From Abracadabra to Zombies
The Skeptic's Dictionary Newsletter
DESCRIPTION
The newsletter ran from May 2012 to May 2016. Each issue described recent additions or changes to The Skeptic's Dictionary and provided comments on selected issues, publications, and events. ---R. Carroll
ARCHIVED NEWSLETTERS
2016
Volume 15 No.
5; May 2016
Final issue: a few book recommendations.
Volume 15 No.
4; April 2016
Critical Thinking Handbook by Greg Haskins; SkeptiCal-2016; Karen Stollznow publishes her first novel; Franklin Graham's Bigotry Crusade; Wahhabism: Spreading Death and Destruction Nation by Nation.
Volume 15 No.
3; March 2016
The Confidence Game by Maria Konnikova; Marco Rubio and his god's plan for him and the rest of us, I guess; living a meaningful life with religion, psychics, fake healers, etc.; happiness and greatness: America the Great.
Volume 15 No.
2; February 2016
Frontline investigates Big Supplement; Richard Dawkins recovers from a stroke; CFI and the Dawkins Foundation merge; Reason Rally 2016; CFICon next October in Las Vegas; and Antonin Scalia dies but his dubious legacy lives on.
Volume 15 No.
1; January 2016
Forever Family Foundation and Afterlife Science; tribalism, paranoia, and endless rancor among people who disagree with each other on just about anything; what's happening at the JREF now that the Amazing One has retired from his foundation's leadership.
2015
Volume 14 No.
11; December 2015
Deepak's Quantum Erasure of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi; a new year's resolution to be kinder; acupuncture beliefs never changing; punked by a reality show; the FDA requests comments on use of the term 'natural' in food labeling; will pigeons replace pathologists?; and some thoughts for the season.
Volume 14 No.
10; November 2015
The anti-GMO Campaign against Dr. Kevin Folta; Conservapedia sets the record straight about Skepdic; Diane Hennacy Powell validates an autistic child as telepathic; Anecdotes, Data, & Metadata; conspiracies to conceal cancer cures known in places like Haiti and Tijuana.
Volume 14 No.
9; October 2015
The Babes of Science and the Babe of Pseudoscience; Changing Hearts and Minds; Hoax-busters; Does the Pope Get a Free Pass?
Volume 14 No.
8; September 2015
Exploiting Human Potential & the Empowerment Delusion: Pam Grout and Mitch Behan; Rick Simpson Cannabis Oil Cures Cancer Scammers; Science-Based Medicine in South Korea; and Big Placebo.
Volume 14 No.
7; August 2015
Nobel Prize fakes; I should shut up and sing; and another healer with no medical training.
Volume 14 No.
6; July 2015
Skeptic's Toolbox; Is Sugar the New Tobacco?
Volume 14 No.
5; June 2015
Group acupuncture; the continuing saga of psychic scams; people think they are curing themselves of cancer; toxic naturopaths; the California anti-vaccination crusade ramps up; and skepticism and Zebra medicine.
Volume 14 No.
4; May 2015
Homeopathy, and the FDA; Weird Beliefs and Nonsense; and Paida and Lajin Self-Healing.
Volume 14 No.
3; April, 2015
Cancer-cure Cookbooks; fisking; how doctors respond to parental requests to delay vaccinations; practical skepticism; and new salt intake guidelines.
Volume 14 No.
2; March, 2015
Vaccinations and Rights.
Volume 14 No.
1; January, 2015
Is Cow's Milk the Best Substitute for Soda?; Is the Flu Shot BS, as Bill Maher claims?; Food-Related Illness; The Center for Inquiry (CFI) Unites CSH and CSI: While CFI Consolidates, Michael Shermer Expands His Domain: buying a degree and transcripts from the univeristy of your choice; The JREF Founder and Chairman Retires.
2014
Volume 13 No.
11; December 21, 2014
Skeptical Synchronicity and why we do what we do; Marcus Freudenmann; Ty Bollinger; William M. London on Untruths About Cancer in the Failed Quest for Cures; Global Warming Deniers, Contrarians, and Skeptics--the CFI initiative; Castlewood and repressed memory therapy; Mark Schwartz and Lori Galperin; and Serge Benhayon's esoteric breast massage.
Volume 13 No.
