Shelby: Moore bill will pass Senate
by STAN BAILEY
Birmingham News
http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1076755528203711.xml
"Alabama's senior U.S. senator predicted Friday that the Senate will approve a bill backed by Roy Moore to restrict federal courts from reviewing cases involving the acknowledgment of God."
Lawmakers Want Ban on Court Denial of God
By JEFFREY McMURRAY
Associated Press
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/National/AP.V6289.AP-Ten-Commandment.html
"Federal courts could not curb state court rulings that allow an ``acknowledgment of God,'' according to a measure two senators introduced Thursday as a response to the dispute over a Ten Commandments display in Alabama."
An Unbalanced Diet
St. Louis Riverfront Times
http://www.riverfronttimes.com/issues/2004-02-11/unreal.html/1/index.html
(Third Item)
"Unreal didn't want to say anything. But ever since St. Louis school-board member Rochell Moore cast her infamous curse on Mayor Francis Slay last summer, he hasn't looked so good. You'd look bad, too, if you had fever, inflammation, extreme burning and mildew, and the Angel of the Lord chasing you."
Deconstructing 'Da Vinci'
By Julia Duin
WASHINGTON TIMES
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20040216-121916-6332r.htm
""The Da Vinci Code," the best-selling novel that asserts as fact that Jesus Christ had a daughter as well as a wife, has provoked fierce opposition from Protestants and Catholics alike."
Woman admits role in child's death
By John Ellement
Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/news/local/ma...2004/02/11/woman_admits_role_in_childs_death/
"Michelle Mingo, the woman whose prophecy led to the starvation murder of her baby nephew, yesterday acknowledged her role in his death before walking out of court with her "spiritual husband," apparently headed back to the Attleboro religious sect whose teachings cost Samuel Robidoux his life and Mingo custody of her five children."
Sect Member Pleads Guilty in Baby's Death
By DENISE LAVOIE
Associated Press
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040211/ap_on_re_us/embattled_sect_2
"A member of a religious sect whose self-described vision from God led to the starvation death of an infant pleaded guilty Tuesday to an accessory charge and was allowed to go free."
Doomsday Cult Investigation
WOAI
http://www.woai.com/troubleshooters/story.aspx?content_id=72B58168-5C8A-4774-A782-A32485066077
"An accused pedophile from San Antonio now serves as a spiritual advisor for a doomsday cult. News 4 WOAI Trouble Shooter Brian Collister traveled to Costa Rica to investigate and find if cult leader Juan Pablo Delgado is a visionary or a con artist."
Couple indicted in federal court in child-sex cases
By Mareva Brown
Sacramento Bee
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/8260029p-9190638c.html
"Self-proclaimed religious prophet Allen Harrod was indicted in federal court Thursday along with his wife on nine counts of transporting children across state lines for sexual purposes."
TM officials say money is in place for 500 from India
By Erik Gable
Fairfield Ledger
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10976571&BRD=1139&PAG=461&dept_id=142642&rfi=6
"Officials in the Transcendental Meditation movement said recently they have raised enough money to bring 500 young men practicing the TM program from India to Maharishi Vedic City."
Police raid Japanese cult
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3491493.stm
"Japanese police have raided offices of the cult that attacked the Tokyo subway with deadly sarin gas in 1995."
Aum locations searched in runup to guru's verdict
Japan Times
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20040217a6.htm
"The Justice Ministry's Public Security Intelligence Agency on Monday raided 11 locations connected with Aum Shinrikyo ahead of next week's court verdict on cult founder Shoko Asahara."
Aum facilities raided ahead of Matsumoto's sentencing
Yomiuri Shimbun
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20040217wo21.htm
"The Public Security Intelligence Agency on Monday inspected 11 facilities related to the Aum Supreme Truth cult."
Japanese authorities raid doomsday cult facilities
By MARI YAMAGUCHI
ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://newsobserver.com/24hour/world/story/1149614p-8009679c.html
"Japanese agents raided key facilities of a doomsday cult Monday, searching for evidence of a terror plot before a verdict in the trial of the group's guru for a 1995 nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subways."
Baby cloning equals UFO sighting: Abbott
Australian Associated Press
http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,8659710%5E421,00.html
"A CLAIM that a cloned baby had been born in Sydney was the medical equivalent of a UFO story, federal Health Minister Tony Abbott said today."
Beyond Ephedra
by Leon Jaroff
Time
http://www.time.com/time/columnist/jaroff/article/0,9565,589533,00.html
"It's only been a few weeks since the Food and Drug Administration announced the ban on products containing the herb ephedra, but the health food industry has hardly skipped a beat. As a substitute for ephedra in its weight loss and energy boosting supplements, it has begun using such stimulants as green tea extract and bitter orange."
Bizarre Therapy Leads To $7.35M Malpractice Settlement
WMAQ
http://www.nbc5.com/health/2841956/detail.html?z=dp&dpswid=2265994&dppid=65194
"A woman who alleged she was put under drug-induced hypnosis and then convinced she was part of a satanic cult has settled her medical malpractice lawsuit, her attorney said."
Woman settles for $7.5 million over false repressed memories
By Rob Olmstead
Chicago Daily Herald
http://www.dailyherald.com/search/main_story.asp?intid=380293
"Longtime Northwest suburban resident Elizabeth Gale thought she was the victim of satanic cult, a "breeder" whose children had been stolen to be exploited in pornography, sex abuse, incest and bestiality."
Not in cult: Woman gets $7.5 million
BY ABDON M. PALLASCH
Chicago Sun-Times
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-psych12.html
"This is not "The X-Files" or a supermarket tabloid story -- it is a real court case settled this week at the Daley Center."
Psychiatric patient tells of ordeal in treatment
By Hal Dardick
Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0402130313feb13,1,2122139.story
"When Elizabeth Gale sought psychiatric treatment in 1986, she suffered from depression, the most common of psychiatric illnesses."
Ancient wisdom, modern science
By Julie Deardorff
Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/q/chi-0402150288feb15,1,6535190.story
"Two weeks after discovering she was pregnant, 34-year-old Lynette Bisconti was diagnosed with breast cancer. Six doctors across the country advised her to end the pregnancy so she could begin chemotherapy. Six times Bisconti said no."
Naturopaths targeted over bad medicine
By NATALIE WILLIAMS
Daily Telegraph [Australia]
http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1260&storyid=894241
"A SUPREME Court Judge has warned the state's naturopaths they will face the full weight of the law if their use of alternative medicines leads to patient tragedy."
Herbal remedies need to be regulated - WHO
Reuters
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=117&art_id=qw1076429520623B243&set_id=1
"The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday issued guidelines for ensuring the safety and efficacy of the multibillion-dollar herbal medicines market amid reports that some products are tainted with toxic substances."
Pins and needles help residents relax
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
North Brunswick Sentinel
http://nbs.gmnews.com/news/2004/0212/Front_Page/006.html
"For some, needles conjure up the thought of pain, for Ed Kubala needles mean he can finally relax."
Grieving couple attack 'biased' ITV documentary
by John Plunkett
The Guardian
http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,7493,1146857,00.html
"A couple who turned to alternative medicine to try to help their dying daughter have attacked an ITV documentary which they claim portrayed them as "gullible idiots"."
Quack alternative medicine pains me
by DR IAN McKEE
The Scotsman
http://news.scotsman.com/health.cfm?id=184992004
"A DISTRESSING fact of life is the enormous amount of money wasted every year on quack alternative medicine treatments and the useless, but expensive, products that are prescribed."
