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SkeptiCamp New Hampshire
Sep 13th
UPDATE: Please see below, and the link to the SkeptiCamp Wiki for new details about this event.
SkeptiCamp New Hampshire is just over a month away! Please join us for the first such event in New England. Based off of the unconference model of BarCamp, SkeptiCamp is a dynamic event with lots of participation and interaction.
We will be holding SkeptiCamp at The Barley House in Concord, NH on Saturday, October 22nd from 11am-4pm. For those coming from Boston please look at Concord Coach Lines for the South Station <-> Concord bus line. It’s a easy alternative for those coming from the Boston area, especially if you don’t have a car.
Please note that due to the limited space, registration is required to attent. Registration can be done at our EventBright page. If you want to cancel your registration please let us know so that we can release the seat to others. Speaking slots are even more limited, so if you have a topic you’re interested in presenting please contact our event coordinator, Dale Roy.
This event is made possible by the co-sponsorship of the James Randi Education Foundation.
September Skeptics in the Pub
Sep 6th
This month we welcome our first return speaker. Bart Center, writer of “The Atheist Camel Chronicles” is joining us to talk about his new book “The Atheist Camel Rants Again!”
Bart is also the operator of Eternal Earth-Bound Pets, a website for post-rapture pet care.
So please join us, 7pm at The Shaskeen in Manchester on September 12th. More information can be found at the event facebook page. Please RSVP there or here in the comments.
Opinion: On Staying Silent
Jul 8th
People are remaining silent on various issues. For many, silence is considered supportive of one side or another. If you don’t disagree visibly or vocally, then you must agree! It’s a fallacy, we all know it, but never the less it’s happening. Right now, we have members of the skeptical movement who are staying silent out of fear of the resulting backlash. It seems the silence is greatest when something is going wrong but, people are afraid to comment. We all know when something has gone awry and we all know the moment of clarity that happens each of us, when it does. What is puzzling for the skeptical movement is the silent stance. After all, what has been one of the big tenets of our movement? Engagement. We skeptics research, read, get informed, find answers that get us upset… then do nothing? What good comes from that?
John Edward Protest – A Recap
Jul 5th
On June 21st, The Granite State Skeptics put together a quiet protest outside the John Edward show. Our goal was modest: Make aware and Inform. For those that may be interested in doing something similar, I thought a full run down of our story from the very beginning to the end would be helpful.
Back in October, 2010. One of the founders (Andrew Cramb) sent me an email stating psychic John Edward would be performing at The Palace Theatre in June. I thought it would be a good idea to put something together, but till I had a good idea best to put it on the back burner. After all, there was plenty of time to do something. However, what I did do in the mean time, was come up with a pamphlet called “Rational Guide to Psychics”.
It’s From Nature – It Must Be Better
May 22nd
Image from Flickr - Matthew Beckler
Ah nature, its beauty astounds me and I gladly walk through its many wonders. To think, all it took was time, pressure, and a few chemical reactions to make some impressive features. I am even more impressed by how our means of better living was achieved through nature. Achieved through our ancestors curiosity and survival instincts. As a result many of the proven natural aides are used today, albeit in different form. However, today, we have a population of people who think the world is in trouble. That our world is better served by abandoning our advancements and return to the primitive past. While it is true many of our products used today are nature based; that does not mean abandoning our advances will provide a safer or better environment.
Many things that make life easier came from plants. Aspirin, for example originated from the bark of a willow tree in the form of salicylic acid. Thanks to Bayer and other makers of aspirin, most people no longer have to worry about their stomach becoming upset. Retinal is another plant-based product that has been manipulated to suit our purpose. Cosmetic companies figured out retinal are good for smooth skin. A third chemical, and the focus of this article, is oxalic acid. This is a chemical found in many plants and it is made readily in the lab for industrial and commercial use. Oxalic acid is used in many disinfectants, bleaching agents, and insecticides for household, commercial, and industrial use. As for plants, it can be found in Spinach, Swiss chard, and most notably –if you are a New Englander-Rhubarb.
Over the Edge…
Apr 19th
One woman with a man’s name tale of annoyance, criticism, research, decision making, and discovery on the topic of feminism.
I have been pushed! Pushed to write my thoughts on feminism. For the past year I have heard about feminism and skepticism. Which normally, does not bother me. Feminism, serves a very important purpose when pointed in the correct direction. Today, I wonder if feminism is still going in the correct direction. Apparently, members of our own community are putting us women in a submissive and inferior role. There are several women in our community that are leading the charge vocally and thank goodness they are there to tell me how to feel about it! At least this is the impression I have been left with. I have been wrangling with and hashing out my own thoughts over the past several months. I keep biting my tongue, holding myself back. I hold myself back because; I have only been a member for the skeptical community actively for a short time. I keep waiting for someone more established in the community to speak up for those of us that do not feel the same as the popular opinion. No one has spoken up, which possibly means I stand alone… That is a very scary position to be in.
