CFI Forums

CFI LA - 06.23.08 The Amazing Randi to be Honored at the IIG Awards

2008-06-10T06:58:30-05:00

James “The Amazing” Randi to be honored by Hollywood Skeptics at Annual Awards Ceremony on June 23rd. Paul Provenza, Dana Gould, Julia Sweeney and others to present.

Hollywood, CA. The Independent Investigations Group (IIG), the premier skeptical organization in Los Angeles, has announced that their annual awards ceremony recognizing the promotion of science in popular movies and television will feature an appearance by the godfather of skepticism James “The Amazing” Randi. The IIG Awards recognizes productions and artists for promoting scientific values, encouraging critical thinking, and dispelling myths.

“This year’s awards ceremony will be even bigger and better than last year,” said James Underdown, Chair of the IIG and Executive Director of the IIG’s home, the Center for Inquiry – Los Angeles. “We will be adding a VIP cocktail reception and a real red carpet,” added Underdown.

The awards presentation will be held on June 23rd at the Steve Allen Theater at the Center for Inquiry-Los Angeles at 4773 Hollywood Blvd, at 7 PM in the evening. In attendance at the ceremony will be Dana Gould, Paul Provenza, Julia Sweeney and other celebrity presenters, as well as representatives of the winning movies and shows, VIP guests and Friends of the Center for Inquiry. Members of the press are also welcome.

For tickets, click on the following link to the Steve Allen Theater:
http://steveallentheater.tix.com/Event.asp?Event=145083

Nominees for the 2008 Awards include In the Shadow of the Moon (Discovery Films), Phenomenon (NBC), South Park (Comedy Central), Is It Real? (National Geographic), and Penn and Teller’s Bullshit! (Showtime).

Additionally, a television show that promotes pseudoscience or belief in the supernatural will be “honored” with the Truly Terrible Television Award. 2008 nominees include Paranormal State (A&E;) and Ghost Hunters (SciFi Channel).

A special honor bestowed by the IIG for exceptional ongoing achievement by an individual in educating the public through entertainment is the induction of that individual into the “Houdini Hall of Honor”. This year’s inductee is James “The Amazing” Randi: magician, entertainer, author, and founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) and its one million dollar prize for proof of the paranormal or supernatural. His name joins Harry Houdini and Carl Sagan.

Last year’s winners of IIG Awards were episodes of Psych (USA Network) and The Simpsons (Fox TV) for promoting skepticism toward psychics and Creationism. Representatives of both shows attended to accept the awards. The winners of last year’s TTTV awards were “The Montel Williams Show” and “Psychic Detectives” (Court TV). Curiously, no representatives of those programs were present to accept the certificates, which remain on display at CFI-Los Angeles.

For tickets, click on the following link to the Steve Allen Theater:
http://steveallentheater.tix.com/Event.asp?Event=145083

For more information on the IIG Awards, the 2007 winners and the awards ceremony, including video of the event, see: http://www.iigwest.org/iigawards/

The Independent Investigations Group (IIG) is a group of volunteers, established by James Underdown in 2000 as an adjunct to the Center for Inquiry – Los Angeles. The charter of the group is to investigate claims of the supernatural and paranormal and to disseminate the results to the public. The IIG offers a $50,000 prize to anyone who can demonstrate such abilities under proper observing conditions. The IIG also serves as the West Coast preliminary screening entity for James Randi and JREF’s $1,000,000 prize. Members of the IIG consist of people from all walks of life: Engineers, scientists, doctors, entertainers, teachers, students, homemakers, and many others, but all having a rational and inquiring mind.

CFI-L.A. & O.C. - 04.20.08 Ibn Warraq - The Apologists of Islam

2008-04-04T17:18:49-05:00

CFI-LA’s FEED YOUR BRAIN Lecture Series
presents

Ibn Warraq: The Apologists of Islam

11:00 AM, Sunday, April 20, 2008 in Hollywood
4:30 PM, in Costa Mesa

Conflicting assessments about the character of radical Islam today are reminiscent of past disputes about the nature of communist systems. Attention should be paid to earlier analyses of radical Islam by important Western scholars and thinkers. In both cases, central to the disagreements has been these questions: To what degree do beliefs and ideologies determine policies or behavior? How closely did ideals shape actions?

