A crackdown by the Pakistani government to prevent a national demonstration collapsed. … 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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
Cultural Warriors Are Unemployed 
Mar 15th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Putative moral majority has been downsized.… Read the rest
Rush Limbaugh as Leader of Republican Party
Mar 15th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Aggressive, self-indulgent, noisy – and as for ‘family values’…… Read the rest
Norway: Woman Celebrates Women’s Day
Mar 15th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Sara Azmeh Rasmussen burned her hijab to protest the oppression of women in Islam. [French]… Read the rest
Man Claims to Cure AIDS With Water
Mar 15th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Brian Marshall has allegedly been selling bottled water as a cure for the virus since late last year.… Read the rest
Review of Seth Kalichman’s Denying AIDS
Mar 15th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A fascinating insight into the minds of people who wholeheartedly believe that HIV does not cause AIDS.… Read the rest
Nice Fellow Killed Two and Wounded Six
Mar 14th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Man who shot up a church told police he was a nice fellow ‘but hated gays, liberals and Democrats.’… Read the rest
The Freethinker on Pervez Kambakhsh
Mar 14th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Journalists flourished in the post-Taliban years but now are increasingly pressured by fundamentalists.… Read the rest
News Media Under Pressure in Afghanistan
Mar 14th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Three established journalists have left Kandahar after receiving threats from the Taliban.… Read the rest
HRW Urges Pardon for Pervez Kambakhsh
Mar 14th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Kambakhsh has committed no crime. Now it is up to President Karzai to act on principle and free him.’… Read the rest
Roger Scruton on ‘New’ Humanism
Mar 14th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Says his parents would not have approved.… Read the rest
Shut Up He Explained
Mar 14th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Mo says there must be an international law against defamation of religion.… Read the rest
Kambakhsh’s Brother on Bad Day for Afghanistan
Mar 13th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
There is no rule of law, even at the Supreme Court in Kabul, so what chance do people in the provinces have?… Read the rest
Pope ‘Hurt’ by Hostility Over Holocaust-denier
Mar 13th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Saddened by the fact that even Catholics thought they had to attack me with open hostility.’… Read the rest
German Teenage Gunman Hated Women
Mar 13th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Kretschmer was a woman-hater who killed to take revenge on the whole female sex, a neighbour said.… Read the rest
Climate Change Already at Worst-case
Mar 13th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Waters could rise by over a metre across the world with huge impacts for hundreds of millions of people. … Read the rest
Sea Levels Will Rise Twice as Fast as Predicted
Mar 13th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
New studies suggest that global warming could strike harder and sooner than expected.… Read the rest
Review of Nigel Warburton on Free Speech
Mar 13th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
With admirable clarity, this VSI shows us how wobbly, hazy, but unavoidable that line turns out to be.… Read the rest
The Sarcastic Times
Mar 13th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Rachel Maddow’s humor is, actually, pretty serious stuff.… Read the rest
Saudi Prince Walid Advertises Billionaire Status
Mar 12th, 2009 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
There are 30% fewer billionaires in the world now. Walid bin Talal wants you to know he is still one of them.… Read the rest
