Race gives a certain fantasy of what equality is: a world that is equal if there are no racists.
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Inevitably links go out of date.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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Shabnam Ramaswamy’s Women’s Court
Tells men she is like Durga with her ten hands. In one hand a stick, in another a law book, in another a flower.
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Pregnancy Centers Give Disinformation on Abortion
Report says 20 of 23 federally funded centers gave false or misleading information about abortion risks.
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Theism and Science Not All That Compatible
‘What sounds like a harmless metaphor can restrict the intellectual bravado that is essential to science.’
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Timothy Garton Ash on Islam in Europe
Frets about something called ‘Enlightenment fundamentalism.’
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Michael Sandel and Thomas Nagel Discuss
Rawlsian liberalism, abortion, the status of the fetus, political liberalism, why they matter.
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Fresh Air on Christian Zionism
Christian Zionists don’t want peace in the Middle East. The Messiah is on his way!
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Michael Bérubé on the Dangeral Classroom
As students, you should expect to feel uncomfortable about your beliefs as a matter of course.
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Matt Ridley’s Biography of Francis Crick
‘This was a man who gave far more to the world than just the double helix.’
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Brenda Maddox’s Biography of Ernest Jones
Psychoanalysis turned out to be more like a religious cult or a fractious, fissile political party than a science.
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Karen Armstrong is Cross at the Pope
Offended, offensive, Islamophobia, western, medieval, Danish cartoon crisis, oh dear.
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Madeleine Bunting is Cross at the Pope
Offend, offence, offended, Islamophobe, outrage, insensitive, difference, oh dear.
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Argument Over Gibson ‘Passion’ Inspires Strangling
Man upset by violent crucifixion scenes, so throttles wife.
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Booker Shortlist Saves Bookies a Fortune
Favourites dropped, list full of young unknowns.
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FCC Questioned About ‘Lost’ Report
FCC hides report that says media consolidation is bad for tv news, says dog ate homework.
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Secretive MPAA Has Power, no Accountability
Violence is fine, lesbian sex unfine; what’s that about, and why are these people anonymous?
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Taslima Nasrin on Ayaan Hirsi Ali
‘Ayaan’s questions may not be new, but they need to be reiterated, especially by women.’
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Fuss About Pope’s Speech Continues
24-hour news, with comments taken out of context, disseminated and recycled, does its bit.
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Peter Singer Interviewed
The issue is suffering.
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The US Christian Right Is Only a Little Scary
Says Peter Steinfels, who writes a column on ‘religion and ethics’ in The New York Times.