For its ‘largely uncritical and unquestioning adherence to the Andrew Wakefield school of junk science.’
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Inevitably links go out of date.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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The People Speak on Autism and MMR
My kids aren’t vaccinated and they don’t have autism. Explain that, smarty! [The Onion]
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The Role of Program Code in Climate Research
We really do need to be sure that we’re not getting any of our sums wrong.
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Gita Sahgal and Amnesty International
Sahgal suggests AI supports Begg and Cageprisoners out of fear of being branded racist and ‘Islamophobic.’
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Richard Bartholomew on Gita Sahgal
Amnesty has suspended her in the wake of the article.
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Gita Sahgal Publishes a Statement
Defence of the torture standard has been allied to political legitimization of individuals and organisations on the Islamic Right.
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Mary Midgley Sets ‘Neo-Darwnists’ Straight
She’s still fretting about the metaphors.
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Taliban Blow Up Girls’ School in NW Pakistan
They are opposed to girls’ education.
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Skepticism is not Enough
David Mikics finds Derrida most instructive in his failure to move from doubt to any feasible ethics or politics.
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Enlightenment, Yes
The counter-Enlightenment was really the anti-Enlightenment.
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Girl Buried Alive and Awake for Talking to Boys
Medine Memi was found in a sitting position with her hands tied, in a small hole dug outside her home.
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Ethnomathematics
Yes, really.
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Wole Soyinka is Not Impressed by Islamism
‘We should assemble all those who are pure and cannot abide other faiths, put them all in rockets, and fire them into space.’
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NSS Files Complaint Against Cherie Booth
NSS complained to the Office for Judicial Complaints, suggesting Booth acted in a discriminatory way.
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But Of Course Religious People Are Better
Not superior; just better. Any fule kno that!
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Hugo Rifkind Slept Through Philosophy Class
His philosophy degree taught him in week one: ‘If God isn’t the ultimate answer, what is?’
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How to Convince ‘Vaccine Skeptics’
They will never heed evidence, so ‘we need to encourage moderation,’ says Chris Mooney.
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Jerry Coyne on Building Bridges to Anti-vaxxers
Can there be a compromise between science and ignorance?
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Turkish Girl Buried Alive and Probably Awake
Most such killings happen in ‘conservative Muslim communities’ but it’s custom not religion, BBC insists.
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Life With the Taliban
‘My brother used to tell me that the place for a woman is either at home or in the grave.’