10, November 2014
Integrative medicine and quack cancer cures; Black Cumin Seed Oil and curcumin: Cures for Cancer?; Vitamin and Mineral Supplements for Cancer Patients?; Martha M Grout, MD, MD(H) Dedicated to the Natural Treatment of Cancer; Nutmeg and Diarrhea; Health News Sources I Don't Trust (Joe Mercola, Mike Adams, Andrew Weil, Deepak Chopra, Gary Null, Dr. Oz, and a chiropractor who calls himself Dr. Axe).
Volume 13 No.
9, Fall 2014
Another look at anecdotal evidence; Alternatives to Science-Based Cancer Cures; Alternatives to Science-Based Cancer Treatments.
Volume 13 No.
8, August 2014
Ultra-Psychonics--How To Work Miracles With The Limitless Power Of Psychoatomic Energy; political skepticism and arming our local police like storm troopers.
Volume 13 No.
7, July 2014
Believing Without Much Concern for the Evidence; Catholic Church Still Conjuring Devils to Scare the Faithful and Absolve the Wicked; Healers Who Kill; Search for Yeti May Prove Worthwhile; Wakefield's Other Legacy of Harm; Discriminating Against Atheists; Mail from Someone Who Knows What He Knows; Scientists Defy the Bible...Once Again!; Kudos to Susan Gerbic and the Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia editing team; and A Bad Month.
Volume 13 No.
6, June 2014
Energy psychology, Dr. Oz & green tea (weight loss and cancer), Time to End The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
Volume 13 No.
5, May 2014
Escher staircase minds; Will Storr's Unpersuadables; the value of Ignorance; Mythmaking and Confabulating and the Genuine Search for the truth; neurophilosophy and neurotheology; and praying with the Supreme Court.
Volume 13 No.
4, April 2014
Vaccinations; non-editing of letters to the editor; weird beliefs about health; Trivedi supporter strikes out.
Volume 13 No.
3, March 2014
Russian translation of Skeptic's Dictionary posted; master bomb maker blows up students training to be suicide bombers; meditation; the International Association for Regression Research & Therapies shuts down; quack cures of AIDS and cancer with food and homeopathy.
Volume 13 No.
2, February 2014
The Critical Thinker's Dictionary: Biases, Fallacies, and Illusions and What You Can Do About Them is now available as an audio book from Audible.com; H1N1 Stimulates the Immune System; Thieves Oil; clove oil; Dr. Stephen Barrett has donated the content of Quackwatch to serve as the foundation for what will become the definitive wiki devoted toscience-based medicine.
Volume 13 No.
1, January 2014
Celebrating 20 years of The Skeptic's Dictionary online; in memoriam: Bob Steiner & Narendra Dabholkar; 10-year-old hangs herself hoping the Virgin Mary will save her and her divided family; supplements shown to be worthless for most people....once again; Radin tries again to Supersize statistics; defining skepticism (not the same as critical thinking); Society for Science Based Medicine established.
2013
Volume 12 No.
12, December 2013
Atheist churches; Holographic Kinetics & Dreamtime Healing; Sacramento Atheists Holiday Billboard Campaign; Vatican Plan to End Family Planning Worldwide.
Volume 12 No.
11, November 2013
The Critical Thinker's Dictionary: Biases, Fallacies, and Illusions and what you can do about them is now available as an e-book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo for $3.99. Amazon provides a significant "look inside," so rather than describe the contents of the book I suggest that those interested use the link provided. The paperback edition is 348 pages and is availble for $16.18 plus shipping from Lulu.
Volume 12 No.
10, October 2013
My vacation, science, and morality; holy water tested and found to be contaminated; Guerilla skepticism on Wikipedia; scum of the minute award goes to Adisorns for claiming its homeopathic products can make you taller, slimmer, younger, less hairy, more hairy, more buxom or less buxom, as well as improve your eyesight and brain power; Russell Blaylock and Carey Reams have their fans but I'm not one of them.
Volume 12 No.
9, September 2013
In memoriam: Dr. Narendra Achyut Dabholkar; Dr. Weil's Prescription for Making Integrative Medicine a Medical Specialty; The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommends EMDR (among other treatments) for PTSD; The Top Five anti-GMO Tropes.
Volume 12 No.
