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		       The REALL News

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The official newsletter of the Rational Examination Association
		      of Lincoln Land

Volume 1, Number 7                                   August 1993
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Electronic Version

If you like what you see, please help us continue by sending
in a subscription.  See the end of newsletter for details.
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In This Issue:

From the Editor -- Bob Ladendorf
From the Chairman -- David Bloomberg
Psychics and Law Enforcement -- Prof. Steve Egger
10 Tips for Effective Letter Writing -- Mary Lou Mendum
REALLity Check -- David Bloomberg

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Purpose:
The Rational Examination Association of Lincoln Land (REALL)
is a non-profit educational and scientific organization.  It is
dedicated to the development of rational thinking and the application
of the scientific method toward claims of the paranormal and fringe-
science phenomena.

REALL shall conduct research, convene meetings, publish a newsletter,
and disseminate information to its members and the general public.
Its primary geographic region of coverage is central Illinois.

REALL subscribes to the premise that the scientific method is the
most reliable and self-correcting system for obtaining knowledge
about the world and universe.  REALL not not reject paranormal claims
on a priori grounds, but rather is committed to objective, though
critical, inquiry.

_The REALL News_ is its official newsletter.

Membership information is provided elsewhere in this newsletter.

Board of Directors:  Chairman, David Bloomberg; Assistant Chairman,
Prof. Ron Larkin; Secretary-Treasurer, Wally Hartshorn; Newsletter
Editor, Bob Ladendorf; At-Large Members, Prof. Steve Egger, Frank
Mazo, and Kevin Brown.

Editorial Board:  Bob Ladendorf (Newsletter Editor), David Bloomberg
(electronic version editor), (one vacancy).

REALL
P.O. Box 20302
Springfield, IL 62708

Unless stated otherwise, permission is granted to other skeptic
organizations to reprint articles from _The REALL News_ as long
as proper credit is given.

The views expressed in these articles are the views of the individual
authors and do not necessarily represent the views of REALL.

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			  From The Editor
			 -- Bob Ladendorf

   Unless  one had his or her head in the sand, perhaps  out
of the sand in this case, most Midwesterners talked about or
acted upon the biggest story during July _ the Great Flood.
What struck  me during this past month while  watching  NBC
News, Channel 20 News, and reading a pile of newspapers, and
while working on the West Quincy and Sny levees side-by-side
with REALL board member and this month's cover story author
Steve Egger was how all seemed to be united for a common
cause -- fighting the rivers.  The humbling effect of trying
to hold back this mighty work of nature was moderated by
that, trite as it may sound, coming together of farmers,
National Guard and Coast Guard troops, and civilians, such
as the Philadelphian who hitchhiked to work the levees.
   That "coming together" is what REALL is all about, too.
Bringing together individuals of all kinds, we are fighting
perhaps a greater enemy -- ignorance and superstition.  Armed
with  the best, up-to-date scientific knowledge, we can try
to hold back the force of that river.
   What also amazed me about the Great Flood was the absence
of claims that UFOs or other pseudoscientific phenomena
caused the floods.  (And, did any self-proclaimed psychics
predict the Great Flood?)  Sure, there was a poll indicating
that a fifth of Americans believe the floods are a sign from
God, which is not surprising, but since the satellite photos
show how swollen the waters have become, you'd think that any
UFOs in the area might just wonder what the hell is going on
and check it out.
   Of course, the crisis isn't over yet . . .

