Group of senior doctors and scientists renews campaign against NHS funding of homeopathic treatment. … 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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
Full Text of Homeopathy Letter 
May 23rd, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Professor Gustav Born urges NHS managers to cut down on alternative and homeopathic medicine.… Read the rest
Female Afghan and Pakistani Pols Forced Out
May 23rd, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Conservative men accuse them of indecency and being too outspoken, and out they go.… Read the rest
New Play Exposes Domestic Violence
May 23rd, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘We have a platform to bring these issues into the open. It’s our responsibility to do so,’ says Inayet.… Read the rest
Clerics Win; Minister, Pakistan, Women Lose
May 22nd, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Clerics of Lal Masjid issued a fatwa against her, and they got their way.… Read the rest
Iran Charges Esfandiari with Attempt to Overthrow
May 22nd, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Shirin Ebadi has tried to represent Esfandiari, but says Iran’s judiciary won’t let her.… Read the rest
Some Sikhs Call a General Strike in Punjab
May 22nd, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Blasphemy, insult, revered guru, ‘the Sikh community’; all the usual guff.… Read the rest
Peter Singer on Decisions About Premature Infants
May 22nd, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Parents’ views should play a major role when survival is uncertain and the risk of serious disability is high.… Read the rest
Pakistan’s Minister of Tourism Resigns
May 22nd, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Foul cleric called her hug of male instructor ‘obscene’; she finally gave in, and quit.… Read the rest
Swedish Government Minister Gets Death Threats
May 21st, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘I will never accept that women and girls are oppressed in the name of religion,’ says Nyamko Sabuni.… Read the rest
Meet the TV Psychic
May 21st, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Some claim he is a charlatan, an entertainer, a skilled employer of cold reading. Surely not!… Read the rest
The Islamist Challenge to Secular Bangladesh
May 21st, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Many former socialists have refashioned their ideology to oppose everything the Islamists stand for.… Read the rest
Was Zygmunt Bauman a Secret Stalinist?
May 21st, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Not really, because he hasn’t concealed his past.… Read the rest
The Recycling of Academic Scandals
May 21st, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Arendt and Heidegger are not a newsflash; neither is Foucault’s questionable scholarship.… Read the rest
Bishops Pitch Fit at BBC Film Accusing Pope
May 21st, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Front page article in the daily Avvenire said the producers ‘should bow their heads and ask forgiveness.’… Read the rest
Ben Goldacre on the QLink
May 20th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A very sciencey looking pendant with electronicky looking stuff that connects to nothing.… Read the rest
Ben Goldacre on New Age, MMR and ‘Healers’
May 20th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
We got our advice on complex immunological and epidemiological issues from lifestyle columnists. … Read the rest
‘My Father Sold Me’ – to Pay Gambling Debt
May 20th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
She was 12, taken out of school; she dislikes her husband, his first wife; her life is trashed.… Read the rest
On the Pill in Chile
May 20th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Group of parliamentarians is seeking to derail Chile’s medical protocols regarding emergency contraception.… Read the rest
More Repressive, More Violent, More Lawless
May 19th, 2007 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The status of women was never high under Saddam, but Iraq today is even worse for women.… Read the rest