8, August 2013
Integrative journalism; integrative medicine; Hanan Islam and "alternative" mental health care; chemtrails and vaccinations.
Volume 12 No.
7, July 2013
Meditation; a challenge to debate a giant-slayer; magical thinking in Australia; global consciousness.
Volume 12 No.
6, June 2013
Insulting theologians; Sylvia Browne; Brian Dunning; Kevin Trudeau; bias in twin studies.
Volume 12 No.
5, May 2013
Orgone boxes to stop the voices; alphabiotics; the Skeptic's Annotated Bible; Facebook threats; no more ads; CFI Summit; Doubtful News Media page; psychics and karate.
Volume 12 No.
4, April 2013
Thinking critically and thinking magically; wrong controls used in energy medicine studies; Kent Hovind's ridiculous challenge; is aspartame a neurotoxin?; the cavity in Dr. Oz's show on dental amalgam; Wikipedia skepticism; fighting the fakers; secular feminism; insults, blasphemous songs, and skeptical humor.
Volume 12 No.
3, March 2013
What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies about sorcery and magical thinking?; charlatan John Brinkley and his nemesis Dr.Morris Fishbein; unintelligent design.
Volume 12 No.
2, February 2013
Dr. Darla's Angelic Diamonds of Light & Nightmare Alley; Conspiracy Cranks Conspiring to Take Over Amazon and the World; The Electric Universe Cranks; Marketing-Based Medicine for the Brain; QuantumMan's Downloadable Medicine & Extraterrestrial Technology.
Volume 12 No.
1, January 2013
The duties of sperm donors in Kansas (don't try this at home); the illusion of control with guns on your hip; Forever Living products & good marketing; Cain and Abel school for prophets; Gary Schwartz and adaptive nanomedicine.
2012
Volume 11 No.
12, December 2012
Announcing Mysteries and Science: Exploring Aliens, Ghosts, Monsters, the End of the World and Other Weird Things; personality types; preying on cancer patients; CDC omits hospital errors as a major cause of death; recreational acupuncture; scotopic sensitivity syndrome; a prayer for Marilyn Jennet.
Volume 11 No.
11, November 2012
Hallucinations, Andrew Weil's marketing technique, University of Albany agrees to test EFT, and sexual harassment among skeptics.
Volume 11 No.
10, October 2012
Sacramento forum on pseudoscience; Freethought Day 2012; CSICon 2012; more on diet and MS; the 15-minute reader (hi, I just found your site tonight and though you have been posting for 20 years I have figured you out); the sneaky illuminati; a case of a dream or an apparition; the law of attraction.
Volume 11 No.
9, September 2012
Pseudoscience Forum in Sacramento; Freethought Day Sacramento; CSICon Nashville; diet and MS; the 15-minute reader/critic; the sneaky Illuminati; dreams, sleep paralysis, and apparitions; the law of attraction; Dutch translator available.
Volume 11 No.
8, August 2012
LivePerson.com, the Fortune Sellers, and in the grip of Big Glue.
Volume 11 No.
7, July 2012
Concordats, PLoS ONE Pseudoscience, Nostradamus, Critical Thinking in Texas Republican Style, the third eye and energy healing, hypnotic regression, Rolfing, and the microeffect.com.
Volume 11 No.
6, June 2012
Joe Mercola, the Sun, Tanning Beds, and Melanoma; some things I regret and more stuff for the FAQ; Marko Rodin.
Volume 11 No.
5, May 2012
The archaeological find at Göbekli Tepe, six miles from Urfa, an ancient city in southeastern Turkey; Can Diet Cure MS?; The Skeptic's Toolbox; alternative medicine and the so-called placebo effect.;
Volume 11 No.
4, April 2012
SuperBrain Yoga; Sri Poonam Uppal; In the Beginning There Was Light; SkeptiCal 2012; and The Amaz!ng Meeting 2012.
Volume 11 No.
3, March 2012
IQ and race; bras and cancer; guerrilla skepticism on Wikipedia; homeopathic arnica for pain; Human Design; and Death of the Illuminati,an opera.
Volume 11 No.
2, February 2012
Sheldrake's Alternative World; Alternative Medicine in Australian Medical Schools Under Fire; weird reader's view on rape.
Volume 11 No.
