Farewell Robert, Liz Gunn arrested?, Census religion question

Hello

It's hard to believe it's the end of February already, and the official end to summer, at least on a calendar month basis. With all the rain and weather events we've had, it's hard to think that this summer has been a classic one. Still, it may well have finally made some of the more sluggish members of the population wake up to the reality of climate change. And what a reality it is, with the massive destruction that took place in Hawke's Bay and other areas. The cost of replacing infrastructure seems that it place a big burden on our economy for some time.

I'm seeing comments about the debate between accepting climate change and the need to do anything about emissions versus just adapting to it. There are still those, albeit fewer in number, who question whether humans are involved, but there are still many who want to skip directly to the “we must adapt” part, and deny that there's anything we can do to prevent the situation from getting worse. For sure, we're currently locked into a path of blowing through the “1.5C above pre-industrial levels” waypoint, but we surely need to be doing all we can to put the brakes on. Given the severe weather events we're seeing at this point, it's only going to be worse with even more energy-trapping CO2 in the atmosphere.

This week I say a sad farewell to one of our past members, Robert Woolf, who was tragically taken from us a couple of weeks ago.

Liz Gunn, one of our conspiracy theory regulars, has been in the news again, this time reportedly being arrested at Auckland International Airport. I look into the details behind this.

And, it's census time, and time for you to consider how you're going to answer the question about religion. With the assistance of the New Zealand Humanists, I explain why you should choose the “No Religion” option, assuming you're not religious.

There's yet another “call to action” to get your Therapeutic Products Bill submission in. Have you done yours yet? You've got until Sunday 5th March.

Finally, Bronwyn has another excellent in-depth item about another evangelical Christian, with American connections.

Craig Shearer

Last Friday I attended a service for Robert Woolf. Long time members of NZ Skeptics would recognise Robert's name as a committee member, and conference attendee. He also attended Skeptics in the Pub ... (815 words)

Category: News

Craig Shearer

We've written about Liz Gunn before. For a refresher, she's a former lawyer, then broadcaster/presenter on Television New Zealand (Breakfast and Good Morning shows) and Radio New Zealand. She ... (897 words)

Category: News

Craig Shearer

If you live in Aotearoa/New Zealand, which most of our readers do, it's time for the 5 yearly census. The census papers have been delivered by mail - I received mine a few days ago. But most people ... (547 words)

Category: News

Craig Shearer

We've been promoting making submissions to the Therapeutic Products Bill. The NZ Skeptics committee has met and put together its official submission, and I've put in a personal submission. We ... (96 words)

Category: News

Bronwyn Rideout

Part 3: Geoff Botkin - Part 1 Source | Geoff Botkin Geoff Botkin is a man with many titles, labels, and accolades you could attach to his name. With a significant portion of his career lost to the ... (2382 words)

Category: News