We hope you find the improvements in the Skeptic's appearance to your liking. The similarity of the source is often important and includes physical attractiveness (Bob Hawke v John Howard?) and likeness (car salesmen will often identify a point they have in common with the customer).
Challenging Beliefs
Politicians' focus on the peripheral route is demonstrated by the ALP's current (2007) attempt to increase their credibility on economic issues. The former central route is likely to result in a more lasting change in attitude, but relies on voters thinking about the message afterwards.
SMS =
Prime time news shows are often a source of irritation for skeptics, especially when they uncritically report crazy claims made by psychics and pseudo-scientists. A recent example of current affairs television exposing a scam was airing claims made by anonymous insiders from an SMS chat service.
Stupid Message Services
The chat service was advertised on late-night TV as putting real single men and women in touch to flirt, with the implied possibility of meeting.
Demonstrating that correlation does not equal causation
Pseudoscience
For example, people are more likely to marry someone with the same first initials as themselves than you would expect by chance (Jones, Pelham, Carvallo, & Mirenberg, 2004). After all, couples tend to be of the same cultural or ethnic background more often than you would expect if people in the world were paired randomly.
Stupid Message Service
Also, horoscopes are vague enough, and people are good enough at finding meaning, that there's bound to be a "hit" somewhere if you're looking for it. Kulkens and Black's SMS services seem to be the tip of the iceberg, as it is fairly easy to find other instant or subscription SMS horoscope services online or in a directory.
A review of Ritual Abuse and Torture in Australia, a report
This report has been produced to document the existence of ritual abuse in Australia and to give weight to the stories of survivors. Ritual abuse is a practice closely related to child prostitution, child pornography and drug smuggling.
Welcome to Sunnydale
Advocates for Survivors of Child Abuse (ASCA) wants to see the reality of ritual abuse acknowledged, survivors of ritual abuse left behind, and reports of ritual abuse investigated. A culture of ignorance and denial on behalf of authorities and society prevents ritual abuse survivors from realizing their basic rights to safety, health and justice.
Review
When the report says, “The intersection of family abuse, torture, organized pedophilia and 'cultic' rituals places such perpetrators in a unique category,” this is a classic example of begging the question. The report refers to “the abuse of rituals in the context of sexual abuse,” a definition that can include everything from sacrificing children on altars to burning incense sticks during rape.
The Foolishness of God
In the course of his Channel 4 documentary Who Wrote the Bible?, recently shown on SBS, British theologian Robert Beckford asks a very conservative Jew his opinion on the 'JEDP' or 'documentary'. This refers to the idea that the first five books of the Bible were not written by Moses, but were instead taken from a number of different sources.
It all depends on where your baseline lies
It's December 2004 and Peter Stokes of the Melbourne Salt Shakers' Christian Ethic band is being interviewed by Gary Fishlock, editor of gay publication SX in Sydney. Simply, the Old Testament scholars he speaks of are conservative evangelical Old Testament scholars, the 'reliable New Testament scholars' are also conservative evangelicals, and of course.
Belief
He was sure that "this overturning of people's faith in the Bible is a great step forward in preparing the way for the Antichrist." Why is the story of the woman taken in adultery included in the Bible?; etc.
Deadline for next issue, May 1
Popularizers of the neo-creationist idea of Intelligent Design are very good at this. The median profit of the nine pharmaceutical companies on the Fortune 500 list had a median profit margin of 16 percent of sales in 2004.
The Persuaders and Their Pills
In the same year, 32 percent of sales were spent on marketing and administration, and only 15 percent on research and development [research and development].”1 In 2002, the Australian government spent A$1.4 billion on prescription drugs, and it is growing steadily. 2 The Economist says the pharmaceutical industry is "a business to die for". She is a member of the Mental Health Research and Ethics Committee at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, a member of the Australian Society for the History of Medicine and a Fellow of the Royal Nurses of Australia.
Understanding the hype in the healthcare debate
The pharmaceutical manufacturers who try to get us to use more pills are among the most powerful and richest companies in the world. Although the strategies are slightly different for each category, press releases are among the most successful tactics, and any report of a wonderful new drug (or over-the-counter product) should be viewed with great skepticism by both the public and physicians. profession.
Health
The pervasiveness of the problem is so “twisted” that it appears to affect many people in the community. Due to the emergence of several competitors marketing similar drugs, the company attempted to shift the market to people with sporadic problems.11 In Australia, this advertisement has been replaced by others, the latter of which does not depict men and women. women, but has a visual message: the images are curved bananas.