1, January 2012
The Prince of Wales Foundation for Integrated Health seems to have been resurrected as The College of Medicine (CoM); Emily wants to know what the following "argument tactics" mean: Impossible Expectations and Moving Goalposts, Argument from Metaphor/violations of Informal logic; Brain Gym debunked...again; Frank Cioffi RIP; and HoJo Motor hoax.
2011
Volume 10 No.
12, December 2011
Unnatural Acts: Critical Thinking, Skepticism, and Science Exposed! published by the James Randi Educational Foundation; American Religious Identification Survey (for 2008) reports that 15% check the box "no stated religious preference, atheist, or agnostic;" Philosopher Julian Baggini resurrects the idea that there might be a rational religion or at least a core set of notions that religious defenders might accept; the 2011 Skeptical Blog Anthology, edited by Kylie Sturgess for the Young Australian Skeptics, is now available; The Inconvenient Truth: Exploring the facts that influence the fictions has been set up by Guy McCardle, an American science writer and skeptic; and SkeptiCal-2012, the Northern California science and skepticism conference, announces that the conference will be held Saturday, April 21, at the Berkeley Doubletree Hotel.
Volume 10 No.
11, November 2011
Unnatural Acts; Joe Mercola; Human Potentials, formerly Spirit of Freedom; Ben Radford The Martians Have Landed! A History of Media-Driven Panics and Hoaxes.; Women in Secularism conference.
Volume 10 No.
10, 2 October 2011
Amazon invites the SD and 10K others to rejoin its associates; self-promotion of Matthew Silverstone; Energy Armor; Meditative Pillowcases; Mike's belief armor protects his precognition.
Volume 10 No.
9, 4 September 2011
Interview with Kylie Sturgess about the Skeptic's Dictionary for Kids (Token Skeptic podcast); other news on SD for Kids; Shaman Peter Aziz; StarShield Lortie; Quantum Touch; Richard Gordon and Norm Shealy.
Volume 10 No. 8, 7 August 2011
Skeptic's Dictionary for Kids announced and described; matrix reimprinting exposed.
Volume 10 No.
7, 2 July 2011
Entry on Ernst Hartmann; Kirk Cameron makes fun of Stephen Hawking because Hawking thinks belief in god is for babies; news from Flanders; magic bracelets; Amazon fires 10,000 California associates, including me; Eso Watch; and cell phone phobia.
Volume 10 No.
6, 2 June 2011
Report on SkeptiCal 2011; Sex and the Vatican; the 4 ponies of the apocalypse; pseudoscience at the University of Arizona; and some thoughts on Wikipedia.
Volume 10 No.
5, 11 May 2011
Charles G. Koch buying professorships at Florida State University; Chief of Chaplains Rear Adm. Mark Tidd issued a memorandum that states Navy chaplains will be permitted to officiate at same-sex marriage and civil union ceremonies on base; Geoffrey Crockford and the sixth sense; soy (40 g), vitamin E (800 IU), and selenium (200 µg) did not benefit men who were at higher risk of developing prostate cancer; a short review of Jane McGonigal's Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World; UFO Casebook; Real Alkalized Water from Affinity Lifestyles; Brauer homeopathic potions for children; and Sungazing.
Volume 10 No.
4, 10 April 2011
Atheist Scientists weigh in on the Templeton Prize; Republicans hate atheists and freethinkers;Arizonans figure out how to have the state support church schools; the Tevatron's latest scoop; Devra Davis calls herself a Foundation; Islamic Brotherhood defies Glenn Beck Skeptic's Conferences; Psychic Woman.
Volume 10 No.
3, 6 March 2011
The film Milk; SkeptiCal 11; CSI/SI Skeptics in New Orleans for Halloween; NECSS conference; Good news for UK ad critics; CSI launches billboard campaign; Republican fairness; Robert Lancaster's latest venture; Gawd Bless America; Summer camps for kids of skeptics; Shaman John; the Montclair [New Jersey] Metaphysical & Healing Center; and David L. Cunningham.
Volume 10 No.
2, 7 February 2011
Homeopathic suicide, Salon.com pulls RFK Jr's conspiratorial rant , more Q-Link paratrinkets, Secular Coalition, HCG weight-loss products, Herbal Flos Lonicerae, Waterworks4U, Issam Nemeh, M.D. and faith healer.
