Over the last week or so I've been approached online by two scammers and, I guess because of the amount of free time I have now that I'm not attending Eastern Lightning fellowship meetings, I decided ... (369 words)

14 August 2023 Hi there It's been a very busy week for me, with various things happening, including recording the latest episode of our Yeah… Nah! podcast in which we interviewed Dr Siouxsie Wiles ... (465 words)

There was news earlier this week that the Disciplinary Tribunal hearing the case of Sue Grey has found her not guilty of both misconduct and unsatisfactory conduct. There had been several complaints ... (989 words)

Hi there One of our regular readers (Hi Ray... and Paul) has requested we put a date on our newsletters, so you'll be receiving this on 31st July, 2023. This week I've got a review of the Ms. ... (454 words)

Last Monday night I attended a local talk given by National Party leader Chris Luxon, along with Tim and Alexander, who have written articles for this week's newsletter. This meeting wasn't the main ... (967 words)

Hi there As some regular readers will have noticed, I've not been writing the newsletter over the past few weeks. Mark, Bronwyn, Katrina, and others have stood in for me, writing a great set of ... (593 words)

We have some fun articles coming up in the next few weeks. Firstly, my time in the Church of Almighty God (Eastern Lightning) has come to an end, and not through my choosing. I'll be writing one ... (305 words)

There's a trend among some of the longer-running US TV shows of, after a few seasons, releasing a musical special. I guess once a show's creators know they're on safe ground, and that their show ... (222 words)

Something that has become a bit of a tradition for Mark Honeychurch and myself is attending the quarterly Prayers@Parliament event, where we join MPs and Christian leaders inside parliament to pray ... (531 words)

Craig is away in the US for the next four weeks, so I'm going to try to hold the fort until he gets back. Thankfully I have articles from some of our reliable contributors this week, and I'm hopeful ... (270 words)

Hi there This is going to be my last newsletter for a little while. My wife and I will be off on a big trip tomorrow, starting in the USA, where I'll be attending a technical conference in Salt Lake ... (265 words)

This weekend I think I may have finally managed to reach the end goal of my time in the Eastern Lightning (Church of Almighty God) group in New Zealand. Having been asking for months now if I could ... (722 words)

Hi there This week I'm announcing our upcoming conference in Dunedin in November. I indulge in some schadenfreude about the demise of a disinformation promotor, and take a look at generative AI for ... (59 words)

This week I've looked at what might be behind a funny story about combat-ready mermaids, and found out that it's not the answer I thought I was going to find. I also did a silly thing, and joined a ... (130 words)

Hi there I've taken a break from the newsletter for the past couple of weeks, having been away on holiday in Australia. The newsletter has been competently handled by Mark, Bronwyn, and Katrina. My ... (620 words)

If you have a social media account, you may have found your feed clogged with advertisements for the new ecommerce platform TEMU. The company launched in NZ in March but has only ramped up its ... (316 words)

Well, hello there! Craig isn't looking and Mark is busy writing, so I thought I would slip in here and write the editorial for this week. It's pretty timely as I've been pondering a bit about what it ... (380 words)

The NZ Skeptics held an SGM (Special General Meeting) on the weekend to go over our proposed new constitution and vote on its adoption. We're doing this because there's an upcoming change in the law ... (455 words)

Hello This week I've an update on the NZ Skeptics $100K challenge, and take a look at a scam product I've seen advertised via an app I use. Bronwyn joins us again to take a look at Jolly Billboards. ... (37 words)

In this week's newsletter I've taken a deep dive into a spam email trying to flog me snake oil, and found a funny coincidence at the end of the rainbow. I've also written about some of the more ... (91 words)

Hello I've had a wee break off writing the newsletter for the past couple of weeks, as Brownyn and Mark have contributed lots of content, but it's my turn again this week - thankfully with some great ... (529 words)

In this week's newsletter, I've published the text from a couple of oral submissions the NZ Skeptics and the Society for Science Based Healthcare (SBH) recently presented to MPs. One interesting part ... (227 words)

I've been thrown into the editorial breach this weekend due to being the contributor who made the most…well…contributions. Fortunately, it is a job that for me has all the glory and none of the work, ... (252 words)

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 ... (321 words)

It's a bumper issue today, but I make no apologies for bringing you a ridiculously long email! If you're using a web based client like GMail, you may need to click the “View entire message” link or ... (647 words)

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 ... (359 words)

This week's newsletter starts off (relatively) lightly, with an article from Katrina about p-hacking. Katrina's been writing some great articles for us recently, and it was a pleasure to have her on ... (345 words)

Hi there As I write this on Sunday morning in Auckland, we're beginning to see the start of bad weather from Cyclone Gabrielle, which is expected to cause high winds and extreme rain in the upper ... (207 words)

This week's newsletter will feature no articles from me - and this makes me very happy. Why have I not written anything, you may ask, and why am I happy about it. Well, because I'm blessed - and not ... (544 words)

Hi there I've got a bumper crop of articles this week, from several contributors. Holly Blackler tells us about her efforts to secularise Wellington city. Katrina Borthwick writes about the Herbalist ... (120 words)

