Vicki Hyde

From the NZ Skeptics Conference November 2015... Remember all those times when the world came to end? No? Well I do, because in 18 years of leading the New Zealand Skeptics, I was called on almost ... (2809 words)

In recognition of the Apocalyptic theme of the upcoming Skeptics Conference, Vicki Hyde looks back in the vault to 2012 to see what doomsday predictions we managed to survive. Humanity survived the ... (499 words)

The proposed Hastings District Plan (November, 2013) includes references to 'matakite walkover', the use of Maori clairvoyant powers as a means of determining an area's cultural or spiritual ... (642 words)

Pills & Potions at the Cotter Medical History Trust, by Claire le Couteur. Otago University Press, 2014. RRP $25. Reviewed by Vicki Hyde. I didn't know whether to laugh, cry or wince as I paged ... (427 words)

At the 2013 NZ Skeptic Conference Vicki Hyde presented a series of soundbites and talking points skeptics can use in discussions with others. Here are some of them, presented as a smorgasbord of ... (1938 words)

Vicki Hyde announces the Bent Spoon and Bravo Awards for 2012. CONSUMER magazine has won its second Bent Spoon Award from the NZ Skeptics for continuing to promote homeopathic products as a viable ... (566 words)

The NZ Skeptics cast the net wide for the 2011 Bent Spoon. The NZ Skeptics have awarded their annual prize for journalistic gullibility to all those media outlets and personalities who took Ken ... (838 words)

The paranormal field contains both con artists and the well-intentioned. It's often impossible to tell one from the other, but in the end it makes little difference. This article is based on a ... (2667 words)

Another candle goes out... We've lost another light against the darkness, with the death of Denis Dutton. Carl Sagan, in The Demon-Haunted World, gave us the image of the guttering candle, but I ... (479 words)

Concerns over animal welfare issues on farms have seen Rural Women New Zealand and Fonterra rapped with the Bent Spoon, the annual recognition of gullibility and a lack of critical thinking awarded ... (1025 words)

NZ Skeptics link up with a British campaign against homeopathy. On January 30 there was a concerted global mass overdose - but no-one died because the 'medication' was homeopathic. The event grew ... (1451 words)

Vicki Hyde presents the chair-entity's report for 2009. The past year since our last conference has proved a busy one for the organisation with a number of initiatives both within the society and by ... (446 words)

Vicki Hyde hands out this year's Bent Spoon and Bravo Awards A documentary which highlights the "distress, cruelty, horror, ecocide, cover-ups and contamination" involved in 1080-based pest control ... (763 words)

When the Sunday Star-Times decided to survey the nation on how superstitious New Zealanders are and about what, Vicki Hyde got used as a guinea pig. Part One of her responses was published in the ... (1944 words)

When the Sunday Star-Times decided to survey the nation on how superstitious New Zealanders are and about what, I got used as guinea pig. Having done a lot of survey design and analysis during the ... (1773 words)

Vicki Hyde dishes out this year's Bent Spoon Award. The NZ Skeptics Bent Spoon for the most irresponsibly gullible statement in the media in the past year goes to Detective Senior Sergeant Ross Levy ... (598 words)

Following on from online discussion and debate in the NZ Skeptic, a set of proposed motions to alter the society's constitution were mailed to all financial members four weeks before the conference, ... (404 words)

It's Bent Spoon time again-the time when the Skeptics highlight the worst-and best-of the year's media. In the first double-header of its kind, one organisation has won both brickbats and plaudits ... (611 words)

Dear Skeptics... Occasionally, the Skeptics get correspondence from the general public. Chair-entity Vicki Hyde responds to two such inquiries. A question I have always wanted to ask you guys: If ... (964 words)

Apparently mediums and the paranormal have replaced cop shows as the latest television drama genre of choice -- if you are to believe TV3's marketing, whether news or promo puff pieces, there's fact ... (430 words)

There's a stereotype of card-carrying members of the Skeptics Society that we're dour, humour-less, cynical nay-sayers; depressed Eeyores not cheerful Tiggers. Like most stereotypes, it's 95% wrong. ... (673 words)

A new star on the psychic circuit impressed the makers of TV3's 20/20, but not the NZ Skeptics A gushy piece of infotainment on what is claimed to be New Zealand's premier showcase for investigative ... (532 words)

Don't judge them by their demeanour. The vast majority of people in this business are sincere, well-meaning individuals, and they are very hard to distinguish from the con artists. They might well ... (474 words)

Occasionally, the NZ Skeptics receive correspondence from members of the general public. Recently, Chairentity Vicki Hyde took the time to reply to one of these. Portions of the original letter are ... (2279 words)

It may be time to expand the principles of the Hippocratic Oath First do no harm. That's the major principle of the doctor's Hippocratic Oath. For the most part, the public are well-served by that ... (735 words)

Vicki Hyde presents the Chair-entity's report for 2003 It's been another busy year, mostly working behind the scenes, with the occasional burst into the public arena. For the second year running, we ... (901 words)

Environmental issues have played an increasing role in skeptical subject matter over recent years, ranging from calls for biodynamic possum peppering earning Jeanette Fitzsimons the Bent Spoon last ... (834 words)

The Word-based submission to the CAM discussion document which was sent out in our (NZCSICOP) name is now available for you to read at http://skeptics.org.nz/cam My apologies for not being able to ... (514 words)

This article was originally presented on National Radio's Sunday Supplement Be wary of "the health professional you see most often". In some cases be afraid, be very afraid. Why? Well in some cases, ... (734 words)

The year got off to a good start with a series of successful meetings run by our Auckland colleagues in conjunction with the Rationalists, and I thank those involved for their efforts. I'd also like ... (511 words)

Skeptics - always in two minds about something… You may recall I mentioned in the last issue of the NZ Skeptic that we were surveying members to see if we were all still on roughly the same ... (1926 words)

