Upcoming Skeptic, Atheist, Secular etc Events

robindch

Next week is Maths Week and the Irish Skeptics, with sponsorship from Maths Week Ireland, are hosting a presentation by Matt Parker:

Date and time: 8pm, Wednesday October 15th
Venue: Science Gallery, Trinity College Dublin
Title: Matt Parker ; Stand up mathematician.
Admission: Free

Possibly the only person to hold the prestigious title of London Mathematical Society Popular Lecturer while simultaneously having a sold-out comedy show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Matt is always keen to mix his two passions of mathematics and stand-up. Originally a maths teacher from Australia, Matt now lives in London and works both as a stand-up comedian and a maths communicator. This involves spreading his love of maths via books, radio programmes, TV shows, newspapers, school visits, live comedy shows and occasionally harassing people in the street. Matt is also the Public Engagement in Mathematics Fellow at Queen Mary University of London.

Matt last presented to us during maths week 2010 and was a huge hit! More details on his activities are available at:

http://www.standupmaths.com

robindch

^^^ High demand for this has lead to the event being ticketed:

http://www.eventbrite.ie/o/irish-skeptics-society-and-maths-week-ireland-7566659427?s=29974989+%5Bchange%5D

Book early to avoid a dull Wednesday evening!

nozzferrahhtoo

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

It's less than three weeks away... Not filling me with confidence this.

"The 2014 Atheist Ireland AGM will take place next Saturday, 25 October, in Wynnes Hotel in Abbey Street, Dublin. The morning session, from 11:00 am to 12.30 pm, is for members only. The afternoon session, from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm, is open to the public. We will then be going for an informal meal if you want to join us."

^ Usually although the first session is members only, on previous years people were just able to become members at the door.

Hotblack Desiato

Couldn't make it, hopefully next year.

Anyone here go?

nozzferrahhtoo

Alas I live in Germany now so could not make it. I think the AI You Tube Channel has some footage from it though.

robindch

The Irish Skeptics are holding the final public talk of 2014 next Wednesday evening, 3rd December, when Dr Adrian Bracken of the Smurfit Institute of Genetics, TCD will be talking about epigenetics and cancer.

Date and time: December 3rd at 8pm
Location: Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, 152-160 Pearse St., Dublin 2 (around the corner from Pearse Station)
Title: Epigenetics and Cancer: New Hope for Future Treatments
Admission: Free

Epigenetics refers to functional changes to the genome that do not involve changes to the DNA sequence, but affect gene expression. Dr. Bracken and his team concentrate their research on Epigenetic factors, which are required for normal biology, but go wrong in cancer. The good news, according to Dr. Bracken, is that we are already making drugs to inhibit their function and results of early clinical trials are very promising indeed..

Professor Luke O’Neill and the Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute are very kindly hosting this event, hence we can present it free of charge.

mkaobrih

Atheist Ireland are having their annual x mas party on Saturday the 13th of December at 7 p.m. starting at the Third Space on Smithfield Square and then heading on to Oscar’s Bar for a late drink. The party is free for members of Atheist Ireland and €10 for non-members. You can join on the evening for €25 (waged) or €10 (unwaged). Finger food will be served. The cafe sell beer and wine or you have the option of bringing your own. There will also be a raffle.

kylith

The 3rd of December is a Wednesday. Did you mean 13th?

mkaobrih

kylith wrote: »

The 3rd of December is a Wednesday. Did you mean 13th?

Yes the 13th I've edited the post. Thanks.

nozzferrahhtoo

Atheist Ireland Christmas Party coming up this weekend.

robindch

On Tuesday, 27th February, in the Burke theatre, Trinity College Dublin, Lawrence Krauss and Richard Dawkins are appearing at an event organized by the Origins Project Dialog in which they discuss Randomness and Uncertainty.

