I'd say she came near it. She blew smoke up it's ass.

However, I remember my electrodynamics prof telling me that some of the loops of wire that were intended to detect magnetic monopoles have not been taken down because they might still detect one.

[...]but science would have benefitted even more had the check been claimed.

James Randi has claimed this several times that I know of: once while debating Dawkins in one of the TAM's, and another time during an interview with Penn Jillete in his radio show.

In Penn's show he said that if any of the common supernatural claims were found to be true, and could be put to practical use, the payoff for humanity would far exceed the million dollars the JREF had spent finding it. And it's not hard to see why: imagine being able to create effective medicines with no side effects (homeopathy), or being able to operate without cutting people (psychic surgery), or being able to asks questions about the universe to entities that can travel through at will (talking to spirits). Any of those things would be worth trillions!

Still, after 10 years of nothing but crazy talk, or close to 150 years if you take into account other skeptical investigators' work, I think it is reasonable to begin to give up hope that it's all anything more than crazy talk.

My point was that Mr. Randi was apparently not trying to further any cause by leaving this check unclaimed. It had the side effect of furthering skepticism, which, I think, is good, but science would have benefitted even more had the check been claimed. It was an effective way to get research done without handing out any money.

It's also well-known that Hovind has admitted that he doesn't actually have the $250,000 to give away.

From your link:

I have a standing offer of $250,000 to anyone who can give any empirical evidence (scientific proof) for evolution.*

*NOTE:

When I use the word evolution, I am not referring to the minor variations found in all of the various life forms (microevolution). I am referring to the general theory of evolution which believes these five major events took place without God:

1. Time, space, and matter came into existence by themselves.
2. Planets and stars formed from space dust.
3. Matter created life by itself.
4. Early life-forms learned to reproduce themselves.
5. Major changes occurred between these diverse life forms (i.e., fish changed to amphibians, amphibians changed to reptiles, and reptiles changed to birds or mammals).

So it seems, in short, the offer extends to anyone who can prove evolution through proving 3 things that have nothing to do with the evolutionary theroy.

Of course, if those things were somehow proven, provided those statements are even accurate descriptions of things that happened, the $250,000 from that convicted fraudster would be pocket change to whomever could.

This money can be more effectively used to promote the causes of scientific inquiry and skepticism, rather than being held in trust while its caretakers try to sort through this river of nonsense.

I have to disagree with you here, Ebon. That money was being used for research. If a repeatable measurement of something supernatural occurs, it becomes part of the natural world; we will find a natural explaination. This challenge was much like the Darpa challenge, though less fruitful.

James Randi seemed to truly want to give that money away. He wasn't running a challenge like "Dr." Hovind, who won't award a proof of evolution until he sees a disproof of God (really, it says that on the other side of that link). Mr. Randi wasn't sitting back with smug satisfaction as an idiot made an idiot of themselves. I don't know how he managed to do that; it must be the supernatural.