LUEE Episode 117: Trump

On this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Gem, Ashlyn, Laura, Lauren, and Brendan discuss a few of the many myths and conspiracy theories endorsed by Donald Trump, and Brendan points out that a simple fact check isn't enough.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a program promoting secular humanism and scientific skepticism that is produced by the Winnipeg Skeptics.

Note: For further context on Trump, fact-checking, border control, and claims of journalistic objectivity, Gem recommends these excellent episodes of On the Media: The Game Has Changed (On the Media) | The Ties That Bind (On the Media) | What We Know About the Border (On the Media)

Links: Episode 110: Science & Race (LUEE) | Non-Muslims Carried Out More than 90% of All Terrorist Attacks in America (Global Research) | New Research Shows That More Immigration Means Higher Wages for All Workers in Cities (CityLab) | 3 Ways to Immigrate to USA (uscitizenship) | Immigration and the Economic Status of African-American Men (SSRN) | Unskilled Workers Lose Out to Immigrants (NYTimes.com) | An Aging U.S. is Revitalized by Immigrants (NYTimes.com) | Immigrants Are Replacing, Not Displacing, Workers (NYTimes.com) | Immigration Doesn't Hurt Native Jobs or Wages in the U.S., Report Finds (Time) | Immigrant Employment by State and Industry (Pew) | Does Illegal Immigration Disadvantage American Workers? (ProCon.org) | Immigrants Aren't Stealing American Jobs (The Atlantic) | Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories (Wikipedia) | Central Park jogger case (Wikipedia) | COINTELPRO (Wikipedia) | What an Uncensored Letter to M.L.K. Reveals (The New York Times) | Episode 101: "Trace Amounts" (LUEE) | 10 facts on immunization (WHO) | About Vaccines (Manitoba Health) | The GOP's dangerous "debate" on vaccines and autism (The Washington Post) | Trump team denies skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was asked to head vaccine commission (CNNPolitics.com) | Gregg Phillips: Trump's Favorite Voter-Fraud Activist (The Atlantic) | 25% of Voters Believe President Trump's Unfounded Voter Fraud Claim (Time) | President Trump's Voter-Fraud Expert Was Registered to Vote in Three States (Time) | President Trump Vowed to Investigate Voter Fraud. Then Lawmakers Voted to Eliminate an Election Commission (Time) | Arguments from Global Warming Skeptics and what the science really says (Skeptical Science) | Fact Check: Trump's Cabinet Picks on Human-Caused Global Warming | Ice-albedo feedback (Wikipedia) | Yes, Donald Trump did call climate change a Chinese hoax (PolitiFact) | 2012 Benghazi attack (Wikipedia) | A Comprehensive Guide To Benghazi Myths And Facts | Hillary Clinton emails - what's it all about? (BBC News) | Essays: To Profile or Not to Profile? (Schneier on Security) | Protestors call on mayor to make Winnipeg a sanctuary city (Winnipeg Free Press)

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LUEE Episode 110: Science & Race

In this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Gem, Lauren, Ashlyn, and Laura discuss science's rocky history with issues of race and talk about some racist pseudosciences that continue to masquerade as science today.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a program promoting secular humanism and scientific skepticism that is produced by the Winnipeg Skeptics.

Note: If you notice an improvement in our audio quality, that's thanks to Pat Roach from The Reality Check who introduced us to a great auto-levelling tool. Thanks, Pat!

Links: Scientific racism (Wikipedia) | New Analysis Challenges Study Suggesting Racial Bias at NIH (Science) | The Amazing Atheist’s Racism (Martin Hughes) | If you speak out against hate, the atheist community has your back (Martin Hughes) | Race (Wikipedia) | Shovel-shaped incisors (Wikipedia) | Forensics 101: Race Determination Based on the Skull (Skeleton Keys) | The Social Construction of Race (Jacobin) | Phrenology (Wikipedia) | History of Phrenology on the Web | History of eugenics (Wikipedia) | Immigration Act of 1924 (Wikipedia) | Introduction to Eugenics (Genetics Generation) | Human Testing, the Eugenics Movement, and IRBs (Learn Science at Scitable) | Feeble-minded (Wikipedia) | The Kallikak Family (Wikipedia) | Alberta Eugenics Board (Wikipedia) | Eugenics (Wikipedia) | Sexual Sterilization Act of Alberta (Wikipedia) | Canada's Human Rights History: Eugenics | The Scared White People Who Love Donald Trump (VICE Canada) | The anthropologists really are buzzing (Pharyngula) | ‘A Troublesome Inheritance’ and ‘Inheritance’ (The New York Times) | Letters: "A Troublesome Inheritance" (Stanford Center for Computational, Evolutionary, and Human Genomics) | The hbd delusion (Pharyngula) | Race and intelligence (Wikipedia) | Satoshi Kanazawa (Wikipedia) | Academic racism has a K=N problem (Noahpinion) | The Creepy Internet Movement You'd Better Take Seriously (Vocativ) | Curtis Yarvin (Wikipedia)

