Randi Most famous skeptic ever. Luminary of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), together with Paul Kurz, Ray Hyman (FMSF), Joe Nickell, Philip Klass, and Carl Sagan. CSICOP's magazine is the Skeptical Inquirer. Has been accused of continually manipulating the rules of his $1,000,000 reward for someone who can "prove" to him paranormal abilities exists. In other cases he has been accused of plainly refusing to investigate a case or simply not to accept what he saw as "paranormal", only as "unexplained". Has always been debunking his eternal enemy Uri Geller. February 11, 1996, Toronto Star: "
What I had hesitated to mention is that the colorful Randi has been involved in a number of lawsuits. Part of the evidence brought against Randi was a tape of his telephone conversations, of explicit sexual content, with teenage boys. Randi has at different times claimed that the tape was a hoax made by his enemies to blackmail him, that he made the tape himself, and that the police asked him to make it. Whichever version is true, it's amazing indeed that such a person could be taken seriously as a scientific adviser in an organization dedicated to denying claims of child sexual abuse."
This tape was played during a trial in which Randi was accused by Eldon Byrd, a good friend of Uri and a former Naval Surface Weapons Center researcher, of defamation by claiming he was known pedophile. True or not, during the trial Byrd and his team played a tape on which Randi was speaking to a small boy about sex and how much it would cost. Randi claimed it was all a setup by Byrd and the boys on the tape were prank callers. The judge wasn't so sure about that, especially because Randi voluntarily called back one of the boys after the latter told him his money was running out. It's a confusing story, but you wonder what he's doing at the FMSF
