Sherry Turkle believes that as we expect more from technology, we expect less from each other. (SLTedTalk)
posted by Evernix on Apr 6, 2012 - 41 comments

There's a fairly old urban legend [Snopes; pop-ups galore] regarding the feasibility and/or incidence of young people getting drunk via the insertion of tampons that had been soaked in vodka into body cavities. Snopes was skeptical of the claim, but apparently no one had gone on record as having tested the method... until Danielle Crittenden stepped into the breach. (HuffPo) [more inside]
posted by Halloween Jack on Nov 23, 2011 - 134 comments

Barely two months since the assassination of Salman Taseer, the former governor of Punjab, another of Pakistan's politicians noted for their stance on the blasphemy laws has also been gunned down. Shahbaz Bhatti, himself a Catholic, was the Federal Minister for Minorities. Now that two of the original three individuals involved in the calls to amend the blasphemy laws are dead, fears arise for the safety of Sherry Rehman, the female MP who went so far as to table a motion specifically requesting they be amended. That motion was ruled out by Pakistani President Yousuf Gilani. More on the blasphemy laws Previously
posted by dougrayrankin on Mar 2, 2011 - 17 comments

Asra Q. Nomani writes in The Wall Street Journal on Sherry Jones's new historical novel, "The Jewel of Medina" about Aisha, the young wife of the prophet Muhammad. Random House has pulled the book for fears of a political and extremist nature. In a statement, Random House said: "We stand firmly by our responsibility to support our authors and the free discussion of ideas, even those that may be construed as offensive by some. However, a publisher must weigh that responsibility against others that it also bears, and in this instance we decided, after much deliberation, to postpone publication for the safety of the author, employees of Random House Inc, booksellers and anyone else who would be involved in distribution and sale of the book." Over at the Guardian, you can read more about the controversy.
posted by Fizz on Aug 12, 2008 - 140 comments