NEWS UPDATE: August 2011
HOUDINI'S TWO-HOUR MEETING TRICK
Filling in for IIG Chair Jim Underdown, Steering Member Mark Edward led this month's meeting. To ensure time for the Houdini exhibit field trip, Mark defied physics and reason by completing our IIG meeting in just two hours! After causing one third of our meeting time to disappear, the IIG's resident mentalist led a magnificent tour of the Skirball's "Houdini: Art and Magic" and "Masters of Illusion" exhibits. Members in attendance were treated to behind-the-scenes knowledge of the tricks and juicy tidbits from Houdini's life, as well as a unique perspective on the exhibit. Huge thanks to Mark for wowing us yet again with his magical expertise.
STEERING ELECTIONS
Elections for this year's Steering Committee will be held at the September IIG meeting. To run for a seat on the committee, candidates must have at least one year of paid IIG membership, and submit a 200-word-or-less candidacy statement. To announce your interest, please email your statement to JimU@cfiwest.org by September 9th.
IIG EMAIL LIST
One thing stressed at this meeting was the importance of our official email list as a means of communication. If you are not receiving our emails, please contact IIG Membership Chair Deva Content at Deva@iigwest.org to be added to the list.
PHILLIP LEE: CLARAUDIENT TEST
This month we had the privilege to test applicant Phillip Lee, who claimed he could psychically hear conversations about him from up to 400 yards away. Unfortunately, during our experiment he was unable to hear phrases spoken from as close as the next room. Luckily, the day was not a total loss: co-lead investigator Jim Underdown constructed one of the most epic forts the IIG has seen yet. A full write-up from this investigation (hopefully involving fort schematics from Wendy & Jim) will be made available soon.
SEASON OF THE WITCH
Mark Edward shared his impressions of a recent occult film night ("Season of the Witch"), which featured an introduction by a self-proclaimed witch. Mark commented on her successful representation of witches, noting that she was both attractive and a skilled speaker, adeptly painting witches as a benevolent and persecuted minority. She focused on an accurate and detailed history, and avoided any actual discussion of paranormal or occult powers. Plus, she was very good-looking. And attractive. Mark noted that he had been impressed by her persuasive and nonthreatening talk, though things quickly went downhill once subsequent speakers began advertising psychic home cleaning services. Reality show, anyone?
IIG AFFILIATES COMMITTEE
In response to the growing number of IIG Affiliate Groups, we have formed an IIG Affiliates Committee to advise and oversee the formation of all new affiliate groups. Jim Underdown is the committee chairman, and member sign-ups were taken at the meeting. If you did not sign up at the meeting, but would like to be a part of this committee, please email Deva at Deva@iigwest.org.
MEDIA COMMITTEE REPORT
Media announced that the new Joomla-based IIG website should be up and running by next month. In the meantime, News Updates will continue to be posted online, and will be sent to members via email. We have begun to update our Wikipedia page, and Ross has also uploaded the fantastic TAM9 Beard Photo to the IIG home site for our viewing and editing pleasure. Nancy suggested posing an open challenge to prominent psychics like Sylvia Brown and John Edwards, urging them to put their (our) money where their mouth is, and try for our $50k. A counter would be added to the new website for each personality contacted, noting the time it takes for each to respond. The Odds Must Be Crazy is a hit, and lead investigators Jarrett Kaufman and Wendy Hughes are actively seeking story and photo submissions. Please submit any crazy coincidence stories (something that happened to you, something you read in the paper or saw on television, etc.) to www.TheOddsMustBeCrazy.com. If you find a news story that might fit the site, you may also send a link to Jarrett@iigwest.org, and he will post it for you.
PROJECT HONEYBADGER
IIG Member Susan Gerbic (of "Guerilla Skepticism on Wikipedia" fame) announced the formation of an exciting and highly classified task force, which will do… well, secret things. If you want to join Project Honeybadger – or at least, find out what it is – contact its creator, IIG Steering Member Paula Lauterbach, at Paula@iigwest.org, or her enforcer at Susan@iigwest.org. The group was warned that slackers will not be suffered in Project Honeybadger; members should not participate unless they want to work hard… and for those who don't know, Paula and Susan mean business!
MIRACLES AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
IIG Members Dave Kanne and Sheldon Kardener presented their progress on this ongoing inquiry into the Catholic Church's approach to "miracles." Since the beatification of late Pope John Paul II earlier this year, the duo has been studying the procedures by which the Vatican examines claims of miracles. Apparently, the Holy See follows an investigative process that somewhat parallels our own, with a set protocol, physical and psychological examinations of claimants, and full written reports. With the goal of accessing a completed report, Dave and Sheldon interviewed Rev. Patrick Hill of the Archdiocese of LA. Reverend Hill informed them that 99.9% of all claims of miracles are immediately dismissed following the claimant's physical and mental exam. He also forwarded them to the Vatican's website, which includes a 47-page instruction manual for investigating the "causes" (i.e. miracles) of saints: the "Sanctorum Mater." Dave and Sheldon are still hoping to locate a physical report from one of the Church's investigations, and welcome anyone else who would like to participate in this fascinating investigation as it progresses. To get involved, or for more information, contact Dave at castlelakeinvestments@yahoo.com.
COMING UP SOON…
The IIG Awards are coming up fast! This year's awards and party will be Friday, September 30th, and we have a fantastic line up of speakers and honorees. Email David@iigwest.org to help out, or for more info.
The IIG's own, Brian Hart, be speaking at Dragon*Con's Skeptic Track in Atlanta this Labor Day weekend. He will be participating in a panel entitled "Educating/Debunking: What's the Difference?" alongside such heavyweights as Barbara Drescher and Matt Lowry. Catch him Saturday, Sept 3rd at 1:00pm. Steering member Mark Edward will also be working with IIG Atlanta on a special, top-secret Dragon*Con project. Stay tuned or plan a visit to Atlanta this September to find out what he's up to.
Para-Con is returning to Los Angeles September 9th and 10th, and the IIG will most likely host a booth this year, as we did last year. For more photos and highlights from last year's Para-Con, visit Susan Gerbic's Monterey County Skeptics Blog or Mark Edward's SkepticBlog post.
IIG Member Susan Gerbic, our resident "Wikipediatrician," will be leading a free instructional workshop for IIG members on the nitty-gritty basics of editing Wikipedia. If you would like to learn how to join the forces of Guerilla Skepticism, Susan is a truly fantastic resource. Date and time TBA.
CSI-Con will take place in New Orleans October 27th-30th. More info to follow.
FIRST RESPONDER REPORT
In addition to our interactions with and eventual investigation of Phillip Lee (info above), we have had contact with several potential applicants this month.
A dowser in China who had contacted us in 2008 has alerted us that he must continue to postpone testing of his dowsing claim due to poor local weather and health issues. Feel better, dowser!
A man from Washington, DC has contacted us complaining of "paranormal things happening around him" which are "relevant to the 1st and 4th amendments probably dating back to the time of creation which is upon us today." Lead Investigator Jim Newman is in correspondence with the man, and will report back if a testable claim arises.
A Singaporean woman has written us, claiming that she can predict natural disasters with 70-90% accuracy. She offered to print past emails of her predictions and news articles of corresponding disasters, but as Lead Investigator Jim Newman responded, "We do not have the expertise in I.T. to identify an altered e-mail. And we don't have any representatives in Singapore to help us determine how reliable the news reports are." Perhaps the woman could provide us with her predictions before the events happen, to evidence her alleged ability and avert the tragedy such disasters inevitably cause.
-IIG
