‘Every biographer of Hellman must sooner or later come to terms with the fabrications in Hellman’s memoirs.’… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Fine Careless Rapture
Nov 29th, 2005 2:01 am | By Ophelia BensonTribulation. Got that? Think about it.
Yeah. That’s what I thought.
Don’t mind me, it’s just this rapture site I’ve been looking at. It’s inspiring – is that the word I mean? No, not quite. It’s – baffling? No, that’s not it. Hilarious? Pathetic? Oh, it’ll come to me.
Okay so down to business. What, you’ve been wondering, is wrong with homosexuality? The FAQ section has a whole page all on its own to answer that important question, so I hustled right along to it, excited and hopeful that I would finally learn just exactly what it is that gets Christians (and other religious zealots too) so frantic with rage about homosekshality while other, one would think more pressing and … Read the rest
The Rapture Index 
Nov 28th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Oh no! Earthquakes, volcanoes, the Mark of the Beast. The end is nigh.… Read the rest
How Come God Doesn’t Make Movies?
Nov 28th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Maybe he doesn’t like those canvas chairs.… Read the rest
Still Two Cultures?
Nov 28th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
And if so, does it matter?… Read the rest
March of Religious Extremists in SE Asia
Nov 28th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘”Allah is great,” they shouted before killing two temple novices.’… Read the rest
Death Penalty for ‘Insults to Name of Prophet’
Nov 28th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Pakistan’s blasphemy law frequently manipulated to settle scores or rouse religious tensions.… Read the rest
‘Honour’ Killing Finished With Abortion
Nov 28th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Father, brothers kill boyfriend, then send pregnant survivor to Spain for late abortion.… Read the rest
Umberto Eco Points out the Obvious
Nov 28th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Many people find religion consoling. Who knew?!… Read the rest
Fear and Loathing in Lacania
Nov 28th, 2005 | By Filip BuekensAbstract How do his interpreters explain and justify Jacques Lacan’s baroque and unintelligible rhetorical strategies in Ecrits and the Séminaires? Many philosophers, cultural critics and psychoanalysts begin their project of elucidating Lacan with explanations and justifications of their master’s obscure voice. I argue that all these arguments are either circular, unsound, inconsistent or – what is perhaps the worst feature they all share – that his readers are taken hostage: ‘Only if we take what he says as revealing the truth about the unconscious will we understand Lacan’ seems to be the conclusion of many scholars desperate to ‘understand’ Lacan. [1]
‘Parfaupe orecluspa nannanbryle anaphi ologi psysoscline ixipad anlana – égnia kune n’rbiol’ ô blijonter têtumaine ennounç…’ [2]
Countless readers … Read the rest
Human First
Nov 28th, 2005 2:06 am | By Ophelia BensonYou should listen to Radio 4’s Inside a Muslim School . It’s rather horrible.
It’s about a very small school in Blackburn, mostly girls with a few boys in the primary grades. The headteacher (who is a man) explains the dress code:
According to the Islamic principle, women should not show their hair. So if the hair is not covered properly, then we will ask them to do so. That’s why they have to wear scarves.
And outdoors, ‘veils’ as well, we find out later – although a lot of girls don’t. But right off the bat they get this nasty, creepy, prying, domineering, bordering on prurient stuff of a Boss Man telling little girls that their nasty dangerous hair … Read the rest
Defying Jirga-ordered Child Marriage
Nov 27th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The village has two schools but they are used to keep cattle.… Read the rest
UN Warning on Kashmir Quake Relief
Nov 27th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
UN estimates that three million people are in need of immediate aid.… Read the rest
Archbishop of Wales on Patriarchal Religion
Nov 27th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘In all societies, women and girls are subjected to physical, sexual and psychological abuse.’… Read the rest
President of Royal Society Says a Few Words
Nov 27th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Says Christian and Islamic fundamentalists threaten to create a blighted, blinkered world.… Read the rest
When is Free Speech Unfree?
Nov 26th, 2005 8:03 pm | By Ophelia BensonThis question does keep coming up. And up, and up. When is free speech free speech and when is it incitement to murder? (That’s only one version of the question, of course. It can be phrased other ways. When is free speech protected as such and when is it not because it is incitement to violence? That’s another version. There are more.)
Scott Jaschik has an article at Inside Higher Ed where the question seems to be in play, although it’s not absolutely clear whether the people involved in the matter actually phrased it that way. It’s also not clear whether that was avoidance or just lack of clarity – confusion, in short.
An adjunct English instructor at Warren Community … Read the rest
Scott McLemee on C Wright Mills
Nov 26th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Mills thought jargon and ersatz ‘difficulty’ were academic closing of ranks by the mediocre.… Read the rest
Adjunct Resigns Over Controversy
Nov 26th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Free speech issues in play.… Read the rest
Fundamentalism and Government Incompatible?
Nov 26th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Even some Republicans think reality has its uses.… Read the rest
Vatican Drops Singer From Papa’s Pop Concert
Nov 26th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Because? She was in anti-Aids campaign promoting use of condoms during Carnival last year.… Read the rest
