Archive for the ‘Foundation’ Category

Last month, Dr Joely Black presented a history of tarot. Joely was an animated and interesting speaker who is well worth going to see. If you missed it, you can watch it online via Worfolk Lectures.

We also tried out the new Leeds Skeptics t-shirts, as James models in the photos.

We would like to say a big thank you to James Murray, who ran the Leeds Half Marathon earlier this month, in aid of us. He completed the 21km run in under two hours!

At April, Dr Brooke Magnanti presented a talk on her book, The Sex Myth.

April is unfortunately suicide month. It’s the month when more people kill themselves than any other. It’s generally believed this is because the lighter days and better weather provide people will the motivation to to do it – ironically, what keeps people alive in the depths of depression is that they’re too depressed to kill themselves.

It’s timely then that the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) recently published a report claiming that suicide is now the biggest killer of young men – causing more depths than road accidents, murders and HIV combined.

Full coverage can be found in Metro.

This report echoes the issues already raised in our Men’s Issues awareness campaign. 75% of suicides are male, partly due to the stigma that surrounds men getting help for mental health issues – only 17% of men in need of help will seek it, compared to 29% of women.

For the March meeting of Leeds Skeptics, Professor Barry Cooper from the University of Leeds presented a talk entitled “Alan Turing: The Building of a Brain”.

Having recently read and very much enjoyed The Grapes of Graph (perhaps I should say “was moved by” rather than “enjoyed”), it is isn’t interesting to see the parallels between the harsh times experienced in the Great Depression and the not as bad but still regrettable plight of many of our own members of society.

In the book, Ma Joad says something along the lines of “the thing I’m learning more. If you’re in trouble or hurt or need—go to poor people. They’re the only ones that’ll help —the only ones.”

This is a phenomenon that can be often seen throughout society. For example, my father, who is a gas engineer, once told me that poor people are far more likely to tip than wealthy people are – perhaps because they are more aware of financial pressures and the had work people do.

This can also be seen in the homeless world as well. Last night we met three people with dogs and all of them told us the same thing – the dog eats before I do. You can tell – all of the dogs looked well fed, their fur was in good condition and most of them were wrapped up in nice coats, one was even in a hoodie.

To matter how down on their luck people get, most never stop caring about others. Indeed, it may even be a prerequisite.

Tonight wasn’t the best night we’ve ever had at the Humanist Action Group. We judge that by the amount of people we find – on a good night, everyone will have found shelter and there will be nobody on the streets. Tonight, we got about 100m from our door before we had run out of coffee and had to go back to make more.

One of the people we chatted to gave us an insight into how much money you can make begging. It’s significantly less than you can earn in a minimum wage job. If anyone ever tells you they make loads of money – tell them to stop voting Tory and pull their head out of their ass.

Here is what you might expect to make in a week…

• Monday – Wednesday: £10-15 per night
• Thursday: £20 per night
• Friday: £25-30 per night
• Saturday: If the weather is good, maybe £35
• Sunday: Nothing, there is nobody in town on a Sunday

Not a great way to scratch a living.

In celebration of Galileo Day we headed to Browns for the traditional Galileo Day Feast.

Happy Galileo Day! Leeds is lucky enough to be hosting two Feasts in honour of the man – one at Fazenda at lunchtime and one at Browns this evening. Tomorrow, also sees Leeds Skeptics host the 2013 Galileo Day Lecture, Brian Quinn with a talk entitled “Superstition – The Odd Delusion”.

After three and a half years of serving on the board of trustees for the Foundation, Gijsbert has stepped down.

He recently accepted a position as a Reader at the University of Glasgow, and as a consequence will be leaving Leeds next month. We would like to thank him for all the work he has done over the years and wish him the best of luck in his new position.