16 January 2012 by Kim Hebert
Last January, Marketplace took on homeopathy, a frequent topic among skeptical circles — for good reason. This past Friday they looked into Cold-Fx with somewhat more mixed results. On the positive side, they correctly point out a relatively major concern with natural health products (other than the glaring lack of evidence for efficacy) — poor [...]
Posted in Alternative Medicine, Canada, Health, Media, Reviews3 Comments
10 September 2011 by Michael MacKay
Today’s book review is a guest post from Mike MacKay. Mike is a long-time skeptic who, when he’s not practicing law or chauffeuring his children, reads and writes voraciously on skeptical topics. He can be contacted or followed via twitter @Michael5MacKay Interesting in contributing your own book review? If it’s related to scientific skepticism, we’re [...]
Posted in Conspiracy Theories, Guest Post, Reviews, Skepticism0 Comments
22 June 2011 by Ethan Clow
Does Annoying provide a deep understanding into the psychology of annoyance or does it simply read like the experience of unravelling a ball of Christmas lights? As most of my close personal friends can attest, I’m something of an expert on the subject of annoying. So it was with some gusto that I picked up [...]
04 June 2011 by Jeff Orchard
I just attended a debate between Christopher Hitchens and Prof. Barry Brummett at the university of Waterloo. The topic, “Religion has been a positive force in culture.” It was moderated by Jian Ghomeshi. So, why am I calling it the “un-debate”? One of my hobbies is to listen to debates between religious folks and science [...]
Posted in Culture, Reviews, Skepticism26 Comments
25 March 2011 by Ethan Clow
I have a little game I play when I go into book stores. First I make a prediction, then I head over to the history section and see if my prediction is on the ball or not. My prediction will be how many books of pseudo-history, works of outright fiction, conspiracy theories and tirades on [...]
Posted in Conspiracy Theories, History, Media, Reviews, Social Sciences2 Comments
04 February 2011 by Darren McKee
Today’s guest post is from Darren McKee, an contributor to the Ottawa Skeptics podcast. Want to contribute a review? Contact us. I predict that you will find this review informative. If you do, you will congratulate my foresight. If you don’t, you’ll forget I was wrong. My playful intro summarizes the main thesis of Gardner’s [...]
Posted in Critical Thinking, Culture, Probability and Statistics, Reviews, Skepticism5 Comments
14 January 2011 by Kim Hebert
Benefiting from the Atlantic Time Zone, I got to be one of the first to watch CBC Marketplace on Friday night (darn you, Newfoundland!) where they covered the topic of homeopathy. Here are my impressions. First, I want to praise Marketplace for not offering false balance on the issue. Homeopathy is not something about which [...]
Posted in Alternative Medicine, Canada, Health, Media, Pseudoscience, Reviews37 Comments
29 December 2010 by Marion Kilgour
I recently moved into a new place and, for the first time since I moved out of my parent’s house for university, I have enough room to unpack all of my books. One that I pulled out of the box of beloved children’s books was Scary Science: The Truth Behind Vampires, Witches, UFO’s Ghosts and [...]
Posted in Canada, Reviews, Skepticism1 Comment
17 December 2010 by Darren McKee
The Moral Landscape is an intelligent and well-researched work that engages the reader to question if notions of fact and value are really that different, but this landscape is not without its pitfalls.
Posted in Critical Thinking, Media, Reviews1 Comment
29 November 2010 by Steve Thoms
Okay, the title is a bit misleading, as the impetus of this post is to re-direct you to my own blog post on the subject. Our experience at the Whole Life Expo was deeply concerning, and despite the tone of welcoming in the comments section of a previous Skeptic North post, the reality was far [...]
Posted in Canada, Events, Ontario, Reviews, Skepticism0 Comments
Can Coconut Oil Reverse Alzheimer’s Disease?
Toronto Aetherius Society: His Master’s Voice, stuff that goes boom, and a lack of proof (Part 2)
Toronto Aetherius Society: Jesus, Venusians, and some bad astronomy (Part 1)
Skeptical Fails and Wins This Week
Acupuncturist claims cervical cancer is for prostitutes
