How did I miss this story about 'amazing' James Randi?

[Celebration]

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-09-15/news/fl-jose-alvarez-artist-identity-theft-20110914_1_id-theft-identity-frauds

As a magician, escape artist, author, lecturer and self-proclaimed "charlatan," James "The Amazing" Randi has traveled the world exposing frauds and cheats who prey on people's beliefs in supernatural and psychic abilities.

There is new, confounding mystery surrounding Randi, and it has nothing to do with whether someone can bend a spoon with their mind, channel dead spirits as a medium or heal the afflicted with the laying on of hands.

Federal authorities say that the man often by his side for the past 20 years is one of the most common frauds there is: an identity thief.

The man who goes by the name Jose Luis Alvarez is an internationally known artist whose paintings have hung in the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, at Art Basel in Miami Beach and at shows in New York and in San Francisco.

Randi, 83, is one of the most charismatic, highly recognized figures in the so-called skeptic community, earning the praise of such scientific figures as Carl Sagan and Isaac Asimov. He won a MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant for his work in 1986, a year after moving to Broward County. Over the decades he has mentored dozens of students eager to learn the secrets of his particular arts.

[Howler]

1. LOL!

How very Ironic.:rofl:

[Celebration]

2. such a weird story!

I knew he was strange. Imagine him being so consumed with "fraud" when his life partner's identity is a fraud.

I'm not really happy or sad for him, but yup, irony in the extreme.

:wtf:

[get the red out]

3. Irony seems built into the "system"

I see such ironies as basically programmed into our world. They always seem to pop up.

[Celebration]

4. it is a bit like

a person abused by a parent picking an abusive mate.

And, I heartily agree with you!! He actually attracted this.

Still, I shake my head in wonder at this ultimate example of the law of attraction. No, my mouth drops open.

There is even more of a story to this because I think Randi met the guy when he was 16 or so, and then sent him on a sort of tour to debunk something or other, then the guy morphed into being some sort of world class artist. (I've always thought that the world of fine art was more about con and promotion than anything else.)

AND THE WHOLE THING WAS A SHAM!! HE DOESN'T HAVE A LEGAL IDENTITY, and the identity that he does have was a STOLEN SCAM!!

Wow, just wow.

[kentauros]

6. He attracts such "irony" in more ways than this.

He's a known Climate-Change Denier. While he got plenty of flak over that stance, he has remained one of the still-respected (and linked, and quoted) "heroes" of the septic community. Anyone else holding the same views is mocked and never again taken seriously.

Randi also lies. I know the septics don't seem to care one whit for Rupert Sheldrake, despite his adherence to the scientific method for his experiments with animal telepathy. Randi is part of that attitude toward Sheldrake:

James Randi - a Conjurer Attempts to Debunk Research on Animals

Whenever I see Randi's name, it's always "The Amazingly Sceptical Randi" ;)

[Celebration]

7. yes the other "irony" is

That his life work is to keep people from being "taken in" by people and claims, yet people seem to be taken in by him!!

Altogether this is just the most "amazing" thing about Randi!

Love Rupert Sheldrake! Oh, and I might start calling them septics, too! :rofl: They aren't true skeptics, they are merely debunkers.

[Howler]

5. :)

Smile

[Kind of Blue]

8. Wow! He certainly falls under the doth

protest too much category. If true, maybe love caused him to turn a blind eye to the fraud right under his nose.

[get the red out]

9. OK, I'm going to ask

Am I the only one here who, when seeing this thread for the first time (earlier today for me) immediately thought, "Didn't I read about the Amazing Randi passing away some months ago?"

I've heard this sort of thing brought up on George Noory's show before where people call in and swear they recall reading/hearing about some celeb passing then suddenly seeing them alive on TV. Or maybe I'm just more nuts than I think. I've had this kind of thing happen to me before.

[kentauros]

10. Not according to Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Randi

That entry is likely kept quite up-to-date by the looks of it.

[get the red out]

12. Oh I believe he is quite alive

It was just one of those instances where I would just swear I had heard about his passing previously then it turns out to be untrue. It's like a false Deja Vu or some such.

[Celebration]

11. I've had that happen too!

but Randi lives on.

