A Letter to Chiropractors about Advertising
by Mal Vickers
Back in June 2012, a letter was sent to the Chiropractors’ Association of Australia (CAA). The text of this letter is reproduced below. The letter was signed by representatives of the Australian Skeptics and the Tinnitus Association of Victoria.
Att: Dr Laurie Tassell
President of the Chiropractors’ Association of Australia (National) Limited
Date: 19 June 2012
Dear Dr Tassell,
We request that your organisation takes action by removing misleading claims regarding the treatment of medical conditions via chiropractic. It appears to be a practice of a small number of your members to advertise that they can treat conditions for which there is little or no scientific evidence that chiropractic is effective. View More A Letter to Chiropractors about Advertising
Welcome Ballarat Skeptics!
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Ballarat Skeptics in the Pub (wine bar, actually!) will hold its first public meeting on Thursday 31st January 2013.
The Venue is Portico on Sturt, 31 Sturt Street Ballarat
From 6.30ish
All welcome!
“Mixed Bag” December 2012 Answers
1. Delilah – Sampson; Salome – John the Baptist; Jezebel – Ahab; Potiphar’s Wife – Joseph
2. A. Keel / leek; B. Desserts / Stressed; C. Diaper / Repaid; D. Drawer / Reward
3. Tanganyika and Zanzibar
4. Charles Atlas
5. North North West
6. Sacramento
7. Italy
8. Dorian Gray
9. Boris Karloff
10. Ernest Rutherford
Post Convention Media

A stunning image taken by Guy Wolfe Page Taylor at the Gala Dinner of the 2012 National Convention. Guy posted this on FaceBook, he’s kindly allowed us to reproduce it here. Go on, click on the image for the full-screen version.
It’s great to see/hear all the positive media attention after a convention. The podcasts, coverage in the mainstream print media and on mainstream radio are encouraging. Then there’s the photos on this blog, Flickr and on FaceBook – it’s still a buzz.
For those readers who may not have seen/heard everything, here are some links to the View More Post Convention Media
Auskepcon 2012, Photos, Sunday
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Sunday’s Convention Photos
Sunday was another line up of excellent speakers, DJ Grothe, Dr Ken Harvey, Dr Rachael Dunlop, Stephen Mayne, Lawrence Leung, James “The Amazing” Randi and many more. Look carefully in this set of images for a certain life member and secretary of a state branch jamming with Paul Conroy on guitar.
Puzzles for December:
As previously announced. December CROSSWORD on CRYPTIDS featuring Cryptic Clues is based on Cryptid Animals. This is to tie in with the launch of Dr David Waldron and Simon Townsend’s book Snarls From the Tea Tree as well as David’s presentation at Skeptics Café in January.
The usual seven Picture Puzzles can be found at the top of the PUZZLES page.
Auskepcon 2012, Photos, Friday and Saturday
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Slideshow of the convention from Friday through to Saturday’s Gala Dinner.
To see these and more images of the convention, in higher resolution, please follow these links.
Mark’s images are collected here.
Mal’s photos:
Prior to the convention slideshow.
The fund raising dinner slideshow.
Friday and Saturday slideshow.
Sunday slideshow.
Photo credits: Mal Vickers and Mark Hassed
Auskepcon 2012, Photos from the Fund Raising Dinner
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The Fund Raising Dinner was a great success. It was held at a place of great significance in Melbourne’s history, the Royal Society of Victoria building. The evening included a tour of the building, the library and lecture theatre being highlights. Guests also got the chance to chat with DJ Grothe, Brian Thompson and Rebecca Watson.
Huge thanks to those willing to come along, be part of this special event and offset the cost of brining James Randi to Australia. James Randi was very generous with his time, in addition to the close-up magic tricks, he agreed to sit for some iconic photographs taken in the library.
Thanks also to the organisers, in particular Matt Kippen.
Auskepcon 2012, Photos From Events Before the Convention
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Some images of events before the convention.
James Randi joined the convention organising committee and made fools of us with his card tricks – Tuesday, 27 November.
DJ Grothe, Brian Thompson and Randi took a trip to Healesville Sanctuary to see just a little of Australian nature whilst they were here – Wednesday, 28 November.
Richard Saunders, Maynard, our international guests, and others chill out at ‘The Penny Black’ pub in Brunswick – Thursday, 29 November.