That’s the argument made by the Michigan Freethought group. As evidence, one member pointed out this article about recent work restoring a palimpsest to its original form. Seems the scrolls held copies of a bunch of Archimedes’ treatises and calculations originally, but some monks saw fit to rub and scrape those out and replace them with prayers in Greek. But with modern imaging techniques, we’re getting it all back now… Yay!
All posts by Deana
Update on CIA Operative’s Exposure
Back on August 27, I quoted Al Franken, who said, “Joe Wilson, the former Gabon ambassador, was sent to Niger by the CIA and came back and said the uranium claims weren’t true. And when the controversy started broiling again about the 16 words in the State of the Union address and Wilson wrote the piece in New York Times, senior administration officials blew the cover on his wife, who was a covert [CIA] operative.”
It took a while, but this is finally being investigated. Should be interesting….
Hindu Priests Marry Pairs of Animals for Peace
Not making this up, kids. I don’t quite know what to make of it, though. I just know the marriages won’t be considered legal in the U.S., ha ha. :-)
Woman to be Spared from Stoning
Well, this is good news, I guess. Amina Lawal, a Nigerian woman who was sentenced to be stoned to death for adultery (mostly given the fact that she gave birth to a child two years after she and her husband divorced), has been spared.
What’s weird, though, is that she’s not being spared because burying someone up to her neck in sand and stoning her to death is a ridiculous punishment for any crime, especially a nonviolent one. She’s being spared because of procedural errors in the case, probabably because of the amount of international protest the case has sparked, and also, her lawyer argued, because it is believed in the strict Islamic law being followed that, “babies can remain in gestation in a mother’s womb for five years, opening the possibility her ex-husband could have fathered the child.”
This makes me want to scream and take notes at the same time.
Women Move Forward in Afghanistan
I’m liking this. Here’s information on the women being trained in Afghanistan’s new police academy. Says one, “Some women don’t think this is the right thing to do, so we want them to understand that they can do it.” Go, sisters!