Push for Alternative Health "Freedom"
KCRG
http://www.kcrg.com/article.aspx?art_id=76106&cat_id=123
"Candles, herbs and stones may not be the kind of medicine everyone uses but there's a big group who believes these have the healing touch."
Canton man charged in laetrile shipment
Akron Beacon Journal
http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/local/7944497.htm
"A 73-year-old Canton man has been accused of arranging the interstate shipment of a drug that has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration."
Naturopathic doctors renew push for licensing in Pennsylvania
By Virginia Linn
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04048/273884.stm
"Heidi Weinhold is licensed as a physician in Arizona and Vermont, where she can diagnose diseases, prescribe drugs, order lab work, have hospital privileges and perform minor surgery."
Foodies' mushroom fetish 'stripping woodlands bare'
by Juliette Jowit
The Observer
http://www.guardian.co.uk/food/Story/0,2763,1148584,00.html
"Once they lay undisturbed for years, mouldering on the forest floor, shunned by the British public. Now fungi are a kitchen-cupboard essential."
Imaginary maladies online
by Katherine Seligman
San Francisco Chronicle
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/02/15/LVGIU4R1OP1.DTL
"At her most worried, Melissa Woyechowsky sometimes spent four hours a day on the Internet looking up her symptoms. There was the tingling, the numbness in her limbs, insomnia, fatigue. She fretted over them all."
Girl, 20 Killed Over Alleged Witchcraft Pushed Down From 3-Storey Building
P.M. News [Lagos]
http://allafrica.com/stories/200402100438.html
"A 20-year-old girl, Nkiru Iruka, has been murdered by her cousin, ThankGod Ukwueze, 19, who accused her of witchcraft."
Nigerians Charged with Removing Boy's Eyes
Reuters
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=5&u=/nm/20040211/od_nm/eyes_dc
"Four Nigerian men were charged with plucking out the eyes of a 13-year-old schoolboy for use in witchcraft, the state news agency reported Tuesday."
Boy sacrificed at brick kiln
The Telegraph [Calcutta]
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040215/asp/frontpage/story_2898103.asp
"A five-year-old boy was kidnapped and sacrificed at a brick kiln at Dhuranbigaha village in Bihar's Aurangabad district."
Organ traffickers 'threaten' nuns
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3483581.stm
"Four Catholic nuns say they have received death threats after exposing an organ trafficking network allegedly operating in northern Mozambique."
'Doctor 13' can diagnose superstition
by CAPI LYNN
Salem Statesman Journal
http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=75343
"Thomas Fernsler has been fascinated by the fear of 13 and Friday the 13th since about 1987."
It's Friday the 13th, but not to worry
By MIKE LEWIS
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/160489_friday13.html
"Take triskaidekaphobia, or fear of 13s, and combine it with a Friday, a generally well-regarded day of the week, and you get Paraskevidekatriaphobics, a deep fear of Friday the 13th. (Fear of splatter films of the same name is Jasonvoorhephobia.)"
State panel backs disputed lesson, infuriates supporters of evolution
by Scott Stephens
Cleveland Plain Dealer
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1076495549160490.xml
"The State Board of Education gave preliminary approval Tuesday to a 10th-grade biology lesson that scientists say could put "intelligent design" in Ohio classrooms."
Scientists to lobby board on biology plan
By Laura A. Bischoff
Dayton Daily News
http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/0211science.html
"Scientists said they will pressure Ohio Board of Education members to change their minds about a controversial evolution lesson plan the board tentatively approved Tuesday."
Ohio Board OKs Evolution Lesson Plans
By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS
Associated Press
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...&e=8&u=/ap/20040211/ap_on_sc/evolution_debate
"Opponents of the state school board's new lesson plans on evolution expect to lobby heavily for changes before a final board vote."
Science lessons keep controversial evolution criticisms
By LEO SHANE III
Coshocton Tribune
http://www.coshoctontribune.com/news/stories/20040211/localnews/394294.html
"Evolution criticisms backed by religious groups will remain in the state's model curriculum for high school science classes, after getting overwhelming support from the state Board of Education Tuesday."
Atheists, Humanists Push Campaign for 'Darwin Day'
By Robert Evans
Reuters
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=572&ncid=572&e=2&u=/nm/20040212/lf_nm/darwin_dc_1
"Atheist, agnostic and humanist organizations in the Americas, Europe and Asia are gearing up for a five-year campaign aimed at achieving international recognition of Feb. 12 as "Darwin Day.""
Christian group offers schools legal aid
Associated Press
http://www.billingsgazette.com/inde...ws/2004/02/16/build/state/65-legalorigins.inc
"A Christian legal defense organization is offering to defend the Darby School Board if it is sued over its newly adopted policy of including "objective origins" theory in science classes."
The evolution debate in Ohio yet again?
Dayton Daily News
http://www.daytondailynews.com/opinion/content/opinion/daily/0214evol.html
"Ohioans may be having some difficulty figuring out just what the state Board of Education is up to on the subject of evolution. Some people are saying that the board's pending new lesson plans are an effort to promote the teaching of "intelligent design" over evolution. But the very people who are accused of making that effort insist that the guidelines are actually among the most pro-evolution in the country."
Why won't Kathy Cox tell motives for changes?
by Colin Campbell
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/today/content/epaper/editions/today/metro_04b2d1a43733812a00d3.html
"First, state Schools Superintendent Kathy Cox took the word "evolution" out of Georgia's proposed biology curriculum. She called it provocative and replaced it with "biological changes over time." She also argued that other theories of origin, such as "intelligent design," should be taught."
Face to face with evolution
By MATTHEW GROBER
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/0204a/15evolution.html
"I am overwhelmed. More than 2,200 people took my evolution quiz on ajc.com last week. More than a dozen contacted me directly with questions or comments. And that's great news."
Guide sparks debate
By Leo Shane III
http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/news/stories/20040215/localnews/419984.html
"After getting overwhelming support from the state Board of Education, evolution criticisms backed by religious groups will stay in the state's model curriculum for high school science classes."
Bill would require teaching of `intelligent design'
by ROBERT SANDLER
Associated Press
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/7961557.htm
"Where did we come from? The question that has perplexed humankind for centuries is coming soon to a Statehouse near you."
Legal defense organization says it may aid Darby school board
By MICHAEL MOORE
The Missoulian
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2004/02/16/news/local/znews01.txt
"With a threat of a lawsuit looming, the Darby school board will meet Feb. 24 with an attorney affiliated with a legal defense organization founded to "keep the door open to the spread of the Gospel ... ""
Undermining evolution in Ohio
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/7965530.htm
"Ohio's Board of Education has delivered a victory for pseudoscience and failed public school students with its preliminary approval of a lesson plan on the teaching of evolution. Eminent scientists opposed to the plan deserve strong public support in their efforts to change the minds of board members before a final vote."
Kennewick man ruling - politics or science?
New Scientist
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994666
"Native Americans called him "The Ancient One", while anthropologists speculated he could reveal who first settled the Americas."
Rights to remains hinge on 'Kennewick Man'
By Brent Israelsen
Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Feb/02162004/utah/139353.asp
""Kennewick Man" -- who perished on the banks of the Columbia River about 9,000 years ago -- probably never passed through what is now Utah."
A sound decision on Kennewick Man
Tri-City Herald
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/tch/opinions/story/4749473p-4696268c.html
"The decision by a federal appeals court to allow scientific study of the remains of Kennewick Man is a sound one."
