Map shows the Taleban strengthening their hold across the north-west. Zardari rejects the findings.… 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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
Frontline on Madoff 
May 13th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The world’s first global ponzi scheme; how did he do it, why didn’t the SEC act?… Read the rest
Frontline Interviews Journalist on the SEC
May 13th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘A thesis emerged within the agency that it was too much of a burden on the American economy.’… Read the rest
Don’t Mention the Pope’s Hitler Youth Past
May 13th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘The Pope was never in the Hitler Youth, never, never, never,’ spokesman told a press conference.… Read the rest
Classroom Filled With an Odour of Insecticide
May 13th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘What will she do about education in the future, when her life is in danger?’ the distraught father added.… Read the rest
Salil Tripathi on Democracy and Dissent
May 13th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Binayak Sen’s advocacy of
India’s ‘wretched of the earth’ has upset the corrupt nexus enriching local politicians.… Read the rest
Afghanistan: 84 Schoolgirls Gassed
May 12th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A new way to keep girls from going to school: gas them.… Read the rest
Girls Punished for Being Born Female
May 12th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Five girls went briefly into comas, nearly 100 were taken to hospital after a gas attack on their school.… Read the rest
UAE: Torture Sheikh Arrested
May 12th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Video showed the sheik torturing a grain dealer with whips, cattle prods, and a plank with protruding nails.… Read the rest
Let’s Ask God What To Do
May 12th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Lisbon Treaty will secure a stronger consultative role for European religions in EU policy making.… Read the rest
Hans Holzer, Ghost Scholar
May 12th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Other Side is run by a bureaucracy; spirits must ask permission and list their motives to contact mediums.… Read the rest
AIRRA Update on Swat
May 12th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The ongoing militancy in Swat and the military operation has caused huge hardships for the population of the area. … Read the rest
The Demjanjuk Case
May 12th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The German judiciary is making the point that no one is immune from justice – even sixty years later.… Read the rest
Normblog Writer’s Choice: Russell Blackford
May 12th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Stranger in a Strange Land has some of the characteristics of a monomyth, some of those of an encyclopaedia.… Read the rest
Dial-a-fatwa to Launch in UK
May 11th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Will draw on the ‘expertise’ of scholars from al-Azhar to tell people how to lead an Islamic life.… Read the rest
Roxana Saberi is Out of Evin Prison
May 11th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
She is free to leave Iran.… Read the rest
Reporters Without Borders Hails Saberi Release
May 11th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The appeal court’s decision can be used as a legal precedent for other journalists detained in Iran.… Read the rest
Salman Rushdie’s New Story ‘In the South’
May 11th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Abundance gave the ascetically inclined Senior a permanent low-level headache.… Read the rest
Jeddah Judge Approves Woman-hitting
May 11th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
If a person gives money to his wife and she spends some on an abaya and he slaps her, she deserves it.… Read the rest
O Who Hath Seen the Elephant’s Wings?
May 11th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
No one, but no matter, the sapient amongst us know they are there, hidden away inside the quantum.… Read the rest