					/s/ Bob Ladendorf

		   ==============================

			 From the Chairman
			-- David Bloomberg

     Yes, I've journeyed through the Bermuda Triangle and
lived to tell the tale.  As a matter of fact, I've lived to
tell several tales.
     So, sit right back, and you'll hear a tale -- a tale of
a fateful trip...  Well, ok, so it was more than a three-
hour cruise, a three-hour cruise.
     Actually, I came into contact with fringe beliefs
several times during my cruise.  The first came before the
cruise itself, when I went to buy Dramamine for my new wife,
who had never been on a plane nor a ship before.  Sitting on
the shelves at Osco, right next to the real anti-motion
sickness medications, were Sea Bands (or some such thing).
If you've never heard of these, they are elastic wrist bands
with a button on them.  You are supposed to place the button
on a certain point on your wrist, and they allegedly
alleviate motion sickness through acupressure.  Have they
been proven to work through scientific tests?  Nah, but why
should that stop anybody from selling them?
     And it didn't stop people from buying them, either.
When the weather started getting rough, and the tiny ship
was tossed, if not for the courage of the fearless crew, the
Holiday would've been lost, the Holiday would've been
lost...  Whoops, sorry.  Kind of let that sentence get away
from me there.  Anyway, as I was saying, when the sea got a
bit choppy, one woman at the table next to ours felt sick
and used them.  Did they work?  Well, that's hard for me to
say, since she was using them at the same time as taking
Dramamine.  But she was sure they were working.
     When I got seasick (my wife was fine, but Mr.
Experienced Traveler got sick), I took Dramamine, but not in
time to save myself from what seemed an eternity of having
my stomach trying to catch up with the rest of me.  That
night I went to dinner in this state, my face a nice shade
of green.  I was given all sorts of suggestions as to what
would help me:  crackers, apples, soup, etc.  I couldn't
stomach the soup and crackers, but did eat an apple.  When I
was about half finished with it, I started feeling better.
Now, I have no idea if apples do actually help with
seasickness (though I have my doubts), but I do know that on
previous days, the Dramamine took about an hour to start
catching up with my stomach, and darnit if it wasn't about
an hour after I had taken the Dramamine when I started to
feel better.  Of course, several people at the table
attributed my returning natural color to the apple.  This is
the essence of alternative medicine:  coincidence combined
with the urge to believe.
     Luckily, I didn't get stranded on an uncharted desert
isle with a "professor" who can build a radio out of a
coconut, but can't build a lousy raft.  Or am I the only one
who was ever bothered by that?

		    **ANNOUNCEMENTS**

*McGrath to Analyze Loch Ness Photos at August REALL Meeting*

As mentioned elsewhere in this issue, we have a special
guest speaker this month.  Robert McGrath will give a
presentation on the photoanalysis of pictures from Loch
Ness.  He has given this presentation several times before,
including once at a colloquium for the University of
Illinois Geography Department.  Robert has also written
articles on various topics for Skeptical Inquirer, Skeptic
(the British skeptics journal), and, of course, The REALL
News.  Don't miss what promises to be a great presentation!

                  *Discount Book Sales*

Also, don't forget to bring your Prometheus Books orders to
the August 16th meeting.  We only need a few more before we
can send in our first group order.  Remember, you get 20%
off and only pay $1 shipping per book (assuming you can pick
up the books), and you also help REALL!  If you need a
catalog, we'll have them available.  Don't delay, order
today!

					/s/ David Bloomberg


********************************************************
*       Traxler to Speak on Creationist Teaching       *
*                                                      *
*  Ranse Traxler, Executive Director of the St. Louis  *
* Association for the Teaching of Evolution (SLATE),   *
* is tentatively scheduled as the guest speaker at the *
* September 20 special meeting of REALL, which will be *
* held in Champaign.  More information will be avail-  *
* able on the meeting in the September newsletter.     *
*                                                      *
*  Traxler will speak on creationism taught in         *
* Illinois schools.                                    *
*                                                      *
********************************************************

		   ==============================
{EXCLUSIVE}
                    Psychics and Law Enforcement
                         -- Steve Egger

