Posts Tagged ‘ FTB ’

Guest post on the replacement law and the current government

Feb 8th, 2015 10:45 am | By

Originally a comment by Jenora Feuer on Canada gets the right to die.

The government has to write a new law within a year or the law will be struck down.

Of course, that’s part of the problem right there. The same thing happened with some of the prostitution laws a year or so ago… the replacement law pushed through by the current government is pretty much as bad as the old law in all the ways that are important, and the general consensus of the legal community I’ve heard is that it will get knocked over the moment it gets to a Supreme Court challenge. The current group of legislators aren’t the sorts of people I would want … Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



“Be careful with Muhammad”

Feb 8th, 2015 10:10 am | By

The Telegraph also reports on the Muslim Action Forum protest – calling it “huge” in the headline but saying it was about a thousand people in the first sentence. A thousand people is a huge protest? In London?

At least 1,000 Muslim protesters gathered outside the gates of Downing Street to protest against the depictions of the Prophet Mohammed in Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical magazine.

The protestors, many of whom were divided into groups of men and women, gathered just yards from the Cenotaph which remembers Britain’s war dead, and blocked half of Whitehall as they demonstated.

It comes weeks after two terrorists attacked the offices of Charlie Hebdo, the Paris-based satirical magazine which had published images of the

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(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



They denounce Charlie Hebdo and everyone connected

Feb 8th, 2015 9:49 am | By

The protest organized by the Muslim Action Forum took place, ITV reports.

Hundreds of Muslims have gathered in Whitehall as part of a demonstration against the recent publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad in the French magazine Charlie Hebdo.

The protest was organised by the Muslim Action Forum. Participants said they were campaigning for global civility and wanted to encourage people to live together harmoniously.

Bullshit. That’s not what they’re campaigning for and it’s not what they want. They’re campaigning for everyone to shut up about the prophet and about Islam. They want to make Islam and everything to do with it a special fenced-off Protected Zone.

ITV quotes their ridiculous petition, which starts off with pleasant noises … Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



Children and Islamic State

Feb 7th, 2015 4:37 pm | By

The “militants” of Islamic State are covering themselves with glory as usual. The New York Times reports that among their current hobbies they like to bury children alive.

Islamic State militants are selling abducted Iraqi children at markets as sex slaves, and killing other youth, including by crucifixion or burying them alive, a United Nations watchdog said on Wednesday.

Iraqi boys aged under 18 are increasingly being used by the militant group as suicide bombers, bomb makers, informants or human shields to protect facilities against U.S.-led air strikes, the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child said.

In other words they’re being used as tools, machines, insensate objects. That’s what Allah wants, is it?

“We are really deeply

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(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



Always look on the baby side of rape

Feb 7th, 2015 4:00 pm | By

A West Virginia Republican wants to make sure everyone is aware of the upside to rape. Yes, of course, it’s unpleasant and horrid, but on the other hand, you can get a child out of it. What a payoff! Imagine if you could get a child that easily any other way – say, by getting your teeth cleaned, or waiting for a bus for an extra long time on a cold day. But you can’t. With most unpleasant things you can’t get a child out of it at all. But with rape, you can! How cool is that?

West Virginia Del. Brian Kurcaba (R) made the comments — which were first reported by Charleston Gazette staffer David Gutman —

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Kiddy porn

Feb 7th, 2015 12:27 pm | By

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…what? Apparently this is from a kiddy bible.

You’d think he was offering them cheeseburgers.… Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



Nope nope nope

Feb 7th, 2015 12:02 pm | By

Priorities all wrong. Priorities fucked up. Priorities baaaaaaaad.

No. Don’t do that. Instead denounce the torture of Raif Badawi. Denounce the mass murders by Boko Haram. Denounce the massacre in Paris. Denounce the murders of many thousands of Muslims by Islamist fanatics. Denounce cruelty and torture and oppression everywhere. Denounce crimes against the living.… Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



A flash mob for Raif

Feb 7th, 2015 11:50 am | By

In Berlin

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(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



Because it perpetuates terror

Feb 7th, 2015 11:44 am | By

Another Facebook group supporting Raif Badawi.

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(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



Pretty much what they recommended

Feb 7th, 2015 10:22 am | By

Udo Schuklenk has been working on the Canadian right to die issue for years. He has some first thoughts on the ruling.

Unless you have lived under a rock during these last few years you will know that I spent a significant amount of my time arguing in favour of the decriminalisation of assisted dying in the country, no least in a report of an expert panel the Royal Society of Canada asked me to chair, on end-of-life decision-making in Canada. In addition I wrote a large number of newspaper columns on the issue and gave oodles of TV interviews and what-not to advance that cause.

He and Eric and I met up for lunch at CFI-Ottawa’s Eschaton a … Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



Canada gets the right to die

Feb 7th, 2015 9:52 am | By

Big news from Canada via the Beeb

Canada’s Supreme Court has ruled that doctors may help patients who have severe and incurable medical conditions to die, overturning a 1993 ban.

In a unanimous decision, the court said the law impinged on Canadians’ rights.

The case was brought by a civil rights group on behalf of two women, Kay Carter and Gloria Taylor, with degenerative diseases. Both have since died.

Wow. Eric MacDonald has been campaigning on this issue for years.

The government has to write a new law within a year or the law will be struck down.

Assisted suicide is legal in several European countries and a few US states.

