Butterflies and Wheels update
Ophelia Benson
New in "Latest News"
Salvation Army church propagandizing teenagers
Why would a church show D'Souza's anti-Obama propaganda to teenagers? Their tax exemption requires them to be politically neutral.
Filed: October 4, 2012
The kissing sailor and the unconsenting nurse
It turns out that was an assault, but it doesn't do to say so.
Filed: October 4, 2012
Egypt: 2 children arrested for “desecrating” the Koran
One is 9, the other is 10.
Filed: October 4, 2012
Jerusalem bus company Egged drops all advertising
“Egged has not given in to the Haredim. This is purely a business decision." To avoid vandalism by the Haredim.
Filed: October 4, 2012
26 complaints about What Doctors Don’t Tell You
The Nightingale Collaboration submitted complaints about 26 adverts in WDDTY to the Advertising Standards Authority. This may be a record.
Filed: October 4, 2012
Students ejected from event for naming a pineapple Mohammed
The Reading University Atheist, Humanist, and Secularist Society had a stall that included a pineapple labeled "Mohammed." You know the rest.
Filed: October 5, 2012
LSE ASH retains its right to free expression
The cartoons will not be removed from the LSESU ASH page, nor will the prefix LSESU be removed from the society's name.
Filed: October 5, 2012
Brian Leiter and Michael Weisberg review Thomas Nagel
The sciences that have worked so well for us are precisely our benchmark for what we know and what is rational; they’re the things that are keeping us “afloat.”
Filed: October 5, 2012
Golden Dawn, Greece and blasphemy law
Golden Dawn's popularity has been rising, so it can influence the public agenda, with help of populist Greek media and government’s fear of losing conservative voters.
Filed: October 6, 2012
Dalia Ziada warns Egypt’s revolution is backsliding
"I don’t believe there can be a democracy unless women are properly in power,” she said in a speech at Tufts University yesterday.
Filed: October 6, 2012
Ritual circumcisions resume in Germany
Yay! Parents allowed to have their infant boys trimmed again.
Filed: October 6, 2012
Germany: new law would permit religious circumcision
Because it's religion that counts, not the rights of children.
Filed: October 6, 2012
Boy chained at madrassa to stop him running away
The police said that the madrassa management had chained the boy a few days ago to prevent him from escaping.
Filed: October 7, 2012
Theocrats want both tax exemption and political partisanship
That's unconstitutional, but theocrats don't care about that.
Filed: October 7, 2012
Robin Morgan and Mona Eltahawy talk
"With a president from the Muslim Brotherhood movement and a still very powerful military, we’re caught between a very bad rock and a very horrible hard place."
Filed: October 7, 2012
Galloway sues National Union of Students for libel
The NUS called him a rape-denier after he said Assange had been accused of nothing more than "bad sexual etiquette".
Filed: October 7, 2012
Pakistan: girls’ rights activist, 14, shot
A Pakistani Taliban spokesman told the BBC that they attacked her because she is anti-Taliban and secular, adding that she would not be spared.
Filed: October 9, 2012
Loon wants death penalty for “rebellious children”
"The guidelines for administering the death penalty to rebellious children are given in Deut 21:18-21," Charlie Fuqua wrote in his book God's Law.
Filed: October 9, 2012
Fury in Pakistan over attack on Malala Yousafzai
It has been condemned by most of Pakistan's major political parties and human rights groups including the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and Amnesty International.
Filed: October 9, 2012
Tarek Fatah on “honor” killings and verse 4:34
Another father who allegedly became outraged at his wife and daughters for dishonouring him and his religious and cultural beliefs.
Filed: October 10, 2012
Gillard explains about sexism and misogyny
The opposition leader Tony Abbott has demonstrated it repeatedly, she says.
Filed: October 10, 2012
Is office harassment a thing of the past?
Not only is classic workplace sexual harassment still going on, but technology has created new forms such as abusive emails, including rape threats and death threats.
Filed: October 10, 2012
Dawn reports Malala Yousefzai out of danger
The Interior Minister Rehman Malik says doctors confirm she is out of critical condition but also says next few days are crucial.
Filed: October 10, 2012
Pakistan: Christian boy arrested for “blasphemy”
Some nonsense about "blasphemous content" in text messages blah blah. Mob attacks house, sets fire to contents, family flees.