[WolverineDG]

16. No, I swore John Houseman had died long ago

was I ever surprised when he showed up on Keith Olbermann's show. :wow: :rofl: (at myself, not Mr. Houseman)

This is probably why Abe Vigoda frequently tells people he's not dead yet.

dg

[Celebration]

17. WHAT????

There really ARE alternate realities :rofl:

This John Houseman died in 1988.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Houseman

Weirdly enough, I met him less than one year before he died, at a fund raiser for the arts in my city. He looked a bit lost and pitiful. I talked to him, and mainly what he wanted was for me to fetch his friend, and I immediately complied. Obviously that was quite awhile back and the whole incident made a huge impression on me.

I look forward to getting a link for his appearance on Keith's show. :silly:

[WolverineDG]

18. Oh FFS

Double, triple :rofl: on me......you are correct. I am wrong, AGAIN!!! :spray: :rofl:

I was thinking of the guy from St. Elsewhere, who for whatever reason, I *thought* was John Houseman. It wasn't. Obviously. :rofl:

It was, however, Norman Lloyd, who is still very very much alive.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Lloyd

And now we know why I was shocked when he cropped up on Keith's show a year or so ago. :crazy:

hoo boy..... :rofl:

dg

[Celebration]

19. LOL!

:hug:

Nice when a thread takes a humorous turn!

PS: You sound a lot like me. :silly:

[DeSwiss]

13. I've always seen skeptics as miserable people.....

...to themselves and definitely to others. Imagine a life where instead of enjoying the beauty one encounters within it, instead you must question its validity and authenticity, first. And as pragmatic as I like to think I've always been, I've always understood that neither science, logic nor reason could say why anything exists at all. So I've always felt a little sorry for people such as him. Clinging so hard to his bedrock ''rational'' beliefs like it were a teddy bear or a cuddly ol' blankie that keeps him sane -- and therefore serves as a constant reminder of the "truth" of his belief in reason.

Terence McKenna put it thusly:

"Chaos is what we've lost touch with. This is why it is given a bad name. It is feared by the dominant archetype of our world, which is Ego, which clenches because its existence is defined in terms of control. The real truth that dare not speak itself is that no one is in control, absolutely no one. This stuff is ruled by the equations of dynamics and chaos. There may be entities seeking control, but to seek control is to take enormous aggravation upon yourself. It's like trying to control a dream."

~Terence McKenna, "Dreaming Awake at the End of Time"

This article also serves to remind how http://www.projectworldawareness.com/2010/10/terrifying-scientific-discovery-strange-emissions-by-sun-are-suddenly-mutating-matter/">the energies now permeating the universe is not only causing everything to speed up, but is exposing all sorts of hidden things to the light of day. OWS is one such great example of this, and even with so many politicians trying their level best to wrap it up and put this Genie back in the lamp so we can go back to ''normal'' -- it ain't gonna wrap up and the Genie ain't going back in the lamp because there is no more normal. At least not the ''normal'' that we've experienced before. The days of the 1%ers is numbered.

So we will see more exposures of that which was hidden -- hidden for years if not decades. Egypt and Tunisia. Penn State. Ghaddafi. And now Assad. Everyday as the energies permeate all, we will see more hidden things coming to light. Just as past Way-Showers have told us would be the case:

Matthew 10-26
Luke 8-17


- Celebration, good catch on the article. I love a good ironic story.......

[kimmerspixelated]

14. Agreed, they are missing out on so much.

I used to get angry with them on the "other" group- u know which one..and then I realized how much energy they consume in their darkness, and how much energy I was wasting arguing with them! They are to be pitied at this point.

[NJCher]

15. pitiful

Imagine a life where instead of enjoying the beauty one encounters within it, instead you must question its validity and authenticity, first.

I love what you wrote, DeSwiss. I have always felt sorry for them, too. I feel sorry for them because their world is so little, so small. Rather than soaring, they are like an insect who rolls up in a ball when threatened. They retreat.

Instead of skeptics, I call them "reductionists." They like to reduce things to the very basic.


Now, as far as this story goes, I am pleased. I have never liked or respected Randi. This effectively shoots his credibility forever.


Cher

[arikara]

20. I heard how he does some of his debunking

is not on the up and up. One of my friends who is a homeopath said when Randi debunked homeopathy he opened up a bottle of camphor or had some on his hands and of course the test failed. Any strong scent like that will nullify the effects of homeopathy, he obviously is well aware of it and was unsure enough that he would get the result that he wanted without cheating.

[kentauros]

21. He certainly comes across as the kind of "charlatan"

he's always trying to "protect" us all from :eyes:

This is an excellent blog entry about his Million-dollar challenge and why no one ever won it (or could win it.)

The Myth of the Million Dollar Challenge