Ill-founded fears of MMR jab could result in epidemics of dangerous diseases.… Read the rest
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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
Are Aesthetic Preferences Influencing Science? 
Sep 27th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Scholar argues that non-native species are not necessarily bad, and causes a row.… Read the rest
An Israeli View of Said
Sep 26th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Ha’aretz obituary.… Read the rest
Hitchens Rebuts an Opponent
Sep 26th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Enforcing distinctions not blurring them, and a chapter on the ‘armchair’.… Read the rest
Hitchens on the Islamic Mafia
Sep 26th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
And tenderness toward their sensibilities from people who ignored Sarajevo.… Read the rest
Wit, Blather and Screwiness
Sep 25th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Carlin Romano goes to the World Congress of Philosophy in Istanbul.… Read the rest
Political Rhetoric
Sep 25th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
How does rhetoric differ from argument? Crooked Timber discusses the matter.… Read the rest
No Death By Stoning
Sep 25th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Blow to cultural relativists as liberal values prevail. Sort of.… Read the rest
Bloom Disses King
Sep 25th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Is an award to Stephen King a symptom of dumbing down? Or is Bloom just cranky.… Read the rest
Help For The Disadvantaged?
Sep 24th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Should university admissions procedures take social circumstances into account?… Read the rest
British Public Are Scaredy-Cats
Sep 24th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
GM crops and self-selecting samples.… Read the rest
Shapiro on Kermode on Literature
Sep 24th, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The discussions of old battles over French theory fail to thrill, but the rest does.… Read the rest
Bush Administration Suppresses Research
Sep 23rd, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
And considers suing the Environmental Protection Agency.… Read the rest
When Democracies Fall Apart
Sep 23rd, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It’s not the angry people but the elites who make it happen.… Read the rest
What Should Students Learn?
Sep 22nd, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Especially at a time when ‘some theoreticians batter away at the universal truth claims of science.’… Read the rest
Fads and Fallacies
Sep 22nd, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Steven Goldberg calls for honest inquiry but doesn’t always offer enough evidence himself.… Read the rest
Occidentalism
Sep 22nd, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Enlightenment thinkers were a minority, it was the orthodox who fought them who had the power.… Read the rest
Power-hunger in the Guise of Liberation
Sep 21st, 2003 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Alexandra Stein on the appeal and danger of cults.… Read the rest
