Expose, exposé, or exposed may refer to:

Journalism

Exposé (journalism) , a form of investigative journalism

Technology

Exposé (Mac OS X), a window management tool for Mac OS X

* Exposé clone, computer software which mimics the Mac OS X feature

Music

Exposé (group), a 1980s and 1990s vocal group that reformed in 2006

* ''Exposé'' (album), their 1992 album

''Exposed'' (Boom Boom Satellites album)

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''Exposed'' (CoCo Lee album)

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''Exposed'' (Kiss), a 1987 video by Kiss

Film and television

''Exposé'' (film), a 1976 thriller film

''Exposé'' (2009 film), a remake of the 1976 original, directed by Martin Kemp

"Exposé" (''Lost''), an episode of ''Lost''

''Exposed'' (1983 film), a 1983 film starring Nastassja Kinski

''Exposed'' (film), a 2003 American independent comedy film

''Exposed'' (MTV series), a television series on MTV

''Exposed'' (MuchMusic TV series), a television series on MuchMusic

"Exposed" (''Heroes''), an episode of ''Heroes''

See also

Exposure (disambiguation)

Exposition (disambiguation)

''Exposé: America's Investigative Reports'', a PBS news/documentary series

Category:French loanwords

de:Exposé es:Exposé fr:Exposé tl:Lantad

name	James Randi
birth name	Randall James Hamilton Zwinge
birth date	August 07, 1928
birth place	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
occupation	Magician, writer, skeptic
website	www.randi.org
nationality	Canadian-American
religion	None (Atheist)
residence	}}

James Randi (born Randall James Hamilton Zwinge; August 7, 1928) is a Canadian-American stage magician and scientific skeptic best known as a challenger of paranormal claims and pseudoscience. Randi is the founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation. Randi began his career as a magician named The Amazing Randi, but after retiring at age 60, he began investigating paranormal, occult, and supernatural claims, which he collectively calls "woo-woo."

Although often referred to as a "debunker," Randi rejects that title owing to its perceived bias, instead describing himself as an "investigator." He has written about the paranormal, skepticism, and the history of magic. He was a frequent guest on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' and was occasionally featured on the television program ''Penn & Teller: Bullshit!''. The JREF sponsors The One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge offering a prize of US$1,000,000 to eligible applicants who can demonstrate evidence of any paranormal, supernatural or occult power or event under test conditions agreed to by both parties.

Early life

Randi was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and has a younger brother and sister. He took up magic after reading magic books while spending 13 months in a body cast following a bicycle accident. He confounded doctors who expected he would never walk again. Although a brilliant student, Randi often skipped school, and he dropped out of high school at 17 to perform as a conjurer in a carnival roadshow. In his twenties, Randi posed as a psychic to establish that they were actually doing simple tricks and briefly wrote an astrological column in the Canadian tabloid ''Midnight'' under the name "Zo-ran," by simply shuffling up items from newspaper astrology columns and pasting them randomly into a column. In his thirties, Randi worked in Philippine night clubs and all across Japan. He witnessed many tricks that were presented as being supernatural. One of his earliest reported experiences is that of seeing an evangelist using the "one-ahead" routine to convince churchgoers of his divine powers.

Career

Magician

Randi worked as a professional stage magician, or "conjurer" as he prefers to be called, and escapologist beginning in 1946, initially under his birth name, Randall Zwinge, and then as The Amazing Randi. Early in his career, Randi was part of numerous stunts involving his escape from jail cells and safes. On February 7, 1956, he appeared live on ''The Today Show'', remaining in a sealed metal coffin submerged in a hotel swimming pool for 104 minutes, breaking what was said to be Houdini's record of 93 minutes.

Randi was the host of ''The Amazing Randi Show'' on New York radio station WOR in the mid 1960s. This radio show, which filled Long John Nebel's old slot with similar content after Nebel went to WNBC in 1962, had frequent pro-paranormal guests, including Randi's then-friend James Moseley. Randi, in turn, spoke at Moseley's 1967 Fourth Congress of Scientific Ufologists in New York City, stating, "Let's not fool ourselves. There are some garden variety liars involved in all this. But in among all the trash and nonsense perpetrated in the name of Ufology, I think there is a small grain of truth."

Randi also hosted numerous television specials and went on several world tours. Then Randi appeared as "The Amazing Randi" on a television show titled ''Wonderama'' from 1967 to 1972, and as host of a failed revival of the 1950s children's show ''The Magic Clown'' in 1970. In the February 2, 1974, issue of ''Abracadabra'' (a British conjuring magazine), Randi defined the magic community, saying, "I know of no calling which depends so much upon mutual trust and faith as does ours." In the December 2003 issue of ''The Linking Ring'', the monthly publication of The International Brotherhood of Magicians, ''Points to Ponder: Another Matter of Ethics,'' p. 97, it is stated, "Perhaps Randi's ethics are what make him Amazing" and "The Amazing Randi not only talks the talk, he walks the walk."

During Alice Cooper's 1973–1974 tour, Randi performed as the dentist and executioner on stage, and designed and built several of the stage props, including the guillotine. Shortly after that, in February 1975, Randi escaped from a straitjacket while suspended upside-down over Niagara Falls in the winter on the Canadian TV program ''World of Wizards''.

Randi was once accused of actually using "psychic powers" to perform acts such as spoon bending. James Alcock relates this incident, which occurred at a meeting where Randi was duplicating the performances of Uri Geller: A professor from the University at Buffalo shouted out that Randi was a fraud. Randi said, "Yes, indeed, I'm a trickster, I'm a cheat, I'm a charlatan, that's what I do for a living. Everything I've done here was by trickery." The professor shouted back: "That's not what I mean. You're a fraud because you're pretending to do these things through trickery, but you're actually using psychic powers and misleading us by not admitting it." The famous author and believer in spiritualism Arthur Conan Doyle had years earlier made a similar accusation against the magician Harry Houdini. A similar event involved Senator Claiborne Pell. Pell believed in psychic phenomena. When Randi demonstrated viewing a hidden drawing by using trickery, Pell refused to believe that it was a trick, saying, "I think Randi may be a psychic and doesn't realize it."

Author

Randi is author of ''Conjuring'' (1992), a biographical history of noted magicians. The book is subtitled: ''Being a Definitive History of the Venerable Arts of Sorcery, Prestidigitation, Wizardry, Deception, & Chicanery and of the Mountebanks & Scoundrels Who have Perpetrated these Subterfuges on a Bewildered Public, in short, MAGIC!''. The book selects the most influential magicians and explains their history in the context of strange deaths and careers on the road. This work expanded on the 1976 book ''Houdini, His Life and Art'', co-authored with Bert Randolph Sugar, which focused on Houdini and his cohorts. Randi also wrote a children's book in 1989 titled ''The Magic World of the Amazing Randi'', which introduced children to magic tricks. In addition to his magic books, he has written several educational works about the paranormal and pseudoscientific. These include biographies of Uri Geller and Nostradamus as well as reference material on other major paranormal figures. He is currently working on ''A Magician in the Laboratory'', which recounts his application of skepticism to science, though in January 2011, he expressed doubts as to whether it would be finished. He is a member of the all-male literary banqueting club the Trap Door Spiders, which served as the basis of Isaac Asimov's fictional group of mystery solvers the Black Widowers.

Skeptic

Randi entered the international spotlight in 1972 when he publicly challenged the claims of Uri Geller. Randi accused Geller of being nothing more than a charlatan and a fraud who used standard magic tricks to accomplish his allegedly paranormal feats, and he supported his claims in the book ''The Truth About Uri Geller''. Geller unsuccessfully sued Randi for $15 million in 1991. Geller's suit against the Committee for Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) was thrown out in 1995, and he was ordered to pay $120,000 for filing a frivolous lawsuit.

Randi was a founding fellow and prominent member of CSICOP. During the period when Geller was filing numerous civil suits against him, CSICOP's leadership, wanting to avoid becoming a target of Geller's litigation, requested that Randi refrain from commenting on Geller. Randi refused and resigned. However, he still maintains a respectful relationship with the group and frequently writes articles for its magazine.

Randi has gone on to write several books criticizing beliefs and claims regarding the paranormal. He has also demonstrated flaws in studies suggesting the existence of paranormal phenomena; in his Project Alpha hoax, Randi revealed that he had been able to orchestrate a three-year-long compromise of a privately funded psychic research experiment. The hoax became a scandal and demonstrated the shortcomings of many paranormal research projects at the university level.

