This week it is true that the Amazon (Amazonas? Amazonia?) is burning and glaciers are dying, but misinformation is still everywhere. Especially, meditation and rain dances will not help.
Instead we should learn from John Locke, born this week in 1632, and who taught us the benefits of empiricism.
Even though the Cardinal Pell story seems to be all over for him, the Vatican still faces a giant dilemma on how to handle it.
There’s a 1 million Euro award for you if you can prove that a German city doesn’t exist, Nobel laureates are sometimes cranks, but you can learn key concepts for making informed choices if you read Nature Magazine.
Edinburgh hesitates in kicking out non-elected religious school board members, Valigia Blu gets Italian Skeptic award from CICAP, the UK loses status as “Measles free” and study from Australia suggest that political views are perhaps not so much of a factor in vaccination resistance.
Finally, we conclude that no matter what they think in Turku University in Finland, climate change is definitely man-made and whoever says differently are Really Wrong.
Segments:
Intro; Greetings; This Week; Pontus Pokes the Pope; News; Really Wrong; Quote and Farewell; Outro; Out-takes
Events Calendar: https://theesp.eu/events_in_europe
00:00:27 Intro
00:00:50 Greetings
The fires in the Amazon make people desperate to help, but perhaps they should find something more useful than meditation and performing rain dances. That and a funeral for the Okjökull glacier in Iceland get us on a long discussion about climate change, flight emissions and future transportation.
- https://www.facebook.com/674077623/posts/10156270532342624/
- https://www.snopes.com/news/2019/08/23/viral-amazon-fire-photos/
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/49405023
- https://www.snopes.com/ap/2019/08/20/earths-future-is-being-written-in-fast-melting-greenland/
00:15:24 This Week in Skepticism
John Locke, English philosopher and physician and one of the first British “Empiricists” was born on 29 August 1632.
00:18:31 Pontus Pokes the Pope – The Pell case is not over for Francis.
00:24:31 Skeptical News
GERMANY: Bielefeld in Germany offers €1 million to anyone who can prove its non-existence
- https://www.snopes.com/ap/2019/08/21/german-city-offers-1-1m-to-whoever-proves-it-doesnt-exist/
- http://theconversation.com/too-many-people-think-satirical-news-is-real-121666
- https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article198906901/Eine-Million-Euro-fuer-Beweis-der-Bielefeld-Verschwoerung-ausgelobt.html
FRANCE: Anti-vaxx disinformation – the ‘Nobel decease’ is still a problem
- https://www.lemonde.fr/les-decodeurs/article/2019/08/23/non-les-vaccins-ne-sont-pas-responsables-de-la-mort-subite-du-nourrisson_5501947_4355770.html
- https://respectfulinsolence.com/2017/11/28/the-nobel-disease-strikes-again-luc-montagnier-goes-full-antivax-with-a-little-help-from-henri-joyeux/
INTERNATIONAL: Key concepts for making informed choices
SCOTLAND: Edinburgh delays decision to remove church voting rights in school boards
ITALY: CICAP awards Valigia Blu for their efforts to bring rationality into journalism
UK: Measles in the UK: ‘Elimination status’ is lost
- http://outbreaknewstoday.com/measles-in-the-uk-elimination-status-is-lost-55032/
- https://fullfact.org/health/measles-free/
INTERNATIONAL: Do our political views influence vaccination rates?
00:50:25 Really Wrong: FINLAND: Is climate change not man-made?
- https://www.mm.dk/tjekdet/artikel/finsk-studie-frikender-mennesket-for-den-globale-opvarmning-men
- https://www.helsinkitimes.fi/finland/finland-news/domestic/16562-finnish-scientists-effect-of-human-activity-on-climate-change-insignificant.html
00:55:34 Quote and Goodbye
“False and doubtful positions, relied upon as unquestionable maxims, keep those who build on them in the dark from truth.”
/ John Locke, 29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704, British philosopher /
00:58:44 Outro
00:59:59 Out-takes