Welcome to Heather’s Homilies
I’m on Facebook!
I've finally done what I've been resisting for years and joined Facebook yesterday. It wasn't all bad - the first thing I saw when I "found a friend" was a photo of my niece on her first day at pre-school. That was pretty cool. Then later I messaged with my brother...
Beautiful New Zealand VII
After spending two days writing about what atheists in Bangladesh have to deal with, I feel the need to indulge in another of Martin Heck's time lapse videos of New Zealand. This one is slightly different from the others I've featured, in that it's about the making of...
Bangladesh: Another Atheist Blogger Hacked to Death
On 21 April, Bangladesh's The Daily Star published an opinion article entitled The extent of freedom of expression. It was written by senior law lecturer Mirza Farzana Iqbal Chowdhury of Daffodil International University, a private university in the Bangladeshi...
Beautiful New Zealand VI
Called Agitation, Martin Heck of Timestorm Films released this time lapse video ten months ago. It was filmed over four months at various coastal locations around New Zealand: West Coast of the South Island, the Catlins (south-eastern South Island), Piha Beach (west...
Beautiful New Zealand V
Martin Heck of Timestorm Films has released a new compilation of his beautiful time lapse films of New Zealand. This one is a collection of some of his personal favourites from previous films. In the last two years his travels have included France, Tokyo, and Hong...
Bias in Reporting about Atheism in the United States
I see reports like this frequently in the US media, and they annoy me intensely. The latest is called Pro-Atheism Group Harasses University Over Bible Verse etched on it's 'Heavener Hall'. It's in a publication called College Fix, which describes itself as "Your Daily...
Stéphane Charbonnier: Charlie Hebdo Editor Rises Again
Two days before his murder, Stéphane Charbonnier, at that time editor of Charlie Hebdo, finished writing a short book entitled Lettre Ouverte aux Escrocs de l'Islamophobie qui Font le Jeu des Racistes (Open Letter to the Fraudsters of Islamophobia who Play the Game of...
Simon’s Cat is Back in ‘April Showers’
It's been a couple of months now since we've seen a new YouTube video from the brilliant Simon Tofield in his series Simon's Cat. It's called April Showers and, in case you haven't guessed, it's about Simon's Cat dealing with the rain. In April. Enjoy!...
The War Against Boko Haram
Two days ago Vice News released a short documentary filmed in March. Their reporter Kaj Larsen was embedded with the Nigerian Army as they battled Boko Haram and freed the town of Bama from occupation. In an attempt to increase his popularity leading up to the...
Boko Haram: The Scourge of Nigeria
It's been just over a year since 219 girls were kidnapped from a school in Chibok, Borno State, Nigeria by Boko Haram. That atrocity prompted the #BringBackOurGirls campaign. Those girls still aren't home, although there has been a report that some were seen in Gwoza...
Richard Dawkins: The Baldwin Effect vs Lamarckianism
Darwin Day, 12 February, is the anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin in 1809. On Darwin Day in 2015, Richard Dawkins via the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science started producing a series of short YouTube videos about various aspects of...
Bangladesh: Third Atheist Blogger Hacked to Death
This morning I woke to the news via the Canadian Atheist website that only a month after the murder of Avijit Roy, yet another atheist blogger has been hacked to death in the streets of Bangladesh by Islamists. Washiqur Rahman (27), who was working as a trainee at Far...