Right-on dude is right-on.

And yet…

Yeah.… Read the rest

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Chaospet on “hand jobs” and sophisticated philosophers.

… Read the rest

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From What is it like to be a woman in philosophy – some commentary.

How can we know who the predators are?

On a day when the profession is all abuzz about the resignation of a senior philosopher due to allegations of sexual harassment, I find myself wondering about all the women who have been suffering in silence.  Many commentators on this issue add remarks along the lines that they know of much worse cases where nothing has been done.  So how are we supposed to feel safe in our professional community?  I’m left with a sense of depression and dread at that the thought that there are serial sexual harassers in our midst, walking around us anonymously, ready to

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The secret of why Twitter is so bad at doing anything about sexist abuse on Twitter is no longer a secret. All is explained.

The rules are off. They’re no good. As rules, they are inadequate to the task. If the rules don’t say that tweeting ”I will rape you when I get the chance” is not allowable when the recipient objects to it and reports it, then the rules are kakk.… Read the rest

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The statues join the Magdalen laundries protest in Dublin.

… Read the rest

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Jane Austen on £10 banknotes? Good idea. Caroline Criado-Perez’s campaign to make that happen? Good idea. Twitter campaign to bombard her with rape threats? Not a good idea. Bad idea. Shitty idea. Horrendous, terrible, stinking, crap idea.

Women ought to be able to show their heads above the parapet without being punished for it by Twitter campaigns to bombard them with rape threats. It’s that simple.

The feminist campaigner who ran the successful bid to get a woman on British banknotes has revealed she has got “up to 50 rape threats an hour” on Twitter.

And prominent journalists, showbiz stars and politicians are rallying to support Caroline Criado-Perez, who runs the Women’s Room, threatening to quit the site if

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Wow. Desmond Tutu says – echoing Huck Finn – he would rather go to hell than to a homophobic heaven.

That’s really quite amazing (in a good way). Since he’s an archbishop, he takes those categories seriously (as Huck did). That means he would give up a lot of massively important goods for one that for him is even more important. That’s impressive.

He also says he would prefer that hell to worship of a homophobic god. That too is impressive.

(It’s unfair, in a way, that theists get credit for this when atheists don’t. But atheists aren’t giving up anything in saying that, while theists are. I find it hard not to give Tutu credit.)

Desmond Tutu has said

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The Secular Student Alliance is doing a crowdfunding campaign to fund a Rapid Response Organizer who will zoom off at a moment’s notice to give support or help to a student who needs support or help. This is obviously a hella good idea. You can donate to it on this page.

You can read more on the information page.

Part organizer, part crisis manager, part mediator, and part journalist, the Rapid Response Organizer (RRO) will travel anywhere in the country on short notice to support and amplify the work of secular students.

When secular students find themselves in a firestorm of controversy for insisting on the separation of government and religion, the RRO will ensure students know they

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Now let’s leave Turkey and head south to Morocco, where an 18-year-old girl was sentenced to three months in prison for smoking during Ramadan.

Le juge a rejeté la demande de liberté provisoire sous caution de la famille de la jeune fille. Cette dernière a expliqué qu’elle avait mal à la tête et avait besoin de fumer une cigarette pour se calmer.

Cependant, la police lui aurait fait subir un examen médical pour trouver toute indisposition qui pourrait l’exempter du jeûne, en vain.

The judge rejected a request by the family to release her into their custody even though they explained that she’d had a headache and needed a cigarette to relax. Clearly there was no point in requesting … Read the rest

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There’s a guy in Turkey – a lawyer – who’s pissed off that heavily pregnant women go out in public, because ew, gross.

Turkish lawyer and Sufi thinker Ömer Tuğrul İnançer has sparked a public outcry after telling state television station TRT 1 that it was immoral for pregnant women with huge bellies to reveal themselves in public.

“Announcing pregnancy with a flourish of trumpets is against our civility. [They] should not wander on the streets with such bellies. First of all, it is not aesthetic,” İnançer said. “After seven or eight months of pregnancy, future mothers go out their husbands by car to get some fresh air. And they go out in the evening hours. But now, they

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In my opinion, you should avoid taking two baskets when you go shopping.… Read the rest

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Via the Facebook page of a Moroccan-French ex-Muslim -

First guy: Come on, we’re heading for the vegetables. Smart shopper: But… Second guy: Dude! Leggo my wife, yours is over there!… Read the rest

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