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TAM 9 Wishlist

Vincent Bugliosi

I would love to see Vincent Bugliosi give a talk on the JFK Assassination!

The interesting thing about the JFK Assassination is that I would rattle off evidence proving Oswald's guilt and even skeptics would say, "I didn't know he shot and killed a Dallas police officer." Or, "I didn't know he worked at the Texas School Book Depository Building."

The facts about the JFK Assassination are publicly available and the majority of this country doesn't know anything about them. Yet, they buy into a conspiracy about the assassination. The name of Bugliosi's book on the subject is Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Reclaiming History. It's a nice title, because this major piece of American/World History has been hijacked by paranoid conspiracy theorists. Pseudo-historians that don't give a damn about the disservice they are doing to the American people and the World at large by spreading their BS.

This the dedication in Reclaiming History:

To the historical record, knowing that nothing in the present can exist without the paternity of history, and hence, the latter is sacred, and should never be tampered with or defiled by untruths.
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Also from the book, about conspiracy theories surrounding the JFK Assassination and the damage they cause:

Unless this fraud is finally exposed, the word believe will be forgotten by future generations and John F. Kennedy will have unquestionably become the victim of a conspiracy. Belief will have become unchallenged fact, and the faith of the American people in their institutions further eroded. If that is allowed to happen, Lee Harvey Oswald, a man who hated his country and everything for which it stands, will have triumphed even beyond his intent on that fateful day in November.

- Vincent Bugliosi, Reclaiming History, p.1011.
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I hope to see Bugliosi speaking at a TAM one of these days on this important subject.
 
Homoskeptical said:
It didn't occur to me to bring games! Next year, I'll come packin'.
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I brought Zombie Fluxx this year, and Kochanski brought a few other games. There were a couple of outbreaks of late night games playing at the bar. I support more of this kind of thing happening at future TAMs.
 
aofl said:
This diabetic begs to differ.



It should be pointed out that what was in those urns was not coffee but a peculiar brown colored substance that many institutions (and my mother) like to call coffee.
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I believe the technical term for this is "brown flavor dark hotel water beverage".
 
Why is it no mentions Stephen Fry? He's a skeptic and really interesting to listen to.
 
We are very much at the mercy of Vegas Hotels (tm) for several items. Outside catered food is not permitted at most locations. The hotel catering department will do whatever we ask... and your registration fee will go up accordingly. If I recall correctly, even a simple box sandwich lunch worked out to almost $15 per person. I shudder to think what the multiple hot entrees cost. Coffee(-like beverage) is cheap. I was happy that there was an oranje juice-like beverage and small cans of cranberry juice. Perhaps they were out by the time some of you young kids got up?

The other problem at least at South Point that someone mentioned was power outlets and wi-fi. This has been discussed before. There simply are no available power outlets on the walls in the large conference room. I can't speak to the smaller rooms. Again, IIRC, the hotel wanted something like $100 to run a single extension cord. Wi-fi is a money maker for the hotel, just like the food. Why give us cheap internet when they are getting $13 per night per room? I know others have mentioned the cost of internet in the conference room - "business" travellers can afford more, right? :(

CT
 
Wishes:

  • More time between talks for Q&A, though this still requires the emcee to enforce speaker compliance with time limits.
  • If we keep growing, conference tracks. Yeah, this means you miss some things, but there are certain topics that are of more interest than others.
  • A way for Jeff to sleep more. Seriously. He handles so much minutiae that he does not sleep much. As entertaining as watching his eyes spin may be, it can lead to mistakes and/or burnout. Maybe this cannot be avoided unless more paid JREF staff is hired. Volunteers can only do so much as someone has to be trained and/or held responsible for things.
  • A thermostat in the conference room that really works. I know cooling is difficult in very large rooms, especially when the attendee load changes suddenly and Vegas is hot by definition. But DANG it was cold in there sometimes. [/whine]

CT
 
CriticalThanking said:
We are very much at the mercy of Vegas Hotels (tm) for several items. Outside catered food is not permitted at most locations. The hotel catering department will do whatever we ask... and your registration fee will go up accordingly. If I recall correctly, even a simple box sandwich lunch worked out to almost $15 per person.
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I think I heard that breakfast was just over $20 per head, the lunches between $30 and $40.

Wi-fi is a money maker for the hotel, just like the food. Why give us cheap internet when they are getting $13 per night per room? I know others have mentioned the cost of internet in the conference room - "business" travellers can afford more, right? :(
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I ended up paying for the room wifi as it was the only way I could get online; I was disappointed to find that didn't give me access in the conference room too (the bar would have been nice, too, but there wasn't any wifi there at all); maybe they could give a concession like that, if not free wifi? If I come again, I'll be looking to get myself something like the 4G wifi or a SIM card with data.

ETA: I've just remembered that, walking around the Strip on Monday, a number of the casinos and hotels there did have free, open, wifi. I guess they make their money in other ways, maybe higher room prices, but it's not a given the wifi will be charged for.
 
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The Central Scrutinizer said:
Gerald Posner could fill the same role. Also, he could talk about MLK.
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The first professional skeptic event I went to featured him talking about his books. I also met my first skeptic & atheist girlfriend there. :D

CriticalThanking said:
We are very much at the mercy of Vegas Hotels (tm) for several items.
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I shudder to think what the multiple hot entrees cost.
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Last year Linda remarked that most of the registration fee goes for meals. The only good thing about it is that the more attendees we have, the more food we need, and the more free room-nights we get for the speakers. Although with the hotel rates as low as they were, that's not much of a break.
A way for Jeff to sleep more. Seriously. He handles so much minutiae that he does not sleep much. As entertaining as watching his eyes spin may be, it can lead to mistakes and/or burnout. Maybe this cannot be avoided unless more paid JREF staff is hired. Volunteers can only do so much as someone has to be trained and/or held responsible for things.
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Seconded! Jeff needs to sleep before he starts making mistakes.
 
SheldonHelms said:
Margaret Downey!! :)
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She was at TAM 3. She was easily the least interesting speaker there. This was kind of sad, because she was also the speaker with the most practical information.

Another wish would be for several JREF staff to have some speaking time. I'd have loved to have heard Jeff and Hal talk a little about their involvement with the JREF and what goes into making TAM.

I'd be equally eager to hear from the people who try to fill their shoes next year.
 
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