Lawsuit

This week we start by urging you to register nominations for the Ockham Awards, handled by The Skeptic. The deadline is 31 October. That’s the same date that Skepsis in the Netherlands will hold their full day ‘Skepsis Congress 2020’, check it out!

Then we chat to Patrick Vermeren, who together with fellow skeptic Bart Van de Ven, is sued for defamation(!) by Carl Van de Velde, the multimillionaire behind the ‘Opleidingsinstituut’. Despite losing in the first instance Van de Velde has appealed and there is a fundraiser in support of our friends. No on Poking of Francis this week in Pontus’ absence, instead move directly to the news:

• Extinction denial is the new thing. UN Summit on biodiversity addressed that, too
• German Order of Merit goes to…
• New prosecution in Macchiarini case
• Landmark study of 1.7 million women – HPV vaccine better at preventing cervical cancer than previously thought
• Is the EU cheating in net-zero emissions plans?
• Dutch Cancer Society gets Master Kackadoris Prize

Enjoy!

Segments:
Intro; Greetings; Interview; This Week; News; Quote and Farewell; Outro; Out-takes

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

0:00:26 INTRO

0:00:51 GREETINGS

• Nominations for the Ockham Awards now open and voting for the Golden Tinfoil Hat! Also: full day of Skeptical Conference in the Netherlands
  • Goldene Aluhut: https://dergoldenealuhut.de/der-goldene-aluhut-2020-das-voting/
  • The Skeptic: https://www.skeptic.org.uk/2020/09/the-ockham-awards-2020-recognising-the-best-in-skepticism-and-the-worst-in-pseudoscience/
  • Skepsis Congress 2020: https://skepsis.nl/congres-2020/

0:07:45 INTERVIEW, PATRICK VERMEREN

• • SKEPP: https://skepp.be/nl/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=5
  • A Skeptic’s HR Dictionary: https://www.askepticshrdictionary.com

0:23:05 THIS WEEK IN HISTORY

• 9 October 768, the Coronation of Charlemagne – or did it happen at all?
  • Charlemagne (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne
  • Did the Early Middle Ages Really Exist? (University of Cambridge): https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/volatile/Niemitz-1997.pdf

0:32:18 NEWS

• INTERNATIONAL: Extinction denial is the new thing. UN Summit on biodiversity addressed that, too
  • the Conversation: https://theconversation.com/extinction-the-facts-attenboroughs-new-documentary-is-surprisingly-radical-146127
  • Nature: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-020-01285-z#author-information
  • : https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-54357479
• GERMANY: German Order of Merit goes to…
  • WDR: https://www1.wdr.de/nachrichten/bundesverdienstkreuz-corona-krise-drosten-pusch-100.html
• SWEDEN: New prosecution in Macchiarini case
  • Åklagare.se: https://www.aklagare.se/en/news-and-press/press-releases/2020/september/prosecution-of-a-former-surgeon-at-karolinska-university-hospital/
  • For Better Science: https://forbetterscience.com/2020/09/30/paolo-macchiarini-indicted-for-aggravated-assault-in-sweden/
• SWEDEN: Landmark study of 1.7 million women – HPV vaccine better at preventing cervical cancer than previously thought
  • the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/oct/01/hpv-vaccine-helps-prevent-invasive-cervical-cancer-landmark-study-shows
  • NBC: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/womens-health/hpv-vaccine-significantly-lowers-risk-cervical-cancer-large-study-finds-n1241600
• EUROPE: Is the EU cheating in net-zero emissions plans?
  • European Parliament: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20191121IPR67110/the-european-parliament-declares-climate-emergency
  • the Conversation: https://theconversation.com/is-the-eu-cheating-on-its-net-zero-emissions-plan-heres-what-the-science-says-147047
• NETHERLANDS: Dutch Cancer Society gets Master Kackadoris Prize
  • Vereniging Tegen de Kwakzalverij: https://www.kwakzalverij.nl/nieuws/kwf-kankerbestrijding-wint-meester-kackadorisprijs-2020

1:02:34 QUOTE AND FAREWELL
“Physics is to be regarded not so much as the study of something a priori given, but rather as the development of methods of ordering and surveying human experience. In this respect our task must be to account for such experience in a manner independent of individual subjective judgement and therefore objective in the sense that it can be unambiguously communicated in ordinary human language.”

/ Niels Bohr (7 October 1885 – 18 November 1962). Danish physicist, Nobel Laureate/

1:03:44 OUTRO