26. november 2003

KKK member hit by falling bullet during initiation ceremony During a Ku Klux Klan initiation ceremony a participant was hit by a falling bullet and critically wounded. Gregory Allen Freeman, 45, was charged with aggravated assault and reckless endangerment in the Saturday night incident that wounded Jeffery S. Murr, 24. About 10 people, including two children, had gathered for the ceremony. The man who was being initiated was blindfolded, tied with a noose to a tree and shot with paintball guns as Freeman fired a pistol in the air to provide the sound of real gunfire, Sheriff Fred Phillips said. A bullet struck Murr on the top of the head and exited at the bottom of his skull, authorities said. I like the idea of shooting the recruit during a KKK initiation ceremony. But next time I suggest doing it for real. You can't really expect such a lucky hit every time. 4:10:58 PM    comment []  trackback []

Another Indian man claims to live without food or water Prahlad Jani is another Indian man claiming to live without food or water, similar to one Hira Ratan Manek who claimed to live from sunlight alone. The claims made about Manek later proved to be fraudulent. Prahlad Jani, a holy man, or fakir, who is over 70 years old, has just spent 10 days under constant observation in Sterling Hospital, in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad. During that time, he did not consume anything and "neither did he pass urine or stool", according to the hospital's deputy superintendent, Dr Dinesh Desai. Having the story printed on the BBC News site will greatly bolster the credibility of this new fairy tale. The BBC story provides a few hints for skeptics, however. At the end of his confinement, doctors noted no deterioration in his condition, other than a slight drop in his weight. If he normally lived this way, without food or water, why should his weight drop during a special 10 day surveillance? He claims to have lived this way for decades. The second hint is from the above picture of the fakir and a devoted follower visiting him in the hospital. What controls were in place to assue that none of them were able to give him any food or drink? I'd suggest testing the story by checking out the alleged "witnesses" first, and the actual control procedures second. The annals of supernatural claims has demonstrated that alleged holy men have an amazing talent for good old fashioned fraud. And as anyone who has seen a good illusionist will know, it is very hard to spot the trick unless you know what to look for. 2:20:20 PM    comment []  trackback []

Iraqi militants shift attacks to civilians The good news is that there has been a decline in attacks onm coaltion troops in Iraq. The bad news is that attacks against civilian Iraqis have increased. The Baathists no doubt hope that attacking ordinary Iraqis, in particular people who are perceived as cooperating with the coaltiion, will sabotage the power transfer. US forces say the militants shift attacks to civilians since they have been taking too much damage attacking coaltion forces, ie. "it shows we are winning." Maybe. But it can also mean there is a change in overall tactics. The militants will have to change tactics continuously to be one step ahead and avoid being pinned down. 1:14:36 PM    comment []  trackback []

BAR editor: Burial box may be genuine The journal Biblical Archeology Review (BAR), which first printed the story about the alleged burial box (ossurary) of James, brother of Jesus, is trying to save its reputation from the whole affair. It is furious that Israel's Antiquities Authority officially declared the find a fraud, and it has now gathered a collection of friendly scholars to defend itself. "I don't know for sure whether this is a forged inscription, and I'm sort of cast as a defender of the inscription. I'm not," said moderator Hershel Shanks, editor of the Biblical Archeology Review, which published the initial findings. "What I do know is, Israeli authorities have badly managed the affair." Maybe so. But the fact of the case is that BAR had badly managed the affair from the start, by passing the find as genuine before it had been subject.to any serious scrutiny. Now it has a lot of egg on its face, but trying to prolong the affair is unlikely to help restore its reputation. 9:26:04 AM    comment []  trackback []

© Copyright 2003 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.12.2003; 12:14:28.