CFI

I've written about conflicts of interest (COIs) a lot over the years. COIs are important in medicine and science because, as much as physicians and scientists like to think that they are immune to such things, we are as human as anyone else. We are just as prone to unconsciously (or consciously) being influenced by self-interest related to our COIs. Most of the time, for purposes of science, COIs are considered to be mostly financial in nature: employment or payments from a drug company, a financial interest in a treatment being studied, and the like. Andrew Wakefield is a classic example in…
Update: Never mind, Never mind! Scientific American Blogs has taken down Dr. Stollznow's post. So, I guess everything is OK now! False Alarm, everyone go home. Nothing to see here. Say you are a woman in the Skeptics or Secular movement, professional, possibly working for one of the big organizations. If you are sexually harassed (or worse), the way you get your voice heard is, apparently, to blog your heart out, or use an anonymous tumbler. That is wrong. Organizations such as JREF and CFI should have been places that were safe, and that would facilitate and amplify your voice as…
tags: Center for Inquiry, CFI, NYC Skeptics, Free Inquiry and Secular Humanism, Darwin Day 2010, Ian Tattersall, Massimo Pigliucci, public education, outreach, New York City, NYC, education, streaming video On the day after the anniversary of Charles Darwin's birthday, prominent paleoanthropologist Ian Tattersall gave a public lecture about Darwin and his impact on what we know about human evolution. Tattersall, curator in the anthropology department at the American Museum of Natural History, then sat down for a conversation with Massimo Pigliucci, Chair of the Philosophy Department at…
Who: Eric AltermanWhat: free public presentation, "What Would Thomas Paine Think? Liberal Values in Obama's First Year"Where: New York Society for Ethical Culture [travel instruction] 2 West 64th Street (at Central Park West) [map]When: 700 pm, Wednesday, 20 JanuaryCost: FREE and open to the public CFI-NYC's annual Thomas Paine Memorial Lecture will be delivered by Eric Alterman, media columnist for The Nation and Distinguished Professor of English and Journalism at Brooklyn College. The event takes place exactly one year after the inauguration of President Obama, and Paine's view -- on…
Who: Eric Alterman, PhDWhat: free public presentation, "What Would Thomas Paine Think? Liberal Values in Obama's First Year"Where: New York Society for Ethical Culture [travel instruction] 2 West 64th Street (at Central Park West) [map]When: 700 pm, Wednesday, 20 JanuaryCost: FREE and open to the public CFI-NYC's annual Thomas Paine Memorial Lecture will be delivered by Eric Alterman, media columnist for The Nation and Distinguished Professor of English and Journalism at Brooklyn College. The event takes place exactly one year after the inauguration of President Obama, and Paine's view --…
Who: Eric AltermanWhat: free public presentation, "What Would Thomas Paine Think? Liberal Values in Obama's First Year"Where: New York Society for Ethical Culture [travel instruction] 2 West 64th Street (at Central Park West) [map]When: 700 pm, Wednesday, 20 JanuaryCost: FREE and open to the public CFI-NYC's annual Thomas Paine Memorial Lecture will be delivered by Eric Alterman, media columnist for The Nation and Distinguished Professor of English and Journalism at Brooklyn College. The event takes place exactly one year after the inauguration of President Obama, and Paine's view -- on…
Who: Eric Maisel, PhDWhat: free public presentation, "Living Well Without Gods"Where: University Settlement, 184 Eldridge Street (and Rivington St.) [map] 273 Bowery (Bowery & Houston) [map]When: 730pm, Thursday, 17 September Eric Maisel, PhD, is the author of more than thirty works of fiction and nonfiction. His latest book is The Atheist's Way: Living Well Without Gods, in which he discusses how to find rich personal meaning in life despite the absence of beneficent gods and the indifference of the universe to human concerns. In his book, Maisel addresses atheists who don't always…
Who: Eric Maisel, PhDWhat: free public presentation, "Living Well Without Gods"Where: University Settlement, 184 Eldridge Street (and Rivington St.) [map] 273 Bowery (Bowery & Houston) [map]When: 730pm, Thursday, 17 September Eric Maisel, PhD, is the author of more than thirty works of fiction and nonfiction. His latest book is The Atheist's Way: Living Well Without Gods, in which he discusses how to find rich personal meaning in life despite the absence of beneficent gods and the indifference of the universe to human concerns. In his book, Maisel addresses atheists who don't always…
Who: Toni Van Pelt, director of the Center for Inquiry's Office of Public Policy in Washington, D.C.What: free public presentation, "Lobbying for Science and Reason on Capitol Hill"Where: University Settlement, 184 Eldridge Street (and Rivington St.) [map] 273 Bowery site (that's at Bowery/Houston, just next door to an excellent Whole Foods branch [map])When: 730pm, Thursday, 10 September Toni Van Pelt is the director of the Center for Inquiry's Office of Public Policy in Washington, D.C. She will talk about her work as a lobbyist, promoting and advancing science and secularism. In her…
Who: Toni Van Pelt, director of the Center for Inquiry's Office of Public Policy in Washington, D.C.What: free public presentation, "Lobbying for Science and Reason on Capitol Hill"Where: University Settlement, 184 Eldridge Street (and Rivington St.) [map]When: 730pm, Thursday, 10 September Toni Van Pelt is the director of the Center for Inquiry's Office of Public Policy in Washington, D.C. She will talk about her work as a lobbyist, promoting and advancing science and secularism. In her work, she asks our congresscritters to base law and policy on empirical evidence and the scientific…
