Speaker Thomas Herold will discuss how quantum physics can help individuals manifest their life dreams. … 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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
Fatwa Against Taslima Nasreen is Revived 
Aug 19th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Taslima has spoken against Islam and Prophet Muhammad and we will go to any extent to eliminate her.’… Read the rest
Muslim Clerics Issue ‘Death Warrant’ on Nasreen
Aug 19th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Clerics from prominent mosques in Kolkata said she had invited their wrath via ‘repeated criticism’ of Islam.… Read the rest
India’s Prosperity Enables Sex Selection
Aug 19th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
New and more widely available technology is fuelling female foeticide. … Read the rest
Double Standards in Supernaturalism
Aug 19th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Heads I win, tails you lose.… Read the rest
Taslima Nasreen Could Face Prison
Aug 18th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
For being attacked. (Note Center for Inquiry banner behind her.)… Read the rest
Simon Callow on Michael White’s Galileo
Aug 18th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Italy produced no physical scientist of the slightest importance for two centuries after Galileo. … Read the rest
‘Verifier’ Exposes Gaps in Logic
Aug 18th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
That can result from expert biases and mistakes and invisibly skew research results. … Read the rest
Scottish NHS Gives Ramadan Advice
Aug 18th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Doctors and nurses should not eat in front of Muslim patients and colleagues during Ramadan.… Read the rest
NHS Staff Given Eating ‘Rules’ for Ramadan
Aug 18th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Staff have been told not to eat at their desks to avoid offending Muslim colleagues.… Read the rest
Amartya Sen on India’s Democratic Success
Aug 18th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
India became overnight the first poor country in the world to be a full-scale democracy.… Read the rest
Shashi Tharoor on Indian Pluralism
Aug 18th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
For now, the sectarian Hindu chauvinists have lost the battle over India’s identity.… Read the rest
Oscillating Between Science and the Paranormal
Aug 18th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Scientists who indulge religious fantasies in the interest of popularisation are betraying their profession.… Read the rest
Hurriyet Fires Secularist Columnist
Aug 17th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Colasan is one of the leading columnists of the secularist front. News that he was fired sparked angry reaction.… Read the rest
The Right to Write Insultingly
Aug 17th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Hurriyet expresses regret at Colason’s departure but says he had a tendency to write insultingly.… Read the rest
David Baltimore Offers a Defense of Atheism
Aug 17th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Religion supplants evidence and logic with faith, so politicians can appeal to faith and let it go at that.… Read the rest
Amartya Sen on Independent India at 60
Aug 17th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Now we make deals not with the Burmese people struggling for democracy, but with the military dictators of Myanmar.… Read the rest
The Worst Op-ed Ever Written?
Aug 16th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Stanley Fish shrewdly notices there are fancy new coffee shops out there. No, really.… Read the rest
Ramachandra Guha on India’s Internal Partition
Aug 16th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Partition was meant to solve the Hindu-Muslim question, but it’s only made things worse.… Read the rest
Hirsi Ali Criticises Labour Over Jami
Aug 16th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Labour leader Wouter Bos has made it clear that his party will not support the ex-Muslim committee.… Read the rest
