I'll be out of town, Bryan is in charge and he has decreed NO TOPIC. I'll admit this makes me a bit nervous as a group of skeptics with no focus may let their imaginations run wild and I'll be seeing the headlines from LA "Secretive Group Barricades Themselves in Bar, Declares Hale's Free State" or some such piracy. Which of course would make me very proud. Anyway, have fun and I'll see you in January.
PS Could someone remind Bryan to make reservations?
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
LOOK DOWN THERE!
To see the topic for the meetup on December 8th which will be the topic for the meetup from November 24th that was canceled then wasn't then was. Sorry about the confusion....
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Hey we're gonna be there!
Hale's is open as of Tuesday and things can only get better so the meetup is still on. Don't come unless you can get there safely.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Woooooo!
Yes, I'm late and again I apologize - life gets in the way. Next week's meetup will be moderated by Kelly and he has chosen a favorite form of woo, Astrology.
Please to watch this video
I'm quite sure it will make your head explode! Then off to Phil Plait's site for a little lesson in bad astronomy and off to the Skeptic's Dictionary for a description of the Forer Effect.
What's going on with this astrologer? How was he so accurate? What did you notice about the video that may have provided a clue? All this and more on Wednesday night at Hales - see you then!
Please to watch this video
I'm quite sure it will make your head explode! Then off to Phil Plait's site for a little lesson in bad astronomy and off to the Skeptic's Dictionary for a description of the Forer Effect.
What's going on with this astrologer? How was he so accurate? What did you notice about the video that may have provided a clue? All this and more on Wednesday night at Hales - see you then!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Meeting #? recap and new meetup info...
I've lost count but the homeopathic overdose was awesome. Andrew and Wes suffered no ill-effects, I had a hangover but I think it was due to the two 8% beers I had. Or maybe just having to get up at 5:30 after getting home at 11 and the requisite insomnia. Either way, well-done, participants and I hope we all OD again real soon. Stay tuned for more 10^23 news.
Co-founder of Kitsap County Skeptics, Skeptic Bryan, has decided that the next meetup should focus on the anti-vaccination movement and it's not too soon as 10 infants in California have died this year from an out break of whooping cough. I don't even know where to start so I won't. Please listen to Skeptically Speaking episode #82 Desiree Schell gonna raise a little hell! or on Itunes.
Also please subscribe to Vaccine Times and forward this to your GP should you be lucky enough to have health insurance. Print out a copy or two and leave it in their office. They like that. Kind of like a welcome Watchtower.
See you next week!
Amber K.
Co-founder of Kitsap County Skeptics, Skeptic Bryan, has decided that the next meetup should focus on the anti-vaccination movement and it's not too soon as 10 infants in California have died this year from an out break of whooping cough. I don't even know where to start so I won't. Please listen to Skeptically Speaking episode #82 Desiree Schell gonna raise a little hell! or on Itunes.
Also please subscribe to Vaccine Times and forward this to your GP should you be lucky enough to have health insurance. Print out a copy or two and leave it in their office. They like that. Kind of like a welcome Watchtower.
See you next week!
Amber K.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Please excuse the lateness of this post!
But I've been fighting this illness everyone else in Kitsap County seems to have - a combination of TB and Typhoid that renders you too disgusting for public but not quite sick enough to take more than a couple days off of work. Awesome.
Perhaps I should head to Super Supplements and procure a homeopathic remedy! OR maybe not, because there's nothing in it! Skeptic Wes suggested we further explore CAM, especially homeopathy and I'm fully on board with that cause there's nothing more disgusting than people charging a gazillion dollars for a bottle of purified water...I think many in the US think homeopathy is herbal medicine but I assure you it is NOT.
So here's a couple podcasts to pique your interest
http://parafort.com/ri/?p=563 the RI podcast detailing the 10^23 overdose and
http://parafort.com/ri/?p=541 our favorite UK skeptic Marsh in his dulcet tones, explaining the event.
Also Andy Wilson (of Merseyside Skeptics & InKredulous) was recently on Token Skeptic with the lovely Kylie Sturgess speaking of the next 10^23 stunt to be executed on Feb 5 - during qedcon which most of us will not likely be able to attend...which you can listen to here http://traffic.libsyn.com/tokenskeptic/Token_Skeptic_37_On_The_1023_Campaign_In_2011_An_Interview_With_Andy_Wilson.mp3 or read the transcript at http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/1023_campaign_in_2011_an_interview_with_andy_wilson/
I've contacted Andy and he's going to forward our info to DJ Grothe so we can take part in whatever is going on with the 10^23 campaign here in the states. Cheers, Andy!
Also you can visit the 10^23 website or look at the wikipedia entry on homeopathy for more info.
Looking forward to seeing you all on October 27th and also lets keep a mass Trick or Treating in mind for those of us with children of that age...I'm going as Christine O'Donnell...I'm not a witch - I'm you!
Amber K.
Perhaps I should head to Super Supplements and procure a homeopathic remedy! OR maybe not, because there's nothing in it! Skeptic Wes suggested we further explore CAM, especially homeopathy and I'm fully on board with that cause there's nothing more disgusting than people charging a gazillion dollars for a bottle of purified water...I think many in the US think homeopathy is herbal medicine but I assure you it is NOT.
So here's a couple podcasts to pique your interest
http://parafort.com/ri/?p=563 the RI podcast detailing the 10^23 overdose and
http://parafort.com/ri/?p=541 our favorite UK skeptic Marsh in his dulcet tones, explaining the event.
