A great quote from Lesley Gunter (The Debris Field, Gray Matters, etc.):

Owls always get blamed for fortean/alien stuff, they are the weather balloons of the paranormal creature world.

So, to paraphrase slightly: "Owls; the weather balloons of the paranormal!"

When Skeptics Go Oh So Baaaaaaaad. . . Tyson on UFOs

Usually pleasant enough uber-skeptic Neil DeGrasse Tyson on UFOs, at the Amazing Meeting in Las Vegas, NV. This is so bad, because it's so damn wrong. Surely, surely (I know, don't call me Shirley) he knows better. After all, he's intelligent, right? Right? Thanks to The Daily Grail for the item.

Okay, can't help myself, but I'm going to respond to this. First, for your viewing pleasure. Or, not:


On second thought, you know what? I can't go on. You either get it or you don't.

Source: The Daily Grail: When Skeptics Fail

Elaine Morgan on the Aquatic Ape

Elaine Morgan, who is still going at 90! discusses her aquatic ape theory. Thanks to The Daily Grail for the link.

Cool Beans: Links to Moi on the JREF

A Trickster's Realm column I wrote awhile back on the JREF threads on Bigfoot, as well as this blog, got the notice of one of the more snarly skeptics over there.

Pathological Pelicanist Alert: "Action Skeptics"

Following one of the many links offered on the SCEPCOP site (see post below) I found the "Action Skeptics" blog. One of the most telling, as well as annoying, tactics/personality traits of the pseudo skeptic is their attitude. Far from a true skeptic view of things, they're on the attack. Action Skeptics, for example, have as their sub title: "annoying stupid people, one woo at a time."

Anti Pathological Skeptoid Site: SCEPCOP

SCEPCOP. a lot of interesting stuff on there. He goes after New Age "we create our own reality" stuff as well, even though he writes that he is a New Age kind of guy. I like that; I'm New Agey my own self but some of the stuff swirling around it does get to be like anything else; ego driven, self important, empty feel good on the surface b.s. But that's a given. I do believe we help to create our own reality by the way, but so much of that belief is so trivialized and misunderstood. . .anyway, that's another story. Check out SCEPCOP, there is a lot of material there to explore.

JREF Thread: Monster Quest Killed Bigfoot!

Here's a brand new Bigfoot thread on the James Randi "Educational" message board: The History Channel and MonsterQuest Murdered Bigfoot. (This thread makes, oh I don't know, stopped counting, something like the 45th separate thread about Bigfoot on a forum that doesn't believe Bigfoot exists?) The OP writes that he once accepted the possibility BF could exist:

I use to enjoy believing in the possibility that oddities such as Bigfoot could exist. I would use the same arguments Squatchologists used by citing the coelacanth and lowland gorilla to justify this belief.

But since, in his opinion, MonsterQuest and The History Channel have exploited the topic instead of being Really Very Scientific and All, his dreams are shattered. It's kind of cute in a bittersweet way when uber-skeptics no longer have pixie dust in their eyes.

None of that bothers me but the posts from the uber skeptics who believe it is their mission to contact TV programmers and urge them to rid the world of woo annoy me, as this poster comments:

I have sent nasty notes to both History and Discovery about their programming. Infuriating in that they are quite capable of fielding good, solid stuff that lives up to the name of the network, and also the silliest woo imaginable.

"Nasty notes?" Well no wonder.

It does all get down to entertainment and the whims of producers, whether it's a skeptic show, a woo show, or what. As much as I like UFO Hunters, I realize it isn't ultimately up to the show's hosts, it's up to the ones behind the cameras. It's true with all shows on television.

That's beside the point really. Look, if you don't like Woo TV, don't watch it.