Weekly Wrap-up 8.23

It’s a week of new features and here’s the newest: The Weekly Wrap-up. TWW is a one-stop-shop for the week’s posts, including brief descriptions and links. So, if work is crazy, your internet goes down, or you get distracted by life and fear you’ve missed something important – TWW is here for you. No need to scroll through pages of prior posts – that’s way too much effort! It’s all here.

The name, btw, is up for grabs. I’m pressed for time this weekend and didn’t even attempt to come up with a creative name. I am, however, thoroughly confident that one exists. If any clever, nerdy, and/or snarky suggestions magically appear in the comments, a very special Skepchick commenter may win the honor of naming the newest Skepchick feature. Oh, and my undying gratitude.

This week’s wrap-up after the jump!

Rebecca, the consummate journalist, brought us skeptical news items such as the suing of Simon Singh by Psuedoscientists (finally, something that is harder to say than to do!), and the lying of “pet psychic”, Maria Steele, to pet owners, and the taking of their money. I don’t want to know what my dog is thinking…

Next let’s talk meet-ups. Elyse kicked us off by rocking Chicago with skeptical conversation, pictures of her boobs, and secret tattoos. Then she announced the formation of a second Illinois SitP, which is commencing its first meeting as we speak. Sam announced the first meeting of the Greater Houston Skeptic Society, started by commenter GeekGoddess, which is commencing its first meeting this coming week. Maria then reminded us that Dragon*Con is coming up and announced this weekend’s Northern Florida meeting, to which I wish I could have gone . Last, Rebecca promised that this Monday’s Boston SitP is going to be “more fun than a bag full of tiny, murderous clowns”. She promised it; she better deliver. And she invited all of us to hang out with her next Saturday in NY. Unless we’re at Dragon*Con, of course.

I’m already tired of all of you just thinking about all of these meet-ups. Just kidding. Sort of.

This week we also started a new feature called The Afternoon Inquisition. And, I’ll have to check with the big boss, but I think Sam’s very first question broke a record, receiving 222 comments (as of now). Wow. Maria and Carrie then posted very thought provoking questions about skepticism in the media and the merit (or lack of merit) of conversing with believers. Good stuff. And this feature is just getting warmed up.

Several posts included personal updates, such as Rebecca’s mention in Wired. Both Sam & Rebecca experienced brushes with death as Sam describes here and Rebecca describes here. They’ve both pulled through, but request your continued prayers for the Pink Phink. A made us green with envy as she recounted her amaz!ng trip to the Galapagos and Carrie filled us in on the woo she found in the U.K. And last, but certainly not least, Bug Girl had a birthday and we celebrated by watching lots of free porn!

Things are also buzzing over at Teen Skepchick, with some really interesting topical posts about “the universe’s material soul”, removal of body hair, tips , tips, and more tips for the new school year, the bigfoot hoax, and heroin.

So there you have it: skeptical news, drinking, debauchery, boobs, tattoos, world traveling, brushes with death, bags of tiny murderous clowns, and lots of porn. A typical week at Skepchick.

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Update:
In my haste, I neglected to mention that we celebrated Rystefn (Wristeffin) ‘s birthday this week as well. Happy Birthday Rystefn! And Carrie’s birthday is TODAY. Happy Birthday, Carrie!