Secular Café: Malala back at school

Secular Café For serious discussion of politics, political news, policy, political theory and economics and events happening round the world

Malala back at school Mar 26th 2013, 11:02 This is wonderful news! I hope that she will cope well with the change in culture. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013...usafzai-school Quote: Malala Yousafzai, the teenager who was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen in Pakistan while advocating girls' education, attended her first day of school in the UK, weeks after being released from hospital. The 15-year-old, who is among nominees for this year's Nobel peace prize, described her return to school as the most important day of her life, as she joined other students in Birmingham. "I am excited that today I have achieved my dream of going back to school. I want all girls in the world to have this basic opportunity," she said in a statement... ...Alongside other students in Year 9, she will be studying a full curriculum in preparation for selecting her subjects for GCSEs. "I miss my classmates from Pakistan very much but I am looking forward to meeting my teachers and making new friends here in Birmingham," she said... ...Gordon Brown, the former prime minister and current UN special envoy for global education, said: "This is a great day for Malala, for her family – and for the cause of education worldwide. "By her courage, Malala shows that nothing – not even bullets, intimidation or death threats – can stand in the way of the right of every girl to an education. I wish Malala and her family well as her courageous recovery continues."

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions

Secular Café: Amanda Knox retrial

Secular Café For serious discussion of politics, political news, policy, political theory and economics and events happening round the world

Amanda Knox retrial Mar 26th 2013, 11:08 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013...kercher-murder Quote: Italy's highest appeal court has ordered a fresh trial in the case of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, overturning the acquittals of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito and paving the way for a potential extradition tussle between Italy and the US. In a ruling, which came more than five years after the 21-year-old from Surrey was found dead in the university town of Perugia, the court of cassation quashed the acquittals handed down by an appeals court in 2011 and said a fresh trial would take place in Florence. The move came after prosecutors had argued that the court that acquitted Knox, 25, and Sollecito, who turns 29 on Tuesday, had "lost its bearings" in the case and had erred in numerous ways, including insufficient forensic evidence tests... ...Within minutes of the ruling, Knox issued a statement condemning the arguments on which it appeared to be based as "unfounded and unfair". "It was painful to receive the news that the Italian supreme court decided to send my case back for revision when the prosecution's theory of my involvement in Meredith's murder has been repeatedly revealed to be completely unfounded and unfair," Knox added... ...The ruling by the panel of five judges paves the way for future friction between Italy and US over Knox's fate. Since returning to her home city of Seattle in autumn 2011, she has enrolled at the University of Washington, found a new boyfriend and written her memoirs, clinched in a deal reportedly worth $4m. Although she will not have to be present for the Florence retrial, her lawyer, Carlo Dalla Vedova, said Italy could request her extradition if she were convicted a second time. It would then be up to the US to decide whether to agree to the move, something some observers say is unlikely.

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions

Secular Café: Don't order the Peking Duck or BBQ Pork!

Secular Café For serious discussion of politics, political news, policy, political theory and economics and events happening round the world

Don't order the Peking Duck or BBQ Pork! Mar 25th 2013, 13:55 http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/76...l#.UVBVm-It3Dc Quote: The number of dead pigs found in the Huangpu River, which supplies over a fifth of Shanghai's drinking water, has risen to almost 15,000. More than 10,000 carcasses have been found in the Huangpu River in Shanghai in the past two weeks, and another 4,600 in Jiaxing in Zhejiang Province, 100 kilometers southwest. http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking...river-20130325 Quote: At least 1,000 dead ducks were found floating in a Chinese river, state media reported on Monday, after Shanghai said it had almost finished recovering thousands of deceased pigs from its main waterway. Not to worry - officials said the water was "safe".

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions

Secular Café: The American Education Monopoly?

Secular Café For serious discussion of politics, political news, policy, political theory and economics and events happening round the world

The American Education Monopoly? Mar 25th 2013, 03:10 I suggest that everybody watch at least one of these two videos. If the facts that they present are true, well, when I have children, I'm moving to Europe. STUPID IN AMERICA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx4pN-aiofw THE DELIBERATE DUMBING DOWN OF AMERICA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZJoCfgAEuE Discuss!

