Uri Geller Debunked by James Randi

August 6th, 2008 · 1 comment or link to (permalink)

Contrary to what people might think, I am not some kind of anti-copyright nut. Most of the things I link to are items I would be watching if I were either located in the part of the world they showed for free, or at home when aired. SmashingTelly is, if you like, my VCR.

I don’t link to block-buster pirated movies, and I often end up buying better video quality DVD’s, where available, of my favorites (although region restrictions seem to conspire to put people off buying them). Someday, I hope, I will be able to watch the BBC iPlayer in the US, Hulu in the UK, and embed items from these great services. Hulus’s asynchronous, ad-supported, time limited, service seems to be the model for TV, in future, period.

But this clip is to do with copyright. It’s a 13 minute Youtube clip, debunking the fraudster, Uri Geller. He sued the creators because it contained a 10 second snippet of one of his performances, and has just lost.

According to Cory Doctorow:

“The EFF has really made Geller eat it here: not only has he been forced to withdraw, but they made him license the clip in question as non-commercial Creative Commons to boot, so as to freely aid the efforts of other skeptics.”

Geller’s tactic is the same as the Scientologists’ - to abuse copyright laws to suppress the truth. In other words, to use laws against stealing to protect lying, where the lying is protected because it is possibly a belief.

Thanks to Lester for the Randi Tip.

1 comment » (report dead embeds in comments) tags: pseudo science

Primal Therapy (FEBL media)

June 17th, 2008 · 3 comments or link to (permalink)

Watch the first clip for as long as you can stand it - I lasted 3 minutes, then watch the one below it. Even better, hit play on them both at the same time.

Like much cultish nonsense, primal therapy makes a case that sounds consistent (mad, but consistent), and then assumes that this equals the truth. What I like most about this, is that the woman above (who has all the left-bank, professorial moves down: using glasses as pointer; snapping her fingers for answers; nodding sagely; genuine French accent) is actually talking about the stuff below.

Remember folks, established cults do this stuff even more strangely.

3 comments » (report dead embeds in comments) tags: FEBL pseudo science