So honored to share this award with my good friend and #ScienceUnderSiege co-author @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social. Thanks @center4inquiry.bsky.social --means so much from you folks! centerforinquiry.org/press_releas...

Arizona has a measles outbreak. 97% of cases are in unvaccinated people. Now lawmakers are pushing a measure to make vaccines optional across the board. If you live in AZ, you can weigh in before the vote. It takes under a minute: centerforinquiry.org/alerts/arizo...

New Hampshire is considering dropping Hepatitis B from required childhood vaccines. Infections fell 99% after the vaccine became standard. This is what rolling back looks like... We submitted testimony opposing HB 1719: https://ow.ly/fvjt50Yzhup

A federal judge just blocked efforts to rewrite U.S. vaccine policy outside the usual scientific process. That process exists for a reason. CFI called the decision “welcome and important": centerforinquiry.org/news/a-welco... #Vaccines #PublicHealth

It’s strange how quickly prevention becomes invisible. @debunk-the-funk.bsky.social asks what happens when we stop remembering why vaccines mattered. Worth sitting with: skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/wh...

The American Revolution hinged on the idea that power comes from the consent of the governed. At 250 years in, we’re walking away from it? In Free Inquiry Ronald A. Lindsay lays out how America First has slid into something power justifying itself: https://ow.ly/pmu450XXuZV

Thomas Paine’s most famous writing came out of his service in the Revolutionary War. Jan 29: live online event on Thomas Paine’s wartime service + The American Crisis. 7pm ET. Save your spot: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/ga-dvEPuR0iLzT5LA45BOw#/registration

Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: The Times That Tried Men’s Souls: Thomas Paine’s Service During the Revolutionary War. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.

Please plan to join us for the yearly celebration of the official birthdate of one of the most important Founder of the United States of America, Thomas Paine. The online event, entitled “The Times That Tried Men’s Souls: Thomas Paine’s Service During the Revolutionary War,” will take place on Thursday, January 29, 2026 at 4:00 PM PST/7:00 PM EST. A memorial to Paine is the event logo. It depicts Paine writing The American Crisis papers during the Revolutionary War. The memorial was sculpted by Georg Lober. It was dedicated on July 4, 1950 in Morristown, New Jersey.  The January event is...

us02web.zoom.us

The CDC quietly changed the childhood vaccine schedule. Over 200 health organizations are objecting. This week's Consumer Health Digest lays out what was removed and why medical groups are alarmed: https://quackwatch.org/ncahf/digest26/26-02/

Texas S.B. 10 would require the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom. CFI filed an amicus brief. That’s clear state intrusion on parents’ rights, especially nonreligious families. Press release: https://centerforinquiry.org/news/cfi-amicus-brief-sb-10-parental-rights/

On this day in 1776, Common Sense was published. Paine didn’t ask people to agree with him. Rather, to think for themselves. The full pamphlet is public domain. Read it here: https://oll.libertyfund.org/pages/1776-paine-common-sense-pamphlet

Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law is back in the Fifth Circuit, now en banc. CFI filed an amicus brief supporting the original ruling that the law violates the First Amendment. Oral arguments are set for January 20: https://ow.ly/zzFO50XTe91

Nonprofit files amicus brief in appeal over 10 Commandments

NEW ORLEANS – A nonprofit organization dedicated to “secular values” is urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to find a Louisiana statute requiring public schools to

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Bill London responding to the NYT on RFK Jr. and vaccines: “We should keep in mind that during a House Appropriations Committee meeting in May, Kennedy said: ‘My opinions about vaccines are irrelevant… I don’t think people should be taking medical advice from me.’"

Humans crave meaning. Narratives give it to us fast. Democracy asks us to work for it. Stuart Vyse explores how heroic stories can overpower reason and reshape what we’re willing to accept as truth. From Skeptical Inquirer. Worth the time: https://ow.ly/TGmJ50XSfty

Will Narrative Defeat Reason? | Skeptical Inquirer

A few years ago, I noticed something new in American politics. Throughout all of my adult life, at election time people would put out yard signs for their c ...

