Sceptics or Skeptics?

Sceptics with a C are usually doubting for the sake of it. Sceptical about 9/11? Use a C. #greenwichsitp

— Live Skeptic(@LiveSkeptic) May 1, 2013

Skeptics with a K espouse evidence based approach #greenwichsitp

— Live Skeptic(@LiveSkeptic) May 1, 2013

Dumping waste slops in Ivory Coast - Trafigura - report by Richard Wilson

Read the background to the Newsnight report on waste in Ivory Coast - see Richard Wilson's blog and view the BBC Newsnight report (YouTube).

• BBC apologises to Trafigura -December 2009 & website

NOTE TO EDITORS In September 2009, personal injury proceedings brought against Trafigura in the English High Court by around 30,000 Ivorians were settled. As part of that settlement, a joint statement was agreed and issued by all the parties and their legal advisers.

The question of the effect of the slops had been considered by 20 independent (and in many cases, world-renowned) experts appointed by the parties in what was by far the most detailed analysis anywhere in the world since the Probo Koala incident. Those experts were agreed that no link could be established between the slops and deaths, miscarriages, still births or other serious and chronic injuries, 

and this was recorded in the joint statement. That statement was read in open Court to Mr Justice MacDuff, the Judge who had been due to hear the trial, at a hearing on 23 September 2009. His Lordship endorsed the statement, based on his knowledge of the case, as being “100% truthful”. In turn, Trafigura’s Reply in these libel proceedings reflected extensive input from the same leading, independent experts instructed by Trafigura. They included experts in pathology, obstetrics, toxicology, oil chemistry, modelling and epidemiology, all of whom expressly approved the analysis set out in the Reply, the conclusions of which have today been accepted by the BBC. The Reply is now a public document and a copy can be provided on request.

• Trafigura Statement
• "Trafigura was not responsible for dumping the Probo Koala's slops in Abidjan. The slops were dumped by an independent contractor, Compagnie Tommy, which was appointed lawfully and in good faith on the basis that it would dispose of the slops in a safe and legal manner. Trafigura cannot have foreseen the reprehensible and illegal way in which Compagnie Tommy then proceeded to dump the slops.
• Greenpeace report 2006
• The wastes disposed of around the city of Abidjan are liquid sludge containing large quantities of hydrocarbons, contaminated with at least three substances: hydrogen sulphide, mercaptans and caustic soda 

• Business & Human Rights Resource Centre - history of Trafigura case
• Victims of toxic waste in despair at Court ruling, 22 January 2010
• Gag on Guardian reporting MP's Trafigura question lifted
• Amnesty

• Cote D'Ivoire: Travesty of justice for Trafigura victims

Meet Richard Wilson in Winchester on 25 February 2010 at 7.30pm at Skeptics in the Pub to discuss this case and Free Speech and Scepticism.

Skeptics with a K podcast - founders of 10:23 campaign

source: http://www.merseysideskeptics.org.uk/skeptics-with-a-k/
Skeptics with a K is the podcast of the Merseyside Skeptics Society, recorded and edited at the region’s internationally-renownedSummit Studios. Each episode features Mike, Marsh and Colin chatting about stuff that interests them, often with a skeptical angle.

Rise of Scepticism in UK by Chris French

source: http://download.guardian.co.uk/audio/kip/science/series/science/1238169781132/7001/gdn.sci.090330.sc.Science-Weekly.mp3 (8mins)

HASSNERS.org highlights

HASSNERS.org comments

Chris French is Professor of Psychology at Goldsmiths College, University of London. He talks about the rise of scepticism in the UK.

HASSERS to redefine our statement 'Sceptics'

In the first 2 draft of HASSERS statements (December 2007 & May 2008) I defined Sceptics - HASSERS are Sceptics who suspend judgment because knowledge is rarely final. More

The rating was 57% (lowest score of all May 2008 statements).

The Sceptics statement (January 2009) will be defined as:
HASSERS are Sceptics who are disposed to incredulity & doubt hence suspend final judgment; are intellectually cautious & continually test their knowledge.

Anonymous said "

2 Comments - Show Original Post Collapse comments

Anonymous said...

