Links to my articles on "psychic detective" Noreen Renier and to Noreen Renier's website

 

Chapter entitled "Police Psychics: Noreen Renier as a Case Study" in The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience, edited by Michael Shermer (AMC-Clio, 2002). First appeared as an article entitled "A Not-So-Psychic Detective?" in Skeptic  magazine (Vol. 5, No. 4, 1997).

 
"Study Yields No Evidence for Medical Efficacy of Distant Intercessory Prayer: A Follow-up Commentary" (a critique of this study by Dr. Dale Matthews),  The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine , Winter 2002  [My preliminary article, "An Examination of the Media Coverage of a Prayer Study-in-Progress," was published in The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine ,  Fall/Winter 1998.]

 

"Hardly a Prayer on ABC's 20/20 Downtown" (brief commentary about my appearance during the 8/13/01 20/20 Downtown  report on "The Power of Prayer"), Skeptical Inquirer,  Nov/Dec 2001

 
"Metamorphosis: A Life's Journey from 'Believer' to 'Skeptic'" (chapter contributed to Skeptical Odysseys: Personal Accounts by the World's Leading Paranormal Inquirers, Prometheus Books, 2001)

 

"The Face Behind the 'Face' on Mars: A Skeptical Look at Richard C. Hoagland," Skeptical Inquirer,  Nov/Dec 2000

 
"Another controversial effort to establish the medical efficacy of intercessory prayer" (a critique of the Harris group's Archives of Internal Medicine  study), The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine ,  Spring/Summer 2000

 
"An Interview with Philip J. Klass: The World's Leading UFO Skeptic," Skeptic  magazine, 1999 (Vol. 7  No. 4) (also posted here)

 

"Chinese Acupuncture for Heart Surgery Anesthesia" (a critique of Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld's China acupuncture story; co-authored with Dr. Wallace Sampson), The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine ,  Fall/Winter 1999   "Questioning Dr. Isadore Rosenfeld's China Acupuncture Story," Skeptical Inquirer,  July/Aug 1999  (also posted here)

 
"Point/Counterpoint: Is Prescribing Placebos Ethical? No" (written at the request of the American Council on Science and Health), Priorities for Health , 1998 (Vol. 10  No. 4)

 
"Millennium: Healthcare: Alternative Medicine" (a brief essay on the dumbing down of American medicine, written at the request of the American Council on Science and Health), Priorities for Health , 1998 (Vol. 10  No. 2-3)

 
"S.O.P. at CNN" (a skeptic-oriented essay on irresponsible reporting), Skeptical Briefs  (CSICOP's companion newsletter to Skeptical Inquirer ), September 1998

 
"Has science proven the 'divine' health benefits of religion?" (a critique, written at the request of the Secular Web, of a USA Today  article, Aug. 1998)

 

"Talking to the Living Loved Ones of the Dearly Departed" (on "spirit medium" James Van Praagh, author of Talking to Heaven ), Skeptic  magazine, 1998 (Vol. 6  No. 1)

 
Chapter on Noreen Renier in Psychic Sleuths: ESP and Sensational Cases, edited by Joe Nickell (Prometheus Books, 1994) (also posted here)

 
"A Not-So-Psychic Detective?" (article on the Noreen Renier / Williston Police case), Skeptic  magazine, 1997 (Vol. 5  No. 4)

 
"Skeptically Speaking" columns in Tampa Bay Sounding  (publication of  Tampa Bay Mensa), 1991-94

 

"Tampa Bay's 'Virgin Mary Apparition,'"  Free Inquiry,  Spring 1997

 
"Lexicon of Unnaturalistic Alternatives" (book review of The Dictionary of Metaphysical Healthcare  by Jack Raso), Skeptical Briefs,  December 1996

 
"Noreen Renier 'Put to the Test' -- Hollywood TV Style,"  Skeptical Inquirer,  Sept/Oct 1996

 
"Would you like fries with your penicillin?" (an essay on the sorry state of primary care medicine), The Real American Home Journal  (a newsletter based in Tarpon Springs, Florida), Mar/Apr 1996

 

"Burden of Proof" (a skeptic-oriented essay on the O.J. Simpson murder trial), Skeptical Briefs,  December 1995

 
"Examining an Unsolved Mysteries  Report of a 'Miraculous' Cure" (of a Florida woman who claimed to have been diagnosed with "breast cancer"), Skeptical Inquirer,  Sept/Oct 1995

 
"Taking a Stab at a Paranormal Claim" (regarding so-called "Deliberately Caused Bodily Damage" [DCBD] phenomena), Skeptical Briefs,  September 1995

 
"The Devilish 'Barney' Media Hoax," Skeptical Inquirer,  Fall 1994

 

"Medical Practice Enters a New Age" (review of Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine  by Dr. Larry Dossey), Skeptical Inquirer,  Summer 1994

 
"NBC's Cynically Skewed Reporting on the Power of Prayer," Free Inquiry,  Summer 1994

 
"Nation's Mathematicians Guilty of Innumeracy" (report on the Marilyn vos Savant "three-door paradox" columns in Parade  magazine), Skeptical Inquirer,  Summer 1991 (also reproduced in the first chapter of Weird Water & Fuzzy Logic  by Martin Gardner, Prometheus Books, 1996)

 

"Tampa Bay's Weeping Icon Fiasco," Skeptical Inquirer,  Summer 1990 [This article is accompanied by three video frames from local TV news coverage of my investigation (Ch. 10) .]

 
"God in the CCU?" (critique of Dr. Randolph Byrd's 1988 study on intercessory prayer), Free Inquiry,  Spring 1990 (also posted here)

 
"A Case of Immaculate Abortion?" (evaluation of a gynecologist's miraculous medical claim), Free Inquiry,  Summer 1988

 
"Nonhealing a Nonexistent Tumor" (investigation of TV faith-healer Peter Popoff's claimed cure of a Tampa girl), Free Inquiry,  Winter 1986-87