Ancient stone circle has made us ill, say ghost detectives
by Robin Turner
The Western Mail [Wales]
<http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100...e-us-ill--say-ghost-detectives-name_page.html>
"A PAIR of psychic investigators looking at the healing properties of an ancient stone circle claim it has made them seriously ill."
Ghost detectives never lonely
by Robin Turner
The Western Mail [Wales]
<http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100...-Ghost-detectives-never-lonely-name_page.html>
"SWANSEA-based ghost detective Claire Williams likes nothing better than shutting the door on the world and putting her feet up in her living room."
19th-century family inspired vampire lore
By AMY BETH PREISS
Norwich Bulletin
http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/stories/20040215/localnews/415860.html
"As the story goes, the first member of the Ray family to die was Lemuel."
Documentary puts stake in vampire folklore
Associated Press
http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/new...0.apds.m0194.bc-ct--vampfeb16,0,5427919.story
"His story is a sad one. Dead at age 55, his battered body showed signs of infection, several fractures and painful arthritis. He probably walked with a limp and was missing teeth."
State's Vampire Lore Lures Film Crew
By LEE FOSTER
Hartford Courant
http://www.ctnow.com/news/local/hc-vampire0214.artfeb14,1,5800633.story
"After a full day of filming a documentary about vampires in New England, the British film crew and State Archaeologist Nick Bellantoni looked a bit like "the hungry dead" themselves Friday."
Film crew to probe vampire legend
by Gail Ellen Daly
Willimantic Chronicle
http://www.thechronicle.com/story_disp.htm?action=Search&story_id=feb12-01049&category=Local+News
"About 14 years ago, a group of young boys playing in a Jewett City sand and gravel pit unearthed two skulls."
British crew films New England folklore
By AMY BETH PREISS
Norwich Bulletin
http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/stories/20040215/localnews/415835.html
"When two young boys slid down the hill of a gravel bank 14 years ago, two skulls rolled down after them."
Italian villagers call for exorcist to end 'demon' fires
by JEREMY CHARLES
The Scotsman
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=165132004
"AN ITALIAN village was evacuated yesterday as investigators attempted to explain an outbreak of spontaneous household appliance combustions, which have left locals fearing for their safety."
Sicilian fires recall nanny's 'witch' ordeal
by TRACEY LAWSON
The Scotsman
http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=169722004
"EVEN amid the folklore and superstition which is woven through the fabric of rural Italy, it is a phenomenon which Sicilians have never faced before: a series of unexplained fires, arising in household appliances, even when the electricity is switched off."
Family flee home as 'ghost' moves in
Gravesend Messenger
http://www.kent-online.co.uk/news/default.asp?article_id=13261
"MEMBERS of a Gravesend family say they have been forced to flee their home after a ghostly apparition turned rooms cold and burned candles black."
Family not spooked by spirit in house
by Mike Doyle
Rockford Register Star
http://www.rrstar.com/opinion/columnists/doyle/20040212-11970.shtml
"Luke and Heidi Lykken fell in love with the house near Belvidere Park."
Unlucky Building Syndrome?
By Irena Josoeb
The Straits Times [Singapore]
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4386,235337,00.html
"ONCE again, the Old Thong Chai Medical Institution building is up for lease and sale."
Pagan market will go on after short cancellation
By Lisa Smith
Chicago Daily Herald
http://www.dailyherald.com/search/main_story.asp?intid=38031161
"A "one-stop pagan shopping" exposition will go on as originally scheduled later this month at the Fox Valley Park District's Prisco Community Center in Aurora after a brief cancellation was announced earlier this week."
Loch Ness Researcher Smells Something Fishy In Documentary
Wireless Flash
http://www.ncbuy.com/news/2004-02-12/1008909.html
(See also <http://www.livejournal.com/community/hoaxes/99109.html>)
"A cryptozoologist smells something fishy surrounding an alleged documentary of the Loch Ness monster."
Research Casts Doubt On Voice-stress Lie Detection Technology
Press Release
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/02/040211080041.htm
"Voice-stress analysis, an alternative to the polygraph as a method for lie detection, is already widely used in police and insurance fraud investigations. Now, however, it is being touted as a powerful and effective tool for an array of new applications -- everything from the screening of potential terrorists in the nation's airports to catching wayward spouses in messy marital disputes."
Cloned baby claims dismissed
Australian Associated Press
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/02/12/1076548163897.html
"Claims that a cloned baby had been born in Sydney have been dismissed by some as the medical equivalent of a UFO story, while others said the scientific possibility was not too far-fetched."
Send in the clones
By SIMON BENSON
Sydney Daily Telegraph
http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1260&storyid=887841
"THEY want us to believe that humans are descendants of aliens who arrived recently in UFOs. Now the cult known as the Raelian Movement claims its subsidiary company Clonaid has cloned a Sydney man at a cost of around $300,000."
Company claims pheromones boost retail sales
By Ted Streuli
Galveston County Daily News
http://www.galvnews.com/story.lasso?wcd=17795
"Your favorite department store might seem a little friendlier, you might shop a little longer and you might feel so serene that you plunk down the cash for an extra pair of shoes."
Welshpool 'Nazi pub' story untrue
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/3472087.stm
"A journalist for the New Statesman magazine who caused a row by claiming to have witnessed a gathering of neo-Nazis in a mid Wales bar has admitted the pub does not exist."
Space photo contents often are all in eye of the beholder
by Mike Himowitz
Baltimore Sun
http://www.baltimoresun.com/technol...bal-pl.himowitz12feb12001707,0,5882199.column
"WHEN IT COMES to space, seeing is not necessarily believing."
Harrods sues Dow Jones over paper's Enron reference
Agence France-Presse
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...16/wl_uk_afp/britain_court_media_040216190837
"Harrods began a lawsuit against US media group Dow Jones Monday over an article in the Wall Street Journal newspaper -- prompted by an April Fool's joke -- questioning whether the store was "The Enron of Britain"."
Harrods sues over "Enron" article
Reuters
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040216/od_uk_nm/oukoe_media_libel_dow_jones_1
"Luxury department store Harrods has launched a High Court action against Dow Jones, publisher of the Wall Street Journal, accusing it of libel after it ran a story triggered by an April Fool's hoax."
Psychic scam leads to biohazard scare
by Amy Oshier
WBBH
http://www.nbc-2.com/News/stories/040212-psychic_scam.shtml
"A Port Charlotte mail carrier was on the receiving end of a decontamination shower after a grey powder was found oozing out of a letter. But Instead of a biological threat, the powder was the result of someone falling victim to an international money making scam."
Norse Map or German Hoax? Still No Rest for Vinland
By Guy Gugliotta
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44387-2004Feb15.html
"When it surfaced in 1957, it was too good to be true: a purported 15th-century world map depicting an island to the far west labeled Vinilandia Insula -- the fabled Vinland -- proof positive, it seemed, that Norse explorers had reached North America long before Columbus."
Call on soldier's death was false
Associated Press
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ct--deathhoax0213feb13,0,1819110.story
"Police said Friday they are certain a telephone call telling Eddie Valentin that his wife, U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. Betsy Valentin, had been killed in an explosion in Iraq was a hoax and not a mistake."
Soldier's Husband Accused of Death Hoax
By AVI SALZMAN
New York Times
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/17/n...00&en=9840f0ef72f1b4dc&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE>
"The hoax seemed particularly cruel. Edward Valentin, who had been raising three children by himself while his wife was serving in Iraq, told the police that he received an "official-sounding" call last Wednesday: his wife had died in a firebombing in Baghdad."
