JAMA finds they dawdle more rather than less.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Venal, Misleading, Dangerous, Stupid, Busted 
Mar 24th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Journalists cherry pick evidence, then explain risks and benefits in the single most unhelpful way possible.… Read the rest
Bad Science: Scumbag Caught Fabricating Data
Mar 24th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
If you’re planning a career in scientific fraud, then medicine is an excellent place to start.… Read the rest
Advertising Complaint Against Duchy Herbals
Mar 24th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Upheld. … Read the rest
UK: Hindu Man Fights for Open-air Cremation
Mar 24th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Being bundled into a box and incinerated in a furnace is not my idea of dignity,’ he says.… Read the rest
Notre Dame Refuses to Uninvite Obama
Mar 24th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
US bishops have told Catholic universities not to honor lawmakers who ‘dissent from church teaching.’… Read the rest
Who sets the tone
Mar 23rd, 2009 6:25 pm | By Ophelia BensonJulian pointed out in a comment on Wassup with the new atheism? that a lot of people think that atheists are dogmatic anti-religionists, and that if we now have good reason to believe that this is the impression being created, we should think about altering our tune.
There is something to that, there’s no denying it. It is quite possible that vocal atheists are alienating huge numbers of people who would otherwise be secularists and/or liberal believers, with potentially harmful results. This is of course the drum that Matthew Nisbet never tires of beating, though he does it very aggressively and also very manipulatively (as in repeatedly claiming that Paul Kurtz is not a vocal atheist but a politely bashful … Read the rest
Round Robin to the Observer
Mar 23rd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Lots of liberals do challenge Islamism, therefore…they all do? Is that the claim?… Read the rest
Nick Cohen’s Day With the Roundrobinocracy
Mar 23rd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Is all well with the liberal consensus?… Read the rest
Dentist Wants Creationism Taught in Texas
Mar 23rd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
God’s teeth! The dentist is also a Sunday school teacher and chair of the state board of education.… Read the rest
Normblog on Truth and Postmodernism
Mar 23rd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Postmodernism opposes not only the absolute truths of mere authority but also the fallibilist truth of rational inquirers.… Read the rest
Juan Cole on Saudi Arabia and Wahhabism
Mar 23rd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
We have them all wrong, he says.… Read the rest
Concern Over Proliferation of Fatwas
Mar 23rd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Anybody can say anything to anybody? Kill your own family because they are not “real Muslims”?’… Read the rest
Sindh: Illegal Jirgas Declare Women Kari
Mar 23rd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Jirgas are being held in Sindh despite a ban; they declare women karis for getting higher education.… Read the rest
Center for Naturalism Newsletter
Mar 22nd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Hours of reading.… Read the rest
Salil Tripathi: Pakistan’s Long March to Normality
Mar 22nd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Securicrats and communal leaders on both sides of the border succeed in keeping the people apart.… Read the rest
HR Defenders in Middle East and North Africa
Mar 22nd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Human rights defenders are all too often vilified, persecuted and criminalized for their peaceful activities.… Read the rest
Angola: Evictions Linked to Catholic Church
Mar 22nd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Angolan authorities evicted thousands of people from land belonging to the Catholic Church.… Read the rest
Amnesty Int on Deaths in Custody in Iran
Mar 22nd, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The death of a blogger raised renewed fears that prisoners are being denied medical treatment.… Read the rest
I hear their hooves in the distance
Mar 21st, 2009 1:07 pm | By Ophelia BensonThere are a couple of other things that bother me about Julian’s ‘new atheism’ article.
One is that he says his opinions ‘are not so much about these books as the general tone and direction the new atheism they represent has adopted. This is not a function of what exactly these books say, but of how they are perceived, and the kind of comments the four horsemen make in newspaper articles and interviews’ but then he doesn’t provide a very clear account of how the ‘four horsemen’ are perceived and the kind of comments they make. He discusses ‘the new atheism’ without ever really pinning down for the reader what he takes that to be – so we’re left … Read the rest
