This weekend, he again turned the tables on a troll who seemed to think calling Scalzi a feminist would be an insult.… Read the rest
Scalzi on what a feminist looks like
Aug 27th, 2013 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe right way to use the meme generator.… Read the rest
What a feminist looks like
Aug 27th, 2013 5:27 pm | By Ophelia BensonGod damn John Scalzi is good.
Yesterday: To The Dudebro Who Thinks He’s Insulting Me by Calling Me a Feminist
Just read it. I don’t want to spoil it with appetizers or remarks; just read it.
But I’ll give you a visual appetizer.
I’ve always wondered what that pleasant sweep of green at the top of his blog was, and vaguely assumed it was a nearby park. It’s his fucking front lawn. That plays a part, and gets its own meme, so read. Read read read.… Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
There are far worse people out there
Aug 27th, 2013 4:08 pm | By Ophelia BensonMother Jones has a long article on “ElevatorGATE.”
Earlier this month, at least five women contacted Xavier Damman, the CEO of Storify, to complain that a user who goes by the handle “elevatorgate” was harassing female users via Damman’s popular social-media curation site.
I could have told them that two years ago, or any time between then and now. I did tell Twitter several times. Twitter yawned.
… Read the rest…the women who complained about him say he has a history of sending abusive and misogynistic messages on other social networks. Elevatorgate’s Twitter account is suspended, but his YouTube page includes a video of Rebecca Watson, a 32-year-old New Yorker who runs Skepchick, a site about feminism and atheism, edited to
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
This wasn’t free speech this was a silencing
Aug 27th, 2013 3:16 pm | By Ophelia BensonAs you may have already seen, Avicenna was falsely accused of raping someone at TAM 2013. He’s never been to TAM; he hasn’t been in the US for several years. He is not much pleased.
… Read the restTurns out Mr. [Richard] Sanderson is a possible suspect in the fake accusation that I raped/molested someone at TAM 2013. Why? Because when I admitted publically about the accusation, I also pointed out that I had an alibi. Oh if you wish to know why I admitted to it, I felt the need to be honest because I figured that if I didn’t admit to it, someone would drop it on me as a “surprise” and I would rather do it myself. Bear in
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
First world phobias
Aug 27th, 2013 10:54 am | By Ophelia BensonThe Annals of Irrational Fear, GMO Division. The New York Times reports:
ONE bright morning this month, 400 protesters smashed down the high fences surrounding a field in the Bicol region of the Philippines and uprooted the genetically modified rice plants growing inside.
Had the plants survived long enough to flower, they would have betrayed a distinctly yellow tint in the otherwise white part of the grain. That is because the rice is endowed with a gene from corn and another from a bacterium, making it the only variety in existence to produce beta carotene, the source of vitamin A. Its developers call it “Golden Rice.”
FrankenFoods. Playing god. It ain’t natural. Yuck.
… Read the restNot owned by any company, Golden
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
In the Damascus area
Aug 27th, 2013 10:00 am | By Ophelia BensonMSF reports neurotoxic symptoms in hospital patients in Syria, according to the BBC.
Medecins Sans Frontieres says hospitals it supports in Syria treated about 3,600 patients with “neurotoxic symptoms”, of whom 355 have died.
The medical charity said the patients had arrived in three hospitals in the Damascus area on 21 August – when opposition activists say chemical attacks were launched against rebels.
But MSF says it cannot “scientifically confirm” the use of chemical weapons.
Scientific uncertainty.
… Read the rest“MSF can neither scientifically confirm the cause of these symptoms nor establish who is responsible for the attack,” said MSF Director of Operations Bart Janssens.
But it added that the symptoms, as well as the “massive influx of patients in a short
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Syria: MSF says symptoms suggest a neurotoxic agent
Aug 27th, 2013 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMedecins Sans Frontieres says hospitals it supports in Syria treated about 3,600 patients with “neurotoxic symptoms”, of whom 355 have died.… Read the rest
Sourland mountain
Aug 26th, 2013 4:38 pm | By Ophelia BensonSo having mentioned the Sourland mountains (and laughed at their diminutive size) I looked them up, half thinking it might be just a family name for that tiny rise on the western horizon – but no, it’s a real thing. Sourland Mountain.
… Read the restSourland Mountain is a 17 miles (27 km) long ridge in central New Jersey, extending from the Delaware River at Lambertville to the western end of Hillsborough Township near the community of Neshanic, through Montgomery Township and into Hopewell Township in Mercer County.[1] It comprises the largest contiguous forest in Central Jersey, nearly 90 square miles (233 km2) in area. The highest point is only 568 feet (173 m) above sea
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Learning to share
Aug 26th, 2013 3:50 pm | By Ophelia BensonIt’s always a guy with three or four or six wives. Why not the other way around for a change? Well, in Kenya, three people have chosen that option.
