Critical Thinking

Asset Management is almost akin to Voodoo and is just as credible

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Most specializations end up developing their own language, for example immerse yourself into either the Medical or IT arena, and you soon find yourself swimming in a tide of weird terms that often befuddle the uninitiated.

Here now, just to entertain you, is a “translation” from the “Asset management” universe. It amused me, because I received a letter just like it a few weeks ago that tripped my “skeptic” bullshit alarm. These folks only tend  to send out letters when some huge screw up has happened, so regardless of what the letter says, you know in your heart of hearts its an “Oh Shit” moment, because they are most probably explaining why your pension fund has shrunk (with a rich sugar coat wrapping). Anyway, here now is the text and the translation …

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The 9/11 Cross – I’ve changed my mind

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Awhile back I blogged about the 9/11 Cross lawsuit (here and also here). Basically, I argued in defense of the lawsuit that …

“we simply want an even playing field. The reality that we face is that it is religion that seeks to exclude all, we simply want to open up that closed shop“.

Well, I’ve changed my mind and now argue that the lawsuit is a really bad idea and was totally inappropriate. No I’ve not suddenly converted, nor have I moved into the accommodationist camp, nor am I concerned that this was unpopular. Instead, I now have a clearer view of what is going on here and it is that clarity, the new facts, that have changed my mind.

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$1 Million is yours – If you can prove you have Psychic powers

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The $1 Million challenge has been around for quite some time now, in fact it dates back to 1968. Basically, if you can provide objective proof of the supernatural under controlled conditions, then you get $1 million. There must have been a few winners by now … right? Er no, none.

About 1000 people have had a go and so far there has been a 100% failure rate – (gasp what a surprise).

Well, the latest news is that the JREF has upped the ante. Ben Radford writes about that on Discovery News here, where he explains …

The James Randi Educational Foundation(JREF) has announced that it is publicly offering $1 million to celebrity “psychic mediums” including James Van Praagh, Allison DuBois, Sylvia Browne, Carla Baron, John Edward, and others if they can prove their abilities in controlled experiments.

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Grieving Mother Loses $20 Million to ‘Psychics’

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I came across this utterly tragic story of loss and the hideous manner in which some truly unscrupulous psychics leveraged a human tragedy to enrich themselves.

I first found out about this from an article that Brandon K. Thorp wrote here in Gawker on 20th Aug where he writes …

Leaks in the Fort Lauderdale police department claim the best-selling author of Days of Gold, A Knight In Shining Armor, [Jude Deveraux] and almost 40 other works of literacha paid some $20 million to the Marks clan, a notorious family of fortune-tellers and occultists, to secure supernatural aid for her deceased son. The boy died at the age of eight in a motorcycle crash. Allegedly, a “psychic” told Ms. Deveraux that her son was trapped “somewhere between heaven and hell.”

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New Skeptics Dictionary – Just for Kids … cool.

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The Skeptic’s Dictionary is a fabulous collection of cross-referenced skeptical essays written by a really smart chap called Bob Carroll. He has published it all on his website, skepdic.com, and also made it available as a book. If you have never seen it, then you really should go check it out, I highly recommend it. The site itself started in 1994, but it was not until 2003 that the book came out. Is it popular? Well, according to the back cover of the book, the on-line version receives approximately 500,000 hits per month, so he must be doing something right.

So what is it all about? Basically he tackles all flavors of woo including: alternative medicine, cryptozoology, UFOs,  new age beliefs, the paranormal,  the supernatural, etc… Is this another of those “balanced” works that present all views? Thankfully no, instead he opts for truth and rips into all the silly claims (quite right too).

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JREF on ABC’s Primetime Nightline, Weds. 10pm / 9pm Central

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I’ve cut and pasted the following article written by Sadie Crabtree  from here …

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Wednesday night at 10:00pm (9:00pm Central), ABC’s Primetime Nightline will air a one-hour special on psychic abilities.

James Randi, along with JREF President D.J. Grothe, JREF’s Million Dollar Challenge Director Banachek, and advisor Jamy Ian Swiss, worked with Nightline producers on two of the segments and participated in three days of taping, including the JREF’s first-ever open Million Dollar Challenge event where hundreds of New York City psychics were invited to take our tests.

Watch ABC’s 30-second teaser for the show here, click “Read More” for behind-the-scenes photos, and make sure to watch Wednesday night!

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