All entries by this author

The War on Religion

Oct 10th, 2006 2:09 am | By

You know the US is in the grip of a war on religion, right? Sure. That’s why there are all these religious exemptions cluttering up the place.

Alabama exempts church day care programs from state licensing requirements, which were tightened after almost a dozen children died in licensed and unlicensed day care centers in the state in two years.

Well that’s good thinking. State licensing requirements were tightened presumably to improve the safety of day care centers – but church day care programs are exempt. On what grounds? Because if children in those programs crack their skulls on the concrete under the swing set, they’ll go to heaven so it’s okay? Because the church needs the money? What?

In recent

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Polish Consulate Cancels Talk After Phone Calls *

Oct 9th, 2006 | Filed by

Kasprzyk said ADL and American Jewish Congress phoned; he concluded Judt was too controversial.… Read the rest



Why the Face Matters *

Oct 9th, 2006 | Filed by

Times readers offer reasons.… Read the rest



Religious Right Shapes US Foreign Aid *

Oct 9th, 2006 | Filed by

Secular groups are losing funding.… Read the rest



Bush Injects Religion into Foreign Aid *

Oct 9th, 2006 | Filed by

Has systematically eliminated or weakened rules designed to enforce separation of church and state.… Read the rest



BBC Analyst Remembers Anna Politkovskaya *

Oct 9th, 2006 | Filed by

Despite huge pressures on Russia’s media to submit and conform, she investigated and reported abuses.… Read the rest



Custodians of their own morals

Oct 8th, 2006 6:54 pm | By

I usually disagree with Cristina Odone, but she makes a reasonable point here.

In our romantic vision, these bearded men and apron-clad women offer the possibility of etching out a distinct path, removed from the ugly materialist world of big business and commercialism. The families’ tragedies is unbearably moving, yet the way this community is dealing with a gunman killing five young schoolgirls (and then himself) is disturbing…It’s not just TV and iPods they reject: it is schooling beyond 14, the emancipation of women and scholarship that questions a single interpretation of the sacred texts…Given their uncompromising ways, the Amish live in an apartheid of their own choosing. This can be dangerous, as we have seen with Catholic paedophile

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Anna Politkovskaya 1958-2006 *

Oct 8th, 2006 | Filed by

Her reporting won international recognition for exposing human rights abuses in Chechnya.… Read the rest



Russians Mourn Anna Politkovskaya *

Oct 8th, 2006 | Filed by

Politkovskaya was due to publish an article on torture and kidnappings in Chechnya on Monday.… Read the rest



The Sunlight Foundation on Dennis Hastert *

Oct 8th, 2006 | Filed by

The Prairie Parkway will run right past his new property. How handy.… Read the rest



Dennis Hastert’s Real Estate Deals *

Oct 8th, 2006 | Filed by

Speaker’s net worth went from c. $300,000 to $6.2 million, partly thanks to an earmark he authored. … Read the rest



Domestic Violence Among the Amish *

Oct 8th, 2006 | Filed by

‘One person came to me for protection, but she can’t go to court because they don’t believe in it.’… Read the rest



Cristina Odone on the Amish *

Oct 8th, 2006 | Filed by

It’s not just TV and iPods they reject: it is schooling beyond 14 and the emancipation of women.… Read the rest



Jack Straw was Right to Lift the Veil on a Taboo *

Oct 8th, 2006 | Filed by

A symbol of women’s oppression which stretches back to the times of classical Greece.… Read the rest



The Goldilocks Problem *

Oct 8th, 2006 | Filed by

Why is the universe ‘just right’?… Read the rest



Infallible cannoli

Oct 7th, 2006 5:43 pm | By

We’ve been hearing something lately about the expertise and, how shall I say, the best-mindedness (in the sense of being among the greatest minds of the past thousand years) of theologians. I’m not convinced. Actually I could put it more strongly than that, but I’ll just say I’m not convinced. No one has ever accused me of not being tactful. Okay lots of people have accused me of exactly that, but it was always a misunderstanding.

There are several reasons I’m not convinced; this article in the Times illustrates one or two.

The Pope will cast aside centuries of Catholic belief later this week by abolishing formally the concept of limbo…This week a 30-strong Vatican international commission of theologians, which

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Students Flee Iraq’s Schools and Universities *

Oct 7th, 2006 | Filed by

Academics, especially scientists, have been targeted for assassination. … Read the rest



Theologians Tweak Limbo Hypothesis *

Oct 7th, 2006 | Filed by

Experts find God’s ways of ensuring salvation cannot be known, ergo all are saved.… Read the rest



Cardinal Protests BBC ‘Attack’ on Pope *

Oct 7th, 2006 | Filed by

Archbish says viewers will recognize ‘a deeply prejudiced attack on a revered world religious leader.’… Read the rest



Infallible Pope Undecided on Limbo Question *

Oct 7th, 2006 | Filed by

So for now limbo is neither here nor there.… Read the rest