   A  renowned psychic walked up to a police officer on  the
street  and  said, "Hello there Officer Frank  Smithe."  The
crowd on the street was amazed when the officer admitted  he
did  not know the psychic and had never seen him before.  No
one  seemed  to notice that the officer was wearing  a  name
tag.
   And  so it goes. Psychics are able to fool almost anyone,
including the police. Police officers are known for being  a
cynical  and  skeptical breed. Yet there  are  a  number  of
officers in this country who claim that psychics are ". .  .
real,  and have been a great deal of help to law enforcement
in  finding  missing children and dead  bodies  as  well  as
assisting in serial murder investigations." (My source  will
have  to  remain  anonymous  so  he  doesn't  embarrass  his
supervisor  or  Chief  of Police. I should  add,  this  same
source,  who  I believe to be a rather good law  enforcement
officer,  is very concerned about satanic cults taking  over
our schools in this country.)
   Psychics  will  tell police (in Illinois) looking  for  a
young  child  missing for more than a week that the  child's
body will be found under a deciduous tree near a corn field.
When  the  body is found by other means, under  a  deciduous
tree near  a corn field, the psychic claims success. And who
is  to  argue? Certainly not the media! It makes for a great
story and sells newspapers.
   A recent article in the _Skeptical Inquirer_ (Winter 1992)
by Jan Ayers Sweat and Mark W. Durm discussed the results of
their  survey  of the use of psychics by large urban  police
departments  in  the  U.S.  Their survey  revealed  that  65
percent  of these agencies did not use psychics. As part  of
this  article,  Sweat and Durm discussed the book _The  Blue
Sense_ by Marcello Truzzi and Arthur Lyons, sociologists  at
Eastern Michigan University. They were not complimentary  of
this work, describing it as a ". . . veil of objectivity" by
authors  who  are  ".  . . subtle proponents  of  `the  blue
sense.' "
   Prof.  Truzzi responded to this criticism of the book  in
the  letters  to  the  editor section  of  the  most  recent
_Skeptical Inquirer_ (Summer 1993). Among  other  things, he
felt  the  authors  of  the article  were  not  sufficiently
impressed  with the other side of their finding --  that  35
percent of the urban agencies responding acknowledged having
tried  the  services of a psychic. Truzzi claims this  is  a
large  and  impressive number, because it  is  "an  enormous
increase  over what most analysts estimated" and that  "most
*previous evidence* indicates that psychics have  been  used
more  often  by  rural than by urban police and  when  urban
police  use them they are most often consulted by individual
officers [acting on their own]." (Emphasis added)
   As  skeptics,  we  must indeed keep  open  minds  and  be
tolerant  of new ideas. However, that doesn't mean  that  we
have to accept assertions that appear to be unreliable.  The
Sweat  and  Durm research is badly flawed because  it  lacks
reliable  results. The authors seem to falsely  assume  that
the  responding agencies are telling them the truth. Nothing
could be further from reality!
   As  a  former  police officer and criminal  investigator,
and  as  a  criminologist, I strongly suspect that  a  large
number  of  agencies  in that 65 percent  category  are  not
telling the truth. Given the fact that the average tenure of
police  chiefs  in this country is about 2.6 years  and  the
fact  that  sheriffs are elected, what could  these  various
administrators of the responding agencies have  to  gain  by
admitting  to  having  consulted a  psychic?  I  think  very
little. On the other hand, lying about their agency's use of
psychics  would  undoubtedly be the most prudent  course  of
action  in  order to stay in the good graces of  the  mayor,
city  manager, county board, or local voters. Unfortunately,
Sweat   and   Durm  fail  to  acknowledge  this  very   real
possibility.
   I  strongly suspect that Prof. Truzzi is also a  purveyor
of  unreliable  data. (I will review _The Blue Sense_  in  a
future  newsletter.)  He refers to "previous  evidence"  but
fails to cite the source or documentation of this "evidence"
documenting  police  use  of psychics.  The  only  plausible
explanation for the professor's reticence in disclosing  his
sources  is  that  these sources are from newspaper  reports
gathered  by diligent advocates from around the  country  or
from  the  NEXIS  online data base, which records  newspaper
stories from major papers. Here we have have another problem
of  reliability. I hope it won't surprise newsletter readers
to  learn  that newspapers don't report on what is happening
in  their  respective areas, but  rather on what  happenings
will sell newspapers and retain their readership.
   My  research  on a unique and newsworthy crime --  serial
murder  --  with  which  police  agencies  are  infrequently
confronted shows that there is a strong belief that psychics
are   found   somewhere   in  almost   all   serial   murder
investigations  by police. They are either  lurking  on  the
periphery of an investigation consulting privately  with  an
individual detective or they are called in with a great deal
of  fanfare  to  help a frustrated group of detectives.  The
latter was the case in which Dorothy Allison descended  upon
the  Atlanta police during the "child murder" serial  murder
case  a few years ago. By the way, Allison's feelings  about
bodies  in  water and someone with long hair being  involved
was  "felt"  after the arrest of Wayne Williams.  It  should
also  be  noted that her arrival in downtown  Atlanta  in  a
large white limo with a great deal of previous notice of her
arrival  provided to the press coincided with a new  edition
of her book hitting the bookstores in Atlanta.
   Unfortunately,  there are many other examples  of  police
use  of  psychics.  For example, Joseph  Kozenszak,  retired
police  chief  of Des Plaines, Illinois, and winner  of  the
Parade  magazine  Police Officer of the  Year  award,  is  a
strong  believer  in the use of psychics.  During  the  John
Wayne  Gacy  investigation,  which  Kozenszak  is  correctly
credited in solving, he used two different psychics. One was
used  as  part  of  the  investigation  and  the  other  was
consulted regarding the location of Robert Piest, a 15-year-
old  boy  who was missing and later discovered to be  Gacy's
last  of  33  victims.  Kozenczak has offered  a  number  of
agencies advice in their use of psychics. He always  advises
discretion  when police employ a psychic. I  doubt  that  he
would advise an agency to admit in a questionnaire that they
had   used   the  services  of  a  psychic  in  a   criminal
investigation.
   Psychics  are  frequently referred to as "informants"  by
police agencies using their services. I wonder why?


