A few years ago, our Siberian husky Vandal passed away. While we were sad to see him go, we often said he never really left us.
We were referring to the little clumps of white hair we found for a long time afterward. (Huskies shed a lot.) But according to breaking news from Atlanta’s own WGCL — our CBS affiliate — he may have been reincarnated.
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Joe Nickell once told me that whenever he travels he does some research and tries to find if there are any paranormal mysteries at his destination that are worthy of research and might produce an article. I found that to be excellent advice and when I had the opportunity to travel to Overland Park, Kansas in June I decided to follow Joe’s lead.
» Continue reading “Keep the hell out of Stull!”
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For the third outing we will be heading back to the site of the first Skeptics in the Park, Grant Park. If the weather report is to be believed, this one promises to be the best yet in terms of weather.
Come on out this Saturday and hang out with the Atlanta Skeptics in the sun.
All the pertinent info can be found on the Meetup page.
See you there!
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MyFoxAtlanta had a short segment Sunday evening about the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s billboards that are supposed to hit 50 billboards in Atlanta this month. No sightings, yet, though some of the billboards shown in the clip look like they might be around Atlanta.
The negative reactions are disappointing, at best, but no threats of violence or vandalism. I agree with Pastor Alan Morris, from the Georgia Baptist Convention, that the “sleep in on Sunday” billboards are likely counterproductive.
Atlantan Perry Mitchell speaks extensively for the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and does a good job at presenting his case.
Pastor Morris opines, “‘Imagine there’s no heaven. Imagine…’ You know…that is an absolute absurdity, because what do we have to live for? We have no explanation for how we got here, we have no explanation for where we’re going, or no explanation for why we should even live morally, today.”
The newsreader has an amusing quote at the end (emphasis added), “Just about everyone we spoke with said people have the right to free speech, and to make their religion (or lack of religion) known.”
[added 09/15/10 18:15] They also posted a video of an on-air debate between Mr. Mitchell and Dr. David Sapp, senior pastor of Second Ponce de Leon Baptist Church. Fox 5′s Russ Spencer agreed with Dr. Sapp that some of the billboards were “attacks” upon Christianity. Russ Spencer also gave an extensive editorial after the brief debate. I don’t agree with all of his conclusions, but I like the way he presented his ideas. It’s the best I expect from a local news program, much more so from a Fox affiliate.
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Halloween is nearly here again, and as the days begin to cool and the leaves begin to turn golden, the media’s thoughts will turn lightly to misty figures and the wails of disembodied spirits. Yes, it’s nearly ghost season again.
The Kennesaw House in Marietta, allegedly home to 700+ ghosts.
I was born and raised in Georgia, and have heard many ghost stories through my life. But I’ve never seen so many ghost hunters active before. I presume this in part because of the number of television shows which make it seem so simple to go out and “solve” a ghost case. » Continue reading “The Kennesaw House elevator ghost is going down!”
Kelly Nelson, a travel writer for the Atlanta Examiner open publishing news site, wrote a short article in the Examiner. She says that the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s billboard campaign (including “In Reason We Trust” on a penny) will hit Atlanta after Labor Day 2010. I didn’t see the Auburn University billboards in Atlanta get vandalized, so maybe these billboards have a chance to survive, too.
Is Kelly otherwise active in the Atlanta Skeptics/critical thinking community?
A hoax revealed
As a skeptic, like it or not, I’ve gotten something of a reputation in my family as the go-to person for “is this real?” queries regarding Internet memes. I spend way too much time doing other people’s Google-searches and Snopes-checks. So I’ve gotten something of a nose for an Internet hoax when I see one. Of course one of the biggest clues is that one of my relatives sends me the thing as part of a chain of forwarded e-mails. If it contains the text “forward this to five friends” or similar, it is hard to wipe the scent of hoax off of it.
But Tuesday of this week something a bit astonishing started happening. My facebook feed became full of the same link being forwarded by dozens and dozens of people. After who knows how many times, I finally clicked on it to see what the fuss was about. It was there that I met “Jenny” the girl who quit her job with a white-board.
» Continue reading “8,675,309 views later…”
It’s time! Tickets for our 2nd Annual Charity Star Party are on sale now! Are you coming to Dragon*Con this year? If so, you should seriously consider coming in a day early to attend. This year’s entertainment includes renowned astronomers and hosts of AstronomyCast, Pamela Gay and Fraser Cain with special appearance by musician George Hrab! Plus, Skepchick Rebecca Watson will be hosting the event. The Emory University Physics department is sponsoring the event and will be showing off their observatory and telescopes.
This event is in honor of Jeff Medkeff, the Blue Collar Scientist, astronomer, skeptic and friend to many of us. Jeff succumbed to liver cancer in 2008. All proceeds will go toward the Light the Night Fund: The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in Jeff’s name.
Food, drinks and conversations with astronomers. What more could you ask for? Oh yeah, star gazing!
We have a bit more space than we did last year but tickets will sell out. Get them while you can!
I’m home now and settling back into every day life after leaving TAM8 was quite a jolt. It’s kind of how I feel after Dragon*Con each year – exhausted, elated and longing for more. I met so many interesting people, heard so many fascinating talks and generally tried to embrace every waking moment of the conference with as much sponge-like attentiveness as I could muster.
Bruce Hood sounds very smart. He’s talking about the brain and how it works. He seems very well informed, though my first meeting with him was last night in the hotel bar when he was wearing a fake moustache and singing the theme music from Star Trek in an impromptu barber-shop quartet. It’s amazing – and yes, I can tell you that this conference lives up to its name.
» Continue reading “TAM 8 – Thoughts about Day 2″