Ibn Warraq, an independent scholar and a leading figure in Koranic criticism, will answer these questions. A senior fellow at the Center for Inquiry-Transnational, he has written five books on Islam and Koranic criticism, including Why I am Not a Muslim and the forthcoming Which Koran? His most recent book is Defending the West: A Critique of Edward Said’s Orientalism.

WHEN: 11:00 a.m., Sunday, April 20th, 2008.
COST: $6 or Free for Friends of the Center, including those joining at the lecture

The Center for Inquiry-Los Angeles
4773 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90027
323-666-9797

The program will be repeated at 4:30 PM in Costa Mesa
Costa Mesa Community Center
1845 Park Ave.
Costa Mesa, CA 92627

CFI-LA 05.04.08 Chris Mooney: The War on Science - What Have We Learned?

2008-04-04T17:12:00-05:00

CFI-LA’s FEED YOUR BRAIN Lecture Series
presents

Chris Mooney: The War on Science - What Have We Learned?

11:00 AM, Sunday, May 4, 2008

Science has never been more crucial to deciding the political issues facing the country, yet it has never gotten less respect in government. In governmental agencies, scientific findings have been reported in a politicized manner or even suppressed entirely, while government scientists themselves have come under attack or been prevented from speaking openly.

Chris Mooney— the journalist who first wove together the story of the “war on science” and explained its causes—chronicles the abuses and looks ahead, describing how the lawmakers, media, public, and even scientists themselves must restore scientific integrity.

Mooney is the author of two books, including the New York Times bestselling The Republican War on Science and Storm World: Hurricanes, Politics, and the Battle Over Global Warming. He also writes for numerous newspapers and magazines, lectures at universities, and appears frequently on radio and TV.

WHEN: 11:00 a.m., Sunday, May 4, 2008.
COST: $6 or Free for Friends of the Center (including those joining at the lecture)

The Center for Inquiry-Los Angeles
4773 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90027

CFI-LA 04.06.08 Rev. Barry Lynn: Religion & Politics-Can They Coexist?

2008-02-24T14:58:18-05:00

CFI-LA’s FEED YOUR BRAIN Lecture Series
presents

Religion and Politics - Can They Coexist?

11:00 AM, Sunday, April 6, 2008

Unlike most Western democracies, the U.S. continues to see an infusion of religion into the political process. Candidates frequently speak about their personal religious beliefs, and some even use faith-based appeals to win support from certain blocs of voters. Many in the religious community work to pass laws based on their own interpretation of Christianity.

The Rev. Barry Lynn will argue that as a legally secular republic that includes people of all faiths and none, the U.S. must refrain from basing its laws on religion. Lynn will explain why religious and secular nonprofit groups should respect federal laws that bar intervention in partisan politics.

The Rev. Barry Lynn serves as executive director of Americans United, a Washington D.C.,-based organization dedicated to preserving the Constitution’s religious liberty provisions. His most recent book is Piety and Politics: The Right Wing Assault on Religious Freedom and he is co-author of the forthcoming First Freedom.

WHEN: 11:00 a.m., Sunday, April 6, 2008.
COST: $6

The Center for Inquiry-Los Angeles
4773 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90027

CFI-L.A. & O.C. 03.30.08 Austin Dacey: The Secular Conscience

2008-02-24T14:52:29-05:00

CFI-LA’s FEED YOUR BRAIN Lecture Series
presents

Austin Dacey: The Secular Conscience

11:00 AM, Sunday, March 30, 2008 in Hollywood
4:30 PM, in Costa Mesa

Who decides what is moral and what is not in society? Cultural conservatives from the Vatican to Washington DC say that ethics presupposes religion, which thus belongs in public life. Secular liberals counter that conscience is a private matter, a personal choice free from shared standards of truth or right.