[Steve Egger is a professor of criminology at Sangamon State
University, Springfield, Illinois, and is an internationally
known expert in serial murder.  He is the author of _Serial
Murder: An Elusive Phenomenon_ and is currently writing a new
book on serial murder.  Egger is also a REALL Board member.]

		   ==============================

{Defending science from pseudoscientific attacks}

               10 Tips for Successful Letter Writing
                        -- Mary Lou Mendum

   One  inexpensive and effective way to educate the  public
on the nature of science in general is through the editorial
pages.   Letters  to  the  editor  are  widely   read,   and
paranormalists have long been using letter campaigns to push
their agenda.
   A  well-written  and well-researched  rebuttal  can  stop
such  a  campaign. For example, when the Vacaville  Reporter
suddenly started printing letters attacking Margaret Sanger,
the  founder  of Planned Parenthood, I noticed a  suspicious
monotony  to  the quotes from her writings.  I  located  the
quoted book and wrote a letter describing the context of the
misquotes. Since the Vacaville library didn't have the book,
and  I  had  checked out the only copy in the University  of
California  library  system,  I accused  Vacaville's  Sanger
critics of dishonestly quoting from a book they probably had
never  seen,  much  less  read. No further  letters  on  the
subject  of  Margaret  Sanger have  been  published  in  the
Reporter.
   Here   are   10  guidelines  to  consider  when   writing
rebuttals to paranormalist letters:

1. _Criticize  facts,  not  opinions._  Honest statements of
   belief  in  creationism  as  an  article  of  faith,  for
   example,  are  not open to argument, and they  serve  the
   useful   purpose   of  revealing  its  religious   basis.
   Instead,  concentrate on exposing misquotes  and  factual
   errors.  Name  calling is not advisable, but  accusations
   of  sloppy scholarship and ignorance, in combination with
   suitable documentation, can be devastating.