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LUEE Episode 107: Solving Homelessness

In this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Ashlyn, Lauren, Gem, and Laura discuss strategies aimed at ending homelessness with returning guest Brendan Curran-Johnson. This episode also features an interview with Greta Christina and Alex Gabriel discussing The Orbit, a new blog network focusing on atheism and social justice.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a program promoting secular humanism and scientific skepticism that is produced by the Winnipeg Skeptics.

Links: The Orbit: Atheism, Activism, Culture | Help Launch The Orbit (Kickstarter) | Trends & Issues in Affordable Housing & Homelessness (Federation of Canadian Municipalities) | Better Off in a Shelter? (University of Toronto Centre for Urban and Community Studies) | Poor Housing, edited by Josh Brandon and Jim Silver | Cheating Welfare, by Kaaryn S. Gustafson | Hobos to Street People, by Art Hazelwood | Hand to Mouth, by Linda Tirado | Why We're Shutting Off Our Comments (Popular Science) | Basic income (Wikipedia) | Guaranteed minimum income (Wikipedia) | Guaranteed Annual Income (CanadianSocialResearch.net) | Mincome (Wikipedia) | The Town with No Poverty (Evelyn Forget) | Welfare trap (Wikipedia) | Humans Need Not Apply (YouTube) | Silicon Valley's Unchecked Arrogance (The Development Set) | Pathways to Housing: Supported Housing for Street-Dwelling Homeless Individuals With Psychiatric Disabilities (Pathways to Housing) | Substance Use Outcomes Among Homeless Clients with Serious Mental Illness: Comparing Housing First with Treatment First Programs (Pathways to Housing) | A multi-site comparison of supported housing for chronically homeless adults: "Housing first" versus "residential treatment first" (Tsai, Mares, Rosenheck) | Housing First for Homeless Persons with Active Addiction: Are We Overreaching? (Kertesz et al) | Outcasts on Main Street: Report of the Federal Task Force on Homelessness (Google Books) | The Plan to End Homelessness (Medicine Hat Community Housing Society) | Housing First (The Homeless Hub) | Housing First (Wikipedia) | Misandry Angie

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LUEE Episode 98: Crime & Punishment

In this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Gem, Ashlyn, Laura, Brendan, and Lauren discuss the criminal justice system, focusing on profiling, deception detection, changes in crime rates over time, and the prison abolition movement.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a program promoting secular humanism and scientific skepticism that is produced by the Winnipeg Skeptics.

Note: If you’re in Winnipeg for the Fringe Festival and are interested in coming out to see Of Blood and Ashes, written by Ian James and Adam Johnstone and featuring Gem Newman, we’re at Venue #3 (The Playhouse Studio) at 180 Market Avenue. Here are the showtimes:

Thursday, 16 July 2015, 9:00 pm
Saturday, 18 July 2015, 5:15 pm
Sunday, 19 July 2015, 7:00 pm
Tuesday, 21 July 2015, 12:00 pm
Wednesday, 22 July 2015, 5:15 pm
Thursday, 23 July 2015, 10:30 pm
Saturday, 25 July 2015, 3:30 pm

