And an…interesting former FBI agent.… 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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
Irshad Manji on What Makes an Apartheid State 
Feb 9th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Human rights organizations operating openly? A free press? An independent judiciary?… Read the rest
Scott McLemee Talks to Danny Postel
Feb 9th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Desire to avoid saying things that could be useful to the neocons is understandable, also a cop-out.… Read the rest
Is it Criticism, Racism, or ‘Islamophobia’?
Feb 9th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Eliot Weinberger announced nominees for book award and said one had engaged in ‘racism as criticism.’… Read the rest
Is Morality Hard-wired?
Feb 8th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Marc Hauser and other researchers do experiments to find out.… Read the rest
Communities Secretary Notices a Problem
Feb 8th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Government has relied too much on engagement with traditional leadership organisations.’… Read the rest
Charlie Hebdo Trial ‘Under Anti-racism Laws’
Feb 8th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Organisations suing for ‘public insults against a group of people because they belong to a religion.’… Read the rest
Meghnad Desai: Islam or Islamism?
Feb 8th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘The roots of this new terrorism are not in religion but in a political ideology which uses religious language.’… Read the rest
Charlie Hebdo Editor Defends Publication
Feb 8th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Editor Philippe Var told the Paris court the cartoons were criticising ‘ideas, not people.’… Read the rest
Mixing Up Ontology and Epistemology Again
Feb 8th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Yes, there is a reality out there; no, there is no ready-made truth of things. Keep up.… Read the rest
Necla Kelek Replies to Ian Buruma
Feb 8th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
He says one cannot make generalised statements about Islam; astonishing from a professor of human rights.… Read the rest
Nigel Warburton Interviews Julian Baggini
Feb 8th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Thought experiments help clarify and stimulate our thinking, but rarely, if ever, actually prove anything.… Read the rest
David Thompson on ‘The Truth About Muhammad’
Feb 7th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A tradition of hagiography and censorship has created a woefully inadequate picture.… Read the rest
David Thompson’s Review Unedited
Feb 7th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Anything that deviates from a sanitised depiction of Muhammad can arouse extraordinary indignation.… Read the rest
Julian Baggini on Poppycock About Socrates
Feb 7th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘If teachers really were subjecting toddlers to Socratic grillings, the child protection agency would be onto them like a shot.’… Read the rest
David Thompson on Phantom Guilt Syndrome
Feb 7th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Politics as taking umbrage can end up with ideology unmoored from external reality.… Read the rest
Johann Hari on the Chapman Brothers
Feb 7th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Jake Chapman has declared that “the Enlightenment project…virulently infects the earth”.’… Read the rest
Jake Chapman’s Impressive Reply
Feb 7th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Literary castration…cheap fat-faced ugly four-eyed shot…shoddy thoughtcrimes…Hari is a fascist.… Read the rest
Muslim Group Opposes Niqab in School
Feb 6th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Dr Taj Hargey wants a campaign to resist move to make the niqab compulsory for Muslim women.… Read the rest
Launch of ‘Independent Jewish Voices’
Feb 6th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Commitments to human rights and fairness, not ethnic or group loyalties, define the limits of legitimate debate.… Read the rest