Volume 10 No. 1, 6 Jan 2011
Dolphin Time Travel, Australian exorcisms, Science and the decline effect, DKL keeps on ticking, Howard Berg and speed reading, and NMT.
2010
Volume 9 No. 12, 26 November 2010
Book recommendations; Catholic bishops waiting for Satan; Greta Christina rants about the treatment of atheists; Skeptologists now The Edge (wtih no nod to U2); Encyclopedia of American Loons; lying Heidi, the Skeptical Psychic, and pesky Brian Peskin; the scum pond that is Natural News.
Volume 9 No. 11, 4 November 2010
Merchants of Doubt; More EMF fears; Scalia Praises
Irrationality; Report on the ADE-651; Leigh Van Valen; Imagine
No Religion; The Motorcycle Cancer Book, Quietus, and Airborne
scum.
Volume 9 No.
10, 6 October 2010
Traditional Asian Medicine; Reiki: more Asian medical nonsense;
Russia to ban ads by psychics?; Vatican condemned; JREF
Scholarship Awards; Richard Wiseman's latest book; Paul Kurtz's
latest venture; Blue Berry Scum;
Konstantin Rudnyov, the spiritual master from another planet;
and Dr. Mark Hyman, the spinner of "functional medicine."
Volume 9 No.
9, 3 September 2010
Vibrational medicine redux; Australia's school
chaplains; the Conservapedia delusion; asinine and idiotic
Saberpoint; Miracle Mineral quackery; follow-up on iGadgetry.
Volume 9 No.
8, 2 August 2010
Coping with irrational thinking; art that
purposely offends; homocysteine study on heart disease; e-books,
the iPad and Kindle; Graphene Organic Photovoltaics; CFI's Free
Expression Video Contest; and The AMwand from Amega Global.
Volume 9 No.
7, 1 July 2010
Atheist billboard wars; church politics in the
U.S. and the UK; Earl Warren a liberal?; atheists and theists on
good and evil; TAM8 and JREF grants for teachers; Hitch 22 and
the iPad.
Volume 9 No.
6, 4 June 2010
Martin Gardner; Douglas F. Stalker; Paul Kurtz's
fall from grace; The Amazing Meeting 8; the anti-vaccination
movement; Susan Jacoby: atheist of the year; Sam Harris:
non-philosopher of the year; Texas education massacre; the
Skeptic's Toolbox; Camp Inquiry and Camp Quest; Straw Man of the
month; Weird story of the month; The Skeptical Review; Scum of
the minute: Power Balance.
Volume 9 No.
5, 3 May 2010
Open-mindedness and skepticism; a minister's twisted view of
atheism; more lies about autism; another cardinal defends the
Roman Catholic church; and Gary Null gets burned.
Volume 9 No.
4, 9 April 2010
Notes on archives for Funk, Bunk, & Skeptimedia;
public (lack of) trust in authority; pseudosymmetry; the Phelps
clan can't get any lower; spin as news; rewriting history to
slant it to the right; Smithsonian on human origins; point of
inquiry interview; iPhone apps; Diamond Water; Organic Liaison;
Teslar watch; and the 2009 Pigasus awards.
Volume 9 No.
3, 9 March 2010
Kinesio tape; asilisaurus kongwe; homeopuncture;
opposing Muslims, CardioFuel and Ten Thousand Waves, pH
nonsense, astrology in South Dakota legislature, Daniel Loxton's
book on evolution, Robbie Thomas, Douglas Todd and Carter Phipps
on the 12 theories of evolution, Satoshi Kanazawa, Turkish
translation of the SD, Pat Robertson, and atheism in Ireland.
Volume 9 No. 2 February 6, 2010
PZ Myers, Fred Phelps, creationist scam, iPhone
apps, atheism, humanism, Journal of Serendipitous and
Unexpected Results, SD Facebook page, Scientologists and
Baptists in Haiti with the homeopaths, HIMAC scum, faith-based
programs flourish under Obama, climate change deniers, and
Daniel Loxton's
Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Be.
Volume 9 No. 1 January 11, 2010
Dr. Manto Tshabalala-Msimang dies; Neanderthal body
art; global warming; Muslims; contamination; punking audiophiles;
the 3-in-1 miracle bracelet; philosopher's hand signals.
