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Holiday JREF eBooksRandi's books for Kindle now just $4.99 -- during the Season of Reason!

The JREF sees digital publishing as an important tool for advancing its educational mission and introducing scientific skepticism to new audiences.

Publishing books on scientific skepticism for the Kindle, iPad and Nook is just one of many new projects we've launched this year (what Randi has called our "most productive and effective year on record"), all thanks to supporters of the JREF just like you.

These classic books of skepticism by James Randi are "must reads" for those who care about advancing science, reason and critical thinking. Buying all four makes the perfect holiday gift for skeptics!

You specify the delivery date. No Kindle required. Books can be read using free reading apps for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone 7, Mac, or PC.

Use Amazon's "Give as Gift" option when purchasing to give the gift of skepticism today!

 

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The views I express in this post are not shared by everyone associated with the JREF, including James Randi himself, but they will not come as a surprise to anyone who has attended a panel on parenting in which I have taken part. What brought it to mind was not the season, but rather reminders that many atheists, including Richard Dawkins, have expressed the opinion that religion "clouds the mind" or otherwise keeps people from understanding science. Not only do I disagree with this view but I think it is a bit dangerous.

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Party tricks

Over the holidays I had my entire immediate family over to the house for Thanksgiving. This throng includes about 60 or so people, with 15 or so children under the age of ten. While the parents and adult cousins were informing each other about how their lives had basically stayed the same since the last time they met, the children became restless. Thankfully, my uncle is a magician.

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Some of the most important work in promoting science and skepticism happens at theVancouver Skeptics In The Pub grassroots level. There are regional skeptical organizations all over the world that serve their local communities, and we like to regularly shine the spotlight on some of them.

The Skeptics in the Pub model for organization has proven extremely popular all over the world since it originated several years ago in the U.K. Local Skeptics in the Pub groups serve as a central place for the science-minded to gather, socialize, and even create new skeptical activism projects that serve their local community.

Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of visiting Vancouver's Skeptics in the Pub group and came away very impressed with the liveliness, hospitality, and passion for promoting science and critical thinking that was on display. I spoke with Fred Bremmer, about what makes Vancouver Skeptics in the Pub tick.

 

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A routine United States Navy training flight on December 5, 1945 was lost with all hands possibly due to a navigational error.  Like many events favoredSkeptic History icon by mystery mongerers, this tragedy was just a historical footnote until a writer for Argosy Magazine wrote about it in 1964.  

That article “The Deadly Bermuda Triangle” would probably be forgotten now, were it not for the famous American linguist Charles Berlitz, born November 20, 1914. Known as the heir of the family that founded the famous Berlitz language schools, he also wrote books on anomalous phenomena.  His book “The Bermuda Triangle” was published in 1974 and took the topic of the obscure Argosy article and made it a household term.

  1. Last Week at Science-Based Medicine
  2. Vidatox: Cuban Medicine Defies Logic and Reason
  3. The Randi Show: Season of Reason and Power Balance
  4. Weekly Media Roundup, December 2, 2011