKROM
Springfield News-Sun
http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/n...ws/2004/01/16/1074314810.26609.4304.1633.html
"A former nursing home worker who feigned having a terminal illness and scammed thousands of dollars from friends and the elderly will spend the weekend in jail."
Woman who faked cancer sentenced
Associated Press
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/LAW/01/17/cancer.hoax.ap/
"A woman who accepted $6,400 in donations after shaving her head and dyeing her skin to make it appear she had cancer has been sentenced to three days in jail and three years of probation."
Nessie-hunter explains away 'mystery' creature
Inverness Courier
http://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news.asp?storyvar=8501
"NESSIE-HUNTER Steve Feltham believes he has solved one mystery of the loch and the identity of a strange beastie found on its shores."
Anaheim psychic group sees miracles in its past
By David Haldane
LOS ANGELES TIMES
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/7725053.htm
"Rich Powers was sitting on a folding chair with his eyes tightly shut when something brought him to full attention."
Lecture to explore statistical corroboration of psychic abilities
Village Soup
http://rockland.villagesoup.com/orgnews/Orgnews.cfm?StoryID=10675
"A professor of statistics from the University of California, Davis, will discuss the surprising degree that scientific testing corroborates the existence of certain psychic abilities, in a talk at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22, in the Keck Classroom (G52) of Pettengill Hall, Bates College."
Big plans to catch bigfoot
By Yunmi Choi
San Mateo Daily Journal
http://www.smdailyjournal.org/article.cfm?issue=01-16-04&storyID=27359
"It’s a master plan that includes global positioning, aerial surveillance and ground patrol."
Water torture
by Ben Goldacre
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/badscience/story/0,12980,1122903,00.html
"You've got to get up pretty early in the morning to catch a Sunday Times beauty journalist out. "Harriet Griffey thought bottled water was a con, until mountain-pure H <->2O healed her senses.""
When the sums don't add up
by Ben Goldacre
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/opinion/story/0,12981,1122915,00.html
"Like most people who know the first thing about science, I don't usually bother to read scare stories in the media, as I know they're not going to tell me anything useful. Parabens from deodorant in breast cancer cells? That sounds interesting. Oh, you haven't measured it in normal cells yet. Thanks for wasting my time. Four minutes poorer, life goes on."
Truth about the cancer trap
by Felicity Lawrence, Ian Sample and Alok Jha
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/feature/story/0,13026,1122913,00.html
"No, you shouldn't. Yes, you should. If it weren't so serious, there might have been something funny about the row between scientists either side of the Atlantic about how much salmon we should all eat."
Get poor quick!
By A.C. Thompson
San Francisco Bay Guardian
http://www.sfbg.com/38/16/cover_poor.html
"THE SALESMAN IS named Steven Lloyd. Or so he says."
Perpetual Motion is Sunk
By Jay Ingram and David Newland
Jay's Journal
http://www.exn.ca/Stories/2004/01/15/51.asp
"Dunking your doughnut into your coffee is an act so instinctive, you probably don't even think about it. That's too bad, because if you did think about it, you'd probably do it a lot more effectively."
Ghost stories
BY ERICA CURTIS
Rochester City Newspaper
http://www.rochester-citynews.com/gbase/Gyrosite/Content?oid=oid:2330
""I don't know if you've ever had the experience where your eyes are shut but you can still see through your lids?""
Another Dem named Lyndon
Metro Times Detroit
http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=5847
"A group of Democrats — including two former state legislators from Detroit, a state rep from Kalamazoo, a handful of leaders from union locals and a few county-level party officials — wants to know why state party leaders aren’t allowing perennial presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche onto the Michigan ballot."
Gift for finding water flows in preacher
By ALONZO WESTON
St. Joseph News-Press
http://www.stjoenews-press.com/Main.asp?SectionID=81&SubSectionID=272&ArticleID=48977
"The Rev. Sanford Reed Jr. slammed his gnarled hand down hard on the kitchen table and sprung to his feet."
Rumors of Castro's death sweep Miami-Dade -- again
Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/7729760.htm
"Uncorroborated rumors that Cuban President Fidel Castro had died or suffered a stroke buzzed around Miami-Dade County on Friday, with anxious callers inundating police departments, media outlets and exile groups."
Teenage girl's x-ray vision baffles scientists
Ananova
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_855907.html
(Are all Russian psychic girls named Natalia? - <http://www.time.com/time/columnist/jaroff/article/0,9565,199773,00.html>)
"Russian scientists have been unable to disprove a teenage girl who claims she has x-ray vision and can see inside human bodies."
