Wednesday, March 21, 2012, 7:00 pm

DeWitt Community Library at Shoppingtown Mall

Buckland Community Room

Join us at our March meeting where longtime CNY Skeptics member Bryce Hand will talk to us about climate change. Bryce is professor emeritus of geology at Syracuse University.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012, 7:00 pm

DeWitt Community Library at Shoppingtown Mall

Buckland Community Room

Science advances one funeral at a time.
– Max Planck

The infinite unknown that is our universe is being studied by a finite number of people with finite budgets and a finite number of hours in the day, many of them with real jobs to boot. Opinion and intuition have served as double-edged swords throughout the practical application of the scientific method, often weighing down now-famous great leaps forward for reasons having nothing to do with science itself.

We don’t see things as they are. We see them as we are.
– Anais Nin

Damian will spend his time being both antagonistic and defensive as he discusses some of the history of now-obvious-but-previously-insane truths and facts gleaned from the scientific method, then will briefly describe his own work in the field of molecular manufacturing, an area of research previously seen as profoundly forward, then game-changing, then heretical, then highly suspect, and now increasingly academic, all without strong experimental evidence for or against for most of its history.

Damian Allis is research assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at Syracuse University.

It’s almost time for the annual CNY Skeptics Solstice Party. Our hosts are the always gracious Bryce and Judy Hand. The date of the party is December 17, and the time is 6 pm.

The Hands will provide turkey and stuffing, a vegetarian dish, and hot spiced cider. The rest is up to you. Email the Hands with your dinner contribution.

• Bryce and Judy Hand
• 132 Lynn Circle
• Syracuse, NY 13205

Wednesday, October 19, 2011, 6:00 – 9:00 pm

Al’s Wine and Whiskey Lounge, 321 S. Clinton St., in Armory Square, Syracuse

Join Skeptics in the Pub coordinator Larry Slosberg and other members of CNY Skeptics for casual conversation. Sit back on one of Al’s comfortable sofas or chairs and enjoy the company of fellow skeptics.

CNY Skeptics Presents Kitty Mervine

Wednesday, September 21, 2011, 7:00 pm

DeWitt Community Library at Shoppingtown Mall

Kitty returns to Syracuse with tales of ghost hunting and lessons learned. Find out from Kitty how to conduct your own investigation and avoid the errors typical to novice ghost hunters.

Kitty is a professional artist and teacher. Her artwork has appeared in shows and galleries in both the US and Europe. She is also a long time skeptic and has attended every TAM (The Amazing Meeting, a skeptic conference organized by the James Randi Educational Foundation) that has been held in the US.

Kitty is currently is in charge of investigations for the Granite State Skeptics and has given presentations at several JREF events and on podcasts. She also appears as the “Alien Expert” on Maxim satellite radio on occasion. She runs the web site badalien.org which is geared toward people who believe that they have been abducted by aliens. badalien.org offers alternative explanations for the abduction experience and a place where abductees can share their experiences without the fear of being ridiculed.

Kitty is part of the “don’t be a dick” skeptical movement that seeks to treat believers with respect and believes change comes by teaching critical thinking skills.

February 2011

“Peak Oil and the Economy: Should We Be Concerned?” Presentation by David Murphy, Ph.D.

Wednesday, February 16, at 7:15 pm at the DeWitt Community Library at Shoppingtown Mall.

Our economy runs on fossil fuels, and oil most importantly. Many believe that we have reached a peak in global oil production (i.e. peak oil) and will soon be facing a decline. Meanwhile, many others believe that a combination of technology and exploration can secure oil supplies for the foreseeable future. Who is right, and what are the potential economic impacts if they are right? I will try to answer these questions in my talk.

David Murphy holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Science from State University of New York-College of Environmental Science and Forestry, largely focused on the interplay between energy and economics. In addition to academic work, he contributes to the energy blog The Oil Drum and is an independent consultant within the energy field. He has published a number of articles on the Energy Return on Investment (EROI) of different energy sources, and is currently studying the energy-GDP relation from a thermodynamic perspective.

Image by adpowers on Flickr.

