CFIC 2023 YEAR-END CAMPAIGN
News Flash: All gifts and donations made to CFIC in December will be matched by board member Onur Romano! Read more.
HAVE YOUR SAY
December Poll: Year-End Giving This month, we are asking readers their views on year-end charitable donations.
November Poll Results Last month, we asked you about supporting journalism.
NEWS AND EVENTS
Protecting Blasphemers V (December 10) Join us for CFIC’s 5th annual panel discussion highlighting blasphemy issues from the past year.
Introducing CFIC Alberta CFIC welcomes our newest branch: Building community under the banner of reason, good science, and secularism.
Update on Omer The long wait continues.
Ottawa Winter Solstice Celebration (December 4)
Ottawa Skeptics in the Pub (December 5)
Volunteer Opportunity: Layout Assistant (Critical Links)
Volunteer Opportunity: Event Logistics Assistant
SCIENCE
The Music of the Spheres In post-Soviet Russia, life imitates art.
QuickLinks: Evolution stats, replication rate improvements, plastic pollution, COVID-19 retrospective
SECULARISM/HUMAN RIGHTS
Calgary Police Provide Honour Guard at Prayer Breakfast: Catching up with “Bob” and his human rights complaint against the Calgary Police Force.
Narges’ Nobel, Everybody’s Peace: A brave Iranian woman continues the fight for human rights against impossible odds.
Nuns or Nones? Amid ugly new revelations about the Catholic church, a non-believer hopes for the institution’s moral resurgence.
QuickLinks: Religious hate speech, church disestablishment, Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s conversion
CRITICAL THINKING
Beware of Extremists Who Punch Above Their Weight: Musing about the oft-outsized influence of political minorities.
Artificial Intelligence: Existential Threat or Gaslighting? Questioning the motivations of some who are raising concerns about AI.
Keith’s Conundrums: Explanations vs. Excuses: Insight about last month’s puzzle. Also, examining the difference between explanation and excuse. Read more.
QuickLinks: Edzard Ernst, memory unreliability, and COVID
December Dates of Interest: The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the December Solstice.
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