Wednesday, April 20, 2022

April 2022 - NCAS Awards Philip J. Klass Award to Susan Gerbic

 

Two Great Events:
  • April 27, 5:30 PM: Award Dinner and FREE Magic Show to Celebrate Susan Gerbic (Please let us know if you are coming: rsvp@ncas.org) 
  • April 30, 1:30 PM: Susan Gerbic Presents "Grief Vampires, Wikipedia and More"
1. April 27, 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM 

NCAS presents: Philip J. Klass Award Dinner and Magic Show to celebrate Susan Gerbic
at Busboys and Poets, Takoma
235 Carroll St NW, Washington, DC 20012
(one block from the Takoma Metro on the Red Line)
FREE admission – Everyone welcome, members and non-members

The Philip J. Klass Award honors outstanding efforts to promote critical thinking and scientific understanding.

All are invited as the National Capital Area Skeptics (NCAS) celebrates Susan Gerbic and the efforts of her “guerilla skeptics” team of editors who keep watch on Wikipedia, especially on issues of science and pseudoscience.

NCAS is hosting an award dinner in her honor, including a show by magician Peter Wood. The event is free and open to all. Food and beverages can be purchased from the menu at the event.


Susan Gerbic
is the founder and leader of "About Time," a project to find, mentor, and train people to promote science and scientific skepticism through crowdsourced and educational activities worldwide.  It features "Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia" (GSoW), a group of editors who create and improve Wikipedia articles to reflect scientific skepticism. This year, the total written pages surpassed 2,000 in 15 languages, with over 100 million views. Gerbic is also known for her research and sting operations against psychic mediums, whom she calls "grief vampires" for cynically claiming to communicate with dead loved ones.  Gerbic's work with GSoW led to her becoming a consultant for the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), and later, a fellow.  James "The Amazing" Randi presented her with awards in 2013 and 2017.

Magician Peter Wood is a "collector of the impossible" -- he presents incredible, unique, and magical objects with unparalleled showmanship. On their national television show, Penn & Teller called Peter’s act “beautiful, subtle,” saying “I don’t think we’ve ever said this before on the show: it was really, really enjoyable to do your thinking along with you.”
 
Remember to RSVP at rsvp@ncas.org if you are coming.

2. April 30, 1:30 PM: Grief Vampires, Wikipedia and More

Presented by Susan Gerbic

Saturday, April 30, 1:30pm - 4:00pm
Central Library
Barbara M. Donnellan Auditorium
1015 North Quincy Street
Arlington, VA [map] [directions]
(Virginia Square-GMU Metro station)
FREE admission – Everyone welcome, members and non-members
(This is an independent event from the above award dinner. Come to either one or both.)

 Also a YouTube Live Event with Q and A 

NCASVideo YouTube Channel:


Susan Gerbic, who will receive the 2022 Philip J. Klass Award for outstanding contributions in critical thinking and scientific understanding on April 27, will provide an update on her projects.

"About Time," a nonprofit she founded in 2018, recruits, mentors, and trains people to promote science and scientific skepticism through crowdsourced and educational activities worldwide.  It features "Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia" (GSoW), a group of editors who create and improve Wikipedia articles to reflect scientific skepticism. This year, the total written pages surpassed 2,000 in 15 languages, with over 100 million views.

She'll also present the latest news about her sting operations against psychic mediums, whom she calls "grief vampires" for cynically claiming to communicate with dead loved ones.

In addition to receiving the Klass Award, Susan Gerbic is the recipient of the James Randi Educational Foundation's "James Randi Award for Skepticism in the Public Interest" in 2013, and the "JREF Award" in 2017.

A fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, she is also co-founder of Monterey County Skeptics, a frequent contributor to Skeptical Inquirer, and a fellow for GWUP, the German-speaking skeptics' society.

Refreshments and socializing after the talk.

The underground parking garage entrance is located at the library's NW corner.  Surface lots are north and east of the building.

 

Shadow of a Doubt - April 2022

 

April 2022

NCAS Public Lecture Series

UFOs: Then, Now, and Next

 YouTube Live Event with Q and A 

Presented by Robert Sheaffer
Author of Bad UFOs and UFO Sightings: The Evidence

Saturday, April 2, 1:30pm US/Eastern (UTC-04:00)
NCASVideo YouTube Channel:


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

Robert Sheaffer, one of the leading skeptical investigators of UFOs, will discuss the history of the phenomenon (including an update about a famous case, now solved), recent news, and possible future directions.  He'll recall his mentor, colleague, and friend, Philip J. Klass (1919-2005), generally considered the top skeptical UFO investigator of his time.  Klass was a founding member of CSICOP (now called CSI, the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry), was one of the original conveners of NCAS in 1987, and was an important long-time mentor to the organization.  Also, what was it like to be a skeptic in the Washington, DC area in the 1970s?  Sheaffer can speak from personal experience.



