Ray's X-Blog

"Velcro I grok but zippers?"  December 10, 1965.  Betty and Barney Hill returned home to find a mystery waiting for them: a large oval-shaped chuck of ice on the kitchen table.  They didn't know how it got there or what it signified. The inexplicable object greatly disturbed the couple.  It was another weird event following their abduction by humanoid aliens one night four years ago on a lonely country road.  Betty put the ice chunk in the sink, using hot water to melt it completely away. In her diary Betty noted the unusual properties of the ice.  There was no wetness on the table.  The chunk was light for its size and wasn't completely hard but "flexible."  She also recorded that there was a cut pattern inside it. This and other paranormal happenings are detailed in the book, "Captured!  The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience," by Stanton Friedman and Kathleen Marden.  What I find unusual is that the Hills sought out physical pro

Over at skepchick.org those questionable ads keep popping up. As I mentioned in a previous post - "Skepchick's Incongruous Ads" - sometimes the automatically generated ads at the site are contrary to the organization's goals.  I've been randomly checking; the problem remains. Skeptics are against unproven medical claims and products.   For example, in a recent skepchick.org post entitled "Centrum Silver has Been 'Studied'” the writer, Masala Skeptic, says that the TV commercial for a vitamin supplement was misleading, showing how that while the ad didn't lie, it wasn't exactly being truthful.  She links to online sources to back up her point. OK, that's fine.  But what about the ads that appear with the article for Vitamin Advisor Andrew Weil, MD or Opurity Vitamins?  Have those companies been checked out? Most skeptics are atheists.  So why do I see ads on skepchick.org for a Christian dating service? The problem is worse w

Once again skeptic-feminist Rebecca Watson has stirred up another controversy, this time with the social news website Reddit. And once again people are viciously attacking her online. On a panel at the recent SXSW conference in Austin, Texas she criticized Reddit for its lack of moderation, allowing the promulgation of bigoted and hateful comments and viewpoints. In her article at skepchick.org – "SXSW and Reddit’s Introspection Problem" - she gives examples of nasty comments made by Reddit fans and defenders. Watson has faced similar attacks before regarding the "Elevatorgate" incident at an atheist conference back in 2011. Talking about the furor in a slate.com article - "It Stands to Reason, Skeptics Can Be Sexist Too" - Watson said she had heard about sexism being experienced by women attending skeptic conferences. While at the atheist conference she decided to address this problem, writing: "I used my time to talk about what it’s