Philosopher Austin Dacey in his book, The Secular Conscience, rethinks the nature of conscience and its role in public life, urging secular liberals to reclaim the language of objective values.

Dacey, who holds a doctorate in applied ethics and social philosophy, serves as a CFI representative to the U.N. working on issues of secular values, science and ethics.

WHEN: 11:00 a.m., Sunday, March 30th, 2008 at CFI-LA
COST: $6

The Center for Inquiry-Los Angeles
4773 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90027

The program will be repeated at 4:30 PM in Costa Mesa
Costa Mesa Community Center
1845 Park Ave.
Costa Mesa, CA 92627

CFI-LA 02.27.08 Cafe Inquiry- Evolution from the Zoo

2008-02-24T14:47:34-05:00

Cafe Inquiry
Wednesday, February 27 @ 7:30 pm

This month:
A Zoo Presentation About Evolution with Sandra Lipschultz

Evolution? Survival of the Fittest? By whose standards? How does locking horns or antlers promote the health of the species? Are the horns/tusks of rhinos and elephants getting any shorter, since those just make them targets for destruction? Or are we destroying them too quickly for the evolutionary process to work?

When will there be an urban, diurnal coyote subspecies vs. the nocturnal wilderness rogue of lore? Those are just a few of the brainstorming thoughts about a “Zoo Presentation About Evolution” that come to mind. Much of the presentation will be in the nature of a “lab.” Depending on numbers present, guests will be able to handle and compare animal biofacts which illustrate (or are counterintuitive to?) evolution.

Sandra Lipschultz has been a docent at the L.A. Zoo for 6 years, arriving with what she thought was a firm foundation in the difference between canines and felines— but knowing next to nothing is a very sound basis for furthering one’s education. After 40 years as an administrator at UCLA, her other retirement activities also include Docent at the Skirball Cultural Center and Memory Trainer for the UCLA Center on Aging.

Cafe Inquiry is CFI-LA’s monthly casual get-together where you can have a coffee and chat with other people on various topics of science. A guest speaker opens the discussion with a brief intro to the subject and then the floor is open. All are welcome!

Cafe Inquiry is a Science Cafe! Interested in being a speaker, or have one to recommend? Please contact us at (323)666-9797, or email info at cfiwest dot org.

*Free Admission*
*Refreshments Available*
*Plenty of Parking*
*Bookstore Open*

Held in the Steve Allen Theater lobby
at CFI-L.A.

The Center for Inquiry-Los Angeles
4773 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90027
2 blocks west of Vermont
at Berendo

CFI-LA 03.02.08 Millennial & Utopian Movements in the Young Republic

2008-02-24T14:37:30-05:00

CFI-LA’s FEED YOUR BRAIN Lecture Series
presents

Daniel Walker Howe: Millennial & Utopian Movements in the Young Republic

11:00 AM, Sunday, March 2, 2008

William Miller predicted the Second Coming of Christ would occur in 1843 or 1844. Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, also preached that the Second Coming was near at hand. Many other groups, both religious and secular, founded Utopian communities to demonstrate their principles, including the secular humanist followers of Robert Owen. Why did they emerge during those early years of the United States?

Prof. Daniel Walker Howe examines these movements in his talk based on his new, critically acclaimed book What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848. The book, one in the Oxford History of the United States series, was recently nominated for a National Book Critics Award. Professor Howe is Rhodes Professor of American History Emeritus, Oxford University, and Professor of History Emeritus, UCLA.

WHEN: 11:00 a.m., Sunday, March 2nd, 2008.
COST: $6

The Center for Inquiry-Los Angeles
4773 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90027

CFI Los Angeles - 02.17.08 Carol Tavris: Mistakes Were Made, but not by ME!

2008-01-30T11:46:40-05:00

CFI-LA’s FEED YOUR BRAIN Lecture Series
presents

Carol Tavris: Mistakes Were Made (But Not By ME): Self Justification in Public and Private Life

11:00 AM, Sunday, February 17

Why is it so hard for many people to admit their mistakes, to change their minds, give up a wrong belief, or change a familiar way of doing things for a better one?