I guess the biggest news this week is that our Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, is resigning, and that she will be replaced by Minister Chris Hipkins. However, I'm not sure there's much of skeptical ... (201 words)

Hi there This is my first newsletter for the year. I had an enjoyable Christmas and New Year and had some nice time off from work. Mark started off the newsletter last week with a Happy New Year to ... (289 words)

I hope you all had a good Christmas, and that if you had a break that it was an enjoyable one. I was lucky enough to be greeted by the following passive aggressive email on Christmas Eve by a ... (472 words)

Hello This week I've got a few topics to cover - there's been quite a lot happening recently! And, I've also got a guest article from Al Blenney about the origins of the anti-abortion movement. We're ... (300 words)

In this week's newsletter I look at a video I watched recently on Facebook, promising a life hack for getting more bang for your buck when it comes to disposable batteries. Although, from what I can ... (374 words)

It has been a while since I edited a newsletter, and what better time than near the end of the year to take on the mantle again. We are starting to wind down our activities for the holidays, but the ... (184 words)

Hi there This newsletter will be a bit short (well, only two articles, but the second one is quite a long read!). As I write this, we've just finished our annual conference in Wellington, so it's ... (240 words)

Our annual conference starts on Friday, and for those of you who plan to come but haven't bought a ticket yet, you'd better be quick. I spent yesterday afternoon with Bronwyn and Daniel, running ... (241 words)

Hi there We're now under two weeks away from our annual conference, being held in Wellington (25th - 27th November) - our first in-person meeting since the pandemic. We've got an exciting lineup of ... (135 words)

Do you have a moment to talk about our lord and saviour, Caeayaron? Yesterday I visited the Go Green Expo, along with Bronwyn, and Daniel and Lisa Ryan. Every year I go, and every year I despair at ... (387 words)

This week I take a look at Halloween - today!, talk about Elon Musk's Twitter purchase, the Just Stop Oil campaign, and Bronwyn gives us an update about Highden Estate and ISTA. Oh, and buy your ... (50 words)

November is fast approaching, which means that our annual conference is not far away - just 5 weeks to go! We're currently gathering the bios and talk abstracts of our speakers for this year, so ... (238 words)

In just over a month we're having the gathering of the year - this year's in-person skeptics conference - our first since 2019. We'd love to see you at this year's conference, where we're planning a ... (202 words)

With local council elections closing this week, there was concern that Voices for Freedom's efforts to have their members run for office without disclosing their affiliation would result in councils ... (261 words)

This week's newsletter is going to be a little different from normal - more of a stream of consciousness than a deep dive into particular topics. I hope you don't mind. This past couple of weeks have ... (1421 words)

As Craig talked about last week, we had a really good time meeting up in Hamilton to visit the Mormon temple, and also enjoyed meeting fellow skeptics at the first Auckland Skeptics in the Pub ... (311 words)

This past weekend has been a pretty skeptically-active weekend for me. On Friday afternoon, I took a drive from Auckland down to Hamilton to meet up with Mark and Bronwyn, who'd driven up from ... (303 words)

This Friday, Bronwyn and I will be setting off on a road trip to Hamilton to visit the Mormon temple there, as it's recently been renovated and is currently open to visitors for the first time in 64 ... (284 words)

This week I'm taking a look at a cult-like organisation in Australia that's advertising itself on social media - The World Transformation Movement, or Human Condition. I'm left a little confused ... (77 words)

It's been an action-packed week this week, with lots of interesting things happening in conspiracy circles, both here and overseas. And a lot of it seems to be in the right direction, with prominent ... (334 words)

Hello, it's Craig here - so, I'm back writing newsletters, after taking a three week break. A few weeks ago, I had a family event to attend - the occasion of my mum's 80th birthday, so I was away for ... (359 words)

It's me again, Mark, for a third week running - as Craig is unavailable to do the newsletter again. This time it's COVID, and I can't blame him at all for not wanting to write a newsletter while ... (455 words)

There's usually no lack of content for our newsletter, and this week is no exception - which is great, as I'm on the newsletter for a second week in a row while Craig's unavailable. The Alex Jones ... (484 words)

But I do nothing every day Several years ago at a Skeptics in the Pub meeting, maybe back in 2014 or 2015, we got onto the topic of the popularity of baby names. At the time, someone predicted that ... (791 words)

This week I take a look at a media attack on our friend Dr Siouxsie Wiles, and talk about the European heat wave and climate change. I admit to the sin of spreading misinformation (it's coming from ... (59 words)

I have a good friend who often helps me out by sending me articles that might be of interest to Skeptics - and they sometimes come in handy both for this newsletter, and for my regular weekend radio ... (478 words)

This week I cover the sad news that a local psychic challenge has ended, but with some hope for the future. And last week, the Georgia Guidestones ended their existence after one of them was ... (88 words)

Just over a week ago Bronwyn and I, along with another couple of skeptics, visited parliament for the quarterly Prayers at Parliament event - the fourth now that I've attended. I swear that these ... (432 words)

