J♦

Global Skeptics in the Pub is LIVE RIGHT NOW (running 24 hours all Friday, Pacific Time). Come for a few minutes or for hours!
More information: www.skepticalcon.com/global-sitp-...

A regular performer at our conference, the amazing @joeyfabianonbass.bsky.social plays selections from The Skeptic's Jukebox through the lunch hour this Saturday at the 2025 SkeptiCal Conference, Aug. 23 in Oakland.
Tickets and more information: skepticalcon.com

Join "Big Picture Science" hosts Seth Shostak & Molly Bentley for a workshop on critical analysis of extraordinary science claims. The 2025 SkeptiCal Conference is Saturday, Aug. 23, in Oakland. Please join us for a full day that will expand your mind!
Tickets and more information: skepticalcon.com

One week from today is our 2nd GLOBAL #Skeptics in the Pub. This is a 24-hour free event on Zoom with attendees from more than 50 groups around the world. Join for 10 minutes or all 24 hours. It runs all day Friday Aug. 22 Pacific Time.

More info at: www.skepticalcon.com/global-sitp-...
#SitP

The always entertaining and enlightening Ross Blocher @rossblocher.bsky.social (the "Ross" in the popular "Oh No, Ross and Carrie" podcast) discusses his presentation of skepticism to a spiritual crowd, a lesson in discussing rationalism to the irrational.
Tickets & info at: skepticalcon.com

"Enhance!", commands Blade Runner's Deckard as the computer zooms into a photograph revealing unseen clarity. Data Skeptic Kyle Polich references sci-fi and the Roswell incident at the 2025 #SkeptiCal Conference, live in Oakland on Aug. 23.
Tickets and more information at skepticalcon.com

For 25 years, the Center for Inquiry Investigations Group has offered $500k to anyone proving paranormal powers under controlled conditions. Get the tools to do it yourself at the 2025 SkeptiCal Conference, live in Oakland on Aug. 23.

Tickets and more information at skepticalcon.com

Environmental scientist Dana Nuccitelli examines the actions that we can take given the current state of climate change in "Doom, Gloom, & Energy Boom", one talk in a day full of critical thinking live in Oakland on Saturday Aug. 23.

Tickets and more information at skepticalcon.com

The world is a vast sea of information. How can we navigate information overload, and how do those decisions shape knowledge and beliefs?

Expand your mind with Dr. Celeste Kidd and the rest of our amazing speakers at the 2025 SkeptiCal Conference. Tickets and more information at skepticalcon.com.

Our own Dr. Eugenie Scott takes the stage at the 2025 SkeptiCal Conference to discuss "Scopes at 100".

See Dr. Scott and many other amazing speakers in a live, one-day conference on Aug. 23. Tickets and more information are available at skepticalcon.com

SkeptiCal Conference SkeptiCal is the scientific skepticism conference brought to you by Northern California Skeptics.

Reminder: Ticket prices increase tomorrow for the 2025 SkeptiCal Conference, LIVE in Oakland on August 23.

Tickets and more information at: skepticalcon.com

Ticket prices increase on Friday for the 2025 SkeptiCal Conference, LIVE in Oakland on August 23.

Tickets and more information at: skepticalcon.com

Seen in #LosGatos...

The biology class you WISHED You Could Have Taken “The biology class you wished you could have taken”: Kitzmiller v. Dover, 20 years later 2025 is 100 years after the Scopes Monkey Trial in Dayton, Tennessee, and 20 years after the 2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover court case, in which I participated while working at the National Center for Science Education. The Kitzmiller case included extensive expert testimony on the science of evolution, and the historical development of “intelligent design” and related antievolution efforts. While the case made in 2005 holds up very well, there have been interesting developments in both areas that I will review. These include work on the evolutionary origins of the bacterial flagellum done in a phylogenetic context, and work applying phylogenetic methods to trace the copying history of antievolutionist legislation. I will also reflect on lessons we learned during the case and how they remain relevant today. About the Speaker: Nick Matzke is a Senior Lecturer and Rutherford Discovery Fellow at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, New Zealand. From 2004-2007 he was a Public Information Project Director at the National Center for Science Education, and was heavily involved in the 2004-2005 Kitzmiller v. Dover trial in Pennsylvania about the constitutionality of teaching “intelligent design” creationism in public school biology classes. See less 🎙️ New to streaming or looking to level up? Check out StreamYard and get $10 discount! 😍 https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5008091638136832

Reminder that TONIGHT (Thursday, June 12) is our monthly SkepTalk.