Two Kenyan men have signed an agreement to “marry” the same woman.
The woman had been having affairs with both men for more than four years and apparently refused to choose between them.
The agreement sets out a rota for Sylvester Mwendwa and Elijah Kimani to stay in her house and states they will both help raise any children she bears.
It sounds very sensible.
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Finally, polyandry gets a chance
Aug 26th, 2013 | Filed by Ophelia BensonA woman in Kenya refused to choose between her two partners, so they agreed to share.… Read the rest
The rules
Aug 26th, 2013 3:32 pm | By Ophelia BensonI think I’ve figured out the rules now, with help from Tim Skellett aka “Gurdur” who explained it to Avicenna on Twitter. They go like this:
When someone talks shit about “FTB” that doesn’t actually mean Freethought blogs, it means “core” bloggers. Tim Skellett to Avicenna:
BTW, once again you name a peripheral FTB blogger (yourself), not a core one. Again, *cough* revealing.
Who exactly are the core ones? Skellett gives the list a few tweets later, still talking to Avi.
@saramayhew seems to refer to the core FTB bloggers, which would be PZ, Brayton, szvan, Benson, McCreight, Greta. See next.
So them’s the rules, apparently. “FTB” is just shorthand for those six people; the other 30-whatever-it-is-now don’t count.… Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
On blasphemy, wielding both standards and stories
Aug 26th, 2013 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMichael DeDora on using personal stories of persecution as well as arguments to enlighten.… Read the rest
The right to blaspheme
Aug 26th, 2013 11:38 am | By Ophelia BensonThe Times of India picked up a tweet on blasphemy by Taslima.
She makes us proud.… Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Cleric murders wife for refusing to wear a niqab
Aug 26th, 2013 | Filed by Ophelia BensonHe left a note calling his action the best way to “punish his wife for rebelling against Allah’s orders.”… Read the rest
Butchered
Aug 26th, 2013 10:21 am | By Ophelia BensonVia Taslima – in Pakistan, a cleric cut his wife into pieces because she refused to wear a niqab and she sent their children to school.
Ahmad Aziz, father of the deceased Farzana Bibi, 36, said that she married Muhammad Sharif, 42, a resident of Bakkhal Bhir in Mumtazabad Colony.
They had three children.
Aziz said that Sharif led prayers at the neighbourhood mosque and also gave Quran lessons at their home. He said Sharif was short-tempered and would often beat up Farzana Bibi. He had been telling her to cover her face when she left the house.
Aziz said Farzana Bibi wore an abaya (gown), but did not want to cover her face.
Probably because she wanted to … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
An ugly trick of saying what is not true of any one you do not like
Aug 25th, 2013 4:16 pm | By Ophelia BensonBecause it came up in a Twitter conversation (with Vlad Chituc and Michael Payton) and because sometimes a good polemical response is called for, I thought we should revisit Hazlitt’s Letter to Gifford. (I say revisit because I did a post on it back in 2004.)
… Read the restSIR, You have an ugly trick of saying what is not true of any one you do not like; and it will be the object of this letter to cure you of it. You say what you please of others : it is time you were told what you are. In doing this, give me leave to borrow the familiarity of your style : for the fidelity of the picture I shall be
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Take that
Aug 25th, 2013 3:03 pm | By Ophelia BensonA friend on Twitter shared some flatulence de guerre:
Well all right then! We’ve got precedent.
Much more at io9.… Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Passim
Aug 25th, 2013 12:44 pm | By Ophelia BensonIt’s everywhere.
A Mountie whose harassment complaints against the RCMP prompted legislation to modernize so-called bad apples within the force says her employer is moving to dismiss her.
Cpl. Catherine Galliford says she received a letter saying the RCMP is seeking to discharge her because she’s unable to do her job.
Galliford, who has filed a civil lawsuit against the RCMP alleging years of bullying and sexual abuse, has been on sick leave since 2006.
Let’s follow the details. The CBC reports in November 2011.
… Read the restCBC News has learned that one of B.C.’s highest profile Mounties says she’s suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after years of sexual harassment.
Cpl. Catherine Galliford was the face
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Beware the naval gassing
Aug 25th, 2013 10:51 am | By Ophelia BensonIt’s deadly, it comes from the sea, it smells of fish and diesel oil -
Out of nowhere, apropos de bottes, context-free, random, Dadaist.
Jokes about farting on submarines always welcome.
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)