Randi has appeared on numerous TV shows, sometimes to directly debunk the claimed abilities of fellow guests. In a 1981 appearance on ''That's My Line'', Randi appeared opposite psychic James Hydrick, who claimed that he could move things with his mind and demonstrated this ability on live television by apparently turning a page in a telephone book without touching it. Randi, having determined that Hydrick was surreptitiously blowing on the book, arranged packaging peanuts (polystyrene foam shapes) on the table in front of the telephone book for the demonstration, preventing Hydrick from demonstrating his abilities, which would have been exposed when the blowing moved the packaging. Many years later, Hydrick admitted his fraud.

Randi was awarded a MacArthur Foundation Genius award in 1986. The money was used for Randi's comprehensive exposé of faith healers, including Peter Popoff, W.V. Grant and Ernest Angley. When Popoff was exposed, he was forced to declare bankruptcy within the year.

In 1988, Randi tested the gullibility of the media by perpetrating a fraud of his own. By teaming up with Australia's ''60 Minutes'' program and by releasing a fake press package, he built up publicity for a spirit channeler named Carlos who was actually artist Jose Alvarez, a friend of Randi's. Randi would tell him what to say through sophisticated radio equipment. The media and the public were taken in, as no reporter bothered to check Carlos's credentials and history, which were all fabricated. The hoax was exposed on ''60 Minutes''; Carlos and Randi explained how they pulled it off.

In the book ''The Faith Healers'', Randi explains his anger and relentlessness as arising out of compassion for the helpless victims of frauds. Randi has also been critical of João de Deus (John of God), a self-proclaimed psychic surgeon who has received international attention. Randi observed, referring to psychic surgery, "To any experienced conjurer, the methods by which these seeming miracles are produced are very obvious."

In 1982, Randi verified the abilities of Arthur Lintgen, a Philadelphia physician who is able to determine the classical music recorded on a vinyl LP solely by examining the groove on the record. However, Lintgen does not claim to have any paranormal ability, merely knowledge of the way that the groove forms patterns on particular recordings.

James Randi stated that Daniel Dunglas Home, who allegedly could play an accordion that was locked in a cage, without touching it, was caught cheating on a few occasions, but the episodes were never made public, and that the accordion in question was a one-octave mouth organ that Home concealed under his large moustache. James Randi writes that one-octave mouth organs were found in Home's belongings after his death. According to Randi 'around 1960' William Lindsay Gresham told Randi he had seen these mouth organs in the Home collection at the Society for Psychical Research. Eric Dingwall, who catalogued Home's collection on its arrival at the SPR does not record the presence of the mouth organs. According to Peter Lamont, the author of an extensive Home biography, "It is unlikely Dingwall would have missed these or did not make them public."

James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF)

In 1996, Randi established the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF). Randi and his colleagues update JREF's blog, Swift. Topics have included the mathematics of the one-seventh area triangle. Randi also contributes a regular column, titled "'Twas Brillig," to The Skeptics Society's Skeptic Magazine. In his weekly commentary, Randi often gives examples of what he considers the nonsense that he deals with every day.

He has regularly featured on many podcasts that can be found online, including The Skeptics Society's official podcast Skepticality and the Center for Inquiry's official podcast Point of Inquiry. From September 2006 onwards, he has occasionally contributed to The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe podcast with a column titled "Randi Speaks." In addition, "The Amazing Show" is a podcast in which Randi shares various anecdotes in an interview format.

Views on religion

In his essay "Why I Deny Religion, How Silly and Fantastic It Is, and Why I'm a Dedicated and Vociferous Bright", Randi, who identifies himself as an atheist, has stated that many accounts in religious texts, including the virgin birth, the miracles of Jesus Christ, and the parting of the Red Sea by Moses, are not believable. For example, Randi refers to the Virgin Mary as being "impregnated by a ghost of some sort, and as a result produced a son who could walk on water, raise the dead, turn water into wine, and multiply loaves of bread and fishes" and questions how Adam and Eve "could have two sons, one of whom killed the other, and yet managed to populate the earth without committing incest." He writes that, compared to the Bible, "''The Wizard of Oz'' is more believable. And more fun." In ''An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural'', he looks at a variety of spiritual practices skeptically. Of the meditation techniques of Guru Maharaj Ji (Prem Rawat) he writes: "Only the very naive were convinced that they had been let in on some sort of celestial secret."

The One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge

The James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) currently offers a prize of one million U.S. dollars to eligible applicants who can demonstrate a supernatural ability under agreed-upon scientific testing criteria. Similar to the paranormal challenges of John Nevil Maskelyne and Houdini, in 1964, Randi put up $1,000 of his own money payable to anyone who could provide objective proof of the paranormal. Since then, the prize money has grown to the current $1,000,000, and has formal published rules. No one has progressed past the preliminary test, which is set up with parameters agreed to by both Randi and the applicant. He refuses to accept any challengers who might suffer serious injury or death as a result of the testing.

On ''Larry King Live'', March 6, 2001, Larry King asked Sylvia Browne if she would take the challenge and she agreed. Then Randi appeared with Browne on ''Larry King Live'' on September 3, 2001, and she again accepted the challenge. However, she has refused to be tested and Randi keeps a clock on his website recording the number of weeks that have passed since Browne accepted the challenge without following through. During ''Larry King Live'' on June 5, 2001, Randi challenged Rosemary Altea to undergo testing for the million dollars. However, Altea would not even address the question. Instead Altea, in part, replied "I agree with what he says, that there are many, many people who claim to be spiritual mediums, they claim to talk to the dead. There are many people, we all know this. There are cheats and charlatans everywhere." Then on January 26, 2007, Altea and Randi again appeared on ''Larry King Live''. Once again, she refused to answer whether or not she would take the One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge.

Starting on April 1, 2007, only those with an already existing media profile and the backing of a reputable academic were allowed to apply for the challenge. The resources freed up by not having to test obscure and possibly mentally ill claimants will then be used to more aggressively challenge notorious high-profile alleged psychics and mediums such as Sylvia Browne, Allison DuBois and John Edward with a campaign in the media.

JREF maintains a public log of past participants in the Million Dollar Challenge.

Legal disputes

Randi has been involved in a variety of legal disputes but claims that he has "never paid even one dollar or even one cent to anyone who ever sued me." However, he says, he has paid out large sums to personally defend himself in these suits.

Eldon Byrd

A Baltimore District Court found Randi guilty of defaming Byrd for calling him a "convicted child molester" because although Byrd had been found guilty of child pornography offences and admitted to molestation, the admission was part of a plea bargain so he was not actually convicted. No damages were awarded to Byrd.

Uri Geller

According to Randi, Geller tried to sue Randi a number of times, but never won, save for a ruling in a Japanese court that ordered Randi to pay Geller one third of one percent of what Geller had demanded, but this ruling was canceled, and the matter dropped when Geller decided to concentrate on another legal matter. Randi later stated that the phrase "shot himself in the head" was a metaphor that had been lost in translation. He had made a similar statement in English three years earlier in a Toronto newspaper: "The scientist shot himself after I showed him how the key bending trick was done." In 1991, Randi commented that Uri Geller's public performances were of the same quality as those found on the backs of cereal boxes. Geller sued both Randi and CSICOP. CSICOP argued that the organization was not responsible for Randi's statements. The court agreed that including CSICOP was frivolous and dropped them from the action, leaving Randi to face the action alone. Geller was ordered to pay substantial damages to CSICOP. Randi and Geller subsequently settled their dispute out of court, the details of which have been kept confidential. The settlement also included an agreement that Geller would not pursue Randi for the award in the Japanese case or other outstanding cases.

Other

Allison DuBois, on whose life the television series ''Medium'' was based, threatened Randi with legal action for using a photo of her from her website in his December 17, 2004, commentary without her permission. Randi removed the photo, and now uses a caricature of DuBois when mentioning her on his site, beginning with his December 23, 2005, commentary.

Late in 1996, Randi launched a libel suit against a Toronto-area psychic named Earl Gordon Curley. Curley had made multiple objectionable comments about Randi on Usenet. Despite prodding Randi via Usenet to sue (Curley's comments had implied that if Randi did not sue, then his allegations must be true), Curley seemed entirely surprised when Randi actually retained Toronto's largest law firm and initiated legal proceedings. The suit was eventually dropped in 1998 when Earl Curley died at the age of 51.

Sniffex, producer of a dowsing bomb detection device, unsuccessfully sued Randi and the JREF in 2007. Sniffex sued Randi for his comments regarding a government test in which the Sniffex device failed. The company was later investigated and charged with fraud.

Personal life

In 1987, Randi became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Randi has said that one reason he became an American citizen was an incident while on tour with Alice Cooper where the Royal Canadian Mounted Police searched the band's lockers during a performance. Nothing was found, yet the RCMP destroyed the room.

