Johann Hari and David Aaronovitch for, Helena Kennedy and Philippe Sands against. Hari and Aaaro won.
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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
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Hitchens on Mel Gibson’s Catholic bigotry
What he is issuing is the distilled violence, cruelty, and bigotry that stretches from the Crusades through the Inquisition to fascism.
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Fox “News” forgot to question the source
If you have no reason to trust the source, and you do have reasons not to, then don’t trust it.
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Rahila Gupta on Amnesty’s smoke and mirrors
One of Oxfam’s projects in India is headed by a BJP member, to the horror of local rights groups; AI could learn from this example.
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UK to change law so that pope won’t be busted
Justice Secretary wants changes to rules on universal jurisdiction, which allows individuals to be prosecuted for serious crimes.
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BioLogos and DI sponsor a symposium
The speakers in the symposium include BioLogos president Darrel Falk and Stephen Meyer of the Discovery Institute.
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What Breitbart’s trick teaches us
That the Right has a strategy of stoking racist fears and that Democrats collapse instead of fighting back.
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Andrew Breitbart is not hard to understand
Lots of people figured it out! It was easy!
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Jack of Kent on the integrity of Gillian McKeith
The official Twitter account of Ms McKeith makes libelous accusations.
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Ben Goldacre on a quandary
What do you do, as a campaigner for libel reform, when a litigious millionaire calls you a liar?
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Science in school is not just teaching facts
Science lessons should equip students with critical thinking skills, the most important of which is to ask for evidence for truth-claims.
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Iran pressuring Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani
They are trying to make her name campaigners and tell her children to be quiet.
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Vilsack, O’Reilly, Hannity wiping egg off faces
They all took the faked video as Truth and jumped all over Shirley Sherrod.
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Jack of Kent on Councillor Dixon and Scientology
Reproduces the Ombudsman’s witless and illiberal response to the complainant, in all its glory.
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Cowpathy can cure everything
Mix cow milk, urine, dung, butter and ghee, and you get shampoo and cancer medicine.
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Gibbs and Vilsack apologize to Sherrod
Gibbs says the facts changed. No, the facts didn’t change, your knowledge of the facts changed.
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Racial politics in Washington
Why did so many people accept Andrew Breitbart’s version of events?
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Moses explains accommodationism to the barmaid
It is perfectly possible to reassure people that they can combine science and religion…
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Councillor calls Scientology stupid on Twitter
Faces a hearing for not showing sufficient “respect.”
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Obama: do the right thing, reinstate Sherrod
The video was faked. Sherrod was summarily fired. This is no good.