(note: A version of this article appears at The Atlanta Examiner)

What: Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns and Mermaids
Where: Fernbank Museum
When: through August 14, 2011

Blake is the one on the left.

Since I host a podcast & radio show about monsters, I felt obliged to go check out Fernbank museum’s newest exhibit, “Mythic Creatures.”  It was a treat, not a chore.  Partnering with the American Museum of Natural History, the exhibit contains many exhibits on well known popular culture monsters such as the chupacabra, bigfoot and the kraken.  But it also explores many of the science elements behind such myths.
» Continue reading “Fernbank exhibit not to be mythed”

It’s time once again for Skepticamp Atlanta! Skepticamp 2011 will be the third Skepticamp in Atlanta. If you haven’t attended before, you really should consider it – it’s a great time and we always have fantastic speakers and and great time. Not sure what Skepticamp is? Learn more here.

Want to help out or just have some fun? Our next meetup will be a LIVE Amateur Scientist podcast featuring Brian Thompson, the Amateur Scientist. Lots of fun and we’ll be using it to raise funds for Skepticamp. You won’t want to miss it!

As for Skepticamp itself, get the key details here:

» Continue reading “Skepticamp 2011 is coming!”

I hate to quote the Moonie Times as much as anybody does, but this article attracted my attention on a Google Alert. Please read the article, and I’d appreciate any input from our Atlantans Vindaloo, and from any other Indians or people familiar with Indian politics. I also have to admit that I am relying entirely on the account of this speech and its aftermath from the Washington Times, which is probably foolhardy of me.

In February (in typical wingnut fashion, the article is very light on facts/dates and verifiable sources, a hard habit to break) Indian Ambassador Meera Shankar spoke at Emory University’s Emerging India Summit in Atlanta. Her speech was about the political, ethnic, and religious diversity of India. As part of this speech, she mentioned that Sonia Gandhi, leader of the Congress Party (the largest party in India), is Christian.

In trying to avoid the toxic effects of religion in southwest Asia, India tends to entirely eliminate any comment or attention on political leaders’ religious beliefs and practices. In keeping with that, when the Indian Embassy published Mrs. Shankar’s speech, it censored any mention of Gandhi’s religion from the speech.

This offended certain forces in the Indian Press, since her speech was about religious diversity. I only know about one or two sources in India from the Washington Times article. I don’t know anything about their political/religious leanings, if they’re as crazy as the Times, nor do I know this about any of the two or three other sources that turn up on a GoogleNews search.

What do you think? Is it healthier in India to avoid mention of religion about politicians? Would that be healthier in the Middle East? Would that be healthier in Georgia? It should go without saying that part of this avoidance of discussing religion of politicians in India includes the politicians themselves avoiding the subject. I don’t think we have a hope of that in US politics, especially not in Georgia. I do fully support the idea of censoring any public mention of a politician’s religion, though most of those would be censoring the politician him/herself.

Hi all!

This isn’t something we often do, but one of our own Atlanta Skeptics, LaVerne Knight-West, is going through a difficult time and I’m hoping we can help.  Some of you may know that LaVerne has gone through a rough patch of really bad luck over the past few months and has been struggling to make ends meet for herself and her family. Last week, when she was in the process of moving, the house she was moving from was robbed. She and her two sons have now pretty much lost everything. The burglars took their clothes, electronics, DVDs, even food out of the refrigerator.

Since showing up at the very first Atlanta Skepticamp, LaVerne has been a bright light in the Atlanta Skeptics. She’s always kept us on our toes and embraced skepticism and critical thinking with an eagerness, warmth and passion that has been a joy to watch. We love her and want to help her out now, when things are looking so dark for her.

If you can, please contribute a few dollars to help LaVerne and her family get back on their feet. Any small contribution will help.

UPDATE: We raised over $1,500 for LaVerne! Thanks so much to everyone who contributed!

Thanks
Maria

Once upon a time there was a young blond-headed boy who would sometimes ride with his parents out to his grandparents’ house. Often during these trips, his grandparents and parents, when discussing options for dinner, would decide to go out. The whole clan would then hop into the boy’s grandmother’s Lincoln Continental and they would drive about five or ten minutes to a restaurant he’d been to many times. It was a restaurant he always enjoyed visiting.

To be continued after the break . . .