Man admits lying about prank
Associated Press
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20040216-121919-1362r.htm
"A man thought to have been the victim of a cruel prankster who told him his wife had been killed in Iraq has admitted concocting the story and was arrested yesterday, authorities said."
A Box Full of Bad Luck: Haunted Wine Cabinet Goes to Highest Bidder
By MAX GROSS
New York Forward
http://www.forward.com/issues/2004/04.02.13/news12.html
"The Internet auction house eBay recently added a new item among the steak knives and vacuum cleaners normally up for sale: a dybbuk-haunted wine cabinet."
Cancer scam lands woman in jail
By Brian Bridgeford
Portage Daily Register
http://portage.scwn.com/articles/2004/02/13/news/news1.txt
"Cancer benefit scam perpetrator Angela M. Cohoon was confronted by the outrage of family, friends and community members Friday in Sauk County Court, as she was sentenced to nine months of jail time."
Woman, 28, gets nine months for cancer scam
Associated Press
http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/news/local/states/wisconsin/7956657.htm
"A 28-year-old woman who admitted she falsely claimed to have cancer apologized in court and was sentenced to nine months in jail."
Local Ministry Raided By Federal Agents Over Alleged Tax Scam
WFTV
http://www.wftv.com/news/2850846/detail.html
"A local ministry's office was raided. Federal agents say, a local couple cheated the government out of more than $2 million. The pair is accused of selling information to help people get out of paying their taxes and then paying off the government with fake checks."
Fake doctorate draws questions
By Patrick McGee
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/local/states/texas/arlington/7945731.htm
"A list of faculty at Southwestern Adventist University in Keene says faculty member Alan Williams has a Ph.D. from Glencullen University."
Reverend Doomsday
By Robert Dreyfuss
Rolling Stone
http://www.rollingstone.com/features/nationalaffairs/featuregen.asp?pid=2771
"It might seem unlikely that the commander in chief would take his marching orders directly from on high -- unless you understand the views of the Rev. Timothy LaHaye, one of the most influential leaders of the Christian right, and a man who played a quiet but pivotal role in putting George W. Bush in the White House. If you know LaHaye at all, it's for his series of best-selling apocalyptic novels. You've seen the Left Behind novels everywhere: aboard airplanes, at the beach, in massive displays at Wal-Mart. In the nine years since the publication of the first novel, the series has sold 60 million copies. Next to the authors of the Bible itself, who didn't get royalties, LaHaye is Christianity's biggest publishing success ever."
'Miracle' at Shiva temple sparks panic
Sify News
http://headlines.sify.com/2797news4.html?headline=\'Miracle\'~at~Shiva~temple~sparks~panic
"Thousands of Hindus rushed Friday to a temple in Patna after claims by devotees that they had seen the trident of an idol of Shiva shaking and revolving, temple officials said."
Court gives life to dead woman
Agence France-Presse
http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,8673598%5E13762,00.html
"THE Bombay high court has handed down a sentence of life imprisonment to a dead woman found guilty of killing a six-year-old girl in 1986 as a human sacrifice, a report said."
Doctors, Priests Form Exorcism Commission
Reuters
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...57&e=2&u=/nm/20040213/od_nm/italy_exorcism_dc
"Faced with growing demand for exorcisms, Catholic Church leaders in the Italian city of Genoa have created a taskforce of doctors and priests to determine when the devil is at work and when psychiatric help is needed."
Vancouver tops in reported UFO sightings across Canada
ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/aplocal_story.asp?category=6420&slug=CAN UFO Report
"Vancouver and Toronto topped the list of Canadian cities with sightings of unidentified flying objects, according to an annual report."
Alien Lovers
By Gretchen Giles
North Bay Bohemian
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/02.12.04/touched-0407.html
"Karin, an attractive woman in her late 20s with short-cropped hair and a quick smile, is fairly certain that her first experience with extraterrestrial beings came when she was just two and a half. Playing with a new gumball machine in a dry creek bed outside of her Florida home, Karin remembers a small being with large, black eyes coming out from behind a tree. He asked her to accompany him; she did. She remembers that they entered an "egg-shaped" vehicle."
UFO buff fascinated by the unexplained
by Chuck Tobin
Whitehorse Star
http://www.whitehorsestar.com/storyDetail.lasso?r=48398
"UFOs continue to drive Lorraine Bretlyn's curiosity."
It's Friday the 13th!
By Martha Petteys
Glens Falls Post-Star
http://www.mtstandard.com/articles/2004/02/12/newsopinion_top/hjjfjhigjjefij.txt
"The story goes like this, a business traveler is at a bar and a stranger buys him a drink. That's the last thing he remembers."
Static blamed in blast
By ELIZABETH EVANS
York Dispatch
http://www.yorkdispatch.com/Stories/0,1413,138~10023~1952197,00.html
"A huge propane explosion in Jackson Township likely was sparked by static electricity, the township's fire marshal said."
Mystery regarding Lincoln's assassin enthralls retired professor
By Bill McCleery
Indianapolis Star
http://www.indystar.com/articles/8/121245-5208-009.html
"Twelve days after killing President Abraham Lincoln, assassin John Wilkes Booth was gunned down inside a Virginia barn."
Mind-reading becomes campaign issue
By DOUG NURSE
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/gwinnett/0204/12campaign.html
"Gwinnett County Commission candidate George Thorndyke says he can't read minds, but he concedes that he has associated with people who say they can. His political opponent says that raises questions about his judgment."
I talk to my dead mum
by JON RALPH and SELINA STEELE
Queensland Sunday Mail
http://www.thesundaymail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,8683746%5E2765,00.html
"CONTROVERSIAL Brisbane AFL player Jason Akermanis has revealed that he talks to his mother and other family members from beyond the grave."
Psychic Says Acacia's in the River
KIFI
http://www.localnews8.com/home/634152.html
"A psychic says she knows missing Utah Baby Acacia Bishop is in the river. That's what the police have been saying all along, but the baby's family does not agree."
Pet psychic lets owners in on what their furry friends are feeling
By David Heitz
Quad-City Times
http://www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1024283&t=Gateway&c=30,1024283
"Communicating with her canine via a pet psychic, Jane Groth of Davenport believes she learned Sunday that her dog, Striker, might be allergic to barley."
Anybody there with psychic gifts?
by David Charters
Liverpool Daily Post
<http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/...body-there-with-psychic-gifts--name_page.html>
"PERHAPS is the word that clings to this subject like film on a ham. It comes with a shrug or a careless raising of the eyebrows from the sceptics who refuse to accept that any human experience can slip the grip of rational explanation."
Psychic who swindled Stoddard woman out of $94,500 pleads guilty to mail fraud
By Kevin Murphy
La Crosse Tribune
http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2004/02/12/news/01first.txt
"A psychic who defrauded a Stoddard woman out of $94,500 by offering to find her lost cat and a soul mate pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to mail fraud. Julia Tan, 28, formerly of Yardley, Penn., was contacted early last year after the Stoddard woman lost her cat and turned to a psychic hot line for help. Under the guise of helping locate the cat, Tan asked the woman for $150, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Anderson. Tan then told the woman to send her $5,000 so that evil spirits surrounding the Stoddard woman could be ridded and the cat would return home."
Sharing business, psychic visions with West Dallas
By REGINA L. BURNS
Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/dallas/stories/021704dnmetmpprofile.50e7f.html
"When's he not running one of his businesses or volunteering on behalf of the West Dallas Chamber of Commerce, John Cappello somehow finds time to do pet psychic readings."