A skeptic should not be an atheist. A skeptic 'suspends judgment' whereas an atheist has made a judgment and claims to know what is not known, just as a theist does. A skeptic should be an agnostic not an atheist. The scientific approach should be based on doubt, uuncertainty and probability especially since the arrival of Quantum Physics.

30 January 2008 15:53

and I replied

Chris Street said...

It depends on what you mean by Atheist. As an atheist I have found there to be insufficient evidence for me to subscribe to the idea that God exists. I do not know that God definitely does not exist. In this sense I am agnostic. For all practical purposes however, I am an atheist.

Nigerian advises against 86 wives

source: New Humanist.

While an ordinary man with 10 wives “would collapse and die”, Mohammed Bello Abubakar, an 84-year-old from Nigeria, now has 86 wives and has so far survived thanks to his power “given by Allah”. Due to this, he advises other men, that is, those out of direct communication with God, against having 86 wives and an estimated 170 children.

Mohammed Abubakar has wives a quarter of his age, one of whom says that he claimed the marriage was “directly an order from God”. As for the others, they all came with illnesses to find Mohammed (who also happens to have healing powers), all of whom he cured. If you have an illness, all you have to do is sit in front of him, and he can see it and “just remove it”.

Despite the large family, neither Mohammed nor his wives have any work, and to the casual observer it may seem a mystery how he makes the money to pay for food and clothes. No need to worry though, as Mohammed easily answers the question – he gets it from God.

Posted by Ramon Gonsalves at Monday, August 11, 2008

By Andrew Walker full story: BBC News, Bida, Nigeria

Mr Bello Abubakar says he does not go and find women, they come to him

Nigerian Mohammed Bello Abubakar, 84, has advised other men not to follow his example and marry 86 women.

The former teacher and Muslim preacher, who lives in Niger State with his wives and at least 170 children, says he is able to cope only with the help of God.

"A man with 10 wives would collapse and die, but my own power is given by Allah. That is why I have been able to control 86 of them," he told the BBC.

He says his wives have sought him out because of his reputation as a healer.

"I don't go looking for them, they come to me. I will consider the fact that God has asked me to do it and I will just marry them."

But such claims have alienated the Islamic authorities in Nigeria, who have branded his family a cult.

When you marry a man with 86 wives you know he knows how to look after them Wife Ganiat Bello Abubakar

Most Muslim scholars agree that a man is allowed to have four wives, as long as he can treat them equally.

But Mr Bello Abubakar says there is no punishment stated in the Koran for having more than four wives.

"To my understanding the Koran does not place a limit and it is up to what your own power, your own endowment and ability allows," he says.

"God did not say what the punishment should be for a man who has more than four wives, but he was specific about the punishment for fornication and adultery."

'Order from God'

As Mr Bello Abubakar emerged from his compound to speak to the BBC, his wives and children broke out into a praise song.

Some of Mr Bello Abubakar's wives are younger than some of his children

Most of his wives are less than a quarter of his age - and many are younger than some of his own children.

The wives the BBC spoke to say they met Mr Bello Abubakar when they went to him to seek help for various illnesses, which they say he cured.

"As soon as I met him the headache was gone," says Sharifat Bello Abubakar, who was 25 at the time and Mr Bello Abubakar 74.

"God told me it was time to be his wife. Praise be to God I am his wife now."

Ganiat Mohammed Bello has been married to the man everyone calls "Baba" for 20 years.

When she was in secondary school her mother took her for a consultation with Mr Bello Abubakar and he proposed afterwards.

"I said I couldn't marry an older man, but he said it was directly an order from God," she says.

She married another man but they divorced and she returned to Mr Bello Abubakar.

"I am now the happiest woman on earth. When you marry a man with 86 wives you know he knows how to look after them," she said.

No work

Mr Bello Abubakar and his wives do not work and he has no visible means of supporting such a large family.

Many of the wives live three to a room, some have seven children

He refuses to say how he makes enough money to pay for the huge cost of feeding and clothing so many people.

Every mealtime they cook three 12kg bags of rice which all adds up to $915 (£457) every day.

"It's all from God," he says.