This week I've got an eclectic mix of topics. I cover Matariki weekend, the awful Roe v. Wade US supreme court decision and the implications here, and look at my carbon footprint. Bronwyn is taking a ... (48 words)

I once met Katherine Smith, the Editor of the New Zealand Journal of Natural Medicine (not a magazine I'd recommend reading - it'll make you angry!). We had an enjoyable chat, and as we were at a ... (429 words)

Way back when we first started writing the weekly newsletter, one of our earliest topics was the QAnon movement, and the shocking events of the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol in the US. This ... (353 words)

I apologise for my lack of inspiration in the title, but at least we have some interesting articles for you: I take another look at Counterspin, and see what they've been whingeing about this week. ... (290 words)

Hello skeptics, this week I've a few topics to cover - from the horrendous massacre in Texas, to some thoughts on a public lecture, and some reflections on the mis- and dis-information study done by ... (61 words)

Just over a year ago I wrote a newsletter issue titled “Beware of Scientologists Bearing Gifts”, where I talked about an interesting ruse in Auckland. Someone from the Auckland Scientology office had ... (594 words)

This week we're covering a few different topics. I look at some potential good news in relation to SIDS and look back at claims made about it in the past. We've got some bizarre claims of paranormal ... (74 words)

For those of you who listen to our fortnightly NZ Skeptics podcast, Yeah… Nah! (which is based on this newsletter), you'll be aware that I tested positive for COVID recently. It's been a week now ... (390 words)

This week we take a look at the Broadcasting Standards Authority decision about a complaint from NZDSOS against Seven Sharp. We look at the Sovereign Citizen "Sheriffs" disruption of an ANZAC ... (46 words)

of skeptical topics This week's newsletter feels nicely well-rounded, like we've managed to cover several of the core areas that skeptics are interested in. I start with a topical story about a new ... (194 words)

I hope you're enjoying a few days off at Easter weekend, maybe enjoying some Hot Cross Buns dripping with butter, and some chocolate eggs. This week I discuss some excellent work done by SkepChick ... (95 words)

Today's newsletter includes a fun evening myself and some other skeptics spent meditating, a rant about my junk email, and the daft convoy that's on its way to Marsden Point. I take a deep dive into ... (89 words)

This week I delve into fringe groups becoming politically involved (as I expected they would do so). I look into website hacking for good, and also feature some pieces from guest authors on the ... (54 words)

This week's newsletter seems to have ended up being mostly about acronyms. I've written about how to determine what is and isn't a cult, using the BITE model, drawing from a recent visit I received ... (105 words)

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics Newsletter. This week, I talk about deepfakes and the implications for propaganda, and detour back in time, reminiscing about speech synthesis technology of yesteryear. Our ... (74 words)

It's nice to be reminded sometimes that the number of skeptics in society is likely to exceed the number of Skeptics in our Society by several orders of magnitude. I was reminded of this recently ... (509 words)

We have a bumper issue of the newsletter this week, with contributions from quite a few people. And what a week it's been! The main event of the week, here in our country, has been the end of the ... (197 words)

Welcome to the Skeptics Newsletter! As I've been a prolific writer this week, Craig and Mark decided I should have the honour of crafting the intro of this week's Newsletter. We had such a great ... (616 words)

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter. Much of the focus this week is on the protest at the Parliament grounds in Wellington, and the escalating numbers of Covid cases, with the widespread community ... (986 words)

I hope everyone is having a great Valentine's day, and that none of you are stuck in a muddy field somewhere dealing with sanitation issues ;) Before we get into our stories for this week, I'm happy ... (250 words)

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter. This week there's more news about COVID and more attempts to halt the vaccine rollout, including claims of undeclared nanoparticles in the vaccine! Then there's ... (103 words)

This week's newsletter is all about those sweet, sweet sounds. There's a story about Spotify, starring Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Joe Rogan. And one about expensive audiophile-level computer ... (215 words)

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter. It seems that the world, and New Zealand/Aotearoa, is a little crazy right now. The news of COVID's Omicron variant being on the loose in NZ is dominating the ... (61 words)

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter. This week I discuss the popular Netflix movie Don't Look Up, ponder the association between the holiday road toll and drownings, celebrate the continuing ... (117 words)

Happy New Year to you all, and thank you for your support over the last year. We had a very successful conference late last year, and our membership has been slowly increasing, which is great! If ... (209 words)

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter. I hope this newsletters finds you well and that a pleasant Christmas was had. This year there were claims that Santa's deliveries would result in a COVID ... (153 words)

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter. This week I look at the Australian Skeptics psychic survey, some more COVID-related stuff, UFOs, and I talk about my introduction to skepticism (and you can ... (32 words)

In this week's newsletter I spend far too much time debunking a baseless vaccine injury claim about Celine Dion, convince my wife to use tin foil to treat what ails her, and talk about a tragic, and ... (78 words)

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter. These last few weeks have been very busy for me personally, culminating in our very successful Skepticon 2021 last weekend. I feel like I'm on the rundown to ... (100 words)

I'm sure everyone is aware of the protests that happened last week. I watched them from the comfort of my home, and didn't feel the need to visit the march on Parliament on Tuesday or experience the ... (661 words)

