All entries by this author

NY Court Rejects Men’s Studies Lawsuit *

Apr 29th, 2009 | Filed by

Plaintiff claimed Columbia was violating the first amendment because ‘feminism is a religion.’… Read the rest



Review of Eagleton on ‘New’ Atheism *

Apr 29th, 2009 | Filed by

Calls it a fascinating, original, prickly work of philosophy.… Read the rest



Secular Summer Camp *

Apr 29th, 2009 | Filed by

But where are the camps for children who don’t want to go to camp?… Read the rest



Ireland Considers Blasphemous Libel Amendment *

Apr 29th, 2009 | Filed by

A new crime of blasphemous libel is to be proposed in an amendment to the Defamation Bill.… Read the rest



New Hampshire Senate Passes Gay Marriage Bill *

Apr 29th, 2009 | Filed by

It is unclear whether the governor will sign the bill or veto it.… Read the rest



Paul Krugman on Looking Forward not Backward *

Apr 28th, 2009 | Filed by

Laws aren’t supposed to be enforced only when convenient.… Read the rest



Steven Lukes on the Right to Judge Others *

Apr 28th, 2009 | Filed by

Who are we to apply our standards to the adherents of other moral and religious systems?… Read the rest



Ronald Aronson on the Rise of Atheism in America *

Apr 28th, 2009 | Filed by

The impressive increase among those willing to check atheist or agnostic is dramatic tribute to the success of the ‘new atheist’ writers.… Read the rest



Guardian to Charles: Shut Up or Step Down *

Apr 28th, 2009 | Filed by

Charles is circumventing the proper procedure by exploiting privilege he enjoys purely through fluke of birth.… Read the rest



Charles v Rogers *

Apr 28th, 2009 | Filed by

PC has rarely, if ever, attacked the rape of small towns by inappropriate housing developments.… Read the rest



Charles Abusing his Power Again *

Apr 28th, 2009 | Filed by

Some of the world’s leading architects say he is abusing his position to unfairly influence planning decisions.… Read the rest



Did somebody say ‘pork’?!

Apr 27th, 2009 5:32 pm | By

There’s no sensitivity like the sensitivity of Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman. It makes the sensitivity of that princess who slept on the pea look like a longshoreman’s glove.

The outbreak of swine flu should be renamed “Mexican” influenza in deference to Muslim and Jewish sensitivities over pork, said an Israeli health official Monday. Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman said the reference to pigs is offensive to both religions and “we should call this Mexican flu and not swine flu,” he told a news conference at a hospital in central Israel. Both Judaism and Islam consider pigs unclean and forbid the eating of pork products.

Oh right, so they do! Therefore it’s a hell of a good idea to … Read the rest



American Atheists Exiting the Closet at Last *

Apr 27th, 2009 | Filed by

It worked for the gay rights movement, so why not for the unbelievers?… Read the rest



Israeli Official: ‘Swine’ Flu Name is Offensive *

Apr 27th, 2009 | Filed by

Says the flu should be renamed ‘Mexican’ influenza in deference to Muslim and Jewish sensitivities.… Read the rest



Christina Lamb Returns to Herat *

Apr 27th, 2009 | Filed by

‘In the past three years, going back and forth to Afghanistan, I have watched the situation for women deteriorate.’… Read the rest



What We Owe to Mary Wollstonecraft *

Apr 27th, 2009 | Filed by

The long, hard struggle for women’s rights teaches us that tradition and sexual equality often collide.… Read the rest



Jaffa Oranges Actually From China *

Apr 27th, 2009 | Filed by

The ‘citrus plot’ wasn’t; the Sweeties came from China, where faking the origin of goods is a common practice. … Read the rest



Israeli Oranges for Sale in Iran Shock-horror *

Apr 27th, 2009 | Filed by

Sinister Jaffa oranges arrived in boxes marked as Chinese…but surely that’s a ploy…… Read the rest



Eagleton forgot to mention a few things…

Apr 26th, 2009 5:08 pm | By

There is one particular, pressing problem with Eagleton’s incoherent rant: the problem is that, as in the past, he writes as if the only criticism there is to make of Islam and Islamism is ‘terrorism,’ meaning terrorism in the sense of blowing the legs off small children. That is not the only criticism there is to make of Islam and Islamism. Terrorism-as-bombing is not the only reason there is to be critical of Islam and especially of Islamism. How Eagleton can be unaware of that fact is hard to understand. Does he carefully avoid all news coverage? Does he have a special filter that excludes anything with the word ‘Islam’ or ‘Taliban’ or ‘women’ or ‘girls’ in it? If … Read the rest



Taliban advertising

Apr 26th, 2009 12:41 pm | By

The Taliban murdered a couple for alleged putative who cares anyway ‘adultery’ and somebody took pictures.

In footage which is being watched with horror by Pakistanis, the couple try to flee when they realise what is about to happen. But a gunman casually shoots the man and then the woman in the back with a burst of gunfire, leaving them bleeding in the dirt. Moments later, when others in the execution party shout out that they are still alive, he returns to coldly finish them with a few more rounds.

Coming soon to a neighborhood near you.

It was the kind of barbarity that has become increasingly familiar across Pakistan as the Taliban tide has spread. But this time, with

Read the rest