More >
Power Balance Against the Ropes
Jan 6th
By now you’ve all heard about the ACCC’s ruling against Power Balance, and the statement they had to put on the Australian Power Balance website.
This of course generated tons of buzz around the world. It’s caused enough of an issue that the US Power Balance website posted this statement.
Power Balance products work. The existing reports out there are fundamentally incorrect. Power Balance did not make any claims that our product does not perform.
We are committed to bringing our performance technologies to every athlete in the world from professional to amateur to recreational. Our community of believers continues to grow each week. While our previous claims in marketing ads are not up to Australia’s ACCC standards – we stand behind our products. The belief of thousands of consumers and athletes who wear our products are not wrong.
A preliminary study recently conducted on the product’s performance variables was commissioned and the findings have determined that the product does in fact provide a “statistically significant” result on the wearer’s performance. We are committed to further evaluating the product’s performance parameters so that we can continue to provide products that enhance the wearer’s lifestyle.
Numerous actual consumer testimonies supporting the wristbands’ performance were provided to the ACCC by Power Balance. Despite that, they requested Power Balance remove marketing claims until it could provide them with their narrow criteria of randomized, double-blind scientific studies that supports the use of those marketing phrases.
Power Balance voluntarily agreed to stop using those phrases. Power Balance believes and wants users to believe that we will do whatever it takes to appropriately, and with honor and integrity make our products available to every consumer in every market in the world.
Hrm, a study? I ended up emailing the company asking them for more information about this study. The reply was filled with lots of marking talk and skating the law about what they can actually claim, but here’s the important bit in the email I got from Power Balance.
Currently the only scientific studies that have been done were measuring lead content and also measuring radiation to insure there are no harmful effects. One done by a Professor at Yale Testing for radiation and the other by a Texas based 3rd party organization called Intertek. Both studies came back with no harmful effects.
So, the official website says they’ve done studies on the effectiveness, but when you email them about the studies, none exist. Only studies on safety have been done.
Power Balance products work. The existing reports out there are fundamentally incorrect. Power Balance did not make any claims that our product does not perform.
We are committed to bringing our performance technologies to every athlete in the world from professional to amateur to recreational. Our community of believers continues to grow each week. While our previous claims in marketing ads are not up to Australia’s ACCC standards – we stand behind our products. The belief of thousands of consumers and athletes who wear our products are not wrong.
A preliminary study recently conducted on the product’s performance variables was commissioned and the findings have determined that the product does in fact provide a “statistically significant” result on the wearer’s performance. We are committed to further evaluating the product’s performance parameters so that we can continue to provide products that enhance the wearer’s lifestyle.
Numerous actual consumer testimonies supporting the wristbands’ performance were provided to the ACCC by Power Balance. Despite that, they requested Power Balance remove marketing claims until it could provide them with their narrow criteria of randomized, double-blind scientific studies that supports the use of those marketing phrases.
Power Balance voluntarily agreed to stop using those phrases. Power Balance believes and wants users to believe that we will do whatever it takes to appropriately, and with honor and integrity make our products available to every consumer in every market in the world.
My thoughts on a skeptical year…
Jan 1st
2010 has been a relatively uneventful skeptical year for me. When I say uneventful, I personally have not done much in the way of promoting skepticism. However, I have finished my first semester of grad school, attended my first Australian TAM, my second TAM Vegas, and finding myself getting more involved in the workings of skepticism.
I am attending the University of Buffalo via the Internet. It is amazing to me how much technology lets you find out. I have spent a semester nose to texts/screen and learning! I know a real revelation right! Learning how to read a study has been one of the best things. If I learned nothing else in my years in grad school, this will do me a huge service. Turns out you should probably ignore the television reports on the latest study that comes out. Far better for you to read the study yourself, too much room for interpretation from the vague reports depending on the type of study.
Read the study your self, read the study from beginning to end. You would be amazed how many of them do a 180 from what the results actually show. The ones that are just poorly done would also amaze you. What is an example of a good study? One where the author states his or her study’s limitations stays true to what the results show, and one that offers up suggestions for further study. One of the better studies I read was written by Mathew Johnson and Massimo Pigliucci, they were very thorough and fully explained their results in the discussion. Well worth a read if you get a chance.
TAM Australia was FANTASTIC! The trip itself was fantastic, but the organizers did a wonderful job of pulling off their first TAM. I mean they really made it look flawless. They were quick on their feet with the surprise changes that needed to be made with speakers suddenly canceling. The little details like the name tags with the logo, the itinerary folds up and fits into the name tags so people don’t have another thing to hold. The speakers were quality Dr. Karl, Eugenie Scott, SGU, Dr. Simon Singh, Dr. Robert Morrison, and many others. Many people have said some very good things; I just wanted to add two more… Travis and I! We were on panels for TAMOz! That was very exciting experience for both of us. I hope I was informative and answered the questions with relevant responses. I can tell you when there is a microphone and cameras in front of your face, you get a little nervous.
Are there some things that could be done differently? Sure. However, these are minor things and not a reflection on the overall conference. The over all conference was very impressive and the amount of time and effort put in by all was apparent!
