Saturday, December 19, 2020

January 9 - The Doctor who fooled the world

Presented by Brian Deer  


Saturday, January 9, 2021
1:30 pm (Online Virtual Talk)

The link to view the live stream of this talk is https://youtu.be/LRB75-atfOo

In this presentation, Brian Deer will discuss his book The Doctor Who Fooled the World: Science, Deception, and the War on Vaccines which exposes the real people and the specific facts of what many are calling the most serious scientific fraud of recent times.  Deer will describe the fraud he exposed: who was behind it, how it was done, and how it shapes the controversy over vaccine safety today.

Q&A via live chat will follow the talk.

Brian Deer is a British investigative reporter, best known for inquiries into the drug industry, medicine and social issues for The Sunday Times. The Doctor Who Fooled the World is his first book, followed this month by the science thriller Blind Trial. Deer has won multiple awards and nominations for his investigations for The Sunday Times and the UK's Channel 4 network, including two British Press Awards as the specialist reporter of the year, and an honorary D.Litt degree.

Shadow of a Doubt - December 2020

  • Combating Psychic/ Fortune-Telling Fraud. Presented by Bob Nygaard
  • Message to Current and Prospective NCAS Members
  • January NCAS Lecture - The doctor who fooled the world: Science, Deception, and the Ware on Vaccines, presented by Brian Deer on January 9, 2021.
  • Torn from today's headlines
  • Amazon Smile helps NCAS
  • Shadow Light
  • Time to Renew?

See complete Shadow here.

Shadow of a Doubt - December 2020

 

December 2020

NCAS Public Lecture Series

Combating Psychic / Fortune-Telling Fraud

 YouTube Live Event with Q and A 

Presented by Bob Nygaard
Private Investigator, Nygaard Investigations, Inc.

Saturday, December 12, 1:30pm US/Eastern (UTC-05:00)

NCASVideo YouTube Channel:

 https://youtu.be/LypiIcN8V_8

For more information, call the NCAS Skeptic Line at 240-670-NCAS (6227).
ncas@ncas.org

Fortune-telling fraud (aka Psychic Fraud) is a prevalent problem in the world. It is a certain species of fraud whereby self-proclaimed psychics emotionally abuse and financially exploit vulnerable people who are experiencing problems in their lives, bilking them out of billions of dollars each year under the guise of providing assistance.

Private investigator Bob Nygaard will explain how he builds a criminal case against self-proclaimed psychics who commit fortune-telling fraud, in order to cause these con artists to be arrested, charged, and successfully prosecuted. Additionally, he will enumerate the impediments that often exist when trying to bring self-proclaimed psychics to justice and the strategies that he employs in his efforts to protect society and make victims whole.

Bob Nygaard is a retired NYC cop (NYC Transit Police District-3) (Nassau County NY Police), turned private investigator, turned actor, who specializes in the identification, apprehension, and prosecution of non-traditional organized crime suspects. Nygaard specializes in debunking and causing con-artists, most notably self-proclaimed psychics, to be arrested and he has recovered millions of dollars for fraud victims around the world. Nygaard has appeared on ABC News' 20/20, Crime Watch Daily, The Dr. Oz Show, The Security Brief with Paul Viollis podcast, Nancy Grace, German TV show Achtung Abzocke, and numerous other news and radio broadcasts, as an expert in confidence crimes. A short documentary entitled NYGAARD has been filmed about his work. The documentary is a self-reflective account of Nygaard's work helping the victims of psychic fraud. Nygaard's first role as an actor in a SAG-AFTRA production came in the CBS true-crime TV series Pink Collar Crimes, in which he portrays himself.

There will be an online question-and-answer segment after the presentation.

https://www.ncas.org/2020/11/december-12-combating-fortunetelling.html

How to Watch and Participate in this Online Event:

1) Use a supported browser... https://www.youtube.com/supported_browsers

2) Use the link https://youtu.be/LypiIcN8V_8 .  If typing the link, use capital "I" and an underscore character.

3) The live stream begins shortly before 1:30pm US/Eastern (UTC-05:00) on Saturday, December 12, 2020.

4) To post questions, you must be signed in to a Google account.

5) Post your questions in the chat window to the right of the video player when the live stream is active.

6) Click into where it says "Say something..." and begin typing (up to 200 characters). Then click the send icon .

Along with your question, please post what city or town you're in.

