The great moral philosopher Jeremy Bentham, founder of utilitarianism, famously said,'The question is not, "Can they reason?" nor, "Can they talk?" but rather, "Can they suffer?" Most people get the… Read the rest of the article: Richard Dawkins on vivisection: "But can they suffer?"

A couple watch their baby inside a waiting hall at the Nanjing railway station, capital of Jiangsu province. [Reuters/2006] In nature, the balance of males and females is maintained by… Read the rest of the article: Richard Dawkins: Sex selection and the shortage of women: is science to blame?

("One Nation under CCTV," an illustration contributed to the Boing Boing Flickr pool by Tom Blackwell) I'm writing this on a plane, having just passed through Security at Heathrow airport.… Read the rest of the article: Discretion please, not rulebooks

[Image, via Wikipedia: The Flammarion engraving (1888) depicts a traveller who arrives at the edge of a flat Earth and sticks his head through the firmament.] A scientific experiment avoids… Read the rest of the article: Further reflections on discrimination

(Reflections inspired by the Gaskell debate in Kentucky) The University of Kentucky has caved in and agreed a settlement, out of court, with the allegedly creationist astronomer Martin Gaskell. For… Read the rest of the article: Should employers be blind to private beliefs?

Even those who agree with the great Christopher Hitchens that religion poisons everything might be surprised to learn that the toxin extends its reach even to football (soccer). Glasgow, Scotland's… Read the rest of the article: Catholic Mischief in Glasgow