Links: The Sunset Tree by the Mountain Goats (iTunes) | The Sunset Tree by the Mountain Goats (Amazon) | Correctional Service of Canada CSC Research | Legalized abortion and crime effect (Wikipedia) | Tetraethyllead (Wikipedia) | Lead-crime hypothesis (RationalWiki) | High gun ownership makes countries less safe, US study finds (The Guardian) | Guns in the Home and Risk of a Violent Death in the Home: Findings from a National Study | Report Says Long Sentences Don't Deter Crime (Business Insider) | Longer prison sentences are not the way to cut crime (The Guardian) | Highest to Lowest - Prison Population Rate (International Centre for Prison Studies) | Polygraph (Wikipedia) | Lie detection (Wikipedia) | Paul Ekman (Wikipedia) | Criminal Podcast Episode Two: Pants on Fire | Offender profiling (Wikipedia) | The Effectiveness of Profiling from a National Security Perspective | Essays: To Profile or Not to Profile? (Part 1) (Schneier on Security) | Essays: To Profile or Not to Profile? (Part 2) (Schneier on Security) | Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis (Amazon) | Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex by Eric Stanley (Amazon) | Abolition Now!: Ten Years of Strategy and Struggle Against the Prison Industrial Complex (Amazon) | The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander (Amazon) | Black Prisoners and Their World by Mary Ellen Curtin (Amazon) | Worse Than Slavery by David M. Oshinsky (Amazon) | Cain Sentencing Transcript (The Marshall Project) | Justice is served, but more so after lunch: how food-breaks sway the decisions of judges (Not Exactly Rocket Science) | Extraneous factors in judicial decisions | Need a good reason to oppose the death penalty? How about 4 of them? | The Economic Costs of Seeking the Death Penalty (Seattle University) | Smiley face murder theory (Wikipedia) | FBI Statement Regarding Midwest River Deaths | Noble & Whimsical on Etsy

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LUEE Episode 91: Straight White Christmas

In this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Ashlyn is joined by Laura, Gem, and Lauren to discuss oppression, privilege, and intersectionality, both in society at large and as it relates to the skeptical community, and then the panel caps off the episode with a game of Name That Holiday Tradition!

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a program promoting secular humanism and scientific skepticism that is produced by the Winnipeg Skeptics and the Humanists, Atheists & Agnostics of Manitoba.

Note: Due to technical issues, we needed to switch over to our backup recording near the end of the episode, so we apologize for the decrease in audio quality. And continuing in our tradition of stealing games from other podcasts, this episode's game is in the spirit of Pat Roach's "Name That" from The Reality Check. If you don’t listen to that excellent podcast, you probably should!

Correction: The ability to read is apparently not one of Gem's strengths, as he insisted on pronouncing "Befana" as "Bellfana" for most of the recording. Sorry about that.

Links: Privilege (social inequality) (Wikipedia) | Privilege 101: A Quick and Dirty Guide (Everyday Feminism) | Straight White Male: The Lowest Difficulty Setting There Is (Whatever) | Facts are Cool | Glavin: Canadians have no reason to be smug about race (Ottawa Citizen) | This Teacher Taught His Class A Powerful Lesson About Privilege | Equality and Justice | Social Justice 101: Intersectionality (We Got So Far To Go) | Intersectionality (Geek Feminism Wiki) | Intersectionality 101 (Shit Reddit Says) | AAS Issues Statement on "Shirtgate"/"Shirtstorm" (American Astronomical Society) | A pornographer (and atheist) explains why the science guy’s shirt crash-landed | Casual sexism: When a shirt is more than a shirt. | Dismayingly Dawkins | It's Time to Push Back Against Feminist Bullies | Karl Stefanovic wears the same suit for a year | Aamer Rahman (Fear of a Brown Planet) - Reverse Racism (YouTube) | Befana (Wikipedia) | 7 Winter Solstice Celebrations (Encyclopedia Britannica) | 13 Unusual Holiday Traditions From Around the World (Reader's Digest) | Yule Lads (Wikipedia) | Kwanzaa (Wikipedia) | Lohri (Wikipedia) | Sadeh: A Middle Eastern Coffeehouse Experience

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LUEE Episode 69: Québec's Charter of Values

Episode 69: Québec's Charter of Values

In the second anniversary episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, we fulfil our CanCon requirement! Gem Newman discusses the proposed "Charter of Values" in the Canadian province of Québec with Scott Carnegie, Greg Christensen, and special guest Shayne Gryn.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a program promoting secular humanism and scientific skepticism presented by the Winnipeg Skeptics and the Humanists, Atheists & Agnostics of Manitoba.

