Critical Thinking Club

 

Critical Thinking Club, St. Paul

Location:  Kelly Inn, Rice Street and I-94

Date:               March 4

Time:              10:00 a.m. to Noon

Presenter:        Sarah Kogut

Topic:             “Clinical Trials Demystified”

Thinker

 

This talk will describe clinical trials conducted by pharmaceutical and medical device companies, for submission to the FDA. FDA approval is based on demonstration of efficacy and safety of the drug or medical device, using the clinical trial data.

 

Larger and longer duration clinical trials provide better evidence of efficacy and safety. However, this creates higher cost and delays availability. Meanwhile, the urgency of the patient who may have few or no other options creates demand for an accelerated approval process.

 

Several programs offered by FDA attempt to address these diverse needs of public safety while providing timely access to new treatments. These programs include: accelerated approval, conditional approval, orphan drug category, and off label prescriptions.

 

Critical thinking techniques will be used to discuss tradeoffs inherent in these programs.

 

Sarah Kogut is a pharmaceutical research professional.

 

 

Breakfast Buffet $10.00 Coffee only $3.00.  We need to plan for the room setup and meal, so if you are going to attend, please RSVP on Meetup.

 

April                Dick Taylor, topic TBA

May                 Lee Salisbury, “Was America Created as a Christian Nation?”

 

 

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Stillwater Critical Thinking Club

Location: Family Means Bldg,1875 Northwestern Ave., Stillwater

Date:        Monday,  March 12

Time:                7:00pm

Presenter:      George Paulos

Topic:             “Us vs. Them

 

There are many examples of extreme mass behavior around the globe – from religious fundamentalism to jingoism to extreme political polarization.  Is there a common thread within these disparate behaviors?   Veteran Crititical Thinking Club presenter George Paulos will investigate tribalism as a motivation for much of modern extremism and the connection between tribal behavior and certain personality types.

 

 

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Critical Thinking Club, West Metro

 

Location:        Ridge Pointe Apartments

12600 Marion Lane W, Minnetonka, MN 55305

Date:               Saturday, February 25

Time:              10:00 a.m. to Noon

Presenter:        Kathy Bonnifield

Topic:             “Voter Photo ID:  Fraud Catcher or Vote Snatcher?”

 

Next November, Minnesotans will decide 1) if voter fraud is a problem worthy of the cost of implementation, 2) if the proposed law will actually stop the alleged voter fraud and 3) whether voting is an earned privilege such as the use of a credit card or a necessary right for every citizen if we are to live in a democracy.  Our Stillwater/Lake Elmo Mn House Representative Kathy Lohmer co-sponsored the Voter ID legislation.  The proposed law is not without controversy.  A June 12, 2011 USA Today editorial highlighted the proposed Republican Voter ID law concluding that it "smacks of voter suppression." 

 

SPEAKER: Kathy Bonnifield is Director of Citizens For Election Integrity of Minnesota.  She has considerable election experience having been an election judge in Ramsey County and the City of Minneapolis plus serving on an election observation mission with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.  Most recently she worked as a Program Administrator for the McKnight Foundation.

 

Location:        Ridge Pointe Apartments

12600 Marion Lane W, Minnetonka, MN 55305

Date:               Saturday,  March 24

Time:              10:00 a.m. to Noon

Presenter:        Rich Kotlarz

Topic:             “America's Economic Life and its Usury Error....how the bank fractional reserve system and compound interest are impact our ever increasing national debt”

 

Rich Kotlarz after years in engineering has given his last 10 years to researching the topic of money, how it is created and our debt based monetary system

 

 

Location:        Ridge Pointe Apartments

12600 Marion Lane W, Minnetonka, MN 55305

Date:               Saturday,  April 28

Time:              10:00 a.m. to Noon

Presenter:        Lee Salisbury

Topic:             “Was America Founded As A Christian Nation ... what does the Constitution say, what did our founding fathers say, and what are the implications if America is to be a Christian nation?”

 

Lee Salisbury, co founder of the Critical Thinking Clubs, apart from his years in commercial real estate also devoted 14 years to evangelical Christianity as both a pastor and international Christian Conference speaker.