If the Red Army captured Hitler

Let's say Hitler tried to flee to the national redoubt instead of killing himself, but was arrested by the Red Army in Berlin.



Would he be shot on sight, or would Stalin want to make him suffer?

via JREF Forum http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=262878&goto=newpost

Artistic Context for the Turin Shroud

Over in the Religion and Philosophy Forum there is an ongoing scientific discussion about the authenticity or not of the shroud of Turin. A lot of science has been brought in, but mostly it is a fantastic example of an irresistible force meeting an immoveable obstacle, which is why it has engendered nearly 9000 posts. Recently, I have been trying to widen the discussion by taking the 14th century origin of the shroud as a given, and attempting to find out more exactly where, how and why it was made than is currently understood. It has been suggested that that this aspect of the topic should be raised in the History Forum rather than the Religion one, so here it is.



The shroud is a long thin piece of cloth, about 4m x 1m, which seems an odd shape for a shroud, but just right for an altar piece. It is made of a very fine herring-bone weave linen, which seems an odd choice for a painting, but a good one for showing respect to Christ. It carries the images of two prone figures, lying head to head, one back and and one front. This is wholly without parallel in medieval art, but makes sense if one wanted to fill the long thin piece of cloth rather than just have a single image in the middle and bare space on either side. The image is very faint and indistinct, and does not appear on the reverse side of the cloth. I don't know of any contemporary technique which replicates that, or any similar example of it, although modern imitators have shown that it is possible. The image shows a naked man with a noble expression and his hands crossed over his groin, rather like a cross between a late Byzantine upright image and early 'man of sorrows' iconography. The image has a variety of blobs, flows, trickles and stains of a dark red material which may be blood, paint or a mixture of the two, illustrating the wounds of Christ.



So:

Does anyone know, or can anyone guess, whether the shroud was more likely to have been made in France, Italy or Turkey, or anywhere else, and why?



Does anyone know of any other medieval image consisting of a very thin, very indistinct colour which does not penetrate the cloth?



Does anyone know of any other medieval image showing the same man twice?



ps. Let me emphasize that this thread is intended to assume that the shroud is an artificial image from the 13th century or later. For discussion about whether this assumption is justified, please go across to the Religion and Philosophy Thread.

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Author claims "Atheism will replace Religion by 2041"

"In a new study, Irish author and biopsychologist Nigel Barber is claiming atheism will replace religion by the year 2041."



Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/articl...#ixzz2aDp8c3Y6



Barber's article in Psychology Today:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/...n-new-evidence



Barber's ebook:

Why Atheism Will Replace Religion: The triumph of earthly pleasures over pie in the sky

via JREF Forum http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=262871&goto=newpost

The Conjuring

Went and saw The Conjuring with wife, 13 year old daughter and daughters friend. Movie was scary and had plenty of drama. Wife and kids were scared and discussing the movie on the drive home. I told everyone that everything they saw was make believe and to take it with a grain of salt. They all jumped on me then, stating the movie was based on true events. I told them that Ed and Lorraine Warren are charlatans and ignorant people will believe a paranormal event over a much simpler non mystical reason of occurence.



There is supposedly mountains of film, photo and audio evidence to go with eyewitness testimony. I suppose I will now have to investigate this story and refute it with my family as they just won't take my word for it.



Is anybody familiar with the story and has there been an objective/skeptical investigation into it that I can use for my rebuttal of the paranormal?

via JREF Forum http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=262867&goto=newpost

CENTAUR sightings... OMG

Hi.



Remembering a post here somewhere where someone mentioned about "centaur sightings", I found this:



http://www.phantomsandmonsters.com/2...h-america.html

Quote:

I forget exactly whether he then moved the police car into the parking lot to intercept the man, or if he stopped the car shortly after making a move but either way the headlights helped illuminate what he saw. Under the orange light of the street lights was a 8 foot tall Demon-Centaur!!! The bottom half was indeed a dark haired horse, while where the neck and head should have been was the upper torso of a man. The man was staring right at him as it strolled by, all 4 hooves clanking on the pavement. His skin was a dark red and it had horns on either side of his head. He said they were like ram horns, curled around on either side of his skull. He was terrified and while the thought of shooting the beast crossed his mind, he reasoned against it. He didn't want to provoke it and have it attack him. It completed crossing the road, and down a steep slope into a farmland field below. Once it reached this open ground, he watched as it started to run away as fast as possible until it disappeared into the darkness and trees beyond.

:eek:



If you want to entertain that Bigfoot exists based on anecdotal reports of someone seeing it in their headlights... then you must also entertain the notion that centaurs exist. That's what you get when you set the bar of evidence too low. And it's not just centaurs -- I'm sure you can find reports of every mythical creature ever. So, BFers: why don't you take this story seriously, but when it's an 8-foot-tall ape-man instead of an 8-foot-tall "Demon Centaur", you do? Both witnesses could be just as "sincere" in thinking they saw what they claim! Though, I suppose that perhaps maybe this blogger does take both seriously! In which case at least he's honest, even if he's still wrong :(

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Half of Obamacare call center jobs will be part time

Earlier this year, Contra Costa County (in the Bay Area, not far from where I live) won a contract to run a call center to answer questions about the Affordable Care Act. Here's the detail that the job postings advertising a full time job failed to mention: half the positions are part time, with no benefits, including health care.



How's that hopey-changey stuff been working out for ya?



http://www.contracostatimes.com/rss/ci_23733819

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Don't take personally incriminating evidence to the police

A Virginia man was arrested on multiple charges relating to the possession of child pornography after he received a ransomware virus popup and took his computer to the local police department.



https://www.facebook.com/notes/princ...39643792751725

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prince William County Police Department On July 1st, detectives from the Special Victims Bureau began an investigation into a child pornography case. The investigation revealed that the accused came into the Garfield District Station in Woodbridge to inquire if he had any warrants on file for child pornography. The accused allegedly received a “FBI Warning” message on his computer while viewing child pornography at his residence. The message instructed the accused to pay a fine or be subject to a criminal investigation. The accused voluntarily brought his computer to the station and, following a search, several inappropriate messages and photos of underage girls were recovered. Detectives were able to identify one of the girls as a 13 year old from Minnesota. A search warrant was obtained and executed at the home of the accused. As a result, computers and other electronic devices were seized. Following the investigation, the accused was subsequently arrested on July 23rd. The FBI message that the accused had originally received was determined to be a virus and not a legitimate message. The investigation continues.

via JREF Forum http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=262850&goto=newpost