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Inevitably links go out of date.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.


“The militant atheist pack-hate” *

Oct 19th, 2010 | Filed by

Hey, everybody, let’s pay attention to the positive aspects of religion!… Read the rest



“Evangelical atheists” *

Oct 19th, 2010 | Filed by

Hey, everybody, let’s bring people together around shared values in spite of religious differences!… Read the rest



Anglican clergy hate women *

Oct 18th, 2010 | Filed by

“Many traditionalist clergy are unhappy with the level of protection so far offered to them from serving under a woman bishop.”… Read the rest



Frans de Waal on morals without God *

Oct 18th, 2010 | Filed by

Fortunately, there has been a resurgence of the Darwinian view that morality grew out of the social instincts.… Read the rest



Yale fraternity pledges chant “No means yes!” *

Oct 18th, 2010 | Filed by

And “Yes means anal!” – while marching past women’s dormitories. Welcome to rape culture.… Read the rest



Sean Wilentz on Glen Beck as “educator” *

Oct 17th, 2010 | Filed by

The return of the John Birch Society.… Read the rest



Anglican congregation accepts pope’s invitation *

Oct 17th, 2010 | Filed by

To convert to Catholicism to escape ordination of women. God hates women.… Read the rest



Baggini gives atheist “sermon” in Westminster Abbey *

Oct 17th, 2010 | Filed by

Divides atheists into good, reasonable atheists and bad, dogmatic, theist-hating atheists. Puts himself in the first group.… Read the rest



Alex Clark reviews Luka and the Fire of Life *

Oct 17th, 2010 | Filed by

Rushdie includes a trip through the Respectorate of I, where everyone takes offence and visitors are warned to mind their manners.… Read the rest



Benoît Mandelbrot 1924-2010 *

Oct 17th, 2010 | Filed by

Mandelbrot coined the term “fractal” to refer to a new class of mathematical shapes whose uneven contours could mimic the irregularities found in nature.… Read the rest



10 die in Indian temple stampede *

Oct 17th, 2010 | Filed by

The victims had gathered to witness the traditional sacrifice of goats; 40,000 devotees had thronged the temple at the time of the stampede.… Read the rest



Gender equality in Sweden *

Oct 17th, 2010 | Filed by

Both in education and in the labour market, the genders are not equally represented.… Read the rest



The anger fuelling Serbia’s rioters *

Oct 17th, 2010 | Filed by

“The gay parade was a provocation against Serbian people,” explains a member of the nationalist group 1389.… Read the rest



Anthroposophy is not a safe haven from despair *

Oct 16th, 2010 | Filed by

It’s a common accusation from anthroposophists that materialism, atheism and even intellectualism cause mental disease and unhappiness.… Read the rest



Waldorf communities *

Oct 16th, 2010 | Filed by

The very strong community bonds and shared values and ideals risk creating very strong exclusion mechanisms as well.… Read the rest



Science as a ‘faith-laden exigential discourse’ *

Oct 16th, 2010 | Filed by

…the insight of the wider spectrum of human thought and experience rather than a singular self-establishing discourse which asserts superiority and hegemony…… Read the rest



NY Times: “Atheists debate how pushy to be” *

Oct 16th, 2010 | Filed by

“They agreed that people can be good without religion, and religion has too much influence. But they disagreed about how stridently to make those claims.”… Read the rest



Why documentation matters *

Oct 16th, 2010 | Filed by

The excesses of the bubble years have created a legal morass, in which property rights are ill defined because nobody has proper documentation.… Read the rest



Rift in Canadian Islamic Congress *

Oct 16th, 2010 | Filed by
The forces of orthodoxy are resisting the progressives.… Read the rest


Oklahoma: 19-year-old gay man kills himself *

Oct 16th, 2010 | Filed by

His family says the suicide followed by just a week his attendance at a Norman City Council meeting where he heard some hostile views.… Read the rest