People,

   don't miss our coming lecture on "THE SCIENCE of SEXUALITY" October 20th at
2pm.

  Philadelphia Inquirer author of the column œCarnal Knowledge, Faye Flam
will discuss the science of sexuality. She has been covering science for the
Inquirer since 95. Faye has explored all kinds of fringe thinking related to
sexuality for the past 3 years. Her column has included awkward topics like,
hatred of homosexuality, the science of kissing, elder sex, genital matching,
the history of condoms and the algorithm of attraction.

    Directions and updates are found at
www.phact.org/meetings.html

     Then,  November 17th our lecture is "Everything's Relative and Other Fables
in Science and Technology"

Our November 17th speaker is Tony Rothman who is a cosmologist who studies the
Big Bang and related events.  He is interested in extremal black holes: black
holes on the verge of becoming naked singularities, as well as on the detection
of gravitons. His late father was Milton Rothman, who helped PhACT get started
11 years ago and also wrote much on Physics. Tony will speak on his latest book,
"Everything's Relative and Other Fables in Science and Technology". This
book takes a closer look and corrects much common knowledge about key historical
moments in science and technology and corrects myths. Tony is a professor of
Physics“ where Einstein used to teach at Princeton University.

    Our Winter solstice party will be in Melrose Park 6:30 Dec 21.

take care,
Eric Krieg

People,

   November 17th lecture:  "Everything's Relative and Other Fables in Science and
Technology"

   Our November 17th speaker is Tony Rothman who is a cosmologist who studies the
Big Bang and related events. He is interested in extremal black holes, black
holes on the verge of becoming naked singularities, as well as on the detection
of gravitons. His father was Milton Rothman,who helped PhACT get started 11
years ago and also wrote much on Physics. Tony will speak on his latest book,
"Everything's Relative and Other Fables in Science and Technology". This book
takes a closer look and corrects much common knowledge about key historical
moments in science and technology and corrects myths. Tony is a professor of
Physics at Princeton University. His home page
http://www.physics.princeton.edu/~trothman/
This meeting in the W2-48 room of the West Building at the Community College of
Philadelphia:  2:00 p.m

   Dec 21 at 6:30 in Melrose is our annual Solstice party.  Email me for details.


   We are working on getting Michael Shermer in the area around Jan 15th to
promote his newest book - that could possibly cause our scheduled speaker on the
vaccine controversy to be shifted to February.

  Then we have a real opportunity to help with a Randi symposium in this area
June 13th and 14th.  This would be a joint effort with the FSGP - The Free
Thought Society of Greater Philadelphia.  We could use a volunteer to pick up
his air fare cost.  We will likely host a series of workshops on critical
thinking and a banquet   - more on these two events in future issues of PhACTUM.

   on TV: Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial, a special two-hour
documentary about the Kitzmiller v. Dover case, in which teaching
"intelligent design" in the public schools was ruled to be
unconstitutional, is to air nationwide on PBS at 8:00 p.m. on November 13, 2007.

  and in other news, the following was forwarded:
DVAU Program Meeting Event:
Saturday November 10, 2007, 1pm-2pm
Speaker: Dr. Robert B. Eckhardt, Ph.D., Professor of Developmental Genetics and
Evolutionary Morphology
Topic: Linnaean taxonomy, the Christian Trinity, and Paranormal State:
Faith-based challenges to Scientific Understanding

Location: Philadelphia Ethical Society Building, 1906 Rittenhouse Square,
Philadelphia, PA 19103

The Delaware Valley Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and
State is proud to present a talk from Dr. Robert Eckhardt, Professor of
Developmental Genetics and Evolutionary Morphology, Department of Kinesiology,
College of Health and Human Development in addition to the Center for
Developmental and Health Genetics and Intercollege Graduate Program in Genetics
at Penn State. Dr. Eckhardt will discuss the creationist threat to science
education. Dr. Eckhardt was involved in the 2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School
District lawsuit when the Dover school board mandated the teaching of
"intelligent design" doctrine in public schools.

