Attacks on HRW’s credibility make rational discussion increasingly difficult.
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Inevitably links go out of date.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 Freedom to Choose to be Compelled
‘The veil is really important to all Muslim women who choose to wear it. Our religion compels us to wear it.’
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Dalits Bail Out of Hinduism
By converting, Dalits can escape the prejudice and discrimination they normally face.
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Sanjeev Srivastava on Kanshi Ram
Ram united Dalits into a formidable political force in several states.
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Catherine Bennett on Clothes and Freedom
What does freedom mean, if it doesn’t mean being free to oppress yourself?
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Johann Hari Talks to Salman Rushdie
The mass uprooting he celebrated helped to create the Islamist pining for a fictitious lost purity.
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Women on the Niqab
Joan Smith urges Garton Ash to catch up on his feminist reading.
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Thomas Nagel: the Problem with Atheism
One of Dawkins’s aims is to overturn the convention of respect toward religion.
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Steven Pinker on George Lakoff
The ubiquity of metaphor in language does not imply that all thinking is concrete.
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UK Government Withdraws Support From MCB
Kelly said in future she would fund organisations representing young Muslims and Muslim women.
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Scott McLemee on I F Stone
Stone tells Soviet citizens that the “thaw” will mean nothing if they don’t acquire the right of habeas corpus.
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To Tell the Truth – Scott McLemee on I F Stone
Hoover’s agents despaired of ever establishing a connection between Stone and the CPUSA.
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Orhan Pamuk Wins Nobel for Literature
He has faced prosecution for talking about the murder of Armenians and Kurds.
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Busted for Criticizing Cheney to His Face
Secret Service arrests guy for telling Cheney ‘Your policies in Iraq are reprehensible.’
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Houzan Mahmoud Says It’s not a Matter of Choice
Not just a bit of cloth: a sign of the oppression of women and submissiveness to the will of God or a man.
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Kiran Desai Wins Booker Prize
For The Inheritance of Loss.
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Ethiopian Women World’s Most Abused
UN’s Ending Violence Against Women report says nearly 60% are subject to sexual violence.
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UN Urges Global Backing for Violence Report
Painting a grim picture of the extent of violence against women in all parts of the world.
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Rushdie Says Veils Suck; Guardian Frowns
‘[H]is comments have angered moderate and extremists within the Muslim community.’
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Everything Must Be Tolerated, David Edgar Says
‘Sorry, but we can’t just pick and choose what to tolerate.’ Interesting notion.