In February 2006, Randi underwent coronary artery bypass surgery. In early February 2006, he was declared to be in stable condition and "receiving excellent care" with his recovery proceeding well. The weekly commentary updates to his website were made by guests while he was hospitalized. Randi recovered after his surgery and was able to help organize and attend the 2007 Amazing Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada (an annual convention of scientists, magicians, skeptics, atheists and freethinkers).

Randi was diagnosed with intestinal cancer in June 2009. He had a ping pong ball-sized tumor removed from his intestines during laparoscopic surgery. He announced this a week later at the July 2009 The Amazing Meeting as well as the fact that he was scheduled to begin chemotherapy in the following weeks. He also said at the conference: "One day, I'm gonna die. That's all there is to it. Hey, it's too bad, but I've got to make room. I'm using a lot of oxygen and such—I think it's good use of oxygen myself, but of course, I'm a little prejudiced on the matter." Randi also said that after he is gone he does not want his fans to bother with a museum of magic named after him or burying him in a fancy tomb. Instead, he said, "I want to be cremated, and I want my ashes blown in Uri Geller's eyes." Randi underwent his final chemotherapy session on December 31, 2009, as he explained in a January 12, 2010 video in which he related that his chemotherapy experience was not as unpleasant as he had imagined. In a video posted April 12, 2010, Randi stated that he has been given a clean bill of health.

In a March 21, 2010 blog entry, Randi came out as gay, a move he explained was inspired by seeing the 2008 biographical drama film ''Milk'', in which Sean Penn portrayed Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California.

Awards and honors

In 1981, asteroid 3163 Randi was named after Randi, whose friend Carl Sagan influenced him to become an amateur astronomer. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship 1986 American Physical Society Joseph A. Burton Forum Award 1989

Richard Dawkins Award 2003

Philip J. Klass Award 2007 Independent Investigative Group IIG awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award, August 2007, previous recipients Carl Sagan and Harry Houdini.

Committee for Skeptical Inquiry In Praise of Reason Award, 2009

Elected a Committee for Skeptical Inquiry Fellow, 2010

World records

The following are Guinness records:

Randi was in a sealed casket for an hour and 44 minutes, which broke Harry Houdini's record of one hour and 31 minutes set on August 5, 1926. Randi was encased in a block of ice for 55 minutes.

Bibliography

''An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural'', 1995, St. Martin's Press ISBN 0-312-15119-5 (Online Version)

''Conjuring'', 1992 St. Martin's Press ISBN 0-312-09771-9

''Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions'', 1982, Prometheus Books, ISBN 0-87975-198-3

''Houdini, His Life and Art''. Putnam Pub Group (November 1976) ISBN 0-448-12552-8

''James Randi: Psychic Investigator'', 1991, ISBN 1-85283-144-8

''Test Your ESP Potential''. Dover Publications Inc. (December 31, 1982) ISBN 0-486-24269-2

''The Faith Healers'', 1987, Prometheus Books, ISBN 0-87975-369-2. (ISBN 0-87975-535-0 1989 edition) (Foreword by Carl Sagan)

''The Magic of Uri Geller'', 1982, ISBN 0-345-24796-5 (later renamed ''The Truth About Uri Geller'' ISBN 0-87975-199-1)

''The Magic World of the Amazing Randi''. Adams Media Corporation (September 1989) ISBN 1-55850-982-8

''The Mask of Nostradamus: The Prophecies of the World's Most Famous Seer'', 1990, Charles Scribner's Sons ISBN 0-684-19056-7 or ISBN 0-87975-830-9.

''Wrong!'' (Forthcoming) ''A Magician in the Laboratory''. (Forthcoming)

TV and film

Actor

''Good to See You Again, Alice Cooper'' (1974) as the Dentist/Executioner

''Ragtime'' (1981) (stunt coordinator: Houdini)

''Penn & Teller's'' Invisible Thread'' (1987) (TV)

''Penn & Teller Get Killed'' (1989) as the 3rd Rope Holder

''Beyond Desire'' (1994) as the Coroner

Himself

''Wonderama'' (1955) (TV) as The Amazing Randi

''I've Got a Secret'' (1965) (TV) as The Amazing Randi

''Happy Days'' – "The Magic Show" (1978) as the Amazing Randi

''Zembla'', 'De trucs van Char' (''The tricks Char uses''). (March 2008)

''ZDF German TV'' (2007)

''Wild Wild Web'' (1999)

''West 57th'' (1980s)

''Welt der Wunder – Kraft der Gedanken'' (January 2008)

''Today on NBC'' (1980s)

''The Don Lane Show'' (1980)

''That's My Line'' (1980) (Appeared with James Hydrick)

''The View'' ABC TV (1999)

''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' (32 appearances between 1973 and 1993)

''The Secret Cabaret'' (produced by Open Media for Channel 4 in the UK)

''The Power of Belief'' (October 6, 1998) (ABC News Special) (TV)

''People are Talking'' (1980s)

''The Patterson Show'' (1970s)

''The Art of Magic'' (1998) (TV)

''The Ultimate Psychic Challenge'' (Discovery Channel/Channel 4) (2003)

''Spotlight on James Randi'' (2002) (TV)

''Secrets of the Super Psychics'' (Channel 4/The Learning Channel), produced by Open Media, 1997/8

''Scams, Schemes, and Scoundrels'' (A&E; Special) (March 30, 1997)

''Raitre TV'' Italy (1991)

''Politically Incorrect'' with Bill Maher

''Penn & Teller: Bullshit!''

* End of the World (2003) TV Episode

* ESP (2003) TV Episode

* Signs from Heaven (2005) TV Episode

''Oprah Winfrey''

''NOVA'': Secrets of the Psychics (1993)

''Mitä ihmettä?'' (Finland) (2003) TV Series

''Midday Show'' (Australia) (1990s)

''Magic or Miracle'' (1983)

''Magic'' (2004) (mini) TV Series

''Larry King Live'' of CNN (June 5, 2001, September 3, 2001, and January 26, 2007)

''James Randi: Psychic Investigator'' (1991) (Open Media series for the ITV network)

''James Randi Budapesten'' – Hungarian documentary (free download for schools)

''Inside Edition'' – (1991, 2006, and 2007) TV

''Horizon'' – Homeopathy: The Test (2002) TV Episode

''Houdini Dead Men Talking'' (Biography Channel)

''Fornemmelse for snyd'' (2003) TV Series (also archive footage)

''Extraordinary People – The Million Dollar Mind Reader (September 2008).

''Exploring Psychic Powers Live'' (June 7, 1989) (Hosted by Bill Bixby)

''CBS This Morning'' (1990s)

''Anderson Cooper 360'', CNN (January 19, 2007 and January 30, 2007)

''A Question of Miracles'' (HBO) (1999)

''20/20'' ABC TV (May 11, 2007)

''Dilbert (TV series)'' parodied in "The Infomercial" (1999) TV Episode

Other media

James Randi can be heard speaking an introduction on Tommy Finkes song "Poet der Affen/Poet of the Apes", released on the album of the same name in 2010. The message was recorded by James Randi and sent to Tommy Finke via email.

See also

Pigasus Award

Project Alpha

Robert Todd Carroll's ''Skeptic's Dictionary''

Notes

External links

Official

James Randi Educational Foundation – Official website

James Randi Educational Foundation official YouTube channel

Video of short talk by Randi in 2007 at TED

Supportive

James Randi in the Skeptic's Dictionary

Project Alpha in the Skeptic's Dictionary

How Randi and fake psychic Carlos fooled millions

Media

James Randi interview (May 2009) from the podcast of MagicNewswire.com in which Mr. Randi discusses his career in magic, his feud with Uri Geller and more

James Randi interview (November 2007) from the BSAlert.com radio show where Mr. Randi discusses the TV show "Phenomenon," the current status of Uri Geller and his thoughts about whether society is becoming more or less superstitious.

"20 Major Aspects of Liars, Cheats, and Frauds" by James Randi"

The Power of Belief (Video clip) from ABC News

Randi's Internet Audio Show from the James Randi Educational Foundation

Skepticality Internet Radio

Transcripts (Sylvia Browne and Randi) (Sylvia Browne's manager and Randi) (Altea and James Randi) (Rosemary Altea and Randi) (Sylvia Browne and Randi)

Criticism

A Skeptical Look At James Randi ''Michael Prescott''

James Randi's response to criticism ''James Randi Educational Foundation''

Benveniste, Jacques, and Peter Jurgens. On the Role of Stage Magicians in Biological Research ''The Anomalist'' 1998

Thalbourne, Michael A, “Science versus showmanship: A history of the Randi hoax,” ''American Society for Psychical Research'' 89 (4) October 1995

Category:1928 births Category:Living people Category:American atheists Category:American magicians Category:American people of Canadian descent Category:American people of German descent Category:American skeptics Category:Atheism activists Category:Canadian atheists Category:Canadian emigrants to the United States Category:Canadian magicians Category:Canadian people of German descent Category:Canadian skeptics Category:People with cancer Category:Gay writers Category:LGBT writers from Canada Category:LGBT writers from the United States Category:MacArthur Fellows Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States Category:People from Toronto Category:Professional magicians Category:American humanists

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James Alan Hydrick (born February 28, 1959) is a former American performer and self-described psychic. Hydrick claimed to be able to perform acts of telekinesis, such as his trademark trick involving the movement of a pencil resting at the edge of a table. Following a nationally televised demonstration of his abilities at ''That's Incredible!'', he was unable to prove his supernatural abilities on a subsequent show called ''That's My Line'', and Hydrick subsequently confessed the fraud to an investigative reporter.