Other residents of Bida, the village where he lives in the northern Nigerian state, say they do not know how he supports the family.

According to one of his wives, Mr Bello Abubakar sometimes asks his children to go and beg for 200 naira ($1.69, £0.87), which if they all did so would bring in about $290 (£149).

Most of his wives live in a squalid, unfinished house in Bida; others live in his house in Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital.

He refuses to allow any of his family or other devotees to take medicine and says he does not believe that malaria exists.

They were sick and we told God and God said their time has come Wife Hafsat Bello Abubakar

"As you sit here if you have any illness I can see it and just remove it," he says.

But not everyone can be cured and one of his wives, Hafsat Bello Mohammed, says two of her children have died.

"They were sick and we told God and God said their time has come."

She says that most of the wives see Mr Bello Abubakar as next in line from the Prophet Muhammad.

Indeed, he claims the Prophet Muhammad speaks to him personally and gives detailed descriptions of his experiences.

It is a serious claim for a Muslim to make.

"This is heresy, he is a heretic," says Ustaz Abubakar Siddique, an imam of Abuja's Central Mosque.

A change in the law could mean mediums, psychics and healers face prosecution if they cannot justify their claims.

There may be trouble ahead

By Finlo Rohrer and Sarah Bell BBC News Magazine

A change in the law could mean mediums, psychics and healers face prosecution if they cannot justify their claims. Spiritualists are delivering a mass petition to Downing Street and complaining that a genuine religion is being discriminated against.

Madame Sosostris, famous clairvoyante,
Had a bad cold, nevertheless
Is known to be the wisest woman in Europe,
With a wicked pack of cards.

Whether it's TS Eliot or Shirley Ghostman, the world of the medium has been gently drizzled with ridicule for some decades.
But now psychics, healers and spiritualists fear a new threat. Not gentle ribbing, but the long arm of the law.
Parliament is about to debate measures that will see all forms of paid-for paranormal activities fall under the new Consumer Protection Regulations. As well as tackling a raft of more mundane commercial sharp practice, these regulations will also replace the Fraudulent Mediums Act 1951.

SPIRITUALISM Seven principles Practised since 19th Century Believe in god Believe contact with dead is possible Many mediums are not spiritualists

And some mediums are not happy. Under the old legislation, it had to be proven that any accused psychic was setting out to commit a fraud. The first case was a man in 1952 on a charge that he did in "purporting to act as a spiritualistic medium, unlawfully use a certain fraudulent device, namely, a length of cheesecloth". He was acquitted, setting a pattern for the last 50 years of very few prosecutions.
Under the new laws, some mediums feel they will be obliged to prove what they do. And when you're in the business of contacting spirits in the afterlife, that's not easy.
At Battersea Spiritualist Church, the new laws mean visiting medium Bill Rae is peppering his session of clairvoyance - for which there is only a voluntary collection - with disclaimers along the lines of "this is not science" and "this is just an experiment".
Spirit world
The clairvoyancy session is like a game of psychic battleships. Rae fires off little salvos. Most shots miss, but many hit, generating wonder in the congregation.
He speaks to a man a few rows back. Rae, who receives nothing more than expenses for these sessions, has seen a man in the "spirit world". He thinks it might be the subject's father. The man nods and Rae continues.

NEW REGULATIONS Aimed at unfair sales and marketing practices Follow EU directive Will need approval by Parliament Centre on "reasonable expectations of the average consumer" Persistent breaches punishable by enforcement order Breach of order punishable by two years in prison or fine