An article in The Australian featured "a new study suggests a third of all men have experienced some degree of hair loss." This story included comments from concerned experts and the news that the International Institute for the Study of Hair had been established. The article failed to disclose that Merck, the pharmaceutical company that markets Propecia, funded the study and the International Hair Institute.
With double connotations, both "sides" can claim this title - the difference is in the investigative approach. However, for the paranormal investigator (believer), the evidence is usually in the eye of the beholder.
Ghost Mining
Keeping it Wild West, many of the locals and those passing through can be found at the National Hotel on Saturday evenings. Is there a rational explanation for these phenomena, or is this evidence of the paranormal.
Investigation
State Route 49 winds through the historic mining towns of the California Gold Rush. Prior to the investigation, members of the paranormal group were buzzing that the hotel was inhabited by between 20 and 30 ghost guests.
Historic haunted hostelry gives up few secrets
Around. At 1.30 a group of about 30 people gathered in the hall on the second floor. Orbs appeared in many of the photographs I took and no surprises there…the hotel was dusty, old and dark.
Karen’s Research
In The Gambia, I met with the leaders of the science club at the University of The Gambia. One of the most common superstitious beliefs in The Gambia is witchcraft - the belief that people can harm others.
Skepticism in Africa
Fadel heads the Center for Inquiry-Senegal, the only organization of its kind promoting reason and science in the country. We discussed the prevalence of superstition in the country and how we can tackle it.
Letter from Nigeria
In November I traveled to Senegal, Gambia and Sierra Leone to meet scientists and skeptics and to explore the prospects for skepticism in these countries. The students were excited to hear about a movement that promotes reason, science and critical thinking.
A chance for Skeptics to assist our friends in Africa
In Senegal, the Gambia and Sierra Leone, there was tangible evidence of how religious bumps and paranormal claims are undermining the growth and development of the region. One would have thought that our mockery would persuade the powers-that-be in the ABC to be more careful in the future so as not to incur the wrath of the Skeptic.
Dumb, Dumber
Suspecting that the ABC did not enforce some sort of accuracy rule on the series, I offered the editor to watch the entire series and analyze it to see if it was of a high standard, accurate and not biased not misrepresent. Each crime depicted here was solved through ordinary police work, the development of new technologies such as a national computerized fingerprint database and DNA profiling, and through the confessions of people involved in the crimes.
Our ink is barely dry but your ABC aired an entire series called Psychic Investigators from November 30, 2006 to February 8, 2007 at great expense to the poor bleeding taxpayer. Charter of the company (1) The functions of the corporation are: a) providing innovative and comprehensive broadcast services of a high standard in Australia.
Is a National Cultural Institution growing senile?
No, it was absolute rubbish, it was inaccurate and misrepresented, so it didn't comply with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Act and the ABC Code of Practice. ABC has done a great disservice here by complicating the evilness of Rachael Kohn's program The Spirit of Things.
It Gets You Thinking
There’s more to energy than simply feeling good
We can also remove a whole range of other wavelengths; any gamma or x-rays emitted from someone's head would destroy brain tissue and irradiate anyone and anything unfortunate enough to be in close proximity to the "sender". Since the escape velocity at the surface of the Earth is 11 km per second, the alpha wave would simply fly away into space.
Walkerbout
With that kind of positive action from the Police, it's no wonder there has been a fourfold increase in Massage Parlors in the Nottingham area in recent years. Football hooliganism is still rampant in the UK and normally, therefore, it would be Liverpool Football Club who would apologize to the people of Skegness for destroying their town after Liverpool won (or lost) a game of FA cup there.
Chronicle of the peregrinations of a not-so-innocent abroad
I'm not sure if it was that or joining the skeptics that has fueled this lifelong interest in things that are 'Funny Ha Ha' or 'Funny Peculiar' but it has certainly created a healthy skepticism interest in the intended meaning of the written (and spoken) word and a strong belief that truth is stranger, and often much funnier, than fiction. It can rightly boast Seven Miles of Golden Sand, but unfortunately it is extremely windy most of the summer.
Humour
Sounds like serious news” The Goon Show Obituaries and epitaphs hold a certain fascination for me and I was recently made aware of the obituary of Frank Shackelton Fergus which appeared in the UK Daily Telegraph around the turn of the millennium. My wife, Ann, joined me in the UK for the last month of the trip and when I first arrived I had to check out various possible excursions that were available to us.