Rise to fame

By the early 1980s in Salt Lake City, Utah, Hydrick developed a cult-like following. He claimed he was able to use psychokinesis to turn the pages of books and make pencils spin around while placed on the edge of a desk, among other feats. Hydrick had also set up martial arts classes and claimed he could pass on the gift of psychokinesis to youngsters through special training techniques.

Hydrick rose to international attention through his demonstration of these skills on the American television show, ''That's Incredible!''. The episode originally aired in December 1980 and was later repeated in 1981. He performed the pencil-spinning trick with the skeptical host's hand on his mouth to block possible air blowing (after the host suggested that he could hear Hydrick blowing). However, Hydrick deliberately readjusted the pencil beforehand so that it was as precarious as possible and so would move with the slight disturbance caused by his hands. He also caused a page from a telephone book to turn over, again, allegedly by telekinesis. James Randi awarded the program a 1980 Uri Award, later renamed the Pigasus Award, "for declaring a simple magic trick to be genuine."

Fraud exposed

Magician and paranormal skeptic James Randi demonstrated the pencil trick on the television program ''That's My Line'', hosted by Bob Barker. In a follow-up episode, Randi and Hydrick both appeared. When Randi performed the simple control of placing small pieces of expanded polystyrene on the table around the phone book (to show if Hydrick was actually turning the pages by blowing on them), Hydrick's "powers" suddenly failed him. Hydrick attempted to explain that when the foam was heated by the stage lights they developed a static electric charge which, when added to the weight of the page, required more force than he was able to generate to turn the page. Randi and the judges, though, declared that this hypothesis had no scientific basis.

After an hour and a half of Hydrick staring at the pages (the show was edited for time) without any results, and claiming that his powers were real, he finally admitted being unable to complete the challenge. The judging panel (which included a parapsychologist) stated that, in their opinion, no supernatural phenomenon had taken place. The failed stunt resulted in the television show ''That's Incredible'' receiving a Pigasus Award, and effectively ended Hydrick's television career (following Hydrick's concession, Randi himself performed the same trick using the techniques that Hydrick perfected).

In 1981, Hydrick's psychic powers were definitively exposed as being fraudulent by investigative journalist Dan Korem. Hydrick confessed his fraud to Korem and admitted that he had developed his unique talent while he was in prison, and did not learn it from a Chinese master as he had originally claimed.

Present day

James Hydrick was convicted as a sex offender (of oral copulation) and is currently incarcerated at a California prison (Wasco State Prison-Reception Center CDCR# G03069, as of 12-11-2010).

References

External links

Hydrick and Randi's appearance on ''That's My Line?''

The Confession of James Hydrick

Category:Impostors Category:Living people Category:1959 births

es:James Hydrick

name	Bernie Sanders
jr/sr	Junior Senator
state	Vermont
party	Independent - (Democratic Socialist)
otherparty	Democratic (affiliated non-member)Progressive (affiliated non-member)Liberty Union
term start	January 3, 2007
alongside	Patrick Leahy
preceded	Jim Jeffords
birth date	September 08, 1941
birth place	New York City, New York
occupation	CarpenterFilmmakerWriterResearcher
residence	Burlington, Vermont
spouse	Jane O'Meara
children	Levi Sanders
alma mater	University of Chicago (B.A.)
religion	Judaism
state2	Vermont
district2	At-large
term start2	January 3, 1991
term end2	January 3, 2007
preceded2	Peter P. Smith
succeeded2	Peter Welch
office3	Mayor of Burlington
term start3	1981
term end3	1989
predecessor3	Gordon Paquette
successor3	Peter Clavelle
website	Senator Bernie Sanders }}

Bernard "Bernie" Sanders (born September 8, 1941) is the junior United States Senator from Vermont. He previously represented Vermont's at-large district in the United States House of Representatives. Sanders also served as mayor of Burlington, Vermont.

Sanders is a self-described democratic socialist, and has praised European social democracy. He is the first person elected to the U.S. Senate to identify as a socialist. Sanders caucuses with the Democratic Party and is counted as a Democrat for the purposes of committee assignments, but because he does not belong to a formal political party, he appears as an independent on the ballot. He was also the only independent member of the House during much of his service there.

Early life, education and career

Sanders, the son of Jewish Polish immigrants to the United States, was born in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from James Madison High School in Brooklyn and later attended the University of Chicago, graduating with a B.A. in political science in 1964. After graduating from college, Sanders spent time on an Israeli kibbutz, an experience which shaped his political views. In 1964, Sanders moved to Vermont, where he worked as a carpenter, filmmaker, writer and researcher, among other jobs.

Early political career

Sanders's political career began in 1971, when he joined the anti-Vietnam War Liberty Union Party in Vermont. Sanders was an unsuccessful Liberty Union candidate for election to the Senate in 1972 and 1974 as well as for governor of Vermont in 1972 and 1976. In his initial campaign, Sanders received only 2% of the vote, but his subsequent races for Senate and Governor were slightly more successful, his highest vote tally being 6 percent.

In 1979, Sanders resigned from the Liberty Union party and worked as a writer and the director of the non-profit American People's Historical Society. In 1981, at the suggestion of his friend Richard Sugarman, a religion professor at the University of Vermont, Sanders ran for mayor of Burlington and defeated six-term Democratic incumbent Gordon Paquette by 12 votes, in a four-way contest. (An independent candidate, Richard Bove, split the Democratic vote after losing the primary to Paquette).

Sanders won three more terms, defeating both Democratic and Republican candidates. In his last run for mayor, in 1987, he defeated a candidate endorsed by both major parties.

During Sanders's first term, his supporters, including the first Citizens Party City Councilor Terry Bouricius, formed the Progressive Coalition, forerunner of the Vermont Progressive Party. The Progressives never held more than six seats on the 13-member city council but held enough votes to keep the council from overriding Sanders's vetoes. Under Sanders, Burlington became the first city in the country to fund community-trust housing. His administration also sued the local cable television provider and won considerably reduced rates and a substantial cash settlement.

Sanders ran for governor for the third time in 1986. He finished third with 14.5% of the vote – enough to deny incumbent Democrat Madeleine Kunin a majority; she was then elected by the state legislature, pursuant to Vermont law. In 1988, when seven-term incumbent Representative Jim Jeffords made a successful run for the Senate, Sanders ran for Jeffords's vacated seat in the House and narrowly lost to Peter P. Smith, the former lieutenant governor and the 1986 Republican candidate for governor. Sanders again ran against Smith in 1990. In an upset, he took 56% of the vote and defeated Smith by 16 points, becoming the first independent member of the House since 1950.

Sanders taught at Harvard University in 1989 and Hamilton College in 1991.

Representative

Although relations between Sanders and House Democratic leadership were not always smooth, the Democrats never actively campaigned against Sanders after his first run for Congress as an independent. While Democratic candidates ran against him in every election except 1994 (when Sanders managed to win the Democrats' endorsement), they received little financial support.

Sanders was reelected seven times and was the longest-serving independent member of the House. Despite his independent status, he faced only one difficult contest. It came in 1994, in the midst of the Republican Revolution that swept Republicans into control of the Congress. In a year when many marginal seats fell to Republicans, Sanders managed a three-point victory. In all his other elections, he has won at least 55% of the vote. In his last House campaign in 2004, Sanders took 67% to Republican Greg Parke's 24% and Democrat Larry Drown's 7%.

Sanders's lifetime legislative score from the AFL-CIO is 100%. As of 2006, he has a grade of "C-" from the National Rifle Association (NRA). Sanders voted against the Brady Bill and in favor of an NRA-supported bill to restrict lawsuits against gun manufacturers in 2005. Sanders voted to abolish the so-called "marriage penalty" for income taxes and also voted for a bill that sought to ban human cloning. Sanders has endorsed every Democratic nominee for president of the United States since 1992. Sanders is a co-founder of the House Progressive Caucus and chaired the grouping of mostly liberal Democrats for its first eight years.