In Canada is it illegal to counsel,

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(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



Depicting Mohammed

Feb 6th, 2015 5:36 pm | By

Muhammed Syed explains about it.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuYaMhRGrtMRead the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



Oslo, Jordan, Sesame Street

Feb 6th, 2015 5:17 pm | By

Via the Humanistisk Ungdom page (Norway’s Humanist Youth) – a sizable collection of people on a cold snowy day protest in front of the Saudi embassy in Oslo.

A Google translatation with some adaptations –

For the fifth time we stand together with Amnesty International outside the Saudi embassy and demonstrate for Raif Badawi .

He is sentenced to prison and 1,000 lashes – for a blog post.

This time, we were suddenly chased 10 meters away from the embassy, behind a hedge, entirely without justification or explanation of who gave the order.

We didn’t give up though, and continued to shout: #Free Raif Badawi! #Stop the flogging!

Go there to see a 9 second video of them doing it, … Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



Guest post: To make sure the girls in category 2 don’t end up in category 3

Feb 6th, 2015 3:41 pm | By

Originally a comment by Anne Fenwick on FGM in the US.

It is frustrating that neither society nor the statistics seem good at separating 1) women who arrive as immigrants having undergone FGM in their previous countries; 2) their daughters who may be considered at risk; 3) those daughters who actually undergo FGM in a western country or ‘on vacation’. I’m glad this article seemed to get the problem – though I do wonder about their choice of age range, I think we would use a different one in the UK.

What seems to be important is that the arrival of a large number of women in category 1 is going to necessitate a response. In the first place, … Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



But never in the face

Feb 6th, 2015 1:03 pm | By

Pope sweety says it’s ok for adults to hit children, provided it’s done with dignity.

Pope Francis has backed parents who smack their children, providing the child’s “dignity” is maintained.

He made the remarks during his weekly general audience at the Vatican, which was devoted to the role of fathers in the family.

How does an adult hit a child while maintaining the child’s dignity? Is it that the adult doesn’t abort the child in the process?

The Pope said: “One time, I heard a father in a meeting with married couples say ‘I sometimes have to smack my children a bit, but never in the face so as to not humiliate them.’

“How beautiful,” he added. “He knows

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(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



FGM in the US

Feb 6th, 2015 12:18 pm | By

Nina Strochlic at the Daily Beast reports that FGM numbers in the US have skyrocketed despite strong federal and state laws against it.

In 1997, the CDC estimated that 168,000 girls and women were at risk or had undergone FGM—at the time of the last national census in 1990. A few years later, in 2000, the African Women’s Center upped the number at 227,000.

But according to estimates released on Friday, there currently are around 507,000 girls living in the U.S. who are either at risk of being cut or who have already been cut. That’s more than triple the figure from the very first nationwide count.

These are estimates, not counts.

This fresh data comes from a new

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(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



We’ve got leverage

Feb 6th, 2015 11:11 am | By

The New Statesman said something interesting in a piece on January 15th on why protesting the flogging of Raif matters.

Under recent Saudi law, anything from “calling for atheist thought” to “inciting protests” or organizing petitions is now punishable as an act of terrorism.

Despite the crackdown at home, however, Saudi Arabia is angling to present itself as a supporter of free expression abroad.

Oh is it. Is it really.

Not that we didn’t know that – what else were they doing turning up in Paris on January 11th? What else were they doing joining that protest march?

But still. Having it spelled out is clarifying. If the Staggers is right about that, then that’s how we have leverage. If … Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



Another Friday

Feb 6th, 2015 10:25 am | By

For the fourth week, the Saudis have refrained from hitting Raif Badawi with a stick 50 times.

Saudi Arabia has again delayed a planned flogging of a blogger, according to a report from Amnesty International.

The Twitter account of the organization’s press office said Raif Badawi was spared a flogging today for reasons not yet known.

Not being able to get away with it without a lot of yelling and shouting, would be one big reason. The embassies would prefer a quiet life.

Via the Austrian Greens

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(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



Feminism is a core humanist value

Feb 5th, 2015 6:08 pm | By

Greg Epstein later did another series of tweets in order to make clear his attitude to feminism and its more acrimonious opponents.

I’ll start with this one.

Greg Epstein @gregmepstein · 4 hours ago
This Sunday, the organization I direct– the @HarvardHumanist @HumanistHub will present an award to feminist media critic Anita Sarkeesian.

Ms. Sarkeesian and other online feminist leaders have been the target of an extraordinary amount of harassment by anti-feminists, MRA’s etc.

I want to address those individuals, and anyone else with questions about why we chose this awardee.

Feminism is a core Humanist value. This isn’t something I decided-it’s the consensus view over ~100 years of a “good without God” movement

Mkay? Can we stop wrangling … Read the rest

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His child is pure

Feb 5th, 2015 5:28 pm | By

Here’s a “doctor” who should be struck off.

An Arizona cardiologist told CNN in an interview that went online Monday that he doesn’t care if his refusal to vaccinate his kids gives other children grave, preventable diseases.

“I’m not going to sacrifice the well-being of my child. My child is pure,” Dr. Jack Wolfson said in the interview. “It’s not my responsibility to be protecting their child.”

Wolfson was responding to a public appeal for all parents to vaccinate their children from Arizona pediatrician Dr. Tim Sacks…

That’s the one we read about yesterday.

Wolfson dismissed his fellow doctor’s appeal to anti-vaxxers.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s very likely that her leukemia is from vaccinations in

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(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)