James Randi skeptical of homeopathy

[vcrepair]

I found this on James Randi page www.randi.org
where he is skeptical of homeopathy. James Randi
offers a million dollar prize for proof of the
paranormal. Could someone win that prize and prove
homeopathy?

www.randi.org February 20 2004
HOMEOPATHY FURTHER DILUTED

The BBC-TV "Horizon" show on homeopathy has been
repeated on Tech-TV several times recently, as an
episode of "Secret, Strange and True." This was a
surprise to me since I wasn't notified of the coming
event, and my Tarot cards were out for polishing. This
program comes across very strongly, though I disagree
with the closing statement ? not mine ? that the
program "proved that homeopathy was not possible"; it
did no such thing. What it did show, was that a test
protocol that the homeopaths themselves designed and
approved, yielded null results. This Foundation is
prepared to award the million-dollar prize to the
homeopaths if and when such a proper test produces
positive results that are statistically significant,
under the rules governing the JREF prize. It's that
simple: do it and win the money.

This is yet another occasion in which homeopathy has
failed a proper, double-blind, carefully-controlled
set of experiments, and this is one that the
practitioners and supporters themselves endorsed and
supervised. Note, however, that in spite of their
approval before the results were announced, they then
announced that it was poorly designed and carried out,
with "expert" Dana Ullman voicing his doubts ? as a
buffer against failure, I'm sure ? even before the
tests were completed. You can't have it both ways, in
the real world, but quacks seem to be unaware of that
basic fact.

Just a quick explanation: I received a lot of mail
about a somewhat devious bit of editing that was
carried out by the BBC. At one point, I'm shown with
my hand up to my mouth as if I'm expressing anxiety
about what the presiding statistician is about to
announce as the final result of the experiments. That
was a moment when I coughed violently ? though the
audio was edited out ? as can be seen under careful
observation. I was suffering from very severe
laryngitis at that meeting, and my voice was hardly
there. It was a bit of a cheap shot, when in actuality
I had no trepidation whatsoever about the results that
were about to be announced. I trusted those involved,
the protocol was tight and proper, and I was
confident, as I always am, about what science would
show us.
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