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Inevitably links go out of date.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.


Atheist Books Top Best-seller Lists *

Oct 20th, 2006 | Filed by

Publishers Weekly said the business has seen ‘a striking number of impassioned critiques of religion.’… Read the rest



Parliamentary Motion on Science Education *

Oct 20th, 2006 | Filed by

Literature being sent to UK schools by ‘Truth in Science’ is full of scientific mistakes.… Read the rest



Media Ignore MMR Correction *

Oct 20th, 2006 | Filed by

They were all over 2002 report, but now that new study suggests there were false positives – yawn.… Read the rest



Jesus and Mo Try Out the Niqab *

Oct 20th, 2006 | Filed by

Why should the girls have all the fun?… Read the rest



Terry Eagleton Wandering *

Oct 19th, 2006 | Filed by

Like Zelig or Forrest Gump, Eagleton seems to have been there at all the crucial moments.… Read the rest



Bruce Ackerman and Todd Gitlin Defend Liberals *

Oct 19th, 2006 | Filed by

Against nonsense on stilts from pundits on the right and Tony Judt on the left.… Read the rest



Protests at ‘Faith’ Schools Quota *

Oct 19th, 2006 | Filed by

Catholics and Jews irritated about quotas or ‘faith’ schools or both.… Read the rest



Darwin Online Debuts *

Oct 19th, 2006 | Filed by

Look at all that…… Read the rest



Niqab for a Day *

Oct 19th, 2006 | Filed by

Hard to breathe, hot, can’t eat or drink, feels like oppressing and isolating oneself. Good fun.… Read the rest



Asylum from Female Genital Mutilation *

Oct 19th, 2006 | Filed by

Law Lords ruled female members of tribes where FGM is common are a group fearing persecution.… Read the rest



Pinker on Lakoff: Angels and Demons *

Oct 19th, 2006 | Filed by

Lakoff ‘divides the world into blocs of angels and devils, based on his own fantasies of what the devil believes.’… Read the rest



Iran Bans Fast Internet Service *

Oct 18th, 2006 | Filed by

Iran filters more websites than any other country apart from China. … Read the rest



Older Students Still Required to ‘Worship’ *

Oct 18th, 2006 | Filed by

‘The Government’s refusal is an abuse of Human Rights,’ says Keith Porteous Wood.… Read the rest



Nadia Jamal on Veils, Faces, and Different Rules *

Oct 18th, 2006 | Filed by

If the beach is good enough for men, it should be good enough for women too.… Read the rest



‘Faith’ Schools Must Cross Religious Barriers *

Oct 18th, 2006 | Filed by

By being secular schools? No, by having quotas for ‘other faiths’.… Read the rest



Interview with Stephen Law *

Oct 18th, 2006 | Filed by

We need citizens raised to think and question.… Read the rest



Turkish Archaeologist Faces Trial *

Oct 18th, 2006 | Filed by

Wrote scientific article about hijab; prosecutor charged her with ‘inciting hatred based on religious differences.’… Read the rest



Darwin’s Complete Works to Go Online *

Oct 18th, 2006 | Filed by

Cambridge makes the whole shooting match available for free.… Read the rest



Darwin Online Will be Launched October 19 *

Oct 18th, 2006 | Filed by

Never before has so much Darwin material been brought together in one place and made available free of charge.… Read the rest



Two Faces of Arab Intellectuals *

Oct 17th, 2006 | Filed by

Khalid al-Maaly on a carefully masked double standard.… Read the rest