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions

Secular Café: Ireland needs to secularise

Secular Café For serious discussion of politics, political news, policy, political theory and economics and events happening round the world

Ireland needs to secularise Mar 24th 2013, 10:55 I just saw this. Sorry it's over a week late. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...s-dei-catholic Quote: There is no conspiracy here. It's no secret that US pro-life groups, with support from Irish American Catholic communities, need the myth of an abortion-free Ireland and financially support the denial of abortion rights to Irish women (rights to which, it is important to remember, their sisters, daughters and wives have safe, legal access). And it is no secret that Roman Catholic doctrine grants equal personhood to a pregnant woman and a zygote (with room for manoeuvre if its hospital funding may be cut or if it's being sued). And it's no secret that almost 90% of Irish people still identify as Catholic. Knowing about industrial schools, the Magdalene laundries, and the systematic and illegal cover up of child sex abuse, we continue to affiliate ourselves with this institution. Without wanting to insult Dr Crown, whose comparatively progressive voice I very much welcome, I must argue that the struggle is not to unmask the masons, the Illuminati, or the Opus Dei clandestinely influencing Ireland's socio-political structures. The struggle is to secularise the republic. Crown is brave enough to look for bad Opus Dei apples, but not to upset the whole rotten apple cart. Even as he warns against the influence of fanatics, he seeks to differentiate himself from those advocating "abortion on demand". This is a phrase parroted time and again in the Irish abortion debate, conjuring up images of precocious teenagers yelling "I want another abortion Daddy! I want one now!". As Lisa McInerney convincingly writes, this kind of language obscures and trivialises the myriad valid, often tragic, reasons that more than 4,000 Irish women travel to Britain to use abortion services each year. Further, the use of this language denies the capacity of women to make their own informed moral decisions about when human life begins and when pregnancies can and should be terminated. The phrase "abortion on demand" is itself fanatical. To what "higher authority" as regards the complex philosophical and moral problem of abortion is it indebted? And is there any "conflict of interest" here that Crown, as a senator, would like to tell us about?

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions

Secular Café: Florida House Passes Bill To Ban "Internet Cafes"

Secular Café For serious discussion of politics, political news, policy, political theory and economics and events happening round the world

Florida House Passes Bill To Ban "Internet Cafes" Mar 23rd 2013, 14:53 http://yro.slashdot.org/story/13/03/...internet-cafes Another stupid waste of time and money.... Quote: squiggleslash writes Quote: "Concerned about their use as fronts for gambling operations, the Florida legislature passed a law banning Internet cafes. The law appears to be a reaction in part to the recent stepping down of Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, embroiled in a scandal involving a company that operates Internet Cafes. More ordinary cafes with Wi-fi, where you supply your own computer (such as Starbucks), are not affected by the ban." The nomenclature here is confusing; the bill (summary) is clearly aimed only at "cafes" that are essentially gambling venues; an Internet cafe wouldn't violate the proposed rule merely by providing computers. Whatever you think of prohibitions on gambling among consenting adults, the bill itself is sort of amusing for its very specific loopholes for bingo and "reverse vending machines."

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions

Secular Café: EU chickens out of supporting the human rights of atheists

Secular Café For serious discussion of politics, political news, policy, political theory and economics and events happening round the world

EU chickens out of supporting the human rights of atheists Mar 23rd 2013, 15:58 http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/0...92L0NI20130322 Quote: Atheist groups, who say millions of non-religious people face persecution in many parts of the world, accused the European Union on Friday of failing to stand up for their rights in the United Nations. They spoke as the 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council approved a resolution drafted by the EU calling for an end to religious intolerance and violence and for all governments to observe freedom of religion and belief. But the campaigners, who had earlier given the council a report on abuse of atheists, mainly in Muslim countries, had sought a text making clear its injunctions included them. "The wording of this resolution shows how the world, even the secular West, ignores the plight of atheists and other non-believers in many countries," said Sonja Eggericks, president of the International Humanist and Ethical Union... ...Elizabeth O'Casey of the U.S.-based Centre for Inquiry said the EU refusal to include a direct reference to non-believers as needing protection alongside religious minorities "fails many millions of people across the globe". But officials from the 27-member EU said they believed it was clear that the resolution - passed by consensus in the council where in the past there have been fierce struggles over religious freedom - covered believers and non-believers. Introducing the non-binding resolution to the council, the EU described it as condemning "all forms of violence against, intolerance towards and discrimination of people on the basis of their religious or non-religious identity." Diplomats said the EU had omitted a specific reference to the need for protection for atheists, whose numbers are reported in recent surveys as growing strongly around the globe, in a deal with Islamic countries. Under that alleged deal, member states of the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation on the council would accept the EU resolution in return for EU approval of their own resolution condemning religious intolerance.

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions