mondojohnson

At long last, my deep ambivalence about gay marriage — that it’s probably politically necessary, but is founded in feudal ideas of slavery and property; e.g. a concept to be reviled, not emulated — has been forcefully (make that fiercefully) articulated by author Matilda Bernstein-Sycamore.

Bernstein owns the queer argument against “gay marriage”…. including the essential backstory of the modern political movement, which took shape during the peak horrors of the AIDS tragedy (too easily forgotten, in both “gay” and “mainstream” cultures).

The story appeared on NPR’s “Tell Me More“. Here is a link to the show and transcript: A ‘Queer’ Argument Against Marriage, National Public Radio, “Tell Me More” program, broadcast June 10, 2010

Related articles by Zemanta

• Coming up: Queer Up North – Manchester’s Alternative to Gay Pride (pinkbananaworld.com)
• Beyond Gay Marriage – A Radio Documentary (bilerico.com)

The seemingly endless libel case brought by the British Chiropractic Association against Simon Singh reached a definitive and happy conclusion in London today. The UK’s libel laws are wacky — the burden of proof is on the accused. So when Singh tossed around words like “bogus” to describe the back-cracking pseudoscience of chiropractic, the BCA came after him, accusing him of slander. It cost Singh nearly two years, 200,000 GBP and a gig as a columnist to defend himself.

The decision today lets Singh use the defense of “fair comment” in appealing the libel suit. Seems like an obvious conclusion to me, but those of us in the USA shouldn’t be too quick about pointing out the absurdities or other legal systems.

Singh was clearly relieved and beaming, on what appears to be a lovely Spring day in the UK. (See video on the BBC site.) “It shouldn’t be so horrendously expensive for a journalist or an academic journal or a scientist to defend what they mean,” he said excitedly.

I am also excited, as I contributed to the whole cause in my own little way…. I was one of the early bloggers to rant on and on about this crime against rational thinking.

[The source for this news was a piece on the BBC web site, "Science writer Simon Singh wins libel appeal", April 1 2010]

Related articles by Zemanta

• Simon Singh wins libel court battle (guardian.co.uk)

From Sense About Science comes the latest news on the British Chiropractic Association’s libel suit against science writer Simon Singh. Today is a big deal; I will post news as I hear it:

“Simon Singh’s libel case with the British Chiropractic Association appears before the Court of Appeal in London [...] Tuesday 23rd February. His case will be heard by three of the most powerful legal figures in the UK, Lord Chief Justice Lord Judge, Master of the Rolls Lord Neuberger and Lord Justice Sedley and has been named one of the top ten cases to watch in 2010 by The Lawyer magazine.”

[I would like to point out that The Lawyer nicked my title -- "Simon Singh's Bogus Journey" -- which I first used in a post on May 15, 2009, and many times after. Frikkin' lawyers. Totally bogus. ]

Sile Lane and Simon Singh are once again urging to you join the Libel Reform Coalition by signing their petition at www.libelreform.org

As I’ve reported before, Singh and his supporters — Sense About Science, Index on Censorship and English PEN — are seeking signatures for a newly revised “Keep Libel Laws Out of Science” petition. Please go to www.libelreform.org and sign! Those of us on this side of the pond are urged to sign as well.

I’ll let the gents speak for themselves:

You know we joined up with free speech organisations to form the Libel Reform Coalition* in December and that we have been working hard with many of you to highlight the impact of England’s libel laws from my own and Peter Wilmshurst’s cases to the chilling effect on medical journals and science blogs and other writing. This has begun to focus political and legal minds on the problem but we now have very little time to go before election manifestos are published. We need a commitment in those manifestos. Many of the politicians we’ve met don’t dispute that the libel laws are unfair and against the public interest, but they won’t commit to changing them….

There were a few teething problems at the launch of this site but progress has been made in fixing these. If you haven’t already signed this petition please do it now, and please do sign even if you don’t live in the UK. Get your organisation, friends, colleagues and clubs to sign up and email their members; if you haven’t written, blogged and Tweeted, could you?

We need your help to get 100,000 signatures before manifestos are published. It will help us to get a strong show of support before members of the coalition meet Jack Straw on Thursday 28th January.

Related articles by Zemanta

• “Keep Libel Laws Out Of Science” (languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu)
• Libel reform campaigners seek £10k damages cap (theregister.co.uk)

From Alexander Cockburn:

Massachusetts is a disgusting sinkhole of racism and vulgar prejudice, as five minutes in any taxi in the state, listening to Talk Radio or reading the local newspaper, will attest.

Howdya like those apples?!?