The Islamic Republic regime has launched a new wave of torture and executions in Iran’s prisons.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Interview With Ayaan Hirsi Ali 
Aug 25th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Islam closes the mind. Western civilization opened the minds of their own people to science.’… Read the rest
Sam Harris Rebukes Nature
Aug 25th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Nature‘s coverage of religion has been unfailingly tactful — to the point of obscurantism.… Read the rest
Dan Hines on the ‘Real’ Enemies of Reason
Aug 25th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Why doesn’t Dawkins go after corporations instead? Because he likes to feel superior. QED.… Read the rest
Kevin Sutcliffe Dismisses ‘Islamophobia’ Charge
Aug 25th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Maryam Namazie notes that Islamism conflates criticism of Islam with racism against Muslims.… Read the rest
Open Letter from Peter Irons to Stuart Pivar
Aug 25th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Professor Myers’ characterization was protected opinion, not a false statement of fact.… Read the rest
The Rapture is not a viable exit strategy
Aug 24th, 2007 2:42 pm | By Ophelia BensonThe Pentagon is now a minor branch of the Southern Baptist Convention, it seems.
Last week, after an investigation spurred by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, the Pentagon abruptly announced that it would not be delivering “freedom packages” to our soldiers in Iraq, as it had originally intended. What were the packages to contain? Not body armor or home-baked cookies. Rather, they held Bibles, proselytizing material in English and Arabic and the apocalyptic computer game “Left Behind: Eternal Forces” (derived from the series of post-Rapture novels), in which “soldiers for Christ” hunt down enemies who look suspiciously like U.N. peacekeepers.
Oh well now wouldn’t that have been a good idea. Clever old Pentagon. What’s it doing, trying to get … Read the rest
Italy Will Grant Asylum to Pegah Emambakhsh
Aug 24th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
So she won’t be deported to Iran to be flogged or executed. Good.… Read the rest
Ex-Klansman Convicted in 1964 Murders
Aug 24th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Charges dropped in 1964 because local police were colluding with the Klan, federal prosecutors have said.… Read the rest
Pentagon Nearly Sent ‘Left Behind’ to Troops
Aug 24th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Apparently Pentagon wonks thought what the Iraq war lacked was a dose of end-times theology.… Read the rest
What on Earth are West Midlands Police up to?
Aug 24th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Ofcom referral caters to the sense of ‘victim culture’ peddled by the MCB and others.… Read the rest
Alice Dreger on Writing in Fear
Aug 24th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Intimidation impedes free inquiry.… Read the rest
Dreger’s Report on the Bailey Controversy [pdf]
Aug 24th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘A Case History of the Politics of Science, Identity, and Sex in the Internet Age’… Read the rest
When a Lesbian Says ‘We Are all Hezb’ Allah Now!’
Aug 24th, 2007 | By Azar MajediWhen my daughter’s friend told me a couple of weeks a go, that her socialist lesbian friend has a poster on her wall saying: “we are all Hezb’ Allah Now!” I said: “my God! [and I am an atheist] something has gone fundamentally wrong.”
I asked myself, what are they trying to do, mock socialists? Or, are they simply brainwashed? What is this world coming to?
This young woman has all the necessary ingredients for fighting against political Islam and Hezb’ Allah. First of all she is a woman. Just the fact of being a female is enough to make you a staunch enemy of a radically misogynist movement, unless you are brainwashed to do the opposite.
To add to … Read the rest
We’re going to have people saying unpopular things
Aug 23rd, 2007 12:24 pm | By Ophelia BensonJ. Michael Bailey, a psychologist at Northwestern University, has promoted a theory that his critics think is inaccurate, insulting and potentially damaging to transgender women. In the past few years, several prominent academics who are transgender have made a series of accusations against the psychologist…Lynn Conway, a prominent computer scientist at the University of Michigan, sent out an e-mail message comparing Dr. Bailey’s views to Nazi propaganda…Dr. Ben Barres, a neurobiologist at Stanford, said in reference to Dr. Bailey’s thesis in the book, “Bailey seems to make a living by claiming that the things people hold most deeply true are not true.”
Oh no, not that. If he does that then nothing is too bad … Read the rest
Maryam Namazie on the Veil and Violence
Aug 23rd, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
In Iran two sisters died because their brother deemed it sinful for the paramedics to touch them. … Read the rest
Protest Deportation of Pegah Emambakhsh
Aug 23rd, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
UK is violating all the international Conventions deciding to repatriate Pegah Emambakhsh.… Read the rest
Harassment of a Scholar
Aug 23rd, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
If 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 Benson
They 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 Benson
First put words in its mouth, then say it can best be called aggressive.… Read the rest
