And another thing. That disdainful remark that ‘The word chatter might strike fear into the heart of traditionalists’ is worthy of Sarah Palin. It strikes fear into our hearts because we think libraries should be places where we can read and think and study. We think that is what they are for, and that that ability is and always has been a good thing. We don’t think removing it is doing anyone a favour. We think there should be places where people can play and make noise and places where they can be quiet and think. We don’t think all places should be like libraries, we just think libraries should be like libraries. Why do people like Burnham think … Read the rest
More noise please
Oct 9th, 2008 10:44 am | By Ophelia BensonLibraries are ‘out of touch’.
Andy Burnham, the Secretary of State for Culture, will today launch a consultation on changing the face of libraries which he believes are out of touch…Noise bans will also be reviewed…”The popular public image of libraries as solemn and sombre places, patrolled by fearsome and formidable staff is decades out of date, but is nonetheless taken for granted by too many people,” he will say, adding that the sector would have to “think radical” to modernise.
Too many for what? Why should the sector modernize? Why does Burnham (apparently) think it’s a bad thing that libraries are out of touch?
If you ‘save’ or ‘preserve’ or ‘rescue’ libraries (or anything else) by turning them … Read the rest
Local gossip
Oct 8th, 2008 4:04 pm | By Ophelia BensonSo didja watch the debate? I’m not a huge fan of ‘debates’ (they’re not real debates, of course), but I watched some of Biden-Palin (enough to see that she was doing much better than I’d expected or wanted) and I watched most of last night’s. I thought McCain was godawful. Awkward, stumbling, unconvincing, unimpressive – and nasty with it. ‘That one’ – it’s all over the place now, but why shouldn’t it be? His hostility and contempt are creepy. Of course, this is the guy who called his (second) wife a cunt in front of a reporter.
Anyway – this ‘Not Presidential’ thing really makes me sick. What is that supposed to mean? Too smart? Too poised? Too calm? Too … Read the rest
Freedom to believe or not to believe
Oct 8th, 2008 3:04 pm | By Ophelia BensonThe pope and Sarkozy have been dissing secularism lately. Agnès Poirier defends it.
… Read the restTo speak of positive secularism is to imply that there are two kinds of secularism, one good, the other bad. The supposedly good one, put forward by the Pope and his acolyte Nicolas Sar kozy, is a secularism that would allow politics to mingle with religions. One which would, for instance, turn a blind eye to sects and their actions, one which would accept that people be treated differently according to their faiths, one which would blur the frontiers between the public and private spheres…What the Pope and president pretend not to know is that there is no positive or negative secularism (laïcité in French).
Whole sections of the community
Oct 8th, 2008 2:49 pm | By Ophelia BensonOliver Kamm is brisk with Charlie Gere.
… Read the restCharlie Gere…expresses unabashedly and succinctly a view that has increasingly made its way into the mainstream of public debate and ought to be derided out of it again…Of course it’s “not a problem” in public policy to offend anyone’s sensitivities, because people’s mental states are no business of government. If government set itself the task of alleviating mental anguish, then there would be no inherent limit to the powers that government might claim. The only proper response in public policy to those who say their deepest beliefs have been slighted and who complain of the offence they’ve been caused is: too bad, but you’ll live; and in the meantime there is no
McCain Ad: Obama ‘Not Presidential’
Oct 8th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMeaning what? Previous 43 were all white?… Read the rest
Vicar Apologizes for ‘Joke’ About Tattooing Gays
Oct 8th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSays he did not intend to cause upset or offense. See 9th commandment, vic.… Read the rest
Oliver Kamm on Charlie Gere
Oct 8th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAuthors and publishers must be defended against an assault on free expression under the guise of sensitivity.… Read the rest
Iran Plans Cute New Car Designed for Women
Oct 8th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWill come in ‘a range of feminine colours and interior designs’ with parking and navigation aids.… Read the rest
Sarkozy and Pope Call For ‘Positive’ Secularism
Oct 8th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSarkozy advocated the benefits of a secularism ‘more open to religions’; the pope seemed thrilled.… Read the rest
More Sinister Nonsense from Charlie Gere
Oct 8th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonCondemns ‘violence’ committed by ‘those who are offended by criticisms of the freedom of speech.’… Read the rest
Passive violence
Oct 8th, 2008 11:39 am | By Ophelia BensonCharlie Gere is back; he seems to be enjoying himself.
I unreservedly and completely condemn any form of violence committed by anybody who believes they have been offended. That of course includes those who are offended by criticisms of the freedom of speech.
Okay. Good. Gere condemns violence committed by people who are offended by criticisms of the freedom of speech. Well naturally; don’t we all. Only…can anyone think of any? I can’t. I can’t, with however much furrowing of brow, think of any violence committed by people who are offended by criticisms of the freedom of speech. Can you? Do let me know if anything comes to mind.
… Read the restWhat seems to have happened is that “freedom of speech”
Claudia Roth Pierpont on Machiavelli
Oct 7th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMachiavelli no more invented political evil by describing it than Kinsey invented sex.… Read the rest
Review of Ben Goldacre’s ‘Bad Science’
Oct 7th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonEd Lake applauds a crusade against lazy and deceptive writing about science.… Read the rest
Sarah Chayse on Her Friend Malalai Kakar
Oct 7th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonChayse was a friend of Kakar’s and says her killing has left many in a state of despair.… Read the rest
Anna Politkovskaia
Oct 7th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMurdered two years ago today, perhaps in retribution for her work.… Read the rest
Fleischacker on the Israel-Palestine Conflict 5
Oct 7th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAncestral occupancy, like religion, makes for a politically dangerous source of claims to ownership.… Read the rest
Universal rights anyone?
Oct 6th, 2008 12:17 pm | By Ophelia BensonSami Moubayed on Aisha and ‘double standards’.
The book has so far appeared in Serbia, with a provoking illustration of Aisha on the cover (in Islam it is forbidden to portray the wives of the Prophet, known as the “Mothers of Believers”).
The fact that something is ‘forbidden in Islam’ doesn’t mean that it is forbidden in general, and in fact for the rest of us it is not forbidden to portray the wives of the Prophet, nor is it ‘provoking’ to do so. This seems to be widely misunderstood – but the fact is, the laws and rules and taboos of Islam are not binding on everyone in the world. We are allowed to ignore them.
… Read the restIt is
Sami Moubayed Defends Aisha
Oct 6th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘Offending others for the sake of free speech should not be tolerated.’… Read the rest
Pope, Carrying Gold Bauble, Disses Money
Oct 6th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonPursuit of money pointless; building on sand; destructive influence; modern culture; God’s word.… Read the rest