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Inevitably links go out of date.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.


Michael Ignatieff: an Intellectual in Politics *

Feb 26th, 2009 | Filed by

How does a liberal intellectual face up to the dilemmas of liberalism during a war on terror?… Read the rest



Baggini on Polkinghorne on Science and Religion *

Feb 26th, 2009 | Filed by

Polkinghorne and Beale often use God to plug the spaces left by science’s incompleteness.… Read the rest



Philosophy’s Great Experiment *

Feb 26th, 2009 | Filed by

X-phi wants to kick down the walls of recent philosophy and place experimentation back at its centre. … Read the rest



Aaronovitch Notes: All Theocracies Are Coercive *

Feb 25th, 2009 | Filed by

Crooke’s failure to see that theocracy is unlikely to lead to a world of ‘compassion and justice’ is stunning. … Read the rest



Saudi Underwear Panic *

Feb 25th, 2009 | Filed by

No fitting rooms! Jobs are for men! These are too small! Daily life in a theocracy.… Read the rest



Are Christians Persecuted in the UK? *

Feb 25th, 2009 | Filed by

If a teachers tells a child not to tell her friends they are going to hell, is that persecution?… Read the rest



Darwin Was Agnostic and Nontheist and Antitheist *

Feb 25th, 2009 | Filed by

Rick Weiss and Matt Nisbet are using a misrepresentation of Darwin to make a case against New Atheists.… Read the rest



Carl Zimmer Fact-checks George Will *

Feb 25th, 2009 | Filed by

The fact-checker doesn’t rely on press releases or blog posts, but calls scientists up to get the best information.… Read the rest



Katha Pollitt on Freedom of Speech, Round 5,425 *

Feb 24th, 2009 | Filed by

Women can’t point out sexism in the Bible or Koran but clerics can use those texts to declare women inferior?… Read the rest



Andrew Sullivan on Defending Blasphemy *

Feb 24th, 2009 | Filed by

Hari’s article is a classic piece of political polemic, the kind of thing that no free society should ever suppress. … Read the rest



Homeopathy: the Opposite of Science *

Feb 24th, 2009 | Filed by

BSc courses in homeopathy are closing. Yessss!… Read the rest



Theocracy and the Death of the Critical Intellect *

Feb 24th, 2009 | Filed by

I must exorcise the temptation to choose against the divinely sanctioned authority of the church.… Read the rest



Are ‘Honor’ Killings Simply Domestic Violence? *

Feb 24th, 2009 | Filed by

Denial is rife.… Read the rest



OIC Secretary-General on Durban II *

Feb 23rd, 2009 | Filed by

‘It should be every individual’s right to criticize practices in breach of human rights.’ Indeed.… Read the rest



‘On the Media’ on Islam and Free Speech *

Feb 23rd, 2009 | Filed by

Left out some crucial facts, especially the 3 added cartoons, especially the farmer in the pig-mask.… Read the rest



Bubble and Bust in Ireland *

Feb 23rd, 2009 | Filed by

Banking and politics in bed together; how familiar, how deranged.… Read the rest



IHEU on a Bad Week for Free Speech *

Feb 23rd, 2009 | Filed by

‘It’s time our leaders learned that Islam is just another religion.’… Read the rest



IHEU on Durban II and Freedom of Expression *

Feb 23rd, 2009 | Filed by

Defamation of Religion is a concept that has no place in Human Rights discourse.… Read the rest



Colin Blakemore on Science and Religion *

Feb 22nd, 2009 | Filed by

Science has rampaged over the landscape of divine explanation, as ‘why’ questions became ‘how’ questions.… Read the rest



Clawback of Executive Pay is Gaining Traction *

Feb 22nd, 2009 | Filed by

‘When companies fail to perform, should they give millions of dollars to their senior executives?’… Read the rest