| Randi has been in lawsuit trouble lately and is now feuding with
his erstwhile ally, CSICOP. CSICOP would like Randi to formally
avow that he was acting on his own, and not on behalf of CSICOP,
when the alleged defamations took place. Seems that both
Randi and CSICOP have been hit with a number of suits in the
past few years. Both parties (and, until recently, their
insurers) have spent large sums of money defending these
suits. So far, the only legal result has been the enrichment
of attorneys, as the cases to date have been held to be
without merit.
Randi and CSICOP believe, rightly or wrongly, that they are
being hit with meritless lawsuits by people (like Geller)
who are simply trying to shut them up. Strifling free
expression and all that.
As to the test in .0, does anyone know just what they will
be testing? Geller took (officially at any rate) particular
umbrage at one of Randi's statements to the effect that
Geller's tricks were the sort of things he, Randi, used to
read on the backs of cereal boxes.
Somehow I doubt they will do the actual spoon-bending -
perhaps something more elaborate?
Joel
|
| Here's the latest word I have. I'm pretty sure that the "deposition"
was intended to include the test. Randi's lack of comment about, for
example, the scientist involved, or a direct statement that the
deposition does include the test is mildly suspicious to me.
Unfortunately, I do not have any source of information more neutral or
from the "other camp."
To: broadcast-geller-hotline%hotmomma@uunet.UU.NET
Subj: Deposition
Date: Sat, 7 Mar 92 04:04 EST
Well, friends, next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in Washington,
D.C., should be REAL interesting. On those days, Mr. Geller and I will
be deposing one another. That means we'll be asking questions of one
another (under oath) in regard to the case. I don't think Mr. Geller
is too happy about the upcoming event...
. . .
I'll keep you all informed, of course. JR
|
| Article: 23175
Newsgroups: sci.skeptic
From: aa387@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Jim Kutz)
Subject: Letter from Randi on depositions.
Sender: news@usenet.ins.cwru.edu
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 92 09:44:54 GMT
Message #87 (98 is last):
Date: Mon Apr 13 04:22:00 1992
From: geller-hotline%hotmomma@uunet.UU.NET (James Randi)
Subject: Wednesday deposition...
To: broadcast-geller-hotline%hotmomma@uunet.UU.NET
I'll be arriving in NYC Tuesday to attend our deposition of Geller that
starts Wednesday. We've assembled a long list of authorities who have
colorful opinions of UG's "powers," and a number of scientists who were
actually deceived by him and are now aware of it. The big question about
all this is, when are Geller and his lawyers going to get real? There is
no way that I can see for him to win this case, and I'm a bit puzzled
about why he thinks he can win. My essay in this week's TIME magazine has
already caused some excitement (I don't yet know if it showed up in the
international edition) and I expect a lot of flack from it. The Natural
Law Party in the UK (the Mahareshi's political arm), I'm informed, did
zero in the election. Doug Henning, running in Blackpool, came in fourth
in a group of four candidates. Not bad. JR
--
|
| Here's what I have about it. All from the Randi camp, so take it with
a big grain of salt.
Topher
==============================================================================
From: "James Randi - Wizard" 14-MAR-1992 06:56:26.49
Subj: The Geller almost-deposition
Well, the best-laid plans.... The 3-day stay in Washington was
supposed to bring about two depositions: first, Geller's deposition of
lawyers took all three days deposing me. Now, we have to set my
examination of Geller for some time in April.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Cheers! JR
==============================================================================
From: "James Randi" 28-MAR-1992 11:01:44.00
Subj: Deposition of Geller
FOR DISTRIBUTION: Mr. Geller has agreed to a date of 15-17 of April for
his deposition in New York City. To make one thing very clear, the judge
has said that my lawyers have the right to ask Mr. G to demonstrate his
claimed powers, under oath, during deposition. Of course, Mr. G has the
right to refuse. We are depending upon a previous Federal ruling for our
right to demand he prove his powers. We'll see...