Filed: October 11, 2012
Madonna dedicates a song to Malala at concert
She tshouted “Support education! Support women!” to loud cheers from the crowd.
Filed: October 11, 2012
Malala transferred to Rawalpindi for treatment
One of the two other girls shot with Malala is out of danger, the other remains in a critical condition.
Filed: October 11, 2012
Katha Pollitt suggests some actual debate questions
Any plans to end child poverty? How about racial equality? Why lock up so many people? What about civil liberties? Separation of church and state?
Filed: October 11, 2012
Manchester man jailed for wearing “offensive T shirt”
Barry Thew, 39, was arrested wearing the top with the words "one less pig perfect justice" hours after the deaths of PCs Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes.
Filed: October 11, 2012
Mali: Islamists are compiling a list of unmarried mothers
Guess why.
Filed: October 12, 2012
Indonesia: teenage rape victim expelled
14-year-old was grabbed and held captive for a week, and repeatedly gang-raped. Back at school she was publicly chastised by her principal and expelled.
Filed: October 13, 2012
Amanda Marcotte on whose consent matters
The belief that men deserve a veil of privacy that makes it easier to harass, beat, and rape women is ingrained in our society.
Filed: October 13, 2012
Greece: fascists beat people up while police watch
The spectacle of fascists physically attacking people whose moral agenda they disapprove of has become routine in today's Greece.
Filed: October 14, 2012
Doctors say Malala is making steady progress
"She is making slow and steady progress which is in keeping with expectations," the Pakistani military said in a statement released Sunday.
Filed: October 14, 2012
The many other Malalas
Those pushing this struggle forward are not foreign. They are people like the teachers assassinated simply for going to work.
Filed: October 14, 2012
Malala flown to UK for treatment
The panel of doctors recommended that Malala be shifted abroad to a UK center which can provide integrated care to severely injured children.
Filed: October 15, 2012
Maria Hagberg on violence against women
Religious leaders should not be in charge of human rights but rather men and women who are striving for an equal society.
Filed: October 16, 2012
Malala’s likely future
Given the severity of the injury, there is a strong possibility there may be some higher-level cognitive deficits.
Filed: October 16, 2012
Mali: girls gets 60 lashes for talking to men
The Islamists told her to stop talking to men, but she didn't stop, so they assaulted her.
Filed: October 16, 2012
Mali: women and girls forced to wear hijab
"I can't stand how I am at the moment, covered in a veil from head to toe. It's as if I was in prison," 15-year-old Aicha said.
Filed: October 16, 2012
Pakistan: Gunmen kill polio vaccinator
A team of male and female vaccinators was going door-to-door to administer polio drops to children under 5 when gunmen on a motorbike shot dead a male volunteer.
Filed: October 16, 2012
Gillard’s “misogyny” speech prompts change to dictionary
Australia's Macquarie dictionary currently defines misogyny as "hatred of women", but will now add a second definition to include "entrenched prejudice against women."
Filed: October 18, 2012
US publishers say Saudi textbooks incite hate
As current and former heads of major publishing houses, we know the value of words. They inform actions and shape the world views of all.
Filed: October 18, 2012
NY appeals court strikes down DOMA
The divisive act, which was passed in 1996, bars federal recognition of such marriages and says other states cannot be forced to recognize them.
Filed: October 18, 2012
It’s a myth that harassment is “free speech”
It is a cultural myth—one particular to the Internet—that the methods of a harasser are fundamentally “legal,” and that the state is helpless to intervene in all cases like this.
Filed: October 18, 2012
Turkey prosecutes Faisal Say for “insulting Islam”
The famous pianist is being prosecuted over tweets he wrote mocking radical Muslims. He is charged with inciting hatred and insulting the values of Muslims.
Filed: October 18, 2012
Boy banned from Scouts for refusing pledge to “God”
"Variations of the Scout Promise are available for different faiths, however all variations of the Promise must recognise the 'Duty to God' element."
Filed: October 19, 2012
Malala is awake
She has stood up. She is making good progress.
Filed: October 19, 2012
Girl, 14, will be tried as an adult for killing infant
She's not old enough to consent to sex, but is old enough to be charged with first degree murder.
Filed: October 20, 2012
Romney as Mormon bishop was a bully to women
He tried to coerce a woman with a life-threatening pregnancy to refuse an abortion. He told her "as your bishop, my concern is with the child."
