Through a network of clerics, the Mubarak regime used conservative interpretations of Islam to fight the Muslim Brotherhood.… Read the rest
Can dreams predict the future? 
Feb 23rd, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Because dreams tend to be somewhat surreal they have the potential to be twisted to match the events that actually transpired.… Read the rest
Frontline on the Muslim Brotherhood
Feb 23rd, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
They’re young, they’re hip, they’re tech-savvy, you’ll love them. Srsly.… Read the rest
The “moderate” Muslim Brotherhood
Feb 23rd, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Senior MB figure describes Iran as a ‘model of resistance’ against the West, and praises it for its ‘respect for humanity’.… Read the rest
Revolution jokes
Feb 23rd, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The tougher circumstances get, the more the jokes increase, which explains why Tahrir Square was essentially a comedy explosion.… Read the rest
“Evolution isn’t in the curriculum”
Feb 22nd, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
School stamps on scientific curiosity and aptitude in a girl of 9. Well done!… Read the rest
If you do decide to go meta
Feb 22nd, 2011 12:56 pm | By Ophelia BensonRussell says why metametametameta discussions about Why Gnu Atheists Are So Horrible are likely to be irritating to gnu atheists.
If people who don’t believe they have been especially uncivil are chided not to be “a dick”, or if lies are told about people like them behaving in public in outrageously uncivil ways, and if stories are told that suggest they are uncivil in the manner of the children in Jean’s story, it produces certain emotions. To be blunt, it creates anger and ill-will.
Well yes it does rather. It does that all the more when all these things, and other things too, happen over and over and over again, saying the same thing, pointing at the same people, tutting … Read the rest
Kabul seeks control of women’s shelters
Feb 22nd, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Some of the girls in the shelter were raped and then forced to marry the rapist. Some were married to much older men and kept with farm animals outside the house.… Read the rest
UNHRC Used By Dictators To Undermine Human Rights
Feb 22nd, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Human Rights Council currently includes members such as Libya, Bahrain, China, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.… Read the rest
US: unions fight back
Feb 22nd, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Thousands of protesters were expected to gather in Ohio and Indiana and, for the second week in a row, Wisconsin.… Read the rest
Russell Blackford on gnude clothes and shutting up
Feb 22nd, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A great deal of what we’ve seen has not been “adults” telling the uncivil “children” to please show some communicative restraint.… Read the rest
Darwin’s Illness
Feb 22nd, 2011 | By Allen EstersonDespite the title, I have no intention of discussing the extensive literature on the origin and nature of Darwin’s chronic illness.[1] My concern here is to examine the contention that trepidation about the potential vehement opposition his evolutionary theory would evoke from his religious friends and acquaintances, and among the privileged classes in general, greatly exacerbated his symptoms. The widely-held view that there was such a link is a significant feature of Adrian Desmond and James Moore’s biography Darwin (1991), and in the course of challenging the very basis of this contention, I shall also examine the means by which these authors seek to persuade their readers to accept it.
On his return from the five-year Beagle voyage, Darwin was … Read the rest
Darwin and Bertie
Feb 21st, 2011 4:25 pm | By Ophelia BensonAllen Esterson takes a hard look at some tendentious biographical interpretation of Darwin by Adrian Desmond and James Moore.
…they achieve their aims by a highly selective use of evidence, and by insinuating connections between Darwin’s evolutionary writings and concurrent political events for which there is no documentary warrant.
Well perhaps they were doing postmodern history.
It appears that The King’s Speech is another example of postmodern history. Christopher Hitchens tells us how.
The King’s Speech also part-whitewashes and part-airbrushes the consistent support of Buckingham Palace for Stanley Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain and their unceasing attempt to make an agreement with Hitler that would allow him a free hand in Europe while preserving the British Empire.
Oh well, that … Read the rest
Hitchens on “The King’s Speech” and shabby history
Feb 21st, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The balloon of Hollywood ambition and prize-mania can burst with gratifying speed, emitting huge gusts of narcissism and megalomania.… Read the rest
Libya protests spread and intensify
Feb 21st, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Gaddafi seems to be losing vital support, as Libyan government officials at home and abroad resigned and air force pilots defected.… Read the rest
Gaddafi is losing the fight
Feb 21st, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
US ambassador Ali Aujali said he could no longer represent a government that killed its own people.… Read the rest
Theologians get to change definition of evolution
Feb 21st, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The National Association of Biology Teachers officially changed their description of evolution, to better accomodate the views of theologians.… Read the rest
Is it “theological” to say evolution is mindless?
Feb 21st, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The completely material nature of selection is of great historical and intellectual importance.… Read the rest
The US made secret deals with the Muslim Brotherhood
Feb 21st, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Each time, the only party that clearly benefited has been the Brotherhood.… Read the rest
Libyan military pilots seek political asylum in Malta
Feb 21st, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Two Libyan air force jets landed in Malta on Monday; their pilots asked for political asylum amid a bloody crackdown on anti-government protesters in Libya.… Read the rest