Links: HAAM Meetup | Drinking Skeptically | Québec's Proposed Charter of Values | Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms | Reasonable Accommodation | The "Notwithstanding Clause" | National Post: Quebec Releases Controversial 'Values Charter' | Montreal Gazette: The Public Favours Charter of Values | Globe and Mail: Quebec's Secular Charter Is Clearly Unconstitutional, But Could Still Become Law | Quebec's White, Privileged Feminists Don't Speak For Me | Canadian Atheist: A Practical Guide for Discussion of the Charter of Quebec Values | Canadian Atheist: A Practical Guide for Avoiding Discussion of the Charter of Québec Values | Shayne Gryn: The Racialized and Gendered Impact of Quebec's Proposed Charter of Secularism | National Post: Woman Says She Was Accosted in Mall Over Her Islamic Veil | CBC: Sikh Mounties Permitted to Wear Turbans

What Are You Listening To? The Nerdist Podcast | This American Life | Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me! | Penn's Sunday School | Quirks and Quarks | The Brain Science Podcast | Reasonable Doubts | The Reality Check | The Flop House

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LUEE Episode 68: Atheist Myths

Episode 68: Atheist Myths

Is atheism a religion? In this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Donna Harris, Greg Christensen, Pat Morrow, and Jeffrey Olsson take on a few of the myths and misconceptions about atheists.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a program promoting secular humanism and scientific skepticism presented by the Winnipeg Skeptics and the Humanists, Atheists & Agnostics of Manitoba.

Links: Atheist vs. Agnostic | Atheism starts its megachurch: Is it a religion now? | Calgary Secular Church | Michael Enright: Could Atheists please stop complaining? | Elizabeth Renzetti: Heavens, we atheists have become a smug, dreary lot | Betty Bowers Explains Traditional Marriage to Everyone Else

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LUEE Episode 64: Angry Atheists and Equality with Greta Christina

Episode 64: Angry Atheists and Equality with Greta Christina

In this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Gem Newman discusses atheist activism and the skeptical community's problems with equality with Greta Christina. Also on this episode, a new instalment of Where's My Jetpack? This week Old Man Newman asks, "Where's my lab-grown meat?"

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a program promoting secular humanism and scientific skepticism presented by the Winnipeg Skeptics and the Humanists, Atheists & Agnostics of Manitoba.

Links: Greta Christina's Blog | Greta's Books (Why Are You Atheists So Angry?, Bending) | Julia Galef: The Straw Vulcan | Harassment, Rape, and the Difference Between Skepticism and Denialism | Sexual Harassment Accusations in the Skeptical and Secular Communities: a Timeline of Major Events

Where's My Jetpack? Links: Environmental Impact (Worldwatch Institute, United Nations FCCC) | Cultured Meat in the News (The Telegraph, CBC, Scientific American, The Australian) | PETA's Cultured Chicken Meat Contest | To Fight Global Warming, Eat Bugs

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LUEE Episode 63: Sexism and Gender Roles

Episode 63: Sexism and Gender Roles

In this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Donna Harris discusses sexism and gender roles with Richelle McCullough, Leslie Saunders, Robert Shindler, and Greg Christensen.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a program promoting secular humanism and scientific skepticism presented by the Winnipeg Skeptics and the Humanists, Atheists & Agnostics of Manitoba.

Links: Kim O'Grady Lands Job After Adding 'Mr.' to His Resume | Riley on Marketing | Two-year-old Boy Called 'Faggot' for Wearing Pink Headband | When Did Girls Start Wearing Pink? | Centre for Social Justice: Gender Inequality | House of Commons Has a 'Locker Room' Mentality of Casual Sexism | Chubby-chasing Sex Trolls Ran Me Offline, Says Fashion Blogger | Missing Winnipeg Woman's Body Pulled from River, Days After Her Two Children Found Dead | Chris Benoit Double-murder and Suicide

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LUEE Episode 54: Saturday Morning Interview with Zach Weinersmith

Episode 54: Saturday Morning Interview with Zach Weinersmith

In this bonus episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Gem talks with Zach Weinersmith of Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal about science, art, censorship, and dirty jokes.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a program promoting secular humanism and scientific skepticism presented by the Winnipeg Skeptics and the Humanists, Atheists & Agnostics of Manitoba.

Links: The Festival of Bad Ad Hoc Hypotheses | The Cross-Canada Skeptical Smackdown (Winnipeg, Other Events) | Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal | The Weekly Weinersmith Podcast | Trial of the Clone (Book, Android App) | CCA | MPAA | Orson Scott Card's Controversial Superman Story Put on Hold | Ann Veronica, by H.G. Wells | The Agricultural Contradiction of Obesity, by Michael Pollan

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How about some tolerance for tolerance?