2. _Do your homework._ If you are criticizing paranormalists
   for  poor scholarship, you can't afford to make the  same
   mistake  yourself. On the other hand, if you can back  up
   your   statements  with  references  to  the   scientific
   literature,  or  document misquotation, you  can  greatly
   increase the impact of your letter.

3. _Don't cover more than one or two points in each letter._
   Your  goal  should be to destroy the credibility  of  the
   local   paranormalists,  not  to  give  an   introductory
   scientific  seminar. A lengthy point by point  discussion
   of  transitional fossils is less effective than  a  short
   letter  detailing  one misquote and one major  scientific
   error.  If  you try to cover too many topics, the  editor
   is likely to delete half of them.

4. _Keep it short and succinct._ The more concise your letter
   is,  the less chance there is that the editor will either
   reject  it entirely, or edit it beyond recognition.  Make
   sure  that  every word is essential to the overall  point
   of  your  letter. This is particularly important  if  you
   are  writing to conservative papers, for example, as they
   have  a  tendency  to  delete all those  annoying  little
   facts  that  make  evolution sound more  scientific  than
   creationism. Letters of one page are much more likely  to
   be  published than those of two or more pages. If you use
   a  computer, and your letter is still a little  too  long
   after  editing,  try expanding the margins  and  changing
   the  font.  That  won't change the word count,  but  your
   letter  will  look shorter, and that might be  enough  to
   keep it from being rejected out of hand.

5. _Humor is helpful._ A funny, entertaining letter  is much
   more  memorable to both editor and readers than an  angry
   or sarcastic one.

6. _Slant your letter towards the newspaper's style._  Don't
   attack   the   creationists'  right  to  advocate   their
   beliefs,  for  example,  when  you  write  to  a  liberal
   paper--you might  even want to include a  statement  that
   you  support their freedoms of speech and religion,  when
   they  are  exercised  outside of the  science  classroom.
   Appeals  to  scientific authority are very  effective  in
   letters  to  conservative papers,  while  liberal  papers
   prefer more specific references.

7. _If  you    have   credentials,   mention   them._    Few
   paranormalists  writing letters to local newspapers  have
   any  scientific training. If you have earned a degree  or
   done  research  in a relevant scientific field,  you  are
   automatically more credible than a person  who  has  not.
   If  you  are  affiliated  with  a  university,  use  your
   departmental  address. Most newspapers  will  print  such
   information  under  your  name,  and  that  is  far  more
   impressive to readers than the usual hometown fluff.

8. _Two letter hacks are more effective than  one._  Letters
   editors like to keep lively debates going, but they  will
   seldom  print two letters from any one person  during  an
   exchange,  and if two people submit good letters  on  the
   same  topic at the same time, chances are that  only  one
   of  them  will  be  published.  If  you  coordinate  your
   efforts  with one or more other people, you can  be  sure
   that  any paranormalist attacks on your letters  will  be
   responded to promptly and effectively.

9. _Don't  limit  your  writing  to  one  topic,   such   as
   creationism._  For  instance,  an  effective  defense  of
   science  requires  that  the  constitutional  basis   for
   rejecting  the  teaching of creationism  remains  intact.
   Letters  advocating  strict  church-state  separation  on
   issues  such  as school prayer are just as  important  as
   letters  which debunk creationist pseudoscience.  If  you
   can    document    scientific    inaccuracies    in     a
   fundamentalist's letter, he or she will  be  less  likely
   to use the same tactics to attack evolution.

10._Be persistent._  It may take five or six tries before  a
   newspaper  publishes one of your letters,  especially  if
   it   has  a  large  circulation.  Don't  be  discouraged;
   eventually, the letters editor will tire of printing  yet
   more  letters on the latest election scandals, and  start
   looking for a little variety.

   It  is  very  unlikely that even the best  letter-writing
   campaign   will  convince  hard-core  paranormalists   to
   abandon  their beliefs. However, by writing in to correct
   their  factual  errors and dishonest scholarship,  it  is
   possible to discourage them from using the letters  pages
   to   promote   bad   science,  and  you   influence   the
   "undecided" vote.

