Sense About Science launched a drive for celebrities to check the facts before making claims.… 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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
A C Grayling on the Importance of Autonomy 
Jan 4th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Are individuals capable of overcoming limitations to achieve by will and endeavour what they identify as good?… Read the rest
Hitchens on the Iowa Scam
Jan 4th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Media report the open corruption of the Iowa caucuses with an astonishingly deadpan and neutral tone.… Read the rest
‘Give Ken a Third Term’
Jan 3rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Because the undersigned say it is ‘in the best interest of the Muslim communities of London.’ … Read the rest
Two Women Attacked by Mob in Mumbai
Jan 3rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The women were teased and harassed by a crowd of men outside a hotel.… Read the rest
Hijab: Freedom or Coercion?
Jan 3rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
If everyone is free to wear the hijab, is anyone free not to wear it?… Read the rest
Cover Your Hair or We’ll Kill You
Jan 3rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Next time I want to see you wearing a hijab or I swear to God the three of you will be killed immediately.’… Read the rest
133 Women Killed in Basra Last Year
Jan 3rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Murdered and then dumped in the garbage with notes saying they were killed for violating Islamic teachings.… Read the rest
Jeff Weintraub on the Hijab and Social Pressure
Jan 3rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Many Turkish secularists foresee a situation in which social pressure will force women to wear hijab.… Read the rest
Chicago Man Accused of Killing Pregnant Daughter
Jan 3rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
And her husband and child. The husband ‘belonged to a lower caste.’… Read the rest
Why Saudi Women Attempt Suicide
Jan 3rd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Disregarding a woman’s free will and her right to choose her life can simply lead her to desperation.… Read the rest
Simon Jenkins Rebukes Colonialist Tutting
Jan 2nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Tut tut at Musharraf; tut tut at Kenya; who do we think we are?… Read the rest
Kenyans Want an End to Violence
Jan 2nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘All we want is a return to peace. But all we have seen here in Eldoret is terrible violence.’… Read the rest
Horrible Echoes of Rwanda
Jan 2nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Odinga’s supporters accused of ethnic cleansing; Kibaki’s camp accused of genocide.… Read the rest
Seeing People Killed Is as Bad as it Gets
Jan 2nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Several hundred Kikuyu people sheltered in the church; 30 were burned to death.… Read the rest
Startling, Fresh, New Insight on ‘New’ Atheism
Jan 2nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It’s god-bashing, shrill, screechy, intolerant, hectoring. Wo! Haven’t heard that before.… Read the rest
Persecution of Ahmadis in Pakistan
Jan 2nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Militants’ have stamped thousands of rupee notes imploring believers to ‘put them to death.’… Read the rest
Assassinated Because She Was a Woman
Jan 2nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The fear of women, of women’s freedom, runs through Islamism. It is a large part of Islamist hatred of the West.… Read the rest
Who Are We to Lecture Them?
Jan 2nd, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Sainthood should not be a criterion for speaking up for human rights.… Read the rest
What Have You Changed Your Mind About?
Jan 1st, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Where once I would have striven to see Incan child sacrifice ‘in their terms’, I am increasingly committed to seeing it in ours.… Read the rest