2009
Volume 8 No. 12 December 1, 2009
Scientists are observing the death throes of the
biggest star known to science; the Large Hadron Collider;
reading brains; religious displays on government property;
99.992 % of those pulled aside for special interrogation at
airports by security forces were released; goodbye to B.
Premanand; superstition protected speech in UK; blasphemy law;
filtering software; Wahabis and Sufis; religious license plates;
more free energy hokum; Ray Comfort's ignorance exceeded only by
his chutzpah; Catholics and exorcism; psychic in Brazil; good
music at Playing for
Change: Peace Through Music.
Volume 8 No.
11 November 2, 2009
Active skepticism; the Ig Nobel prizes; Darwin
celebrations; rise in fundamentalism; insecurity and religion;
quackery in national health care; TAM London; Holosync; OK
abortion law; therapeutic touch at the University of Maryland.
Volume 8 No.
10 October 2, 2009
College course in stupidity; Mississippi's no-no
square; an atheist's Christmas book; Richard Dawkins and the
Creationist Delusion; did a statue kill a Christian hugger?; the
bent-spoon award; the Bullitzer Prize; St. John's wort; Polish
perverts; UK libel laws; the EFX bracelet; the Willesee Award;
JREF scholarship winners; grassroots skeptics; TAM8.
Volume
8 No. 9 September 2, 2009
Bias in medical journals; WikiProject; Kent Hovind (dinosaur for
Christ); Ratzinger rides again; RU-486;
Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers; exploiting
"psychic" kids; skeptical blog anthology; the WHO and
homeopathy; and Space Diamond.
Volume 8 No.
8 August 3, 2009
What Americans think of science; why women are better looking
than men; graphene; the scramble for farmland; humans glowing;
psychics in the secret service; and more energy nonsense.
Volume 8 No.
7 July 3, 2009
Psychic busybodies; Brian Brushwood's Scam
School; Keith Olbermann & the atheists; Nostradamus;
open-mindedness and critical thinking; religion and age; detox
your meridians.
Volume
8 No. 6 June 11, 2009
Board of Nursing hoax; Down syndrome and cancer;
Georgia Republican wants 2010 to be declared the Year of the
Bible; missing-link hype; the Reincarnation bank; your car
warranty has expired; dental x-rays; JREF scholarships; and
summer camp for brights.
Volume
8 No. 5 May 8, 2009
Sickness among the medical journals; disease
mongering; Skeptic's Toolbox; Loxton's handbook for skeptics;
the never-ending quest; why scientific studies contradict each
other; nano-ionic nonsense; a liar for homeopathy; personalysis;
the Georgia guidestones; a Lyman-alpha blob; a poll finds that
between 30 and 40 percent of young Americans have no religious
affiliation; and useless prayers in Congress.
Volume
8 No. 4 April 1, 2009
Abortions, vasectomies, and suicides are
increasing as the economy tanks; the number of Christians in the
U.S. is declining; the Texas state board of education is led by
an unlearned creationist; Arkansas may allow atheists to hold
public office; the Roman Catholic Pope demonstrates he is the
equal of the head of the Texas board of education; faith healing
and the meaning of life; what is God's plan?; Burt Goldman and
the secret of life.
Volume 8 No.
3 March 1, 2009
Psychic fails the test; pareidolia and lens flare; the Beauty
Brains; alternative health for injured wildlife; new discoveries
unveiled at Rancho La Brea; energy quackery at EMR labs.
Volume 8 No.
2 February 3, 2009
Baylor's Religion Survey Deceives Again; Darwin
Day; atheist buses; and some bad journalism.
Volume 8 No. 1
January 8, 2009
Award for greatest disregard for reality goes to
Diane Hennacy Powell, M.D.; the media's disregard for reality
when it comes to the paranormal; acupuncture to save money;
another skeptical blog; water madness; religious visions and
parables; Algerians jailed for defaming charlatan; and a couple
of milestones.
2008
Volume 7 No. 12
December 15, 2008
Psychic goes on life after death tour;
psychic reading ban lifted in Vermont; Obama & science; Shermer
blames Clinton for the economic mess; a small victory over a quack
bracelet ad; book recommendations for 2008.
Vol 7
No. 11 November 16, 2008
Sports and the illusion of control; Superstition and Bob Park; change but no
progress on gay marriage in California; Stetzer electric's shock treatment;
Sarah Palin on science wins the pig-ignorant person of the year award;
stopping Sylvia Browne; the Skepticblog; & the 100th skeptic's circle.