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 STAN BAILEY
Birmingham News
http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1076755528203711.xml
"Alabama's senior U.S. senator predicted Friday that the Senate will approve a bill backed by Roy Moore to restrict federal courts from reviewing cases involving the acknowledgment of God."
Lawmakers Want Ban on Court Denial of God
By JEFFREY McMURRAY
Associated Press
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/National/AP.V6289.AP-Ten-Commandment.html
"Federal courts could not curb state court rulings that allow an ``acknowledgment of God,'' according to a measure two senators introduced Thursday as a response to the dispute over a Ten Commandments display in Alabama."
An Unbalanced Diet
St. Louis Riverfront Times
http://www.riverfronttimes.com/issues/2004-02-11/unreal.html/1/index.html
(Third Item)
"Unreal didn't want to say anything. But ever since St. Louis school-board member Rochell Moore cast her infamous curse on Mayor Francis Slay last summer, he hasn't looked so good. You'd look bad, too, if you had fever, inflammation, extreme burning and mildew, and the Angel of the Lord chasing you."
Deconstructing 'Da Vinci'
By Julia Duin
WASHINGTON TIMES
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20040216-121916-6332r.htm
""The Da Vinci Code," the best-selling novel that asserts as fact that Jesus Christ had a daughter as well as a wife, has provoked fierce opposition from Protestants and Catholics alike."
Woman admits role in child's death
By John Ellement
Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/news/local/ma...2004/02/11/woman_admits_role_in_childs_death/
"Michelle Mingo, the woman whose prophecy led to the starvation murder of her baby nephew, yesterday acknowledged her role in his death before walking out of court with her "spiritual husband," apparently headed back to the Attleboro religious sect whose teachings cost Samuel Robidoux his life and Mingo custody of her five children."
Sect Member Pleads Guilty in Baby's Death
By DENISE LAVOIE
Associated Press
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040211/ap_on_re_us/embattled_sect_2
"A member of a religious sect whose self-described vision from God led to the starvation death of an infant pleaded guilty Tuesday to an accessory charge and was allowed to go free."
Doomsday Cult Investigation
WOAI
http://www.woai.com/troubleshooters/story.aspx?content_id=72B58168-5C8A-4774-A782-A32485066077
"An accused pedophile from San Antonio now serves as a spiritual advisor for a doomsday cult. News 4 WOAI Trouble Shooter Brian Collister traveled to Costa Rica to investigate and find if cult leader Juan Pablo Delgado is a visionary or a con artist."
Couple indicted in federal court in child-sex cases
By Mareva Brown
Sacramento Bee
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/8260029p-9190638c.html
"Self-proclaimed religious prophet Allen Harrod was indicted in federal court Thursday along with his wife on nine counts of transporting children across state lines for sexual purposes."
TM officials say money is in place for 500 from India
By Erik Gable
Fairfield Ledger
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10976571&BRD=1139&PAG=461&dept_id=142642&rfi=6
"Officials in the Transcendental Meditation movement said recently they have raised enough money to bring 500 young men practicing the TM program from India to Maharishi Vedic City."
Police raid Japanese cult
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3491493.stm
"Japanese police have raided offices of the cult that attacked the Tokyo subway with deadly sarin gas in 1995."
Aum locations searched in runup to guru's verdict
Japan Times
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20040217a6.htm
"The Justice Ministry's Public Security Intelligence Agency on Monday raided 11 locations connected with Aum Shinrikyo ahead of next week's court verdict on cult founder Shoko Asahara."
Aum facilities raided ahead of Matsumoto's sentencing
Yomiuri Shimbun
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20040217wo21.htm
"The Public Security Intelligence Agency on Monday inspected 11 facilities related to the Aum Supreme Truth cult."
Japanese authorities raid doomsday cult facilities
By MARI YAMAGUCHI
ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://newsobserver.com/24hour/world/story/1149614p-8009679c.html
"Japanese agents raided key facilities of a doomsday cult Monday, searching for evidence of a terror plot before a verdict in the trial of the group's guru for a 1995 nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subways."
Baby cloning equals UFO sighting: Abbott
Australian Associated Press
http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,8659710%5E421,00.html
"A CLAIM that a cloned baby had been born in Sydney was the medical equivalent of a UFO story, federal Health Minister Tony Abbott said today."
Beyond Ephedra
by Leon Jaroff
Time
http://www.time.com/time/columnist/jaroff/article/0,9565,589533,00.html
"It's only been a few weeks since the Food and Drug Administration announced the ban on products containing the herb ephedra, but the health food industry has hardly skipped a beat. As a substitute for ephedra in its weight loss and energy boosting supplements, it has begun using such stimulants as green tea extract and bitter orange."
Bizarre Therapy Leads To $7.35M Malpractice Settlement
WMAQ
http://www.nbc5.com/health/2841956/detail.html?z=dp&dpswid=2265994&dppid=65194
"A woman who alleged she was put under drug-induced hypnosis and then convinced she was part of a satanic cult has settled her medical malpractice lawsuit, her attorney said."
Woman settles for $7.5 million over false repressed memories
By Rob Olmstead
Chicago Daily Herald
http://www.dailyherald.com/search/main_story.asp?intid=380293
"Longtime Northwest suburban resident Elizabeth Gale thought she was the victim of satanic cult, a "breeder" whose children had been stolen to be exploited in pornography, sex abuse, incest and bestiality."
Not in cult: Woman gets $7.5 million
BY ABDON M. PALLASCH
Chicago Sun-Times
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-psych12.html
"This is not "The X-Files" or a supermarket tabloid story -- it is a real court case settled this week at the Daley Center."
Psychiatric patient tells of ordeal in treatment
By Hal Dardick
Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0402130313feb13,1,2122139.story
"When Elizabeth Gale sought psychiatric treatment in 1986, she suffered from depression, the most common of psychiatric illnesses."
Ancient wisdom, modern science
By Julie Deardorff
Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/q/chi-0402150288feb15,1,6535190.story
"Two weeks after discovering she was pregnant, 34-year-old Lynette Bisconti was diagnosed with breast cancer. Six doctors across the country advised her to end the pregnancy so she could begin chemotherapy. Six times Bisconti said no."
Naturopaths targeted over bad medicine
By NATALIE WILLIAMS
Daily Telegraph [Australia]
http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1260&storyid=894241
"A SUPREME Court Judge has warned the state's naturopaths they will face the full weight of the law if their use of alternative medicines leads to patient tragedy."
Herbal remedies need to be regulated - WHO
Reuters
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=117&art_id=qw1076429520623B243&set_id=1
"The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday issued guidelines for ensuring the safety and efficacy of the multibillion-dollar herbal medicines market amid reports that some products are tainted with toxic substances."
Pins and needles help residents relax
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
North Brunswick Sentinel
http://nbs.gmnews.com/news/2004/0212/Front_Page/006.html
"For some, needles conjure up the thought of pain, for Ed Kubala needles mean he can finally relax."
Grieving couple attack 'biased' ITV documentary
by John Plunkett
The Guardian
http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,7493,1146857,00.html
"A couple who turned to alternative medicine to try to help their dying daughter have attacked an ITV documentary which they claim portrayed them as "gullible idiots"."
Quack alternative medicine pains me
by DR IAN McKEE
The Scotsman
http://news.scotsman.com/health.cfm?id=184992004
"A DISTRESSING fact of life is the enormous amount of money wasted every year on quack alternative medicine treatments and the useless, but expensive, products that are prescribed."
