Pakistan has draconian blasphemy laws on the books. The latest bizarre turn in their use is that the Pakistani ambassador to the US Sherry Rehman has been accused of it.
Monthly Archive: January 2013
Jan 26 2013
Anniversary of this blog
Today marks the eighth anniversary of this blog. My first tentative post was on January 26, 2005 at my former location on the blogging platform provided by my employer Case Western Reserve University. I moved to FreethoughtBlogs on January 10th of last year so this month also marks the first anniversary of my move.
Jan 25 2013
More on the Randians who are looking for love
Yesterday I wrote about the online dating site called The Atlasphere dedicated to the followers of Ayn Rand who are seeking to find fellow objectivists. Stephen Colbert stumbled across the site and adds his commentary.
Jan 25 2013
Lifestyles of the kitsch and pious
I heard on NPR this morning that there is a new reality show called The Sisterhood featuring the wives of five Christian preachers in the Atlanta area. Critics say the show takes reality TV one step too far, exposing personal, intimate and sometimes unflattering details about pastors’ wives. But Domonique Scott, former first lady of …
Jan 25 2013
TV Review: The Untouchables
Last night I watched the Frontline documentary The Untouchables that I wrote about yesterday that explored the question of why, more than four years after the financial debacle involving widespread mortgage fraud, not a single high-level Wall Street executive has faced criminal prosecution. All that has happened is a bunch of very low-level people being …
Jan 25 2013
Is hell hot or cold?
Before readers roll their eyes and wonder whether I have lost my marbles and am next going to discuss how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, let me reassure them that I have a sociological and not theological interest in this question. It turns out that this question has had answers …
Jan 24 2013
What wins when money clashes with religious doctrine?
That is, of course, a question that practically answers itself. Via reader Vote for Pedro I learned about a court case arising from a tragic situation in 2006 when a woman who was seven months pregnant with twins started vomiting and was short of breath and was admitted to the emergency room of a Colorado …
Jan 24 2013
Looking for Atlas
So you read Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead and inspired by their powerful message of the virtue of selfishness and the vice of altruism, you have sworn off having anything to do with the moochers and looters who are trying to live off the hard-earned rewards of your own genius. But you now feel lonely …
Jan 24 2013
Film review: Game Change (2012)
Over the weekend I saw this film about the ill-fated McCain-Palin campaign of 2008. The film is based on a book of the same name by two journalists who relied heavily on anonymous sources on ‘deep background’, which means that one has to be wary of the material that took place out of the public …
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