Vol 7 No. 10 October 21, 2008
Priming, pareidolia, apophenia, and The German New Medicine; Hal Bidlack
runs for Congress; group acupuncture; cell phone hypochondriacs;
Rupert Sheldrake stabbed; The SkepDoc has her own website; is Mickey Mouse
an agent of Satan?
Vol 7 No. 9 September 2, 2008
Russell Targ admits he's blind; software & pseudoscience; politics as usual;
acupuncture continues to amaze as the cure-all of our day.
Vol 7 No. 8 August 1, 2008
Santa vs. Satan; psychiatrist claims paranormal power; religion on the rise;
a couple of scams; and some elementary economics.
Vol 7 No. 7 July 7, 2008
Psychic kids on TV; two quacks duke it out; Penn lights fire under Begley's
arse; Newsweek goes soft; Mark Crislip, M.D. denies the existence of
the placebo effect; he who would be prez wants more Scalias on the court;
update on Jean's scheme.
Vol 7 No. 6 June 2, 2008
Green acupuncture; acupuncture study shows it is a placebo; demons,
psychiatric disorders, and the police; psychics and the law; naturopathic
rubbish; crystal skullduggery; the devil likes yoga; same-sex marriage;
Sharon Stone on karma; NASA puts its foot in its mouth again.
Volume 7 No. 5 May 9, 2008
possession, brain damage, and mental illness; cancer as a fungus that can be
cured by baking soda; the Get Well Northern Ireland program; two book
recommendations.
Volume 7 No. 4 April 6, 2008
acupuncture as placebo; Ben Steins spreading ignorance at the speed of
night: the free speech phony; the rubbish known as educational kinesiology.
Volume 7 No. 3 March 11, 2008
artificial sweeteners & obesity; the share-my-secret scam; diceology;
religion in America; depressing news about anti-depressants
Volume 7 No. 2 February 16, 2008
conspiracy theories; science & journalism; psychic predictions; the
Maharishi is dead; a blind acupuncturist; a deception and a delusion
Volume 7 No. 1 January 9, 2008
call for a science debate; Canadia superstition;
science-based medicine blog; end of the million dollar challenge; psychics
and woo
2007
Newsletter 86,
December 10, 2007
cell phones, cancer, & journalism;
quantum-touch; ghost science in San Francisco (Dean Radin & Gary Schwartz)
Newsletter 85,
November 12, 2007
getting involved in skepticism, acupuncture studies;
cosmetic acupuncture
Newsletter 84,
October 14, 2007
censorship lawsuits
Newsletter 83,
September 12, 2007
Francis Collins & C. S. Lewis
Newsletter 82,
August 17, 2007
gods, dogs, & really gullible people
Newsletter 81, July
29, 2007
Phil Jordan, Nancy Grace, and the
Keystone Cops
Newsletter 80, June
18, 2007
the Rational Response Squad and the Secular Coalition
for America
Newsletter 79, May
25, 2007
Jerry Falwell and Newt Gingrich
Newsletter 78, May 3, 2007
the magician in the laboratory
Newsletter 77,
April 18, 2007
Skeptiko the faux skeptic
Newsletter 76, March
15, 2007
phony doctors and eating meat
Newsletter 75,
February 10, 2007
Rosemary Altea
Newsletter 74,
January 7, 2007
Sam Harris
2006
Newsletter 73,
December 5, 2006
truth, faith, criticism, and Noreen
Renier
Newsletter 72,
October 26, 2006
the Baylor religion survey & evaluating
experience
Newsletter 71: September 28, 2006
atheists in foxholes
Newsletter 70: August 15, 2006
psychic detectives & antioxidants
Newsletter 69: July 4, 2006
Independence Day & Ann Coulter
Newsletter 68: June 4,
2006
skeptics ridiculing psychics
Newsletter 67: May 1, 2006
intelligent design, quantum mechanics, &
a missing link
Newsletter 66:
April 4, 2006
homeopathy, cholesterol, & intercessory
prayer
Newsletter 65:
March 9, 2006
Georgetown University & the Wahhabist
Prince
Newsletter 64:
February 16, 2006
secondhand smoke, evolution Sunday, &
TAM4
Newsletter 63: January 6, 2006
language & framing, &
What the bleep
do we know?