Annual Solstice Party

December 18, 2010, 6:00 pm

The home of Bryce and Judy Hand

Our annual Solstice Party will be held at the home of Bryce and Judy Hand, conveniently located in The
Valley, not far from Betts Branch Library.

The Hands will provide turkey and stuffing, a vegetarian dish, and hot spiced cider. The rest is up to you. Email the Hands with your dinner contribution. They will post the menu on the listserve as it develops. If it’s not convenient to bring something, just bring yourself – there’s always plenty of food!

• Bryce and Judy Hand
• 132 Lynn Circle
• Syracuse, NY 13205

“A Winter’s Day” photo by marmota on flickr.

Delavan Center, 501 W. Fayette St., Syracuse, NY 13204

* Please note date and location change *

Opponents of natural gas development argue that surface water and groundwater supplies of upstate New York will be systemically compromised by the extraction of deep natural gas by using an engineering procedure called hydraulic fracking. Even back of the envelope calculations, “Fermi Solutions”, show these assertions false from first principles of water chemistry and hydrology.

Don Siegel, Ph.D., is Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Teaching Professor of Earth Sciences at Syracuse University. He is a Birdsall Distinguished Lecturer for the Geological Society of America (GSA), and a winner of GSA’s Meinzer Award for Research Contributions in Hydrogeology. He has served on numerous National Research Council panels on water issues and now chairs the National Water Science and Technology Board. Professor Siegel has published over 125 peer reviewed papers and books on water topics, and has provided expertise to multiple governmental agencies, corporations, and the legal profession on a broad range of environmental issues.

Betts Branch Library, 4862 S. Salina St., Syracuse, NY 13205

Across the political spectrum people fervently hold many views on taxes, but few of them understand the principles underlying taxes and their role in this, the second American Republic, including who bears the burdens of paying the price of civilization.

Born in San Francisco in 1948, David Cay Johnston began his journalism career in 1968 by talking his way into becoming the youngest reporter at the San Jose Mercury and News, where he covered local governments, student radicals, and land use. After a three-year stint as an investigative reporter with the Detroit Free Press, Johnston spent twelve years with the Los Angeles Times reporting national news, entertainment news, the Los Angeles Police Department and sundry other topics. Beginning in 1988, he reported on the casino industry for the Philadelphia Enquirer and briefly served as assistant business editor before joining the New York Times to cover taxes, tax evasion, and the Internal Revenue Service.

Johnston won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Beat Reporting “for his penetrating and enterprising reporting that exposed loopholes and inequities in the U.S. tax code, which was instrumental in bringing about reforms.” He had previously been nominated in 2000 and in 2003 was again nominated both for Beat Reporting and National Reporting. That year, he also received recognition by Investigative Reporters and Editors with a Book of The Year award for Perfectly Legal.

In addition to his reporting, David Cay Johnston studied economics at the University of Chicago graduate school and at six other institutions, earning several years of college credits but no degree because he enrolled primarily in upper level and graduate level courses.

Johnston teaches at Syracuse University and lives in Rochester.

Norm R. Allen Jr., Executive Director of African Americans for Humanism

Saturday, April 17, 2010, 1:00 pm

Soule Branch Library

Norm R. Allen, Jr., will discuss the experiences that he and his organization, African Americans for Humanism (AAH), have had in their efforts to promote critical thinking throughout the Black world community. AAH has been involved in efforts to combat the teaching of intelligent design in public schools, the promotion of beliefs in psychic phenomena, witchcraft, faith healing, etc.

Norm R. Allen is the Executive Director of African Americans for Humanism (AAH). He is the only full-time African American humanist that has traveled the world promoting humanism and establishing humanist and skeptics groups. He is an associate editor with Free Inquiry magazine, and the editor of the AAH Examiner, the international newsletter of African Americans for Humanism. He is the editor of two groundbreaking books, African-American Humanism: An Anthology, and The Black Humanist Experience: An Alternative to Religion. He is currently writing a third book titled Secular, Successful, and Black: 25 Profiles.

Soule Branch Library
Meeting Room
101 Springfield Road
Syracuse, NY 13214