Hemant Mehta's Blog, page 1825

Measles Carrier Infects Children at Disneyland… Including Infants Who Were Too Young To Get a Shot

An anti-vaxxer (or a no-vaxxer, or a child of either one) seems to haveinadvertently infected kids at America’s premier amusement park, says IFL Science.

Nine cases of measles have so far been recorded in an outbreak in California and Utah, and the number is expected to rise. It is thought that many of the infections were transmitted at Disneyland. Predictably, most of those who have become sick were not vaccinated. Infuriatingly, two of them were children who were too young to get the measles...

Susan Galloway and Linda Stephens Speak About Their Supreme Court Case

Last October, the plaintiffs in the Town of Greece v. Galloway Supreme Court case, Susan Galloway (who’s Jewish) and Linda Stephens (who’s an atheist), spoke at the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s convention. It was a few months after the Court’s bone-headed 5-4 decision to allow sectarian invocations at government meetings. Still, for their efforts, they were awarded with the title “Freethinkers of the Year”:

Susan Galloway speaks at the FFRF convention

I haven’t had a chance to watch the w...

To Improve Traffic Safety, Russia Says Transgender People No Longer Qualify for Licenses

We’re used to hearing the LGBT community blamed for a lot of things.

An earthquake strikes? Some pious bigot will invoke God’s wrath against homosexuals.

Birds die? A True Believer will clue you into it being gay people wanting marriage rights that did it.

Hurricane Katrina? There’s a homophobe waiting to remind you: gay parade, duh.

Volcanic eruptions? Yeah, still gay people.

Ebola? Also gay people.

9/11? Also, apparently, the fault of LGBT people, according to some bloviating believers.

There are...

Student Accuses Teacher of Banning Bible in Classroom… but Principal Says It Never Happened

12-year-old Loyal Grandstaff loves his Bible. So you can imagine how miffed he felt when his teacher at Bueker Middle School in Marshall, Missouri told him he wasn’t allowed to read it in school:

Loyal says he loves reading his Bible and decided to bring it to school before the Christmas break so he could read it during his free time. But the seventh grader said his teacher told him it wasn’t allowed.

“I like to read my Bible because it’s a good book,” Loyal said.

He said he wasn’t reading out l...

Ottawa Imam: I Support Free Speech, but Satire of Religious Leaders Should Be Illegal

You know people truly support free speech when they are willing to defend speech they don’t agree with, even speech that might be considered “blasphemous” to others.

That’s why Muslim imam Imtiaz Ahmed, no matter what he thinks, isn’t a free speech advocate:

“Of course we defend freedom of speech, but it has to be balanced. There has to be a limit. There has to be a code of conduct,” Ahmed said.

“We believe that any kind of vulgar expression about any sacred person of any religion does not const...

Catholic Priest Tells Congregation He’s Gay and Receives a Standing Ovation, but What Will He Do Now?

In Dublin, Ireland, where a referendum on gay marriage will be taking place this May, Father Martin Dolan of the Church of St Nicholas of Myra told his congregation on Saturday night (and Sunday morning) that he was gay:

[Community youth worker Liz] O’Connor echoed the sentiments of the congregation saying she would not want to see Dolan leave his parish after 15 years.

She said, “I wouldn’t like to see him being moved for the statement he made. That would be horrendous. He should be supported....

Someone Got Video of Raif Badawi Being Lashed by a Saudi Official

Earlier today, I posted about a crowd gathering to watch Saudi blogger Raif Badawi get the first 50 (of 1,000) lashes yesterday.

Turns out someone got video of the punishment being administered. It’s not necessarily graphic, but there are glimpses of what Badawi had to go through:

Many of those translated comments underneath the video are very disturbing…

(via Michael De Dora)

Complaint Filed Against High School Teacher Who Offered Students Extra Credit for Copying Bible Verses

Maybe a high school teacher who promoted an after-school Bible Club that he sponsored wouldn’t be the subject of much controversy. He shouldn’t do it, but it’s nothing a quick email reprimand from an administrator couldn’t take care of.

Wrong textbook

But what’s happening in Stockton, California absolutely crosses the line:

We understand that [New Vision High School teacher John] Alameda not only sponsors the club but also shares his Christian beliefs during school hours and frequently encourage...

Irish University Lecturer Says He Will Take Legal Action Against Media Types Who Spread Charlie Hebdo Cartoons

There’s a commonly-uttered sentence in the English language that puts me in a state of apprehension in about 0.1 seconds:

“I’m a big believer in freedom of expression.”

Pop quiz: About eight out of ten times, what’s the word that follows?

It’s not “Period.”

It’s “But.”

And so it is with Ali Selim, a Muslim lecturerin Ireland who has announced that he’ll go to court to punish or gagIrish journalists who dare spread Islam-mockingCharlie Hebdo cartoons. Selimis also a dignitary with the Islamic Cultu...

Missouri Republican Introduces Bill Allowing College Christian Groups to Ban LGBT Students Without Punishment

Last year, we saw a number of college Christian groups complain about having to follow the rules.

Their schools said registered student organizations — who had the benefits of free meeting space, access to funding, tables at activity fairs, and more — could not discriminate when it came to membership. Which meant they couldn’t exclude gay people from joining, and possibly becoming a leader of, their groups.

That was their complaint. They wanted the ability to kick openly gay people out of their...