Also Andy Wilson (of Merseyside Skeptics & InKredulous) was recently on Token Skeptic with the lovely Kylie Sturgess speaking of the next 10^23 stunt to be executed on Feb 5 - during qedcon which most of us will not likely be able to attend...which you can listen to here http://traffic.libsyn.com/tokenskeptic/Token_Skeptic_37_On_The_1023_Campaign_In_2011_An_Interview_With_Andy_Wilson.mp3 or read the transcript at http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/1023_campaign_in_2011_an_interview_with_andy_wilson/
I've contacted Andy and he's going to forward our info to DJ Grothe so we can take part in whatever is going on with the 10^23 campaign here in the states. Cheers, Andy!
Also you can visit the 10^23 website or look at the wikipedia entry on homeopathy for more info.
Looking forward to seeing you all on October 27th and also lets keep a mass Trick or Treating in mind for those of us with children of that age...I'm going as Christine O'Donnell...I'm not a witch - I'm you!
Amber K.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
CAM
For plant biologists, CAM is a super funky method of photosynthesis. Plants are much more interesting than people, folks! However, for the rest of us, CAM stands for "Complimentary and Alternative Medicine."
What is Complimentary and Alternative Medicine? It's a $34 BILLION industry (just in the US!) based on untested and unproven quackery to rival science-based medicine - often touted as better because conventional medicine is only "in it for the money." And it really pisses me off.
Many of you may be aware of the 10^23 campaign run by Michael Marshall and our friends at the Merseyside Skeptics Society - if you're not, read up on it, but even more importantly Marsh and Hayley Stevens of BARsoc did an interview with Rhys Morgan - a 15 year old that deals with the pain of Crohn's disease and noticed that someone on his Crohn's disease support forum was touting the "Miracle Mineral Solution" or MMS. He did some research and found the FDA warning on the substance (see it here) which he posted and was subsequently banned from the site. Since then he's been on quite a few podcasts and in the UK papers, warning people of the dangers of drinking what is touted as a cure all for AIDS, cancer, the flu, etc etc but is, in fact, industrial bleach.
For this week's discussion please listen to episode 67 of the Righteous Indignation podcast which can be found here or on Itunes. There's a special bit at the end of this podcast which has nothing to do with MMS, but if you don't listen to it I'll know about it. Special thanks to Marsh and Trystan Swale of Righteous Indignation. That's all I can say at this point.
Also if you have time, listen to episode 68 of the same podcast, the first part of an interview with the "inventor" of MMS, Jim Humble. It is well worth listening to. The second part will be posted forthwith. You have no idea how much I've wanted to use "forthwith" in a sentence since losing the 4th grade spelling bee over that word. Just kidding, I actually lost it over "necessary".
OK - there are a thousand other places to research CAM and there's a gazillion (that's a real word) different methods. Why should we believe evil Big Pharma and the FDA and not believe in CAM? Because we have a very useful tool on our side - science - which is not run by evil corporations (though it is abused by them) but by the good guys - scientists. We have peer review - a plodding, flawed system that makes mistakes but is the best tool we have to move things along. Once a method of CAM has been peer-reviewed and showed to be efficacious it loses it's CAM designation and we call it something different - medicine.
Can't wait to see you all on October 13th at Hales.
Amber K.
What is Complimentary and Alternative Medicine? It's a $34 BILLION industry (just in the US!) based on untested and unproven quackery to rival science-based medicine - often touted as better because conventional medicine is only "in it for the money." And it really pisses me off.
Many of you may be aware of the 10^23 campaign run by Michael Marshall and our friends at the Merseyside Skeptics Society - if you're not, read up on it, but even more importantly Marsh and Hayley Stevens of BARsoc did an interview with Rhys Morgan - a 15 year old that deals with the pain of Crohn's disease and noticed that someone on his Crohn's disease support forum was touting the "Miracle Mineral Solution" or MMS. He did some research and found the FDA warning on the substance (see it here) which he posted and was subsequently banned from the site. Since then he's been on quite a few podcasts and in the UK papers, warning people of the dangers of drinking what is touted as a cure all for AIDS, cancer, the flu, etc etc but is, in fact, industrial bleach.
For this week's discussion please listen to episode 67 of the Righteous Indignation podcast which can be found here or on Itunes. There's a special bit at the end of this podcast which has nothing to do with MMS, but if you don't listen to it I'll know about it. Special thanks to Marsh and Trystan Swale of Righteous Indignation. That's all I can say at this point.
Also if you have time, listen to episode 68 of the same podcast, the first part of an interview with the "inventor" of MMS, Jim Humble. It is well worth listening to. The second part will be posted forthwith. You have no idea how much I've wanted to use "forthwith" in a sentence since losing the 4th grade spelling bee over that word. Just kidding, I actually lost it over "necessary".
OK - there are a thousand other places to research CAM and there's a gazillion (that's a real word) different methods. Why should we believe evil Big Pharma and the FDA and not believe in CAM? Because we have a very useful tool on our side - science - which is not run by evil corporations (though it is abused by them) but by the good guys - scientists. We have peer review - a plodding, flawed system that makes mistakes but is the best tool we have to move things along. Once a method of CAM has been peer-reviewed and showed to be efficacious it loses it's CAM designation and we call it something different - medicine.
Can't wait to see you all on October 13th at Hales.
Amber K.
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