Filed: October 20, 2012
OIC drops effort to get global anti-blasphemy law at UN
Blames pesky "Western" and Latin American opposition. (Latin America is in the Western hemisphere yo.)
Filed: October 21, 2012
Golden Dawn and “blasphemy” prosecution
Greeks who are proud they live in a secular democracy protecting the freedom of speech discovered that the law against blasphemy has been strengthened.
Filed: October 21, 2012
Cairo: mob gropes reporter
Amnesty International said in a report in June that such attacks appeared designed to intimidate women and prevent them from participating in public life.
Filed: October 21, 2012
Italy: earthquake scientists sentenced to 6 years in prison
All have been barred from ever holding public office again, and ordered to pay court costs and damages.
Filed: October 22, 2012
“Ugly girl”: growing up female
There is lip service to "you can be anything" but the real message is be hot or go away.
Filed: October 23, 2012
Marcotte on right-wing misogynist feeding frenzies
How dare a woman talk in public?
Filed: October 23, 2012
Head of Italy’s disaster body quits over L’Aquila
Prof Maiani, a physicist, said the Serious Risks Commission could not work "in such difficult conditions."
Filed: October 23, 2012
New in "Articles"
Stamping out FGM
By Will Bordell
Each girl will be pinned down, with no anaesthetic, whilst 8,000 nerve endings cringe at the touch of an unclean scalpel. Each girl will scream and writhe and howl – but you won’t hear any of them.
Filed: October 4, 2012
Day of Agreement
By Maryam Namazie
Just remember, you can’t disagree with anyone...
Filed: October 7, 2012
New in "Flashback"
Saudi cleric tells women to wear one-eye niqab
Sheikh Muhammad al-Habadan said showing both eyes encouraged women to use eye make-up to look seductive.
Filed: October 7, 2012
Alabama senator says slavery was good for black people
The bible says slavery is ok and the Southern slave plantations were fabulous for the slaves says State Senator Charles Davidson.
Filed: October 8, 2012
New in "Notes and Comment Blog"
- Vacula resigns
Filed: October 4, 2012 - Politics and the bloggish language
Filed: October 4, 2012 - A timely article on FGM by Will Bordell
Filed: October 4, 2012 - Erasing the women
Filed: October 4, 2012 - They try it again
Filed: October 4, 2012 - LSESU Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society wins
Filed: October 5, 2012 - Either the pineapple goes, or you do
Filed: October 5, 2012 - Honorary members perhaps
Filed: October 5, 2012 - Jesus and Mo Six
Filed: October 5, 2012 - More on Elder Pastitsios
Filed: October 6, 2012 - Unless women are properly in power
Filed: October 6, 2012 - The return of snipping
Filed: October 6, 2012 - Is it time yet?
Filed: October 6, 2012 - An instrument of mischief
Filed: October 6, 2012 - Atheists are not citizens shock
Filed: October 7, 2012 -
Who is merciful?
Filed: October 7, 2012 - Join the Day of Agreement
Filed: October 7, 2012 - Mona Eltahawy talks about women in the revolution
Filed: October 7, 2012 - The stuff of nightmares
Filed: October 7, 2012 - Nowhere were servants better treated
Filed: October 8, 2012 - You’re both right
Filed: October 8, 2012 - Salman speaks
Filed: October 8, 2012 - Because she was secular
Filed: October 9, 2012 - The bullet missed her brain
Filed: October 9, 2012 - Don’t execute the rebellious child lightly
Filed: October 9, 2012 - Malala
Filed: October 9, 2012 - A new contestant
Filed: October 9, 2012 - Oh thank you so much Allah, you’re so kind
Filed: October 10, 2012 - Then why?
Filed: October 10, 2012 - Everyday misogyny
Filed: October 10, 2012 - Cover art
Filed: October 10, 2012 - Heeeeere’s Rebecca
Filed: October 10, 2012 - Is harassment just so over?
Filed: October 10, 2012 - Live discussion about Malala on Huffington Post
Filed: October 10, 2012 - What’s the matter with you? Are you a lesbian or something?
Filed: October 11, 2012 - Metamorphoses
Filed: October 11, 2012 - From what clay?
Filed: October 11, 2012 - Just kidding!
