Taliban attacks and threats have disrupted or shut down more than 300 schools that teach girls.… 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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
The Uses of Ann Coulter 
Jun 23rd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
She provides a substitute for racist trash-talk.… Read the rest
Martha Nussbaum Reads Harvey Mansfield
Jun 23rd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Starts off with modest self-portrait.… Read the rest
Can Humanists Talk to Postmodernists?
Jun 22nd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
No. It’s this ‘new metaphysics’ thing, you see.… Read the rest
Paul Kurtz on Skepticism about Religious Claims
Jun 22nd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Skeptical inquirer finds inconclusive evidence, thus insufficient reason to believe, that God exists.… Read the rest
Juan Cole and Yale
Jun 22nd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Scholarship and politics got thoroughly entangled.… Read the rest
Peter Singer on Freedom of Speech
Jun 22nd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Covers both ridicule of religion and Holocaust denial.… Read the rest
Scott McLemee at University Presses Conference
Jun 22nd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Books will stay around at least for awhile.… Read the rest
Nonsense from National Review (No, really?!)
Jun 21st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Naughty Richard Dawkins hurts people’s feelings by telling the truth. How howwid.… Read the rest
Bloom on Goldstein on Spinoza
Jun 21st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
As in Epicurus and Lucretius, Spinoza’s God is scarcely distinguishable from Nature, and indifferent to us.… Read the rest
Update on Reza Moradi
Jun 21st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Keith Porteous Wood of the NSS found him a pro bono lawyer; they await the summons.… Read the rest
Review of Anthony Appiah’s Cosmopolitanism
Jun 21st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Conversation is one way of habituating people to appreciate differences in others.… Read the rest
On Ronald Aronson on Sartre and Camus
Jun 21st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A provocative account of the contribution they made to modern literature and philosophy.… Read the rest
Ann Coulter is not a ‘National Treasure’ [link fixed]
Jun 21st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Spinsanity has documented many distortions in Coulter’s earlier books.… Read the rest
What’s Up With Democrats Against Estate Tax?
Jun 21st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Not a lot of clear thinking, anyway.… Read the rest
Principles are Good Only if They are Good
Jun 21st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Just saying you have some isn’t good enough.… Read the rest
Peter Beaumont Reads Noam Chomsky
Jun 19th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Chomsky has allowed bile and rhetoric to replace intellectual rigour in his latest diatribe.’… Read the rest
Microscope on Medialens
Jun 19th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Peter Beaumont is expecting another Medialens-ing.… Read the rest
Nick Cohen on Backroom Deals
Jun 19th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Revolting and typical that largely male employers and trade unionists struck deals which failed to give women their due. … Read the rest
Praful Bidawi on India’s Merit-obsessed Discourse
Jun 19th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘To put it bluntly, these are the Babas and Babys of yesterday’s Baba Log – children of the middle class elite.’… Read the rest