Sanders voted against the resolutions authorizing the use of force against Iraq in 1991 and 2002 and opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq. But he later joined almost all of his colleagues in voting for a non-binding resolution expressing support for U.S. troops at the outset of the invasion, although he gave a floor speech criticizing the partisan nature of the resolution and the Bush administration's actions in the run-up to the war. On April 7, 2006, in regard to the investigation of the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity, Sanders said, "The revelation that the president authorized the release of classified information in order to discredit an Iraq war critic should tell every member of Congress that the time is now for a serious investigation of how we got into the war in Iraq and why Congress can no longer act as a rubber stamp for the president." Sanders supports universal health care and opposes what he terms "unfettered" free trade, which he argues deprives American workers of their jobs while exploiting foreign workers in sweatshop factories.

In June 2005, Sanders proposed an amendment to limit provisions that allow the government to obtain individuals' library and book-buying records. The amendment passed the House by a bipartisan majority but was removed on November 4 that year by House-Senate negotiators and never became law. Sanders followed this vote on November 5, 2005, by voting against the Online Freedom of Speech Act, which would have exempted the Internet from the restrictions of the McCain-Feingold Bill.

In March 2006, after a series of resolutions calling for him to bring articles of impeachment against the president passed in various towns in Vermont, Sanders stated it would be impractical to impeach George W. Bush, given the "reality that the Republicans control the House and the Senate." Still, Sanders made no secret of his opposition to the Bush Administration, which he regularly attacked for cuts in social programs he supports.

Sanders is a critic of Alan Greenspan. In June 2003, during a question-and-answer discussion with the then-Federal Reserve chairman, Sanders told Greenspan that he was concerned that Greenspan was "way out of touch" and "that you see your major function in your position as the need to represent the wealthy and large corporations." Senator Sanders in 1998 that investment banks and commercial banks should remain as separate entities.

Republicans have attacked Sanders as "an ineffective extremist" for successfully sponsoring only one law and fifteen amendments in his eight terms in the House. Sanders responded by saying that he had gotten "the most floor amendments of any member of the House since 1996 [passed]." Former Democratic National Committee chair Howard Dean has stated that "Bernie Sanders votes with the Democrats 98 percent of the time."

Senate campaign

Sanders had mentioned on several occasions that he would run for the Senate if Jeffords (with whom he has a longstanding friendship) were ever to retire, and he entered the race on April 21, 2005, following Jeffords's announcement that he would not seek a fourth term. New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, endorsed Sanders; Schumer's backing was critical, as it meant that any Democrat running against Sanders could not expect to receive any significant financial help on a national level.

Sanders was also endorsed by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Democratic National Committee chairman and former Vermont governor Howard Dean. Dean said in May 2005 that he considered Sanders an ally who votes with House Democrats. Sen. Barack Obama also campaigned for Sanders in Vermont. Sanders entered into an agreement with the Democratic Party to be listed in their primary but to decline the nomination should he win, which he did easily.

Speculation abounded that the state's popular Republican governor, Jim Douglas, would enter the race as well. Many pundits believed Douglas was the only Republican who could possibly defeat Sanders. However, on April 30, Douglas announced he would seek a third term as governor. In the view of many pundits, this effectively handed the open seat to Sanders.

Sen. Sanders consistently led his Republican challenger, businessman Richard Tarrant, by wide margins in polling. In the most expensive political campaign in Vermont's history, Sanders defeated Tarrant by an approximately 2-to-1 margin in the 2006 midterm election. Many national media outlets (including CNN) projected Sanders the winner before any returns came in.

Sanders is only the third Senator from Vermont to caucus with the Democrats — following Jeffords and Patrick Leahy. He made a deal with the Democratic leadership similar to the one Jeffords made after Jeffords became an independent. In exchange for receiving the committee seats that would be available to him as a Democrat, Sanders votes with the Democrats on all procedural matters unless he asks permission of Majority Whip Richard Durbin. However, such a request is almost never made and is almost never granted. He is free to vote as he pleases on policy matters but almost always votes with the Democrats.

Senate career

Sanders and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) introduced the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act of 2007 on January 15, 2007. The measure would have provided funding for research and development on geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide, set emissions standards for new vehicles and a renewable fuels requirement for gasoline beginning in 2016, established energy efficiency and renewable portfolio standards beginning in 2008 and low-carbon electric generation standards beginning in 2016 for electric utilities, and would have required periodic evaluations by the National Academy of Sciences to determine whether emissions targets are adequate.

On September 24, 2008, Senator Sanders posted on his website a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson against the initial bailout proposal, drawing more than 8,000 citizen co-signers in the first 24 hours. On January 26, 2009, Sanders and Democrats Robert Byrd, Russ Feingold and Tom Harkin were the sole majority members to vote against confirmation of Timothy Geithner to be United States Secretary of the Treasury.

On December 10, 2010, Senator Sanders delivered an 8½ hour speech against the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, the proposed extension of the Bush-era tax rates that eventually became law, saying "Enough is enough! [...] How many homes can you own?" (A long speech such as this is in the tradition of a filibuster, though because it did not block Senate action it didn't technically qualify as a filibuster under US Senate rules.)

In response to his 'filibuster,' "activists across the country started talking up the notion of a 'Sanders for President' run in 2012, either as a dissident Democrat in the primaries or as a left-leaning Independent." Hundreds of people signed online petitions urging Sanders to run, and pollsters began measuring his support in key primary states. Progressive activists such as Rabbi Michael Lerner and economist David Korten publicly voiced their support for a prospective Sanders run against president Barack Obama. Sanders has disavowed any interest in a presidential run, saying he was "very proud to be Vermont's senator," and maintained that "I am very content to be where I am, but I am flattered by that kind of response."

On January 19, 2011, Sanders announced that his 8 1/2 hour speech given on December 10, 2010 would be published in February 2011 by Nation Books. The book is entitled ''The Speech: A Historic Filibuster on Corporate Greed and the Decline of Our Middle Class,'' and authorial proceeds go to Vermont nonprofit charitable organizations.

Committee assignments

Committee on Environment and Public Works

*Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety

*Subcommittee on Green Jobs and the New Economy (Chairman)

*Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

*Subcommittee on Energy

*Subcommittee on National Parks

*Subcommittee on Water and Power

Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

*Subcommittee on Children and Families

*Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging

Committee on Veterans' Affairs

Committee on the Budget

Political positions

Senator Sanders describes himself as a democratic socialist.

Health care

He is a staunch supporter of a single-payer universal health care system.

Renegotiaton of NAFTA

He is a strong advocate for renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and is a strong opponent of the current United States trade policy towards Latin America and China.

Iraq War

Sanders opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq from its start and voted against it in the House of Representatives. He has called for a speedy withdrawal and increased veterans' benefits.

Media freedom

Sanders has also been a leader in calling for media reform and opposes increased concentration of ownership of media outlets. He appeared in ''Orwell Rolls in His Grave'' and ''Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism,'' two documentaries on the subject.

Global warming and the environment

He warns about the dangers of global warming and has compared those who deny global warming to those who denied the Holocaust.

U.S. Federal Reserve audit

Sanders introduced a Senate companion bill to H.R. 1207, which would conduct an audit of the Federal Reserve.

Civil rights and women's rights

He is a vocal supporter of gay rights, supporting same sex marriage, and of pro-choice legislation. He voted against the Defense of Marriage Act as a member of the House of Representatives.

Nuclear power

Following the 2011 Japanese nuclear accidents, Sanders called for a moratorium on the licensing of new nuclear plants and relicensing of existing ones, in an effort to slow down what's been touted as a nuclear renaissance in the United States. Sanders wrote to President Barack Obama asking for him to appoint a special commission to review the safety of U.S. nuclear plants. Sanders also wants to repeal a federal law that he says leaves the taxpayers to pick up most of the costs of a major nuclear accident. He says, "in a free-enterprise system, the nuclear industry should be required to insure itself against accidents."

Personal life

Sanders is married to Jane O'Meara, president of Burlington College, and has one son, Levi Sanders, from a previous marriage. His brother, Larry Sanders, is a Green Party District Councillor for Oxford East in Oxfordshire, England. His nephew Jacob is a former Oxford city councillor for the Green Party.

Sanders is one of two sitting U.S. Senators who went to James Madison High School in Brooklyn (the other being Chuck Schumer). Before Sanders became a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, his roommate was Richard I. Sugarman, a professor at the University of Vermont. Coincidentally, the only other Independent currently serving in the U.S. Senate, Joe Lieberman (I-CT) shared a suite with Professor Sugarman when the two attended Yale University in the 1960s.

For the Friday segment "Brunch with Bernie" of the Thom Hartmann radio program, Hartmann interviews Sanders and the senator answers listeners' calls.

