admin

The Curious Q-Ray

Submitted by Admin Ions
By: 

Ged Gasperas

Originally published in BASIS
Volume: 

24

Number: 

2

April-June

What price happiness? Apparently $59.95 and up (plus S&H)

Imagine that if you could, for as little as about 60 dollars (or up to about 250 dollars), get something that would make you feel better all the time, improve your golf game, help you win international marathons and maybe even some Olympic medals. And that???s not all. For no additional cost, you would get something that you could use to accessorize your clothes, even in a variety of colors and styles ??? you would both feel good and be fashionable too!

It …


Admin's Blog Add new comment Read More

Aromatherapy: Does It Pass the Smell Test?

Submitted by Admin Aromatherapy
By: 

Paul DesOrmeaux

Originally published in BASIS
Volume: 

24

Number: 

3

July-September 2007

Aromatherapy is only one of oodles of alternative medicines and holistic treatments that have currently captured part of the public’s wild imagination. These holistic approaches, including acupuncture, therapeutic touch, and mall shopping, are part of a multi-billion dollar industry.

What exactly is aromatherapy? By dismantling the word, you’d think that it would be related to odors, but you’d only be partially correct. And since evidence of its therapeutic properties is wanting, it&#8217…


Admin's Blog Add new comment Read More

Is There a Need?

Submitted by Admin Medicine
Originally published in BASIS
Volume: 

1

Number: 

1

June 1982

There are those in the Bay Area who “earn” their daily bread from the pain, suffering, guilt, fear, and hate of others.

Rev. B. Woods Mattingley, Founder-Director of The Seeker’s Quest, entitled the lead article in his current newsletter: “Why Do We Suffer Pain?”

His answer: “Most serious illness can be attributed to one of several reasons: karmic, in which current life pain results from the excesses or ‘sins’ of a past life…. Physical pain is also a telling statement that the person has some past-life reason which is creating his prese…


Admin's Blog Add new comment Read More

Chiropractic History: DD Palmer’s Magical Kingdom

Submitted by Admin Chiropractic
By: 

Paul DesOrmeaux

Originally published in BASIS
Volume: 

25

Number: 

1

April-June

Demand for alternative “healthcare” continues to grow faster than the American waistline; therefore, job prospects for alternative-medicine practitioners who can offer clients cures for every conceivable disease and condition, along with invented ones, such as restless text-messaging syndrome, are rather rosy. One of the more lucrative areas of alternative-care practice is chiropractic, in which not only do chiropractors make a decent living by manipulating patients, but they also get to call themselves…


Admin's Blog Add new comment Read More

Nova: “The Case of the UFOs”: Starting the Season Off Right!

Submitted by admin Aliens & UFOs, Television
By: 

Robert Sheaffer

Originally published in BASIS
Volume: 

1

Number: 

6

December 1982

We have all seen the sensationalized treatment that UFOs have received on TV, even from “responsible” news organizations, with their exciting but unsubstantiated claims of dramatic UFO encounters. A refreshing change was the season opener for NOVA (actually a production of the BBC) telecast on PBS stations October 12 and 13.

This past February, John Groom, writer and producer of the show, was at my house to discuss approaches to the subject and sources of information, and at that time I became aware t…


admin's Blog Add new comment Read More

Amway’s Recruitment Tactics Similar to those of Cults

Submitted by Admin Cults
By: 

Patrick O’Reilly, Ph.D.

Originally published in BASIS
Volume: 

24

Number: 

1

January-March 2007

I recently ran across a short article about a California clinical psychologist whose license to practice was put on probation because he persuaded two of his clients to enroll in his Amway business.

The premise of Amway is that you are your own boss and that you buy Amway products that you then sell for a profit. The Real way to make money with Amway, though, is to sign up people you personally know to sell Amway. Because you were the one who enrolled these new Amway sales people, you get a sh…


Admin's Blog Add new comment Read More

The Sacramento Scene

Submitted by admin Psychics, The Sacramento Scene
By: 

Terence J. Sandbek

Originally published in BASIS
Volume: 

1

Number: 

4

September 1982

Gullibility knows no boundaries: It infects young and old, rich and poor, male and female, educated and uneducated. What happens in Sacramento happens in San Francisco and Chico. People who fall for psychic foolishness here are no different from people all over the world. As we report happenings in our area, remember that we in metropolitan Sacramento are neither more nor less gullible than people elsewhere.

Several months ago, Bob Steiner and I appeared on a local radio talk show. The hostess introduced…


admin's Blog Add new comment Read More

The Sacramento Scene

Submitted by Admin Radio, The Sacramento Scene
By: 

Terence J. Sandbek

Originally published in BASIS
Volume: 

1

Number: 

2

July 1982

Although Sacramento may not have the emotional appeal of San Francisco or Los Angeles in the minds of people when they think of California, it has symbolic significance by virtue of being the state capitol. Nevertheless, it shares with its bigger sisters the dubious distinction of being a hotbed of distorted thinking on paranormal events. This strange attraction to the irrational is best seen from the vantage of the city’s talk shows. With two local radio stations competing for people’s attention, a…


Admin's Blog Add new comment Read More

Editorial: The New Year Ahead

Submitted by Admin BAS
By: 

Michael McCarthy

Originally published in BASIS
Volume: 

1

Number: 

6

December 1982

We finish 1982 on a distinctly upbeat note for an organization less than six months old. Bay Area Skeptics has already had a good impact in our area and is expanding with all due speed.

We have over 150 subscribers at the moment, and pass out another few hundred copies of the newsletter each month, both to the interested and the hostile. The Skeptic’s Challenge is making the rounds, and may yield interesting results in the future. The Bay Area journalist community is now aware of our existence and has alre…


Admin's Blog Add new comment Read More

From the Chair

Submitted by Admin BAS
By: 

Bob Steiner

Originally published in BASIS
Volume: 

1

Number: 

6

December 1982

How do you judge the strength and health of this new organization known as the Bay Area Skeptics? Let me count the ways:

Public reaction has been enthusiastic. People come forward wanting information, wanting to participate, wanting to meet other people interested in our organization and in our ideas, and wanting to do something — anything — to further the interests of the organization.

This enthusiastic reaction has been supported by words, deeds, and money. And it includes people in the Bay Area, throug…


Admin's Blog Add new comment Read More

Syndicate content