RIP Amazing Randi

[NYGman]

Brought me fully into skepticism, which in a roundabout way brought me here. Figured there may be some people here that also crossover as well.

He was quite Amazing.
RIP

https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/james ... r-BB1agOcj

[wserra]

Shit. First I heard.

He was quite Amazing.

Indeed.

[NYGman]

I kind of waffled on the whole RIP thing though, as that implies ones soul is at rest, and I am not sure he would appreciate that. Perhaps, Be Free would have been better.

[AndyK]

I fully expect to be hearing from Randi again within the next few weeks; offering PROOF that there is no afterlife.

Think about it.

[Pottapaug1938]

Scammers and hustlers around the world are rejoicing; because they no longer have to fear having to explain why they cannot submit proof of their claims to the scrutiny of the JREF, at least with Randi himself overseeing it all.

[Cpt Banjo]

I highly recommend a wonderful documentary about Randi, aptly titled An Honest Liar. Here's a trailer:

[Gregg]

I have read that he was on the kids television show "Wonderama" which I watched religiously as a boy and for the life of me I don't remember him.

But somewhere in the early 80s I became familiar with his Skepticism and along with my epiphany of The Reformation, Cartoon Comics Edition* I would say he completed my intellectual journey to Atheism. A journey equally credited to Jesuits, ironically.

Begging the indulgence of our normal rules, in light of the subject of the thread.

* The Reformation, short version.
(somewhere in England, 1520 give or take)
Priest, reverently, holds Bible up in front of the gathered congregation "This, this is the perfect and omnipotent Word of God!
It is so perfect, it cannot be translated in German, English, French or Flemish, nor any other peasant language.
Its only perfect so long as its in Latin!
Since none of you read or write or speak Latin, Jesus says I'm in charge.
Now sit down and cough up 5 bob for the box after confession."

Did you see what I did there?

[AnOwlCalledSage]

Begging the indulgence of our normal rules, in light of the subject of the thread.

* The Reformation, short version.
(somewhere in England, 1520 give or take)
Priest, reverently, holds Bible up in front of the gathered congregation "This, this is the perfect and omnipotent Word of God!
It is so perfect, it cannot be translated in German, English, French or Flemish, nor any other peasant language.
Its only perfect so long as its in Latin!
Since none of you read or write or speak Latin, Jesus says I'm in charge.
Now sit down and cough up 5 bob for the box after confession."

Did you see what I did there?

What sort of education did you have? That was somewhere in Germany. Now if you want the English one...

The English Reformation (abridged)
(somewhere in England, 1535)
"Verily Anne, would you like a shag?"
She replies in the affirmative.
"Bugger off Pope with your cock blocking."

The End

[Gregg]

For fear of taking this thread somewhere it ought not to go (and yes, after I very firmly took it there) I will reply to you via a PM.

If I don't get banned anyways.

[Burnaby49]

If I don't get banned anyways

I'll join you. In my latest topic I delve deep into politics and the triumphs and finally, failures of a flawed, humiliated politician.

[Gregg]

We're such Rebels!

At the very least they'll chase us both back to the section with all the dirty Englishmen.

[Burnaby49]

Given my affinity for dingy British pubs, my natural home.

[AnOwlCalledSage]

I'm sure that our inestimable moderators would forgive this brief foray into historical academic research.

I looked up this period from the definitive 1066 and All That: A Memorable History of England.

Henry wanted the Pope to give him a divorce from his first wife, Katherine. He wanted this because

(a) she was Arrogant
(b) he had married her a long time ago
(c) when she had a baby it turned out to be Broody Mary, and Henry wanted a boy
(d) he thought it would be a Good Thing.

The Pope, however, refused, and seceded with all his followers from the Church of England.

As the authors said in the preface, "History is now at an end; this History is therefore final." This was very fortunate for me, because it meant I didn't have to learn anything beyond the end of the First World War where it finished.

I did score well on Test Paper V at the end , but I had to leave my answer to Question 2 blank:

Would it have been a Good Thing if Wolfe had succeeded in writing Gray's Elegy instead of taking Quebec?

Al Murray, who some may know as The Pub Landlord, has just published The Last 100 Years and All That which updates English History up to the current day. Whilst I look forward to reading it, this is a Bad Thing. There is too much History. Someone should make it stop.

[Number Six]

"An Honest Liar" documentary: http://www.documentarymania.com/player. ... est%20Liar

[Number Six]

Also, the NY Times had an excellent obit of his life odyssey: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/21/obit ... -dead.html

[Judge Roy Bean]

I saw him many times on television shows, notably Johnny Carson's arranged expose of Uri Geller.

The documentary is a fascinating look into a very complicated life.

[Number Six]

Also Johnny Carson hosted "The Amazing Randi" exposing a notorious huckster and televangelist for psychological manipulation and shaking down gullible Christians:

Carson was an entertainer, dependent on good ratings. I'd think there would be a more educational forum to expose all these charlatans, and Randi found a few.