Welcome to our archive of news stories relevant to the project of fighting fashionable nonsense. The stories are drawn from the electronic pages of the world’s media. On this page, you’ll find links to those stories that have been featured on Butterflies and Wheels during the current year. At the bottom of the page, you’ll find links to separate archives of stories from previous years.

We’re always pleased to hear about news stories that you think should be featured on Butterflies and Wheels. Just send an email here, if you want to point one out to us.

A note about links

Inevitably links go out of date. We suggest, therefore, that you make hard-copies of the stories that particularly interest you.


Harassing feminists into silence…in Pakistan *

Dec 9th, 2012 | Filed by

Any female professional in Pakistan who is active on Twitter will find herself vilified and harassed online simply because she is a woman who works.… Read the rest



Haiti’s silenced victims *

Dec 9th, 2012 | Filed by

Despite new laws, few women will ever report a rape because of the prevailing social norms that blame victims for their own assault.… Read the rest



The long decline *

Dec 9th, 2012 | Filed by

The US now has the highest percentage of low-wage workers—those who earn less than two-thirds of the median wage—of any developed nation.… Read the rest



Karachi: 12-year-old Mehzar Zehra shot by the Taliban/SSP *

Dec 8th, 2012 | Filed by

Mehzar Zehra was being driven by her father, a government servant, to her school a few miles away, when gunmen fired at them, killing her father and wounding her.… Read the rest



Infant male circumcision is genital mutilation *

Dec 8th, 2012 | Filed by

Just as we call sex without consent ‘rape’, circumcision without consent or reasonable justification should be called ‘mutilation’.… Read the rest



Kolkata man beheads his sister *

Dec 8th, 2012 | Filed by

He told police he had killed his sister for “running off with a lover and dishonouring the family”, say sources.… Read the rest



Woman prevents her son from getting cancer treatment *

Dec 7th, 2012 | Filed by

“She wants to work with [the doctors] but the  medical profession want to do it all their way,” says her mother.Read the rest



Bristol University’s Christian Union is being investigated *

Dec 5th, 2012 | Filed by

“UBU has an equality policy which explains that we prohibit discrimination on grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership” and more.… Read the rest



Bristol University’s Christian Union bans women from speaking *

Dec 4th, 2012 | Filed by

Unless they are accompanied by their husbands.… Read the rest



Jen Gunter on the ignorance of the Irish bishops *

Nov 28th, 2012 | Filed by

The statement from the Irish Catholic Bishops is medically nonsensical, contradictory, and immoral.… Read the rest



Irish bishops issue statement on death of Savita Halappanavar *

Nov 28th, 2012 | Filed by

So sad. So so so so sad. Nothing to do with us. So so so sad.… Read the rest



Nick Cohen on the liberal press and Deeyah *

Nov 28th, 2012 | Filed by

Had her tormentors been Norwegian neo-Nazis or the BNP, Deeyah would have become an anti-racist hero. They are Islamists, so the liberal media said nothing.… Read the rest



Manchester infant bled to death after circumcision *

Nov 26th, 2012 | Filed by

The court heard that up to three children a month are admitted to the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital because of bleeding after home-based circumcisions.… Read the rest



Nirupama Pathak wanted to marry a boy of a lower caste *

Nov 25th, 2012 | Filed by

She was found dead in her bedroom. The police have arrested her mother on suspicion of murder, while the family contends that the death was a suicide.… Read the rest



Catholic officials knew all about a teacher’s abuse *

Nov 25th, 2012 | Filed by

A nun walked in on a rape and simply reminded the teacher not to lock the door.… Read the rest



Ron Lindsay on shunning fellow atheists and skeptics *

Nov 25th, 2012 | Filed by

The list of individuals that CFI has been advised not to have any dealings with is long.… Read the rest



Stop Uganda’s kill the gays bill *

Nov 25th, 2012 | Filed by

No, they haven’t dropped the “kill them” part. News reports on that got it wrong.… Read the rest



Muslim radio presenter says gay people should be tortured *

Nov 24th, 2012 | Filed by

Also that non-Muslims are “filth.”… Read the rest



Iranian blogger dies in police custody *

Nov 23rd, 2012 | Filed by

Sattar Beheshti died after being held on charges of “actions against national security on social networks.”… Read the rest



Football, “corrective rape” and murder in South Africa *

Nov 22nd, 2012 | Filed by

On November 9th, Sihle Sijoki, a female football player, was fatally speared in the chest. She was attacked because she was a lesbian.… Read the rest