2005
Newsletter 62: December 7, 2005
skeptics as party poopers
Newsletter 61: November 2, 2005
secondhand smoke
Newsletter 60: October 23, 2005
fundamentalism and tolerance
Newsletter 59:
September 29, 2005
anti-evolution & letter from a psychic
Newsletter 58: August 23, 2005
David Hawkins & applied kinesiology
Newsletter 57: July 16, 2005
magical thinking
Newsletter 56: June 16, 2005
causes and correlations
Newsletter 55: May 21, 2005
mind-body medicine, cholesterol,
intelligent design
Newsletter 54: April 14, 2005
intelligent design and evolution
Newsletter 53: March 11, 2005
Uri Geller & Osama bin Laden
Newsletter 52: February 8, 2005
Lifespring/Legacy, evolutionary
psychology
Newsletter 51:
January 12, 2005
channeling quacks
2004
Newsletter 50: December 10, 2004
intelligent design & secondhand smoke
Newsletter 49: November 21, 2004
secondhand smoke & Consegrity
Newsletter 48: October 20, 2004
the god gene, creationism at the Grand
Canyon, & Kevin Trudeau
Newsletter 47: September 23, 2004
Gary Schwartz & god
Newsletter 46 - September 9, 2004
Lee Strobel, The Skeptic's Toolbox
Newsletter 45 - August 7, 2004
the Kabala & alternative medicines
Newsletter 44 - July 24, 2004
Prince Charles & alternative medicine
Newsletter 43 - June 20, 2004
electric chairs & quantum touch
Newsletter 42 - June 7, 2004
enlightenment hoaxes & secondhand smoke
Newsletter 41 - May 5, 2004
secondhand smoke
Newsletter 40 -
April 14,
2004
Sai Baba and secondhand smoke
Newsletter 39 - March 25,
2004
Michael Newdow & "under god"
Newsletter 38 - February 16, 2004
Ken Wilbur
Newsletter 37 - January 26, 2004
TAM2
Newsletter 36 - January 5, 2004
crop circles and the so-called Skeptical
Investigations
2003
Newsletter 35 - December 21, 2003
David Eddy, medicine (real & real
placebo)
Newsletter 34 - December 1, 2003
religion and medicine
Newsletter 33
- November 6, 2003
brights? and CSICOP Conference on
Hoaxes, Myths, and Manias
Newsletter 32
- October 21, 2003
bright movement
Newsletter 31
- October 7, 2003
dictionary or encyclopedia?
Newsletter 30
- September 2, 2003
list of entries not found in the Wiley book
Newsletter 29
- August 6, 2003
nothing of long-term interest
Newsletter 28
- July 20, 2003
Jan Willem Nienhuys on the Wason card problem
Newsletter 27
- July 4, 2003
Larry King interviews Glen Dennis about Roswell
Newsletter 26
- June 4, 2003
UFO skeptic? the concept of validity in logic
Newsletter 25 - May 5, 2003
the Pathwork cult
Newsletter 24 - April 15, 2003
Myers-Briggs; the Pathwork cult
Newsletter 23 - March 24, 2003
nothing of long-term interest
Newsletter 22 - March 7, 2003
"Eternal damnation awaits anyone who questions God's
unconditional love." --Bill Hicks; Van Praagh and cold reading
Newsletter 21
- February 12, 2003
TAM numero uno; how to rib a woman
Newsletter 20
- January 18, 2003
debunking Thierry Meyssan's L'Effroyable Imposture
[The Appalling Deception] (2002), one of the first 9/11 conspiracy claims;
debunking miracles
Newsletter 19
- January 6, 2003
Dean Radin's distortion of Carl Sagan; debunking
psychiatrists Peter Breggin, Allan Horwitz, and Banvard's Folly
2002
Newsletter 18 - December 17, 2002
Newsletter 17 - December 1, 2002
Newsletter 16 - November 19, 2002
Newsletter 15 - November 9, 2002
Newsletter 14 - October 26, 2002
Newsletter 13 - October 8, 2002
Newsletter 12 - September 24, 2002
Newsletter 11 - September 11, 2002
Newsletter 10 - September 1, 2002