As Eugenie Scott of the National Center for Science Education observed: If schools follow Steiner’s views on science, education will suffer.… Read the rest
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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
Larry Moran takes a creationist quiz for atheists 
Oct 23rd, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
What do gnu atheists actually believe? That the answer to 1-8 is not “God.”… Read the rest
Rust Belt Philosophy also bemused by Haught
Oct 23rd, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
That’s really Haught’s argument? Yes, that’s really his argument.… Read the rest
The pope’s visit was such a joy
Oct 23rd, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Everybody found out he’s not an authoritarian but “a little shy”…isn’t that just sweet?… Read the rest
Anti-gay zeal in Uganda linked to US evangelicals
Oct 22nd, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A tabloid published the names and photographs of “Uganda’s 100 top” gays and lesbians alongside a yellow banner that read “Hang Them.”… Read the rest
Steiner Waldorf uses bait and switch to get state funding
Oct 22nd, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It has been accepted that because the pedagogy is ‘spiritual’ it must be good.… Read the rest
Godless bus ads make atheism more familiar
Oct 22nd, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
This increases public tolerance of dissenting views and gives more people permission to be open about their unbelief.… Read the rest
Vatican: Homer and Bart Simpson are Catholics
Oct 22nd, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Executive producer says they are Presbylutherans.… Read the rest
Freethought Kampala on “scientism”
Oct 21st, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The invocation of the pejorative term ‘scientism’ is nothing more than a theist’s ploy to derail the debate.… Read the rest
BBC on women and the economic trainwreck
Oct 21st, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
One big advocate for women’s education is Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Managing Director of the World Bank.… Read the rest
Archbishop Dolan on the New York Times
Oct 21st, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It “offends Catholic sensitivity, something they [sic] would never think of doing — rightly so — to the Jewish, Black, Islamic, or gay communities.”… Read the rest
Life with al-Shabaab
Oct 21st, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“This time, the surgical tool was a plumber’s saw. As before, there were no painkillers.”… Read the rest
Would atheist schools be a good idea?
Oct 21st, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The New Humanist asks.… Read the rest
Jesus and Mo have been reading John Haught
Oct 20th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
They’re excited about getting carried away by a deeper dimension of reality.… Read the rest
John Ioannidis researches bad medical information
Oct 20th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
He charges that as much as 90 percent of the published medical information that doctors rely on is flawed.… Read the rest
Activists slam university on Mistry book ban
Oct 20th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“Those who should be defending our freedom of speech are not doing their job. If we as civilians also do not speak up, then we are truly lost.”… Read the rest
Nilanjana Roy on the ratting out of Rohinton Mistry
Oct 20th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Roy finds Salman Rushdie’s Luka and the Fire of Life an apt allegory for the Rattistanification of Bombay.… Read the rest
Bombay U. cuts Mistry novel from reading list
Oct 20th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Because Shiv Sena pitched a fit. Mohan Rawale, a Shiv Sena official, said “It is our culture that anything with insulting language should be deleted.”… Read the rest
UAE: court rules men can “discipline” wives
Oct 19th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“According to Islamic law, a man has the “right to discipline” his wife and children.” Just don’t leave a mark.… Read the rest
Funny how capricious miracles are
Oct 19th, 2010 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
If MacKillop were being canonised for being good, there would be less need to question the excessive and sycophantic coverage.… Read the rest
