James Trefil Reviews Richard Dawkins *

Nov 15th, 2004 | Filed by

Great stuff – intriguingly written, honest about controversies, clear about the science.… Read the rest



Making No Sense in Defense of Nonsense *

Nov 15th, 2004 | Filed by

Lacking empirical fact and logic, creationism uses political approaches to winning arguments.… Read the rest



Iris Chang *

Nov 15th, 2004 | Filed by

Her book outraged Japanese conservatives. Because?… Read the rest



Race, Class, Culture, and Education *

Nov 15th, 2004 | Filed by

How factors combine and then reinforce each other.… Read the rest



Political Islam vs. Secularism

Nov 15th, 2004 | By Azar Majedi

‘Islam against Islam’ is an interesting topic. The irony of a believer criticising the beliefs is provocative. I am not a Moslem; I am an atheist. However, I have lived Islam; I have firsthand experience of Islam. I was born within a religious conflict: a religious mother and an atheist father. From childhood, I began to see the flaws, the restrictions, the misogyny, the backwardness, the dogma, the superstition, and uncritical nature of Islam vis-à-vis the enlightenment, the freethinking spirit of atheist thinking.

I became an atheist at the age of 12.

The establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran after a failed revolution laid bare many other appalling and cruel dimensions of Islam, which we later came to label … Read the rest



Iris Chang Commits Suicide *

Nov 14th, 2004 | Filed by

Author of The Rape of Nanking created awareness and controversy.… Read the rest



Politics and Morality

Nov 13th, 2004 10:07 pm | By

Okay, here I am doing my best. Brushing the sweat out of my eyes, swatting at mosquitoes, worrying about frostbite, avoiding hidden cravasses, catching bullets in my teeth, eating old bread with maggots and weevils and turnip crumbs in it, being charged by cranky lions and rhinos and people who sell insurance. Here’s one item I was thinking about before the virus pounced and turned my computer into an evil demon. Mark Bauerlein has an interesting article in the Chronicle of Higher Ed – but even though it’s interesting I have some disagreements with it. It’s about the familiar subject of lefty groupthink in (US) universities. One problem is that he says campuses, colleges, academics, rather than specifying ‘certain branches’ … Read the rest



Inferno

Nov 13th, 2004 6:21 pm | By

Well perhaps not as bad as I thought.

I can’t just delete now because of the RSS feed.

And look what I just found! What a lovely surprise. I can pretend I’m still there.… Read the rest



Rohan Jayasekera Answers His Critics *

Nov 13th, 2004 | Filed by

Sort of.… Read the rest



The Fundamentalist El Niño *

Nov 13th, 2004 | Filed by

Evangelicals have taken advantage of religion’s immunity from criticism.… Read the rest



Blogger Threatened for ‘Insults’ to Allah *

Nov 12th, 2004 | Filed by

Allah not threatened for insults to blogger.… Read the rest



Livingstone Under Investigation over al-Qaradawi *

Nov 12th, 2004 | Filed by

Invitation to al-Qaradawi not popular with women, gays, Jews, Sikhs, Hindus, some Muslims, non-bombers – most people.… Read the rest



Michael Fitzpatrick Reviews Richard Horton *

Nov 11th, 2004 | Filed by

Lancet editor’s new book on MMR panic doesn’t explain why he published Wakefield’s flawed research.… Read the rest



Trip Nostalgia

Nov 10th, 2004 11:33 pm | By

It’s beautiful here today, in an odd, subdued sort of way. I went for a walk and gazed out over the Sound an hour or so ago. Everything is grey – the sky, the water – but it’s a bright, translucent grey in places. The clouds are shapey and various as opposed to being a single pewter-coloured blanket, and there are places where the sun almost shines through them, so in the distance the water is quite silvery. I’ve been back for a week (plus a bit). Things have shaken down as they do after a trip (that’s one of the fun things about trips: the sense of strangeness when you get back), and I’ve had time to think it … Read the rest



Oxford Wins Extension to Animal Rights Injunction *

Nov 10th, 2004 | Filed by

Order grants ‘no harassment’ zone around all its buildings in the city. … Read the rest



‘Slaughterhouses’ Found in Fallujah *

Nov 10th, 2004 | Filed by

Iraqi troops have found houses where hostages were held and killed by the ‘resistance’.… Read the rest



Arundhati Roy Speaks to Australia *

Nov 10th, 2004 | Filed by

‘Why should people allow a novelist to influence their political views?’… Read the rest



Arundhati Roy Defends Views on Iraqi ‘Resistance’ *

Nov 10th, 2004 | Filed by

‘Several critics said Roy’s views on Iraq should have disqualified her.’… Read the rest



Kristallnacht March in Oslo Forbids ‘Jewish Symbols’ *

Nov 10th, 2004 | Filed by

Commemoration ended without a single representative from Norway’s Jews.… Read the rest



Calls For End to Violence at van Gogh Funeral *

Nov 10th, 2004 | Filed by

Anger, hatred, sorrow, fear, remorse, all mix it up in aftermath of murder.… Read the rest