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter. We're very close to our annual conference which we're running in conjunction with the Australian Skeptics. I encourage you to check it out - and we'd love to ... (56 words)

Nothing - apart from that they're all featured in this week's newsletter. This morning I went to a “Witches Market” in Lower Hutt, Wellington. This is the second year that the event has been run, and ... (508 words)

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter. This week has been exciting, with the release of a web site project supporting vaccination, updates to the COVID levels system, and a hacker revealing all. And ... (49 words)

On Friday evening we had a national online Skeptics in the Pub meeting (Skeptics in Cyberspace), which going forward will be happening every four weeks. If you're interested in joining us, check your ... (342 words)

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter. One of our readers emailed us this week after Mark's excellent editorial last week about skepticism and what type of skeptic you are. Our Facebook page ... (324 words)

When talking with people about skepticism, I've often used a convenient classification to separate what I see as two main camps of skeptics. In my oversimplified model there are a) those who are ... (576 words)

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter. This week I look at the daylight saving time that's just started, some COVID modelling comments and take apart another “open letter” from an anti-vaxxer to the ... (33 words)

Thanks to everyone who joined our online Skeptics in the Pub meetings over the last two weeks. We've had such a good time chatting with skeptics who we usually only see once or twice a year that ... (294 words)

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter. This week continues the level 4 lockdown in Auckland where I live. It's been interesting to watch the numbers and we should be encouraged by the shape of the ... (149 words)

During lockdown, the Wellington Skeptics in the Pub group have been meeting online every week. It's been great to be able to continue our social meetings, but I also think it's a good way to keep us ... (411 words)

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter. This week our COVID lockdown continues, and I've some updates on that. And we got an email from EvoRich - details on our response below. Wishing you a great ... (44 words)

It feels like it was inevitable that some of the conspiracy theorists, or “freedom fighters” as they call themselves, would end up protesting our latest level 4 lockdown. I'm not surprised that their ... (222 words)

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter. This week there's been a scandal over at the Snopes website. I get my COVID vaccine and we hear more about the situation we're in with climate change. Wishing ... (363 words)

Recently I've been playing with some deep learning software - OpenAI's GPT-2 and GPT-3, and EleutherAI's GPT-J-6G. These are NLP algorithms. No, not that discredited garbage Neuro-Linguistic ... (299 words)

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter. This week I cover another psychic sting, some good news from Facebook and a COVID-denier takedown in the UK, and finally questions around the very existence of ... (33 words)

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter. This week there's more climate change news, protest by farmers, tradies and ute drivers, and more COVID dishonesty revealed. And make sure you scroll to the ... (44 words)

There's some classic skepticism in this week's newsletter - numerology, an American conspiracy theory and a scam that looks, walks and quacks like a Ponzi Scheme. And, as well as my usual ranting, we ... (130 words)

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter. This week I've some sad news to report - the death of Russell Tomes, who was one of our NZ Skeptics committee members. Russell was a prominent identity in the ... (44 words)

Sadly the Druids cancelled on us last week due to the bad weather here in Wellington, so I was unable to attend their winter solstice event. However we (a small group of Skeptics in the Pub regulars) ... (96 words)

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter. I have quite a variety of topics to cover this week - including choirs, dinosaurs, doctors, and EVs (to put them in alphabetical order!) Today is the winter ... (48 words)

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter. This Queen's Birthday weekend I've had the pleasure of travelling to Napier to visit my mother. Last newsletter, Mark mentioned sightings of UFOs in Hawkes Bay, ... (132 words)

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter. The news at present is very much concentrating on the COVD vaccine, and it's been great to see a lot of attention paid to countering misinformation. Details ... (43 words)

Last week was a busy one. On Monday I visited parliament for a church service called The Power of One, along with another couple of skeptics. The event was organised by a group called Jesus for NZ ... (343 words)

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter. COVID vaccine rollouts continue to happen, and the more at-risk people here in New Zealand/Aotearoa are starting to get theirs. Still, there's opposition from ... (44 words)

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter. The COVID-19 pandemic marches on throughout the world, and this week we're seeing tragic increases in deaths in India. Unfortunately it seems that the Indian ... (190 words)

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter. You'll no doubt be aware that the travel bubble with Australia was announced last week, and from next week people travelling between the two countries will have ... (212 words)

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter. This week I've got a variety of topics I hope you'll enjoy! Wishing you a great week... ... (21 words)

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter. It seems there's quite a lot of skeptically-related topics in the news at the moment. Perhaps there's a backlash to a lot of stuff that came out in 2020 that ... (89 words)

We've just come out of another short spell spent at level 3 lockdown for Auckland, and level 2 for the rest of us. Well done to all of you who managed to follow the rules and help keep us all safe, ... (348 words)

Hi there A big portion of this week's newsletter content was contributed by NZ Skeptics Committee member - Jonathan Harper. ... (19 words)

Hi there Conspiracies are in the news a lot lately. In recent newsletters we've talked about them a lot, and there's more to cover this week, both from an international and NZ-based perspective. ... (32 words)

