Since you gotta love the family (to their face, at least) why not vent a little bit of your woo-caused frustrations and pony up to the bar for the final JSS meeting of 2009 – our first year is down the hatch already!

There’s been a lot in the news of skeptical and scientific interest; from the Pope hunting Martians, Coma-Man, the H1N1, 2012 – you need to catch up!

Once again, the Time will be 19:00 (7 PM for you 12 hour clockers)
The Date: December 22nd (a Tuesday).
The Location: The Ole Tavern on George Street (clicky)

So there ya go.

Be prepared to discuss Christmas myths, wear fun T-shirts, and everyone’s favorite skepticism topic: Do you tell kids about Santa?

Plus, tearful recollections about where we’ve been, what we’ve done, and a cheerful debunking of 2012. The phenomenon, not the movie. I’m pretty sure that, at least, exists.

I’ll see you there. Remember to ask about the free beer.

A couple of evolution-based fun bits:

First off – an answer to “well you’ll never SEE evolution happening!”

Unless you look here.

Admittedly, this one has been seen before, but this is a good rundown if you’ve never heard of the e.coli experiment at the other MSU.

Secondly, you all may know that I don’t really go in for apocalyptic forecasts, especially this 2012 nonsense. Neither does this Mayan guy.

And finally, one thing we should be wary of in the context of denialism and debate – the difference between denialists and skeptics. You see, a skeptic, knowing that you can’t ever be sure, seeks out more and more comprehensive data to put what is “known” on more sure footing. Therefore, concentrating on new discoveries and well-researched findings is important. To the denialist, however, all that is important is that you are wrong. Kind of like skepticism turned cancerous.

So, to inject a carcinogen into the evolution discussion, because it’s fun – the failings of intelligent design.