[Mary Lou Mendum is a researcher at the Dept. of Viticulture
and Enology at the University of California - Davis.  She also
is a member of the National Center for Science Education.  This
article is excerpted and edited with permission for adaptation
in _The REALL News_ from the Spring 1993 issue of _NCSE Reports_.
Permission to reprint this article must be obtained from NCSE
at P.O. Box 9477, Berkeley, CA 94709-0477.]

		   ==============================

"First of all, it typically being difficult to prove a negative,
 the burden of proof must fall not on the skeptic but on whomever
 would make a particular claim."
		-- Joe Nickell with John F. Fischer, 
		   _Mysterious Realms:  Probing Paranormal,
		   Historical and Forensic Enigmas_, p. 20

		   ==============================

			  REALLity Check
			by David Bloomberg

     Due to my three-week absence, I'm afraid I wasn't able
to devote as much time to checking out the wild and the
wacky this month.  So I'd like to thank Wally Hartshorn, who
picked up some of the slack and provided me with much of the
information in this REALLity Check.


               Underhanded Creationist Tactics

     The Peoria Journal Star (June 25) had an article about
Kent Hovind, an evangelist who is offering $10,000 to
anybody who can provide empirical evidence of the theory of
evolution.  But the key is "empirical" or based on
experiment.  In other words, he wants somebody to prove
millions of years of natural selection and evolution in a
laboratory, to his satisfaction.
     Bradley University religion professor, Robert Fuller,
is appalled with Hovind's challenge, saying, "No properly
educated, reflective person could possible dispute the fact
of biological evolution.  No credible professor of religion
in the world has difficulty with the concept of evolution."
     But that's not the half of it.
     It seems the Hovind is not being exactly straight with
everybody.  The article states that Hovind is scheduled to
debate "paleontologist Steven (sic) Jay Gould, a Harvard
University professor."  Hovind goes on to state, "I suspect
Gould will back out."
     Hovind apparently has good reason to expect that Gould
won't be there.  Dr. Eugenie Scott, Executive Director of
the National Center for Science Education, wrote to Gould
and asked about Hovind.  In his response, Gould says, "You
really shouldn't believe everything you read ... I have
never heard of the man and therefore cannot have agreed to
anything with him."  Gould went on to comment about "the
obvious phony tactic of claiming that he challenged me to a
debate when he didn't, and then claiming that I backed out
when I didn't appear."
     If Hovind is so sure of himself and his "theory", why
does he need to mislead the public in such a manner?


                        Quack, Quack

     According to the July 30 State Journal-Register, our
next-door neighbor, Iowa, has prosecuted and convicted a
man, Albert Miller, for practicing medicine without a
license.  What makes this news REALLity Check worthy is that
Albert Miller apparently dealt in (all together now)
alternative medicine.
     Douglas County State's Attorney Richard Broch said that
Miller "diagnosed" patients by placing some of their hair,
or even just a photograph of them, into a machine that he
claimed could take readings "from every organ in the body."
He then "treated" his patients through massage and over-the-
counter vitamin and mineral supplements.
     Sentencing is scheduled for August 30, and Miller could
receive up to three years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
     I hope authorities in other areas have been watching
this case and will act similarly against those falsely
practicing "medicine" under the guise of an "alternative."


                     Elvis is Everywhere

     Just when you thought there couldn't be a court case
sillier than the one about mercury and a baked potato, one
comes along.  According to the July 30 State Journal-
Register, Major Bill Smith, who produced some of Elvis
Presley's records and concerts in the mid 1950's, is suing
the Presley estate for claiming that Elvis is dead.
     Smith claims he and Elvis still talk to each other, he
has even written a book about it, and all this silly
nonsense being spread by the Presley estate claiming that
Elvis is dead is cutting into Smith's profits.
     Nothing really paranormal here, but, let's face it, it
isn't exactly normal either.