Filed: October 11, 2012 - Doin it rong
Filed: October 11, 2012 - A guest post by Reap Paden
Filed: October 11, 2012 - In Pakistan
Filed: October 11, 2012 - No money for us? Get out of our church then.
Filed: October 11, 2012 - How is Malala doing today?
Filed: October 12, 2012 - Compiling a list
Filed: October 12, 2012 - A portent?
Filed: October 12, 2012 - Not simple
Filed: October 12, 2012 - Greta’s father
Filed: October 12, 2012 - A hit, a palpable hit
Filed: October 12, 2012 - A note to Al
Filed: October 13, 2012 - Malala’s condition is “satisfactory”
Filed: October 13, 2012 - Creepshots
Filed: October 13, 2012 - In ‘white man’s burden’ style
Filed: October 13, 2012 - Malala is doing better
Filed: October 13, 2012 - Men deserve their veil of privacy
Filed: October 13, 2012 -
Thankful for not having our heads chopped off
Filed: October 14, 2012 - How dare you suffer!
Filed: October 14, 2012 - Carlin isn’t the issue
Filed: October 14, 2012 - A Greek blogger goes to see Corpus Christi
Filed: October 14, 2012 - I get to be in a cartoon!
Filed: October 14, 2012 - Update from Rawalpindi
Filed: October 14, 2012 - Malala is now in the UK
Filed: October 15, 2012 - Perverted chattering degenerate misanthropes hunt for witches
Filed: October 15, 2012 - Lying liars tell lying lies
Filed: October 15, 2012 - Apples but not bananas? What about pineapples?
Filed: October 15, 2012 - Mandatory bullying in the schools
Filed: October 15, 2012 -
Microaggression and macroaggression
Filed: October 15, 2012 -
Pesky atheists pretending to like science
Filed: October 15, 2012 - It’s called charisma
Filed: October 16, 2012 - Higher-level cognitive deficits
Filed: October 16, 2012 - Welcome to Islamist Mali
Filed: October 16, 2012 - Avoidance
Filed: October 16, 2012 - Tacitus in Karachi
Filed: October 16, 2012 - Another hateful thing
Filed: October 16, 2012 - Literal. Metaphorical. Literal.
Filed: October 17, 2012 -
Wolf Hall
Filed: October 17, 2012 - The tasteful Redditt
Filed: October 17, 2012 - Using anonymity to speak more freely
Filed: October 17, 2012 - If your speech reveals you to be a loathsome creep
Filed: October 17, 2012 - Scalzi on Brutsch
Filed: October 17, 2012 - A dictionary fight
Filed: October 18, 2012 - It’s all trolling, when you come right down to it
Filed: October 18, 2012 - Mere superstructure
Filed: October 18, 2012 - The malice is unquestionable
Filed: October 18, 2012 - Insulting the values of
Filed: October 18, 2012 - For Greta
Filed: October 18, 2012 - Malala is awake
Filed: October 19, 2012 - Calling out
Filed: October 19, 2012 - Malala again
Filed: October 19, 2012 - Diversity
Filed: October 19, 2012 - An invitation to picket a cathedral
Filed: October 19, 2012 - Meet the bishop
Filed: October 20, 2012 - Way back
Filed: October 20, 2012 - Treasure found
Filed: October 20, 2012 - This shit is sexist, and feminism is the fight against sexism
Filed: October 20, 2012 - Return to Polk County
Filed: October 20, 2012 - Brady Judd in Gilead
Filed: October 21, 2012 - Backbone Zone
Filed: October 21, 2012 - Another good visual
Filed: October 21, 2012 - But we allow them to use the front door
Filed: October 21, 2012 - One step ahead of a mob
Filed: October 21, 2012 - Italy makes fallibility a major felony
Filed: October 22, 2012 - Paul Kurtz
Filed: October 22, 2012 - Flip the terms
Filed: October 22, 2012 - Public figures who make their controversial opinions known to the world
Filed: October 22, 2012 - #justthewomen
Filed: October 22, 2012 - The pineapple is to be disciplined
Filed: October 23, 2012 - Shame that girl
Filed: October 23, 2012 - Just a shy kid with holes in his socks
Filed: October 23, 2012 - Ed Miliband supports the Libel Reform Campaign
Filed: October 23, 2012