Who: Eric Maisel, PhDWhat: free public presentation, "Living Well Without Gods"Where: University Settlement, 184 Eldridge Street (and Rivington St.) [map] 273 Bowery (Bowery & Houston) [map]When: 730pm, Thursday, 17 September Eric Maisel, PhD, is the author of more than thirty works of fiction and nonfiction. His latest book is The Atheist's Way: Living Well Without Gods, in which he discusses how to find rich personal meaning in life despite the absence of beneficent gods and the indifference of the universe to human concerns. In his book, Maisel addresses atheists who don't always…
Who: Toni Van Pelt, director of the Center for Inquiry's Office of Public Policy in Washington, D.C.What: free public presentation, "Lobbying for Science and Reason on Capitol Hill"Where: University Settlement, 184 Eldridge Street (and Rivington St.) [map]When: 730pm, Thursday, 10 September Toni Van Pelt is the director of the Center for Inquiry's Office of Public Policy in Washington, D.C. She will talk about her work as a lobbyist, promoting and advancing science and secularism. In her work, she asks our congresscritters to base law and policy on empirical evidence and the scientific…
Who: Josh Rosenau, policy analyst at the National Center for Science EducationWhat: free public presentation, "Adventures in the Defense of Evolution: From Kansas to Turkey to New York"Where: SLC Conference Center, 352 7th avenue (between 29th and 30th streets), 16th floor.When: 700pm, Tuesday, 4 August "That's not a problem here, right?," New Yorkers ask when they hear what Josh Rosenau does for a living. Rosenau is a policy analyst at the National Center for Science Education, where he defends the teaching of evolution against creationism. He and his colleagues have tracked attacks on…
Who: Josh Rosenau, policy analyst at the National Center for Science EducationWhat: free public presentation, "Adventures in the Defense of Evolution: From Kansas to Turkey to New York"Where: SLC Conference Center, 352 7th avenue (between 29th and 30th streets), 16th floor.When: 700pm, Tuesday, 4 August "That's not a problem here, right?," New Yorkers ask when they hear what Josh Rosenau does for a living. Rosenau is a policy analyst at the National Center for Science Education, where he defends the teaching of evolution against creationism. He and his colleagues have tracked attacks on…
Who: Josh Rosenau, policy analyst at the National Center for Science EducationWhat: free public presentation, "Adventures in the Defense of Evolution: From Kansas to Turkey to New York"Where: SLC Conference Center, 352 7th avenue (between 29th and 30th streets), 16th floor.When: 700pm, Tuesday, 4 August "That's not a problem here, right?," New Yorkers ask when they hear what Josh Rosenau does for a living. Rosenau is a policy analyst at the National Center for Science Education, where he defends the teaching of evolution against creationism. He and his colleagues have tracked attacks on…
Who: Josh Rosenau, policy analyst at the National Center for Science EducationWhat: free public presentation, "Adventures in the Defense of Evolution: From Kansas to Turkey to New York"Where: SLC Conference Center, 352 7th avenue (between 29th and 30th streets), 16th floor.When: 700pm, Tuesday, 4 August "That's not a problem here, right?," New Yorkers ask when they hear what Josh Rosenau does for a living. Rosenau is a policy analyst at the National Center for Science Education, where he defends the teaching of evolution against creationism. He and his colleagues have tracked attacks on…
Who: Dr. Jeff SchweitzerWhat: free public presentation, "Moral Life in a Random World"Where: SLC Conference Center, 352 7th avenue (between 29th and 30th streets), 16th floor.When: 700pm, Thursday, 9 July Dr. Jeff Schweitzer is a scientist who has written extensively on morality, religion, politics and science -- and who served as science advisor to former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore. Schweitzer will talk about how we each have within us the awesome power to create our own meaning in life, our own sense of purpose, our own destiny. He will address how…
Who: Dr. Jeff SchweitzerWhat: free public presentation, "Moral Life in a Random World"Where: SLC Conference Center, 352 7th avenue (between 29th and 30th streets), 16th floor.When: 700pm, Thursday, 9 July Dr. Jeff Schweitzer is a scientist who has written extensively on morality, religion, politics and science -- and who served as science advisor to former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore. Schweitzer will talk about how we each have within us the awesome power to create our own meaning in life, our own sense of purpose, our own destiny. He will address how happiness…
Who: Dr. Jeff SchweitzerWhat: free public presentation, "Moral Life in a Random World"Where: SLC Conference Center, 352 7th avenue (between 29th and 30th streets), 16th floor.When: 700pm, Thursday, 9 July Dr. Jeff Schweitzer is a scientist who has written extensively on morality, religion, politics and science -- and who served as science advisor to former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore. Schweitzer will talk about how we each have within us the awesome power to create our own meaning in life, our own sense of purpose, our own destiny. He will address how…
Who: Dr. Jeff SchweitzerWhat: free public presentation, "Moral Life in a Random World"Where: SLC Conference Center, 352 7th avenue (between 29th and 30th streets), 16th floor.When: 700pm, Thursday, 9 July Dr. Jeff Schweitzer is a scientist who has written extensively on morality, religion, politics and science -- and who served as science advisor to former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore. Schweitzer will talk about how we each have within us the awesome power to create our own meaning in life, our own sense of purpose, our own destiny. He will address how happiness…