Push for Alternative Health "Freedom"
KCRG
http://www.kcrg.com/article.aspx?art_id=76106&cat_id=123
"Candles, herbs and stones may not be the kind of medicine everyone uses but there's a big group who believes these have the healing touch."
Canton man charged in laetrile shipment
Akron Beacon Journal
http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/local/7944497.htm
"A 73-year-old Canton man has been accused of arranging the interstate shipment of a drug that has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration."
Naturopathic doctors renew push for licensing in Pennsylvania
By Virginia Linn
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04048/273884.stm
"Heidi Weinhold is licensed as a physician in Arizona and Vermont, where she can diagnose diseases, prescribe drugs, order lab work, have hospital privileges and perform minor surgery."
Foodies' mushroom fetish 'stripping woodlands bare'
by Juliette Jowit
The Observer
http://www.guardian.co.uk/food/Story/0,2763,1148584,00.html
"Once they lay undisturbed for years, mouldering on the forest floor, shunned by the British public. Now fungi are a kitchen-cupboard essential."
Imaginary maladies online
by Katherine Seligman
San Francisco Chronicle
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/02/15/LVGIU4R1OP1.DTL
"At her most worried, Melissa Woyechowsky sometimes spent four hours a day on the Internet looking up her symptoms. There was the tingling, the numbness in her limbs, insomnia, fatigue. She fretted over them all."
Girl, 20 Killed Over Alleged Witchcraft Pushed Down From 3-Storey Building
P.M. News [Lagos]
http://allafrica.com/stories/200402100438.html
"A 20-year-old girl, Nkiru Iruka, has been murdered by her cousin, ThankGod Ukwueze, 19, who accused her of witchcraft."
Nigerians Charged with Removing Boy's Eyes
Reuters
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=5&u=/nm/20040211/od_nm/eyes_dc
"Four Nigerian men were charged with plucking out the eyes of a 13-year-old schoolboy for use in witchcraft, the state news agency reported Tuesday."
Boy sacrificed at brick kiln
The Telegraph [Calcutta]
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040215/asp/frontpage/story_2898103.asp
"A five-year-old boy was kidnapped and sacrificed at a brick kiln at Dhuranbigaha village in Bihar's Aurangabad district."
Organ traffickers 'threaten' nuns
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3483581.stm
"Four Catholic nuns say they have received death threats after exposing an organ trafficking network allegedly operating in northern Mozambique."
'Doctor 13' can diagnose superstition
by CAPI LYNN
Salem Statesman Journal
http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=75343
"Thomas Fernsler has been fascinated by the fear of 13 and Friday the 13th since about 1987."
It's Friday the 13th, but not to worry
By MIKE LEWIS
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/160489_friday13.html
"Take triskaidekaphobia, or fear of 13s, and combine it with a Friday, a generally well-regarded day of the week, and you get Paraskevidekatriaphobics, a deep fear of Friday the 13th. (Fear of splatter films of the same name is Jasonvoorhephobia.)"
State panel backs disputed lesson, infuriates supporters of evolution
by Scott Stephens
Cleveland Plain Dealer
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1076495549160490.xml
"The State Board of Education gave preliminary approval Tuesday to a 10th-grade biology lesson that scientists say could put "intelligent design" in Ohio classrooms."
Scientists to lobby board on biology plan
By Laura A. Bischoff
Dayton Daily News
http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/0211science.html
"Scientists said they will pressure Ohio Board of Education members to change their minds about a controversial evolution lesson plan the board tentatively approved Tuesday."
Ohio Board OKs Evolution Lesson Plans
By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS
Associated Press
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...&e=8&u=/ap/20040211/ap_on_sc/evolution_debate
"Opponents of the state school board's new lesson plans on evolution expect to lobby heavily for changes before a final board vote."
Science lessons keep controversial evolution criticisms
By LEO SHANE III
Coshocton Tribune
http://www.coshoctontribune.com/news/stories/20040211/localnews/394294.html
"Evolution criticisms backed by religious groups will remain in the state's model curriculum for high school science classes, after getting overwhelming support from the state Board of Education Tuesday."
Atheists, Humanists Push Campaign for 'Darwin Day'
By Robert Evans
Reuters
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=572&ncid=572&e=2&u=/nm/20040212/lf_nm/darwin_dc_1
"Atheist, agnostic and humanist organizations in the Americas, Europe and Asia are gearing up for a five-year campaign aimed at achieving international recognition of Feb. 12 as "Darwin Day.""
Christian group offers schools legal aid
Associated Press
http://www.billingsgazette.com/inde...ws/2004/02/16/build/state/65-legalorigins.inc
"A Christian legal defense organization is offering to defend the Darby School Board if it is sued over its newly adopted policy of including "objective origins" theory in science classes."
The evolution debate in Ohio yet again?
Dayton Daily News
http://www.daytondailynews.com/opinion/content/opinion/daily/0214evol.html
"Ohioans may be having some difficulty figuring out just what the state Board of Education is up to on the subject of evolution. Some people are saying that the board's pending new lesson plans are an effort to promote the teaching of "intelligent design" over evolution. But the very people who are accused of making that effort insist that the guidelines are actually among the most pro-evolution in the country."
Why won't Kathy Cox tell motives for changes?
by Colin Campbell
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/today/content/epaper/editions/today/metro_04b2d1a43733812a00d3.html
"First, state Schools Superintendent Kathy Cox took the word "evolution" out of Georgia's proposed biology curriculum. She called it provocative and replaced it with "biological changes over time." She also argued that other theories of origin, such as "intelligent design," should be taught."
Face to face with evolution
By MATTHEW GROBER
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/0204a/15evolution.html
"I am overwhelmed. More than 2,200 people took my evolution quiz on ajc.com last week. More than a dozen contacted me directly with questions or comments. And that's great news."
Guide sparks debate
By Leo Shane III
http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/news/stories/20040215/localnews/419984.html
"After getting overwhelming support from the state Board of Education, evolution criticisms backed by religious groups will stay in the state's model curriculum for high school science classes."
Bill would require teaching of `intelligent design'
by ROBERT SANDLER
Associated Press
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/7961557.htm
"Where did we come from? The question that has perplexed humankind for centuries is coming soon to a Statehouse near you."
Legal defense organization says it may aid Darby school board
By MICHAEL MOORE
The Missoulian
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2004/02/16/news/local/znews01.txt
"With a threat of a lawsuit looming, the Darby school board will meet Feb. 24 with an attorney affiliated with a legal defense organization founded to "keep the door open to the spread of the Gospel ... ""
Undermining evolution in Ohio
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/7965530.htm
"Ohio's Board of Education has delivered a victory for pseudoscience and failed public school students with its preliminary approval of a lesson plan on the teaching of evolution. Eminent scientists opposed to the plan deserve strong public support in their efforts to change the minds of board members before a final vote."
Kennewick man ruling - politics or science?
New Scientist
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994666
"Native Americans called him "The Ancient One", while anthropologists speculated he could reveal who first settled the Americas."
Rights to remains hinge on 'Kennewick Man'
By Brent Israelsen
Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Feb/02162004/utah/139353.asp
""Kennewick Man" -- who perished on the banks of the Columbia River about 9,000 years ago -- probably never passed through what is now Utah."
A sound decision on Kennewick Man
Tri-City Herald
http://www.tri-cityherald.com/tch/opinions/story/4749473p-4696268c.html
"The decision by a federal appeals court to allow scientific study of the remains of Kennewick Man is a sound one."