Vicki Hyde reports from the 4th World Skeptics Conference I knew Someone was smiling on me - there I was going to be stuck in Los Angeles for three days waiting for a flight back across the Pacific - ... (1567 words)

Not a Bad Start to the Millennium I'm pleased to welcome you officially to the 21st century, which I suspect will need Skeptics every bit as much as the last century, judging by the general level of ... (485 words)

Is there anything on television worth watching? Maybe. Who has the most dangerous job in prime-time TV and at the movies? Police officers? Soldiers? Private detectives? None of the above, according ... (2600 words)

Being a skeptical parent in New Zealand isn't always easy, but it has its rewards. This was originally presented to the Skeptics' World Convention in Sydney, in November. When I became head of the ... (4156 words)

Vicki Hyde presents the year 2000 chair-entity's Report I'm pleased that we all appear to have survived the Millennium melt-down and will have to wait another thousand years for the sky to fall in. ... (592 words)

Wherein intrepid ace reporter Vicki Hyde spills the beans on what Skeptics get up to at their annual meetings… Perhaps Someone was trying to tell us something - why else would we end up with a ... (1426 words)

What red-blooded skeptic could turn up an invitation to stay in a haunted house and meet the inhabitants -- certainly not your intrepid chair-entity.... You get a lot of interesting invitations when ... (1067 words)

It's my right as a parent to decide what is best for my child. After all, I'm a caring parent who dearly loves her children and would do only what is best for them. Sounds reasonable? But what if I ... (523 words)

Well, that's another year in the "hot" seat, and more "interesting" times. I've had over 250 messages in my Skeptics email folder build up since January, and that's only the ones I wanted to keep. It ... (554 words)

Broadcasting Standards and... Vicki Hyde told the Conference how the Skeptics' complaint to the Broadcasting Standards Authority had progressed. The story so far... As outlined in the last issue ... (1839 words)

IT'S BEEN a busy year on many fronts for the Skeptics, with a number of major firsts: We started the year in the New Age of Technology, with a majority of the committee now on an electronic mailing ... (565 words)

Chair-entity Vicki Hyde responds to a letter from a member who resigned from the society over the Skeptics' donation to the Peter Ellis Defence Fund. We reprint her letter as a clear statement of the ... (876 words)

How TVNZ Turned a Hoax into a Documentary The Skeptics make their first-ever complaint to the Broadcasting Standards Authority. Few would disagree these days that a great many programmes broadcast on ... (2095 words)

I think the world got a pretty big warning this year as to the dangers of pseudo-science and gullibility when the 39 members of the Heaven's Gate cult committed suicide in the belief that they were ... (673 words)

NEW ZEALAND MYSTERIES, by Robyn Gosset; Bush Press, 1996; 208 pages; $29.95 There are a great many books on mysteries of the breathless "believe it or not" variety -- this is not one of them. Gosset ... (201 words)

Names have been concealed to protect them from the international legume conspiracy. Date: Tue, 9 Apr 1996 To: letters@nytimes.com Subject: Faked picture I fear the New York Times is the victim of a ... (3469 words)

_A crown-of-thorns starfish can cause severe pain if the spines penetrate your skin. Local remedies include placing the offending animal over the injury, presumably in the belief that the sucker feet ... (406 words)

At the AGM, and in a subsequent letter from a member, the question was raised "what are we saving money for?". Certainly the Skeptics bank account is a reasonably healthy one, after ten years of ... (278 words)

One of the interesting things about the Skeptics is the wide range of opinions that can be found in our group -- not to mention the ever-readiness to express them. So I was interested to read Frank ... (371 words)

This year has seen one of the most significant discoveries ever made -- the announcement that there are solid indications of life having once existed on another planet. The implications for us all, ... (485 words)

Since the call for responses to the awarding of the Bent Spoon to the Justice Department's Hitting Home report, we've received responses from 16 people, some of which of which have been published in ... (464 words)

Skeptics can take an active stance in their daily lives, according to this abridged version of the Chair-entity's after-dinner speech from the Conference. It's been four years since I stood before a ... (2409 words)

As delivered to the 1995 AGM I'm pleased to report that after 10 years of waiting with bated breath, the New Zealand Skeptics now has its very own leaflet-cum-application form for handing out to the ... (572 words)

For those of you who have not been involved in selection of a Bent Spoon, here's how it is generally done and how this year's selection was made. Throughout the year, people propose likely candidates ... (388 words)

For those of you who didn't notice, the end of the world came and went on November 14th. It also ended on November 24th, and is set to do so at the end of this year. If you've got a Christmas trip to ... (615 words)

Not surprisingly, the awarding of the Bent Spoon to Consumer magazine saw a vigorous defence mounted by the Consumers' Institute. David Russell, chief executive of the institute, has said on a number ... (1056 words)

The Bent Spoon Award this year created more controversy than usual when it was awarded to Consumer magazine. Why did we feel it necessary to bite our consumer watchdog? I was pleased when my copy of ... (2632 words)

In the arguments for and against being definitively skeptical, the social climate and moral responsibilities of skepticism are often overlooked. This is an abridged version of the after-dinner speech ... (1795 words)

Is a high-fibre, cholesterol-free, non-dairy diet the answer to one's health problems? It may be for some, but for others it can pose a downright danger. Pextortations to adopt a healthier lifestyle ... (1393 words)

by Peter Neville; Sidgwick & Jackson, 1991; $24.95 Reviewed by Vicki Hyde My first reaction on seeing this was "it has to be American", but the British are apparently just as loony when it comes ... (205 words)

Calls for Maori input in the science classroom are fine for encouraging students in the belief that science is relevant to their lives, but could also be used to cut them off from the international ... (1149 words)