Hard to hear Irving without wishing to be armed with something tougher even than the truth.… 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Inevitably links go out of date.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.
Amartya Sen on Multiculturalism 
Feb 22nd, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
There is no way of escaping foundational questions if multiculturalism is to be fairly assessed. … Read the rest
The Historian Who Rejected Plain Facts
Feb 21st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Would-be martyr using free speech arguments to peddle myths.… Read the rest
The Pope of Holocaust Deniers
Feb 21st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
But not all Jews welcome the sentence. ‘Personally I prefer to treat him with disdain.’… Read the rest
David Irving Sentenced to Three Years in Prison
Feb 21st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Deborah Lipstadt dismayed. ‘The way of fighting Holocaust deniers is with history and with truth.’… Read the rest
Lipstadt on the Irving Verdict
Feb 21st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Irving can’t claim ‘to have changed his mind in the 1990s when he took me to court in 2000.’… Read the rest
Irving Revises History for the Jury
Feb 21st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Hard to claim he stopped being a Holocaust denier in 1992 after 2000 libel case exposed his distortions.… Read the rest
‘I Made a Mistake’ Didn’t Do the Trick
Feb 21st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Lipstadt says, ‘The one thing he deserves, he really deserves, is obscurity.’… Read the rest
Ian Traynor in Vienna
Feb 21st, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Irving was arrested after returning to deliver more speeches despite being barred from Austria.… Read the rest
We Ought to Pay Closer Attention
Feb 20th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
We need to remember how freedom is lost, and what it is like to live where it has been lost.… Read the rest
Inept Review of Dennett’s Breaking the Spell
Feb 20th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Leon Wieseltier defends ‘thoughtful believers’ and other familiar totems.… Read the rest
Blackmore and Midgley Discuss Memes
Feb 20th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Midgley seems to miss the point rather…… Read the rest
AAAS Issues Statement Against ‘the Wedge’
Feb 20th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Veiled attempts to wedge religion into science classrooms are a disservice to students, teachers.… Read the rest
Pseudoscience and The Occult in Public Schools
Feb 20th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Medical Qigong’ taught as science in California charter school.… Read the rest
Norman Levitt Considers Steve Fuller
Feb 20th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘In Fuller’s mind, working scientists are in an important sense intellectually deformed.’… Read the rest
Annoyed Iranians Re-name Danish Pastries
Feb 19th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Now called ‘Roses of the Prophet Muhammad’ peace be upon his apple filling.… Read the rest
Gilbert and George Don’t Take on the Theocrats
Feb 19th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Fear of being murdered is a perfectly rational one, but it is eating away at cultural elite’s myths.… Read the rest
Poll: 40% of Muslims Want Sharia in UK
Feb 19th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
40% of British Muslims surveyed backed introducing sharia in parts of Britain, 41% opposed it.… Read the rest
Fanatics Tell Deeyah: We’ll Kill You
Feb 19th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Track that promotes women’s rights has outraged hardline Islamists. Men spit at her in the street.… Read the rest
MP Ann Cryer: Imams Should be Aware of Rights
Feb 19th, 2006 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Says all imams should be made aware of how women are treated in the UK before being allowed in.… Read the rest