I like to sum up my style as a combination of brevity and rambling. This time the newsletter will be of the former persuasion. Jess Macfarlane ... (25 words)

Hi there This week has been pretty interesting in the arena of skepticism. As you'll no doubt be aware, this week saw the inauguration of Joe Biden as president of the US and the beginning of his ... (485 words)

In a world where for some 2021 is already giving 2020 a run for its money, I'm trying to appreciate my freedoms. That includes the freedom to relax, drink cocktails and enjoy the balmy weather, and ... (57 words)

Happy New Year! I can't help but wonder what 2021 is going to bring us, given that we've already started the year with the US Capitol being invaded by right wing extremists and QAnon conspiracy ... (116 words)

Welcome to the first newsletter of the new year. I think we can all agree that 2020 was a fairly exceptional year, and not in a good way. 2021 has rolled around, and the common expectation is that ... (79 words)

What day is it? Is it still 2020? Damn. Jess Macfarlane. ... (10 words)

I told you all three weeks ago that I was going to visit the Ancient Mystical Order of Rosicrucians, and I can report that I survived the meeting intact. My friend Tim and I had a great chat with ... (252 words)

It's been a very busy few weeks for me of Birthdays, training, events, and Christmas tree decoration. My irrational rage at people who erect festive trinket dust collectors before December 1st has ... (55 words)

Tonight I'm off to a meeting of AMORC - the Ancient Mystical Order of Rosae Crucis. It occurred to me the other day that there's an old idea which might be appropriate here. I'm sure many of you have ... (226 words)

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics weekly newsletter. This week, you've got me, Craig Shearer, Chair of NZ Skeptics. ... (18 words)

It was show weekend here in Canterbury. Another long weekend to squander in the garden and pottering about the house. I've also been thinking about why on the Xbox game Assassin's Creed Valhalla my ... (94 words)

Another newsletter, another election. This time the US appears to have, narrowly, come to its senses and chosen to vote out their current science-denying leader - and my guess is that most skeptics ... (188 words)

Lockdown made me think of what it would be like to travel to Mars. Stuck in familiar confines, the same people around every day. The same food. A slowly diminishing blue marble the only vibrant ... (911 words)

As I looked out at the Australian smoke filling our normally blue New Zealand skies, it made me angry. Angry to think that where there is smoke, there is fake news holding us back from taking action ... (776 words)

As one of the tweeters for NZ Skeptics, I've helped accumulate a diverse collection of followers, who inspire and educate me. However, lately, people with very different, and, frankly, misogynistic ... (1624 words)

You may remember an article we published about unreasonable fears around nuclear power. It argued that the price of energy in human lives has been much higher in other forms of energy, with coal as ... (733 words)

The morning of the 15th of March I woke up ready for a positive day with my son at Cathedral square, to attend the school strike for climate. The protesters were in good spirits, there were a mix of ... (683 words)

I was very honoured at this year's conference to be awarded the NZ Skeptic of the Year. That honour has made me reflect on what it means to me to be a skeptic and why I decided to jump into the role ... (903 words)

As a metaphor for anxieties, stories of the paranormal provide a great release. For those of us up at night worrying about bills to pay, health issues, children or even climate change, shows about ... (1059 words)

I was having a flu jab the other day (because I believe in the amazing power of vaccines to prevent illness and protect vulnerable people in our community from infection) and told the nurse I was the ... (606 words)

On 23rd February 2018 Buzzfeed.com broke the news that the prominent atheist and skeptic Lawrence Krauss had been accused of sexual assault. Later we learned that this news had a New Zealand ... (705 words)

It has felt this summer like we are on a highway to hell. The roads themselves have been literally melting, and we had better get used to it. We are heading to a new climate reality, with more and ... (700 words)

I enjoy a good coffee, a bit of light astrophysics chat with Neil de Grasse Tyson, and spring with its blossoms and daffodils. It occurred to me, some things really do go together, like breakfast and ... (429 words)

As I sit here with my laptop in my home office reflecting on the past few months and the time that has passed since my last editorial I am stunned at how much time has flown over the past year! I am ... (473 words)

I love the summer because it means road trips. And road trips mean podcasts and audiobooks. And podcasts and audiobooks usually mean an hour or so of debate and discussion with whoever is ... (518 words)

This issue we have a Guest Editorial piece by Lisa Taylor. Lisa is a proofreader and writer for NZ Skeptic, and is an active member of Wellington's Science-Based Healthcare Activism and the NZ ... (492 words)

Ahh, winter. The season when I stare forlornly out the window, looking at the rain and wind, my pockets filled to the brim with tissues, wondering how it can be that there are so many brainy people ... (484 words)

As a teacher, it's unsurprising that I often come face to face with issues to do with children. I don't pretend to be an expert on children, and neither am I a parent, pediatrician or psychologist. ... (596 words)

I found out what a skeptic is when I was living in London. My husband Mark listened to a weekly podcast called The Skeptics' Guide To The Universe hosted by a bunch of brothers and their friends. ... (661 words)