Tickets are 35 quid (not euro!) and are available, somewhat randomly, from the following website (which doesn't seem to work with the Chrome browser):

http://www.outersurface.com/

Panrich

robindch wrote: »

On Tuesday, 27th February, in the Burke theatre, Trinity College Dublin, Lawrence Krauss and Richard Dawkins are appearing at an event organized by the Origins Project Dialog in which they discuss Randomness and Uncertainty.

Tickets are 35 quid (not euro!) and are available, somewhat randomly, from the following website (which doesn't seem to work with the Chrome browser):

http://www.outersurface.com/

Sent them a mail asking why they are looking for payment in Sterling. If the lecture was in Germany, they would quote a Euro price, I'd bet.

RobY

robindch wrote: »

On Tuesday, 27th February, in the Burke theatre, Trinity College Dublin, Lawrence Krauss and Richard Dawkins are appearing at an event organized by the Origins Project Dialog in which they discuss Randomness and Uncertainty.

Tickets are 35 quid (not euro!) and are available, somewhat randomly, from the following website (which doesn't seem to work with the Chrome browser):

http://www.outersurface.com/

Think this is actually on Tuesday 24th February. However, from the website, it's not certain whether it is a 7pm or 8pm start. Tickets are practically 50 Euro each.

robindch

The Trinity Long Room Hub is hosting a public lecture presented by Michael E Mann, Director, Earth System Science Center (ESSC) Penn State University titled ‘The Hockey Stick and the Climate wars: The Battle Continues’.

Book signing: Monday, 19th January at 5pm Trinity Long Room Hub
Lecture: Monday, 19th January at 6pm

Due to demand this lecture will now take place in the Edmund Burke Theatre, Arts Building

Michael Mann wrote:

A central figure in the controversy over human-caused climate change has been “The Hockey Stick” – a simple, easy-to-understand graph which Dr Mann and his colleagues constructed to depict changes in Earth’s temperature back to 1000 AD. The graph was featured in the high-profile “Summary for Policy Makers” of the 2001 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and it quickly became an icon in the debate over human-caused (“anthropogenic”) climate change. This lecture will tell the ongoing story behind the Hockey Stick, using it as a vehicle for exploring broader issues regarding the role of scepticism in science, the uneasy relationship between science and politics, and the dangers that arise when special economic interests and those who do their bidding attempt to skew the discourse over policy-relevant areas of science.

Tickets are not required for this venue, but please do register here:

http://www.eventbrite.ie/e/michael-mann-director-earth-system-science-center-penn-state-university-tickets-14188950533?utm_campaign=new_eventv2&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eb_email&utm_term=eventurl_text

robindch

The Irish Skeptics host their first public lecture of 2015 on Wednesday, March 4th when Michael Nugent, Chairperson of Atheist Ireland, will give a talk entitled

Tough on ideas, supportive of people – How atheist and skeptic groups can be robust, inclusive and ethical

Date and Time: Wednesday, March 4th at 8pm
Venue: Abbey Room, Wynn's Hotel, Lower Abbey Street, Dublin 1
Admission: €3 members and concessions €6 non-members

Michael Nugent is chairperson of Atheist Ireland, a writer and an advocate for a range of significant social causes. He has written a number of books and co - wrote the hugely successful comedy musical I, Keano. He is currently working on a book about atheism and morality.

Michael will present a draft manifesto for ethical atheists and skeptics who care about both truth and morality and who want to promote reason, critical thinking and science; atheism over supernaturalism; natural compassion and ethics; inclusive, caring groups; fair and just societies; secular government; and local, national and global solidarity.

robindch

Aaaand at 90 minutes notice, Lawrence Krauss is doing a free talk at half six this evening in the Joly Theatre, Hamilton Building (beside the science gallery). Full details here:

http://www.meetup.com/Atheist-and-Agnostic-NonReligious-Ireland/events/220752549/

robindch

Aron Ra on "How Religion Harms Education"

Tuesday, April 21, 2015, 7:30 PM, Davenport Hotel

http://www.meetup.com/Atheist-and-Agnostic-NonReligious-Ireland/events/221063083/?a=ea1_grp&rv=ea1&_af_eid=221063083&_af=event

Aron Ra will be speaking to Atheist Ireland on "How Religion Harms Education".