Dr. Eckhardt is also a prolific writer whose work has been published in such
peer-reviewed publications as the American Journal of Physical Anthropology.

Light refreshments will follow the meeting.

For more information, call DVAU President Janice Rael at 856-863-3061 or email
jrael @ comcast.net.

Delaware Valley Chapter (PA/NJ/DE), Americans United for Separation of Church
and State, http://www.dvau.org

How did we evolve from ancient hunter-gatherers to modern consumer-traders? Why are people so irrational when it comes to money and business? Bestselling author Dr. Michael Shermer argues that evolution provides an answer to both of these questions through the new science of evolutionary economics.

Drawing on research from neuroeconomics, Shermer explores what brain scans reveal about bargaining, snap purchases, and how trust is established in business. Utilizing experiments in behavioral economics, Shermer shows why people hang on to losing stocks and failing companies, why business negotiations often disintegrate into emotional tit-for-tat disputes, and why money does not make us happy. Employing research from complexity theory, Shermer shows how evolution and economics are both examples of a larger phenomenon of complex adaptive systems.

Along the way, Shermer answers such provocative questions as, Do our tribal roots mean that we will always be a sucker for brands? How is the biochemical joy of sex similar to the rewards of business cooperation?  How can nations increase trust within and between their borders? Finally, Shermer considers the consequences of globalization and what will happen if nations allow free trade across their borders.

 

Dr. Michael Shermer is the Publisher of Skeptic magazine, a monthly columnist for Scientific American , the host of the Skeptics Distinguished Science Lecture Series at Caltech, and Adjunct Professor of Economics at Claremont Graduate University, where he conducts research on the psychology of belief. He is the author of The Mind of the Market, his latest book on the psychology of money, an extension of his last book The Science of Good and Evil: Why People Cheat, Gossip, Share Care, and Follow the Golden Rule. Dr. Shermer is also the author of the bestselling books: How We Believe: Science, Skepticism, and the Search for God, and Why People Believe Weird Things. Dr. Shermer received his B.A. in psychology from Pepperdine University, M.A. in experimental psychology from California State University, Fullerton, and his Ph.D. in the history of science from Claremont Graduate University.

March 15^th 2008 Real Free Energy by Nick Pine
There are all kinds of false promises of free energy.  There are also many forms of renewable
energy that are simply impractical at this time to make a big impact on our energy problem.  But at 2 PM on Saturday March 15, 2008 at the Philadelphia Community College, Nick Pine will lead a PHACT discussion on inexpensive solar house heating with sunspaces at Philadelphia Community College. Houses can be close to 100% solar-heated in Pennsylvania, and solar house heating can be 100 times less expensive than solar electricity, per peak watt, and houses in the Northeast need 5 times more heat energy than electrical energy,so why so much interest in solar electricity, while we still burn oil to heat our houses?

May 17th 2008 Banquet in Horsham.

Media Integrity Panel Discussion including Faye Flam and Tony Romeo
At Noon at Edible's in Horsham on Saturday May 17^th, we will have a panel discussion about media issues. This costs 25$ a head  paid in advance to our Treasurer, Ray Haupt.

Noon at Mondauk Common Park
A Bring food to cook or just eat. We meet at the Pavilion in the woods on the south east side of the park with parking off Broad Street in the middle of Upper Dublin.

September 20^th 2pm April 19^th 2008 Innumeracy – Math in Society by John Allen Paulos

John has been a major source of  mathematical input to the media for years and has written books including Irreligion, Innumeracy, A Mathematician Plays The Stock Market, Beyond Numeracy, A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper, Once Upon A Number, and I Think Therefore I Laugh.  You can see more information on John's writings at http://www.math.temple.edu/~paulos/

Note, this is back at our Philadelphia Community College location.

In other announcements, I put up a page trying to offer a rational response to Dennis Lee's recent multi million dollar ad campaign selling kits to convert cars to get up to 100 miles to the gallon.
http:\\www.phact.org/hafc.htm

Also, we could use donations for things like extra printing, speakers honoraria, promotions and special programs. We could use help finding speakers and getting Phactum articles.