TAM8 in Vegas, was one of the biggest meetings yet. This was the JREF’s new president DJ Grothe’s first time in charge of TAM and he did a good job. All of the usual things an experienced TAMer have come to expect. Two things that could be done differently, I would have like to have seen the keynote speaker actually speak rather then a question/answer session. The other is during the cocktail hour, I would have liked to seen the James Randi interview of Richard Dawkins happen at the end of the cocktail hour. Not so close to the beginning, people had not seen each other in a while. people wanted to talk and to be shushed was kind of off putting.
For me it was a wonderful experience, almost as awesome as my very first one. Once again the speakers were quality. People like Dr. Simon Singh, Richard Dawkins, SGU, my personal favorite Adam Savage, and again many other notable people. The effort and the planning was apparent and I think the JREF overall did a good job as well.
I am increasingly finding myself getting more and more annoyed by the obvious false claims out there. I am finding myself becoming more intolerant of people getting mislead and ripped off as a result. Lets talk about my Energy Armor Experience. Travis tells me they have a kiosk and to make matters that much better, they have the ability to count the ions in their bracelets!! Needing to see this, I head over to the kiosk. They are doing the same physical tests that Power Balance does; only they are worse at it. I can see the direction they are pulling their subjects. I go through their tests and call them on their flaws. I end up with three sales people trying to test me; the last one is apparently the manager or the guy “in charge” that day. He tests me about ions, how they add energy to my body, how the FDA has approved negative ions for years! I ask, “How do negative ions add energy to my body?” I don’t get any real answers. I ask again, I keep pushing for two answers: 1. This is exactly how ions do their job or 2. You know I wasn’t trained for this; here is someone you can contact. Instead what I get is accusation of working for someone, and sworn at. “Go f’n Google negative ions” “My name is none of your f’n business”. Real nice.
Complaint letter sent to the director of the mall. Here is the letter ** Only changes made was the recipients name.
I get what I would consider an unacceptable response back. Here is the response. ** Only changes: removal of name and header of the email.
I send back the following letter: Here is the letter ** Changes made, removal of name of recipient
The good news is, people saw and heard the man swearing and getting angry with me. The good news is Travis has a contact at the FDA from prior experiences and this has resulted in the FDA looking into Energy Armor’s claims. This can only result in what I hope is Energy Armor having to do the same thing as Power Balance; report their false claims!
I have now found out that a local schoolteacher is selling Energy Armor to the students via the school store. Talk about a lack of business ethics! I am working out a way to word this properly and effectively. It will be dealt with; I am just working out the proper language. I do not want to burn bridges with the school, which will not be helpful or effective. I will keep you all posted on the results and lets see what happens!
I am enjoying what I am doing so far. I love my training in proper information seeking! I have a lot of work to go, but I feel I have improved far beyond what I use to have for skill. I am really looking forward to seeking out a career that involves this sort of work. I will work on figuring out my future career path when I am further in.
2011 should prove to be a more interesting year for Granite State Skeptics. We are looking for ways to be more involved and active. Several things in the works: We are working on our first skepticamp, I will be blogging more (resolutions you know), A certain charlatan will be coming to NH and we hope to be there, working on future speakers for SITP, and of course there is the standard events to attend NECSS and TAM9!
FDA Warnings – A Skeptical Tool
Oct 20th
Over the past few months I’ve been using a new tool in my skeptical toolbox. The FDA Warnings Website. This website is a wealth of information and can help the average skeptic in a number of interesting ways.
The first, and of course the most obvious is to get a feel for what’s going on and what the FDA seems to be cracking down on. It does seem to come in waves, recently there was a large amount of “detox” items getting letters, this week it seems to be chelation therapies.
Another thing is to see what can be reported. You can see who crossed the line and how. You can use this information to find other people in violation and report them to the FDA.
But the real power with this tool is awareness. Using the website you can sign up for email alerts and you will get 1-2 emails a week telling you that the list of offenders is updated. You can then send this information out to friends that may use the products or post them on a blog. What I do is post them on Google SideWiki. You don’t need to have Google toolbar to use this Google product, they also have a bookmarklet.
While Google Sidewiki is not in widespread use, it is helpful just to keep track. There have been more than a few cases where I’ve gone to put in a new FDA Warning to find out that they already had one or two. If they’re the same complaint I will usually shoot the FDA an email to remind them that they have already notified these people for the same offense.
In closing, the FDA Warning website is an easy tool to use and another to throw in your skeptical toolbox in order to combat pseudoscience on the web.
Halloween Event
Oct 19th
The Granite State Skeptics invited Martha Taylor of the Henniker Historical Society to talk to us about the infamous ghost of Henniker, Ocean Born Mary. We will meet at 6:00 pm at Daniel’s Restaurant on Main Street, Henniker, on Sunday, Oct. 31. After the talk, we will visit Ocean Born Mary’s grave at the Town cemetary.
This event will be limited to the people that RSVP. To do so email me to let me know how many travis@granitestateskeptics.org