The next skeptics in the pub is Wednesday May 26 starting at 7:30.
Hose Brew Pub
612 11th St E
Saskatoon, SK S7N0G3
(306) 477-3473
Agenda
Chip Coffey was in Saskatoon now a local psychic is having a psychic kids class.
Does Mexican coke taste better than Canadian coke. Mexican Coke does not use corn syrup.
Martin Gardner passed away Saturday. He was one of the original skeptics.
Any Issue People wish to bring up.
The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is sponsoring a talk by the infamous Deepak Chopra. This author has built his career on the public misunderstanding of science. His talk is at odds with the ROM’s mission as a science educator. The Committee for the Advancement of Scientific Scepticism (CASS) at CFI Canada is putting together a formal protest. You can help by signing by adding your signature to this letter of protest.
More Reading
Standing at the Wanuskewin medicine wheel overlooking the South Saskatchewan River valley, one gets a sense of the immense time that has passed over this land. The exact purpose of the wheel is still unknown. The owner of the Sacred Places of Saskatchewan thinks he knows; he stood at these ancient sites and realized, with a start, that the sites he knew of were laid out in a straight line. Not really, as it turns out, but why would that be significant?
A straight line connecting points of interest, especially ancient monoliths, is known as ley line. Ley lines may sound like ancient geomancy, but the term was invented in 1921 by British amateur archaeologist Alfred Watkins. He speculated that the alignment was caused by an prehistoric network of roads and navigation beacons criss-crossing Britain. His ideas were universally rejected by archaeologists. Watkins’ Ley line did not have the supernatural powers ascribed to them today. It was in the 1936 novel The Goat-Footed God that ley lines gained their occult-like powers. Dowsers claim to be able to find these lines, yet dowsing has never passed a controlled test and is hardly a reliable method of finding anything. As far as I can tell there is no repeatable scientific test to determine where ley lines are located.
Could such alignments happen by chance? Britain has a high density of archaeological sites due to its relatively small landmass, so it would be unsurprising for such chance alignments to be found. How good of a fit are these alignments? Well, here is where the pseudo-science begins. Maps are a 2-dimensional representation of a complex 3-dimensional object. How the map was produced, and what type of technology was used, will reflect on the scale of the map and its accuracy. Think of a map as a measurement of the real world; it has a certain lever of error associated with it. There are some people who have taken a map of the earth and have connected every point of interest that they are personally familiar with.
Ley Lines of the World
When faced with such a map, one should ask how it was created. This map was originally described in a 1975 publication known as New Age, which is – unsurprisingly – not found in Google Scholar. An excerpt goes as follows:
Alfred Watkins’ ancient navigation markers have come a long way; apparently they now exist because the earth is crystal dodecahedron. Since the earth is very clearly not a dodecahedron, proponents believe the dodecahedron crystal is buried under the surface. The evidence apparently comes from Russian magnetic surveys, but these surveys are not referenced. The author did not even bother to show satellite imagery. None of the actual evidence is presented or discussed in any detail. The article then goes on to assume the dodecahedron hypothesis is true, and then marvel at how the dodecahedron model fits the cherry-picked evidence. The author marvels how one of the dodecahedron ribs fits along the Mid-Atlantic ridge. Remember that not a shred of evidence was presented to attest to the existence of the dodecahedron crystal. How do we know that the ridge is there, or did Chris Price draw an imagery line over the mid-Atlantic ridge? This is why this article appeared in New Age and not Nature.
If there was a dodecahedron crystal underground, could we detect it? During an earthquake the whole earth “rings”. Shock waves spread out from the epicenter and can be deflected off the internal structure of the planet. Do I really have to say that this data is not compatible with the dodecahedron hypothesis?
The Sacred Places of Saskatchewan has taken the ley line concept and crystal earth hypothesis as true, and drawn out the grid on to a picture of Saskatchewan. I can not dignify this image with the title of map. It has no scale and not even a hint of a map projection. Map projection is important, as all maps have distortions: some projections conserve area, others distance. A map without the scale or projection is pretty much meaningless. The author apparently copied the lines by hand, not a very accurate method. The sacred sites which are supposed to be along these lines are represented by points so large, they occupy an area larger than Saskatoon or Regina.
**********************************************
This photo has been removed by the request of Roger Nelson, whose comments may be viewed below. You may view the map here. Note nothing on scale of the map shown here is accurate to within a couple of inches.
