Hmm.
Right, because I’m exactly the same kind of thing as a politician and I should be subject to exactly the same kind and degree of “satire.”
Who should be doing the growing up here?… Read the rest
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Meet Dan Cardamon!
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Stonewalling is bad management. It’s unprofessional. It’s not what a good boss or CEO does. It’s sometimes what a good military officer or emergency services chief does, when orders have to be obeyed promptly, but apart from emergencies, it’s not the way to supervise.
Another thing that’s bad management is springing things on people. It’s doing things in a high-handed manner when it would have been perfectly possible to do them with consultation and discussion and agreement. I talked about this some yesterday.
… Read the restThe problem here, if I understand it correctly, is that feminism is a big tent, and there are some woo branches of feminism. I don’t think the woo part is a very big fraction of feminism,
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There are lots of people who think the reaction to CFI and the statement and Ron’s activities is excessive. Some of those people even see flaws in Ron’s activities but still think the reaction is excessive. Maybe it is, but I think there are reasons for that, reasons we can figure out and look at and maybe learn something from.
Or to put it another way – I think I know what it was about the whole thing that got my irritation cranked up past a simmer, and I don’t think I’m particularly special, so maybe the same applies to other people.
It was the stonewalling.
If we’d been able to talk to him – we attendees and speakers at … Read the rest
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June 18
She just can’t stop.
June 16
A whole week with no documentation! That was a nice break.
June 9
A new one.
I borked the last tweet and the account (it was a new one, six tweets, all of the same type) is gone, so I’ll include the screencap too.
June 3
#bbpBox_339179886746935296 a { text-decoration:none; color:#B40B43; }#bbpBox_339179886746935296 a:hover { text-decoration:underline; }I guess @micknugent doesn't realise that @OpheliaBenson @pzmyers @rebeccawatson are pseudoskeptic faux feminists who bully secular women.May 27, 2013 5:42 pm via TweetList!RetweetFavorite@saramayhewSara E. MayhewWow. She tagged Michael Nugent. She’s actually actively trying to get me disinvited from a speaking engagement at a … Read the rest
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So that’s two people cutting ties. Maybe that’s what CFI wanted, but I doubt it.
… Read the restDo not support an organization that does not have the courage to stand up for women. The standard you walk past is the standard you accept. If you are a speaker at a paid event for these organizations, cancel your appearance. If you regularly donate money to them, stop. If you work for them, look for a new job. I have a lot of friends and loved ones who currently do one, some, or all of those things, and I trust we’ll continue to be friends regardless of what happens. But I do think that continued support of CFI will send
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I went out to do some things, as one does, and when I came back I found an envelope from Free Inquiry in the mail. I thought it must be the check for my most recent column, although it was an odd envelope for that – brown, and larger than a letter envelope. I opened it and found another envelope, a letter one this time, addressed to me c/o Free Inquiry.
I opened that and found a sick little thing from Martin Wiesner, aka Pogsurf, who started trolling me a week or so ago, for reasons I don’t know.
At the top it says
A SHORT QUIZ ABOUT THE PANELISTS @
Empowering Women Through Secularism,
Dublin 2013
Then it has … Read the rest
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So it’s Monday, time to do the things that hung fire over the weekend…like release any little statements that might have piled up on Friday afternoon. This one from CFI for example, stemming from the meeting of its board last week:
… Read the restThe mission of the Center for Inquiry is to foster a secular society based on science, reason, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values.
The Center for Inquiry, including its CEO, is dedicated to advancing the status of women and promoting women’s issues, and this was the motivation for its sponsorship of the two Women in Secularism conferences. The CFI Board wishes to express its unhappiness with the controversy surrounding the recent Women in Secularism Conference 2.
CFI believes in
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Via Maryam – how to tell “conservatives” from “reformers” in the Iranian elections.
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There are people who think there’s such a thing as “benevolent sexism.” What’s that? Like, holding doors open? Not necessarily. One definition I’ve seen is
Benevolent sexism is when, for example, you think a woman can’t “take” a clumsy attempt at flirtation.
Ahhhhhhh is that what it is. It’s a new word for the kind of feminism that thinks women should be able to work without constantly being interrupted by “clumsy” attempts at flirtation.
Ok look. No. It’s not that we think a woman can’t “take” a clumsy attempt at flirtation. Don’t insult me with that shit. It’s that we don’t think women should have to “take” clumsy (or graceful) attempts at flirtation when they’re trying to do something else… Read the rest
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You may be aware that Dave Silverman went on “Brave Hero” radio yesterday to give some advice about how to be a good activist instead of a dedicated shit-flinger. It was an interesting listen.
