Articles tagged with "detail"

We're living in strange times, with so much upheaval in the US that it's already having global repercussions.

In the book that keeps on giving (to me at least), Robert Ellwood's Islands of the Dawn: The Story of Alternative Spirituality in New Zealand includes a two paragraph profile on the Johannine Daist Communion. I quickly became fascinated in trying to figure out why this group had a presence in New Zealand and why, as with soooooo many other groups I profile, the New Zealand branch of operations persists with an official centre of operations; a distinction that was as notable in its heyday as it is now. So, join me on yet another multi-part episode, as we explore the many names and lives of Johannine Daist/Adidam founder Franklin Jones, aka Avatar Adi Da Samraj, aka Bubba Free Love, aka…

Since publishing Part 1 last week, I've had the opportunity to do further investigating into the backgrounds of Paul Foster Case and Ann Davies. Some parts became verifiable facts, while other elements of their lives remained obscured. So, before heading into the kiwi-side of the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) story, let's confirm and correct some of the aspects of their biographies.

Ray Comfort's life seems quite blessed. His office in Regent Street survived a fire; footage confiscated from Comfort was not only returned but the police were happy to participate in a dramatic reshoot; and a job in America came the very same day he was fired from his pastoring job.

The NZ Skeptics Conference 2022 is being held in Wellington on the weekend of 26th and 27th of November. We'd love to see you there, in person. We've got some great speakers lined up, and it will be great to see everybody again.

We're currently looking for nominations for our annual awards. Specifically, we have a Bent Spoon award for whoever has “has shown the most egregious gullibility or lack of critical thinking” over the last year, Bravo awards for journalists who have done good skeptical work, and a Skeptic of the Year award for someone in New Zealand who's been active in skepticism and fighting the good fight against nonsense.

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter.

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter.

Did you know that NZ Skeptics is running an in-person conference again this year (after not running one last year because of COVID).

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter.

Welcome to the NZ Skeptics newsletter.

The controversial conservative US radio host Rush Limbaugh died this week. Although this isn't something that the NZ Skeptics feel is okay to celebrate, we do acknowledge that Limbaugh was responsible for the spreading of many damaging and harmful conspiracy theories, and was very mean spirited to people he saw as the enemies of the US, including those who were black, gay, liberal, female and/or atheist. Unsurprisingly, the work Rush Limbaugh undertook spreading his divisive message was recently rewarded with America's Medal of Freedom. Rather than going into more details of Limbaugh's life, I will leave it to the (hopefully impartial) BBC's obituary if you would like to know more.

NZ Skeptics membership runs on a calendar year basis and we're about to switch to a new system for collecting subs. If you're enjoying these newsletters and you're not a member, we encourage you to join us - it's a very reasonable $40/year for individuals and only $20/year if you're unwaged.

I had a phone call this week from "Spark". I spoke to a couple of Indian gentlemen who explained that my private IP address had been made public, and that this meant that my internet connection was compromised.

"I have no evidence of whether it is real or not real"

The game is … on. I've recently rewatched the new Sherlock and my partner always reacts to that misquote.

Aoraki Polytechnic has paid former naturopathy students $515 000 for falsely advertising their course had degree status. The students were seeking $4 million in compensation.