Happy Birthday Randi
August 8th, 2009
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A big Happy Birthday to our good friend The Amazing James Randi who is now 82 years young and still in overall good health and sharp as an experimental tungsten needle. Randi is still the worst nightmare of many a self-proclaimed psychic, dowser, healer, prophet, saint or other scammers. In his career he’s helped to turn those like Uri Geller from someone that some scientists actually took literally to an exposed fraud.
This entry was posted on Saturday, August 8th, 2009 at 2:21 am and is filed under Amazing Meeting, Announcements, Good Science, Misc, Paranormal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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August 8th, 2009 at 3:56 am
Happy Birthday Mr. R! I’m glad to see Randi is still a force in the scientific skepticism world. I remember well how he outed Uri Geller and made him into the laughing stock he is. This was guy who people were writing books about as being an example of the next step in evolution (lacking any understanding of evolution of course). I also remember well that preacher who was using two way radios to fool people. Another good score.
I know the author of this site has also cited Mr. Randi as being an inspiration and a help in things. It goes to show he still inspires people.
Very few people have done so much to defend science and rational thought. Carl Sagan comes to mind.
Also, a great Canadian if there ever was one. Especially given the soft nanny state we’re rapidly turning into.
Here’s a toast to many more.
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August 8th, 2009 at 5:20 am
Joyeux anniversaire Randi, tenir compte des mots de Bernard Baruch: “Je ne serai jamais vieux. Pour moi, être âgé c’est avoir quinze ans de plus que moi.”
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August 8th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
James Randi is Canadian? I guess I learned something new today.
Happy birthday James Randi!
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August 8th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Randi became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1987 repudiating his Canadian citizenship due to some high-handedness by the RCMP towards him during some indecent.
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August 8th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
Randi is Canadian born, and he has lived in Canada and the US at various times in his life. He spent some time doing a talk show in Toronto even after becoming a US citizen, so I don’t believe he has anything against the country in general.
He had lived in the US before the 1987 incident, but apparently he was fairly pissed about some heavy handed tactics and especially a search which he contested was not justified. This actually occurred during a tour he was on with Alice Cooper’s band. As one might expect, that kind of a band would attract some scrutiny. The police searched all their lockers without presenting a warrant or probable cause and when there were objections raised, they were held, being detained at gunpoint for the duration of the search. No charges were ever filed for anything.
It sounds to me like one of the higher ranking officers was just being a hardass. (of course that kind of thing happens everywhere)
In any case, Randi was very dissatisfied with how this event was handled after as well. Apparently he thought that there should have been some kind of disciplinary action or civil aware or something.
He gives that as his single reason for becoming an American. I don’t believe that’s the only reason. He was already living in the US at the time. However, it would not be unlike Randi to respond in a dramatic way to something he thought was wrong.
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August 9th, 2009 at 4:48 am
I always respected the man from what I know of him and I think he did a great job outing many.
Checking out his foundation’s website and his writings as of recently, it seems he’s become part of the anti-anti-vaccine movement and that he is a big supporter or anti-quackery in that area. Anyone who contributes to those efforts is fighting the good fight.
Happy Birthday, James Randi!
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