Bad ass Tunisian feminist activist Amina Tyler posted a photo of her own topless body online with the message, “my body belongs to me, and is not the source of anyone’s honour.” Islamists like cleric Adel Almi are calling for her death. She’s now apparently in hiding as Tunisian bigots debate exactly how she should be punished for her crime. You can support her by signing this pe... »
The Northeast Conference on Science and Skepticism (NECSS) starts tomorrow, with great speakers and mini-events, including a live SGU, a science/improve mashup with George Hrab, Steve Novella, and others. Meet Rebecca, Eugenie Scott, Jon Ronson, Julia Galef, and many more special guests. UpDATED: Or if you’re in the Midwest, join me and Teen Skepchicks Kate Donovan and Olivia James at Skeptech, a ... »
I spent the last weekend at the American Atheist convention in Austin Texas. It was, hands down, the best secular convention I’ve been at in a long time. It was diverse, welcoming, educational and a whole heck of a lot of fun. The American Atheist event staff and members where absolutely wonderful. It’s an event I hope to be able to attend again in the future. Also, the food in Austin ... »
I have a confession to make. Not only was I not a STEM major, I was one of those dreaded students of philosophy. In fact, though I double-majored in English, I identified solely as a philosophy major whenever I could get away with it. While philosophy has many problems, from its lack of growth in female representation to its whiteness, it does distinguish itself as a field that demands its student... »
This week, we’ve got Easter and April Fools’ Day back-to-back. [Insert plethora of obvious jokes here.] As usual, events are all over the map, from the spring opener of egg hunting season to celebrations of the Flying Spaghetti Monster for the Pastafarian pirates among us. But I admit that this posts subtitle is a false dichotomy. You have many more choices than just pirates or zombies... »
On Wednesday I told you about the upcoming SCOTUS case of Hollingsworth v Perry that challenges California’s Prop 8. However, this is not the only case dealing with same-sex marriage the Supreme Court will be hearing next week. SCOTUS will be hearing arguments in the case of United States v Windsor starting next Wednesday. Unlike Hollingsworth v Perry, which takes on the legality of bans on same-s... »
There are people out there who believe that people who often voice concerns are constantly raring for a fight and enjoy getting into spats over little things. Nothing could be further from the truth. Just because someone calls others out doesn’t mean that they enjoy the calling-out in itself — though the end results, if any and if positive, can make them happy. In fact, just how often ... »
This week, Washington Post/ABC News released a new poll showing that support for marriage equality in the U.S. has reached an all-time high of 58%. This comes just before the U.S. Supreme Court takes up two marriage equality cases, one challenging California’s Prop 8 and one challenging the Defense of Marriage Act. These cases could be serious game changers but are also more complicated than they ... »