**********************************************
The website offers tours of these lines. How that is even possible, given such large inaccuracies? If these lines are within +/-10 km, that would be impressive. Since there is no objective way to determine where the ley lines are to be found, this map is worthless. I suppose the tours will at least deliver you some fresh air. The problem with maps such as these is that they have the illusion of accuracy, nothing more. Here is another prime example of this: the author goes from a 1: 1,000,000 map to a 1:50,000 map with no explanation. I’ve changed my mind: if those ley lines are within +/- 50 km, I’ll be amazed!
If ley line hunters want to be taken seriously, I have some advice: buy a GPS receiver. They are not expensive. You will be able to locate your features to +/- 10 m, which is so much better then +/- 10 km. Combine this with some free mapping software, and you will be able to create a truly meaningful map. I predict that the “perfect” alignment of the ley line features will vanish with the improved accuracy. It does not matter though: collecting GPS data for sacred shines and other places in Saskatchewan is still an adventure. These areas are beautiful on their own terns. With apologies to Douglas Adams: isn’t it better to realize that a place is beautiful without having to believe the earth is giant dodecahedron crystal?
The Saskatoon Freethinkers are holding their next meetup Sunday May 16 at 11:30 at Venice House 906 Central Avenue, Saskatoon
It is no surprise to an atheist, or even some believers of religious doctrine that the texts on which religions base their authority are full of contradictions and confusing accounts that may lead even the most avid reader astray.
What may be even more difficult to reconcile for those same readers is the claim that these texts, fraught with inconsistency and hypocrisy, are divinely inspired – yet many maintain this view. For the Bible and the Qur’an, even the simplest introduction to these two holy books suggests that the sources of these discrepancies are the result of human error in the translation, compilation, publishing and politics that contributed to the creation of these books.
We will briefly discuss how these two books were assembled (or claimed to be assembled) and learn one simple method to argue the inconsistencies of religious texts. To whet your appetite, have a look at this website that describes some of the internal differences between the four major gospels of the Bible on the topic of Jesus’ resurrection.
Also, just for fun, have a look at one believer’s opposition to editorial decisions made by the creators of the New King James Bible.
Note: This meetup will be led by Jonathan Sherman
The secular parenting group will be holding a Day with the Dinos:
Start Time: Saturday, June 5 at 2:00pm
End Time: Saturday, June 5 at 4:00pm
Where: U of S Geology buildingWho’s up for some prehistoric summertime fun? Let’s meet at the U of S Geology building, and explore the Museum of Natural Sciences together [http://artsandscience.usask.ca/geology/pdf/museum.pdf]. We’ll meet down by the T-Rex at 2:00, and we’ll explore the dinosaurs, plants, fish, and other museum items together. Afterwards (weather-permitting), we’ll head out to the bowl for snacks and some games.
If anyone wants to come up with something dinosaur-related (games, quick lesson, etc.), feel free to bring it along with you.For inspiration, check out the music video to the They Might Be Giant’s song, “I Am a Paleontologist” [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7zo2zY1Zqg]
For more information, check out our Meetup page for Saskatoon Secular Parenting [http://www.meetup.com/saskatoon-secular-parenting/].
The next Saskatoon Freethinkers In the Pub get-together is Wednesday May 12 starting at 7:00 at Nino’s at 801 Broadway Avenue
Freethinkers in the Pub is an informal gathering. There’s no agenda, but feel free to bring recent news items or other relevant topics for discussion. Everyone is welcome!We’ll be in the Fireside lounge, which is the room on the right after you go in the door.We will be there from 7pm onward so drop by anytime in the evening. Please RSVP if you plan to attend.
May 20, the Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee is holding a panel discussion with Afghanistan’s Ambassador to Canada.
Royal Saskatchewan Museum Theatre
2445 Albert StreetEvent starts at 7pm
Panelists
HIS EXCELLENCY JAWED LUDIN was appointed Afghanistan’s Ambassador to Canada in May,
2009, after serving as ambassador to the Nordic countries, based in Oslo. Prior to his diplomatic posts, Ambassador Ludin served as chief spokesperson for Afghan President Hamid Karzai between 2003 and
2005 chief of staff to the president from 2005 to 2007.
NAJIA HANEEFI is a founder of the Afghan Women’s Political Participation Committee and is the former head of Afghanistan’s largest women’s organization, the Afghan Women’s Education Centre (AWEC). Ms. Haneefi currently resides in Ottawa.
TERRY GLAVIN is an author of several books and a journalist whose writing from Afghanistan has appeared in newspapers and magazines as diverse as Democratiya, the National Post, the online daily The Tyee and Vancouver Review. He is a co-founder of the Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee.
LAURYN OATES, a human rights and gender equity activist with CASC and Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan (CW4WA).
RSVP and media inquiries:
info@afghanistan-canada-solidarity.orgRefreshments served.