US extremists to be sentenced over bomb plot
by Julian Borger
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1118118,00.html
"Three Americans are due to be sentenced next month for their involvement in a plot to explode a cyanide bomb capable of killing thousands of people, in a case that has served as a reminder that homegrown terrorism is still a menace in a country permanently braced for another attack from abroad."
Engaging in forgetful behaviour
By ANNE McILROY
Toronto Globe & Mail
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040110/MEMORY10/TPScience/
"The courtroom tales were lurid and, in hindsight, difficult to believe. Satanic sacrifices of babies, forced sex with animals, torture and sexual abuse of infants and young children. Victims came forward as adults, saying they had recovered forgotten memories of terrible events that had occurred in their childhood."
Herbal remedies 'threaten plants'
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3377985.stm
"The growing demand for herbal remedies is threatening to wipe out 10,000 of the world's 50,000 medicinal plant species, conservation group WWF says."
Tale of the Tapia treasure continues to tantalize
by TERRY CARTER
Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/rcv/la-rcv-timelines16jan16,1,1607627.story
"By now everybody in Rancho Cucamonga must know the original story of the Tapia treasure, but the sequel is not as well known though equally entertaining. If the original story of the burial rates as "Treasure Wars," then it's time for the next installment: "The Treasure Strikes Back.""
Scientists pour scorn on doctor's human clone boast
by Jo Revill
The Observer
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1125704,00.html
"A US fertility specialist flew into Britain yesterday to announce that he had transferred the first cloned embryo into a woman - but he refused to give a shred of evidence to back up his astonishing boast."
Doctor claims human clone
by SANDRO CONTENTA
Toronto Star
<http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...580&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968350060724>
"A controversial U.S. fertility expert is being widely condemned for sensational claims that he implanted a cloned human embryo into a 35-year-old woman."
Human clone pregnancy bid
Agence France-Presse
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,8424006%5E401,00.html
"A US fertility specialist today said he had implanted a cloned human embryo in a woman's womb, reigniting controversy over attempts to create the world's first cloned human."
Dismay at report of implanted human clone
By Peter Fray
Sydney Morning Herald
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/01/18/1074360636506.html
"Doctors, politicians and religious and pressure groups have denounced an announcement by a US doctor that he has beaten the world to implant a cloned human embryo in a woman's womb - and wants more volunteers to join her."
Rocky Ryan, scourge of Fleet Street, dies at 66
by Jamie Doward
The Observer
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1125733,00.html
"At first it was thought that Rocky Ryan was up to his old tricks. Rumours of the death yesterday, at the age of 66, of the legendary newspaper hoaxer - who once conned the Sun into leading with a story that Shergar was alive and living in Jersey - sparked suspicions that Ryan was attempting his most audacious joke yet."
Kucinich's own crusade
By Steve Miller
WASHINGTON TIMES
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20040114-113844-3797r.htm
"The smell of incense and cinnamon hangs in the air during a reception for Dennis J. Kucinich at a country mansion outside this "meditation community," a town of 9,500 and the home base of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Natural Law Party."
Peace, and Kucinich, Gets a Chance
By JENNIFER 8. LEE
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/18/fashion/18IOWA.html
"In this little pocket of Iowa, houses are built to face the rising sun, something called yogic flying is a popular pastime and Dennis J. Kucinich is a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination."
Local residents' opinions divided on Ephedra ban
by BRIAN SHAPPELL
Hagerstown Herald-Mail
http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=71279&format=html
"Local fitness industry employees and workout buffs are divided on the use of dietary supplements containing Ephedra in the wake of the Food and Drug Administration's recent announcement that such products will be banned in 2004."
Millions in quest for 'miracle cures'
By MASAMI ITO
Japan Times
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fl20040118a1.htm
"Cocoa isn't exactly the No. 1 drink of choice in Japan, but late in 1995 you would have been hard pressed to find any at all in stores. That wasn't because of a contamination scare or anything -- but because shoppers were clamoring to get their hands on the stuff."
Benefits of alternative medicine presented
By MICHAEL ERB
PARKERSBURG NEWS & SENTINEL
http://www.newsandsentinel.com/news/story/0118202004_new04_alternative.asp
"Health care workers, wellness care providers and interested community members gathered Saturday at St. Joseph's Hospital to hear presentations on the healing benefits of energy medicine."
Calendar showcases former Times chief photographer's favorite subject
By Jack Broom
Seattle Times
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/northwestlife/2001837594_scaylea16.html
"Theirs has been an unusual love affair. For decades, he rushed to see her any time of the day, any season of the year. She, on the other had, never took a step in his direction."
Cardinal takes a crack at 'The Da Vinci Code'
BY CATHLEEN FALSANI
Chicago Sun-Times
http://www.suntimes.com/output/falsani/cst-nws-fals09.html
"Let's corner Dan Brown and noogie him until he tells us the truth about his book The Da Vinci Code."