Aron Ra makes videos promoting science education in an area where creationism is often promoted even in public schools. As Texas State Director of American Atheists, he is an activist for secular politics in a heavily religious environment. He was a regular co-host of the Magic Sandwich Show, and Dogma Debate, and he currently hosts the Ra-Men podcast promoting a progressive perspective. He will be arriving at QED fresh from his tour of Australia as part of the ‘Unholy Trinity’.

https://www.youtube.com/user/AronRa

mkaobrih

On Monday 23rd, SoFIA will be introducing a talk by prominent political activist and critic of Islam Maryam Namazie.

Maryam Namazie is a political activist, campaigner and blogger. She is the Spokesperson for One Law for All Campaign against Sharia Law in Britain and the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain. She was awarded Secularist of the Year by the National Secular Society for her campaigning for the rights of women and refugees in Islamic countries.

With the rise of the Islamist ISIS across the Middle East and North Africa, the recent assassination of Bangladeshi atheist blogger Avijit Roy, and the retrial for apostasy of Saudi blogger and activist Raif Badawi, the topic of apostasy in Islamist regimes arises. In Islamist states, the punishment for apostasy is death which is a violation of human rights and is therefore a topic worth discussing. Join us for a talk and a Q&A session with activist Maryam Namazie that is sure to be interesting!

robindch

mkaobrih wrote: »

On Monday 23rd, SoFIA will be introducing a talk by prominent political activist and critic of Islam Maryam Namazie.

Maryam Namazie's certainly worth listening to.

Where and at what time?

mkaobrih

23 March at 15:00 in the Global Room, Hamilton Building, Trinity College Dublin

mkaobrih

From Maryam's FTB

I will not accept Trinity College Dublin conditions on my talk

I am to speak at Trinity College Dublin on Monday 23 March 2015 on “Apostasy and the Rise of Islamism”.

I’ve just been informed, however, that college security (why security?) has claimed that the event would show the college is “one-sided” and would be “antagonising” to “Muslim students”; they threatened to cancel my talk. After further consultation with college management, they have decided to “allow” the event to go ahead with the following conditions:

* All attendants of the event must be 1) Trinity students and 2) members of the society hosting the talk.

* For “balance”, they require that a moderator host the event; Prof. Andrew Pierce of the Irish School of Ecumenics has kindly agreed to do so.

I, however, will not be submitting to any conditions, particularly since such conditions are not usually placed on other speakers.

I intend to speak on Monday as initially planned without any restrictions and conditions and ask that TCD give me immediate assurances that I will be able to do so.

It is crucial that I be able to speak against Islamist fascism and honour our dissenters deemed apostates, blasphemers, heretics… whether ex-Muslims, Muslims or non-Muslims.

I particularly insist on being able to do so in light of the fact that only last month – 25 February – Kamal El Mekki who advocates the death penalty for apostasy was given space to speak at an event hosted by the “Muslim” Student Association. No conditions were placed on his talk and security did not threaten to cancel the event nor inform the Association that the speakers’ position on death for apostates would “antagonise” ex-Muslim and Muslim students who do not support apostasy laws.

Interestingly, when the college’s Central Societies Committee was informed of El Mekki’s view on apostasy, they could not “see why there can even be a discussion about cancelling the event” and that his video was simply “explanatory and not advocatory”!

The video they were alerted to shows El Mekki advising his audience on how best to explain the death penalty for apostates. He tells them to start with the simplest example so that the need for the death penalty can be easily understood. In the video, he says:

The question is ‘Why is the apostate killed in Islam?’…if someone leaves their allegiance to their country they should be killed, so if they leave their allegiance to Allah nothing happens?