Tom Napier tells us that science promoter, Bill Nye the Science Guy will be speaking at the Horsham high school 7:30 pm.  There is a reception afterwards, you can find out about tickets for both from http://www.hhef.org/events_billnye.htm

The Humanist Association of Greater Philadelphia and the Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia are having a summer picnic at Fort Washington State Park on Sunday July 27 2008. more info from Sally.cramer@...

You can become a member of PhACT and get our snail mail newsletter by just sending $15 per year (hopefully a donation too) care of Ray Haupt 639 W. Ellet Str Philadelphia PA 19119.  a good link to pass to people to get on the email list is
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/phact/

Eric Krieg

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

 Saturday, April 19, 2008, 2:00PM

 -- Science Education in Crisis

hey,

On May 17th noon, we have a luncheon panel discussion on Media Integrity
with
the Inquirer's Faye Flam, KYW's Tony Romeo, and Fox News' Bruce Gordon.
This is a good chance to hear people from the printed, radio and TV
forms of
media report on issues like what makes the news, and balance in
journalism. This
is one of those events that friends and significant others should be
invited to.

This costs 25$ per person, paid soon in advance to our Treasurer, Ray
Haupt.
639 W Ellet Str  Philadelphia PA 19119  Please get the checks out today
and perhaps
confirm with an email to Ray at reh215 (at) aol.com

Note, the map in Phactum was off - Edibles is at 1116 Horsham Rd,
Horsham, PA
Tel: (215) 646-1834  It is by the intersection with Norristown Rd. You
go north
about a mile on 611 from the turnpike and bear left onto 463, then
Edibles
is in a strip mall on the left just below the traffic light at
Norristown Rd.

Please also consider meeting informally with a lot of us for the picnic
Sunday
   July 13th at noon at Mondauk Common Park in the pavilion in the woods.
Bring your own food, you can cook on the grill - we also have the near
sports
field reserved.

best wishes,
Eric Krieg

Thought you all might like to know that the showing of Ben Stein's
movie _Expelled_ has been suspended for at least a couple of weeks. It
turns out that there have been several complaints about misuse of
copyrighted materials, and the surviving Lennons (Yoko Ono, Julian,
and Sean) have filed suit against the use of an excerpt from "Imagine"
in the film's promotional materials.

Read it and smile!

http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2008/05/injunction_against_expelled.php

We the Person: Evolutionary Psychology and the Many Branches of your Brain

By Robert Kurzban

A central tenet of evolutionary psychology is that the mind consists of a large number of specialized systems, operating semi-autonomously. Here I will review the basic principles of the adaptationist approach to understanding human cognition and argue that 1) a great deal of what goes on in the human mind is not accessible to consciousness, 2) many parts of the human mind are not designed to generate true beliefs, 3) human minds frequently contain mutually incompatible cognitive representations isolated from one another, 4) making the very idea of a unified “self” suspect, and, finally, that 5) these ideas, taken together, explain the omnipresence of human inconsistency, including moral hypocrisy.

Saturday November 15th at 2pm
Our speaker for our next lecture will be Pam Freyd of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation. An overview of her talk:

In the early 1990s, there was an explosion of accusations of childhood sexual abuse based only on claims of “repressed memories” made by adults against their parents. Most of these “memories” had been excavated in therapy, generally with use of hypnosis. Thousands of families were destroyed, and the courts were filled with lawsuits based on “recovered memories.” By the end of the 1990s, however, the exponential growth of such accusations and the subsequent lawsuits had slowed. Just when it seemed likely that the problem would slowly fade away as a consequence of the mounting evidence that there was no scientific basis to support the claims, the clergy abuse scandal grabbed the headlines, keeping the notion of “recovered repressed memories” in the news.

The presentation will review briefly the history of the false memory problem and the conditions that allowed it to flourish. It will highlight several significant research studies on the topic and discuss the role of the FMS Foundation in the acrimonious debate.

