Journalists and editors have finally demonstrated that they can pose a serious risk to public health.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
AC Grayling Deals With Steve Fuller
Sep 5th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonFuller seems to forget Popper’s killer point, namely, a theory that explains everything explains nothing.… Read the rest
Think twice before mocking
Sep 4th, 2008 6:03 pm | By Ophelia BensonI don’t entirely agree with Julian here. (Maybe all the commenters have said what I’m going to say; I don’t read comments at Comment is Free any more and haven’t read these. If they’ve already said this just go watch Sarah Palin re-runs or something.)
The piece is about religion and mockery and free speech and the predictability of what people say about them.
… Read the restBut isn’t mockery good, and any belief system incapable of putting up with it deficient in some way? That’s true, but you can’t just ignore the background against which lampooning takes place. Christians, for example, are not oppressed, despite what some wannabe martyrs would have us believe. British Muslims, in contrast, are a somewhat beleaguered
Joke Obscenity Filters
Sep 4th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘Assassination’ becomes ‘buttbuttination,’ ‘passenger’ is ‘pbuttenger,’ and ‘passerby’ is ‘pbutterby.’… Read the rest
Our Brains Do Not Intuitively Grasp Probabilities
Sep 4th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThanks to confirmation bias, we remember the coincidences and forget the vast sea of meaningless data.… Read the rest
Racism and Sexism or Neoliberalism?
Sep 4th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIt is exploitation, not discrimination, that is the primary producer of inequality today. … Read the rest
Carlin Romano on Bernard-Henri Lévy
Sep 4th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIt’s that openness to being shaken in his beliefs that makes Lévy more appealing than many of his detractors.… Read the rest
Anti-Wahhabist Journalist Killed in Dagestan
Sep 4th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAlishayev was an editor at an Islamic tv station who made a documentary countering Wahhabism.… Read the rest
Julian Baggini on Free Speech and Mockery
Sep 4th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWhile comedy speaking truth to power is funny, the powerful laughing at the weak is not.… Read the rest
They’re getting closer
Sep 3rd, 2008 7:29 pm | By Ophelia BensonSpare a thought for the unfortunate people of Yemen. They’re getting their very own Saudi-style virtue squad, which they didn’t even ask for and don’t actually very much want.
For many Yemenis, and for women in particular, this was another alarming sign of the growth of Salafi extremism — an unwelcome import from neighbouring Saudi Arabia where the “mutaween” religious police are part of the scenery. “These people scare the hell out of me,” complained Nadia al-Sakkaf, the editor of the Yemen Times.
Yeah they’d scare me too if they turned up where I live.
… Read the restThe first signs appeared a few months ago in the Red Sea port of Hodeida, where young men and women began to be accosted
Contentious Polygamy Law in Iran
Sep 3rd, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe proposed Family Support Bill would allow a man to marry a second wife without the permission of the first. … Read the rest
Iran Sentences Women’s Rights Activists
Sep 3rd, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSix months in prison for writing feminist articles on a website.… Read the rest
Emergence of ‘Morality Police’ in Yemen
Sep 3rd, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonA setback for women, already battling 70% illiteracy and one of the biggest gender gaps on earth.… Read the rest
Egyptian Women Describe Sexual Harassment
Sep 3rd, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘I get harassed 100 times a day. I tried everything to stop it but it doesn’t stop.’… Read the rest
Harper Collins Australia Apologizes for Offending
Sep 3rd, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonBook teaches girls to play didgeridoo; some ‘indigenous leaders’ say this is taboo.… Read the rest
Bad decisions
Sep 2nd, 2008 3:22 pm | By Ophelia BensonLori Viars, a mother of two and evangelical Christian from Lebanon, Ohio, cheered the candidacy as well as the decision of both Palin women to keep their babies. “The whole family is pro-life, and they put that into practice even when it’s not easy,” Ms. Viars said.
It’s nothing to cheer. Palin is adamantly anti-abortion, so her daughter age 17 has to have an unplanned baby, has to be a mother years too early, and has to marry her high school boyfriend, which is a recipe for disaster. ‘Bristol’ Palin has to ruin her life because of inflated concerns about a fetus.
What’s up with ‘Bristol,’ anyway? Chelsea, Bristol – what’s their point? Is everybody … Read the rest
Treat Domestic Workers Fairly This Ramadan
Sep 2nd, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHRW: employers of domestic workers in the ME and NA should consider the rights of domestic workers.… Read the rest
‘Abstinence Only’ and its Discontents
Sep 2nd, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe US has one of the worst annual rates of teenage pregnancies in the developed world. … Read the rest
Pakistan: Murdered Women Exhumed
Sep 2nd, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonOnly two found. Police have arrested six people, including some relatives of the women. … Read the rest
Telegraph on Women Buried Alive in Balochistan
Sep 2nd, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonNo one has been arrested; human rights groups accuse local authorities of trying to cover up the murders.… Read the rest