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Tempus Fugit

James Randi

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New documentry out.

 

Maybe some publicity would be helpful

 

showing on bbc4 on November 2nd

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http://www.nytimes.c...zing-randi.html

 

Incredibly long NYT article here, for his DL fans/admirers..

 

Also, I owe myself a fiver for correctly guessing his BF would look about 50 years younger than him.

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Watched the documentary last night - it was an exemplary example of the genre, IMO: http://www.bbc.co.uk...ics-and-frauds. Absolutely worth 85 minutes of your time - much more than just a run-through of his exposés of frauds and charlatans.

 

It's incredible to think that people are so desperate to keep on believing even now despite the fact that he showed - time and time again - that it's all bunkum. Reminds me of how a lot of senior management works at places I've jobbed in...

 

http://www.nytimes.c...zing-randi.html

 

Incredibly long NYT article here, for his DL fans/admirers..

 

Also, I owe myself a fiver for correctly guessing his BF would look about 50 years younger than him.

 

The highlight:

 

When he was still a young man appearing in Toronto nightclubs and pretending to predict the future, Randall Zwinge created what he hoped would be his greatest trick. Each night before he went to bed, he wrote the date on the back of a business card along with the words “I, Randall Zwinge, will die today.” Then he signed it and placed it in his wallet. That way, if he were knocked down in the street or killed by a freak accident, whoever went through his effects would discover the most shocking prophecy he ever made. Zwinge kept at it for years. Each night, he tore up one card and wrote out a new one for the next day. But nothing fatal befell him; in the end, having wasted hundreds of business cards, he gave up in frustration. “I never got lucky,” he told me.

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http://www.nytimes.c...zing-randi.html

 

Incredibly long NYT article here, for his DL fans/admirers..

 

Also, I owe myself a fiver for correctly guessing his BF would look about 50 years younger than him.

All those years they have been playing him on Aus television and I never realised he was a queer... I guess he "outed" so many charlatan clairvoyants, the onky person left to out was himself...

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http://www.nytimes.c...zing-randi.html

 

Incredibly long NYT article here, for his DL fans/admirers..

 

Also, I owe myself a fiver for correctly guessing his BF would look about 50 years younger than him.

All those years they have been playing him on Aus television and I never realised he was a queer... I guess he "outed" so many charlatan clairvoyants, the honky person left to out was himself...

 

Yeah well he only came out a few years ago IIRC, I remember seeing it on the NYT or something and not knowing or caring who the fuck he was.

 

If he's such a brilliant con-artist-squasher why can't he point out how fake global warming is? He must have his entire retirement fund invested in shares of Al Snore's ClimateBilk PLC or whatever.

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James Randi is actually a decent pick, now that I think about it.

 

All the psychics of the world are out to destroy him.

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I like this pick.

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A whole year goes by, no news, no posts, and no one but the committee notice him. Strange. Talk about low profile!

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A whole year goes by, no news, no posts, and no one but the committee notice him. Strange. Talk about low profile!

 

He sends me messages about his health every day . . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

. . . by telepathy

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Nah, he ain't dyin' this year. He's just retired from running the JRF. Never smoked, drunk or done drugs and got enough cash to live a long happy life.

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Nah, he ain't dyin' this year. He's just retired from running the JRF. Never smoked, drunk or done drugs and got enough cash to live a long happy life.

Well, he is a cancer survivor and had some heart trouble as well. On the other hand, both of these health scares happened more than six years ago, so they might not be relevant anymore.

 

But at 87, he has (sort of) already lived a long happy life...

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I don't know, he's like a placeholder so that the committee fulfills the rule the replace 25 people each year. I think Eddie Large would have been a better pick.

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I don't know, he's like a placeholder so that the committee fulfills the rule the replace 25 people each year. I think Eddie Large would have been a better pick.

 

Nope. Eddie Large and James Randi are both bad picks.

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Nah, he ain't dyin' this year. He's just retired from running the JRF. Never smoked, drunk or done drugs and got enough cash to live a long happy life.

Well, he is a cancer survivor and had some heart trouble as well. On the other hand, both of these health scares happened more than six years ago, so they might not be relevant anymore.

 

But at 87, he has (sort of) already lived a long happy life...

 

Nah, 87 is the new 71, he's got years left.

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Nothing to report since the turn of the year. Seems I was right to be skeptical of his inclusion.

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Nothing to report since the turn of the year. Seems I was right to be skeptical of his inclusion.

At 88, if there is anything to report about his health, it might as well be his death. But he's probably the kind of pick that yields nothing for a year, is omitted from next year's list in December and claimed by the Reaper by March.

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Well, he did have to stand down from his own Foundation in 2015.

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Nah, he retired. He's 88 and wants to enjoy many quiet years at home with his partner.

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88 is a fair age to retire in all fairness.

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This is probably the pick that I am least happy about. I am not certain that the fame/illness algorhithm should bring him out on top.I did not recognise Persig's name but upon further research I was aware of his work. For me Randi has only ever been a name on the Deathlist.

He will probably die now.

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This is probably the pick that I am least happy about. I am not certain that the fame/illness algorhithm should bring him out on top.I did not recognise Persig's name but upon further research I was aware of his work. For me Randi has only ever been a name on the Deathlist.

He will probably die now.

 

I knew of him before, because my dad used to bring up his Million Dollar Challenge. He does come across as Dawkins with less tact, which is saying something.

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I have no idea who he is.

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I have no idea who he is.

Magician, debunker of purveyors of woo, host of The Amazing Meeting, friend to the stars, healer of children, icon of peace .... OK some of that was a bit exaggerated but he ain't dyin' anytime soon, that's the main thing.

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:old: 

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