Undercover BIJ reporters, posing as agents of the Uzbek government, were told that “sorting” criticism on Wikipedia was a service the company could provide.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Credulous journalists and a new way to mutilate women 
Dec 8th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
PR company flogs a new genital cosmetic procedure that involves injecting collagen into the vaginal wall. Journalists go “booya!” and a fad is born.… Read the rest
Evil
Dec 7th, 2011 5:02 pm | By Ophelia BensonMore on Mansor Almaribe, sentenced to 500 lashes in Saudi Arabia for “insulting the companions of the prophet.”
… Read the restTHE family of a Victorian man sentenced to 500 lashes in Saudi Arabia has made an emotional plea to bring him home, fearing he will die in jail.
The Shepparton family of Mansor Almaribe, 45, who was also sentenced to a year in jail for blasphemy, will head to Canberra to plead for help.
Isaam Almaribe, 21, said his father suffered from diabetes and had broken bones in his back and knees from a car accident in Australia.
“Dad told us ‘Take me out of here as soon as possible because if I stay here I will die’ – that’s how
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
What previously unknown information is in the Koran?
Dec 7th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Mo tries to tell Jesus, but it’s a struggle.… Read the rest
Health Sec blocks wider access to morning-after pill
Dec 7th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Sebelius’s move drew shock from women’s health advocates who say it goes against Obama’s pledge to reassert the power of science in his administration’s decisions.… Read the rest
Words can’t express
Dec 7th, 2011 3:49 pm | By Ophelia BensonImagine going to Saudi Arabia for the hajj, all the way from Australia, and finding yourself sentenced to a year in jail and…
To the best of my knowledge, 500 lashes is a death sentence. One hundred risks being a death sentence; five hundred just plain is one.
What did Mansor Almaribe of southern Victoria state do? Torture a lot of children to death? Set fire to a hospital and laugh while patients jumped screaming from high windows? Shoot up a hotel or a night club?
No.
Saudi officials accused him of insulting the companions of the prophet Muhammad, a violation of Saudi Arabia’s blasphemy laws.
And for that they plan to torture him to death.
He … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
What about flashlights? Candles? Yule logs?
Dec 7th, 2011 3:31 pm | By Ophelia BensonGet that smirk off your face.
CAIRO: An Islamic cleric residing in Europe said that women should not be close to bananas or cucumbers, in order to avoid any “sexual thoughts.”
The unnamed sheikh, who was featured in an article on el-Senousa news, was quoted saying that if women wish to eat these food items, a third party, preferably a male related to them such as their a father or husband, should cut the items into small pieces and serve.
He said that these fruits and vegetables “resemble the male penis” and hence could arouse women or “make them think of sex.”
He also added carrots and zucchini to the list of forbidden foods for women.
Answering another question … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Imam says women must not touch bananas or cucumbers
Dec 7th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Or zucchini or carrots. Hands off unless a man has chopped them up first.… Read the rest
Kenan Malik on multiculturalism in Canada and Europe
Dec 7th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
In Canada, as in Europe, politicians look to unelected community leaders, often deeply conservative figures, to speak for their particular communities.… Read the rest
Never ever set foot in Saudi Arabia
Dec 7th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
An Australian man who went for the hajj has been sentenced to 500 lashes and a year in jail. Saudi officials accused him of insulting the companions of the prophet Muhammad.… Read the rest
Details details
Dec 6th, 2011 3:34 pm | By Ophelia BensonFollowing up some links from the coverage of the Burzynski matter. From David Colquhoun, an item from the National Council Against Health Fraud newsletter March/April 1997:
… Read the restThe trial of Stanislaw Burzynski for cancer fraud ended in a hung jury (6-6)
on March 4. CBS’s 48 Hours‘ interviews of jurors told the tale as to why
they couldn’t agree. Clearly, the jurors agreed that Burzynski was guilty as
charged of violating court orders not to distribute his unapproved
“Antineoplastons” in interstate commerce, but the fact that some desperate
cancer patients believed Burzynski’s remedy was keeping them alive (or, at
least, was keeping their hope for recovery alive) made the case too emotional a matter for them to convict
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Pour rire
Dec 6th, 2011 2:25 pm | By Ophelia BensonLine of the day – from Popehat, Junk Science And Marketeers and Legal Threats, Oh My! -
As a public relations move, firing Marc Stephens and hiring the Dozier Law Group is roughly like firing Jeffrey Dahmer as your sous-chef and hiring Hannibal Lecter to take his place.
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
The small tent is good enough
Dec 6th, 2011 12:13 pm | By Ophelia BensonJacques Berlinerblau has some advice for US atheists.
The real priority for American Atheism concerns its political future, its ability to shape policy agendas so as to represent the interests of its constituency.
Does it? I don’t think it does – not (as implied) to the exclusion of other things. I don’t really think of atheism as having a “constituency,” or as expecting to be able to shape policy agendas so as to represent the interests of its constituency. That sounds like political operative talk, and while I do think atheism is political as well as philosophical (in the broad sense of the word), I don’t think it’s political in that way. It’s too specialized for that. Secularism can … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Another turn of the screw
Dec 6th, 2011 11:44 am | By Ophelia BensonThe brains of children raised in violent families resemble the brains of soldiers exposed to combat, according to an article in Wired.
They’re primed to perceive threat and anticipate pain, adaptations that may be helpful in abusive environments but produce long-term problems with stress and anxiety.
“For them to detect early cues that might signal danger is adaptive. It allows them to react, to try and avoid the danger,” said psychologist Eamon McCrory of University College London. However, “a very similar neural signature characterizes quite a few anxiety disorders.”
Absolutely nothing surprising there. Bad things keep happening, so you develop a strong tendency to react quickly…and you’re stuck with it. A lifetime of feeling extra, exaggerated fear and dread. … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Jacques Berlinerblau on the future of atheism in America
Dec 6th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“Why must the admission price to American Atheism be total nonbelief in God?”… Read the rest
Kosher cell phones
Dec 6th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The first step was a kosher-certified cell phone, approved by the rabbinical committee for telecommunications.… Read the rest
How abuse changes a child’s brain
Dec 6th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The brains of children raised in violent families resemble the brains of soldiers exposed to combat: primed to perceive threat and anticipate pain.
David Allen Green on Niall Ferguson’s libel threat
Dec 6th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Taylor and Trevor-Roper dealt with controversy by simply getting stuck into the next round of acrimony and recrimination. Much better than a libel suit.… Read the rest
Sohrab Ahmari on democracy and demagoguery
Dec 5th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Beneath the ultramodern veneer of skyscrapers dotting Abu Dhabi’s desert landscape lies an illiberal society that severely curtails citizens’ fundamental rights.… Read the rest
UN Women is in trouble
Dec 5th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Little money, turf wars, and tepid support bordering on neglect.… Read the rest