Ancient stone circle has made us ill, say ghost detectives
by Robin Turner
The Western Mail [Wales]
<http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100...e-us-ill--say-ghost-detectives-name_page.html>
"A PAIR of psychic investigators looking at the healing properties of an ancient stone circle claim it has made them seriously ill."
Ghost detectives never lonely
by Robin Turner
The Western Mail [Wales]
<http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100...-Ghost-detectives-never-lonely-name_page.html>
"SWANSEA-based ghost detective Claire Williams likes nothing better than shutting the door on the world and putting her feet up in her living room."
19th-century family inspired vampire lore
By AMY BETH PREISS
Norwich Bulletin
http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/stories/20040215/localnews/415860.html
"As the story goes, the first member of the Ray family to die was Lemuel."
Documentary puts stake in vampire folklore
Associated Press
http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/new...0.apds.m0194.bc-ct--vampfeb16,0,5427919.story
"His story is a sad one. Dead at age 55, his battered body showed signs of infection, several fractures and painful arthritis. He probably walked with a limp and was missing teeth."
State's Vampire Lore Lures Film Crew
By LEE FOSTER
Hartford Courant
http://www.ctnow.com/news/local/hc-vampire0214.artfeb14,1,5800633.story
"After a full day of filming a documentary about vampires in New England, the British film crew and State Archaeologist Nick Bellantoni looked a bit like "the hungry dead" themselves Friday."
Film crew to probe vampire legend
by Gail Ellen Daly
Willimantic Chronicle
http://www.thechronicle.com/story_disp.htm?action=Search&story_id=feb12-01049&category=Local+News
"About 14 years ago, a group of young boys playing in a Jewett City sand and gravel pit unearthed two skulls."
British crew films New England folklore
By AMY BETH PREISS
Norwich Bulletin
http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/stories/20040215/localnews/415835.html
"When two young boys slid down the hill of a gravel bank 14 years ago, two skulls rolled down after them."
Italian villagers call for exorcist to end 'demon' fires
by JEREMY CHARLES
The Scotsman
http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=165132004
"AN ITALIAN village was evacuated yesterday as investigators attempted to explain an outbreak of spontaneous household appliance combustions, which have left locals fearing for their safety."
Sicilian fires recall nanny's 'witch' ordeal
by TRACEY LAWSON
The Scotsman
http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=169722004
"EVEN amid the folklore and superstition which is woven through the fabric of rural Italy, it is a phenomenon which Sicilians have never faced before: a series of unexplained fires, arising in household appliances, even when the electricity is switched off."
Family flee home as 'ghost' moves in
Gravesend Messenger
http://www.kent-online.co.uk/news/default.asp?article_id=13261
"MEMBERS of a Gravesend family say they have been forced to flee their home after a ghostly apparition turned rooms cold and burned candles black."
Family not spooked by spirit in house
by Mike Doyle
Rockford Register Star
http://www.rrstar.com/opinion/columnists/doyle/20040212-11970.shtml
"Luke and Heidi Lykken fell in love with the house near Belvidere Park."
Unlucky Building Syndrome?
By Irena Josoeb
The Straits Times [Singapore]
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4386,235337,00.html
"ONCE again, the Old Thong Chai Medical Institution building is up for lease and sale."
Pagan market will go on after short cancellation
By Lisa Smith
Chicago Daily Herald
http://www.dailyherald.com/search/main_story.asp?intid=38031161
"A "one-stop pagan shopping" exposition will go on as originally scheduled later this month at the Fox Valley Park District's Prisco Community Center in Aurora after a brief cancellation was announced earlier this week."
Loch Ness Researcher Smells Something Fishy In Documentary
Wireless Flash
http://www.ncbuy.com/news/2004-02-12/1008909.html
(See also <http://www.livejournal.com/community/hoaxes/99109.html>)
"A cryptozoologist smells something fishy surrounding an alleged documentary of the Loch Ness monster."
Research Casts Doubt On Voice-stress Lie Detection Technology
Press Release
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/02/040211080041.htm
"Voice-stress analysis, an alternative to the polygraph as a method for lie detection, is already widely used in police and insurance fraud investigations. Now, however, it is being touted as a powerful and effective tool for an array of new applications -- everything from the screening of potential terrorists in the nation's airports to catching wayward spouses in messy marital disputes."
Cloned baby claims dismissed
Australian Associated Press
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/02/12/1076548163897.html
"Claims that a cloned baby had been born in Sydney have been dismissed by some as the medical equivalent of a UFO story, while others said the scientific possibility was not too far-fetched."
Send in the clones
By SIMON BENSON
Sydney Daily Telegraph
http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1260&storyid=887841
"THEY want us to believe that humans are descendants of aliens who arrived recently in UFOs. Now the cult known as the Raelian Movement claims its subsidiary company Clonaid has cloned a Sydney man at a cost of around $300,000."
Company claims pheromones boost retail sales
By Ted Streuli
Galveston County Daily News
http://www.galvnews.com/story.lasso?wcd=17795
"Your favorite department store might seem a little friendlier, you might shop a little longer and you might feel so serene that you plunk down the cash for an extra pair of shoes."
Welshpool 'Nazi pub' story untrue
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/3472087.stm
"A journalist for the New Statesman magazine who caused a row by claiming to have witnessed a gathering of neo-Nazis in a mid Wales bar has admitted the pub does not exist."
Space photo contents often are all in eye of the beholder
by Mike Himowitz
Baltimore Sun
http://www.baltimoresun.com/technol...bal-pl.himowitz12feb12001707,0,5882199.column
"WHEN IT COMES to space, seeing is not necessarily believing."
Harrods sues Dow Jones over paper's Enron reference
Agence France-Presse
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...16/wl_uk_afp/britain_court_media_040216190837
"Harrods began a lawsuit against US media group Dow Jones Monday over an article in the Wall Street Journal newspaper -- prompted by an April Fool's joke -- questioning whether the store was "The Enron of Britain"."
Harrods sues over "Enron" article
Reuters
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040216/od_uk_nm/oukoe_media_libel_dow_jones_1
"Luxury department store Harrods has launched a High Court action against Dow Jones, publisher of the Wall Street Journal, accusing it of libel after it ran a story triggered by an April Fool's hoax."
Psychic scam leads to biohazard scare
by Amy Oshier
WBBH
http://www.nbc-2.com/News/stories/040212-psychic_scam.shtml
"A Port Charlotte mail carrier was on the receiving end of a decontamination shower after a grey powder was found oozing out of a letter. But Instead of a biological threat, the powder was the result of someone falling victim to an international money making scam."
Norse Map or German Hoax? Still No Rest for Vinland
By Guy Gugliotta
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44387-2004Feb15.html
"When it surfaced in 1957, it was too good to be true: a purported 15th-century world map depicting an island to the far west labeled Vinilandia Insula -- the fabled Vinland -- proof positive, it seemed, that Norse explorers had reached North America long before Columbus."
Call on soldier's death was false
Associated Press
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ct--deathhoax0213feb13,0,1819110.story
"Police said Friday they are certain a telephone call telling Eddie Valentin that his wife, U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. Betsy Valentin, had been killed in an explosion in Iraq was a hoax and not a mistake."
Soldier's Husband Accused of Death Hoax
By AVI SALZMAN
New York Times
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/17/n...00&en=9840f0ef72f1b4dc&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE>
"The hoax seemed particularly cruel. Edward Valentin, who had been raising three children by himself while his wife was serving in Iraq, told the police that he received an "official-sounding" call last Wednesday: his wife had died in a firebombing in Baghdad."