Friday, May 14, 1:30 pm to 3:00 pmSasktel Lecture Theatre,Royal University HospitalDr. Barré-Sinoussi, a French virologist and director of the Unité de Régulation des Infections Rétrovirales at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, France performed some of the fundamental work in the identification of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as the cause of AIDS. In 2008, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine together with her colleague Prof. Luc Montagnier for this discovery.
Take advantage of this great opportunity to hear one of the world’s most renowned researchers.
via email, but it is in the on campus news.
This is connected with the Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS Research occurring this weekend.
The Toronto Star has the following disturbing article by Marci McDonald about the rise of the Canadian evangelical movement and its influence in government.
From the moment I began this book, I was confronted by skeptics who insist that a truly influential religious right could never take root in Canada. For some, that denial seemed like an exercise in wishful thinking, a refusal to face the possibility that the idea of the country they cherish — liberal, tolerant, and not given to extremes of action or belief — might not be in sync with the changing reality. Others argued that if a Christian right did exist here it would have burst fully formed on to the political scene, a carbon copy of that in the U.S. — raucous and confrontational, openly pulling the strings of the Conservative party and captained by outspoken television preachers with millions of viewers ready to respond to their bidding. But the American movement has had more than three decades to take shape and flourish; by the time scholars and the mainstream media noticed, it had already infiltrated nearly every level of government from school boards to the Senate, often by stealth.
In this country, where the CRTC has kept the reins on religious broadcasting and Catholics make up a larger proportion of the faith community, the emergent Christian right may look and sound different than its American counterpart, but in the five years since the prospect of same-sex marriage propelled evangelicals into political action, it has spawned a coalition of advocacy groups, think tanks and youth lobbies that have changed the national debate. The “sleeping giant” that Capital Xtra! magazine had warned against in 2005 is now up and about, organizing with a vengeance that will not be easily reversed. As Faytene Kryskow, leader of Christian youth lobby called 4MYCanada, told a parliamentary reception, “We are here, and we are here to stay.”
With funding from a handful of conservative Christian philanthropists and a web of grassroots believers accustomed to tithing in the service of their faith, those organizations have built sophisticated databases and online networks capable of mobilizing their forces behind specific legislation with instant e-mail alerts and updates. Setting up an array of internship programs, they are also training a new generation of activists to be savvier than their secular peers in navigating the corridors of power. Already, their alumni have landed top jobs in the public service, MPs’ offices and the PMO, prompting one official from the National House of Prayer to boast in an unguarded moment, “If the media knew how many Christians there are in the government, they’d go crazy.”
Marci Also has an upcoming book titled The Armageddon Factor: The Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada
The self-proclaimed psychic medium Chip Coffey is coming to Saskatoon; I call him self-proclaimed because he does not offer any real evidence of his abilities. Coffey is one of the stars of Paranormal State, a truly awful reality show on A&E following a gullible ghost hunter who manages, despite the camera crews, to find no credible evidence. Paranormal State is just stupid; however, Coffey’s other show, Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal, is more disturbing.
In Psychic Kids, Coffey and a psychologist Dr. Lisa Miller come to the aid of “psychic” children who are experiencing difficulties. Dr. Miller’s theory is that skeptical parents are misunderstanding their child’s “powers”. The fact that rubbish like this gets on television is the surest sign that skepticism is in short supply. Another fact that blows Miller’s hypothesis out of the water is that the children cannot sign the release form to appear on television; their parents must sign it, and if they sign the form they obviously have no problem with their child appearing in Psychic Kids. Clearly not the most skeptical of parents. Dr. Miller is worried that her colleagues are misdiagnosing psychic children as fantasy-prone or mentally ill. If Miller is truly concerned about this, then she should stop wasting her time with A&E and design a robust, replicatable test for identifying a psychic child. If she can do this then James Randi has a million dollars for her.
There is no credible evidence for any psychic powers. The cold reading tricks seen on television can be done by any competent mentalist. Could children learn how to cold read? Of course they can. Could children pretend to see ghosts or move objects around and blame spirits? Of course they can. Just because they are children does not mean that deception is beyond their keen. Now if the child actually does believe in her powers, then what could we say about the adults who indulge her fantasy? What is the long term damage done to a child made to believe she has psychic powers, when there is no evidence? We don’t know. What A&E, Dr. Miller, and Chris Coffey are doing to these kids is shameful: it is the exploitation of the innocent. They are the adults and they should know better. Patrons of Chip Coffey’s “Coffey Talk” can apparently ask questions; the question I want to ask it “How can you sleep at night?”
Further Reading
