I'd like to start my first column of our fifth volume by thanking REALL's Vice-Chairman Ron Larkin for his great presentation at this month's meeting! It drew a great crowd and there was some very good discussion afterwards. I had to drag people out when the library closed.
And I'd like to follow this by announcing a speaker for our March meeting: Detective Bruce Walstad! Many of our longtime members already know Detective Walstad from his articles here or from the first time he came and spoke to our group and a criminology class at the University of Illinois in Springfield (UIS, then Sangamon State). He also was the driving force behind my appearing (with him) on the Morton Downey Jr. show to debate (and get pushed by) "psychics." He has appeared on numerous such shows, is the President of Professionals Against Confidence Crime, an expert on fortune telling scams and other "psychic" nonsense, and just an all-around great guy. He will be speaking to REALL and a UIS group on Tuesday, March 4, with the specific time and place to be determined (it will either be at the Lincoln Library or at UIS). He is one speaker you don't want to miss! We'll have more information in our February newsletter.
As far as the February meeting, while we don't have a speaker, we do have an interesting TV show to watch. John Stossel, of ABC News, had a good show about junk science on this month, and we'll be watching and discussing it on Tuesday, February 4, at 7 pm in the Lincoln Library.
In other news, normally, we publish The REALL News subject and author indices in the January issue of the newsletter. However, after four years of articles, it's gotten a bit big. We're still working on it, but we will probably publish a separate index to send out, perhaps along with a later newsletter issue.
Speaking of the newsletter, next month will be our Fourth Anniversary Special and will, as usual, feature a 12-page issue with extra articles for your enjoyment. Until then, I hope to see you at the meeting!
