Well that’s funny. All that martyrdom stuff about stepping down was apparently just performance art. I hear that Justin Vacula hasn’t stepped down as chapter co-chair of the Pennsylvania SCA after all. Certainly he’s still listed as such.
Update October 13: now he’s not listed.… Read the rest
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Kamila Shamsie had a great piece on Malala in the Guardian yesterday.
… Read the restToday, as Malala Yousafzai remains critical but stable in hospital following an assassination attempt by the Taliban, I watched the laughing, wise, determined 11-year-old in that video and thought of the Urdu phrase, “kis mitti kay banee ho” – “from what clay were you fashioned?”
It’s an expression that changes meaning according to context. Sometimes, as when applied to Malala Yousafzai, it’s a compliment, alluding to a person’s exceptional qualities. At other times it indicates some element of humanity that’s missing. From what clay were you fashioned, I’d like to say to the TTP (the Pakistan Taliban), in a tone quite different to that in
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Any plans to end child poverty? How about racial equality? Why lock up so many people? What about civil liberties? Separation of church and state?… Read the rest
One of the two other girls shot with Malala is out of danger, the other remains in a critical condition.… Read the rest
She tshouted “Support education! Support women!” to loud cheers from the crowd.… Read the rest
Never a dull moment, eh? Al Stefanelli has left FTB, and on his way out he did a podcast with his friend Reap Paden.
I listened to as much as I could stand, which wasn’t much. I transcribed a few high points.
Reap Paden: I guess I pissed some people off with my last. I guess the main thing – I called Stephanie Zvan a bitch. She was being a bitch.
They both agree it’s a good word. “I use it all the time,” says Al. ”So does my wife. I can understand that it’s controversial, but everyone’s entitled to their opinion.”
They say swearing is great, they like swearing. Hooray for swearing. “If it’s a word that offends … Read the rest
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Some nonsense about “blasphemous content” in text messages blah blah. Mob attacks house, sets fire to contents, family flees.… Read the rest
http://live.huffingtonpost.com/… Read the rest
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Hey remember sexual harassment? Those were fun times, weren’t they?
… Read the restThe implication is that a combination of awareness, women’s growing economic power and legislation that began with the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act and has been updated repeatedly, has stamped out the problem.
Laura Bates, who set up the website Everyday Sexism earlier this year, isn’t so sure. Like those 1970s speak-outs, her site allows women to share their experiences, and over the course of six months 7,500 entries have poured in, “thousands of which pertain specifically to workplace harassment, workplace sexism and sadly, in many cases, workplace sexual assault and even rape”. “What I don’t know is whether the prevalence has diminished or not [since the 70s],” she says.
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Here’s Rebecca at the Humanists of Florida conference last weekend, with EllenBeth introducing her. Two of my favorite women!
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The Women in Secularism issue of Free Inquiry will be out in late November. Here is what it will look like on the front.
Via Melody Hensley… Read the rest
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It’s good to see Julia Gillard setting the leader of the opposition, Tony Abbott, straight about sexism and misogyny. It’s good to see her listing the sexist and misogynist things he’s said and done – such as standing in front of the houses of Parliament next to a sign saying “ditch the witch” and one describing her as “a man’s bitch.”
… Read the rest“The leader of the opposition says that people who hold sexist views and are misogynists are not appropriate for high office,” she continued. “Well, I hope the leader of the opposition is writing out his resignation because if he wants to know what misogyny looks like in modern Australia, he needs a mirror.”
…
“I was offended
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Like army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani for instance, who visited Malala in the hospital and took the occasion to talk comfortable pious bullshit. He
said Malala has “become a symbol for the values that the army, with the nation behind it, is fighting to preserve for our future generations.
“These are the intrinsic values of an Islamic society, based on the principles of liberty, justice and equality of man.”
Oh really. Is that a fact. Then why is Pakistan such a shit-hole? Why are all “Islamic societies” such shit-holes? If an Islamic society is based on the principles of liberty, justice and equality of man [sic] then why do so many people think it’s based on the principles of … Read the rest
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Okay maybe I’m being a big mean atheist poopy head, but honestly, I do wish people would stop thanking Allah for saving Malala’s life. Say what? If Allah saved her life, why the fuck didn’t Allah prevent her (and her schoolmates) from being shot in the first place? Why didn’t Allah cause the shooters to have four flat tires on a very isolated mountain road? Why didn’t Allah give them all a bad intestinal upset that day?
Same old same old. Theodicy. If God this, then why that. Well think about it, people. Use your heads. Don’t just mindlessly thank Allah for stepping in hours after a girl of 14 was shot in the head by a man who thinks … Read the rest
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The Interior Minister Rehman Malik says doctors confirm she is out of critical condition but also says next few days are crucial.… Read the rest
Not only is classic workplace sexual harassment still going on, but technology has created new forms such as abusive emails, including rape threats and death threats.… Read the rest
The opposition leader Tony Abbott has demonstrated it repeatedly, she says.… Read the rest
Another father who allegedly became outraged at his wife and daughters for dishonouring him and his religious and cultural beliefs.… Read the rest
Stephanie has some thoughts on Reap Paden. Who? I don’t know, really, except that he’s a friend of Justin Vacula’s. I saw a comment by him, or a mention of his podcast, or something, during the short period in which I was attempting to get Vacula to correct his misrepresentation of me on his podcast. (So many guys, so many podcasts.) That was all. I had no opinion on him until last Saturday, when someone pointed out a shouty podcast he’d just done and I listened to a bit of it. Man, it was shouty all right. He spent the first several minutes shouting at Stephanie louder and louder and louder and LOUDER. Calling her a fucking bitch over … Read the rest
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I heard a long report on BBC World about Malala Yusufzai a couple of hours ago, including a big chunk of an interview with her. On top of everything else, she’s fluent in English. I looked for it via Google and thought I’d found it but was surprised at how cheery the reporter sounded – then I belatedly looked at the date: it was last January. She starts reading from the diary she wrote for the BBC at 1:25 in.
The report I heard today interviewed the New York Times reporter Adam Ellick, who got to know her in 2009. He posted a photo to Twitter. The other guy is her father.
Nighat Dad tweeted pictures of herself with … Read the rest
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