==================================
Notes from Eric,
This whole subject is open to debate. The FMS has had detractors, controversy and set backs especially since we last heard from them. I don't know what percentage of claimants are true. It is my impression that there are many parallels between UFO abduction claims and FMS.
More info on FMS is found at http://www.fmsfonline.org/

Note that all our meetings at the college will be at the new location in
S2-03 on the second floor of the Winnet Student Life building.  This
building is between the parking garage on 17th street and the building
on the corner where we had met. Go up one flight of stairs and turn 180
to face down the hall where we will meet.  See
http://www.ccp.edu/site/about/campus_map.htm#
 
December 14th is a Winter Solstice party in Elkins Park for members
only.  Email me for details.
 In January, our speaker is Dan Falk: with:
IN SEARCH OF TIME    

Time is at once intimately familiar and yet deeply mysterious.  It is thoroughly intangible: we say it flows like a river – yet when we try to examine that flow, the river seems reduced to a mirage.  No wonder philosophers, poets, and scientists from Aristotle to Einstein have grappled with the enigma of time for centuries.

 
The mystery of time has captivated science journalist Dan Falk, who sets off on an intellectual journey in his latest book, In Search of Time: The Science of a Curious Dimension (St. Martin’s Press, November 2008).  In this illustrated talk, Dan will discuss some of the most intriguing aspects of time:  how our ancestors first learned to measure it; how we suspect it – and the universe – began, and what the “end of time” may hold for us; and a brief look at the physics of time travel and the paradoxes it seems to entail.

  Author bio:

 
Dan Falk has written about science for the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, The Boston Globe, The Walrus, SkyNews, Astronomy, Sky & Telescope, and New Scientist, and has been a regular contributor to the Canadian radio programs Ideas and Quirks & Quarks on the CBC radio network.  His awards include a Gold Medal for Radio Programming from the New York Festivals and the Science Writing Award in Physics and Astronomy from the American Institute of Physics. His first book, Universe on a T-Shirt, won the 2002 Science in Society Journalism Award from the Canadian Science Writers' Association. He lives in Toronto.

 

We expect to conclude with a book signing of his coming new book, “In Search of Time: The Science of a Curious Dimension” (McClelland & Stewart / St.  Martin ’s Press) will be out on November 11 th .

  
http://us.macmillan.com/insearchoftime

hope to see you out for some of these events,
Eric Krieg   erickrieg@...

Hi all --

I have been the keeper of the bulk of the PhACT lending library since
Bill Wisdom moved to smaller quarters a year ago.
Now I am moving, and would like to shed some of the load to others.

Would you like to own a few books on skeptical topics? There is no
need to take the whole pile; if there are a few books, or even one or
two, that peak your interest, I would be happy to give them new homes.

See the list of books at http://phact.org/library.php. There are a
small few that I wish to keep, but most of them are available for
others to take.

Please contact me if you can help. If I get no takers, I will be
donating a large number of the books to my local library.

Thanks,
Wes Powers
215-245-6799
wes@...

Saturday, January 17, 2009 Philadelphia Community Collect

in room S2-03 of the Winnet Student Life Building at 2:00 PM

“In Search of Time”

Dan Falk has written about science for the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, The Boston Globe, The Walrus, SkyNews, Astronomy, Sky and Telescope, and New Scientist, and has been a regular contributor to the Canadian radio programs "Ideas" and "Quirks and Quarks" on the CBC radio network. His awards include a Gold Medal for Radio Programming from the New York Festivals and the Science Writing Award in Physics and Astronomy from the American Institute of Physics. His first book, "Universe on a T-Shirt", won the 2002 Science in Society Journalism Award from the Canadian Science Writers' Association. He lives in Toronto.

We expect to conclude with a book signing of his coming new book.

ALL ARE WELCOME

Refreshments will be served.

Subject:	Drinking Skeptically Jan. 15th!
Date:	Wed, 07 Jan 2009 10:29:14 -0500
From:	Salvatore Patrone <spatrone@...>
To:	skepticphilly@...

