Around half a million women in developing countries die annually before, while, or soon after giving birth.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Preventing Harm: Empowering Women 
Oct 19th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Helping women gain greater power and more options in life is key to improving reproductive health.… Read the rest
Ostracized Women
Oct 19th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Each year, 100,000 women who give birth in poor countries develop obstetric fistula.… Read the rest
Lucky Dube Murdered in Johannesburg
Oct 19th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
One of the great reggae artists and one of the apartheid regime’s most outspoken critics. … Read the rest
Cold Spring Harbor Lab Suspends Watson
Oct 19th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Now scientists can read all our DNA they can show there is no scientific basis for the concept of race. … Read the rest
Bhutto is Defiant
Oct 19th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘What are the militants saying? They are saying it is not safe for peaceful people to gather together.’… Read the rest
The Cliché That Won’t Die
Oct 19th, 2007 | By Max DunbarI recently enjoyed the new Richard Dawkins series on Britain’s Channel 4, in which the scientist explores the world of alternative therapies – therapies which have few health benefits but are nevertheless funded by public money. Dawkins, of course, is known for his criticism of religious faith – not just religious states, wars, or terrorism, but the texts and the faith itself.
Here are some reactions to Dawkins’s viewpoint.
… Read the restDawkins is an unashamed proselytiser. (Madeleine Bunting)
What is arguably more interesting about Dawkins’s TV work is the sense in which his public advocacy of atheism is coming to look more and more like media-savvy forms of contemporary religion, particularly evangelicalism. (Gordon Lynch)
And yet, Dawkins is as reluctant as any
Women Resisting in Iran
Oct 18th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Farahnaz Shiri, the first female bus driver in Tehran, has made her own little society in her bus.… Read the rest
TV Documentary on Family Murdered by Father
Oct 18th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Caneze Riaz, 39, was killed along with daughters Sayrah, 16, Sophia, 13, Alicia, 10, and Hannah, 3.… Read the rest
Girls Are Treated Differently
Oct 18th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Birmingham leads the way in its handling of forced marriage, honour killings and domestic violence.… Read the rest
Muslim Secularism and its Allies
Oct 18th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Suggest an Islam without political aspirations and people start defending Qutb and Mawdudi as if their lives depended on it.… Read the rest
Parents Cite Religion to Avoid Vaccination
Oct 18th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Public health officials say it takes only a few unvaccinated people to cause an outbreak risking many lives.… Read the rest
Because it is Forbidden
Oct 18th, 2007 11:01 am | By Ophelia BensonSabrina Rahim doesn’t practice any particular faith, but she had no problem signing a letter declaring that because of her deeply held religious beliefs, her 4-year-old son should be exempt from the vaccinations required to enter preschool. She is among a small but growing number of parents around the country who are claiming religious exemptions to avoid vaccinating their children.
And by doing so, to put countless other children and adults at risk – a small but growing number of parents who feel entitled to endanger other people for no good reason.
… Read the rest[P]ublic health officials say it takes only a few people to cause an outbreak that can put large numbers of lives at risk. “When
Martha Nussbaum Reviews The Lucifer Effect
Oct 17th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Zimbardo concludes that situational features explain why people behave abusively to others. … Read the rest
Report on Freedom from Religion Convention
Oct 17th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
At which Hitchens calls for more war.… Read the rest
‘Moussa Kaka Must be Free’
Oct 17th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
African journalists, lawyers, academics try to convince President of Niger to free journalist.… Read the rest
Senegal: Editor Jailed for ‘Insulting the President’
Oct 17th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Senegal’s president has a personal prisoner accused of attacking his apparently sacred status, RSF said.… Read the rest
RSF Annual Index of Press Freedom
Oct 17th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
UK at 24, US at 48. China, Burma, Cuba, Iran, Turkmenistan, N. Korea, Eritrea last.… Read the rest
South Africa Losing Aids Fight
Oct 17th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Average infection rate 30%; 400,000 deaths a year; 1.5 million orphans; 1.2 million without treatment.… Read the rest
Never mind what he did say
Oct 17th, 2007 11:31 am | By Ophelia BensonAnd while we’re on the subject of strange readings and stranger arguments, Mark Vernon offers some more of those.
I have sometimes wondered why no enterprising journalist, as far as I know, hasn’t had a dig around in Richard Dawkins’ past in order to find the cause of his revolt against religion. But perhaps there is no need. It is all there in The God Delusion. A little analysis draws attention to three psychoanalytically significant things that stand out in the book. The first, that one can be certain God does not exist. With science, Dawkins has killed him. This, of course, is for Freud an Oedipal slaying of the God/Father.
Except that Dawkins not only doesn’t say … Read the rest