The pushback went into indignant overdrive before the show even started, and is no doubt still roaring and raging now.
PZ even ventured into the chatroom there; he reports on it at Pharyngula.
… Read the restI was in the chatroom for the show, and it was like being in a mob of baboons. They were barking mad and raving — rather than arguing for Vacula, their approach was solely one of throwing around false equivalencies, in particular, demanding that Silverman denounce me as severely as he was
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Remember Torcant Torcant’s guest post on Sevan Nişanyan? Later he sent me a link to an interview with Nişanyan.
2. Prosecutors have accused you of “overstepping the boundaries of freedom of speech and criticism.” What is your response to this accusation?
The quality of legal education in Turkey is abysmal. Evidently this young prosecutor was under the illusion that saying something mildly distasteful to the prevailing religious opinion is beyond the boundaries of free speech.
Nicely put.
… Read the rest7. In your article, you said you argued that hate speech is only criminal if it actually puts the rights or security of a vulnerable group in jeopardy. You wrote the blog post in response to the furor around the film. What
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At least 29 people were injured in clashes as police sealed off Taksim Square and took Gezi Park.… Read the rest
The provisions in this bill are not in accordance with Nigeria’s human rights obligations and commitments locally and internationally.… Read the rest
Fighting dirty, in other words.
“I am now being branded by personnel around the country as being a murderer – that I am going to have on my soul the death of 20 million babies,” he told the Dáil.
“I am getting medals, scapulars, plastic foetuses, letters written in blood, telephone calls all over the systems and it’s not confined to me.”
What about the dead women? Don’t they count?… Read the rest
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You know how people who claim the death of Savita Halappanavar was just a sad accident also like to claim that Ireland has a very low maternal death rate? I always wonder, when I see that, if Ireland massages the numbers. Well guess what.
Savita recorded as only maternal death despite five further fatalities
THE death of Savita Halappanavar is the only maternal death recorded by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) last year – although at least five more fatalities were reported by maternity units.
Hmm. The dog ate their homework? The check is in the mail? They had a spot of amnesia?
… Read the restIt has already been reported by the Coombe Maternity Hospital in Dublin that two women died there
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So Ireland needs to change its abortion laws. They’re working on it. And they’re getting harassed by the anti-abortion crowd as a result.
… Read the restThe Taoiseach responded to concerns over the legislation, published overnight, after an Independent TD warned about a pro-life mob ambushing politicians in a widespread campaign of intimidation.
John Halligan, from Waterford, claimed he was confronted by a gang of seven campaigners on the promenade in Tramore in May and told to change his views on abortion, or they would be changed for him. One of the group called to his house late that day and stuffed leaflets through his letterbox.
Mr Halligan also recalled the experience of Fine Gael TD Regina Doherty who was threatened via email
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A report on the death of Savita Halappanavar was published on Thursday.
The report, described by Minister for Health James Reilly as a “hard-hitting report which spares nobody and doesn’t pull any punches”, identifies three main factors which led to Ms Halappanavar’s death.
They include:
- A failure to adhere to clinical guidelines for prompt and effective management of sepsis when it was diagnosed
- Not offering all management options to the patient as she experienced inevitable miscarriage, even though the risk she faced increased from the time her membranes ruptured
- Inadequate assessment and monitoring that would have allowed the clinical team to recognise and respond to the signs that her condition was deteriorating.
That seems like a less … Read the rest
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From Ruth Prawer Jhabvala’s first novel, Amrita, published in 1955.
Amrita, a young woman, goes with her boyfriend and a friend of his to a café. It’s crowded, and they’re seated at a table in the middle of the room.
Amrita felt very much embarrassed. She did not dare to look up, for she knew she was being scrutinized from all sides; as was every woman tolerably young and pretty. Hari did not notice the offensive stares that afflicted her; he had been born into a society unused to disguising its interest for the sake of politeness, and considered staring at young women a perfectly natural reflex action. He did it himself without the slightest reticence.
“Reticence” is the … Read the rest
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There were sculptures of horses on a roundabout (a traffic circle) in Abu Arish in Saudi Arabia. That sounds pretty and decorative and pleasant. But then along came a Grand Mufti to say it was sinful.
Grand Mufti Abdulaziz al-Shaikh sent a letter to the governor of Jazan demanding that “the sculptures be removed because they are a great sin and are prohibited under sharia (Islamic law),” said another news webitse, sabq.org.
Statues of people and animals are prohibited under Islam as they represent a form of idolatry. However, the religion does allow artworks depicting plants and landscapes.
That’s nice of it. It’s so kind and generous of it to allow some things. But if you want more … Read the rest
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