                         Witch Hunt

     PBS's Frontline recently aired a two-part show called
"The Loss of Innocence" about the Lil Rascals day care
trials.  While I did not see the show myself, I've heard
about it from several people who did, and I have not liked
what I've heard.  The show did a fine job of exposing the
problems with the trial, and those problems are apparently
quite serious.
     It seems that the Salem witch hunts and McCarthyism are
back, but this time they are hunting supposed child
molesters, not witches or communists.  Don't get me wrong;
I'm not saying we shouldn't prosecute child molesters, but
we need to be careful of the methods that are used to gather
evidence.
     According to what I was told, it seems that such
evidence-gathering standards might not have been as
scientific as they perhaps should have been.  Children were
apparently questioned for months until they "pointed out"
the person who supposedly molested them.  When parents
started to show doubts, they were ignored.
     Several jurors apparently admitted on the show that
they had not followed the judge's orders, and others said
they voted "guilty" just to get deliberation over with.
     And those accused were found guilty.  One was sentenced
to 12 consecutive life terms, one to life, with eligibility
for parole in 20 years.
     I think the court system needs to seriously review the
methods for evidence gathering in this type of trial.
Repeated questioning of children until they agree to
something should not be tolerated as a valid method of
evidence gathering, or should at least be carefully examined
by an uninvolved third party before admitted as evidence to
a jury.
     In a similar vein, Governor Edgar signed legislation
removing the statute of limitations for the filing of civil
damages in childhood sexual abuse cases, according to the
July 29 State Journal-Register.  Supporters of the bill said
that some victims block out the memories until many years
later.
     However, readers of the Skeptical Inquirer know that
while there are currently many people out there pushing this
"hidden memory" idea, most psychologists are not convinced.
In fact, an organization called the False Memory Syndrome
(FMS) Foundation has been set up to, in the words of Martin
Gardner, "combat a fast-growing epidemic of dubious therapy
that is ripping thousands of families apart, scarring
patients for life, and breaking the hearts of innocent
parents and other relatives."
     Once again, we have come back to the witch hunts.  Are
you depressed, overweight, have headaches, etc.?  There are
therapists out there who have decided that these are
symptoms of childhood sexual abuse.  And if you don't
remember it now, the therapist will urge you to remember the
horrible trauma.  After a while, you may begin to believe
your therapist.  You may even think those memories are
coming back.  But are they real memories?  Or are people
unknowingly accusing innocents of committing horrible
crimes, when the crimes never even happened?
     Some of you may recognize these methods, especially if
you have followed the UFO abductee fad.  If the symptoms I
listed earlier didn't mean you were molested, maybe you were
abducted instead.  The question is the same, though:  Are
the memories real?

*     For more information on this subject, contact the FMS
 Foundation at 3401 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
 Their phone number is (215) 387-1865.
*     For more information on the Lil Rascals trial, you can
 write to the Committee for Support of the Edenton Seven,
 1851 Carolina Ave., Washington, NC 27889.

		   ==============================
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		 Predictions for Future Issues

* Current Research Updates on Top Ten Paranormal/Fringe Science Activities
* Paranormal Beliefs in Medieval Times
* The End of the World!

----------------------------------------------------------------

			Skeptics Online

If you have a computer and a modem, you owe it to yourself to
participate in the skeptic message areas on the computer BBS
networks.  Here in Springfield, call The Temples of Syrinx at
(217) 787-9101.  David Bloomberg operates this BBS, which carries
the FidoNet SKEPTIC, EVOLUTION and UFO conferences, internationally
distributed message areas for discussing topics of interest to
skeptics.  He is also carrying ParaNet conferences, all dedicated
to UFO and paranormal topics.  You can also find a wide variety of
skeptic text files.

	     The Temples of Syrinx -- (217) 787-9101
----------------------------------------------------------------

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