Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

[Barry Karr <SkeptInq@AOL.COM>]

1) Articles of Note
2) Message from the Darwin Day Program


1) Articles of Note

Time Online


Can We Trust the Cloning Journalist?
http://www.time.com/time/columnist/jaroff/article/0,9565,407154,00.html
Jan. 10, 2003

Michael Guillen, the reporter who was supposed to verify the Raelians' cloning claims, is hardly a skeptical observer.

"I trade in evidence," says Michael Guillen, a scientist, free-lance journalist and former science editor of ABC news. Guillen is the man who gained instant fame, or perhaps notoriety, by sharing the podium at the news conference called by the Raelians, the otherworldly religious sect, to announce that its affiliated company, Clonaid, had produced the first human clone.


Time Online

Save Us From Alternative Medicine!
http://www.time.com/time/columnist/jaroff/article/0,9565,405186,00.html
Tuesday, Jan. 07, 2003
One good thing for Bill Frist's legislative calendar: Removing the Dietary Supplement
Health and Education Act of 1994

For devotees of alternative medicine, 2002 ended on a sour note, one of many they heard during the year. In December, researchers at the University of Wisconsin reported the results of a double-blind test of echinacea, a popular herbal remedy for the common cold. They gave capsules of the herb to 73 students suffering from the common cold. Another 75 students were given a placebo, dummy pills containing only alfalfa. The results: "Compared with the placebo," the researchers reported, "unrefined echinacea provided no detectable benefit or harm." In fact, those students taking the placebo remained sick for an average of 5.75 days, compared with 6.27 days for those on the herb. Some remedy!


Denver Business Journal
From the January 10, 2003 Viewpoint
Be wary of alternative medicine by Carl E. Bartecchi

http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2003/01/13/editorial3.html

Richard Dawkins, professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford, notes that alternative medicine is defined as that set of practices that cannot be tested, refuse to be tested or consistently fail tests.



Study: Bracelets offer false relief
Company backs ionized product
By P. Douglas Filaroski
Monday, January 13, 2003  Florida Times -Union

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/011303/met_11454670.shtml

Makers of the Q-Ray ionized bracelet say wearers will have less pain and more strength. But new research at Mayo Clinic Jacksonville suggests the biggest change is lighter wallets and that any benefit comes from something in people's heads.QT Inc. of Illinois has sold millions of its Q-Ray "ionized" metal bracelets, promising to balance the body's yin-yang with bracelets costing $50 to $250.



Fighting The Fear Factor
Local scientists are quietly working to give UFO sightings a measured look and lend legitimacy to those who spot them
Rick Del Vecchio
Sunday, January 12, 2003
©2003 San Francisco Chronicle
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/01/12/CM200763.DTL

It was a routine flight from San Francisco to Boston. The DC-10 was on autopilot, with World War II combat veteran Neil Daniels in the captain's seat. Suddenly, the jumbo jet veered to the left. Daniels looked out the window and saw something odd over the winter cloud tops. He didn't recognize it, and 25 years later, the Los Altos resident still -can't figure out what it was. "There was this brilliant, brilliant light, the intensity of a flashbulb," Daniels said.


Editors Note:  Pretty funny satire from the Onion.

The Onion
January 15, 2002
Creationist Museum Acquires 5,000-Year-Old T. Rex Skeleton
http://www.theonion.com/onion3901/creationist_museum.html

TULSA, OK—In a major coup for the growing field of creation science, the
perfectly preserved remains of a 5,000-year-old Tyrannosaurus Rex were
delivered Monday to Tulsa's Creationist Museum of Natural History.
Above: Methuselah stands on display at the Creationist Museum of Natural
History.

"The Good Lord has, in His benevolence, led us to an important
breakthrough for scientific inquiry," Creationist Museum of Natural
History curator Dr. Elijah Gill said. "Our museum has many valuable and
exciting exhibits that testify to Creation and shine light on the Lord's
divine plan. But none have been as exciting—or anywhere near as old—as
this new T. Rex specimen named 'Methuselah.' This skeleton, which dates
back to roughly 3,000 B.C., offers the most compelling proof yet that
the Earth was made by God roughly 10,000 years ago."


2) Darwin Day Events 2003

The e-Darwin is a monthly online newsletter featuring updates and news items of interest to Darwin Day Program participants and supporters. The newsletter increases in frequency during the weeks before and after Darwin Day - February 12.

In the month ahead we will be showcasing many of the events taking place around the globe and which are listed on the Darwin Day Events Calendar. We hope readers will discover an event in their area and make plans to attend. If there is no event in your area as yet, consider evolving one of your own! There are event ideas and activity suggestions, both large and small, available on the Darwin Day Program web site.

Visit the Events Calendar


Center for Inquiry - Florida

As part of the inaugural conference of the Center for Inquiry - Florida; a branch of the Center for Inquiry International at www.centerforinquiry.net - participants will enjoy an exciting line-up of speakers and a special Happy Darwin Day! celebration.

The event begins on Friday, February 7th at the Radisson Hotel & Conference Center and continues through February 9th.

Special Darwin events include 'Darwin 101' and a night of entertainment on February 8th.

Speakers include Massimo Pigliucci, founder of the campus and community-wide Darwin Day events at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and author of 'Tales of the Rational'; Phillip Appleman, gifted science poet and editor of Norton's Critical edition on Darwin; Paul Kurtz, founder of Prometheus Books, the Council for Secular Humanism, and the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal; Amanda Chesworth, founder and director of the Darwin Day Program, CSICOP's Young Skeptics, and Inquring Minds; and many other speakers from around the world.

This is an event not to be missed if you can help it. Visit the link below to learn more and download a PDF version of the brochure and registration form.

Center for Inquiry, Florida - Inaugural Conference