…in Islam, of course, you know, it’s a very different system. It’s not like somewhere you heard someone leaves Islam and you just go get him and stuff like that. First of all it’s done by the authorities, there are procedures and steps involved. First of all they talk to him, yeah, about, yanni, the scholars refute any doubt that he has on the issue, they spend days with him refuting and arguing with him, trying to convince him. Then they might even, yaani, threaten him with the sword and tell him ‘You need to repent from this because if you don’t you repent you will be killed.’ And if he insists on being killed that means really, really believing in that. And then, after the procedures take their toll, and then at the end, by the authority of the ruling body, it’s done.

This is beyond outrageous given the social and political reality where apostasy from Islam is punishable by death in 11 countries and especially at a time when it has come to light that British Islamists are executing apostates for ISIS after having been “radicalised” in British universities. Also it does a disservice to the many Muslims who oppose Islamism and apostasy laws by conflating “Muslim” students with Islamism or the religious-Right.

Trinity College Dublin, I am awaiting your response.

***

For those who want more information on this “beautiful young man”, see here - oh sorry that was Jihadi John who was beautiful according to Cage.

One does get confused when they all (the Islamists) say the same thing…

robindch

Maryam Namazie has canned the talk. Hard to say who's right in this but there's certainly been some level of miscommunication.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/activist-pulls-out-of-trinity-college-talk-due-to-restrictions-aimed-at-not-antagonising-muslims-31087977.html

bigt132

As a student of TCD can anyone recommend any course of action I could take to help with this situation? There was also a talk recently about freedom of speech and the blasphemy law with Ali Selim as a speaker and a surprise appearance by Ronan Mullen, some of the fallacious pro-law points mentioned particularly riled me up considering these men are in positions of fairly high authority. It seems as though they are trying to perpetuate the censorship of religious criticism, albeit to quite a minuscule effect as the law is practically unenforceable although the conditions proposed by TCD security for this cancelled talk seem to suggest otherwise. Maybe it's best to ask for such recommendations in the TCD forum? Thanks

PopePalpatine

Why am I not surprised Mullen would be on the pro-blasphemy law side.

bigt132

PopePalpatine wrote: »

Why am I not surprised Mullen would be on the pro-blasphemy law side.

In fairness he wasn't too militant about it or anything, just a bit idiotic. His reasoning was that the law should stay in the constitution because it was practically unenforceable and if someone does threaten violence against you for 'offending' their beliefs, point to this law and tell them to sue you (because it probably won't go through), or something to that effect. That stance doesn't make too much sense though (looking at free speech as a fundamental right).

Hotblack Desiato

Blasphemy is a criminal law, it gives no-one the right to sue anyone. Did Mullen actually say that, as it's a particularly clueless thing to say even for him.

bigt132

He did indeed, his appearance at the talk was impromptu so he wasn't prepared for talking on the subject in particular although you'd think he should know his stuff considering he's a senator. Yet even though the subject was the blasphemy law he still managed to get his opinions on gay marriage and adoption in there, "the right to a mother and father" yada yada etc., it was like he intentionally made the appearance only to make the audience's blood boil. Fortunately the sighs and groans heard as he blurted out these lines showed how most find his views ridiculous and will refuse to put up with his crap

robindch

TrinityNews has an article on the controversy.

http://trinitynews.ie/activist-pulled-out-of-event-because-of-miscommunication-sofia/

I must say, without knowing the history of the organization concerned, I'm still just seeing miscommunication, poorly handled, with no obvious intent to mislead.

bigt132

Yeah it looks like it's mostly just miscommunication and misunderstanding, some of the comments underneath that article sound like slight exaggerations. That said hopefully a talk will be properly organised for her soon as she seems quite passionate about it.

Brian Shanahan

bigt132 wrote: »

He did indeed, his appearance at the talk was impromptu so he wasn't prepared for talking on the subject

Given Mullens infinitessimal intellect, if you gave him a full comprehensive bibliography on a subject (e.g. the colour of Bosco's clothes to give him a difficult one) and twenty years to study up on it, he'd still fail to be prepared after all that time.