Masks, Reality Check?, Electric University, Jessa Duggar

13^th March 2023

Hello

This week’s been a busy one for me, with Skeptics in the Pub in Auckland on Tuesday night, recording and editing our podcast on Wednesday night, and various other activities.

Along the way, I got to listen to another of Michael Marsh’s excellent podcast series Be Reasonable, where he takes an unreasonably calm approach to interviewing various people from “outside the mainstream”. This latest episode talked to Dawn Lester and David Parker, a pair of grifters who wrote a book called What Really Makes You Ill. Surprise! - they deny germ theory, think Covid was/is a hoax, along with a bunch of other weird stuff. Sickness is actually caused by toxins. You’ll probably be shocked to learn that they have a background in accountancy and electrical engineering, which they claim means they’re logical and can figure out how the world really works from first principles, and from talking to other scientists who deny various theories - aka Confirmation Bias. It’s a frustrating listen. Visiting their website, I wasn’t shocked to see they interviewed kiwi deregistered doctor Sam Bailey who herself is a virus denier. Crazy stuff!

And, this weekend, I, along with other members of the New Zealand Skeptics committee spent some time tidying up our website and refreshing some outdated content. We’ve still a bit to do, but we’re pleased with the result so far.

Anyway, I’ve an eclectic collection of articles for you this week:

I take a look at the recent controversy about masking unnecessarily and unfortunately promoted by a Cochrane Library review.
Voices for Freedom are back with a newly launched (or, at least teased) radio service which touts itself as a reality check but is likely to be anything but.
Katrina contributes an item about her experience with Electric Universe enthusiasts
Bronwyn takes a break from her series on Christian evangelists, and looks into the controversy surrounding one of the Duggar family children and the ending of a pregnancy.

Enjoy!

Craig Shearer

To mask or not to mask

Craig Shearer - 13 March 2023

There's been a recent hubbub around the efficacy of masks for reducing the spread of infectious diseases, with Covid being the most obvious one.

A reality check?

Craig Shearer - 13 March 2023

I've written about Voices for Freedom many times in the past. For review, they're a group of anti-vaxxers and “freedom” lovers and generally anti-government agitators. They started back in 2020 during the first year of the pandemic. They claim to have quite a following, though of course, that's unverified.

Thunderbolts and Lightning (very very frightening)

Katrina Borthwick - 13 March 2023

This is about my unexpected adventure in skepticism a very long time ago in a galaxy not so far away.

Just a matter of semantics? : Why Jessa Duggar's miscarriage is blowing up on social media

Bronwyn Rideout - 13 March 2023

Due to a special request by chair Craig, I have delayed part 2 of my article on Geoff Botkin to write about a member of the Duggar family. I previously referenced the Duggar family in my article about Bill Gothard and the Institute in Basic Life Principles. They are an ultra-conservative, super-sized Christian family with 19 children that were z-grade reality television celebrities. But nowadays? They are best known for the notoriety of their eldest son, Josh Duggar.