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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Inevitably links go out of date.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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Singer Points Out Consistency of his Views
‘I have never said that no experiment on an animal can ever be justified.’
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Ted Honderich Replies to Nick Cohen
‘Do you want in the end to have from a former emeritus professor a mark for his essay?’
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Hitchens on Taboo Words
The N-word Jim, faggot, discriminating, niggardly – it’s all a bit complicated.
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Plagiarism Follies
Will all written records of contemporary human experience eventually become off limits to other writers?
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Violence Against Women in the Congo
Rape accompanied by deliberate wounding, sometimes with guns, sometimes with blunt objects.
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The Trouble With Michael Moore
Moore chases after political fashions, jettisoning principle for point-scoring, shock value or laughs.
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Bolton Quits
Unconfirmed and unconfirmable UN-hating ‘ambassador’ to UN resigns.
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Saying ‘Merry Christmas’ Can be a Weapon
The war on ‘the war on Christmas’ is no joke.
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Hitchens Reviews Ann Coulter’s ‘Godless’
The sheer incoherence that results from a mixture of feigned rage and low sarcasm.
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Natasha Walter on Hirsi Ali and Buruma
Female visionaries who break out of traditional societies often set other people’s teeth on edge.
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Churches Depict Gay Rights as Assault on Charity
Bishop said church-based charities would close doors if government insisted they let in gay people.
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Xians Use Shock Tactics Against Gay Rights
‘Faith groups’ want opt-out clause from new laws designed to end discrimination against homosexuals.
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Are ‘Minority Courts’ a Problem?
What is needed is a cool analysis of the effect religious courts might have on the rule of law.
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If 71% are Christian Why Are Pews Empty?
Because ‘Christian’ may be a code for other things.
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Wearing a Veil to Be More Visible
Arguments over Muslim women’s clothing have really been thinly disguised political battles.
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Bush Does the Surrealism Thing
‘Iraqis are plenty capable of running their own business, and they don’t need foreign interference from neighbours that will be destabilising the country.’
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Teachers in Despair at Berlin’s Rütli School
‘The mood in the classroom is one of aggression, complete lack of respect and ignorance.’
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There is no Moral Immunity for Lawyers
In court, lawyers are allowed to assert anything not positively known to be false, David Luban notes.
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Peter Singer Says Animal Research has Benefits
Observers express surprise but Singer has always balanced harms and benefits.