A thriving citizen-journalist community has been silenced because of the ego of one rich creationist.… Read the rest
Review of Chris Mooney’s ‘Storm World’
Aug 22nd, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe evidence is on the side of those who think hurricanes are changing along with global warming.… Read the rest
Blake Stacey on Pivar
Aug 22nd, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonOn censorship-by-intimidation.… Read the rest
Tim Sandefur on Pivar
Aug 22nd, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘Calling someone a “crackpot” is simply not actionable as libel, except in rare circumstances.’… Read the rest
Panda’s Thumb on the Pivar Lawsuit
Aug 22nd, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAccording to Pivar, Gould only endorsed evolutionary theory under duress from ‘Darwinian orthodoxy.’… Read the rest
More on the frivolous lawsuit
Aug 21st, 2007 6:04 pm | By Ophelia BensonVery interesting. Panda’s Thumb comments on Pivar’s poxy lawsuit –
The suit has been discussed on several web sites already, including Scientific American, the Lippard Blog, Overlawyered and PT contributor Timothy Sandefur’s personal blog Positive Liberty. The consensus seems to be that the suit has no legs, but of course if this is a nuisance suit, ultimate success in front of a judge is not the goal.
And Peter Irons comments on the comment – Peter Irons, author of A People’s History of the Supreme Court from which I have derived material for comment here, I think possibly more than once.
… Read the restSince this is all out in the open now, I thought I’d comment as a lawyer who specializes in
Silencing critics
Aug 21st, 2007 3:30 pm | By Ophelia BensonThis libel suit against PZ is terrifying – not just for people who write, but for people who read too. If suits like this are possible, then no one can say anything. Magazines of any substance will disappear, newspapers will become even more vacuous than they already are, books will become anorexic and very very dull. How can it be possible to sue someone for an unfavorable book review? Why wasn’t Stuart Pivar politely but firmly escorted out of the building and told not to return?
Note this bit from Blake Stacey:
… Read the restDown in the comments, my Pharynguloid pals and I started noticing that the laudatory quotes Pivar had stuck on LifeCode couldn’t be traced back to their purported
Freedom of speech means you must shut up
Aug 21st, 2007 12:22 pm | By Ophelia BensonAnd while I’m at it, why don’t I just quarrel with Michael Shermer’s piece too. He doesn’t resort to the childish abuse of ‘the New Atheist Noise Machine,’ but there’s plenty to quarrel with all the same.
Whenever religious beliefs conflict with scientific facts or violate principles of political liberty, we must respond with appropriate aplomb. Nevertheless, we should be cautious about irrational exuberance…Anti-something movements by themselves will fail.
Oh really. Such as abolitionism for instance? Anti-war movements? Anti-imperialism movements? Some anti-something movements fail, others don’t. And the ‘new Atheists’ aren’t merely against something anyway, so it’s just more straw. (People do produce a remarkable amount of straw on this subject.)
… Read the restPositive assertions are necessary. Champion science and reason,
David Colquhoun on an Age of Endarkenment
Aug 21st, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonTruth ceased to matter very much, and dogma and irrationality became once more respectable. … Read the rest
Hurricane Dean and Global Warming
Aug 21st, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonChris Mooney on what we can and can’t reliably say about the two. … Read the rest
PZ Myers Sued for Unfavorable Book Review
Aug 21st, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonStuart Pivar sues Seed Media Group and PZ for ‘Assault, Libel, and Slander.’… Read the rest
Religious Donations Fund Islamic ‘Schools’
Aug 21st, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonForeign money is fuelling the tide of Islamist violence washing across northern Pakistan. … Read the rest
Haleh Esfandiari Released on Bail
Aug 21st, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAnother Iranian-American academic, Kian Tajbakhsh, is thought to remain in prison in Iran. … Read the rest
The Parochialist Noise Machine
Aug 21st, 2007 11:17 am | By Ophelia BensonHow nice – Matthew Nisbet has trotted out the old ‘atheists should be quiet’ number again, and nearly all the comments point out how absurd that is, and why. Good.
Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine, echoes the very same warnings about the Dawkins-Hitchens PR campaign emphasized here at Framing Science…He argues against the irrational exuberance of the New Atheist Noise Machine…
No he doesn’t, because he doesn’t call it ‘the New Atheist Noise Machine’ – that bit of creepy snide namecalling is Nisbet’s contribution. It pisses me off, that kind of thing, because apart from anything else, what about the Theist Noise Machine? Eh? Why do Nisbet and Greg Epstein and the rest of the atheist-‘bashing’ hacks make such … Read the rest
Deference to authority
Aug 20th, 2007 5:44 pm | By Ophelia BensonStephen Law asks a crucial question:
[M]y greatest concern is that the smoke generated by the battle over whether religious schools are a good idea has obscured a more fundamental question, a question about the kind of religious education schools offer: to what extent should schools be allowed to encourage deference to authority when it comes to moral and religious matters? To what extent should they be able to suppress independent, critical thought?
How about deference to authority and downright obedience of existing rules (no hitting, no knifing the teacher, no breaking windows – you know the kind of thing) in combination with no suppression at all of independent, critical thought about the rules? How does that sound? Obey … Read the rest
Denis Dutton on Bad Writing
Aug 20th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe point is not communication; the point is that you are to fall on your knees before such an elevated person.… Read the rest
Stephen Law on the War for Children’s Minds
Aug 20th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonTo what extent should schools encourage deference to authority on moral and religious matters?… Read the rest
Deborah Lipstadt and Others on Holocaust Denial
Aug 20th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonTruth and history are, from both an ideological and strategic perspective, far more powerful weapons than laws.… Read the rest
Habermas on Coffee and Coffeehouses
Aug 20th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe coffeehouse provides speech conditions that are foundational for rational political self-determination.… Read the rest
Mark Lilla on the Politics of God
Aug 20th, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonOur problems are those of the 16th century: competing revelations, dogmatic purity, divine duty. … Read the rest