Tonight, Nick Matzke discusses "The biology class you wished you could have taken: Kitzmiller v. Dover, 20 years later".
This is free talk on YouTube brought to you by Bay Area Skeptics.

bit.ly/BASmatz

Projected Outcomes of Removing Fluoride From US Public Water Systems This cost-effectiveness analysis evaluates a large sample of US children to determine the associations of fluoridation cessation with oral health and national dental care costs.

Removing fluoride = "an increase in tooth decay of 7.5% points & cost approximately $9.8 billion over 5 years."

But, alas, this is now all about politics & spin. The data won't help.

Projected Outcomes of Removing Fluoride From US Public Water Systems jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Anyone else get offered a $400M luxury jet by a middle eastern nation, or is it just me?

Tuesday night May 13, we're back with LIVE, In-Person Skeptics in the Pub.
Please join us!

Fiddlers Green, 333 El Camino Real, Millbrae
7-9PM

For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love.

For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love.

How Intelligent Design Nearly Won Intelligent Design Theory (ID) is scorned by nearly all professional life scientists. Nevertheless, local and state boards of education throughout the United States have tried to mandate instruction in this “alternative” theory of evolution. Professor Nelson will discuss how ID succeeded politically even as it continues to fail scientifically. The secret to ID’s success draws from its advocates’ “recruitment” of consensus values like freedom and fairness, overshadowing the theory’s scientific shortcomings. Professor Nelson will focus on the communication strategies of ID advocates and opponents and will draw parallels between the ID battle and current controversies over climate change and vaccine resistance. About the Speaker Thomas E. Nelson is Professor of Political Science at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. He received his PhD in social psychology from the University of Michigan in 1992. He is the head of the political psychology PhD program at Ohio State that examines how theories and research methods from psychology help us understand politics, and how the study of politics broadens psychological theory. He is the author of Political Persuasion: The Use of Values in Communication (Oxford University Press, 2024) that explores how political advocates leverage the power of social values to increase support for their causes. The book includes an extensive case study of the ID movement and its opponents, and Prof. Nelson will draw from this material for his presentation.

Reminder that TONIGHT (May 8) at 7:30 PM Pacific is our monthly SkepTalk. Thomas Nelson discusses "How Intelligent Design Nearly Won".

This year marks 20 years since the Kitzmiller v. Dover trial and 100 years since the Scopes trial and challenges to teaching evolution continue!

bit.ly/BASnels

Definitely tone deaf...

I'm calling it...
www.partyrhino.ca

Still hoping that this week that I'm named:
Prime Minister of Canada
or
Pope
or
US Secretary of Defense

or Trifecta.

They'd call me Secretary Popeminister Jnormous 1st.

A reminder that if the government can send migrants to a prison camp without any due process, it can send U.S. citizens there, too. I know because this happened to me and my family in 1942.

Going on right now in Lodi:
The "Be Reasonable" Skepticamp

Be Reason-Able!

Date: Apr 5 • 10:30 am

Location: 201 West Locust Street, Lodi, CA 95240

www.eventbrite.com/e/be-reason-...

YouTube video by Channel 4 Comedy Fire the Nuclear Weapon | Toast of London | Channel 4 Comedy

I suspect that the Signal conversation went something like this... youtu.be/t8xliaDUPwg?...

Pm Private GIF ALT: Pm Private GIF

I would like to nominate Maxwell Smart for national security advisor.

Thanks for putting me on the guest list!
#SofiTukker #SanFrancisco #GDC
@sofi-tukker.bsky.social

Let me be sure that I understand this. #VoiceOfAmerica fights fascism and totalitarianism around the world. POTUS says that they are anti-Trump.

Hmmm...

If you're going into the office to be seen, you need a new job.

Or a new attitude.

Or both.

Prime Minister Mark Carney is asked to respond to Marco Rubio suggesting today that Canada join the United States:

"It's crazy. His point is crazy. That's it."