The medium describes the man's father as jolly and there is agreement from the subject. Now Rae sees a name. George. But the man knows no George. "Georgette?" No, the man replies.
Then the medium wants to establish where the man's father is from. He sees a link to Jamaica. No, says the man. Now Rae sees the word "Windward". The Windward Isles, he tentatively ventures. No, says the man again. But Rae is unperturbed. He guesses that the man is from an island. No again.
Then Rae has a purple patch. He asks about the name Gregory. The man's brother is called Gregory. And he infers that the man's father died of prostate cancer, which is correct. The subject comes from Washington DC and his family have been there for generations. But he is inspired by Rae's references to his brother and father and seems totally convinced.
Talking to Rae, it is immediately apparent that he has a strong and genuine belief in what he is doing.
Healing hands
Another person who is concerned over the new rules is Alison Lyndle, a spiritual healer, shaman and "space clearing consultant" who operates out of an anonymous interwar mock Tudor house in Harrow.
Contrary to the cliche of the heavily bejewelled healer, Lyndle's hands are unadorned with rings. And yet she, and the people who come to see her, believe they have the power to heal.
The patient lies on a GP surgery style bed as Lyndle lays hands on the patient's head for more than half an hour. Hearing just the chirping of birds and the gentle thrum of the central heating boiler turning on and off, it is easy to see how both sceptic and believer would feel better afterwards.

Derek Acorah is one of the country's better-known psychics

"I agree that there needs to be something in place to stop people who are fraudulent," she says. "I get e-mails from people from time-to-time saying they have paid thousands of pounds to people."
But she says that she fears that the law would open up the possibility that sceptics could make malicious complaints.
David McEntee-Taylor and his wife Carole have set up the Spiritual Workers Association to protect people like Lyndle and Rae and campaign against the new regulations.
McEntee-Taylor is particularly worried about the effect on spiritualist churches, many of which are held in impromptu venues which must be paid for.
And he is not happy about having to start religious services with a disclaimer, something that most religions would give short shrift to.
"If you believe why should there be a disclaimer? Why should it be different for us?"
And yet the established religious body, the Spiritualists' National Union - which claims 100,000 adherents - seems unconcerned by the imminent change in the law.
Minister Steven Upton, a spiritual healer and the movement's public relations head, says regulation to tackle fraudsters is welcome.
"We don't understand why people are protesting. If you are claiming you can prove life after death you've got a problem. We never guarantee it is going to work. Trained mediums don't make false claims."
Anecdotal evidence
Psychologist Prof Richard Wiseman has spent 15 years investigating psychics, healers and mediums and is unconvinced.
"Anecdotal evidence on their abilities is impressive, but if you put it under more scientific conditions, their claims tend to crumble. [Now] they will need to be able to justify the claims they are making."
But there are many ordinary people who will continue using mediums, and they come from diverse backgrounds.
Lorraine Crighton-Smith, 27, a journalist from London, saw a medium four years ago when a friend invited one to her house to do readings for a group of seven, professional, 30-something women.
"He asked 'who's William, who's Bill?'. I replied, 'he's my dad' and he said 'something's going to happen to your dad sweetheart'.
"I suppose I did worry for a while but I was more impressed he had mentioned a name familiar to me than I was concerned. He was spot on when he was talking about what I was like, my personality traits."

The Office of Fair Trading says enforcement of the new regulations will not target sessions like this or churches, instead being more likely to be used against foreign mass mailshot fraudsters extracting large sums of money.

But despite the protestations of officialdom, the medium community has enough foresight to see potential problems ahead.

---

Below is a selection of your comments.
I see the thin end of the wedge of persecution of spritualists, druidary, hedge witches and all those who do not practice Christian based religions. Government meddling in religion can never be welcome in any civilised society
Phil, London
Proper religions don't charge for advice, and these new regulations only cover paid-for services. I don't think spiritualism is being picked on, only those rogues who are happy to fleece vulnerable people.
Lucy Jones, Manchester

If we're going to ask psychics to prove their beliefs, shouldn't someone pass a law requiring the Pope to prove he can speak to God.

Perhaps the government should just give us all a bit more credit, we've all seen Derren Brown show us how easy it is to fake these things and lets be honest, the vast majority of people take it all with a pinch of salt. However, that doesn't mean that a bit of faith and belief can't be just as powerful as the best drugs. Just because we don't understand how something works, doesn't mean it doesn't work.
Gareth, Swansea

It makes me feel sick and angry to read accounts of cold readings or to see "mediums" at work. Cold reading, whether done as a con trick or done "in good faith" (ie equal credulousness on the part of both the medium and the mark) is about fishing; people remember the "surprising" hits and forget the wild misses. It's human nature to want to believe our loved ones live on elsewhere, and to want to seek comfort; taking advantage of it in this way is despicable. It's a confidence trick and so more power to this law.
Tom Morewood, London, UK

As someone who does not have 'traditional' religious belief I do find the above worrying. Not because I work in the field of psychics etc, I actually have a very normal job, but because of the worry this law could mean to those who do not follow an "accepted" religion.

