Likely due to lack of food over a long period. In October, Cambodia imposed a temporary ban on sending domestic workers to Malaysia following numerous complaints of abuse.… Read the rest
Malaysia: couple charged with murder of Cambodian maid
Apr 16th, 2012 | Filed by Ophelia BensonPolice suspect Mey Sichan died of prolonged starvation.… Read the rest
A cunning plan
Apr 16th, 2012 2:24 pm | By Ophelia BensonDon’t be in too much of a hurry to point and laugh. This could be a brilliant idea: Cornwall Council has told its schools
that pagan beliefs, which include witchcraft, druidism and the worship of ancient gods such as Thor, should be taught alongside Christianity, Islam and Judaism.
…
And an accompanying guide says that pupils should ‘understand the basic beliefs’ of paganism and suggests children could discuss the difficulties a practising pagan pupil might face in school.
But the council’s initiative has dismayed some Christian campaigners, who are alarmed that a religion once regarded as a fringe eccentricity is increasingly gaining official recognition.
While at the same time a religion once regarded as entirely mainstream and Normal and right … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
How to improve your numbers
Apr 16th, 2012 2:02 pm | By Ophelia BensonThe BBC does some investigating in Uzbekistan. It finds a nasty habit of sterilizing women without their knowledge or consent.
… Read the restSterilisation is not, officially, the law in Uzbekistan.
But evidence gathered by the BBC suggests that the Uzbek authorities have run a programme over the last two years to sterilise women across the country, often without their knowledge.
Foreign journalists are not welcome in Uzbekistan, and in late February of this year the authorities deported me from the country. I met Adolat and many other Uzbek women in the relative safety of neighbouring Kazakhstan. I also gathered testimony by telephone and email, and in recordings brought out of the country by courier.
None of the women wanted to give
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Uzbekistan’s policy of secretly sterilising women
Apr 16th, 2012 | Filed by Ophelia BensonEvidence gathered by the BBC suggests Uzbek authorities have run a programme for 2 years to sterilise women across the country, often without their knowledge.… Read the rest
George Pell saves a sinner
Apr 16th, 2012 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAngels appearing and people rising from the dead seemed unlikely, especially after Santa Claus had turned out to be a Myer employee.… Read the rest
Votive candles and peacock feathers
Apr 15th, 2012 5:03 pm | By Ophelia BensonThe Economist paints a grim picture of the outlook for non-alternative aka sane medicine.
… Read the restBy one recent count four in ten American adults use some form of alternative therapy. If Dr Weil’s flourishing business and other programmes are any indication, these will grow even further. For six decades double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trials have helped doctors to sort science from opinion and to sift evidence from anecdote. Now those lines are blurring.
…
Powerful supporters have helped the cause. King George VI helped to ensure that homeopathy would be part of Britain’s newly created National Health Service (his grandson, Prince Charles, is also a fan). Royal Copeland, an American senator and homeopath, saw to it that the Food, Drug and Cosmetic
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Jim Jefferies
Apr 15th, 2012 4:22 pm | By Ophelia BensonA month ago Rorschach posted a Jim Jefferies video in anticipation (not eager anticipation, but rather the opposite) of his appearance at the Global Atheist Convention.
So far I’ve managed to watch only three minutes, because it’s a very unpleasant experience. Apparently what makes him so supremely funny is his loathing of women.
Nice work, GAC.… Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Medicine and its rivals
Apr 15th, 2012 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe future for the alternative-therapy industry looks particularly bright in America. NCCAM continues to pay for research.… Read the rest
Saskatoon Catholic church looking for trained exorcist
Apr 15th, 2012 | Filed by Ophelia BensonA spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Toronto told the Toronto Star that every diocese is supposed to have a priest trained to perform exorcisms. Toronto has two.… Read the rest
Vending machines for “traditional Chinese medicine”
Apr 15th, 2012 | Filed by Ophelia BensonTake “mysterious ingredients,” steep them for hours, then dispense them “accurately” via a vending machine. Instant cure!… Read the rest
PZ’s talk at GAC: Sacking the City of God
Apr 15th, 2012 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSo how do you kill an idea? How will we sack the city of faith? By coming up with a better, more powerful idea. That’s the only way we can win.… Read the rest
London Met v-c urged to apologise for alcohol comments
Apr 15th, 2012 | Filed by Ophelia BensonClaire Locke, president of the Student Union, said Malcolm Gillies had “offended” Muslim students by generalising about their beliefs.… Read the rest
Dispatches from the Global Atheist Convention
Apr 15th, 2012 | By Bruce EverettDay one – Thursday: It begins…
… or the fringe events begin, at any rate.
