The whereabouts of 14 MDC activists and a baby are still unknown more than a month since they disappeared. … 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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
Normblog on Simon Jenkins on ‘Scaremongering’ 
Dec 5th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
As long as the bombers announce their hatred of secular law and liberty, the Simon Jenkinses can’t wait to urge you to relax.… Read the rest
Odinga, Tutu Say Mugabe Must Go
Dec 5th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Collapse of health systems and water supply in Harare are major reasons for the cholera deaths.… Read the rest
Nigeria: Child ‘Witch’ Killer Arrested
Dec 5th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Police in south-east Nigeria have arrested a man who claimed to have killed 110 child ‘witches.’… Read the rest
AI Demands Release of Jestina Mukoko
Dec 5th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Mukoko is the director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, was grabbed by gunmen December 3.… Read the rest
UNHCR Worker Murdered in Afghanistan
Dec 4th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
She was shot dead on 26 November at a meeting of local elders in a temporary settlement for returnees. … Read the rest
UNESCO Deplores Killings of Journalists
Dec 4th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
UNESCO has called on India, Mexico and Pakistan to take greater steps to protect reporters.… Read the rest
Aid Worker Murdered in Sri Lanka
Dec 4th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A Vigneswaran worked for the Norwegian Refugee Council, was killed by gunmen in Batticaloa last week.… Read the rest
Romania Removes Evolution From Curriculum
Dec 4th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Minister of Education says it’s implicit. Nonsense, say critics: if it’s not there it’s not there.… Read the rest
Launch of Campaign Against Sharia in UK
Dec 4th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Campaign organiser Maryam Namazie says sharia’s voluntary nature is a sham: many women will be forced. … Read the rest
Study Shows Physical ‘Self’ is a Trick of the Mind
Dec 4th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Neuroscientists induced ‘out of body’ experiences; will help researchers understand how the brain constructs a sense of physical self.… Read the rest
The Racist Flipside of Anti-imperialism
Dec 3rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Sunny Hundal says for John Pilger to call Obama an ‘Uncle Tom’ betrays an ugly contempt for those who refuse his revolutionary romanticism.… Read the rest
Pilger Looks Down on Obama From Great Height
Dec 3rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘The American elite has grown adept at using the black middle and management class.’… Read the rest
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Dec 3rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A C Grayling notes that the UDHR has already made a real difference to our world.… Read the rest
How the UDHR Builds a Base of Liberty
Dec 3rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The intention is to assert, as the default position, a status of inviolability for the human individual.… Read the rest
Grayling on Freedom Without Borders
Dec 3rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
There are few major states in the world that are guiltless of subjecting some people to torture or degrading treatment.… Read the rest
Adam Kirsch on Slavoj Zizek
Dec 2nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It might be worthwhile to consider Zizek’s work as if he means it – to ask what his ideas really are, and what sort of effects they are likely to have.… Read the rest
Ed Husain on Resisting Extremism
Dec 2nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A group dedicated to creating an Islamist dictatorship meets every weekend in Regent’s Park mosque.… Read the rest
Vatican in Favour of Discrimination
Dec 2nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Vat opposes EU proposal for UN declaration formally condemning discrimination against homosexuals.… Read the rest
A C Grayling on ‘Innate’ Religion
Dec 2nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Templeton Foundation funding research into claim that children are hardwired to believe in a ‘supreme being.’… Read the rest
