• Greta Christina posts her completed list of atheists of color.
• In early 1981, Carl Sagan sent this letter to the Explorers’ Club – an international society dedicated to scientific exploration – regarding their men-only admission policy. Several months later, the first female members were admitted. (HT: Geek Feminism Blog)
• Johann Hari writes about “the myth of the panicking disaster victim” and what it implies for humanity’s inherent moral sense.
• Catholic anti-abortion groups are trying to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to “save” a 13-month-old infant with a severe neurological disorder who is not and likely never will be conscious, after Canadian doctors proposed removing his breathing tube. Peter Singer asks if this is the most “pro-life” use of all that money.
• Following a devastating grand jury report, the Catholic archdiocese of Philadelphia has suspended 21 priests named as child molestation suspects. Also, Maureen Dowd profiles the first U.S. district attorney to criminally charge church officials for covering up child abuse – including sickening details from the grand jury report describing exactly what they helped to cover up.
• In a welcome and long-overdue development, the British government proposes reforming the country’s archaic and plaintiff-friendly libel laws to stop abuses such as “libel tourism”. (See my earlier post on this.)