It's about 25 years since I joined the NZ Skeptics, and eight years since I took on the editorship of this magazine. It's been fun, but it's time I handed the NZ Skeptic on to other hands, so this ... (484 words)

So after a break of almost 13 months, fluoride is now back in Hamilton's water supply. It was 5 June last year that the council, after three months of public consultations, submissions and hearings, ... (401 words)

The game is … on. I've recently rewatched the new Sherlock and my partner always reacts to that misquote. But the game is on. There has been a good conversation around climate change amongst the ... (322 words)

And so another year begins, and as I write this on New Year's Day 2014 there is the opportunity, as with every new year, to reflect on past years and consider the prospects for the future. 2014 will ... (394 words)

In spite of the quality international line-up of scientists and science communicators at September's annual NZ Skeptics Conference in Wellington, it's probably not surprising that most of the media ... (429 words)

It took Hamilton City Councillors about one hour to banish fluoride from the city's water supply on 5 June, a move Waikato Medical Officer of Health Dr Felicity Dumble said discounted the mainstream ... (426 words)

In Issue 100 of the NZ Skeptic I commented on how issues of concern to this society never seem to go away. A classic example of the moment is the case of Neon Roberts, the seven-year-old English boy ... (463 words)

Two of this issue's articles have a lot in common. Keith Garratt (p 7( and Michael Edmonds (p 13( both illustrate how individuals can make a difference through active skepticism, whether it be making ... (435 words)

If the beliefs of a sizeable number of people turn out to be correct, this will be the final issue of the NZ Skeptic. According to a survey of 16,262 people in 21 countries conducted by market ... (483 words)

George Gwaze was first cleared of the murder of his adopted daughter Charlene Makaza on 21 May 2008. At the time I wrote in NZ Skeptic 88's Newsfront that it had taken since the first week of 2007 ... (454 words)

On a recent visit to New Plymouth I was rather taken aback to see a billboard outside a central city church posing the question: "Evolution? How come we still have apes?" It wasn't so much surprise ... (410 words)

A recent UMR Research poll has provided a snapshot of what New Zealanders believe about a range of paranormal subjects. More than half accept that some people have psychic powers; on the other hand, ... (412 words)

The Natural Health Products Bill passed its first reading in Parliament in September. It appears to have wide support across most political parties, and those who follow such things expect it to pass ... (435 words)

... (1 words)

There are times when the world seems to run along quietly from day to day, with very little happening. Then there are times like these. There are the ongoing aftershocks in Christchurch, many of them ... (419 words)

This year' s NZ Skeptics conference in Auckland was the usual mix of stimulating presentations and good companionship, but it will go down in the society' s history as the end of Vicki Hyde' s term ... (416 words)

As part of the Memorandum of Understanding between the National and Green parties, the Ministry of Health has been developing proposals for a natural health products scheme to regulate such products ... (396 words)

When Richard Dawkins made a flying visit to New Zealand in March he attracted people from all over the country - including three from this household. Tickets to all events were quickly snapped up, ... (441 words)

The nzskeptics Yahoo discussion group has been very busy of late, with December 2009 registering more than 300 new messages - the largest number in the almost five years of the group's existence. In ... (351 words)

THE 2009 annual NZ Skeptics Conference in Wellington was its usual mix of good times and thought-provoking material, though with some unique touches. The Kingsgate Hotel was a rather more luxurious ... (406 words)

Having recently joined the happy hordes of mp3 player owners, our household has been getting an object lesson in the nature of random events. For those who have yet to succumb to the charms of these ... (483 words)

Although formal religion is continuing to decline in this country, belief in the supernatural remains high. That seems to be the main conclusion to be drawn from a recent survey of New Zealand ... (425 words)

February 12 is Charles Darwin's 200th birthday, and the old guy, or at least his ideas, are still in pretty good shape. While evolutionary theory has been broadened and elaborated extensively in the ... (415 words)

Another annual conference has come and gone, with the usual collection of thought-provoking presentations. This issue we present two highlights, from Waikato University biology lecturer and science ... (401 words)

While the recent national curriculum review confirmed evolution's place as the central organising theory of modern biology, creationists continue to try and chip away at the edges. Most recently, ... (403 words)

It always helps keep matters in perspective to read about skeptical episodes from days gone by. I've recently been reading The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero, by ... (432 words)

Those of you with broadband might enjoy one of the latest shots in the US 'culture wars' over creation and evolution. Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial, is a two-hour documentary on the ... (437 words)

I must make a point of never again flying while the All Blacks are playing in the World Cup. I was over the Atlantic for the 1995 final, and flying home from the South Island during this tournament's ... (469 words)

The Letters to the Editor columns have been spilling over with irate readers concerned about yet another attack on New Zealand's sovereignty. The cause of all the anger is the proposed Therapeutic ... (464 words)

Followers of Ben Goldacre's Bad Science blog (www.badscience.net), will be aware of the recent panic in Britain over wi-fi radiation in schools. The story began on 21 May when the documentary series ... (438 words)

After a bloodless coup, the NZ Skeptic has a new editor. This doesn't mean much in practical terms; for many years I've been working closely with previous ed Annette Taylor. She will now take on the ... (376 words)

