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Inevitably links go out of date.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.


Fluid Nations and Patriot Studies *

Sep 17th, 2003 | Filed by

Now Heavy Former Ballerinas; People Who Daydream Obsessively of Rescuing Someone Famous; and many more. … Read the rest



Women On Top *

Sep 16th, 2003 | Filed by

Girls beat boys just about everywhere.… Read the rest



What Are Children For? *

Sep 16th, 2003 | Filed by

Jobs, nappies, sleep, time, vomit, money, servants, shopping, sexism, age – it’s all a bit complicated.… Read the rest



Hire a Conservative! *

Sep 16th, 2003 | Filed by

What kind? By whose definition as of what date? And what if she changes her mind?… Read the rest



What is Lost by Abandonment of Principle *

Sep 15th, 2003 | Filed by

Alan Ryan on Richard Posner’s view of pragmatism and democracy.… Read the rest



Moral Racism *

Sep 15th, 2003 | Filed by

When Other Races kill each other, western pundits blame the scars of colonialism.… Read the rest



Lies on the Front Page and the Back *

Sep 14th, 2003 | Filed by

Why do journalists and comedians think they’re better than politicians?… Read the rest



Nonsense *

Sep 13th, 2003 | Filed by

‘Religion, properly conceived, attempts to provide an account of all there is.’ Well no doubt, but it fails!… Read the rest



Not the Same Old Thing *

Sep 13th, 2003 | Filed by

The state of scientific research into paranormal phenomena.… Read the rest



Media Studies Easy? Surely Not! *

Sep 12th, 2003 | Filed by

It takes a lot of training to learn how to watch tv, you know.… Read the rest



Perhaps All Dentists? *

Sep 12th, 2003 | Filed by

‘55% of people with post-graduate degrees (lawyers, doctors, dentists, and the like) believe in the Devil.’… Read the rest



The James Dean of the Cold War *

Sep 12th, 2003 | Filed by

Orwell’s list was not like McCarthy’s little list, Timothy Garton Ash points out.… Read the rest



Harsh Book Reviews, Again *

Sep 11th, 2003 | Filed by

But if the book is bad, what is the reviewer supposed to say?… Read the rest



Yale Meets the Union *

Sep 11th, 2003 | Filed by

Student awakened by chanting at 8 a.m. – it’s an outrage!… Read the rest



Martha Nussbaum on Genocide in Gujarat *

Sep 10th, 2003 | Filed by

Myth-making and falsification of history play a large part in Hindu nationalism and its terrors.… Read the rest



Reburying Remains a Great Idea? *

Sep 10th, 2003 | Filed by

Forget rights and better living condtions, here are some bones.… Read the rest



Did Habermas and Suhrkamp Skim? *

Sep 9th, 2003 | Filed by

If not, why did they change their minds about Ted Honderich’s book?… Read the rest



Advanced Math? Wozzat? *

Sep 9th, 2003 | Filed by

Helping the bottom of the class is good, but so is fostering talent.… Read the rest



‘Autistic’ Economics? *

Sep 9th, 2003 | Filed by

Insurgents say mathematical modelling excludes too much reality from economics.… Read the rest



Embarrassing Mistake in ‘Ecstasy’ Research *

Sep 9th, 2003 | Filed by

Wrong drug given, study retracted from journal Science.… Read the rest