Using the Word ‘Genocide’ *

Mar 8th, 2004 | Filed by

Turkish scholars challenge government version of 1915 Armenian genocide.… Read the rest



Back From Syracuse, Dr. Heidegger? *

Mar 8th, 2004 | Filed by

What is it with intellectuals and dictators? Mark Lilla has a look.… Read the rest



Hemingway at his Most Eloquent *

Mar 7th, 2004 | Filed by

Bulls are great – they don’t write, they’re not queer, they’re not old women, and you can kill them.… Read the rest



Like Gibbon and Frazer Only in Bulk *

Mar 7th, 2004 | Filed by

William Vollmann’s seven volume work is swept away on a flood of logorrhea.… Read the rest



Postpositivist Realism *

Mar 6th, 2004 | Filed by

Identity is fluid, until we have to deal with other people.… Read the rest



That’s an Accomplishment? *

Mar 6th, 2004 | Filed by

‘one of literary theory’s accomplishments…has been its bid to protect “the privacy of its language.”‘… Read the rest



Some People Disapprove of French Ban *

Mar 5th, 2004 | Filed by

US State Department, al Qaeda frown at ban on religious attire.… Read the rest



Ah, Sweet Mystery *

Mar 5th, 2004 | Filed by

Popular science books ought to help nonspecialists distinguish sense from nonsense. … Read the rest



UK Still Dithering About GM Crops *

Mar 5th, 2004 | Filed by

Parliarmentary committee calls for more trials.… Read the rest



Chris Mooney on ‘Sound Science’ *

Mar 5th, 2004 | Filed by

The phrases ‘sound science’ and ‘peer review’ may not mean what you think.… Read the rest



What We Don’t See

Mar 4th, 2004 8:08 pm | By

What was that I was saying only a day or two ago about smelly little orthodoxies and the hijab? This article from the BBC certainly gives a good illustration of what I mean. Two mentions of Muslim opposition to the ban, and no mentions at all of Muslim support for the ban. If you don’t already know a little about the subject, and read that article, you’ll be left with the impression that Muslims who have any opinion on the matter are opposed. But that is simply not true. Forty percent of Muslim women support the ban, according to news reports I’ve seen.

Most of France’s political parties, and around 70% of the population, support the ban which some Muslim

Read the rest


Elephants Can Be Irritating *

Mar 4th, 2004 | Filed by

There are good reasons why Africans don’t view their fauna with the same sentimentality that Europeans do.… Read the rest



French Upper House Backs Hijab Ban *

Mar 4th, 2004 | Filed by

Huge majority in favour of the ban.… Read the rest



A Basin of Nice, Thin Gruel

Mar 3rd, 2004 11:55 pm | By

I want to talk just a little more about this question of morality and motivation. The more I think about it the more of a wall it seems. A dead stop, an aporia, a permanent undecideable. A six of one half dozen of the other. Norm Geras put it very well:

I have read that in the Nazi camps, those who did best at maintaining their moral bearings, at not going to pieces in face of the horrors they daily had to experience, were people of very firm and definite convictions: Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jewish rabbis, hardened communist militants. On the other hand, intellectuals, liberal and professional people, sometimes suffered a precipitous moral collapse…To have had to get used to conditions

Read the rest


Science Journal Publishers Defend Profits *

Mar 3rd, 2004 | Filed by

Journal bosses claim that academic institutions would suffer if the system were changed.… Read the rest



My, the Unabomber Writes Well *

Mar 3rd, 2004 | Filed by

How to grade millions of university-entrance essays? Clumsily.… Read the rest



Science in the Arab World *

Mar 3rd, 2004 | Filed by

What are the factors that contribute to the low level of scientific research?… Read the rest



GM Crops Can Help the Poor *

Mar 3rd, 2004 | Filed by

The strongest argument in favour of developing GM crops is the contribution they can make to reducing world poverty, hunger and disease.… Read the rest



MMR Researchers Issue Retraction *

Mar 3rd, 2004 | Filed by

Ten doctors who co-authored the MMR health fears study have said there was insufficient evidence to draw that conclusion.… Read the rest



Tougher Penalties for Genital Mutilation *

Mar 3rd, 2004 | Filed by

Up to 14 years in prison for parents who allow their children to undergo female circumcision.… Read the rest