More answers from George on 'Da Vinci Code'
BY CATHLEEN FALSANI
Chicago Sun-Times
http://www.suntimes.com/output/falsani/cst-nws-fals16.html
"Well, that struck a nerve. As the e-mails poured in from far and wide in response to last week's column about Dan Brown's novel The DaVinci Code (fact, fiction or both?), I started to wonder if I might hear from all of the readers of the 4.5 million copies in print."
Not everyone thrilled about 'Da Vinci Code'
By JEROME WEEKS
Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/texasliving/stories/011604dnlivdavinciside.27829.html
"The Da Vinci Code is not the gospel truth. That hasn't stopped thousands of avid readers, though."
‘Code’ stirs pot of controversy, questions
By Michelle Martin
Catholic New World
http://catholicnewworld.com/cnw/issue/code_011804.html
"When Rosalind Hays first read “The Da Vinci Code,” she didn’t look at it as anything but entertainment."
The Da Vinci decoding: Book sparks a quest for knowledge
by Sarah T. Williams
Minneapolis Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4324362.html
"Pastors Pam Fickenscher and Erik Strand of Edina Community Lutheran Church plugged in the coffee pot last Sunday night and stood ready to greet the 60 or so people they were expecting for a talk on " 'The Da Vinci Code' and the Bible: Sorting Out Faith and Fiction.""
Woman’s murder still haunts family
by LINDA N. WELLER
Alton Telegraph
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10828349&BRD=1719&PAG=461&dept_id=25271&rfi=6
"Nine Christmases have gone by since an unknown man plunged a knife into Felicia Jean Rexford’s heart and liver as she got into her car on the east parking lot of the Alton Target store."
Psychic: Michael Jackson Denied Abuse
Associated Press
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040118/ap_on_en_mu/psychic_michael_jackson_8
"Psychic Uri Geller defended his friend Michael Jackson on Sunday, saying the pop singer denied under hypnosis three years ago that he had sexually abused children."
In theory, it was murder
By COLETTE BANCROFT
St. Petersburg Times Staff Writer
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/01/15/Floridian/In_theory__it_was_mur.shtml
"Before the seas of flowers outside the palaces began to wilt, the conspiracy theories were blooming."
Farfetched conspiracy theories always find ears
by Jeff Guignard
The Silhouette
http://www.msu.mcmaster.ca/sil/oped/011504far.html
"This week U.S. President Bush reached out to Star Trek fans and space geeks everywhere by announcing that he’ll ask congress to spend untold billions of dollars to set up a permanent base on the moon, and to one day send our skinny bipedal asses all the way to Mars."
Kill Bill
by Greg Stacy
Orange County Weekly
http://www.ocweekly.com/ink/04/19/film-stacy.php
"Brian Flemming’s Nothing So Strange is set in a parallel universe identical to our own, save for one detail: in 1999, a mysterious assassin killed Bill Gates. The film purports to be a documentary following Citizens for Truth, a ragtag crew of conspiracy theorists determined to uncover the true identity of Gates’ killer. The film is based on a lie (Gates is alive, last we heard) in order to explore larger truths about conspiracies and people who lose themselves in them. Gates surely wouldn’t agree, but we’d say Flemming writes a great wrong."
Doctors baffled by hermit who shuns food and water
by DAVID ORR
Scotland on Sunday
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=63392004
"THE winter months are the time when India’s hermits and holy men leave their freezing mountain retreats and come down to the towns to gather their devotees and collect alms."
Sharpton must admit fault in Brawley hoax
By PHIL REISMAN
Weschester Journal-News
http://www.nynews.com/newsroom/011304/b01p13reisman.html
"Pete Rose admitted he lied and bet on baseball."
Telstra warns of hoax SMS message
The Age
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/16/1073878003508.html
"Telstra has advised its customers that an SMS encouraging people to send a particular message to eight people, so they would receive free SMS text messages for a month, was a hoax and should be ignored."
Who's in Billy the Kid's grave?
by Bob Boze Bell
Arizona Republic
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/viewpoints/articles/0118bozebell0118.html
"While everyone's attention has been glued to the Mideast, some of us here in the far West have our own spider hole controversy brewing. As you may have heard, the governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, is supporting an effort to dig up Billy the Kid and find out once and for all if Pat Garrett really shot and killed America's favorite outlaw on July 14, 1881."
That persistent pucker problem
By Stephanie Shapiro
Baltimore Sun
http://www.sunspot.net/news/health/bal-hf.health18jan18042307,0,7536619.story
"Ask self-professed lip balm addicts about their habit, and they tend to answer sheepishly."
