November 26-28, 2010 will be the very first TAM! Australia in Sydney. In the first round of guest announcements made last night at the Brisbane annual convention, are international sceptical singer George Hrab, The team from the Skeptics Guide to the Universe, The Amazing Randi, Brian Dunning from Skeptoid, and local acts Dr Krissy Wilson and Dr Karl.

The venue is the Sydney Masonic Centre right in the heart of Sydney.

The latest line-up and ticketing details are now on the Australian Skeptics website and will updated as news comes to hand.

For the perpetrator of the most preposterous piece of paranormal or pseudo-scientific piffle, the Bent Spoon went to Meryl Dorey and the Australian Vaccination Network (AVN).

I was honored to present the award, and took the opportunity to highlight some of the reasons why the AVN and Meryl were worthy winners. Apart from the obvious fail of spreading misinformation about the safety and efficacy of vaccines, there were several foot-in-mouth occasions I wanted to point out.

1) Meryl is also an HIV/AIDS denier, claiming that since (in her opinion) no two images of HIV look the same, therefore it can’t exist. Apply this theory to clouds for example, which are also vastly different shapes (and can even change shapes whilst you gaze at them), therefore clouds also do not exist.

MERYLOGIC: These 2 pictures of clouds look different, therefore clouds do not exist.

2) Meryl responded to the complaint lodged with the HCCC against her and the AVN by stating in the cover letter that she wished her response to remain confidential since the author, Ken McLeod was a threat to the safety of her and her family. Then she published her response and the aforementioned cover letter on her website the following day.

3) Meryl on the subject of conspiracy theories said the following; “We are already seen as rapid idiotic fringe dwellers by so many in the mainstream, it does our argument no good at all to bring in conspiracy theories which though we may prescribe to them are unprovable”. She then posted a complex and convoluted conspiracy theory on her blog “No Compulsory Vaccination” about the derivation of the swine flu epidemic and the plans of the illuminati to implant mind control chips, distributed by chem-trails from planes with the aim of committing mass genocide by vaccination.

4) Meryl appeared on national television telling a reporter that “we didn’t die from (these diseases) thirty years ago and we’re not going to die from them now”, juxtaposted alongside footage of babies gasping for breath as the journalist detailed the story of the death of Dana McCaffery from the vaccine preventable disease, whooping cough.

An dishonourable mention to Pastor Danny Nalliah for blaming the Black Saturday Bushfires on the liberal abortion laws in Victoria. And for saying he had a vision in a dream that the fires were coming but neglected to inform anyone.

Congratulations to Meryl Dorey and the AVN for joining the ranks of Dr Kerryn Phelps, The pharmacists of Australia and Dr. Viera Scheibner. For more previous winners of the Bent Spoon go here.

To download a high resolution pdf version, click here . We encourage you to distribute this widely; perhaps drop off a copy at your local child care centre or pin one of the community notice board. We need as many parents as possible to see this information to warn them about the dangers and consequences of listening to misinformation spread by scaremongering groups such as the AVN.

Probably not.

At least, currently there is not enough compelling evidence to support either their existence or visits to earth from space men. But, this doesn’t stop people believing. In fact, something like four million Americans think they have been abducted by an alien craft and many have abduction insurance.

Last night in Australia on Channel 7, a story aired about the release of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) “X-files”. It seems a little strange to me that this report has only just aired – the files were released some months ago.

The report also showed a UFO hovering over a level railway crossing in Australia. This photograph was debunked as a fly speeding past the lens many years ago, by our own Steve Roberts. I wonder who did the research for this show…

In any case, our own favourite sceptic, Richard Saunders, (or TRS to his friends and my Mum) was invited onto the Channel 7′s morning show “Sunrise” to discuss the “doco” this morning. Take a look at the clip below. Go Richard!

In the letter, we pointed out that pharmacies sell a growing number of products for which there is little or no scientific evidence of efficacy. Calling them “alternative” does not make them work. Examples include homeopathic preparations, magnetic pain relief devices, detox programmes, dodgy weight loss products and ear candles. Such products commonly appear in a “Natural Medicine” section of pharmacies but are sometimes displayed alongside real medicines whose benefits are scientifically proven.

With respect to ear candles, we cited peer reviewed studies reporting serious injuries from ear candles, including temporary hearing loss, burns, ear canals blocked by dripping wax and punctured ear drums.

“Ear candling is one of those CAM modalities that clearly does more harm than good… its mechanism of action is first implausible and second, demonstrably wrong… in my view, therefore, it should be banned.” Edzard Ersnt.

We were very pleased to see our open letter was picked up by medindia.net.

You can find a link to the full letter here. Thank you also to our friend Lorreta Maron who got the letter posted on a pharmacists’ website.

Fundamentalists Exploit Catastrophe

Australia has been in shock since the Victorian bushfires in early February, resulting in the destruction of almost one thousand homes and the deaths of hundreds of people.

While some offer practical relief in the form of food and clothing donations, others look for someone to blame.

Catch the Fire Ministries (CTFM) in Dandenong, Victoria, published a media release today, blaming a new Australian law for the devastating bushfires, and further claim that the fires were foretold in a spiritual vision.

The CTFM leader, Pastor Danny Nalliah, announced that he had predicted the bushfires in a dream he had in October 2008. In this dream, he had a prophesy that the fires would occur, as divine retribution for an abortion decriminalisation bill that passed in Victoria in 2008. Nalliah calls Victoria the “baby killing state of Australia.”

Danny Nalliah

The Ministry’s response is to petition God for forgiveness, and to commence a seven day prayer and fasting campaign. “In our prayer and fasting campaign, we are particularly repenting for the passing of the “Decriminalization of Abortion Laws of Victoria” in addition to other unrighteous, ungodly, and unjust laws and practices which have seen a holocaust of some of the most helpless members of the human race, the unborn.”

“Can we stop the fires? Yes we can! But it will take God’s children to rally together and repent and cry unto Him as in 2 Chronicles 7:14 (The Holy Bible). We at CTFM have seen this happen several times in the past in Australia, which was also covered by many mainstream media outlets.”

The CTFM website calls upon the “Australian Bible-believing God-fearing Christians to repent and call upon the Lord Jesus Christ for His mercy and protection over Australia once again.”

Visitors to the CTFM website can comment on the media release. However, skeptical replies are immediately deleted.

Representatives of the Australian Skeptics condemn the Catch the Fire Ministry for their uncritical, discriminatory beliefs and exploitation of the tragic events to promote their ministry.

Footnote: Pastor Danny Nalliah claims he had this dream on October 21st. Any reason why he didn’t warn us?