Catholics believe that the wine and the wafer become Christ’s blood and body. Are they going to be made to back it up? Or will they just have to offer disclaimers as well?

I do believe there are some workers out there that prey on the vulnerable and any spiritualist, shaman or witch who truly had a religions belief would not do so.
Jenny, UK
Mediums claim to speak to the dead, but all of their apparent "skills" can also be attributed to cold reading, guesswork, trickery, psychology, and the fact most people tend to remember the hits and forget about all the misses. TV mediums like Derek Acorah also have the advantage of careful editing to eliminate any embarrassing errors.

So isn't it reasonable to ask these psychics to provide some real evidence that what they do is genuine, especially since they tend to deal with - and take money from - the bereaved and vulnerable?

Chris K, Cheltenham UK
I have plenty of friends who are Christians, Muslims, and practising Wiccans, I personally do not believe in any, but just because I do not believe does not give me the right to challenge them about the realism of there beliefs. I am disgusted that Parliament would even debate such a thing, after all mediums, psychics and healers are human, they make mistakes, just because a few mistakes might be made does not mean that a religion should be belittled and questioned in the manor that parliament so shamefully is debating. It is the fool that believes an entire religion should be belittled because of a single person.
.Sheryl Butler, Wallasey, England.

By the same logic they should insist that all religions prove that their God exists before accepting donations, otherwise it's obtaining money by false pretences.

Simon, Paris, France

- Additional Reporting

- The Scotsman

No happy medium as law makes presence

Published Date: 25 May 2008

By Jen Lavery

YOU have to ask why they didn't see it coming. Mediums and spiritualists are being forced to warn vulnerable customers that their services are not 'experimentally proven'.

European Union laws coming into force tomorrow will make clairvoyants admit that they have no evidence for their claims.

The new rules, to be enforced by the Office of Fair Trading, means mystics will have to display disclaimers,...


Previously, under the 1951 Fraudulent Mediums Act, prosecutors had to prove that a medium had intentionally given false information, or had given advice they knew would lead their customer to spend money.

Hanne Stinson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association, which has been campaigning for a change to the law, said: "We hope the new regulations will make real changes to the current situation, where psychic practitioners are permitted to make completely unsubstantiated claims and to take a payment for their services, without fear of legal action."

But Carole McEntee-Taylor, founder of the Spiritual Workers' Association – described on its website as a self-regulating body for its workers – says spiritualism should not be made subject to consumer protection regulations. "It's turning spiritualism the religion into a consumer product, which it is not," she said.

However, other mediums welcomed the move. Susie Collings, of the College of Psychic Studies, said the directive would tighten standards and discourage "less than ethical" practitioners.

She added that the new laws would mean the public would be more aware of what to expect from a reading. One concern, however, was that it could lead to unnecessary law suits and malicious civil actions.

Sharon Stone blames Chinese earthquake on bad karma

Darn celebrities with their bizarre spiritual beliefs. You can't live with them, but reading those free papers they give out in London might become even more boring if we had to live without them. We've featured a few before, most recently Madonna and her belief that parents' souls choose the gender of their children, and now along comes former-Scientologist-turned-Buddhist Sharon Stone with her view that the recent Sichuan earthquake in China might have been caused by "bad karma":

"I'm not happy about the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans because I don't think anyone should be unkind to anyone else. I've been concerned about how should we deal with the Olympics, because they are not being nice to the Dalai Lama, who is a good friend of mine. And then all this earthquake and all this stuff happened, and I thought, is that karma – when you're not nice that the bad things happen to you?"

That's right, China as a geographical entity (population 1.3bn) has "bad karma" because of the ongoing situation with Tibet (the Dalai Lama's Sharon's friend you know) so along comes an enormous earthquake that kills over 68,000 innocent people and leaves over 4m homeless in a province in the middle of China which is unlikely to be inhabited by any of the people directly responsible for what's happened in Tibet (which incidentally Sharon is "not happy" about).