Psychic phenomenon
By Dayna Harpster
New Orleans Times-Picayune
http://www.nola.com/living/t-p/index.ssf?/base/living-2/1074323035299470.xml
"Sylvia Browne doesn't believe in death."
Winery puts squeeze on 'haunted' mansion
By Tom Hartley
Business First of Buffalo
http://famulus.msnbc.com/famuluscom/bizjournal01-17-010103.asp?bizj=BUF
"A historic Niagara County landmark which gained a reputation 100 years ago as a haunted house and in the 20th century became a summer retreat for nuns is being reincarnated as a winery."
Two local tragedies share premonitions
By PETE BOSAK
JOHNSTOWN TRIBUNE-DEMOCRAT
http://www.tribune-democrat.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10828189&BRD=2332&PAG=461&dept_id=484742&rfi=6
"Dawn Golby had a chilling premonition."
Local naturopath will pack up shop and head to Oklahoma
By JOSEPH G. COTE
Brattleboro Reformer
http://www.reformer.com/Stories/0,1413,102~8862~1892308,00.html
"One of Vermont's few naturopathic physicians, Jody Noé, is set to leave Brattleboro for Tulsa, Okla., later this week."
Canada's top soldier in Afghanistan bids farewell to departing troops
By TERRY PEDWELL
Canada Press
http://www.canoe.com/CNEWS/World/WarOnTerrorism/2004/01/15/314180-cp.html
"The top Canadian soldier in Afghanistan said farewell Thursday to troops at Camp Julien near Kabul as they near the end of their six-month rotation, and questioned them on whether they'd be willing to return to the war-ravaged country."
Sale of book at park ignites debate over Grand Canyon's age
By ADELLE M. BANKS
RELIGION NEWS SERVICE
http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Jan/01172004/saturday/129896.asp
"Traditional scientists and Christian creationists have lined up on either side of a dispute over sales of a new book at Grand Canyon National Park that claims the canyon dates to the biblical flood of Genesis rather than millions of years ago."
Critics Say the Park Service Is Letting Religion and Politics Affect Its Policies
By MICHAEL JANOFSKY
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/18/politics/18PARK.html
"To halt the removal of a cross placed in the Mojave National Preserve almost 70 years ago to commemorate World War I veterans, a Republican lawmaker from California has proposed swapping the land it sits on with a private group."
Bet on an Eagles win - it's in the stars
By ERIN EINHORN
Philadelphia Daily News
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/7714472.htm
"The Eagles have a lot going for them when they take the field Sunday against the Carolina Panthers."
Birds soar to the stars
by DAVE SOMMERS
The Trentonian
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10819336&BRD=1697&PAG=461&dept_id=44551&rfi=6
"If the Eagles really want to beat the Carolina Panthers this Sunday, they’d better be extra nice to animals over the next few days, especially dogs, cats, mice and pigs."
On the trail of bin Laden and your Bichon Frise
By PATTY RYAN
St. Petersburg Times
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/01/17/Columns/On_the_trail_of_bin_L.shtml
"My friend chats with her cat."
Britney prank puts local DJs on ice
WKRN
http://www.wkrn.com/Global/story.asp?S=1604212&nav=1ugFKF2N
"It may be the biggest uproar over singer Britney Spears since her recent quickie marriage. The pop princess is all over the front pages of national magazines, and just a mention of her name provokes strong emotions from many. So when Nashville DJ's Billy Breeze and Marco announced that Britney was at their Murfreesboro Road studio Thursday morning, the effects were immediate."
Local psychic fair sheds light for some
By Mike Baird
Corpus Christi Caller-Times
http://www.caller.com/ccct/local_news/article/0,1641,CCCT_811_2586294,00.html
"One man didn't want to go for a psychic reading. But after his wife dragged him to the psychic fair Saturday and a psychic told him about his future, he left to get more money and came back for another reading."
Is Your Psychotherapist Qualified?
CBS
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/16/eveningnews/consumer/main593790.shtml
"Carol Diament thought her problems were over when she read about a cutting edge marriage counselor in the local paper."
Woman branded witch for discoloured eye
Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/425550.cms
"A 60-year-old woman, Chokli Ratansinh Kanasia, of Jambusar village under Devagadh Baria taluka, branded as witch by relatives, was attacked by villagers forcing her to run away from her house on Thursday."
Utility company calls ad about holiday lights phony
Associated Press
http://www.kobtv.com/index.cfm?viewer=storyviewer&id=7793&cat=NMTOPSTORIES
"The Public Service Company of New Mexico is warning people about a recent radio ad officials say is a hoax."
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