We know Muhammed had a girl friend; the boy a Mother who has been newsworthy; and there was Malvo. . .and the five could just be; people in and out of 'this scene' without being directly involved in the murders per se.
You, too, seem to not have grasped the point of my second observation:
2. People who "want to believe" will give them the benefit of the doubt on things which fail to match, and/or "stretch to fit" ("aha, there *might* be five people involved, we just didn't catch them all!")Wow, I "predicted" the arguments of at least two people in this thread -- am I psychic too?
You can go to great lengths to deny psychic abilities - mental gymnastics such as the 'Amazing Randy' performs;
The man's name is James Randi, not "Randy". And clearly if you aren't familiar enough with his work to get his name right, you haven't actually read his points well enough to properly rebut them.
And Mr. Randi's debunking involves no "mental gymnastics" at all. His debunking is as simple and unarguable as:
1. Exposing the quacks' parlor tricks. For example he arranged for a friend with electronics know-how to eavesdrop on and tape Peter Popoff's hidden radio earpiece, revealing that his "Gift of Knowledge" routine was actually Popov's wife backstage feeding him information from the faithful's pre-show audience interviews and submitted prayer cards. ("The Faith Healers", chapter 9).
2. "Sting" operations. For example he has an associate who has been "cured" by four different "healers", in six different cities, of six different diseases which he never had in the first place. The most classic was the time he was dressed as a woman and the faith-healer was told by the Almighty that he needed to be "cured" of uterine cancer(!), and then the quack "healed" "her" on the spot and commanded her to walk -- which was no big effort, because the quack's ushers had purposely placed "her" in a rented wheelchair as "she" *walked* into the auditorium "for her comfort". THEY KNEW (S)HE COULD WALK, but had staged it to look like a miraculous healing which allowed the crippled to walk.
3. A long-standing challenge to "put up or shut up". Since 1968, Mr. Randi has offered large sums of money ($10,000 in the beginning, today over $1,000,000) to *anyone* who could simply demonstrate their "paranormal" ability in a controlled setting, agreed upon by the claimant. The requirements aren't difficult, they simply require the claimant to actually demonstrate their ability, in front of independent testers, in a way that precludes fakery. Countless have tried -- all have failed. The often amusing results are documented in his book "Flim Flam!".
Many more have run screaming from the challenge, offering various kinds of lame excuses, including variations on:
Or others have "accepted" the challenge, then never seem to "get around to" actually taking it. On Randi's website he has the "Sylvia Browne Clock", showing how many days it has been since the "psychic" Ms. Browne accepted the challenge on Larry King Live -- it's up to 422 days and counting.-- I can't afford to be in a higher tax bracket. -- I'm already rich. -- I don't want the money; I'm totally spiritual. -- You wouldn't pay me the money, anyway. -- It's all a lie; there is no prize. -- It's a trap by the CIA to identify and murder me. -- The prize comes from the CIA (or from the communists). -- God told me not to get into it. -- If I win, you'll have me killed to save the money. -- You'll put out negative vibes to inhibit my powers. -- Since you're a trickster, you'll fool me somehow. -- It's too much money. -- It's not enough money. -- I want the money in a pile, in cash, (or a certified check) before I try.
but it does not change the 'fact' that our senses define our reality; and some people have sharper senses than others.
So... This "proves" that some people can be psychic? Color me unimpressed by your reasoning.
. . .sort of like trying to read a message written in the sand; or even asking someone with glasses to help. . .
Using glasses to correct flawed vision is a far cry from being able to read minds, see the future, or divine the unseen.
. .and like the message in 'sand writing', the truth of the matter and it's possibilities, are constantly shifting and changing; being altered by winds of time. . .
All join hands for a chorus of "Kumbayaa"...
We do know that everyone experiences the surprise of 'coincidence'. . .synchronicty, in their lives. You do not consciously make it happen - no event is ever identical in how it manifests and these 'happenings' while 'real' cannot be recreated in a lab or a 'test'. . .But we know 'it' happens. . .
Perhaps you can explain, the why of 'hunches', coincidences, intuition; or just feelings (save brain locus etc.)These experieces cannot be quantified or measured either; they are not precisely 'predictable'; nor are they'made to order'. We do not however deny their existance; we just 'name it' and by that naming, we move the irrational to the 'rational' and no longer need to ponder the challenges they offer in terms of questioning the possibilities of a greater reality than the one we assume. . .
The 'psychic' stems from the same world of the irrational; it operates from 'feelings' and yes, and just as unpredictable; and with no guarantees. . .and short of challenging statistical odds; it is not laboratory worthy.
Regarding 'Randi' (and yes, I am familiar with his work - and in my haste I thoughtlessly mispelled his name - mea culpa offered); and I am not denying that much of what passes as psychic is as 'real' as a magic act. . .but to challenge all things 'psychic' still requires mental gymnastics that in the end, do challenge even the magic of the 'Amazing Randi'.
. . .and even a 'magic act' offers a challenge to a sceptic that there is more to reality than meets the eye.
. . .and of coure, Faith Healers, belong to a different classification of 'magic act'. . .but still depend on the same suspension of belief - if only in the mind of the beholder.
. . .and you can save those 'kumbaya's. . .please. . .