Somehow the news of James “The Amazing Randi” Randi’s death got past me on the crowded news cycle. Luckily, it didn’t get past the good folks over at Wonkette.

Crowding out really important news stories like this with their BS and constant whining is another reason to decry the Ol’ Pussy Grabbér’s fire hose approach to gaslighting the ever loving bejeezus out of us.

For those who didn’t know, Randi had a kind of cottage industry out of debunking paranormal charlatans of all kinds. He appeared on a variety of TV shows and in many a psych textbook. He was a great example of critical thinking and the use of evidence. He is a tremendous symbol of our times given the willingness of so many in our body politic to accept the utterances of our leaders just because they comport with our preexisting beliefs and the sheer lack of critical thinking among so many of us.

James Randi Outed Some Truly Heinous Frauds, And For That We Should All Be Grateful

Robyn Pennacchia October 24, 2020

Magician and professional skeptic James “The Amazing Randi” Randi died this week at the age of 92 — without ever having given away a million

Although the One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge ended in 2015, Randi had promised for years to give a million dollars to anyone who could offer any actual proof at all of the kind of supernatural phenomena he was known for debunking — psychic powers, telekineses, spoon bending, faith healing, ghosts, dowsing, remote viewing etc. — under rigorous scientific conditions. Despite thousands of applicants, no one ever passed. And many, like “psychic” Sylvia Browne, a cold ass bitch known for telling the families of missing children that their kids were dead when they would later turn out not to be, refused to be tested.

Continue reading at Wonkette: James Randi Outed Some Truly Heinous Frauds, And For That We Should All Be Grateful

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“File:Preferred official head-shot from James Randi Educational Foundation.jpg” by James Randi Educational Foundation is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0