And so my respect for the Winnipeg Free Press continues its decline unabated, with yesterday's opinion piece by John Kass (a Chicago Tribune reporter, apparently), entitled "How about some tolerance for Christians" (with question mark omitted, for reasons unknown). In the article, Kass muses that permitting gay marriage may infringe on the rights of good, God-fearing Christians. (What rights? Presumably the right to cause awkward social situations when confronted by the fact that gay people exist.) Also, being called a bigot makes him sad, or something.

I have neither the time nor the energy to dive into it in grand detail, but I'll offer up a few choice morsels.

Is it possible to be a traditional Christian or Muslim or Orthodox Jew — and hold to one's faith on what constitutes marriage — and not be considered a bigot?

That odd religious persecution complex never disappoints, does it?

In answer to the question: sure, probably. If marriage means "one man, one woman" to you, then that's fine. Enter into a marriage in which there are exactly two participants of different genders (and close your mind to the wonderful diversity that actually exists on the spectra of gender and sex). But the moment you start trying to force other people to adhere to your particular religious code, you're an ass. It's just that simple.

"If you don't believe in gay marriage," as the saying goes, "then don't get gay married." Try to prevent other people from getting gay married? You are a bigot, and no one should hesitate to call you on it.

The federal government has already told religious institutions that run hospitals that they must provide contraceptives to their employees, even if it runs counter to their beliefs. So now, if the government ultimately compels us to describe same-sex unions as marriage, what's next?

If we must give this group equal rights, what's next? Why, it would be a slippery slope to God-knows-what!

Also, I feel compelled to point out that neither hospitals nor religious institutions actually have "beliefs"; they may have codes of conduct or dogmas, but in order to actually believe something, you need to, you know, possess some sort of nervous system or something. The people running these institutions have the right to believe whatever they want—but they shouldn't have the right to force those beliefs on their employees. Is a Catholic hospital permitted to refuse to hire a doctor for being Muslim or a ward assistant for being Mormon?

And if you don't want to provide your employees with government-mandated healthcare, then perhaps, at the very least, you should get out of the healthcare business.

In this media world, I sometimes wonder whether the word "sin" has been outlawed by the high priests of journalism for fear of offending one group or another. And I'd rather not ask.

I'm tempted to pass over the hyperbolic (and frankly boring) contention that the author's editors are trying to silence dissent to conform to some quasi-religious dogma, as this sort of conspiracy mongering is nothing new, but I will note that this accusation is particularly amusing, coming as it does from an Orthodox Christian. I will venture that perhaps the reason his editors don't want Kass calling people he don't happen to agree with "sinners" may be that they want their readership to be somewhat broader than a small number of conservative Christians. Or it could be that his opinion on whether some act or thought may offend some god or other has little to do with accurate reporting of the news. That's also a possibility.

Again, I don't oppose same-sex unions. I think Americans should have the right to associate as they please. My wife and I have had friends and family members who were gay, and died of AIDS. We loved them, and still do.

...and here's where I blew a gasket. I had to retype this paragraph a half-dozen times before I managed to restore any semblance of politeness (which, admittedly, is much more than the author deserves). Good for you, John Kass, for not hating people for having different innate preferences than you. Would you like a cookie?

This paragraph has all of the class of "some of my best friends are black", while serving to remind the reader that some number of gay people die of a horrible disease. I can't be sure what the author's mention of AIDS is supposed to accomplish, but I think that the most charitable interpretation would be that it's a non sequitur. The only other rationale I can come up with is that Kass wishes us to infer that these deaths attributable to a "lifestyle choice" (or "sin", as he'd probably prefer to phrase it), and that in some sense these "loved ones" brought it on themselves. To which I'm afraid I must respond, "Why yes, you do in fact seem to be a bigot!"

Kass ends his article with a plea for tolerance:

Tolerance for those whose faith and traditional beliefs put them in what is fast becoming the minority.

And good riddance.

LUEE Episode 47: News Update

Episode 47: News Update

In this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Richelle McCullough, Gem Newman, and Donna Harris discuss local and international news of interest to skeptics, including an investigation of anti-WiFi activism in Canada, a new study examining the negative impact that personhood amendments have on women, a governmental report in Québec endorsing the right to euthanasia, and more.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a program promoting secular humanism and scientific skepticism presented by the Winnipeg Skeptics and the Humanists, Atheists & Agnostics of Manitoba.

Links: Bad Science Watch's Investigation of Anti-WiFi Activism in Canada | How Long Does a Cough Last? Comparing Patients' Expectations with Data from a Systematic Review of the Literature | New Study Shows Anti-Choice Policies Leading to Widespread Arrests of and Forced Interventions on Pregnant Women | SkeptiCamp Winnipeg 2012 Videos | Québec to Proceed with 'Dying with Dignity' Legislation | Spot the Station | Thought Experiment (Outtakes)

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LUEE Episode 42: Skepticon 5, Part 2

Episode 42: Skepticon 5, Part 2

In this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Gem Newman, Mark Forkheim, Ashlyn Noble, Laura Creek Newman, Brendan Curran-Johnson, and Gary Barbon conclude their discussion of Skepticon 5, and the LUEE crew reflects on 42 episodes of Life, the Universe & Everything Else. This episode also features interviews with Matt Dillahunty of the Atheist Experience and Jen McCreight of Blag Hag.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a program promoting secular humanism and scientific skepticism presented by the Winnipeg Skeptics and the Humanists, Atheists & Agnostics of Manitoba.

Links: Apocalypse 2012: The End of the World Party (Facebook Event, Meetup Event) | Skepticon | Skepticon Videos | Center for Applied Rationality (CFAR) | Dawkins Quotation (from The God Delusion) | The Atheist Experience (website, blog) | Matt Dillahunty vs. Kristine Kruszelnicki: The Right to Abortion | Blag Hag | Boobquake | Atheism+ | Jen McCreight: Diversity in Your Group

Our Favourite LUEE Episodes: Leaving Faith Behind, Part 1 | Leaving Faith Behind, Part 2 | "Thrive" | Zombies! Part 1! | Zombies! Part 2! | To Vaccinate, or Not to Vaccinate? | Common Creationist Claims, Part 1 | Common Creationist Claims, Part 2

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LUEE Episode 41: News Update

Episode 41: News Update

In this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Jeffrey Olsson, Donna Harris, and Greg Christensen discuss local and international news of interest to skeptics, including blasphemy cases in Pakistan and India and reproductive health issues abroad, and Greg reviews some exoplanet-related news items from the last few years.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a program promoting secular humanism and scientific skepticism presented by the Winnipeg Skeptics and the Humanists, Atheists & Agnostics of Manitoba.

Links: Sanal Edamaruku | Pakistani Sentenced to Death for Blasphemy May Appeal | High Court Rejects Case Against Girl in Pakistan | Astronomers Spot "Super Jupiter" | Astronomers Directly Image Massive Star's "Super-Jupiter" | Oprah Tweets Her Love For Microsoft Surface Using An iPad | Exoplanet Gliese 581g Makes the Top 5 | United Nations Declares Access to Contraception a "Universal Human Right" | What Happens to Women Who Are Denied Abortions? | The UCSF Global Turnaway Study | Record Nine-Planet Star System Discovered? | Saudi Arabian Women Tracked with System That Texts Their Husbands | Puffy Planet Poses Pretty Puzzle | World Toilet Day

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LUEE Episode 40: Skepticon 5, Part 1

Episode 40: Skepticon 5, Part 1

In this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Gem Newman, Mark Forkheim, Ashlyn Noble, Laura Creek Newman, Brendan Curran-Johnson, and Gary Barbon discuss their trip to Skepticon 5. This episode also features interviews with Skepchicks Rebecca Watson, Surly Amy, and Kammy Lyon, and with Lauren Lane, one of the founders of Skepticon.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a program promoting secular humanism and scientific skepticism presented by the Winnipeg Skeptics and the Humanists, Atheists & Agnostics of Manitoba.

Links: Skepticon | Episode 4: Skepticon 4 Recap | Skepchick | It Stands to Reason, Skeptics Can Be Sexist Too | The Humanist Community Project

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LUEE Episode 37: News Update

Episode 37: News Update

In this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Ashlyn Noble, Donna Harris, Mark Forkheim, and Laura Creek Newman discuss local and international news of interest to skeptics, including PMS, supposed sex-selective abortions, Winnipeg's pious new police chief, and more.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a program promoting secular humanism and scientific skepticism presented by the Winnipeg Skeptics and the Humanists, Atheists & Agnostics of Manitoba.

Links: Ussher Chronology | SkeptiCamp Winnipeg | "Religious Freedom" Sends the Wrong Message to the Wrong People | Mark Warawa's Motion 408 Aimed At Condemning Sex-Selective Abortion | MP Defends Giving Queen's Jubilee Medal to Jailed Woman: Anti-Abortionists Honoured by Conservative MP | Vitamin C and Lysine Proven to Keep Arteries Healthy | PMS Moodiness May be a Myth: Study | Winnipeg Police Chief Touts Prayer to Help Combat Crime | Non-Christian Prison Chaplains Chopped by Ottawa

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LUEE Episode 35: Talks from SkeptiCamps Past

Episode 35: Talks from SkeptiCamps Past

In this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Laura Creek Newman talks about supposed "superfoods" and Anlina Sheng tells us everything there is to know about polyamory.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a program promoting secular humanism and scientific skepticism presented by the Winnipeg Skeptics and the Humanists, Atheists & Agnostics of Manitoba.

Links: Nutritional Facts and Fallacies: "Superfoods" | Polyamory and Questioning Mononormative Assumptions | PolyWinnipeg | SkeptiCamp Winnipeg (2010, 2011, 2012)

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Atheism+

Image Credit: One Thousand Needles

I support this message:

We are...
Atheists plus we care about social justice,
Atheists plus we support women’s rights,
Atheists plus we protest racism,
Atheists plus we fight homophobia and transphobia,
Atheists plus we use critical thinking and skepticism.

I also recommend reading the post the precipitated it.

LUEE Episode 26: "Thrive"

Episode 26: "Thrive"

In this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Gem Newman, Gary Barbon, and Mark Forkheim discuss the online conspiracy film "Thrive" with Robert Shindler, Richelle McCullough, and Greg Christensen.

This episode was recorded over Google+, so the audio quality is occasionally inconsistent. Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, Greg, Richelle, and Robert had to drop out of the show early, but Mark, Gary, and Gem soldiered on!

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a program promoting secular humanism and scientific skepticism presented by the Winnipeg Skeptics and the Humanists, Atheists & Agnostics of Manitoba.

News Items: Bad Science Watch | Students at Quebec School Have Adverse Reaction to Hypnotist Act | Hypnosis (Wikipedia, The Skeptic's Dictionary) | Obese Father Loses Custody of His Children | Do Atheists Have a Sexual Harassment Problem? | Freethought Blogs Roundtable (Harassment at Conferences, Why Talk About Social Justice?) | SkeptiCamp Winnipeg | Winnipeg Skeptics Anti-Harassment Policy | New NSA Docs Contradict 9/11 Claims (Salon, National Security Archive) | Prometheus: It Sucked

Addressing Some of Thrive's Claims: Thrive | Entropy and Life | Graphical (Linear) Projection | The Flower of Life | Skeptoid on UFOs | SkeptiCamp Winnipeg: Perpetual Motion and Free Energy | The Hutchison "Effect" | The Death of Eugene Mallove (Suspects Arrested, Schaffer Enters Guilty Plea) | Interviewees Repudiate Thrive (Interviewees Distance Themselves from the Film, John Robbins Speaks Out Against Thrive) | Thrive Debunked (Index, Ancient Astronauts, Crop Circles, "False Flag" Attacks, Global Domination)

What Are You Reading? Hitch-22 | Against Intellectual Monopoly | Hegemony or Survival | Fundamentals of Computational Neuroscience | Going Solo | Singlism | Dying of the Light | John Dies at the End | Redshirts | I Am Legend | Why Are You Atheists So Angry? | Before Watchmen

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LUEE Episode 23: Justice and Hate Crimes

Episode 23: Justice and Hate Crimes

In this episode of Life, the Universe & Everything Else, Greg Christensen, Ali Ashtari, and Jeffrey Olsson talk about Canadian hate crime legislation and freedom of thought, conscience, and expression.

Life, the Universe & Everything Else is a program promoting secular humanism and scientific skepticism presented by the Winnipeg Skeptics and the Humanists, Atheists & Agnostics of Manitoba.

Links: Bill C-10 & Minimum Sentences | Iranian Rapper Facing Death Threats | Atheist Murdered in Texas | Ernst Zundel | David Ahenakew | Summary of Hate Crime Definition | Criminal Code of Canada | Statistics on Canadian Hate Crimes | Effect of Hate Crime on Victims | References to Notable Canadian Hate Crime Convictions | Hate Crime in Canada: An Overview of Issues and Data Sources

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