Some of the newfound objects may orbit a star at such a distance that their host star is not apparent, but researchers think most of them are indeed free-floating.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Jerry Coyne on David Brooks and group selection 
May 18th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Brooks misrepresents the views of biologists; there really isn’t much momentum in the evolution community behind the idea of “group selection.”… Read the rest
Michael Weiss on BHL, DSK and Polanski
May 18th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It’s so impressive when celebrity male intellectuals close ranks against women who allege rape.… Read the rest
Laila Lalami on BHL on DSK
May 18th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It would be nice to know how a philosopher who has claimed to defend the rights of Muslim women can side with the alleged rapist rather than his alleged (Muslim) victim.… Read the rest
The old epithet question
May 18th, 2011 12:30 pm | By Ophelia BensonWhat’s wrong with this picture?
A guy commented on a Facebook thread about Carmen Callil’s boycott (as it were) of the Booker International prize over its decision to give it to Philip Roth:
So much to love about that story. Virago indeed. [plus some more that’s not relevant]
I said
“Virago indeed”?
Oy.
He said
@Ophelia — no offense intended. Just reading the article, and following up with a visit to Webster’s.
Sigh. Whether intended or not – it’s sexist. Never mind “offense”; it’s both less and more than that.
But I couldn’t say that, on someone else’s FB page, so I was more diplomatic.
… Read the rest[His name] – sure, but sex- (or race etc) specific epithets are just that.
Two Interesting Men unite to defend DSK
May 18th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
On the grounds that the privilege all three enjoy makes the crime inconceivable on its face.… Read the rest
Isabelle Germain notes DSK is not the victim
May 18th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The French media talk as if it were a jokey matter of seduction and DSK’s private life. Rape is neither private nor seduction.… Read the rest
Maid in DSK case feels alone in the world
May 18th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
She is from Guinea; she had no idea who DSK was; she feels threatened and afraid.… Read the rest
Bernard-Henri Lévy defends Dominique Strauss-Kahn
May 18th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The chambermaid will just have to look after herself.… Read the rest
Nick Cohen on rape and the French elite
May 18th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Bernard-Henri Lévy cannot be for women’s rights in Tehran and Riyadh but against them in New York and Paris.… Read the rest
Mooney snatches victory from jaws of defeat
May 17th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Does Mooney not realize that everything we believe is physically coded in the brain, and that every time we form a new memory, that also causes physical changes in the brain?… Read the rest
Fawzia Koofi at the Ottawa Writers’ Festival
May 17th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Koofi is the first female deputy speaker of the Lower House in her country and a well-known advocate for democracy and human rights.… Read the rest
Sympathy for the mighty
May 17th, 2011 12:23 pm | By Ophelia BensonMichael Ruse bending over backward and kissing his own ass in his effort to be Nice to religious believers again. The pope says in his Easter sermon that humans can’t be “a chance of nature.” Ruse Understands.
Now let me try to be understanding here. I realize where the Pope is coming from. As a Christian, humans cannot be just a chance occurrence.
No kidding; we all understand that much; it’s obvious. But never mind that – what I want to know is, why does Ruse try to be understanding there? Why is he so keen to understand the pope when he never ever says “Now let me try to be understanding here. I realize where the new atheists are … Read the rest
Vatican letter advises bishops on combating abuse
May 17th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Church critics remain unimpressed by new Vatican directives, with US victim lobby Snap commenting: “decisive action is precisely what the Vatican refuses to take.”… Read the rest
A split within the movement
May 17th, 2011 11:51 am | By Ophelia BensonThe Freedom Rides were fifty years ago this month.
They weren’t universally seen as a good idea within the movement at the time – many people thought they were too much: too much of a deliberate provocation, too likely to trigger violence, too risky.
Well – they were a deliberate provocation, made by doing something that was entirely legal, and unexceptionable (to wit, making use of a public commercial facility). They did trigger violence, but the violence finally, after a lot of chickenshit footdragging by the Kennedy brothers, in turn triggered a federal response: when a mob attacked a church full of civil rights activists in Montgomery and pinned them inside, in fear of being burned alive, martial law was … Read the rest
The Freedom Rides
May 17th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
They split the movement – some said they would backfire, they would set the movement back, they were a provocation.… Read the rest
5 year jail sentence for behaviour that is offensive?
May 17th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Scotland wants to end sectarian football threats and abuse, but could be overdoing it a tad.… Read the rest
UK: Calls to criminalise forced marriages
May 17th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Government’s forced marriage unit handles around 300 cases a year, while research for ministers suggests the true figure is between 5,000 and 8,000.… Read the rest
Florida: bestiality law may have outlawed sex
May 16th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Check with a veterinarian first.… Read the rest
Yes there are too so atheists in foxholes
May 16th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
There are more humanists in the military than Muslims, Buddhists, Jews and even many Christian denominations. Why no humanist chaplains?… Read the rest
