We should like to remind all European skeptics who wish to participate in the European
congress to register soon.
A registration form can be found at: http://www.ecso.org/register.pdf
For a list of hotels see: http://www.ecso.org/hotels.htm
Futher information at: http://www.ecso.org/congress_2003.htm
http://www.ecso.org/congress_20031.htm
We kindly ask all members to distribute an announcement of the London conference widely
and publish it in their national magazines and newsletters.
Thank you very much!
This year´s congress deals with topics such as the latest state of acupuncture
research, parapsychology, homeopathy, pseudophysics, feng shui, shamanism, appearances of
the Virgin Mary, and the paradoxical relationship of superstition and the Enlightenment.
The program of the annual congress of the German skeptics can be found at: http://www.gwup.org/ueberuns/konferenzen/2003/index.html
http://www.ecso.org/gwup_2003.htm
How to detect terrorists with dowsing rods
Two American Legion posts and two other veterans' groups in Pleasanton, Calif., sponsored
a class on dowsing in March to study whether domestic terrorists could be identified by
pointing sticks at suspicious people to see if the sticks move. One of the veterans'
leaders (who vouched that "the government" and oil and mining companies
regularly use dowsing) told the local Tri-Valley Herald, "You can't wait for the FBI
and police to come up with solutions when you have the bad guys living among us."
Following the 9-11 attacks, some Pleasanton veterans received training in so-called
"remote (psychic) viewing" and are now reportedly bringing local families up to
speed on their missing-in-action relatives from past wars. [Tri- Valley Herald, 3-25-03]
http://www.newsoftheweird.com/archive/index.html
Australian Min-Min light phenomenon explained
The city of Boulia, Western Queensland, Australia, is famous for mysterious lights that
seem to follow visitors over long distances. These so-called Min-Min lights have now been
explained as a Fata Morgana phenomenon: http://www.optometrists.asn.au/ceo/vol86/2/ceo862109.pdf
Bad luck for rock thieves?
A strange phenomenon is occurring among tourists to Central Australia's famous Ayers Rock.
International tourists are stealing pieces of the big red rock - and then posting them
back halfway around the world, often at great expense. Most senders complain of bad luck
or mysterious misfortune after illegally removing the rocks from the sacred Aboriginal
site. Thousands of rocks, along with samples of soil and sand, have been sent back to the
park from such far-flung places as Germany, France and Spain, but also Australia, over the
past 15 years.
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/03/07/1046826515667.html
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/5347957.htm
(c) 2003 Center for Inquiry - Europe, Arheilger Weg 11, 64380 Rossdorf, Germany.
Ph +49-6154-6950-23 (Fax: 6950-22).
E-mail: cfi-europe@ecso.org ; Internet: http://www.ecso.org
Editor: Dr. Martin Mahner.
This newsletter is an internal newsletter of ECSO (European Council of Skeptical
Organisations). Its contents are not intended for public dissemination.
If editors of, and writers for, national skeptics journals wish to borrow material from
the newsletter, they are asked to check and use the original sources of the material
quoted in the newsletter.