Rupert Murdoch’s MySpace deleted 35,000 member atheist-agnostic group.… 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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
Human Rights Defenders Get Death Threats 
Jan 30th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
AI calls for protection for activists threatened for being ‘traitors to their ethnicity.’… Read the rest
The Dangers of Speaking Out in Syria
Jan 30th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The 45-year-old state of emergency gives the security police wide powers of arrest and detention. … Read the rest
Archbish Calls for Law to Punish ‘Cruel Words’
Jan 30th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Wants new laws to protect religious sensibilities by punishing ‘thoughtless and cruel’ styles of speaking. … Read the rest
Afghan Senate Backs Death for Blasphemy
Jan 30th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Also criticised foreign sources which tried to pressure the judiciary as it pursued blasphemers.… Read the rest
Kenya’s Poor Are at Each Other’s Throats
Jan 30th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
In Kibera those who have nothing are looting those who have a little bit more. … Read the rest
Targeted for Marrying a Kikuyu
Jan 30th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Why, why, why? Why did they say they were doing this? … Read the rest
The Archbishop’s Complete Speech
Jan 30th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
It’s about power, he explains. Any port in a storm.… Read the rest
Campaign to Free Student Activists in Iran
Jan 30th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Organisation of Women’s Freedom in Iraq sponsors the petition.… Read the rest
Competing Views of Multiculturalism on the Left
Jan 29th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
One sees Islam as monolithic, the other doesn’t. One is Cold Warish, the other isn’t.… Read the rest
Michael Walzer Sees it Differently
Jan 29th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
These oppositions don’t come close to an accurate description of the arguments that are actually going on today.… Read the rest
How Not to Get Duped
Jan 29th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Two general types of fallacies that are generally ubiquitous in political debates and other discourse.… Read the rest
Two Forms of the Straw Man Argument [pdf]
Jan 29th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The straw man works if the audience is inattentive.… Read the rest
Robert Irwin on Muzaffar Iqbal on Islamic Science
Jan 29th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘The book is a polemical essay, rather than a history, and welcome as such.’… Read the rest
Christine Stansell on Katha Pollitt
Jan 29th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
What interests her is the play of illusion, self-delusion, and observational power as they shape our knowledge.… Read the rest
Academic Sentenced for ‘Insulting’ Ataturk
Jan 28th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
His crime was to say the early Turkish republic was not as progressive as portrayed in official books. … Read the rest
Kenya: ‘People Are Killing Each Other’
Jan 28th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘We had been living together all this time before, we had peace, we worked together.’… Read the rest
Gay Adoption Ruling Advances Family Equality
Jan 28th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Decision marks a turning point in the European Court of Human Rights’ jurisprudence on family rights.… Read the rest
‘Lack of Paternal Referent’
Jan 28th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
France failed to assess adoption by a lesbian the same way it would a single heterosexual. … Read the rest
Starry-eyed Review of Tariq Ramadan
Jan 28th, 2008 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Nor does he lose sight of the animating purpose of true religion, to charge mankind with love and compassion.’… Read the rest