Stop by next week for lively discussions on the state of skepticism and some good food and drink.

If you're a member of a skeptic or humanist organization. Please feel free to bring any literature you'd like to distribute.

Our facebook page is: http://tinyurl.com/skepticphilly

Sign up there for up to the minute info. and to connect with other skeptic drinkers.

As usual, I've attached a flyer for you to print and post anyplace you deem appropriate.

Drinking Skeptically Philadelphia meets each 3rd Thursday at:
Tattooed Mom's (a.k.a T-Mom's, NOT Sugarmom's)Ground Floor, rear.
530 South St 
Philadelphia, PA 19147

Specials:
$3 burgers (beef, veggie, or vegan) 
$1.50 PBR till 10pm
$1 Lionshead from 10 - 12

P.S. I'm trying to learn how to bend spoons, so if you're an expert, lend me a hand. If you know one, please invite them along

Hope to see you all next week,

Sal

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG.
Version: 7.5.552 / Virus Database: 270.10.4 - Release Date: 1/7/2009 12:00 AM

People,

     Our updated Phact discussion board has gotten started at
http://phactforum.org//list.php?4

Our next meeting is 2pm Feb 21 in room S2-03 on the second floor of the
Winnet Student Life building at the Community College of Philadelphia.
This building is on 17th Street, just south of Spring Garden Street, in
Center City Philadelphia.

Saturday, February 21, 2009 - Integrative Oncology: Complementary
Therapies and Botanicals in Cancer Care
The challenge of today's cancer care is the mandate to address the span
of patient needs that stem from successful cancer treatments. These
needs include the short- and long-term effects of the very treatments
that enable survival. Several disciplines now offer approaches to
physical and emotional symptom control, including the fields of
Supportive Care, Rehabilitation, Palliative Care, Psycho-Oncology, Pain
Management, Survivorship, and Integrative Oncology.

While some of these disciplines are more narrowly focused than others,
all are concerned with symptoms, not with treatment of the cancer
itself. Integrative Oncology adds non-pharmacologic symptom control to
basic cancer care. It is the synthesis of mainstream cancer treatment
and complementary therapies, the latter dealing with physical as well as
emotional symptoms. By blending treatment of the tumor and care for the
rest of the patient as well, it offers the all-encompassing approach
that today's patients require. The complementary therapies used by
Integrative Oncology are evidence-based, non-invasive, and absent side
effects. They include mind-body therapies such as meditation,
self-hypnosis, and other relaxation techniques; massage and other gentle
touch therapies; acupuncture for relief of pain and many other symptoms;
exercise regimens based on clinical status; music and art therapies;
yoga, tai chi, and related approaches; nutritional, vitamin, and other
dietary supplement guidance; and high-quality investigation of the
anti-tumor promise of herbs and other botanicals.

Our speaker is Barrie R. Cassileth, MS, PhD, who is the Chief of
Integrative Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

As a researcher, educator, and planner, Dr. Cassileth has worked in
alternative and complementary (integrative) medicine and psychosocial
aspects of cancer care for close to 30 years. She has published
extensively on these issues, and has been invited to lecture on these
topics throughout North and South America, Eastern and Western Europe,
Asia, and Australia.

Dr. Cassileth developed prototypic programs in patient and family
support, medical education, homecare and hospice, and research in
integrative medicine while a faculty member in Medicine and Associate
Director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of
Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. In 1999 she was recruited to Memorial
Sloan-Kettering to create an integrative medicine department, which has
now become an international prototype.

She is the founding president of the international Society for
Integrative Oncology and Founding Editor-in-Chief of its Journal,
associate editor or advisory board member of eleven medical journals
internationally, and serves as reviewer for most major medical journals
and as a grant reviewer for government agencies in the U.S. and other
countries. She was a founding member of the Advisory Council to the
National Institutes of Health Office of Alternative Medicine, now the
Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. She was on the
national Board of Directors of the American Cancer Society and is now on
the ACS Eastern Board, and serves on ACS and ASCO Committees. She served
on many NIH and other federal and national panels and committees.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

Our March meeting will be on Intelligent Design and their on going
attempts to sneak into schools.


