All entries by this author

From Ben Goldacre’s New Book *

Sep 5th, 2008 | Filed by

Journalists and editors have finally demonstrated that they can pose a serious risk to public health.… Read the rest



AC Grayling Deals With Steve Fuller *

Sep 5th, 2008 | Filed by

Fuller 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

I 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.

But 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

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Joke Obscenity Filters *

Sep 4th, 2008 | Filed by

‘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

Thanks 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

It 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

It’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

Alishayev 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

While 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

Spare 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.

The first signs appeared a few months ago in the Red Sea port of Hodeida, where young men and women began to be accosted

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Contentious Polygamy Law in Iran *

Sep 3rd, 2008 | Filed by

The 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

Six months in prison for writing feminist articles on a website.… Read the rest



Emergence of ‘Morality Police’ in Yemen *

Sep 3rd, 2008 | Filed by

A 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

‘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

Book teaches girls to play didgeridoo; some ‘indigenous leaders’ say this is taboo.… Read the rest



Bad decisions

Sep 2nd, 2008 3:22 pm | By

Nothing to cheer about.

Lori 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

HRW: 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

The 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

Only 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

No one has been arrested; human rights groups accuse local authorities of trying to cover up the murders.… Read the rest