Message to Current and Prospective NCAS Members

In response to the economic hardship and other uncertainties that our members may be facing, NCAS has automatically extended by one year all memberships that expire in 2020 or later.  Payment will be accepted for new memberships as well as renewals for 2019 and before: new and renewed will have a bonus year added.  Each life member may sponsor a new one-year membership at no charge.  (Double life memberships may sponsor two.)  Send your sponsored member's name and contact information to ncas@ncas.org. This offer will continue until further notice.

January NCAS Lecture
Our speaker will be award-winning investigative reporter Brian Deer, author of the new book, The Doctor Who Fooled the World: Science, Deception, and the War on Vaccines.  Deer investigated the so-called "father of the anti-vaccine movement," Andrew Wakefield, MD, who is now banned from medicine, thanks to Deer's discoveries of rigged research and moneymaking schemes.  Saturday, January 9 at 1:30 PM ET, live on the NCASVideo YouTube channel.

Torn From Today's Headlines
By Scott Snell
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Release Report on "Havana Syndrome"

On December 5, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released their report on "Havana Syndrome."  An excerpt of the news release:

"Government personnel and their families at the U.S. embassy in Havana, Cuba, in late 2016, and later at the U.S. consulate in Guangzhou, China, began suffering from a range of unusual — and in some cases suddenly occurring — symptoms such as a perceived loud noise, ear pain, intense head pressure or vibration, dizziness, visual problems, and cognitive difficulties, and many still continue to experience these or other health problems.  As part of its effort to ascertain potential causes of the illnesses, inform government employees more effectively about health risks at posts abroad, and determine best medical practices for screening, prevention, and treatment for both short- and long-term health problems, the U.S. Department of State asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to provide advice.  After undergoing a security review, the National Academies' report is now available."

Download the report, An Assessment of Illness in U.S. Government Employees and Their Families at Overseas Embassies (2020), here:

https://www.nap.edu/download/25889

The news release:

https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2020/12/new-report-assesses-illnesses-among-us-government-personnel-and-their-families-at-overseas-embassies

Wikipedia's page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havana_syndrome

Belgian Skeptics Seek Crowdfunding after Multimillionaire Takes Lawsuit to Appeals Court

Recently the president of the Belgium skeptics group SKEPP (https://skepp.be/) emailed ncas.org, seeking crowdfunded financial support for two SKEPP authors who "criticized the content of the pseudo-scientific master classes as well as the marketing tricks [Carl] Van de Velde [similar to Tony Robbins] uses to attract participants."  The authors won the lawsuit brought by Van de Velde...


https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=nl&u=https://www.tijd.be/ondernemen/management-ondernemerschap/Succescoach-Carl-Van-de-Velde-verliest-rechtszaak-tegen-critici/10188850&prev=search&pto=aue

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=nl&u=https://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20191208_04757355&prev=search&pto=aue

...but Van de Velde is taking the case to the Court of Appeals.  See the SKEPP site for more info about the case, and how to contribute to the authors' legal defense:

https://skepp.be/en/psychologie-hrm-coaching/multimillionaire-sues-our-authors-why-bart-and-patrick-need-your-financial

AmazonSmile: Thanks to our members who are supporting NCAS!

When holiday shopping at smile.amazon.com, you'll find the same low prices, vast selection, and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that a portion of the purchase price (0.5%) goes to NCAS! It's simple and automatic, and it doesn't cost you anything!

AmazonSmile's disbursements to NCAS in the third quarter of 2020 came to $24.92, meaning that $5000 of purchases were designated in support of NCAS.  (As an example of how NCAS can put that money to good use, it's enough to cover 75 minutes of a Montgomery County lecture room rental.)

Thanks again to our members who have chosen to support NCAS!

For more information:
https://smile.amazon.com/about
https://press.aboutamazon.com/news-releases/news-release-details/amazon-launches-amazonsmile-simple-automatic-way-customers


Shadow Light
Some members and contacts of NCAS receive a postal notification of this and every new monthly Shadow of a Doubt.  The Shadow Light postcard announces the monthly lecture and highlights of the electronic Shadow of a Doubt, which is available online at ncas.org/p/shadow.html.  NCAS thereby reduces Shadow production and postage costs.  To further reduce costs, members and contacts can opt out of postal notification altogether, while continuing to receive Shadow of a Doubt via e-mail.  To opt out, send us an e-mail at ncas@ncas.org.


Time to Renew?
Be sure to check your renewal date above your postal address on the Shadow Light postcard. Send any queries to ncas@ncas.org.  Use the online membership form to renew.
https://www.ncas.org/p/shadow.html