See James Randi in Norway – Live Online Video on Monday

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I’ve simply cut and pasted this from here where the original was (well) written by Sadie Crabtree. It hit my “Oh thats cool” button, and yes indeed, I’m a JREF fan and 100% support all that they do. If you are not familiar with the JREF you may be interested in checking them out, I do highly recommend you to do so.

James Randi is traveling throughout Norway for a public awareness campaign sponsored by the Norwegian Humanist Association. Friday night he gave a lecture to a packed theater in Oslo, where more than 2,500 lined up to get one of the 1,000 seats for his free presentation.

Randi’s next talk in Trondheim will be broadcast live online by the University student association Studentersamfundet, beginning at 1:00 p.m. Eastern (10:00 a.m. Pacific) on Monday. Bookmark this link and tune in on Monday to watch.

Randi has given nearly a dozen interviews to Norwegian TV, radio, podcasts and daily newspapers—about homeopathy, Uri Geller’s recent visit, and the strange beliefs of the Norwegian Princess Märtha Louise. We’ll put some of these online when they’re available in English, along with video of Randi’s lectures.

If you’re in Norway, you can find Randi’s tour schedule here.

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Bullshit Detection – “Woo Words”

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Watch out for Woo words

There are specific words that should trigger your bullshit alarm whenever you hear them. I’d recommend that you build up and keep your own list, but to ensure that you get the idea I’ll start you off with an initial list and take you through a few examples.

“energy” – This is a word that is normally used to describe measurable well understood physical things such as sound, light, heat and electricity. Usage beyond that is an abuse of the word. Terms such as negative energy, chi energy, aura, psi or just a plain old energy-field do not describe anything real or measurable and have no meaning. Such usage is most commonly found within the context of the paranormal or alternative medicine, and when detected should set your bullshit meter buzzing, so keep an eye out for this one.

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Crises in Japan – Its not a numbers game

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It has not just been one disaster, but instead is disaster heaped upon disaster three times over. First the earthquake, then a Tsunami, and now the growing Nuclear crisis. Just one is a national catastrophe, but all three together is truly hard to grasp. This is not a story of anonymous numbers in a far away place, its about people, just like you are me.

It is times like this that brings out both the best in people and also the worst. The kooks quickly rush in spouting nonsense about super moons being the cause, or simply religious crap about the wrath of made-up gods, but I don’t propose to rant about them now. Instead I wish to simply focus upon the very human factor here.

This is not a numbers game, these are people we can all empathise with, for they are us and we are them, we are all related and have a common ancestor. There is a common belief in some minds that only the religious can empathise with others, but it is times such as this that such myths are washed away by the stark realities of this human tragedy.

In Today’s UK Telegraph, Julian Ryall writes from Ishinomaki …

The atmosphere in the room on the third floor, where 30 children whose parents simply disappeared when the tsunami swept through the town, is very different.

Viewed through the window, the children sit more still and are apparently engrossed in books or card games. They are watched over by other relatives or teachers and we are not allowed to enter or speak with them. Understandably, they do not want their charges to have more reminders of the disaster that has befallen them.

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Why teach evolution? – NCSE – YouTube – NatCen4ScienceEd

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With a hat tip to the Richard Dawkins net for this one …. if you are in any way involved in teaching science, then these folks can help you. At the recent NSTA conference, Steve Newton talked about the central role evolution must play in science education, why biology teachers are hesitant to teach evolution, … Read more

God and Disaster

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A C Grayling has written a few thoughts that are well worth pondering over, here is an extract.

One thinks with sorrow of the hundreds of thousands whose lives have been horrendously lost or affected by the great Japanese earthquake and tsunami, which will put a black mark against this year 2011 in the annals, coming so soon after the earthquake that hit Christchurch in New Zealand. The events are almost certainly linked tectonically, reminding us of the vast forces of nature that are normal for the planet itself but inimical to human life, especially when lived dangerously close to the jigsaw cracks of the earth’s surface.

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