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Here is a recap of the stories that appeared recently at Science-Based Medicine, a multi-author skeptical blog that separates the science from the woo in medicine. 

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The JREF is proud to sponsor the first ever 24-hour marathon broadcast of The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, beginning Friday, Sept. 23 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and continuing until 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24.

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This week: James Randi appears on BlogTV for Doctors Without Borders fundraiser; D.J. Grothe interviewed about South Shore psychics and supernatural debt cancellation; and 'Psychic Sally' borrows tricks from Peter Popoff.

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Thursday brought news from Montréal, Canada of further action in the “David Mabus” case.

Long-time readers of this site and many other skeptic websites are familiar with this person, who would regularly interject and threaten in the comments below. He drew his nom de plume from the writings of Nostradamus, and targeted James Randi and many other skeptics for endless ire. He’s been at it for some time, you can read Mr. Randi’s posts from three years ago about this character.

Last month his spam and threats (which had accelerated on Twitter) got the attention of the press and the police where he lives in Montréal. The story of how this came about is an interesting case study in online skeptic activism which I documented in detail on my blog. It resulted in his arrest on August 16 and appearance before a judge on a total of 16 charges of making death threats.

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michael_headshotDebunking vs. Educating. This was the focus of a panel discussion featured at this this year’s Skeptrack at Dragon*Con. The panel, moderated by JREF President D.J. Grothe, explored the roles played by these different approaches in the classroom and the community. Does one method better serve the goals of skeptical educators and activists? How can we most effectively use both methods to increase the public’s awareness and understanding of the skeptical perspective? Afterward, I sat down with the JREF’s Director of Educational Program, Michael Blanford, to get his ideas and vision for the JREF’s educational programs.

Sadie Crabtree: One of the questions directed towards the Debunking vs. Educating panel was, is the intention of skeptical education to indoctrinate kids about what not to believe, or to teach them the process of evaluating claims?

Michael Blanford: This idea that skeptical educators or parents are in the business of indoctrinating kids is very difficult for me to understand. I have heard that misconception or accusation more than once. Sometimes it comes from those working to defend their own beliefs or ideologies from critique but also from folks who sincerely misunderstand what we value. Not only is promoting a particular set of beliefs not our aim, it runs counter to all the things we see as important. As long as it wasn’t dangerous, I would probably be more satisfied with a kid that arrived at a bad idea on his own terms than see him arrive at a good idea through coercion. What can you learn from that?

  1. Off to Canada Celebrating the Exposure of "Psychic Sally"
  2. See James Randi In 9 Canadian Cities
  3. Skeptics at the Metaphysical Fair
  4. Diversity at The Amaz!ng Meeting 9