Carol Tavris will describe the biases that lead people to justify outdated beliefs and make bad decisions. She’ll also look at the harm we inflict on others in the process.

Tavris earned her Ph.D. in social psychology at the University of Michigan, and is a prolific writer and lecturer who educates the public about the importance of critical and scientific thinking in psychology. Her latest book, with Elliot Aronson, is Mistakes Were Made (But Not By ME): Why we justify Foolish Belifs, Bad Decisions and Hurtful Acts.

WHEN: 11:00 a.m., Sunday, February 17th, 2008.
COST: $6, Free for Friends of the Center

The Center for Inquiry-Los Angeles
4773 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90027
(323) 666-9797

CFI-LA Darwin Day - Steve Allen’s Meeting of Minds

2008-01-27T19:36:24-05:00

CFI-LA’s FEED YOUR BRAIN Lecture Series
presents

Darwin Day: Meeting of Minds

Sunday, February 10, at 4:00 p.m.

STEVE ALLEN’s PBS SERIES HIGHLIGHTS CHARLES DARWIN’S 199TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION AT CFI-LOS ANGELES

Steve Allen’s critically acclaimed Meeting of Minds PBS television series will get an episode-revival on February 10th, when Robert Forster (Jackie Brown), Dan Lauria (The Wonder Years), Wendie Malick (Just Shoot Me) and Joseph Culp (Apollo 13) bring to life some of Allen’s historical characters under the direction of Frank Megna.

The staged reading, made possible through the permission of Steve Allen’s family, will highlight an afternoon of festivities celebrating Charles Darwin’s 199th birthday at the Steve Allen Theater at the Center for Inquiry-Los Angeles.

Featured in the Meeting of Minds episode are the historical figures of Darwin, Galileo, poet Emily Dickinson, and Attila the Hun interacting and discussing ideas that illuminate history as well as the current state of affairs.
WHEN: February 10th, 2008.
4 p.m. refreshments and Darwin’s birthday cake.
5 p.m. the play starts.
COST: $6, or free to Friends of the Center. Reservations are strongly recommended.
RSVP to: CFI-LA at (323) 666-9797, ex. 102.

The Center for Inquiry-Los Angeles
4773 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 9002

CFI-L.A. - 11/28/07 Cafe Inquiry - Jeff Nuttall - ABCs of Quantum Mechanics

2007-11-25T13:29:51-05:00

4th Wednesday of every month
Wednesday, Nov. 28 @ 7:30 pm
Free

This month:

The ABCs of Quantum Mechanics: Mind Over Matter or Vice Versa?
with Jeffrey Nuttall

Einstein called quantum mechanics “spooky”. Daniel Greenberger called it “magic”. Richard Feynman said that “it is safe to say that nobody understands quantum mechanics.” Unfortunately, a lot of pseudoscientists and parapsychologists think they understand it enough to claim it supports their claims of telekinesis and other supposed paranormal phenomena. Find out the basics of what quantum mechanics is really about, why we know the theory to be valid, and what’s so weird and counterintuitive about it--and why it doesn’t really prove mind over matter.

Jeff Nuttall is a doctoral student pursuing his Ph.D. in physics at the University of Southern California. Quantum mechanics isn’t his specialty, and, true to Feynman’s dictum, he can’t claim to completely understand it either; but at least he’s familiar with the fundamentals. In addition to science, Jeff enjoys writing, music, and art, none of which has much to do with the subject of this talk.

Cafe Inquiry is our monthly casual get-together where you can have a coffee and chat with other people on various topics of science. A guest speaker opens the discussion with a brief intro to the subject and then the floor is open. All are welcome!

Cafe Inquiry is a Science Cafe! Interested in being a speaker, or have one to recommend? Please contact us at (323)666-9797, or email info at cfiwest dot org.

*Free Admission*
*Refreshments Available*
*Plenty of Parking*
*Bookstore Open*

Held in the Steve Allen Theater lobby at CFI-LA (formerly CFI- West)

The Center for Inquiry-Los Angeles
4773 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90027