Sanders also starred in his own weekly five-minute show, "Senator Sanders Unfiltered," hosted at Sandersunfiltered.com. The site has not been updated since early 2010.

Electoral history

''Most recent election shown below. For a complete list see: Electoral History of Bernie Sanders''

References

External links

United States Senator Bernie Sanders ''official U.S. Senate site''

Friends of Bernie Sanders ''official campaign site'

Bernie Sanders at The Internet Movie Database

"War of the wealthy against working families" – video of speech from C-SPAN2

Bernie Sanders Denounces Tax Cut in 8.5 Hour Senate Speech – video report by ''Democracy Now!''

{{U.S. Senator box| state=Vermont| class=1| before=Jim Jeffords | start=January 4, 2007| alongside=Patrick Leahy}}

Category:1941 births Category:Living people Category:American anti–Iraq War activists Category:American filmmakers Category:American people of Polish-Jewish descent Category:American social democrats Category:American socialists Category:American writers Category:Carpenters Category:Democratic socialists Category:Harvard University faculty Category:Independent politicians in the United States Category:Jewish American mayors Category:Jewish American writers Category:Jewish members of the United States House of Representatives Category:Jewish United States Senators Category:LGBT rights activists from the United States Category:Liberty Union Party politicians Category:Mayors of places in Vermont Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Vermont Category:People from Brooklyn Category:People from Burlington, Vermont Category:Researchers Category:United States Senators from Vermont Category:University of Chicago alumni Category:Writers from New York City Category:Writers from Vermont

af:Bernie Sanders de:Bernie Sanders es:Bernie Sanders eo:Bernie Sanders fr:Bernie Sanders he:ברני סנדרס la:Bernardus Sanders nl:Bernie Sanders ja:バーニー・サンダース no:Bernie Sanders pl:Bernie Sanders pt:Bernie Sanders ro:Bernie Sanders sh:Bernie Sanders fi:Bernie Sanders sv:Bernie Sanders zh:伯尼·桑德斯

Name	Rahm Emanuel
Office	55th Mayor of Chicago
Term start	May 16, 2011
Predecessor	Richard Daley
Office2	23rd White House Chief of Staff
President2	Barack Obama
Deputy2	Mona SutphenJim Messina
Term start2	January 20, 2009
Term end2	October 1, 2010
Predecessor2	Joshua Bolten
Successor2	Pete Rouse (Acting)
Office3	Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus
Term start3	January 3, 2007
Term end3	January 3, 2009
Predecessor3	Jim Clyburn
Successor3	John Larson
Office4	Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
Term start4	January 3, 2005
Term end4	January 3, 2007
Predecessor4	Bob Matsui
Successor4	Chris Van Hollen
State5	Illinois
District5	5th
Term start5	January 3, 2003
Term end5	January 3, 2009
Predecessor5	Rod Blagojevich
Successor5	Mike Quigley
Office6	Senior Advisor to the President for Policy and Strategy
President6	Bill Clinton
Term start6	1993
Term end6	1998
Birth date	November 29, 1959
Birth place	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Party	Democratic Party
Spouse	Amy Rule
Children	1 son2 daughters
Alma mater	Sarah Lawrence CollegeNorthwestern University
Religion	Judaism
Signature	Rahm Emanuel Signature.svg }}

Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician and the 55th and current Mayor of Chicago. He was formerly White House Chief of Staff to President Barack Obama. He served as senior advisor to President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1998 and as a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing , from 2003 until his resignation in 2009 to take up his position in the Obama Administration.

Emanuel was chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee during the 2006 mid-term elections and remained a top strategist for House Democrats during the 2008 cycle. After Democrats regained control of the House in 2006, Emanuel was elected chairman of the Democratic Caucus. This made him the fourth-ranking House Democrat, behind Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn.

Two days after Obama's election victory, Emanuel was announced as Obama's designee for White House Chief of Staff. He resigned from the House on January 2, 2009, and began his duties as Chief of Staff on January 20, 2009, the day of Obama's inauguration.

Emanuel resigned as Chief of Staff effective October 1, 2010, in order to pursue a campaign to run for Mayor of Chicago pending the announced retirement of six term incumbent Richard M. Daley. On January 27, 2011, the Illinois Supreme Court reversed a lower court's ruling that had cast doubt on Emanuel's candidacy; the court unanimously held that Emanuel did not abandon his Chicago residency by serving in the White House, thus affirming his eligibility to run for mayor. He won the Mayoral election on February 22, 2011, with 55% of the vote. President Obama appointed William M. Daley, the brother of Emanuel's predecessor as mayor, as Chief of Staff to replace Emanuel.

Early and personal life

Emanuel was born in Chicago, Illinois to Jewish parents. His father, Benjamin M. Emanuel, is a Jerusalem-born pediatrician who was once a member of the Irgun, a Jewish paramilitary organization that operated in Mandate Palestine. His mother, Marsha Smulevitz, is the daughter of a Chicago union organizer. She worked in the civil rights movement and owned, briefly, a local rock and roll club. She is now a psychiatric social worker. The two met in Chicago in the 1950s. Emanuel's older brother Ezekiel Emanuel is an oncologist and bioethicist at the National Institutes of Health, and his brother Ari Emanuel, a Hollywood talent agent. He has an adopted sister, Shoshanna, who is 14 years younger. Emanuel's grandfather was a Romanian Jew from Moldova.

Emanuel's first name, ''Rahm'' () means ''high'' or ''lofty'' in Hebrew. The surname ''Emanuel'' (), adopted by the family in honor of his father's brother Emanuel Auerbach, who was killed in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War in Jerusalem, means ''God is with us''. Sources disagree as to whether the family name was changed in 1933 or 1938.

When the family lived in Chicago, Emanuel attended the Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School. After his family moved to Wilmette, he attended public schools: Romona School, Locust Junior High School, and New Trier West High School. He and his brothers attended summer camp in Israel, including just after the 1967 Six-Day War.

While working at an Arby's restaurant in his high school years, Emanuel severely cut his right middle finger on a meat slicer. He sought medical attention after suffering a severe infection from swimming in Lake Michigan and as a result, had his finger partially amputated.

Emanuel was encouraged by his mother to take ballet lessons as a boy and is a graduate of the Evanston School of Ballet as well as a student of The Joel Hall Dance Center, where his children also took dance lessons. He won a scholarship to the Joffrey Ballet but turned it down to attend Sarah Lawrence College, a liberal arts school with a strong dance program.

He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1981 with a B.A. in Liberal Arts, and went on to receive an M.A. in Speech and Communication from Northwestern University in 1985. While still an undergraduate, he joined the congressional campaign of David Robinson of Chicago.

During the 1991 Gulf War, Emanuel volunteered with the Israel Defense Forces as a civilian helping to maintain equipment.

Emanuel's wife, Amy Rule, converted to Judaism shortly before their wedding. They are members of the Chicago synagogue Anshe Sholom B'nai Israel. They have a son and two daughters.

Emanuel is a close friend of fellow Chicagoan David Axelrod, chief strategist for the 2008 Barack Obama presidential campaign. Axelrod signed the ketuba, the Jewish marriage contract, at Emanuel's wedding.

Rabbi Asher Lopatin of Anshe Sholom B'nai Israel Congregation is quoted as saying Emanuel's family is "a very involved Jewish family", adding that "Amy was one of the teachers for a class for children during the High Holidays two years ago." Emanuel has said of his Judaism: "I am proud of my heritage and treasure the values it has taught me." Emanuel's family lives on the North Side of Chicago, in the North Center neighborhood.

Emanuel trains for and participates in triathlons.

Career as political staffer

Emanuel began his political career with the public interest and consumer rights organization Illinois Public Action. He went on to serve in a number of capacities in local and national politics, initially specializing in fundraising for Illinois campaigns and then nationally.

Emanuel worked for Democrat Paul Simon's 1984 election to the U.S. Senate, was the national campaign director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 1988, and was senior advisor and chief fundraiser for Richard M. Daley's victorious campaign for Mayor of Chicago in 1989.

At the start of then-Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton's presidential primary campaign, Emanuel was appointed to direct the campaign's finance committee. Emanuel insisted that Clinton schedule a lot of time for fundraising and greatly delay campaigning in New Hampshire. Clinton agreed and embarked on an aggressive fundraising campaign across the nation. The fundraising paid off later, providing the campaign a vital buffer to keep buying television time as attacks on Clinton's character threatened to swamp the campaign during the New Hampshire primary.

