‘These riots show evidence of social protest.’… Read the rest
All entries by this author
He Called Us Louts, says Arsonist 
Nov 6th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Youth explains grievance: ‘He should have said sorry for showing us disrespect, but now it is too late.’… Read the rest
‘Youths’ Set Fire to Disabled Woman on Bus
Nov 5th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Officials say rioting is also about youths simply ‘having a go’ at the police. And women on crutches.… Read the rest
Why Does P Charles Cleave to Islam?
Nov 5th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Monarch-worshipping, woman-oppressing, non-democratic — what’s there for Charles not to like! … Read the rest
Father and Sons Convicted of ‘Honour’ Killing
Nov 5th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Shame, dishonour, contrary to religion and tradition.… Read the rest
Alister McGrath Gives the Game Away
Nov 5th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘The post-modern devaluation of truth is a convenient escape hatch for believers in one or another god.’… Read the rest
Scientific Consciousness at its Best
Nov 5th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Informed guesswork that is open-minded, free-ranging, intellectually playful.… Read the rest
A Zero Theory
Nov 5th, 2005 | By Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen; introduction and translation by Frederick CrewsFive weeks ago, an article on this site introduced habitués of Butterflies and Wheels (among whom I enthusiastically count myself) to Le livre noir de la psychanalyse (Éditions des Arènes), a book that has had all of intellectual and therapeutic France in an uproar throughout the fall season. France is one of the few remaining countries whose psychiatric establishment remains committed to Freudian—in this case specifically Lacanian—notions, and until now no critique, most notably Jacques Bénesteau’s powerful but largely boycotted Mensonges freudiens of 2002, could make a dent in the reigning complacency. The ambitious, massive, and well-publicized Livre noir, compiled from original and reprinted contributions by forty authors, has changed all that. The book has already run through three … Read the rest
Pike on Honderich
Nov 4th, 2005 6:10 pm | By Ophelia BensonJon Pike on Ted Honderich is well worth reading. Studying, even.
To begin with, he doesn’t just think that affluent westerners are collectively guilty for their omissions in respect of bad lives. He asserts that this explains and justifies anti-Western hatred…The book is, as I will show, chock full of sloppy arguments and non-sequiturs but this is perhaps the worst, and is the hinge with which Honderich gets from bad lives to terrorism.
That’s an important hinge, I think. It’s a hinge that other people use in other causes, or ’causes.’ There is suffering or deprivation or injustice in X place or situation; some set of people are collectively guilty for their omissions or their ‘complicity’ (remember that word? it’s … Read the rest
Recent Communique From Animal Liberation Front
Nov 4th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Associate with HLS and we will ruin your life.’… Read the rest
Melanie Phillips Misunderstands Epidemiology
Nov 4th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Science is all about the error bar, a graphic representation of the uncertainties in the data.… Read the rest
Letters to Guardian on Chomsky Interview
Nov 4th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
From Chomsky, and Kemal Pervanic, who survived the Omarska concentration camp.… Read the rest
The Electromagnetic Chaos Eliminator
Nov 4th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Also magnetic toe rings, crocodile protein peptide, balancing vibration.… Read the rest
Scott McLemee on the Lisbon Eearthquake
Nov 4th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Voltaire was sarcastic, Rousseau was unabomberish, Kant pondered gas pockets.… Read the rest
Paul Gross on Science Standards [pdf]
Nov 4th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Draft Science Framework for the
2009 NAEP gets a C – it needs work.… Read the rest
House Republicans Work to Cut Food Stamps
Nov 4th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Must pay for upper bracket tax cuts somehow.… Read the rest
Cardinal Says ‘Faithful’ Should Listen to Science
Nov 4th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
But then demands that science listen to religion as ‘an expert voice’. Expert in what?… Read the rest
Guy Takes 15 Years to Start Questioning Moonism
Nov 4th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Still, better late than never.… Read the rest
Quantum Mechanics Must be Wrong
Nov 4th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Or maybe Mills got his math wrong, or maybe his critics did, or maybe not.… Read the rest
We Live in 2005, not 905
Nov 4th, 2005 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Danish cartoonists dare to tease the prophet. Marches ensue. … Read the rest
