Ok be warned: this is shocking and horrible.

The Independent reports on a young woman whose employer poured boiling water on her. I can hardly stand to read any more than that.

A Filipino woman was left with severe burns after her Saudi Arabia employer allegedly poured boiling water on her.

The 23-year-old household service worker, from Pikit, North Cotabato, suffered burns to her back and legs after being doused with the scorching liquid in the incident in Riyadh on 4 May, ABS-CBN News reported.

…

According to ABS-CBN News, the mother of Fatma’s employer became angry after Fatma was slow to bring her coffee and then poured boiling water on her.

SLOW TO BRING HER COFFEE!!

She … Read the rest

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Originally a comment on Missing parts

There’s a pattern, here–and forgive me if I’m restating what others might find obvious–but the general inappropriateness of citing Mill to justify misogynistic harassment–it fits again so well, I guess I felt noting this again is almost a forced move.

Mill’s essay is largely about the relationship between the state and dissenters, but not quite so exclusively–as it’s also more generally about relationships between majorities and minorities. The conclusion I can summarize quickly–anyone wants to argue otherwise, let me know, but to borrow from Mill himself: ‘… the sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection…’

… note … Read the rest

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Via Gnu Atheism on Facebook

 … Read the rest

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The new Free Inquiry is out, and my column in it is online.

The takeaway:

The more we buy into the meme that abortion is always a tragic lesser-of-two-evils situation, the more we lose sight of the reality, which is that for a woman or girl who does not want to be pregnant, abortion is a glorious human invention, a life-salvaging bit of technology.

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Jafafa Hots said:

(keep searching and searching for justifications for continuing to do what you were always doing for totally unrelated reasons once people start demanding you justify your actions… lemme see. Leaving genitals intact destroys the sanctity of traditionally-altered genitals? Have we tried that one yet?)

So good I just wanted to repeat it.

 … Read the rest

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glosswitch on Snow White vs The Evil Queen: Some thoughts on feminism’s “generation gap”. It starts with a movie, Snow White and the Huntsman.

It’s everything that’s terrible about how mainstream feminism is marketed and it’s a bloody fairy tale. Just what is wrong with the world?

Charleze Theron’s Ravenna, the villain of the piece, is a cross between Tampax Pearl’s Mother Nature and Valerie Solanas. She is pitched against Kristen Stewart’s Snow White, who is young, beautiful and feisty, all set to overthrow a patriarchal regime that demands all women be young, beautiful but not particularly feisty. Snow White rebels by remaining young and beautiful while also having agency™ and being empowered™ – go her! Meanwhile

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An excellent piece by Massimo Pigliucci saying why Neil deGrasse Tyson is wrong to say philosophy is timewasting bullshit that gets you hit by cars because you’re too busy asking yourself whether cars are real or not.

Neil made his latest disparaging remarks about philosophy as a guest on the Nerdist podcast [4], following a statement by one of the hosts, who said that he majored in philosophy. Neil’s comeback was: “That can really mess you up.” The host then added: “I always felt like maybe there was a little too much question asking in philosophy [of science]?” And here is the rest of the pertinent dialogue:

dGT: I agree.

interviewer: At a certain point it’s just futile.

dGT:

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The philosopher Becca Reilly-Cooper on Twitter (@ boodleoops – yes it’s true, not all philosophers take themselves terribly seriously:

I’m pretty sure my grandfather *didn’t* fight for your right to threaten women with rape, torture and mutilation actually, free speech bros.

And I’ve read On Liberty several times, but I missed the part where Mill defends harassment, or threats to invade and cut women’s genitals.

Same here!… Read the rest

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So I was on a panel on multiculturalism should we worry about it on Saturday, moderated by Rebecca Goldstein, with Taslima and Katha and Sarah Jones. At one point Rebecca said we were agreeing too much so it occurred to me to try to fix that by bringing up not female genital mutilation but the male kind. (Instead of cries of outrage, though, there was some applause. Yet more agreement! What can you do.)

You already know what I think, unless you’re a new reader. I don’t think it’s parents’ “right” to cut off healthy bits of their infants for non-medical reasons. I don’t. I think the only reason we don’t recoil in horror at the very idea of cutting … Read the rest

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I’m at the airport. Way too early. I can see the top of the Capitol from this desk-plug-in spot.

There are sparrows in here. They fly along the windows as if they want to get out but maybe they’re used to being here. Maybe they’re like children raised wearing a burqa.

Taslima talked yesterday about being a child who said No, a child who was curious, a child who always asked questions.

Taslima is so amazing.… Read the rest

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What an amazing evening. I was sitting talking to Stacy and others at the reception and someone came up behind me and gave me a standing mini-hug, I turned and there was Taslima.

And after her came a bunch of other exes. It was exciting. Things are happening.

Taslima told a funny story about Mohammed bargaining with Allah to cut down the prayers from 50 a day – 50!! a day!! – to something more tolerable. 40? No no. 30? No no. 20?

Mohammed was a merchant.… Read the rest

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Sorry about weird disappearing posts and comments and whatever else is weird. I’ll straighten it out late tomorrow when I get home, or Monday. They were only tiny posts anyway.… Read the rest

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Hahahahaha me on a panel discussing multiculturalism with Taslima Nasreen and Katha Pollitt and Rebecca Goldstein – what a great wish-fulfillment dream. Perfect.

Wait…… Read the rest

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What an amazing evening. I was sitting talking to Stacy and others at the reception and someone came up behind me and gave me a standing mini-hug, I turned and there was Taslima.

And after her came a bunch of other exes. It was exciting. Things are happening.

Taslima told a funny story about Mohammed bargaining with Allah to cut down the prayers from 50 a day – 50!! a day!! – to something more tolerable. 40? No no. 30? No no. 20?

Mohammed was a merchant.… Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)

I’m here. Rumpled, plane-battered, hungry and foodless, grumpy, but here.

There’s a party of Young Communists staying. Alas they’re all on my floor. They’ve been shouting in the halls.

Did I mention I’m hungry?… Read the rest

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Oh hey, I forgot to mention I’m leaving. taking airplanes, busy, so things will be quiet for a few days. I’m off to Women in Secularism 3.

Now’s the time for you to talk about anything you’ve been wanting to get off your chest; nothing is off topic. And your time starts

NOW… Read the rest

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The Times-Picayune reports:

Legislation that will further limit access to abortion in Louisiana and would likely close three of the state’s five abortion clinics overwhelmingly passed the state Senate with a vote of 34-3 Wednesday.

Due to the addition of technical amendments, the bill will head back the state House of Representatives for another vote before going to the governor’s desk. The lower chamber voted overwhelmingly to pass the legislation — which is more or less the same now — the last time they saw it. So the bill is expected to face little to no opposition as it crosses the finish line in the Legislature.

Back to forced pregnancy and unsafe abortions! Back to women having no way out … Read the rest

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The Russian Orthodox Church is annoyed that a guy in a dress won the Eurovision song contest. This strikes Russians as hilarious, because The Russian Orthodox Church features guys in dresses.

The drag queen’s performance and its enthusiastic reception was a sign of the world’s moral decline and part the aggressive assertion of Western cultural norms, according to Vladimir Legoyda.

The chairman of the church’s information department told Interfax news agency: ““The process of the legalisation of that to which the Bible refers to as nothing less than an abomination is already long not news in the contemporary world.”

Yup. It’s a hot mess. People going in for abomination everywhere you look, and nobody but priests in dresses to … Read the rest

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