Centre for Defence of Human Rights led by Shirin Ebadi declared illegal.… 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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
Zaid Al-Ali on Hizbollah’s Victory 
Aug 11th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Israeli statements are dismissed as lies; everything Nasrallah says is considered to be unspoiled truth.… Read the rest
MPs Say Forced Religion is Human Rights Abuse
Aug 11th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Pupils should be able to ‘enjoy the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.’… Read the rest
André Glucksmann on Outrageous Outrage
Aug 11th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
On the scales of world opinion, some Muslim corpses are light as a feather, and others weigh tonnes. … Read the rest
‘Christian Voice’ Gets Comedian Dropped
Aug 10th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Jim Jeffries was going to debate Stephen Green on blasphemy but Green said ick, no.… Read the rest
Student Leader Dies in Prison in Iran
Aug 10th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Akbar Mohammadi spent almost 5 years in prison for ‘activities against the Islamic Republic.’… Read the rest
More on Akbar Mohammadi
Aug 10th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
His death has renewed criticism of Iranian government over treatment of political dissidents.… Read the rest
Carlin Romano on a Philosophy of Boredom
Aug 10th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Boredom is tantamount to ‘meaning withdrawal.’… Read the rest
Time for the West to Embrace its own Secularism
Aug 9th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘The tricky part of tolerance is that those who invoke it as victims hate it in principle.’… Read the rest
Jesus and Mo Discuss Doubt
Aug 9th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
What about humans alone in a meaningless universe?… Read the rest
What Next for Humanity?
Aug 9th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Spiked asks scientists, philosophers, thinkers.… Read the rest
Norman Levitt Recommends Enlightenment
Aug 9th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
We have a culture which has a hard time coming to grips with science.… Read the rest
Raymond Tallis on Thinking About Human Nature
Aug 9th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Neither supernatural nor indistinguishable from other animals.… Read the rest
Scott McLemee on George Scialabba
Aug 9th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
He has read his way through a canon or two; but his thinking is not, as the saying goes, ‘professionalized.’… Read the rest
Adam Phillips on William Empson
Aug 9th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Believed the Christian God was a device invented to stop people having the kinds of mind that could be changed.… Read the rest
Writers Remember Barbara Epstein
Aug 9th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Gore Vidal, Alison Lurie, Pankaj Mishra, Elizabeth Hardwick, many more.… Read the rest
Ibn Warraq on The Need for Qur’anic Criticism
Aug 9th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
What we need is a radical Enlightenment.… Read the rest
Separate Kitchens for Stem Cells
Aug 8th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
When science becomes politicized science, it also becomes unkosher.… Read the rest
‘We are all Hizbullah now.’ Really?
Aug 8th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The moral idiocy of the sentiment betrayed the higher purpose of the march.… Read the rest
Why Does Feminism Provoke Hostility?
Aug 8th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Because subordinated women clean the toilets. Simple.… Read the rest
