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Inevitably links go out of date.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.


Rules to Protect Pharmacists Who Refuse *

Dec 20th, 2008 | Filed by

Protects medical workers who refuse to participate in care they find ‘morally or religiously objectionable.’… Read the rest



Michelle Goldberg on Rick Warren *

Dec 19th, 2008 | Filed by

He compares legal abortion to the Holocaust and gay marriage to incest and paedophilia.… Read the rest



Islington Council Wins Appeal *

Dec 19th, 2008 | Filed by

Lillian Ladele’s solicitor reacts with a torrent of gibberish.… Read the rest



UN Again Votes to Ban ‘Defamation’ of Religion *

Dec 19th, 2008 | Filed by

‘Islamic states say such resolutions do not aim to limit free speech but to stop publications like the Motoons.’… Read the rest



Vatican Sets Us All Straight on Human Rights *

Dec 19th, 2008 | Filed by

Human rights mean: right to life, respect for the family, marriage as the union between a man and a woman.… Read the rest



UN Urges States to Decriminalize Homosexuality *

Dec 19th, 2008 | Filed by

Proposal has ‘provoked the ire’ of the Vatican and some majority-Muslim countries.… Read the rest



Obama Defends Rick Warren Invitation *

Dec 19th, 2008 | Filed by

Why, of all the pastors in the US, choose one who campaigned for Prop 8 and compares abortion to the Holocaust?… Read the rest



Women’s Rights Activist Killed in Kirkuk *

Dec 19th, 2008 | Filed by

Iraqi police say attackers decapitated the leader of the women’s league of the Kurdish Communist Party.… Read the rest



Anti-gay Evangelical Chosen for ‘Invocation’ *

Dec 18th, 2008 | Filed by

Choice of Rick Warren is seen as a signal to religious conservatives that Obama will listen to their views.… Read the rest



Rick Warren is a Culture War Wolf *

Dec 18th, 2008 | Filed by

Obama had thousands of clergy to choose from, and the choice of Warren is a bow to the religious right.… Read the rest



South Korean Actress Sentenced for Adultery *

Dec 18th, 2008 | Filed by

Judges always rule that adultery is damaging to social order, and therefore must remain a crime. … Read the rest



The Epistemology of the DSM-V *

Dec 18th, 2008 | Filed by

‘In psychiatry no one knows the causes of anything, so classification can be driven by all sorts of factors.’… Read the rest



Earnings Were a Mirage But Bonuses Remain *

Dec 18th, 2008 | Filed by

Banks plan to pay bonuses despite needing billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money to survive.… Read the rest



Free Speech Rapporteurs on ‘Defamation’ *

Dec 17th, 2008 | Filed by

Restrictions on freedom of expression should never be used to protect institutions, abstract notions, or beliefs.… Read the rest



Cheney Says Waterboarding is Okay *

Dec 17th, 2008 | Filed by

ABC asked him if in hindsight he thought the tactics went too far. ‘I don’t,’ Cheney said cheerfully.… Read the rest



The Cost of Mbeki’s ‘Beliefs’ About HIV *

Dec 17th, 2008 | Filed by

Had South Africa’s government provided the appropriate drugs, it would have prevented 365,000 premature deaths.… Read the rest



Jesus, Mo and Barmaid on Science and Theology *

Dec 17th, 2008 | Filed by

Science is limited by its refusal to make stuff up.… Read the rest



HRW on the Kiwanja Massacre *

Dec 17th, 2008 | Filed by

Survivors could only run to the UN base half a mile away and cluster outside the fence for protection.… Read the rest



HRW Urges Action on Reforms for Migrant Women *

Dec 17th, 2008 | Filed by

Governments in the Middle East should act quickly to fulfill promises to protect migrant women’s rights.… Read the rest



Muslim Think Tank Finds Sharia Unfair to Women *

Dec 16th, 2008 | Filed by

‘I told them I had been forced and this was not Islamic, but they disagreed.’… Read the rest