Daughters and Cats

NZ Skeptics Newsletter

9^th November 2026

I forgot to mention a couple of weeks ago that Ken Ring, the moon forecaster, died on the 21st of October. If anyone had any dealings with Ken and would like to write an obituary for this newsletter from a skeptical perspective, I’d be happy to publish it.

We’ve received no suggestions yet for what the strange sound in my walls might be. I wondered for a while if it might be a numbers station, given the repetition, but it turns out that this part of the world isn’t really known for secret encrypted AM spy broadcasts. Also, if I want to fix it apparently a ferrite choke clipped around the cable can help, so I may buy a few from Temu.

We did, however, hear from Madeleine about ACC funding of EMDR:

Hi Mark,
I was reading your update from the cults conference. I’ve done EMDR and I think it’s bizarre. I did it because it was paid for. It’s being recommended by psychologists, ACC and by a very expensive psychiatrist I know.
The outcomes are a subjective measure, which makes results no better than homeopathy maybe. I’m not sure what EMDR did for me. It was given online in 8 sessions via Teams from Wellington with an ACC psychologist. So it’s definitely popular. They need to work on scientifically measuring outcomes.
Cheers, Madeleine

It seems that EMDR is gaining in both popularity and academic support, although it still seems likely that there’s no evidence that the specifics of the therapy are efficacious. I guess I’d better get round to writing an article about it all soon!

In this week’s newsletter, I’ve looked into yet another TikTok brainfart my daughter tipped me off about - this time the idea that cats react to Egyptian music because of their genetic legacy. Katrina carries on the cat theme, looking at the reality of lonely cat ladies. Meanwhile Bronwyn has followed the daughter theme, writing about the Botkin daughters, and whether they’re truly sorry about a horrible book they wrote a couple of decades ago. Patrick is back in the saddle, and is keeping us up to date on the latest climate change happenings. And finally I’ve tried out mouth tape, to see if it really is the answer to my wife’s prayers.

Mark Honeychurch

In this Issue

Do Cats React to Egyptian Music?

Mark Honeychurch - Approx. 8 min read

I'm a big fan of the Assassin's Creed series of games, where you play an assassin in a virtual reality simulation of history. For me I think a large part of the attraction is a mix of how well the parkour parts of the game flow when you're in towns and cities, along with the completionist inside me that loves to 100% complete games that have a large task list of missions and collectables.

The Childless Cat Lady Myth

Katrina Borthwick - Approx. 5 min read

Last night I was watching the first episode of a 2024 TV legal drama called 'Matlock'. For those who are old enough to recognise that name - it isn't a remake of the detective show. Anyway, what caught my ear in this show was when the main character Madeleine Matlock (played by Kathy Bates) said she had managed to get past law firm security and stand unnoticed in a partners' meeting because older women are 'invisible'.

So much more apologising: The Botkins and who should be taking responsibility for the harm of the stay-at-home-daughter movement

Bronwyn Rideout - Approx. 15 min read

Credit to the YouTuber Jen and her channel Fundy Fridays for putting out a video on this development; I still recommend watching Jen's earlier videos on The Botkin Family and the now-defunct Vision Forum that the Botkins were associated with:

Herewith Climate

Patrick Medlicott - Approx. 4 min read

On The Climate Brink on the 27th of October Zeke Hausfather wrote that “Off-grid data centers have 60-80% higher emissions”.

My Mouth Tape Experiment

Mark Honeychurch - Approx. 3 min read

A few weeks ago I wrote about mouth tape, and threatened to buy some from Temu. So, while recording the Yeah… Nah! Podcast a few weeks ago, I jumped onto Temu, added a $5 box of tape to my basket, and clicked to check out: