Fake News

The three of us are back to bring you the latest from Europe. We’re saddened by the (not so surprising) news that QED 2020 is now postponed to 2021, but whenever it is, we are looking forward to it. In the meantime check out Christian Lehmann’s series of guest posts on Edzard Ernst’s blog about the hydroxychloroquine controversy.
Jelena tells us the story of an alleged alien abduction in Poland more than 40 years ago, now commemorated with a stone memorial.
Pontus delves into the question of whethe Pope Pius XII was indeed “Hitler’s Pope” and then a selection of news from Europe:
– A scientist in the UK allegedly dies in a COVID-19 trial
– Follow-up on David Icke’s YouTube channel – now suspended
– Countries faced with challenges in immunization programs while in lockdown
– Spanish beach sprayed with bleach to prevent coronavirus infections
– A patent from the Pasteur Institute that does NOT prove the alleged artificial origin of SARS-CoV-2
– The Heinz Oberhummer Award goes to German science populariser Mai Thai Nguyen-Kim
– German High Court rules that doctors can not selectively get rid of bad ratings
– Logical fallacies in easy-to-share format on ARP-SAPC’s website
This week’s Really Right Prize is given to the NHS UK for an excellent information page about homeopathy.

Enjoy!

Segments:
Intro; Greetings; This Week in Skepticism; Pontus Pokes the Pope; News; Really Right; Quote and Farewell; Outro; Out-takes

Events Calendar: https://theesp.eu/events_in_europe

0:00:27 INTRO

0:00:51 GREETINGS

• QED 2020 postponed to 2021: https://qedcon.org
• Christian Lehmann’s series of guest posts on Edzard Ernst’s blog:
  • https://edzardernst.com/2020/04/didier-raoult-and-the-hydroxychloroquine-controversy-part-1/
  • https://edzardernst.com/2020/04/a-census-of-untruths-about-chloroquine-part-2/
  • https://edzardernst.com/2020/05/hydroxychloroquine-this-is-not-a-hollywood-blockbuster-part-3/

0:04:50 This Week in Skepticism
An alleged alien abduction in Poland on May 10, 1978 is now commemorated with a stone memorial.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emilcin_Abduction
• https://culture.pl/en/article/the-emilcin-incident-a-polish-encounter-of-the-fourth-kind
• https://www.dziennikwschodni.pl/lubelskie/muzeum-ufo-ma-powstac-w-emilcinie,n,1000085200.html

0:13:22 PONTUS POKES THE POPE
Francis says the right thing for once, but 80 years ago Pius XII may indeed have been “Hitler’s Pope”

• https://cruxnow.com/news-analysis/2020/04/popes-call-for-obedience-on-mass-restrictions-both-pastoral-and-political/
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/04/29/vatican-pope-pius-records-holocaust/

0:23:11 NEWS

1. UK: Fake news about a scientist allegedly dying in a COVID-19 vaccine trial
   • https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/elisa-granato-trial-covid-19-vax/
   • https://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/psychological-pitfalls-and-covid-19/
2. UK: Followup from last week: David Icke’s Youtube-channel has been shut down
   • https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-52501453
3. EU: Countries faced with challenges in immunization programs while they’re in a lockdown
   • http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/disease-prevention/vaccines-and-immunization/news/news/2020/4/countries-working-to-sustain-population-immunity-to-vaccine-preventable-diseases-during-covid-19-pandemic
   • https://theconversation.com/what-impact-will-the-coronavirus-pandemic-have-on-anti-vaxxers-135153
   • https://apnews.com/3287934e9316b008e2a6c7735b7b01df
   • https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD004407.pub4/full
4. SPAIN: Spanish beach sprayed with bleach – to prevent coronavirus infections
   • https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52471208
5. FRANCE: A patent from the Pasteur Institute does NOT prove that SARS-CoV-2 is artificial
   • https://www.pseudo-sciences.org/Le-coronavirus-a-t-il-ete-cree-en-laboratoire
6. AUSTRIA: And the Heinz Oberhummer Award goes to… Mai Thi Nguyen-Kim
   • http://sciencebusters.at/heinz-oberhummer-award-2020/
   • Downloadable press release: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1nVQ3MBfw7CuyPl6ScHq8eiujvC58LJJs
   • https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyHDQ5C6z1NDmJ4g6SerW8g/featured
   • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mai_Thi_Nguyen-Kim
7. GERMANY: High Court ruling: Doctors have to accept also bad ratings on portals (followup from ep 202)
   • https://www.faz.net/aktuell/gesellschaft/gesundheit/aerzte-muessen-bewertungen-auf-portalen-akzeptieren-16748791.html
   • https://www.sueddeutsche.de/gesundheit/online-bewertungen-zehnmal-lob-fuer-118-88-euro-1.4722082
8. SPAIN: Logical fallacies compilation just got an upgrade
   • • http://www.escepticos.es/node/6968
     • https://falacias.escepticos.es/index.php/afirmacion-del-consecuente/

0:55:50 REALLY RIGHT
The NHS for an excellent information page about homeopathy

• • https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/homeopathy/

0:59:59 GSoW promo

http://guerrillaskepticismonwikipedia.blogspot.com

1:01:38 QUOTE AND FAREWELL

“The known is finite, the unknown infinite; intellectually we stand on an islet in the midst of an illimitable ocean of inexplicability. Our business in every generation is to reclaim a little more land, to add something to the extent and the solidity of our possessions.”
/Thomas Henry Huxley, English biologist, anthropologist & comparative anatomist/

1:03:56 OUTRO

1:05:10 OUT-TAKES