Garfield was right-there's nothing like a piping hot lasagne on a winter's night. Especially when eaten with good wine and fine people. During our repast, we got to talking and the New Zealand ... (414 words)

Over the last few years, there have been frequent suggestions that the Skeptics organisation in New Zealand should have a new name. At present, our formal name is the New Zealand Committee for ... (545 words)

I had a dream. One of those ones which are slightly alarming in that they come true. In my dream a friend happily announced she was pregnant and when I chanced to bump into her the next day, she told ... (414 words)

The Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce has launched a trans-Tasman campaign to inform consumers about the most common types of scams and how to recognise whether an offer is genuine or false. ... (407 words)

The decision by Judge John Jones ruling that the promotion of Intelligent Design (ID) in schools is a violation of the constitutional ban on teaching religion, is at least a temporary victory for ... (446 words)

Just once in a while, speaking up can make a difference. As I entered my favourite local pharmacy, I was disturbed to read a sign on the window announcing that a certain iridologist would be holding ... (418 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)

Given his ratings, only a tiny handful of you probably saw Paul Holmes in his new slot on Prime a few weeks back, talking to Don Maisch, described as an Australian expert on the health effects of ... (484 words)

In the Autumn 2004 issue of the NZ Skeptic, we reported on Vicki Hyde's prediction in the Dominion Post that George Bush would win the US presidential election. Given that this was at the height of ... (484 words)

A couple of months ago we were visiting my brother, and got talking about a friend of his, who had enrolled in a counselling course. It turned out that the course had come to be dominated by some ... (460 words)

It was a dark and stormy night. But (almost) without flinching we set off to hear Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientist Kevin Grazier speaking about the Cassini mission to Saturn. During the talk (see ... (373 words)

I've just witnessed a miracle. Probably. On January 2 I took part in a trip to the outer Hauraki Gulf to search for a bird that until recently had not been seen since the nineteenth century. Three ... (414 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)

Had an email the other day from someone we hadn't heard from in a while. Among other things, he took the opportunity to ask why we heard so little from the Skeptics in the media, and made ... (381 words)

These are nervous times. By an astounding coincidence, as I wrote that line and paused to think of what to put next, I had a call from a friend to tell me there was a Sars case at the Waikato ... (425 words)

For almost half a century, it's seemed like human destiny to go into Space. When we were kids, everyone wanted to be an astronaut when they grew up. The loss of the Columbia space shuttle hasn't ... (517 words)

What name do you give to a quirky bunch of people who are scientifically literate, who question fads, and who want their beliefs to rest on evidence from the material world -- the sort of evidence ... (603 words)

Hamilton is a progressive place where the difficult issues are tackled. Rather than being a cow town (we're not! we're not!), we sit around of a Friday evening and debate the Big Questions. We had a ... (446 words)

With winter almost upon us, the time has come to curl up in front of a nice screen and browse the internet. Speaking of which, congratulations are in order to our chair-entity Vicki Hyde and media ... (342 words)

It was sad to see - two shelves of Lynley Hood's A City Possessed, heavily discounted at Whitcoulls. Released only last October it hasn't taken long for the book to hit the bargain bin. Perhaps it ... (373 words)

It wasn't a dark and stormy night but a gaggle of skeptics got together recently to listen to ghost stories in Hamilton. Professional story teller Andrew Wright sent shivers down the groups' ... (438 words)

The placebo effect has long been of interest to skeptics for its presumed role in alternative medicine. The Skeptics' Dictionary (http://www.skepdic.com) has a lengthy entry, describing a placebo as ... (527 words)

My brain hurts. I haven't used it in some years, so there's no surprise really. After managing to avoid external employment for a goodly time, a job has finally got its teeth into me and won't let ... (544 words)

Another year, another millennium. We saw the old century out in a very quiet manner, watching Stanley Kubrick's 2001 with friends in Auckland. A few fireworks exploded from the top of the Sky Tower ... (515 words)

It's all over - the cheering and clapping are fading and the crowds have all returned home, with thoughts about the next one. I am, of course, not talking about that sporting thing on the TV from ... (446 words)

Many moons ago I packed into a dimmed lecture theatre along with 400 other keen-eyed stage I psych students to listen to a presentation on psychic ability. The mood was festive - it was almost the ... (466 words)

That was never six months just then -- it felt much longer. Banised to the depths of New Zealand, in Tuatapere (almost as far south west as you can get in the South Island), life took on a gentler ... (517 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)

Hedgehogs do not impale fruit with their prickles and run away with it, nor do they steal the milk from slow-witted cows. These are just two of the unsubstantiated rumours and misconceptions that ... (679 words)

Winter is here, and it's time for all good skeptics to heed the call and flock to Auckland for the annual conference, where illuminating conversation and inspired addresses await. And then the same ... (646 words)

Bernard Howard has pointed out a typing error in his Summer editorial: there were seven founding member of the NZ Skeptics, but only five were named. The piece should have included Mr Ray Carr and Dr ... (90 words)