Robert Sheaffer
is a writer with a lifelong interest in astronomy and the question of life on other worlds.  The author of UFO Sightings (1998), his latest book is Bad UFOs (2016), which is also the name of his blog that casts a skeptical eye on claims about UFOs.  He was a founding member (with Philip J. Klass and James Oberg) of the UFO Subcommittee of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, and was a longtime fellow of that organization.  Mr. Sheaffer is also a founding director and past Chairman of the Bay Area Skeptics, a local skeptics' group in the San Francisco Bay area.  He has appeared on many radio and TV programs, and his writings and reviews have appeared in such diverse publications as OMNI, Scientific American, Spaceflight, Astronomy, The Humanist, Free Inquiry, Reason, and others.  His "Psychic Vibrations" column in Skeptical Inquirer kept readers informed of weird developments in the "science" of UFOs, psychic research, cryptozoology, etc from 1977 to 2017.  Mr. Sheaffer lives near San Diego, California, having most recently worked as a data communications engineer in Silicon Valley.

(Photo by Susan Gerbic)

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


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/EqiF-ApmO7c .  If typing the link, use capital "O".
3) The live stream begins shortly before 1:30pm US/Eastern (UTC-04:00) on Saturday, April 2, 2022.
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.


Save the Date -- Klass Award Dinner on April 27
NCAS is pleased to present its 2022 Philip J. Klass Award for outstanding contributions in critical thinking and scientific understanding to skeptical activist Susan Gerbic on Wednesday, April 27 at Busboys and Poets Takoma in Washington.  Additional details to follow.


April PhACT Lecture
Our skeptical neighbors to the north, the Philadelphia Association for Critical Thinking (PhACT), will host their next online event on Saturday, April 23 at 2 PM ET.  Speaker Michael Marshall (Project Director of the Good Thinking Society, Vice President of the Merseyside Skeptics Society, and host of the Be Reasonable podcast) will discuss his experiences of "The White Rose," a group claiming that COVID-19 is a hoax concocted by the governments of the world to instill fear into their people, as a pretext for introducing new, permanent totalitarian laws.  Event details at http://www.phact.org/meetings.php.


April 30 NCAS Lecture
Susan Gerbic will present "Grief Vampires: Wikipedia and More."  In February 2019, The New York Times Magazine reported on her team (the "Guerilla Skeptics") and their successful work exposing psychic medium Thomas John in a sting.  During the pandemic, the Guerilla Skeptics struck again, researching and exposing multiple mediums operating on Zoom using hot and cold reading to appear to be in communication with the dead.  Saturday, April 30 at 1:30 PM at Arlington Central Library.


NCAS Board Elections: Electronic Voting
The upcoming 2022 NCAS election will use electronic voting.  When voting begins, each member will receive an email from NCAS (via surveymonkey.com) containing a unique web address usable as a single-cast secret ballot.  (NCAS will receive information indicating who voted, but nothing to indicate who cast each ballot.)

Note that voters will not be at risk for spamming as a result of participating...SurveyMonkey has a zero-tolerance spam policy:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/legal/acceptable-uses-policy/


AmazonSmile: Thanks to our members who are supporting NCAS!
When 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 fourth quarter of 2021 came to $44.68, meaning that nearly $9000 of purchases were designated in support of NCAS.  (As an example of how NCAS can put that money to good use, it's more than enough to cover two hours 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

Shadow of a Doubt - April 2022

 

  • April Lecture - UFOs: Then, Now, and Next. Presented by Robert Sheaffer, April 2 on NCAS YouTube channel.
  • Set Date - Klass award dinner to Honor Susan Gerbic, April 27
  • April PhAct Lecture - Michael Marshall to discuss "The White Rose" 
  • April 30 NCAS lecture -Susan Gerbic will present "Grief vampires: Wikipedia and More".
  • NCAS Board elections - Upcoming NCAS election via electronic voting
  • Amazon Smile - Donate to NCAS for free
  • Shadow Lite
  • Time to Renew? 
Read Shadow here.