Atheists are one group it’s okie doke to despise.
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Inevitably links go out of date.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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Taboo, Unclean, Yuk, Pollution
Restoration of statue of boar abandoned for fear of ‘offending’ Muslims in Derby.
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Steven Poole Shreds Alain de Botton
The weasel words, the pretending to discover what everyone already knows, the whimsy.
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Scott McLemee Reviews Richard Evans
‘Evans is not awed by the Nazis themselves. He defies their efforts to defy reason.’
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Shaken Baby Diagnosis Shaky?
To admit uncertainty is sometimes appropriate.
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Tagore’s Nobel Medal is Missing
Some people oppose his ‘largely secular legacy.’
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The Panda’s Thumb
‘dedicated to defending the integrity of science against all attempts to weaken it, distort it, or destroy it.’
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Lewis Wolpert on What Science Is
It’s not common sense, for one thing.
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Michael Kazin on Howard Zinn
‘A People’s History is bad history, albeit gilded with virtuous intentions.’
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Historians on Zinn
How does Zinn compare to Hofstadter and Foner?
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The French Hijab Ban is not Anti-Muslim
One of the ban’s architects explains the thinking behind it.
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The Pledge, the Deity, the Court
Pledge is not religious, it’s patriotic, says Bush administration.
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Monty Python to the Rescue
Tired of Passion-passion? See Life of Brian instead.
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Two People Die at ‘Passion’ Screenings
Heart attacks during the torture scene. Just a coincidence?
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Kevin Drum on Intelligent Design
He says it isn’t, and introduces The Panda’s Thumb.
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Indian State Seeks to Arrest Author
He said bad things about Shivaji, so bust him.
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Congress Party Joins in the Fun
Going after the Sena-BJP vote, Congress tries to outdo them in threatening author.
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India Times on Laine Issue
Maharashtra seeking Interpol’s help in arrest of author.
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The Court, the Pledge, the Deity
What does the word ‘God’ mean, anyway?
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Life Among the Lexicographers
Compiling a dictionary of regional English, and what one learns thereby.