Hello - it's mid-March and time for another B&W update. Also - I started a Facebook group, Pardon Pervez Kambakhsh<http://pardon%20pervez%20kambakhsh/, in hopes of getting a lot of people calling for a pardon for the Afghan student journalist who was sentenced to 20 years for downloading material about women's rights from the internet. News media sometimes mention such groups, if they're big enough - so if you would like to join and invite others to join, that would be good. Thanks! New in *News <http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/news.php* *Rush Limbaugh as Leader of Republican Party*<http://www.newsweek.com/id/188279 Aggressive, self-indulgent, noisy - and as for 'family values'... *Date filed*: 15-03-2009 *Cultural Warriors Are Unemployed*<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/opinion/15rich.html?em Putative moral majority has been downsized. *Date filed*: 15-03-2009 *Mass Demonstration in Lahore*<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/16/world/asia/16pstan.html?_r=1&partne... A crackdown by the Pakistani government to prevent a national demonstration collapsed. *Date filed*: 15-03-2009 *Choudary's Vision of Britain Under Sharia*<http://freethinker.co.uk/2009/03/15/who-will-rid-us-of-this-islamic-i... 'Every woman, Muslim or non-Muslim, would have to cover everything apart from her face and hands in public.' *Date filed*: 15-03-2009 *AIG Plans Huge Bonuses After Huge Bailout*<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/business/15AIG.html?hp Chairman said at least some bonuses were needed to keep the most skilled executives. *Date filed*: 15-03-2009 *Review of Seth Kalichman's Denying AIDS*<http://openmindinsertbook.blogspot.com/2009/03/denying-aids-seth-kali... A fascinating insight into the minds of people who wholeheartedly believe that HIV does not cause AIDS. *Date filed*: 15-03-2009 *Man Claims to Cure AIDS With Water*<http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/03/14/2516232.htm Brian Marshall has allegedly been selling bottled water as a cure for the virus since late last year. *Date filed*: 15-03-2009 *Norway: Woman Celebrates Women's Day*<http://pointdebasculecanada.ca/spip.php?article978 Sara Azmeh Rasmussen burned her hijab to protest the oppression of women in Islam. [French] *Date filed*: 15-03-2009 *Shut Up He Explained* <http://www.jesusandmo.net/2009/03/13/human/ Mo says there must be an international law against defamation of religion. *Date filed*: 14-03-2009 *Roger Scruton on 'New' Humanism*<http://spectator.org/archives/2009/03/10/the-new-humanism Says his parents would not have approved. *Date filed*: 14-03-2009 *HRW Urges Pardon for Pervez Kambakhsh*<http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/03/10/afghanistan-20-year-sentence-jo... 'Kambakhsh has committed no crime. Now it is up to President Karzai to act on principle and free him.' *Date filed*: 14-03-2009 *News Media Under Pressure in Afghanistan*<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/12/world/asia/12afghan.html?_r=2&ref=w... Three established journalists have left Kandahar after receiving threats from the Taliban. *Date filed*: 14-03-2009 *The Freethinker on Pervez Kambakhsh*<http://freethinker.co.uk/2009/03/12/barbaric-jail-sentence-for-%e2%80... Journalists flourished in the post-Taliban years but now are increasingly pressured by fundamentalists. *Date filed*: 14-03-2009 *Nice Fellow Killed Two and Wounded Six*<http://freethinker.co.uk/2009/03/13/homo-hating-church-gunman-is-basi... Man who shot up a church told police he was a nice fellow 'but hated gays, liberals and Democrats.' *Date filed*: 14-03-2009 *The Sarcastic Times*<http://www.cjr.org/essay/the_sarcastic_times.php?page=all Rachel Maddow's humor is, actually, pretty serious stuff. *Date filed*: 13-03-2009 *Review of Nigel Warburton on Free Speech*<http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/free-sp... With admirable clarity, this VSI shows us how wobbly, hazy, but unavoidable that line turns out to be. *Date filed*: 13-03-2009 *Sea Levels Will Rise Twice as Fast as Predicted*<http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/mar/13/stern-attacks-polit... New studies suggest that global warming could strike harder and sooner than expected. *Date filed*: 13-03-2009 *Climate Change Already at Worst-case*<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7940532.stm Waters could rise by over a metre across the world with huge impacts for hundreds of millions of people. *Date filed*: 13-03-2009 *German Teenage Gunman Hated Women*<http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/2009/03/13/teenage-gu... Kretschmer was a woman-hater who killed to take revenge on the whole female sex, a neighbour said. *Date filed*: 13-03-2009 *Pope 'Hurt' by Hostility Over Holocaust-denier*<http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hF6SpHAypWdvz0OUyL... 'Saddened by the fact that even Catholics thought they had to attack me with open hostility.' *Date filed*: 13-03-2009 *Kambakhsh's Brother on Bad Day for Afghanistan*<http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/yaqub-ibrahimi-powe... There is no rule of law, even at the Supreme Court in Kabul, so what chance do people in the provinces have? *Date filed*: 13-03-2009 *Pervez Kambaksh Faces 20 Years in Hell*<http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/student-facing-twenty-ye... Afghanistan's highest court ruled against Kambaksh without even hearing his defence. *Date filed*: 12-03-2009 *Pervez Kambaksh and the Advance of the Taliban*<http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article... 