09 June 2011 by Michael Kruse
Peter Popoff, the American evangelical preacher, is one of the classic unsinkable rubber ducks of woo. The skeptical icon James “The Amazing” Randi exposed Popoff in 1987 on the Johnny Carson show by sneaking in a radio receiver and recording equipment and recording the sometimes foul and revealing conversation beween Popoff’s wife Elizabeth and Popoff [...]
Posted in Culture, Media, Skepticism1 Comment
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
01 June 2011 by Steve Thoms
There is a video going around on facebook at the moment, and it caught my attention. Watch it now, but I ask that you hold off (for the moment) on the “Click Here to find out More” at the end of the video: On the surface, it seems like it has a great message: People [...]
Posted in Alternative Medicine, Conspiracy Theories, Critical Thinking, Health, Media, Pseudoscience, Skepticism17 Comments
09 May 2011 by Ethan Clow
Canada recently had a federal election that for the first time in over 11 years resulted in a majority government. It was a historic election for a number of reasons. Not only did the Conservative Party of Canada win the most seats in the House of Parliament, but the New Democrats also made ground, becoming [...]
Posted in Canada, Critical Thinking, Skepticism, Social Sciences15 Comments
19 April 2011 by Dianne Sousa
During elections my ears perk up when law and order issues come up. Are politicians doing business differently this time round? Do they show that they understand what they’re talking about? The claims thrown around in these discussions deserve careful scrutiny because the data that they depend on are often ambiguous or misleading. Surprise! The evidence [...]
Posted in Canada, Critical Thinking, Probability and Statistics, Social Sciences4 Comments
11 April 2011 by Mitchell Gerskup
With all of Canada’s major political parties releasing platforms in anticipation of the upcoming federal election, there can be a lot to read through and process, to the point where most people probably don’t even read their preferred party’s platform all the way through, let alone all of them (I know I usually don’t). With [...]
Posted in Canada, Skepticism, Social Sciences8 Comments
30 March 2011 by Mitchell Gerskup
MoneySense recently released their list of Best Places to Live 2011, in which they provide rankings of the “livability” of Canadian cities. According to the list, Ottawa-Gatineau is the best place to live and, out of the 180 cities ranked, New Glasgow (Nova Scotia) is the worst. Of the “big three” Canadian cities, Vancouver was [...]
Posted in Canada, Critical Thinking, Social Sciences7 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
11 February 2011 by Scott Gavura
Familiar with Darwin Day? Darwin Day is an international celebration of Darwin’s life and his contributions to science. 2011 marks Saskatoon’s third annual celebration. This year, the celebration goes province-wide. Darwin Day has received official recognition from Donna Harpauer, Saskatchewan’s Minister of Education: Saskatoon’s Darwin Day celebrations started just two years ago as a project [...]
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