» Continue reading “They Didn’t Invent Intolerance, Just the Intolerance Sandwich”

MEDIA ADVISORY

January 31, 2011

Contact: Maria Walters, atlantaskeptics@gmail.com

Local skeptics to expose “witchcraft medications” sold in major pharmacies

Atlanta group to join consumer advocates on 6 continents to protest unregulated sham “medicines”

WHAT: Dozens of consumer advocates will attend a lecture and demonstration by Blake Smith, host of MonsterTalk and Maria Walters of Skepchick.org, about how homeopathic preparations are made, how homeopathic “medicines” are neither “alternative” nor “natural” medicine, and how real harm can result when patients substitute homeopathic “medicine” for real medical treatment. A humorous presentation about the uses of homeopathic preparations will follow. Rip-roaring sober drinkers of homeopathic alcohol served at the bar will be available to answer questions.

WHEN: 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2011

WHERE: Manuel’s Tavern, 602 N Highland Avenue Northeast

WHO: Blake Smith, host of the show MonsterTalk

Maria Walters, Skepchick.org and president of the Atlanta Skeptics

Members of the Atlanta Skeptics

This event is held in coordination with The 10:23 Challenge (www.1023.org.uk) and the James Randi Educational Foundation (randi.org).

The Atlanta Skeptics is an independent grassroots organization devoted to the celebration of science and the promotion of critical thinking. Information about the Atlanta Skeptics can be found at http://www.atlantaskeptics.com/about/.

This article at CNN references a study in the Archives of Ophthalmology stating that acupuncture treatment for lazy eye is substantially more effective than the traditional eye-patch treatment.

The article quotes Dr. Willie Y.W. Chen, an Atlanta board-certified ophthalmologist who also includes acupuncture in his practice. “I have been using acupuncture to treat certain eye conditions but only with success in a few, including eye and head pain,” he says.

Dr. Chen is concerned about this practice, which uses acupuncture in sensitive areas in children: “Can 7-12 year olds tolerate this treatment?”

I am extremely skeptical about the study. I have downloaded it from the journal, but I’ve only had time to skim it. I won’t deny that my opinion is that there are either methodological flaws or fraud. They phrase the conclusions so strongly that there’s a smaller possibility of the “chance” error, which occurs because 1 in 20 studies will (by chance) cross the 95% threshold of effect, even when there is no effect.

I have the paper available to read, please e-mail or comment here if you would like to review it.

Governor-elect Nathan Deal of Gainesville, Georgia, has incorporated several religious activities into his inauguration festivities, according to his hometown paper, the Gainesville Times.

It all starts with a prayer service at 9:00 AM on January 10th at “the” Mount Paran Church of God, which will include a choir from his home church, First Baptist Church of Gainesville.

“There has been a long-standing tradition that governors and constitutional officers on the morning of the inaugural have begun their day with a time of prayer. We are going to continue that tradition,” [Deal spokesman Harris] Blackwood said. “This will be a very ecumenical event that will be inclusive of various religions and beliefs.”

One would like to perform a constitutional test of the limits of his inclusion…

The prayer service will be open to the public, as will the 2pm inaugural at the state capitol. It is all funded by private contributions.

I was at a meeting in Auburn and spent a few minutes digging around the stores for some of the (occasionally) funny football shirts, when I discovered the secret of Auburn’s football success this season: Power Force Ion Infused Wristbands!

These wristbands “work with your body’s natural inner force” and contain “ions that work with your body’s energy to give you confidence from within.” Based on my years of observation, the only ions I have seen reliably giving confidence have been ethanol ions in aqueous solution. And it’s obviously not THOSE ions helping Auburn to such a good season, so this must be something special.

I did further research, and discovered a scientific analysis of the product by its manufacturer (from Guangdong, China). Their homepage is here: http://www.hottime.cn/ but I don’t care enough to find the research page there. On the research page you learn lots of amazing things about them. It’s almost entirely a list of absurd claims for every medical and scientific scam over the last century. They make you more “stable” so you can’t be knocked over (they have pictures to explain this)!

The research page contains this exciting list:

Benefits of energy:

I knew all of this MUST be the secret of Auburn’s astounding football success this year, where the team has the chance to win more games this season than the last two seasons put together. Surely major American university bookstores and athletic departments wouldn’t be selling their name and this product without thoroughly reviewing the evidence supporting these amazing claims!

Auburn’s success is plenty of evidence for me to trust that this product delivers everything it promises! I don’t need to research any more.

Wait, I’ve got one more page open from my google search…Oh, never mind, this page has new evidence that contradicts everything above about Power Force Ion Wristbands and football success.

[Added 12/22/10] This story, about the Australian consumer watchdog group ACCC cracking down on Power Balance bracelets seems relevant, though the company uses a different name. The product looks identical.