UK is violating all the international Conventions deciding to repatriate Pegah Emambakhsh.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Harassment of a Scholar
Aug 23rd, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonIf we’re going to have research at all, then we’re going to have people saying unpopular things.… Read the rest
Atheists Respond
Aug 23rd, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThey vilify atheists and distort their views, then complain of how divisive they are.… Read the rest
Yet Another Complaint About ‘Aggressive’ Atheism
Aug 23rd, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonFirst put words in its mouth, then say it can best be called aggressive.… Read the rest
Is Stealing Wireless Wrong?
Aug 23rd, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonPhilosophers Nick Bostrom and Julian Baggini comment.… Read the rest
Jesus Smoked
Aug 23rd, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonMalaysian newspaper published an image of Jesus holding a cigarette. But is that really Jesus? … Read the rest
Judgements by default
Aug 22nd, 2007 5:12 pm | By Ophelia BensonSilencing by libel suit – it’s everywhere. Deborah Lipstadt pointed out one branch a couple of weeks ago.
… Read the restNow the Saudis have silenced another book. This one is by J. Millard Burr, a former relief coordinator for Operation Lifeline Sudan, U.S. Agency for International Development, and Robert O. Collins, professor of history at the University of California at Santa Barbara. They have written a number of books on Darfur and Sudan. Their most recent book, Alms for Jihad, was published by Cambridge University Press. The authors explore how…”The Saudi royal family played a pernicious role, founding and promoting charities to spread militant Sunni Islam…” The British lawyers for Khalid bin Mahfouz and his son Abdulrahman bin Mahfouz wrote Cambridge
Ali Eteraz on Harun Yahya and Censorship
Aug 22nd, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWhat does this say about the promises that Islamist parties make before actually acquiring power?… Read the rest
Excerpt from Zimbardo’s ‘The Lucifer Effect’
Aug 22nd, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonWhen all members of a group are in a deindividuated state, their mental functioning changes.… Read the rest
Harun Yahya Blocks all of WordPress in Turkey
Aug 22nd, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonA thriving citizen-journalist community has been silenced because of the ego of one rich creationist.… Read the rest
Review of Chris Mooney’s ‘Storm World’
Aug 22nd, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonThe evidence is on the side of those who think hurricanes are changing along with global warming.… Read the rest
Blake Stacey on Pivar
Aug 22nd, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonOn censorship-by-intimidation.… Read the rest
Tim Sandefur on Pivar
Aug 22nd, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia Benson‘Calling someone a “crackpot” is simply not actionable as libel, except in rare circumstances.’… Read the rest
Panda’s Thumb on the Pivar Lawsuit
Aug 22nd, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonAccording to Pivar, Gould only endorsed evolutionary theory under duress from ‘Darwinian orthodoxy.’… Read the rest
More on the frivolous lawsuit
Aug 21st, 2007 6:04 pm | By Ophelia BensonVery interesting. Panda’s Thumb comments on Pivar’s poxy lawsuit –
The suit has been discussed on several web sites already, including Scientific American, the Lippard Blog, Overlawyered and PT contributor Timothy Sandefur’s personal blog Positive Liberty. The consensus seems to be that the suit has no legs, but of course if this is a nuisance suit, ultimate success in front of a judge is not the goal.
And Peter Irons comments on the comment – Peter Irons, author of A People’s History of the Supreme Court from which I have derived material for comment here, I think possibly more than once.
… Read the restSince this is all out in the open now, I thought I’d comment as a lawyer who specializes in
Silencing critics
Aug 21st, 2007 3:30 pm | By Ophelia BensonThis libel suit against PZ is terrifying – not just for people who write, but for people who read too. If suits like this are possible, then no one can say anything. Magazines of any substance will disappear, newspapers will become even more vacuous than they already are, books will become anorexic and very very dull. How can it be possible to sue someone for an unfavorable book review? Why wasn’t Stuart Pivar politely but firmly escorted out of the building and told not to return?
Note this bit from Blake Stacey:
… Read the restDown in the comments, my Pharynguloid pals and I started noticing that the laudatory quotes Pivar had stuck on LifeCode couldn’t be traced back to their purported
Freedom of speech means you must shut up
Aug 21st, 2007 12:22 pm | By Ophelia BensonAnd while I’m at it, why don’t I just quarrel with Michael Shermer’s piece too. He doesn’t resort to the childish abuse of ‘the New Atheist Noise Machine,’ but there’s plenty to quarrel with all the same.
Whenever religious beliefs conflict with scientific facts or violate principles of political liberty, we must respond with appropriate aplomb. Nevertheless, we should be cautious about irrational exuberance…Anti-something movements by themselves will fail.
Oh really. Such as abolitionism for instance? Anti-war movements? Anti-imperialism movements? Some anti-something movements fail, others don’t. And the ‘new Atheists’ aren’t merely against something anyway, so it’s just more straw. (People do produce a remarkable amount of straw on this subject.)
… Read the restPositive assertions are necessary. Champion science and reason,
David Colquhoun on an Age of Endarkenment
Aug 21st, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonTruth ceased to matter very much, and dogma and irrationality became once more respectable. … Read the rest
Hurricane Dean and Global Warming
Aug 21st, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonChris Mooney on what we can and can’t reliably say about the two. … Read the rest
PZ Myers Sued for Unfavorable Book Review
Aug 21st, 2007 | Filed by Ophelia BensonStuart Pivar sues Seed Media Group and PZ for ‘Assault, Libel, and Slander.’… Read the rest