Man admits lying about prank
Associated Press
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20040216-121919-1362r.htm
"A man thought to have been the victim of a cruel prankster who told him his wife had been killed in Iraq has admitted concocting the story and was arrested yesterday, authorities said."
A Box Full of Bad Luck: Haunted Wine Cabinet Goes to Highest Bidder
By MAX GROSS
New York Forward
http://www.forward.com/issues/2004/04.02.13/news12.html
"The Internet auction house eBay recently added a new item among the steak knives and vacuum cleaners normally up for sale: a dybbuk-haunted wine cabinet."
Cancer scam lands woman in jail
By Brian Bridgeford
Portage Daily Register
http://portage.scwn.com/articles/2004/02/13/news/news1.txt
"Cancer benefit scam perpetrator Angela M. Cohoon was confronted by the outrage of family, friends and community members Friday in Sauk County Court, as she was sentenced to nine months of jail time."
Woman, 28, gets nine months for cancer scam
Associated Press
http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/news/local/states/wisconsin/7956657.htm
"A 28-year-old woman who admitted she falsely claimed to have cancer apologized in court and was sentenced to nine months in jail."
Local Ministry Raided By Federal Agents Over Alleged Tax Scam
WFTV
http://www.wftv.com/news/2850846/detail.html
"A local ministry's office was raided. Federal agents say, a local couple cheated the government out of more than $2 million. The pair is accused of selling information to help people get out of paying their taxes and then paying off the government with fake checks."
Fake doctorate draws questions
By Patrick McGee
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/local/states/texas/arlington/7945731.htm
"A list of faculty at Southwestern Adventist University in Keene says faculty member Alan Williams has a Ph.D. from Glencullen University."
Reverend Doomsday
By Robert Dreyfuss
Rolling Stone
http://www.rollingstone.com/features/nationalaffairs/featuregen.asp?pid=2771
"It might seem unlikely that the commander in chief would take his marching orders directly from on high -- unless you understand the views of the Rev. Timothy LaHaye, one of the most influential leaders of the Christian right, and a man who played a quiet but pivotal role in putting George W. Bush in the White House. If you know LaHaye at all, it's for his series of best-selling apocalyptic novels. You've seen the Left Behind novels everywhere: aboard airplanes, at the beach, in massive displays at Wal-Mart. In the nine years since the publication of the first novel, the series has sold 60 million copies. Next to the authors of the Bible itself, who didn't get royalties, LaHaye is Christianity's biggest publishing success ever."
'Miracle' at Shiva temple sparks panic
Sify News
http://headlines.sify.com/2797news4.html?headline=\'Miracle\'~at~Shiva~temple~sparks~panic
"Thousands of Hindus rushed Friday to a temple in Patna after claims by devotees that they had seen the trident of an idol of Shiva shaking and revolving, temple officials said."
Court gives life to dead woman
Agence France-Presse
http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,8673598%5E13762,00.html
"THE Bombay high court has handed down a sentence of life imprisonment to a dead woman found guilty of killing a six-year-old girl in 1986 as a human sacrifice, a report said."
Doctors, Priests Form Exorcism Commission
Reuters
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...57&e=2&u=/nm/20040213/od_nm/italy_exorcism_dc
"Faced with growing demand for exorcisms, Catholic Church leaders in the Italian city of Genoa have created a taskforce of doctors and priests to determine when the devil is at work and when psychiatric help is needed."
Vancouver tops in reported UFO sightings across Canada
ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/aplocal_story.asp?category=6420&slug=CAN UFO Report
"Vancouver and Toronto topped the list of Canadian cities with sightings of unidentified flying objects, according to an annual report."
Alien Lovers
By Gretchen Giles
North Bay Bohemian
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/02.12.04/touched-0407.html
"Karin, an attractive woman in her late 20s with short-cropped hair and a quick smile, is fairly certain that her first experience with extraterrestrial beings came when she was just two and a half. Playing with a new gumball machine in a dry creek bed outside of her Florida home, Karin remembers a small being with large, black eyes coming out from behind a tree. He asked her to accompany him; she did. She remembers that they entered an "egg-shaped" vehicle."
UFO buff fascinated by the unexplained
by Chuck Tobin
Whitehorse Star
http://www.whitehorsestar.com/storyDetail.lasso?r=48398
"UFOs continue to drive Lorraine Bretlyn's curiosity."
It's Friday the 13th!
By Martha Petteys
Glens Falls Post-Star
http://www.mtstandard.com/articles/2004/02/12/newsopinion_top/hjjfjhigjjefij.txt
"The story goes like this, a business traveler is at a bar and a stranger buys him a drink. That's the last thing he remembers."
Static blamed in blast
By ELIZABETH EVANS
York Dispatch
http://www.yorkdispatch.com/Stories/0,1413,138~10023~1952197,00.html
"A huge propane explosion in Jackson Township likely was sparked by static electricity, the township's fire marshal said."
Mystery regarding Lincoln's assassin enthralls retired professor
By Bill McCleery
Indianapolis Star
http://www.indystar.com/articles/8/121245-5208-009.html
"Twelve days after killing President Abraham Lincoln, assassin John Wilkes Booth was gunned down inside a Virginia barn."
Mind-reading becomes campaign issue
By DOUG NURSE
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/gwinnett/0204/12campaign.html
"Gwinnett County Commission candidate George Thorndyke says he can't read minds, but he concedes that he has associated with people who say they can. His political opponent says that raises questions about his judgment."
I talk to my dead mum
by JON RALPH and SELINA STEELE
Queensland Sunday Mail
http://www.thesundaymail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,8683746%5E2765,00.html
"CONTROVERSIAL Brisbane AFL player Jason Akermanis has revealed that he talks to his mother and other family members from beyond the grave."
Psychic Says Acacia's in the River
KIFI
http://www.localnews8.com/home/634152.html
"A psychic says she knows missing Utah Baby Acacia Bishop is in the river. That's what the police have been saying all along, but the baby's family does not agree."
Pet psychic lets owners in on what their furry friends are feeling
By David Heitz
Quad-City Times
http://www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1024283&t=Gateway&c=30,1024283
"Communicating with her canine via a pet psychic, Jane Groth of Davenport believes she learned Sunday that her dog, Striker, might be allergic to barley."
Anybody there with psychic gifts?
by David Charters
Liverpool Daily Post
<http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/...body-there-with-psychic-gifts--name_page.html>
"PERHAPS is the word that clings to this subject like film on a ham. It comes with a shrug or a careless raising of the eyebrows from the sceptics who refuse to accept that any human experience can slip the grip of rational explanation."
Psychic who swindled Stoddard woman out of $94,500 pleads guilty to mail fraud
By Kevin Murphy
La Crosse Tribune
http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2004/02/12/news/01first.txt
"A psychic who defrauded a Stoddard woman out of $94,500 by offering to find her lost cat and a soul mate pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to mail fraud. Julia Tan, 28, formerly of Yardley, Penn., was contacted early last year after the Stoddard woman lost her cat and turned to a psychic hot line for help. Under the guise of helping locate the cat, Tan asked the woman for $150, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Anderson. Tan then told the woman to send her $5,000 so that evil spirits surrounding the Stoddard woman could be ridded and the cat would return home."
Sharing business, psychic visions with West Dallas
By REGINA L. BURNS
Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/dallas/stories/021704dnmetmpprofile.50e7f.html
"When's he not running one of his businesses or volunteering on behalf of the West Dallas Chamber of Commerce, John Cappello somehow finds time to do pet psychic readings."
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