Clinton's primary rival, Paul Tsongas (the New Hampshire Democratic primary winner in 1992), later withdrew, citing a lack of campaign funds. Richard Mintz, a Washington public relations consultant who worked with Emanuel on the campaign, spoke about the soundness of the idea: "It was that [extra] million dollars that really allowed the campaign to withstand the storm we had to ride out in New Hampshire [over Clinton's relationship with Gennifer Flowers and the controversy over his draft status during the Vietnam War]." Emanuel's knowledge of the top donors in the country, and his rapport with "the heavily Jewish donor community" helped Clinton amass a then-unheard-of sum of $72 million.

Following the campaign, Emanuel became a senior advisor to Clinton at the White House from 1993 to 1998. In the White House, Emanuel was initially Assistant to the President for Political Affairs and then Senior Advisor to the President for Policy and Strategy. He was a leading strategist in the unsuccessful White House efforts to institute universal healthcare and many other Clinton initiatives.

Emanuel is known for his "take-no-prisoners style" that has earned him the nickname "Rahmbo." Emanuel is said to have sent a dead fish in a box to a pollster who was late delivering polling results. On the night after the 1996 election, "Emanuel was so angry at the president's enemies that he stood up at a celebratory dinner with colleagues from the campaign, grabbed a steak knife and began rattling off a list of betrayers, shouting 'Dead! ... Dead! ... Dead!' and plunging the knife into the table after every name." Before Tony Blair gave a pro-Clinton speech during the impeachment crisis, Emanuel reportedly screamed to Blair's face "Don't fuck this up!" while Clinton was present; Blair and Clinton both burst into laughter. However, by 2007 friends of Emanuel were saying that he has "mellowed out". Stories of his personal style have entered the popular culture, inspiring articles and websites that chronicle these and other quotes and incidents. Though executive producer Lawrence O'Donnell has denied it, the character Josh Lyman in ''The West Wing'' is said to be based on Rahm Emanuel.

One of his proudest moments during the Clinton administration "was an event that touched his political sensibilities and his personal ties to Israel: the 1993 Rose Garden signing ceremony after the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. Emanuel directed the details of the ceremony, down to the choreography of the famous handshake between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat."

Career in finance

After serving as an advisor to Bill Clinton, in 1998 Emanuel resigned from his position in the Clinton administration and joined the investment banking firm of Wasserstein Perella, where he worked until 2002. Although he did not have an MBA degree or prior banking experience, he became a managing director at the firm’s Chicago office in 1999 and, according to Congressional disclosures, made $16.2 million in his two-and-a-half-years as a banker. At Wasserstein Perella, he worked on eight deals, including the acquisition by Commonwealth Edison of Peco Energy and the purchase by GTCR Golder Rauner of the SecurityLink home security unit from SBC Communications.

Emanuel was named to the Board of Directors of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) by President Clinton in 2000. His position earned him at least $320,000, including later stock sales. He was not assigned to any of the board's working committees, and the Board met no more than six times per year.

During his time on the board, Freddie Mac was plagued with scandals involving campaign contributions and accounting irregularities. The Obama Administration rejected a request under the Freedom of Information Act to review Freddie Mac board minutes and correspondence during Emanuel's time as a director.

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) later accused the board of having "failed in its duty to follow up on matters brought to its attention." Emanuel resigned from the board in 2001 when he ran for Congress.

Congressional career

Election in 2002

After working in investment banking, in 2002 Emanuel pursued the U.S. House seat in the 5th District of Illinois previously held by Rod Blagojevich, who chose not to run for re-election, but instead successfully ran for Governor of Illinois.

His strongest opponent of the seven other candidates in the 2002 Democratic primary was former Illinois State Representative Nancy Kaszak, who had unsuccessfully opposed Blagojevich in the 1996 primary. The most controversial moment of the primary election came when Edward Moskal, president of the Polish American Congress, a political action committee endorsing Kaszak, called Emanuel a "millionaire carpetbagger who knows nothing" about "our heritage". Moskal also charged that Emanuel had dual citizenship with Israel and had served in the Israeli Army. Emanuel did not serve in the Israeli army, but was a civilian volunteer assisting the Israel Defense Forces for a short time during the 1991 Gulf War, repairing truck brakes in one of Israel's northern bases with Sar-El. Emanuel brought together a coalition of Chicago clergy to denounce the incident. He recalled, "One of the proudest moments of my life was seeing people of my district from all backgrounds demonstrate our common values by coming together in response to this obvious attempt to divide them." Moskal's comments were denounced as anti-Semitic by Kaszak.

Emanuel won the primary and defeated Republican candidate Mark Augusti in the general election.

Emanuel was elected after the October 2002 joint Congressional resolution authorizing the Iraq War, and thus was not able to vote on it. However, in the lead up to the resolution Emanuel spoke out strongly in support of the war, urging a United States' "muscular projection of force" in Iraq. Emanuel has been the focus of anti-war protests for his support of funding bills for the war in Iraq, and his support, during Democratic party primaries, of Democratic party candidates that are more hawkish. In his first term, Rahm Emanuel was a founding member and the Co-Chair of the Congressional Serbian Caucus.

In January 2003, Emanuel was named to the House Financial Services Committee, and sat on the subcommittee that oversaw Freddie Mac. A few months later, Freddie Mac Chief Executive Officer Leland Brendsel was forced out, and the committee and subcommittee commenced hearings lasting for more than a year. Emanuel skipped every hearing allegedly for reasons of avoiding any appearance of favoritism, impropriety, or conflict of interest.

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman

Emanuel assumed the position of Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman (DCCC) after the death of the previous chair, Bob Matsui. Emanuel led the Democratic Party's effort to capture the majority in the House of Representatives in the 2006 elections. The documentary ''HouseQuake'', featuring Emanuel, chronicles those elections. After Emanuel's election as chairman of the Democratic Caucus, Chris Van Hollen became committee chair for the 110th Congress.

While he was chairman of the DCCC, Emanuel was known to have had disagreements over Democratic election strategy with Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. Dean favored a "fifty-state strategy", building support for the Democratic Party over the long term, while Emanuel believed a more tactical approach, focusing attention on key districts, was necessary to ensure victory.

Ultimately the Democratic Party enjoyed considerable success in the 2006 elections, gaining 30 seats in the House. Emanuel has received considerable praise for his stewardship of the DCCC during this election cycle, even from Illinois Republican Rep. Ray LaHood who said "He legitimately can be called the golden boy of the Democratic Party today. He recruited the right candidates, found the money and funded them, and provided issues for them. Rahm did what no one else could do in seven cycles." However, he also faced some criticism for his failure to support some progressive candidates, as Howard Dean advocated.

2008 Election

Emanuel declared in April 2006 that he would support Hillary Rodham Clinton should she pursue the presidency in 2008. Emanuel remained close to Clinton since leaving the White House, talking strategy with him at least once a month as chairman of the DCCC. However, Emanuel's loyalties came into conflict when his home-state senator Barack Obama expressed interest in the race; asked in January 2007 about his stance on the Democratic presidential nomination, he said: "I'm hiding under the desk. I'm very far under the desk, and I'm bringing my paper and my phone." Emanuel remained neutral in the race until June 4, 2008, the day after the final primary contests, when he endorsed the eventual winner Obama.

Emanuel won re-election to the House, defeating Republican candidate Tom Hanson. Open Secrets reported that Emanuel "was the top House recipient in the 2008 election cycle of contributions from hedge funds, private equity firms and the larger securities/investment industry". Securities and investments business interests were the main sector contributing to Emanuel's campaigns in both 2006 and 2008.

House leadership

After his role in helping the Democrats win the 2006 elections, Emanuel was believed to be a leading candidate for the position of Majority Whip. Nancy Pelosi, who became the next Speaker of the House, persuaded him not to challenge Jim Clyburn, but instead to succeed Clyburn in the role of Democratic Caucus Chairman. In return, Pelosi agreed to assign the caucus chair more responsibilities, including "aspects of strategy and messaging, incumbent retention, policy development and rapid-response communications." Caucus vice-chair John Larson remained in this role instead of running for the chairman position.

After U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney asserted that he did not fall within the bounds of orders set for the executive branch, Emanuel called for cutting off the $4.8 million the Executive Branch provides for the Vice President's office.

Political views

During his original 2002 campaign, Emanuel "indicated his support of President Bush's position on Iraq, but said he believed the president needed to better articulate his position to the American people". One of the major goals he spoke of during the race was "to help make health care affordable and available for all Americans". Emanuel's personal involvement in health care reform was made public when it was reported that he had used overtly assertive and potentially threatening tactics towards Democrats who did not toe the party line while in the shower at the House gym.

In the 2006 congressional primaries, Emanuel, then head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, made national headlines for engineering a run by Tammy Duckworth—an Iraq war veteran with no political experience—against grassroots candidate Christine Cegelis in Illinois' 6th District. Expedited withdrawal from Iraq was a central point of Cegelis' campaign; Duckworth opposed a withdrawal timetable.

