NewZealand

We start with some reflections on COP29 and then we send our big congratulations to Richard Saunders on receiving his Lifetime Achievement Award from the Australian Skeptics. Well deserved indeed! Another well deserved but shameful award goes to King Charles who received the New Zealand Skeptics’ Bent Spoon Award. In TWISH we look back at the founding of the Royal Society all the way back in 1660. Then, it’s time for the news:

• INTERNATIONAL: Measles cases at a massive surge
• GERMANY: Court ruling states that informed consent is important when using SCAM
• NORWAY: Update: true con artists – the Princess and the Shaman have not paid the suppliers for their wedding
• AUSTRIA: Finalists of the Golden Board announced
• SWITZERLAND: Deus in machina: Swiss church installs AI-powered Jesus

This week’s Really Wrong Award goes to the Dutch minister of Education Eppo Bruins for his plans to slash education funding.

Enjoy!

Segments: Intro; Greetings; TWISH; News; Really Wrong; Quote; Outro; Outtakes
 
0:00:27 INTRO

0:00:50 GREETINGS

• Reflections on COP29
• Australian lifetime achievement award for Richard Saunders
  • the Skeptic Zone: https://skepticzone.libsyn.com/the-skeptic-zone-842-24november2024
• Bent spoon award in New Zealand to King Charles
  • Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/newzealand/comments/1gwad9m/the_nz_skeptics_bravo_and_bentspoon_awards_2024/?rdt=55360

0:11:56 TWISH – THIS WEEK IN SKEPTICAL HISTORY

• 28 November 1660: Foundation of the Royal Society in the UK
  • Royal Society: https://royalsociety.org/about-us/who-we-are/history/

0:17:01 NEWS

• INTERNATIONAL: Measles cases at a massive surge
  • Vaccines Today: https://www.vaccinestoday.eu/stories/unacceptable-measles-cases-surge-20-percent-worldwide/
  • WHO: https://www.who.int/news/item/14-11-2024-measles-cases-surge-worldwide–infecting-10.3-million-people-in-2023
• GERMANY: Court ruling states that informed consent is important when using SCAM
  • Edzard Ernst: https://edzardernst.com/2024/11/a-german-court-ruled-on-informed-consent-in-so-called-alternative-medicine-scam/
• NORWAY: Update: true con artists – the Princess and the Shaman have not paid the suppliers for their wedding
  • Omni: https://omni.se/martha-louise-har-inte-betalat-brollopsrakningarna/a/0VgdoB
• AUSTRIA: Finalists of the Golden Board announced
  • GWUP: https://blog.gwup.net/2024/11/25/das-goldene-brett-2024-die-drei-finalisten-stehen-fest/
• SWITZERLAND: Deus in machina: Swiss church installs AI-powered Jesus
  • the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/nov/21/deus-in-machina-swiss-church-installs-ai-powered-jesus

0:43:00 REALLY WRONG

• Really Wrong: Dutch Minister of Education Eppo Bruins to cut over one billion euros from higher education
  • AOB: https://www.aob.nl/en/recent/articles/report-demo-higher-education-malieveld/

0:46:48 QUOTE AND FAREWELL

“The wars fanned the wings of science, and science brought to mankind a thousand blessings, a thousand problems and a thousand perils.”
/ Winston Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965), British statesman, military officer, writer and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. /

0:48:32 OUTRO

0:49:47 OUT-TAKES