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The paleo diet says it’s ancient. Anthropology says prove it. What early humans actually ate, based on real evidence. Dr. Briana Pobiner | Jan 14 | 6pm ET Save your spot: https://ow.ly/MgE050XQM0Q

If the death penalty requires secrecy, “experimental” methods, and people holding their breath to avoid suffocating… maybe the problem isn’t the protocol. Maybe.. it's the whole idea. From Free Inquiry: https://ow.ly/iObg50XQM0p

One of the most underrated skills going into a new year: being able to say "I was wrong," without spiraling. From Generation Skeptics: https://generationskeptics.org/2025/10/30/wow-i-was-wrong/

Another year of arguing for evidence in a world that prefers auras. Another year of pushing back when church and state get a little too cozy. Another year of science, skepticism, and asking uncomfortable questions. Thanks for sticking with us. We’ll keep doing the work.

The Ten Commandments push isn’t over.. In Louisiana, CFI urges the Fifth Circuit to block a classroom mandate already ruled unconstitutional. In Ohio, lawmakers try to smuggle the Commandments into schools via a “founding documents” bill. Public schools ≠ religious billboards.

71 blasphemy-linked attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh in just 6 months. When religious accusations turn into mob violence and collective punishment, this is what systemic intolerance looks like. Ignoring it doesn’t make it disappear: https://ow.ly/JWoZ50XQusV

Bangladesh saw 71 blasphemy-linked attacks on Hindus in 6 months: Report

A rights group has reported at least 71 incidents linked to blasphemy allegations against Hindu minorities across Bangladesh between June and December 2025, raising fresh concerns over the safety of religious minorities in the country.

firstpost.com

Jane Goodall broke consensus with evidence. That’s how science works: https://skepticalinquirer.org/2025/12/revolutionizing-science-jane-goodall-and-the-challenge-to-conventional-wisdom/

Revolutionizing Science: Jane Goodall and the Challenge to Conventional Wisdom | Skeptical Inquirer

For more than twenty years, I kept a signed postcard of Jane Goodall affixed to the bulletin board behind my classroom desk as a daily reminder to me and my ...

skepticalinquirer.org

Skeptical Inquirer turns 50 this year. The new issue opens that anniversary by reflecting honestly on the movement’s past and its unfinished work. Hear from the voices that helped shape skepticism and are still thinking critically about its future: https://ow.ly/eOyZ50XO51e

The late and great Tom Flynn looks at where Christmas came from, how the myths formed, and why the so-called War on Christmas doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Featuring a snowball duel with Santa. Old Point of Inquiry. Still relevant: https://ow.ly/ih1a50XO4zH

Public schools aren’t churches. Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law is unconstitutional, and courts have already said so. CFI is urging the Fifth Circuit to strike it down: https://ow.ly/bOl850XO4if

Psychics made 2,099 predictions for 2025. Most were wrong. Many were untestable. The big events were missed entirely. King Kong was predicted again, though. gwup | die skeptiker ran the numbers. Reality won: https://ow.ly/IymW50XO3xW

A brutal reminder from this week’s Quackwatch Digest that medical misinformation kills. Freebirth propaganda. Extremist diets. Toxic “natural” products. All thriving in an ecosystem that rewards confidence over evidence. Worth your time: https://ow.ly/nlEU50XNsXv

The New York Times reporting on the lynching of Dipu Chandra Das in Bangladesh after unverified blasphemy accusations. No evidence. No due process. Deadly consequences: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/world/asia/bangladesh-hindu-muslim-lynching.html

Lynching of a Hindu in Bangladesh Fans Fears of Rising Intolerance

Muslim co-workers accused the garment factory worker of blasphemy and dragged him into the street, where an angry mob murdered him.

nytimes.com

We hit the original match. Now, it's been extended. That's $25,000 more to defend science, secular government, and evidence over ideology. Your gift is doubled through Dec 31: https://ow.ly/6GtE50XMFco

You don’t need religion to enjoy December 25. Ronald A. Lindsay on why secular people can take what they want from Christmas and ignore the rest: secularhumanism.org/exclusive/ch... History included. Piety not so much.

Christmas A La Carte | Free Inquiry

It’s that time of year when some committed secularists spend time pondering whether or how to observe the upcoming holiday season, especially December 25. F ...

secularhumanism.org

Spinosaurus: famous, weird, still misunderstood. Tonight, paleontologist Dr Dave Hone walks through what the fossils really tell us and what they don’t. Live Skeptical Inquirer Presents at 7pm ET: https://ow.ly/aNxe50XLCcH

Retribution or revenge in a suit? In Free Inquiry, Christo Roberts makes the case that accountability, not sentimentality, is what keeps justice from collapsing into either cruelty or chaos. A sober, uncomfortable read: https://ow.ly/jrqm50XLAcM