     I'll be a Judge at a Bucks County Science fair for high school
students in March.   If someone would donate at least $50 for a special
catagory prize for critial thinking in a science fair project, I would
be glad to award it on behalf of PhACT.

Eric Krieg

Saturday, March 21, 2009 - The Dover Evolution/Intelligent Design Trial

Saturday, April 18, 2009 - Teaching Critical Thinking

Eric:

I got your interview on Dateline on tape. The PhACT webpage was shown
all too briefly, but maybe some people will be interested and find the
site.

You did very well. I'll see if any of my students watched and
recognized you.

-David F. Cattell, Ph.D.
  Physics Department Chair and
  Associate Professor of Physics
  Community College of Philadelphia




eric krieg wrote:


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---------------------------------
David F. Cattell, Ph.D.
Physics Department Chair and
Associate Professor of Physics
Community College of Philadelphia
1700 Spring Garden Street
Philadelphia, PA 19130

Saturday, April 18, 2009 2m - Teaching Critical Thinking

Thinking Socratically: Critical Thinking About Everyday Issues, Second Edition encourages students in a user-friendly way to improve their own natural reasoning skills. An enjoyable collection of readings presents students with real-life situations that raise questions about the basic assumptions of rationality, naturally engaging them in open dialogue—the hallmark of the rational person. The situations range from the problem of evidence at a trial to the absence of an explanation of why two children died in the same day-care center on the same day.

The text is distinctively different, both conceptually and pedagogically in its approach and critical thinking.

• Teaches critical thinking in contexts of ordinary life issues
• Shows how to be a critical thinker using Socrates as a model
• Emphasizes open rational dialogue, especially among friends, but even among enemies
• Is organized in short packets for ease of assignment and retention
• Includes puzzles of rationality as well as standard items

Becky Strickland
6 Samuel Huntington
Turnersville, NJ  08012   (or you could hand a check to her in person this Saturday)

Becky Strickland  
6 Samuel Huntington
Turnersville, NJ  08012    Would be a good idea to also email her at quasar@...

Check out our improved discussion board


Eric Krieg

Saturday September 19, 2009 - Science, Pseudoscience, and the Law

Saturday, October 17, 2009 - The Large Hadron Collider

Saturday, November 21, 2009 - Robert Park

"I have to say, I liked it a lot. It was refreshingly skeptical and shows a level of scientific methodology and critical thinking rare in ghost hunter circles. It should be required reading for anyone interested in ghosts; both novice and veteran ghost hunters will save themselves a lot of time chasing wild geese if they read and understand what you 
have to say."

  hope to see you there,
Eric Krieg

“Orbs or Dust? A Practical Guide to False-Positives.”

Come with us as Mr. Biddle takes a look at False-Positives; evidence that appears to be paranormal, but actually has a natural explanation. Our speaker will take a look at not only Orbs, but through the many other forms in which ghosts have been "captured". You will learn about mistakes, tricks of light and a camera feature that has been wreaking havoc in the ghost hunting community. Mr. Biddle will also look at a few ways "Investigators" deliberately produce images, including step-by-step instructions on how they "capture" a shadow man with the help of Photoshop. He will also include a few experiments you can do to verify many of these results yourself.

Ken Biddle is founder of PIRA, Paranormal Investigators & Research Association.

http://home.comcast.net/~parainvestigator/Index/Main.html

PIRA gets involved with many charitable causes, mainly by participating in fund raising events at historical sites in the Delaware Valley area. They have supported historic Fort Mifflin, and in May of 2010 will participate in an event at historic Eastern State Penitentiary.
It looks like that we will be using the open parking lot on 17th street across from the main garage on January 16.  Going South on 17th from Spring Garden St, the open parking lot will be on your left.