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
JR
==============================================================================
From: "Chip Denman" 4-APR-1992 17:30:24.52
Subj: More on the D.C. Deposition of Geller
[Chip Denman is the President of the National Capital Area Skeptics,
and as Randi mentioned in his own description of the event (already
posted to this list) one of the people who provided significant moral
support. Thanks to Chip for this very interesting side light on
Geller's behavior during the deposition.]
Other than Randi and his attorneys, Penn, Teller and I were the only
ones who were around for the depositions. Unfortunately, none of us
were permitted by Mr. Geller to sit in on the actual proceedings.
When Mr. Geller arrived on our first morning, he dashed out of the
elevator, grabbed my hand and introduced himself warmly. "Hi, I'm
Uri!" Of course, he recognized Penn and gave him a hearty handshake
and a big smile. The fellow could have had a great career in retail
sales.
Once the depositions began, there was little to do. Mr. Geller seemed
to have trouble sitting still; even the receptionists were commenting
on his constant flitting in and out of the closed conference room.
Other folks associated with the law firm where this was taking place
would drop by just to catch the latest tidbits. Clearly this case is
not exactly the norm for Washington. On the rare breaks, Randi seemed
alternately disgusted by the various insinuations and renewed with
determination to see this mess through to its proper conclusion.
Of course, I wasn't inside to actually see it, but I understand that
things were livened up a bit when Randi, in making a point about the
simple nature of certain tricks, vanished a pen or pencil from the
table. That story even got a small mention in the Washington Post.
The next and final morning, Randi & I were there alone. Once again,
Randi's attorney asked permission for me to sit in; again it was
denied. But just before things got underway, Mr. Geller came out and
apologized to me up, down, and sideways for having to exclude me.
Right.
I mostly sat out of sight--but within earshot--of the reception area.
(I took advantange of the forced confinement to write a talk that I
was to give at Johns Hopkins on Spiritualism and psychical research.
There are some interesting parallels here to the 19th century.) I
could hear Mr. Geller coming and going, looking for his lunch, etc. I
wondered what would happen if I made myself more visable, so I took my
computer and moved to the outer area. Sure enough, on his next trip
through Mr. Geller sat down on the sofa beside me to chat. He wanted
to know ALL about me. Where did I live? Did I use computers in my
work? Do I ever do outside consulting? I had the distinct impression
that he REALLY wanted to know who the hell I was and whether I was
perhaps an expert digging up useful bits o' information. I suppose
the vibes just weren't clear that day.
As Randi has already said, the 1 1/2 days turned into 3 of Randi being
deposed. There was no time left to turn the tables. As things wound
down on the last day, Paul Kurtz and Barry Karr were there, getting
ready for their turn the next day. We stepped into a side room to
chat about the whole affair. What a surprise to find Mr. Geller,
literally ear to the door, every time we looked into the hallway!
Chip Denman
President, National Capital Area Skeptics
for whom I'm not speaking.
NCAS >encourages critical and scientific thinking
>serves as an information resource on extraordinary claims
>provides extraordinary evidence that skeptics are cool
==============================================================================
From: "James Randi" 25-APR-1992 03:28:50.82
To: broadcast-geller-hotline%hotmomma@uunet.UU.NET
Subj: The Geller Deposition
My deposition of Uri Geller took place April 15-17th. It was to continue
over the following Monday, but I picked up a New York bug and was laid
up, unable to attend. As expected, when we asked Mr. G to demonstrate his
wonderful powers, he was unable to do so because there were not enough
sympathetic persons in the vicinity. We were denied the satisfaction of
witnessing, at long last, proof of his abilities. Sigh.
However, very interesting information was developed during the question-
ing, and we videotaped the entire proceedings.
At the close of the Friday session, Mr. G introduced us to his family,
though I was on the telephone at that time and unable to meet them.
The lawyer for CSICOP also questioned Mr. G for some period of time.
JR
|