20 years for circulating an article about women's rights would make a mockery of any judicial system. *Date filed*: 12-03-2009 *Johann Hari: Africa's Hidden War on Women*<http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/witch-hunt-africas-hid... Girls have their genitals chopped off; old women risk being killed as witches. *Date filed*: 12-03-2009 *Fewer Billionaires*<http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/03/12/news/12Forbes-billionaire.php Of the 1,125 billionaires who made last year's ranking, 373 fell off the list. *Date filed*: 12-03-2009 *Saudi Prince Walid Advertises Billionaire Status*<http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/walid-trumpets-billionai... There are 30% fewer billionaires in the world now. Walid bin Talal wants you to know he is still one of them. *Date filed*: 12-03-2009 *It's Here at Last - Quantum Jumping*<http://www.quantumjumping.com/lp/subconscious?gclid=CNij2pKxm5kCFROU7... The shocking yet immensely effective technique transforms anyone into universe-hopping utopian beings. *Date filed*: 11-03-2009 *Duchy Herbals Detox Tincture*<http://www.duchyoriginals.com/detox_tincture.php How to use Duchy Herbals Detox Tincture: take 2.5ml in a glass of water twice per day. *Date filed*: 11-03-2009 *Irony Files: Private Jet for Global Warming Junket*<http://news.scotsman.com/princeofwales/Charles-under-fire-for-private... Prince Charles will travel by private jet on a tour to campaign against global warming. *Date filed*: 11-03-2009 *Prince Charles is 'a Dangerous Dodgy Quack'*<http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/Prince-Charles-is-39dangerous-.50... 'Under the banner of holistic and integrative healthcare, he thus promotes a quick fix and outright quackery.' *Date filed*: 11-03-2009 *Economist Distraught: Obama is not a Conservative*<http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displayStory.cfm?story_id... Shock-horror: he is actually overturning Bush administration policies and upsetting conservatives. *Date filed*: 11-03-2009 *Jesus and Mo on Crime and Punishment*<http://www.jesusandmo.net/2009/03/10/story/ Mo is a little harsh at times. *Date filed*: 10-03-2009 *CFI London: God in the Lab*<http://stephenlaw.blogspot.com/2009/03/god-in-lab-sat-21st-march.html What goes on the brain of someone hearing voices? Come and see the MRI scans. Is religious belief hard-wired? *Date filed*: 10-03-2009 *Normblog on Causes and Gifts*<http://normblog.typepad.com/normblog/2009/03/causes-and-gifts.html If 7/7 was 'a gift from Blair' then why isn't the war in Afghanistan 'a gift from Bin Laden'? *Date filed*: 10-03-2009 *More Americans Say They Have No Religion*<http://richarddawkins.net/article,3647,More-Americans-Say-They-Have-N... Yes, we have no religion; we have no religion today. *Date filed*: 10-03-2009 *Can Chimps Anticipate Future Mental States?*<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7928996.stm Zoo chimp calmly collected stones, used them later for dominance display when agitated. *Date filed*: 10-03-2009 *Mugabe Says God Killed Susan Tsvangirai*<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7934931.stm British foreign ministry said the truck in the crash was part of an aid project; it appeared to be a genuine accident. *Date filed*: 10-03-2009 *Prince Charles and Detox Quackery*<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7934568.stm 'Prince Charles financially exploits a gullible public in a time of financial hardship,' says Edzard Ernst. *Date filed*: 10-03-2009 *Nick Cohen Argues With Todd Gitlin*<http://nickcohen.net/2009/03/09/that-anti-fascist-left-is-still-absen... A left that no longer shows solidarity with the victims of totalitarianism is not a left worth having. *Date filed*: 09-03-2009 *Mukoko and Other Abductees Relive Their Ordeal*<http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/local/19911-mukoko-abductees-reliv... It was bad. *Date filed*: 09-03-2009 *Zimbabwe: Mukoko, Other Activists Out on Bail*<http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGNAU200903049630&lang=e Mukoko and Takawira were victims of enforced disappearance, unlawful arrest, detention, and torture. *Date filed*: 09-03-2009 *Obama Lifts Limits on Stem Cell Research*<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/10/us/politics/10stem.html?hp Pledging to 'make scientific decisions _base_d on facts, not ideology,' Obama ditched Bush's EO. *Date filed*: 09-03-2009 *Ian Buruma Frets About Free Speech*<http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/mar/06/fr... 'Mocking the beliefs of minorities is not quite the same thing as taking on the views of majorities.' *Date filed*: 09-03-2009 *Saudi Woman Sentenced to Lashes for 'Mingling'*<http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/03/09/Elderly_Saudi_woman_sentenced_... Khamisa Mohammed Sawadi, age 75, had two unrelated men in her house, will get 40 lashes. *Date filed*: 09-03-2009 New *Articles* <http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/articles.php *Free Speech: Liberty and License*<http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/articleprint.php?num=393 *By Nigel Warburton* Defenders of free speech almost without exception recognize the need for some limits to the freedom they advocate. *Date filed*: 12-03-2009 *The One Law for All Rally*<http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/articleprint.php?num=392 *By Maryam Namazie* Rally against Sharia and religious-_base_d laws and in defence of citizenship and universal rights. *Date filed*: 11-03-2009 *Notes and Comment <http://www.butterfliesandwheels.com/notes.php* That's it! Talk to you next week. OB