In his 2006 book, co-authored with Bruce Reed, ''The Plan: Big Ideas for America'', Emanuel advocated a three-month compulsory universal service program for Americans between the ages of 18 and 25. An expanded version of this idea was later proposed by U.S. Presidential candidate Barack Obama (who was later to choose Emanuel as his White House Chief of Staff), during his 2008 campaign, in a speech on July 2, 2008 at the University of Colorado, in which Obama proposed a "civilian national security force" (this term being used in the spoken version of his speech, not in the original written version), which included expanded voluntary national service programs in many areas, such as infrastructure rebuilding, service to the elderly, and environmental cleanup. For some of these services, tax credits and direct pay, primarily for college tuition, was proposed. Obama's original proposal was for participation by all ages, but with required participation by all middle school and high school students for 50 hours of community service a year. That proposed requirement was later modified to being "a goal". Obama's entire service program proposal quickly became controversial, largely for being mistaken as a call for a national paramilitary force, though the proposal's only reference to military service was volunteer participation in regular U.S. Armed Forces, as one activity that would qualify for inclusion under the program's umbrella.

Emanuel is generally liberal on social issues. He maintained a 100 percent pro-choice voting record, supports gay rights and same sex marriage, and is a strong supporter of gun control, rated "F" by the NRA in December 2003. He has also strongly supported the banning of numerous rifles based upon "sporting" purposes criteria. He has aligned himself with the right wing of the Democratic Party, the Democratic Leadership Council.

In June 2007, Emanuel condemned an outbreak of Palestinian violence in the Gaza Strip and criticized Arab countries for not applying the same kind of pressure on the Palestinians as they have on Israel. At a 2003 pro-Israel rally in Chicago, Emanuel told the marchers Israel was ready for peace but would not get there until Palestinians "turn away from the path of terror".

Emanuel has been called an ally of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley; other sources dispute that he has been an ally of Blagojevich, for whom Emanuel served as a campaign adviser. He called Illinois state legislator John C. D'Amico in 2008 in support of Blagojevich's Illinois capital bill, but withdrew his encouragement when he discovered Daley opposed the bill. After Obama's election victory, Emanuel articulated his view on the role of government as a positive force to face difficult challenges and solve national problems, notably combating global warming through green energy policies and completely restructuring the healthcare system.

White House Chief of Staff

On November 6, 2008, Emanuel accepted the Cabinet-level position of White House Chief of Staff for Barack Obama. He resigned his congressional seat effective January 2, 2009. A special primary to fill his vacated congressional seat was held on March 3, 2009, and the special general election on April 7. Chicago newspapers reported that one candidate for that seat said at a forum that Emanuel had told him he may be interested in running for the seat again in the future.

Some Republican leaders criticized Emanuel's appointment because they believed it went against Obama's promises to make politics less divisive, given Emanuel's reputation as a partisan Democrat. Republican Lindsey Graham disagreed, saying: "This is a wise choice by President-elect Obama. He's tough but fair—honest, direct and candid."

Ira Forman, executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council, said that the choice indicates that Obama will not listen to the "wrong people" regarding the U.S.–Israel relationship. Some commentators opined that Emanuel would be good for the Israeli–Palestinian peace process because if Israeli leaders make excuses for not dismantling settlements, Emanuel will be tough and pressure the Israelis to comply. Some Palestinians expressed dismay at Obama’s appointment of Emanuel. Emanuel said that Obama did not need his influence to "orientate his policy toward Israel".

In a 2010 article in ''The New York Times'', Emanuel was characterized as being "perhaps the most influential chief of staff of a generation".

At a closed-door meeting in the White House with liberal activists, he called them "fucking retarded" for planning to run TV ads attacking conservative Democrats who didn't support Obama's health-care overhaul. In February 2010, Emanuel apologized to organizations for the mentally handicapped for using the word "retarded." He expressed his regret to Tim Shriver, the chief executive of the Special Olympics after the remark was reported in an article by ''The Wall Street Journal'' about growing liberal angst at the chief of staff. The apology came as former Alaska governor and conservative activist Sarah Palin called on President Obama to fire Emanuel via the former governor's Facebook page.

Emanuel also could make his team laugh. Chief technology officer Aneesh Chopra would come to staff meetings and give uniformly upbeat reports, administration aides said. Once Emanuel is said to have looked at him and said: "Whatever you're taking, I want some." Emanuel had a hand in war strategy, political maneuvering, communications and economic policy. Bob Woodward wrote in his book, ''Obama's Wars'' that Emanuel made a habit of calling up CIA Director Leon Panetta and asking about the lethal drone strikes aimed at Al Qaeda. "Who did we get today?" he would ask.

In 2010, Emanuel was reported to have conflicts with other senior members of the president's team and ideological clashes over policy. He was also the focal point of criticism from left-leaning Democrats for the administration's perceived move to the center. By September 2010, with the Democrats anticipating heavy losses in midterm elections, this was said to precipitate Emanuel's departure as Chief of Staff.

Mayor of Chicago

2011 Chicago mayoral campaign

On September 30, 2010, it was announced that Emanuel would be leaving his post as White House Chief of Staff to run for Mayor of Chicago. He was replaced by Pete Rouse on October 2, 2010.

After being cleared as eligible to run for mayor by the Board of Elections and the Cook County Circuit Court (his eligibility was challenged on the basis of his lack of residency in Chicago for one year prior to the election), a divided Court of Appeals reversed holding on January 24, 2011 that residency for purposes of a candidate is different than residency for purposes of being a voter. Nevertheless, a further appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court resulted in a unanimous decision reversing the Court of Appeals and affirming Emanuel's eligibility to run for mayor. Emanuel was elected mayor on Tuesday, February 22, 2011. He is Chicago's first Jewish mayor.

Emanuel's electoral campaign was the inspiration for a Twitter account, @MayorEmanuel, which was written by Chicago journalist Dan Sinker. The account received over 43000 followers, and was more popular than Emanuel's real Twitter account. Emanuel announced on February 28 that if the author would reveal himself, he would donate $5000 to the charity of his choice. When Sinker revealed himself, Emanuel donated the money to Young Chicago Authors, a community organization which helps young people with writing and publishing skills.

Mayoralty

Emanuel was sworn in as the 55th Mayor of Chicago on May 16, 2011 at the Pritzker Pavilion. At his inauguration were outgoing Mayor Richard M. Daley, Vice President Joe Biden, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and William M. Daley, who succeeded Emanuel as White House Chief of Staff and is the brother of the outgoing Mayor Richard Daley.

Electoral history

|- | colspan=10 |U.S. House, 5th District of Illinois (General Election) |- !Year !Winning candidate !Party !Pct !Opponent !Party !Pct !Opponent !Party !Pct |- |2002 | |Rahm Emanuel | |Democratic | |67% | |Mark Augusti | |Republican | |29% | |Frank Gonzalez | |Libertarian | |4% |- |2004 | |Rahm Emanuel (inc.) | |Democratic | |76% | |Bruce Best | |Republican | |24% | | |- |2006 | |Rahm Emanuel (inc.) | |Democratic | |78% | |Kevin White | |Republican | |22% | | | |- |2008 | |Rahm Emanuel (inc.) | |Democratic | |74% | |Tom Hanson | |Republican | |22% | |Alan Augustson | |Green | |4%

(General Election)}}

Works

References

Further reading

;Biography

;Articles Twenty minute interview.

In April 2011, the VOA Special English service of the Voice of America broadcast a 15-minute program on Rahm Emanuel. A transcript and MP3 of the program, intended for English learners, can be found at Rahm Emanuel Gets Ready for New Job as Mayor of Chicago.

External links

Chicago for Rahm Emanuel ''official campaign site''

Office of the Mayor at City of Chicago

Profile at CityMayors.com

Collected news and commentary at the ''Chicago Tribune''

Profile: Rahm Emanuel at ''BBC News'', 7 November 2008

Profile at SourceWatch

Profile at the Jewish Virtual Library

Representative Rahm Emanuel speaks at The Brookings Institution on FORA.tv, 2009 (accessed March 4, 2010)

Rahm Emanuel '81: Commencement Keynote Address at Sarah Lawrence College, 2009

|- |- |- |- Category:1959 births Category:American businesspeople Category:American people of Israeli descent Category:American people of Romanian-Jewish descent Category:Clinton Administration personnel Category:Gun control advocates Category:Illinois Democrats Category:Jewish American mayors Category:Jewish members of the United States House of Representatives Category:Living people Category:Mayors of Chicago, Illinois Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois Category:New Trier High School alumni Category:Northwestern University alumni Category:Obama Administration cabinet members Category:Politicians from Chicago, Illinois Category:Sarah Lawrence College alumni Category:White House Chiefs of Staff

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