The Amazing Randi was awarded a MacArthur "genius" grant twentysomething years ago, which is, well, amazing.
The man who flustered master spoon-bender Uri Geller on live national television had to spend most of his endowment on legal bills, because of his tendency to make pronouncements like this (about faith healers):
"They're fakes, they're phonies, they're scoundrels … and they need to be behind bars!"
Makes me a little nostalgic for CSICOP and it's publication, the Skeptical Inquirer. I was all over their website back in the day, and in college I remember impressing many an imaginary boyfriend when they poked through my kitchen cabinets and found a Skeptical Inquirer coffee mug. Yeah, that's right. I'm out now. I'm a skeptic. I'm all for ferreting out chain letters, debunking urban legends, and exposing fraudsters who bilk the aged out of their already limited funds by selling them "magnetic bracelets" and other phony "medical devices." (Where's my grant?)
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