“We expect her to be hanged and if she is not hanged then we will ask mujahideen and Taliban to kill her.”
Category: Latest News
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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
-
Shehrbano Taseer on convulsions of piety
The Islamists and their apologists seem determined to not even consider the possibility that Aasia Noreen may be innocent.
-
Islamists fight efforts to save ‘blasphemer’
At rallies in Karachi, Lahore and other cities, protestors warned the political class against any attempt to amend or repeal the laws.
-
Bernie Sanders on billionaires v the people
The top 1% earns 23.5%, more than the bottom 50%. This proportion has tripled since the 1970s. Yet it’s not enough.
-
David Allen Green on WikiLeaks
Transparency is one liberal value, but legitimacy is another. No one voted for WikiLeaks, nor does it have any form of democratic supervision.
-
Lauryn Oates on the rot at the UN
The UN will not be defending the rights of human beings not to be murdered by their governments on account of their sexual preferences.
-
Harry’s Place on Lambert/Githens-Mazer Report
The main villains are the Quilliam Foundation, Muslim campaigners against Islamist political parties, and newspapers which report on those parties.
-
The year’s most embarrassing academic report?
The primary purpose of the Lambert- Githens-Mazer dodgy dossier is not academic; it is political.
-
PZ notes: it’s not an arsenic-based life form
It can survive in the presence of arsenic, and incorporate arsenic into its routine, familiar chemistry. Interesting but not revolutionary.
-
McCain to Mullen: ew, gays in the military, ew
Gates reminded the Republican senators that the US has civilian government.
-
New bacterium: the latest black swan
“Our findings are a reminder that life-as-we-know-it could be much more flexible than we generally assume.”
-
Complaints about “no burqa” mural
”It’s Islamophobic; it’s feeding the racist and sexist attitudes we have in our society.”
-
Scotland: assisted suicide bill crushed
“You can’t have both physician-assisted suicide and palliative care. In reality you can only have one or the other.” Eh?
-
HRW on policing morality in Aceh
The full report.
-
Ontario school board allows bible distribution
“If you deny the religious experience in your education system you open the door to the demonic experience,” said one member.
-
NASA news leaked: new life form found
They have found a bacterium whose DNA is completely alien to what we know today. Instead of using phosphorus, the bacterium uses arsenic.
-
Christians pitch fit
Former archbishop. Under attack. Deep faith. Airbrushed. Not Ashamed Day. Christian culture. Intimidated. No longer have the right.
-
HRW says Aceh sharia is abusive
The head of the Sharia department in Aceh told the BBC Indonesian service that some people might have misused the laws.
-
Salman Rushdie does the Late Late Show
“You could not get into that dress fast enough,” says Craig Ferguson.
-
Bush, CIA get a pass on torture
International agreements to which the US is a party require mandatory investigation for even merely degrading treatment.