People

Report From the Skeptics Society’s Science Symposium – James Randi

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James Randi writes about his time at the Skeptics Society … Last weekend, I had the privilege of attending Michael Shermer’s Science Symposium and rubbing shoulders with a somewhat different crowd than what I’ll mix with at the upcoming TAM in Las Vegas. TAM-ers are very much skeptics, and though at the Shermer event I … Read more

Bachmann

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Christopher Hitchens pens his thoughts on Bachmann … here are a couple of extracts …

That was actually three dripping custard pies, rather than just the one, with which Rep. Michele Bachmann assailed her own face by bragging to Fox News about her small-town Iowa roots …

… boasted by the sturdy small town of her girlhood, she went on to claim that “John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa …It was his namesake John Wayne Gacy, serial rapist and killer of 33 teenage boys and young men, who spent time in Waterloo…

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Reddit skeptics have a great sense of humor

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One of the cool aspects involved within on-line skeptic forums such as reddit /r/skeptic is the access you gain to a pool of folks who quite often demonstrate a great sense of humor (I’m getting to a point … stick with me).

On one occasion, not too long ago, I stated what could be best described as the bleeding obvious. The following well deserved comment soon came back

In other news, scientists present the first conclusive evidence of a bear defecating in the woods. Film at 11.

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Cliff Richard – Is he, or is he not?

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I recently came across an article about “Cliff Richard“. Looking at what had been written, I was rather surprised to find that the author wrote about how Cliff met a Catholic Priest and that they now lived together and were really good close friends. I thought to myself, “no, that simply can’t be right, I … Read more

PZ on YouTube – Confrontation and Education

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PZ is well-known, and also well worth listening to, not just because he is somebody who can communicate effectively, but also because he actually has something worth listening to, so it was a delight to see him coaxed him out of his academic seclusion for a trip to Ireland and also, on his way back, to a Skeptics In the Pub in Glasgow.

I have two treats for you today. The first is a direct confrontation with some Muslims who stuck a camera under his nose while he was out for a walk, the second is his complete talk at Skeptics in the Pub in Glasgow.

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Richard Dawkins – strident and intolerant?

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Today I have a great pointer for you, specifically to an article I found in the Independent (the Irish one). Kevin Myers has done a great job debunking a popular myth regarding Richard Dawkins Quite often, you hear folks refer to Richard as strident, aggressive, intolerant and arrogant, and it does personally annoy the hell … Read more