Via ultrasound. Srsly.… 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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
Taliban lash girl for refusing a forced marriage 
Mar 2nd, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Two Taliban men held her down while a third man whipped her.… Read the rest
Bhatti had been receiving death threats
Mar 2nd, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
He had said fatwas had been issued calling for him to be beheaded, by extremist clerics who were allowed to spread messages of violence with impunity.… Read the rest
Salman Rushdie on the secular revolution
Mar 2nd, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
At its most optimistic – this could be the moment when the Islamic world moves beyond Islamism.… Read the rest
Pakistan: minorities minister murdered
Mar 2nd, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Shahbaz Bhatti, an advocate of reform of the country’s blasphemy laws and a Christian, was killed by gunmen in Islamabad.… Read the rest
Norway is going to hell
Mar 2nd, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It’s that wicked high literacy rate.… Read the rest
LSE investigates Saif Gaddafi plagiarism claims
Mar 1st, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Allegations have emerged that he used a ghost writer, and copied sections of his thesis.… Read the rest
John Esposito says “mainstream Islamists” are fine
Mar 1st, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
They just want normal mainstream humdrum theocracy, not the bad scary extreme kind.… Read the rest
Child brides in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa
Mar 1st, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
One bad effect of early marriage is the exclusion of women from education in favour of domestic work and child rearing.… Read the rest
Telegraph pitches a fit about secular law
Mar 1st, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
How dare judges not enforce theocracy?!… Read the rest
Woman with measles spent time at 3 airports
Mar 1st, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Too bad she hadn’t been vaccinated.… Read the rest
An important question for Freeman Dyson
Feb 28th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Why should the public believe a few lone heretics rather than the vast body of scientists who have a plethora of published work to back up their claims?… Read the rest
Ron Conte says: foreplay is evil
Feb 28th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Intrinsically evil, at that.… Read the rest
Angela Saini on the god confusion in India
Feb 28th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Given that India is intent on becoming a scientific superpower, why are these odd ideas tolerated?… Read the rest
Texas school board re-writes history
Feb 27th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“In Texas we have certain statutory obligations to promote patriotism and to promote the free enterprise system.”… Read the rest
Stop the tsunami of executions – add your name
Feb 27th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Demand an immediate end to this state-sponsored murder that aims to intimidate the protest movement in Iran.… Read the rest
Jason Streitfeld on public displays of atheism
Feb 27th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
For many atheists, atheism is first and foremost about the rejection of religious authority.… Read the rest
Andrew Gilligan on the East London Mosque and homophobia
Feb 27th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The rise of homophobic hatred in Tower Hamlets is caused by the growth of Islamism under the influence of the mosque and its parent, the Islamic Forum of Europe.… Read the rest
Taliban methods in East London
Feb 27th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Four Muslim men pleaded guilty to an attack on a religious studies teacher who taught Muslim girls.… Read the rest
Pope continues interfering in women’s lives
Feb 27th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Ratzinger announces that “abortion solves nothing.” It solves nothing he has to worry about!… Read the rest
