As an example of the power of internet word of mouth, Skeptic magazine "Dumbth" columnist Randy Cassingham, has built his own "THIS IS TRUE" internet column to an incredible 150,000 people in just a couple of years. AMAZING! We can do this as well if you just tell your internet friends and neighbors.

Now, on with the latest:
20/20 FRIDAY
Watch ABC's 20/20 Friday night. My good buddy James Van Praagh will appear, along with yours truly debunking his every move. ABC filmed me for three hours one afternoon two weeks ago, in which I was given the opportunity to comment on every statement Van Praagh made, all on tape so we could play it back to see how his "hits" came about. Here is one revelation: his hit rate was an all-time low at 5-10%. I'll provide a complete report after the Friday airing so you can hear about what was NOT shown. THE PRODUCER JUST CALLED TO TELL ME THAT SKEPTICS ARE REALLY GOING TO LIKE THIS SHOW. HE SAID THEY LAY OUT VAN PRAAGH'S EVERY TRICK.

Vol. 4, #4, 1996 (the Carl Sagan issue) on page 30, and Vol. 5, #2, 1997 SKEPTIC magazine ("The God Question" issue), on page 27 features an article by Emily Rosa showing the results of her 4th-grade science project testing Therapeutic Touch (Emily and her mom also made a presentation at the Skeptics Society 1996 annual conference at Caltech). Her results showed that Therapeutic Touch practitioners did no better than chance in their attempt to detect the so-called human-energy field.

Well, now Emily Rosa is the media darling of science and skepticism as her study was published in the most prestigious medical journal in America--the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)--the April 1 issue (no joke intended). She appeared on the Tuesday night news on NPR, CBS, NBC, CNN, and ABC, as well as a live appearance on THE TODAY SHOW Wednesday morning. Her conclusion in the JAMA article:

"Twenty-one experienced TT practitioners were unable to detect the investigator's 'energy field.' Their failure to substantiate TT's most fundamental claim is unrefuted evidence that the claims of TT are goundless and that further professional use is unjustified."

We are flying Emily Rosa out to Caltech at the end of May for our annual conference, to award her one of our annual awards, for her wonderful work. James Randi is also giving her an award. The JAMA editor called her study "brilliant." And he said their chief statistician said it was a great study, as good as it gets. WAY TO GO EMILY. WE ARE VERY PROUD OF YOU. LISA SIMPSON WOULD BE PROUD.

Apparently one of our most inspired readers is no less a media star herself--Lisa Simpson, the skeptical daughter of Homer Simpson on the adult cartoon "The Simpsons." In last Sunday's episode, in the opening scene in which Homer was doing something stupid (he does this every episode of course), Lisa was diligently reading "JUNIOR SKEPTIC MAGAZINE." Way cool Lisa. EMILY ROSA WOULD BE PROUD.

Check out NBC's EXTRA this evening. I was filmed several days ago for a piece on the Garland, Texas end of the world sect, but I am not sure it will air now that the story has dropped from the news when God did not appear last week on Channel 18. The leader said with God as a no-show, his earlier prophecy about the end of the world beginning on Tuesday, March 31, should be considered "nonsense."

Here is an Op-Ed piece I wrote on the End of the World:

Spin Doctoring The End of the World By Michael Shermer

Once again the end of the world has come and gone, with neither a wimper nor a bang. This time around it was the prophecy of one Heng-ming Chen, leader of God's Salvation Church presently based in Garland, Texas (a suburb of Dallas), but originating from Taiwan (with a stopover in San Dimas, California). Chen's original prophecy, published in his guidebook entitled God's Descending in Clouds (Flying Saucers) on Earth to Save People, stated: "At 10 a.m. on March 31, 1998, God shall make His appearance in the Holy Land of the Kingdom of God: 3513 Ridgedale Dr., Garland, TX 75041 U.S.A. I guarantee this on my life."

What would God look like? Not surprisingly, he would look like Chen, only he would be able to walk through walls, speak numerous languages, and clone himself into as many copies as necessary to greet anyone who comes into the home that day. Exactly one year later March 31, 1999, the chosen few will travel to a rendezvous point on the shores of Lake Michigan, from where they will board flying saucers that will take them to heaven, with a brief stop at Mars. Sound familiar?

Like so many other New Age religions, God's Salvation Church grew out of a cultural milieu fascinated by UFOs. In fact, the Chinese characters for the group are best translated as "God Saves the Earth Flying Saucer Association." Chen's additional claims that he fathered Christ and that his own two sons, Chi-Jen Lo and Che-Yu Chiang, are reincarnations of Jesus and Buddha, have made more than a few observers skeptical, but not his followers.

As doomsday grew closer Chen predicted that God would appear in the ultimate channeling experience on television Channel 18 to be exact at 12:01am on Wednesday, March 25. But when God failed to show, Chen recanted his prophecy and said that his prediction that God would appear in Garland on the 31st was "nonsense." This time Chen was right. But will members of this group recant their beliefs, admit they were wrong, and go home? Well, they may go home (their tourist visas are about to expire), but we can rest assured they will not retract their beliefs. Why?

In his marvelous new book, Questioning the Millennium, Harvard paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould shows how we not only classify our world into dichotomous twos--good and evil, light and dark, gradual and cataclysmic change--we put a positive spin on whatever the outcome: gradual alteration to sustain hope that what we have built through struggle might persist versus the possibility of cataclysm, so that, when situations seem hopeless, and beyond the power of any natural force to amend, we may still anticipate salvation from a messiah. Humans are not only story-telling animals, we have a remarkable ability to make the story come out hopeful.

But what happens when prophecy fails, as it just did for the Garland group? Believers spin doctor the nonevent into a successful prophecy with such rationalizations as (all actually used by groups in the past): (1) miscalculation of the date; (2) the date was a loose prediction, not a specific prophecy; (3) the date was a warning, not a prophecy; (4) God changed his mind; (5) predictions were just a test of members' faith; (6) the prophecy was fulfilled physically, but not as expected; and (7) the prophecy was fulfilled spiritually. It would appear God's Salvation Church has chosen the latter. One follower, Chin-Hung Chiang, when God did not appear, explained: The world of the spiritual is invisible. It's very difficult to explain what is going on.

We can expect more apocalyptic gatherings between now and the year 2000, because for most believers the millennium is not The End, but The Beginning. It is a transition to a better life to come, either here or elsewhere. The Heaven's Gate folks couldn't wait to get the next level. Most Christians look forward to the Second Coming. We all celebrate the new year and many of us will trumpet in the new millennium with great anticipation. Hope springs eternal.