Needless to say many people in China are unhappy with these comments and some cinemas have vowed to never show her films again, which will presumably come as no great loss to the Chinese people. Cosmetics stores have also taken down adverts featuring Stone, and citizens have posted videos on YouTube calling on the actor to apologise.

Stone made the comments while she was at Cannes last week. Here's a video (the meat is in the first couple minutes):

Evening with James Randi and Friends - Science, Pseudoscience, Scepticism & the Paranormal

An Evening with James Randi and Friends

http://www.skeptic.org.uk/randi/

.. share an evening with James Randi and his associates in an evening of discussion about science, pseudoscience, scepticism and the paranormal.

Scheduled speakers:
Prof. Richard Wiseman; Psychologist, University of Hertfordshire.
Prof. Chris French; Psychologist, APRU, Goldsmiths, University of London.
Dr Simon Singh; author, journalist and TV producer.
Dr Ben Goldacre; award winning writer, broadcaster, and medical doctor.
Dr Susan Blackmore; freelance writer, lecturer and broadcaster.
James Randi; sceptic and magician.

Tickets cost £11 (standard), £5.50 (concessions: students & OAPs).
The booking fee is included in the price.

Time: Doors open at 6pm, close at 6:30pm.
Date: Saturday 19th April 2008.
Venue: Conway Hall, London WC1.

Proceeds go to The James Randi Educational Foundation which is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1996. Its aim is to promote critical thinking by reaching out to the public and media with reliable information about paranormal and supernatural ideas so widespread in our society today.

Contact the organisers:
The event organisers can be contacted at pub{ @ }skeptic.org.uk.


Book tickets for the event:

Telephone
Telephone bookings are accepted between 10am and 5pm only, Monday to
Friday. There is no answerphone service. To book tickets by telephone,
call 020 7404 3126. Telephone bookings need to be paid for (in cash) on
the door. A maximum of four tickets can be booked by telephone.

Online
Tickets can be booked online through the links following links:

Standard rate tickets are available here:
http://www.wegottickets.com/event/29398

Concessionary tickets are available here:
http://www.wegottickets.com/event/29399

Please bring evidence of status for concessionary tickets (student ID
card, etc) on the night. Tickets are allocated on a strict first come,
first served basis. If you book a ticket and cannot attend, please let
us know.

Publicity:
If you can publicise this event in your organisation or workplace, this
flyer is provided for your use: click to open or download:
http://www.skeptic.org.uk/randi/Flyer.pdf

Associations:
The James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF): www.randi.org
The Skeptic Magazine (UK): www.skeptic.org.uk
Skeptics in the Pub: www.skeptic.org.uk/pub
The Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit, Goldsmiths, University of
London: www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/apru

Sceptics - HASSNERS

HASSNERS 8th Statement

Sceptics

HASSNERS - disposed to incredulity & doubt hence suspend final judgment.

updated September 2009

******
Amendments to HASSERS Statements - Sceptics

Other Definitions of Sceptics (wikipedia)

Scepticism (UK) or skepticism (USA) is derived from the greek for skeptomai, to look about, to consider. Scepticism is

1. an attitude of doubt or a disposition to incredulity
   
2. the doctrine that true knowledge is uncertain
   
3. the method of suspended judgment, systematic doubt, or criticism
   
4. a method of obtaining knowledge through systematic doubt and continual testing
5. the arbitrariness, relativity, or subjectivity of moral values
6. a method of intellectual caution and suspended judgment
   

A scientific sceptic questions the reliability of certain kinds of claims by subjecting them to a systematic investigation - the scientific method.

Scientifically-sceptical questions include health claims surrounding homeopathy; the plausibility of supernatural entities (such as ghosts, angels, and gods); the existence of telepathy; topics such as alien visitations, UFOs, crop circles, astrology, intelligent design and other claims the skeptic sees as unlikely to be true on scientific grounds.

Activist sceptics or "debunkers" aim to expose in public what they see as the truth behind specific extraordinary claims.