ALL ARE WELCOME  Refreshments will be served.

People,

   Although it doesn't feel much like global warming lately - come and get a look
at the controversy this Saturday at 2pm for "Conspiracies in Science".   All
lectures are held at 2:00 PM in the C2-28 Lecture Room at the Philadelphia
Community College. This room is in the Center for Business and Industry at the
corner of 18th and Callowhill streets on the College's Main Campus.  Parking is
easily available but is no longer free for PhACT attendees at CCP events. The
Saturday parking rate is $3.50. Enter the college parking lot on 17th Street
which is one way south bound

Saturday, February 20, 2010 - Conspiracy Theories in Science

Ted Goertzel of Rutgers will speak to us on "Conspiracy Theories in Science" and
will give some up to date insights on the global warming email scandal.
Dr. Goertzel s talk will include claims on both sides of the global warming
issue, that the other side is censoring, and will discuss conspiracy belief in
general. Conspiracy Theory is an immensely rich topic, as our lives are
surrounded by various conspiracies great and small, malevolent and good natured.
Some are sinister, such as political intrigues and criminal plots to discredit
or defraud. Others are harmless, such as the silliness of UFO claimants and
those elaborate schemes to carry out a surprise party.
It does become a bit distressing when science is at the center of Conspiracy
Theories. We do, after all, expect scientists to be objective and even
"scientific" in attitude and demeanor. However, if one were to dig deeply into a
science controversy one might very well find factions based upon ego, power, and
financial interests.
The current Climate Change/Global Warming debate is an interesting example where
experts on both sides of the issue are unhappy about the statements and tactics
of the other. That issue remains unresolved, but there are other science
conspiracies where the science is indeed well resolved that have significant
impact upon our lives and large numbers of supporters on both sides.
PhACT and other critical thinking and skeptics groups routinely discuss
Creationism, homeopathy, UFO's, anti-vaccination activists, free energy devices,
and many other issues. Those controversial areas all have scientific claims and
large number of True Believers at odds with the beliefs of skeptics. Oddly
enough, those True Believers are wrong in their contentions and WE, of course,
are right in ours.
Come to the meeting with an open mind and questions, and as an attendee you need
not feel obliged to adhere to mainstream skeptical thinking, whatever that may
be -- even though we are right. :-)

Our speaker, Ted Goertzel, earned his B.A. at Antioch College, Yellow Springs,
Ohio, 1964, in sociology and anthropology, an M.A. at Washington University,
1966, in sociology and Latin American Studies, and Ph.D. At Washington
University, St. Louis, 1970, in sociology. In 1973 he became Professor of
Sociology at Rutgers University.
He has written or co-authored many books including Cradles of Eminence: Second
Edition, Fernando Henrique Cardoso: Reinventing Democracy in Brazil, Linus
Pauling: A Life in Science and Politics (with Ben Goertzel, Mildred Goertzel and
Victor Goertzel), Turncoats and True Believers: The Dynamics of Political Belief
and Disillusionment, Sociology: Class, Consciousness, and Contradictions (with
Albert Szymanski), Three Hundred Eminent Personalities: A Psychosocial Analysis
of the Famous (with Mildred Goertzel and Victor Goertzel), and Political
Society. In addition he has written countless articles, essays, and book
chapters.
Dr.Goertzel s web page is: http://crab.rutgers.edu/~goertzel/
=========================

    Our March meeting will feature the very prolific anthropologist, Lionel Tiger
who I'm anticipating will speak on "The Decline of Males" as well as promote his
latest book, "God's Brain".  By there for a fascinating look at a number of
controversies spanning culture, genes and technology.  A book signing will
follow.  He is the Charles Darwin Professor of Anthropology at Rutgers
University and more information on him is found at
http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~ltiger/

   I'm hoping to get a speaker on destructive cults for April.  And we have Joe
Nickell slated as a dinner banquette speaker for May 15th followed by a Jersey
Devil investigation and field trip open to members the next morning.

best wishes,
Eric Krieg
phact.org