Sydney Skeptics and visitors can enjoy performances by Steve
When I got back to the green and pleasant land of England [sounds better than flying back to Manchester], I noticed in the newsagent that Prima magazine had an article with the title. Postal staff found the intended location to be Bude in North Cornwall and recognized the name as Peter O'Leary.
Following the sell-out perform- ance of our first Dinner with Dr
However, none of the stellar line-up of comedians is expected to be able to answer any questions, and if one ends up with a positive result, they can be very pleased with their performance. A sketch on the envelope showed Cornwall, Devon and Somerset with an arrow pointing towards a point.
Sydney Dinner Meetings 2007
In these circumstances, health professionals need to interpret the symptoms in such a way that the claim cannot simply be refuted by the clients. Obviously, how this line is traded will significantly affect its acceptability to the client.
Healthmanship
Diagnosis
The first and easiest step is to unquestioningly accept the self-diagnosis offered by the client. The ludicrous view of clients' beliefs about their body structure and function alienates clients, who know what they feel is because of the interpretation they read in every self-diagnostic magazine.
The second in our continuing series, leading to success in
We do not provide a deck for Healthmen to use in their professional practice, but we provide the skills necessary for the business success of the practice. If the client provides interpretation from another professional, do not attack the other professional directly - save that for later when you arrange a return visit.
Satire
Our professional may of course not actually teach one of our courses, but they may claim to be (we will never deny that you are or have been one of our many teachers or mentors) – this implies that our professional has expertise in the field of his field, enough for a tertiary educational organization to have him on their books. I have been a fan of James “The Amazing” Randi ever since Don Lane's dummy spit on the Don Lane Show several years ago.
The Amazing Meeting #5
Since I am a "child liar" by profession (i.e. a teacher), I signed up for Critical Thinking in the Classroom. The points she made in her conclusion have some great advice for anyone involved in education.
Report
Ray showed a film clip from The Wizard of Oz - the scene where Dorothy (Judy Garland), still in Kansas, meets Professor Marvell. Michael Shermer, president of the Skeptics Society began his presentation with a reference to something outlined by Richard Dawkins (probably the most quoted person alive who was not present at the conference) in The Root of All Evil (this documentary can shown on Australian TV this year) — the process of not thinking, called belief — before he went on to talk about the subject of his new book, another work in progress.
The Amazing Meeting
Ray argued that it is the teacher's role to help students develop their own baloney detection kit. Richard Wiseman (who I, along with many other people, mistook for Bad Astronomer Phil Plait at least until he spoke - the British accent is a bit of a giveaway), had the presentation from hell.
I n the last issue (26:4) wepublished an article,
The Mind and Mental Ill- ness; A Tale of two myths’,
Spillane of the Macquarie University Graduate
This item has drawn an unprecedented amount of
If you start with the axiom that mental illness does not exist, the non-existence of the mind becomes a convenient piece of evidence to support your position. Unfortunately, it gradually devolved into a confusion of "mental illness", "moral agents", the medicalization of inappropriate behavior and the apparent lamentation of the "undermining of notions of personal responsibility".
Waiting for the evidence
Evidence
In its Fourth Assessment Report, the IPCC found no evidence that uncertainty (around climate change) can be formally resolved through first principles, statistical hypotheses, testing or modelling. Now, as skeptics, we need to keep an open mind about these matters - I've always said that the day someone jumps into Lourdes with one foot and leaves with two, my attitude towards religion will change immediately - but in the meantime, to quote again independent summary — No evidence.
On the level
Incredibly—though a cynic would say predictably—the media has ignored this conclusion and reported the committee's summary findings as further confirmation of the greenhouse hypothesis.
Teaching English
The God Delusion
The worth of water in Sydney
Letters
Suggest that they do a blind taste test and see if they can distinguish between bottled water and tap water. The bottled water should be the water that leaves a sour taste in their mouth through a hole in the hip pocket.
Capital punishment I
Capital punishment II
Evolution debate
For example, the risk to streams, wetlands and dependent ecosystems posed by commercial spring/aquifer water bottling, and the pollution and resource consumption associated with the production and disposal of plastic bottles. Even Galileo was fighting for a single cause, and the Church must have been immeasurably weakened when she finally had to accept what had become bloody obvious.
Catalyst not so hot
Lines of least resistance
Where’s the spark?
Blatant Plugs
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