I’ve arrived in Melbourne, being greeted by more than a few pubs with closed doors and ‘For Sale’ signs, and hijab or ten. The voice of an invisible, satirical yokel cries in my mind ‘Sharia law! This was a Christian nation’.
We don’t have the same presence of far-right, totalitarian, Islamic groups here in Australia that Europe has. Our yokels object to Muslims, not Islam (which they don’t know anything about – ask them what they think of Wahhabism, and they’ll probably tell you they don’t like sushi), while our political left remains somewhat oblivious to the ways far-right political Islam can manifest, and don’t … Read the rest
More Bruce Everett at the Global Atheist Convention
Apr 15th, 2012 9:37 am | By Ophelia BensonA guest post by Bruce Everett
Day two – Friday: Canapés and Entrées…
The official story was, I’m told, that the canapés were a part of some kind of standard package. This apparently counted against all the forms filled out by ticket holders, marking ‘vegetarian’ or ‘vegan’ (or whatnot).
I wasn’t around at the Global Atheist Convention in 2010 to compare, but I’m told there were similar issues then with vegetarian food. I can’t honestly say I was irked, myself, but there were grumbling veggies with grumbling tummies in earshot, that made their views apparent.
(Please note, I absolutely do not attribute the cause of this gastronomic mishap to any of the volunteers from the Atheist Foundation of Australia – … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Blasphemy is everywhere these days
Apr 14th, 2012 5:05 pm | By Ophelia BensonThe Indian skeptic Sanal Edamaruku explained a “miracle” Jesus statuette that was dripping water: it was located near a drain, and attracting the water via capillary action. This was annoying to the people who had planned to sell the “holy water” in little bottles.
… Read the restSome hours later, in a live program on TV-9, Sanal explained his findings and accused the Catholic Church of miracle mongering, as they were beating the big drum for the dripping Jesus statue with aggressive PR measures and by distributing photographs certifying the “miracle”. A heated debate began, in which the five church people, among them Fr. Augustine Palett, the priest of Our Lady of Velankanni church, and representatives of the Association of Concerned Catholics (AOCC)
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Their Catholic identity
Apr 14th, 2012 4:14 pm | By Ophelia BensonGonzaga University, a Catholic school, has invited Desmond Tutu to give the commencement address next month to Gonzaga’s graduating class. It also plans to give him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. But that doesn’t sit well with some graduates. They think he’s not good enough and not Catholic enough (the latter not all that surprising since he’s not a Catholic at all).
… Read the restPatrick Kirby, a 1993 Gonzaga graduate, said Tutu is pro-abortion rights, has made offensive statements toward Jews and supports contraception and the ordination of gay clergy and shouldn’t be honored by a Catholic institution.
…
“I don’t have any realistic expectations that they’ll do that (cancel Tutu’s invitation). The goal for me is to bring attention
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Incompatibles
Apr 14th, 2012 12:46 pm | By Ophelia BensonSooraya Graham is very confused. She wants to be liberal and free and provocative, and she also wants to be reactionary and veiled and submissive. She’s an art student, see. She wears hijab. She took a picture of a friend of hers who wears a niqab and abaya, holding a bra. She wanted to “humanize” her.
Graham said her intention had been to “humanize” women who wear the niqab, which covers a woman’s entire head except for her eyes, by showing one doing a simple act that many women can relate to.
The way to “humanize” women who wear the niqab is to persuade them to stop wearing it. The niqab is a dehumanizing object, and that’s the point … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Belarus: Andrei Sannikov released from prison
Apr 14th, 2012 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSannikov, the founder of the Charter 97 pro-democracy group, had been held since the crackdown on opposition in Europe’s last dictatorship in December 2010.… Read the rest