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Inevitably links go out of date.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.


The Dependence of Morality on Religion *

Apr 22nd, 2007 | Filed by

From Stephen Law’s The War For Children’s Minds. … Read the rest



Normblog Writer’s Choice: Allen Esterson *

Apr 22nd, 2007 | Filed by

On Evgenia Ginzburg’s Into the Whirlwind.… Read the rest



No, Really, I Felt the P-values in my Soul *

Apr 21st, 2007 | Filed by

Our abilities to distinguish an actual pattern from mere background noise are deeply flawed.… Read the rest



EU Makes Incitement to Xenophobia a Crime *

Apr 21st, 2007 | Filed by

Armenians not mentioned; Turkey mollified.… Read the rest



Phelps Church to Disrupt Virginia Tech Funeral *

Apr 21st, 2007 | Filed by

A church news release explains: ‘God is punishing America for her sodomite sins.’… Read the rest



Women Break Silence on Honour Killings *

Apr 21st, 2007 | Filed by

Abu Ghanem family has been killing its women; eight have been murdered here in the last six years.… Read the rest



The Superintendent Keeps a Stash of Body Bags *

Apr 21st, 2007 | Filed by

After the last killing, of Hamda Abu Ghanem, 18, female relatives decided to speak up. Twenty of them. … Read the rest



Disbelief Can Be Passionate *

Apr 21st, 2007 | Filed by

‘Sometimes it should provoke a great shout: “Stop. You don’t know that. You have no right.”’… Read the rest



Jesus and Mo Argue About Nuns *

Apr 20th, 2007 | Filed by

Nuns are too so useful.… Read the rest



Jesus and Mo Demonstrate Against Secularists *

Apr 20th, 2007 | Filed by

Their lack of deference is oppressive.… Read the rest



Buffoon Enacts Stupid Rambo Fantasy *

Apr 19th, 2007 | Filed by

Say hello to the banality of evil.… Read the rest



Supreme Court Bans Intact D and E Abortions *

Apr 19th, 2007 | Filed by

Lack of exception for woman’s health not a problem because who knows, maybe it never is one.… Read the rest



David Barash on the DNA of Religion *

Apr 19th, 2007 | Filed by

The era of deference to religious belief is ending as faith is subjected to gimlet-eyed scrutiny.… Read the rest



Carlin Romano Remembers Robert Solomon *

Apr 19th, 2007 | Filed by

The go-to guy in philosophy when it came to emotions, the scholar the encyclopedia editors called first.… Read the rest



Basil Fawlty’s Idea of Literature? *

Apr 19th, 2007 | Filed by

Hating pretentiousness is a bracing sentiment but it jumps easily to mere philistinism. … Read the rest



2 Mormon Women on Trial for Torturing Children *

Apr 18th, 2007 | Filed by

Abuse included hitting with rolling pins and nettles, and forcing them to eat red-hot chillies.… Read the rest



Student Apologizes for ‘Anti-Islamic Material’ *

Apr 18th, 2007 | Filed by

‘A collective decision was taken to pursue a course of restorative justice and reconciliation.’… Read the rest



Johann Hari on an Imperial Historian *

Apr 18th, 2007 | Filed by

‘How should this American Empire exercise its power? One useful tactic, Roberts believes, is massacring civilians.’… Read the rest



Andrew Roberts and Johann Hari Disagree *

Apr 18th, 2007 | Filed by

Hari cites chapter and verse.… Read the rest



Norman Levitt on Theodicy for Atheists *

Apr 18th, 2007 | Filed by

‘What I tell you three times is true’ but what I tell you forty-two times maybe not.… Read the rest