Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

[Barry Karr <SkeptInq@AOL.COM>]

1)  Upcoming events to mark in your calendar
2)  Center for Inquiry Meeting in NYC
3)  CSICOP in the News
4)  Cool Website  - Earth From Mars


1)  a)  Skeptics Toolbox in Eugene Oregon    August  14-17
       See:  http://www.csicop.org/events/2003-toolbox/

b)  European Skeptics Conference in London, England  September 5-7
       See:  http://www.aske.org.uk/congress/

c)  CSICOP Conference: Hoaxes, Myths, and Manias,  Albuquerque, New Mexico,      
         October 23-26  See:  
Tentative Program at:    http://www.csicop.org/events/conference-2003/  (underdevelopment)


2)   Also For Those of You in New York City

Responding to Evangelical Influence in American Public Life

May 31-June 1, 2003
The Doral Hotel
70 Park Avenue at 38th Street
New York, NY

The Center for Inquiry presents an extraordinary 2-day briefing on the
increasing encroachment of evangelicalism and fundamentalism in American
politics, culture, and education. CFI founder and chair Paul Kurtz leads a
panel of experts in discussing the latest developments in the antievolution
movement, new threats to free inquiry in education, theology and
geopolitics, faith-based initiatives, and much more. How can defenders of
the secular and scientific outlook respond?

Featured panel speakers: Wendy Kaminer, lawyer and author; Paul R. Gross,
coauthor of Higher Superstition and Creationism's Trojan Horse; Paul Kurtz,
philosopher and author; Tom Flynn, editor of Free Inquiry magazine; DJ
Grothe, director of campus programs at the Center for Inquiry; and Bill
Cooke, international director at the Center for Inquiry.

The $79 registration fee includes luncheon and the 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. program on
Saturday, continental breakfast and 9 a.m. - 12 noon program on Sunday.
Register now by calling 1-800-634-1610. A downloadable PDF program and
registration form is available at
http://www.cfimetrony.org/CFI%20Seminar.pdf.

The Center for Inquiry is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization
that promotes reason and science in all human endeavors. Founded in 1995 by
philosopher and author Paul Kurtz, the Center is home to the Council for
Secular Humanism, publisher of Free Inquiry magazine, and the Committee for
the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), publisher
of Skeptical Inquirer magazine. For more information about the Center for
Inquiry, visit the organization's official Web site at
http://www.centerforinquiry.net.



3)   CSICOP In News
April/May 2003

April 2003
Skeptiker
"Der X-Man: Ein "Investigating" - Workshop mit Dr. Joe Nickell
By Bernd Harder and Andrea Kamphuis

German skeptics magazine, Der Skeptiker, reports on Joe Nickell's visit to
German last year.

###

April 3, 2003
Whitehall Times (Whitehall, NY)
"Book makes perfect sense of the bizarre"
By Patrick M. Ripley

Plug for SI managing editor Ben Radford and his new book "Hoaxes Myths and
Manias," co-authored with Robert Bartholomew.

###

April 18, 2003 
National Geographic News Service
"Bible-Era Artifacts Highlight Archaeology Controversy"
By L. Peat O'Neil 

O'Neil examines some extraordinary Biblical archaeological claims, including
the James Ossuary. Cites Joe Nickell's special report in the March/April
2003 issue.

###

April 22, 2003
News-Record (Harrisonburg, VA)
"Beyond the Grave"
by Jessica Clarke

Clarke examines the phenomenon of near-death experiences. Quotes Dr. Eric
Carlson, on the failure of NDEs to prove afterlife; credits him as a member
of CSICOP.

###

May 1, 2003
The Gainesville Sun
"A psychic sleuth"
By Douane James

James discusses "psychic investigator" Noreen Renier. Quotes Joe Nickell.

###

May 2003
Fate magazine
"Mysterious World"
By Loren Coleman
Coleman gripes about "reality shows" and their growing fondness for
deception. He includes his experiences with various documentary shows,
including the Critical Eye.

###

May 11, 2003
Washington Post
"Woman's Report of Visions of Virgin Divide Faithful"
By David Snyder
Snyder examines the claims of a DC-area woman who says she is in direct
communication with the Virgin Mary. CSICOP's resident expert of miracles
claims, Joe Nickell, is quoted on the natural impulses behind such
supernatural claims.

###

May 17, 2003
Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, MA)
"Periodicals: Quiet Please!"
by Samuel Sass

Sass reports on the May/June 2003 Skeptical Inquirer article on the
"patently false patent myth" about the patent clerk who quit his job because
he thought everything that could be invented had been invented.

###

May 23, 2003
WGRZ (NBC affilate, Buffalo, NY)
Coverage of talk on Champ (Lake Champlain Monster) by CSICOP's Joe Nickell
(Senior Research Fellow) and Benjamin Radford (SI managing editor) at CFI
International 

###

May 24, 2003
Kansas City Star
"From terror alerts to menacing mosquitoes, Americans confront an epidemic
of hype"
by Rick Montgomery
SYNDICATED article

Montgomery interviews intrepid SI managing editor Benjamin Radford on the
spate of fear mongering in the media. 

###

May 26, 2003
SpaceDaily.com
"If you're reading this, the world didn't end last Thursday"
By Timothy Quinn

Quinn discusses Zechariah Sitchin's claim that Nabiru (a.k.a. Planet X)
would wipe out 90% of the Earth's population this month. Segues into a
discussion of the media's often credulous reporting of pseudoscience in
general, with the exception of wonderful "mainstream publications like the
Skeptical Inquirer and Natural History magazine."

###

May 27, 2003
Washington Post
"Polygraphs: Worse than Worthless"
By Alan P. Zelicoff

Zelicoff, a scientist at Sandia National Laboratories cites a recent
National Acedemy of Science report lambasting polygraphs as useless tool in
counterespionage screening. "Two years ago," writes Zelicoff, "I wrote a
piece in the science magazine Skeptical Inquirer recounting the multiple
failures and ignoble history of the polygraph, and the mindless faith
invested in it by presidents, CIA and FBI directors, police departments and
other people who ought to know better."

###

Skeptical Inquirer
Stephen Flora Media/Radio 
Flora's article in the May/June 2003 issue of SI, questioning the validity
of PMS and PMDD grabbed the attention of newstalk radio stations world wide.

April 30, 2002
Wireless Flash News Service
Elaine Camuso
"Shrink Says PMS is All in Your Head"

April 30, 2002 
KTYD 
Santa Barbara, CA

April 30, 2003
KXME 104.3
Honolulu, Hawaii

May 1, 2003
Spin 1083
Dublin, Ireland

May 1, 2003 
WRIF 101.1
Detroit, MI 

May 2, 2003
4RO Capital Radio 
Canberra (Rockhampton), Australia

May 2, 2003 
WVMI 
Biloxi, MS

May 6, 2003
"Party Morning Show"
KIWR 89.7 
Omaha, NB

May 7, 2003
WKQZ 
Saginaw, Michigan


4)  Earth From Mars

Mars Global Surveyor MOC2-368 Release

http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2003/05/22/index.html

Earth, Moon, and Jupiter, as Seen From Mars

What does Earth look like when viewed from Mars?  At 13:00 GMT on 8 May 2003, the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) had an opportunity to find out.  In addition, a fortuitous alignment of Earth and Jupiter -- the first planetary conjunction viewed from another planet -- permitted the MOC to acquire an image of both of these bodies and their larger satellites.  At the time, Mars and the orbiting camera were 139 million kilometers (86 million miles) from Earth and almost 1 billion kilometers (nearly 600 million miles) from Jupiter.