IT'S A funny old world, I was thinking to myself on the way home from coffee with a friend. Except, it wasn't coffee, it was decaff, and, to add insult, instant. During which she'd helped me to a ... (653 words)

Founding member Bernard Howard reminisces on the Skeptics' history in this guest editorial. I belong to the constipated school of literary composition, so when the Editor invited me, only days before ... (1744 words)

EVERYTHING was roses and buttercups until that fateful day. An omen, it was, for sure. In July, on Friday, only 17 days before the 13th, we had born on our humble dairy farm a calfie. She had four ... (597 words)

IT'S a damned rotten trick, I know, but I rang up my mum and asked her a simple question, does the Earth go round the Sun, or is it the other way around? She wasn't sure, but felt the most obvious, ... (713 words)

IT'S nothing short of a miracle that this issue has made it to the mailbox. For the last six months the family, including our cat and retired cattle dog, have been living in a small housetruck. (Just ... (633 words)

THERE'S no denying it. We're a strange lot. Sitting in the small hall during the annual Skeptics get-together and listening to the varied, and often colourful, discussion, it struck me how dissimilar ... (615 words)

IT'S BEEN a quiet old time in the Waikato, these past few months. My cat hasn't channelled any past lives, nor has she been abducted by aliens. I suspect, though, the little green guys made off with ... (605 words)

THE other day I was doing a spot of painting with the help of a friend. She was telling me about a fancy dress party she'd gone to, and how some friends had dressed up all in green, as aliens. "They ... (598 words)

The other night, after a particularly fine feed of nachos, my friend pulled out her numerology book and proceeded to do my chart. I'd done some things wrong in a past life, and there were a number of ... (775 words)

Dr Mann's essay in this issue will annoy some readers, but it belongs here because it deals with one of the key debates of our time. A recent edition of the Times Literary Supplement carried essays ... (851 words)

At the Skeptics' conference we were treated to one official's view of the status of scientific medicine relative to alternative treatment systems and beliefs. This presentation reinforced many of our ... (872 words)

Surely the Kaimanawa Wall story was one of the great beat-ups of all time. Here was a natural rock outcrop, which experts immediately told us was of a kind common in the area, raised to status of ... (791 words)

When Brian Edwards interviewed Uri Geller some years ago, Dr David Marks of Otago University used the printed transcript to demonstrate that Brian had been the victim of highly skilled "cold ... (767 words)

One of the arguments presented in favour of this year's Bent Spoon award was that the NZ Skeptics increasingly provide an early warning system against strange notions from abroad. For example, ... (981 words)

The Skeptics began in simpler times. Some of us recall when the burning issues of Skeptical enquiry were whether Uri Geller bent spoons, whether Russians were using telepaths to communicate with ... (893 words)

Postmodern thinkers claim to have broken the fetters of logic that have characterised rational discourse since the enlightenment. They claim to have ushered in a new age of freedom of communication, ... (804 words)

One of the fictions of the "naive-greens" and other "irrationalists" is that "chemicals" are bad while natural products (non-chemicals?) are good. When asked if water is a chemical, and hence evil, ... (537 words)

Karekare beach is surrounded by high cliffs which shield my house from television transmissions so that I gain most of my media information from radio and print. Hence it was some time before I saw ... (608 words)

At the last conference I was elected editor of the New Zealand Skeptic. Some of you will have read my pieces in Metro magazine or in NBR over the years, or heard my "Soapboxes" on World Service ... (504 words)

Late in his life, in answer to a question, Freud compared the human condition approximately to the contents of a baby's nappy. When I first heard this story, it seemed to mark a bitter old man. That ... (562 words)

Did you catch TV3's Inside New Zealand documentary programme a few weeks ago on "Satanic Ritual Abuse"? If so, you won't have forgotten it, try as you might to "repress" the memory. It was one of the ... (616 words)

It was a surprise to many outside observers, especially those who don't well understand the Skeptics. Paddy Freaney, Rochelle Rafferty, and Sam Waby, the trio who gained world attention early this ... (538 words)

In the years since the Skeptics' beginnings in 1985 we've seen paranormal and pseudoscientific fads come and go. The Shroud of Turin was big back then, till carbon dating did it in (except in the ... (605 words)

Do you ever feel dirty or ashamed? Do you have no sense of your interests or goals? Do you sometimes feel powerless, like a victim, have phobias, arthritis, or wear baggy clothes? According to two ... (567 words)

Some Skeptics have been surprised that our organisation has been so restrained in its response to the purported moa sighting near Cragieburn. As we see it, the whole issue is fraught with difficulty. ... (528 words)

The failure of clairvoyants to locate the missing Wellington man, Michael Kelly, or to know the manner of his death, will not startle many skeptics. No major missing persons case in the history of ... (658 words)

The abuse of the Skeptics as "arrogant, narrow-minded bigots" by defenders of Consumer is annoying, but it doesn't yet surpass an art teacher who wrote an article for a Wellington paper in 1986. ... (570 words)

I was struggling with the vacuum hose to reach an awkward corner of the kitchen. "What's wrong? Afraid to bend your back?" my wife asked. I felt a little pain and it didn't go away. It got worse, ... (514 words)