Brother suspected her of ‘illicit relations’ so he killed her. Nice for her six children.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Man Stones 14-Year-Old Daughter to Death
Feb 20th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonA distraught woman, crying uncontrollably, told the authorities in Zahedan her daughter had been murdered.… Read the rest
Calls for Legislative Reform in Kurdistan
Feb 20th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘Every day, more and more women are killed in Kurdistan while the authorities watch and do nothing.’… Read the rest
Tina Beattie on the Archbishop
Feb 20th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonABC wants to open up a conversation between the insights of postmodern philosophy and lawyers.… Read the rest
Parvin Ardalan Wins Olof Palme Prize
Feb 20th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIranian women’s rights activists in Iran and abroad are celebrating.… Read the rest
Picture Life Without Vaccines
Feb 19th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘No One Got Sick or Died from a Vaccine-Preventable Disease Today’ is not a very exciting story.… Read the rest
Vaccines and Autism: Myths and Misconceptions
Feb 19th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe anti-vaccination movement, based on bad science and fear-mongering, is more vocal and hostile. … Read the rest
Susan Jacoby on Anti-intellectualism
Feb 19th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe problem is not ignorance but being pleased about it.… Read the rest
HRW on Egypt and Freedom of Religion
Feb 19th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAn ID card stating no religion is not an option.… Read the rest
No, the chin is wrong
Feb 18th, 2008 12:00 pm | By Ophelia BensonPeople never seem to notice the joke in this.
Wikipedia…is refusing to remove medieval artistic depictions of the Prophet Muhammad, despite being flooded with complaints from Muslims demanding the images be deleted. More than 180,000 worldwide have joined an online protest claiming the images, shown on European-language pages and taken from Persian and Ottoman miniatures dating from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, are offensive to Islam…On two of the images, Muhammad’s face is veiled, a practice followed in Islamic art since the 16th century. But on two others, one from 1315, which is the earliest surviving depiction of the prophet, and the other from the 15th century, his face is shown.
No it isn’t. Of course it isn’t. … Read the rest
Normblog on Tony Judt on ‘Too Much Holocaust’
Feb 18th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonJudt has all these difficulties by way of honouring Hannah Arendt. It is hard to imagine a more unworthy tribute to her.… Read the rest
Wikipedia Ordered to Remove Images of Prophet
Feb 18th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonOn two of the images, Muhammad’s face is veiled; on two others, his face is shown. A face, anyway.… Read the rest
Jasvinder Sanghera on Forced Marriage
Feb 18th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSome 300 girls aged 13-16 have disappeared off the school registers in Bedford alone. … Read the rest
Carlin Romano on Socrates
Feb 18th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIsocrates practiced the philosophical study of ethics without the dogmatism of Plato’s Socrates.… Read the rest
The Internet Links Philosophy With its Roots
Feb 18th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMark O’Connell recommends philosophy blogs: Talking Philosophy, Virtual Philosopher, Stephen Law.… Read the rest
Nigel Warburton Interviews James Garvey
Feb 18th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonClimate change presents us with a host of moral problems. Getting those in plain sight is part of the point of the book.… Read the rest
Upholding the right to intellectual freedom
Feb 17th, 2008 12:11 pm | By Ophelia BensonThe Vancouver Public Library composed a Q and A to explain its decision to invite one Greg Felton to read from his new book at the library’s Freedom to Read week.
Intellectual freedom is a core tenet of public libraries even though some subjects may be considered unconventional, unpopular or unacceptable. Upholding the right to intellectual freedom may put you in the position of appearing to support controversial views. The role of the public library, however, is to provide a forum for an open and public exchange of contradictory views and to make materials available that represent all points of view.
Well, making materials available is one thing, and providing a forum for an exchange of views is another. Is … Read the rest
The Archbishop’s Attack on Secularism
Feb 17th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonSharia courts can be given full legal status only through the suspension of certain legal rights of a section of the population.… Read the rest
VPL Provides an Internal Memo
Feb 17th, 2008 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMemo makes it clear that the library cannot distinguish between freedom and active promotion.… Read the rest